The core of the coalition's combat comes from the Vikings, with the Russian army as its soul.
At this moment, any impassioned speeches became redundant. The coalition forces were full of momentum. As the commander, Rurik made it easier for his troops to stay together. He personally supervised the battle and would personally participate in the fight if necessary.
Look at this coalition army! They are so powerful and domineering.
The Frankish cavalry could not break through the spear phalanx to create a breakthrough. Not only did King Ludwig's plan fail, he also had to retreat with the remnants of his cavalry.
The next battle was the final and decisive battle launched by tens of thousands of Frankish infantrymen. It was destined to be extremely bloody. Even if they won, it would be a tragic victory for the Franks.
Ludwig no longer had the sense to think about the outcome of a tragic victory or defeat. He was obviously in a cold place, he was sweating all over, the inside of his armor was wet, and his feet in leather boots felt as if they had been soaked in a swamp, so cold and uncomfortable.
"Continue to attack! Infantry! Overwhelm the enemy!" He had retreated behind the infantry array and continued to command his army.
Even at this critical moment, Ludwig had no intention of escaping. He always insisted on staying behind the front line, so that the remaining cavalry units became the supervisory team.
He rode his horse so that his perspective was higher, and all he could see was the top of his iron helmet reflecting the orange light in the afternoon sun.
There are also a very large number of armed militiamen. Most of them wear felt hats to protect themselves from the cold. A few of them use iron sheets to reinforce their foreheads. Regardless of whether they are strong or weak, these infantrymen all hold wooden shields and have a variety of weapons in their hands.
If the ice layer were not really thick, Ludwig was really worried that the army would fall into the glacier on a large scale and freeze to death and drown.
Wait a minute! If the glacier breaks, the enemies will also fall in large numbers.
Ludwig began to pray unrealistically, asking God to appear. It is said that since God can freeze the Elbe River, it is also possible to selectively thaw the river.
He couldn't help but grab the pure gold cross hanging in his collar, kissed it hard and murmured to himself: "Lord! Send a miracle! Bless your loyal children and make those barbarians fall into the glacier..."
However, the miracle did not happen.
Those Russian warriors who broke their spears immediately returned to their original state.
A wooden shield was hung on their left forearm. The shield was painted with a layer of chalk mud fixed with pine gum, and then painted with woad juice to create clear and regular staggered stripes.
To be fair, such stripes resemble crosses, making this army look a bit like a crusader at first glance. This is a simple "abstract oar" painting, which is actually the glory of old Ross.
The bravest and strongest warriors in each flag team were placed on the front line of the formation. They also wore heavier armor, and even a ring of chain mail was hung under the iron helmet. Because there were many bearded soldiers,
The warrior's domineering beard will always be embedded in the lock ring, making it difficult to turn the head, so it is protected by some binding iron pieces.
The front line of sword and shield bearers are all a group of heavily armored and ruthless men. Most of the warriors only have skin exposed on the back of their hands and a pair of eyes.
The entire coalition front line made similar arrangements. Even the weak Saxon peasant soldiers from the alliance were still warriors holding shields walking in front. Behind thousands of sword and shield bearers, there were densely packed spearmen.
This arrangement was made to restrain the Frankish infantry.
The coalition soldiers advanced steadily on the ice. They stepped over the enemy's horse corpses and reached the battlefield where the infantry had just fought fiercely.
Within a short period of time, the dead Saxon soldiers froze and gradually became one with the cold world.
The soldiers walked across the battlefield, not caring about the dead at their feet, or perhaps there was no need to care.
Compared to the Allied forces, the Frankish infantry had to advance forward and backward. They noticed the slipperiness of the damn ice and moved more cautiously. This seriously slowed down the advance and was bound to make it difficult to stretch during the fight. The latter was the most deadly.
At least there is no hand-to-hand combat yet, and only real close combat can tell the difference.
But before the fight, there was first an attack from both sides' long-range weapons.
The Viking army in the coalition gathered all the archers. Rurik ordered that except for the longbowmen who continued to advance in a dense formation, the rest of the infantry archers and crossbowmen were arranged linearly and evenly behind the infantry array.
Now, the coalition forces, which have the advantage in wind direction and range, have officially begun to attack.
Accompanied by the Viking war cry, a large number of arrows flew over their heads. The longbowmen arranged in a matrix followed the pace of the friendly troops, stopping every five steps, and then fired in clusters under Jevro's order.
As for those crossbowmen, whether they have wooden arms or steel arms, they all fight in free fire mode. Once the bow is completed, they will immediately eject, even if they are ejecting short and heavy crossbow arrows.
