Chapter 997： French lost again

The fighting core of the coalition army all came from the Vikings, and the Rus army was the soul of them.

At this moment, any of Kang's speeches became superfluous, and the coalition army was full of momentum. As the commander, Rurik facilitated his own army to be together. He personally supervised the battle and participated in the fight himself if necessary.

Look at this coalition! Mighty and domineering.

The Frankish cavalry could not break through the phalanx of spears to make a breakthrough. King Ludwig's plan not only failed, but he himself had to retreat with the remnants of the cavalry.

The next battle was the final and decisive battle of tens of thousands of Frankish infantrymen. It was destined to be extremely bloody. Even if it was won, it would be a tragic victory for the Franks.

Ludwig had no reason to think about the outcome of a tragic victory or defeat. He was clearly in a cold place. He was sweating all over, and the inside of his armor was wet.

"Keep attacking! Infantry! Crush the enemy!" He had retreated behind the infantry formation and continued to command his army.

Even at such an anxious juncture, Ludwig had no intention of escaping, and he always insisted on the rear of the front line, so that the remaining cavalry troops became the supervising team.

He rode his horse to get a higher view, and all he could see was the top of his iron helmet reflecting orange in the afternoon sun.

There are also a large number of armed militiamen, who wear a felt hat to keep out the cold, and a few use iron sheets to reinforce their foreheads. Whether strong or weak, these infantrymen hold wooden shields, and the weapons in their hands can be described as varied.

If this ice layer is really thick, Ludwig is really worried that the army will fall into the glaciers on a large scale and freeze to death and drown.

Wait a minute! If the glacier breaks, the enemy will also fall on a large scale.

Ludwig began to pray unrealistically for the manifestation of God. It is said that since God can freeze the Elbe, it is also possible to selectively thaw the river.

He couldn't help grabbing the pure gold cross hanging from his collar, kissed it fiercely, and muttered to himself, "Lord! Do a miracle! Bless your faithful children and make those savages fall into the glaciers..."

However, the miracle did not happen.

Those Rus warriors who had broken their spears were immediately restored to their original state.

They hung wooden shields on their left forearms. The shields were all painted with a layer of loose glue to fix the chalk mud, and then they were painted with clear and regular staggered stripes with isatis juice.

It's fair to say that the stripes resembled a cross, making the army look a little crusader at first glance. This is a simple "abstract oar" livery, which is the glory of old Ross.

The bravest and strongest fighters in each flag team were placed in the front line of the formation, and they also wore heavier armors, and even a ring of chain mail was hung under the iron helmets. Because of the warriors with beards, the domineering beards are always embedded in the lock ring, which makes it uncomfortable to turn around, so they are protected by some iron straps.

The first-line sword and shield fighters were all heavily armored ruthless men, and most of the fighters only had exposed skin on the backs of their hands and a pair of eyes.

The entire coalition front line made a similar arrangement. Even the allied and weak Saxon peasant soldiers were soldiers with shields walking in front. Behind thousands of swordsmen and shields, there are also dense spearmen.

This arrangement was made to restrain the Frankish infantry.

The coalition soldiers advanced steadily on the ice. They stepped on the corpse of the enemy's horse and arrived at the battlefield where the infantry had just fought fiercely.

In a short time, the dead Saxon soldiers froze and gradually merged with the icy world.

Soldiers crossed the battlefield with little or no concern for the dead beneath their feet.

Compared with the coalition, the advance of the Frankish infantry had to look ahead. They noticed the smoothness of the **** ice layer, and they moved more and more carefully, which seriously slowed down the speed of the advance, and it was bound to make it difficult to stretch during the fight. The latter is the most deadly.

At least there is no hand-to-hand combat yet, and only real close combat can tell the difference.

But before fighting, the first is the attack of long-range weapons on both sides.

The Viking army in the coalition gathered all the archers, and Rurik ordered that except for the longbowmen to continue to advance in a dense formation, the rest of the infantry archers and crossbowmen were all linearly and evenly arranged behind the infantry array.

Now, the coalition forces, which have the advantage of wind direction and range, have officially begun to attack.

With the Viking battle cry, a large number of arrows flew over their heads, and the longbowmen arranged in a matrix followed the pace of the friendly army, stopping every five steps, and then fired in groups under Yevlo's order.

