Fall of the House of Ramesses, Book 2: Seti

by Max Overton

  "Merysekhmet...?"

  "...Is old and not versed in warfare. He can govern the kingdom well enough, but I need a...a general to keep a lid on any unrest in my absence."

  "And you shall have it, my husband," Tausret declared. "If anyone dares act against you, I shall lop their head from their shoulders without delay."

  Seti laughed and embraced his wife. "I believe you would. I can see I'll be leaving Ta Mehu in safe hands."

  * * *

  The men of the Ptah and Set legions arrived at Men-nefer three days later, exhausted from their rapid march from the northern borders, and Seti immediately ordered an enforced rest. For two days they rested, eating and drinking well, and having any common ailments seen to by the army physicians. Then, on the fifth day, Seti joined his army on the east bank, where he offered up sacrifices to all the gods. Barges were loaded with spare horses and equipment, together with two troops of soldiers, and these embarked ahead of the marching army to set up camp every night. With the aid of the barges, the men could travel light and fast.

  It took them all a few days to settle in to the routine. The first day, the barge captains overestimated the distance the men could march and it was not until well after sunset before they straggled into camp, footsore and weary. The second day, they swung the other way, wasting the best part of an afternoon when the soldiers marched up while the sun was still well above the western horizon. Thereafter, they slowly improved, and by the time they drew close to the city of Khent-Min, the army was marching swiftly and decisively between camps.

  "The barges go no further," Seti told his legion commanders Besenmut and Ahmes. "We are close enough to Waset that we could be surprised by Messuwy's forces. I want us all together if that happens."

  "Messuwy's son Siptah is in Khent-Min," Besenmut said. "He might make a useful hostage."

  "I do not war against children," Seti answered, fixing the commander in a stare that soon had him avert his gaze. "Scour the city for supplies, but give the farmers and traders a promissory note for anything you take. These are our people down here as much as in the north and I will not have them suffer for the acts of others."

  The army marched south two days later, in battle array. Fast scouting chariots fanned out to look for any sign of the enemy, while Seti guided the legions along the main road that curved away from the eastern river cliffs and into the desert. The Set legion led, the soldiers being the most experienced, though Acting Commander Ahmes was the least experienced in command. The presence of the king would offset that, while Besenmut, with his legion and half-trained auxiliaries brought up the rear.

  They met nothing on the long weary days down to Waset. People that normally frequented the road, traders and merchants, melted away in front of the army, leaving them to march alone down the hot dusty road. As they drew close to Waset, Seti pulled his chariots in closer, reluctant to risk them engaging the enemy without being able to strike a decisive blow with his foot soldiers.

  "Where will Messuwy meet us?" Seti asked his Commanders.

  "There is only one place, Son of Re," Besenmut replied. "Opposite the southeast gate. There is a broad plain there with low hills toward the river and stony desert inland unsuitable for chariots. He'll meet us on the plain."

  "My thought exactly."

  Seti's army advanced cautiously, circling the walled city to the east and finally approaching Waset from the southeast, where the main gates stood open. Their shadows stood long on the ground before them, the early morning sun warming their backs. The men stopped and waited, catching their breath and leaning on their spears while Seti and his commanders moved out in front in three chariots. They pulled up close together just over an arrow's flight from the city walls and examined the silent city with interest.

  "Where is everyone?" Ahmes asked. "Have they all taken fright and fled?"

  "What? A whole city?" Besenmut countered. "Perhaps they're just surrendering."

  "Then where are they?" Seti demanded. "No, something stinks here."

  "I could send some men in to see what's happening," Besenmut suggested. On receiving a nod from the king, he beckoned to his aides and issued his instructions.

  A squad trotted toward the open gates with their spears at the ready, and were no more than a spear cast from them when they saw movement in the shadowed streets within the city and stopped. As they stood indecisively, soldiers came pouring out of the gate and the squad hurriedly retreated.

  "Ah, now we're seeing something," Besenmut said. "By their banners, they're Amun legion, but not all of them. Either some are loyal to you or the legion is badly understrength."

