by Max Overton
The Kushites were too spread out to achieve much, failing to pierce the northern line, and gradually the northerners achieved the ascendancy, piercing the black line of attackers and driving the rest back. Qenna dispatched another man, scarcely more than a boy, and drew back a few paces, panting as he sought to make sense of the battle. Around him his blood-spattered companions fought on, though many now littered the sand, and he knew they had achieved all they could hope for. He gave the second signal, and his men streamed back toward the slope, drawing the undisciplined elements of the northern army after them.
Qenna looked to the south, hoping that General Sethi was making the most of the opportunity, but could see nothing. Only a low swell as of thunder came to his ears and he hoped it was the sound of thousands of feet stamping the ground as they charged the enemy. The supposed attack of the main Kushite army did not lessen the pressure on his own men though, and as they retreated to the lip of the slope, the treacherous nature of the ground betrayed them. Losing their balance, their guard dropped, allowing the enemy spears and axes to find their mark. Many Kushite warriors died as their feet slipped in the loose rock and their deaths caused their companions to lose heart. Suddenly, his whole force was in precipitate retreat, pouring down the slope into the low scrub beneath.
With cries of triumph, the northern soldiers threw spears after the fleeing Kushites, killing many more and then archers ran up and picked off stragglers as they ran and hid amongst the scrub or took to the water to escape. Blood brought crocodiles and before long the river was threshed into bloody foam as the scaly beasts exacted a terrible toll.
Qenna and a few hundred survivors fled back south through ruined Akhet-aten, pursued by units of the Heru legion. They could hear the sounds of fighting as it drifted down the high cliffs and knew that somewhere to the east the main Kushite army was attacking. Qenna hoped that the sacrifice of his men had provided enough of an advantage to turn the tide of the battle.
The men of the Heru legion closed with Qenna's men in the rubble-strewn streets of the Heretic's City, cutting down some and engaging others in hand-to-hand combat. Fewer now reached the steep paths past the tombs and made it to the tops of the cliffs, where they found the whole desert plain swarming with a mass of soldiers fighting individual battles with an opponent. There was little order to the fighting, and as one man dispatched another, one more took his place. Dying men lay groaning or screaming in the hot rock and sand, while dead men impeded the movement of the living. Back and forth the mass of men swayed, first heaving their way north and then driven south again before recovering and falling back once more.
Qenna made his way through the throng to where Menmire Amenmesse fought alongside General Sethi, their personal banners flying proudly above them. Whole units of the northern army pressed them hard and swarms of warriors defended their king. The deputy fought his way to Sethi's side.
"My lord General, we were driven back."
"So it seems," Sethi retorted, stabbing a man with his short spear. He was spattered with blood and panted with the effort. "I saw you pull back and flee the enemy."
Qenna wrested an axe from a soldier and split the man's skull open before answering. "There were too many, sir. Did we draw enough men away from the main body?"
"Nowhere near enough."
"Then the attack has failed?"
"Not yet." Sethi waved his men forward and Amenmesse in his chariot urged his horses forward, the Kushites gathering their strength to forge forward again. On the uneven ground of the battle plain, the southern warriors, used to fighting individual battles, gained the upper hand and pushed the northern legions back despite their numerical superiority. The forward movement gained pace as the legions retreated, unable to fight as effectively in retreat as when they were advancing.
"Keep together," Sethi yelled to the men. "Keep your men in their units," he shouted at his Kushite commanders.
Amenmesse and the handful of chariots he possessed smashed their way through scattered units of Set, Ptah and Heru, but were unable to break troops under determined leaders when they kept their men under control. Still the northern army retreated, and the Kushites raised a great shout of victory, pouring out of the broken ground onto the great flat plain that lay beyond. The king exulted, and waved his men onward.
"We have beaten them," Amenmesse cried. "Kill them all, and bring me my brother. Gold and land, riches beyond counting for the man who brings me my brother's head."
Sethi grimaced as he saw the Kushite army obey their king and spread out like a flood, chasing legions that had now clumped together again. The enemy no longer retreated but stood and waited for the mob of southerners to lose all cohesion. He pointed to the north and yelled to signallers to sound the rams' horns.
"It's a trap," he shouted. "Pull back; form into your units."
The rams' horns sounded, but were drowned by the nearby victory cries of the Kushites and by a gathering thunder that shook the ground. Sethi fell silent and stared across the plain, beyond the seething mob that his army had become, and saw the massed chariot formations of the legions racing toward them. A hundred chariots...two...as many as five hundred chariots, plumes on the horses' heads dancing, charioteers urging their beasts onward and archers standing poised in each one.
The chariots slashed across the open ground and smashed into the Kushites who had seen the danger and turned to flee, stumbling and impeding their companions close behind. The plain became a jumble of plunging horses, flashing metal and black bodies, volleys of arrows dealing death, wheels crushing, stained clubs and bright blades throwing sprays of blood into the air. Shouts turned to screams as the Kushite army disintegrated, hurling themselves away, and running, streaming back past Sethi who vainly exhorted them to stand and fight. Amenmesse stood ashen-faced in his chariot nearby, watching as his hopes of victory soaked away like water on sand. Then he turned his chariot to the south and whipped it into motion, fleeing along with his men.
