Chapter 33 Chapter Thirty-One

The prince took off his headdress, leather jacket, ornate loincloth, and sandals, and in order to enter the Nubian Savannah savannah, he blackened his body with charcoal and carried only a dagger.Before departure, he came to Sai Dawu's barracks. The snake shaman was brewing a yellow syrup, and the lotus was busy preparing a red hibiscus tea drink. "A black and red snake got under my straw mat," Sai Dawu explained cheerfully. "What luck! It's a species I've never seen before, and it has a lot of venom. God is really with us, Ramses! This Nubian country is a paradise, how many snakes does it hide?"

He raised his eyes and stared at the prince for a long time. "Where are you going in this outfit?" "Spy on the mob's camp." "How do you go?" "Go straight to the south, and I will definitely find it." "The important thing is to come back." "I trust my luck." Sai Dawu nodded. "Come with us for some kaka tea. At least, you got a taste of majesty before you fell into black hands." The red drink has a fruity taste, cooling and quenching thirst, and lotus has been added three times for Ramses. "As far as I can see," Sai Dawu declared, "you did a stupid thing."

"I did my duty." "Don't talk nonsense! You rush forward recklessly, with no hope of success." "On the contrary, I..." Ramses stood up unsteadily. "you're uncomfortable?" "No, but..." "sit down." "I have to go now." "under these circumstances?" "I'm fine, I..." Ramses fell unconscious in Sai Dawu's arms, who placed him on a straw mat near the fire, and then walked out of the tent.Although he had expected to meet Pharaoh, Seti's figure still impressed him deeply. "Thank you, Sai Dawu."

"According to Lianhua, it is a very mild anesthetic, and Ramses will wake up at the crack of dawn. When he wakes up, he will be clear-headed and refreshed. As for his task, please don't worry, Lianhua and I will In his place, she will lead the way for me." "What do you need?" "Protect your son from taking too much risk." After Seti left, Sai Dawu was very proud: How many people can show off that they have received Pharaoh's thanks? A ray of sunlight slipped into the tent and woke Ramses.After stopping for a few minutes, his mood was still gloomy and gloomy, he didn't know where he was, and then he understood: Sai Dawu and that Nubian woman had fascinated him!

Angrily, he rushed outside to find Sai Dawu, only to see his friend sitting there like a clerk, chewing dried fish. "A lesson in wisdom." "I have a mission, and you actually stop me!" "Kiss the lotus and thank her. Thanks to her, we know where the enemy's main camp is." "But...she belongs to them!" "Her family members were also killed in that village massacre." "Is she reliable?" "You are passionate, how did you become a skeptic? Yes, she is reliable. That's why she decided to help us: those bandits are not of her race, and they are the richest in Nubia Sow bad results in the region. Instead of complaining, cleanse yourself, eat something, dress like a prince. Your father is waiting for you."

Following the instructions of the lotus, the Egyptian army began to advance, led by Ramesses, who sat high on the head of an elephant.For the first two hours, the behemoth walked with ease, almost carefree.Along the way, it feeds on twigs. Soon, its attitude changed, its eyes were fixed, and it moved forward at a slower speed. There was no sound of footsteps, and its limbs lay on the ground with an indescribable lightness.Suddenly, its proboscis extended to the top of a palm tree, and rolled down a black man with a sling on his body.The animal threw the man against the tree trunk, breaking his waist.

Did the scout have time to notify his people?Ramses turned around, waiting for an order.The pharaoh's instructions were unequivocal: spread out and prepare to strike. The elephant kept going. When it had passed a small barrier of palm trees, Ramesses saw them: hundreds of Nubian warriors, dark-skinned, with the front half of their heads shaved, flat noses, protruding lips, and golden earrings. Earrings, feathers in the short curly hair, lines drawn on the cheeks; soldiers wore short loincloths with leather-spotted patterns, and generals wore white robes with red sashes around their waists.

It was no use ordering them to surrender, and as soon as they saw the elephants and the outposts of the Egyptian army, they hastily picked up their bows and began shooting.Such haste could only prove fatal to them, for they moved in disarray, while the Egyptian commandos followed each other with calm and determined steps. Seti's archers took aim at the panicked and squirming Nubian firing squads from outside the battle, while javeliners raided the barracks from the flanks, hunting down blacks with catapults.Relying on their shields, infantrymen desperately resisted the blows of axes, and they pierced their enemies with short swords.

