Ramses II prepared his troops for war and formed the Putah Legion. Plus the original Amon Legion, Lai Legion, Seth Legion, and mercenaries composed of Nubians and Chardin, * * * has four legions with more than 20,000 troops.
In the first two years of Ramses II's administration, he mainly devoted himself to domestic engineering construction. In the third year, Amourous rebelled under the leadership of his king Bentsina, left the Hittite and took refuge in Egypt. When Ramses II heard about this incident, he immediately led troops across the border in May of that year, went deep into West Asia and recovered Amulu. Muwa tallis regarded Egypt's invasion of West Asia as a provocation, so he collected a considerable army in the winter of the same year, ready to fight the Egyptian Pharaoh at any time.
Ancient Egyptian stone carving
In BC 1286, Egypt sent troops to occupy Berith (now Beirut) and Biblus in southern Syria for the first time. At the end of April of the following year, Ramesses II made a personal expedition, led four legions to set out from the Jaru fortress in the east of the delta and marched northward along the Ridani Valley and the Orent Valley. Somewhere on the south bank of Amr Road, Ramses II left a special force there, probably to protect the port of Smilan. Later, this force turned to Kadieshi in the east and joined the main force to help. Then, Ramses II led the main force, went north along the inland Ridani Valley, reached the Orent Valley, and continued north along the east coast. After nearly a month's March, he arrived in Kadish, and camped in the highland about 65,438+05 miles south of Kadish, which is located on the west bank of the upper reaches of the Orente River. The river is swift, the cliffs stand tall and the terrain is dangerous. It is also the main throat connecting the north and south of Syria. The Egyptian army tried to conquer Kadish first, control the throat of the northward advance, and then push northward to restore the rule of the whole Syrian.
At this time, the border situation between the two countries is tense, and a battle is imminent. Soon, the famous Battle of Kadesh broke out. The fierce competition between Egypt and Hittites in Syria will inevitably lead to a major military contest, that is, the Battle of Kadesh in BC 1285. Before Ramses II was about to set off for an expedition to Syria, the Hittites in Egypt's "inner room" sent people to convey secret information about the Egyptian army's preparations for the expedition to the Hittite king. So Muwa tallis held a royal meeting according to the traditional practice. His strategic goal is: in order to ensure the territory of Hittites in northern Syria, we must first defeat the menacing Egyptian army. In order to achieve the above strategic objectives, he made a careful operational plan: hiding the main forces near Kadish, waiting for opportunities, luring the enemy into an ambush circle, and smashing the plan of the Egyptian army marching northward. To this end, he also sent a "dead hole" to provide false information to the Egyptian army to paralyze and seduce the enemy.
After the meeting, the Hittite king urgently sent a special envoy to command the governors belonging to Hittite countries and led the troops to gather in Kadish. BC1mid-May, 285, King Hittite and all the armies of the states who surrendered to him gathered in Kadish, ready to meet the Egyptian army.
Diplomatically, King Muwa tallis of Hittite sent a letter to Ramses II congratulating him on his accession to the throne as Egyptian Pharaoh. In the eyes of the Egyptians, this is a sign that the minister belongs to Pharaoh. But the Hittite king doesn't think so. Obviously, he is feverishly preparing for the inevitable war with Egypt. At the beginning of the war, King Hittite assembled a multinational army of about 20,000 people around Kadish, with 2,500-3,500 double-horse chariots. Each chariot is equipped with 1 rider and 2 soldiers, hidden inside and outside Kadish Castle. The enemy was lured into an ambush ring and was wiped out in one fell swoop.
When King Hittite learned that Ramses II's army had arrived near Shi Die in Dhaka, he sent two Hittite soldiers disguised as Bedouin nomads, who lived as "dead rooms" near the Orente River ferry where the Egyptian army had to pass, in order to provide false information to the Egyptian army and lure the enemy deeper.
Ramses II's Egyptian army has camped along the east bank of the Orente River in the highlands about 15 miles south of Shi Die in Dhaka. Ramses II still didn't get any information from the scouts about the main force of Hittite army. At dawn the next day, the Egyptian army really came to Hittite in great strides. The team was divided into four echelons. The vanguard "Amon God" army was led by Pharaoh Ramses II, and the rear "Lashen God" army was several miles away from the "Amon God" army, and the "Puta God" army was even farther away. As for the "Su Taihe God" army, it was still far away in A Mu and Shandong.
