Game of Thrones: The Black Dragon King

Under the continuous barrage of crossbow bolts, the Dothraki were forced to retreat to a distance of 500 meters.

But it wasn't a retreat; it was an attack. Reed could see it clearly through the Mill lens: a large contingent of cavalry was rapidly assembling, forming a charging formation, a dark mass without any gaps between ranks.

"Thank you, Martin," Reed murmured to himself. The moment the Dothraki unleashed their volley of attacks, his feigned composure finally settled.

Fortunately, the old man, based on European stereotypes about nomadic peoples, described the Dothraki tactics as so idiotic and rigid. Otherwise, let alone the ultimate form of nomadic cavalry, the Mongol cavalry, he would have had to admit defeat today, even the initial form of the Hunnic guerrilla tactics.

Against infantry, the cavalry's greatest advantage is not its charging ability, but the tactical initiative gained by its greater speed. Whether to fight or not, and when to fight, is up to the cavalry, because the infantry cannot escape.

If you surround them without attacking, the infantry will be trapped and starved to death; if you attack their logistics and rear, the infantry will either be trapped and helpless or forced to relocate. What awaits them then are all sorts of harassment and surprise attacks during their march, and then they will be overwhelmed and hunted down by cavalry the moment they show any weakness.

But the Dothraki on the other side chose to charge with their cavalry! Reed laughed. Didn't he see that in the Battle of Kohol, 50,000 Dothraki fought to the death against 3,000 Unsullied light infantry, and in the end, they lost and had to cut off their queues?

Facing a cavalry charge, infantry holding their positions in formation, as long as their morale doesn't collapse, can even hold their own against heavy cavalry, let alone unarmored light cavalry. What is morale to system-controlled troops?

After this battle, the Black Dragonflight will probably become famous throughout Essos!

Unlike Reed, who was celebrating with champagne at halftime, O'Ilis stared nervously at the Dothraki in the distance. After a long pause, as if making a decision, he gritted his teeth and said, "If I make it back alive this time, my commission will be doubled!"

Upon hearing this, Reed smiled and quickly found parchment and a quill, indicating that the promise should be written down in black and white.

After O'Neill readily signed, Reid loudly announced the news to all the soldiers, which sparked a commotion among them.

Yes, although they were system soldiers who would work even without pay, Reed found that their tactical flexibility had improved significantly after they were paid (though not by much).

"A generous reward will surely bring forth brave men!" Reed handed a shield to O'Ellis and considerately advised, "Although I'd love to show you how well your gold has been spent, to ensure our patrons will reliably pay our commissions after the war, you'd better go to the innermost part. The enemy can't get in, but you still have to watch out for stray arrows."

With an army of over ten thousand, there is no end in sight; this refers to infantry. As for cavalry, three thousand men could fill the distant horizon.

When this "horizon" rolls down with overwhelming force, those standing at its peak will be deeply shocked, experiencing both physical tremors from the earth's vibrations and a profound spiritual upheaval.

Those stories of a lone swordsman facing off against a thousand troops must at least be acknowledged as heroes in terms of courage.

Of the 601 men in the entire army, 600 were heroes like this. As someone with a system, Reed wouldn't risk his life.

"Halberd!" With a grating sound of armor scraping against each other, the halberdiers at the gap in the wagon formation planted their halberds diagonally into the ground, the tips pointing directly at the direction from which the Dothraki were attacking. They held the halberd shaft with their left hand, keeping the tip suspended at the height of the horse's head, while their right hand drew a short sword, ready to be used.

Once the cavalry entered firing range, the archers began firing immediately without waiting for Reed's order. Without measuring distance or communicating, everyone worked in unison, grouping up on the roof of their respective wagons and concentrating their fire on the tall Dothraki warhorses charging at the forefront.

Against an unarmored person, one arrow is enough to stop them; against a horse, it takes ten times that amount.

It takes more than a dozen arrows to have a chance of bringing down a charging, strong warhorse, but it's worth it because this group is very likely to be Kor of the Dothraki and his Blood Guards.

In the first volley of arrows, only four or five Dothraki fell; two unlucky ones tripped up their companions, while the rest were skillfully bypassed.

The second volley of arrows, still four or five at a time, saw a significant increase in accuracy and lethality as the distance closed. However, the crossbows' slow reload speed couldn't keep up with the combined attack. Many Dothraki began to retaliate with their bows. Unarmored archers were gradually struck by arrows.

In the third round, the crossbowmen finished loading, and the giant crossbows that had been waiting for a bad shot also joined in at this time. At a distance of more than ten paces, almost to face-to-face, almost no one missed. Forty or fifty warhorses neighed and fell down!

Some crossbow bolts even pierced the abdomens of four horses. The sudden fall of the front rank of men and horses caused chaos in the rear, with many Dothraki cavalrymen tripping over or even trampling their comrades. The Dothraki charge was forced to slow down.

The fourth round was too late. The cavalry's speed was limited, and they could only fire three arrows in a battle. The third arrow was fired thanks to the range advantage of their own troops and the fearlessness of the system soldiers. In a normal army, archers would have already switched to melee weapons.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen Dothraki Roaring Warriors had leaped onto the roof of the carriage on horseback and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the heavily armored swordsmen in the front row. A dozen unarmored archers were shot, and several heavily armored swordsmen were dragged down by the Dothraki with ropes.

But the cost was worthwhile, as the archers successfully disrupted the charging Dothraki cavalry, preventing them from reaching their maximum speed!