The Nubians, who had escaped death, laid down their weapons in despair, and begged the Egyptians to forgive them on their knees. Seti raised his right hand, and the fight, which lasted only a few minutes, came to an abrupt end.In an instant, the victor tied the hands of the vanquished behind his back. The elephant didn't stop his fight, tearing off the roof of the largest house and tearing down its partitions.Two Nubians appeared in it: one tall and dignified, wearing a generous red ribbon; the other was small and timid, hiding behind a basket. It was the latter who wounded the elephant with a javelin in its trunk.The elephant rolled him up like picking ripe fruit with the tip of its long trunk, wrapped it tightly around his body, and lifted him up into the air for a long time.The little black man yelled loudly, gesticulated, and tried in vain to break free from this "vice".He thought he was saved when the giant dropped him to the ground, and when he made a fleeing motion, a giant leg crushed his head.

Ramses walked up to the tall Nubian, who hadn't even moved a finger. He folded his hands on his chest, calmly watching what happened. "Are you their leader?" "I am. You are too young to know how to attack us in this way." "The credit goes to Pharaoh." "So, he did it himself... That's why the wizards predicted we wouldn't succeed. I should have followed their advice." "Where are the other henchmen hiding?" "I will confess to you, and I will go to them and make them surrender. Will Pharaoh let them live?" "It's up to him."

Seti gave no respite to his enemies, and on the same day he captured two other camps.Neither camp heeded the counsel of the captured chiefs.The battle lasted only a short while, for the Nubians were not united in fighting, and remembering the prophecies of the wizard and seeing Seti with his own eyes--his eyes were burning, many could not fight as fiercely as they used to.In their eyes, the war has long been lost. In the early morning of the next day, other ethnic groups abandoned their armor and surrendered.People talked with horrified faces about the king's son, master of the bull elephant that had killed dozens of negroes.No one wants to take arms against Pharaoh anymore. Seti captured six hundred prisoners, of whom fifty-four youths, sixty-six young women and forty-eight children were to be escorted to Egypt for education before being sent back to Nubia to become the seed troops to supplement their culture, And focus on peaceful coexistence with powerful neighbors. The king was sure that the crisis in Ilan was completely resolved, and the residents of this rich and agricultural land could set foot on the land occupied by the mob again.From then on, the king of Kush will visit the area every month to avoid new wars. If the farmers ask for appeals, he must listen to them and try to satisfy them.In case of serious lawsuits, the Pharaoh himself decides. Ramses felt that he had an attachment disorder, and it made him sad to leave Nubia.He dared not ask his father for the position of King of Nubia which he thought was tailor-made for him.As he talked to his father, the thought lingered in his mind, Seti's gaze frightening him from expressing it.The king told him his plan: keep the current Nubian king's position, and demand that his performance in the future should not be wrong. If there is a slight mistake, he will depose his throne. The elephant's long trunk lightly touched Ramses' cheek, and despite the wishes of many soldiers to see this giant roaming the streets of Memphis, the prince decided to let it return freely and happily to the place where it grew up. Ramses stroked that nose, its wound had healed.The elephant pointed him in the direction of the Sawangna savannah, as if inviting him to go with it, but the giant and the prince had to part ways from there. For a long time, Ramesses was very depressed, his heart clenched by the disappearance of his unexpected comrade-in-arms.How much he wanted to leave with it, to open an unknown road, to record its news... But his dream was shattered, and he had to board a ship and return to the north.The prince vowed to return to Nubia. These Egyptians cheered and broke out of the camp, and the soldiers kept praising Seti and Ramesses who saved the expedition from danger, and did not even extinguish the flames that the local residents ignited to welcome them. Passing through a grove, the prince heard a moan: How can people leave a wounded person alone? He pushed back layers of leaves to find a terrified lion cub, struggling to breathe.The animal sticks out its swollen right foot, its eyes glow and it groans incessantly.Ramses held it in his arms and heard its heart beating irregularly.If people don't take care of it, this lion cub will die in sight. Fortunately, Sai Dawu had not yet boarded the ship, and Ramses showed him the injured lion cub. "Venomous snake bite," Sai Dawu concluded, "very pessimistic... Look clearly, we can see three small holes that fit the snake's two large hook teeth and a spare hook tooth, and the twenty Six tooth marks. So, it's a cobra. This cub would have died if it wasn't different." "Different?" "Look at the paws, they are huge for such a young animal. If the beast were to come to life, it would have been enormous." "Find a way to revive it." "The only luck is that the seasons help it. The cobra's venom is less active in winter." Sai Dawu ground a section of snakewood root from the Eastern Desert in wine and let the lion cub suck it, then he carefully crushed the leaves of the small shrub in oil and rubbed the animal's body to promote its growth. The heart beats and increases its ability to breathe. Ramses never left the little lion during his journey, and fed it with milk every day, but it became weaker and weaker day by day.However, it liked the prince's touch and gave him a grateful look. "You'll come back to life," he assured it, "and we'll be friends."