The horses' iron hooves trod rhythmically and heavily on the hills east of Myr, and across the river, a vast forest of Dothraki could be seen, moving towards the river to drink.
The Dothraki had already crossed the Rhoyne River, and now they were crossing another river.
Gendry looked into the distance with a Myr telescope, a craft for which Myr was renowned throughout the known world.
The Dothraki Knights were in front, with the dothraki elderly and weak in the middle; the nomadic dothraki tribes were called a Khalasar.
Gendry's telescope was shaped like a Myr eyeglass tube, making distant objects clear—the tube had glass lenses at both ends, connected by a series of bronze tubes cleverly fitted together, collapsing to the length of a dagger.
"The Dothraki are not like traditional nomads," Gendry thought.
Traditionally, nomads would be subject to various disasters and grain issues, making it difficult to consume large amounts of nutrition.
But the Dothraki Sea might produce too many resources; the Dothraki exterminated the Ghiscari people and occupied the Dothraki Sea, allowing their Screaming Warriors to be tall and strong.
The Dothraki Screamers were like bare warriors; Dothraki men and women were bare-chested, wearing painted leather vests, tied with horsehair leggings, and bronze belts around their waists.
Although wealthier Dothraki might have silver and gold on their belts.
"At this speed, the Dothraki will attack Myr by noon tomorrow," Gendry said to Prince Oberyn.
Gendry was wearing black scale plate armor, and his horse carried a spiked warhammer and a recurve bow.
His Knights were clad in plate armor, pitted and dented from battle, but still gleaming in the morning sun.
"At this speed, they should be!
If they weren't encumbered by the Khalasar, the dothraki horse people would have arrived today," Prince Oberyn looked at the dense crowd in the distance.
He had participated in many battles in the Disputed Lands, but confronting a complete Khalasar now was still very challenging.
The Red Viper's Dornish Knights wore a different attire, with silk robes fluttering over their shoulders and shirts decorated with layers of copper scales, gleaming like thousands of bright new copper coins as they galloped.
Dornish cavalry were relatively lightly equipped, and their tactics differed from other regions.
Gendry and The Red Viper each brought ten cavalry to observe the enemy formation before the Dothraki arrived.
Even if the enemy had a vast army, relying on their Dornish horses and equipment advantage, they still had room to maneuver.
Moreover, not far away, he had set up an ambush, guaranteeing to make the Dothraki extremely nervous.
"Focus on cavalry, observe formations, and find the enemy's weak points," Gendry thought to himself.
Such tactics would provide an early advantage.
"According to my intelligence, this Khalasar should belong to Khal Jhezkahn."
"Khal Jhezkahn!
I didn't expect it to be this slippery fellow." The Red Viper's mood relaxed a little.
"Legend has it that he visits Qohor every three to four years, collects gold, and then spares the city.
It seems the Tyrosh people offered too much temptation, and now Khal Jhezkahn plans to switch to a new target."
"Currently, the most powerful force in the Dothraki Sea is Khal Drogo; Drogo leads the largest Khalasar in the Dothraki Sea, with over forty thousand warriors, undefeated in battle.
Khal Jhezkahn's Khalasar, at most two to three thousand people, with about six or seven thousand Screaming Warriors?"
"Concentrate our forces to crush one Khalasar, and these horse people won't dare to cross the river!" The Red Viper said, spurring his horse.
"Khal Jhezkahn isn't that strong."
"That's what the Westeros people think, but the cheese and butter merchants of the Free Cities don't think so," said the Arrow Maker, who was perhaps one of the peak archers of his time and had also been recruited by Gendry.
"Actually, the Commander-in-Chief didn't necessarily need to send me as a scout; your archery is now superb," the Arrow Maker grumbled, but still kept an eye on the situation.
"It would be a pity not to let the Dothraki witness the old man's divine archery."
"That's well said," the Arrow Maker said cheerfully, carrying his yew bow and recurve bow.
On horseback, a recurve bow was more convenient.
The Arrow Maker's arrowheads were all tied with awls, which could penetrate even plate armor, let alone these almost half-naked Dothraki.
"Then let the Dothraki experience our might!" The Red Viper's eyes blazed.
"According to my observation, the Dothraki have one strength and two weaknesses," Gendry said, analyzing the Dothraki army.
"The Dothraki are excellent horsemen, have many cavalry, and are fearless in death; these are their strengths.
But the dothraki have no armor, and their siege techniques are very simplistic; these are their two weaknesses."
"Indeed, then we'll follow the tactics from the Battle of Qohor," The Red Viper suggested.
"As long as the Unsullied form their ranks, Khal Jhezkahn's few soldiers will not win."
The Dothraki's tactics were still relatively simple: the Dothraki Screamers would shoot arrows and attack, then collect arrows and valuables after the battle.
The Jhakalars were those who put the wounded out of their misery; they wielded great axes, moving among the bodies on the battlefield, harvesting the heads of the dead and dying.
"Unsullied, Qohor truly had three thousand Unsullied at that time.
How many Unsullied do we have here?
They are all Free Folk; these people were formerly slaves and cannot withstand a few rounds of attack!" The Arrow Maker frowned.
"Relying on the city of Myr, first let the Wolf Pack form their ranks; as long as they resist a few attacks, it will be our turn to enter the fray!" Gendry said.
The Unsullied formation was just an iron shield, while the cavalry was the Iron Hammer that would decide the fate of the war.
As the group chatted, a small scout team of Dothraki Screamers had already crossed the river and charged.
Gendry saw the distant Dothraki; they were tall, with bronzed faces, light brown eyes, and black hair.
Seeing that there were still Free Cities warriors daring to observe the scouts from afar, these Dothraki were quite surprised, as in the past, when encountering Dothraki, those cheese merchants mostly used turtle tactics, obediently offering gifts.
Dozens of Dothraki Screamers charged on horseback, roaring and drawing their bows; they also carried arakhs.
The Arrow Maker drew his longbow, and the long arrow shaft pierced through the Dothraki's chest as smoothly as silk.
"Whoosh!" Gendry also did not hold back, drawing his bow and firing an arrow; a dothraki warrior fell in response.
Being on horseback, Gendry did not carry his dragonglass bow, as such a longbow was too clumsy to use on a horse.
The dragonglass bow was the strongest bow in the world.
Due to its high iron content, dragonglass was jet black.
It was as tough as steel, yet lighter and more elastic.
The dragonglass bow was highly sought after because its range far exceeded that of ordinary wooden bows.
The Red Viper also drew his recurve bow; the Dothraki and Dornish especially favored this bow, as they could easily unleash a deadly rain of arrows upon enemies from horseback with it, rather than single-target shots.
Gendry, The Red Viper, and the Arrow Maker's archery skills were all top-notch in the world, and the Dothraki Screamers found that this small squad in front of them was not easy to swallow.
The Dothraki roared; their horsemanship was indeed superb, as if man and horse were one.
But the Wolf Pack Knights and Dornish Knights were also not weak, but elite among Knights, and had the advantage of armor; some of the Dothraki Screamers' long arrows shot over, but hitting plate armor caused no damage.
Under similar circumstances, a Dothraki hit by an arrow would be severely wounded.
"I am the Magistrate of Myr!" Gendry shouted, his voice like steel.
Almost all of the dothraki scout Knights who had charged forward fell; the remaining Dothraki had no numerical advantage and dared not attack further, only watching as Gendry, The Red Viper, and the cavalry swaggered away.
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