Aegor noticed the anomaly before the request for aid arrived.
Following the principle of "balanced combat power," the Western Expeditionary Army's explosive bombs were evenly distributed among the nine phalanxes along with the grenadiers. Each phalanx had about a hundred grenadiers, each carrying two explosive bombs. The remainder was left for Aegor's direct Gift Army, while the Unsullied and Westerlands cavalry were simply not equipped with them.
Unlike cannons, which were "limited in number and slow to fire," explosive bombs were far too convenient to use. Although the total number was not small, there was only one for every ten people on average. Furthermore, their use was easy to learn, so if they were unleashed in battle, they would likely be used up instantly. To avoid unnecessary excess firepower and waste, Aegor had already given instructions when issuing pre-battle orders to the commanders of each phalanx. Explosive bombs were only allowed to be used when facing cavalry charges and in critical battle situations.
And just now, in the interval between two rounds of cannon grapeshot, he heard the roar of explosive bombs coming from the direction of the infantry engagement line.
If it had only been one round, it could still be explained as a misjudgment by a mid-level commander in a certain phalanx, deploying the emergency explosive bombs prematurely. But the crisp sounds of the second and third rounds of explosive bombs meant that commanders in other phalanxes had followed suit and ordered the deployment of explosive bombs. This undoubtedly sent one signal: the entire infantry defense line was under pressure.
But this was too strange.
In Aegor's pre-battle assumptions, the infantry phalanxes on the west only needed to confront the enemy infantry and withstand their attacks without collapsing. He would then achieve decisive results in other areas of the battlefield. After removing the "cheats" of explosive bombs and cannons, the infantry on both sides were contemporaries of the same standard, evenly matched opponents. The Western Expeditionary Army also had the overall morale bonus from consecutive victories, so holding a draw should have been effortless...
In fact, what Aegor worried about was not being unable to win, but rather that after the opponent's first wave of infantry charge was repulsed, his own infantry would recklessly pursue, leading to the collapse of the defensive formation or even falling into the enemy's trap. Therefore, he repeatedly ordered no pursuit, absolutely no pursuit.
But now, the infantry line could not hold?
Filled with doubt, he shifted his attention from the south line, which was basically secure, to the west, and quickly understood the reason through observation and reports. The Reachmen had actually pushed the dragon-hunting ballistae forward!
...
The tight trapezoidal formation reduced the Western Expeditionary Army's external battle line to the extreme, preventing the Riverlands Allied Forces' massive numerical advantage from being utilized. To be honest, this was not a conventional formation. It was exploiting the fact that the Reachmen did not have highly effective killing weapons like cannons. But now, the opponent had deployed a low-spec substitute onto the battlefield!
The giant bolts fired by the dragon-hunting ballistae could not bounce or roll on the ground, making them far less efficient at killing than solid shot fired by cannons. Even primitive explosive bombs were superior. That being said, war was not simply about who had the better weapons. The powerful cannons were currently busy fighting cavalry, and the Western Expeditionary Army only had two rounds of easily portable explosive bombs.
With two weapons better than the dragon-hunting ballistae, one was tied up and the other could not last, it was no wonder the dragon-hunting ballistae were showing such power.
To prevent the formation from loosening and giving the enemy an opportunity, Aegor strictly forbade any unit from leaving its position to pursue retreating enemies. This steady tactic indeed avoided errors, but it also gave the opponent the chance to calmly organize their attack. Amidst the rumbling sounds, the first and second rows of infantry quickly retreated, covered in dust and smoke, but the fresh troops in the rear quickly continued to charge forward under the compulsion of nobles' and knights' swords, holding their banners and shields high.
And throughout this entire process, the dragon-hunting ballistae continuously delivered intermittent fire.
The speed and kinetic energy of the "dragon-hunting bolts" were far inferior to cannon solid shot, but anyone hit directly by one would certainly not feel that way. This was a simple truth. It did not need to be more powerful than a cannonball. It was qualified as long as it was enough to penetrate infantry shields and armor, plus a dragon's scales! Not to mention, another major advantage of cold weapons quickly became apparent. The bolts fired by the dragon-hunting ballistae were modified from standard-sized spears, cheap and easy to obtain. Even with continuous consumption, there was no need to worry about running out of ammunition.
While facing a continuous wave of attacks, comrades beside and behind them were also unexpectedly pierced and killed by giant bolts from time to time. No unit could endure this for long.
The Reachmen were truly staking everything on this battle!
If Daenerys were to arrive on her dragon at this moment, a dive would unleash a massacre without any scruples. But looking around, where was there even a hint of a dragon in the clear, cloudless sky? Aegor felt a slight bitterness in his heart, not daring to think too much, and quickly began to mobilize troops to deal with the changing situation.
The artillery position was slightly closer to Highgarden at the center of the trapezoidal formation. In terms of critical importance, the west line was even more important than the south and east lines. Fortunately, he still had a few cards to play.
Among the nine phalanxes forming the trapezoidal formation, six phalanxes formed a line on the outer perimeter, and three phalanxes were kept in reserve inside. They could perfectly replace and rotate with the west line troops who had already suffered a surprise attack from the dragon-hunting ballistae.
Aegor first ordered the three reserve phalanxes to move toward the west, preparing to reinforce and replace them. Then he moved the last remaining grenadier battalion, kept as a hidden card, to the area between the first and second lines, so they could use their remaining explosive bombs to cover the defensive void created during the replacement of the two groups of six phalanxes. Finally, he sent a message to the artillery position, instructing the commander to allocate half of the cannons in suitable positions to switch to solid shot and turn toward the west, striking the Reach Army's main dragon-hunting ballista positions. Even though they were obsolete products of an old era that should have been eliminated, allowing them to run rampant would lead to major problems.
