Vikings: Nordic women

Chapter 31 You Will Be Made into a Blood Eagle

"Damn turtle shell!" Ralph cursed angrily, his heart filled with hatred for the solid turtle shell-like shield.

The soldiers, holding shields, moved slowly across the plain, forming a protective circle and heading towards the nearby woods.

Under the suppression of bows and arrows, the archers and crossbowmen surrounded by shields could not raise their heads to fight back. If they tried to raise their heads, they would be shot fatally.

Ralph and his companions could only rely on bows and arrows to slow their advance, but the arrows could not penetrate the shields and naturally could not harm the Viking warriors behind the shields.

"Use the javelin!" Ralph ordered angrily.

He drew a javelin from his javelin bag, held it tightly in his hand, and then spurred his horse towards the shield formation, with his riders following closely behind.

The Viking warriors felt that the number of arrows hitting their shields had been reduced by at least half. Although Jurgen and his men were still harassing them with arrows, they did not dare to risk sticking their heads out to observe the situation.

They heard the rapid sound of horse hooves approaching, like an approaching storm.

"Defend! Defend! Prepare to resist the charge!" Ludwig shouted anxiously, his voice almost reaching his limit.

Under his command, the Viking warriors extended their spears through the gaps in their shields and stuck the spearheads diagonally into the ground, forming a solid line of defense, ready to meet the cavalry's charge.

"Prepare for javelins!" Ludwig shouted again, and a group of warriors quickly took out javelins from behind, grasped the short spears in their backhands, and prepared to throw.

The sound of horse hooves approached like thunder, accompanied by bursts of whistling. Ralph and others used the momentum of the horses to throw their javelins fiercely.

Ludwig felt a muffled groan from someone beside him, which made him break out in a cold sweat. Another javelin with a huge impact force penetrated the wooden shield and hit the other warrior on the head, nailing him mercilessly to the ground.

Seven or eight warriors fell in the same way, causing chaos and defensive loopholes in the shield formation. The warriors on the side quickly filled in and tried to stabilize the defense line.

In this chaotic moment, Jurgen's riders held their horses, stayed on the other side, moved a little closer, switched to soft bows with faster shooting speed, and shot and killed several Viking warriors who were adjusting their formation.

"Throw!" Ludwig shouted again, and immediately some warriors stood up and threw spears in the direction of the sound of horse hooves, but they were quickly shot down, and some people were hit by arrows in the arms and lost their combat effectiveness.

At normal speed, the riders should have hit the javelins by now. However, Ralph did not continue to charge at the shield formation, but cleverly circled around and kept a distance from the shield formation.

The javelin, which could not fly far, could only be stuck diagonally into the ground.

Ludwig and his troops were pinned to the spot, unable to move their shield formation, and whenever they tried to continue their slow advance, Ralph would close in like a mosquito being waved away and attack with his javelin.

This cavalry unit's attack tactics are really annoying!
He had never seen such tactics before, and in his opinion, cavalry were usually no match for infantry, and the same number of cavalry often could not fight against the same number of infantry.

However, the tactics and coordination of this cavalry unit completely overturned his cognition. Their attack was swift and fierce, catching the infantry off guard.

He had to admit that the fighting power of this cavalry unit far exceeded his expectations, and their tactics and coordination were amazing.

He began to realize that he needed to rethink how to deal with this new tactical challenge.

He was afraid that the cavalry would suddenly charge, so whenever the sound of horse hooves approached, they could only stop, extend their spears through the gaps in their shields, and try to defend and counterattack.

He had never encountered such a cunning enemy. It felt like he was punching with all his strength, but it was hitting cotton. It was completely useless.

If this situation continues, the more than one hundred warriors in both territories will eventually be exhausted.

"Who are you? Did that despicable woman send you to kill me?" Ludwig's voice came, but Ralph did not respond. The others did not understand what was happening and just followed the orders instinctively.

Using the same tactics again and again, Ludwig left more and more bodies in his wake as he moved.

Seeing their companions falling one by one, but unable to even catch sight of the enemy, the morale of the Viking warriors dropped to the lowest point. They did not collapse and flee, but were supported entirely by their firm belief in the Aesir.

"Woden, grant us the power of the ancient world!" Finally, a warrior couldn't bear it anymore. He ran towards Ralph and the others with a shield. The warriors behind him followed him like crazy.

However, they were knocked down by the arrows shot by Jurgen and fell to their knees, wailing in pain.

There were large gaps in the shield formation's defense in an instant. While the warriors were adjusting their formation, they were harassed and attacked by Ralph and Jurgen. They had already switched to bows and arrows, ready for the charge.

