David Gemmell – Rigante 4 – Stormrider

It was a gallant and reckless move – the kind Gaise Macon may well have made. If the Lancers broke through the infantry would gain fresh heart and charge again. They had timed the move well -between volleys. But their officer should have noted that on the third volley no fire had come from the ditch.

They galloped forward, lances levelled, the new dawn sun glinting on their brocaded blue tunics. ‘Ready Gosten!’ shouted Mulgrave.

The fifty Eldacre men reared up. Muskets thundered. Twenty of the advancing riders were hammered from their saddles. Four other horses went down, pitching their riders to the ground. The remaining six Lancers ducked low and continued forward.

Several shots screamed into them. Another four went down. Mulgrave climbed to the wagon and drew his pistol. One of the two surviving Lancers swung his horse and tried to flee. Three shots struck him in the back. Slumping over his saddle he rode back towards the trees for a little way, then tumbled from his mount.

The last of the Lancers rode at the defences, his huge chestnut gelding clearing the wall with a graceful leap. The rider headed directly for Mulgrave. It was Konran Macy, the officer who had tried to remove the Eldacre horses.

‘Give it up, sir,’ said Mulgrave, his pistol levelled. There is no need to die today, and you can achieve nothing.’

‘I can kill you, you treacherous cur.’

‘You have been misled, sir. No-one here is a traitor. No-one here planned to quit the army, nor join Luden Macks. You have been lied to.’

Macy dismounted, thrust his lance into the ground, and drew his cavalry sabre. ‘Do you have the nerve to fight me, sir?’ he asked. ‘Or are you a coward as well as a traitor?’

Mulgrave uncocked his pistol and thrust it into his belt. Then he leapt down from the wagon and drew his own blade. Macy slapped the rump of his horse. The beast moved away from the two men. The Lancer advanced.

‘You are making a second mistake, captain,’ said Mulgrave. ‘You are being used in a private feud between Winterbourne and Gaise Macon. There are no traitors here.’

Macy attacked. Mulgrave parried and swayed away. Their sabres clashed. Macy launched a furious assault, hacking and slashing, seeking to overcome Mulgrave by brute force. Mulgrave swayed and moved, blocking and parrying, always in balance.

‘Damn it, sir, can you not see you are outclassed?’ said Mulgrave. ‘Put up your sword.’

‘They are coming again, sir!’ called out Lancer Gosten.

Macy took this moment to attack. His sabre lanced out towards Mulgrave’s heart. Mulgrave blocked the lunge with ease, rolling his blade over and round Macy’s weapon. The point of Mulgrave’s sabre entered Macy’s throat, ripping through the jugular. The officer stumbled to his knees, then pitched to the earth. Mulgrave stepped across his body and ran back to the defensive wall.

The enemy was charging. Two more volleys – which was all the defenders had time for – would not stop them now.

As Gaise Macon left the cottage and walked across to where his cavalrymen were preparing their mounts his mind was calm. There would be – hopefully – time for anger later, when the danger was past. Of all the lessons he had learned during this ghastly war this was the most important. A leader needed a cool mind in battle. As he walked he pictured the route south of Shelding. Fighting an enemy who outnumbered you three to one required several key elements for success. First there was surprise. This was vital. Men needed time to gear themselves for fighting. A sudden onslaught could lead to the most seasoned troops buckling and fleeing the field. Luden Macks, in his famous book on cavalry warfare, had called it the Consideration Effect. In short this maintained that many men would willingly risk death for a cause they believed in, and would fight relentlessly given time to consider the reasons for battle. Others less principled would fight if they knew that to refuse would mean vicious punishment or death. Hence the discipline of the army. Take orders and do your duty, for if you do not we will hang you for a coward. Given time to consider most men would also convince themselves that they would not die. Take away that time and the mind would revert to a simple animal state involving self-preservation at all costs.

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