Upon seeing a troop of armored cavalry charging fiercely towards them, the pagan army halted their advance.
Although the pagan army had an absolute numerical advantage, everyone present was a seasoned veteran who had endured many battles and knew the correct way to respond on the battlefield.
They were well aware that the most crucial thing when facing heavy cavalry was stability; otherwise, if handled improperly, a few hundred cavalrymen would be enough to break their entire army.
pagan archers released sporadic arrows, but they merely bounced off the Rus' armor and horse blankets; the pagans had no strong bows or crossbows and were utterly helpless against the iron-clad Rus from a distance.
However, once the Rus entered their firing range, they swiftly drew their bows and released volley after volley of arrows, and under this relentless rain of arrows, the cloth-clad pagans immediately fell in droves.
Many lay on the ground wailing; their protective totems and idols had failed to shield them, and these clay and wooden figures also fell to the ground, tumbling into the dust, as insignificant as the dust itself.
Though many comrades were injured, no one had the time to attend to or help them, for the Rus cavalry were right before their eyes!
These fully armored retainers, both men and horses, came with an overwhelming force, seemingly intent on trampling them, and even before their arrival, there was a baptism of arrows, facing which they saw piles of comrades fall.
With comrades constantly falling in front, how could they possibly have the presence of mind to care for the wounded? More importantly, the Rus heavy cavalry were charging with overwhelming momentum!
Everyone felt fear in the face of this, yet they had to suppress their inner cowardice, masking their terror with fanaticism. It was this that kept them standing firm, raising their weapons.
However, just as the Rus cavalry formation was about to crash into and crush the pagan army, Rostislav suddenly raised his longsword and waved it from side to side.
And with his action, the Rus cavalry immediately began a maneuver that completely surprised the pagans.
They split smoothly into two paths, like water encountering a reef, turning left and right in front of the dense pagan formation, then advancing parallel to the pagan formation for a period. During this time, the Rus retainers fired frantically into the pagan ranks.
The Rus were as leisurely as if on a hunt, but the hunted prey were not so relaxed. At this range, an arrow strike, regardless of the armor, was likely to pierce through, not to mention that most here were clad in cloth, naturally resulting in a chorus of wails and howls under the barrage of arrows.
Yanos and the leaders of the pagan army were all utterly surprised. They had never witnessed such fluid maneuvers and were inevitably astonished by it all.
Rostislav even sent a grand gift: he shot an arrow at the enemy leader adorned with bones, but the arrow only grazed his shoulder before striking directly between the eyes of the totem behind him.
This enraged Yanos; this was a sacred relic of istvan, a totem worshipped by believers even before his father's time. How could such a totem be desecrated in this manner? How could he not be furious?
At this moment, the Rus retainers broke away from their parallel firing position. They turned their horses around, then reassembled on the ground they had just ridden over, forming neat ranks and pushing back.
Watching the departing cavalry, Yanos's fury reached its peak.
The Rus's actions were like graffiti on his face, making him feel that his honor, his family's honor, and the honor of the gods had been greatly insulted. He wanted those Rus to pay the price!
"Chase! Go quickly and chase! I want those Rus to die!"
The leader's anger energized everyone. With the sound of horns, the waiting Nomad cavalry surged out like wolves, charging towards the Rus retainers.
However, many Nomad cavalry still did not move. Having witnessed the training level of these Rus, these cavalrymen dared not provoke them at all; they knew in their hearts how strong cavalry capable of such formations could be.
As for those still charging now, they were either hotheads or individuals too eager to show off, though their combined numbers still overwhelmed the Rus.
And watching the Nomad cavalry move out, Rostislav's heart rejoiced. That fellow had completely fallen into his trap; this was exactly the effect he wanted. He was only afraid these people wouldn't follow.
Naturally, the pursuing Nomad cavalry also released volleys of arrows, though most could only follow behind the Rus's horses.
Yet the arrows fired in retaliation by the Rus retainers were almost all direct hits; the difference between elites and ordinary soldiers was thus revealed.
But the Magyar pagans continued their pursuit. What was a mere death? Their ancestors lived such lives, and they were merely living such lives themselves.
If one does not wish to pay a price, how can one taste flesh and blood? This is a truth upheld by almost all Nomads, though many tribes have forgotten one thing: sometimes the price paid can be too great to bear.
And just as these Magyar pagans intended to fight to the death, they discovered that these Rus suddenly halted and orderly formed two wide battle lines in front of them, waiting.
This made many Nomads rejoice. Were the Rus going to engage them in a battle line duel? That would truly be a godsend; in cavalry combat, they would absolutely not lose.
However, what they discovered next was wave after wave of arrows falling from the sky, and unlike the weak arrows of the pagans, everything before them came from truly strong bows and crossbows. Arrows tore through metal, bit into flesh, causing Nomads to fall, horses to rear, and screams to erupt.
A Magyar knight, completely encased in iron armor, was riddled with arrows, but thanks to his armor, he survived. However, as an arrow pierced his warhorse, the creature, feeling intense pain, reared up, throwing its rider off, and then the massive horse's body fell on top of him.
Seeing all this, Rostislav's face showed a smile of successful conspiracy. This was all his little trick: by luring the enemy, he caused them to move, then led them into the trap he had set—the archers and crossbowmen had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
And next was the final step: as Rostislav once again wielded his sword, the Rus retainers advanced. The two battle lines moved towards the Nomad cavalry with immense oppressive force.
As the Rus cavalry advanced, the rain of arrows naturally ceased. The Nomad cavalry, who had been utterly disheveled under the arrow rain, looked at the charging Rus completely bewildered; their formation had been broken by arrows and corpses, and their hearts still carried the fear of having narrowly escaped death.
But the shouts of the chieftains and leaders still made them mount their horses, draw their various weapons, and charge towards those dense battle lines. The two groups of cavalry thus moved towards each other.
The Rus retainers had experienced many such scenes, and naturally felt no fear in the face of this. Moreover, their ranks were orderly, undoubtedly overwhelming the opposition in terms of momentum.
This time, the spear-wielding overseers maintaining the formation did not even need to act, because the enemy's battle line was simply too weak, making it difficult for the cavalry within the formation to feel any fear.
The Nomads on the other side were a different story; many were facing such a dense formation for the first time, and their own lines were shattered.
This put them at a disadvantage mentally from the start, and as for armor and weapons, they were even less comparable to the Rus.
As the two armies continued to approach, the cavalry on the Nomad side constantly broke ranks, constantly fleeing the formation. No matter how their chieftains and leaders shouted, these people were unwilling to return to the ranks.
Serving the gods was good enough; hadn't so many already died? Why should we survivors risk our lives? If we lose our lives, how will we worship the gods in the future? We believe the gods will surely understand.
Thus, under this mindset, the number of escapees grew, and although the Nomad forces were originally much larger than the Rus, they were completely overwhelmed in morale by the numerically smaller side.
And another thing that happened next left no room for their morale to recover, because on both sides of that battle line, another troop of heavy cavalry charged up.