A Pharaoh and Her Beloved Queen - Chapter 8

The heavy sound of falling into the water and the unrestrained spread of fresh blood soaked the azure coast, mixing with the yellow sand to form a bloody and eerie color.

The surface of the water was densely packed with floating corpses—soldiers of Egypt and soldiers of the Hittites.

The manic wind gathered the heavy black clouds of the sky together, bringing a thick sense of oppression.

Arrows with flint tips fell like rain; sparks flew upon the wooden warships, and with the help of the wind, they ignited rapidly into a brilliant sheet of flame that wantonly licked the shoreline.

Murderous shouts mingled with shrill screams pierced the eardrums, as the gale carried scorching heat and the smell of charred flesh.

Ye Zhiqing hid in the dense shrubs not far from the coast, beside her was Heshi, whose eyes were bloodshot and whose breathing was growing heavy.

Ye Zhiqing gripped Heshi’s arm tightly. Sweat slid down from her tensed jaw. Her gaze was grave as she watched the Egyptian army, which was clearly at a disadvantage; the number of Hittite warships pursuing them was obviously abnormal—a dark mass, several times more than expected.

Heshi watched helplessly as the Egyptian warships retreated in panic. Even when fighting in the Kadesh waters, she had never seen so many warships. At the thought of the King’s current situation, Heshi felt as if a raging fire were about to incinerate her reason. If Ye Zhiqing hadn’t been holding her arm tightly, Heshi feared she would lose control and rush out to slaughter.

A day ago, Ye Zhiqing had followed Heshi to this sea area to set an ambush. Edith had not arrived two days later as planned, but instead arrived a day early—or rather, she had fled into the Dark Gorge in a state of panic and distress.

Outside the Dark Gorge, a few remaining Egyptian warships were struggling to hold on, attempting to delay the Hittite army’s advance to buy more time for Edith to escape.

Under rounds of arrow rain and catapult attacks, the surviving warships outside the gorge were quickly dismembered and sank one by one.

Tragic, heavy, and without survivors.

The Hittite warships slowly approached the mouth of the gorge and suddenly stopped.

The distance was close enough for Heshi to see the figure standing on the leading central warship. Her heart suddenly sank. The veins on the hand holding her longsword bulged, and she let out a hoarse low growl, like the mournful cry of a wild beast.

This was the first time Ye Zhiqing had witnessed such a brutal and savage slaughter at such close range. She suppressed the sour bile rising frantically in her throat and turned to look at Heshi, who was radiating a thick aura of slaughter.

“General Heshi, you understand that now is not the best time to strike.”

“Roar—”

Responding to Ye Zhiqing was a suppressed low cry. To the Egyptians, the Pharaoh was an existence equal to the god Amun, and a god could not be profaned.

For a time, only the smell of blood drifted over the coast. The Hittite warships stayed at the mouth of the gorge, making no move.

Hearts were in throats.

Finally, the Hittite warships moved. But just as Ye Zhiqing and Heshi both breathed a sigh of relief, a sudden change occurred.

Rapid heartbeats were clearly audible. In moments, a small puddle of sweat had gathered beneath Ye Zhiqing and Heshi’s feet, only to be quickly evaporated.

On the blood-stained crimson sea, several Hittite warships gathered toward the mouth of the gorge, pressing tightly together. The soldiers on board went into the water and went ashore to circle to the rear of the Dark Gorge. At the same time, thick black smoke billowed from those warships.

Both Egyptian and Hittite warships were built of cedar wood, which was dense yet resilient; once burned, it produced thick smoke.

Following the direction of the wind, a large volume of black smoke drifted into the Dark Gorge.

The Hittites were actually using their own warships as fuel, intending to smoke out the people inside the gorge. Heshi could no longer restrain herself; she quickly passed down orders. With a “rumbling” giant sound, huge stones rolled down from above the Dark Gorge, smashing directly toward the Hittite warships on the sea.

The sound of wooden ships splintering, falling into water, and screams all came at once.

With cold, hard facial contours overflowing with a murderous aura, Heshi watched expressionlessly as the Hittite warships flexibly retreated. She gave another order, and a dense rain of arrows swept from the bushes behind them toward the Hittite ships on the sea, with stray sparks constantly flashing.

For a time, the wind aided the fire. The leading Hittite warships quickly ignited, and the ships in the rear retreated in panic.

The Hittite soldiers who had already landed reacted quickly and began attacking toward the bushes.

“Zoser, take her and retreat to a safe place,” Heshi said, her body radiating a determined will to fight, her bloodshot eyes closely watching the battle on the coast.

Ordering a squad of cavalry to protect Ye Zhiqing and retreat to safety, Heshi raised her longsword and led the ambushed army to charge down the coast.

Behind her came the intense sound of clashing weapons, cold and murderous.

Worry, panic, endurance… Ye Zhiqing suppressed all these emotions in the depths of her heart. Her face was cold and silent, her blood racing frantically to her brain. Her temples throbbed with a slight pain from excessive suppression and restraint.

The more critical the situation became, the more clear-headed and calm Ye Zhiqing grew. Upon retreating to a low hill, she pulled the reins and said to Zoser beside her, “Zoser, leave two men to follow me. You take the others to assist General Heshi.”

Her tone was resolute and decisive.

Zoser turned to look at Ye Zhiqing without speaking. A flash of surprise quickly crossed his frustrated and indignant face. No soldier would be willing to retreat while others were charging into battle, especially when the reason for the retreat was just because of a woman who had insisted on coming to cause trouble.

