Tutush smiled and said, "This is the very essence of war. If you must expose a flank, then you charge the enemy's center with the greatest possible speed and force them to split their focus to defend. Decisions must be made quickly. War allows no pause—victory is decided in an instant."
Oguz fell into a long, deep thought. An image of a Byzantine Legion (Thema) he had once seen flashed through his mind: a vanguard of Heavy Armored Cavalry (Cataphracts), with Infantry (Skutatoi) in the center, Archers (Toxotai) protecting the flanks, and a column of mules carrying baggage in the rear. Their army had no war elephants, no chariots—only the most fundamental units of cavalry and infantry.
"Cavalry and infantry... those are the tools of a real battlefield, aren't they? Is that the army Nikephoros Melissenos leads?"
