The atmosphere in the room was not solemn and even a little joyful. Instead of worrying about the Polotsk attack, Ross's coalition forces were even eager for them to come quickly.
There was only one person in the room who was in a troubled mood. Old Harald, whose name was Olaf, turned into a mercenary of Ross, and his position also stood with Ross, but he still did not want Polotsk to be eliminated.
Fisk deliberately took the lead in asking him what he thought: "So what is the enemy's strength? Our scouts estimate that the enemy's strength is at most one thousand. This is even quite different from your estimate of three thousand."
"Maybe... this is the force they can mobilize quickly. What are you... planning to do? Kill them all? If you do this, you may suffer heavy losses."
"I don't think it's possible. Unless it's a bloody battle with the Franks, I might suffer heavy losses." Fisk looked around again, and everyone laughed arrogantly.
Old Harald was very embarrassed and simply stopped mentioning it: "So you really want to take action?"
"Yes." Fisk nodded, "Originally I wanted to give them a chance to fight us openly, but they sent out these few people. They are either too weak or they look down on me. The main body of my plan remains unchanged. I plan to send out these people."
A surprise army will defeat these guys. How do you think? How much do you know about their army?"
Svalgard hurriedly answered: "Our boss is asking you how their weapons and equipment are."
"Weapons?" When mentioning this, Old Harald looked contemptuous: "Why don't you go to interrogate that Lambart again on this issue? Isn't this person a relative of the enemy leader?"
"I'm afraid that he will lie and either make Polotsk look too weak or brag."
"Am I telling the truth?" Old Harald asked deliberately.
Fisk looked into his eyes sincerely again: "We are all Odin's warriors. You will never lie to the gods. We are in the same team now."
What Old Harald needed was trust, and Fisk gave him trust. He began to describe his detailed knowledge of the Polotsk people. Although he mentioned their poor military strength, it also explained an issue that had been ignored in the past.
It is said that if they act on a large scale, when all the people go into battle, they will definitely use all kinds of farm tools as weapons. Overall, Polotsk is seriously lacking in iron armor, but there is no shortage of iron tools. There are many spears for hunting wild animals, and there are also a large number of
There are scythes with long handles. In addition, there are a large number of pitchforks. The fighting methods are limited, but it is usually a group of people holding short spear weapons who move together, like a mobile hedgehog.
In principle, the formation of spearmen restrains the cavalry charge. The Ross-Saxon Allied Forces relied on this move to defeat the East Frankish army in the Battle of the Elbe. Whether the Polotsk people also had this tactic, Fisk was not willing to use the cavalry charge to win the battle.
Magic weapon, he didn't want to fall into unnecessary losses after a chaos.
The enemy has very few iron armors, which is also important information. But the enemy is not a fool, they will use a large number of wooden shields to defend themselves. After all, thinking from another perspective, Fisk also thought of making a large number of wooden shields for defense, and even covered the shields with a layer of deer.
Skin.
The recurve bows of the steppe people are extremely powerful when riding and shooting close to the face. In the old days, the Parthian cavalry frequently used recurve bows to shoot directly through the shields to kill Crassus's Roman soldiers. Of course, this was limited to close range.
Shooting from the face while riding at a distance. Once the distance is extended, the problem of the cavalry's ability to shoot light arrows with a straight recurved bow and the rapid loss of kinetic energy becomes too obvious.
Fisk had received a more advanced education from Rurik and had some understanding of physics. He knew the basic principles of ballistics, the concept of kinetic energy, air resistance and the gravity of the earth. Although they had a general understanding, this knowledge was very important for actual combat.
Very practical.
The experiences described by the elder Harald all come from the descriptions of Riga merchants who sailed on the West Dvina River over the years. They always encountered exploitation by Polotsk, and occasionally conflicts broke out.
He still firmly believed that his judgment was good. If it was really a nationwide war, it would be reasonable for Polotsk to send an army of 3,000 people, even if there were many female soldiers among them.
Fisk has already thought of a countermeasure: "Brothers Quetzal."
"exist."
