Victor had operated in the Northlands for many years in Two Rivers County. He possessed several large Military Stud Farms, as well as countless ordinary horse farms, which supplied vast numbers of horses to every trade in Two Rivers County.
Thus, Two Rivers County had no shortage of horses. The mobile force Victor led this time had a man-to-horse ratio close to one to two. Even the militiamen serving as auxiliary troops had one packhorse each to help carry loads and reduce their exhaustion.
As for the combat troops, every man was guaranteed a warhorse. Their animal power was extremely abundant. So long as logistical supplies could keep up, whenever the Two Rivers Legion campaigned within the Northlands Wasteland, it would bring vast numbers of horses of all kinds, effectively improving the army's marching speed and combat strength.
This was one of the advantages of fighting on home ground. But if the Two Rivers Legion fought elsewhere, especially outside the Northlands Wasteland, Victor could at most guarantee enough warhorses for his combat troops. The auxiliary units could forget about having so many, because only while fighting on home ground could the logistics of Victor's Two Rivers Legion sustain the consumption of so many horses.
When the Barbarians discovered that the force before them had less than a third of their own numbers, Kuba and Shikele decided to strike first. Rather than waiting for the enemy to attack, they sent their Cavalry forward in an attempt to cut off this force's retreat.
They were utterly confident in this battle and could not allow the enemy to escape, so they made that decision.
When Victor saw this, he felt those people were being far too careless. Although he had brought thirty thousand men for this battle, only ten thousand were combat troops,