Hosker, G [Wolf Brethren 02] Saxon Revenge (16 page)

When Myrddyn returned he was escorted by Aelle’s contingent.  Although they had fought in fewer battles than my men I knew that they would be well trained and their early arrival meant that we could train with those.  Raibeart brought his own men down and I could see that he was longing to be part of it but he was loyal and the king wanted him in command of the army’s archers. Of course I took the opportunity of some expert tuition for my men while I used the time with the one hundred and five warriors who would be the nucleus of our attack.

Myrddyn spent but a short time with us for he rode away east to find the Saxons and become our spy.  I had said all the words I needed to and the confident young man gave me a cheerful wave as he rode east towards the Roman Road.  When he left then I knew that our undertaking had begun in earnest. We had finished training and we would now begin the business of war.

Finally, and on time, Prince Ywain brought the rest of the Rheged vanguard four days later along with the Strathclyde contingent. We had no opportunity for training these men as we had to prepare for our journey the following day.  The archers were assigned horses while the rest of us sharpened weapons and checked that we had all the arms we would need.  We would not be taking wagons for we were to move swiftly and could not be encumbered by lumbering vehicles.  The archers would carry their own quivers of arrows on their horses. As the warriors feasted and bantered in the warrior hall I took the five scouts I had chosen to lead our expedition. “You will leave tonight. I want you to find the Saxons but not to let them see you. Do not return to the Roman Bridge until you are sure that you have found the main force.  I would begin at the Dunum; they will want to be close to their ships. Adair this is your command.”The young man nodded seriously. “Next year, if you continue to grow you will begin your training as an equite but for now there is no more vital task in the whole army than this one.  If they see us before we see them then we will lose.” I could see from their faces that they would not deliberately let me down. May Vindonnus guide you and help you, for today you hunt Saxons.”

I felt sad as they slipped through the gate and into the night.  They were not much older than I had been when I had first fought the Saxons but I knew that I had been lucky. I wished for some of that luck for them.

I was leaving more of my warriors guarding Castle Perilous than I was taking with me.  Some of those I left behind would join the king later but I wanted my family protected while we were absent. Brother Oswald gave me a reassuring smile as he stood next to Aideen, casting a paternal eye over her and my children.  I was happy that my home was in safe hands and we rode east to find our allies.

The weather was an ally as we rode the road for it rained hard.  It made it difficult to see a long way ahead but, as we had more of our scouts out before us, I thought it unlikely that we would be spotted first.  Of course it made for uncomfortable travelling and the men grumbled about their armour becoming rusty.  My men were the exception as they wore the leather cloaks about them; tightly fastened and covering both their head and bodies. Apart from keeping them protected during combat it also shielded both them and their armour from the rain and I saw some of the other warriors looking enviously in their direction.

The first night we camped just east of the high moors.  There were wooded areas on either side of the road and it gave us some shelter.  Those warriors who had not been training as hard as my men suffered from the inevitable blisters but it was not as bad as it could have been. We had fresh meat and foods with us and our supplies would last until we reached the Roman Bridge.  After that it would be dried meat and whatever we could forage.  I smiled as Ywain looked ruefully at the rain coming down like arrows and the meagre rations his servant brought to him.  He would fit into his armour a little easier within a few days, that was glaringly obvious.

The rain relented by dawn but it was still both grey and overcast.  There was a damp smell as we trudged towards the Roman Bridge. Although the Bernicians held the vital river crossing until we were safely there we all worried that we might run into the enemy and we wanted to do that on our terms not theirs.  Our advance scouts had not returned.  That could be good news; the Saxons might be many miles away, or it could be disastrous and they had been killed or worse, captured.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the road dropped down towards the old Roman fort on the Dunum.  I smiled to myself as I remembered gathering my cache of treasure when I was a boy: armour, swords, caligae and nails.  How long ago that seemed now. I rode with Prince Ywain into the fort while Garth organised a camp close to the walls.  We would have more shelter this night than the previous ones. Some of the warriors recognised me from my time at Din Guardi and they called out a welcome.  I waved back at them. I wondered who Morcant Bulc had put in command.  Some of his leaders were even less keen to fight than their king and the Bernician in charge of this outpost was keystone to our success. When Riderch strolled to meet us his arms outstretched in welcome I felt hope course through my veins.  He was the best of the Bernicians and would be the most solid of commanders but I had thought he was still the leader of the bodyguard.

