Northumbria suddenly encountered a huge crisis. The holy land was occupied or even destroyed by the enemy. It was the king's responsibility to recapture it. After victory, the king's reputation would be further enhanced.
King Aenred was unable to organize the strongest elite in the kingdom in a short period of time. He planned to use local lords and conscripted farmers to assemble a massive but worryingly powerful army.
How effective are those farmers? What about their loyalty? Are you facing a war and just running away after witnessing a small-scale conflict?
The king cannot predict these things.
The morale of the army was greatly improved, and Aynred himself was infected by this atmosphere.
A huge army finally set out. As a king, surrounded by one hundred and fifty elite cavalry, he became the most glorious figure in the army.
Behind him are regular warriors, or so-called "standard warriors" with a strength of up to a thousand men.
This group of people at least have relatively uniform weapons and equipment, boots and belts. The kingdom paid them a salary and a stock of cloth, and the individual had to find a tailor to make the cloth into the appropriate style.
The "standard warriors" scattered in multiple regions are the force that defends the foundation of Eynred's royal power, and a cavalry unit is his sharp sword.
The cavalry's three-meter-long spears were all tied with cloth bags, and their iron-reinforced leather helmets were also decorated with dyed wild goose feathers.
The riders' chainmails were polished until they were shiny, and they rode on leather saddles. Even the stirrups were really rudimentary, nothing more than a leather sheath to restrain their feet.
During this era, double-legged stirrups also began to become popular among Frankish cavalry during the reign of Charlemagne. As one of the few old kings of Northumbria in Britain who had seen the charm of Frankish heavy cavalry, his successor son was unable to continue to improve in this regard. Perhaps improvement is unnecessary. Northumbria's cavalry is strong and is actually the kingdom's decisive weapon, feared by surrounding countries.
However, the cavalry rides are all native British horses, which are actually leftovers from the Romans on the island hundreds of years ago.
The best horses are Arabian desert horses. Their hybrids with British native horses are the famous purebred horses.
The cavalry's horses are not outstanding, and their equipment cannot be said to be sophisticated. They are known as heavy cavalry, but by Eastern standards, these cavalry are at best lightly armed mounted scouts.
A real heavy cavalry should be equipped, with the attitude of an iron can, doing the work of a tank more than a thousand years later.
On this poor island, Eenred's cavalry determines his absolute confidence.
After all, there had never been such a cavalry team in Northumbria. Since his father, the king, spent money to establish this team at the suggestion of the Franks, the cavalry team had never failed.
The king was very confident, and the cavalry captain Aston was even more excited.
The kingdom has maintained relative peace for ten years, and the cavalry has never faced a strong enemy again. Some old soldiers have retired, and many war horses have been used to pull carts. Although horses can live for thirty years, the prime time of a war horse is only five to seven years.
The Kingdom's Cavalry still represents glory, but most of this glory is inherited from the predecessors.
The cavalry team has young cavalrymen and upright horses in their prime. The riders are all carefully selected warriors, many of whom are children of nobles. Noble children need to win battles to improve their reputation and honor, not to gain seniority or simply protect the king and participate in some activities.
The sudden war has hit the kingdom's cities. The angry expressions of many cavalry soldiers are more of an act. Their hearts are ecstatic. The so-called battle may be their only chance to become famous and gain great honor for their family.
There is also a group of infantrymen who hold similar ideas.
Of course they are not as noble as those cavalry, but they can get some rewards by cutting off the enemy's ears on the battlefield. Soldiers who perform meritorious service will definitely receive a bounty and even have priority in cleaning up the battlefield after the war. When the service period is up, if you retire with this hard-earned money, you can easily marry a wife and buy a piece of land to become a more noble farmer different from ordinary farmers.
Even if he performs a miraculous feat, such as killing an enemy leader, the king will definitely be overjoyed and canonize ordinary warriors as small lords of a party, that is, small landowners who can recruit followers.
The kingdom has indeed learned from the Frankish system in many aspects, at least all the "standard warriors" and cavalry, they have a promising future.
Only those farmers who were actually recruited were dressed in cloth, carrying simple farm tools and weapons, huddled together barefoot, and brought their own wheat and cooking utensils, trying their best to follow the large army without falling behind.
This team of 2,400 people dragged themselves into a three-kilometer team.
