Fourth Battle of Kadesh

The Fourth Battle of Kadesh was one of the first battles in the OFK-EC War, taking place in early 74 AEE, as the Eastern Coalition was trying to take the city of Kadesh, defended by Egyptian forces under general Horminuter. Over the previous months, the EC had been trying to take the city but was unable to do so, yet this battle changed that.
The engagement started out with both sides being of roughly equal strength and receiving similar levels of casualties, which gave the Egyptians hope that they might win this battle as well and hold onto Kadesh until more reinforcements arrive. However, the Elamites had bought hundreds of war elephants from India and brought them to the front, with this battle being the first opportunity to test them out. In the middle of the battle, once the EC forces cleared the way, the elephants were sent to engage the unsuspecting Egyptians. The Egyptian forces were completely unprepared and thousands died during the elephant rush, with the rest of the army disintegrating in panic and being finished off by the EC chariots and mounted units. The EC had kept elephants a secret from the OFK for months and this was the first battle they were used in, while most in the OFK had never seen an elephant in their life before, which made even the hardened veterans panic.
Thus soon enough the Egyptian force was almost completely destroyed, giving the EC a decisive victory. Thousands of Egyptians were killed and almost 20 000 more captured and taken north. General Horminuter was among the captives and, after being treated for injuries, was taken to Ugarit, Shilhak-Inshushinak's temporary war capital for the Levantine campaign. The remaining 24 000 Egyptian soldiers managed to escape but were leaderless and scared and so unable to put up much of a defense. The city of Kadesh, seeing that there was no one left to defend it, surrendered in a few days to the EC, hoping to receive a more lenient treatment for not resisting, which was indeed given to it for the cooperation. This opened the way for the EC to proceed south and conquer more of Egyptian Levant, while in Egypt discussions intensified about allowing women to join the army, as the OFK had a significant shortage of soldiers to compete with the EC.
Category:OFK-EC War
Category:Eastern Coalition
Category:Organization of Free Kingdoms
Category:The March of Deshret
Category:Battles
Category:Egypt
Category:Elam