The warriors of Mercia cheered at the top of the city, but the people inside the city were wailing.
Botwulf was very happy. Since he could repel the enemy's first attack, subsequent defenses should be successful.
The captain of the guard endured the pain and ran to the prince: "Your Highness, we have succeeded."
"Yes, I have seen it. You...you are injured."
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The captain of the guard subconsciously covered his right hand, which was tied into a ball with linen, and said timidly: "It doesn't matter." He hurriedly changed the topic: "My secret weapon is successful. Even if the hot water cannot burn people to death, It can also cause them to be injured."
Botwulf nodded, "Now count the number of dead and comfort the injured."
"As commanded."
Prince Botwulf, with a group of warriors who had experienced the battle, deliberately marched among the frightened people. The accompanying priests also held golden urns and dipped cypress branches in pure water. Sprinkle it on those around you.
The people spontaneously knelt down. When the prince kept preaching that he led the troops to repel the enemy, smiles finally appeared on the frightened faces.
The battle ended before noon. The Balmoq army's hasty attack was unable to break through the city wall. After a chaotic battle, they temporarily retreated. After some inspection, they did not suffer much losses.
Even the losses in Mercia were not much. More than fifty people died in battle due to various reasons, and the Balmoq army was almost the same.
This was the first setback since landing in Britain. The retreating army returned to the riverside camp to sit down and rest.
Isn’t it failure if there is no success? Magnut was so angry that he did not complain about his men, nor did he complain about the hundreds of Russian troops who did not directly participate in the battle.
He pointed at the city wall in the military tent and yelled: "Damn wall, hateful enemy. They are as hard as iron ingots!"
Biyongni also followed suit: "We miscalculated. This is the most difficult enemy our army has ever encountered. They used a secret weapon and some brothers were burned. I'm worried that if they use hot oil next time, it will be too troublesome."
"What should we do?" Magnut gritted his teeth and asked around him: "Where is Rurik?"
"He is checking our wounded."
"You, invite him here quickly. Damn it, I should have listened to his opinion! I...I am so stupid!"
Rurik was indeed checking the injuries of the wounded. Seeing a few unlucky guys whose skin had been burned off was not only visually shocking, but also pitiful for them. Because such injuries are really fatal. In the current era, large-scale burns will really lead to death from infection.
He could only give the injured a few words of encouragement and then left.
The injuries of the other wounded were uneven. Most of them were injured by arrows. After dragging their bodies hit by arrows back to the camp, their companions forcibly pulled out the barbed arrow clusters, causing a scene everywhere. All bloody.
As many as forty corpses were pulled back, almost all of them were hit by stones.Death, very few people die from stray arrows.
The number of injured was even greater, as many as seventy people. Those who were seriously injured will definitely die within a short period of time, while the condition of the rest of the injured cannot be said to be too bad.
If there are no tools to kill bacteria, most of the wounded will still die from wound infection. However, Rurik brought a batch of yellow-white sulfur soap this time. It has a pungent smell and is highly alkaline. It was originally used by soldiers to wash their clothes and hair, and to prepare some soapy water to apply to wounds. At least it can have an effect. .
There will be a group of wounded who are safe and sound, and a group of lightly wounded who can fight here with just a little bandage. However, the Balmoks experienced a setback in the morning, and at least a hundred of them were unable to fight.
Rurik was called back to the military tent by his father-in-law. He was worried that his allies would complain that his Russian army was watching a show. Unexpectedly, the old guy Magnut kept blaming himself.
"Don't blame yourself yet." Rurik calmly signaled to shut up, and then said: "I checked and found that our coalition suffered 110 casualties in this battle. This is not a huge loss. Serious losses, but our military strength is still frustrated."
"There are so many casualties?" Magnut was shocked and deeply blamed himself: "I thought you would win with a brave attack. , Odin gave our army a revelation, and God advised us not to be impulsive. It was me who was impulsive and killed them."
An old guy who set himself up as a king still thought he was invincible early in the morning. , it was only noon, and I brought another reckless sinner.
Rurik had no intention of comforting him, and the old Magnute did not need to be coaxed.
He then looked at the heads of the Balmok families present, and found that their moods were not very good.
"Friends, you all have a sullen face. Do you really think that the city wall is indestructible?"
"You! Have a plan?" Magnut raised his head suddenly, with a look in his eyes. Full of hope.
Geiger, whose arm was burned, also took advantage of the situation and shouted in an almost begging manner: Brother Rurik, please think of a way. We brothers don't have time to waste time with the enemy here. ”
Everyone is waiting for Rurik to come up with a good idea. However, if there is a good idea, this morning’s fierce attack will be used.
In other words, if there is a good idea, Rurik can Rick doesn't have to be cautious.
He has thought of some ways to break through the city wall, but are these measures really appropriate?
