Chapter 39 Chapter Thirty-Eight

Spring of 1275 BC. After a three-year truce agreement, the Hittites stepped over Damascus, the capital of Syria, and regained absolute control over Syria, and the army continued to advance towards the Egyptian border. At the end of April, Ramesses II marched in person, leading the four armies of Seth, Amon, Ra and Ptah from the Jialu Fortress in the eastern part of the Lower Egypt Delta, marching northward along the Ridani and Orente Valleys, Occasionally encountered a little Hittite resistance on the road, and the rest were crushed by the powerful military forces of Amon, Seth, and the Ra Legion.

Egypt took advantage of the victory and pursued. With the Seth army led by the famous general Buka as the vanguard, after nearly a month of marching, they entered the Kadesh area and camped on a highland about 15 miles south of Kadesh.Kadesh, located on the west bank of the upper reaches of the Orente River, has fast-flowing rivers, towering cliffs, and dangerous terrain. It is the throat connecting North and South Syria, and it is also an important military town and strategic location for the Hittite army.The strategy of the Egyptian army is to try to conquer Kadesh first, control the throat of the northward advance, and then advance northward to restore the rule of the whole of Syria.

Egypt's march this time had plans to defeat the Hittites in one fell swoop.Ramses left two of his right-hand men, Li Tah and Montus, respectively in Upper and Lower Egypt to stabilize the situation. At the same time, the country held sacrificial activities day and night, with the intention of winning.This time also used the famous general Buka who has made many military exploits, Kathu and Duomo who are good at defense and formation.Ramses himself played the role of strategist, and the accompanying attendants were simple, with only one masked teenager.He never spoke, but Pharaoh seemed to think highly of him and always took him by his side.

Crossing the river the next day.That night, Pharaoh held a military council and assigned the plan of crossing the river to the generals Buka, Katu and Domo.Earlier, I had captured two Hittite prisoners, and learned that the main force of the Hittites was still far away in Harpa, a hundred miles north of Kadeishi, so there should be no serious problems when crossing the river.But those two people looked quite suspicious, and Ramses couldn't help but be extra careful.When crossing the river, the army will be forced to be divided into two parts. At this time, they are vulnerable to enemy attacks. The four of them talked in secret until late at night, and formulated a complete support plan.

Buka, Katu and Domo bowed respectfully, and then retreated.It will be a sleepless night again, and there are still many things to prepare for crossing the river the next day.Ramses unfolded the blueprint again, and under the light of the jumping fire, carefully inspected the terrain again.After an unknown amount of time, he finally put down the drawing, pondered for a while, and then called the waiter who had been waiting outside the door to come in, as if he had something to order, but just as he was about to speak, he stopped abruptly.The attendant knelt on the ground, not daring to speak, he pondered for a while, but still didn't make a sound, just got up and hurried out.

Seeing that he was going in a hurry, the waiter thought that he had important military information, so he couldn't help following nervously.But he reached the side tent in the army and stopped.The waiter struggled to keep up, and asked softly, "Your Majesty, do you need your subordinate to inform you..." The inquiry was interrupted by him waving his hand, and he repelled the waiter and the guard at the door a little irritably.He stretched out his hand to lift the curtain and go in, but he stretched his hand halfway, but stopped awkwardly in the air. I don't know why, but I always feel a bit afraid to take that step.It's like stepping in, something is lost, and then it's never coming back.While hesitating, the door curtain suddenly opened by itself, and the girl hurried out, almost bumping into him.He froze for a moment, then pulled her back.If it was normal, he would definitely ask her where she was going.But at this time, he was speechless.If you really know, maybe it will be difficult to control your emotions, it is better not to listen.

Ivy raised her head, and the moment her eyes met, she was stunned for a moment, and then she burst into a very clear smile, with gentle light overflowing from her blue eyes, full of undeniable peace. "You're here, I was just trying to find you." As she spoke, she had already taken his hand and walked out of the tent, "Do you have some time today?" In fact, there are still many things to do, and I am always a little uneasy about crossing the river tomorrow. I want to confirm the armaments and deploy the formation again.But she asked naturally, and he nodded accordingly.

Seeing that he agreed, she smiled again.He hadn't seen such a relaxed and happy expression for a long time, and subconsciously, the corners of his mouth curled into a gentle arc.She said, "That's great, just stay with me." Her fingers were thin and cold, but she grabbed his hand very hard, as if she was afraid that he would run away.For some reason, he only thought she was cute, so he let her catch her.She had already taken off her black wig and put on her usual white skirt.The golden hair glowed faintly under the moonlight, against the almost black night, like an illusion beyond time and space.As she walked, she said softly, "Let's go for a stroll." Then she turned her head and smiled crookedly, "There are no women in the military camp. Let's keep it a secret from them, shall we?"

