Chapter 885 Battle on the North Bank of Lake Wettern
Although I don’t know how the Götalans had Danish slaves in their hands, the powerful raid on the cavalry was a great success, and the Danish slaves who led the way made a great contribution.
The cavalry rushed into the battlefield carrying the slave with his hands tied. When the cavalry broke through the forest, the slave was left behind.
He could run away on the spot, but he was stunned by the carnage in front of him and stood on the spot as if he was demented. The Swedes and Russians in the north, who tamed horses and fought like the legendary Franks? He couldn't understand.
The cavalry swept through the village like a storm. When they saw that chasing the fleeing fishermen's boats was ineffective, they cleared the battlefield on the shore. The cavalry roamed the battlefield where corpses were everywhere, stabbing the dead people with their lances.
Many cavalrymen dismounted. They put the round shields on their backs on their left arms, drew out their swords with a cold light, and entered the shacks and longhouses in the most traditional warrior manner to search.
Soon, a group of women were pulled out by their hair. During this period, they were also attacked by people who were hiding. When some of their companions were injured in an ambush, the response was brutal killings.
Arik is still satisfied with the situation of the battle so far, but it's a pity that some people still ran away.
He dismounted, faced Fisk and drew his sword towards the lake: "Look! Some guys still escaped. I asked you to pursue them, what are your actions?"
"What can you say to me? Brother, do you still expect our cavalry to run on the lake? They are a group of cowards. Their determination to escape is far stronger than to fight. In my opinion, let them go to hell! Let's look at our results.
.”
Arik said angrily: "That's fine. It looks like we have won our first victory."
More than fifty women were picked out. They only knew that their village had been attacked in a terrible way. The reason was unclear. They did not even know the identity of the attackers.
They all saw that the people riding the monsters all spoke the Norse language they could understand, but they killed their relatives and friends with violent means.
The women dragged their infants and infant children, and including the children, there were as many as eighty prisoners.
The prisoners were almost all women, because those who looked vengeful were killed. Even boys aged seven or eight would really take revenge if they had a heart for revenge. The young Ross Cavalry knew this very well.
Many of the cavalry soldiers were only seventeen or eighteen years old, and most of them were hot-blooded and reckless. Their sad and angry eyes made the cavalry furious, and then they implemented the king's strategy of killing them all.
He wanted to use a brutal killing to sacrifice his blood to Odin, to make the Götalans suffer, and to show the Swedish allies how ruthless the Ross army was.
Now the butcher's knife can be withdrawn, and the remaining prisoners have completely lost their resistance.
Arik summoned the cavalry and looked at these young men who had remounted their horses. They had gone through battle for the first time and accepted the enemy's blood as "sacrifice" and had become real warriors. Although they had complicated expressions, some of them looked injured, and there were stains on their clothes.
With more blood from the enemy, they have indeed grown and become more reliable.
"You won the first battle!" He shouted loudly, holding the steel sword high, and then pointed the sword pointed at the captives sitting on the ground: "Now! You can enjoy these trophies! Choose the women you like, and they will be yours!
"
Arik was not talking nonsense. The cavalry plundered and took away the prisoners to be slaves. This was what King Rurik had encouraged before the war. But when the matter was really put in front of him, the cavalry soldiers became cautious.
Fisk rode up and asked: "We just won the first victory, who can guarantee that the enemy will not suddenly counterattack. Is it really okay to be like this now?"
"Are you scared?!" Aric asked loudly, and for a moment he shouted in a joking tone: "Fisk! Your three wives and concubines are all prisoners taken from the battlefield. They are not giving birth to your children honestly yet.
, listen to you honestly? What are you worried about now? "
Fisk smiled in front of his face. These words were not offensive at all, they were even compliments from the big brother. He didn’t think much about it and looked at the lake, which was extremely empty except for this village. Are there any enemies nearby?
"Then arrange for the brothers to plunder the loot! We will stay here for one day."
Then, amid the woman's screams, Fisk ordered the cavalry to follow Big Brother Arik's decision. The cavalry could snatch the captives like crazy. But a set of principles must be implemented, that is, after a man takes a female prisoner, he becomes his own.
If the female prisoner has an infant child with her, then the baby will also be treated as a slave.
"Slave" has a subtext. According to the unwritten rules of the Russian army, when soldiers capture slaves, they must ensure their safety, provide food and clothing to keep them warm, and wait until the war is over to take the slaves back to their hometown. Based on the past lack of population in Russia,
, she was given the title of slave wife and concubine after giving birth to a child, and was eventually incorporated into the Ross camp.
It is precisely this principle that those young female prisoners were robbed like crazy, and no one cared about the older ones.
