Clash Of Empires

Chapter 21

After leaving Daro and the supply cove behind, the Isin and Akkadian cavalry covered twenty miles without incident. As the last of the day faded into dusk, the scouts returned and reported no sign of the Elamites. Hathor, riding at the head of the column beside Naxos, decided not to press their luck.

“Let’s make an early camp,” Hathor suggested. “The Elamites are bound to have patrols to the north and west, and they’ll likely be returning to Sumer before dark. If we get too close to the city, we may run into one of them.”

“We could make a few more miles before nightfall,” Naxos agreed, “but there’s no sense wearying the horses.”

They had reached a small stream, an offshoot of the Tigris, that also found its way to the Great Sea. Too shallow for the large, seagoing vessels the Elamites used to transport their supplies, the branch was also the closest source of fresh water to the cove. The Elamites, traveling in three separate armies so that the ships could resupply them along the way and at the cove, had reached Sumeria a few days apart.

Each army would have come up this same trail, then followed the stream north until it joined with the Tigris a handful of miles south of Sumer. The debris and human waste scattered about indicated that the Elamites had indeed camped here as well.

The combined force continued another half mile north, until they found a relatively clean place to halt for the night. Sliding down from his horse, Hathor ordered his commanders to join him. Issuing the night orders didn’t take long. His men understood they were in enemy territory, and they knew what needed to be done.

With so many men and horses, even stopping to make camp presented its own challenges. The mounts came first, of course. They had to be fed a few handfuls of the precious grain captured at the cove, then rubbed down, and corralled for the night. Units of one hundred men, each under the leadership of a subcommander, comprised each group. Fortunately, the forces of Akkad and Isin had ridden together for almost thirty days, and every man knew his task.

“Make sure the sentries are posted,” Hathor said. “Double the guard on the horses, and I want fifty men ready to mount up at all times.” Then he strode through the camp, as the evening fires were lit. Hathor stopped at every small gathering, talking and laughing with his men, much the way Eskkar always did.

Hathor understood the need to stay close to his men. Soldiers fought, he knew, not just for a cause, but because they believed in themselves, their companions, and their leaders. And the more they saw their leader concerned with their welfare, the harder they would fight.

As he moved among them, Hathor saw no signs of fear or worry, though everyone knew they might be fighting for their lives tomorrow. Sumer, besieged by thousands of Elamites, lay only twenty miles or so to the north, and the men knew it.

During the march through the mountains, Hathor and Naxos both had to deal with the usual petty frictions of large numbers of soldiers jammed together. Quarrels had broken out nearly every day, but there had been only a few incidents occurring between the men of Isin and Akkad. Where the blame fell upon his men, Naxos had been harsh in his punishments, and Hathor had followed the King of Isin’s example.

Both commanders knew they had to make their forces cooperate, or the entire expedition might fail. But the shared suffering that the men had endured during the long and difficult journey had softened everyone’s rough edges, and by now, to Hathor’s satisfaction, the men worked willing together. Even the dimmest witted or most quarrelsome bully understood that the enemy would kill the soldiers of Isin and Akkad indiscriminately, and that bond kept the men close.

In his rounds, Hathor did take in all the usual complaints — too much riding, contrary horses, not enough food, and stiff and sore muscles — the list was endless. Soldiers had grumbled about such things as long as men had gone to war, and with much the same result — another hard ride the next day, a desperate battle, and a good chance of ending up dead.

Still, if the soldiers had any real misgivings about their mission, Hathor would have glimpsed it in their eyes or heard it in their voices. Instead they splashed about in the stream, or relaxed in the warm and breezy evening air, still smelling of the sea, a happy change from the endless days and stifling heat in the foothills. They might have been children playing, instead of men about to go into battle.

Satisfied with his men’s good spirits, Hathor took one final walk around the perimeter of the camp, checking on the sentries. He’d heard too many of Eskkar’s stories about stealing horses and night stampedes to leave anything to chance, especially this close to the enemy. Both he and Naxos wanted their men and horses to be fresh when they reached the city. They might all be fighting for their lives before the sun cleared the horizon.