And those crossbowmen, whether they have wooden arms or steel arms, all fight in free-fire mode. Once they are wound, they will immediately throw, even if they are throwing stubby heavy crossbow arrows.

At the same time, a special unit is also actively dragging its heavy weapons to catch up with the pace of the battlefield.

Twenty bull catapults will complete their formation after the fierce battle line is stabilized. At that time, they will continue to throw stones to consume the enemy's strength.

The Frankish infantry began to advance in a rain of arrows, and they had to move forward with their shields over their heads and hunched over.

As for Rurik, he fought on the battlefield for almost a whole year, and the arrows in his reserve were repeatedly used, and they were almost exhausted to this day. The number of those pointed cone-shaped armor-piercing arrows is not much, and it is perfect for today's decisive battle.

The arrows made by the Saxon militia must also come in handy this time. Even if the arrow cluster is polished to the principle of being ready to use, it is good to hit the enemy with a head.

Because of Agincourt, the longbowmen did not annihilate the French cavalry of the Valois dynasty, but disrupted the enemy's formation and led to a large-scale stampede. In the end, it was the British dismounted heavy cavalry in a heavy infantry posture, with a leaf hammer , pickaxe, and mace one by one to "open the can" for the enemies who fell in the mud and had difficulty standing up, so that there was an incredible battle damage ratio.

The muddy battlefield was the geographic cause of the collapse of the French army in Valois, so could the frozen Elbe ice surface also cause the collapse of the East Frankish army?

"Sure! I bet you don't have a pair of spikes!"

Because even though the tall Rurik was standing behind the front line, his eyes did see through the gaps in the soldier's helmets that the enemy array was breaking down everywhere.

All this proves that the continuous shooting of arrows is disrupting the enemy formation, and is even forcing the entire enemy's large-scale horizontal formation to shrink towards a central point.

why is that? The reason is obvious.

Rurik was secretly pleased with Yevlo's clever move. The longbowmen in the dense formation did not just fight all at once. Yevlo is also a veteran for many years and has participated in many large-scale battles. Already very professional.

The longbowmen matrix first launched a salvo to the left flank of the enemy formation. After killing and wounding a group of enemies, it immediately forced the enemy infantry to shrink in one direction to avoid it. It is impossible for the left-wing enemy to continue to escape to the edge of the array. The so-called isolated people in the flock are most likely to be attacked by wolves, so the enemy can only gather in the center of the array to warm up.

The next salvo, targeting the right flank...

Yevro kept adjusting the firing direction, forcing the enemy's broad front to shorten, and the depth began to fall behind.

In this way, the array width of the coalition forces is gradually surpassing the enemy, and a macro-scale pincer offensive is taking shape.

The crossbowmen continued to weaken the stability of the entire Frankish infantry formation, but the opponent eventually had a large number of elite standing soldiers.

These people live on the king's salary, and today is the time to serve the king.

Some warriors were wounded by arrows, and the arrow clusters penetrated into the flesh. If the injury affects the advance and falls on the spot or retreats, the vacant part will be taken over by the companion.

Their mandarin duck shields were battered and pitted, and thanks to these thick shields of hard oak covered with iron, they effectively resisted missed arrows.

But they are advancing more slowly, always taking care not to slip.

The more they want to ensure stability, someone subconsciously pulls nearby companions when they slip, which directly leads to a chain reaction.

When Ludwig realized that such an attack method was ridiculous, although cavalry could run on the ice through horseshoes, how could the infantry be? He didn't have any step back, he could only bear it.

It was an offensive road full of twists and turns, and the Franks advanced in pain.

Even so, those brave warriors have quietly prepared their weapons behind the mandarin duck shields in front of them.

Just like Frank's name - a throwing axe.

It is a small double-edged battle axe, usually used as a daily tool, and a sharp weapon in wartime. Its two axe blades are deliberately symmetrical in space, so that a wooden handle is added, and after the throw, it keeps spinning in the air like a wheel blade, so that if he hits the target, it will inevitably bring a serious slash.

In response to this situation, the coalition forces that suffered losses deliberately placed heavy infantry in the forefront, just to deal with this kind of blow.

As the distance between the two sides has reached extremely close, the coalition soldiers have shielded themselves with shields, and the spearmen and halberdists behind them are ready to engage in battle.

Sure enough, the Frankish infantry waiting for the opportunity began to attack.

