Richard Parker - Elsewhere

Gwaynn could understand their confusion; the Massi infantry were not aligned in the normal manner. There was no shield wall, strong and solid, to repel a charge of heavy horse. Instead of forming a continuous line, the Massi army was arranged in a series of smaller formations all in a crude diamond shape. Each formation contained around one hundred and fifty men. But what was truly curious was that the formations were spread out with wide swaths of open country between each. This was unheard of and left the Knights puzzled for several long moments. And though Gwaynn had perfect confidence in his General, he had to admit to feeling slightly exposed and vulnerable. The diamond formations had approximately twenty-five to thirty feet of open space between them, and now in the heat of battle it seemed a large distance to place between friends and reinforcements.

But the arrangement was not by accident, the formations were separated in order to split the enemy lines as they charged among them. The diamond shapes were set up into four long rows each offset slightly from the other two. It was hoped that any charge of heavy horse would be quickly split many times over until a strong unified attack became impossible. In all, the Massi army covered well over a half a mile from end to end. Inside each diamond formation there were around fifty archers located within a large open center. The area inside was big enough for the archers to spread out a bit so they could draw and fire without impeding one another. Gwaynn checked on the archers in his own formation and saw that they all had multiple arrows sticking out of the ground in front of them to allow for easy retrieval and very quick, repeated fire. Because of the unique nature of the formations, the archers would have to be very disciplined and fire only at the Knights who were actually threatening their formation. Every arrow had to have a clear target; they had to minimize every miss, for errant arrow fire would be just as dangerous for the other formations as it would be for the Knights. Over the weeks and months prior, Captain Hahn and Samantha had drilled into the archers the need for patience and accuracy.

Surrounding the archers was a layer of heavy infantry and on the extreme outer edges were the halberdiers, strong men and women with long spears. The spears were unique, for they not only had a cross piece about three quarters of the way down from the tip which was designed to allow for a firmly controlled grip while wielding the weapon, but they also had three hooks symmetrically placed around the shaft connected directly to the spear point. The razor sharp tips of the spears were designed not only to skewer any Knights within reach but also to discourage the horses from charging into the formation. The hooks were added to snag any Knights galloping by. With the help of the crosspiece, the hooks would allow the halberdiers to catch and pull the enemy from the saddle. The design was as yet untested in battle but in mock training sessions the halberds appeared to work exceedingly well.

If the Knights somehow made it through the gauntlet of diamond formations, then they would meet the Toranado heavy infantry, which would be spread out into a standard shield wall directly behind the Massi army. Their task was to halt the progress of the enemy Knights. If everything went to plan the Toranado’s job would be relatively easy against a broken and haphazard cavalry charge. For the first time in the war however, the real pressure would be on the Massi infantry, particularly on those residing in the very tip of the lead diamond formations. They occupied the very pressure points that, if successful, would split the oncoming charge and reduce the enemy army from a strongly formed line of attack into a myriad of individual groups able to be surrounded and cut down. The Massi army though all infantry, outnumber the mounted Temple Knights by more than two to one. If the charge could be split and stopped, and the enemy’s momentum broken; if their avenues of escape could be closed, well then it might be possible to defeat the vaunted cavalry army that was preparing to gallop down upon them. There were a lot of “ifs.” Of course armies throughout history employed countless strategies against an enemy of heavy horse and most of them failed…and against the Knights of the King’s Island all of them failed.

“Hold fast men!” Gwaynn called out startling Vio, who stood before him. She jumped and laughed nervously causing Gwaynn to smile. His eyes moved from the rush of Knights racing across the open field, down to the back of her head. Her hair, silky black, was still cropped short, but shone as if it contained some hidden light source of its own. By some trick of the sun, Gwaynn noticed that around the highlighted areas, her hair took on a bluish cast. He had the sudden urge to bend over and take in the smell of it. With difficulty he resisted then heard calls for courage coming from all sides. He looked up again to see that the Knights were nearly half way across the open field and moving in perfect formation. He marveled at the beauty of the charge, the precision, and for a moment felt saddened by the need to destroy such perfection.

“Time for some arse kickin’” someone from the back of their diamond formation said and laughter rippled through the clearly nervous men. Gwaynn recognized the voice as Captain Marcum’s and realized that the remark was well timed to give the men courage. He marveled at the amount of knowledge his Captains and Generals possessed and knew with utter conviction that he would not have come this far without them. He just hoped their knowledge would give them one last victory.

“Fire!” Gwaynn heard and was pulled from his thoughts as the first arrows were launched from inside his formation. The main line of the Knights neared the front line of the diamond groupings. Gwaynn held his breath as they approached. Now was the moment, if the front diamond sections collapsed, then their entire plan would end in disaster and the Massi infantry would be crushed, ground beneath the hooves of the Temple Knights.

Arrow after arrow arched out into the air, some Gwaynn lost in the white clouds which dotted the otherwise crystal blue afternoon sky. He glanced to his left and saw the Lady Bethany firing with an easy rapid motion. Her eyes seemed unfocused as she worked, almost as if she were in some sort of trance. Gwaynn looked up to follow the course of her arrows, but as they fell among the enemy he realized the front lines of the Knights were just reaching the forward positions of the Massi infantry. All arrow fire from his position came to an abrupt halt and at first he could not see what was happening, the dust and overall confusion made the battlefield chaotic, but after a long moment Gwaynn saw that indeed the diamond formations of the Massi were holding. The enemy horses were shying away from the bristling spear tips and the Knights were streaking in among the infantry lines.

A great cheer erupted from the men around him and Gwaynn could tell that elation was rippling up and down his army. It was a joyous sound which seemed an odd thing to hear in the opening moments of battle, but he had little time to dwell on the fact before the first of the Knights reached his position. Gwaynn could feel Vio tense before him, but as was the case with the forward positions, the enormous war horses of the Knights veered away from the sharp points of the halberds and instead moved through the gaps between the Massi formations. Knights were streaking by on either side, fighting hard to engage but their mounts refused to cooperate. Gwaynn grinned. Olney Hawser was correct, given a choice; a warhorse would choose a free lane rather than charge into a prickly mass of men. Horses were intelligent animals and were not inclined to rush into certain death when it was easily avoided. Suicide was not a common trait among the animal kingdom, only man, with his capacity for reason could see the benefits in immediate and unending oblivion.