Conflict of Empires

by Sam Barone

  She considered that for a moment. “No. That can wait. Go.”

  With a deep bow, Sohrab scurried from the chamber. Kushanna grimaced and stepped onto the balcony. An Akkadian trader hung by his hands from the punishment post. She stared at him while she thought. Trella seemed confident enough of victory, to send such an insulting message. Of course, that was to be expected until Shulgi destroyed Eskkar’s army. Then Trella would send a different message – a message begging for her own life.

  Killing the brother now wouldn’t help, Kushanna decided. Alive, he might still be useful. Not that she expected Eskkar would ever show up at Sumer’s gates, but in war, as everyone said, anything could happen. No, she would wait to avenge the insult. That would make it even more pleasurable.

  But for now … she called out to one of the soldiers standing guard below. “Guard. Guard! Have the prisoner whipped until he’s dead.”

  “Yes, Queen Kushanna.” He trotted off to do her bidding.

  Soon the sounds of the man’s agony would fill the courtyard. That would be some small satisfaction, at least until she had Trella in her power.

  43

  Day 1

  Even as Razrek delivered his report to King Shulgi, Eskkar and his infantry splashed their way across the Sippar river. The invasion of Sumeria had begun. The Akkadians had marched south at a rapid pace, swinging wide of the post at Kanesh to avoid confrontation with the enemy. Eskkar’s men, despite struggling under the extra food and water they carried, had still managed to flank the Sumerian infantry with ease. A few hundred Sumerian horsemen had shadowed Eskkar’s forces, but they hadn’t come close, no doubt respecting the accuracy of the Akkadian bowmen, who now ringed the spearmen. If Shulgi had managed to get a few thousand of his men in position to block the Akkadian crossing, Eskkar would have had to fight his way through. Fortunately, that hadn’t happened.

  The Akkadian force had halted as soon as they crossed the stream. Eskkar gathered his commanders – Gatus, Alexar, Mitrac, Drakis, Shappa, Grond and Chinua – around him. Chinua of the Ur Nammu commanded the fifteen Ur Nammu warriors, the youngest and wildest of the barbarians who had decided to ride and fight with Eskkar’s army. Fashod had taken the rest of the Ur Nammu with Hathor.

  “As soon as the men have eaten and drunk their fill, call them to assembly. I want to talk to them. All of them. It’s time they knew what they faced.”

  “Might as well. It’s too late for any of them to run back to Akkad,” Gatus said, a grin on his face.

  As word spread that Eskkar wished to speak to them, the bowmen, spearmen, slingers, even the supply men and Ur Nammu warriors, crowded around their leader. Eskkar climbed to the top of a man-sized boulder, and waited until the soldiers had gathered around him, jammed together shoulder to shoulder and filling every space. At last they quieted down. More than four thousand men surrounded him, most of them still pushing and shoving, so they could get a step closer to better hear his words.

  For once Eskkar had no qualms about talking. These were soldiers after all, not traders or merchants who might hide their smiles at his way of speaking or his still-strong accent. He knew many of these soldiers, and all of them knew and trusted him.

  “Soldiers of Akkad, you’ve trained and marched for this day. Some of you have been cursing Gatus and myself for more than two years.”

  Eskkar waited until the ripple of laughter rose and fell. “Now all that hard work will be put to the test. Our enemy outnumbers us, but they can’t fight as well as you, and I know they can’t march as fast as you can. The Sumerians have drawn men from all the cities of the south, and even the outcast clans of the western desert. They have no love for each other, and no common cause to fight for. They fight only because King Shulgi commands them.”

  Such words came easily to him now. He knew what he wanted to say, and understood what they needed to hear.

  “We fight because we are all brothers, all Akkadians. Like myself, most of you were not born in Akkad, but by taking up our cause, we have all become Akkadians. We fight for our families, our homes, our future. Now we will march to Larsa, the first of the six cities of Sumer. We will take Larsa, and punish its leaders for raiding our lands. And its spoils will be ours.”

