Viking: Master of the Icy Sea

Chapter 393: Rolling up the Pearl Blinds

Sure enough, the enemy had not let this loose militia force slip by!

Alfred and his colleagues organized the defense. The soldiers of the Frankish Army used supply wagons to form two loose circular wagon forts, with over six thousand men relying on these formations for defense.

The rest of the Allied Forces also reacted. Junior military officers roared hoarsely, shoving the soldiers around them to position the pikemen on the outside and the remaining troops on the inside.

Some instinctively obeyed, clumsily thrusting the butts of their spears into the mud with the spearheads angling outward. But the majority acted like a startled flock of sheep, spinning in place or blindly pushing backward, leaving their formations in absolute chaos.

In just a few minutes, countless Viking rangers charged to the front lines, galloping back and forth around the militia's formations. Wearing standard black brigandine armor and riding lean, sturdy steppe horses, they continuously fired arrows down upon the militia.

Piercing shrieks tore through the air as arrows fell relentlessly, embedding themselves into shields, mud, and flesh. The militia gradually fell into disarray.

"Hold steady!" the junior military officers cried, their voices growing ever more hoarse. "Archers, return fire!"

The archers of the Allied Forces were positioned inside the formations, leaving them no choice but to use high-angle fire. However, they lacked unified command. Relying purely on their own instincts, the archers drew their bows and loosed arrows into the sky, with the vast majority of their shots hitting nothing but air.

It did not take long for the tremors in the ground to grow more violent. Even more cavalry had arrived.

Since June, the vast majority of the battles had been siege warfare, meaning Wigg's cavalry had suffered very few casualties. After receiving reinforcements from the homeland, their cavalry numbers had actually increased.For this operation, he had brought a total of two thousand five hundred rangers, five thousand heavy cavalry, and four thousand mounted infantry.

This army had set out from Florence, marching along the ancient Roman roads to cross the Apennine Mountains from south to north, before taking a brief rest in Bologna.

Afterward, Wigg did not head directly north. Instead, he intentionally took a massive detour:

Heading northwest to Parma, they crossed the river via a pontoon bridge in the middle reaches of the Po Valley, then launched a rapid strike toward the northeast to outflank the rear of the Balkan Allied Forces.

After a rapid march of hundreds of kilometers, the rangers were in relatively good condition, but the heavy cavalry and mounted infantry fared much worse, with stragglers reducing their numbers by forty percent.

Therefore, upon arriving at the battlefield, Wigg could only deploy two thousand rangers, three thousand heavy cavalry, and two thousand five hundred mounted infantry.

He headed to the hills on the western side of the battlefield to observe the movements of the Allied Forces.

"Charles the Bald's banners, along with the flags of Croatia, Slavonia, and the other nations. Hah, even the banners of Venice? Interesting. It seems this entire motley crew has gathered together."

The most tightly defended group was naturally the Frankish remnants. Situated in the middle of the marching column, they had formed two circular wagon forts that mutually supported each other.

The formations of the Allied Forces on the left and right flanks were disorganized. The armies of the various kingdoms huddled together, forming numerous irregular circular spear formations. Two thousand rangers repeatedly harassed the perimeter of the Allied Forces, forcing them to remain pinned in place.

After observing for half a minute, Wigg selected a contingent of the Allied Forces on the northernmost edge of the battlefield as his first target.

Soon, the two thousand five hundred mounted infantry all dismounted and advanced toward the northern side of the battlefield. Among them, one thousand were pikemen, and the remaining one thousand five hundred were Welsh longbowmen.

Upon entering their range, the longbowmen halted their advance and unleashed high-angle fire, raining feathered arrows down upon the circular spear formations ahead.

The longbowmen fired twenty consecutive volleys of feathered arrows, throwing the circular spear formations into absolute turmoil. Some of the militia wanted to charge out and fight to the death, while the rest shrank backward in fear.

