"Shield wall!"

"Kill them all!"

"Blood Sacrifice Odin!"

As agreed on the ship, the army of the Gotaland nobles will take the lead in attacking this battle, so that they contribute the most and of course get more spoils after the battle.

Gorm and other nobles went to battle in person, and they commanded the formation in front of their own tribal army.

There are all kinds of round shields stacked on top of each other. The soldiers in the front row are all armored, and the unarmored fighters are all in the back row.

The Gotalands showed their tactical advantages as much as possible to meet the elite Franks.

At least until now, the whole army still thinks that they really collided with Frank's elite.

If the blue fox had a pair of binoculars in his hand, he would be able to see the abnormal situation of the enemy early and realize his misjudgment. He still couldn't see the situation clearly for the time being, so he could only stick to his own judgment.

Blue Fox doesn't want to fight with the enemy's elite troops with all his strength. The essence is that he doesn't want unnecessary huge losses. However, encounters are inevitable. Since fighting is fate, he will accompany him to the end.

He put on heavy armor himself, and led his own small group of elite soldiers to advance and retreat with the most elite Ross army, so that no one can blame him for setting an example.

The two Russian flag teams in blue-striped white robes are the absolute core. Invar's mixed Danish army is used as a tactical supplement, and the Finnish army is mixed with engineers to provide long-range weapon support.

It can be said that the Russian coalition forces have been transformed into two combat echelons, which are quite similar in tactics to the Western European infantry combat mode of this era.

"Let the Yotalan attack first, and my infantry will not be able to hold back. If the momentum is overwhelming, I will attack with the whole army."

Blue Fox had a good plan, and his army was rapidly approaching the Frankish army that had finished forming.

At the same time, Lopete, the commander of the Frankish Army on the other side of the battlefield, is facing tremendous mental pressure. The condition of his banner soldiers was alright. Those strong men who had been conscripted and even forcibly incorporated into the army, they clenched their short spears tightly, their eyes were dull and trembling, and many of them were even scared to pee.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!"

The marching Gotaland soldiers roared rhythmically, while beating the round shield with swords and axes. The movements they made were louder and more rhythmic.

Lopete, who was riding a horse, gritted his teeth. He led the cavalry on the left side of the front line.

He decided to stand still and wait for work, or this is the only fighter he can do. He lacks confidence in the vast militia, they have only been training for a few days, and the entire team can be thrown into chaos if they move in one direction as a whole, and once they are in chaos, they will be killed by the enemy.

At first glance, Lopete still feels that he has a military advantage, which is also the biggest advantage that the Frankish Army boasts.

"Hold on! Cavalrymen! Hold on to your horses." He watched the development of the battle calmly.

On the side of the infantry formation, the two regular Frankish centurions are the backbone of our infantry, and the existence of them and a cross flag ensures that the formation is not chaotic.

A centurion gritted his teeth and repeated the order: "Steady! Don't attack without my order."

Another centurion threatened with words: "Don't be afraid, don't be cowardly. Deserters will be executed immediately."

Let's go and give it a try.

Then they kept approaching. In the eyes of the Gotaland noble army, these Franks looked like a piece of stone. They noticed the cavalry on the left side of the enemy camp and knew they were a great threat.

This situation was more noticed by the blue fox, so a large number of soldiers with crossbows were ordered to move to the right side of the Ross army, as did most of the soldiers with spears.

Until, the two armies approached a stone's throw away.

The blue fox is a little strange. Could it be that these Frankish troops in the Middle Kingdom are also not good at archery?

"Strange, are they really elite? How do I... see some guys in rags? If it's a group of militiamen fighting me, wouldn't I be over-prepared?"

He began to have doubts about the enemy, so he ordered Kerha's Finnish longbowmen and engineers to leave the rear array immediately to support the vanguard Gotaland noble army.

"Let's go!" Holding a recurve crossbow, the young Keerha led the team to move forward quickly. The longbowmen and crossbowmen lined up in a dense formation. When they shoot at the same time, everyone is waiting for Kyle. Ha's order.

"It's now! Take the bow!"

"shooting!"

The order from the Finnish Suomi dialect was issued suddenly, and all the longbowmen threw fire into the air, and the crossbowmen started to fire one after another.

Dense light arrows passed over the heads of the Gotaland army, and the countless black lines were particularly conspicuous against the background of the blue sky. These light swirling feather arrows were swirling and falling quickly regardless of the wind.

This scene is unique in the battles in the Frankish world. The so-called rain of arrows, a tactic commonly used by the Ross Army, is extremely unfamiliar to many Frankish soldiers.

The arrows hit the head and face. After all, they were light arrows. Those Frankish elite infantrymen wearing riveted iron cloth face armor could resist hard. A large number of militiamen had already suffered casualties before fighting. The denser their formation, the more casualties would be. more serious.

