Having repelled these reinforcements, Vigée continued to command his soldiers in cutting wood and making siege weapons. As December approached, the weather became increasingly cold, with more than ten centimeters of snow falling, and the rate of gathering militia in various places slowed considerably.
Late at night, Vigée sat at his desk, holding a Latin scroll in his hands, lost in thought. The author of the scroll was a missionary, and the contents were simple, mainly providing geographical information and cultural customs of the Frankish kingdom.
"The Perche region abounds in excellent pastures. After 732 CE, local horses were crossed with Arabian and Andalusian horses. The new breed of horses was docile and energetic, and very suitable for war horses..."
732 CE?
Vigee recalled the Battle of Poitiers that took place that year.
After the Arab army conquered the Iberian Peninsula (later Spain and Portugal), it moved north through the Pyrenees Mountains and marched straight towards them. Charles, the Prime Minister of the Franks, led his troops to meet them. The two sides met in a decisive battle at Poitiers, and the Franks won a great victory.
After the war, Charles received the nickname "the Hammer", and his reputation and power increased dramatically. After the death of Charles the Hammer, his son Pepin III became King of the Franks and founded the Carolingian dynasty. After Pepin III, the Frankish kingdom reached its peak under the reign of his successor, Charlemagne... "
I see. After the Battle of Poitiers, the Franks captured a large number of Arabian and Andalusian horses, thereby improving the bloodlines of the local horses."
Closing the parchment scroll, he rubbed his sore eyes, pulled another scroll out of the box, opened it, looked at it, and discovered that it was an alchemical manuscript written hundreds of years ago. He put it back.
This box of scrolls had been sent to Ivarto as payment for the previous shipment of equipment. Almost 30% of them were alchemical manuscripts describing a mysterious substance called "Lapis Philosophorum." Vig remembered his elementary and high school chemistry textbooks, but he still didn't understand what it was.
(Lapis Philosophorum, the Philosopher's Stone, an alchemical concept said to be able to turn base metals into precious ones and purify the elixir of life.)
In addition, 20% of the manuscripts are related to the teachings of Hippocrates, focusing on the discussion of the circulation of biological fluids. Vig yawned and put these manuscripts in one category.
In addition to alchemy and medicine, these manuscripts contain divination and many obscure fire rituals. Vig's head spun, and he thought he had entered a magical world.
"The entire box is less than 30% manuscripts, and Ivar is just fooling around. No, this batch of books is not worth 40 pounds of silver."
Friendship is friendship, but business is business.
Vig took out a sheet of papyrus to write a letter. As he was about to write, he heard a piercing scream.
Is the enemy attacking?
He put down his paper and pen, donned his armor with the help of his shield bearer, and ran out of the house. At the very moment when the cold wind, shrouded in snowflakes, hit him in the face, driving away his drowsiness, he shouted:
"Everyone gather!" -
he shouted at the top of his voice. More than 30 shield bearers, who were fast asleep, ran out of the barracks one after another. They spent five minutes donning their armor and lining up.
In contrast, Ulf's 20 shield bearers were slow. Even after Vig's troops had assembled, his men were still hesitating, and several drunkards were still lying motionless on their beds.
"Enough waiting. The fighting in the east is fierce. I will lead the troops there first. You are responsible for the north, west and south, to prevent surprise attacks."
With that, Vig and his retainers rushed to the eastern side of the village. A small section of the village wall was breached, and countless Mercian soldiers poured through the breach, torches in hand. There were crowds of people everywhere.
After thinking for half a minute, he called out the names of five shield-bearers and ordered them to gather the scattered archers, then climb up to the roof and shoot the Mercians near the breach.
"Yoln, take ten men to gather the fleeing soldiers and gather them in the open space in the center of the village. There is extra equipment in the warehouse. Remember: for every twenty gathered, let one shield-bearer take command, and then come to reinforce."
Having given the order, Vig ordered the men to bring a cart to block the street, and led the remaining twenty or so shield-bearers to form up behind the cart. With their advantage in equipment, they easily repelled the first enemy attack, then a second, a third...
Three minutes later, a small group of archers climbed up to the roof and opened fire from above. With the Mercian soldiers pressed back, almost every arrow they fired hit its mark, weakening Wig's momentum considerably. After another
two minutes, the first group of regrouped fleeing soldiers arrived to reinforce them and replace Wig and the others. Over time, the tide gradually swung in the Vikings' favor.
Ooo~
The sound of horns was heard from the walls of Tamworth. Realizing that the Vikings had sent reinforcements from the eastern camp of the city, the Mercian army was forced to retreat and flee into the city with torches.
Later, when Wig had cleared the battlefield, he discovered that many of the Mercian warriors were wearing armor. Upon questioning, he learned that they were palace guards.
"One hundred and fifty armored warriors and six hundred militiamen."
Vig couldn't help but feel a little afraid. "Since the decision was made to attack at night, why didn't the Crown Prince prepare all the remaining troops? If the attack had started simultaneously from the south, I'm afraid the probability of capturing the camp would have been 90%."
However, he thought again that even if the Mercians defeated him, the main forces of the eastern camp were still there and would not be able to turn the tide anyway.
"We can't win a field battle, so we can only take these sporadic measures of pursuit. Perhaps the Crown Prince didn't think too much, but simply wanted to use a small victory to inspire the people..."
In connection with the two attacks on the northwestern camp, Ragnar asked Nils to bring 300 men to help with the defense. However, after a series of setbacks, Mercia had completely lost the courage to take the initiative in the attack and watched as the siege weapons outside the city grew larger every day.
December 20th.
The heavy snowfall that had lasted for over a week finally stopped. At midday, Vig and Ulf were ordered to go to the eastern camp for a meeting.
Ragnar: "How are things in the northwestern camp?"
Vig presented the results of the work so far: three trebuchets, three siege towers and a hundred siege ladders. Apparently, the two attacks by the Mercian army had seriously hampered his advance.
Then Leonard appeared. His camp was located on the southern bank of the River Tam, which was not suitable for the main attack, so he concentrated on building trebuchets, ten in all.
"Enough. Two days ago, a large quantity of kerosene canisters and arrows were sent from the countryside. The temperature has risen in the last few days, which is just right for our army to attack the city!"
The soldiers complained about the bitter cold and the hard work they had to do all day, and Ragnar did not want to delay any longer. He ordered three camps to bombard the city walls to weaken the defenders' morale and wait for the right moment to launch a general attack.
After the conference, Vig and Ulf returned to the northwest camp to urge the soldiers to prepare. The next morning, almost simultaneously, trebuchets from three sides began to bombard the walls of Tamworth.