"Give me fifty horse archers who are good at fighting. I will organize one hundred and fifty warriors to challenge first. I will personally take action to defeat their spirit. It would be better if I can catch their leader."
"Is there such a good thing?" Quetzal agreed without thinking. He shouted impatiently: "Just in time, there will be fifty warriors assigned to the princess (Baya Hill). They should be with you Ross.
People fight side by side.”
"Very good." Fisk looked at the other two people again: "Svalgard, Wladyslav, you two soldiers will continue to guard the Vitebsk fortress. The cavalry will be on standby outside. Leave some brothers to guard the fortress to ensure our supplies.
Five mistakes."
Regarding the battle, Wladyslav secretly rejoiced that he did not participate. He led the Kiev cavalry to declare participation in the war. If it was not necessary, it would be better not to fight directly. Svalgard was a little regretful, and the boss told him to agree.
It was still early, and since the cavalry was always in a state of combat readiness, ordering them to assemble and go into battle could be completed almost instantly.
What cavalry values is mobility. Fisk and Quetzal cooperated in a friendly manner, and a highly elite cavalry archer unit was immediately formed.
One hundred and fifty cavalry go into battle!
The iron hoofs kicked up countless mud clods, and the well-equipped cavalry attacked along the right bank of the West Dvina River based on intelligence. All soldiers participating in the operation were informed that this operation would encounter a large enemy force, and all those who were eager to kill the enemy would be rewarded.
Chance. Fisk also explained some basic principles, which is to follow his wisdom in all actions and not to kill again when ordered to stop.
He emphasized one more point: "It is better to capture them than to kill them. Capture more people to force them all to give up resistance."
Kind? Some brothers feel that the boss has suddenly become kind.
On the surface, Fisker did want to be merciful, but in fact it was based on practical considerations. He did intend to be merciful, just for the sake of a good outcome in the future.
The cavalry were all mounted archers. The elite standing cavalry belonging to Ross were truly prepared. They replaced the iron plate mail armor, which used a large number of holes in the traditional chain mail to fix a large amount of iron with hemp rope or wool thread.
The key parts of the torso and thighs are covered in armor, and the rest of the body is covered in leather armor.
The fifty cavalry led by Quetzal were much weaker in armor. They all wore leather armor, but abstract iron masks were tied under the cone-shaped leather helmets, making the cavalry even more ferocious.
Fisk specially brought ten steel-armed crossbows. Even though the winding process of this weapon is extremely troublesome, it is indeed an armor-breaking weapon at medium and short range. Even if the cavalry can only use it to shoot at close range, it can kill with one shot.
A critical hit is enough
In this way, the cavalry had no problem hunting a group of bears. They lined up in a dense formation and walked slowly along the reedy river bank in small steps. It was only a matter of time before they encountered the advancing Polotsk people.
…
But speaking of the Polotsk Army, when the big leader Proclaw realized that his position was too far forward, he deliberately slowed down. His first echelon gradually merged with the dilly-dallying second echelon, and he had no intention of complaining.
As the two echelons merged together, the marching force finally reached a thousand people.
Originally, the Ross scouts saw only 500 people in the first echelon of the Polotsk Army during their early investigation. Due to misjudgment, they estimated that there would be at most 1,000 soldiers. Now, their estimate has become a reality.
Even though the situation left Proclaw speechless, he realized that even complaining would be of no use. Many of those village leaders who shouted fiercely behaved completely opposite to their boasts during actual combat marches.
The first and second echelons that could be gathered together already included a large proportion of the elite fighting force of this community. He comforted himself that even if the subsequent echelons were merged together, many soldiers waving flags and shouting would be more effective than fighting in numbers. The elites were in hand.
, these thousand people already have the ability to rush directly to the enemy's fortress.
Proclaw still understood that even self-persuasion could not negate the difficulty of winning with the existing troops. He still needed follow-up troops to join, so camping in the forest area outside the target area was an option.
The forest can eliminate the cavalry advantage of the Ross horse bandits, and can also hide his own strength. As long as he can have a little time to breathe, he firmly believes that the follow-up troops can arrive no matter how long they delay, and the rest will be a group charge-style decisive battle.
