Forging Kingdoms, page 34
‘Surely what?’
‘Well, the scythed chariots for example: they have to charge to be effective.’
‘There’s a big difference between charging and advancing. You don’t have to advance before you charge.’
Antiochus looked abashed that so obvious a thing should be pointed out to him in public. ‘Yes, I take your point, Father.’
‘Now, what did you have in mind for the artillery on the other side of the canal?’
Antiochus looked around at the assembled staff all evidently keen to hear a young man’s wisdom concerning artillery. ‘Well, you had two fords constructed, didn’t you? Both of which you wish to remain a secret. That being the case, I can only assume that one will be behind our line, and our line will be far enough away from the other ford to ensure it is behind Antigonos’ line.’
The boy has seen what I intend to do; good lad. ‘Hold it there, Son; we’ll keep the rest of the details for the morning. So, what do you plan for the artillery?’
‘I think they should be placed along the bank by the second ford because there they could take Antigonos in the flank as he comes forward.’
‘But won’t it just attract attention to the ford?’
‘He won’t know it’s there and, besides, if you place them to one side of the ford, either close to our line or further away, anyone who tries to cross the canal to get at them will just flounder.’
Seleukos’ face lit up. ‘Brilliant! Absolute brilliance, my boy; again, show him something with your right hand whilst doing your magic with the left. I’d say you’ve left the artillery train in exactly the right place.’ He looked around his officers as his son glowed with the praise. ‘Now, Azanes, what have the scouts reported?’
The Sogdian’s dark eyes glinted in the firelight. ‘He’ll be here by tomorrow, soon after midday; I’ve left men out there to make sure he doesn’t try to steal a night march.’
‘Soon after midday, eh? That gives us all morning to get into position; excellent. I think we should concentrate on eating and drinking for the rest of the evening.’
‘Out of interest, lord,’ Azanes asked, ‘what will the disposition be?’
Seleukos wagged a finger side to side at him and then took a mighty swig from his goblet, covering his face.
‘At the rear, behind the phalanx! But that is the place of least honour, lord.’ Azanes was indignant as were those of the Sogdian clan leaders with him who could understand Greek. Nor did the commanders of the Bactrian, Arachosian and Parthian horse-archers look best pleased having heard the news; as for the Median and Persian heavy cavalry officers, they held their heads high, looking down their noses at Seleukos with their eyes half closed, exhibiting their disdain for their positioning on the field.
‘Believe me, all of you, it will be the place of the most honour,’ Seleukos said, the thickness of his head after a late night’s carousing not helping his mood.
Azanes’ dark eyes showed deep disappointment. ‘But how can we get to the enemy if we’re stuck behind the phalanx whose left flank is hard on the canal?’
Seleukos sighed. ‘You will go where you’re told: all the eastern cavalry will be stationed behind the phalanx – and if you will let me finish my sentence this time – half the horse-archers on the northern side of the ford and then half on the southern side; the heavy cavalry will be on the northern bank behind the horse-archers. It’s imperative that all three units keep your flanks as close to the canal as possible so that from a distance and behind a large formation of infantry you will look like one unit.’ He paused, allowing the implication to sink in.
Azanes’ face brightened. ‘Ah, I see; one unit on this side of the ford.’
‘Exactly. That’s what I want Antigonos to think when he looks at our line of battle.’
ANTIGONOS.
THE ONE-EYED.
‘ICAN ONLY SEE cavalry on his right wing,’ Antigonos said as he, Nearchos and Philippos sat on their horses at the end of the wall, looking southeast towards the Seleucid line. ‘He must have more than that.’
Philippos pointed to the top of the wall. ‘Shall I, Father?’
‘Yes, your two eyes are better than my one; see what you can see up there.’
Philippos drew his horse next to the broken end of the wall and, standing on the beast’s back, clasped hold of jagged brick; scrabbling with his feet, dislodging loose shards, he pulled himself up, gaining the summit to stand, shielding his eyes from the noonday sun with one hand.
‘Well, what do you see?’
