Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 19 Mancini

After capturing Leeds, the Viking army scattered and looted everywhere, focusing on the mansions and monasteries in the town center, while some went out to plunder the countryside.

More than a week later, the Viking squads that had gone out returned one by one. After a short rest, Ragnar left one hundred old, weak, and disabled men to guard the baggage and ships, and then led the army on foot to the next location.

The journey from Leeds to Manchuni required traversing a hilly area, which severely slowed their march. It wasn't until the afternoon of the third day that they finally saw the walls of Manchuni.

Compared to Leeds, this place has a stone wall about four meters high, making it look like a city left behind by the Romans.

Fortunately, due to years of disrepair, a small section of the northern city wall had collapsed, and hundreds of laborers were urgently repairing it. Upon seeing the arrival of a large number of ferocious Viking raiders, the laborers dropped their tools and fled back into the city, shouting exaggeratedly loud cries.

"This is a rare opportunity, let's go!"

The Vikings once again used the brute force tactic, charging through the breach in the city wall led by Ivar, only to run headlong into a large group of heavily armored Anglo soldiers.

These men were equipped with square shields and formed a shield wall on the street, which was about eight meters wide. When Ivar saw this, he raised his longsword and signaled the Viking warriors to form a wedge formation behind him.

"inn!"

Ivar spat and charged toward the shield wall, calling out Odin's name. Surprisingly, when he pierced the first rank of soldiers, the warm blood splattering on the faces of those behind did not frighten them. On the contrary, the Anglo-Saxon soldiers' tenacity and bravery far exceeded the Vikings' expectations.

"Ha, these Anglo-Saxon dwarves are pretty tough!"

Ivar frantically stabbed the gaps between the shields with his longsword, and every time he killed someone, the soldiers in the back would fill the gap.

To Ivar's right, Bjorn swung his battle axe at the shield wall. As wood chips flew, two spears emerged from the gaps in the shield. His axe was stuck in the oak shield, forcing him to retreat rapidly. Unexpectedly, he was pierced in the abdomen by one of the spears. Even with chainmail protection, the spearhead was still stained with a few drops of blood.

Behind the battlefield, Nils used his bow and arrow to kill the Anglo archers on the rooftops on both sides. However, the number of enemies seemed endless, and after a series of exchanges, the Viking archers were at a disadvantage.

As time passed, the Anglo-Saxon shield formation remained as immovable as a reef, and the Viking offensive noticeably slowed. As the clanging of metal gradually subsided, Ivar signaled to his companions to retreat slowly.

Suddenly, a battle cry rang out outside the city. He turned around and saw a large group of Anglo-Saxon soldiers emerging from the woods to the west, with the lead rider carrying a red and yellow striped flag.

The next moment, Ivar heard Vig exclaim in surprise:
"The royal banner of Northumbria! Damn it, no wonder these enemies are so formidable, they must be King Elaude's royal guard!"

Attacked from the rear, Ivar was forced to retreat from Manchuni. At this time, a large number of archers appeared on the city walls and rained down a dense rain of arrows on the retreating Viking warriors.

Under multiple blows, the assault team of over three hundred men finally collapsed. The crowd ran backward in disarray and rejoined Ragnar's main force. The surviving members of the assault team passed on the panic to their comrades, causing more and more Vikings to spontaneously flee, and their morale was on the verge of collapse.

"Ivar, Vig, maintain formation!"

The situation was critical. Ragnar and four nobles volunteered to hold off the enemy, buying the main force three precious minutes. Three minutes passed, and the Viking main force shrank into an irregular circle, narrowly escaping the most dangerous phase. However, the cost was extremely high; only a small fraction of the warriors who followed Ragnar survived, including one noble who was killed in action.

As darkness fell, the Vikings huddled together and slowly retreated. Once the two armies had disengaged, Ragnar counted his men and found that he had lost a third of his force, leaving only 1,050.

"Why is Elrod not staying in the capital, but instead appearing in Manchuria in the southwest?"

Five Anglo soldiers happened to have gone too far in the pursuit. After they were captured, Ragnar couldn't wait to ask questions, and the result was unexpected.

"You mean, Elaud gathered these troops to quell the noble rebellion and repair the walls of Manchuni, and I just happened to run into him, so he turned the tables and set up an ambush?"

After hearing the prisoners' confessions, Ragnar regretted not heeding Leonard's advice. If he had pressed on to York, he would probably be dividing up the treasure in the palace now, instead of ending up in this situation.

After a hasty night's rest, the Vikings retreated eastward. As they crossed a mountain ridge, Vig suddenly pointed behind them and shouted, "Northumbrian army, they've been following us the whole time!"

The enemy force numbered approximately 1,500, including 200 soldiers in iron armor, who were the palace guards who had blocked the streets yesterday.

In addition, there were twenty riders in the middle of the group. Judging from their flamboyant clothing, they were probably nobles or gentry from various places. Surprisingly, these people were not equipped with stirrups.

"Isn't it?"

Historical records indicate that double-sided metal stirrups were invented during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and were later widely used in military applications, leading to the emergence of armored cavalry where riders and horses wore armor together. Based on Vig's observations in Eastern Europe, both the Pecheneg nomads and the Janissary cavalry of Constantinople were equipped with stirrups; it was unexpected that Britain was so slow to adopt them.

"The lack of stirrups means that the enemy's riders can only serve as mobile units rather than shock cavalry, which is good."

At midday, small groups of enemy archers appeared in the woods on both sides. They didn't care about accuracy; they simply hurled arrows at the Vikings from a distance, effectively slowing their march. By sunset, the pursuing forces were only two kilometers away.

With things having come to this, the remaining Vikings completely abandoned their illusions, stopped at an abandoned farm, and chose to fight their enemies to the death the next day.

As the sun set, the entire sky was dyed a vibrant orange-red. With the bloody battle imminent, most of the Vikings indulged in a final frenzy, drinking, fighting, and having sex, making promises to meet again in Valhalla after their deaths, turning the entire camp into a chaotic mess.

Vig did not join them, but instead surveyed the terrain nearby. The land north of the road was flat, suitable for a decisive battle. For decades, the British states had learned the Viking shield wall tactic, and if he was not mistaken, tomorrow both armies would form shield walls and clash head-on until one side's formation completely crumbled.

"With 1,000 men against 1,500, and our troops having low morale, we estimate that we have less than a 30% chance of winning this battle."

He shifted his gaze to the hillside south of the road, frowned and pondered for a long time, and finally came up with a plan to defeat the enemy.

(End of this chapter)