Varangian (Aelfraed) (15 page)

“My lord, the Droungarios begs to report Norman horsemen ahead, a large patrol.”

I looked around and saw, about a mile ahead, a small hill topped by a wood.  “Tell your commander I will take my men to that hill and form a defensive line.” I was glad now that, for the past two days we had worn armour.  The men had complained but it meant that we were now in a position to fight. I turned to them. “There are Normans ahead; I want us to run to that hill and form a shield wall.” It says much for their past life that they all fell into the same rhythm of a steady run and all kept perfect time as we trotted up the hill.  The shield wall does that to a man; if you lose step in a wedge then you all die! I glanced at Aidan, although he was not dressed in armour I knew that we were far beyond what could have been expected of an aesthete, a priest. “Can you manage it Aidan?”

“Yes my lord.
  I am discovering parts of my body I did not know existed before.”

By the time we reached the hill I could see the whirling horsemen of the Droungos as they retreated to our position.
  They were firing behind them as they came.  Branton would have been impressed. “We have not formed a shield wall before we will learn in the face of the enemy.  Thegn Ridley will be to my right.  I want three lines; you should all know what to do.  We will organise this better when we reach our destination.” It could have been a disaster; five hundred men jockeying for position but, although they had not fought together before, they had fought in a shield wall and they naturally found friends and men of similar heights to stand next to and soon we had three lines with shields to the fore and spears in hand.  I was impressed. I had placed us so that the wood was slightly to the west of us and protected that flank.  With only three ranks there was plenty of room behind us.

Andronikos grinned as he rode up.
  “Well done my lord.  You look like the hedgehog with a wall of spines.  The patrol was made up of scouts and it is a column.  There are less now than there were.”

“Any foot?”

“No, purely horse.”

“I would suggest you place your men on the left and to the rear of us. The hill will slow them up and your men can harass them with their bows. If you put a screen in front of us we might just give them a surprise as they will not be expecting a shield wall.” I was diplomatic and I gave the young noble the chance to choose his own dispositions but he nodded and gave his orders.

The Normans came on eagerly, anticipating slaughtering lightly armed horsemen.  As they came and I saw their pennants I saw that they were a mixture of Franks and Normans. The former distinguished by the lack of a nasal on their helmets.  There looked to be about four conroi and they were all heavy cavalry with no archers.  They were in for a shock. My view was soon obscured by the hundred horsemen who screened us. I hoped that Andronikos would judge his moment well. “When the archers move stand firm.  The second ranks will bolster the front rank. Those who have never faced a Norman charge fear not. Their horses die easily and a Norman on foot is like a one legged man in an arse kicking contest.” It was a familiar joke but they all laughed and it gave them confidence.

I could just make out the Norman line as it steadied for its charge.
  They were confident that they could brush aside the archers and then chase them. They placed a high value on their large kite shaped shields protecting them.  I saw the archers loose three quick volleys and then I heard the command which made them all ride to the left.  He had timed it well for the enemy knights were but forty paces from us when the screen moved. “Stand by!”

The arrows flew from behind us to smack into the shields and ping off the helmets of the charging Franks and Normans. A couple of the horses went down but the armoured warriors still came on. I could see the surprise in the eyes of the lead warrior as he saw the shield wall before him. I had confidence that my men would know what to do and would not require any unnecessary orders and I concentrated on the lead rider.
  He was leaning forwards with his lance ahead of his horse. I deflected it easily with my shield and then plunged Boar Splitter into his mount’s throat.  Even as it was dying the stricken beast tried to move away from the pain and it reared up smashing into the warrior next to the leader.  The Norman fell at my feet.  The horse’s death throes had disengaged the spear head and I stabbed it down through the knight’s eye and into his brain. Ridley had killed his opponent and now the archers behind and to the side were having more success as the shorter range enabled their arrows to find the chinks in the mail. I sensed them wavering and I took a chance. There was no one before me and I swung my shield behind me and stabbed Boar Splitter into the ground.  I grabbed Death Bringer and yelled, “Front rank! Wedge!”

I knew that Ridley would know what to do and I hoped the rest would.
  I felt the men around me tighten up and I shouted, “Forwards!” The run to the hill had shown me that they were well trained  and as the enormous one hundred man wedge began to move down the hill towards the milling Normans and Franks I saw the panic on the knight’s faces.  They were taken by surprise and our axes whirled before us creating a wall of death.  They tried to get out of the way but their path was blocked by riders trying to reach us. I cared not who I struck for I was intent upon causing terror.  Death Bringer struck one horse in the flank almost severing its leg and on the backswing took a warrior’s leg off.  I could see blood on Ridley’s axe as it sliced through the knights to my right.  Andronikos took advantage of the mayhem and his warriors closed with the enemy loosing not only arrows but drawing their wickedly curved swords to hack at unprotected horsemen who had their backs to the archers.  It proved too much and I heard a Norman command I had heard before, “Retreat!”

Decapitating a dismounted and disorientated knight I yelled. “Halt!”

