Viking: Master of the Icy Sea

Chapter 381: Hasty Engagement

"Two thousand sets of iron armor?"

Kotsel was shocked by the Vikings' generosity. In the past, the entirety of Moravia could not have scraped together this much armor.

"We can fight this war. At the very least, holding Žatec will not be a problem."

Four days later, the fleet arrived at the Žatec docks. Kotsel personally inspected the goods. Only thirty percent were brand new; the remaining seventy percent showed signs of repair.

After testing, they found that this novel style of brigandine armor could defend against both arrows and melee slashes. Kotsel immediately changed into a set of military officer's armor and asked Agent Red Snapper, "How much does this cost?"

The agent lifted his chin, displaying a somewhat arrogant posture. "No need. This is a gift from the Emperor. You just focus on fighting the war; we will handle the weapons and equipment."

Soon, all two thousand of Kotsel's militia were clad in armor and equipped with standardized weapons. The entire force took on a completely new look, and the militia's morale surged as a result.

Over the next week or so, Kotsel led this army on a tour of the surrounding areas. At the same time, he spread the word that the Viking Empire's army of one hundred thousand had already set out and would arrive in Moravia next month. Any nobles who dared to resist would share the exact same fate as the Frankish nobility!

Under a mix of coercion and bribery, Kotsel won over a large number of minor nobles and gentry. His army expanded to three thousand five hundred men. They also breached five settlements, capturing massive amounts of grain and livestock.

Riding on horseback, Kotsel observed the long marching column. With his forces swelling, the anxiety in his heart largely dissipated. He began to plan his next moves, aiming to secure even more benefits from the war.That evening, he received a piece of news: the King's standing army was marching toward Hradec, and the local lord was requesting reinforcements.

Although this man had disrupted Kotsel's plans, they were ultimately allies in the same faction, and the two were cousins to boot. Kotsel left five hundred soldiers to defend the town and led his remaining three thousand soldiers east along the Elbe River.

Along the way, shamans occasionally led the populace to join his army. Kotsel turned no one away, while simultaneously giving his soldiers free rein to plunder any settlements that refused to return to the traditional faith. This not only secured provisions but also allowed his men to vent their frustrations, thereby boosting their loyalty.

"My lord, your marching speed is too slow. We only covered twelve miles yesterday. I suggest you leave behind the sluggish militia and have them escort the baggage train." The Viking military officer serving as a temporary advisor sought out Kotsel, but his advice went unheeded, and the army continued its sluggish advance.

On January 25th, the King's standing army reached Hradec one step ahead of them.

Acting on the advice of a Greek advisor, the two thousand six hundred soldiers deliberately ransacked the manors outside the town to lure the lord into battle. They easily routed his forces and came within a hair's breadth of capturing the town.

On the morning of the 28th, the standing army, which was in the midst of constructing siege engines, received word: Kotsel's reinforcements were on their way.

During the war council, the Greek advisor suggested that the standing army take the initiative and meet Kotsel in open battle.

"My lord, the town's garrison has been crippled. Even if we depart temporarily, they will not dare ride out in pursuit. I recommend we immediately head west and seize the hills near this crossroads to intercept the enemy."

The commander followed the advice. He ordered his soldiers to pack their gear and march west, arriving at their destination by noon on the 29th.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, an army appeared in the distance at the end of the road. There were roughly three thousand five hundred men, marching in loose formation at a sluggish pace. The only thing worthy of attention was their two thousand armored soldiers.

Because both sides lacked cavalry, Kotsel's forces smoothly deployed into formation, engaging in a distant standoff with the enemy positioned a kilometer away on the eastern hills.

The standing army was uniformly outfitted with Eastern Roman equipment: lamellar armor, Spangenhelms with cheek guards, two-point-eight-meter-long one-handed spears, oval wooden shields, and composite recurve bows.

Kotsel's core troops, on the other hand, sported typical Viking gear: black brigandine armor, pointed helmets with neck guards, and three-and-a-half-meter-long two-handed spears. There were also seven hundred militiamen armed with crossbows, though they lacked any armor. In name, both sides claimed to be fighting for Moravia, but judging by their appearances, this was the most quintessential proxy war imaginable.

Manipulated by two powerful monarchs, the once-unified Moravian Kingdom had finally fractured. The civil war had officially begun.

Kotsel's seven hundred crossbowmen were the first to advance. Arranged in two loose horizontal lines, they slowly approached the hills to exchange fire with five hundred archers.

Lacking iron armor, the crossbowmen planted wooden shields shaped like door panels into the ground ahead of them, which served as adequate makeshift cover.

After ten minutes or so, the archers exhausted their stamina and retreated behind their lines. The crossbowmen persisted with their volley; while they failed to inflict massive casualties, they had at least nominally repelled the enemy.

"Excellent. The lads are doing a fine job."

Feeling he held the upper hand, Kotsel's lips curled into a faint smile. Beside him, the Viking advisor scoffed inwardly, 'If this were a Frankish battlefield, a formation like this would have been trampled to pieces by cavalry long ago. How does he even have the nerve to smile?'

Next came the infantry clash.

The standing army was bloated with fresh recruits. Once the battle devolved into close-quarters combat, they failed to secure any obvious advantage. Instead, the slightly more numerous rebel army gradually flanked the standing army's rear from both sides, enveloping them like an ever-extending crescent moon.

Though the situation favored their side, the Viking advisor was in no rush to celebrate. His gaze swept the distant horizon, worried that enemy cavalry might appear.

Sure enough, just as the standing army was on the verge of collapse, a hundred cavalrymen suddenly emerged on the northern flank of the battlefield. Brandishing their longswords, they pushed their warhorses to top speed while still five hundred paces away—this alone was enough to prove they were a newly trained batch of riders.

After charging at full tilt for hundreds of paces, the cavalry's formation completely scattered. The warhorses suffered massive stamina drains, their speed unwittingly slowing. The end result was a disorganized smattering of riders crashing into the enemy lines one after another, drastically reducing the impact of their charge.

Following a chaotic and disorderly skirmish, the standing army broke free from the encirclement, but at the cost of losing more than half their cavalry.

'Fortunately, these barbarians do not know how to properly utilize shock cavalry, otherwise we would be in real danger,' the Viking advisor thought, secretly rejoicing. He then suggested that Kotsel dispatch the remaining militia and crossbowmen to deny the enemy any chance to catch their breath.

By the time the militia and crossbowmen were repelled, the rebel army's iron-armored pikemen had reformed their ranks. They launched a third wave of attacks, finally shattering the standing army.

The following day, Kotsel arrived in Hradec with the posture of a victor. The rebel army's momentum surged even higher, attracting a large number of factions whose interests had been damaged by the recent reforms.

In early February, the Viking armies began pouring into Moravia, boasting a total military strength of around ten thousand men under the command of Douglas. Fearing that dragging the conflict out too long would invite Eastern Roman intervention, he merged his forces with Kotsel's army and marched on the Moravian capital.

However, the Vikings had severely underestimated Eastern Rome's resolve. Basil had already sent advance notice to the southern nations of Slavonia, Croatia, and Serbia, instructing them to dispatch military aid as the situation demanded, with all expenses covered by Eastern Rome.

As reinforcements from the various nations arrived, the garrisons in eastern Moravia's towns swelled dramatically. Douglas barely managed to breach two towns before deciding the casualties were simply too steep. He sent a plea to the Emperor, requesting secret weapons; otherwise, this war would be impossible to fight.