Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 381 Hasty Preparation for Battle
Two thousand sets of iron armor?
Kozel was astonished by the Vikings' extravagance; in the past, even the entire Moravian Empire couldn't muster so many suits of armor.

"This battle can be fought; at least holding Zatayz shouldn't be a problem."

Four days later, the fleet arrived at the Zatais dock, where Kozel personally inspected the goods. Only 30% were new, while the remaining 70% showed signs of repair.

After testing, it was found that this novel style of cloth armor could protect against arrows and melee slashes. Kozel immediately changed into a set of officer's armor and asked the Red Snapper agent, "How much does this cost?"

The agent raised his chin, displaying a hint of arrogance. "No need, this is the emperor's reward. You just focus on fighting; we'll take care of the weapons and equipment."

Soon, all two thousand militiamen in Kozel were wearing armor and equipped with standardized weapons, giving the entire force a completely new look and boosting their morale.

For the next week or so, Kozel led his army on a tour of the surrounding region. At the same time, he spread the word that the Viking Empire's 100,000-strong army had already set out and would arrive in Moravia next month; any nobles who dared to disobey would suffer the same fate as the Frankish nobles!
Under coercion and enticement, Kozel won over a large number of minor nobles and gentry, expanded his army to 3,500, and also captured five settlements, seizing a large amount of grain and livestock.

Kozel, mounted on horseback, observed the long marching column. His growing strength had lessened his anxieties, and he began to plan for further gains, seeking to extract more benefits from the war.

That evening, he received a message that the king's standing army was heading to Hradec, and the local lord had requested reinforcements.

Although this man had thwarted Kozel's plans, he was ultimately an ally in the same camp, and the two were even cousins. Kozel left five hundred soldiers to defend the city and led the remaining three thousand soldiers eastward along the Elbe River.

Along the way, shamans occasionally led people to join the army, and Kozel welcomed all who came. At the same time, he allowed his soldiers to plunder settlements where people were unwilling to return to their traditional beliefs. This was partly to raise supplies, and partly to vent the soldiers' resentment and increase their loyalty.

“My lord, your march is too slow. Yesterday you only covered twelve miles. I suggest you leave those slow-moving militiamen behind to escort the supplies.” The Viking officer, who was serving as a temporary advisor, approached Kozel, but his suggestion was not adopted, and the army continued to advance slowly.

On January 25, the King's standing army arrived in Hradec ahead of the others.

On the advice of Greek advisors, 2,600 soldiers deliberately looted manors outside the city to lure the lord into battle, easily defeating his army and nearly capturing the town.

On the morning of the 28th, the regular army, which was building siege equipment, received news that reinforcements to Kozel were on their way.

At the operational meeting, Greek advisors suggested that the standing army take the initiative to engage Kozel.

"My lord, the city's garrison has been decimated. Even if we leave temporarily, they will not dare to pursue us. I suggest we immediately head west and seize the hills near this crossroads to block the enemy."

The commander did as instructed, ordering his soldiers to pack their bags and march westward, arriving at their destination at noon on the 29th.

At 2 p.m., an army of about 3,500 men appeared in the distance at the end of the road. Their formation was loose and their movements were slow. The only noteworthy part was the 2,000 armored soldiers.

Lacking cavalry on either side, Kozel's troops successfully deployed, facing off against the enemy thousands of meters away in the eastern hills.

The standing army was equipped entirely with Byzantine gear: lamellar armor, Spagan helmets with cheek guards, 2.8-meter-long one-handed spears, oval wooden shields, and composite recurve bows.

Kozel's core forces were equipped with typical Viking gear: black cloth armor, pointed helmets with neck guards, and three-and-a-half-meter-long two-handed spears. There were also seven hundred militiamen with crossbows, but they were not armored. Nominally, both sides claimed to be fighting for Morvia, but outwardly, it was a classic proxy war.

Under the manipulation of two powerful monarchs, the once unified Kingdom of Moravia eventually split, and a civil war officially broke out.

Kozel's seven hundred crossbowmen advanced first, forming two loose horizontal lines, slowly approaching the hill and exchanging fire with five hundred archers.

Lacking iron armor, the crossbowmen erected a wooden shield shaped like a door in front of them, which they could make do with.

More than ten minutes later, the archers were exhausted and retreated back into their formation. The crossbowmen continued to fire, and although they did not cause many casualties, they had at least repelled the enemy.

"Very good, the boys did a great job."

Kozel felt he had the upper hand, and a slight smile appeared on his lips, prompting the Viking advisor beside him to think to himself, "On the Frankish battlefield, this formation would have been torn apart by cavalry long ago. How dare he smile?"

Next came infantry warfare.

The standing army, filled with a large number of new recruits, did not gain a significant advantage in the melee phase. On the contrary, the rebels, who outnumbered the standing army, gradually outflanked it from both sides, forming an ever-expanding crescent shape.

With the situation in their favor, the Viking advisor did not rush to celebrate, but instead scanned the horizon, worried that cavalry might appear.

Sure enough, just as the regular army was about to collapse, a hundred cavalrymen suddenly appeared on the north side of the battlefield. They brandished longswords and increased their horse speed to maximum from a distance of five hundred paces—this alone was enough to determine that they were a group of cavalrymen who had only recently been trained.

After charging at full speed for several hundred paces, the cavalry formation completely broke apart, and the horses, exhausted, gradually slowed down. The end result was that scattered cavalrymen crashed into the enemy lines, greatly reducing the effectiveness of the charge.

After a chaotic and disorganized battle, the regular army broke free from the encirclement, at the cost of losing most of its cavalry.

"Fortunately, these barbarians don't use shock cavalry, otherwise we would be in danger." The Viking advisor secretly rejoiced, then suggested that Kozel send out the remaining militia and crossbowmen to give the enemy no chance to breathe.

After the militia and crossbowmen were driven back, the rebels' armored spearmen regrouped and launched a third attack, finally defeating this standing army.

The following day, Kozel arrived in Hradec in triumph, further boosting the rebels' morale and attracting a large number of people whose interests had been harmed by the reforms.

In early February, the Viking army, numbering about 10,000 men, entered Moravia and was commanded by Douglas. Fearing that a prolonged delay would provoke intervention from the Eastern Roman Empire, he joined forces with Kozel's army to attack the Moravian capital.

However, the Vikings underestimated the Eastern Roman Empire's resolve. Basil had already notified the southern states of Slavonia, Croatia, and Serbia, instructing them to send troops to aid the Eastern Roman Empire as needed, with all expenses borne by the Eastern Roman Empire.

As reinforcements from various countries arrived, the garrison in the eastern towns of Morvia increased dramatically. Douglas barely managed to capture two towns, but felt the casualties were too high. He requested the emperor to provide secret weapons, otherwise the war would be impossible to continue.

(End of this chapter)