Even Tamworth, the capital of the Kingdom of Mercia, has a permanent population of only 5,000 in peacetime.
In the eyes of local people, the capital is actually a big city with such a population.
The strange army came fighting along the river. People in more than a dozen villages near the capital saw the fleet going upstream with their own eyes. Out of fear, they poured into the city with limited resources, hoping that the tall stone walls would give them enough protection. 's blessing.
Tamworth suddenly became crowded for this very reason. Because of the influx of refugees, the population easily reached the level of 15,000 people.
The wet streets were full of people taking refuge. They endured the mud and the smell of feces and urine all night. When the sky lit up again, the light from the east meant that the rain had finally ended. The sunshine made the refugees feel better, but those inexplicable The army is still outside the city.
A group of soldiers stood on the wall of the outer city, and the circular city wall further diluted the already small number of defenders.
Providing a standing army cost a lot of money and food. Even in peacetime, the Mercian royal family's standing army only numbered two thousand people. The main force of the army is never stationed in the capital. The military camp is in the village of Birmingham to the west. However, the capital always maintains a garrison of 500 people.
The weapons in the warehouse were distributed, and "Prince Superintendent" Bothwulf actually pulled out an army of 3,000 people overnight. This army only obeyed the orders of his prince!
If it were not restricted by religious dogma, recruiting women as soldiers would make the army stronger.
Compared to his father, Bothwulf was more sober-minded, or more conservative. He did not dare to take the initiative to challenge the unknown enemy, so he stayed put for the time being. Instead, he set up royal flags on the city wall and let armed men climb the city. At least he showed the people under the city the determination of the city defenders and the strength of the defenders. bluff.
Tamworth, the capital of the Kingdom, is located on the right bank of the Tam River, a tributary of the Trent River. It has a clear road from Birmingham Military Camp, which is only eight Roman miles (about 23 kilometers) away. This distance is not short. If Birmingham's army rushes to rescue urgently, the crisis in the capital will be alleviated.
If Steiner attacks, everything will be fine. But Steiner didn't do it. He had just been defeated in the past battle, and he couldn't launch an attack with a non-existent army.
All these situations are really the situation faced by King Wiglaf of Mercia and his expeditionary force. Wiglaf indeed led his exhausted division to the Birmingham barracks on foot, unaware that the highly mobile Vikings had already arrived at the royal city and launched a strong attack.
Botwulf didn't know about his father's failure. What he knew particularly well was that the army stationed in Birmingham had long been led to the northern border by his father himself.
Now that the enemy had obviously destroyed the wooden bridge and controlled the crossing of the Tam River, the capital had lost a huge opportunity in sending communications troops.
A group of signal soldiers carrying news of the crisis in the capital slipped out of the city overnight. They were going to report to the eastern territories and ask for reinforcements from the local lords. As for the lords of the kingdom's western territories, since transportation is interrupted, don't expect them to know the news and serve the king.
For a period of time, the capital can only rely on its own strength to defend the city. After this most difficult moment is passed and the situation escalates, King Qin's troops from various lords will definitely gather in the capital.
Looking at the enemy camp outside the city, the captain of the guard was worried: "They have so many soldiers. The weather is fine now, I can't see what they have to do with the Wessex army."
"There are many of them, so maybe they don't have strong combat effectiveness." Botwulf sighed deeply and asked again: "Have the soldiers been assembled?"
"It's basically completed. There are about 3,000 troops. There are many young boys who are willing to fight until their last breath to defend the city."
The captain of the guard tried his best to say inspiring words, and Botwulf patted him on the shoulder encouragingly, and said: "This alone is not enough. It seems that the enemy is not in a hurry to attack. I will use this opportunity to execute those who spread failed remarks yesterday. Calm people's hearts. Don't just guard the city wall. Send people to negotiate with them and ask these guys what they want."
"Your Highness, this... may be necessary."
"Just do it. We are so stupid. A war is about to break out. I don't even know who the enemy is or what his intentions are."
