Chapter 1231 The First Great Victory of Ludoff, Duke of Saxony
All the spears of the Saxon army were concentrating towards the front line. Not only were there thicker horse-style spears that had to be transported by horse-drawn carriages, but the soldiers also began to dig holes on the spot. Their wooden shovels shoveled away the scarlet mud of the Sticky Lake and buried them.
At the end of the spear, with the enemy's corpse as a fulcrum, a large number of spears faced the enemy at a low and flat angle.
The veterans on the front line, they all kneeled down to save their energy for the time being, while the soldiers who followed stood at attention with their spears in hand.
They tried their best to suppress their uneasiness and fear and remain calm. The blood from the spearhead dripped on their faces, and they continued to stare forward with their eyes wide open.
The next development of the war situation is simply inevitable.
Liudov was originally from a noble family in the Frankish system. He once led a powerful cavalry unit to fight, but now he has no choice but to lead several spearmen in the battle.
Frank's expansion from a small tribe into a huge kingdom relied on the tactical advantages of cavalry. All nobles under the Frankish system were extremely superstitious about cavalry.
To break this superstition, you have to suffer a loss. Liudov is such an unlucky nobleman, but here, he decided to help his enemy break the superstition, and the tuition fee may be his life.
His calculation was absolutely correct. Kaiserslautern's garrison infantry was completely destroyed, but most of them were peasant soldiers recruited for a surprise attack. How could such a person be favored by the proud cavalry? What's more, there were a thousand people riding on Lotay.
Standing cavalry dispatched directly by myself.
Standing cavalry, Metz army cavalry, and finally, thinking about face, once again brought the retinue cavalry to join the large army.
The cavalry loyal to Lothair is gathering!
Kaiserslautern cannot be lost! If something unexpected happens, we can only serve with death.
The eldest son of Count Metz, the next Count Freibach, decided to launch a desperate assault, and the standing army reiterated its oath and attacked with all its strength with the cavalry of the Metz Army.
They did not feel that the assault they were about to launch was tragic. On the contrary, everyone's morale was very good.
After all, they stationed here had little information and had never heard that the Frank cavalry could still be defeated.
Until their own infantry was defeated, they still couldn't figure out which noble's soldiers the dark enemy was.
After all, they are just a group of infantry. They can go wild temporarily, and when the Frank cavalry arrives, they will be covered with broken corpses.
No, Freibach himself held his lance high, and his Metz cavalry became a symbol.
"Warriors of the king!" Considering that the standing army was here, he deliberately promoted Lothair's status: "Be loyal to my king! Be loyal to the true Roman emperor, and you are worthy of your oath. Let's go!"
Even though those black-clad warriors were obviously more numerous, even though the narrow mountain pass battlefield was not conducive to the breakthrough of the cavalry group.
One side is superstitious about the devastation caused by cavalry charges, and the other side is convinced that a wall of spears can break through everything.
"Steady! Steady all! Don't be afraid, God bless us!" Liudov was in the military formation at this moment. He led the cavalry to deliberately make a very conspicuous presence. Of course, as a supervisor, he ensured that the soldiers on the front line would fight to the death.
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Everything was fate. Many soldiers simply closed their eyes. The hands holding the spears were shaking, and some even peed directly.
Each noble ordered his people to stay calm and set an example themselves.
Based on the Saxon's tactical understanding, as long as the first wave of cavalry strikes is overturned, the victory can basically be sealed.
The cavalry group was jogging at a small pace, and the riders temporarily carried their spears on their shoulders until they finally sprinted to flatten them. They no longer used the onion-peeling tactic, but rammed directly into it like a hammer.
Because there was no time to waste time, the cavalry needed to destroy the enemy array with rapid collisions. Only such a decadent morale could be restored.
Like an arrow from the string, Freibach has no way out. He must not bring shame to his father and family, and he must give himself an explanation.
Some of the lower-level nobles of Metz also came here, and the next generation of earls took the lead in the charge. They also had to fight for honor and duty.
But war is war. Peasants who are despised by the nobles, especially non-Frankish peasants, will also be killed by the nobles.
Even if Freibach finally noticed that the enemy had prepared a large number of spears for the cavalry group, it was impossible to stop at the brink.
He didn't take it seriously at first, until he felt that the Spear Wall was risky.
His face gradually turned pale, his eyes were as wide as tombs, but the hand holding the spear was still as hard as rock.
The collision began fatefully.
The heavy cavalry rushed into the spear formation with both men and horses. The horses were extremely afraid of such terrible sharp objects, but the horses could not stop their galloping instantly.
The sharp spearhead penetrated deeply into the horse's chest, instantly piercing the heart and lungs.
A war horse is often hit in the vital points by multiple spears, and even the horse's head is pierced.