At the same time, a special force is also actively dragging its heavy weapons to catch up with the pace of the battlefield.
The twenty bull trebuchets will be arrayed after the fierce battle line is stabilized, and will then continue to throw stones to consume the enemy's strength.
The Frankish infantry began to advance under the rain of arrows. They had to raise their shields above their heads and advance with their backs hunched.
For Rurik, he has been fighting on the battlefield for almost a full year. The arrows he has stored are constantly being reused and are almost exhausted. Those conical armor-piercing arrows are not in large numbers anymore, so they are perfect for today's decisive battle.
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The arrows made by the Saxon militia for the surprise attack must also be put to use this time. Even if the arrow clusters are bone-polished and ready for use, it is still good to hit the enemy with a loud bang.
Because of Agincourt, the longbowmen did not annihilate the French cavalry of the Valois Dynasty, but disrupted the enemy's formation and caused a large-scale stampede. In the end, it was the dismounted heavy cavalry of the British army in the form of heavy infantry, using leaf hammers.
, pickaxe, and mace one by one to "open cans" for the enemies who fell in the mud and were unable to stand up. Only in this way can there be an incredible battle loss ratio.
The muddy battlefield was the geographical reason for the collapse of the French army at Valois, so could the frozen Elbe ice also cause the collapse of the East Frankish army?
"It will definitely work! I bet you don't even have a pair of spikes!"
Because even though the tall Rurik was standing behind the front line, his eyes could indeed see through the gaps on the top of the soldiers' helmets that the enemy array was breaking through defenses everywhere.
All this proves that the continuous shooting of arrows is disrupting the enemy's formation, and is even forcing the entire enemy's large-scale horizontal formation to shrink to a central point.
Why is this? The reason is clear at a glance.
Rurik was secretly pleased with Yevlo's smart move. The longbowmen in dense formation were not just a random attack. After all, Yevlo was also a veteran for many years. He had participated in many large-scale battles and had no idea how to do a good job as a longbowman.
Already extremely professional.
The longbowmen matrix first launched a volley at the left wing of the enemy formation. After killing and wounding a group of enemies, they immediately forced the enemy infantry to shrink in one direction to avoid it. It was impossible for the enemies on the left wing to continue to escape to the edge of the array. They were so-called isolated individuals in the herd.
They are most likely to be attacked by wolves, so the enemies can only gather towards the center of the array to huddle together for warmth.
The next salvo is aimed at the right wing...
Yevlo constantly adjusted the direction of his fire, forcing the enemy's broad front to become shorter and deeper.
In this way, the width of the coalition's array is gradually surpassing that of the enemy, and a macro-scale pincer offensive is taking shape.
The crossbowmen continued to weaken the stability of the Frankish infantry array, but after all, the opponent had a large number of elite standing army soldiers.
These people live on the king's salary, and today is the time to serve the king.
If a soldier is injured by an arrow, and the arrow cluster pierces his flesh, he will continue to fight regardless of the arrow feathers on his body if there is no serious injury. If the injury affects his advancement and he collapses or retreats, his companions will take over the vacant part.
Their mandarin duck shields were smashed into holes. Thanks to these thick hard oak covered iron shields, they effectively resisted arrow throws.
But their advancement speed is slower, and they must always be careful not to slip.
The more they want to ensure stability, some people will subconsciously pull on nearby companions when they slip, directly causing a chain reaction.
When Ludwig realized that this method of attack was ridiculously stupid, although the cavalry could run across the ice using horseshoes, what could the infantry do? He had no choice but to retreat and could only carry on.
This was an offensive path full of twists and turns, and the Frank army advanced in pain.
Even so, those brave warriors had quietly prepared their weapons behind the shields in front of them.
As the name suggests - a throwing axe.
It is a small double-edged tomahawk, usually used as a daily tool and a sharp weapon in war. Its two ax blades are deliberately made spatially symmetrical, and a wooden handle is added to it, so that after being thrown, it will continue to rotate in the air.
It is like a wheel blade, so when it hits the target, it will inevitably cause serious cuts.
In response to this situation, the coalition forces, which had suffered losses, deliberately placed heavy infantry in the front line just to deal with this kind of blow.
As the distance between the two sides reached an extremely close level, the coalition soldiers covered their bodies with shields, and the spearmen and halberdiers behind them were ready for battle.
Sure enough, the Frankish infantry, waiting for an opportunity, began to attack.
