Clash Of Empires

Chapter 24

As soon as the men regrouped on the west bank of the Tigris, Hathor dispatched the messengers. Two groups of four men, each rider leading an extra horse, dashed off to the northwest, angling apart as they rode. They would take different routes to the same destination, an uninhabited strip of rocky watershed that stretched along one of the Tigris’s many tributaries.

One of Yavtar’s messenger boats would be waiting there, ready to carry the news of Hathor’s activities to the north. The extra horses should allow them to escape any Elamite war parties they might encounter. At least one of the riders had to get through. The survival of Hathor’s force depended on making contact with Yavtar’s fleet.

While Hathor dispatched the men, Naxos sent out scouts ahead of the Akkadian cavalry and on either flank. Hathor and Naxos then led their force north, in three main columns, always keeping the Tigris on their right.

They rode hard, pushing the horses. The animals hadn’t had much work during the long and plodding journey through the mountains, so they remained fresh enough. However, there had been little forage in the mountains, and Hathor’s men had emptied the last of their grains sacks just before they arrived at the cove.

The Elamite supplies at the landing site had provided each horse a few mouthfuls of grain, but the creatures needed to graze to maintain their strength.

“Do you think the Elamites will follow?” Naxos had to raise his voice to be heard over the drumming hoof beats.

“They’ll be fools if they don’t,” Hathor replied. “What else are they going to do with their cavalry?”

The Elamite cavalry at Sumer numbered at least five or six thousand horsemen, a force fully equal to the Akkadians. Hathor had to engage and destroy as much of that force as he could, if the siege of Sumer were to be broken. But first the Akkadians needed supplies and some fresh horses.

By mid afternoon they were almost twenty miles from Sumer. They turned west, following a small branch of the Tigris. A mile later, they crested a low hill, and saw a wide valley of rich farmland ahead.

Naxos took one look at the bright green grass and grinned. Three separate horse herds grazed placidly in the warm sun. “At the gallop, men,” he shouted, and kicked his horse to the forefront.

The men spread out into a line of battle, stringing bows as they rode. Now the earth shook under the hooves of the horses, and the din of hoof beats overwhelmed the shouts of the riders.

The Elamites had quartered at least a thousand cavalrymen in the valley, for the same reason that drew the Akkadians. The thick grasslands and pastures, watered by a wide stream, could easily support a large number of horses. The Elamites planned to feed and rest part of their horses there for a few days. Then the detachment would return to Sumer, while another force arrived to take advantage of the plentiful grazing.

“They must not have gotten word from Sumer yet,” Hathor shouted, over the pounding of the horses.

The Elamites saw them coming, but even so they were slow to react. Men dashed about, gathering their weapons or chasing after their mounts. But the war cries of the Akkadians, mixed with blasts from the ram’s horn, affected the enemy horses. They milled about, many eluding capture and adding to the confusion.

By then it didn’t matter. The Akkadians, scattered over a wide area, overran the enemy’s main encampment. Attacking at full speed, nothing could stop the assault. The Elamites had no time to prepare a defense.

The killing began. Once again, the Akkadians used overwhelming force against a much smaller number of the enemy. While the surprise might not be as complete, the turmoil kept the Elamites from putting up any real resistance. Those who could reach a horse, fled. The rest were ridden down and killed, in groups of twos and threes.

The fight lasted longer than the one at Sumer, and the Akkadians suffered more than a few causalities, but the enemy lost more than half their men before the remainder escaped. Even as the last of the killing ended, Hathor swung down from his horse in front of the largest farmhouse.

From the standard waving in the breeze just outside the entrance, Hathor guessed that the same structure had previously been used by the Elamites as their headquarters. Soon Akkadian patrols were riding out in every direction. Other parties went out to round up the horses left behind by the fleeing men.

By the time Naxos returned, Hathor had the horses grazing, the captured food and grain distributed, and the men cleaning their weapons and seeing to their mounts. Three prisoners, their hands bound behind their backs, knelt in the dirt outside the farm house.

Hathor shook his head as Naxos dismounted, but Hathor couldn’t keep the smile from his face. “How was the hunting?”

Naxos laughed. “I only killed three. One of them actually attacked me.”

“Only three? I thought you would have at least ten to your credit.”

Naxos glanced around sheepishly. A long table, brought outside from the house, had two Elamite maps spread over its surface. Subcommanders stood beside it, setting up the night camp and issuing any needed instructions. “Good thing I’ve got you to look after things,” Naxos said.

“Just try not to get yourself killed chasing after helpless fools.”

“No need to worry about that.” Naxos clapped his hand on Hathor’s shoulder. “These men are poor fighters. If the rest of the Elamites are as bad, we’ll have no trouble beating them.”

After the fight outside Sumer’s walls, and the reports of his men, Hathor had much the same opinion. But men caught by surprise were one thing. The Elamites might prove tough enough in a real battle.

Both men took the time to wash up, and wolf down some captured food. Afterward, Hathor made the rounds of the camp. Tonight, however, Naxos joined him. Hathor did most of the talking with the men, but he noticed right away the difference Naxos’s presence made, especially to his own soldiers.

“The men were glad to see you,” Hathor remarked, as they returned to the command post at the farmhouse.

“It’s not something easy for me,” Naxos said. “Talking to the men, encouraging them, asking about their needs. I see how it affects them, but. . I’m always afraid I’m going to say something stupid.”

“It is difficult,” Hathor agreed. “For me also. But it’s something I learned from Eskkar.”

“Him again. The great Eskkar.”

The two men stepped through the doorway. For a moment, they had the place to themselves. Hathor unbuckled his sword and leaned it against the wall.

“Do you remember Gatus? The man who helped train so many of Akkad’s men?”

Naxos nodded. “I met him once, long ago, when he was just a member of the guard. But everyone knows how he trained the archers to fight on Akkad’s walls.”

“He told me a story about Eskkar, how in the beginning, Eskkar seldom spoke more than a handful of words in a month. Eskkar, too, had trouble speaking to the villagers and soldiers. Even the thought of speaking to a group of villagers terrified him. Eskkar had to force himself, and hated every moment.”

“Really? Eskkar always seems to know what to say. He spoke easily enough when the two of us met outside Isin’s walls.”

“Ah, I missed that meeting. I didn’t arrive at Isin until the next day, right before the battle.”

“I know now why he sent word for me to come out from my city,” Naxos said. “Eskkar could have shouted his threats from outside the city’s walls, or sent messengers to carry his words. Later I realized he didn’t want to embarrass me before everyone in Isin. Part of me wanted to kill him just for that. But his words rang true. After the destruction of Larsa, I couldn’t take the chance he would do the same to Isin.”

“Gatus told me that most people, in the beginning, thought Eskkar too ignorant to speak, much less lead the city. And when Eskkar and Trella started working together, everyone thought she was a witch who summoned a fiend from the pits below to take over his mind and put words on his lips.”

Naxos laughed. “I never heard that. But I can believe it.”

“It’s more than a little true. Trella helped him, of course. She encouraged him to talk with at least a few of the men every day. In time, Eskkar got better at it. Perhaps like sword fighting, the more you practice, the more skillful you get.”

“I take your point, Hathor.” Naxos unbuckled his sword belt and tossed it on the flimsy table. “If you don’t mind, I’ll join you again for tomorrow’s morning rounds.” He took a deep breath, and stretched out his arms. “Perhaps by the time we get done with this campaign, I’ll be as good a talker as Eskkar.”