Desert God

by Smith, Wilbur

  As soon as each vehicle was safely across the drivers remounted and then trotted over the springy turf to the edge of the forest. Here they dismounted again and reversed the chariot into the cover of the thick undergrowth. Then they went back into the forest to cut leafy branches, which they dragged forward to build a screen in front of the line of chariots. I walked back with Hui to the edge of the road, and we made certain that the chariots were completely hidden.

  While all this was taking place Zaras arrived at the road with his archers. In addition to the powerful recurved bow each of them carried, every man had a hank of spare bowstrings draped around his neck and three leather quivers packed with arrows slung over his shoulders, fifty arrows for each man.

  I gave them all a few minutes to catch their breath while I pointed out to Zaras where I wanted him to position himself on the far side of the ford. Then I sent them away again, and watched from the high bank as they waded across the stream two hundred yards below the ford.

  As each of them reached the far bank they smeared their faces and the backs of their hands with black river mud, before they climbed the far bank. Zaras and Akemi, his trusted lieutenant, were the last two men up the slope, making certain that they had left no sign to alert the Hyksos to their presence.

  Once they reached the level ground above the gorge Zaras concealed his men in the dense forest that bordered the road, placing them at intervals of twenty paces down each side of the track. They were hidden even from close range by the dense foliage and their masks of black mud. The Hyksos column would have to pass between these double ranks of deadly skilled archers.

  When Zaras’ men had taken up their ambush positions I hurried back towards the edge of the forest where my line of chariots waited in ambush.

  Once I was satisfied that they were completely hidden, I selected a tall tree which grew close behind where my own chariot stood. Without much difficulty I climbed to its upper branches. From this vantage point I had a good view of the road on both sides of the ford. I was pleased that even from this height I could not make out any trace of Zaras’ men on the far side of the river.

  I was at last satisfied with our preparations to receive the Hyksos raiders, and I looked out to sea only to find that my flotilla of warships had also completely disappeared behind the rocky promontory to the north of the river mouth. The sea was empty and the forest around me was still and silent, not disturbed by even the rustle of a wild animal or the call of a bird.

  I waited on my branch until I judged by the changing height and angle of the sun that another hour had passed as slowly as a cripple without his crutches. Then at the limit of my field of vision I picked out a pale smear of dust rising above the forest far beyond where Zaras waited with his archers.

  This cloud of dust gradually drew closer and became more substantial. Suddenly at the base of the cloud I saw a flash of reflected sunlight off a polished metal surface, a helmet or perhaps the blade of a weapon.

  Shortly after this I saw the first pair of chariots appear around the distant bend in the road. There was no doubt that they were Hyksos. The high and ungainly design of the carriage and the clumsy wheels with the gleaming knives set into the rims were all distinctive.

  The Hyksos column entered that section of the road along which Zaras waited with his archers. When the head of the column reached the bank of the ford the Hyksos officer in the leading chariot raised his gloved fist to signal the squadron coming up behind him to halt.

  Then the commander very carefully studied the ford below him and the ground on our side of the river. Even from this distance I could tell that he was a fop. His cloak was dyed a vivid Tyrian blue. Three or four sparkling necklaces hung at his throat. His helmet was of polished bronze, with hinged silver cheek-pieces that were cunningly engraved, and I coveted it.

  Satisfied at last that there was nothing untoward waiting for him, the Hyksos officer jumped down from his vehicle and ran down the rocky track to reach the river at the bottom of it. He did not hesitate but with three of his men following him he plunged into the water and waded across to the opposite bank. Satisfied that it was fordable, he turned and climbed back to where he had left his chariot. He mounted up, and with shouts of encouragement to his horses he steered them down the bank.

  His horses balked on the verge of the river, but he cracked his whip over their heads and reluctantly they edged forward until the water lapped their bellies. Then suddenly the offside wheel struck a submerged rock and the chariot was thrown over on its side. The horses in the traces were dragged down on to their knees and pinned there by the weight of the capsized vehicle and the pressure of the running water. The driver and his two crewmen were flung overboard and pulled under by the weight of their armour and accoutrements.