The victors' desire to conquer was greatly satisfied, especially the sons of Slavic farm boyar nobles among the cavalry. In the past, they were forced to be sent to the king as cavalry due to pressure, but now they suddenly experienced the beauty of being a cavalry.
A Slav who lived on the shores of Lake Ilmen. Although he was a local nobleman, he had been involved in growing wheat all his life. In the end, he married a local daughter-in-law and lived an ordinary life.
Now the situation has completely changed. I, a Slav, actually kidnapped a blond Varyag woman as a slave.
This kind of thing really brings shame to the family!
In addition, the cavalry withdrew and plundered the supplies stored in the village. The small amount of wheat they found seemed to be of poor quality, so they were simply fed to the war horses.
They found a lot of dried fish and took a closer look at the spiny seabass. Fortunately, the fishermen shaved off the backbone of the fish very carefully.
If there is any exciting loot, it is some silver coins and copper coins found, but unfortunately there are not many.
The entire fishing village revealed poverty, and if they had not captured some young women, the cavalry would have felt that their victory was no fun.
Some people became slaves, and some slaves regained their freedom.
The Danish slave, whose hands were tied, was cut off, and he even became a guest, being dragged to the bonfire stall where the Ross generals were.
The captured pottery urn is used to boil oats, then sprinkle a handful of salt and add a piece of cheese. The final product is an extremely delicious battlefield food.
Arik, who was very loyal, had to thank the Danish guy for his correct guidance, so he personally filled a wooden bowl of boiled oats and handed it over.
"Eat! We gave you freedom as agreed, and this bowl of rice is your reward."
Look at this Dane weeping like soybeans, picking up the bowl and eating happily.
It was already evening, and the Ross cavalry had rested all afternoon. They were indeed relaxed, and the basic defenses were naturally in place. The soldiers stayed in their armor and paid attention to the surrounding situation with vigilance. They also arranged some scouts to set up sentries outside the camp. If
As soon as they discovered the Jotalans were counterattacking, they immediately blew the horn, and the cavalry immediately mounted their horses and used their mobility to temporarily avoid the attack.
Until now, there was no sign of the enemy, so the soldiers continued to eat oats, grilled fish, and played with their prisoners.
The Dane eats comfortably, his hands and feet are free, and as for what the future will be like, he has already made a choice in his heart.
Arik asked again: "You are free now. You can leave on your own. But you should have no one to accompany you, so what should you do now? We can give you a chance."
"I understand!" The Dane immediately responded decisively: "I will join you. If you don't mind, I will work for you."
"Be a mercenary?"
"Yes! They are mercenaries."
"Just what I want. Our Ross accepts any warrior who is willing to serve Ross."
"Then give me a sword and a shield. If you continue to attack the Jotalans, I will definitely join the battle."
Arik was very satisfied and handed over a piece of grilled fish: "You don't seem to be living a good life with these poor people by working as a slave for them, but that's not the case with us Russians. You can't fight in the way you are now, but you
The information we have is very beneficial to us. What is your... name?"
"Bolly Nadozon."
A very common name.
"Okay Boli." Aric said: "Now you are one of ours! What you don't know is that ten thousand troops from the north are about to enter Jotaland. We are just the vanguard of the king's army. We are the Kingdom of Rus
, there are also many Danish mercenaries in the royal army, you are not alone. I am Arik, the two-sword Arik. Now tell me if there are any Götaland villages nearby, and do they have a huge stronghold?"
"This...is possible."
As a result, Boli, the Dane who had turned into a mercenary, mentioned the two fishing villages that he knew existed nearby, as well as what he knew about the Götalans' large stronghold on this lake - Vissingse (
visingsoe) fortress.
Boli talked a lot. Arik, who was originally listening to this guy's story with great interest, and Fisk who was present, as well as a group of junior cavalry officers, all had serious faces.
The Russians and Swedes knew absolutely nothing about the situation in the southern Götaland region, and the information they had received in the past were only fragments of information that were seriously distorted.
One thing that is not surprising to everyone is that the Götalanders are not weak. They seem to be living their own lives hiding in the southern highlands and are by no means completely isolated from the outside world. The Danish tribes knew about them and gathered a crowd to attack Gothenburg and plunder. At the same time, the Götalanders
We also set out from Gothenburg to attack the Danes in Jutland.
Over time, people were always being robbed and enslaved to each other, and this was how Boli Nadoson ended up living in the hinterland of Götaland.
The fishermen treated him like a livestock, and the Rus who suddenly invaded now regarded him as a warrior. Boli's imprisoned warrior heart was revived, and he could not talk about revenge against the Götalans now. Since the Northern Rus Kingdom joined the Swedes in a large-scale southward movement, one day
Tens of thousands of troops are coming to attack, and the Yotalan people will definitely not be able to withstand it. So how much you contribute in this war will determine how much benefit you can get after defecting to Rus.