‘Cavalry behind the light infantry screen on his right. Mercenary Greek lights and then what looks to be Asiatic infantry – they’re wearing trousers – and then more cavalry – wait, they’re not cavalry, they’re chariots.’
‘Chariots!’ Antigonos bellowed a laugh. ‘Who does he think he is? Achilles at Troy? Chariots! What’s he going to do with chariots? Drag Hector’s body around the city walls? How many?’
‘Twenty, perhaps two dozen, with other cavalry behind them and some more Asiatic infantry. Then come his Macedonian Companions – I should imagine he’s with them – and then the phalanx all the way to the canal: Macedonians, then the Persians who you want to target and finally the mercenary hoplites up to the canal. Ah! The rest of his cavalry is behind the phalanx; a couple of small units of Macedonians and then a large mass of easterners by the looks of them.’
‘Right behind the phalanx?’
‘Yes.’
‘My arse; what are they doing there, I wonder? Has he got bridges across the canal?’
Philippos scanned the line of the waterway from directly ahead of them back past the enemy formation and then onto Seleukos’ camp and beyond. ‘I can see a dozen or so, but right back at the camp and then further away.’
‘Nothing up this way? What are those artillery pieces protecting just in front of the mercenary hoplites?’
‘Nothing that I can see; they’re on the other side of the canal ready to take us in the flank as we advance, I suppose. There are a lot of eastern archers with them.’
‘I’ll place our light infantry over there to draw their attention from our heavy troops. But that still doesn’t explain what he’s doing with his horse-archers.’
‘They’re mainly behind the hoplites, which are formed up only eight deep.’
Antigonos considered this for a few moments. ‘He’s either thinking of pulling the hoplites into a sixteen-deep formation and creating a gap for them to come through, or he’s going to have them come around the right of his phalanx once the rest of his cavalry advance far enough forward to leave a gap.’
‘Or he’s going to get them across the canal,’ Nearchos said.
‘What good are they on that side? All the bridges are behind him; how would he get them back? They’d have to wade across through water up to their necks whilst we enjoyed the target practice. No, I’ll put the elephants behind the phalanx at the midpoint. The lads are trained in opening ranks to let the beasts back through; this time they can open ranks to let them out and counter the easterners whichever way they come.’ His mind made up, he looked back up to his son. ‘Anything else worth reporting?’
‘No, Father; don’t you want to look?’
Antigonos patted his ever-expanding girth. ‘I don’t think I’ll make it up there. No, my boy, I’ve seen enough. Down you come. Let’s get back; we’ve got a battle to win.’
‘Our phalanx will overlap his; we get the Chalkeraspedes opposite the Persians – Adastros and his lads will appreciate that – and have the Hypaspists on our extreme right to deal with the mercenary hoplites, whilst the Macedonians will, no doubt, just shove against one another, exchanging family news with long-lost cousins until those two battles are decided,’ Antigonos explained to his senior commanders, pointing with a stick to the formations scratched into the dirt between two straight lines, one representing the canal, the other the wall. All around the meeting, the army readied itself for the advance having taken a cold midday meal. ‘The light troops will screen the phalanx; then the Greek and Thracian peltasts and a small detachment of our mercenary hoplites will support it. The cavalry will take up position opposite here, on our left wing, lancers opposite his chariots; let them have a bit of fun; in fact, I think I’ll join them. Nearchos, you take the right of the phalanx and Peucestas, you have the left. Philippos, you’ll command the reserves in the second line—’
‘But, Father—’
‘Enough! Don’t look disappointed; your command will include the elephants so it’s down to you to keep an eye on those easterners.’ He stared down Philippos until the young man agreed. ‘Good. Now the main problem we have, gentlemen, is that Seleukos has positioned himself at an angle with his left flank on the canal, much more in advance than his right which almost reaches the wall. This means as we advance in line past the break between the wall and the river we’ll have to wheel left; however, as the gap is not quite as wide as the space between the wall and the canal, we will also have to expand our frontage as we make that manoeuvre. Seleukos has set this up well, so let’s not begrudge him our respect. Therefore, the cavalry will be in a deep formation and expand its frontage, turning to face the enemy, as the phalanx marches forward three hundred paces before beginning its wheel. As that happens, the light infantry on the right must concentrate their attentions on the bolt-shooters and archers, on the other side of the canal, to allow the manoeuvre to take place without too much loss from volleys coming in on our unshielded flank. Nearchos and Peucestas, do you understand?’