  Immediately the men in the following vehicles jumped down and waded out to the floundering men and horses. With a hubbub of shouted orders and counter-orders they pulled the men to the surface before they drowned, and then they lifted the chariot back on to its wheels. Once the horses had regained their footing they heaved the vehicle out of the water and up the steep bank on to level ground directly in front of where our own chariots were hidden.

  Cautiously the other enemy drivers steered their chariots down the bank into the ford, where the waiting gang shoved and manhandled them across the river. From my perch I had a fine view of the column of enemy chariots backed up behind the ford, waiting their turn to make the crossing. I was able to keep an accurate count of their total number, and I put this at no more than 160 as opposed to the two hundred chariots that Aton had warned me to expect. I knew that the shortfall could be explained by the losses that the Hyksos must have suffered on the long hard drive that they had made up from northern Egypt over the past sixteen days. The design of their vehicles rendered them susceptible to broken axles and shattered wheel rims. There was also the attrition of their horses caused by the long hours of hard driving over torturous terrain and rough roads.

  As each chariot made the crossing of the ford and came up the bank to park on the level on this side of the river, the crews hobbled the horses and then turned them loose to graze. Then the men either threw themselves down on the grass to rest and sleep, or they gathered around hastily lit cooking fires to prepare themselves a hot meal.

  I was surprised but pleased that their commander allowed such sloppy behaviour and relaxed discipline to prevail while they were in unknown and potentially hostile territory. He posted no sentries or lookouts, and sent no scouts to reconnoitre the road ahead. He even allowed his men to set aside their heavy armour and weapons while they relaxed. Most of them seemed close to exhaustion; and none of them approached the perimeter of the forest in which our chariots were hidden. Even those of them who were forced to answer the call of nature did not wander off too far from their comrades to do their business. Here in this strange and foreign land the Hyksos troops instinctively kept close together for mutual protection.

  On the far side of the river the congestion of men, chariots and horses on the road through the forest was gradually relieved. I was counting the chariots as they arrived on this bank. I was anticipating the moment when the enemy had been split into two equal groups and all of them had been completely lulled by the absence of any apparent threat. As the moment drew closer I took the bright yellow silk scarf from my pocket, where I had concealed it, and I unrolled it.

  The Hyksos commander in the blue cloak and conspicuous helmet was still standing on the bank above the ford supervising the crossing of his troops. However, I could still see nothing of Zaras or any of his men, although I knew precisely where every one of them was hidden. When he had seen me climb into the tree, Zaras had given me a cheery wave before settling down in his own hide.

  The next Hyksos chariot climbed the track out of the river gorge, with the horses lunging against the traces and the men behind it heaving and straining. This was number eighty-five of those who had so far made the river crossing. The Hyksos force was now in the cri
tical position of being divided into two almost equal halves; neither of which was in a position to offer support to the other.

  In my tome on the art of war I have written: An enemy riven is an enemy driven. This was an opportunity to demonstrate the wisdom of my own teachings.

  I stood up slowly, balancing easily on the branch of my tree. I waved the bright yellow scarf three times around my head. Across the river I saw Zaras come to his feet immediately. He raised his clenched fist in my direction, acknowledging my signal. In his other hand he held his war bow, with an arrow nocked and ready.

  I waited just long enough to watch the thick undergrowth on both sides of the road come alive with Zaras’ men as they rose from cover. As one man they lifted their bows, poised for the order to release their first volley.

  Zaras was first to let his arrow fly. It rose high against the backdrop of the distant blue mountains. I knew which target he had chosen even before his arrow began the drop. The Hyksos commander was still standing on the bank with his back turned to Zaras. He was thrown forward by the heavy strike of the arrow, and he tumbled down the steep bank out of my line of sight.