He took us into what had been the Praetorium in the old fort.  It had been made water tight and warm with a cosy fire burning; my old friend had learned the lessons of campaign well. There was hot food and wine on the table and Ywain looked happy for the first time in days. “My men saw your scouts and I thought hot food would be appreciated.” It was.  A soldier learns to eat as much as he can when he can for he never knows when he will be on half rations.  We both finished two bowlfuls and drank the jug of wine before we spoke.

“Riderch, I thought that you were the leader of the king’s bodyguard.”

“I was,” he said cheerfully, “but I upset the king by not being one of the yes men who fill his court these days.  I pointed out that we should have our army closer to the Dunum and not have to rely so much on our allies.  This is a punishment.  I am the commander of the advance guard.”

“You do not look unhappy about it.”

“And I am not.  I do not want to wait behind the walls of Din Guardi while you do the fighting and get the glory.  I want to be a part of it.”

“We may not be fighting and I think there will be little glory.  We are here to stop the Saxons from moving through our land with a free hand.  We need to tie them down,” I pointed towards our camp.  “It is why we have so many mounted men.  We will always be able to move faster than they do.”

“I know but where Wolf Warrior goes there is bound to be fighting and booty.  All the men here are volunteers.  They all want to fight with the man who freed northern Bernicia from the Saxons. I am leaving just fifty men to guard the fort.  You will have me and another one hundred and fifty warriors when you leave.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?  Disobeying the king? He said to leave a hundred here.”

“He never told me how many men to leave here and he did put me in command.” He had such a look of happiness on his face that it was hard to believe he was talking about going to war with an enemy who outnumbered us many times over.

Prince Ywain and I had decided that there was little point in trying to find the enemy.  That was the job of the scouts.  However we could be prepared.  We had the warriors dig double ditches to the south of the river.  I was not convinced that they would approach from that direction but it paid to be prepared.  Aella was too crafty a leader and he knew that the bottle neck of the bridge would play into our hands as a smaller army could hold his up.  He had, I suspect, respect for the qualities of my warriors who had repulsed him before and killed his son.

While my warriors were digging, Prince Ywain took a small patrol in a circuit covering the land five miles ahead of us. It was a precaution only.  I also sent out more of our scouts to travel further afield. We had been there for a week and were well prepared when the advance scouts under Adair finally returned. They all looked dirty and tired but all of them had returned and I was pleased about that.  Adair showed great skills as a leader by telling his scouts to rest and he joined Prince Ywain, Garth, Riderch and myself in the fort.

“They are many miles to the east my lord.  They have made their camp below the bluffs where the old hill fort lies. Their fleet is anchored in the Dunum and they are encamped between there and the bluffs and out towards the mouth of the river.”

Prince Ywain was nervous and he blurted out, “How many men are there?”

Adair gave him a very serious look, his young face filled with frowns. “From the hills to the river their tents fill the valley bottom. We could not count them all but there have to be more than five thousand. We counted the boats and there were more than five hundred of them.”

“Where were the boats?  Were they in the middle of the river or closer to the camp?”

“Close to their camp, Lord Lann.”

Prince Ywain gave me a curious look, “Are you planning something?”

“Not if their boats are close to the camp but if they had been in the middle we could have fired them.  Aella is too crafty for such a ruse to work. Adair, was there any sign of horses or movement?”

“No horses my lord but we saw them practising their formations, much as you do.”