Sethi cursed his king and, gathering a handful of faithful men about him, set off across the tide of men toward the fastness of the eastern desert. Here, in the jumble of rocks and drifts of sand, they could outpace the enemy chariots and fight their way through the enemy soldiers that followed in their wake. They made it to a maze of intersecting gullies and hid until the day ended, nursing their wounds. As the sun set beneath the western desert, Sethi climbed to the highest point and looked to the east and south in the fading light. Dust rose to the dusky heavens and he could just make out the mass of men that comprised his army, still running and hear, faint in the distance, the clash of metal and cries of anguish as his men died. He raised his fists to the sky.
"May the gods curse you, Menmire Amenmesse. You have lost me my army."
Chapter 40
Userkheperure Seti speaks:
Once more I am Lord of the Two Lands, King of Ta Mehu and Ta Shemau, Master of all the lands between Amurru and the southern wildernesses of Kush.
All right, perhaps that is a slight exaggeration because my half-brother Messuwy, he who called himself Menmire Amenmesse, is still alive. He has taken refuge within the walled city of Waset and has closed the gates against my victorious army, but he has nothing left except surrender. I shall enjoy seeing him grovel before me in chains before I pass sentence on him and remove him entirely from the memory and knowledge of the Land of Kemet.
I have called for the rulers of Waset, the lords and the principal citizens to appear before me to hear my words and I believe they will come, for I have promised them safe passage. They will come for no other reason than to see if there is any way out of the disaster that has befallen them. Their choices are limited, they must appease me or suffer utter destruction. While I wait for them to come, I will tell you how I arrived at this position of power, though it is hardly surprising that the rightful king should prevail. The gods of Kemet were on my side after all.
I amassed a huge army, drawing off even the legion that guarded the northern borders,
and drove them southward, the five legions of Set, Ptah, Heru, Re and Per-Bast. To these I added men conscripted from the towns and villages of Ta Mehu, men who counted it an honour to fight for their king, and formed five more temporary legions. They were named for Sopdu, Shu, Wadjet, Sobek and Sekhmet, and bravely did their banners fly beside those of my battle-toughened soldiers. I did not have enough weapons with which to arm them, so many of them wielded simple mattocks or fire-hardened sticks. It was enough, for they bolstered the proper legions and gave the impression that our strength was greater than it was.
One thing we had a lot of was chariots. Horses grazed in the pastures of Ta Mehu, and the weapons shops of the north fashioned many chariots in the month it took to assemble the army. I marched south with nearly five hundred chariots and three thousand horses, stripping the countryside of fodder as we went. We met the enemy a little north of Akhet-aten and when I first saw the southern horde, even I had my doubts. The armies were of equal size but the way they swarmed over the ground made them look as if a sandstorm was rushing toward us; a host of locusts stripping the land bare of sustenance.
Then my spies reported and I felt better. We outnumbered them, but the coming battle would not be straightforward. Our strengths were our chariots and our discipline, while theirs was the ferocity of their warriors. To be sure of victory, I would have to force them to fight on our terms. There was a perfect chariot plain, but the Kushites halted before they got there and camped. They refused to be drawn out, so we went to meet them on broken ground where the fighting would be man to man.
Messuwy, or his dog Sethi, I could not be sure who commanded the horde, feinted to the east. I countered by sending two of the untrained legions, Wadjet and Shu, to mark them, but gave them the banners of the Re and Per-Bast legions so the enemy would think I was dividing my trained army. Then the Kushites feinted to the west, along the river, assaulting the Heru legion from the side, and as they did so, charged my army as they advanced over the broken ground.
Here the Kushites displayed their strength and many men died beneath the stabbing spears and clubs of those fierce southern warriors. For a time, they must have thought they could win, but I had not yet displayed our own strengths. First, my wonderful trained legions showed their discipline, streaming back as if the battle was lost, enticing the mob of Kushites to follow them onto the hard flat plain. When most had followed, the legions turned to fight once more and between the serried ranks thundered the massed chariots of our other strength. We broke the back of Messuwy's army that day and harried them for ten days as they fled south. Some reached Waset and hid within its walls, and some surrendered, throwing themselves on my mercy, but most of those who lived threw away their spears and clubs and continued running south, disappearing at last into the wildernesses of Kush.
I gave those who surrendered a choice, die loyal to Messuwy or swear allegiance to my throne. Most changed sides and I dispersed them through my existing legions, instructing that they be trained up as proper soldiers. I gave a private warning to my commanders that at the slightest sign of treason they should instantly be put to death.
And so I came to ancient Waset, Amun's City, and encamped outside its walls. The army ringed the city and boats packed with soldiers invaded the dock areas. The defenders broke down houses and piled timbers and rocks as a bulwark against my men, so they could go no further. My commanders asked for permission to force the issue, but I did not want to turn the streets into a slaughterhouse. I meant to bring the city under my just rule and to that end I wanted to first give them the choice of acceding to my demands.
