Chapter 26
The next day, just before midafternoon, a weary Eskkar slid down from his horse, and this time even he could not avoid a sigh of relief. Days of arduous riding had worn him down. Once he would have shrugged off the effort, but as each year passed, Eskkar had to struggle ever harder to maintain his stamina. He knew the time had already passed for campaigns such as these. But war made no provision for the old or the young, or those whose bones ached from incessant traveling.
Awake well before dawn, he’d left Alexar and the infantry behind and started for the Pass with just his twenty Hawk Clan guards. It had taken most of the day to cover the thirty miles over the hilly slopes that led deeper into the Dellen Pass and reach Muta’s position, despite using an extra horse.
Eskkar turned over A-tuku and the other nearly exhausted horse to his guards. At least A-tuku remained fresh. Eskkar had ridden the second mount most of the way, wanting to keep the powerful bay as rested as possible. If there were going to be any fighting on horseback, he wanted to be on his best warhorse. Eskkar had time for one quick glance around before Muta and Drakis strode over to join him.
“Any sign of the Elamites?”
Muta laughed. “Oh, yes, Captain. Late yesterday afternoon about five hundred of their cavalry came down the trail. I swear, you could see the shock on their faces. They had no idea anyone would be in the Pass, waiting for them.”
“For awhile I thought they were going to attack us,” Drakis said, “but they hesitated when they saw our numbers. We even killed a few fools who rode too close to our line.”
If the Elamites had been surprised, then Trella’s spies had spread their false information well, Eskkar decided. “If they were the vanguard, then the rest of their army isn’t far behind. Alexar and the infantry won’t be here until midday tomorrow, with the rest of the men straggling in after that. The damned rain slowed everyone down.”
“I think we have time, Captain.” Muta grinned at Eskkar’s questioning look. “We captured one of their scouts. His horse took an arrow and he knocked himself unconscious when he went down.”
At this stage of the campaign, even the lowliest captured enemy soldier could provide plenty of valuable and up to date details about the Elamite army. Trella’s agents had gleaned much information about Lord Modran’s forces, but now Eskkar would have a current source of news. Eskkar nodded approval.
“Have you questioned him yet?”
“Not really. We roughed him up a bit,” Muta said, “just to find out how far away their army was. He says his cavalry troop was about twenty-five miles ahead of their main column. So even if they pick up the pace, they won’t be here before noon tomorrow, at least not in force. The Elamite army travels slowly, it seems. Still, Captain, you’ll want to talk to him. He did say it’s the largest army he’d ever seen. Said the column stretches out for thirty miles.”
Eskkar shrugged at the news. Bracca’s message had warned that Lord Modran’s army would be comprised of at least twenty-five thousand men. But if the Elamites were indeed spread out along the trail, they would have to concentrate their forces before launching an attack.
“I’ll want to talk to him. But let me take a look around first, and speak to the men. I haven’t seen this place in six months.” The prisoner could wait a little longer.
Almost two years ago, as soon as Eskkar and his commanders had devised their plan for the defense of Akkad, Drakis and a handful of Hawk Clan guards had ridden through the Dellen Pass from end to end. Searching for the best place to give battle, they had selected this location. After inspecting the site himself and reviewing all the reports from the scouting parties, Eskkar had confirmed their choice.
The Pass itself stretched its way more than a hundred miles through the mountains, from the gateway to the Indus and Elam, to the Land Between the Rivers. That distance, however, did not account for the constant ups and downs of the trail, as it writhed between the peaks and cliffs. The highest part of the Dellen Pass lay closer to the western side of the mountains, about ten miles east of where Eskkar now stood.
That meant the Elamites had been marching mostly uphill for more than sixty miles. But this location, despite being on the general downslope into Akkad’s lands, had a favorable slope for the Akkadians. The approaching Elamites would wend their way down the trail, until they reached a spot about two miles away, where the ground flattened for more than a mile. After that, the trail climbed again for the next few miles before starting its final descent to the mouth of the Pass, some thirty miles away.
This carefully chosen place ensured that Eskkar’s soldiers possessed the high ground, a major advantage for any army. The Elamites, when they attacked the Akkadians, would be charging uphill.
Now the time had come for one last look at the place he had chosen to fight. Eskkar called for A-tuku, and swung onto the bay. He guided the horse to the center of the trail. At this point in the Pass, the width was less than a quarter mile wide. Facing east, he stared down the slope, visualizing the enemy soldiers advancing toward this position. Their legs would be weary as they marched into battle.
Eskkar turned his gaze to his right, toward the southern wall of the Dellen Pass. He saw only the towering cliffs, which even Shappa’s agile slingers had declared were impossible to climb or flank. He grunted in satisfaction. His right flank would indeed be secure.
Turning to his left, the northern cliff face rose almost as high. But on that side of the Pass, a massive jumble of large boulders and chunks of the mountain itself littered the ground beneath the northern wall. The cliff’s debris extended almost a hundred paces into the Pass, restricting the trail’s breadth even further.
His Akkadian soldiers would stand between those two points, a solid line of infantry and archers. For this battle, the Elamite army would have no way to flank their enemy.
Eskkar’s men would be greatly outnumbered, but the narrow width of the trail through this part of the Pass meant only a portion of the enemy could be brought to bear against his soldiers. As Eskkar had reminded his commanders, they didn’t need to defeat the Elamites, just hold them off. As long as the Akkadians could stand their ground, the Elamites would have to destroy Eskkar’s army if they wanted to get through the remaining thirty miles of the Pass.
Thanks to Trella’s agents, for the last few months every Elamite spy had reported to his masters that Akkad continued to prepare itself for a siege. Finding the bulk of the city’s forces facing them in the Dellen Pass would be the last thing Modran and the Elamites expected. Or at least Eskkar hoped they had swallowed the bait. Forcing the enemy to fight here, in difficult terrain, would nullify much of their advantage in numbers.
Despite its vast size, the enemy army would have little in the way of food and water with it, and only a slender chain of supplies coming behind it from Elam. Modran’s invasion plan anticipated crossing the mountains and marching unopposed up to Akkad’s gates. He intended to besiege the city and live off the countryside, supported by food and herd animals collected by General Jedidia.
And just as Eskkar had defeated the Alur Meriki at the Battle of the Stream by blocking access to any water for their warriors, he now intended to do the same to the Elamites. The nearest water available to the enemy was a mountain spring about forty miles to their rear, which meant that any water needed by their soldiers and animals had a long way to travel to reach this place of battle.
Men and horses would be forced to ride back forty miles, fill as many water skins as each horse and rider could carry, and then return to the battle site, struggling under the heavy weight.