That was enough. In a split second, the array of halberdiers blocking the door between the carriages clashed violently with the Dothraki cavalry. The warhorses, with their immense, irreversible momentum, plunged into the forest of sharp halberds formed by the front-line halberdiers. In an instant, the sounds of weapons clashing, the painful cries of warhorses, and the cracking of bones and tendons breaking for halberdiers and knights rang out one after another.

In an instant, both sides suffered heavy losses. But the halberdier phalanx slowed their advance. The cavalry that broke through the halberdier defensive array only knocked away the first and second layers of halberdiers. The chicken-breast structure of their half-plate armor prevented most of them from being fatally wounded, and they struggled to their feet.

They withstood the first wave, and their formation remained intact!

Reid's lips curled into an uncontrollable smile. "Heavy swordsmen, cover! Archers, retreat and form ranks, unleash volleys! Halberdiers, form a dense formation!"

The Dothraki's combat skills, honed through years of fighting, were undeniable. Without any command, the Roaring Warriors, their attacks thwarted, decisively abandoned their slowed warhorses, grabbed their Arak scimitars, and charged into the crowd for close-quarters combat.

The archers jumped off the carriages as if being chased by dogs, and a large number of Dothraki cavalrymen who were squeezed outside the battle line picked up their bows and started shooting. The unarmored archers were the first targets to be attacked.

The halberdiers quickly closed in on their comrades, forming a dense infantry defensive formation. Some of the halberdiers who had lost their halberds picked up short swords to finish off the Dothraki who couldn't get up.

A Dothraki roaring warrior leaped from his horse onto the roof of the wagon, brandishing his Arak scimitar and slashing at the heavily armored swordsman covering the crossbowmen. A shower of sparks flew, but only a scratch appeared on the helmet. The swordsman's head bobbed; the Teutonic-style barrel helmet was indeed ugly, but its defensive capabilities were undeniably high. The swordsman then blocked the roaring warrior's lightning-fast second strike with his shoulder armor, and as the warrior swung his blade a third time, he pierced the warrior's chest with his sword, and in the instant he pulled the sword out, he slammed the corpse to the ground with his shoulder.

But this was just the beginning. Soon, the second and third Dothraki Roaring Warriors leaped onto the roof of the wagon using their horses... Compared to the Dothraki's fierce attacks, the heavily armored swordsmen focused more on defense, holding up their shields and standing in a line at the front to block the Dothraki's scimitars and arrows with their shields and heavy armor. The work of killing the enemy was mostly done by the crossbowmen who were providing cover behind them.

The halberdiers used only a few moves over and over: thrust, hook, and peck. Yet, these few moves inflicted great casualties and caused considerable trouble for the Dothraki who were dismounted and engaged in close combat.

The Roaring Warrior parried the halberd's blade with his Arak scimitar, only to be split open by the horizontal branch of the halberd's head that came crashing down from above. He ducked to avoid the thrusting halberd, but the halberd-wielder merely pulled the halberd back; caught off guard, the Roaring Warrior's back was then caught by the horizontal branch of the halberd, leaving a deep wound. These few moves, repeated over and over, displayed a chilling brutality and efficiency in the hands of these seasoned veterans.

The archers, having reformed their ranks, raised their longbows diagonally and launched volleys at the Dothraki cavalry on the outer perimeter. A hail of arrows rained down on the direction from which the Dothraki were concentrating their attack, hindering their advance.

From a high vantage point, the massive Dothraki cavalry resembled a torrent crashing against towering rocks. Their center was blocked, unable to advance, while their flanks naturally spread out, encircling the wagon formation. The entire outer defensive line was now engaged in close combat.

The battle immediately intensified, with both sides engaging in the most intense fighting with a high level of tension. The selfless fighting and soaring adrenaline made people ignore their own pain and fatigue.

To ensure effective killing of the enemy and to avoid excessive casualties among his own soldiers, Reid would have the halberdiers and heavy swordsmen rotate every half quarter of an hour.

The halberdiers formed a dense formation, supporting each other on their shoulders. During rotation, they would immediately launch a thrusting attack, then quickly retreat to create distance, before turning sideways to allow those in the back to squeeze in and replace the exhausted men.

Heavy swordsmen rotated under the cover of crossbowmen.

However, being deep in the battlefield, and with the Dothraki being exceptionally fierce enemies, the process was not going to be smooth. Some men were caught up in the fighting and couldn't retreat in time, but the fresh troops who were rotated in made the defense still solid.

Thus, relying on the defensive terrain advantage created by the simple wagon formation, the equipment advantage of the armored over the unarmored, and the reasonable formation and personnel deployment, the Black Dragon Legion soldiers fought the Dothraki with great success.

Because of insufficient deployment area, the number of Dothraki cavalry attacking them was large, but those in the back row could not exert their strength. On average, two people on the front line were fighting against one armored halberdier or heavy swordsman, while also having to guard against crossbowmen or archers sneaking up on them from behind.

While engaging in hand-to-hand combat, the soldiers of the Black Dragon Legion also faced various tricky and strange ranged attacks from the Dothraki on the periphery.

Armor does not guarantee invincibility, especially for halberdiers clad in half-plate armor. Arrows can pierce their eyes, scimitars can sever their arms, or sharp blades can pierce the gaps in their armor under their armpits. Even heavily armored swordsmen with exceptional defense can easily be caught off guard by nomadic cavalry weapons such as whips and lassos, then dragged off their chariots by their horses and carried away until they disappear under the hooves of the Dothraki.

In addition, a small number of Dothraki cavalry used a sling-like weapon, a round stone slightly smaller than a fist, which could accurately hit the forehead from a distance of forty or fifty meters. Those without helmets would fall down instantly, while those with helmets would have to cover their heads for a while.