You dare to say that he doesn't have the right strategy? He had to explain: "I have thought of some ways, but I still need to be careful to implement them. "
"Huh? Isn't there a particularly good way? I'm still thinking about fighting again in the afternoon. ”
Magnut’s urging really made Rurik impatient, so he shook his head, considering his father-in-law’s face and unwilling to speak seriously.
Let’s talk about the next thing. He said: "I am the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces. If you do not accept my command, you will inevitably suffer failure. Wait for an afternoon, maybe God will suddenly give me a revelation of victory. You'd better comfort the wounded first., I want to think of a complete solution. "After that, he left.
Throughout the afternoon, the coalition camp was safe and sound. They stationed soldiers under the city and continued to intimidate Tamworth. The status quo of troops approaching the city continued. Although Mercia held on The city did not dare to take it lightly.
Rurik was lying on his side on a leather blanket, with the low wall of Tamworth in the distance.
Alix walked in a hurry. Come and sit down casually: "Have you thought of a solution? "
"Not yet. ”
“Is their wall really stable and the wall not really high? If it were a frost giant, it would be able to cross over in one go. ”
“Those are old stories. Brother, there are no frost giants. You'd better rest, let me think quietly. "
Rurik pushed his brother away and inadvertently thought about what he said.
If there is a giant, mountains and rivers will not be able to stop it. Giants can easily cross ravines but humans cannot. .
Wait! Why can’t people?
Rurik suddenly thought of something and overturned his previous siege idea.
The other method is to cut down the wood on the spot and build a small counterweight trebuchet to smash open the stone wall.
Maybe this is too time-consuming, so there is another way to attack by force. All heavy weapons and a group of death squads are being organized, all long-range firepower is concentrated on some support, and all the long ladders are put together, and the death squads will definitely cause a lot of losses. , but this is probably the most implementable plan now.
This plan is indeed very valuable, but the soldiers have to climb the ladder with flaws all over their bodies. Many people will die in this process.
If we create a slope and the army rushes up with shields and swords, is there any loophole?
“Why don’t I do this? Genghis Khan's army built a temporary slope to allow the cavalry to rush up the city wall! ”
We have a solution, but we didn’t expect that our cousin’s ridicule would bring about a good solution.
In the evening, the Balmok people who spontaneously discussed the matter did not discuss the reason all afternoon. .
Rurik appeared with his entourage in a very confident step. This gesture made everyone understand that a good countermeasure was finally found.
He announced to everyone as soon as he settled down. Friends, worry no more! While I was taking a nap, Odin spoke to me. "
"Ah! Is it God? God is helping us! "Magnut was overjoyed, and just opened his arms to thank Sunset.
"Just listen to me! This is a very unique method. We will build a mound under the city wall, and our troops will line up and rush up. In this way, they will be unable to throw stones, and the arrows will be easily blocked by us. ”
“Mound? Building mounds from flat ground? Magnut, who had just gained hope, wondered again: "Do we have such ability?" That is the power of God! "
"No! As long as each of our soldiers rushes to the city with some soil, we still have nearly two thousand people. If we all line up to sprinkle soil, we can create a slope. Besides, our purpose is to walk As long as a slope can be created on the city wall, anything can be used as construction materials, whether it is a big tree or a corpse."
Many family leaders were moved after hearing this.
Rurik said again: "I wish they could come out of the city to fight us, so that we can annihilate them. Since their city gates are closed, they just don't dare to do so. I decided to install it on the trolley Remove the torsion slingshot and install some wooden boards as tools for loading and unloading the soil. You also use rags to make some cloth bags to transport the soil, and then prepare to pile up the soil and wood blocks on the spot, and soon it will be a soil slope. "
"This is God's will, and it is the tactic given to us by Odin." Magnut said categorically, and no one else objected.
Because the city wall was not very tall, everyone thought about it and thought it was feasible.
The coalition camp became lively, and the soldiers' morale returned after learning about the strategy to break the city.
The Balmoks want to avenge their brothers who died in the battle, and the Russians are sharpening their swords.
After creating a slope, the army rushed up. After receiving the order, they started to take action under the cover of night after eating and drinking.
Of course, Rurik still took advantage of the night to set up the "flame array". The closed city of Tamworth was defended by a huge ring of fire. The Mercian warriors who stood at the top of the city and were alert to night attacks were frightened.
Botwulf, who had just fallen asleep, climbed directly to the top of the inner city tower, which is the commanding heights of the entire city, and saw himself surrounded by a halo of light.
That’s a bonfire! Densely packed like stars!
He was startled, and then thought that something was wrong. "Bah! This is to scare me! How can I successfully defend with so many troops? Do you think I am a fool?"
Botwulf understood that this was a bluff, how could the majority of soldiers understand it. News that was unfavorable to the kingdom was spreading again. It was clear that some of the people who spread the bad news were executed. When new bad news came, the people were still in panic.