Wishful thinking is done well, and the initiative on the battlefield seems to be always in one's own hands.
Although the marching people were showing signs of fatigue, their morale was generally good. People were chatting and relaxing during the march, fantasizing about how much loot they would get after victory. Because of their bad luck, they did not mention the possibility of dying in battle at all, and optimism enveloped the whole country.
The army also ignored that they might be attacked at any time.
It was under this strange cloud condition that a gray-white shadow appeared in the distance upstream of the river.
The leading Polotsk warriors are all former Orions, and they are extremely sensitive to moving objects in the wilderness.
Those are definitely not a moving group of bears, they are enemies!
"Horse bandit! It's a horse bandit!"
They screamed in shock and grasped the handles of their short wooden bows in preparation for shooting.
The entire march was in chaos for an instant. Proclaw thought about what to do if the enemy attacked unexpectedly. No matter what he thought, the Russian cavalry really appeared. At this moment, he could already see it with the naked eye.
"Brothers, fight!" He yelled several times in succession, and hurriedly summoned several village leaders among the generals, and ordered: "Hurry up and organize your people to fight! Tell them not to run away. The spearmen are gathered together, and the archers are placed among them. We will defend with all our strength.
!”
In fact, Proclaw has figured out how to deal with cavalry attacks based on previous small-scale battles. A tried-and-true trick is to form a formation of spearmen and mix them into long-range units to wait for opportunistic output. This formation is certainly stupid, but it is a hedgehog formation.
It is indeed difficult for cavalry to break through.
Unless, like the Eastern Romans, the rushing Russian army was a kind of armored cavalry with both men and horses wearing heavy armor, just like a four-legged, one-ton dump truck crashing into them.
A thousand people in Polotsk were moving in a chaotic manner. It was the first time for many of them to see the Russian horse bandits. Hatred and curiosity arose. They formed formations as quickly as possible, pointing their spearheads at the formation.
Outside, a hedgehog formation was set up in the riverside area.
The wooden shield covered at least half of the surrounding warriors. The simple wooden shield was tied to the left arm so that the soldier could hold the spear with both hands. In this way, the warriors all hunched their backs to face the impending impact.
At the same time, the Ross cavalry discovered the enemy on the march, and their leisurely march came to an end.
"Cavalry! Move in dense formation! Check your bows and arrows. Crossbowmen! Start charging now!" Fisk ordered loudly in Norse, and then repeated it in a brief Pecheneg Turkic dialect.
So Quetzal saw the Russians' preparations for battle for the first time. Most of these taller men with blond hair looked like prairie people. The left hand holding the reins was holding the bow handle. The skilled ones even held a few more hands with their left hand.
Some people simply hold an arrow in their mouths. Quetzal knew that this was done to fire more arrows in a shorter time. Prairie warfare requires light bows and quick arrows. The Russians seemed to be faster than the prairie people.
.
"This is the performance of veterans who have fought bloody battles." He sighed silently, and was surprised to see ten Ross cavalry lying flat on their horses, their hands constantly "stirring" a utensil. In the end, it seemed
It was to wind up their magic weapon.
Ross's crossbow was exported to the grassland on a small scale before this year. Kagan, the current Khan, was full of confidence that this thing could turn the weak into sharpshooters, but the actual performance was not satisfactory. There is no shortage of sharpshooters in the grassland, and the open space
The valley plains of the lower Volga River offer countless opportunities to practice archery.
He has long known that the Russians used iron as bow arms in an incredible way. Is it possible to use iron as a bow? Only actual combat can prove it.
Quetzal held the reins and rode up to Fisk, and said bluntly: "This is the first time we are fighting side by side. I see that the enemy is actually forming a formation on the ground. It is better for us to attack separately from the left and right wings."
"That's what I meant." Fisk answered without thinking, and added something more: "But before we attack, we launch into the air to create chaos first."
"Okay. It's up to you to decide when to attack."
Quetzal knew very well that he would have to stay in the north for a long time under the orders of the Khan in the future, so he knew his future status very well. Now he should do a good job as a "partial general" as soon as possible so that he could have a good relationship with other Russian nobles. For example, this one
The young bald Fisk was a high-ranking Rus nobleman. The Khan claimed that this man was qualified to be called a brother to "Russ Khan" Rurik.
