33. A Decisive Deception
The central route to Megiddo was so obviously dangerous, that no reasonable commander would risk his army in its ravines. Pharaoh Thutmose guessed the rebels would leave it unguarded because they would not expect him to court disaster by running such an obvious risk. So he took the central route. As Thutmose had guessed, it was unguarded. He arrived at Megiddo sooner than expected, surprised the Canaanites, and won a decisive victory that secured Egyptian hegemony over the region for centuries.
3375 years later, in WWI, General Allenby, an avid student of ancient history, was confronted with the same choice as Thutmose III as he led a British army advancing from the south against Ottomans and Germans entrenched in the Jezreel Valley. He stole a march upon them and burst unexpected in front of Megiddo with an advance through the central route via Aruna.
