Chapter 529 This shield wall is as solid as a rock
Continue to let the priests buff the Northumbrian infantry?
No! The Viking warriors had stayed standing long enough, and they couldn't let the enemy delay the fight by performing some pre-battle ritual.
Rurik, standing high up, ordered all the torsion slingshot operators: "Maximum range! Look at my flag!"
He looked down at the matrix of bull trebuchets that had been deployed: "Press the lever to the lowest position and install the stone! Look at the flag!"
Seeing that they were all ready, Rurik ordered the flag bearer to rush forward and press down the white-on-blue-striped Rus flag.
When shooting with this probability, the torsion slingshot and trebuchet reach their maximum range, and the cast iron bullets and stone bullets are ejected ferociously, especially the trebuchet, whose powerful back jump is like a bull kicking someone.
The projectiles smashed through silently, just as the enemy's position was within the maximum range.
Three hundred meters between the two armies was already a very long distance, and Eynred could not imagine whether there could be any kind of arrow that could fly such a long distance.
Indeed, what flew over were not arrows, but stones and iron bullets!
Fatal stones fell from the sky and directly hit the lined-up soldiers, causing tragic death on the spot.
Although this round of shooting caused eight casualties in the Northumbria Military District, most of the projectiles missed their positions, but it still caused a horrific psychological shock to them.
Eynred's view of war has been rewritten, and a place that was supposed to be absolutely safe is now filled with dangers.
He suddenly thought of escaping, but now the team began to commotion. Even the elite infantry soldiers were shocked when faced with the sudden tragic death of their companions.
The most fearful thing for a soldier is the unexplained death of his comrades around him. Because of empathy, a soldier who has been trained in professional fighting is faced with a sudden and unnecessary death. Who can guarantee that he will not be the next unlucky person?
Just as the Northumbrian army was in chaos, a pile of rocks came crashing down. This time it only caused three casualties, but farmers were already starting to flee.
Eynred was furious, and he finally gave the order: "Fighters of Northumbria! Charge! Kill the enemy!"
To stay here is to sit back and wait for death. After receiving the order to attack, the elite kingdom warriors with kite shields no longer bothered to accept the blessing of the holy water and began an unorganized skirmish attack. The farmers who followed were carrying scythes and dung forks, and even
The threshing iron flail roared and followed the infantry to attack.
Because those who tried to escape had been overtaken by the cavalry who had received the king's order, and the cavalry's arrows killed them. Those humble farmers knew that their escape route had been cut off by the king, and they had no power to complain about why the noble king and the noble cavalry were doing this.
In order to survive, the spectators could only follow the infantry and join the battle with roars like mountains and tsunamis.
On the Vikings' side, there is no need for Rurik himself to shout at the top of his lungs about what happens next.
Rurik stood on the high platform where all the torsion slingshots were placed. He slightly arched his back and stretched out his right hand to signal the Shetlander behind him to throw arrows into the sky.
The wooden bows of the entire team were hit by the Shetlanders in this battle. They could not participate in the frontal fighting and instead shot arrows to hurt people. Many Balmoq warriors on the front line did not feel that their allies were honorable.
However, the soldiers of Balmok had no time to care about those people. Their sharp eyes were pressed against the corners of their bucklers, and the sword-holding hands were trembling subconsciously.
The men with crossbows, including Biyongni, were half-kneeling at the spear formation of the central army. He temporarily turned into an infantryman and obeyed Jevlo's order to shoot arrows.
"Steady! Don't be nervous!"
"Get them closer and shoot."
"Aim for their necks, their faces! Shoot their eyes out!"
Jevlo shouted rhythmically, and the soldiers around him were speechless. This situation even moved him very much, as if the fishermen standing behind him were not the fishermen of Balmok, but the fishermen who stood behind him during the decisive battle on Gotland last year.
Excellent performance of Novgorod spearmen.
The arrows thrown by the short wooden bow began to exert their power. The arrows did not cause an overwhelming rain of arrows, but they did cause casualties to the charging enemy.