The gates opened and a procession wound its way out toward my tent, men of the city, elders, nobles, officials. The fear on their faces was apparent as they walked between the silent ranks of my legions, despite the assurances of safe conduct I had given, and when at last they entered into my presence, their limbs trembled and they knelt before me, arms outstretched in supplication. I stared at them for a time, letting their fear sweat trickle down their bodies and stain their clothing. Then I bade them rise and state their desires. One of them, a Fan-bearer and Troop Commander of the Amun legion, bowed respectfully and spoke up, offering all the titles due to me.
"Divine Father, Great One, Lord of the Two Lands, Lord of Appearances, Mighty Bull, Son of Re, Userkheperure Seti, we, the people of Waset greet you and humbly ask your intentions as regards the city and its people."
"Who are you to ask this of me?" I demanded. "I am King of Kemet, Lord of the Two Lands, and Waset is mine to do with as I wish. I am not accountable to you or any man."
"Majesty," he said, bowing once more. "No man can question you or your actions, but rather we ask what you would have us do."
"That is simple," I replied. "Let my brother Messuwy, who styles himself Menmire Amenmesse, come out of the city and kneel before me, begging my mercy. Also, let the man who styles himself the General of Armies, Sethi, do likewise, and with him the man who purports to be the Hem-netjer of Amun, Roma-Rui. Let them both abase themselves before me. Then you shall throw open the gates of Waset and let my army clean out the dross and refuse that pollutes Amun's Holy City, namely, the misguided and traitorous supporters of my brother's regime."
"Son of Re, we can ask these men to kneel before you, but it is not in our power to force them."
"Then why are you here?"
"Son of Re, we seek only to know your mind so we may obey you in all things that are within our power."
"Then carry my words to the city and tell them that they have three days to accede to my wishes. If the men I have named are not kneeling before me by sunset on the third day, I will unleash my army and destroy every man, woman and child in the city. I have spoken. Let it be so recorded."
They left my presence and entered Waset once more, the gates closing behind them. For three days there was no sign, and then a herald came out, fear written large on his face, and he was led trembling into my presence. He abased himself and spoke, his voice shaking with fear.
"My lord Userkheperure Seti, I bring you the word of my royal master Menmire Amenmesse, Lord of Waset and Protector of Ta Shemau. He bids you take your men and depart from his lands, returning to your northern kingdom. My lord Menmire bids me tell you that his General Sethi is even now gathering an even larger army and if you are still here when he comes, he will exact bloody retribution for your crimes."
My commanders and advisers cried out in horror at the insult to me in this message and called on me to impale the herald before razing the city to the ground, but I told them that I would honour the man's office and send him back unharmed.
"As for your master," I told the herald, "tell him that I will wait here eagerly for Sethi's arrival and publicly impale him when he arrives. As for the city, I shall not spill the loyal blood of my men in taking it, but will wrap the city up so tight that no scrap of food or drop of water shall enter it. When the people are so afflicted with hunger that they remember who is truly Lord of the Two Lands, they may deliver Messuwy into my hands and beg my forgiveness. Then I will let them live once more."
And so it was. My men surrounded the city and allowed not so much as a dove or a rat to enter, and killed every man who tried to leave. Within days, the lack of food started to have an effect and though they dug wells to obtain water, their strength started to give out. It will only be a matter of time before the desperate citizens of Waset rise up and oust my brother from his pretend throne.
Chapter 41
Year 5 of Userkheperure Seti
Year 4 of Menmire Amenmesse
The flood came and the level of the water rose until it lapped at the fallen stone and timber that blocked the entry of Seti's soldiers above the docks. Water seeped into the lower city, and people drank from the stagnant pools and fell sick, adding to their woes. Then the water receded and thirst took hold again as the water in the wells fell away too. Hunger was ever-present, but the city had never looked so clean, or so empty. The streets were often deserted as
people stayed home rather than waste energy searching for food or fuel, and only gangs of children still roamed, looking for rats, small birds or insects. Cattle, horses, donkeys and goats had long disappeared, dogs following shortly after. Cats lasted a little longer as they had a religious aspect that protected them until hunger pains grew too insistent.
People lived...and died, and now rumours swept the city that the embalmers were no longer preparing whole corpses for burial. Stories spread of cannibalism. Young children were abducted from their homes, and several times a man would be beaten to death for being seen in the company of a boy or girl. Medjay would intervene, but half-heartedly, and were often content just to look the other way as every death meant one less mouth to feed.
The palace suffered too, but to a lesser extent as Amenmesse and his adherents still possessed wealth. In the early days of the blockade, food could still be bought for gold or jewels, or given up in return for future favours. As famine bit deep, however, prices rose beyond the means of the common people and rioting broke out. Mobs would storm a warehouse, or the silo of a grain factor, and once even the royal stables, and the populace would be beaten back by men of the Amun legion. Amenmesse took control of the remaining food supplies and had it doled out to his remaining friends and to the men who still guarded him, though there were few of those left. In the absence of Sethi and Khaemter, his main supporters were the Hem-netjer of Amun, Roma-Rui and the most recent commander of the Amun legion, Samut.