The number of one hundred warriors has been reduced to half. Ludwig is filled with anxiety. If this continues, they will all die here sooner or later.

However, his faith did not allow him to escape.

Jurgen and Ralf switched combat modes, Jurgen used javelins to attack, while Ralf used a bow to harass. The warriors kept falling, leaving only more than 20 warriors who were still holding on. Each of them was wounded, and their bodies were stained with their own and their companions' blood.

"Leader of the opposite side, do you have the courage to fight me one-on-one?" Ludwig's voice rang out on the battlefield, full of challenge.

He was in dire straits.

In a traditional challenge, all the riders stopped their attacks at this remark, and they waited for Ralph's answer.

However, Ralph did not respond, but continued to shoot: "Have you forgotten Madam's instructions? The commander does not allow the one-on-one challenge to be accepted in accordance with tradition!"

"Run! Run!" Ludwig's nerves collapsed and he shouted in horror.

At the same time, all the warriors dropped their shields and ran towards the nearby woods like crazy.

"Charge, flying geese formation!" Ralph held the lance and shouted loudly. The first row of riders behind him changed to lances one after another. The rapid sound of horse hooves rang out again, like a death warrant, knocking on the heart of the fleeing Ludwig.

"Despicable, shameless, and without any warrior spirit!" Ludwig cursed as he ran wildly, panting with exhaustion. The armor on his body became a burden to him, and his fat body made his running speed the slowest.

The sound of horse hooves behind him was getting closer and closer. Ludwig turned his head in horror and saw a three-meter-long lance stabbing towards him. The dagger on the lance easily broke his armor. The fish-scale armor that Ouni gave him was like paper, and the dagger pierced his torso.

"Ah ah ah ah ah……"

As he screamed, the warhorse slammed into him hard, knocking him a meter away. The dagger in his body was pulled out by the rider. He rolled over several times and his bones were broken by the falling horseshoes.

The warriors who ran fast also met the same fate, being pierced through the body by the horse lances. Even those who managed to avoid it were knocked down by the horses and trampled to death or injured by their hooves.

Jurgen's troops were all equipped with maces, which were more effective in expanding the results of the battle. A warrior wearing a helmet was filled with despair. He had just barely avoided the attacks of several horse lances, but suddenly, he felt a heavy blow to his shoulder from the mace, and his body immediately lost its balance.

Just when he thought he was going to fall and be trampled to death by the horses' hooves, another mace hit his helmet hard, leaving a deep dent in it.

"Ugh~" The warrior's eyes went dark and he suddenly felt he couldn't breathe in his chest. At this moment, he thought of his family who were waiting for his return at home, and his younger brother who was selected to enter Huscarz and was said to have become an adjutant.

He was always proud of him.

"Bang~" A sharp-eyed rider in the last row spotted him and hit him hard in the face again.

The warrior finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell to one knee. He used his spear to support the ground, trying to support himself from falling, but the strength in his hands became weaker and weaker, and finally he fell straight to the ground.

In this battle, except for two unlucky guys who accidentally fell off their horses and were dragged by the stirrups and broke their bones, no one was injured by the enemy's attacks.

At this time, Jurgen, who was charging with Ralph, found something wrong, because those armors looked very familiar, and they were the same attire worn by the soldiers in his territory.

But his sense of discipline prevented him from asking until this moment, "Sir, who is the enemy?"

"Traitors!" Ralph replied casually.

"Lord Jurgen, there's something wrong with these people!" A rider who was cleaning the battlefield and picking up weapons discovered something unusual.

Jurgen ran over immediately, but Ralph did not stop him, but just waited quietly for the judgment of fate.

"My brother, how could it be you?" Jurgen recognized the unrecognizable corpse, his voice full of disbelief and pain.

Of course the corpse couldn't answer him.

Several riders were shocked and found the bodies of their loved ones, and the scene suddenly fell into chaos and grief.

"Murder, this is murder!" A rider reacted and angrily accused Ralph, "You made us kill our own relatives with our own hands! I want you to pay the price!"

The rider knocked Ralph to the ground with one punch and grabbed him by the collar, his eyes full of anger and questioning: "Why did you do this?"

"Stop!" A rider who was also a war orphan like Ralph stopped him, trying to prevent the conflict from escalating.

Jurgen carried his father's body with tears streaming down his face. As he walked past Ralph, his eyes were filled with hatred and anger: "Coward! You betrayed me, you betrayed all of us, traitor! I will hand you over to Madam Ouni for disposal! You will be strangled! Cut off your head! Make it into a blood eagle! I curse you, I curse you!"

Ralph was knocked down by Jurgen's punch. He said nothing, but a crazy smile appeared on his face.

(End of this chapter)