From Bamburgh to Lindisfarne Abbey, the dirt road connecting the two places is only thirty kilometers.
The situation of the march left the king speechless. It was true that the quality of the peasant troops was really bad, and the roads soaked by rainfall were really difficult to walk. He was glad that he had left the queen, the prince, and a few unrelated followers at Bamburgh, so that they would not have to take part in the battle.
A group of clergymen, led by Bishop Edmund of Bamburgh, got into a carriage. They prayed and blessed the soldiers before the war, and prayed for the dead after the war.
There were also a group of carriages hauling a small amount of military rations, as well as replacement weapons and equipment, and materials for building tents.
The existence of these indeed proves that the Northumbrian army did not simply perform poorly in battle, they had something good.
The scouts sent still did not bring back any news. Due to the delay of the peasant army, the Northumbrian army could complete the journey in one day. The king ordered to camp in the forest.
The tents have been set up, and the king, earls, bishops, as well as cavalry and infantry captains gathered together over a warm campfire to discuss strategies for the fierce battle.
The king made no secret of his displeasure: "Those farmers, I think too highly of them."
Count Albert hurriedly said: "They are very tired soon after finishing the wheat harvest. Besides, they are just farmers. It is also good for us to camp here temporarily. If the enemy is stationed at the monastery, we have walked for a day and fought with them in a tired manner." Fighting, the situation is bad.”
"Are you... teaching me how to do things? I know how to fight. You don't need to explain this situation yourself."
"Yes!" The count hurriedly lowered his head, muttering to himself that his cousin was boring.
"You raise your head."
"Ah?!" The count obeyed again.
"What are the scouts you sent out doing? Are the guys on horseback lost? Are the enemies still entrenched in the monastery?"
"I have no idea."
"Okay! Okay..." The king grimaced and shook his head, grabbed a branch, broke it and threw it into the fire.
At this time, Edmund, Bishop of Bamburgh, urged urgently: "We must arrive at the monastery early. The situation there must be very critical. Can the stone walls reinforced by the previous king withstand a thousand barbarians? Those barbarians attacked Edinburgh! My My friends are just afraid..."
"Then consider them dead! The monastery has been destroyed again!" The king hammered his thigh hard.
Since the camp is already very close to the destination, there is no point in continuing to send scouts.
The bishop's words indeed gave King Aynred another inspiration. The so-called Bamburgh defense near the sea was already very empty. If he missed the opportunity and the enemy took advantage of the opportunity to sneak attack on the rear, the result would be tragic.
However, if the safety of the rear is concerned, how can one have enough troops to recapture Lindisfarne?
In this state of neglecting his head and body, the king who could not afford to delay was taking a gamble.
…
The entire Northumbrian Army camp fell silent. The farmers, whose feet were covered with black mud after walking for a day, wrapped themselves in coarse hemp spies from home and fell asleep.
The regular soldiers also slept around the campfire, while the cavalrymen knelt down to sleep while their horses slept peacefully.
Only senior figures, such as kings, counts and bishops, lived in tents, and the hierarchy was clearly visible.
There were still a few soldiers patrolling the camp, and as the night went on, they became increasingly tired.
King Eynred boasted that he had done a very adequate night defense, and he even felt that his
It was almost dawn, and a sneaky figure was approaching the camp.
A large number of bonfires were lit in the wet forest. The long-burning flames dissipated the humidity, kept the soldiers warm, and forced the wild animals not to approach.
But these twenty-odd shadows are not wild beasts.
Northumbria as a whole is still extremely vast and sparsely populated. Except for the cities and affiliated villages, the rest of the kingdom can be called a barbaric no-man's land.
There are still wolves and even bears roaming in the forest.
These twenty-odd Balmok Viking hunters armed with spears and bows only obeyed the orders of their family leaders and did not obey Rick's orders at all. Instead of building camps and setting up battlefields, they used their exploration skills and began to evaluate whether this new area could become the new home of the Balmoks.
This move was a little too hasty, so they didn't care about killing the enemy scouts at all, but continued to move deeper into the forest.
Finally, the group collided with the Northumbrian army camp.
"Boss! Am I out of my mind?! Are all enemies here?!" One person was so frightened by the shocking large-scale sleeping scene that he dared not move rashly.
Although the leader of his family was also very nervous, he sensed the opportunity here.
