As the first human force in the world of Ice and Fire to fight the Gift army in open battle, the Golden Company's performance was outstanding and beyond reproach. Yet what they faced was not ordinary shield infantry, but the first grenadier unit in the history of Westeros.
Although artillery had already been deployed, explosive shells were still difficult to perfect in a short time. Therefore, Aegor could only bring out the explosive grenades that had proven highly effective in the war against the White Walkers, allowing this simple and reliable weapon to continue playing its role.
The large shields carried by the first rank of soldiers were meant not only to block arrows, swords, and spears, but also to protect their own men from flying shrapnel.
With a flash of fire and thick smoke, countless iron nails, gravel, shards of pottery, and other deadly fragments burst outward in the explosions. Wails and screams rose from those caught near the blasts.
The Golden Company stood at the top of the mercenary food chain, and their equipment reflected that. From lord to common soldier, most wore quality armor. Much of the shrapnel's lethality was absorbed by steel and leather. Although many nearby soldiers bled from their faces and cried out in pain, their actual wounds were often less severe than the deafening ringing in their ears caused by the blasts.
White smoke spread across the field. Though many soldiers were momentarily stunned, they still retained the ability to fight. Uninjured officers waved their weapons and shouted for the charge to continue.
But they soon discovered a far more serious consequence of the explosions.
The war elephants were frightened.
Elephants were powerful and intelligent beasts. Some were said to rival human children in wit. Yet they were also sensitive creatures, and when confronted with unfamiliar danger, their courage was not much greater than that of a child.
To prepare them for battle, trainers conducted extensive conditioning. Once trained, they would ignore war drums, horns, and shouting. They would charge into walls of spears and fire. They would endure superficial wounds from arrows and blades without faltering.
But no one had trained them to withstand explosions.
The riders had stuffed the elephants' ears with padding before the charge to lessen the effect of distant cannon fire, which was already a thoughtful precaution. Yet cotton could not fully muffle sound, and the thunder across the river was nothing compared to the blasts erupting beneath their feet.
Amid the rumbling detonations, the elephants trumpeted wildly. Their steps faltered. The explosions damaged their hearing, the flashes blinded their eyes, and the acrid smoke assaulted their sense of smell.
Everything triggered their instinctive fear. At that moment, the commands of their riders and the presence of their human allies meant nothing. In their massive heads, there was only one thought, escape this unnatural and terrifying place.
...
To flee forward meant crashing into the wall of black shields and bristling spears ahead. That was clearly no refuge. The only options were sideways or back.
As the mercenaries recovered from their shock and prepared to complete the final stretch of their charge, they realized that the carefully coordinated infantry and elephant formation had collapsed. The massive beasts at the front had turned and begun to rampage in confusion, shattering the cone shaped assault formations into chaos.
Three older elephants managed to veer through gaps and avoid trampling their own men. The younger and more reckless ones simply turned into the ranks, crushing and trampling without restraint. Bones cracked. Men screamed in agony.
The golden tide broke apart before it ever struck the black shield wall.
The enemy showed no mercy. Each grenadier had carried two explosive grenades. After throwing their own, they used those handed back by the shield bearers. With only seconds between volleys, the black clad soldiers gave their foes no time to recover. Before the smoke from the first blasts had cleared, the second and third rounds detonated in rapid succession.
The unrelenting explosions drove the panicked elephants into an even wilder stampede. Riders lost control. The mercenaries' hard won courage shattered.
After the fourth volley, the horn sounded again. The shield wall dropped forward in unison. The Gift soldiers cast aside their wooden shields and took up long spears handed to them by comrades. In a seamless transition from defense to offense, they roared and charged the disordered enemy.
Every soldier of the Gift army, from commander to common man, treated the Golden Company with the same caution they once reserved for wights. Yet the Golden Company's will to fight now proved weaker than that of the dead.
Under this barrage of tactics far beyond their era, the golden wave that moments earlier seemed capable of driving the enemy into the river collapsed completely. It was pushed back by that small but expanding mass of black.