  A ragged cheer arose at the mention of spoils. Most of the soldiers owned little more than the clothes on their backs. They’d come to Akkad to better themselves, to leave the hardships of the farm and countryside behind, and most had joined the army to fill their bellies and earn a few copper coins each month. Few of them understood the life-or-death situation that Akkad and its leaders faced. A chance for the spoils of battle meant more to some of these soldiers than any cause. And if they had to kill a few Sumerians to get at them, then they would fight all the harder.

  Eskkar waited until the cheering had faded away. “The Sumerian infantry will try to follow us, but they’ll be too slow to keep pace. Their cavalry will try to hold us back, but our bowmen will keep them at bay. All you have to do now is march, march and march again, until your legs are too weary to keep you standing, until you’re cursing Gatus and me as you’ve never done before. Until we reach Larsa, we cannot – will not – waste a moment. Meanwhile, obey your commanders, stay together, and we will defeat the Sumerians.”

  Another cheer went up. In a single swift motion, Eskkar drew his sword and raised it over his head. A roar from over four thousand throats rose up at the gesture. He kept the blade pointed to the sky and filled his lungs with air. “March for Akkad! March for revenge! March for gold! Are you with me, Akkadians?”

  An even louder clamor echoed out over the river, startling birds and even the Sumerian horsemen observing them from across the stream. The pandemonium went on and on, as every man raised his sword, spear, bow or fist in the air. “Akkad! Akkad! Akkad!”

  The outcry continued, until the men’s voices grew hoarse.

  Eskkar lowered his sword, then pointed it toward the south-west, the direction that would lead them to Larsa. “Then march! Show these Sumerian scum that you’re not a bunch of old women. Commanders, get this pitiful excuse for an army moving!”

  More laughter swept through the men. They surged away from Eskkar, returning to their places, gathering up their supplies and weapons, jostling their way back into formation. Even before everyone was ready, Gatus gave the command to move out, and the invasion of Sumeria began in earnest.

  Gatus organized the column into three groups. The spearmen formed the core of the marching formation, with the supply men, builders, even Eskkar’s two clerks, directly behind them. Bowmen and slingers surrounded them on all sides. The archers would keep any enemy horsemen at a distance. Eskkar had only twenty horsemen with him, in addition to the dozen or so Ur Nammu warriors. These, supported by groups of slingers who acted as skirmishers, would scout the land and act as messengers if needed.

  The Sumerian cavalry – from what Eskkar had seen of them – didn’t possess many bows, and those who did carried the smaller kind meant for use on horseback. The Akkadian longbows had almost twice the reach. If the Sumerians charged his archers and tried to overrun them, the spearmen and slingers would be ready and waiting to deal with them. Those who survived the hail of arrows would find themselves impaled on a wall of spears.

  Gatus led the formation, riding his mare and wearing his battered reed hat. Grond and the other commanders had insisted Eskkar march with the spearmen, out of range of any arrow launched high into the air. He didn’t mind. It gave him a chance to talk to the men, and he moved up and down the ranks they traveled speaking to many, answering questions, or even listening to stories the soldiers told about other battles.

  They kept a fast pace, but the Akkadians halted often, taking short breaks that never seemed to last long enough to rest. The sacks each man carried gradually grew lighter, as the bread, cheese, and dates were consumed. Better to carry the food in your belly than on your shoulder.

  By mid-afternoon, the scouts galloped back to report. A large force of cavalry was c
oming up behind them, driving hard.

  “How many?”

  “Seven hundred, eight hundred, perhaps a thousand,” the scout replied, his eyes still wide with excitement.

  “Not enough to attack us,” Gatus said. He had one leg swung over the mare’s neck. “Probably reinforcements for Larsa.”

  Eskkar knew how hard it was to count moving horsemen, but the number seemed about right. “The rest will be at our heels soon enough. They’ll try to slow us down.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Alexar said. “Our bowmen have been waiting for a chance to test their weapons.”

  “Keep the men ready for anything, an attack, an ambush, anything.”