  "And where is the Kushite legion?" Seti asked. "The reports said Messuwy brought them north to Waset, but if that's the case, where are they?"

  "Fled when they saw us coming," Ahmes ventured. "They know we'd be too strong for them. Shall I send out scouts to look for them?"

  "Later. I would like to know what is happening in Waset first."

  "I suppose they are only tribesmen," Ahmes said. "Undisciplined and inexperienced."

  "I can't believe Sethi or Khaemter would be so foolish as to venture out of Kush unless they thought they could win," Seti said.

  "So where are they?" Besenmut asked. "Still in the city? Afraid to come out?"

  "The rebels are either fled or in hiding, Son of Re," Ahmes said. "So what do we do about them?" He pointed at the thousand Amun soldiers standing at the ready in front of the gate.

  "Besenmut, call on them to surrender."

  The Ptah legion commander saluted and drove his chariot slowly toward the Amun lines, halting when he got within shouting distance. "Where is Commander Merenkhons?" he demanded.

  There was a pause, filled only with the shuffling of hundreds of feet in the hot sand. "Merenkhons is no longer Commander, by order of the king in Waset."

  "There is but one king," Besenmut replied. "Userkheperure Seti, and he has not ordered the replacement of Merenkhons."

  "Not that fornicating boy," the voice from the Amun legion yelled back. "The true king, Menmire Amenmesse. Go back where you came from, Besenmut, or get on your knees to Menmire and beg forgiveness."

  "You talk loudly for a coward, whoever you are, hiding behind your men."

  The Amun soldiers parted ranks and an officer came stalking through, his face twisted with anger. "I am Commander Menkauhor and I am no coward. Step down from your chariot and I will spill your blood in the sand."

  "Surrender, Menkauhor," Besenmut said calmly. "Bend your knee to Userkheperure and maybe he will forgive you."

  Menkauhor laughed. "Tell your boy he can surrender to me, now, or I will come over there and spank him." Some of the soldiers around laughed.

  "Have you taken leave of your senses?" Besenmut demanded. "You are greatly outnumbered. Surrender now or you and all your men will die."

  "Here is my answer," Menkauhor said. He lifted his kilt and urinated on the sand, amid greater mirth from his soldiers. One or two copied his actions.

  Besenmut snarled in rage but said nothing, just wheeling his chariot round and driving back to his king. He was too angry to say anything, but Seti just nodded and murmured, "I saw. They will pay for that insult with their lives. Ahmes, take the Set legion and crush those rebels. If possible, keep their commander alive. I will make an example of him."

  Ahmes raced back to his legion in his chariot and called out orders to his officers. The men in the various troops sprang forward and the forty chariots of the legion started toward the Amun legion. The chariot squadron soon outdistanced the running men and rapidly crossed the gap of open sand, sweeping around the king and Besenmut in their chariots.

  As soon as the chariots had started into motion, the Amun legion fell back, but not toward the gate as Seti had expected, but to a section of the city walls and now stood with their backs to it, their spears grounded in the sand and pointing outward.

  "Very clever," Seti said when he saw the manoeuvre. "I wonder who taught them that."


  "But they have left themselves no escape, Son of Re," Besenmut said.

  "The chariots cannot sweep through them, but must slow and engage them at walking pace, putting the charioteers in danger. Ahmes must call them off and send in the men on foot."

  Ahmes was slow to put that plan into action, so Seti whipped his horses into action and drove back quickly to where the legions waited. He shouted out orders to the Troop Commanders, ordering the chariots back and for the Set and Ptah foot soldiers to charge forward. The Set legion and the Ptah regulars obeyed their officers and advanced in relatively good order but the Ptah auxiliaries rapidly devolved into a rabble that streamed forward, interfering with their fellow warriors. As the first of them clashed with the Amun soldiers standing at bay beneath the walls, shouts erupted from behind the king's army in the direction of the river.

  Seti heard the clamour and turned in his chariot, striving to see over the heads of his men and through the intervening dust clouds. He could make out little, but something was happening, so he dispatched a chariot to find out. The king reached for his bow and, while a charioteer guided the vehicle through the thinner ranks of men, loosed arrow after arrow into the foe.