Right at that moment, the heavy cavalry mobilized. They trotted forward in dead silence, uttering no battle cries as they gradually gathered momentum. When the distance closed to thirty paces, the warhorses reached their maximum speed. The heavy cavalry leveled their lances and crashed brutally into the disjointed formations.

In an instant, the front-row militia were skewered by lances or trampled by warhorses charging at a full sprint. Once their lances shattered, the heavy cavalry drew longswords or flails from their saddles, hacking left and right to ruthlessly harvest the fleeing soldiers. Witnessing this gruesome slaughter, the remaining militia broke completely. They threw down their weapons and turned to flee, but with cavalry blocking the west, north, and east, the routed troops had no choice but to crush together and flee toward the south.

After sprinting several dozen paces, the routed soldiers crashed into the spear formations of their allies. Desperately forcing their way inside, they disrupted their allies' lines, making it effortless for the heavy cavalry to trample right through them.

From there, herded by the cavalry, the fleeing mob continued surging south, shattering one formation after another.

Finally, tens of thousands of routed soldiers stampeded into the central army's position. Alfred was absolutely furious at these fools, ordering his subordinates to fire arrows at the fleeing troops to force them to bypass the wagon forts.

Up on the western hills, Wigg muttered a soft sigh. "Hah, they finally realized what is happening."

He swiftly changed the flag signals, ordering the cavalry to temporarily ignore the two Frankish wagon forts and continue south, using the exact same tactics to assault the southern formations of the Allied Forces.

In just half an hour, the Viking cavalry swept from north to south, crushing the vast majority of the formations. Looking out from afar, the plains were littered with fleeing figures. Wigg felt an immense surge of exhilaration; he finally understood the sheer thrill of using a small cavalry force to obliterate a massive infantry army.

Rolling up the Pearl Blinds. This strategy had been popular during the Sui and Tang dynasties, invented by Yang Shuang, the Prince of Wei of the Sui dynasty. Its ideal application was when one possessed a small, elite cavalry force attacking a massive, poorly organized infantry force.

Deep in thought, Wigg quickly jotted down a sentence in his notebook. "The key lies in herding the routed troops, not annihilating them. One must remember to maintain pressure with the cavalry, forcing the fleeing soldiers to crash into the enemy's own formations, ultimately triggering a chain collapse."

Suddenly, Leif offered a whispered reminder. "Uncle, the Franks are escaping!"

At this very moment, taking advantage of the chaos from the collapse of the Allied Forces, the Frankish remnants had grouped together and were retreating rapidly toward the northeast.

Wigg scanned the battlefield, realizing that the rangers had long since scattered, and the heavy cavalry had similarly lost their organization as they busied themselves hunting down the routed Balkan militia. Lacking an organized cavalry unit, he was forced to dispatch the mounted infantry instead.

As night fell, the Frankish Army had just over four thousand men remaining. They had shaken off the pursuit of the mounted infantry, fleeing desperately until a stretch of muddy tidal flats appeared ahead.

"Quick, light all the torches!"

Once a massive swath of light illuminated the darkness, Charles the Bald ordered his soldiers to shout toward the sea. Before long, their cries drew the attention of a Venetian fishing boat.

The fishermen on the boat yelled back, "How did you end up wandering so far off the ancient Roman road?"

Charles the Bald shouted in reply, "The Allied Forces suffered a cavalry ambush! We are the only ones left! For the sake of our shared faith, hurry and call for help!"

Two hours later, Venetian merchant ships began to arrive one after another. Enduring sporadic harassment, the Frankish Army boarded the vessels in an orderly fashion and evacuated.

Following this battle, the troops pieced together by the Balkan nations were entirely wiped out. The two thousand Venetian militia were also annihilated, and even the Venetian Governor was taken captive.

Having reclaimed control over the Po Valley, Wigg began to ponder his next strategy.

'Attack Rome. Or mimic Hannibal's tactics, bypass the city of Rome, and plunder southern Italy to force Basil into taking the offensive. Wait, perhaps there is one other option'