The bumpy mandarin duck shield was suddenly placed sideways, and a large number of flying axes rotated at high speed and hit the coalition soldiers at the front.
Even though they were prepared, even the Russian army began to suffer casualties when they were suddenly attacked by axes from the entire front.
After all, it was a flying axe. Even if by chance, the ax hit the soldier's head hard. How could the iron helmet withstand such a powerful and heavy blow? The soldier's skull was shattered and he died on the spot.
But for the Franks, there was only one chance to throw an axe.
Now, real hand-to-hand combat breaks out.
The sudden ax throwing attack caused confusion in many parts of the coalition formation, causing the spear wall that should have taken advantage to be breached before it even showed its strength.
Now it's a collision of shields, followed by a stabbing of swords. Only those with a firm will and superior physical strength can persist to the end.
This is a fight between heavy infantry!
The iron swords of the Franks could not break through the oak shields of the Russians, nor the armor of the Russians. Similarly, even if the Russians were generally equipped with steel swords, they would not be effective against the Frankish heavy infantry with double armor.
However, as the Franks kept poking and stabbing, their iron swords began to bend and curl, but Ross's carbon steel sword remained the same.
The soldiers were squeezed together like sardine cans, and the soldiers at the front of the two armies gradually became unable to move. On the contrary, the Russian army in the coalition had a tactical advantage.
The Russian soldiers stabbed and slashed with their spears like instinct, and then split with their halberds. They did not attack the enemy at the front, but attacked the enemy behind them with all their strength.
These Frankish heavy infantry had never encountered this kind of battle. An iron helmet could not protect their heads at all, and the enemy's halberds directly opened themselves up.
The head of the East Frankish soldier was smashed and his face was stabbed.
All the coalition soldiers on the front line have to do is hold up their shields and resist, building a solid shield wall, and leave the killing of the enemy to the brothers behind them.
This was a ruthless meat grinder. Once the hand-to-hand combat began, the situation quickly turned desperate for the Franks.
The arrows continued to weaken the morale of the Frank army, and those who were forced to wait and see from the rear continued to choose to retreat in the face of the arrows.
"Cavalry, stop them! Don't retreat!"
Ludwig began to become desperate and struggled to maintain the war, so much so that he became angry and issued an order to kill the deserters.
The escapees were all peasant soldiers. They panicked, kept slipping and standing up, and even rolled and crawled to the rear to escape.
The cavalry began to trample these deserters, relying on killings to curb the decline.
However, the entire formation of the coalition forces is changing.
Rurik did not believe that Liudov's Saxon army could wrap up the enemy's entire array like crab claws. Maybe they could, but the efficiency would be lower.
So he specially selected two generals from the fierce battle array.
Hellafide and Blue Fox had no blood on their bodies, and they did not participate in the frontline fight due to their position.
"Your Majesty, do you want us to have special arrangements?" the sword-wielding blue fox asked loudly on the battlefield where the shouts were loud.
"Yes!" Rurik also roared: "Blue Fox, take your people away from the front line and fully support the left wing! Hellafed, take your people to the right wing! You two help the Saxons complete the encirclement! We
We must annihilate the entire Frank army!"
This is the largest decisive battle, swallowing up tens of thousands of people in one breath?!
They immediately took action, even though neither of them could summon many brothers.
Therefore, the Viking King Biyongni once again participated in this battle as a Balmok today. He took his own guards and broke away from the front line without hesitation, and launched a left wing support with his brothers of the same race.
The situation on Blue Fox's side was also good. He summoned more than 200 men and immediately rushed to the right wing carrying spears.
With the appearance of real Viking warriors, the morale of the Saxon army, which had been trying its best to complete the encirclement on the left and right wings, was immediately boosted. Their difficult battle became no longer difficult, and they no longer cared about the casualties in the war of attrition.
At this moment, Liudov, whose face had solidified blood, was supervising the battle on the left wing. A large number of local Saxon nobles participated in this decisive battle. The nobles and civilians fought together. Everything returned to the era of Chief Widukind fifty years ago.
They were fighting a terrifying war of attrition with the Franks. Unlike the Rus-Danish elite in the center position, they had to pay a huge price to continue to force the enemy's battle lines to shrink.
"Keep poking! Don't be afraid of death!"
"Fight for survival!"
Liu Doufu kept shouting, and he was also emboldening himself.
How much tactical advantage can having two to three hundred Viking warriors on each flank bring? The advantage is being reflected.
"Shield wall! Let's go!" Biyonny greeted his fellow Balmoks in the Norwegian dialect of Narvik Port. After all, he was the son of the old leader Magnute, and he was the king of the Viking Kingdom of York.
