Chapter 980： Arik defends the Bremen bridgehead

The soldier pulled off the tenon, and the strong torsion of the rope pushed the half-Roman-pound cast-iron projectile out.

These cone-shaped projectiles are deliberately ground with slanted indentations that cause the entire projectile to spin under the friction of the air.

The strong gyroscopic effect makes the soldier do not have to worry about its ballistic deviation, and the top of the cone will already have very impressive results.

A large ship assembled as many as forty slingshot positions on one side. The sail cruiser and the sail destroyer were launched together, and as many as 150 slingshot positions were put into battle.

The projectile rubbed the air and rushed towards the rigid array of the Frankish army with a whistle. The battle did not even have to be called a target, but it was just pouring firepower into a relatively distant area. The technical and tactical requirements were only that the projectile hit the target area.

So, the killing begins!

The pointed cone of the projectile directly smashed through the outermost layer of leather riveted iron armor of the heavy infantry, and further penetrated into the inner layer of chainmail. The projectile did not penetrate the human body, but was embedded in the body like a chisel, and the strong kinetic energy directly knocked the person down.

The projectile hit the iron helmet, and the helmet shattered directly.

The projectile hits the arm or shoulder, which can detonate a **** serious injury that is visible to the naked eye.

Even if some people are just hit by the projectile against the helmet, the powerful force will also break the skull, and the best is to fall down on the spot due to strong dizziness.

The Russ army made a random attack, and the Frankish army solidly ate the first round of projectiles.

Because the distance is too far, the Rus army is projecting at a high elevation angle. Even if the projectile rotates against the wind, there are still many projectiles that just go deep into the soil.

But this blow alone had already dealt a major blow to the Franks.

The soldiers saw their comrades suddenly fall down, and they still stood still after suffering a great loss. Many people reflexively raised the iron tower shield, trying their best to protect the whole body.

In a short period of time, a large number of soldiers followed suit, and the Franks immediately dispatched a meticulous shield formation.

Today's weather is not bad or not. The Rus army soldiers on the ship all saw the shield walls sent by the enemy, and those shields radiated metallic luster in the slightly dim sunlight. They couldn't help but feel more curious about their new life.

The sudden special attack was unexpected by Ludwig. He was temporarily in the safe area and noticed that the casualties of his soldiers did not panic.

"Order the army, hold on!"

"Order the javelin troops to force the battle! Archers, don't be afraid to advance to the river and fight back immediately."

After all, the heavy equipment such as the torsion slingshot, the serious Frankish nobles have not only seen it but also used it. The Ross Army solved its mass production and lightening. On the other hand, Frank, since the fall of Rome, there are only a handful of craftsmen who know how to make such advanced weapons. Even if they are made, they can only be used for the defense of some key cities because they are too cumbersome.

Wars are often fought in the wilderness, and this expedition Ludwig did not carry heavy weapons at all, and even the number of troops in long-range attacks was not large.

"We cannot lose our glory! Order the soldiers to defend themselves with shields."

In the end, they were elite heavy infantry, with thick armor and heavy shields. A lot of people think it's like some special javelin, just lacking the long wooden handle at the rear.

During the civil war, it was not uncommon for soldiers from the Middle Kingdom and the Eastern Kingdom to throw javelins at each other. The elite army was here to fight tough battles. They resolutely implemented the king's orders and stood here like wooden stakes.

The point of view turns to the Ross Army again.

The Ross Army has completed two rounds of shooting at the fastest speed. Due to the different charging speeds of various positions, Arik has ordered to enter the free shooting state.

He ordered loudly and casually, seeing his subordinates dawdling because the situation was too safe, and he was really angry.

"Quick! Reload now! Launch now."

In addition to being angry, it pushed a soldier away, and personally manipulated the power-charging winch up and down its hands to complete the power-charging. "Quick! Load."

As soon as the companion was loading, he pulled the tenon...

The Frankish army resisted with a hard shield. Is it their shield or the Rus army's bullet? The Rus naturally believed in their own strength.

Those projectiles fell as always, and among them were large pebbles that fell from the sky. The crossbow has also joined the projectile operation. The steel-armed crossbow fires the light arrows of the whirling feathers. Whether they can hit the target is not clear because of the distance.

It is undeniable that everyone heard the sound of metal slamming, and the crackling was mixed with the cries of personnel.

Because Ross's iron smelting center has a blast furnace, all cast iron bullets have the same name, and the same fan casts projectiles with similar tolerances, and the output is very large. The Rus army can project unscrupulously, only the Frank army continues to defend.

The projectile was embedded in the skinned wooden shield, and with one impact, the soldier felt like his arm would be shattered. There are also projectiles that hit a special position impartially, and the projectile directly hit the soldier's left arm, which was grabbing the shield, and smashed the fracture.