“You have done well.  Get some rest.”

“What do you make of it Lann?”

I noticed that all three of them were watching my face. I could now see why the king had asked for me.  Prince Ywain was brave and a doughty warrior but planning was not his strength. “I think he means to cross the Dunum by boats.  If he were heading west then he would have sent out probing patrols. Riderch, when is the tide at its highest?”

“There is a spring tide in about seven days.”

“Then that is when he will cross.  We all assumed that he would wait for the crops to be sown and the animals born. He is not waiting for he has brought fresh warriors from his homeland.  He can strike at any time.”

“But our forces will not be here for another four weeks.”

Riderch looked anxious.  “King Morcant Bulc has no forces in this area.  They all guard the homeland.  If Aella crosses the river then he can ravage the whole land. The people would be defenceless.”

I looked at the map we had brought with us. If we left the bridge we were risking Aella heading east with nothing in his way.  He would destroy all before him but if I was right, then he would capture the whole of Bernicia before we could assemble. “We need to slow him up and make him turn in this direction.”

“My lord, could we not march along the north bank of the Dunum and meet him as he lands.  We would have the advantage.”

“We would indeed Garth but if he uses his ships then he can choose where he lands.  He could even split his fleet and surround us; it is one of the perils of having such a small force. We must send messages to King Urien and King Morcant Bulc and tell them of the danger. If your king can move his forces south, Riderch, then it may help to slow down any advance they might make.”

“What of Elmet?”

The warriors promised from Elmet had not arrived. “They can fortify this place when they do arrive and supplement your men.  What I propose is that we take the archers and the horsemen and make a night time attack on his camp.  I will speak with Adair when he wakes but I suspect their numbers means that they will not have a strong guard.”

I could see that the Prince was not convinced. “Will he not then attack us here in the west or even begin his attack prematurely?”

“Either action works for us. If he attacks us here then we can do as we were ordered and slow him up.  If he attacks early then we can harry and hinder him for he would have to do that piecemeal.” I shrugged.  “It is less than perfect but I can see no other way.”

“Who would we use to attack the camp?”

“The equites and the archers; I would lead the archers in an attack while you and your horsemen were ready to support.”

Riderch smiled, “Fire arrows?”

“Fire arrows and we can try to fire some of their boats.  I suspect the warriors they brought from over the sea might not be happy at having their means of escape taken from them. When we have stirred the nest of wasps then we retreat.  They have no horses and any pursuit would be slow.”

“And if they did not pursue us?”

“Then we think of something else.  I would also have Garth and Riderch take the Rheged warriors along the northern bank in case they do try to cross.”

Garth nodded but Prince Ywain looked shocked.  “A handful of our warriors against five thousand fresh and determined Saxons; it is suicide?”

“I told you, my prince, they cannot cross all of them at once; as we found when we fought the Hibernians all those years ago.  It is boatload by boat load. And they would not know it was such a small number.  If Garth lines them along the bank, double spaced in a single line they will assume that the whole army is behind them. Garth’s task would be to slow them up and not to fight them. If they land in force then he has a fighting retreat.  I will use the scouts to accompany him and then we can be kept informed.  We will still have enough men here to slow them down. Adair said that it was a day’s ride to their camp which means that it would take them two days, at least to march here.”

“Unless they use their ships.”

“In which case, Riderch, we have them for the bridge halts them and the river here is only wide enough for one ship at a time.  I checked when we were digging the ditches.” I paused to allow the ideas to sink in.  “Any other plans or thoughts?”

They all shook their heads. “Then we leave tomorrow and Riderch will command the forces that are left here.”

Chapter 9

Leaving all of the scouts but Adair with Garth and Riderch we set off to the Saxon encampment.  The steep bluffs above the river were visible almost as soon as we rode over the ridge south of the bridge.  It was a clear crisp day and visibility was good.  Adair rode next to Prince Ywain and me, keen to add any further information he might have omitted.