Part Three: The Untold Story of Uriah the Hittite

CHAPTER THREE

“Today we are going to war,” they sang.

“But,” cried one.

“Today is not a good day to die,” they responded.

“Why,” shouted one.

“The Lord of Host is with us,” they responded.

“And so,” cried another.

“We will slash, hack and bash,” cried all.

“And then,” came the cry.

“We will take the spoils of war,” they sang.

“And?”

“Go back home praising our God.”

“And then?”

“Go home to “know” our wives,” the men cried out and then shouted loudly.

It was the battle cry they usually sang before a major fight.

“It is time to bleed or be bled,” said Gareb as he and Uriah helped each other put on their armor.

“It’s never a good day to die,” responded Uriah, as his mind wandered back to the strategy meeting that held early that morning.

“What do we know about the people of Ammon? Joab asked.

“We know they will come out to fight and not hide behind their walls,” came the reply from Zelek.

“Their most valiant soldiers are usually sent after their archers. But in this instance, we expect them to stay back to repel our attacks if and when we get past the archers,” added Eliam, the father of Bathsheba.

“How do we get past the archers with minimal casualty?” Joab asked.

“We can do a mock charge to engage their archers. That way we ascertain their shooting range and brig our archers into play,” suggested Joseb.

“Hmm, I like the mock charge,” stated Joab.

“I think we should do 3 waves of mock charge. 1000 men each, to really get them worried. Since we outnumber their 10,000 soldiers 5 to 1 or thereabout,” said Abishai, brother of Joab.

“Numbers don’t win wars,” stated Shammah.

“Yes, they don’t, the superior strategy does. So we will also flank them on both sides. Once their archers are actively engaged with the waves of mock charges, we will attack them from both sides. This should confuse them and allow us to bring our archers in range and into play,” said Abishai.

“This sounds good to me. Or what do you say?” Joab asked.

The men nodded in agreement.

“I will lead the first mock charge,” stated Abishai, brother of Joab.

“And I the second wave,” said Eleazar.

“No, Abishai and Eleazar will be in charge of the 2nd and 3rd wave respectively,” responded Joab.

“So who leads the first charge?” Eliam asked.

Joab looked at him and said, “Uriah.”