The war horse was killed, but the powerful inertial impact did not diminish at all.
The cavalry, which weighed more than half a ton, rushed towards them at extremely high speeds. Their spearheads were broken off on a large scale, and the horses, which were instantly killed, collided headlong into a military formation.
The Saxon frontline soldier was hit with broken bones and vomited blood! Tragic casualties are happening!
All this was actually within Liu Dou's expectation. The main question is whether the loss can be tolerated.
The cramped battlefield suppressed the mobility of the cavalry, and the battle became a tower defense game. The first batch of cavalry attacks were violently suppressed, and the cavalry of the Middle Kingdom collided with the Saxon army into a pulp.
The subsequent cavalrymen were still attacking. They were not too hasty to dodge, and their horses simply jumped over the former's body, and thus crashed into the Saxon army unsteadily.
Thanks to the protection of his retinue, Freibach was not crushed to death by the flying and falling horses, but his retinue had already vomited blood and died.
The tripped war horse instantly broke its legs, and the rider did a forward somersault before smashing over. One-third of the cavalry had lost all combat effectiveness in the chaos. They were either killed heroically or were crushed to the point of being unable to move.
Those cavalrymen who had just been thrown off ignored the buzzing in their heads and drew their swords and immediately charged with roars.
Retreat? Reorganize your forces and fight again? Or join the fight now without hesitation?
Freibach wanted to retreat first and then find another horse to continue commanding the remaining cavalry.
However, he was already tied up in the rebel army.
The Saxons' spears were still poking. The warriors who had lost their spears were carrying axes and swords, mainly axes. The axe-wielders rushed into the mountain pass battlefield filled with horse corpses and killed the fallen enemies wantonly. What did they want to do?
The guy who was standing was smashed into pieces.
Dressed in black and bloody, the warriors looked red in the face and bared their teeth as they went around choosing enemies.
Freibach was not fond of fighting at all, but he was wearing heavy armor and was extremely well-dressed. He was targeted, and a difficult and chaotic battle began immediately.
In the eyes of the Frank cavalry who were in a dilemma, the next generation of Count Metz was really a great hero. One man actually fought with more than ten people to kill.
He was so noble, wouldn't it be a loss to the empire if he died in battle?
The lower-level nobles of the Metz army had the obligation to rescue their commander. They happily decided to continue fighting and simply abandoned their horses and rushed up on foot.
The brave behavior of these warriors had an impact on the standing cavalry. They also dismounted in large numbers and went into battle as heavy infantry.
However, Freibach's own abilities are limited.
A young Saxon jumped up and knocked the exhausted man down. The other warriors swarmed up, took out their daggers and stabbed him randomly.
The plate armor protects the body. Even if the Saxon's dagger is bent, it cannot break Freibach's defense.
"Stop stabbing, drag this man away!" A soldier's appeal made everyone suddenly realize.
The soldier untied his trousers belt and used it as a rope, tied his hands and feet and forcibly dragged this surely noble man away on a battlefield full of corpses.
It was a miracle that he was captured in a chaotic battle. It was also a miracle that the soldiers captured the captured Freibach safely.
The chaotic fighting continued, and the situation began to lose Liudov's control. Fortunately, the cavalry was dismounting on a large scale, and there was no infantry reinforcement after the cavalry.
Liudov stood on the battlefield like a statue, and his presence kept the morale of the soldiers always high.
He has such a character. Even when he was besieged by the surprisingly powerful Danish-Russian coalition forces in the Aleb Fortress, he was not automatically captured by the nobles in the end. He did persist in fighting until the end, and his survival to this day is not only due to the kindness of King Rus.
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The northern world respects fighters the most, and Liudov's spirit of fighting to the end was at least recognized by Vikings from all walks of life.
"March! Blow the trumpet and let the following soldiers join the battle." He ordered.
The soldiers still tried their best to maintain the spear wall. If it had broken, they would pick up the broken wooden pole and rush to the enemy, creating opportunities for their comrades to kill the enemy.
The two armies were fighting on the horse carcasses. They no longer talked about tactics, and the battle was turning into a chaotic battle.
However, the Saxons had too many spearmen. With their absolute superiority in strength, they rushed into the battle with dismounted cavalry without even eating dry food. They persisted for a while, and collapse was inevitable.
The warriors brought the well-dressed prisoners to Liudov's side like a wild deer.
"How many of you? Why don't you go and fight?" His eyes were harsh and murderous.
"Sir, have we captured an unusual prisoner?"
"What's unusual? Do you still have the intention to capture prisoners?"
"Maybe a nobleman."
"Really?" Liudof then turned his head to take a closer look, and when he saw the gold-plated belt, he completely agreed with his subordinate's statement.
"You... are not my soldiers. Tell me your names."