Only then did Hathor drop down on the soft ground. The gurgling of the water against the rocks lulled him to sleep, almost as quickly and deeply as any of his soldiers.

In the morning, Hathor and Naxos woke their men well before dawn, in case the Elamites had learned of their presence and planned a morning attack. By the time the leading edge of the sun lifted over the horizon, every fighter stood beside his mount, ready to ride or repel an attack. But sunrise brought only empty horizons, with no sign of any enemy scouts observing their position.

Naxos gave the order, and the cavalry formed into its usual columns and resumed its journey. The open terrain, mostly sand with large clumps of bright green grasses, promised easy riding for the men. The two pennants taken from the beach, each fastened to a lance tip, waved in the breeze just behind the two leaders.

“They haven’t discovered us yet,” Hathor said, riding at Naxos’s side. “We’d have seen their scouts by now.”

“Or they’re baiting a trap for us closer to Sumer,” Naxos argued.

Hathor laughed. Naxos’s gloomy words didn’t carry conviction. “In that case, we’d better hurry north. It wouldn’t do to keep the Elamites waiting.”

Naxos swore, then laughed.

They continued north, following the stream. The day promised to be another hot one. Hathor didn’t mind, having been raised in the Egyptian desert. As midmorning approached, the Akkadians had their first encounter with the enemy. Still traveling at a comfortable pace to conserve the horses, they came across an Elamite supply party returning to the beach, to collect food and supplies from the boats.

Fifty pack animals, twenty Elamite handlers, and ten guards comprised the supply gang. Either because of the captured pennants, or perhaps because they didn’t expect a hostile force between Sumer and the beach, they rode right up to the slow-moving Akkadians without the slightest suspicion. As he had yesterday, Naxos killed the leader himself. The rest of the Elamites died almost as fast, taken by surprise and cut down in a hail of arrows.

“Collect all the horses,” Hathor shouted when the killing stopped. “We don’t want any riderless horses returning to Sumer.”

Naxos, a splash of Elamite blood on his right arm, appeared as ferocious as any of his men. Isin’s King, Hathor decided, enjoyed killing people. Certainly the man showed no fear of death of fighting. Hathor prayed to the gods that Naxos’s eagerness for battle wouldn’t turn to some reckless action.

The Akkadians left the dead where they had fallen, and continued their journey.

“Not many guards,” Naxos commented cheerfully.

Maybe, Hathor decided, the King should kill a man or two every morning, if it would keep him in a good mood. “Nothing of value to guard,” Hathor said. “Just empty packs to fill with supplies at the cove. Still, you’re right. These Elamites seem very confident. I expected we’d be spotted by now.”

Keeping their horses to a slow walk, Hathor and Naxos rode together at the head of the army, with only a few scouts out ahead. The Akkadian cavalry still followed the well-beaten track that Elamites had created on their march from the beach.

A few miles beyond, Hathor came across an even more visible sign of the enemy’s passage. Eight bodies, six men and two women, lay naked alongside the trail. The men, hacked to pieces and covered with blood, had probably died fast enough.

The women, their faces covered with so much blood that Hathor couldn’t even tell if they were old or young, showed large bruises on their thighs and breasts, the usual signs of repeated rape. Both had wide belly wounds that would have killed them slowly. One had a clump of sea grass shoved into her opening.

Swarms of the fearless black sea flies nearly covered the corpses, as they feasted on the still fresh meat. Hathor wondered how many men had taken the women before they died. Even death might not have stopped the most brutal of Elamites.

Most likely farmers, Hathor guessed, harmless and helpless before the Elamite swords. Hathor knew that every man would stare at the bodies as they rode by. Behind him, the laughter and loud talk faded into sober words.

Hathor wasted little more than a look at the dead. Helpless farmers had suffered at the hands of soldiers and marauders since the beginning of time, and he’d killed more than a few of them himself.

After a brief glance at the bodies, Naxos, too, had ignored the sight. Dead Sumerian farmers meant nothing to him. “So, Hathor, what do you think we will find?”

“The last of the invaders reached the city three or four days ago,” Hathor replied. “By now they’ve sealed the approaches and started preparing for the assault. I expect that we’ll find them spread out, with the largest concentration of men north of Sumer, in case anyone tries to reach the city or break the siege. They’re obviously not watching the south, or we’d have seen their patrols.”