Are high-ranking nobles ruthless in killing enemies? Quetzal is very happy that the opportunity to witness killing enemies is today.
The cavalry's movement speed is much faster than that of a continuous marching team. They cherish their horse power and pay attention to how to use it. Turkic horses have strong endurance but not strong assault speed. The cavalry first formed a line to ride on the wall, which looked very intimidating but was actually full of murderous intent.
.
To highlight the maximum attack effectiveness of long-range units, there is no way to adopt a line formation. The cavalry has entered a state of fast walking, which is the prelude to a sprint.
At this moment, Fisk was riding a horse in front of the formation. He raised his right fist and turned to warn the soldiers: "Three arrows! Shoot quickly! Prepare immediately!"
All the soldiers stared at the clenched fist of his raised right arm.
"Get ready! Projectile! Now!"
There is no problem in projecting a recurve bow on the grassland to hit a target 200 meters away. It is just that it requires a lot of luck to shoot accurately. After all, projecting is a collective behavior of archers, and it only hits enemies in formation.
Two hundred meters away, the actual figure seemed a bit small, which was the stage where Ross performed.
When the Polotsk infantry archers gritted their teeth in the spearmen array and waited for the enemy to rush in, a whooshing sound suddenly came from the sky.
That's a flying arrow!
By the time the bow-wielding hunter realized it, it was already too late.
The standard armor-piercing arrow is Ross's mass-produced weapon. The cast iron arrow cluster is made of low-carbon steel by the fried steel method to remove excess carbon, and then quenched for performance hardening. It is just a slender chisel that can make any ordinary lock
Armor becomes meaningless, and against an enemy without armor, its terrifying penetration can cause fatally deep wounds to the enemy's torso.
Arrows fell from the sky, and the unarmored warriors were hit in various strange body parts. Those who were hit by the arrows immediately began to cry, and the intact people subconsciously raised their shields, watching the arrows penetrate the wooden shield and get stuck in front of everyone...
Even the little pony pulling the baggage was hit by an arrow and struggled in extreme pain. The originally formed army began to become chaotic under the continuous rain of arrows.
They also took a counterattack. The hunters with bows shot arrows at the cavalry. However, even if they were thrown, their arrows could not hit the cavalry at all.
The distance was already close, and Fisk could clearly hear the screams and roars of pain from the chaotic crowd.
The Ross cavalry was still advancing, and the warriors clamped their legs on the horse's belly. After being ordered to complete the three arrows, they all took out three new arrows from their quivers, either holding them in their hands or holding them in their mouths.
Fisk looked left and right again, and the time was ripe. He waved his fist: "Russians, follow me to the left! Pechenegs, follow Quetzal to the right! Shoot through the enemy's face at close range! Let's go.
!”
Also one hundred and fifty to the left, the Ross army, which was obviously inferior in numbers, launched a strong attack on the enemy infantry that was several times their own.
They adopted the classic tried-and-tested steppe cavalry tactics, which were actually a Parthian tactic.
From the perspective of Polotsk leader Proclaw, the Russian horse bandits were really going to charge head-on with all their strength.
In desperation, he mobilized some sane spearmen to form a formation at the front, aiming their spearheads at the direction of the cavalry's attack.
It wouldn't be Parthia if we really bumped into it.
Not far in front of the formation, the cavalry that entered the galloping state suddenly split into two. The two cavalry teams galloped past the two wings of the infantry formation, and fired arrows without hesitation. The whole process was smooth, and then they rushed to the front of the infantry formation.
From the rear, the cavalry looked back, their horses stood still, and they stood on their saddles and continued to perform more precise pile-driving archery.
During this period, the steel-armed crossbow that had just completed a critical hit at close range was slowly being charged again, and the enemy hit by it was left with irreparable fatal injuries and there was no way to save it.
After a sprint, the horse needs to rest, and Fisker just accommodates the horse power.
When he felt that his horse had taken a breather, he started the second round of action...