the attack on the mission station was not ordered by king cetshwayo, as the audience is led to believe in the film. cetshwayo had specifically told his warriors not to invade natal, the british colony. the attack was led by prince dabulamanzi kampande, the king's half-brother, who pursued fleeing survivors at isandlwana across the river and then moved on to attack rorke's drift. although almost 20,000 rounds of ammunition were fired by the defenders, just under 400 zulus were killed at rorke's drift. a similar number were left behind when the zulus retreated, being too badly wounded to move. comments from veterans many years after the event suggest the british killed many of these wounded men in the battle's aftermath, raising the total number of zulu deaths to over 700.