These Mamluk cavalrymen came from children captured by the Saracens during their conquests. After an initial selection, they underwent brutal training under the royal court. Any kid who couldn't hack it was dead. The survivors, once they hit adulthood and went through the Saracen "circumcision" ritual, officially became Mamluk cavalrymen.
The Mamluks were decked out in some seriously fancy gear. Besides the traditional pointed helmets and full-body chainmail, they wore lamellar vests on top. For weapons, they had lances, scimitars, and bows—basically, they could rain arrows like the Mongols, create chaos, and then charge in to obliterate any formation.
And now, Norn was staring down this knight-like force.
"Quick! Re-form the ranks! Shield wall!" Norn barked out orders. His troops' formation was a mess after the earlier fighting, but his manor guards, who were well-trained, quickly moved in and reorganized into a dense 10-row phalanx.
The mercenaries, urged on by their leaders, also closed ranks to form a tight formation.
"Raise your spears!" In the previous melee, a lot of spears had been broken or lost, so guys were just grabbing whatever enemy spears they could find. Amidst the chaos in Norn's ranks, the Mamluk cavalry across the way began to move forward slowly.
The sound of hooves was like thunder before a storm, rumbling and echoing. The sunlight glinted off their armor, creating a dazzling display. Norn let out a bitter laugh. He'd just watched his knights charge like badasses, and now he was about to face a cavalry charge himself.
A few Mamluk cavalry scouts started charging into the kingdom's infantry. These guys were expert horsemen, and they unleashed a rain of arrows right in front of the kingdom's formation, about 30 meters away.
Close-range arrows were a nightmare for the kingdom's infantry, who didn't have enough armor. Even though soldiers tried to shield themselves with their shields, the dark arrowheads always found gaps, embedding themselves into bodies with deadly force, shredding muscles or organs.
The kingdom's infantry, unable to fight back, started to get restless.
"Where are our archers! Hit back!" Norn anxiously waited, and finally, the kingdom's bowmen and crossbowmen caught up, taking positions behind the shield wall and returning fire.
But against the Mamluks' top-notch armor, the kingdom's arrows were pretty much useless, except for the rare unlucky shot to the eye or throat. Only the crossbows had any real impact, as their bolts could pierce chainmail at this range, but the slow-firing crossbowmen couldn't suppress the enemy completely.
Still, the kingdom's ranged attacks gave the infantry a bit of confidence. They started to steady themselves, gathering shields and spears to prepare for the incoming charge.
Seeing that their arrows weren't doing much, the first wave of about 200 Mamluk cavalry began to slowly pick up speed. They brandished scimitars, maces, and all sorts of weapons, shouting war cries in Saracen, closing in on the phalanx.
As the Mamluk cavalry approached, the kingdom's formation started to panic. A lot of guys hunched up and instinctively moved backward.
Norn was frantic. He just stood right in the middle of the ranks and yelled, "Soldiers, hold your ground! I'm right here with you." The chaos in the phalanx settled down for a moment, but who knows how long that would last. William and Patrick squeezed in next to Norn, subtly positioning themselves in front of him.
The Mamluk cavalry, once they got up to full speed, slammed into the spear wall like a steel tsunami. Only Norn's elite troops managed to hold their spears steady. A good number of the kingdom's infantry dropped their weapons and ran at the sight of the charging cavalry, even though that was a surefire way to die faster.
The Mamluks charged right through the sparse spears. Even though a fair number of them got skewered or knocked off their horses, plenty still broke through into the ranks and started a melee.
Norn's side had managed to stop the first wave from breaking through, but the sheer force of the cavalry and their horses snapped a bunch of spears and crashed into the ranks, completely disrupting Norn's once-neat formation.
"Uuuuh!" The deep horns blared again. The second wave of Mamluk cavalry began their charge. Before Norn could even re-form his ranks, they were hit again.