She blinked, and the relaxed expression almost gave him an illusion that nothing would happen tomorrow, and she wasn't marching now.They are a pair of ordinary lovers. They have been together since a long time ago. They are plain but very sweet. Those painful pasts never existed. The two of them will continue to be so plain but forever together in the future. Seeing that he didn't respond, she pulled him a little harder, and he subconsciously shook her back, and then she was pulled around to the back of the barracks.The fire over there is dim, but there is still a very complete patrol mechanism.Every time when he was about to be seen by others, she would push him out and hide herself behind him. When the soldiers saw that it was the pharaoh, naturally they would not have any doubts, and quickly lowered their eyes and saluted.No one found Ivy until she walked out of the barracks.

"Ah, the pharaoh has more power." She exhaled mischievously, then pulled him excitedly and pointed not far away, "Look, there is a high ground over there, shall we go up?" He was startled, She had already walked forward, still saying, "Maybe you can see more beautiful stars from there." She was inexplicably happy, as if what they were going to climb was not a highland that can be seen everywhere in the Sinai Peninsula, but It is a beautiful and majestic mountain, as if what they want to see is not the same night sky, but a rare and rare sight in a hundred years.She walked happily, half dragging and half dragging him up to the high ground.

On a spring day, the night wind in the Sinai Peninsula was still slightly chilly. He couldn't help but embraced her in his arms, but she threw her into his arms unexpectedly and obediently.Seen from his height, her face looked even smaller, her eyes were blocked by long eyelashes, and her delicate chin looked even smaller, as if it was almost invisible. "Look, the fires of those continuous camps are like lanterns floating on the river." He didn't know what she said, she had already said it herself, "where my mother lives, every year on special festivals, they make a lot of paper Then put candles on them, let those boats float away with the river, and then you can bring your thoughts to people far away." She blinked, raised her head and smiled and said, "Legends, even the dead, Those who may never see each other can feel the missing." She lowered her head and was silent for a long time, so long that he thought she didn't want to talk anymore.But for some reason, he never asked.He felt that she was going to say something very important. The silence on the way of the march was just for today, and she told him about it. Therefore, he also remained silent. Finally, she raised her head, and his face was reflected in her water-blue eyes.She stared at him for a moment, as if she wanted to engrave him deeply in her mind.He couldn't remember how long it had been since she hadn't looked at him like this. At that moment, he suddenly felt that although she had been silently following in his team this month, in fact, they had been separated for a long time. "In the past three years, I have often made some paper lanterns like this. I asked Anaferti to take them to the Nile River, find a quiet branch line, and put them in. Paper boats are inherently fragile, and the Nile River has always been fast. The lanterns will sink to the bottom of the river within a short distance, so I believe that every time a lantern sinks, it means that my heart has been conveyed." She sighed, "I foolishly waited for the miracle to happen. happened, but now I know that I was just escaping." She raised her head and said to him clearly and word by word, "I am escaping a fact: it is impossible for a person to resist the coming of the future. There is always only one future. , no matter how much you persist and how hard you work, you can’t shake its progress. Destiny is like a rumbling chariot, which will always drive resolutely to the established direction.” "What do you mean." He suddenly grabbed her shoulder, "Why are you talking about these things I don't understand again? Didn't we agree to stop mentioning these things and you just stay by my side?" The voice is to cover up the uneasiness in her heart, her thin body is firmly controlled by him, her shoulder bones are pressed against his hand, she has never been more real than now, and what she said also contains very real helplessness , despair and a sense of fate. At that moment, it seemed that there was a thick fog separating the two of them.The stars seemed to have fallen, and the dark blue night around them filled up, entwining them tightly. "You know I come from the future. I used to naively think that maybe we can change history a little bit, or even tamper with history. As long as we are together, no matter how many difficulties we have, we can always overcome them. No matter how many things go wrong, we will always... ..." "We can." He shook her gently. "It's you who don't believe it. There is nothing in this world that I can't do. I can always satisfy you what you want." She smiled palely, "You have indeed given me so many good things, that's why I will return to you time and time again, even if you don't recognize me and you stab me, I still love you. I can't help but want to get close to you. But I found—" She stretched out her hand and gently stroked his handsome face.Under the starlight, his slightly disturbed face looked so illusory. Could it be that when she opened her eyes, she realized that she was already a little crazy like Tissy, and the people she talked to and touched were only on the wall? What about the murals?But even so, she wanted to tell him. "But I found that no matter what I did, even if it delayed or affected the way events happened, history would always follow its own course. I could see it going to the future as I knew it." She hugged "And in that future, there is no foreigner named 'Nefel Tari' by your side." I have been holding back tears desperately, and when I said this, there was already a strange pain in my throat.Sometimes if you don't say it out, you can deceive yourself, all of this is your own wild