  Eskkar didn’t fear the horsemen. No horse that ever lived would charge a bristling line of spears, no matter how hard its rider urged it forward. Archers could be ridden down, if the enemy were willing to take the losses, but men armed with shields and spears were a different matter. If the Sumerian horse attacked the archers, they’d find themselves crushed by the spearmen. And even the Sumerians didn’t have enough cavalry to dare a true frontal attack. As long as Eskkar stayed away from Shulgi’s infantry, his force of Akkadians would be safe. At least, that was what he told himself several times each day.

  The Akkadian army kept moving. The tactics and marching orders used in months and years of training now proved their worth. The odd commands and alignments, which once had made the men shake their heads at their leaders’ apparent stupidity, now provided a safe zone for all his men. Almost none of the soldiers were aware that today’s formation had been planned months and years ago. Only Eskkar’s most trusted commanders knew the whole story.

  Darkness had fallen before Gatus gave the order to halt near a small stream that provided fresh water. Weary men dropped their sacks and shields, but there was no time yet for rest. The commanders marked out a square camp, with the slingers, archers, horses and supplies in the center, the spearmen surrounding them.

  After objections from Eskkar, Gatus had come up with the idea of the night camp. “The men need a place to sleep while on the march,” he declared. “If we provide a secure place each night, they’ll sleep better and march farther the next day. Or would you rather be attacked while you sleep and wake up with your throat slit?”

  Eskkar had thrown up his hands and given in. The idea of spearmen infantry belonged to Gatus. If having the men fortify a camp each night appeased the old soldier, Eskkar would go along. That night, Gatus and Eskkar walked the camp, inspecting the preparations. Only when Gatus declared himself satisfied with their preparations to repel any attack during the night did the men receive the command to rest.

  Fires were soon burning, but most of the soldiers ate a simple dry meal of bread and dates and whatever else they had to hand. Within moments, those not on guard duty were snoring away, loud enough to be heard back in Akkad. At least it seemed that way to Eskkar.

  He and his commanders sat huddled in the center of the camp, hunched over a cloth map spread out in the dirt. Trella’s agents had started mapping this entire area years ago. Now Eskkar could see the location of every stream, well and landmark between Kanesh and Larsa, with the route they were to take stitched out in red threads.

  “It took longer than we expected to reach this place, and we had no opposition. Tomorrow’s march will be even longer, and if Razrek’s horsemen attack …”

  “The men will be carrying less weight tomorrow,” Gatus said. “And we’ll start moving at first light. We’ll make up the time.”

  Eskkar decided there was no sense in arguing about it. Tomorrow’s march would tell the tale.

  Gatus leaned over and studied the map. “How far did we come today?”

  “About twenty-two miles,” Eskkar said, checking the map, though by now he had little need of it. He’d memorized it months ago. “Tomorrow we need to do twenty-four, almost twenty-five miles if we want to reach fresh water.”

  Even as Trella’s spies had mapped the land, they had also measured the distances. For two years a dozen men had mapped and paced off much of the land of Sumeria. Hopefully, no one in the southern lands had noticed any of this activity.

  Eskkar thought it quite remarkable to know in advance the exact distance one had to walk or ride to reach a destination, and even more remarkable to know approximately how long such a journey would take.

  “These spearmen are tough,” Gatus said. “They’ll make the march. They’ve done it often enough in training.”

  Once again, Eskkar kept silent. The men were carrying more weight now than they usually did in training. No one else answered Gatus’s comment, but every commander knew that training had ended, and that this was real war. And the spearmen had the most equipment to carry. An archer could travel fairly well carrying a bow, two quivers full of arrows, and a short sword. The slingers carried even less. But a spear and shield were both heavy and cumbersome to carry, and spearmen wore helmets of bronze as well, which were usually tied to a man’s waist as they walked. With all those items of warfare attached to his body, a spearman needed to press hard to keep up with the archers.

  “I’m going to get some sleep.” Gatus stood and stretched, ignoring the silence regarding tomorrow’s march. “I suggest you do the same.” He strode off to throw his body down on the ground beside his sub-commanders.