The two commanders looked at each other and then back to Antigonos in agreement. ‘Excellent. So, gentlemen, once the wheel is complete and we’re facing the enemy, four things need to happen: first, we need to engage Seleukos’ Persian phalanx as soon as possible. Peucestas, that’s your job seeing as you’re so keen on Persians.’
The former satrap of Persis scowled at his new master, not sharing his humour.
Antigonos shrugged and pressed on. ‘Second, Nearchos, I want the Hypaspists getting toe to toe with the hoplites; whilst that’s happening, I’ll take our superior strength in cavalry on our left to push back his right wing and shatter those ridiculous chariots. Finally, as all this is going on, Philippos, keep an eye open for any weak points developing in the line and plug them double quick with our hoplites whilst all the time having your elephant commander keeping watch on the movements of those eastern archers and then having his command counter them.’ He looked to the commander of the elephants. ‘If you don’t spot them from where you’re sitting, no one will.’ The cyclopic eye roved around his commanders. ‘Is that all clear?’
There was a general bark of agreement.
‘Good.’
‘What do you want of me, lord?’ Nikanor asked.
‘You? Yes, you. I want you with me, and if I get so much as a scratch, you are a dead man.’
Nikanor grinned. ‘Thank you, lord.’
Antigonos rubbed his hands together with great vigour, savouring the moment. Gods, this’ll be good; the first proper battle since Gabiene; and I outnumber Seleukos by a good seven or eight thousand. His mouth split into what passed for a grin, his eye attempting to convey pleasure to the men around him but not getting much past hunger for battle. ‘Gentlemen, we form line.’ He looked up at the sun. ‘Once we’re ready we should have four hours to settle this thing. Remember: we’ll win if we allow nothing to get behind us because we’ll push Seleukos back and catch him on the bottleneck of his bridges.’
*
I really need to lose some of this weight. Antigonos looked down at the flab bulging out from under his breastplate – the fourth he had had in as many years, each one bigger than the last – I need to start fighting and training on foot again; I’ve been getting lazy just sitting on a horse or in a chair all day. He looked at his Companion Cavalry to either side of him, all at the trot as they approached the enemy out of view beyond the wall; none were less than twenty years younger than him but all were in trim condition, even those in their fifties who had been fighting on horseback for over thirty years without putting on weight. He shook his head, putting such an irrelevant matter from his mind, and concentrated on the gap before him. This is going to take very careful timing.
Advancing in line of battle, with the Hypaspists on the extreme right, hard up next to the east bank of the Euphrates, and then the various units of the pike-armed phalanx streaming along from them in one dense pack of soldiery, weapons held upright over their shoulders, as they stamped forward. Most of the hoplites, grim and bearded, marched next to them taking the left-hand place of least honour in the huge formation of eighteen thousand infantry, screened by Cretan and Thracian archers, Rhodian slingers and light javelin men from Thessaly and the uplands of Greece and Anatolia. Behind it, his twenty-four elephants, the last of his herd, lumbered, swishing their trunks, their tusks and the crowns of their heads sheathed in bronze as the mahouts, sitting astride their necks, kept up an endless chatter of encouragement with their charges. To either side of the great beasts came the peltasts, both Thracian and Greek, and a small detachment of mercenary hoplites, there to support their close-formation counterparts on the flanks or, in the hoplites’ case, by filling a gap should the formation fracture.
