Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 208 Hall of Valor

The natural environment and a series of surrounding tribes were against them. In the eyes of a typical Viking like Ivar, they had to rely on war and expansion to survive. To stay within their means being stuck in the quagmire of the North, choosing to compromise and accepting the current situation of poverty and cold, which was irresponsible to their subordinates and the people.

That was why he disliked the Danish king who was content with the status quo. In his opinion, being content with the status quo was the most shameful thing. Giving up the fight against the miserable status quo meant giving up the right to survival of the weak within the ethnic group. The barren land in the north could not feed so many people.

Ivar was still a rational man. He knew that the great god Odin, the majestic Thor, the fertile Frey or the Norn goddesses who weaved fate were not so concerned about the ups and downs of the human world. The so-called Valheim was probably just the wishful thinking of them northerners, but he believed that wishful thinking was a very meaningful thing.

Violence and struggle are the ways of making a living chosen by the Vikings, so they must find meaning in them, and this meaning is Valhalla. With the spiritual sustenance of Valhalla, they can be more fearless and fearless than others in battle and are more likely to survive. This is a very realistic thing, so Valhalla, which emphasizes war and glorious death, will become a core component of the Vikings' belief, and it is also the most attractive part in Ivar's eyes.

At this moment, the Vikings who believed in Valhalla and were ready to die in order to survive were swinging their weapons at the enemy. The Celts were caught off guard and had not formed a battle formation at all. Most of them did not even have their armor and weapons ready, and they just fought hastily.

A large number of people were crowded in the densely packed tent area. They had no idea what was happening outside. In addition, the Vikings deliberately set fire to some tents, causing small fires, which aggravated their panic. A tragic stampede occurred in the camp. Until the Vikings' weapons chopped off these people's heads, most of them were unable to organize any effective resistance.

During this critical period, the Viking troops entrenched in Dublin opened the city gates, shouted various slogans, and pounced on the already somewhat loose and scattered Celtic army outside the city like tigers.

Under attack from both inside and outside, the morale of the besiegers suffered a serious blow again. If they were professional soldiers like the Romans, they would choose to unite around their decapitations and centurions when the command system was almost paralyzed, form a formation to carry out orderly resistance and retreat, and minimize losses and casualties to the enemy, just like what Orville encountered when he participated in the siege of the Holy City. This was a direct proof of the high level of military training.

But these Celts were not Romans, they had no concept of so-called professional soldiers, they were just strong and brave men from every household fighting for their leader and obeying his orders. This inefficient and backward command mode doomed them to be unable to fight tough battles and face adverse situations.

After being attacked from both sides, the Celtic army was badly beaten. Most of them lost their will to fight and began to flee. These fleeing soldiers dispersed or blocked a large number of soldiers who wanted to resist. In the end, only a small part of the army, under the leadership of their leaders, managed to organize a more effective resistance.

These people could not save the situation because individual efforts were almost useless in such a chaotic situation. Ivar and his brothers shuttled through the battlefield, looking for any place with resistance, and then carried out decapitation operations on these people. The spark of resistance would be extinguished in a very short time.

It should be said that although King Comfort of Ulster tended to be conservative and xenophobic due to his old age, he was also a leader with considerable charisma. As a gifted person, his martial arts skills were quite high, and he reacted to the situation quickly. He organized a military force to the best of his ability to resist the Vikings and try to reverse the decline.

But Ivar himself set his target on Comfort from the very beginning. After he showed up to lead the troops to fight, all the Viking troops instantly moved towards his position. Ivar and his brothers led their men to encircle and suppress the already small number of troops around Comfort.

Under the siege, Confort saw the number of soldiers united around him becoming smaller and smaller, and later he had to fight the enemy himself. There is a reason why the ancients said that a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Even if the leader is very powerful, there are still risks as long as he goes to the war in person. Once the main general dies, the army will be directly defeated. There are many such examples in history.

Ivar held a long sword in his hand, hiding in the chaotic army formation and waiting for an opportunity to strike.

He was not a warrior with a strong presence, and Kang Fuqiu's attention was all focused on the enemy in front of him. He was busy killing the enemy and did not pay attention to the potential crisis lurking around him.

Finally, after a long hand-to-hand fight, when Conforchu was a little exhausted and his breathing was disordered, Ivar found an opportunity and stabbed out with a fierce sword, heading straight for Conforchu's throat.

Kang Fuqiu almost reacted and wanted to step back while raising his shield to try to block Ivar's sword, but the battlefield was too crowded and his movements were delayed by the surging crowd around him, so he was inevitably half a beat slower.

Ivar's sword pierced Conforchu's throat and he fell powerlessly with his eyes wide open. The surrounding soldiers saw their commander dead and almost immediately lost their willpower to resist after being stunned. They were seized by the ferocious Viking warriors and killed on the spot. The war was settled at this point.

After killing several Celtic guards who were in the way, Ivar cut off their heads, raised them high above his head, and shouted with all his strength: "Comforchu is dead! Run for your lives, you rats!!!"

The already chaotic and out-of-control battlefield now leans more towards the Vikings, and the last possibility of the Kingdom of Ulster to stop the resistance has been strangled. What happens next is just a matter of letting nature take its course.

Most of the scattered Celts chose to flee and abandon the siege. The few remaining organized troops either withdrew from the battlefield in an orderly manner under the leadership of their leaders, or were regarded as threats and challenges by the Vikings and killed on the spot.

The numerous but disorganized Celts were defeated by the smaller but more organized Vikings, who defeated the 20,000-strong confederation of Celtic chieftains with an army of less than 10,000, just as Orville had done in England.

The Siege of Dublin organized by King Comfort ended in failure. The Vikings led by Ivar the Boneless finally won the war, which brought about huge losses in the native Irish force. This made the situation in Ireland, which was very good for the Romans, suddenly become confusing.

(End of this chapter)