“What are their actual military forces?” asked Coutzes.
Kurush spread his hands on the table and leaned back. “You’ll find this hard to believe, but—”
“No, we won’t,” said Belisarius, quite forcefully, with a warning glance at Bouzes and Coutzes.
“—based on my own personal observation, I estimate the total number of their troops—not counting the large garrison they left in Charax—at two hundred thousand men.”
When the expected Roman reaction did not emerge, Kurush’s eyes widened slightly.
Maurice cleared his throat. “Break that down a bit, if you would.”
Kurush paused, thinking.
“I don’t think they have more than forty thousand cavalry. The great mass of their troops are infantry, and most of them seem of mediocre quality. The Ye-tai, of course, are quite ferocious in combat. But the Malwa seem to use them principally as a stiffener for their common troops.”
“They’re primarily security battalions,” interjected Belisarius. “That’s how I saw the Malwa using them, when I was in India. In battle, their main job is to make sure that the common soldiers obey their officers. They’re utterly ruthless toward deserters or even stragglers.”
Kurush nodded. “Most of the infantry are simply armed with traditional weapons. Spears, swords, axes. And their armor is flimsy, for the most part. As I said, mediocre-quality troops.” He shrugged. “But with those huge numbers, they simply overwhelm their opposition. After they’ve ravaged the opponent with their demon weapons.”
“Describe the weapons,” said Belisarius.
Kurush spread his hands apologetically. “I will do so as best I can, Belisarius. But keep in mind that I only saw the damned things at a distance, and I was never sure exactly what I was watching.”
“Let’s do it the other way around, then. Let me tell you what I think the Malwa are using, and you can correct me based on your direct experience.”
The Persian nodded. Belisarius took a sip of his wine, thinking, and then said, “I think—I hope, actually—their weapons fall into three main categories. Siege cannons, rockets, and grenades.” After describing these three types of gunpowder weapons, based on his observations in India, Belisarius continued, “The rockets will be used in much the same manner that we Romans have traditionally used field artillery in a battle. The disadvantage of the rockets is their extreme inaccuracy—”
He hesitated for a moment, fighting temptation. His own rockets—the katyusha rockets—had proven to be fairly accurate, in tests. Not as accurate as catapults, but much less erratic than the Malwa rockets he had observed. Guided by Aide, Belisarius had had real venturi made for his rockets, using all the skills of Greek metalsmiths. He had even insisted on machining the bronze exhaust nozzles. But he hoped their accuracy would come as a surprise to the enemy. He had no reason to distrust Baresmanas and Kurush, or to suspect they were loose-mouthed. Still—
He glided over the problem, for the moment.
“—but they compensate by their destructiveness and their relative ease of operation. You don’t have to lug around a heavy onager or scorpion to fire a rocket. Just a trough and a simple firing device. Then, too, the things tend to panic the opponent’s cavalry horses.”
Kurush nodded gloomily. “It’s impossible to control horses under a rocket barrage.”
Again, Belisarius hesitated, torn between the need for secrecy and distaste at hiding secrets from his own allies. This time, distaste won the struggle.
“That’s not actually true, Kurush.” Seeing the look of surprise in the young sahrdaran’s face, Belisarius smiled crookedly.
“I thought the same, once, when I first encountered rockets. My subsequent experience, however, taught me that horses can become accustomed to the sound and fury of gunpowder weapons. The secret is to expose them to the noise at an early age. A full-grown warhorse, as a rule, will usually remain skittish. But a horse trained as a foal will manage well enough.”
He gestured toward the open flap of the pavilion. “The horses which pull my katyushas, for instance, have been specially selected for their steadiness under fire. And most of my bucellarii have been equipped with mounts trained to stand up under gunpowder fire.”
The two Persians at the table were stroking their beards thoughtfully. To Belisarius, their thoughts were obvious. Awkwardly obvious.