The Age of Daenerys Targaryen

Part 51: Hold the line

Corporal Pasha heard horns and trumpets sounding on the other side and saw the Alliance foot soldiers move. It wasn't the first time she'd faced an enemy onslaught, but she tightened her grip on her repeating crossbow. This was an innovation from Yi Ti, with which one could achieve a much higher rate of fire than with conventional crossbows, since the steps of cocking, loading the bolt and firing were performed with a single movement of the hand.

When the enemy was three hundred yards away, an eerie pop and whistle filled the air. The hundred rocket launchers set up on the slope of the hill of Ar Noy opened fire. Each launcher fired a volley of thirty-six rockets, 'birdies' in the jargon of the Imperial Army, which were arranged in several rows on a rack. The projectiles were inaccurate, but that was of no consequence given the enormous number of targets. They struck the ranks of the Alliance, exploding, causing deaths and injuries. But what was decisive was the effect on morale. Regardless of whether they were knights (though Royce had left them in reserve) or simple soldiers, none of them had ever faced such a weapon. Just the whistle with which the birdies came flying in, deeply disturbed the opponents and the explosions made them believe in a new witchcraft of the Red Priests.

The havoc the rockets wreaked slowed the enemy, giving the Imperials more time to bombard them. Two rows of crossbowmen had taken up positions in front of the lancers. The first row kneeled so that the second row, which Pasha belonged to, could aim over their heads. A true hailstorm of crossbow bolts pelted the Alliance. And now the trebuchets set up behind the imperial lines began to fire wildfire while ballistae fired massive bolts.

The Alliance artillery responded with their own ballista bolts, with burning pitch ... and occasionally with wildfire. Pasha continued to fire, while comrades died around her. Even when the man in front of her, with whom she had fought side by side all through the war, got an arrow in the throat, she did not stop. She saw at first sight that he was dead and there was still time to mourn later if Pasha survived the battle.

When the Alliance soldiers had almost reached the Imperial lines despite the heavy fire, Colonel Wynosha gave the signal to the crossbowmen to retreat behind the spearmen.

Lord Royce frowned at the carnage. He had made a conscious decision not to use elite troops for the first wave of attacks. Some of his knights, who would like to fight in the front row, protested. But the seasoned warrior knew better than to use his best men right at the start of the fight. He wanted to test the enemy first, find a weak point, tire him.

Royce watched the Imperial crossbowmen retreat behind the melee infantry. If the Alliance soldiers had previously been exposed to a heavy hail of bolts, a wall of spears and shields now awaited them. Far too many of them were poorly equipped, most of them wearing only leather armor or even just a padded tunic. In Westeros it was normal for most of an army to be composed of poorly trained and inadequately equipped conscripts. The Free Cities also frequently deployed militias alongside mercenaries.

In the Imperial Army, however, there was no such thing as poorly equipped and poorly trained soldiers. However, Royce called himself to order, the Imperials were only human. They too could fall, be pushed back, or even driven to flight, if you put enough pressure on them.

The most obvious way would be a flank attack with heavy cavalry while the enemy was simultaneously engaged with the infantry. However, the north flank of the battlefield was limited by the river and the Dothraki mounted archers ruled the south side.

Armored knights would have no chance of catching up with them and would be worn out in a hail of arrows. The Alliance itself had only a few mounted archers, but even archers on foot could be dangerous to the Dothraki, as could light cavalry on fast horses. Royce informed Jaqicho Hartar and Belen Osten that they should keep the Dothraki busy with these troops. Meanwhile, the Alliance's heavy infantry was supposed to put pressure on the Imperial line troops.

And then Royce would let his heavy cavalry advance.

Pasha cheered with the others as the Alliance attack collapsed and the surviving enemies fled. But she knew that this was only the first wave. She and the other crossbowmen quickly resumed their positions in front of the lancers.

It wasn't long before the enemy returned, this time with heavy infantry. Pasha saw soldiers of the Lannisters, the Starks, the Arryns, the Baratheons, the Tullys, and other Houses of Westeros among the approaching enemies. They had large shields that they held in front of and over their heads. The crossbows could do little against it, and even the rockets that were still being fired from the slope ricocheted off it. Only the heavy bolts of the ballistae and the sea fire had an effect, but the Westerosi and their allies marched on undeterred.

Finally the crossbowmen had to retreat again behind the line infantry. A wall of earth had been raised behind the lancers from which the light infantrymen could fire over the heads of their comrades, but the field of fire was limited.

A bitter hand-to-hand battle raged along the entire front line. The Imperial spear wall still held up, but Pasha knew what would happen if it gave way at one point.

"Don't back down!", yelled Colonel Wynosha. "Whatever happens, hold the line!"

After a while the pressure became so strong that Wynosha ordered some crossbowmen, including Pasha, to assist the lancers in close combat. The light infantrymen of the Imperial Army were equipped with short swords, which were better suited for the close fray of a battle than long swords, as preferred by the Westerosi.

A Lannister soldier managed to slip between the spears and shields. Pasha stabbed and her blade pinpointed a weak spot in the heavy armor. Then she killed an Arryn, another Lannister, a Tully ... it went on and on. Pasha was luckier than her opponents and only got a few scratches.

Eventually the attacks subsided. The second wave was also over, and Pasha and her comrades returned to their positions in front of the lancers. She looked around. A charred field full of corpses stretched hundreds of meters in front of her. There was still fighting elsewhere on the front, but here on the southern flank, where Wynosha's 13th Infantry Division was posted, it was quiet now. It almost seemed too quiet...

Then Pasha saw that the Dothraki, who were supposed to protect the flank, were engaged in fighting with enemy infantry and cavalry units. And now the enemy foot soldiers were returning while hundreds, no, thousands of heavily armored horsemen galloped up with lowered lances to fall the 13th Infantry Division into the now uncovered flank.

Wynosha hastily regrouped her units to face the new threat. While Pasha was shooting at the approaching enemy, she saw a tall man in a yellow tabard and antler helmet: Gendry Baratheon, hero of the Alliance and victor of Pentos, led the advance personally. He rode a huge black warhorse, a great war hammer in one hand, a shield with the crowned stag of the Baratheons in the other.

Pasha shot him a few times with the repeating crossbow without getting an effective hit. Then she and the other crossbowmen had to retreat again into the protection of the heavy infantry.

And then the onslaught of knights hit the Imperials like a fist of steel. Behind each Imperial spearman in the front row stood five others to assist or replace. Now the front three rows were simply overrun. Some of the knights had managed to impale two Imperial soldiers with their lances at once. Now they lashed out with long swords and maces. The height advantage they enjoyed from their saddles made it devastating. Gendry Baratheon was the deadliest. Blood and brain matter clung to his hammer as he smashed skulls all around him. Steel helmets also offered no protection against it.

"HOLD THE LINE!", Wynosha yelled. In her heavy lamellar armor, under which she also wore chain mail, she stood with the standard of the 13th Infantry Division in hand. Her eyes sparkled under her steel helmet. "DAENERYS! FOR THE EMPRESS! FOR THE EMPIRE!"

The soldiers repeated the call. Pasha drew her short sword again. She hoped to hit one of the knights in the leg with it. She was approaching a rider in the colors of the Tullys when a shadow fell over her from behind. Before she could turn around, something hit her in the side. Pasha's chain mail burst and she felt the cold steel digging into her body. The sword slipped from her limp fingers, and she collapsed on her knees and fell forward. The last thing she thought of before darkness fell on her was Shae.