Many soldiers with their shields were knocked down. They stood up in a hurry without being dizzy and joined in to continue the defense.

The various heavy infantry flag teams were holding back their anger. They vowed to capture the prisoners and skin them alive to vent their anger, but now they can only hide under the big shield and curse constantly.

Until Frank's javelin troops rushed from the rear to the front.

Arik, who had already rolled up his sleeves and was sweating all over, heard the roar of his subordinates.

"Boss, look at the shore over there!"

"what happened?!"

Arik then temporarily abandoned the weapon in his hand and carefully observed it on the side of the boat. "Strange, what are a group of enemies doing by the river? They..."

Suddenly, an ominous premonition came to mind.

"No, they are going to fight back! Brothers, be vigilant!"

But on the shore, a group of muscular men with tawny hair came forward. Their beards are quite thick on their lips, like two whiskers resting on their chins. Their reminders are not only stout and strange, but at first glance, their arms are much thicker than their legs. It is obviously early winter, and these hundreds of people are facing the Rus army in simple gray cloth.

They wield special weapons, holding a wooden club in their right hand, in which a light feathered javelin was placed.

After that, it was a brave shot...

At one time, as many as 400 light javelins, or large arrows, smashed against the direction of the Ross Army projectiles to the left and right ships in the incarnation of the fort.

There was a whizzing sound in the air, and a large number of black lines smashed at the ship.

"It's an enemy attack! Defense!"

Arik has made an alarm, this is his second cry.

However, some javelins have hit the ship.

This is a purely probabilistic attack, just like the projectiles of the Rus army are shot too far away, and the javelins of the Frank army are shot into the water in large numbers.

Some javelins hit the deck, got stuck in the planks of the ship's side, or even tucked into the canvas that had been tightened.

Casualties followed.

Some Ross soldiers were penetrated. After all, everyone was busy accumulating heavy weapons and expending a lot of physical strength, so they took off any armor when it was convenient. Such a convenient move finally brought bad results. Some unfortunate people were hit in the heart and died on the spot, some people were pierced in the lungs and rolled on the deck and coughed up blood frantically, and some people had their arms penetrated. The tear.

The deck, which was originally covered with some dust, was now stained with blood. After the sudden attack, the soldiers raised their shields one after another, and some people even jumped into the cabin to avoid it.

The way they fled in a hurry was indecent.

Arik's round shields were over the heads of the whole country, and shouted loudly: "Don't escape! Immediately fight back. Don't forget your glory!"

Chaos cannot be reversed with just one or two sentences. People need to see a role model, and undoubtedly Arik has become a role model.

In the face of the Frankish javelin, he was not afraid of danger, and he personally controlled the slingshot and began to fight back.

Instead of facing the enemy with his flesh and blood chest, he made the two of them concentrate on holding shields and guarding them to become "cannon mantlets" on both sides of the slingshot position.

When people saw that Arik was still fighting, the fleeing people returned to their positions one after another.

It is no longer necessary to projectile when attacking the river bank, and all positions can be aimed and shot at a flat angle.

They pulled the dead and wounded into the cabin, pulled the enemy javelin from the deck and the mast, and the next step was to stuff it into the chute of the torsion slingshot, so-called eye for eye.

After all, these javelins are large arrows, and if you place two on a slide, you can hit them with double vision and fly smoothly.

Seeing a brother doing this, Arik even had an idea.

"Quickly load ordinary light arrows, install three or four on one slide! Hit me hard!"

In principle, the torsion slingshots used by the Rus army can shoot ordinary arrows, but the accuracy will be very poor, and in large-scale battles, the Russian bowmen can take into account the firepower and accuracy of the arrows. Many heavy equipment is still It's better to fire javelins and projectiles.

Now, even five light arrows can fit into one slide.

Arik came prepared after all, but he still greatly underestimated the enemy's strength and will to fight.

The Ross army's counterattack has already begun. Although only 30% of the battleships are still holding on to firing, the number of positions is picking up, and the army is braving the enemy's javelin attack to recover its morale.

A large number of light arrows were returned along with the javelins of the Frankish army. The arrows collided with each other in the air. Many of them had fallen into the water because of the tilt. Fortunately, some arrows still hit the enemy.

Those Frankish brawny men can hit the light javelin to a distance of 150 meters with a spear thrower, and even project it to an exaggerated distance of 200 meters when the wind is down.

The Russ Army has been using tools to deal with the power of human flesh and blood from beginning to end.

Armorless spearmen began to suffer casualties, and even though they were spread out from each other, they began to be hit by probability blows.

All this is within the estimation of King Ludwig the Great. He had ordered the heavy cavalry to retreat to the forest, and he himself was watching the battle on the edge of the forest.

