fiery bolts bounced harmlessly to the ground. The remaining fire-arrows that did hit their intended mark were easily doused.
Shielded by other soldiers, teams of strong, muscular Gideonites cranked the arms of the war machines back into firing position. The men were fresh, and they were able to ready, load, and fire each catapult at the rate of about three times an hour. The teams worked tirelessly-cranking, aiming, firing. As the day passed, frustration set in. Merlons were easy to knock down, but the solid stone blocks of the wall proved to be much more difficult, with most projectiles only chipping chunks from the thick barrier.
In addition to the resilience of the wall itself, the effectiveness of the catapults was lessened because of the constant harassment by sorties of Uzzahite warriors from sally ports at either end of the wall. Both ports were fiercely guarded by Uzzah. Many Gideonites died while trying to breach the doors until Rezon called an end to sorties against their attackers.
After several hours of minimal progress against the central portion of the wall, Chief Captain Jael stepped away from the observation hut and sent a few messengers to each end of the line. In response, the heavy wood beams of two catapults groaned and creaked as several hundred men pushed them back and then pushed them forward again, this time aiming them toward the sally ports.
After several missed attempts, one of the catapults hit its mark. The protective archways covering the outer reinforced door of the eastern port tumbled to the earth, completely blocking the exit. An additional catapult was turned toward the western port, and two tries later, its archway also fell. Rezon’s army cheered.
“Get those catapults lined back up with the center!” Jael shouted. He pulled Rezon’s arm and pointed. “Do you see the archways above the main gates?”
“Yes,” Rezon said.
“I think we should target those too.”
Rezon brought the sight of his spyglass up to his eye. Massive gates were reinforced with iron plates and bands, very little of their wooden beams exposed. The successive archways that extruded from the wall over the main gates were made of gigantic, precisely cut granite blocks and prevented a direct hit on the door. Most of the projectiles previously fired had enough arc left in their trajectory to cause them to bounce off the top of the protective structures. To this point, the catapults had not hit the gates at all.
“You’re right, Jael. You are going to have to get the arches down first. Otherwise, you will never hit the gates. I do worry, though.. ”
“About what?”
Rezon folded his arms. “We could end up blocking the gates completely. If we do, we won’t be able to get the rams into position. Maybe we should just push the rams forward. The arches could even provide cover.”
“Rezon, those main arches are a death trap.”
“They have murder holes?”
“And spouts for hot oil.”
Rezon spat on the ground. “Then knock them down.”
Uzziel peered down from a spotter’s post in a blockhouse upon the inner wall. The sound of popping pebbles from grinding wheels had caught his attention. Below him, the gates of the inner wall had been flung wide open. Eight machines, much lighter and more nimble than the heavy catapults being used by the enemy, creaked their way down the ramp, flanked on either side by the soldiers who rolled them. He pulled at Josiah’s sleeve.
“What are they doing?”
“Captain Jeremy had us build the onagers in secret. They were assembled far up the canyon and tested there. From what I hear, they have been marked with distance lines. With the assistance of a good spotter and some luck, we should be able to aim them with great accuracy. Obviously, the Gideonites don’t know we have them.”
Uzziel was excited. He didn’t know what the weapons were, but any advantage, especially if obtained by a surprise attack, thrilled him.
“What do they fire?” he asked.
“Yes,” Abram replied, snickering.
Uzziel was confused at first, but then it hit him. “Oh!”
A messenger ran up the stairs to the blockhouse and saluted. “Captain Jeremy sent me. He wanted you to know that although the eastern sally port was completely blocked by debris, the western port is still operational. He doesn’t think the Gideonites are aware of this. Only one of the men stationed there was injured. None killed. The captain says he will only open the door again if strategically necessary.”
“Thank you.”
The messenger scurried off.
Through a wide observation slit in the stone wall, Uzziel stared down at the onagers, now well onto the grassy pathway between the two protective city walls. Captains of ten and fifty arranged the engines in an arc and prepared them for service. A fire-pit, which Uzziel had not noticed before, hummed with activity. Pairs of men hauled iron balls coated in a sticky, tarry substance to each onager, handing the projectiles off to the teams manning the weapons. The teams then loaded the leather pockets hanging from the ends of the throwing arms.
A spotter on the outer wall relayed direction and distance for each of the onagers separately. Soldiers operating the engines moved adjustable stopping bars and anchored them in place while designated soldiers stood at the ready to set a burning torch to each tarred ball. Once the spotter signaled their readiness, the captain gave the order.
Eight flaming balls rose high over the outer wall and came crashing down onto two catapults near the trenches. Enemy soldiers near the siege engines stared in disbelief as all but one of the projectiles hit its mark. An alarm sounded, and Rezon’s soldiers rushed forward with water buckets to douse the flames, but one of the units was so completely engulfed by flame that they abandoned it. The spotter on the wall signaled again, this time indicating perfect hits.
A cheer that seemed to shake the heavens echoed back and forth between the peaks on either end of the valley. Uzziel supported himself on one hand as he leaned closer to the observation slit, nervous about the retaliation he knew would be forthcoming. His hand trembled. Frantic activity down below made him look again. What he saw drew out a smile-sloshing buckets being passed so fast along a line of soldiers that by the time they reached the catapults, the remaining water was almost less than a spit. He had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing.
Rezon stood in the observation hut, seething with anger. He shouted orders for the three loaded catapults to be aimed in the direction from which they had been attacked. Responding to the commands, soldiers struck latches with mallets, and the machines launched their stones high over the wall. Yelling and great commotion from inside floated over the walls, heard by all the ranks of Gideon.
Stretching further out the open window, Rezon thought he could make out screams of pain.
Oozing with delight at the successful hit, he guffawed as he slapped Jael on the shoulder. “That will teach them.”
Uzziel held his breath as three large stones sailed high over the battlements, hurtling toward the open field between the walls of Ramathaim. He stood, his old eyes focused on their expected impact point, then he let out a sigh of relief when he realized the onagers were already being moved. He watched with interest as a group of Uzzahite soldiers ran up to the three Gideonite stones that missed their mark, now sunk into the grassy turf. Turning toward the wall with their hands cupped around their mouths, a few soldiers took turns yelling. Some of the men banged on shields. One of them screamed as if in pain. Then, with their ruse accomplished, they hurried from the area and rejoined their ranks.
Peering down to where the onagers had been moved, he saw that soldiers were already prepping them for another attack. He clapped his hands with joy as he saw the Uzzahite captains manning the weapons signal to the spotters that no one had been injured, and that all the machines were safe.
Soldiers brought fresh leather pockets to replace the ones that had been damaged by the flaming projectiles, then loaded more tarred iron balls. The targeting and firing process repeated, and as soon as the fireballs were