The city wall of Tamworth's outer city is made of rammed stone and earth. Its foundation comes from the city wall of the old Roman era. The city wall as a whole looks incomplete, with grass growing in many places, and there are many earth slopes behind the city wall. It allows people to quickly climb the wall.
Of course, its average height is only equivalent to four meters, which is not really high.
Only the walls of Tamworth Castle in the inner city are taller and the overall structure is more regular. The polished granite fortress makes it thicker.
More than a hundred warriors holding bows stood on the city wall, and a batch of stones and wood were also transported to the city wall.
Relying on the protection of the city wall, Botwulf did not worry about the enemy being able to break the city.
The sun dispersed the morning mist, the rain stopped, and the Ross and Balmok coalition woke up in the morning light.
Regarding launching a full-scale attack this morning, Rurik still refused. Unfortunately, his father-in-law could not persuade him, and his cousin was also eager to try.
"Son of God? Are they really just a reference to my identity?" Rurik laughed at himself for a second, convinced that the stability of the alliance must be based on the consistency of interests.
The Balmoks have their own Kingdom of York, and their morale is so high that even the old Magnut feels like he has regained a new lease of life!
The Balmok warriors got up howling, and the golden light of the rising sun shone on their golden heads, making their whole bodies look like gold. They held their axes and swords high and roared with great momentum. Biyongni, Geiger and other Balmok warriors were actively preparing to climb the city wall.
Help them? Absolutely.
Because of what happened yesterday, Rurik felt that if he became extremely proactive, it would actually reflect his indecisiveness.
Seeing their cousin Arik sharpening his sword, the men of the First Flag Team were eager to give it a try. Rurik simply called his cousin and all five centurions to his side, and deliberately made a non-negotiable decision somewhere on the secluded riverside.
"If they want to fight, we will help. The First Flag Team is not allowed to attack the city first. If everything goes well, we will attack. If things go wrong, we will cover their retreat."
Arik fully understood what his brother meant, curled his lips and shook his head: "This is not honorable."
"It's not honorable. I feel that something is wrong. This should be a revelation from God. Victory must be ours, but this morning's attack was too hasty. We are acting as a reserve team."
"All right."
"I will send out shooters to support them first. Brother, lead the brothers and stay still. Remember, you must not launch an attack without permission."
Arik didn't say much, and his eyes indicated to his brother that he would do this.
More and more Balmok warriors were gathering. In order to build momentum, Magnut raised his sword and ax and shouted in front of the crowd.
Seeing that this army was about to launch an attack, the Mercian defenders on the city wall were frightened. The priests who climbed up the city wall also held up crosses and called on the soldiers to stay calm.
The closed city gate reinforced with iron chains opened, and five envoys walked toward the unknown army tremblingly, holding the flag of the King of Mercia.
Did the Mercians send an envoy?
Biyongni, who had done warm-up exercises before the war, twisted his neck and walked to his father with a sword: "Here comes a fool who wants to die. They want to negotiate with us. In my opinion, kill them."
"Yes. There's nothing to negotiate. Go ahead and make the brothers happy."
Biyongni nodded and immediately walked over with more than a dozen brothers.
The poor messenger died in the chaos of swords before he could react.
This horrifying scene was seen by soldiers from both sides. The Mercian defenders trembled in shock, and then were overwhelmed by anger.
Looking at the Balmoks again, they all let out a Viking war cry in unison, and their majestic momentum caused the Russians to roar too.
Magnut raised his ax and swung it suddenly, shouting in an old male voice: "Warriors, go forward! Go and plunder everything you like!"
The Balmoq Army takes action!
They have blond hair and fair faces. They are dressed in gray-black coarse cloth, or a layer of black leather. Some even temporarily put on the orange clothes of the Northumbrian Army. Their clothing can be described as diverse, and at least a hundred of them were shirtless, showing off the horrific tattoos on their chests and backs.
They followed the black raven flag on a white background, carried all the long ladders and battering rams (just a big tree trunk), and launched a full-scale attack with swords and shields.
Even the Wessex army once attacked Tamworth, and the siege formation was not so crazy.