We can’t execute a few more people to stop the chaos, right? Indiscriminate killing of people internally is not a wise move, and may even lead to civil unrest, because some nobles living in the royal city also have their own agenda behind their apparent loyalty. Botwulf was reluctant and had no choice but to compromise and let the priests continue to appease him.
However, he quickly thought of a way, which was to set up a flame array at the top of the city.
A burning brazier was placed on the city wall, and some torches were burning.
A circle of the city wall was illuminated, and a large number of soldiers patrolled with spears. He just wanted to let the people see that the Royal Army never left its defensive position.
"You also light torches? Do you really think we are going to be beasts afraid of fire?"
Arik, who was busy logging at night, muttered disdainfully, and suddenly shouted at his busy brothers. : "Everyone, please work harder, we will destroy this forest."
If there are excellent production tools, it is inexplicable that they are not used.
Since the two-man saw was built, Rurik has been taking these logging tools with him on expeditions, which greatly improved the efficiency of building field sheds.
When logging at night, swinging an ax will always fail to cut the right position. However, once the two-person saw starts operating, it can cut through the big tree in one go.
A forest near the Tam River was brutally destroyed by a group of lumberjacks, the Russians. As many as 1,500 pine, oak, and fir trees were cut down overnight. Everyone is actually quite puzzled. The growth patterns of these trees are quite similar, and even the thickness of the trunks are similar.
It’s better to put aside your doubts and bring down the tree is the job.
This was only the success of the Russians. The 500 men of the First Flag Team felled an average of three trees each. Since these trees are not big trees, it is not too difficult to cut them down.
The branches of fallen trees were cut off and piled together to light the fire. The coalition forces cut down trees frantically, creating a bonfire formation surrounding the city.
The bare tree trunks were cut into small sections, which were convenient for transporting to the city wall and stacking them.
The logging people were sweating hard, and no one was worried about hunger at all, because the fleet docked on the river was loaded with enough rations for the entire army to fight for at least ten days.
In the early morning, when the world became transparent and the morning fog dissipated, a group of Mercian warriors who were patrolling at night saw a horrifying scene.
What happened to the forest belonging to the royal family by the river? The oak forest that has been planted for many years is missing?
A junior guard captain hurriedly reported this strange disaster to Prince Botwulf. When he stood on the city wall and looked at it, he found that the royal forest was really gone.
No! The woods didn't disappear, they were chopped down by the enemy overnight!
"Damn it, there are trees I planted when I was a kid!" Botwulf was furious.
Not only his family, but also many nobles are selectively planting trees in that forest in order to obtain qualified oak for making furniture in the future. Even churches and monasteries provided wood sources for custom-made coffins for devout nobles.
It soon became clear that it was the barbarian army that destroyed the woods. They were still entrenched by the river, and there were swaying people everywhere plotting evil intentions.
The progress of the matter far exceeded Rurik's expectation. He thought that in order to create the mound, the coalition forces would have to spend at least two days.
These two days should be worthwhile so that the dilly-dallying new confederate troops from Northumbria can arrive. If it is necessary to lose some people to climb the mound, let the Northumbrian army be used as expendables in the first attack, which is what Rurik hopes.
Since the army does things so quickly, the glory of breaking the city for the first time should be taken by oneself.
The army is still making preparations, and the people who cut the trees overnight are resting. Another group of people has completed unloading the torsion slingshot, and the makeshift trolley has been filled with wet riverside soil mixed with grass.
Rurik was in no hurry to attack, and the entire army also understood that building a slope against the enemy's counterattack would take at least a whole day.
The action time will be after noon that day. Before that, everyone will stay in the camp to rest. However, all warriors' weapons must be within easy reach, and their chain mail must not be taken off.
Although the possibility is very small, Rurik knows that he must remain cautious, because people are often irrational. Maybe because of the small victory in defending the city yesterday, the defenders in the city will be arrogant and come out to fight with the coalition forces. Fight.
The latter is naturally the best, and it saves the coalition forces the trouble of building a breakthrough.
Based on the current situation, Rurik could not see any changes on the enemy's side. The flag of Mercia was still flying on the low city wall. Except for the noisy military formations of the Ross and Balmok coalition, the rest of the world was extremely quiet.
Indeed, even the defenders of Mercia noticed the silence of the world, and the oppressive atmosphere almost suffocated the soldiers. No one dared to leave the city without permission, and all the city gates were supported by no less than twenty wooden bars. The carriages transporting food in the city were specially pushed into the gate holes, and the shafts of the carriages were removed to form heavy obstacles.
Tamworth became a coward, and Botwulf decided to defend resolutely. He had already made the most extreme plan, saying that he would hold on until winter came, and the cold winter would drive away the intruders. Or, the food in the city is enough to sustain the army and the people for a long time.
Now is the most critical moment for the royal city. He actually feels that as long as everyone works together to wear down the enemy's energy and pay some costs to thwart the enemy's previous offensives, Mercia's defensive victory will be almost certain.