Chapter Twenty-Nine: Kingdom Fall

After six months of intensive training, Hayah and Rabbeh were finally agreed that their men were ready. So, they started to deliberate on where and how to strike. First, they decided to send a message to the Ruler of Kanem-Borno, Mai Hashim, threatening him to surrender to them or be killed. The Mai did not take the threat seriously and thought they were just some jokers playing pranks on him. As a prominent ruler, he received such pranks all the time. Then he remembered Hayah had sent emissaries to him a few months ago, requesting for help and now the man was suddenly transformed into a challenger? He laughed. And then blurted out “Who the hell does he think he is, and what gives him the nerve? Kanem-Borno had been a powerful kingdom for over a thousand years. So, who are these two jokers that suddenly want to challenge it?”

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Borno had withstood every imaginable threat and armed attack for so many years, and still standing. The Mai waved off the threat with exuberant confidence, besides, Kanem-Borno was comprised of walled cities. Every town and city were surrounded by large thick walls and heavy gates guarded by well-armed and well-trained soldiers to protect it from external threats. It was nearly impossible for anyone to get in and attack it without suffering defeat. The threat from Rabbeh and Hayah would be adequately neutralized outside the walled cities, or so he thought. 

So, the Mai dispatched one of his Generals with an army of one thousand men to reinforce the first line of defence and repel the aggressors. Two days later, a messenger arrived with the General’s head and more sad news. Rabbeh had decimated the General’s army, taken captives of those left, and easily overran the commercial town of Ngala; after breaking down its gates and killing the soldiers guarding it. The town was now effectively under the occupation of Rabbeh rebels.

The king was furious. He then decided to send a larger army of four thousand men to recapture Ngala. Another battle ensued between Rabbeh and the Kanuri forces. Once more, the rebel leader won again and this time, he extended his advantage deep into the great city of Kuka, where he met another fierce resistance and crushed it. When Mai Hashim heard of Rabbeh’s latest victory, he feared the capital city of Dikwa would be next, and fled for his life.

Rabbeh received the news about the flight of the Mai as a sign of victory and planned to advance to Dikwa, but then one of his spies arrived with news that the nephew of the Mai, Muhammad El-Amin, also known as Kari, had assassinated Mai Hashim for bringing shame on the royal family and took control of the kingdom. He vowed to drive Rabbeh and his forces out of Dikwa.

Rabbeh instructed his spies to find out everything about Kari and report back to him as soon as possible. If he was going to fight this new enemy and win, he needed to know who the man is. And he received the information he needed in record time.

The new Mai’s real name was Mohammed El-Amin, formally known by his people as Kari. He was the proud nephew of Mai Hashim, who felt that the Mai had disgraced the powerful Kanuri royal family of Kanem-Borno by his act of cowardice instead of facing Hayah and Rabbeh fearlessly as he should have. So, he assassinated his Uncle and declared himself Mai in his place.  Moving swiftly and decisively, he recruited new volunteers and consolidated the Kanuri army into a formidable force, to fight and repel the rebels or die trying. 

It was rumoured that the new Mai had supporters from all over the empire, including Kuka where Rabbeh and Hayah were camped. Rabbeh’s men captured some of Kari’s female informants and tortured them until they revealed all of Kari’s plans, after which they were killed against

Hayah’s wishes. Rabbeh insisted they were a liability and they were killed.

From the informants, they were able to discover Kari’s military secrets; a well-trained army of about four thousand men and another eight hundred civilian volunteers who were ready to give their lives in defence of the kingdom.

Perhaps, if Kari had known the enormous military advantage Rabbeh held over his forces at the time, he would probably have proceeded with extra caution. He had a larger army, with sophisticated weapons; guns and cannons and was a mythical military strategist against a prosaic Kanuri army! However, Hayah prescribed a measured optimism, no army should be underestimated. He knew better. Through experience and careful observation, he had transformed himself into a cold-blooded strategist. And out of such a warrior mind, emerged a diabolical ambush trap, set to annihilate the entire Kanuri army.

From the confessions of Kari’s informants, they also found out the exact date and time he would attack. They waited for him at Kuka with only two thousand men led by Abdou. While the reserves were divided into two large army units; one led by Rabbeh and the other by Hayah hid in the neighbouring communities. The strategy was for Abdou’s unit to mount a fierce and sustained attack until Kari’s army began to show signs of battle fatigue, then, Rabbeh and his men will launch a surprise attack on the weakest point and Hayah’s forces will go in to annihilate the few Kanuri forces still with the strength to fight.

And so it happened by Thursday afternoon, the battle between Kari and Abdou’s armies was in full force. Abdou had waited for the enemy with his men at the middle of the town.  Curiously, since the day Rabbeh and his soldiers broke down its gates and defeated its soldiers; the citizens of Kuka had been in hiding. They scattered like cockroaches, disappearing into thin air. No one could find a single soul in the streets of the town. They searched houses and stole food, and even slept in some of the houses without seeing anyone. Only God knew where they had scurried off to. There was only one way in and one way out of the city, yet nobody had seen them leave. But that will be a matter for another day. The problem at hand was Kari. The sooner he is defeated, the better for their overall objective.

Abdou was given some of the finest and fiercest of soldiers to fight with. Even though, they were to be the first line of attack and only a distraction, Hayah was not ready to lose any of them and ensured that it was only those who could actually fight that went first. After all, there would be enough support to sustain the attack when Kari and his men would have been tired.

