A Warrior's Redemption (The Warrior Kind)
Page 260From the enemy's shift of ground troops it became quickly clear that they were primarily concerned with the elimination of the militia to the south, which cut their escape to their homeland off. It was also the softest target and the most likely to be overcome quickly. If they broke the militia they would then probably sweep around the back of General Santaran's forces, which was why he had probably sent his cavalry to bolster the militia's line. A wise move on his part, but would it be enough? I doubted it.
Everything hinged on the Attorgrons and what they would do. They had separated away from the main body of the army slightly towards General Santaran and appeared to be setting up a defensive line, while the bulk of the Zoarinian army was shifting to attack the militia at the rear.
Then it happened. I thanked the Creator fervently, as I watched the slave warrior's change of heart unfold. The Attorgron archers abruptly slipped through the formed shield wall of their spearmen towards General Santaran even as the wings of the shield wall of spearmen broke off and charged into the massed ranks of regular army cavalry that were split into two equal flanking groups of twenty five thousand each on either side of the long spear wall.
The Attorgron cavalry were in a state of complete consternation, as they were speared off of their own horses by their own slave warriors. In the close confines and with the element of surprise firmly on their side the spearmen carved their way into the cavalry contingents to either side of them with relative ease setting off complete chaos as they did so.
The central core of the spear wall of spearmen did an abrupt about face and locked their shields together even as a massive short ranged volley of arrows shot out over their heads into the congested mass of the Zoarinian army. The Zoarinians were thrown into complete turmoil at the unexpectedness of the attack of arrows that dropped thousands of unsuspecting soldiers.
The betrayal of the Attorgrons abruptly changed the course of the battle, as the Zoarinians were forced to change their focus away from the militia to the traitors in their midst. They attacked the spear wall in mass with little formation or order involved in the attack.
General Nadero's cavalry started out in a brisk trot towards the enemy intent on taking advantage of the turmoil present in their disorganized ranks. Their movement forward sparked a reaction from the enemy cavalry that took off at an uneven start towards General Nadero's approaching line of cavalry.