Belisarius lowered the telescope, still frowning.
“They must have hauled them here,” said Maurice. The gray-haired veteran frowned as well. “Hell of a logistics route! I’d hate to be relying on supplies that have to be moved through the Hindu Kush and—all that.”
The last two words were accompanied by a vague little wave of Maurice’s hand, indicating the entire broken and arid terrain between the lush plains of north India and the Zagros range. Mountains, hills, deserts—some of the roughest country in the world, that was. More suited for mountain goats than supply trains.
“It could be done,” mused Belisarius. “Trade caravans have made it all the way to China, when you think about it. But not often, and not carrying anything more cumbersome than luxury goods.”
Aide amplified. Gold coins, crystal and red coral from the Roman Empire, in exchange for silk from China. Some jewelry, both ways.
Belisarius scratched his chin, as he invariably did when deep in thought. “Damodara would have one advantage,” he added slowly. “He wouldn’t have to worry about brigands. No hill bandit in his right mind would attack a Malwa military caravan.”
“Pathans would,” countered Maurice, referring to the fiercest of the mountain tribes. “Those bastards—down!”
He and Belisarius hastily crouched in their trench. Nearby, Anastasius and Valentinian did the same. A volley of Malwa rockets sailed overhead, passing no more than ten feet above them. A few seconds later, they heard the explosive sounds of the rockets landing somewhere on the back slope of the saddle pass.
As soon as Belisarius was certain that the volley had ended, he rose and peered behind him. He had taken position in a trench at the very crest of the pass, allowing him as good a view of the back slope as the foreground. Leaning over the log parapet, he studied the scene intently.
His brow was creased with worry. Belisarius had positioned his handcannon troops just behind the crest of the pass. They would—he thought—be out of danger there until he needed them. And out of sight of the enemy. The handcannons were Belisarius’ own little surprise for the Malwa. He had not used them yet, in this campaign, and he hoped that Damodara and Sanga were still unaware of their existence.
Maurice joined him. The chiliarch, after one quick look, verbalized Belisarius’ own thoughts.
“No damage. The rockets passed over them too.” Maurice’s face broke into a grin. That was a rare expression, on his face. Belisarius was amused to see that it was probably the least humorous grin in the world. Wintry, you might call it.
“But I’ll bet they’re not whining anymore about all the digging you make them do,” chuckled Maurice. He and Belisarius could see the first heads of the handcannon troops popping up from their trenches. Those soldiers were not more than fifty yards away, and their expressions caused Belisarius to break into his own grin. Worry, fear—combined with more than a dose of outrage.
What the hell is this? Here we were, enjoying a pleasant moment of relaxation, engrossed in cursing that damn fool General Pick-and-Shovel who makes us dig trenches every time we take two steps, and—
What the hell’s going on? It’s not fair!
Still grinning, Belisarius turned around and resumed his study of the enemy. After a moment, he picked up the broken thread of their conversation.
“Pathans wouldn’t attack Damodara’s supply trains. Don’t forget, Maurice, those caravans would be protected by Rajput troops. Sanga’s Rajputs, to boot. And I’m sure Sanga would see to it that the information was passed on to the tribesmen. He has his own Pathan trackers, you know.”
Belisarius looked at the large body of Rajput cavalry that formed the right wing of the enemy’s formation. There were a smaller number of Rajputs on the Malwa left wing, but Belisarius had spotted Sanga earlier through his telescope. In this coming battle, the Rajput king had been assigned to the right. With his naked eyes, Belisarius couldn’t distinguish Sanga any longer from the thousands of other Rajputs massed on that side of the battlefield. But he was certain that Sanga was still there.
“Sanga led the last punitive expedition which the Rajputs sent against the Pathans,” he said, speaking softly. “That was years ago. There haven’t been any since because Sanga ravaged them so badly—” Belisarius broke off, with a little grimace. “Bloody business, that is.”