Lake Wittern is very huge. The three villages in the north of the lake can only remain separated from each other due to the steep cliffs on the lakeside. The three villages are even far away from the island in the lake in the south. It is said that a long boat can be rowed from the north shore to the south.
The island of Vicingse requires an entire day's sailing.
Since there are still two villages that need to be conquered urgently, the generals sitting here looked at each other and reached absolute unity in attitude.
Arik and Fisk determined that the cavalry would carry the prisoners to the new target tomorrow morning.
At another bonfire, the Pechenegs in the cavalry gathered together to eat fish and meat. Princess Bejahir was sitting here, discussing today's battle.
The little princess Beyathil is the top noble who is always in awe of the knight slaves. Even if their identities have changed drastically, the little princess is still the princess and the wife of King Rus.
Thanks to Beyakhir's generosity, the Pecheneg slaves who were dining together did not feel too embarrassed.
They talked a lot in their hometown dialect, mostly about their evaluation of the Ross cavalry and their feelings about the beautiful lakes and mountains of this unknown new world.
After a while, a messenger came with a message from Commander Arik, inviting her to talk about the new battle tomorrow.
Of course the battle would continue, so Beyathil took a shower and, accompanied by ten cavalry slaves, cavalry instructors and squad leaders, came to the big bonfire stall to listen to orders.
Although there is a language barrier, there is a translator of the same race who understands Norse, so communication is not a problem.
However, what Arik said undoubtedly angered this inspiring female warrior.
"What do you mean I'm redundant? I'm a very good archer! It was you who were too reckless in today's battle."
Arik was choked. After all, this was his younger sibling. According to Viking tradition, she was equivalent to his younger sister.
"Beya Sil, do you have any fighting suggestions?"
"Of course. Just follow the tactics of our Pechenegs, don't charge blindly, use arrows to defeat them, so as to prevent our people from being injured or killed in battle. Even I know that a brother is injured, even though he is wearing armor, he still
It’s not right to get hurt.”
Arik didn't bother to argue with her. Of course, a berserker must roar into the enemy's formation. Now that he has horses, he must rush into the enemy's formation quickly to show his warrior pride. Shooting arrows wildly is not something a little Pecheneg girl should teach him.
, but it’s just not as smooth as a cavalry group attack.
After Bejahir's words were translated, Fisk, the real commander of the cavalry, listened.
Fisk didn't want to listen to Arik's reckless remarks at all, so he gathered the cavalry's skilled archers to plan tactics that night. Arik, who was fast asleep, had no idea about this.
The next day, the army set off again.
The prisoners were tied hand and foot and placed on horses, and the team moved quickly again.
Many soldiers had a premonition whether the fishermen who escaped yesterday had told other villages the news. Arik always didn't care, so Fisk and the guys made some mental preparations.
Their guess was completely correct, but not entirely correct.
Naturally, some of the fleeing fishermen told the news to some fishing villages over there. The fishermen felt that the fleeing guy's words were ridiculous. What do you mean by enemies "riding black monsters" who entered the village and killed them wantonly. The words were regarded as nonsense, but they were wailing on the boat.
The wounded, as well as the special barbed arrow clusters pulled from the corpses and pulled from the ship's plank, these exquisite arrows are completely different from those of the Jotalans.
The fisherman watched the fugitives leave, and then returned to his village to tell everyone about the strange things he encountered today.
The new village was aware of the danger, and thought that its location was quite isolated. The surrounding lakeside was full of cliffs. It was located on a low flat near the east coast. The environment itself was easy to defend and difficult to attack. If a guy riding a monster came over, everyone would be attacked.
Just hold on to the pass between the cliffs. If it's impossible, just escape by boat.
The more than 400 people in the village immediately mobilized more than 200 male and female soldiers. Everyone's life went on as usual. At worst, they just had to be careful.
Naturally, there are also people who think that everything is a ridiculous statement made by a lunatic. Even the village in the north made up a pretense to scare everyone because of the conflicts caused by fishing in the past.
They at least started to take precautions, but...
Below the cliff is the lake. The cold Wettern Lake washes away the rocks on both sides. The accumulated erosion over time has created some tiny plain gentle slopes on the cliff. Fishermen have built small docks here and then built shacks and longhouses on the gentle slopes.
The new village community was originally the hometown of a small Swedish tribe. They fled the threat of war and moved north. Although the people left the houses empty, the houses left behind were occupied by newcomers.
It was not difficult to find the next target. The Ross Cavalry walked grandly along the lakeside cliffs, and under the leadership of the guide Boli, they arrived at the new target in only half a morning.
"An enemy riding a monster" actually appeared?!