Behind him is a large group of neatly dressed people.
That was the first flag team of the Ross Army. Arik was forced to stand still. He arranged the team into a matrix. From a distance, it looked like a blue and white square.
Rurik also shouted: "Shooting flag squad, let's go!"
Torque slingshots are installed on each two-wheeled trolley, and the number reaches thirty. There were also ten bull trebuchets that were carried manually.
Fifty wooden-armed crossbowmen and one hundred Suomi archers were responsible for covering the enemy's arrows.
Because of this kind of armament, Magnute actually felt that his son-in-law was speaking out about his integrity and that he was using it as a cover. No matter how he looked at it, he was a Russian and wanted to give it a go.
Full of confidence, he vowed to seize Mercia's treasury, reward the army, and become a great hero forever praised by the people in his hometown.
The army was getting closer and closer to the city wall. In response to its majestic power, Botwulf in the city immediately suspended the execution of those who spread unfavorable news and urgently took his attendants to supervise the battle.
But when he reached the walls of Waiguo City, fighting had broken out.
The Ross and Balmok coalition forces were furiously attacking Tamworth's west gate facing the Tam River, which was also the main entrance to the entire city.
Stones and javelins fell from the sky, some refugees suffered casualties, and houses were smashed into pieces. People began to flee, and the crowded roads suddenly became empty. In fact, they all fled to the east of the city.
It was a blow from a torsion slingshot and a trebuchet. Cast iron projectiles, stones and javelins smashed over the city wall into the rear of the defenders. The number of casualties Rurik caused to the Mercian army is incalculable.
The only thing he could be sure of was that these weapons would definitely bring panic and force the enemy's follow-up reinforcements to be unable to continue to support the city wall defenders. It is said that once the Balmoks scale the city wall, more than half of the victory is achieved.
Rurik ordered free fire, and the wall defenders were fighting to the death, risking deadly bullet strikes.
"They built a ladder! Stone them to death!"
Then the captain of the guard shouted to the soldiers below the city: "Quickly find a wooden head to hold the door bolt."
He loudly asked the special guard how well the secret weapons were being prepared.
At least twenty pairs of ladders were set up, and the Balmok warriors holding wooden shields held hand axes in their mouths and were struggling to climb up against the stones and arrows thrown by the enemies.
Biyoni also brought the steel-armed crossbow he borrowed from Rurik, and sniped at the city defenders very obscenely.
People who were hit in the head by rocks basically died on the spot, while some people twitched and became motionless. Some Balmoks were wounded by arrows. They screamed and pulled out the barbed arrow clusters, letting blood spurt from their bodies, and still climbed the ladders to try to fight on the city wall.
Another long piece of wood was thrown down, causing the soldier to fall off the ladder and vomit blood. Even those who use slings use this weapon with limited damage to harass the people below the city.
But the situation here is not good for the Mercian defenders. They braved the arrows, projectiles, stones and javelins of the Russian army to resolutely attack Balmok who climbed the city wall.
The Mercian warrior in chainmail was smashed in the guts by the projectile of the torsion slingshot and fell to the bottom of the city. Someone blocked the gap with a blank mind.
Some soldiers were shot through the head with a crossbow and died on the spot, while others took over their posts.
Because they could see that the enemy was not Wessex. Although their identity was still unknown, everyone could only be sure of one thing - once this unprecedentedly brutal army broke through the city, tens of thousands of people in the city would die.
Ordinary kingdom soldiers no longer only fight for the royal family, but armed civilians also have a very simple reason to fight. They fought for everyone's lives. When His Royal Highness the Prince came to the city in person to supervise the battle, even if they suffered heavy losses, the Mercian army would fight to the death.
The battle has been going on for a while, and the changes in the situation have made Magnute, who is full of self-confidence, increasingly confused.
He saw Biyongni leading a group of brothers to carry a big tree trunk (acting as a battering ram) to hit the door. They hit it no less than fifty times. How could the enemy's door remain motionless? !
