Destiny's shield

falls. But it was by no means their first. By no means.' The gen-eral's face grew bleak. 'I was at Ranapur, when the Malwa broke the rebellion. Two hundred thousand people were still alive in that great city, when the Malwa finally breached the walls. Five days later, after unspeakable atrocities, there were not more than fifty survivors. A few young noblewomen tough enough to survive their ordeal, and then sold into slavery.'

For a moment, the pavilion was filled with a grim silence. Then Maurice muttered:

'Continue, please.'

Kurush shook off the mood. 'After the Malwa finished their conquest of Charax, the bulk of their army proceeded upriver, accompanied by over a hundred of their smaller ships. The remainder of the fleet waited in Charax, while the Malwa began expanding and strengthening the port. We assume that those ships will return to India for further provisions, once the monsoon changes.' He glanced toward the entrance of the pavilion, as if to gauge the season. 'We're in the beginning of June, now. Within a month, the winds will be right for them.'

Belisarius nodded. 'Their fleet will sail for Bharakuccha in July. Then, after reprovisioning, they'll begin their return journey toward the end of October. Early November, at the latest.'

'What are their actual military forces?' asked Coutzes.

Kurush spread his hands on the table and leaned back. 'You'll find this hard to believe, but-'

'No, we won't,' said Belisarius, quite forcefully, with a warning glance at Bouzes and Coutzes.

'— based on my own personal observation, I estimate the total number of their troops-not counting the large garrison they left in Charax-at two hundred thousand men.'

When the expected Roman reaction did not emerge, Kurush's eyes widened slightly.

Maurice cleared his throat. 'Break that down a bit, if you would.'

Kurush paused, thinking.

'I don't think they have more than forty thousand cavalry. The great mass of their troops are infantry, and most of them seem of mediocre quality. The Ye-tai, of course, are quite ferocious in combat. But the Malwa seem to use them principally as a stiffener for their common troops.'

'They're primarily security battalions,' interjected Belisarius. 'That's how I saw the Malwa using them, when I was in India. In battle, their main job is to make sure that the common soldiers obey their officers. They're utterly ruthless toward deserters or even stragglers.'

Kurush nodded. 'Most of the infantry are simply armed with traditional weapons. Spears, swords, axes. And their armor is flimsy, for the most part. As I said, mediocre-quality troops.' He shrugged. 'But with those huge numbers, they simply overwhelm their opposition. After they've ravaged the opponent with their demon weapons.'

'Describe the weapons,' said Belisarius.

Kurush spread his hands apologetically. 'I will do so as best I can, Belisarius. But keep in mind that I only saw the damned things at a distance, and I was never sure exactly what I was watching.'

'Let's do it the other way around, then. Let me tell you what I think the Malwa are using, and you can correct me based on your direct experience.'

The Persian nodded. Belisarius took a sip of his wine, thinking, and then said, 'I think-I hope, actually-their weapons fall into three main categories. Siege cannons, rockets, and grenades.' After describing these three types of gunpowder weapons, based on his observations in India, Belisarius continued, 'The rockets will be used in much the same manner that we Romans have traditionally used field artillery in a battle. The disadvantage of the rockets is their extreme inaccuracy-'

He hesitated for a moment, fighting temptation. His own rockets-the katyusha rockets-had proven to be fairly accurate, in tests. Not as accurate as catapults, but much less erratic than the Malwa rockets he had observed. Guided by Aide, Belisarius had had real venturi made for his rockets, using all the skills of Greek metalsmiths. He had even insisted on machining the bronze exhaust nozzles. But he hoped their accuracy would come as a surprise to the enemy. He had no reason to distrust Baresmanas and Kurush, or to suspect they were loose-mouthed. Still-

He glided over the problem, for the moment.

'— but they compensate by their destructiveness and their relative ease of operation. You don't have to lug around a heavy onager or scorpion to fire a rocket. Just a trough and a simple firing device. Then, too, the things tend to panic the opponent's cavalry horses.'

Kurush nodded gloomily. 'It's impossible to control horses under a rocket barrage.'

Again, Belisarius hesitated, torn between the need for secrecy and distaste at hiding secrets from his own allies. This time, distaste won the struggle.

'That's not actually true, Kurush.' Seeing the look of surprise in the young sahrdaran's face, Belisarius smiled crookedly.

'I thought the same, once, when I first encountered rockets. My subsequent experience, however, taught me that horses can become accustomed to the sound and fury of gunpowder weapons. The secret is to expose them to the noise at an early age. A full-grown warhorse, as a rule, will usually remain skittish. But a horse trained as a foal will manage well enough.'

He gestured toward the open flap of the pavilion. 'The horses which pull my katyushas, for instance, have been specially selected for their steadiness under fire. And most of my bucellarii have been equipped with mounts trained to stand up under gunpowder fire.'

The two Persians at the table were stroking their beards thoughtfully. To Belisarius, their thoughts were obvious. Awkwardly obvious.

Great news. But we Persians have no gunpowder weapons with which to train our horses. How to steal them from the enemy? Or-better yet-convince the Romans to supply us with the infernal things?

For a moment, Belisarius and Baresmanas stared at each other. Then, seeing the Roman general's faint nod, Baresmanas looked away.

We will discuss the matter later was the meaning of the nod. That, and:

I have my opinion, but-

That was enough. An experienced diplomat, Baresmanas was well aware of the controversies which were undoubtedly raging among the Romans over this very delicate problem. An alliance with Persia was one thing. Arming the ancient Medean foe with gunpowder weapons was a different proposition altogether.

There was no point in pressing the matter at the moment, so Baresmanas changed the subject.

'And the grenades?' He pointed to Kurush. 'According to my nephew, the things are solely used in close order assaults.'

'He's quite right. That is their function. I never observed them used any other way in India.'

He decided to pass on a secret, now. The enemy almost certainly knew it anyway. Some of their spies must have escaped the slaughter at the Hippodrome where Belisarius and Antonina crushed the Malwa-engineered Nika rebellion. If nothing else, the bodies of the traitor Narses and his companion Ajatasutra had never been found. Both Belisarius and Theodora were certain that the former Grand Chamberlain, with his legendary wiliness, had managed to make his escape.

So:

'My wife-she commands our only force of grenadiers, the Theodoran Cohort-has introduced a more long-range capability to grenade warfare.'

He described, briefly, the sling and sling-staff methods of Antonina's grenadiers, before concluding: '-but, even so, we are still talking about bow-range, no more.'

Baresmanas and Kurush nodded understandingly. Slings were not a weapon which Persian nobility favored personally, but they were quite familiar with the ancient devices.

Belisarius poured himself some more wine and, then, after glancing inquiringly about the table, refilled the goblets of Bouzes and Baresmanas as well.

As he set the wine down, the general reflected upon the absence of servants in the pavilion. That simple fact told him a great deal about his host, all of which met his complete approval.

Kurush seemed otherwordly and absent-minded, in some ways. More precisely, he seemed absent-minded in the way that very rich people often are-so accustomed to personal service that they treat it as a routine fact of life. But when it came to military matters, Kurush had obviously been able to discard his class attitudes. The battle- tested officer had not made the nobleman's mistake of forgetting that lowly menials have ears, and minds, and tongues. So he and his distinguished guests would pour their own wine, and serve each other as comrades.