"Brothers, our family has a small number of people. If we want to gain more say in the tribe, we must rely on war. There are still some brothers left behind. You..." He looked around: "You follow me and attack, chop. Kill some enemies, grab some useful ones and retreat."
Everyone looked at each other, completely different from what the family leader had in mind, and everyone showed obvious fear.
"You idiots, I thought you were all strong men!"
One person hurriedly defended: "But boss, there are too few of us. In my opinion, we should go back and report the news to everyone."
"Report the message? Of course I have to report the message. I have to kill a few enemies first and then go back to report the message. Rurik of Rus is right. The enemy must send out a large army to destroy us. The war will break out soon, and we started the first battle. The first victory in the battle is ours. You all follow me and follow my orders before retreating."
"So boss, where should we attack?"
"Find the nearest campfire and kill. Take out your axes and follow me!"
A family leader and his men walked over quietly. They relied on the cover of the big tree, and finally touched the camp of the farmer soldiers.
The enemy's posture is very strange, and they don't look like brave warriors, at least not like those they encountered before.
No longer caring about so much, the ruthless Vikings began to cut down.
Poor farmers, their heads were chopped off while they were sleeping and they died on the spot.
By the time the Vikings' horrific deeds were discovered, as many as fifty people had been killed. The situation became very strange for a time. The leader of the family felt that what he met was obviously a fool. If he brought all fifty brothers, he could understand this army in his sleep in this strange way, at least as big as the others. part.
But the crazy behavior was discovered. Some people blew conch horns, others beat small waist drums, and even shouted and pushed. The sleeping army suddenly woke up.
A guard frantically broke into the king's camp.
Aynred had been awakened by the noise outside, and he immediately drew his sword.
"what happened!"
"King! Something big happened outside! The enemy came to rob the camp."
"Hijack the camp! Damn it! These barbarians have some plans." Aynred raised his head, hurriedly put on his helmet, and ordered: "Let all the soldiers get up and kill the camp hijackers!"
On the other hand, when the family leaders saw that the situation was not right and they were the unlucky ones who should have been killed, they began to flee.
Under the light of the bonfire, he saw a group of people with reflected light on their bodies, and his instinct told him that this was an army carrying a large amount of iron weapons, completely different from the previous dead.
The family leader immediately shouted in Norse: "Brothers, let's go! Go back and report the news!"
The Vikings covered in animal skins immediately dispersed. After all, they felt from the beginning that the leader's decision would kill their brothers, even if they succeeded at first.
Thanks to the animal skins, they did not reflect any light under the weak moonlight and starlight, and they quickly disappeared completely as they ran into the dark forest.
The military camp in Northumbria was in chaos, and there were many stampedes and self-inflicted farces.
It wasn't until the sky became bright that the chaos subsided in the camp that was caught in a huge fight and people could see each other clearly.
Seeing the piles of red and white objects in the messy fighting scene, even many regular soldiers vomited on the spot.
Eynred had experienced a terrible war, even if it was only ten years ago. He felt that he could hold back the blood of the battlefield, but it was obvious that he really vomited when he saw this scene.
All that died was the peasant war, and now the morale of the farmers is suffering a fatal blow.
The priests had endured great mental stimulation and came to pray for these tragic deaths. Several other priests, led by Bishop Edmund, were trying their best to calm the mood of the army.
After the king rinsed his mouth, he summoned all the officers. Everyone's hearts were beating rapidly. Under this situation, he had no intention of criticizing his subordinates.
All his anger was directed at the enemy: "Now everything is clear, we are in Lindisfarne! They have not left!"
The earl clutched his chest and said with righteous indignation: "We should gather the army and go directly to kill all the barbarians!"
The cavalry captain Aston volunteered: "Those barbarians in the dark night can only rely on the darkness to attack our weakest farmers. Now that it is dawn, I can lead the cavalry to rush over! The iron hoofs of the cavalry will crush those barbarians to death."
"That's what I mean! Aston!" King Aynred ordered urgently.
"Aye!"
"Reorganize your troops and launch an assault immediately! Attack the enemy's camp immediately if you find it! My large army will arrive soon."
Aston punched his chest: "Please, Your Majesty the King, witness another victory for your loyal cavalry! I'm off!"
After saying that, he turned around and headed straight to his cavalry camp with great momentum...