He didn't understand. He heard from his son-in-law Rurik and his son that they all went smoothly when they attacked other cities. For example, the siege of York, which Magnute personally participated in, went extremely smoothly.
"Why? I kicked down the iron plate here?"
Magnute stood in a quite safe area, but his people were suffering unprecedented casualties. He helplessly saw soldiers falling from the ladder, and he also saw enemies being shot down by arrows.
"These enemies are so tenacious? But I easily killed a thousand of them in that village. How come they have become stronger here?"
Magnute really didn’t know, because the person guarding the city was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Mercia. Botwulf’s attitude also changed drastically due to the changes in the war situation. He no longer expected to gain much from this battle for his family and himself. This is a life-and-death battle for the city's residents. The Mercians have never been so united as they are today. He will lead the army and the people to fight the enemy to the death.
The anxiety of the battle also surprised Rurik. The facts were exactly as he predicted. This battle was the most serious obstacle the coalition forces encountered after landing in Britain. He was not happy that his prediction was correct, but felt resentful when he saw friendly forces suffering losses and his siege weapons failing to break the enemy's will.
"Attack! vs. attack!"
"No! My attack was just what I wanted, and I was impulsive. No, I should dissuade them from retreating temporarily."
The battle situation was changing rapidly. The two sides were engaged in a fierce battle, but a large amount of boiling water fell from the sky. Jar after jar of boiling water was poured onto the Balmok warriors who rushed to the gate. Even with shields, the boiling water was still so hot that people screamed.
The soldiers retreated subconsciously, and even Biyongni ran away like a hero without suffering the immediate consequences.
Steam filled the air under the city gate. Looking at the backs of the escapees after the steam dissipated, the captain of the guard couldn't help but laugh wildly. He stretched out his right hand and pointed at those whose backs were instantly burned red, cursing them for not repairing.
Suddenly, a crossbow arrow shot directly through his palm, and two fingers were also knocked away. The captain of the guard screamed and fell down, but was immediately helped up by the soldier. He looked at his incomplete right hand with tears in his eyes and smiled dully.
Biyongni temporarily retreated. When he called his men to rush back again, he picked up the big tree trunk and continued to smash the door, he saw his men rolling on the ground and screaming.
Their severely burned skin has blistered, and the tattoos on their upper bodies have become distorted.
"Idiot! What are you doing! Follow me and fight back."
Geiger, whose arm was splashed with boiling water and was not seriously injured, pessimistically roared: "Biyongni! If you continue to attack, you are courting death! Think about the whale oil and seal oil made in our hometown. If they use the oil in the next step, all the brothers will be scalded to death." "
"Geiger, are you a coward?"
"No! I don't want to die a useless death! I heard that Rurik said that we would be frustrated in this battle, but your father didn't listen! Who is the fool? Look at the current situation!" Washebi, who could no longer care too much, Geiger pointed at the corpses of the Balmoks under the city and screamed and cursed: "If your father fails with us, no one will recognize him as the King of York anymore! I am going to retreat!"
After saying that, Geiger really withdrew with the men from his Washobi Farm. Not only this one, but the troops of other Balmok family leaders also retreated with the wounded with various injuries, including the corpses.
Until now, Rurik's shooting flag team is still providing fire support. He did not hesitate to consume a large number of projectiles and arrows for the friendly forces, but all he got was a defeat.
The Balmoks withdrew one after another, and the Ross Shooting Flag Team also retreated.
It was such a tragic battle that made Arik and the soldiers of the First Flag Team, who had been watching the battle, clearly realize that even if they participated in the battle, they would still face a tough battle.
Britain is an island of cowards? No! At least the residents of Tamworth are a force.
Arik's eyes widened, and he couldn't help laughing when he saw the Balmoks of the Alliance evacuating.
Then a centurion asked him: "Are you mocking them for being cowards?"
"No! Brother, we have encountered a strong enemy. This is an opportunity given to us by God. I like to fight against strong enemies the most."
"However, it will be difficult to capture this city."
"Indeed, but Rurik will take care of the damn wall."