The companion was hit to the body suddenly and fell to the ground in pain, or the body was hit and screamed in pain, and the blood from the arrow wound splashed on the companion, adding to the mental damage.

It wasn't until losses were suffered that soldiers began to raise their multifarious shields above their heads.

The armor-piercing arrow pierced through the thin wooden tunnel, and the soldiers endured the powerful impact. Their shields are generally not big, and they are being beaten helplessly now.

While the Finnish longbowmen continued to output firepower, Kelha ordered his subordinates to launch salvos round after round, accompanied by uninterrupted free fire from a large number of crossbowmen.

Perhaps if the shooting continues, the Frankish army will gradually collapse.

Lopete, who was riding a horse, never imagined that this group of Normans basically had this kind of magic, shooting arrows with longer ranges continuously.

"Damn it, I'll lose if this goes on! Hurry up!" He ordered his subordinates: "Blow the horn! Let the infantry take the initiative to attack!"

Accompanied by the crisp brass horns, the passively beaten Frankish infantry got the news, and the two centurions, suffocated, launched an attack, and then all the infantry launched a desperate charge.

"Shield wall! Here they come! A pile of shields!" Gorm saw a large group of enemies rushing towards them screaming. After a few orders, the round shields of his troops quickly piled up, down, left, and right, and the fronts appeared abruptly. The three-layer shield wall.

The so-called soldiers bowed to hold the shield, or held it flat while standing, or raised it up.

The same is true for the soldiers of the Gotaland army, rehearsing the most common Viking tactics. In this way, the shield wall can probably withstand the enemy's heavy equipment, and even avoid the possibility of jumping up and killing.

What they didn't expect was that the attacking Frankish army suddenly started throwing random weapons.

The hatchet smashed deeply into the wooden shield, and some short spears made of wrought iron even directly smashed through the shield.

This ancient Frankish tactic has never been seen by the Gotaland Army. Throwing axes are not uncommon, but large-scale throwing is uncommon.

Yotaland's shield formation could still hold on under such indiscriminate smashing, but some unlucky ones were killed by the short spears that smashed in through the gaps in the shield wall.

Finally, the collision happened.

The two armies collided abruptly, and the battle turned into a contest of wills. The Frankish soldiers who were forced into a desperate situation were squeezed together like sardine cans. It was impossible for them to retreat, so they continued to hack the hardwood shields of the Norman army with broadswords and axes in vain. Thrusting swords and spears.

The soldiers of the Gotaland army faced the same threat. The armored soldiers in the vanguard would definitely encounter the slashing and stabbing of the opponent's heavily armored soldiers.

The Frankish army has more troops, and the Gotaland army has slightly better weapons and equipment. On the overall average, which one is stronger and weaker?

The evolution of the front will not lie, and now it is clear that the Gotaland army has begun to retreat slowly and uncontrollably.

The colliding shields formed a clear front, and the battle was completely turned into a frontal confrontation between the number of manpower and the physical strength of the soldiers. Even though the Finnish army continued to help the friendly army with fire support, the Frankish soldiers would rather raise their small shields above their heads to resist the continuous impact of arrows.

Once injured, once exhausted, as long as you fall to the ground, you will be trampled to death by your companions. Even if the soldiers who were squeezed in front of the battle were not assassinated by the Normans, they could still be squeezed and suffocated.

More than 2,000 Frankish soldiers insisted on pushing the entire front of the Gotaland Army, which only had more than 1,000 people, and the front was unstable. The five nobles tried to do something, but their front was still slowly shrinking.

And this, given to the anxious Frankish cavalry, is undoubtedly the opportunity to turn things around.

"Keep pushing! Pushing! Pushing them down."

Banner Captain Perot feels that victory is not far away, and the Norman pirates are being suppressed and beaten under the absolute superiority of troops, aren't they? Now you only need to wait for yourself to choose an opportunity to attack.

On the other hand, the Gotaland army was actually retreating. Blue Fox never dreamed that the Frankish infantry, which shouldn't be strong, would be so brave.

Grund approached, with an extremely irritable attitude: "I think the Yotalan people will not be able to stand it anymore! Now let the brothers go, and the final battle will be ours."

"No." Blue Fox raised his sword and pointed at the Frankish cavalry who were still on standby: "Those riders are standing there. What are they going to do?"

"They? It's nothing to mention. If they dare to attack, they will be shot by our crossbowmen." Grund still looked disdainful: "Hurry up and let my brothers rush."

"No. Maybe...we can lure the cavalry over here."

"What did you say?"

Grund just finds it inexplicable, but Blue Fox gets more and more interesting the more he thinks about it. He thought of a conspiracy: "Grund, if our army retreats on purpose, you think those cavalry will lose our army and want to seize the opportunity to intercept and kill us?"

"What are you going to do?"

"You? Really don't understand?"

"I don't understand. Are you planning to retreat? Absurd! As long as I take my brother out, all troubles will end."