Thirty minutes later, the battle was still raging on. Many men were down both from Abdou’s side and Kari’s. Surprisingly the Kanuris proved to be really good in battle and it surprised Abdou a bit. All the same,  he was a proven commander accustomed to the many changing forms of war. Whatever the case, they have back-ups and victory was inevitable. But what was curious, however, was that he did not see Kari leading his men. Perhaps he cowered, Abdou thought. Maybe he is one of those rulers that send their men out to fight while they hide in the comfort and safety of their palace. Regardless, he should prepare for bad news.

From his hiding place, Rabbeh received the signal to proceed. And they marched towards Kuka and attacked the already weakened Kanuri soldiers, killing them swiftly. But just as victory was about to become a reality, Kari suddenly showed up with an army of two thousand men. It was a total surprise to Rabbeh and Abdou. Kari was never known to be a military strategist. He also had guns as part of the surprise. Not as much in comparison to Rabbeh’s but effective nonetheless. It was a game-changer.

Suddenly the battle took an entirely different tone, with Kari’s men almost gaining an upper hand over Rabbeh.

Even though Rabbeh wasn’t expecting that to happen, he was fully prepared for such a contingency. He had discussed the strategy earlier with Hayah and Abdou, that if Kari pulled any surprises on them, they were to retreat and appear to give up. That would fool him to assume he was winning, and let his guards down – even if momentarily – and allow them to relaunch a devastating attack on his forces, to neutralize him once and for all. So, Rabbeh signalled to Abdou who in turn signalled to his men to turn around and run.

Kari and his men pursued the enemy until they were miles out of town. Mistaking the enemy’s feigned retreat as a rout, prematurely he began to celebrate. He led his joyous men back to Kuka and called out the inhabitants (hitherto in hiding) to come out and join the victory dance. And they crawled out in droves. Their chants and songs of victory could be heard from a great distance. 

They chanted:

“The mighty oak tree has been cut down to size.”

Others were singing:

“Look at them running, look at them fleeing.

They ran away like the cowards that they are.

All hail to the Sheik, our hero, our savior.”

Others would refrain:

“Rabbeh the terror

has met his match in Kari the warrior.”

They sang and danced all day. Some of their women tended the wounded among Kari’s men while the others cooked and provided food and drinks for the celebrations. Cows and sheep were killed to provide abundant meat for the festivities. Barbecue pits sprang up all over town providing succulent roasted meat for everyone to enjoy. There was so much food and meat to eat that some of them actually overate and threw up. The atmosphere of jubilation was overwhelming.

Kari ordered his men to cut off the heads of the fallen soldiers from Rabbeh’s army and hung them on ropes like laundry for everyone to see their faces. “Cowards” he called them.

The locals lavished the soldiers with lots of gifts in appreciation. Not a few fathers promised some of the soldiers their daughters’ hands in marriage. The girls happily accepted the proposals, excited to marry heroes. Everyone loves a winner.

By midnight, everyone was exhausted and the celebrations had died down. By two in the morning the whole town was asleep and not a soul was in the streets. At exactly four in the morning, Hayah, Rabbeh and Abdou descended on the town with their full might. Kari didn’t know what hit him. Many of his men were killed in their sleep and by the time the rest woke up, they were powerless against the tornado of the Tuaregs and Mahdi soldiers. More than three quarters of Kari’s men were killed, some were forcibly captured while the others surrendered and were begging for mercy. Kari was deliberately spared and captured alongside his men and as his custom was, Rabbeh gave him an ultimatum: Join the rebel forces or be killed, with his family hunted down and wiped out from the face of the earth.

“I will rather die with my dignity than end up a worthless thug like you.” He spat in Rabbeh’s face. Rabbeh took the honor of beheading him himself.

What was left of Kari’s men were co-opted into Rabbeh’s army, but he wasn’t satisfied. He felt humiliated by the strategy of retreating. Even though, it was a planned strategic move, with the benefit of hindsight, he hated it even more because the inhabitants of Kuka aided Kari in humiliating him. He rewarded them by unleashing his villainous men on them. Hayah stood in shock as they raped the women and children, killed the men and animals, then burnt down the town and farms to the ground.

It was a destruction and devastation so massive that the town would never recover. 

“What have you done, Rabbeh?” Hayah was furious. He was visibly shaking.

“What was needed.” Rabbeh replied, nonchalantly.

“What? Do you have any idea what your men did to those people? Innocent men and women and even children…”

“They were not innocent!” Rabbeh roared at him, making Hayah stop in the middle of his sentence. “They dared to defy me and humiliate me. I cannot take that. If I let it go, soon every other town will think that they can ridicule me. This way, when word finally goes out, the very mention of my name will strike fear into the hearts of people everywhere I go. And no one will have the audacity to stand up to me.”

“You’re a monster!”

“No, Hayah. I am a man on a mission, and I will not let anything stand in my way.” He said and walked away.

After that incident, the rest was easy. Rabbeh defeated the remaining cities and towns of Kanem-Borno with very little resistance until he captured the whole empire. He placed his men in strategic places in the four corners of the empire before deciding to make the city of Dikwa his capital.

 [End of Chapter Twenty-Nine]

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