Colossus by Colin Falconer

Author:Colin Falconer
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2015-03-31T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 30

IT IS SOMETHING that Alexander would do: attack when you are supposed to be miles away and the enemy is not expecting you. Alexander’s army is spread over miles, he is in the van with the cavalry, and the elephants take up the rear.

They do not expect to find Antipater until the next day.

All the same, Alexander has his cavalry sweep the valley in a broad W, using his cavalry and scouts. Somehow Antipater’s men avoid the trap.

It is a hot afternoon, and some drowse in their saddles and those walking beside the column have their heads down, guarding their eyes from the bright sun, thinking about water and their dinner and rest. Gajendra feels the trembling underfoot and thinks it is an earthquake or the distant volcano. The riders come out of the sun, the first warning when they see sunlight flashing on their helmets and swords.

They close quickly, pouring out of the earth, like the dead rising on phantom horses. He suspects there is a gully that they have used for concealment. Already they are less than two bowshots away and the cavalry at the rear have no time to react, they are too far back.

They are making straight for his elephants.

Colossus smells them too. He stops, sticks out his ears and faces the hills, his trunk testing the air. He bellows a warning to the other elephants.

‘Turn them! Get them into battle line. Hurry!’

Suddenly the army is in motion. But it is panic and not orderly movement; no one has expected this. They are supposed to be attacking an enemy that is not ready for them, not be ambushed themselves. Some of the mahavats, those with presence of mind, scramble onto their elephants’ necks and prepare to make a fight of it. But several of the tuskers have already bolted.

He looks up the line. Nearchus is at the van with Alexander, far out of sight. There is no one to save the tuskers except him. He sends a rider up the line to warn Nearchus but he supposes they will hear the commotion long before he gets there. By then it will be too late.

The archers are at the rear with the infantry, so he has to hand only a squad of Agrianians that might face the riders if they can form up in time. The elephants have no armour to protect them from a swift and concerted attack. He could turn them and run but the horses would overtake them. If they break the line they will be easy pickings.

The mahavats are milling around in confusion. He grabs one and shouts orders in his face. ‘Mount your tusker, tell the others to do the same. Do it now!’

The man stares at him wide-eyed but it gets through. He does as Gajendra tells him. The marauders are already just a bow shot away. Gajendra forms a plan in his mind of how this might go. The key is the horses. How close will they come?

*

There is a wagon with spears, some armour.

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