Ramses II rode a very gorgeous chariot, surrounded by gold and precious stones, which was even more dazzling in the morning light. At this time, a spy on horseback reported that the army had marched into Kadish. Pharaoh ramses ii, standing on the chariot, ordered a pause and looked at the surrounding scenery: a road on the right leads to the rough sea, cliffs and deep valleys on the left, and a swift river in the middle. The front is a plain, and the faint wall on the distant hill is Kadie Stone City.
Battle of Kadesh 2 Kadesh, formerly known as Jinza, is located on the upper west bank of Orente River. The Orente River, which flows northward, flows through the southeast of Syria in its upper reaches, with lebanon mountains in its west and Antioch-lebanon mountains in its east. The swift river flows north through the cliff canyon. Kadish Castle was built on a corner of the west bank in the middle of its upper reaches. From here, you can overlook the movement of troops from the south to the north, but on the other side, you can't see the movement of castle defenders. It's a battleground for military strategists. Troops marching from southern Syria to the north usually avoid narrow roads intersecting with many estuaries on the Phoenician coast, so they can only go north along the Orent Valley and must pass Castillo Castle. In addition, there is a branch road from the west coast to Kadish. Therefore, Ramses II Expeditionary Force must first occupy Kadish if it wants to control the throat of Hittite troops going north.
When the vanguard "Amon" led by Pharaoh Ramses II arrived in Sabutuna, 8 miles south of Kadish, the Egyptians captured two Hittite cavalry dressed as invisible shepherds. After some interrogation, it was learned that they had defected from the Hittite army and were going to join the Hittite soldiers of the Egyptian legion. They also took the initiative to say that the main force of the Hittite army was still far away in Harper, north of Kadieshi, but they simply settled down there for fear of the arrival of the Egyptian army. When the two cavalry saw Ramesses II convicted, they added that the armies of the princes of the Syrian city-state seemed more willing to invest in the Egyptians. Therefore, this seems to be the most appropriate excuse for Egyptian scouts not to get any information about the main force of Hittite army.
Ramses II was overjoyed, secretly glad that two Hittites had provided false information, so he did not hesitate to lead the army of "Amon" alone, first crossed the west bank of Orente River from Sabutuna Ferry, and after arriving at Kadi Shicheng, he camped in the west of the castle with great fanfare. At this moment, Muwa tallis led the Hittite army to quietly move to the east bank of the Orente River east of Kadi Shicheng, preparing to panic in the small Egyptian army early the next morning and capture the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses alive. Just in case, he sent two more spies to scout the terrain of the Egyptian military camp at night. And also secretly sent scouts to monitor the dynamics of the "Amun God" legion and its follow-up troops.
Pharaoh ramses is preparing for tomorrow's siege in the barracks. Suddenly, the guards came over and reported that they had caught two more spies! These two spies are very different from the last two. No matter what you ask, they just won't say. Ramesses II was furious and ordered torture. In a short time, the two spies were beaten so hard that they had to reveal the plan that the Hittite army would come to counterattack tomorrow. Ramses II was about to ask for details when a guard stumbled in and reported that the Hittites had surrounded them!
Pharaoh ramses ii was dumbfounded at once. He didn't expect to fall into the trap set by Muwa tallis, but after all, he fought many battles and calmed down immediately. Persuaded by ministers, Ramses II decided to break through immediately, and sent an urgent messenger to urge the "Rashin" and "Putaher God" legions to reach the Kadesh battlefield as soon as possible. Before dawn, Pharaoh dressed up, jumped into the chariot and led the whole army to attack the Hittite army. The Hittites were caught off guard by the sudden action of the Egyptian army, and the whole army was suddenly in chaos. Many Hittite soldiers rushed to the river to save their lives, and some simply jumped into the river and were washed away by the rushing river.
Hittite king saw this situation and immediately launched a counter-accusation against the Egyptian Pharaoh. When the "Lashen" Legion walked out in a normal procession in the Woods south of Kadie Stone, the Hittite chariot troops waded across the river almost at an agile pace, suddenly passing by the enemy's flank, making the "Lashen" Legion impossible to prevent and flee in rout. Then, about 2500 Hittite chariots stormed the camp of the "Amon God" legion, and the Egyptian soldiers who were not prepared for the battle died and fled.
Hittite troops rushed into the barracks of Egyptian Pharaoh, and Egyptian soldiers fled for their lives. Ramesses II, trapped in a tight encirclement, fought tenaciously under the cover of guards and prayed for the protection of Amen from time to time. At this time, a team of Hittite cavalry chased after. Ramses suddenly remembered his war lions, so he ordered his soldiers to let them out one by one! It turned out that Ramses kept a group of protective lions in peacetime, and he never used them to fight. But this time he had to use his last resort to save his life in the death battle. Sure enough, Hittite cavalry ran away when they saw the lion coming.
