Stalling for time
The riders were trying to circle around the enemies' army. Still, even though they had the advantage thanks to the horses, it would take a while for them to arrive. Most likely, they won't be fast enough to prevent the fall of the gate. After all, Zaos could tell that they had lost twenty percent of the riders even from afar.
"Drannor!" Zaos shouted. "Take one third of the recruits and go protect the gate. Stall for as long as you can!"
That was a bad idea. Drannor knew it. If he were to take so many of the recruits to do that job, the archers wouldn't have the chance to protect themselves while they are shooting… Still, he was also fully aware that they no other choice. Drannor saw a squad of archers approaching through the enemy army as if things weren't bad enough. Since only had a few of them, they certainly were experts… many of their friends are going to die there, and Drannor didn't have any choice but to leave them and rely on their own luck to survive.