Viking: Master of the Icy Sea

Chapter 305: Disadvantages in Field Battles

Mid-June, Britain and West Francia successively sent reinforcements to the front lines.

Wigg received four newly trained provisional infantry regiments, and Gunnar received more cavalry and conscripted militia. As they estimated each other's growing strength, their newly aroused desire for battle rapidly faded.

Wigg possessed seven infantry regiments, plus other forces, totaling ten thousand men. All were equipped with heavy armor. Unfortunately, transport capacity was insufficient, making it impossible to transport the domestic cavalry in time.

Assuming he waited another month, he might be able to ship over nearly a thousand cavalrymen, but the cavalry sent by Charles the Bald would only be more numerous. West Francia boasted vast and fertile plains with a pleasant climate, suitable for both farming and horse breeding. It could be called the best territory in all of Europe, perfectly suited for this kind of war of attrition.

"Saxony is not a suitable location for a decisive battle. We cannot continue fighting like this."

On the other side, Gunnar possessed over fifteen thousand warhorses, packhorses, and draft horses. The daily consumption of grain was terrifying. Both Paris and Saxony were urging him to force a decisive battle quickly.

However, his thoughts were similar to Wigg's, believing that a decisive battle would not break out. Being at a disadvantage in cavalry, he did not think Wigg would actively leave the city to engage the Frankish army in a decisive battle on flat, open fields.

On June fifteenth, Earl William of Orleans arrived at the front lines to convey the will of Charles the Bald, telling him to find a way to end all of this.

Gunnar's expression was complex, fighting hard to suppress the curses about to leave his mouth. "Are you sure about this?"

William remained expressionless. "Duke, this is the Emperor's will."To appease this envoy, Gunnar was forced to lead his army out, heading to the open grounds outside Hamburg to adopt a posture of an imminent siege.

At one in the afternoon, the sky was crystal clear, and the sunlight poured down without reservation. The air was thick with the heavy, earthy scent of mud. Gunnar, Earl William, and other high-ranking officials of the Frankish army rode their horses to a high ground to observe the enemy's movements.

Black. As far as the eye could see, everything was black. About ten thousand infantrymen marched out of the city gates in succession, equipped with identical black armor. Like a massive spill of charred pitch, they heavily and slowly covered the earth.

Under Gunnar's solemn gaze, the enemy formed seven pike phalanxes outside the city in a "five in front, two in back" formation. The very front and the left and right flanks were populated with numerous light infantry, organized into squads of ten or so. They were equipped with longbows, shields and axes, spears, and pitchforks lined with dense spikes.

A black dragon banner was erected in the center of the military formation. Below the banner sat a simple, elevated platform surrounded by a thousand infantrymen and eight hundred cavalrymen. Unsurprisingly, the figure on the platform was the very man the Frankish high command had been obsessing over: Wigg of Teyne.

With the formation complete, the entire army stood silently in place. Their spears formed a forest, the spearheads flashing with countless sharp, cold glints, exuding an indescribable sense of oppression.

"Earl, how do you think we should attack?"

Gunnar turned his head to look at William. The latter was deeply shocked. Nearly ten thousand men equipped with standardized, uniform armor, displaying strict military discipline—it far surpassed the Frankish army with its messy, assorted armor types.

He replied with difficulty, "You are the commander. It is entirely up to you."

With things having progressed to this point, a battle had to be fought. Gunnar sent out four thousand infantrymen for a probing attack.

Upon entering range, the Frankish army began suffering relentless, overlapping volleys. The Vikings spared no feathered arrows. Even though most of the feathered arrows hit shields or the grass, the archers and crossbowmen maintained a constant output.

Witnessing this scene, Gunnar muttered to himself, 'A single feathered arrow is worth a penny. There are over two thousand archers firing on the other side. Every volley of arrows is equivalent to ten pounds of silver. We haven't even entered the melee phase, and Wigg has already thrown out over a hundred pounds of silver. Heh, truly wealthy.' Finally, the Frankish army and the Viking infantry clashed. After fighting for a brief moment, Gunnar realized his side genuinely had no chance of winning. If he dispatched cavalry to flank them from the rear, they would be bombarded by the ballistae on the palisade, making it very difficult to break through the enemy lines.

Fighting any further was meaningless. He ordered the messenger riders to notify the infantry to retreat. On the way back, the Frankish army was once again blanketed by overlapping arrow volleys. The Viking arrows seemed endless, pouring down upon the heads of the Frankish army like a violent storm, entirely unconcerned about the hundreds of pounds of silver being consumed.

"Order the entire army to retreat and return to camp along the same route."

Hearing Gunnar's command, William was rendered speechless. He looked over at the knights sitting on the grass waiting for orders, noting that this group remained uncharacteristically calm. There was no clamoring or uproar, let alone any unauthorized charges.

As the Frankish army gradually withdrew, Wigg had no thoughts of pursuit. He simply watched Gunnar's black bear on a white background banner disappear at the edge of his vision.

In a trance, he realized that he was facing a dilemma in this war similar to that of the Song dynasty army:

His side possessed a massive number of heavy infantry and excellent archers and crossbowmen, capable of unleashing massive amounts of arrows to inflict casualties on the enemy before the battle even began. However, they lacked sufficient cavalry. Even if they repelled the enemy, they could not launch a pursuit to expand their victory.

"Next time we go to war, I must find a way to bring all the domestic cavalry over. Otherwise, this battle will be impossible to fight."

Two days later, Wigg received news that Carloman had successfully arrived in Aalborg and picked up Louis the Younger, who had been trapped for days. Because the Northern European Allied Forces had suffered heavy losses, Halfdan did not stop the Frankish army's withdrawal. His only action was to lead his troops into Schleswig and observe the Frankish army's next move.

After half a year of torment, Louis the Younger could no longer hold on. Complaints filled his army. The knights and conscripted militia were desperately homesick and demanded an early end to the war.

At the same time, Wigg couldn't be bothered to waste any more time in Hamburg either.

He estimated the Franks' total military strength to be close to twenty thousand, with a trend of further growth. Assuming the Frankish army forced a siege on Hamburg and constructed heavy trebuchets outside the city, Wigg had no confidence in repelling the enemy in a field battle. He would only face a tedious and protracted defensive siege.

In early July, Wigg withdrew to Denmark to assist the Northern European Allied Forces in repairing the Danevirke defense line.

Not long after, an envoy from Louis the Younger sought Wigg out to discuss the exchange of prisoners.

Throughout the entire war, Wigg had captured a total of two thousand prisoners, while only sixty-five of his own men had been captured (most of them being soldiers from the marine battalion). He made a demand, asking the opposing side to use warhorses as ransom, but was flatly rejected.

"We are willing to provide silver or grain, but we will not hand over a single warhorse."

By now, the Franks were deeply aware of the threat posed by Britain. The smuggling of warhorses was completely cut off to prevent the Vikings from acquiring a massive cavalry force.

Over the next week or so, Louis consistently refused to relent, and negotiations were temporarily suspended. Wigg simply tossed this problem to the back of his mind, focusing instead on another crucial matter.

On July fifteenth, he convened a meeting with the high-ranking leaders of the Allied Forces to discuss the subsequent situation.

Overall, everyone had put in the effort. The field battle failures of Halfdan and Erik Jr. were due to the Allied Forces' cavalry and heavy infantry being noticeably weaker than the Frankish army. There was no major issue with their commanding.