Torsion slingshots and trebuchets have caused death to the enemy.
The minds of the charging infantry of Northumbria have gone blank. Any insignificant warrior is swept away by the torrent. Afraid? It doesn't matter anymore.
The companion beside him suddenly fell to the ground for unknown reasons. He might have been shot by an arrow or stoned to death.
Any long-range weapon can prevent the crowd from attacking, and a hand-to-hand encounter is about to occur.
"Now! Shoot!" Yevro seized the opportunity, and a dozen people suddenly fired crossbows.
At least eight enemies were fatally struck in an instant, while Yevlo and others hurriedly picked up their crossbows and rushed back to the spear formation. He still shouted with all his strength: "Brothers, follow me to the high ground."
Just when more than ten of them left, the collision between the infantry began.
The composition of every Viking shield wall is that the warrior protects almost the entire torso with the shield, with the left leg in front and the right leg behind in an anti-collision posture, and the sword and ax rest naturally on the shield, waiting for the opportunity to stab.
The combination of shield and iron helmet made the Vikings' line strong enough. The round shield collided with the opponent's kite shield, almost inevitably withstanding the opponent's collision.
Suddenly, the battlefield was filled with blood and flesh!
The Viking swords began to stab wildly, and the battle axes waved wantonly. Many Viking warriors huddled behind their shields, hacking and stabbing indiscriminately at the location roughly in front of them.
The Vikings in the back row also carried long-handled weapons, either stabbing or dropping from the sky and smashing them.
"This doesn't look like a flesh-and-blood fight. Why does it sound like a group fight?" Rurik from the highlands had a sullen face. Since the occupation was completely within his own prediction, he didn't feel nervous at all.
At this moment, Yevluo and his people were all waiting for the foundation of the earth and wood construction. Although its terrain was relatively cramped and the height was only about one meter, it was actually a strategic commanding height.
Without saying a word, the strong mercenaries immediately used their strong arms to forcefully string the steel-armed crossbows. After they finished stringing, they immediately inserted arrows into the arrow troughs and fired at the dense enemy line at will.
Beside them, the Shetlanders were still firing arrows into the air desperately. They threw the captured arrows at a great angle and shot the Northumbrian farmers with Northumbrian arrows.
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The craziest battle took place in the center of the Viking army. The wall of spears built by Biyoni's men became an insurmountable barrier.
The Northumbrian armored infantry armed with kite shields could possibly use their shields to block the thrusts of multiple spears. However, facing two hundred spears, the warriors faced despair.
There are Northumbria's own spears mixed in here, with various styles of spearheads, and even just sharpened wooden poles, which can cause huge damage.
More than ten people managed to rush to the front of the formation. They were aware of the situation. However, under the push of the soldiers from behind, their shields were poked and pushed aside, their bodies were smashed by spearheads, and their chainmail armor had almost no effect.
It didn't take long to see whether the two sides were fighting. The Vikings also began to suffer losses. Some people were stabbed by the swords of the Northumbrian warriors and fell to the ground. The warriors behind them pulled the injured brothers away and immediately replenished the front line.
More and more casualties were being pulled to the rear, but the Viking line was as solid as a rock.
A large number of Northumbrian corpses appeared at the front line, and the infantry could not break through the Viking line.
King Aynred was watching the battle from a distance, imagining that his large number of infantry could use this advantage to overwhelm the enemy formation like a mudslide with just one charge.
However, the enemy's formation was stronger and stronger than imagined.
"Why? Why haven't we defeated the enemy yet?" He stood on the saddle, leaning his head and shouting in confusion.
The captain of the cavalry, Aston, was holding his breath. Seeing this anxious situation, he hoped to make a swift flank attack to overwhelm the enemy. But he did not want to remonstrate because the king had just told him to shut up.
King Aynred was still watching the anxious occupation. He squinted and saw some farmers carrying wooden sticks fleeing.
