The sight of the galloping horses was so breathtaking that Prince Rostislav's subordinates trembled just by watching, and even experienced a slight panic.
Amidst the chaos, Prince Rostislav noticed the Polovtsy riders moving along the edges of the horse herd; they used long spears to drive the horses and whips to lash them, making the wounded horses even more frantic, which in turn caused other horses to go wild as well.
These riders maximally restricted the direction of the horses' charge, forcing them to only charge in the direction the Polovtsy needed; of course, this was also extremely dangerous, as a moment's inattention could lead to being thrown into the herd and then trampled by countless hooves.
A series of shouts from herdsmen again caught his attention; it was the war cry of the Polovtsy barbarians, and Prince Rostislav saw groups of mounted Polovtsy, armed with scimitars, long spears, or composite bows, galloping past them.
Prince Rostislav's army did not just stand by; archers and crossbowmen loosed volley after volley of arrows, bringing down many Polovtsy, whose riders fell awkwardly from their horses, landing on the ground strewn with arrows and corpses, but they showed no sign of stopping, continuing to advance with the horse herd.
The Prince's expression changed involuntarily; the Polovtsy were truly aiming for a central breakthrough!
However, his surprise did not last long, because he saw that his allied forces beside him had directly collapsed; those soldiers abandoned their defensive positions and fled without even engaging the Polovtsy.
This undoubtedly affected Prince Rostislav's subordinates; many were demoralized, and confusion appeared in their ranks, causing the barely maintained line to quickly approach collapse.
This was actually a problem arranged by Yaroslav; the tactical requirement for the left wing was merely to hold their ground, so this area was not manned by strong troops, but mostly by peasants filling in.
As for the Black Hat Army that was supposed to reinforce the left wing, Prince Rostislav could no longer see them; they had already fled at some unknown point...
Just as Prince Rostislav was getting into trouble, the galloping horses crashed into the Rus' defenses.
They first made "intimate" contact with the chevaux de frise; the entire chest of the foremost warhorse was directly pierced by a wooden spike, and that horse died without even a single shriek, and this scene played out simultaneously in dozens of places.
The most exaggerated case even saw a warhorse directly flung into the air by the recoil, falling from the sky and crushing several unsuspecting Rus' soldiers to death.
However, with their deaths, they also broke those sharp wooden spikes, and their bodies, using the momentum, crashed into the wagons; the Rus' warriors on them either fled in disarray or were knocked off the wagons.
More horses crashed into the wagons; even if they were battered and bleeding, on the verge of death, the horses still trampled over the corpses of their kind to continue the impact, as they were also pushed by those behind them and driven by humans.
Under these continuous impacts, those wagons that were lucky were merely pushed aside, while the unlucky ones directly disintegrated into a pile of wreckage.
Now both roadblocks were cleared, and the steppe horses, like wildfire, charged wildly through the Rus' army formation, as frantic as fire snakes (meteors) dancing in the night sky, and this fire could not be extinguished, only allowed to spread.
Many soldiers instinctively dodged when they saw the horses charging, the rampaging horses directly extinguishing their will to fight, but with so many warhorses charging in, many people would be knocked down no matter how much they tried to avoid them.
And once knocked to the ground, it was extremely difficult to get up, as there were crowds of people and horses running everywhere; with so many feet stepping on them, a living person would become a dead one in no time.
However, there were also brave ones who stood their ground proudly; the personal guards used battle axes and swords to greet the charging beasts; skilled individuals had no problem slaying horses with the momentum, but many were also knocked down or even sent flying, and once on the ground, no matter how good their armor, it was very difficult to get back up.
Fortunately, as time passed, more and more horses ran away; after all, they had been driven together by whips and spears, forced to charge the Rus' army formation, and now that the formation was finally broken, they naturally dispersed.
But the situation did not improve in the slightest, because right behind the horse herd, the main body of the Polovtsy army stepped over the ruins and corpses, charging into the already chaotic Rus' battle line!
What would happen when the Rus', already disoriented by the waves of attacks, faced the wolf-like nomadic cavalry, was naturally self-evident; countless still-confused Rus' warriors were thus cut down by scimitars from horseback, and after a brief resistance, the Rus' could not stop their retreat.
"Immediately deploy the reserves, have the personal guards hold the line, we must achieve victory."
The Grand Prince on the hillside watched all this with a darkened face; around him were personal guards with drawn swords, ready for battle.
He had not expected the Polovtsy to pull off such a move, directly bringing his main infantry force to the brink of collapse.
However, fortunately, he still had a card up his sleeve: a full two thousand personal guards, full of fighting spirit and well-equipped, always ready for battle.
That horse charge had not affected them much; this was his last reserve, and his last force capable of stabilizing the situation.
Although deploying troops into the center, which was almost completely collapsing, was entirely a piecemeal tactic, he had no choice.
His sons and grandsons were there; if he were to withdraw his army rashly, wouldn't he be directly exposing them to the Polovtsy's attack? Moreover, the battle had just begun, and there was still a lot of fight left.
Therefore, even knowing that this would cause heavy losses to his personal guards, he had to do it; it was a must, no questions asked.
— — — — — — — —
"Father, this tactic is truly formidable."
Beneath the light yellow banners of the Polovtsy, Brus Khan watched the fierce fighting of his sons with a beaming smile, and the one exclaiming was his son, Saru.
But in truth, the Khan was also somewhat surprised by this effect; if it weren't for the significant losses and strong opinions among the tribes in the previous battles, he would not have resorted to this tactic, but the effect was surprisingly good, though he hid his expression well.
In the battle that eliminated the Southwest Rus' army, the Khan forced the tribes to charge the Rus' heavily fortified areas, causing heavy losses to many tribes.
Many nobles in his own tribe died on that hillside, which led to widespread complaints among the tribes; even distributing the spoils and slaves to them could not curb the dissatisfaction, and some were even plotting against the Khan.
Behind him were many tribal nobles and heavily armed steppe heavy cavalry; the Polovtsy had not yet committed their reserves, that decisive reserve force.
Hearing the Khan's son speak like this, these nobles also repeatedly agreed, as if their previous doubts had never existed; they saw the Khan's power and strength, and naturally knelt down again in submission, offering their loyalty to the Khan.
This was also the unchanging rule of the steppe game: the winner takes all.
"Saru, take the heavy cavalry and attack the Rus' left flank (which is the Rus' right flank); I see their wavering is not severe."
The Khan then issued orders.
"Yes, Father, but isn't it really alright to ignore the Rus' left flank?"
Saru was very excited about the order to sally forth, but he also felt something was amiss; there was still a side of the Rus' army remaining.
"That one."
Brus Khan rubbed the jeweled hilt of his sword, observing the confusion and rout of the Rus' army on the left flank.
"They are already on the verge of collapse, don't worry, go ahead.
Even if something happens, I still have nearly a thousand infantry; they are enough to protect me."
"Yes!"
Seeing this, Saru no longer hesitated, responding loudly.
— — — — — — — —