The pitted mandarin duck was suddenly placed sideways, and a large number of flying axes spun at high speed and smashed into the coalition soldiers on the front line.

Even with precautions, suddenly encountering an axe blow from the entire front, even the Rus army began to suffer casualties.

After all, it was a flying axe, and it was a coincidence that the axe slammed into the soldier's head.

But for the Franks, there was only one chance to throw the axe.

Now, the real hand-to-hand combat broke out.

The sudden axe-throwing strike caused confusion in many positions of the coalition army array, which made the spear wall that should play an advantage be broken before it showed its strength.

Now it is the collision of shields, followed by the stabbing of swords. Only those with strong will and superior physical strength can hold on to the end.

This is a fight between heavy infantry!

It is difficult for the Frankish iron sword to break through the oak shield of the Rus, nor the armor of the Rus. In the same way, even if the Rus' equipment is generally steel swords, it is not very effective against the Frankish heavy infantry in double armor.

However, as the Franks continued to jab, their iron swords began to bend and curl, while Ross's carbon steel swords remained the same.

The soldiers were squeezed together like canned sardines, and the soldiers of the two armies on the front line gradually became immobilized. On the contrary, the Ross Army had a tactical advantage in the coalition.

The soldiers of the Rus army kept stabbing with their spearheads like instinct, and then opened with the halberd. Instead of attacking the front line enemy, they attacked the enemy behind them with all their might.

These Frankish heavy infantry had never encountered this kind of battle. A metal helmet could not protect the head at all, and the enemy's halberd directly opened the scoop.

East Frankish soldiers had their heads smashed and their faces pierced.

All the coalition soldiers on the front line have to do is to hold up their shields to resist, build a solid shield wall, and leave the killing of the enemy to the brothers behind.

This is a ruthless meat grinder, and when the hand-to-hand combat begins, the situation quickly turns desperate for the Franks.

The loss of arrows continued to weaken the morale of the Frankish army, and those who were forced to watch from the rear chose to retreat in the face of the loss of arrows.

"Cavalry, stop them! Don't retreat!"

Ludwig, who was beginning to despair, tried so hard to keep up the fight that he was so mad that he gave orders to kill the deserters.

The escapees were all peasant soldiers. They kept slipping and standing up in a panic, and they even rolled and crawled to the rear to escape.

The cavalry began to trample on these deserters, relying on the slaughter to curb the decline.

However, the entire formation of the coalition is changing.

Rurik did not believe that Ludov's Saxon army could wrap the entire array of the enemy like crab claws, maybe they could, but it must be less efficient.

So he deliberately selected two generals from the fierce battle array.

Hellafield and Blue Fox, there was no blood on their bodies, and they did not participate in the strike due to their positions.

"Your Majesty, do you want us to make special arrangements?" the sword-wielding blue fox asked loudly on the battlefield where the shouting was so loud.

"Yes!" Rurik also roared: "Blue Fox, take your men off the front line and fully support the left wing! Hellafield, take your men to the right wing! You two help the Saxons to complete the encirclement! We To wipe out the entire Frankish army!"

This is the largest decisive battle, swallowing tens of thousands of people in one go? !

They got into action right away, even if neither could summon many brothers from each other.

So, King Biyonny of Viking York, once again entered the war as a Balmer today. He took his own guards from the front line without hesitation, and launched left-wing support with his brothers.

The situation on Lanhu's side was also good, and they gathered more than 200 people to carry their spears and immediately rushed to the right wing.

With the appearance of the real Viking warriors, the Saxon army, who had been trying their best to complete the encirclement on the left and right flanks, suddenly boosted morale. Their difficult battles became no longer difficult, and they no longer cared about the casualties of the war of attrition.

At this moment, Ludov, whose face had already solidified, was supervising the battle on the left wing. A large number of local nobles from Saxony participated in this decisive battle. The nobles and Ping Ming fought together, and everything went back to the era of Chief Vidukind fifty years ago.

They are fighting a terrifying war of attrition with the Franks. Unlike the Rus-Danish elite in the middle, they must pay a great price to continue to force the enemy's battle line to shrink.

"Keep stabbing! Don't be afraid to die!"

"Fight for survival!"

Liudov kept shouting, and he was also emboldening himself.

How much tactical advantage does having two or three hundred Vikings on each flank bring? The advantages are being manifested.