When the cavalry formed a wall formation and stood on a high place, behind them was the sun. The cavalry stood in the east and looked down at the village not far away in the west. They saw that the fishermen were already making active arrangements!
"Fisk, it seems that these guys know our existence. Leave the prisoners behind first, and we will rush over and kill them all." Arik said with a fierce look on his face.
Fisk nodded, instructing his men to throw down all the prisoners, and then sent the cavalry who were injured in yesterday's battle to guard them closely.
Seeing this, Arik was overjoyed. He excitedly pulled out his steel sword, held the reins and turned around, then yelled: "Brothers! Charge with me!"
He really charged forward, but he was really fighting for it.
Until Arik realized that no one was rushing with him, he got angry and stepped back, "Fisk, what are you doing?! I asked you to rush, what are you doing? Look at those fishermen who have formed a shield wall!"
Fisk smiled provocatively at the corner of his mouth: "I saw it. Brother, you should remember that I am the cavalry commander, and you have to listen to me for specific operations. I am responsible to the king himself!"
"hateful!"
Arik put down his words and simply ignored them.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the villagers listed the classic Viking shield wall. We are all Vikings. If we don't fight and run away, even if we survive, how can we survive in Lake Vettern? What's more, the villagers don't feel that they are
Will lose.
What Fisk and Beyathil want is for the enemy to gather in a dense formation, even if they form a shield wall.
"Brothers! Take out your bows and arrows, we have plenty of arrows! Shoot at them! Listen to my orders, let's go!"
The cavalry, led by Fisk, still lined up in a wall and advanced slowly. Fisk stretched out his thumb to aim at the enemy's shield wall, and used the trick Rurik taught him long ago to estimate the distance between them.
"Now! Draw the bow! 45° angle! Throw!"
The young cavalrymen have all learned basic geometry knowledge, and also learned the so-called "arrow ballistics" and how to throw arrows to fly the furthest distance.
The three hundred cavalrymen began to shoot arrows freely, with a large number of recurve bows throwing spiral feather arrows. Another hundred cavalrymen holding lances watched from the side.
The sudden arrows made the fishermen's armed forces scream in confusion. They had never seen such a method of warfare. Although their log shields could effectively resist the arrows, the arrow clusters still generally penetrated the shield and gave the fishermen a shield.
The left arm was injured.
Many people were injured by arrows, and they did not maintain their formation for long before they began to fall into disarray.
How could you let go of an opportunity to break the formation? Only then did Fisk yell to Arik: "Brother! You can charge now."
"Okay! Russians, come with me!"
Arik didn't bother to blame his little brother. He clamped his legs on the horse's belly, and the horse charged. He drew his sword and charged wildly. Behind him were a hundred comrades charging with spears. The cavalry rushed down the gentle slope condescendingly, and the impact crushed the chaos.
The fishermen who had taken a position were armed, and the rest was just random killings.
In addition to a few boats escaping, the cavalry who entered the fishing village even shot arrows at the fishermen who were swimming for their lives.
They killed a village without any losses, captured dozens more people, and then set their sights on another target.
The same tactics were repeated in the afternoon. This was the third battle, and the cavalry defeated the last village without any losses.
Until now, the cavalry vanguard of the land force led by Arik has essentially eliminated the Jotalans on the north bank. The third village seems to have a large population, so there are more dead bodies and more people have successfully escaped.
They gained a lot from the final battle. Not only did they capture a group of slaves, but there were also a large number of cattle and sheep here, perhaps a thousand in total.
Now, all the cavalry can hold a young female prisoner in their arms, and then use a knife to carve the name of the new owner on her body to make a claim. They slaughter cattle and sheep on the spot, and hold a barbecue carnival in the camp next to the battlefield.
The guide Boli has repeatedly proved his role, and according to what he said, there are no new villages north of the lake.
"Are there only the enemies far to the south left? Are there thousands of them? Whatever." Aric learned the news, looked at Fisk's face again, and said casually: "Never mind, we should keep the loot.
Rest for a while with the prisoners. It is estimated that the king's fleet will enter the lake soon. Oh, we also have to wait for the follow-up infantry."
Now even if Arik wants to continue charging, the cavalry soldiers have to wait on the spot. Fisk does not want the limited cavalry force to break into the enemy's core. If they must break through, they will have to wait until more than 1,300 land infantrymen arrive.
The ruins, dead bodies, and horse dung on the road were all very obvious clues.
Finally, on the morning of the third day after the cavalry ended the battle, Duke Longstall of Hjärmalen, accompanied by the elite infantry of the 1st and 6th Ross Banners, completed the rendezvous with the cavalry.
In this way, Aric felt that he had the ability to go all the way south and kill the Götalans' Wezinger Fortress.