  The Amun legion was forced back, overwhelmed by the attacking legions, but now the attack was faltering, a tremor running through the packed ranks of men. The chariot returned and the charioteer yelled to the king as soon as he came within earshot.

  "The enemy! The Kushite is attacking from the river."

  Seti cursed under his breath, knowing he should have sent scouts out as Ahmes had suggested. "Turn," the king ordered his charioteer. He beckoned the bearers of rams' horns to him and told them to turn the Ptah legion immediately, and three troops of Set to join them as soon as possible.

  The horns sounded and quickly the chariots of Ptah gathered about their king. Seti murmured instructions to his charioteer and the squadron moved off after him through the dust clouds in the direction of the river and the heavy fighting taking place there. Soon the tall dark bodies of the Kushites could be seen, their ebony skins greyed by the dust, spattered with blood as spears thrust and copper axes chopped and hacked. The Ptah men fought well, but were slowly being pushed back by the men from Kush. Only one thing saved Ptah from utter ruin, the men of Kush liked to single out a man to attack and hurled insults before charging him. If they had attacked as a group, Ptah would have been rolled under the Kushite advance.

  Seti signalled to his chariots and they raced up to form a ragged line abreast, charging down on the Kushite foot soldiers. The thunder of hooves and wheels cut through the din of battle and the Kushites turned to look, and then hurried to disengage from the men of Ptah and face the onrushing chariots.

  The first line of men went down under hooves and spinning wheels, men thrown aside broken-limbed or crushed in sprays of blood as skulls and ribcages shattered and limbs were sliced open. Seti felt his chariot bounce into the air and land awkwardly, the spokes of one wheel splintering and tipping him to the ground. He rolled as he landed but lost hold of his bow, and came to his feet in a melee of rearing horses, screaming men, and flashing weapons.

  Seti straightened the blue leather war bonnet on his head and snatched a copper axe from the ground, turning and slashing as a Kushite warrior confronted him. The Kushite jabbed with his spear and then his eyes opened wide, recognising the royal headdress. He hesitated momentarily, the spear in his hand wavering. Seti stepped inside the arc of the spear and chopped down with the axe, the bright copper blade biting deep into the man's thigh. The Kushite screamed and dropped his spear clutching ineffectually at his mortal wound. Seti wrenched the blade free in a fountain of blood and slashed it sideways across the man's chest. White bone showed through the spurting red wound, and the hot stink of blood filled Seti's nostrils as the man fell back. Another attacked Seti, spear stabbing, keeping the king from closing with him. He hurled the axe. It turned over and over in flight, and despite the Kushite's attempt to evade it, the axe buried itself in the man's face. The Kushite uttered a bubbling scream and fell to the ground.

  "Majesty!" came a cry from near at hand, and Seti looked up to see a chariot drawing near. He grabbed another axe from a fallen soldier and ran, grasped the side rail and vaulted aboard the chariot. Seti grinned through a blood-streaked face at the driver.

  "Good man." He pointed toward where the banners flew and the Kushite warriors were gathered, and chariots responded, turning toward the enemy leaders. The men of Ptah followed, screaming and slashing at anything that moved, and further off, Seti could see banners of the Set legion start toward his position.

  "Messuwy!" Seti yelled. "Surrender and I will let you live."

  There was no reply, and moments later the chariots surged into the knot of Kushite warriors, trampling them under hooves and wheels once more. Seti leaned over the chariot rail and chopped with his axe until his arm was covered in blood to the shoulder and the grip grew slippery in his hand. Beside him, men of Ptah and Set slaughtered the enemy, yelling in triumph as the Kushites were pushed back.

  A tremor ran through the Kushite line and abruptly they turned and fled, many throwing down their weapons. Seti's men lurched after them, but half-heartedly as exhaustion gripped them. They staggered and the Troop Commanders and lesser officers bullied their men back into some semblance of order, applying their little whips of authority.

