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, and according to the plan, it was natural to start accelerating at the last moment.
Theoretically, the cavalry at the head of the line would pass through the enemy formation with their spears and choose the opportunity to plunge the spear into the enemy. After completing a raid, they often retreated so that the cavalry behind could continue to kill the enemy. This is like a wave-like offensive. Wave after wave of cavalry thrusts will eventually wear down the enemy's morale. When there is a slope in the formation, 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 advancing at a trot 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 the horse's head and chest were covered with a layer of chain mail, the half-pound cone-shaped cast iron bullet hit at high speed. The sharp head directly penetrated the gap in the chain mail, and directly broke through the muscles and hit the heart.
Even the horse's head had its skull smashed and its eyes smashed out.
The Ross army had experience fighting the British cavalry and knew the benefits of intensive use of torsion slingshots.
With this throw, 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 had already fallen down together with his horse.
The sudden sight shocked him so much that he had no time to think, because it was followed by arrows flying randomly.
"Raise up! Heavy arrows! Throw!" Jevro on the ship deck ordered.
The Finnish bow he had already prepared was holding a long bow and shooting heavy arrows. The arrow clusters were made of carbon steel and had barbs. The entire arrow weighed more than a quarter of a pound, which was suitable for the current battlefield environment.
But before the heavy arrows fell from the sky, the crossbows of the Russian army fired first.
The few warriors holding steel-arm 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 great 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 pinned 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 even the heavy armor made 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 advance of the entire cavalry in the first salvo. Most of the most elite heavy cavalry were killed or wounded, but a large number of light cavalry knew exactly what was going on, and they were still pushing forward.
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 just for 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……"
Ragnar 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 launch 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 long archers are all short in stature. They are all elites carefully selected by Jevro. Each of their arms is almost as thick as a thigh. They were professional hunters in their hometown, and now they are the soldiers best suited to wielding longbows.
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 the cavalry that was still advancing. The Frank cavalry had now lost its ability to assault, and the 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 Ross coalition forces after the robbery were too tired, so they enthusiastically came to deliver horse meat.
"Stand still now?" Ragna urged.
"continue waiting!"
"Why? I can't wait any longer."
"Keep holding on!" Ragnar thought for a while and simply shouted: "You can counterattack if you want, but my arrows are not long-sighted."
"whispering sound……"
Ragnar finally understood that the Ross army was not fighting. They were killing Franks indiscriminately and showing off their force. He also had to admire that if such an army landed in Denmark, even if the Danish coalition forces gathered together, they would be defeated. Now, he believed that the group of guys on Gotland Island were indeed annihilated by Duke Ross.
Under the absolute attack of arrows, the offensive of three hundred Frank cavalry was completely disintegrated.
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 results, and the entire cavalry team was knocked down!
The last fifty cavalrymen in despair wandered among the corpses and squirming wounded soldiers, but the precise killing continued.
The people 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 concentrated.
If you continue to stay here and attack without power, the earl will probably die. After all, the brothers were small local lords, people with a lot of land after all, and prominent figures in the village. How could they die like this on the bank of the river?
Morale has collapsed, and the troops are 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 hard 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 actually 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, it was exactly the same as they frantically slashed at the immobile cavalry.
Ragnar's men killed them indiscriminately. He didn't want to leave anyone alive, so he killed three of them personally.
This group of Danes was once surrounded and suppressed by this group of cavalry like prey. Such 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 simply because they saw that this person's mail armor was very thick and they wanted to quickly take it off and take it for themselves. Such a 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 all the good things to be snatched 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 mixed group of Russian soldiers rushed forward happily. Everyone didn't think they could get anything good from the enemy, but the fallen horses were all good 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 clothes were very elegant and he was not ordinary at all.
who is he?
The body was pulled to the river, ready to be thrown into the water.
This person 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 his identity cannot be known based on the current evidence alone.
"Someone has taken this man's equipment. Ragnar, ask among your people if they have ever looted a gorgeous dead man. At least let me see what good things they looted."
"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 he himself."
"Then, my great revenge will be avenged! The grudges of many Danes 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 hastily. Let's continue looting and collect more property."
"That's enough. My ship is so stuffed with wheat and wool that I can't hold any more."
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 that I am leading my tribe to rob, we can live a good life. We should Continue joint actions to further enrich ourselves.”
After hearing this description, Arik understood this person's pattern.
Arik did not say that he was a big-picture 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 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 Spute still has another task to do. Although it is a bit tight to go back to the island first and then go to Britain, it is better to leave the mouth of the Weser River now and go directly to Britain and meet the Northumbrian people. Ask for wheat tribute.
What else could Ragnar do? He still has 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."
Ragna's heart softened after being coaxed like this. He also has two sons. The young son cannot be guaranteed safety. The clan members are 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 it. You just need to pay attention. In Ross, you have to follow the rules of Ross. 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 ate the horses' legs on the blood-stained river beach.
They also deliberately roasted an extra batch of horse meat. The meat was grilled and then baked to become dried meat. The coalition forces needed dry food for their return voyage. Due to the current lack of conditions for making wheat cakes, making dried meat was 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. The reason why it can be maintained now is purely because of the diplomatic relations between King Horik of Denmark and A batch of oats bought peace. The prince had already planned to take the army to Bremen for an inspection first, to see the results of Earl Hunter's suppression of bandits, and then to Flanders for an inspection, and then led the army to the border of Central Francia to give a visit to the brother-in-law. Thiel flexed his muscles.
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 destined its marching speed to be 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 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 the equivalent of about fifty tons of British wheat. This experience was destined to be a feat for the Saaremaa islanders who accompanied the ship to leave 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 some more.
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...
