The light was failing by the time the last of the pursuit riders returned across the field.
The army finished its crossing at the ford before full darkness fell over the river. Once the crossing was complete, the familiar work of building a camp began.
Batu watched it unfold from horseback in the orderly pattern he had seen countless times before.
Tents rose in their rows. Horse lines formed behind them. Supply wagons crossed in disciplined rhythm while engineers controlled traffic at the ford. The physicians' wagons moved ahead of the rest. The wounded came first. Men who had survived the fighting were carried over before barrels, grain, or tools.
Kolomna stood much closer now than it had from the rise that morning.
At this distance Batu could make out individual details. Timber walls. Watchtowers spaced evenly along the palisade. Men standing guard atop them.
Those men had spent the entire day watching an army march out to stop the Mongols and fail.