Of the first thousand who had charged, more than nine hundred still standing turned and fled, discarding helmets and armor. Their rout quickly affected the five hundred archers behind them. Fourteen hundred men scattered in retreat, driven back like ducks by barely two hundred Gift soldiers.
Watching from his elevated position, Strickland's face turned pale. Shame and anger mixed with cold dread.
He did not blame the men for fleeing. With the formation shattered, standing and fighting would have been pointless slaughter. Preserving strength was always the mercenary's first principle.
Yet never before had the Golden Company been so thoroughly outmatched in a battle of such disparity.
If fifteen hundred could be defeated by two hundred, how many Golden Companies would be needed once the main body of the Gift army crossed?
Two minutes earlier, he had regretted attacking too soon. Now he could not remain calm.
"Order the first wave to withdraw to the main formation. The whole army will attack!"
The strange iron grenades carried by the first wave were nearly spent. The tight formation of the Gift vanguard had loosened in pursuit. Now was the best moment.
If he had the audacity, he could claim the earlier force had been bait to lure the enemy forward. Let the remaining four thousand charge, annihilate the two or three hundred who had crossed, and then withdraw the entire army.
Too short a time to stop the crossing? Heavy losses?
Let Aegon and those cursed Riverlands lords complain. It was his foundation that was bleeding.
The Golden Company's war drums shifted again. More than forty remaining companies raised their banners and began shouting in preparation. Some scrambled aside to avoid the few elephants still running wild.
Attacking two hundred men with the entire Golden Company was unprecedented, but no commander dared scoff at the order. All had witnessed the first clash. None considered it overkill.
They prayed only that no new, unseen weapons would appear, that they could destroy the enemy vanguard and withdraw intact.
But fate was unkind.
"Dragon!"
"Dragon!"
"Stop shouting. It is huge. Anyone can see it. Ready the dragon hunting ballistas!"
Above the thinning smoke and beneath the gray sky, the two dragons that had earlier circled above the southern camp took flight again. Crossing the Blackwater Rush, they reached the battlefield and circled above the abandoned camp. Spotting the dense cluster of golden banners on the riverbank, they turned and wheeled overhead.
The sight of the dragons created immense pressure. Yet if this was the enemy's final measure, Strickland was not afraid.
Compared to artillery and grenades, dragons were expected. The Riverlands army had left behind a third of their dragon hunting ballistas. In proportion to manpower, the Golden Company now possessed several times more.
Eliminating a few hundred enemies and withdrawing would be humiliating. But if they could shoot down a dragon, even if not Daenerys's own mount, it would be an immense achievement.
...
On the river, the pontoon bridges continued to ferry troops south. More than a dozen dragon hunting ballistas were raised and aimed skyward. The routed soldiers rejoined the main body. Thousands of armed men stood ready.
The Gift vanguard sensed the danger and withdrew to the southern ends of the bridges, raising shields once more, though now their line had expanded outward.
The dragons did not descend at once.
After observing for a minute, Strickland concluded it was a bluff. He lowered his gaze, preparing to order the general attack once formations were set.
Then shouts erupted again.
After scanning from high above, Daenerys identified the densest cluster of banners and men and began to dive.
The ballista crews gripped their triggers, waiting for the dragons to descend to effective range. Even Strickland lifted his eyes to watch.
Officers urged him to take cover, but he refused. From such height, how would a dragon know he was the commander? Hiding among others would only draw attention. And there were no shelters from dragonfire.
He gambled that the ballistas would strike before the dragons reached their lowest point and unleashed flame, or at least drive them back skyward.
The dragon descended steeply, from four hundred to three hundred meters and lower. The ballistas could theoretically reach two hundred, but at that height penetration was uncertain. The crews held their breath and waited.
They waited too long.
Just before reaching the most dangerous height, the dragon beat its wings sharply and halted midair, then climbed back upward.
Fearing the opportunity was lost, the crews fired. More than a dozen heavy spears arced upward.
None struck true. The closest missed by more than two meters.
Amid sighs of disappointment, keen eyed observers noticed something else. The dragon had not merely feinted. At its lowest point, it had released two large bundles connected by rope.
They fell toward the Golden Company's command ranks.
(To be continued.)
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