The Count of Bremen assembled his main cavalry to face the Normans. They lined up on the wall and moved their spearheads forward in unison.
It started with a canter for the horses, and according to the plan, it naturally started to accelerate at the last moment.
Theoretically, the cavalry at the head of the line will pass through the enemy formation with their spears and choose the opportunity to plunge the spear into the enemy. After completing a surprise attack, they will often withdraw so that the cavalry behind can continue to kill the enemy. This is like a wave-like offensive, with the cavalry following one wave after another.
The waves of stabbing will eventually wear down the enemy's morale. When the formation has a slope, this is the moment to charge on the wall and deliver a fatal blow.
However, the Russians and the Franks have completely different military tactics!
The torsion slingshot was fired at full strength, and just as the Frankish cavalry was trotting forward to gain momentum for acceleration, the spinning cast-iron bullets hit them.
Compared to beating people, the war horse leading people is obviously a bigger target!
Even though it was a horse's head, the horse's chest was covered with a layer of chainmail. The half-pound cone-shaped cast-iron bullet hit at high speed. The sharp head directly penetrated the gap in the chainmail, and directly broke through the muscles and hit the heart.
Even the horse's head was smashed, its skull was smashed, and its eyes were smashed out.
The Ross army had experience fighting the British cavalry and knew the benefits of intensive use of torsion slingshots.
With this throw of the universe, all the torsion slingshots completed a critical hit. As the most elite combat force, the count's heavy cavalry was instantly destroyed in half!
A large number of war horses were injured and fell to the ground, which unexpectedly delayed the advance of the light cavalry at the rear.
Earl Hunter's face was splashed with other people's blood. One of his comrades had half of his face smashed, and he and his horse had fallen down.
The sudden sight shocked him so much that he had no time to think, because it was followed by arrows flying randomly.
"Raise! Heavy arrows! Throw!" ordered Jevlo on the ship's deck.
He was already on standby with a Finnish bow holding a longbow to shoot heavy arrows. The arrow clusters were made of carbon steel and had barbs. The entire arrow weighed more than a quarter of a pound, making it suitable for the current battlefield environment.
However, before the heavy arrows fell from the sky, the crossbows of the Russian army fired first.
The few warriors holding steel-armed crossbows no longer have to complain about their excessive firepower when carrying such a heavy thing.
The half-pound crossbow arrow hit the remaining charging horses with powerful potential. Although it could not directly penetrate the internal organs, it also made the horse's chest muscles stiff.
More horses fell directly, and even Earl Hunter was not spared from this blow.
"ah!"
With a scream, the war horse actually threw him away. His mount rolled forward, fell hard and broke the horse's leg.
Poor Hunter, the horse's hindquarters pressed down on his legs. For this battle, he specially wore cowhide armor inlaid with iron plates and a chainmail armor. His defensive ability was not bad, but the armor was too heavy.
It also makes it difficult for him to escape on his own strength.
"Ah! My head...my hands!"
"Ah! It hurts!"
He watched helplessly as an arrow pierced his basically defenseless leg, and then he realized that the swishing sound in his ears was the arrow falling.
Because the legs of the heavy cavalry are mainly protected by two small shields, when necessary, the dismounted cavalry can abandon the heavy cavalry shield and use the small shield to protect themselves.
Hunter immediately grabbed the fallen oak shield and covered it on his torso. He heard a loud noise and the tremor made his arms tremble.
Then, looking at the unexplainable sharp object in front of him, he smiled stupidly.
A heavy arrow directly smashed through the oak shield relying on gravitational potential. Thanks to this shield, Hunter did not die on the spot.
The three-pronged attack of slingshots, crossbows, and longbows stopped the advancement of the entire cavalry in the first salvo. Most of the elite heavy cavalry were killed or wounded, but a large number of light cavalry had no idea what was going on, and they were still fighting hard.
Push through the scalp.
Besides, here in the Ross Alliance, the battle turned out like this according to Arik's prediction, but in Ragnar's view, it seemed as if Odin had given the brothers divine power, and it was nothing more than shooting arrows. The fierce Frank cavalry was actually huge.
Massive casualties?
Ragnar couldn't help but hit the shield with the hilt of his sword, and subconsciously shouted to his own men: "Brothers, get ready, we will go up and chop them down."
This was actually heard by Arik.
"Brothers Ragnar, wait! Wait until our arrows completely defeat their fighting spirit, then rush forward and chop them into pieces!"
"Alright alright……"
Ragna couldn't help but recover. Behind him, ten large ships turned into ten floating arrow towers.
The Finnish longbowmen no longer need to aim. The enemy's cavalry is a big target. Javlo's order is extremely simple, just charge the heavy arrow to about the same strength and fire it.
When he realized that the enemy was only unarmored cavalry, it took some time to recharge the torque slingshot, and this time he replaced it with a javelin.
These longbowmen are all short people. They are all elites carefully selected by Jevlo. Each of their arms is almost as thick as a thigh. They were professional hunters in their hometown, and now they are the most suitable for manipulating longbows.