“What do you suggest we do when we get there? What would the mighty Eskkar do?”

Hathor took his time before answering. He knew the King of Isin’s pride still rankled that he had agreed to follow Eskkar’s battle plan. All the same, Naxos already knew what Eskkar would do.

Long before the expedition set out, Eskkar, Hathor, and Naxos had prepared several plans of action, depending on whether or not the Akkadians were discovered, even when they were discovered. If the element of surprise remained intact, the leaders had already agreed on what to do.

“My Lord Naxos, King Eskkar asked you to take this command. He told me to follow your orders as I would his own. He asked only that I take no foolish chances with my men’s lives. You’ve no need to compare yourself to him. The command is yours.”

“Bah! I know Eskkar well enough. He’d sacrifice Isin and Sumer, too, for that matter, to save his city.”

“Perhaps he would. But he did not. As Eskkar told you, the fate of the war is in your hands. Even if he wins a victory over the Elamites, it will be of little value if Sumer and the southern lands fall.”

“We’re still outnumbered three or four to one,” Naxos said. “The Elamites may swallow us whole.”

Hathor laughed. “Eskkar once told me that in every battle he ever fought, he was always outnumbered. It’s the will to victory that wins battles. The Elamites are confident of their numbers and sure of their conquest. That will be their weakness. Lead your men with honor. No man can do more.”

Naxos digested that for a moment. “You like Eskkar, don’t you?”

For the first time, Hathor heard only honest curiosity in the King’s voice. “Yes, I do. We are friends. Fifteen years ago, he gave me back my life when a single word could have ended it. Since that day I have found nothing but honor in the man. He cares naught for glory or gold, only for the life of his city.”

Hathor remained the only survivor of the hated Egyptians, who had once fought against the soldiers of Akkad. Hathor and others had seized control of the city after a night of bloodshed. But the Egyptians ruled Akkad only for a few days, before Eskkar returned and led a small group of followers over the wall to rescue his wife and child and reclaim his city.

When the battle ended, Eskkar had fought and captured Korthac, the leader of the Egyptians. Attempting to flee, Hathor had taken a wound that left him unable to fight or escape. Only Trella’s plea to her husband saved Hathor from the torturers and death.

In the years since, a bond formed between Eskkar and Hathor. Both men started life as outcasts, and both found themselves alone in a strange land. Eskkar understood what Hathor had faced in those first few years, before the people and soldiers of Akkad had, grudgingly at first, accepted the role that Eskkar had given him.

Over time, Hathor received many gifts and honors from Eskkar and Trella, but by far the most valuable was his wife, Cnari, who had given him his first real family.

Naxos broke the silence. “Yet Eskkar builds an empire that threatens to swallow Isin and all the other cities of the Land Between the Rivers.”

“You would prefer the constant battles between cities, like the Sumerians did? Or more attacks from the steppes warriors, or this invasion of the Elamites? Perhaps, King Naxos, the age of empires is upon us all. Rather than resist its coming, you might find it more pleasing to become a part of it.”

A shout ended the conversation. One of Naxos’s scouts had returned, galloping his horse until he pulled up at Naxos’s side.

“We saw Sumer’s walls and the Elamite army!” The excited scout waved his hands as he spoke. “We’re less than three miles from the city.”

Even Naxos’s dour face showed excitement. “Were you seen? Did they spot you?”

“No, my lord. Their camp, thousands of men, is spread out in a ring around the city. I ordered my men to stay and keep watch. I came back at once.”

“Good.” Naxos turned to Hathor. “What do you think?”

Hathor had further questions for the scout, but the man had seen little more than the enemy camp and the city.

“Well, it doesn’t look as if they know we’re behind them.” Hathor kept his voice calm. “Let’s ride ahead and see for ourselves what’s there. Meanwhile, I think we should keep our men moving ahead. If we stop here, and someone sees us, it may look odd. If we keep moving ahead, they may think we’re just more reinforcements from Elam.”

Naxos rubbed his beard for a moment. “All right. We’ll take a look.” He ordered his commanders to keep the men going at the same slow pace, told the scout to lead the way, then urged his horse into a gallop.

