Some of the most intense fighting of the entire campaign took place during the second battle of Tembien, on the lower flanks of the Uork Ambà near the town of Zebandas. The men following Degiac Bejenè may have claimed the title as the finest troops on the Ethiopian side in this war. Although not as thoroughly trained as the regular army, these men showed extreme motivation and an impressive ability to suffer hardship and still fight effectively. Console Ricciotti’s column on the northern slopes of the Ambà faced these giants among men.

The Blackshirts sustained at least ten furious counterattacks by of the forces of Meshashà Ilmà. All the Italian accounts of this clash report very heavy fighting in which the Ethiopians, even when out of ammunition or wounded, kept advancing armed with swords or even clubs. Only late in the afternoon did the exhausted Ethiopians, sensing that the Italians might surround and cut them off, begin withdrawing. Meshashà Ilmà, wounded in the battle, survived only by playing dead.