Chapter 17: The Hittites' Pre-Battle Mobilization
Muwatalli's eyes didn't pop out after all.
As a king, he had to have a big heart.
It had to be said, the relationship between Muwatalli and Hattusilis was still good. His feeling toward his uncle was roughly: "Could you not always treat me like a kid?"
Therefore, he didn't particularly dislike his brother Hazz; he had only considered him weak before.
In this era, the royal blood alliance still exerted its powerful influence, tightly uniting the Hittites.
After Hikigaya had demonstrated what "overpowered beyond imagination" meant, the Hittite king naturally updated his perception of his younger relative from weakling to formidable brother.
Obviously, the treatment of a formidable brother and a weakling couldn't be the same.
Hikigaya's tent became larger and warmer, the number of servants increased, and so did the soldiers under him. The troops he commanded transformed from infantry into the true elite of the Hittites—the chariot corps.
Because of the lack of projectile weapons, the Hittites did not rely on their infantry to surpass mighty Egypt. Their main strength was in chariots.
Before this war, according to Hazz's memories, the Hittites had improved their chariots.
Hikigaya noticed they had moved the wheels from the rear to the center, making the chariots more stable and powerful, and capable of carrying one extra person compared to Egyptian chariots.
Egyptian chariot design fully inherited from the Hyksos relied on high speed and archery. Once that speed advantage was lost, facing Hittite heavy chariots would be disastrous.
Technically, Hikigaya could have left after observing this, but he decided to attend a military meeting to see how the Hittites planned their deployment.
The opportunity came quickly.
Egyptian movements could not escape Hittite notice; almost all the princes and nobles of Asia were Hittite allies.
When news arrived that the Egyptians were near the Orontes River, Muwatalli immediately summoned his generals to prepare for battle. Hikigaya, newly promoted to "formidable brother," was "fortunate" enough to be placed next to Muwatalli.
On the other side was Hazz's father. Recently, he seemed somewhat melancholy, perhaps because his son had changed too much—from a mischievous child to a formidable brother—making him worry he couldn't "playfully beat" his son anymore.
Muwatalli had no such worries; he only needed to win the battle.
The meeting took place in Muwatalli's tent, large enough to hold many capable men.
Ancient meetings seemed no different from modern bureaucratic ones.
The first agenda item: praise the gods and flatter the royal family.
The second agenda: flatter the king excessively while criticizing Egypt.
Only at the third agenda did they finally address real business.
If they delayed further, Hikigaya admitted he might have started hitting people.
"The Egyptians are near the Orontes River. They think they can observe us on the plains," Muwatalli roared, slapping the map on the table. "The Egyptians are fools—they've fallen for our trick!"
The generals wisely feigned surprise…
"This is our territory; let's show the Egyptians how to fight! I order eight thousand soldiers to remain in Kadesh to help defend the city. The rest of you pack tonight—we'll crush the Egyptians! After returning, my messengers will inform you of your assigned positions."
With a wave of his hand, Muwatalli dismissed the meeting; everyone dispersed to their previous locations.
At least Hikigaya now knew the allied forces were not retreating but planning to ambush the Egyptians.
From the Hittites' deployment, Hikigaya vaguely remembered that historically, they had used the varying marching speeds of Egyptian legions to defeat them one by one. Perhaps Muwatalli intended to strike the slower legions first.
But where were those legions?
"Child, you should return," Hattusilis said to him.
It seemed the uncle and nephew intended to have a private chat…
Pouting, Hikigaya didn't bother eavesdropping. He wasn't Ramses' nanny, and now that he knew Ramses wasn't the first target, he was relieved.
Next, he just needed to find Ramses.
Not to brag, even if Ramses' other legions were wiped out, with Hikigaya present, he could ensure Ramses emerged unscathed.
He wasn't unaware that both uncle and nephew now had cold light in their eyes.
In fact, he wasn't surprised that his disguise had been noticed.
In this era, for foreigners, what ranked first as a threat from Egypt wasn't the army—it was Egyptian sorcery.
Horrifying and mysterious Egyptian magic was what enemies feared most.
With the Hittites' Pantheon, they were clearly well-prepared.
In the tent, at least a dozen people emanated magical energy.
Hikigaya's disguise ability was a manifestation of his power; to magical practitioners, it was like a giant spotlight.
Moreover, guarding the king is always a primary duty of gods. Muwatalli, as the Hittite leader, likely had measures for this. If he hadn't noticed at first, he certainly had now.
Hikigaya had no intention of confronting the Hittite upper echelons. The Hittites' rise seemed admirable to him, so he simply left.
He could guess Muwatalli's thoughts: historically skilled in intelligence warfare, he surely suspected Egyptian spies among his ranks, and Hikigaya might be mistaken for one of them.
Hattusilis' composure surprised Hikigaya. After all, his son had died… oh, perhaps he thought his son was still alive.
Leaving the tent, Hikigaya didn't return to the chariot corps camp but walked outward.
By now, the various Hittite units were organizing equipment, with people moving about in slight chaos. Yet no officer appeared, and even if the soldiers saw Hikigaya leaving, none dared stop him.
He didn't care. After one last look at the Hittite army, he swiftly shot into the sky.
Behind him, a dozen or so trailing Hittite soldiers turned pale and ran back in terror.
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