"No! Let's retreat! Of course!" Blue Fox added: "Retreat in sheep's clothing. We distanced ourselves from the Gotalans and created an opening to lure the cavalry to attack. Now I will let the Finns in Kerha retreat."

Grund really didn't understand that since the king gave Blue Fox full power, he had no choice but to appoint him. The First Banner Squad of the standing army still maintains a high-intensity alert, and is required to maintain a stable formation even if it retreats.

On the contrary, Askad's Seventh Banner Team was asked to move, and the formation could be a little chaotic, but all the arrows of the crossbowmen lost their strings, and all the torsion slingshots installed on the trolleys were fully charged.

The horn of retreating troops sounded, and Keerha, who was still directing the archery, was greatly surprised. He turned around and saw that the blue fox himself, who had taken off his helmet, was waving and saying something with his mouth open.

"Retreat now? Why do you want to retreat? Forget it. Retreat."

Kelha ordered that all Finnish soldiers, engineers serving as crossbowmen, and a small number of armed sailors retreat in an all-round way.

They ran backwards without any formation at all, and the Gotaland army, which realized that their backs were empty, immediately caused a panicked retreat.

From the perspective of the Frankish cavalry not far away, their own infantry really pushed the Normans back steadily, and even turned into a rout.

And isn't this the unique opportunity to turn the tide of the war around?

"Haha! It's time for meritorious service. Franks, follow me!" Banner Captain Lopete gave the order to take the lead in the charge. He took the lead like an ancient Frank asking for a battle.

All three hundred Frankish cavalry were mobilized, and the earth trembled, to pound the right flank of the Norman formation, hoping to penetrate it like a chisel, and at best drive a great number of the enemy down the Meuse to drown them.

At the same time, the blue fox was overjoyed.

The cavalry is tricking and attacking, and the situation of our own Gotaland army is even worse. If these cavalry cannot be defeated, the fake show of retreating might come true.

The crossbowmen and the retreating longbowmen rushed to the right side of the formation one after another, ready to shoot under the **** of a large number of hoplites.

They wore blue-striped white robes on a large scale, and it wasn't until Perot led the cavalry that they almost collided with the Normans that they discovered that there was an extraordinary team hiding behind them. The too flat battlefield made it impossible for him to see the depth of the Norman army. Now that he really saw it clearly, he realized that the timing of his choice may not be correct.

It's a pity that he no longer has the right to make a second choice.

Just as the cavalry was trotting all the way and was about to launch the final charge, the torsion catapult shot first, followed by the throw of the Finnish longbowmen.

After all, these were not Frank's elite cavalry at all. Most of the cavalry were soldiers who could ride horses and rode bad horses from various sources. The cavalry who lacked armor had long arrows stuck in their bodies. As long as they were not fatally injured, they could still grit their teeth and continue to charge. If the horse was hit by an arrow, the pain would be enough to make the horse stumble.

At the beginning, some war horses fell down, and some accidentally brought over the brothers behind them.

The advance of the cavalry was only sluggish, not containment, and Perot, who didn't care too much, raised his cavalry spear flatly and launched the final charge.

"Shoot!" Blue Fox's eyes were as big as copper bells, he was roaring at the top of his lungs, and now he put his own life and death aside.

The two crossbows fired at the same time, dealing a huge blow to the cavalry attacking from the front.

A large number of horses fell to the ground and immediately caused catastrophic results. The subsequent cavalry was tripped or restrained by the fallen companions in front, and the pure impact of the cavalry group was cut off in a short period of time.

Even Perot's own mount fell due to the shooting injury, and he was thrown out and gnawed a mouthful of black mud. When he stood up tremblingly with his helmet on, he found that not even one-tenth of the cavalry actually charged into the enemy's formation.

Thirty or so riders rushed into Ross's formation with basically no impact force, and the horses didn't hurt or itch and knocked down some people~www.mtlnovel.com~No casualties were caused. The cavalry soldiers were pulled down, or the legs of the horses were cut off, forcing the cavalry to fall.

The soldiers who temporarily dropped their crossbows skillfully pulled out their steel swords and axes, and then slashed and stabbed at the fallen cavalry, often more than a dozen people aimed at one enemy soldier, and their death was extremely miserable.

There are still more than 150 riders wandering around, and they continue to be attacked by arrows. They didn't know what was going on with their banner captain, and they didn't want to be captured as a fugitive coward, so these people got off their horses one after another!

After all, they were soldiers of the Frankish Infantry Banner Squad. Combat on horseback had never been their strong point, and fighting on foot was the meaning of existence.

Perhaps the captain of the banner had died in battle, so facing this obviously powerful Norman army, they chose to fight to the death with it.

Because these fighters are unwilling to make any compromises to the Norman pirates.

At this point in the battle, the Blue Fox no longer has any worries. The Frankish army, whether it is the elite or the militia that it gathered together, has already dispatched.