Dvar Torah Beshalach 5 — Order of Operations: Cute vort on a great question

Beshalach 5 — Order of Operations:
@08אמר אויב ארדף אשיג אחלק שלל תמלאמו נפשי אריק חרבי תורישמו ידי
@09The enemy said, “I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the booty; my desire will be filled from them; I will draw my sword, my hand will impoverish them” (Shemos 15:9).
This pasuk in Az Yashir quotes Pharaoh as he rallied his troops to chase after Bnei Yisrael. In the sefer Kehillas Yitzchak (Beshalach, p. 68), Rav Yitzchak Reitbard points out that the sequence in the pasuk does not seem to be correct.
After the enemy said, “Erdof asig — I will pursue, I will overtake,” we would not expect him to say, “Achaleik shallal — I will divide the booty.” How can the spoils of war be taken before the actual fighting?
Next, he said, “Timla’eimo nafshi — My desire will be filled from them.” How could his desire be satisfied before his soldiers drew their swords, which is only mentioned in the subsequent phrase: “Arik charbi — I will draw my sword”?
The last phrase is: “Torisheimo yadi — My hand will impoverish them.” This phrase speaks about what ensues toward the end of a battle; we subdue, overcome, and impoverish the enemy. But this is also only mentioned after the enemies have wiped out the opposition and taken the spoils. How can this be?
This is the way we would have expected Pharaoh to state his plans: “First, we will pursue and overtake (Erdof asig). Next, we will draw our swords (Arik charbi). Then, after a heated battle, our hand will impoverish them as we gain the upper hand (Torisheimo yadi). With the tide in our favor, our desire will be fulfilled through them (Timla’eimo nafshi). And only then will we divide the spoils (Achaleik shallal).”
The Kehillas Yitzchak quotes Rav Moshe Yitzchak of Ponovezh, who explains this in a clever way. In Parashas Bo, after receiving the warning regarding Makkas Arbeh, the Plague of Locusts, Pharaoh seemed to relent and asked Moshe, “Mi va’mi haholchim — Who will go?” (Shemos 10:8).
Moshe responded, “Bine’ureinu u’vi’zekeineinu neileich be’vaneinu u’vi’venoseinu be’tzoneinu u’vi’vekareinu neileich — We will go with our youth and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go” (ibid. verse 9).
The order of those going out also seems incorrect. Why were the youth placed before the old — the bachurim before their elders, their roshei yeshivah?
The pshat is that they were going into a desert, an unpredictable and often hostile environment. Therefore, the Yidden had to be prepared for all eventualities. With this in mind, they put the youth, in the prime of their strength and the most capable in the event of hostilities, at the front. Behind them were the elders, who, although past their prime, were still able to fight. Behind them were the sons and daughters, the young children. And in the rear were the most vulnerable, the animals.
For safety’s sake, they went out from strongest to weakest. But Pharaoh planned on attacking from behind. Thus, when rallying his troops, he described what would occur based on the order that Moshe had given him.
First, the Mitzrim would catch up to the animals, which were in the back. We know from the Gemara (Bechoros 5b) that the animals carried the riches that the Jews had taken from Egypt. That’s why the first step, after chasing and overtaking them, was: “Achaleik shallal — I will divide the booty.” Pharaoh planned on reaching the spoils that were being carried by the animals, even before any real fighting began.
Then they would come up to the children, the sons and daughters, and capture them. For this reason, it says next, “Timla’eimo nafshi –My desire will be filled from them.” By taking the children captive, they would satisfy their desire, even without drawing their swords.
Then the Egyptians would come up to the elders and the youth, the frontline troops. For this part of the plan, they would have to draw their swords: “Arik charbi — I will draw my sword.”
Finally, after a heated and protracted battle, they would subdue the Yidden: “Torisheimo yadi — My hand will impoverish them.”
Pharaoh, a wise and cunning general, used Moshe’s words to develop a strategic battle plan. However, Bnei Yisrael had the ultimate Warrior on their side.
“Eileh va’rechev ve’eileh va’susim va’anachnu be’Sheim Hashem Elokeinu nazkir — Some with chariots, and some with horses; but we in the Name of Hashem, our G-d, call out” (Tehillim 20:8).