Editing Shaka (section)

===Mobility of the army===
The story that sandals were discarded to toughen the feet of Zulu warriors has been noted in various military accounts such as ''The Washing of the Spears'', ''Like Lions They Fought'', and ''Anatomy of the Zulu Army''. Implementation was typically blunt. Those who objected to going without sandals were simply killed.{{sfn|Morris|1994|p=51}} Shaka drilled his troops frequently, in forced marches that sometimes covered more than {{convert|50|mi|km|order=flip}} a day in a fast trot over hot, rocky terrain.{{sfn|Morris|1994|p=51}}{{sfn|Edgerton|1988|p= 39}} He also drilled the troops to carry out encirclement tactics.

Historian John Laband dismisses these stories as myth, writing: "What are we to make, then, of [European trader Henry Francis] Fynn's statement that once the Zulu army reached hard and stony ground in 1826, Shaka ordered sandals of ox-hide to be made for himself?"{{sfn|Laband|1997}}

Laband also dismissed the idea of an {{convert|50|mi|km|order=flip|adj=on}} march in a single day as ridiculous. He further claims that even though these stories have been repeated by "astonished and admiring white commentators," the Zulu army covered "no more than {{convert|19|km|mi|frac=2|disp=sqbr}} a day, and usually went only about {{convert|14|km|mi|frac=2|disp=sqbr}}."{{sfn|Laband|1997}} Furthermore, Zulus under Shaka sometimes advanced more slowly. They spent two whole days recuperating in one instance, and on another they rested for a day and two nights before pursuing their enemy.{{sfn|Laband|1997}} Several other historians of the Zulu and the Zulu military system, however, affirm the mobility rate of up to {{convert|50|mi|km|order=flip}} per day.{{sfn|Morris|1994|pp=15–69}}{{sfn|Knight|McBride|1989|p=17}}