Having experienced many battles, he did not think that he would suffer great losses. He planned a strategy and ordered: "Arrange heavy infantry to protect the spearmen with shields. Order the archers to reach the river under the cover of heavy infantry."

The current width of the Weser River is less than 100 meters, which means that if Ludwig goes out of his way, all his long-range soldiers can reach the position where the river is almost dripping with water, and hit the boat at random.

He no longer pays attention to the accurate killing effect in this arrangement, and the battle has turned into a battle of morality, and Ludwig just wants to fight for his breath.

As a result, those heavy infantrymen with shields covered the spearmen and archers slowly advancing towards the river. They faced the attack of the Rus army. Such bravery aroused the latter's strong anger and even some admiration.

Arik had no time to sigh. In fact, although he could order the anchor to be pulled out, all the fighting brothers had already boarded the boat, and the current of the Weser River could push everyone to evacuate.

However, the stone piers of the bridge were not properly damaged, so if he ordered a retreat now, wouldn't it have become an embarrassing escape again? With such a withdrawal of burgers, the other brothers will definitely chew their tongues.

Arik's eyes were already bloodshot, and he made his brother on the flagship busy with reloading while shouting the same rhythm of the Viking battle cry, so as to swear the flagship's fighting determination to the wingships and restrain the possible cowardice of the wingships.

One of them stood motionless in the river, holding slingshots, trebuchets and crossbows and constantly projecting them.

One side is standing on the river bank, constantly fighting back with bows and arrows.

Arrows, javelins, projectiles, and pebbles flew across the water, which was about fifty meters wide.

The Ross warship was densely packed with arrows on the enemy's side, and the soldiers even took the risk of wrapping the arrows on the sides of the ship with ropes to pull them up, and the next second they were stuffed into the chute of the torsion slingshot and launched back.

Nearly 800 men on the Frankish side were involved in the counterattack, and they continued to fight under the cover of a larger number of heavy infantry with large shields.

The fighting became unexpectedly intense, and even the Rus army had never had such an extremely intense shooting battle in the past.

Both sides are patient, and their armaments are also frayed.

The soldiers in the rage are like human-shaped motors. They can recharge their slingshots in just 20 seconds, and once they are charged, they can be fired immediately. Because the projectile reserves are very sufficient, and many arrows can be replenished, the soldiers can fire at the fastest three rounds in one minute.

At first, the torsion slingshot couldn't stand this extremely rare high rate of fire. Even though the hemp rope and tendons were greased, the breakage started to occur.

It can be seen that the relatively fragile hemp rope is cracked. Even so, the loading continues until the cracking reaches a limit, and the overall fracture is inevitable.

A slingshot suddenly released force during the charging, and the soldiers knew that it was broken, and now was not the time to repair it.

Anyway, some positions on the big ship were left idle due to lack of manpower, and the new slingshots immediately went into counterattack.

Now that the distance is just right, the cast iron bullets of the Rus army began to ruthlessly destroy the skinned wooden shields of the Frankish army, and the shooting of the crossbow became more and more accurate.

Although it was a contest of willpower between the two sides, it was not bad for the Franks to dominate the defense. They appeared in the wrong position, and it was only them who continued to fight.

However, they said that some Rus soldiers were eager to try, and they could not wait to jump on the leading warships with traction to come out for a beach landing battle, and slashed and slashed cautiously and vigorously.

Such propositions are strictly prohibited by Arik, and as long as you look at the huge strength of the enemy, you will know that if you do this, you will be killing yourself. It is better to continue shooting like this.

Ludwig was equally red-eyed. When a lower-level noble suggested that he continue to waste time here and should avoid Yunyun temporarily, he was severely refuted by her.

On the contrary, he ordered those who knew archery to immediately take over the wooden bow left on the battlefield. The so-called archer can be killed or injured.

After all, this is a war of honor.

It is said that Ludwig had never fought such a battle, and Arik had never seen a shooting of this intensity today.

The battle was challenging the limits of the use of torsion slingshots, and the wooden bows of the Frankish army also began to quickly lift pounds and even crack the hemp ropes during too frequent shooting.

The weird thing is that arrows are available everywhere. The same batch of arrows is used back and forth by both sides. Even if the arrow cluster has been bent or cracked, it is picked up and shot with a bow.

Ludwig shot resolutely, knowing that some nobles told him that the harpooneer had thrown 70% to 80%, and there was not enough reserve to continue.

He remained unmoved until he saw that his spearmen were getting more and more casualties, and those who continued to fight were exhausted and breathless.

It is an exaggeration that many bow bearers were not injured, but had to retreat because their arms were too sore.

