Chapter 229: Nothing Before the Walls

The Rus force was coming apart as Batu watched.

The druzhina professionals who had secured the center were the last to withdraw. When they finally turned, they did it at a controlled canter, preserving order in retreat the way they had preserved it under fire.

The infantrymen had no such discipline. They ran hard without formation, and the pursuit mingans were already closing from behind. Arrows struck backs at twenty meters. Riders tumbled from their horses and vanished into the spring grass while the horses continued forward without them, more than one man hit the ground screaming and was trampled by those fleeing behind him.

The field south of the ford carried its own cost. Some Rus had fallen at the bank, others had never made it across the water. The grass was high enough to hide much of the ground, making any accurate count impossible for now, though dark patches of blood already stained the flattened trails left by the fighting.

Batu had not moved from the engagement zone.

Daichin stood calmly on the churned earth at the ford. The horse’s right shoulder still carried soreness from the battle, but the animal remained steady and responsive.

The pursuit was unfolding to the north but the results of the battle were already becoming clear. Riderless horses wandered through the grass, equipment lay scattered where men had dropped it. Here and there, a wounded figure still moved.

Among the fleeing groups roughly one hundred and sixty meters away, Batu found the one he had been searching for.

Eight riders moved north in a tight formation at a canter. A blue-and-white standard flew among them, the colors of Pronsk. The Ryazan banner had already departed with the main body of the retreat. This standard had remained with its prince.

The formation told Batu what he needed to know. It was a personal guard preserving its prince through a rout. Four sides were covered, and even amid collapse they were still moving with purpose.

The distance presented a problem. At one hundred and sixty meters, a shot required more than accuracy. He would need to account for the arrow’s arc, aim well above the target, and trust the bow to carry the shaft where it needed to go.

Batu raised the bow and drew to full extension, fixing his aim high above the center of the formation.

Then he released.

The arrow remained in flight long enough for two nearby riders to notice it and look up. They followed its path as it climbed and descended.

The shaft struck the Prince of Pronsk through the chest.

The impact nearly threw him backward out of the saddle. He pitched sideways from his horse in the middle of his guard, blood spraying across the animal’s flank before he disappeared into the grass. For several seconds the formation broke apart as the riders reacted. Then the survivors scattered north in separate directions, and the Pronsk standard fell into the grass where the group had been.

"You see that shit?" a rider near Batu barked to the man beside him.

"His guard’s scattered." Suuqai was already turning his horse north. "It’s over for them."

Batu’s gaze lingered on the collapsing formation before he looked toward the relay rider waiting nearby.

"Three mingans north in pursuit. Back before the evening bell."

The rider repeated the order to confirm it, then wheeled his horse and departed immediately.

The pursuit developed across the field exactly as Batu expected.

Three mingans of fast riders drove north after the fleeing Rus, targeting men trying to reach either the far away forests or the road to Ryazan. As distances closed, arrows struck backs at twenty meters. Riders fell where the shafts found them. Some were dragged briefly by tangled reins before their horses finally broke free.

The infantrymen faced an even worse problem. Without mounts, they could not outrun the pursuit. Most had already been overtaken in the open ground long before the mingans reached the trees.

The casualty reports began returning through the relay network within the hour after the battle ended.

Dorbei reported eighteen dead, most lost during the ford itself when arrows from the defended bank had fallen into the water before the force secured the far side.

Torghul reported nine dead altogether.

Orda’s White Horde reported eleven from the eastern flank attack, where resistance had proved stronger than the undefended ford had initially suggested.

Five more came from the brothers’ contingent combined.

Less than fifty.

The Khar Kheshig riders were confirmed among them.

Reports on the wounded were as favorable. There was no grave injuries, and that included the rider struck in the shoulder during the crossing, Bjorn with the cut on his arm dried and closed, and the two norsemen wounded during the exchange with the Khar Kheshig.

Blood still stained Bjorn’s left sleeve from wrist to shoulder, but the blade had missed bone and the arm remained fine. The dried blood had turned nearly black where it had soaked deepest into the cloth.

The supply train and civilian tail had camped south of the river before the battle began. Once the crossing was secured, they moved north by Zhao’s pontoon bridge and the fords throughout the early evening.

The relay officers were responsible for the task. Siege equipment was first, then supply horses crossed, and then civilians following after the route was clear.

By the time darkness approached, the army had established itself on the north bank of the Voronezh and camp construction was well underway.

Subutai found Batu near the forward part of the camp after the supply train completed its crossing.

"Extremely low causalities."

He kept his attention on the ground ahead instead of looking at Batu. "Their druzhina, I believe, held well at the ford. They’re professionals that know how to fight against a superior force. The numbers decided the outcome, not their capabilities."

Batu studied the ground between the ford and the forest, where horses, abandoned equipment, and the scattered marks of the pursuit still covered the grass.

"The engineer corps moves with the vanguard tomorrow."

Subutai turned slightly toward him.

Batu continued, "The bridge identified southeast of the city. I want Zhao there before the main force arrives so he can assess it. If it is large enough for an army, it gives us a second route to the walls. If it isn’t, I want the bridge destroyed before Yuri Igorevich can use it as an escape route."

"He’ll have the order before we make camp tonight."

The sun still had roughly an hour before it reached the western hills.

Across the north bank, campfires were appearing in their usual glow. The army had repeated this process often enough that the first fires rose before the evening orders finished moving through the camp.

Subutai remained silent for a moment, watching the northern ground. "The riders are talking across the camp about your merits. They are inspired by how you joined them in battle."

Batu already understood the implication.

"It worked for the best."

That ended the matter.

Subutai gave a slight nod and returned toward his staff position without adding anything further.

The pursuit mingans returned before the evening bell. Their reports extended the tally of the battle farther north along the road to Ryazan.

The demand would be delivered to the city at dawn, and the army would arrive behind it.

Batu remained outside the camp as the last light faded from the northern sky. Daichin stood nearby under the care of a supply rider who had brought water and fodder.

The horizon presented no immediate obstacle.

First came grass, then forest.

Beyond the forest rose whatever portion of Ryazan’s walls extended above the trees.

Between the army and those walls, there was nothing.