This time, Norn's guards, with their broken spears, had no choice but to use their bodies to block the cavalry. The nearly half-ton weight of the charging riders and horses crashed through or pushed aside anything in their way, trampling people underfoot. But the dense crowd did limit the horses' acceleration. Once they reached the center of the phalanx, the cavalry finally had to stop.
Even though the Mamluk riders were super skilled with their scimitars, slashing left and right, they still got pulled off their horses by the surrounding infantry and disappeared into the swirling mass of people.
Now Norn's formation was even more disorganized. The front rows were all jumbled and sparse, and there were hardly any spears left in the back rows.
"Uuuuh!" The third wave of Mamluk cavalry charged again. Norn's phalanx was visibly shaken, and some mercenaries even dropped their weapons and started running.
"Sassan! Take them out." Sassan, dressed in black leather armor and moving like a wraith, flicked her wrist. A few daggers flew through the air and embedded themselves in the backs of the fleeing mercenaries.
The mercenaries, terrified by the ghost-like Sassan, remembered she was a ruthless Hashashin and finally stopped their retreat.
Seeing the mercenaries' plummeting morale, Norn grabbed a spear and took his place in the front rank.
"Sassan, if anyone else tries to run, kill them on sight."
Seeing Norn leading by example and Sassan waving her scimitar, the mercenaries hesitated but eventually turned back to face the Mamluk cavalry.
"Thud!" The third wave of Mamluk cavalry was almost upon them.
Norn stared at the charging riders heading his way. Even though he'd seen some big battles, he still felt a bit parched and had to grip his spear tightly, planting the butt end firmly into the ground. The support from the earth gave him a bit of courage.
The sharp spear barely pierced through the armor and into the horse's body. The shaft bent at an incredible angle before snapping, and the broken piece smacked Norn in the chest.
The horse let out a neigh and collapsed, but the rider quickly got back on his feet. The Mamluk rider, brandishing his scimitar and grinning menacingly, walked toward Norn.
Norn drew his longsword and shield and charged at the rider. The rider's scimitar crashed down on Norn's shield, almost knocking it out of his hand.
Norn huddled under his shield, barely holding on. Looking at the fourth wave of cavalry about to charge, he knew he had to finish this fast. But right now, he was barely hanging on himself, let alone helping anyone else.
The Mamluk rider raised his scimitar, and Norn quickly raised his shield.
But it was a trick. The rider's scimitar changed direction mid-swing, arcing skillfully and slashing into Norn's left ribcage.
Norn felt a massive force hit him, and he was knocked to the side. Luckily, even though the Damascus scimitar was super sharp, it didn't pierce through both layers of his armor. He probably just broke a rib, though.
"Norn!" William, who had just taken out his own opponent, saw Norn in danger and lunged at the rider.
The rider was tackled to the ground by the burly William. At this range, swords and scimitars were useless, so they just dropped their weapons and wrestled.
"Die!"
Norn, not playing by the rules, saw his chance and stabbed his longsword into the rider's back with all his might. But the sword didn't have enough force to go through the armor.
The rider, in pain, tried to turn around but was held tight by William.
Seeing the opportunity William had fought for, Norn quickly punched his right fist down on the hilt of the sword, driving it in a bit further.
The rider struggled violently but was still locked in place by William.
"Not enough! Still not enough!" Norn was filled with rage and punched the hilt again. The sword went in deeper, and the tip emerged from the rider's chest.
William pushed the lifeless rider aside and tried to get Norn back to the formation, but another rider targeted them, leaving no time to regroup.
Norn, covered in blood, looked around: the formation was completely shattered. William and Patrick were in a desperate fight with a few dismounted Mamluk riders, and Sassan had stopped dealing with the fleeing mercenaries to start supporting the front line with her crossbow.
The whole scene was total chaos, with everyone using whatever they had to try and kill the enemy.
Norn looked at the fourth wave of Mamluk cavalry approaching and felt a growing sense of despair.