The Franks were still fighting, but they saw that the large ships of the Norman army stood still like boulders fixed on the Weser River. The morale of the army continued to decline, and more and more wounded were pulled to the rear. Their mourning stirred the hearts of every soldier, and the terrifying wounds of the dead frightened the viewers.

Could the shooting continue and the damned Normans would suddenly die and the enemy ship would suddenly sink?

There was no sign of the ship sinking, and the Normans were still fighting, as if they were not tired at all.

In fact, the soldiers on the Ross Army side were exhausted and panting, the brothers were in absolute excitement, their physical exhaustion was ignored, and everyone was overdrawing their vitality.

Both sides became more and more tired, and the intensity of the battle began to decrease visibly.

Now it's up to one side to announce its retreat first.

Whoever retreats first will admit counsel. Arik and Ludwig did not have any communication, or both sides expressed their disapproval of counsel with arrows, and now even the arm-wrestling tug-of-war has scored a result.

A brother told Arik that the flagship stockpile of cast iron bullets was running out, which surprised him: "What? Isn't a thousand bullets enough?"

"More than 800 rounds have been shot, and if we continue like this, we will have no bullets to hit."

"Then save it! Give me a precise strike!"

Arik, who was sweating all over, was still holding on, and he could see that his brothers’ physical strength was not going to last. Everyone needed some time to rest before continuing to fight.

The brothers did not want to take the initiative to temporarily evacuate, they continued to hold on, and finally, Arik waited for the evacuation of the Frankish army.

The battle went on for a long time, and even the heavy infantry lined up was already screaming, not to mention the feelings of those who were desperately shooting arrows and throwing javelins. The elite troops were obviously tired, and what was even worse was that the reserves of arrows and javelins were almost exhausted.

Of course, there are a lot of arrows everywhere on the ground, but they are all broken arrows in the middle.

Today's battle has greatly refreshed Ludwig's understanding of war, and the arrows prepared with past experience were almost exhausted in the small-scale encounter at the estuary.

He began to consider whether the northward battle this winter was a cursed operation. He thought of the Archbishop's request to retreat, and thought carefully that perhaps the Archbishop had already predicted something unknown.

But the army has been mobilized, and many soldiers have been damaged before returning without success? In this way, the Normans are still rampant, and they are clearly sticking to the Weser River Ferry in the Bremen section. Isn't this firmness proof that they are guarding something important?

Based on rational considerations, it should be temporarily retreated.

The Franks sounded the horn to retreat, and the elite troops were ordered to retreat.

They neither won nor lost, dragged the bodies of the casualties into the forest, and the soldiers did not forget to hurriedly pick up the arrows that could be used on the ground, but also did not forget to pick up the iron lumps that could be seen everywhere.

"The Franks have withdrawn!" A Russ soldier shouted with his right fist raised weakly.

Seeing the departure of the armored people, everyone struggled to squeeze out some smiles.

Arik defended the bridgehead of the ruins of Bremen. He was not happy at all, and ordered his brothers: "We will continue to hold on, and when night falls, we will try our best to light a bonfire in the ruins! After that, we calmly evacuate, Go back to Hamburg and tell Rurik the big thing."

Taking advantage of the night to engage in bonfire tricks, Arik has the determination and greatness in this regard.

Now the days are getting shorter and shorter, the brothers rested for half an afternoon, and then divided their troops into two groups. One side was approaching the shore where the fierce battle was approaching. Arrow cluster. The other side is to return to the ruins of Bremen, pull some ruins of wood, and then cut down some trees and pile them into large piles. With the help of fire and salt, the bow drill is also used to drill wood to make fire. When night falls, a bonfire will be spread widely.

The night was covered up a lot, and the Frankish troops who lost a lot of money now only spend the night in the woods, while the Roman Avenue is already full of bonfires, and it was once a fire dragon.

The scouts saw bonfires appearing one after another on the other side of the Weser River, and the number of UU reading was increasing.

They hurriedly informed Ludwig of a major discovery, which shocked the depressed former tiger.

"Great! They plan to fight in Bremen, inform the entire army, and we are here to wait for work!"

The order was so frustrating that the army could not sleep well all night. They were worried that the Normans would be shooting arrows frantically in the decisive battle, and that they would suffer inexplicable casualties. How to sleep peacefully?

But on the second day, when the scouts cautiously returned to the shore, they saw that the decisive battle they were looking forward to did not seem to exist at all.

No enemy ships, not even people! The north wind blows across the river, the black ruins of Bremen are very eye-catching, and the air is filled with a faint smell of burnt, which naturally comes from the burning of the bonfire.

The stone piers of the broken bridge are arranged in a line, and the Weser River flows quietly.

And the Rus army had pulled anchor before dawn, and the whole army floated smoothly to the Atlantic Ocean...