A peasant had his own wonderful name? Liudov remembered their village and which local count they belonged to, and that was enough.
"Okay. I'll leave you behind. You can continue to fight and grab your own spoils. Once the identity of the nobles is found out, I will give you generous rewards."
So they went back to fighting with laughter.
From the perspective of the Middle Kingdom army, they were once again leaderless. Those standing armies did not simply fight to the death. After paying a heavy price, their morale collapsed and they could only retreat.
The dismounted cavalrymen who were withdrawing from the battlefield quickly grabbed a horse, kicked it up, and then quickly fled the battlefield.
Kaiserslautern's defense completely collapsed, and the action of using cavalry attacks to rebuild morale and complete the counterattack not only failed, but also greatly accelerated the collapse.
Baron Briscoe had already been killed in the battle. He clearly did not want to die so hastily. It was this defeatist nobleman who heroically loyal to his monarch.
More than half of the two standing army standard regiments were lost, and the standard captains were also wounded. They endured the bleeding wounds and persisted in trying to escape to Strasbourg to report to the king.
As for the soldiers from Salgao, they collapsed once, and this time they saw something was wrong and ran away. But they were kind at the last moment, and the deceased Baron Salgao's youngest son was sent away by the soldiers.
Their destination is still Strasbourg. These warriors hope that the king can grant the baron's young and ignorant son as the new baron, so that everyone can become a retinue.
As for their guarding Kaiserslautern, no one cares about it anymore.
The broken troops were rushing towards Brisgau on the upper reaches of the Saar River. Among the large number of broken troops, the largest number was Metz's army.
By coincidence, Count Adalbert of Metz, who was completely unaware of the sudden changes on the front line, was still staying in Briscoe and slowly heading north.
In his opinion, there was no need for his main force to be stationed in Kaiserslautern. The local army was overcrowded, and the newly arrived army needed to choose a more open place to station.
After all, Lothair's goal was Mainz, and Adalbert, who had a large number of troops, was more willing to camp in an open area near the Roman Avenue for the convenience of the attack.
The overwhelming defeated troops and a small number of refugees marched backwards along the Mainz Avenue. They were frightened and were on high alert for the newly arrived Metz army.
The stupid misunderstanding didn't end until Metz defeated his army and met his lord count.
The knights and their broken retinue gathered around the count. They talked about the disaster that had just happened in Kaiserslautern and what was worse.
"What? My son...is dead?" The shocked Adalbert suddenly became furious, covered his head and fell from his horse.
With the help of the retinue who had dismounted urgently, the earl, who had been sitting on the ground, slowly woke up.
"Speak quickly! Anyone who knows, tell me Freibach is not dead... not dead!"
However, as he learned more detailed explanations, Adalbert was willing to believe that his eldest son died heroically and that he was indeed loyal to the king and worthy of his oath.
Adalbert is already old. In fact, he is not yet fifty years old, but a series of experiences have made him look extremely old.
He was unwilling to accept the misfortune of losing a son in old age, even though he still had a younger son, Odobach.
Adalbert was so angry that he blushed and lost his mind. He drew his sword angrily: "Go to Kaiserslautern, unless I see the body of my son. And those soldiers in black, follow me and kill them!"
The news that the eldest son was killed was just the theory of the defeated soldiers. No body was found, and there were not even direct witnesses.
As he continued to march, he kept thinking. He had a thought: "Maybe he was captured? Maybe he escaped?"
But thinking about it more carefully, Adalbert would rather believe that his son died in the war. If he was a fugitive, the family could not afford to lose this old face.
Regarding the identity of the black-clad army, he took it for granted that he was a certain nobleman loyal to Ludwig.
The fiefdoms were all located in the northern and eastern borders of the empire. Ludwig fought with all kinds of foreigners, so it was perfect for him to take the opportunity to subdue a group of servants to work for him.
If it were an uncivilized servant army, his son would probably be humiliated if he fell into their hands. If so, Freibach might as well die heroically in battle.
No matter how you speculate, Adalbert's order was to go north to reinforce his troops. Since Kaiserslautern is in trouble, he can just take it back.
Adalbert was actively collecting the defeated troops, and also learned that Baron Briscoe was indeed killed in battle, so he would use his troops for his own use. He was dissatisfied that the standing troops did not all serve the king, and he ordered them to fulfill their promise.
, the defeated standing army soldiers returned to his command.
Adalbert's strength grew rapidly. With the defeated troops gathered together and the troops he brought with him, his strength reached eight thousand, but he had to waste more time to do this.
He wanted to ensure that his counterattack winning rate was as high as possible, and considering that Ludwig himself was obsessed with Kaiserslautern, he might even have to fight this great nobleman upon meeting him.
It was good to be more prepared, but the situation was far beyond his imagination.