Although the brothers are all members of the Fourth Flag Team, they still miss Biyongni in their hearts.
They formed a shield wall and slammed into the right wing of the Frankish army. Suddenly such a group of deadly sword and shieldmen appeared, and the Frankish right wing was in chaos.
The same thing happened in the other direction. At this moment, Blue Fox didn't look like a businessman at all. He became a real Viking warrior. His buckler was stained red by the enemy's blood. His armor, helmet, and even his face were all stained red.
Enemy-stained snow.
In the final analysis, people worship the strong. What is a strong person? Everyone simply believes that a ruthless person who dares to kill the enemy is a strong person. As the Earl of Gothenburg, Blue Fox has to fight for his personal honor, but now he has this bigger goal.
Desire for revenge.
After all, Hedeby was burned down and Ross's shop suffered heavy losses. The culprit was not Horik, who was made into a human pig, but King Ludwig of East Francia.
King Rurik seemed unwilling to look at Ludwig's head, but there were so many weird things happening on the battlefield that the opportunity to chop off the leader's head fell into the hands of a businessman's son, an upstart military aristocrat. Blue Fox felt that he
With this opportunity, I can take revenge on Ludwig for his contempt for my personality back then.
Indeed, the troubled Blue Fox once made it to Regensburg in faraway Bavaria, where he once had the opportunity to meet Ludwig himself.
Now, with the rapid formation of the encirclement, the Frankish army's central army continues to erode, and the entire collapse situation is emerging under the sunset. It is already an irreversible situation.
As the elite heavy infantry who fought fiercely continued to retreat with casualties under the blows of thousands of spearheads and halberds, those peasant soldiers who could only fight with the wind could no longer hold on.
Look! Why are there enemies on both the left and right?! Brothers are dying!
Reinforcements? Reserves!? Nothing left!
The peasant soldiers began to retreat, and their scale was no longer able to be contained by Ludwig's remaining cavalry. There were even cases where the fleeing soldiers attacked and killed the cavalry. In desperation, the Frank army actually began to kill each other.
"Don't I have a chance?! No! I will die if I continue to stay here."
Although he was completely unwilling to do so, and although he did not want to escape, at this moment, the desire to survive occupied Ludwig's mind.
"No! Let's retreat! Let's retreat quickly!"
After that, he jerked the reins and started to evacuate first.
The cavalry, who were shocked at the sight, followed the king's footsteps. This scene was seen by many infantrymen, and an unknown person suddenly shouted in Frankish: "The king has retreated."
This voice is like standing in the glacier and shouting, and the infantry who continue to show weakness in the fierce battle starts an irreversible avalanche.
The rapid development of things surprised Rurik. The sun has not yet set, and the battle has not lasted for a long time before the enemy can no longer hold on. Of course, decisive battles in the Middle Ages usually ended in one morning or one afternoon. Today is Rurik's life.
It was the largest battle China had ever faced. Who could have imagined that the coalition's victory would come so early?
"This is not a dream!" He patted his helmet vigorously, and immediately urged his brothers behind him who were still busy shooting arrows, even ordering Yevlo.
"All your crossbowmen, immediately draw your swords and launch a pursuit as infantry! The enemy begins to flee, no matter what method you use, seize the time to catch up and kill the enemy!"
Jevro heard this very clearly, and he never thought that his subordinates, as archers, would be able to fight hand-to-hand one day?
Although there is a huge risk of casualties in doing this, when you think about the large amount of loot you can grab, most of which are iron tools that the Finns need for production and life, if you don't grab it now, when will you wait? If you run fast enough, you can also plunder the enemy's baggage first.
It's not just a matter of robbing iron...
As a result, another surprise force emerged from the coalition forces. They broke away from the formation and shot arrows while chasing. They killed the enemy like snow rabbits or deer. They shot the fugitives' backs ruthlessly and accurately. They even shot the people who slipped and fell ruthlessly.
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At the same time, an encirclement has been formed, and more than 6,000 living people are backlogged in it, facing the stabbing and slashing of spearheads and halberds from all directions. The encirclement is full of people who have slipped. Once they slip, they have almost no chance to fight again.
He stood up and was killed without any defense.
More than a thousand coalition soldiers began a major pursuit, killing and capturing prisoners at the same time.
And Ludwig, with the remnants of his cavalry, had already begun a wild escape along the Roman Avenue. The only thought in his mind now was to survive, and he just wanted to escape this absurd and deadly battlefield.