Hathor touched his heels to his horse, and followed. A mile sped beneath their hooves, and the two leaders soon reached the four scouts waiting for them at a stand of palm trees. The men had tied their mounts to a bush, and now lay on the ground beneath the northernmost stretch of trees.

Hathor dismounted and calmly fastened his horse to a nearby tree, deliberately taking his time. Naxos must have taken the hint, for he slowed himself down. Together the two leaders moved forward, until they reached the others, hugging a small rise in the earth.

Dropping to the ground beside the scouts, Hathor peered beneath some low hanging palm fronds. He took in the grassy countryside that encompassed Sumer. The farmhouses that had once surrounded the city had vanished, knocked into a rubble of mud bricks days ago by the city’s defenders. Anything useful to an invading army had been removed or destroyed. He saw no herds of sheep, goats, or cattle. Black scars covered the land, where Sumer’s defenders had torched the crops and grasslands.

Closer to Sumer, he saw smoke from many fires rising into the air. The fires followed the rough curve of Elamite soldiers that had encircled the city on three sides, from the northern riverbank to the southern riverbank. Both leaders stared at the sight, studying the ground, the enemy, and the lay of the land between. The nearest Elamites were at least a mile away.

Naxos broke the silence first. “A lot of men.”

“Yes, but we don’t have to fight all of them.” Hathor pointed to the well beaten track that led to the city. “We can come down the road until we’re almost at the city. Then we sweep to the left, and attack the enemy on the south side of the city. Either we drive them into the river or up against the walls.”

“This is better than we’d hoped,” Naxos agreed. “Where is the fording place?”

In the war against Sumer, Hathor had studied all the approaches to the city and the surrounding countryside. That personal knowledge of the terrain had been one more reason why Eskkar gave Hathor the responsibility of command. During the long ride through the mountains, he and Naxos had discussed the many possibilities of what could await them when they reached the cove, on the ride to Sumer, and even what they might find when they arrived at the city.

Of course they had hoped to take the enemy by surprise, but every eventuality had to be considered. The worst situation, that they failed to take the Elamites by surprise, would have resulted in their facing a slightly more numerous contingent of enemy cavalry. While the Elamites had a larger force of horse fighters, a sizable number of these would likely be scouting the north, to prevent any reinforcements or attacks from Isin and Akkad.

So even a direct attack by the enemy might not prove disastrous. And Naxos and Hathor could always slip across the Tigris in relative safety.

But the surprise appeared complete. Now the long planning sessions allowed the two commanders to make rapid decisions.

“The fording place is over there, about a mile south of the walls.” Hathor pointed toward the river on their left. “You can just make out the two sandbars that divide the water. We can safely ford there.”

“Once we cross over, we should be able to hold the west bank, at least for a time.”

“There’s a good chance we can ride right up to them.” Hathor couldn’t keep a hint of excitement from his voice. “With the captured pennants from the cove, even when they see us, they may take us for more reinforcements.

Naxos took another long look at the enemy position. For perhaps fifty heartbeats, he said nothing, just stared at the enemy encampments. “I’ve fought many fights, Hathor, but I’ve never led so many men into battle, against so many.” He took a deep breath. “What do you suggest?”

Hathor understood the man’s pride, and his reluctance to take advice from another. But Naxos wanted to win, and obviously he knew now was not the time to spurn the wisdom of others.

“King Naxos, I think we should just continue up the trail, until we’re ready to attack. Then hit the enemy south of the city.” Drawing his knife, Hathor scratched lines in the dirt. Soon Naxos added his own ideas, and the two men worked out the battle plan. It didn’t take long, and when they finished, both men were smiling.

They slipped away from the edge of the trees, and returned to the horses. Hathor swung onto his horse. “Now we just have to tell the commanders. They can tell the men as we ride. I want every man to know what’s going to happen.”

“That won’t take long.” Naxos mounted his horse, but ordered the scouts to stay behind and keep watch, until the Akkadian cavalry arrived. “Our men have trained for this kind of battle, and they’re ready for a fight. They only need to know where to ride and who to kill.”