Zoser cursed under his breath, his burly frame trembling. After a moment of hesitation, he said with a determined look, “I cannot disobey General Heshi’s orders.”

Military orders are like mountains—a concept that applied equally in ancient Egypt.

Ye Zhiqing pulled at the corner of her somewhat stiff and aching mouth. A squad of cavalry was about thirty people. Those following closely by Heshi’s side were the elites of the army. In a critical situation like this, thirty elite cavalrymen might just be the key to influencing the outcome of the battle.

She roughly estimated the distance from the sand dune to the coast. Hidden behind the dune, she could have a full view of the battle on the shore, and the flames of war would be unlikely to spread here in a short time.

“Zoser, go back. My words are also an order. Your mission is on the battlefield, not here with me,” Ye Zhiqing’s gaze was sharp, instantly radiating a majesty that made people involuntarily submit.

Hearing Ye Zhiqing’s words, Zoser was somewhat surprised, but even more moved. Regardless of life or death, a warrior’s mission always lies on the battlefield.

He gave Ye Zhiqing a deep look, turned his horse, and Zoser’s group galloped away.

The fast-moving hooves kicked up a cloud of dust. Ye Zhiqing watched Zoser’s group disappear from view before dismounting. She looked up at the sky; the light was gloomy and black clouds were churning—a sign of rain, but until now, not a single drop had fallen.

As if thinking of something, Ye Zhiqing suddenly withdrew her gaze and walked with difficulty up the sand dune.

Because of the appearance of Egypt’s pre-arranged ambush, the battle situation had significantly improved. The speed at which Hittite soldiers were coming ashore had slowed down noticeably.

However, Ye Zhiqing’s brow furrowed tighter and tighter. Her gaze was fixed on the several burning warships on the sea. The wind was fierce, and the fire continued to burn larger and larger with no sign of burning out or being extinguished.

Most of the black smoke produced by the burning was being blown into the Dark Gorge by the wind. If the battle remained in a stalemate, Ye Zhiqing suspected the people in the gorge would suffocate to death from the increasing concentration of smoke.

And no matter how brave and battle-hardened the army led by Heshi was, they were helpless against the well-equipped Hittite navy.

Ye Zhiqing’s mind went blank for several moments. The Hittite ships had not pursued them into the Dark Gorge as Edith had planned, but were instead guarding the mouth to force her out.

Even more pessimistic was that the ambushed army was now exposed to the Hittites. The outcome was almost foreseeable now; the rest was merely a matter of time.

Ye Zhiqing closed her eyes and quickly recalled all the details of the entire plan. The most fatal flaw in the whole plan was that the number of Hittite warships had suddenly increased several times over.

According to the recent battle situation between Egypt and the Hittites, Edith’s plan had made the most reasonable estimate of the number of Hittite warships that would pursue. This was the place where an error was least likely to occur, yet an error had occurred nonetheless.

The interlocking plan had broken directly. Now Edith was trapped in the Dark Gorge, and the cavalry led by Heshi had no way to conduct naval operations. They could not provide much support to Edith; it had become a dead end.

As if to confirm Ye Zhiqing’s guess, the Hittite army slowed their offensive on land and instead continued to use warships to seal off the gorge. The fire burned unrestrainedly. Ye Zhiqing could almost hear the crisp “crackling” of the wood burning.

It had reached the worst-case scenario.

Could it be that the trajectory of major historical events really would not deviate in the slightest? No matter how she struggled, it was all in vain.

A thick aura of deathly silence and sorrow emanated from Ye Zhiqing. She had inexplicably come to this different world—was it only to witness everything happening according to the established trajectory?

Was it true that this time she was really at the end of her rope? After dying, would she be able to return to the 21st century?

No, she was not reconciled.

Bright light suddenly burst from her deep black eyes. The fierce wind accelerated the loss of moisture from her body, and Ye Zhiqing’s tightly pursed lips had already begun to peel with white dead skin.

Her mind frantically searched for a way to break the deadlock. Edith was trapped in the Dark Gorge and her safety was a major concern; this was the fundamental factor constraining all of Heshi’s actions. The only way to break the deadlock would be…

Ye Zhiqing looked into the distance, her gaze falling on the raging warships, then moved upward to follow the smoke being blown toward the sky.

Muffled thunder came from the sky. Ye Zhiqing suddenly stood up and said to the two men behind her, “Go to General Heshi immediately. Tell her to set fire to that patch of bushes behind the coast. Ignite them all. Be quick!”

Her speech was extremely fast, almost shouted. Ye Zhiqing’s voice was hoarse and couldn’t hide its tremor. Her whole body was shaking, looking extremely out of place with her calm face.

“Go, quickly! Tell her, if she wants to save the King, do it as fast as possible!”

“Yes.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ye Zhiqing mounted her horse and followed closely behind, racing toward the coast.

Ye Zhiqing squeezed her horse’s flanks, her expression cold. The battle-hardened cavalrymen had exquisite horsemanship and disappeared from her field of vision in a short while.

As hoped, wisps of black smoke and the bushes appeared in her sight together. The air was dry, and the wind was fierce; it quickly linked into a sea of fire, mercilessly swallowing all combustible materials.

The air was quickly tinged with a scorching temperature. Everyone involuntarily looked toward that magnificent sea of fire.

Under the bright firelight, a person and a horse—disordered curls, deep black eyes with no end, a calm face, and a robe gilded bright orange by the firelight. It was as if a deity had descended—a resolute beauty, soul-stirring.