The Pannonian cavalry halted briefly a hundred meters away, waiting for their comrades to arrive while simultaneously spreading out their formation.
Then the leaders shouted "Attack!" The cavalry spurred their warhorses forward, the animals breaking into a trot on the uneven grasslands. Though the saddle jolted, the cavalry gripped their reins with their left hands, their waists and hips secured by four-corner saddles, and their tightly clenched thighs steadied the horses' flanks; they were still fairly stable. Their shiny longswords in their right hands were raised high, ready to swing down with force as they approached the enemy, bolstered by the momentum of their charge and confident they could smash through the thick shield armor of their foes.