War was not a strategy game. This rapid assessment of the west line situation and formulation of countermeasures was so decisive and swift that it was almost miraculous. By the time the orders were issued, several minutes had already passed. To the south of the battlefield, the elite cavalry personally led by Garlan Tyrell had completed their attack on the southeast corner of the trapezoidal formation, and the artillery position's second round of grapeshot had also been fired.
The battle situation did not unfold exactly as Aegor had envisioned. He knew that cavalry charges were finished once their momentum was spent, and Garlan, being a knight, naturally understood this even better. To avoid the tragedy of being trapped in the enemy formation and annihilated, he cunningly chose not to charge directly toward the center. Instead, like a sea eagle skimming the water to catch fish, he struck obliquely across the edge of the Queen's Army's southeasternmost phalanx, carving out a curve similar to, but deeper than, the previous wave of cavalry. He inserted from the top edge of the trapezoid, and after a bloody and brutal collision, he shattered and routed the slightly protruding, uneven part of the upper corner of the trapezoid that extended beyond the semicircular arc. Before his momentum and kinetic energy were completely spent, he narrowly broke through the diagonal side of the trapezoid. Like a file, sacrificing his own skin to severely "file off" nearly a third of the attacked phalanx from the trapezoidal formation. He completely disengaged before the arrival of supporting soldiers from adjacent phalanxes and the Unsullied, then followed the footsteps and withdrawal route of the previous feinting force, leaving decisively.
The idea and purpose of the oblique penetration tactic were very clear: to sacrifice some charging momentum in exchange for ensuring that the main body of his force would not be annihilated immediately after the charge, becoming mere expendables.
Bodies lay everywhere, a scene of utter chaos. Fresh blood stained the new grass shoots red. This round of close-quarters, brutal fighting was undeniably tragic. Both sides suffered extremely heavy losses. The legend that dense infantry phalanxes could resist cavalry charges was validated here. A single phalanx of over two thousand men actually withstood the charge of elite cavalry twice their number, even gaining an advantage in the exchange ratio when considering training costs, equipment expenses, and horse value. However, the cost was enormous. Although the number of fatalities was not high, there were broken bones and torn muscles everywhere. The entire phalanx's combat strength was reduced by over a quarter. From shield-bearers at the front to grenadiers and even archers at the rear, there were varying degrees of casualties. Explosive bombs were completely depleted, and arrows were running low, leaving them completely incapable of withstanding another round of cavalry attack.
Garlan wanted to use an iron fist to crack open the hard shell of the Western Expeditionary Army's defense, then use a wooden stick to poke into the wound and severely break through. He succeeded in the first part, but the second part... beneath the shattered first layer of the shell, there was actually an iron plate.
The roar of cannons sounded again, and cannonballs formed a steel barrage flying toward the third wave of cavalry rushing toward the gap. They were lucky. Thanks to Garlan's brave second wave charge, after enduring a wave of cannon fire, they no longer had to face the double coup de grâce of explosive bombs and arrow rain. However, just as they were full of hope and ready to pluck the fruits of victory, they were horrified to discover that, facing the rapidly retreating remnants of the Queen's Army infantry, a unit of black-helmeted, black-armored, dark-clad infantry was advancing toward them with slow but orderly steps, silent yet incredibly valiant.
The Unsullied dared to confront any army in the world head-on, and light cavalry twice their number were certainly no match. But the reality was that the imagined clash of egg against stone simply did not happen. The Reach Army's third wave of cavalry began to waver and retreat the moment they sensed something was wrong. Instinctively, they veered off to make slight contact and test the waters. After confirming that their opponents were indeed the genuine Unsullied, they quite decisively took to their heels. In the blink of an eye, they retreated out of the line of fire, following the hoofprints of the previous main force.
Just as they caught their breath, the battlefield situation changed again.
To the southwest of the battlefield, the last mobile force not under Garlan's command, over a thousand mercenary cavalry from the Golden Company, gathered some scouts and reconnaissance riders, forming a small raiding force of about two thousand with considerable combat strength. They thrust toward the southwest corner of the trapezoidal formation, that is, the left flank of the Queen's Army's west line, hoping to try their luck by exploiting the temporary advantage created by the dragon-hunting ballistae.
Aegor held three thousand cavalry brought by Tywin from Lannisport in his hand. He had originally planned to send them out to pursue the enemy when the main force of Reach cavalry in the south was repulsed, driving them off the battlefield to secure the victory. But with the dangerous situation developing in the defense, he could not afford to worry about too much and decisively redeployed them to where they were most needed, sending them out to meet this fourth mobile enemy force.
A sense of oppression and unease finally descended upon Aegor's heart. Fighting against superior numbers was this difficult. No matter how he specifically deployed his forces, no matter how many of the opponent's maneuvers he predicted and perfectly countered, the opponent's single advantage of having more "cards" was enough to engage him in a back-and-forth struggle. He now only had the last two thousand Gift Army soldiers serving as his personal guards. If the Reachmen still had cards to play next, he might have to personally join the fray.
"Ships!"
The bird warg beside him suddenly ended his possessed state, turned his head, and reported the latest aerial reconnaissance findings.
"West of the river, many ships, sailing upstream, are coming." Because his vocabulary was limited, the New Gift warg's words were dry. "The ships are very big. There are many people on them!"
(To be continued.)
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