Battle of Ashkelon

The Battle of Ashkelon was the turning point in the Levantine campaign in the OFK-EC War. After the EC victory in the Battle of Gezer, the capture of Ashkelon seemed to be almost certain for the EC, as it had a larger force and higher morale and so was ready to complete the takeover of the Levant. However, Shilhak-Inshushinak's, who was the king of Elam and the factual leader of the EC, death on the evening of 9 Shemu IV changed everything. Shilhak was betrayed by Horminuter, the former Egyptian general who appeared to defect to the EC after being captured in the Fourth Battle of Kadesh, who tried to poison his drink. Horminuter was thought to be stopped and was killed by general Eparti, who himself tried to assassinate Shilhak to take over the coalition, but was also stopped and arrested. However, Shilhak still died soon nonetheless due to having unknowingly consumed Horminuter's poison which was secretly put into another cup as well.
With Shilhak dead, the command of the EC army fell to generals Kindattu and Eparti, the latter being placed under arrest for his attempt to assassinate Shilhak. Yet in a few hours he was freed by his loyal officers and the two generals were now in control of their respective units. The two disagreed on how to proceed, with Eparti still wanting to attack Ashkelon, while Kindattu wanted to retreat north and reorganize, as Shilhak had ordered in his contingency note. The disagreements continued over the night, and during that time the Egyptians learned of Shilhak's death through their spy network within the EC camp. 
Realizing that the EC must be in disarray, the Egyptians under Nechtarhebi attacked the EC forces in the morning of the 10th of Shemu IV. The EC still had not decided on the course of action and so was completely disorganized, resulting in thousands of casualties and the destruction of their camp. Seeing that no unified decision could be made, Kindattu took his forces and pulled them north, eventually retreating to Assyria after crossing the Euphrates. Eparti decided to stay and fight, but could not organize his forces in time and so was utterly defeated, barely managing to escape in time with a small remainder of his army. In the end, over a dozen thousand EC soldiers were dead, and two dozens became Egyptian captives, while Egypt had relatively few casualties. Following the battle, the Egyptians immediately marched north to reconquer the Levant, while Eparti headed for Ugarit with his force, hoping to entrench himself there.
Category:The March of Deshret
Category:Organization of Free Kingdoms
Category:Eastern Coalition
Category:Battles
Category:Egypt
Category:Elam
Category:OFK-EC War