  Zaras already had three more arrows in flight. He is very quick; every bit as fast as I am. His men followed his lead and their missiles rose like a quick dark cloud of locusts and then dropped upon the line of stranded Hyksos chariots strung out along the road between the two companies of bowmen.

  In the heat most of the Hyksos charioteers had removed their helmets and body armour. Their horses were protected only by the thick felt battle blankets that covered their backs but left their withers and rumps exposed. I could clearly hear the soft ‘Whump! Whump!’ sound of flint arrowheads striking living flesh, and driving deep.

  This was followed immediately by the cries of wounded men and the shrill whinnying of their horses as they also were struck. Pandemonium raged through the closely crowded ranks of our enemies.

  Panicking horses reared in their traces and hacked at the men who were trying to lead them with their fore-hooves. Those animals that were struck in the hindquarters lashed out in pain with their back legs, smashing in the bows of the vehicle they were towing and throwing the occupants overboard.

  As soon as the drivers lost control of their pain-maddened horses they tried to bolt, but there was no space in which they could manoeuvre. They merely crashed into the chariot which blocked the road ahead of them, and shunted that vehicle into the one ahead of it. Swiftly it developed into a chain reaction that overturned some chariots, tore the wheels off others, maimed horses and drivers and eventually caught those chariots in the front ranks and hurled them down the steep gorge into the river.

  Horses, chariots and men slid and rolled down the incline on top of the men and chariots that were already waist deep in the ford, struggling to get across to the far bank. This mass of maddened animals and men, together with the wreckage of their chariots, effectively blocked the ford. There was no escape in that direction.

  Each of Zaras’ archers carried fifty arrows and at that close range very few of them missed. I saw one man thrown headlong from the footplate of his chariot who managed miraculously to keep on his feet without being trampled or shredded by the wheel knives. He started to run to get clear of the turmoil, but then he stopped abruptly after only a few strides as three arrows pegged simultaneously into his naked back. The razor-sharp flint heads protruded abruptly from his hairy chest. Elegantly as a dancer, he spun in a pirouette before he collapsed and was sucked from my view into this maelstrom of death.

  On my side of the river the Hyksos charioteers who had already managed to cross the ford jumped up from where they were lying in the grass or sitting beside their cooking fires. They stared back in helpless horror at the slaughter of their comrades on the far bank.

  I watched no longer, but slid down the trunk of my tree and darted to my chariot. One of my team leaned down and grabbed my arm to swing me up into the cockpit. As I gathered up the reins I gave the order, ‘Cohort will advance. Walk! Trot! Charge!’ My cry was taken up along the line.

  In extended line abreast my chariots burst out of the forest at full gallop. Hui and I were in the centre, running wheel to wheel. On both sides of us the squadrons were angled back in arrowhead formation.

  Ahead of us most of the Hyksos who had been scattered over the open ground had run back to the bank of the river. Now they crowded there, staring down in helpless horror at the fate that had overtaken their comrades in the ford below them and on the crowded forest road, which was still being flailed by Zaras’ arrow storm.

  None of the Hyksos chariots on this bank of the river were manned. There were no horses in the traces to draw them. The knee-haltered animals that had been turned loose were scattered across the open grassland. Most of the enemy drivers turned back from the river, and raced after their animals in a futile attempt to recapture them. The horses were startled by the sudden uproar and confusion and they ran wild. Even their leg hobbles could only slow them to the speed of a running man.

  I threw my head back and shouted with laughter to relieve my fear and express my jubilation. Even above the rumble of the wheels and the thunder of hooves on the hard ground I heard Hui echo my laughter. We came down upon them in a solid phalanx, running wheel to wheel with no spaces between us through which any of the Hyksos might escape. Yet still they seemed oblivious to our charge. Most of them were not even looking in our direction. Only those who had given up the race to catch their own teams now stood mesmerized with terror and stared back at us dumbly. They knew that they could not out-run our charge. Our bows were raised, and our arrows were nocked.

