Garlan held up the lens in a daze, watching Daenerys's army expand and contract like a spring, cycling through strange formation changes. It was not until one cycle was complete, and the entire army miraculously finished a roll, shifting an entire "body length" westward and advancing another mile toward Highgarden, that he shivered and came back to his senses as if waking from a dream, realizing that he was witnessing an impeccable new method of advance: artillery dispersing the frontal infantry, alternating rolls denying cavalry any opportunity, slowly but surely moving toward the strategic objective!
Given the temperament of that brother of the Night's Watch, if he finds this method effective, he will likely slowly push toward the home where he was born and raised, Highgarden. The flaws and openings he wanted to wait for would likely never appear!
Intuitively, he did not see a good opportunity. But at this moment, the command of nearly twenty thousand cavalry was truly in his hands. If the number of four-legged "comrades" was also counted, the number of men and horses Garlan currently controlled was greater than the combined total of the opposing army and even his own main infantry force. Such an astonishing hand, like a royal flush, was enough to make anyone feel the urge to "just charge forward and see what happens"...
Clenching his fists for a long time, Garlan slowly used reason to control the hot blood rushing through his brain.
His father recommended him to be the cavalry commander not because his nickname included "Valiant," or because of his superb riding and leadership skills, but because he would never act impulsively or make decisions without thinking. The current situation was very clear: without coordination, a cavalry charge against elite infantry whose formation had not yet been broken had a very low chance of success. The urgent priority was not to fight, but to immediately report what he had seen and heard to his father and King Aegon, who were commanding the main infantry force, and let the veterans in the command post come up with a way to deal with Aegor!
He loosened his tight grip on the reins, turned his head, and shouted, "Messenger!"
Garlan ultimately chose to send a messenger to report to the command post while he himself continued to distract from a distance with the cavalry. This decision was wise and correct: if he attacked by force, he would face a defensive square ready with pike formations, loaded with grapeshot, and prepared for everything against cavalry. Whereas if he withdrew, the Western Expeditionary Army, free from the threat on its flank, would stop rolling and march in the conventional manner, rapidly approaching Highgarden at three to four times the current speed, repeating the tactic of using artillery to disperse the main infantry force and continuing to give the cavalry no opportunity.
...
When cautiously and slowly conducting the first roll, Aegor's nerves were quite tense: this was the first attempt at the "Aegor-style rolling advance" tactic, from theory and training to practice. Even with thorough preparation, various real-world problems that would not appear in theory would inevitably arise. It could be said that the moment the trapezoidal formation first contracted into a triangular formation was the most vulnerable moment for the entire Western Expeditionary Army today. If the opposing cavalry commander had been decisive enough and chosen to launch a cavalry charge at the very start of the first formation change in the first roll...
Even without the Riverlands infantry cooperating to apply pressure, the situation would still have been somewhat perilous.
But the opponent chose to play it safe.
And by playing it safe, they jumped into Aegor's trap.
The reason was simple: while playing it safe against playing it safe looked boring and agonizing on the surface, he was now approaching the strategic objective, while the opponent was doing the opposite.
The purpose of war is victory, and victory needs to be achieved by accomplishing several strategic objectives... Facing a behemoth like the Riverlands with an extremely long health bar, "destroying its army" was the most strenuous and thankless way to win. Against a strong enemy that could not be swallowed whole, Aegor chose the path of cutting meat with a blunt knife: first strike the enemy's morale, and after weakening the enemy to a certain extent, then fight the final battle.
Casualties of only a few hundred might be glossed over and concealed through various means, but the continuous retreat of the front line was real and could be felt by everyone!
It was easy to imagine: when a hundred-thousand-strong army, finally assembled together, had barely managed to boost morale and fighting spirit through difficult mobilization, arrived on the battlefield only to find that the enemy, far fewer in number, was still pressing forward step by step, while they themselves could only retreat under orders, no matter how small or slow that retreat was, it was a huge blow to morale.
The four formation changes in the first round took over an hour. After this roll was successfully completed and all the minor issues that arose had solutions, Aegor completely relaxed.
In just over an hour, the Western Expeditionary Army he commanded completed a small qualitative leap: now, they were the first unit in the known world to have "successfully completed the Aegor-style rolling advance in a real combat environment." Just like swimming, cycling, or even getting a foot massage, many things are like this, awkward the first time, familiar the second: the first attempt is made with fear and trembling, doing it again is done with confidence and ease!
Next, all they had to do was repeat, repeat, repeat, constantly performing annoying maneuvers under the enemy's noses, grinding down their bottom line like slicing a sausage, and approaching Highgarden, which they were sworn to defend to the death.
Charging directly at the start had a certain chance of success, but the Rivermen did not dare.
Slowly retreating step by step like this had a chance of wearing down the Western Expeditionary Army until they ran out of supplies, but time and morale did not support this tactic.
Thus, only one possibility remained.
What Aegor was betting on was this possibility.
Every second that passed increased the mental pressure on the enemy. Ultimately, the opponent would lose patience and forcibly start a battle before the Western Expeditionary Army ran out of supplies and defeated themselves without a fight, but in the end, due to lost morale and missing the opportune moment, they would be unable to make perfect use of their numerical advantage!
...
Because coordination between the various formations was smoother, the time taken for the second roll was reduced by nearly thirty percent. By the time it was halfway complete, the sun was nearly overhead, and Aegor also stood on the position where the Riverlands infantry vanguard had confronted him in the morning.
The Rivermen's rout seemed hurried, but at least they were not so disgraced as to leave their wounded on the battlefield to die... Among the scattered broken shields, miscellaneous military equipment, bodies, and bloodstains, a large number of family banners used for bluster were also scattered across the still-damp fields. This was actually a very unusual phenomenon: unless it was a devastating rout, ordinary standard-bearers had enough training to ensure that the banner was not lost during a retreat. But this time, the Riverlands vanguard, in order to create the appearance of a main force and then feign defeat to lure the enemy, had temporarily brought in many untrained ordinary peasant soldiers to wave flags and shout. These people had no professional standard-bearer training, and as soon as they saw the troops routing, they immediately threw away what was in their hands and ran faster than anyone.
The spoils included armor, weapons, and even a small amount of gold and silver, the private property of fallen soldiers, but unfortunately not the grain that the Western Expeditionary Army most urgently needed at the moment. Looking at the various colored cloth scraps still scattered across the tidied battlefield, Aegor was about to sigh when he suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
"Order all units to collect all the enemy flags left behind, cloth and pole included, clean them, roll them up, and carry them with the army, in case they are needed."
(To be continued.)