"Shield Wall! Let's go!" Biyonni greeted his Balmerk compatriots in the Norwegian dialect of Narvik Port. After all, he was the son of the old leader Magnut and the king of the Viking York Kingdom.

Although the brothers are all members of the fourth flag team, they still miss Biyonni in their hearts.

They formed a shield wall and slammed into the right flank in the direction of the Frankish army. Suddenly, such a group of deadly sword and shield players came out, and the Frankish right flank was in chaos.

The same thing happened in the other direction. At this moment, the blue fox did not look like a businessman at all. He became a real Viking warrior. The round shield was stained with the blood of the enemy. Contaminate the enemy's snow.

In the final analysis, people worship the strong, and what is the strong, everyone simply believes that the ruthless who dares to kill the enemy is the strong. As the Earl of Gothenburg, the blue fox has to work hard even for personal honor, and now he has this greater desire for revenge.

After all, Hazelby was burned down, and Ross's shop suffered heavy losses. The culprit was not Horrick, who was made into a man, but Ludwig, the king of East Frank.

King Rurik didn't seem to want to look at Ludwig's head, but there were so many strange things on the battlefield, and the chance to cut off the head of the leader fell into the hands of a businessman's son and a new noble military noble. Blue Fox felt that he had such an opportunity, so he could take revenge for Ludwig's contempt for his personality back then.

Indeed, the blue fox who was in distress at that time once mingled with Regensburg, far away Bavaria, and once had the opportunity to meet Ludwig himself.

Now, with the rapid formation of the encirclement, the Frankish army continues to erode, and the entire collapse situation is emerging under the sunset, which is an irreversible situation.

As the hard-fought elite heavy infantry continued to retreat under the blows of thousands of spearheads and halberds, those peasant soldiers who could only fight against the wind could no longer hold on.

Behold! Why are there enemies on both sides? ! The brothers are dying!

reinforcements? Reserve Army! ? nothing left!

The peasant soldiers began to retreat, and the scale was no longer what Ludwig's remaining cavalry could contain. There were even cases where the fleeing soldiers attacked and killed the cavalry, and the Frankish army began to kill each other in a desperate situation.

"Don't I have a chance?! No! I'll die if I stay here."

Although completely unwilling, although I do not want to escape. At this moment, the desire to survive took over Ludwig's mind.

"Not good! Let's withdraw! Let's withdraw!"

After all, he tugged on the reins and started to evacuate first.

The cavalry, surprised to see this, followed in the footsteps of the king. This scene was seen by many infantry soldiers, and no one suddenly roared in Frankish language: "The king has retreated."

This voice is like standing in the glacier and shouting, the infantry who constantly showed weakness in the fierce battle began an irreversible avalanche.

Rurik was also surprised by how fast things were developing. The sun hadn't set, and the battle had not lasted for a long time. The enemy couldn't support it? Although the decisive battle in the Middle Ages usually ended in a morning or an afternoon, today is the largest battle faced by Rurik in his life. Did he expect the victory of the coalition forces to come so early?

"This is not a dream!" He patted his helmet vigorously, and immediately urged the brothers in the back to continue to be busy shooting arrows, even ordering Yevlo.

"All of you bowmen, draw your swords as infantry and launch a pursuit immediately! The enemy begins to flee, no matter what method you use, hurry up to catch up and kill the enemy!"

Yevluo heard it really, can't think that his subordinates, as archers, would have a day of close combat?

Although there is a great risk of casualties in doing so, when you think that you can grab a lot of loot, most of them are iron tools that Finns need for production and life When will we not grab more at this time? If you run fast enough and you can give priority to plundering the enemy's baggage, then it's not as simple as robbing iron tools...

As a result, there was another surprise soldier in the coalition. They broke away from the formation and shot arrows while chasing, killing the enemy like hunting snow rabbits and deer, ruthlessly and accurately shooting the backs of the fugitives. Even ruthlessly shoot people who slip and fall.

At the same time, the encirclement has been formed, and more than 6,000 living people have been accumulated in it, facing the jabs and slashing of spearheads and halberds in all directions. The circle is full of people who slip and have little chance of getting back up once they slip and are killed unsuspecting.

More than a thousand other coalition fighters began a great pursuit, killing and capturing prisoners in parallel.

And Ludwig and the remnants of his cavalry have already begun to flee along the Roman Avenue. Now he only has the idea of ​​​​surviving, and just wants to ask for this absurd and deadly battlefield.

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