  Seti caught sight of Besenmut and ordered his chariot through the crowd to the Ptah commander's side. "We have taken the field, Besenmut. The rebellion is crushed."

  Besenmut grinned tiredly. "Indeed, Divine One, yet the rebel leaders, Messuwy and Sethi, have not yet been captured."

  "They may be among the fallen. Have the men search them out."

  "I saw them flee, Divine One, as your chariot charge defeated their legion. They have fled south, no doubt seeking the safety of Kush."

  "No haven for them there," Seti said grimly. "I will pursue them until they are dead or captured."

  Besenmut nodded. "We must rest the men first, Son of Re."

  Seti nodded. "Half a day, no more. What of Waset? The city has surrendered?"

  "No, Son of Re. When the Kushites attacked, they relieved the pressure on the Amun legion beneath the walls. They slipped back inside the walls and shut the gates."

  "And their commander?"

  "Menkauhor? He died. Cut down in the fighting."

  "A pity. A clean death was too good for him. Have his body nailed to the gates of Waset. We will have to deal with the rebels inside the city, but not yet. Messuwy and Sethi are my main concern. Leave them alive and rebellion will form around them again."

  The Set and Ptah legions camped beside the river a little way above Waset and washed the grime and gore from their bodies, refreshing themselves with a hot meal and having their wounds tended. Physicians went round the more severely wounded and offered them the option of a swift death or the possibility of a lingering one, perhaps at the hands of the city rebels if they should venture out once the army had departed. Several opted to take the quick route to the afterlife.

  Losses among the men through death and severe injury were moderate, but by the time the Ptah auxiliaries were distributed among the various Troops, Seti had two legions at almost full strength. He led them south in pursuit of the rebels in the early afternoon, the men eager to get to grips with their enemy. They marched along the east bank of the river, following the plain trail that the retreating Kushites had left, fast scouting chariots spreading out in front of the army to search out units of the rebel army. Close on sunset, they came across a place near the river where the rebels had stopped to rest and cook a meal. Bodies of the wounded who had succumbed to their wounds lay around, and a few were still alive. When questioned, they revealed that the army had moved on not long before, on receiving information from their own scouts that Seti's legions were coming up quickly.

  "After them," Seti ordered. "We can deliver the killing blow if we move fast enough."

  Besenmut p
ointed at the setting sun, now low over the western cliffs. "It will be dark soon, Son of Re. We cannot fight in the dark."

  "Neither can they." The king would not listen to reason and insisted the men press onward. He sent out scouting chariots again and learned that the rearmost units of the Kushites were no more than a twelfth part of a day ahead, so close that a running man could reach them before the sun dipped below the horizon. The Set legion, with Ahmes in command, was ordered forward and every man, including the following Ptah men, was instructed to divest themselves of everything except their weapons and a single flask of water.

  "We are going to catch them and destroy them this day," Seti swore.

  A dozen chariots led the way, the king amongst them, and the Set legion followed at a run. The road led away from the river and wound into some low hills, where the shadows of the western cliffs soon overtook them. They raced on through the gathering gloom and, on cresting a low rise, spotted a unit of the Kushites moving slowly through a narrow defile only a few thousand paces ahead of them.

  Seti looked to the west and then at the shadows pooling in the narrow valley ahead of them. "Just enough time, I think," he said.

  "We should wait," Ahmes muttered. "There is not enough time to be sure of victory. What if the rest of the enemy is close by?"

  "Do you see them, Ahmes? I do not. Just a rear unit separated from the rest. We will take them today and follow up on the rest tomorrow." Seti waved his chariots onward and sent his own charging down the road toward the retreating enemy.

  A dozen chariots only, yet the noise of their approach echoed off the cliffs and must surely have been heard by the Kushites. They showed no sign that they knew of their pursuer's presence until they were almost upon them. A cry gave warning and the Kushite soldiers dived for the cover of roadside rocks and launched a volley of spears at the chariots without much effect. At the same time, though, a shower of arrows arced overhead from cover further up the hillsides, and men and horses died under the onslaught.