  “Well, we’ll know where we are tomorrow night,” Eskkar said. “Let’s hope Gatus is right. Meanwhile, make sure everyone gets some rest. We’re going to need all the sleep we can get.”

  44

  Uvela sat cross-legged on the ground, with only a thin blanket to soften the hard earth beneath her. To make herself more comfortable and catch a bit of shade from the midday sun, she leaned back against Akkad’s outer river wall. Before her lay a sun-bleached linen cloth, upon which rested an assortment of leather straps, necklaces, carved figures of Ishtar, as well as the other various spirits that brought luck or long life or fertility or strength to a man’s rod. Every so often an idle laborer or visitor from the surrounding farms would wander by, let his eyes glance over her wares, and move on.

  Few of Uvela’s wares would attract a second look. By custom, such a prime location close to the docks and the river gate should have been occupied by a reputable seller of more valuable goods. But though she managed to sell one or two items every few days, no one asked Uvela to give up her station. Not even the more aggressive merchants, eager for additional selling space bothered to complain about her presence.

  Uvela’s station included the younger woman who sat beside her, tending the small cooking fire burning in a thick clay pot. A battered bronze kettle full of stew hung suspended over the low flames. Occasionally, a boatman or even one of Akkad’s dockside guards would offer a copper coin for the kettle’s contents, a more than fair price for such basic fare. Both mother and daughter were known to the city’s guards, who made sure that no ignorant farmer or foolish vendor disturbed their places, trinkets or even themselves.

  From where Uvela sat she could see everyone entering Akkad through the river gate. For more than two years she’d watched an assortment of people step on or off the docks, coming and going, and by now she could read their faces almost as well as Lady Trella.

  Most strangers entering the city for the first time looked about them in awe, impressed by the high walls, surprised by the size of the docks, overwhelmed by the dozens of craftsmen selling everything conceivable. Gangs of laborers from the market loaded or unloaded the steady stream of boats, adding to the confusion. Gawking newcomers – their mouths open and clutching most of their few worldly goods – would walk slowly into the city, jostled about by those whose regular business brought them in and out of the gate, usually at a hurried pace.

  Some people, their eyes downcast, arrived wearied or troubled by some anguish or misfortune that brought them to Akkad. These usually wore ragged clothes and carried all their possessions in a simple sack slung around their necks. Uvela could guess their stories, how bandits or Sumerians h
ad ventured across the border to harass and plunder those weaker than themselves. With their homes destroyed and their crops burned, these desperate folk hungered for a new life in Akkad. Since the outbreak of war with Sumer, their numbers had swelled, as everyone sought the safety of the city’s high walls.

  After years of such observation, Uvela knew families could usually be ignored, as could the very young and very old. That left only a few who caught her eye, but when someone did, she stared at them carefully. None of them ever noticed her gaze. With her lank gray hair practically covering her face, her eyes could scarcely be seen. If they did happen to gaze at her, they saw only an insignificant old woman, whose patched and faded shift hung loosely over her thin shoulders, and marked her status as one of those who often needed to beg for food to supplement their meager earnings.

  Now two men walking off the docks and toward the gate attracted Uvela’s attention. Their poor clothing couldn’t conceal the strong muscles that lay beneath the worn garments. They strode up the slight incline with ease, despite each carrying a heavy sack almost as large as the ones used by a merchant’s porters as they transported goods from city to city.

  The new arrivals gave the city’s walls the briefest of glances, then moved forward, letting the crowd carry them through the wide open double gate only a few paces away from where Uvela sat.

  “Have you see those two before?” Uvela rose to her feet as she spoke, determined to have a second look.

  Her daughter, sitting beside her, didn’t raise her head or her voice. She, too, knew how to use her eyes. “Never.”

  “I’ll follow them.” Uvela pulled a scarf from a pocket in her dress, and swept it over her head and across her neck. The gray hair vanished in an instant. Meanwhile, her daughter removed her own hat, a large reed affair that would cover both head and scarf if need be, and handed it to her mother.