The sound of the formation going into motion came up through the frozen ground before it covered the first hundred meters.
Thousands of horses stepping from stationary to a forward advance simultaneously, the mass of it transmitting through the earth as a vibration that built and did not drop. It moved through the horses' legs and up through the riders' seats and settled in every chest across the full width of the line.
Torghul's nine mingans moved in the center. Dorbei's tumen came with them on the right, holding its spacing with the habit of a force that had run its intervals until they were bone-deep.
Kirsa's mingan advanced on the left, eight hundred riders with the western steppe open at their backs. Chaidu's mingan back in the line now, dressed into the front.
The full Jochid line advanced to exchange range and the fight opened at its full scale.
