Cleopatras vision

[sas]

Disclaimer: English is not my native language, so please bear with me on the bad grammar in some places.

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35 years ago:

Ten-year-old Cleopatra looked eagerly at her tutor,

“Pease tell me the story again Pedibastet, I really love the way our forefathers stopped the barbarians from tainting out sacred land.”
“All right Cleopatra, I will. Remember, one day you will become the ruler of the great Egyptian people. There is a lot to learn from the past, so pay attention”


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From the first book of Thebes: ...... our people found a great fertile valley, between two vast mountain ranges. There was only one real exit from the valley, and that was to the north. The holy City of Thebes was founded, and the first Pharaoh made the city the capital for all of Egypt. The valley was incredibly fertile and the people of the Nile, as the river running along the valley bed was named, thrived and prospered.

........ Then the barbarian hordes came, and sacked our sacred City. The Pharaoh Pamiu was enraged, and for the first time in history, the peaceful people of Egypt armed themselves. The Barbarians was fought back, and driven out from the valley.

........ After 50 years of fighting the Barbarians, who sought no other goal than to steal the wealth of Thebes, the Pharaoh made a promise to his people:

These are the records of his speech: “I will make sure no barbarians will ever walk on Egypt’s soil again. I will build a huge wall across the northern mountain pass, and deny the barbarians access to our land.”

And so happened, and we never heard of the barbarians since.

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“When I come to power I will be as wise as Pamiu was.” Cleopatra exclaimed.
“I really hope you do Cleopatra, I really do…..”


Present time:

Samut looked at the poor excuse for soldiers that were lined up before him.
“Is this the best you can do Wenis? Because if it is, you will be placed among them in no time. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes Sir!”
“Good! These guys are supposed to be the crack troops of the Egyptian army, and it’s sickening to my stomache just to look at these over fed pigs. You have two months to train these guys, and then I will be back to check on your progress. And there better be some…”
“YES SIR!”

Damn! We’re in no shape to do as Cleopatra has decreed, Samut thought to himself. It’s insane to cross the wall with this ragtag army. We have no idea of how many barbarians are on the other side. Better make the best of the next two months...


At the same time in the Royal Palace:

“Your highness. With all do respect, this is insane. We have prospered in this valley for over 5500 years, why should we really change that?”
“My dear Necho, you have on numerous occasions given me excellent advice. Therefore I will excuse you total lack of vision in this matter. It is time for the people of Egypt to grant the greatest gift our eternal country can give to the barbarians, Civilization. I will move forth from the valley and civilize the barbarians. We will make them a part of the Egyptian Kingdom, and they will pay allegiance to me. This discussion is over, I have made up my mind. Everyone in this room has 2 months to make the necessary preparations. I want the army mobilized and the clerics prepared for our “crusade”. The glory of Egypt will shine like a bright star until the end of time.”
“But...
“No BUT, just do as I command.
“Yes my Queen...”

too be continued.....

[sas]

Two months later:

Samut had dreaded this moment, it was inspection time again. The last two months had passes all to quickly. Well, this is it. There is no turning back now.

“Are the soldiers ready Wenis?” he asked, and feared the response he would receive.
“Yes Sir! We have made significant progress and are as ready as I think is possible considering the circumstances.” Wenis replied with a smile on his face.

The two walked into the main training hall.

“Is this some kind of joke?”
“Sir?”
“These are not the same men I inspected earlier.” Samut was getting red on his cheeks, and that was not a good sign.
“Sir, these are exactly the same men you inspected two months ago. But I agree that they look different. At least 5 kilos lighter and more robust. I hope we did okay.”
“Wenis, this is incredible. Good work indeed!”
“Thank you Sir!”
“Hmmm.... if you could to this miracle on there guys, perhaps there is hope after all...”
“I hope so Sir.” Wenis had a broad smile on his face.

Gods, maybe Cleopatra was right all along. Is this the right time after all? We certainly could use the extra land. Egypt is overpopulated and we could need to get rid of the excess population. The only way to do this is new land for settlement. Well, this is no time to let the mind wander, its time to meet the Queen.

At the Palace:

“Ah! My General Samut, how nice of you to come. Have you made the necessary preparations?”
“Yes my Queen, we have made the most of the two months you gave us. We now have two Catapult divisions, four Cavalry divisions, seven infantry divisions and two hundred clerics ready to move over the wall. But I have to say that this is the first time in over five thousand years we have taken up arms, so needless to say all the troops are inexperienced.”
“That doesn’t matter my dear General. When the barbarians see the might of the Egyptian army, they will thank their primitive gods we have found them. I think you can expect them to flock to your banner eager to swear allegiance to Egypt.”
“I hope so my Queen. But to speak frankly, we have no idea what we will encounter on the other side. Its best to be prepared for anything we can think of.”
“You have my complete confidence in your abilities General. I know you will bring glory to your family and Egypt. Good luck!”
“Thank you my Queen, I will not disappoint you.”


To be continued....