At this time, other Hittites in the Egyptian military camp were looting the property of Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II and his ministers. The Egyptian Pharaoh had too many jewels, box after box, and some boxes were scattered all over the floor by Hittite soldiers, making his eyes red. Finally, for the convenience of robbery, they threw away their weapons and concentrated on how to rob more property.
Just as Hittite troops threw down their swords and guns and looted, an Egyptian army was rushing from the coast to Kadish to join the main force. This is a special force that the Egyptian Expeditionary Force left in a coastal area south of A Mu Road when it went north. This backup force is in a three-line formation. The first line is dominated by chariots, covered by light infantry, the second line is infantry, and the third line is divided into infantry and chariots. Suddenly, it appeared behind the Hittite army, slamming the Hittite army from behind, and suddenly there was chaos. In this way, Ramses II was saved from failure. The Egyptian army launched six consecutive charges and drove many Hittite chariots into the river, forcing the Hittite king to put 1000 chariots into the battlefield, and all the reserves of 3,000 soldiers were used. As a result, the Egyptian army and the Hittite army launched a terrible hand-to-hand combat. In an instant, the battlefield was full of shouting and crying, killing and bleeding. The bodies of soldiers from both sides are scattered all over the suburbs of Kadie Stone City, and there are fewer and fewer Egyptian troops at war. At sunset, the Hittite army is about to win. Suddenly, they fled in all directions as if they were frightened.
It turned out that Ramses II's "Puta God" army arrived in time, bringing vitality to the Egyptian Pharaoh. At this critical juncture, the Egyptian army regrouped and deployed the "Puta God" legion. The first line is the chariot soldiers, who are pioneers in killing the enemy; The second line consists of 10 lateral heavy infantry troops, equipped with shields, spears and other weapons, forming a dense array to advance. The wings of infantry units are protected by chariot soldiers, who also oppress the enemy's wings; The third line is still a chariot soldier, used to defend or chase the enemy. Light archers shoot arrows between the first line and the second line, disturbing the enemy front. It was with this phalanx that the Egyptian army defeated the Hittite chariot soldiers and finally forced the Hittite army to withdraw from the battlefield. But shortly thereafter, Ramses II, who suffered heavy losses, had to retreat south, admitting that he had lost Katesh and Amulu, leaving a vast area between Damascus and Hittite. King Benqi of Amulu also became a prisoner of Hittite troops.
The next day, King Hittite wrote a letter to Pharaoh Ramses II of Egypt, which said, "Peace is better than war. Give us life. " . So, the two sides agreed to a truce. Subsequently, Egypt withdrew to Aba near Damascus, while Syria north of Aba was still under Hittite control. After the Battle of Kadesh, the war between Egypt and Hittites lasted about 16 years, but most of them were small. Because of the experience and lessons of the Battle of Cadiz, Ramses II took a delaying tactic in the war between Palestine and Syria, and finally managed to occupy some city-states in the Orente River basin and invade northern Syria. The Hittites, on the other hand, took corresponding countermeasures, stuck to the castles scattered in Syria and tried their best to avoid confrontation with the Egyptian army on the wild battlefield. Neither side won a decisive victory. The long-term war consumption has made both sides unable to fight again.
In about 1269 BC, King Hatisher of the Hittites, who succeeded his brother Mu Vatard to the throne, proposed that Ramses II agreed to conclude a peace treaty.
This peace treaty is the earliest documented international military treaty in history. Hattushir sent the draft peace talks written on the silver board to Egypt, and Ramses II drew up his own draft on this basis and sent it to the Hittite king. The full text of the Treaty is engraved in hieroglyphics on the walls of temples in Kanak, Egypt and Sume (Thebes) in Latin America. This is a copy of the manuscript. The manuscript may have been written in Hittite and Babylonian cuneiform, which were internationally used at that time. A copy of clay written in Babylonian cuneiform was found in the archives of Hattushah, the Hittite capital.
The treaty stipulates that the two sides will achieve permanent peace, never be hostile again, and always maintain "a beautiful peace and a beautiful brotherly relationship." The two sides will carry out military mutual assistance to resist any invading enemy. Both sides promise not to accept each other's fugitives and are obliged to extradite them.
After the signing of the treaty, King Hittite married his eldest daughter to Ramses II, which further consolidated the alliance between the two sides through political marriage.