The Chronicles of Amon book 2 The Sea of Marmara

  Chapter 14.

  Word had been passed to the ten tribes. All was in readiness.

  Kushkamin paced confidently back and forth before his army. To the rear the mounted regiments stirred restlessly, anxious to advance. In the front, rank upon rank of infantry stood at rigid attention. Sweat rolled down their faces as the sun baked their helmets.

  “A good day for a battle.” Hakim rode up and jumped down from his mount. His stiff leather body armor slapped his thighs as he strode up to Kushkamin. The two men squared and faced each other.

  “The armies of Khabir and Asad stand ready on the east flank. You have but to give the command and they will advance toward the city.”

  “Good! Excellent! Are your commanders clear on the tactics?”

  “Yes. They will feign a charge, drawing Pharaoh’s forces out. They will then retreat after a short engagement, drawing the enemy into our trap. “There are four tribes of Kushites hidden well to the south. When we have drawn out the enemy, spreading them thin in pursuit of our forces, the Kushites will advance and launch their attack.

  “They are all excellent bowmen who will quickly decimate Pharaoh’s mounted divisions. Khabir and Asad will then wheel to the west, and then north to join your forces, while the Kushites close on what remains of Pharaoh’s infantry.”

  Kushkamin laughed out loud, elated at finally being able to execute the plan he and the other tribal leaders had concocted and refined for so many months. The last minute addition of the Kushites, his distant relatives, had done much to swell his confidence.

  “We almost really DO have a horde!” He bellowed in excitement. “My eight tribes will sweep through the city like a storm in the winter! Khufu’s puny elite guard will be as nothing before our advance. Who knows! It may be so easy that your flanking units will not be needed.”

  Hakim smiled, feigning agreement. What Kushkamin didn’t know was that as soon as Pharaoh’s mounted forces had been defeated, the tribes of Khabir and Asad would wheel around and execute a full-on charge into Kushkamin’s right flank, effectively forcing them westward. In the mean time another force of Kushites, hidden in the western-most reaches of the Nubian stronghold, would advance on the left flank, further pressuring Kushkamin’s army.

  To the rear, the Kushite archers would launch salvos into the rear of the army, obliterating the mounted forces, effectively surrounding the army on three sides, squeezing it forward.

  Pharaoh’s infantry would not be deployed as Kushkamin had been led to believe. Instead it would be waiting, hidden in the central part of the city, per Shehat’s instructions. It was instructed to hold it’s ground until the last minute, then to advance as a phalanx, creating an anvil upon which the remnants of Kushkamin’s army would be pulverized.