Game of Thrones: The Wrath of the Sleeping Dragon

thump--

Their bodies flew several meters or even more than ten meters, rolling a great distance across the flat ground.

Just like the two messengers last night, who were thrown into the ground and didn't react for a while, the warhorses were now charging at a much faster speed, and the falls were much more severe. At best, they felt dizzy and saw stars; at worst, they suffered broken bones, broken legs or arms, and some even died on the spot.

However, even though the Dothraki had only suffered minor injuries, they didn't even have time to feel relieved. The surging tide of their people from behind was unstoppable, and they never even tried to stop. They simply stepped over the warhorses and bodies of their people who had been tripped by the horse trap.

Rumbling--

The chaotic roar of hooves pounded the ground, interspersed with the screams of agony from the dense crowd before abruptly ceasing.

"Roar!!"

The Dothraki let out a piercing howl, even more frenzied than yesterday, as if they were on steroids. They bared their upper bodies, revealing various painted totems, and brandished their Arak scimitars.

They charged once again, fearless of death, towards Andalus's lines.

...

And on the high hill.

Oberyn donned his armor, the emblem of the Martell family's Sunspear adorning his chest. He carried a spear in one hand and held the reins in the other, turning to look at Viserys beside him.

"Viserys".

"The tactic of trapping horses has failed."

Horse traps were extremely effective at restricting cavalry, while ordinary trenches were of little use against cavalry like the Dothraki.

After all, these light cavalrymen were relatively light and moved like the wind, and the Dothraki were also excellent horsemen who could leap over trenches on horseback.

Unless Viserys can dig trenches as wide as moats, but then the Dothraki can simply choose to go around them.

The dense network of small horse traps was not only small in size, serving as a means of concealment, but also meant that warhorses could easily fall into them, breaking their legs and losing their fighting ability.

However, the tactic of trapping horses is not always effective. As long as shield-bearing infantry are at the forefront, carrying some mounds of earth on their shoulders, and advancing slowly, the soldiers can fill the pits step by step with the mounds they carry.

However, the Dothraki tribes were an army composed entirely of light cavalry, and they opted for a more brutal and effective method.

That is to directly fill all the horse traps with flesh and blood until the subsequent warhorses can pass through them smoothly, after which these things will no longer be of any use.

Viserys, of course, had already donned his armor and was gazing intently at the battlefield not far away.

He heard Oberyn's voice, turned his head slightly to look at him, then looked away and continued speaking.

“I never expected to defeat Khal Drogo with just a horse trap.”

"The Dothraki can plunder everywhere and dominate the continent of Essos. You don't think they're so easy to deal with, do you?"

The Dothraki could make all the free trading city-states except Braavos bow down, not only because they protected caravans and trade routes.

This people may have been born to fight. Their people start competing from the moment they are born. Apart from the translator who grew up in the Golden Company, almost none of them are not ruthless.

Just like the Blood Guard Corso, who was beheaded by Viserys, even in the Andalusian camp with a guard holding a sword to his neck, he was still thinking about how to kidnap Viserys.

"You have a very high opinion of this Drogo?"

Oberyn, seated on his warhorse, turned to look at Viserys, as if he had grasped a key point.

"As far as I know, this Khal Drogo seems to be just a horse king who doesn't even have a name in the Great Grass Sea."

Drogo's current khalasar is not very large. This is the size he has grown after organizing the tribesmen left by his father and merging with two smaller khalasars.

However, in the Dothraki Sea, where big fish eat small fish, he is still one of those who might be eaten.

Drogo's westward raid was also caused by the presence of a powerful Khalasa that passed by him. This frightened Drogo so much that he quickly tucked his tail between his legs and gave way, forcing him to be driven into the territory of the Western Free Trade City-State.

Even the tribe's warhorses lacked fertile pastures for grazing, forced to eat only roadside weeds with little nutritional value. Even his own mount had lost weight, which distressed Drogo greatly.

"this…"

Viserys seemed stumped by Oberyn's question.

He discovered that this Prince of Dorne truly lived up to his reputation as a scholar who had earned six Maester links; he could always easily pinpoint the crux of a problem and do things that others could not.

Then, Viserys, holding the reins, glanced at the battlefield before him without turning his head to speak.

"Yes, I think that if Drogo grows up, he might become the most powerful horse king in the Great Grass Sea."

"That's why I'm going to do everything in my power to kill him this time."

Chapter 122 Flanking Attack

Neither Viserys nor Oberyn Martell are currently participating in the battle personally.

Surrounding them were a hundred of Andalus's most elite knights, all armed to the teeth with full plate armor, and even their warhorses were the strongest of the best, covered in chainmail.

The knights are now sitting on the ground, not on their warhorses. Their attendants are grooming their horses, and the horse armor is placed on the ground to conserve the horses' energy as much as possible.

The idea of ​​forming a heavy cavalry force came from when Viserys was invited to a banquet in Pentos a year earlier, when the young king selected one hundred elite knights to accompany him into the city of Pentos.

These one hundred men are the core of today's one hundred heavy cavalry.

Viserys paid a huge price to create them; the full plate armor and horse armor alone cost nearly twenty gold dragons per person.

