Beyond the walls of the great city of Memphis an army of twenty thousand men and their followers spread across the land like a swarm of locusts. In the very centre of the swarm stood the command tent, the sides raised to catch the early morning breeze from the river. Inside the officers and tribal leaders awaited the appearance of their new commander in chief. Accompanied by a blare of horns, the nearest city gates swung open and a squadron of chariots raced towards the encampment, on reaching the centre, the lead chariot headed directly for the tent, while those that followed behind peeled off to completely encircle the command tent.
Pulling back hard on the reins, Khaian caused the chariot to slew around in a cloud of dust, handed the reins to the bowman accompanying him and stepped down. For a moment he presented his back to those in the tent and surveyed the army that surrounded him. Twenty thousand fighting men were more enough to cow the southern half of Kemet, but if he was to make this vast army his, he had to first of all win their leaders over to his side. He, like his brother, was cruel and arrogant, believing himself born to lead. But he was not stupid and he knew this was not the time for a heavy hand; that would come later when he was sure in his position. Now, he must show no fear, take control of the situation, give them what they craved and they would be his.
Turning he strode into the tent, before him were two groups of six men and a dozen pairs of resentment filled eyes followed his every move. At another time and another place he would have had any man who dared to so much as glance at him in that way, thrashed to within an inch of their life. But such pleasures could wait. Today he would be the very epitome of reasonableness. Reaching a point where he could face both groups at once, he made a half bow to the leader of each group and said, ‘Greetings My Lords, as you are no doubt aware my name is Khaian and I have been appointed as your new commander.’
Whatever they had expected from him, he could tell from their expressions that this was not it. However courtesy demanded a reply and the taller of the two nodded in reply and said, ‘General Akhnas, My Lord Commander.’
Not to be outdone by his companion the second also nodded and said, ‘I am General Khamu, My Lord Commander.’
Khaian spoke again before they had time to recover from the surprise of his approach, ‘I understand My Lords that you and your men are unhappy at being denied as members of a victorious army, your ancient rights to plunder. Well, as your new commander, I am here to correct the wrong that has been done to you. In the next few days we march to conquer the southern half of Kemet, where there are many cities and towns to be taken and I give you my word that no one will deny you your rights to take slaves or plunder.’
It was in truth it was a simple speech but being an outsider foisted on them by Benos, who himself was not of their tribes, he had the unenviable task of preventing one third of the Aamu army rising. By giving them everything that he knew they were prepared to demand and take by force if necessary, he was gambling that he had thrown any thoughts they had of rebellion into disarray.
‘Any questions My Lords?’ he asked.
‘No Commander, None,’ replied the generals almost in unison.
This sounded so comical that he burst into laughter and despite their initial embarrassment the generals joined in and any residue of resentment dissolved like the night shadows at dawn. Khaian rejoiced at having won the generals over so easily and set about consolidating his position.
‘Now, maybe you General Akhnas and you too General Khamu, will be so kind as to introduce the rest of your people to me.’
After being introduced to the under officers and tribal leaders, Khaian called for one of his men to bring the captured map. The map that had been found in one of the palace libraries was a wondrous thing and he had seen nothing like it in their own land. It was painted upon a local material made from papyrus reeds that had been woven and pressed and despite it being elaborately decorated with many religious symbols, clearly showed the cities and towns to the south. With everyone gathered around the table in the centre of the tent he unrolled the map and after weighing down each end, outlined his plan for the subduing of the southern half of the land that lined the banks of the great river.
‘As you can see from the map Kemet is a country of two halves, Memphis, where we are now, is the Royal Capital of Lower Kemet. However, there in the far south is Thebes, the Royal Capital of Upper Kemet and that is our final destination. But between here and our final destination the country is split into no less than seventeen provinces, or sepats as they are known, and every one of them have their own capital. Seventeen Cities and towns to subdue and plunder and that is before we reach Thebes, a city that is rich with gold from the mines of Nubia. So prepare the army, My Lords, to march on the first of those cities. Any questions?’
‘Only one,’ said General Khamu. ‘When do we go?’
Khaian rolled up the map and mounted his chariot before replying, ‘Dawn the day after tomorrow. I assume that will not be a problem General.’
‘No, My Commander’
Khaian couldn’t help smiling as he whipped up the horses and headed back to the city. He had waved the big stick i.e. surrounded the army leaders with armed men in chariots. But instead of using that threat, he had given them what they most desired and now they and the army were his. This was as well, because the sooner the south was subjugated the sooner he could go after Hanno and recover the shield.