Soldiers.
The Finnish archers fired freely, placing heavy arrows on the left side. Since the enemy's remaining cavalry had already managed to get closer, they began to shoot accurately. After the heavy arrows were fired quickly, they switched to light arrows.
The number of crossbowmen surprisingly surpassed that of the cavalry who were still advancing. The Frank cavalry had now lost their ability to charge, and their formation was becoming chaotic. Their morale had not yet collapsed and they were already worthy of their profession.
Aric was very satisfied with the current battle situation. At first, he was really in awe of those cavalry. Now it seems that it is more like the Frank nobles felt that the Russian coalition forces who had completed the plunder were too tired, so they enthusiastically came to deliver horse meat.
"Stand still now?" Ragnar urged.
"continue waiting!"
"Why? I can't wait any longer."
"Keep on holding on!" Ragnar thought for a while and simply shouted: "You can counterattack if you want, but my arrows don't have eyesight."
"whispering sound……"
Ragnar finally understood that the Russian army was not fighting. They were killing the Franks indiscriminately and showing off their force. He also had to admire that if such an army landed in Denmark, it would be the Danish allied forces gathering together.
I'm afraid it was a huge defeat. Now, he believed in the fact that the group of guys on Gotland Island were indeed annihilated by the Duke of Ross.
Under the absolute attack of arrows, the offensive of three hundred Frank cavalry was completely shattered.
If he had known that there would be such a result, Earl Hunter might have stayed away and not attacked at all, or he might have thought nothing of it and organized all the cavalry to charge blindly, or even lead the cavalry into a direct collision, and at least he would have achieved results.
Fortunately, Frank's super-long spear failed to achieve any kill results, and the entire cavalry team was knocked down!
The last fifty cavalrymen were in despair, wandering among the corpses and squirming wounded soldiers, but the precise killings continued.
The people who were operating the torsion slingshots on the big ship were all anxiously urging other workers to work faster, for fear that the prey in front of them would run away.
The javelin is installed into the launch trough coated with whale oil, and the javelin is accurately focused and ridden.
If you continue to stay here without being able to attack, the earl will probably die. After all, the brothers are also small local lords. At the end, they are also people with a lot of land and are prominent figures in the village. How can they die here like this?
Riverside?
Morale has collapsed, and the number of troops is absolutely scarce.
They chose to retreat, but in the end, only more than thirty riders managed to escape from the battlefield.
Seeing someone escaping, Ragnar really couldn't stand still any longer.
Regardless of whether Aric had any other requests, he struck the shield fiercely and asked the trumpeter to blow the horn.
All the elite warriors of the Stonewall tribe held their swords and battle axes high and rushed towards the battlefield where the cavalry lay lying on the ground not far away.
This scene was just like Agincourt, except that the overall defense of this cavalry team was weak. The Russian army used weapons to destroy ships and cut decks to deal with them, which was really like using strong spears to poke paper shields.
On the contrary, the war horses suppressed the cavalry and immobilized them, which is very similar to Agincourt.
As for the subsequent infantry, they frantically slashed and killed the immobile cavalry, which was exactly the same.
Ragnar's men killed them indiscriminately. He didn't want to leave anyone alive, so he killed three of them himself.
This group of Danes was once surrounded and suppressed by this group of cavalry like prey. Such a big revenge would turn the battlefield into a meat factory.
Earl Hunt was still alive when he was found, but three bearded Danes with strange braids smashed his head into pieces as prisoners of war. The reason for this was just because they saw that this man's mail was very thick, which was a good thing.
He had to quickly take it off and keep it as his own, so his head delayed the brothers from taking off their clothes.
What's left is no longer a battle, but a carnival of Vikings picking up corpses.
Arik didn't want to think that all the good things would be taken away by them, so he quickly ordered: "Brothers, go and take back the arrows as much as possible. Cut off the horse's legs with the axe!"
Blue Fox, Spyut, Telalang...a bunch of miscellaneous Russian soldiers rushed forward happily. Everyone didn't think they could get anything good from the enemy, but the fallen horses were all in their mouths.
Meat.
Therefore, when the Russians went into battle, the battlefield had indeed turned into a meat factory.
We are not man-eating monsters. Most of the dead soldiers were pulled out. Out of anger, the bodies were thrown directly into the Weser River and allowed to flow down the river into the sea.
A gorgeous corpse was discovered. His head was missing, and the armor on his body was gone. However, the lining and clothing were very elegant and not ordinary at all.
who is he?
The body was pulled to the river, ready to be thrown into the water.
This man is completely different from those ordinary people. Both Arik and Ragnar think that this is the "War Chief" of the cavalry team.
Maybe Blue Fox can know the truth.
No, Blue Fox was invited over, but based on the current evidence alone, his identity cannot be known.
"Someone has taken away this man's equipment. Ragnar, ask among your people if they have ever robbed a gorgeous dead man. At least let me see what good things they have robbed."
"Like this sword?!" Ragnar then took out the iron sword he just got. It was intact, even the scabbard was intact.