This enormous expenditure pained Viserys, who was always careful with his money, but he still believed it was worthwhile and looked forward to their performance. Rather than arming more ordinary soldiers, it was better to create such an elite force, which might prove surprisingly effective in certain battlefield conditions.

These heavy cavalrymen are now gathered around Viserys, awaiting the young king's order to be ready for battle at any time.

These heavy cavalrymen had to seize the right opportunity to deal with the Dothraki, otherwise their heavy armor and slow movement would easily make them easy targets.

Meanwhile, as Oberyn was marveling at Viserys's remarkably high praise for Khal Drogo, the battle in the distance took another unexpected turn.

Also a powerful weapon against cavalry, Viserys ordered his soldiers to cut down several trees overnight and make some barricades, which were then placed on the main road leading to Gödöhö.

If the horse-trapping tunnels are the first line of defense, then these barricades lined up along narrow roads are the second line of defense.

"Ooooooooo..."

However, the Dothraki in the front row let out an incomprehensible, excited howl, and then pulled out a lasso from somewhere, swung it around, and accurately lassoed the barricade in the middle of the road.

Rumbling--

Then, using the strength of their warhorses, they dragged the barricades aside, clearing the central path, and the Dothraki charged straight through.

"Who was responsible for setting up these barricades?"

Viserys frowned slightly upon seeing this, somewhat annoyed.

"Didn't I say I was going to bury the barricades underground?"

The barricades were fixed in the ground, making it much more difficult for the Dothraki to break through them with lassos.

The messenger turned pale upon seeing the young king's anger; his lips twitched, but he dared not utter a word.

However, such accountability issues were left to be resolved after the war. In the face of the rapidly changing battlefield, Viserys naturally had no time to investigate who had failed in their duties.

Unless he can redeem himself on the battlefield, such a mistake that affected the course of the war and caused countless more casualties among Andalusian soldiers will inevitably lead to his trial and execution.

With the Dothraki successively breaching the horse traps and chevaux-de-frise, Andalus's army's defenses were once again in dire straits.

This is precisely what makes the Dothraki so terrifying; an army that fears no death is bound to be invincible on the battlefield.

On the first day of the skirmish, the Dothraki were in high spirits, and the Andalusian army was equally determined.

Andalus also had a geographical advantage, relying on the abandoned city to stubbornly resist the enemy's attack. The Dothraki retreated, leaving behind a trail of corpses.

However, the next day, Andalus' army had suffered heavy casualties in the fierce battle of the previous day, and their morale had clearly plummeted, with fear rising steadily.

But the Dothraki, having suffered heavy casualties yesterday, are not only unharmed in their morale today, but are even more invigorated and fearless.

This stark contrast between the weakening of one side and the strengthening of the other was amplified on the battlefield, making Andalus's army's defenses increasingly precarious, and even causing them to begin to succumb to the pressure and retreat step by step.

Perhaps individuals cannot perceive this on the battlefield; they are merely swept along by the army. Each individual is but a tiny part of this vast ocean, and no matter how valiant they are, they cannot change the course of the battle.

However, Viserys, riding atop the hill, could see it clearly.

"Kao, as the leader of the tribe, might charge ahead, but he certainly won't be in the first wave."

"I saw old people and women..."

Viserys was not a Dothraki, and he did not know who would take command of the Dothraki after Khal Drogo personally joined the battle, or... whether they would even need to take command at all.

Furthermore, amidst the chaotic battlefield, he seemed to spot elderly people and women from the Dothraki, who appeared to be caught up in the fighting as well.

"It seems that Drogo is really angry, and his anger has consumed his reason."

Then the young king turned to the guard beside him and asked.

"Are the kerosene and dry firewood ready?"

Viserys would naturally bring some supplies with him when he travels with the army, and oil is obviously an important strategic resource, but he didn't bring much, and with a large amount of accelerants, it might be enough.

Viserys needed these things to deliver the decisive blow in his plan to defeat Khal Drogo. Warhorses fear fire, and so do men. Men can control their fear, but warhorses cannot.

However, the Dothraki walked on four legs, and where they went was not determined by their own people, but by their frightened warhorses.

"Your Majesty, everything is ready."

While the front lines are enduring immense pressure, soldiers in the rear are using daggers and short swords to break open barrels of kerosene.

Taking advantage of the chaos, they were thrown onto the road in front of the battle lines, where they were trampled to pieces by the chaotic hooves of horses, and oil spilled all over the ground.

"very good."

Viserys nodded slightly, looking at the retreating lines in the distance, and was just about to give an order.

However, at this moment...

Amid the chaos, the sound of horses' hooves rang out once again from afar.

"His Majesty."

A messenger spoke up to warn Viserys, whose eyes narrowed, and then he saw a large number of Dothraki breaking away from the group.

They were about to rush in from the flank of Andalus' army.

"They've arrived as expected."

Viserys gripped the reins, took a deep breath, but did not panic.

It turns out that the Dothraki used a simple tactic this time. Knowing that it would be difficult to take on tough opponents, they wanted to attack from both sides and swallow all the Andalusians in one gulp.

Chapter 123 The Greatest Mounted Warrior