The likelihood of that happening, in his estimation, was not much greater than being hit by lightning. And if, against all odds, a rocket should score a direct hit—
“Might break in the roof tiles,” commented Bouzes.
Belisarius shrugged. “The tiles are supported by heavy beams. Wooden beams, yes. But these beams aren’t anything like the thin planks of pirate galleys. They’re much thicker, and, what’s more important, not saturated with inflammable pitch.”
He began studying the positions of the Malwa cavalry, now. Again, passing on his conclusions.
“They’ll start with a rocket barrage, and then follow it up with a direct assault.” A moment’s silence, then:
“I thought so. They’re dismounting, now. It’ll be an infantry attack.”
“Those are cavalry!” protested Coutzes.
Belisarius pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. He remembered, from three years before, that Coutzes and Bouzes had been trained in the cavalry tradition. The young Thracian commander, it was obvious, had still not quite abandoned his contempt for foot-fighting.
His brother, however, had.
“Don’t be stupid. We’ve been training our own men to be dragoons. Why shouldn’t the Malwa?”
“Well said,” murmured Belisarius. For a moment, he took his eye from the telescope and glanced at Coutzes.
“You’re about to see why I insisted on training our cavalry to fight on foot. I know you think that was a waste of time—”
He drove over Coutzes’ little protest. “—but the reason I did so was because I knew the time would come when we’d be able to arm those dragoons with grenades. And handcannons, I’m hoping.”
He nodded toward the enemy, visible through the window.
“They already have grenades. The kshatriya are starting to pass them out to the regulars.”
He took up the telescope again, and continued his scrutiny.
“They’ll come in waves. Probably be one grenadier for every ten soldiers. The Ye-tai will be scattered through the lines in small squads, driving the regulars forward and pressing the assault. Some of the kshatriya will be in those lines, too, but most of them will stay at the center with the priests, manning the rockets. They’ll also help the Kushans guard the wagons. They might—damn!”
He stiffened, staring through the telescope intently.
“Damn,” he repeated. “They’re bringing up the Kushans. All two thousand of them.”
“On foot?” asked Agathius.
Belisarius lowered the telescope, nodded. Then, with a bit of a rueful smile:
“Kushans, in my experience, don’t have any fetishes when it comes to fighting. On foot, on horse, on boats—it doesn’t matter to them. Whatever, they’ll do it well. Very well.”
He turned away from the window. It was obvious from his stance and expression that he had reached a decision. His officers gathered closer.
“This changes things,” Belisarius announced. “As you know, I’d wanted to wait until tomorrow before bringing in Maurice and his boys.”
He tapped the palm of his hand with the telescope, emphasizing his words.
“We’re going to beat these bastards, one way or the other. But I want more than that—I want to pulverize them. The best way to do that is to rout them early in the morning, so we’ve got a full day for pursuit.”
The officers nodded. All of them—even the two young brothers—were experienced combatants. They knew that a battle won at the end of day was a battle half-won. The kind of relentless, driving pursuit which could utterly destroy a retreating enemy was simply impossible once daylight was gone.
Agathius glanced out the window. “It’s still before noon,” he mused. “If the battle starts soon enough—”
Belisarius shook his head. “I’d wanted to let the Malwa spend all day hammering their heads against us here. Bleed them dry, exhaust them—then hit them at dawn with a massive flank attack by Maurice and Kurush. The attack would break their army, and then we’d sally out of the villa and drive over them.”
He saw that his officers still didn’t understand. He didn’t blame them. Their brief experience with Malwa soldiers had not prepared them for the Kushans.
“The Kushans are a different breed. They won’t come at us in a mass, chivvied by Ye-tai, depending on their grenades to do the work. They’ll come at us like the best kind of Roman infantry would attack this place.”