"Damn traitors! Why are you running away! Others are clearly fighting!"
"Do you have to ask me to increase taxes before you dare to return to the front line?!"
Eynred was just yelling and cursing from behind. His men really made no progress. These barbarians on the sea showed themselves to be masters of land warfare and were formidable enemies that were difficult to defeat.
This is indeed the case, because Rurik taught the Balmoks the method of "air-ground integrated strike" in this battle.
In the trebuchet matrix in the safe zone, each trebuchet only needs to charge a mere 30% of its power to hit the enemy by throwing the stone fifty or sixty meters away. As a result, its launch efficiency is extremely high.
The torque slingshot itself does not need to be fully charged. It can crush the skull of an enemy not far away by installing projectiles after half of the charge.
Northumbria's advantage of having more troops now became a disadvantage. They spontaneously wanted to outflank the Vikings' right wing (the left wing was the sea), only to find that the right wing was already on defense. Anyone who tried to outflank would be waiting for help.
Geiger's spearmen stabbed and drove away.
The Vikings even started a front push!
The Northumbrian army had very few warriors with bows, so their bows naturally tried to hit heavy weapons at higher places first. Rurik was standing on the high ground, and from his perspective, the enemy's arrows could not hurt him at all.
, on the contrary, because those archers posed a real threat, they were brutally killed by Yevro and others holding crossbows.
The Vikings on the front line have been suffering casualties, and in comparison, their opponents have suffered greater losses.
Our own casualties were completely within the acceptable range, and the battlefield situation was under Rurik's control. He just waited for his opponent to collapse due to the high casualties.
It's just that the situation is a little strange.
"Strange thing! Shouldn't the ancient peasant team flee if they lose 5%? Are these guys really going to burn down the monastery for me and fight with me to the last drop of blood?" Rurik muttered, looking around.
, there were clearly men wearing simple coarse cloths running away, and those people were clearly farmers.
The flight of the armed peasants had clearly occurred.
Hey! There are still farmers who escaped and returned to the front line?!
Rurik quickly understood the situation.
It's the cavalry. The Northumbrian cavalry is being ordered to kill the fleeing people.
"You actually have a war team? Idiot, you only have a cavalry team, and you have never fought against the wall until now." Rurik himself was speechless to the enemy. He didn't know that the King of Northumbria was watching the battle at the edge of the forest.
, not to mention that in order to preserve the strength of the cavalry, the king deliberately ordered the cavalry to serve as a supervisory team.
"Supervise the battle? I'll let you supervise the battle! If this continues, all your orange warriors will die, and the remaining farmers will be sheep to be slaughtered."
Rurik keenly noticed those soldiers whose main color was orange, because these people had a stronger will to fight. As for those in colorful clothes, it would be an exaggeration to say that they were just spectators holding up wooden sticks. The farmer could not help.
If the peasants were forced to flee en masse, would the cavalry supervising the battle have to kill all of their own people?
The cries of killing on the battlefield never stopped, and fifty Viking warriors were seriously injured or killed from the front lines to the rear.
The Balmok Vikings, this group of fishermen, have developed strong bodies through their daily fighting games, logging and transporting rocks, but the lack of armor to protect them made them suffer. At least they still maintained a relatively stable front in the battle. If they occupied
It turned into a chaotic battle involving thousands of people, and Rurik could not guarantee that the Viking warriors' advantage would remain the same.
The shield wall is not only a means of protecting the lives of individuals in the team, but also allows the entire team to form a fighting group. Compared with the beginning of the battle, the Viking shield wall has advanced ten steps. The dead bodies that were not pulled away behind it all died tragically.
of Northumbrian warriors.
Suddenly, a sailor who was ordered to operate the trebuchet threw it onto the platform and shouted to Rurik: "Sir! The reserved pebble projectiles have been smashed. There are still some on the big ship, we..."
"Are you stupid? There is still time to go to Avora to get the projectiles?!"
"But, our..."
