The king said, “My main goal was to destroy the enemy's chariots while preserving a large force of our own chariots that could maintain permanent domination on the field, as the Herdsmen did in their attack on Thebes. But now I fear that both our forces will be destroyed and we shall be exposed to a long-term war that will leave no city unspared.”
The king asked to review the latest count of the losses, which an officer brought. The Egyptian chariot battalion had lost two-thirds of its force of men and vehicles.
Ahmose paled and looked into the faces of his men, where gloom prevailed without exception. He said, “We have only two thousand charioteers left. How do you estimate the enemy's losses?”
Commander Deeb said, “I don't imagine, my lord, that they are any less than ours. Indeed, they are likely to be greater.”
The king bowed his head and remained for a moment in thought. Then he looked at his men and said, “Everything — will be clear tomorrow. Tomorrow — will be the decisive day, there is no doubt. Our enemy may be suffering anxiety and doubt as much as we, or even more. In any case, none can blame us and we will blame none, and the Lord knows that we fight with hearts that care nothing for life.”
Deeb enquired, “Our fleet is not fighting now, so why not use it to disembark troops behind the enemy, between Hierakonpolis and Nekheb?”
Ahmose Ebana said, “Our fleet now has complete control of the Nile, but we cannot risk disembarking troops behind enemy lines unless its whole army is engaged in the fighting. And the fact is, that the fighting so far has been confined to the two battalions of charioteers, while the rest of the enemy's army is lurking behind the battlefield, rested and wakeful.”
One of the priests of Ombos asked, “My lord, do we not have a reserve force of charioteers?”
Ahmose said, “We brought six thousand charioteers, the fruit of an exhausting campaign and much patience, and we have lost four thousand of them in twelve days of hell.”
Hursaid, “My lord, Sayin, Ombos, and Apollonopolis Magna are ceaselessly building chariots and training charioteers.”
Ahmose Ebana, for his part, said with his usual unflagging enthusiasm, “Enough for us the slogan that Sacred Mother Tetisheri taught us, ‘Live like Amenhotep or die like Seqenenra!’ Our charioteers cannot be subdued and our infantry burn with longing for the fight. Let us always remember that the Lord who sent you to the land of Egypt did not do so wantonly.”
The men were reassured by the young commander's words and the king smiled radiantly. The army passed the night and awoke at dawn, as was their custom, and made themselves ready for the fight. As the day's first rays appeared, the chariot battalion advanced, the king and his guard at its center. To his amazement, when he looked at the field he found it empty. Looking again more closely, he saw in the distance the walls of Hierakonpolis, with not a single Herdsman standing between them and him. His surprise did not last long, however, as some of his spies came to him and reported that Apophis's army with all its huge divisions had withdrawn from the field and left Hierakonpolis by night to march fast toward the north. Commander Mheb could not help saying, “Now the truth is clear. There can be no doubt that the Herdsmen's chariot forces have been smashed and that Apophis preferred to flee to his fortresses rather than face our charioteers with his infantry.”
Commander Deeb said joyfully, “My lord, we have won the great battle of Hierakonpolis.”
King Ahmose enquired, “Do you think the cloud has really passed? Do you think that the dangers are really gone?” Then he turned to Deeb and said, “Just say that we have smashed the chariots of the Herdsmen, no more.”
The news spread to the army and joy overcame all. The men of the royal entourage hurried to the king and congratulated him on the incontestable victory that the Lord had granted to him. Ahmose entered Hierakonpolis at the head of his army, the local people hurrying there with him from the fields to which they had fled in fear of the Herdsmen's revenge, and welcomed their king ardently, cheering the Army of Deliverance with cries that pierced the highest heavens.
The first thing that the king did was to pray to the Lord Amun, who had extended to him a helping hand when he had been on the very brink of despair.
9
After this fierce twelve-day battle, the army rested at Hierakonpolis a few days and Ahmose himself took charge of organizing the city and restoring an Egyptian character to its government, farms, markets, and temples. He consoled its people for the various kinds of oppression, in the form of plunder, pillage, and destruction, to which they and their city had been subjected during the Herdsmen's retreat.
Then the army marched north, the fleet setting sail at the same time, and entered the city of Nekheb on the afternoon of the same day, without resistance. It stayed there until dawn the following morning, — when it resumed its progress, occupying villages and raising over them the flags of Egypt, without coming across any of the enemy's forces. After three days, they came to the edge of the valley of Latopolis. The king and his men thought that the enemy would defend it, so Ahmose sent forward units of his army to the city, while Ahmose Ebana laid siege to its western shores. However, the vanguard entered the city without resistance and the army entered in peace. The people told them how the army of Apophis had passed them by, carrying its wounded with it, and how Herdsmen who owned houses and farms had loaded their furniture and wealth and joined up with their king's army in an awful state of terror and chaos.
The army with its terrible forces continued to advance, entering villages and cities without the slightest resistance, until it reached Tirt, then Hermonthis. All yearned to make contact with the enemy so that they might vent the spleen that was in their breasts; yet their faces shone with pleasure whenever they raised the flag over a town or village and felt they had liberated a piece of their noble homeland. News of the defeat of the Herdsmen's chariots had revived the troops and kindled hope and enthusiasm in their hearts and they marched to rousing songs, pounding the earth of the valley with their copper-colored legs, until the walls of the city of Habu, an outlier of Thebes, towered above them. Here the valley descended toward the south in a sudden, steep incline. The vanguard went to the city but it was unguarded, like the cities before it, and the army entered peacefully. The entry into Habu shook the hearts of all the soldiers, because Habu and Thebes were like limbs of a single body, and because many of the army's soldiers were numbered among its valiant sons. Hearts and souls embraced in its squares and the men's spirits shouted out loud with longing and affection. Then the army moved north, their hearts full of anticipation and souls straining toward their goal, knowing that they were approaching the action that would determine their history and the critical battle that would decide the destiny of Egypt. They descended the great valley that the Thebans called “Amun's Way,” — which grew — wider the further they — went into it, until they saw the great wall with its many gates blocking their path and running to the east and the west; the obelisks, temple — walls, and towering buildings rising above it, all speaking of glory and immortality, and all enveloped in memories of greatness. A tempest of excitement and nostalgia flowed into them from these things that shook their hearts and minds, and the sides of the valley echoed to the cry of “Thebes! Thebes!” The name was on every tongue and the burning hearts proclaimed it and went on shouting it until tears swept aside their pride and they wept; and Hur, the old man, wept with them. The mighty army struck camp and Ahmose stood in its midst, the flag of Thebes that Tetisheri had sewn with her own hands fluttering above him, as he directed his eyes, shining with dreams, to the city and said, “Thebes, Thebes, land of glory, refuge of our fathers and our grandfathers, be of good cheer, for tomorrow a new day rises upon you!”