And then came the cavalry, comprising all of the left wing, not yet completely in battle formation for it had contracted its frontage to pass by the end of the wall onto the field that would decide Babylon and the east’s future. Macedonian, Greek, Thessalian and Thracian, all races from the west, it struck Antigonos; and then he looked again across his army and realised that the only easterners present were the elephants. Casting his mind back to what he had seen as he surveyed Seleukos’ formation he recollected that the vast proportion of them were from the east. It really is a battle between east and west this time; not Macedonians following one general with assorted allies, versus another army of Macedonians with the same assortment of allies. This is pure east versus west, something not seen since Alexander. Gods, this is going to be good. Seleukos, I’m almost grateful to you.
SELEUKOS.
THE BULL-ELEPHANT.
SILENCE HAD DESCENDED along the whole line as the crunch of tens of thousands of footsteps drew closer. Sitting on his stallion at the head of his Companions, already formed into a wedge, Seleukos could see the dust cloud raised by the advancing enemy rising over the wall, coming ever nearer. His stomach tightened for he knew that by the end of the day he would either have a kingdom in the making or be lying dead not far from where he now sat; surrender was not an option after what Antigonos had done to Eumenes. As if sensing his anxiety, his horse tossed its head, snorting, and stamped a foreleg; Seleukos patted the beast’s neck and leaned forward. ‘Easy, boy, easy; we’ll be charging them soon enough.’
Now the sound intensified as the first ghostly figures, emerging from swirling dust, cleared the line of the wall; too far away to discern their exact nature, being right on the banks of the Euphrates, Seleukos breathed a sigh of relief, for they were infantry, which implied Antigonos had not guessed his strategy for the battle. On they came, the noise of the advance growing, as each new unit cleared the baffle of the wall. Light infantry followed by the dense mass of the phalanx dominated the right flank from the river; and then the cavalry appeared, all stacked on the left of the army, exactly where Seleukos wanted them, as far away from the ford as possible. But his joy was short-lived for now the reserve line came through the gap and his heart sank. Elephants! Elephants behind the phalanx; gods below, of all the worst possible luck that is it. What made him put his elephants there? But there was nothing he could do to change it; he now had to work with what he had been given. How do I distract those beasts?
Straight towards the canal the infantry continued, the sun glinting dim on their bronze helmets and the tips of their raised pikes through the dust, whilst the cavalry spilled from the edge of the wall, fanning out to face Seleukos’ obliquely angled formation. More and more cantered forward to extend their line, the pace of their deployment ensuring they never lost contact with the left flank of their phalanx as it continued its march across the field.
Any moment now. Seleukos looked left and then right to check for the sixth or seventh time that he still had a line of sight with the banners of Antiochus, Azanes, Patrokles and Polyarchos; all were in view. He turned his concentration back to the enemy. A lone horn sounded, followed by the raised shouts of officers; the cavalry halted. Another horn, this time higher, and the left-hand unit of the phalanx, mercenary hoplites, began to wheel, the first man turning slowly on the spot as his comrades kept in line, passing the movement onto the pikemen next to them and so on all along the length of the great formation, each unit having to pace a fraction faster than the last so that by the time the extreme right was wheeling they were at a brisk jog, the screening light infantry running before them. Around they came, standards fluttering in their midst, the straightness of the line never compromised, such was the discipline of some of the finest soldiers in the world.
Now! Seleukos thought when the manoeuvre was almost halfway through. He pointed at his signaller. Raising his horn to his lips, the man squealed out three piercing notes whilst Seleukos’ standard was raised and lowered in time. The call was repeated by the signallers and standard-bearers of his generals. Seleukos punched a fist into the air and led his Companions forward as the cavalry line and their covering light infantry, taking their pace from his unit, followed, the extreme left staying rooted on the phalanx whilst the extreme right came forward to be level with the hoplites over on the canal. Seleukos’ army had now become a shallow V shape.
Were you watching my right hand, Antigonos? I hope so. Seleukos looked to his left; Azanes had led the rest of the horse-archers over the ford and the heavy Medes and Persians were just emerging from it. His eastern cavalry was now where he wanted it, the move made whilst Antigonos and all his officers were puzzling what his Macedonian cavalry were about moving forward as they had.