This item alone completely relieved the cautious blue fox's expression.
He looked at Ragnar and then at Arik, and said with a smile: "Now I can say, we killed the Earl of Bremen."
"Is he the local noble?"
"Yes, we lost his city, killed his family, and now we have killed him himself."
"Then, my great revenge will be avenged! Many Danish people's grudges have also been avenged with our help." Ragnar felt relieved after saying this, and he immediately asked: "In this way, there will be no other local warriors to stop us.
Already?"
"That should be the case." Arik nodded.
"In this case, we should not evacuate rashly. We will continue to loot and loot more property."
"That's enough. My ship is so stuffed with wheat and wool that I can't put any new property in it."
Ragnar shook his head disdainfully: "You are so in love with wheat? Of course wheat is very important, but what is more important than collecting gold and silver? Now I can lead a good life with my people on robbery. We should
Continue joint actions to make further fortunes.”
After hearing this description, Arik understood this person's pattern.
Arik did not say that he was a big-time person. Facing the development of Ross, he also deeply realized the importance of wheat to the entire principality - more important than gold and silver.
A large population requires a large amount of storable wheat. If there is an expedition mission, bringing a large amount of wheat with you can not only maintain an army of thousands of people, but also maintain morale and confidence for several months.
Arik insisted on leaving, and Spuyut and his gang also wanted to take the captured woman back to Saaremaa Island. Even Spuyut still had another task to do, although he would go back to the island first and then go to Britain.
Since time is a bit tight, it would be better to leave the mouth of the Weser River now and head directly to Britain to ask for wheat tribute from the Northumbrians.
What else could Ragnar do? He still had some emotions.
Blue Fox patted the warrior on the shoulder: "Brother, if you want to unite, you must unite with our prince. Your people have been wandering for more than half a year, and they should have a warm and safe place to spend the winter. The sooner you arrive in Ross,
The sooner the tribe can settle down, even if there are new plundering operations, it is better to leave it to next year."
Being coaxed like this, Ragnar's heart softened. He also had two sons. The young son could not be guaranteed safety. The clan members were wandering outside. This winter, many people may freeze to death.
"That's it! My people have robbed enough money. I hope you Russians can stick to your promise. My people can indeed buy ten pounds of oats with one silver coin in your market."
Arik slapped his chest: "I can guarantee that. You must pay attention to the fact that in Rus, you must follow the rules of Rus. If some people commit crimes, they will be punished accordingly. For example, they will be fined for logging."
Regardless of whether the corpse is that of Earl Hunter, the corpse most likely is.
The poor count was skinned like a hairless pig and thrown directly into the Weser River. Almost all the corpses found were thrown into the river, while the Ross coalition held the horse legs on the blood-stained river beach and ate them.
They also deliberately roasted an extra batch of horse meat. The meat was grilled and baked again to make jerky. The coalition forces needed dry food for their return voyage. Due to the current lack of conditions for making wheat cakes, making jerky is a Viking tradition.
Skills are popular, but they take a little longer.
The most elite forces in the entire Bremen area have been annihilated. Is there any other army that can threaten the coalition forces?
Due to transportation difficulties and lack of information, Prince Ludwig's main army is now stationed in Hamburg. However, the local supplies are not enough to maintain the temporary stationing of a large army. It can still be maintained now purely because of the diplomatic relations between King Horik of Denmark and
A batch of oats was bought to buy peace. The prince had planned to take the army to Bremen for an inspection first, to see Earl Hunter's achievements in suppressing bandits, and then go to Flanders for an inspection, taking it with him.
The army went to the border of Central France to show off his muscles for his brother Lothair.
It was a mixed army of infantry and cavalry, and they needed to get a batch of supplies in Bremen. The structure of this army also meant that its marching speed was quite slow.
The prince had no idea that a disaster as great as the sky was falling had occurred in Bremen, and his army was already slowly moving south.
The Ross coalition has completed the final reorganization, especially the large ship Salmon Chief. Its flagship position has been given to the Gray Squirrel, and most of the supplies in the ship's cabin have been transferred, except for those prisoners who were asked to make fires for cooking.
Sail cruisers, sail destroyers, armed cargo ships, rowing longships, a mixed fleet of more than 800 people, they split up at the mouth of the Weser River.
The Principality of Ross goes to Northumbria every year to collect tributes, pays a side visit to the Viking Kingdom of York with which they have had little contact recently, and brings home about fifty tons of British wheat. This time it is destined to be on the ship.
The feat of Saaremaa islanders leaving the European continent to see the world.
The main fleet of the coalition forces continued to move along the coastline. When it passed the mouth of the Elbe River, if the cabins were empty, Arik and Ragnar would be happy to grab them again.
The return trip was uneventful. Whether it was near the Denmark Strait or Bornholm Island, the local fishermen had learned their lesson and knew that they must stay away from such a terrifying fleet.
No force dared to stop the Ross fleet. They returned triumphantly with a huge amount of loot and new allies...