Dawn. March 1st, 1896. The hills of Adwa. Italian columns, misled by bad maps and pride, split into three and marched into a trap. From the ridges, Menelik watched. Beside him, Empress Tayitu commanded her own force of 6,000 — and the entire artillery. She had spent weeks securing water for the army. Without her, they would not have lasted.
The signal came. Down the slopes surged a sea of white. Thousands of Ethiopian warriors in white shammas and kutas, shields flashing, gurades raised. The sou