Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 305 Disadvantages in Field Combat
In mid-June, Britain and West Frankish successively sent reinforcements to the front lines.

Vig received four newly trained temporary infantry regiments, while Gunnar received more cavalry and conscripted militia. As they assessed the enemy's increased strength, their nascent fighting spirit quickly subsided.

Vig had seven infantry regiments, plus other troops, totaling 10,000 men, all heavily armored. Unfortunately, they lacked the transport capacity to move the cavalry from the country in time.

If he waited another month, he might be able to bring in nearly a thousand cavalrymen, but Charles the Bald would send even more. West Frankish possessed vast and fertile plains with a pleasant climate, suitable for both agriculture and horse breeding, making it arguably the best territory in all of Europe and ideal for waging this kind of war of attrition.

"Saxony is not a suitable location for the decisive battle; this battle cannot continue."

On the other side, Gunnar possessed more than 15,000 warhorses, packhorses, and draft horses, and his daily grain consumption was terrifying. Both Paris and Saxony were urging him to hurry up and fight the final battle.

However, his thoughts were similar to Vig's; he believed that a decisive battle would not break out. Given their cavalry disadvantage, he did not think Vig would voluntarily leave the city to engage the French army in a decisive battle on a flat, open field.

On June 15, William the Earl of Orléans arrived at the front and conveyed "Bald" Charles's wishes to Gunnar, asking him to find a way to end it all.

Gunnar's expression was complicated as he struggled to suppress the profanity that was about to escape his lips. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

William remained expressionless. "Duke, this is the Emperor's will."

In order to persuade the messenger, Gunnar was forced to lead his army to an open area outside Hamburg, making it appear as if he was about to attack the city.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the sky was clear and the sun shone down without reservation. The air was filled with a strong earthy smell. Gunnar, Count William, and other high-ranking French officers rode to a high point to observe the enemy's movements.

Black, everything was black. About ten thousand infantrymen walked out of the city gate one after another, equipped with the same black armor, just like a large area of ​​scorched black asphalt being poured out, heavily and slowly covering the earth.

Under Gunnar's solemn gaze, the enemy deployed seven bayonet squares outside the city, arranged in a "five in front, two in back" formation. At the forefront and on the left and right flanks, numerous light infantrymen were deployed, forming small squads of more than ten men each, equipped with longbows, shield axes, spears, and pitchforks with dense spikes.

A black dragon banner flew in the center of the formation, beneath which stood a makeshift platform surrounded by a thousand infantrymen and eight hundred cavalrymen. Unsurprisingly, the figure on the platform was none other than Vigée Tyneburg, the man the French high command had long yearned for.

Once the troops were arrayed, they stood silently in place, their spears and lances forming a forest, their tips gleaming with countless sharp, cold light, exuding an indescribable sense of oppression.

"Count, what do you think is the best course of attack?"

Gunnar turned to look at William, who was greatly shocked. Nearly 10,000 men were equipped with uniform armor and were well-disciplined, far surpassing the French army whose armor was of mixed styles.

He replied with difficulty, "You are the commander, and the decision is entirely yours."

Things had progressed to this point, and a battle was inevitable. Gunnar sent out four thousand infantrymen to launch a probing attack.

Once within range, the French army was subjected to relentless barrage of arrows. The Vikings spared no effort in firing their arrows, and although most of them hit shields or grass, the archers continued to fire.

Witnessing this scene, Gunnar muttered to himself, "An arrow costs a penny, and there are over two thousand archers firing. Each volley of arrows is equivalent to ten pounds of silver. Before even entering melee combat, Vigg has already thrown out over a hundred pounds of silver. Ha, they really have money." Finally, the French army and the Viking infantry clashed. After a brief exchange, Gunnar realized that his side had no chance of winning. If he sent cavalry to outflank them, they would be bombarded by the crossbows from the fortified walls, making it difficult to break through the enemy's lines.

Continuing the fight was pointless, so he ordered his messenger to instruct the infantry to retreat. On the way, the French army was once again subjected to a barrage of arrows. The Viking arrows seemed endless, raining down on the French army like a storm, completely disregarding the hundreds of pounds of silver spent.

"The entire army shall retreat and return to camp along the original route."

Upon hearing Gunnar's order, William was speechless. He looked at the knights sitting on the grass awaiting orders and noticed that they were unusually calm, neither making a fuss nor charging ahead without permission.

As the French troops withdrew one after another, Vigé had no intention of pursuing them, watching Gunnar's white flag with a black bear disappear into the distance.

In a daze, he realized that he faced a similar predicament to the Song army in this war:
Our side possesses a large number of heavy infantry and excellent archers, capable of unleashing a barrage of arrows to inflict casualties on the enemy before the battle begins. However, we lack sufficient cavalry, so even if we repel the enemy, we cannot pursue them to expand our gains.

"Next time we go to war, we must find a way to bring all the cavalry from the country over, otherwise we won't be able to fight this war."

Two days later, Vig received news that Carlomann had successfully arrived in Aalborg and picked up the "young man" Louis, who had been trapped for many days. Due to the heavy losses suffered by the Nordic Allied forces, Hafdan did not prevent the French army from withdrawing; his only action was to lead his troops to Schleswig to observe the French army's next move.

After half a year of turmoil, the "young man" Louis could no longer hold on. Discontent arose in the army, and the knights and militiamen were homesick and demanded an early end to the war.

Meanwhile, Vigé was too lazy to waste time in Hamburg.

He estimated that the Frankish forces numbered close to 20,000, and were likely to grow further. Assuming the French launched a full-scale siege of Hamburg and constructed heavy catapults outside the city, Vigé was not confident he could repel the enemy in open battle and would face only a tedious and protracted siege.

In early July, Vigé withdrew to Denmark to assist the Nordic forces in repairing the Daniwijk Line.

Soon after, Louis the Young Man's messenger found Vig to discuss the prisoner exchange.

Throughout the war, Vig captured a total of two thousand prisoners, while his own side only lost sixty-five (mostly Marines). He demanded that the enemy use warhorses as ransom, but this was flatly refused.

"We are willing to provide silver or grain, but we will not hand over any warhorses."

To this day, the Franks are acutely aware of the threat posed by Britain, and the smuggling of warhorses has been completely halted, preventing the Vikings from possessing a large cavalry force.

For more than a week afterward, Louis remained unwilling to budge, and negotiations stalled. Vigé simply put the issue aside and focused on another important matter.

On July 15, he convened a meeting of the top allied forces to discuss the subsequent situation.

Overall, everyone contributed. Hafdan and Eric the Younger's field battles failed because the Allied cavalry and heavy infantry were significantly weaker than the French army; however, their command was not fundamentally flawed.

(End of this chapter)