Chapter 122: Chapter 121: Assessment
A roaring inferno blazed within the city of Andalos.
Far away, at the confluence of the Lhore and Little Lhore rivers, an intense battle was taking place.
More than twenty thousand warriors had gathered within the ancient city, now reduced to ruins.
The air was filled with deafening battle cries, mournful trumpet calls, and the thunderous sound of galloping hooves. Everywhere, a nauseating stench hung in the air.
The Andalosian army employed various tactics to fend off the Dothraki onslaught, and the Dothraki seemed to have learned from their previous mistakes, no longer charging recklessly into battle.
Even so, the Dothraki paid a heavy price for their attempts to reach the Andalosian front lines.
Countless small pits, seemingly inconspicuous at first, revealed their true purpose when the Dothraki horde charged forward. Galloping warhorses could not stop in time, their hooves slipping into the pits, each just deep enough to trap a horse's leg.
Boom—
In an instant, dust and smoke scattered as the horses toppled.
Crack—
The trapped horse's leg snapped under its own powerful momentum, letting out a pained whinny. The enormous, heavy body of the warhorse collapsed to the ground, kicking up dust.
As the horse's leg broke, the Dothraki rider atop it naturally faced a grim fate, thrown from the horse and crashing hard onto the ground.
Thud—
Their bodies flew several meters, even tens of meters, rolling far across the battlefield.
Just like the sudden fall of the two messengers the night before, the warhorses' charges were much faster, and the impact far worse. The Dothraki riders suffered from dizziness and seeing stars at best, but at worst, broken bones, fractured limbs, and even death upon impact.
Yet even the lightly injured Dothraki had no time to be grateful for their luck. The relentless wave of their kinsmen charged forward, unable to stop, trampling over the fallen horses and their comrades' bodies.
Rumble—
The chaotic sound of hooves pounding the ground intermingled with the shrill screams of the wounded, which abruptly ceased.
"Roar!"
The Dothraki let out ear-piercing howls, even more frenzied than before, as if driven by some stimulant. Bare-chested and adorned with painted totems, they brandished their arakhs.
Fearlessly, they charged once more toward the Andalosian line.
...
Atop the hill.
Oberyn donned his armor, bearing the Martell sigil of a sun pierced by a spear on his chest. In one hand, he held a spear, while the other gripped the reins of his horse. He turned to look at Viserys, who stood beside him.
"Viserys."
"The pitfall tactic has failed."
Pitfalls greatly restricted cavalry movements, and conventional trenches were of little use against the likes of Dothraki horsemen.
After all, these light cavalry had a lighter weight and could move like the wind. The Dothraki's horsemanship was also quite excellent, allowing them to leap their horses over trenches directly.
Unless Viserys could dig the trenches as wide as moats, the Dothraki could simply choose to go around them.
Small, concealed pit traps for horses not only had a limited size to stay hidden but also posed a danger to the horses who, if not careful, would fall in, break their legs, and lose their combat effectiveness.
However, the pit trap tactic wouldn't work forever. As long as shield-bearing infantry led the way, carrying soil on their shoulders and slowing their advance, they could fill the pits with the soil on their backs as they moved forward.
But the Dothraki horde was an army composed entirely of light cavalry. They chose a more brutal and effective method.
They filled all the pit traps with their own flesh and blood until the subsequent warhorses could pass over them without difficulty, rendering the traps useless.
At this moment, Viserys had naturally put on his armor, his eyes intently fixed on the battlefield not far away.
He heard Oberyn's voice, turned his head slightly to glance at him, and then continued to speak.
"I never expected that a simple pit trap would be enough to defeat Khal Drogo ."
"The Dothraki can raid and dominate the continent of Essos. You don't think they would be easy to deal with, do you?"
The Dothraki could make the Free Cities, except for Braavos, submit to their will, and it wasn't just because they protected trade routes and caravans.
Perhaps this nation was born for battle, and their people began competing from the moment they were born. Almost all who managed to grow up, except for the translator who grew up in the Golden Company, were hardened warriors.
Just like the bloodrider Koss, who was beheaded by Viserys, even when he was in the Andalosian camp and had a guard's sword at his throat, all he could think about was how to kidnap Viserys.
"Do you have a high opinion of this Khal?"
Oberyn, sitting on his warhorse, turned his head to look at Viserys, seemingly seizing upon a key point.
"As far as I know, Khal Drogo seems to be just an unremarkable horselord in the Dothraki Sea."
Khal Drogo 's Khalasar wasn't very large even after he had consolidated his father's remaining followers and absorbed two smaller Khalasars.
But in the Dothraki Sea, an environment where the bigger fish eat the smaller fish, he still belonged to the group that could be consumed.
Khal Drogo 's campaign to the west was prompted by a powerful Khalasar passing by, scaring him into hurriedly making way and being forced to raid the western Free Cities.
His Khalasar's horses didn't have lush, fertile pastures to graze in and could only nibble on nutritionally deficient weeds by the roadside. Even his own mount had lost some weight, which pained Khal Drogo .
"Well..."
Viserys seemed to be at a loss for words due to Oberyn's question.
He realized that the Prince of Dorne, who had earned six maester's links, was indeed a prodigy, always able to easily pinpoint crucial issues and achieve what others could not.
Then, without turning his head, Viserys tugged at the reins and looked over the battlefield as he spoke.
"Yes, I believe that if Khal Drogo grows stronger, he might become the most powerful horselord in the Dothraki Sea."
"That 's precisely why I must do everything in my power to kill him this time."
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