imagination.And as soon as the words were spoken, it turned all this into reality. Think about it, when she traveled back for the first time, she thought she had changed history, but because of inexplicable emotions, she returned to Egypt again.He could have been happy, but he had to use his death to defend their love.She gave up that time and space for his survival, and that branch line disappeared, and history returned to the original axis. Going back to the past for the second time, the two had an intersection again.He is moving forward according to the arrangement of history, married the queen he should marry, and gave birth to the child he should have given birth to.Her return borrowed the physical body of the characters in the historical script, and was naturally embedded in this history.If she was married to Cush as planned, history would not have changed in the slightest.Yet he expresses emotions to her that shouldn't exist at the end.But at this moment, one of them had to die.She chose to protect him, so she retired from history again.The axis of history remains unchanged. For the third time, the duo almost started all over again.Originally decided not to have any intersection with him, but met again in the dark.She has been trying her best to escape, but she can't escape her own feelings.And he almost wanted to destroy the course of history for her, just like a mantis trying to block a car with his arms, or a moth to a flame. But she knew that this time she clearly knew that history would inevitably erase the existence of this matter again.Either her exit, or the disappearance of time and space.Tissy's existence has been erased lightly. Even if Dong goes to the future, he can only follow the development of history. The progress of history is irreversible and irresistible. She buried her head in his chest, her golden hair quietly wrapped around his arm, and then fell down again. "I have only one last resort." She spoke softly, almost inaudibly.He lowered his head and put his ear close to hers. "I must die in this history..." She seemed to be talking in her sleep, but the more he listened, the more annoyed he became. At the end, he simply interrupted her somewhat roughly, just as he was about to refute.But at this moment, they suddenly heard commotion in the barracks below.The two hurried forward a few steps, only to find that the west side of the barracks was full of flames.A strange tongue of fire spread into the dark blue night sky, and the crackling sound was mixed with the sound of panicked weapons and the shouts of Egyptian soldiers, "Sneak attack of the Hittites, sneak attack of the Hittites!" He frowned.Although he thought that the Hittites might sneak attack at any time, he thought it would definitely happen when he crossed the river tomorrow, and he didn't want to encounter such trouble now.He embraced Ivy, and hurried back to the camp, "We must go back now, the lack of a commander in the army will disturb the morale of the army." She said "hmm". He said again: "You stay by my side and don't leave even a step. I want to prove to you that your nonsense is not true. I will keep you by my side." The night wind blows on the face, with the bitter taste of sand.That sentence is like a grape smeared with honey, when eaten in the mouth, it melts, and the sweetness enters the heart.She was silent for a while, then said with a choked voice, "Yeah." Ramses has been on the throne for five years, and the battle of Kadesh is bound to happen.The Egyptian army was bound to camp near the upper reaches of the Orente, and they were bound to encounter the two Hittite spies dressed as nomads.Although Pharaoh carefully prepared the details of crossing the river this time, and Buka would not betray him, something must happen to put Egypt at a disadvantage again.For example, at this time, Hittite's unexpected surprise attack did not happen in the previous history, but now it suddenly popped up. No, it's not at all obtrusive.Because Ramses had to gain the upper hand at the beginning of this battle, and it would not be reversed until the end, and finally got a tie.This is the script of history, and if the details were different, the outcome would be the same. When the two rushed into the camp, the Hittite army had surrounded them from the north and east.Buka responded calmly, opened the formation, echoed with Katu, and began to counterattack.Domo's army was stationed in a relatively peripheral place and suffered heavy losses.Ramses then changed from the back formation to the front formation, changing from an offensive-oriented configuration to a defensive-oriented one. As soon as he entered the camp, he became very busy, and countless decisions needed to be made immediately.In the panic, he did not forget to bring Ivy with him. The Hittites' attack did not seem to be a simple harassment or surprise attack. Their troops poured in continuously, as if they had gathered all the main forces, intending to carry out the decisive battle ahead of time.Under the strong leadership of Ramses and the execution of Buka, Katu, and Domo, Egypt finally regained control of the situation from the attack. A team methodically resisted the Hittite's tiger-like attack while heading towards the river bank. The east side recedes further. The Anti-Japanese War lasted from late at night to early in the morning. When the sky gradually turned white, the Egyptian army finally withdrew from the besieged situation, and the Hittite army's offensive seemed to have finally weakened.Just when Buka and other generals breathed a sigh of relief, Ramses felt a subtle change in the situation.In the early morning, the sun's rays gradually sprinkled across the river from the east.The Egyptian army found itself in a narrow passage.There are towering highlands that are extremely unfavorable to one's own army, and the Hittite army chasing behind seems to have stopped. When the Egyptian army is obviously at a comparative disadvantage, the pursuit is stopped, only because more important strategies will follow.Everything before that is foreshadowing. On the high ground, a crimson purple deep black flag was slowly erected.