A Jade Dragon

Chapter 4: Discoveries!

"Good morning, Captain Stark," Brigade Lieutenant Minoru Lim and Benjen's direct subordinate addressed him in nihongo while standing at attention in the brigade's headquarters.

"Good morning, Lieutenant Lim," Benjen addressed back. Even though his hold on nihongo had improved over the last three moons, he still needed assistance on issuing orders to the troops from Minoru Lim, who spoke the common tongue very well.

Benjen was surprised to learn that Lieutenant Lim was actually not born in the Golden Empire, spending much of his youth in the Free Cities before his merchant parents settled back in Yi-Ti and arranged for him to take the military examinations.

"How did you learn the common tongue?" Benjen inquired of Lieutenant Lim.

"When I lived in Volantis, one of my tutors was an Andal from Westeros, the Arbor if I remember correctly. I learned the common tongue from him and it was quite useful when I lived in the Free Cities until I returned home. Good to finally find some use for it again, captain," Lim answered. Benjen was still amazed that this foreigner spoke his tongue without any accent and could pass off as a native of Westeros if it weren't for his appearance.

Benjen spent the last three moons getting acquainted with his new brigade. Out of the twelve brigades in the Northwest Imperial Army, the one he commanded was labeled as a "flying column", which combined cavalry and infantry into one formation. As Benjen studied the military journals of the Golden Empire with Lieutenant Lim's assistance, flying columns were formed after the imperial army discovered with disastrous results the limitations of pure infantry and cavalry formations. While infantry could repel cavalry charges given the right weapons and tactics, they couldn't move as fast or maneuver as tightly as their horsed comrades. For armies posted to the northern steppes, having speed, mobility, and power all at the same time could mean the difference between victory and defeat against the superior maneuverability of hostile steppe tribes.

Flying columns were formed for this purpose, as they could move faster and perform tighter maneuvers than normal infantry formations while being able to sustain themselves against infantry engagements longer than cavalry formations could. A normal footman in a flying column was equipped with a pike and a dagger or axe while wearing a leather cuirass and sandal-boots, while bows would be used for archers instead of pikes. When Benjen wore the footman armor and sandal-boots, he was surprised at how light they were and how easily he could move through the steppes in the sandals. One problem with boots in Westeros was when a bannerman marched through mud, and if worn improperly, the foot would rot inside the boot. But for the sandal-boot, any mud would dry quickly and with their spiked soles, those boots could last for a very long time in the field.

As for the mounted troops, they were usually equipped with a single-edged steel curved sword called a dao, perfect for slashing adversaries from horseback, two daggers, and a lance while mounted archers would use bows. They also had similar armor to their footman brethren, but they had leather guards to protect their shins, understandable given that the legs would be primary targets in anti-cavalry maneuvers. At the same time, the cavalry were also trained to fight off their horses, which was useful in the event that they had to support their grounded comrades.

All in all, Benjen had a total of five thousand troops under his command, divided among two thousand and five hundred infantry and two thousand cavalry. The other five hundred were missile troops, which was essentially a loose term regarding those that didn't fight with swords or spears. However, he was quick to not underestimate their potential, as they were equipped with an advanced type of crossbow that could shoot ten bolts in quick succession and knew how to operate a wagon that had a hundred cylinders, each with what the Yi-Tish termed "fire arrows."

One hundred? Benjen thought with astonishment. The wagon with a hundred fire arrows, called a hwacha, was designed to rain as much arrows as possible on fast-moving targets or dense formations. Seeing a demonstration, Benjen watched in wonder as one hundred arrows, all powered with black powder, flew through the air and landed over two thousand yards away. Two thousand yards! That's five times the distance that any decent bowman in Westeros could ever achieve. This is a game-changing weapon!