Two days later in the dark of the predawn Khaian - going against the normal practice of a commander travelling with the main body of the army - led three squadrons of chariots as they drove out of the camp. They were the advance guard that would range ahead of the army to warn of any danger ahead. Of course, should the enemy rally, make a stand and major battle become imminent, he would return to the main army to direct operations. Not that he expected much in the way opposition; the army of Kemet had been thoroughly defeated and driven from the battlefield. However, if he were in their place he would try to make at least one last stand; hence the advance guard.
While the chariots caused little damage as they journeyed through the well irrigated and fertile land that was rich in crops, wildlife and even domestic animals that had been abandoned. The army that followed was so large that it passed over like a plague of locusts leaving nothing behind. The plague reached the mud brick-walled, city of Itjtawy the next day and despite the voluntary opening of the gates by the local officials, showed no mercy. The city was ransacked, inns had their wine cellars broken open and drunken soldiers ran amuck. Men were put to the sword for trying to protect their families, women were raped and then any that survived, either bowed to the invaders, or if they did not, were taken as slaves.
Commander Khaian took no part in the orgy of destruction, he did not even enter the city, but neither did he try to prevent the atrocities. It was a necessity to terrorise, if he was to complete the cowing of the south in the best possible time. As far as he was concerned speed was of the essence. The sooner that this job was done, the sooner he could return to Mephis, and from there travel to his final destination, Tyre and the shield.
But for now as they moved on, taking several more towns, their very success began to slow them down. The great army had taken so much plunder and so many slaves that over half of his forces were more interested protecting what they had captured than moving on. This was an intolerable situation as far as Khaian was concerned and if it were to go on, he doubted that he would have any men left long before he reached Thebes. He had an idea that would solve the problem, but bearing in mind the need to keep his generals on side, he decided to call a meeting.
The meeting took place in the command centre the next morning, already present was Commander Khaian, who was followed shortly by the Generals, Akhnas and Khamu. 'Greetings My Lords,' called Khaian as the generals entered the tent.
'Greetings Lord Commander,' said Khamu with a low bow.
General Akhnas gave a stiff bow that barely bent his back and enquired, 'You are well lord Commander?'
'I am General, though I am also troubled, and have need of your help.'
'Our help, Commander?' We are yours to command.'
'Yes, I do command, but we have a problem with the army that we must solve and soon; so once again I ask for your help in this matter.'
'Ah, you refer to the matter of the men guarding their plunder.'
By Seth, this softly, softly approach is hard work thought Khaian, but he bit back a harsh retort and instead said, 'Yes General Akhnas, I do, so what do you advise?'
'I suppose the only way to get them to move on, would be if we were to guard the plunder for them.'
'And how do we do that General?'
'We build a fort at each town, place the plunder inside and garrison the fort with men to guard it.'
'Good idea General, however, we'd have to used that many men to build and garrison forts that we'd be no better off than we are now.'
General Akhnas fell silent at that, and it was General Khamu, who had been silent up until now that spoke up, 'Not if we build, only three forts between here and Thebes, it will slow us a little, but we only lose a thousand men to garrison each fort and when we return north the manned forts can stay to keep an eye on the locals.'
Khaian smiled, it was the longest sentence that he had heard from the lips of the normally reticent Khamu, and it matched his own thoughts almost exactly. 'Thank you My Lords, I knew I could rely on your help, I will leave it to you to begin the first fort, ' he said and then dismissed them.
With a whole army at their disposal the generals had the fort built within two weeks and the army resumed the march once more. Town by town, city by city, the army spread across the southern lands like a dark stain that left misery and death in its wake.
Finally after a year that brought mayhem to the upper lands of Kemet. Commander Khaian at the head of his army surrounded the city of Thebes, only to find that the remnants of the royal family had fled into Nubia and the nobles left behind were quick to surrender. While the great city was stripped of gold and other riches Khaiam ordered that the citizens not be harmed and after forcing them to sign a contract of tribute, he returned to the north once more.
As usual when he reached the royal white city he was made to wait in line to gain an audience with Benos. Finally however, the audience was granted and he was admitted into the great hall, where he was greeted formally by his brother. 'What news of the south Lord Khaiam?'
Khaiam bowed as was required and said, 'The south is cowed, and will pay tribute to yourself My Lord, in addition I bring you your share of the plunder, which consists of great riches, both in gold and in slaves.'
'God, good, but will the upper lands stay cowed?'
'Yes My Lord they will, and I have set up and garrisoned three forts to ensure that they do.'
At this Benos seemingly satisfied, smiled and said, 'You have done well my brother; name your reward.'
'Nothing has changed Benos, you know what I want.'
'The army is yours Khaian, but your quest for the shield must wait for two weeks, until I am crowned as Pharaoh.'
So his brother was to become the all powerful Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Kemet, but that changed nothing, once he had the shield, he Khaian would soon take his place; besides, two weeks would allow the army to let off steam after their long campaign in the south.
'I will look forward with delight to you coronation as Pharaoh brother.'