  When we were less than seventy paces from the nearest of them I shouted the order to let our arrows fly. Even from a racing chariot most of my lads could hit a running man from fifty paces. Most of the fugitives went down before they could reach their vehicles.

  I saw only one of them who was able to make it back to where he had parked his chariot. He seized his bow from the weapons bin and a handful of arrows from the quiver. Then he turned back to face us. He was a huge hairy beast of a man, strong and maddened with rage like a wild boar standing at bay before the hounds. He raised his bow and got a single arrow away before our arrows began to strike him. His shaft struck the driver of the chariot three down the line from mine. He was one of Lord Kratas’ sons. He was a fine lad; brave as his father and fifty times more beautiful. He was one of my favourites, and the arrow killed him instantly.

  I shot three arrows into the Hyksos brute before he could nock another of this own. Then every second archer in our line was shooting at him, until he bristled with our arrows like a porcupine with quills. But he stayed on his feet and shot one back at me. It struck high on the forehead of my helmet, and glanced away humming, but the shock almost threw me out of the vehicle.

  I never suggested that the Hyksos are cowards. In the end it took seventeen arrows to kill this one. Five of them were mine. I counted them later.

  After that it was butchery. I am not averse to a little butchery when the opportunity presents itself, especially in circumstances such as these. However, slave-taking is considerably more lucrative than butchery, so I was the first to call to the fleeing Hyksos in their own language, ‘Yield, you whining dogs of Gorrab, or die!’

  ‘Yield or die!’ The call was taken up along our line of charging chariots: ‘Yield or die!’

  Most of the fleeing Hyksos dropped to their knees at my first command and lifted up their empty hands in surrender, but a few of them kept running until my chariot line opened and spread out to encircle them. Then they came up short and panting with exertion and terror. They looked around at the drawn bows which were aimed at them from every direction, and then their terror turned to resignation and one after another they fell to earth with cries of: ‘Mercy, in the name of all the gods! Spare us, great Lord Taita. We meant you no harm.’ The good god Horus will attest that I am by no means a glory-seeker. However, I am honest enough to admit that I was
pleased and flattered to be recognized on the battlefield by my own enemies.

  ‘Put the ropes on these little heroes,’ I ordered Hui. ‘Sweep the field and bring in all their horses. Allow none of them to escape.’

  I put my own horses into a tight half-circle and drove them back to the lip of the gorge above the river crossing. I reined in on the crest, and looked down on the carnage that choked the ford and the road beyond it.

  Here also the fighting was over and Zaras’ men were taking in their prisoners and gathering the loot. I could see at a quick glance that their casualties had been similar to ours on this side of the river: only light to minimal. I was pleased that Zaras was unhurt and was supervising the work of taking in the prisoners and rounding up the Hyksos horses. These animals were every bit as valuable as the men.

  Zaras looked up suddenly and saw me standing on the top of the bank above him. He saluted me and then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted across the gorge, ‘More power to your sword, Lord Taita! Another good day’s hunting, indeed. I shall soon be able to afford a wife.’

  It was a silly little joke. I had already made Zaras a wealthy man with his share of the bounty we had captured at the Tamiat fort. And his quip about taking a wife was not very subtle. Nevertheless I raised a smile and gave him a wave before I turned away.

  I sent a horseman out on to the headland behind which the flotilla was hidden with orders to fly the blue recall flag.

  By now my jubilation was swiftly evaporating, for the worst part of the day lay ahead of me. I had to deal with the Hyksos horses, many of which were injured. I have always had a deep affection for these animals. I was the first man in Egypt to break and tame one of these marvellous beasts, which only made my duty towards them now more onerous.

  Riding ten of the unwounded horses bareback my grooms and I rounded up those surviving horses which were still able to stand. Swiftly I separated out those animals that were unhurt or only lightly wounded and these I sent northwards along the coastal road back to Sidon, with my grooms to herd them along. These were trained chariot animals and therefore particularly valuable.