Spreading out, the Sumerians collected lumber, shields, ladders, even clothing ripped from the dead, and heaped them into piles. Discarded swords, knives, spears, and bows were snatched up, and soon men stumbled back toward the gate, each struggling under a load of captured weapons and tools.
Those Sumerians with torches thrust them into the burning fires left behind by the Akkadians. Jarud joined them, shoving the torch he’d carried into the nearest fire. The oil-soaked torch flared, snapping and smoking. One of the soldiers snatched it from Jarud’s hand and moved to the first pile. Another man splashed some black oil on the dry wood. In moments, the first new flames caught and rose. Soon fresh fires joined those started by the Akkadians.
All around Jarud, axes rang as men attacked the shields and planks, breaking them apart. Others scooped up the jagged shards and tossed them to the nearest fire.
“Quick as you can, before the enemy returns,” Jarud shouted as he ran among his men. “Bring everything that will burn and toss it into the fire!”
He glanced around. More men still streamed from the Southern Gate, hurrying to add their efforts to those of their companions. By now more than two hundred Sumerians scrambled and searched through the Elamite position.
“Elamites! Look, they’re coming!”
Jarud whirled toward the east. A small group of Elamites had collected their weapons and moved toward the Sumerians. “Archers! Keep those men at bay.”
Another detachment of archers had joined with Jaruman, who now had thirty men under his command. They formed a small line of bowmen facing the advancing Elamites. Jarud watched as the archers launched the first flight of arrows toward the enemy.
Other Sumerian soldiers dropped their loads, took up their bows, and extended the rough skirmish line, widening the bowmen’s position on either side. Soon they were launching shafts as fast as they could at the approaching Elamites, halting their progress for the moment. Still, Jarud knew it wouldn’t take the enemy long to regroup, but every moment was precious now.
A shift in the wind sent a hot wave of air from the nearest fire over Jarud. A quick glance showed at least twenty fires of varying size consuming the enemy’s supplies. Several of the pyres loomed taller than a man. All of them flamed and crackled, gathering strength as his frantic men continued to add ever more combustibles.
By now men were tossing sandals, swords, cooking pots, clothing, anything they could snatch up into the blaze. The heat forced Jarud back a few more steps, as the crackling tongues of fire roared into the sky.
Another gang of men arrived from the city, and Jarud shouted at them to collect anything they could find and toss it onto the bonfire. Some lugged more pots of oil, to spread the fire ever faster. By now the Sumerians had stripped the Elamite position on the southern side of the city nearly clean.
“More enemy soldiers! More soldiers!”
Jarud turned toward the enemy. Every Elamite who could find a horse had joined the pursuit of the Akkadians, ignoring the Sumerians. But the invaders had plenty of infantry. About three hundred of these had formed into a cohesive force which now advanced with raised shields toward the Sumerians. His archers still launched shaft after shaft at them, trying to slow them down, but Jarud knew it was time to go.
“Back to the city! Back inside the walls!”
Every man turned and raced for the safety of Sumer’s walls. Every man except Jarud’s nephew, Jaruman, and his handful of archers, who kept shooting arrows, even as they slowly backed their way toward the safety of Sumer’s walls. Jarud watched as enemy shafts began to rain down on the last of the bowmen.
Some fool started laughing, and soon the sound spread through the men rushing back within the walls. Jarud found himself grinning as well. But when he reached the gate, he glanced over his shoulder and glimpsed a handful of his men still working their bows.
“Get back here! Now!”
The archers launched one more ragged volley before they turned and broke into a run, heading for the open gate and following Jarud’s men.
He shoved the last man inside. “Damn fools!” Jarud took a final look around, to make sure his remaining soldiers passed through the entrance. Everyone had returned.
He stepped inside. A gang of carpenters waited there, hammers and levers in hand. “Seal the gate!” The ponderous gate creaked to a close, and the laborers swarmed over it, dropping the beams into place, and hammering the bracing blocks tight.
A cheering crowd of Sumerians — men, women, soldiers — waited just inside the gate to welcome them. Those who had followed Jarud outside the wall had wide grins on their faces, as they caught their breath. Some of them still laughed, and to Jarud’s surprise, he joined them. The raucous chorus swept through the defenders. He climbed atop a supply cart, and waited until the din died down.
“With the help of our Akkadian friends and allies, we taught the filthy Elamites a lesson today,” Jarud shouted. “That will slow them down!”
A roar of support echoed against the walls and gate, a sound that would be heard by the invaders. Jarud, even more than the jubilant crowd, knew the truth of his words. The Elamite siege effort had taken a heavy blow. If Hathor had destroyed the enemy boats along the coast, the loss of supplies would hinder the invaders almost as much as the loss of men.
More important, the Akkadian cavalry’s attack, combined with the efforts of Sumer’s own forces outside the wall had strengthened the resolve of every man and woman in the city. The gloom that had hung over the city since the enemy’s arrival would dissipate like the smoke from a campfire in the southern breeze.
The people of Sumer now knew they didn’t fight alone any longer, and that a large force of friendly fighters had arrived and already started harrying the Elamite invaders. And that, Jarud decided, was almost as important as the number of enemy dead lying outside Sumer’s walls.
Chaiyanar guided his warhorse through the debris and dead that, only this morning, had comprised his forces facing Sumer’s southern walls. His guards, retainers, and senior commanders followed behind, hanging as far back as they dared, and each one hoping the blame for the disaster would not fall upon him.
Corpses littered the ground, almost all Chaiyanar’s men. Nearly three thousand soldiers and siege workers had stood in this place, and the Akkadians had ripped through them like a whistling scythe through a field of ripe wheat. Despite the briefness of the assault, the Akkadians had been thorough.
At least four thousand Akkadian cavalry had overwhelmed Chaiyanar’s unprepared men, and now nearly twenty-five hundred Elamites lay dead, in exchange for a few handfuls of Akkadian corpses.
The rest of the Elamites had managed to escape, but the savagery of the raid would haunt the survivors. The easy siege had turned into something else. Now every man in Chaiyanar’s army would keep glancing over his shoulder, in fear of another surprise attack. And when they next rode into battle, awareness of defeat and death would ride with them.
He saw the hand of Eskkar of Akkad in all this. Chaiyanar had been warned about the King of Akkad’s tricks, but he expected nothing so brazen at Sumer. He knew the cities of the Land Between the Rivers had little love for one another, and the spies had reported only bickering between Isin, Sumer, and Akkad. In fact, the fools claimed that the squabbling had increased in the last few months. Now that lie stood exposed.
Today’s surprise attack from the south seemed like one of the barbarian king’s cunning tricks. Chaiyanar’s scouts, spread out in a line more than fifty miles long to the north and west, had reported nothing. The Akkadians must have swung far to the west, before turning toward Sumer.
Chaiyanar stared at the still burning fires, then glanced toward Sumer’s walls. The defenders had sallied forth from the city within moments of the attack, almost as if they expected it. The Sumerians had added their efforts to the destruction caused by the horsemen, and wreaked still more havoc on the supplies abandoned by his men. He’d heard the laughter and cheering from within the city.