At this moment, Yevluo also hurriedly joined in and interjected: "We made a misjudgment. We didn't expect that the arrow consumption would be so large."
"Have you run out of arrows?" Rurik asked.
"It's about to be used up. Even spike-shaped iron bullets without tail fins."
Rurik finally became a little impatient and stamped his feet vigorously, blaming himself for underestimating the enemy's will to fight and thus running low on ammunition reserves.
Suddenly, looking at the small stones in the earth platform under his feet, he had a flash of inspiration.
"There are pellets! There are pellets everywhere."
Rurik’s tiny face as he crouched down was really puzzling.
He dug out a stone smaller than a ping-pong ball from the soil and threw it to the sailors on standby.
"Go! Find such stones from the ground, pile them in the trebuchet's leather bag and launch them."
"Ah! This... Sir, with all due respect, such stones can only hurt people, but they cannot kill the enemy at all."
"It's just to hurt people! Put thirty small stones in a leather bag and you can hurt thirty enemies. If you hit them until they are dizzy, bruised and bruised, they will have no energy to continue fighting."
The sailor said no more, and did not want to understand the subtlety of the boss's decision.
As for the bull trebuchet, its original design intention is that anything that can fit in the leather bag can be thrown out.
This is on the seaside, and small stones can be seen everywhere mixed with the gravel. The leather pockets of each trebuchet are filled with these less lethal stones, and the operation of the ten trebuchets is to rain down bullets on the enemy.
The trebuchet fires cannonballs! It deals damage with a radius of about two meters to enemies 60 meters away.
Of course, these stones could not kill anyone, but they gave the peasant soldiers behind the Northumbrian army a head-on blow.
Some people's heads were smashed with blood spurting out, and they even fainted because of stars. Others had their noses broken, their faces scratched, and one eye blinded. Their arms and chests were hit, causing minor but serious injuries.
Very painful internal bleeding. These farmers only had small makeshift shields made of wooden boards, and they did not even have any protective weapons.
Even denser than the thrown arrows are the shotgun shells fired by the trebuchets! If a salvo is fired, ten trebuchets will hit more than 400 stones the size of table tennis balls.
Perhaps because of the three rounds of shotgun blasts, the Northumbrian farmers fled backwards. They did not break away from the line, they just covered their injured faces and arms and retreated out of the range of the trebuchets.
The farmers did not dare to really retreat. They were afraid that their own cavalry would kill them as traitors. However, they still withdrew from the line. This made the warriors who tried their best to kill under extremely anxious risks think that failure was inevitable. There were already many people.
Dead, the sea barbarian front is still as hard as a stone wall. Strength advantage? Those farmers have fled! The brothers have consumed a lot of physical strength, and if they continue to stay here, they will only end up losing their physical strength and being killed by the enemy!
The farmer's action of dodging the shotgun caused a chain reaction beyond Rurik's expectation. He was excited to see the enemy's orange infantry. Those sharp and tenacious men finally couldn't stand it anymore and began to flee.
"They are running away! The enemy is running away!" Rurik shouted immediately, and then asked everyone standing on the high ground to shout that the enemy was fleeing.
The Balmok Viking warriors, who continued to fight and felt extremely anxious about the battle, were greatly boosted in morale and let out thunderous Viking war cries.
King Aenred in the distance, what happened to this man who was so far away that he couldn't see clearly, but the scene of failure was already highlighted.
Although the kingdom's war horses are very precious, so are the cavalry. But if one's two thousand troops were defeated here, one's own reputation would be damaged, and so would the kingdom's strength.
At this point, a decision that he had rejected now seemed to be implemented by force at the critical juncture.
Perhaps, that is the only way to save the war situation that is one step away from collapse.
Eynred suddenly shouted: "Aston!"
"I'm here!"
"Listen to the order! Order all cavalry!"
The king's eyes showed resoluteness, and his eyes had already said it. Aston was overjoyed: "I will rectify the cavalry now."