My men stopped and Andronikos led his whooping men to chase the Normans off our hill. My men began banging shields and cheering. We had won and the field was ours. “Despatch the wounded, Komes.” Ridley did not answer for I had used his title. “Ridley, that is you, you are Komes now!”

“Sorry Aelfraed.”

“See to our wounded. Aidan!”

Aidan scurried up so quickly he can only have been a few paces behind me. “Yes Droungarios?”

“Help Ridley with the wounded.” I held his arm.  “Were you close to the battle?”

He shrugged, “I thought you might need me my lord.”

I shook my head as he ran to help Ridley. I could see Normans and Franks still falling as the eager horse cavalry pursued them.  I turned to see my men behind me all grinning. “That felt good my lord! Your father would have been proud of the way you led us into their ranks!”

There were other such fulsome praise from my men but I just nodded.
  It was easy to lead if you knew you would be followed. We had butchered the dead horses and were cooking them by the time Andronikos arrived back. He jumped from his horse and embraced me, kissing me on both cheeks.  “Magnificent.  I had wondered what use you would be so heavy and slow but I have never seen Norman cavalry so put out unless by cataphracts.  I can see why the strategos sent you.”

“Thank you Droungarios. Did you lose many men?”

“Twenty but that is a small price for over a hundred of their warriors lie dead and others will carry wounds but the biggest injury will be to their pride and their confidence.  They rode here to flick us away like bothersome flies but instead they have a bloody nose.  If we can make it to the town in the next day then I think we will have achieved all that could have been expected of us.  And you? Many losses?”

“Eight dead and three wounded but they are grievous losses for they cannot be replaced.
  The Saxon Housecarl is no more.  When we die we are the last.”

He looked crestfallen.
  “I did not know.” He watched as they began making the pyre for the dead.  “They do not look sad.”

“No they are not for their comrades had died in a shield wall with a sword in their hand fulfilling their oath to the strategos. When they are burned their spirits will rise to join all the other Housecarls who fell before them.”

The camp was made defensible and we all ate a meal which was hot and which was enlivened by each man’s tale of their own part in the skirmish.  Eric could have made many songs up. I sat with Ridley and Aidan while Andronikos went round his men and horses to see how many would be fit for the last part of journey. “They did well today.”

“Aye Aelfraed, especially as we had not had time to allocate the places.”

“I do not understand my lord.  Why does it matter where a man stands? Surely any place is good enough for a man to die?”

“Explain Ridley.”

“You see Aidan I stand to the right of Aelfraed because my shield can defend his right side; prevent others from attacking that side.  The man to Aelfraed’s left does not need to be as skilled for Aelfraed will protect him.  The best warriors stand where we stood but the next in skill stand on the far right.  There you need your most dependable men, men who will not panic; for, if the right falls, then the line folds up and we all die.”

“Ah.
  And it is normal for infantry to charge cavalry?”

I laughed, “Good point and the answer is no but if the horses are tired and you have a slope then yes, you can charge.
  You choose your moment well.  But we will not be so lucky the next time for they will bring archers and foot. The combination of all three means we have to stand and take our punishment.  When we do that your skills will be more in demand.”

Aidan had shown great skill as a healer.
  The main army boasted doctors but we were just a detachment and did not merit one.  Still the few wounds we had sustained would soon heal. Andronikos joined us.  “The men are in good spirits.  The Normans are a force that, before today, my men feared.  They have now seen they can be beaten.”

“I have said many times that a cavalryman without a horse is easy prey.
  Your men should shoot the horses.”

“I know but it goes against the grain for a horseman to deliberately kill a horse.”

I held up the piece of meat I was chewing.  “I don’t know why, this meat tastes good!”

Andronikos shook his head, “I am learning much on this journey Englishman.”

We rose early knowing that we were within half a day of our destination.  The cavalry were spread out in a thin screen well ahead of us for we pushed on hard the men buoyed by their success. Andronikos himself brought us the news that we were less than a mile from the hill which lay to the south of the main road into Ankara. He had placed scouts there and he told us we would be there within the hour. I was relieved as I had dreaded another encounter with the Normans. We had surprised them the first time, the second time they would be warier had I been Roussel I would have sent out a stronger force to deal with us but it seems he had been too busy or deemed us too insignificant for him to bother with.  I wondered what the survivors had reported.  I suspected we were a dilemma to their leaders, what Saxons were doing in Asia and he delayed; whatever the reason I would not look this gift horse in the mouth. 

We still had plenty of fresh horsemeat and cooked horsemeat so I put the men to digging a ditch while others cut down small trees to make a rampart to surround us.
  I made it big enough for all one thousand of us and horses.  Alexios was following us but he would not do the journey in four days.  I suspected we would have at least five days to hold until they arrived. Aidan found a small spring which we used to fill the water skins and we had the three things vital to our survival: drink, food and protection.

Andronikos rode up to us.
  “I will keep half of my men on patrol and I have sent a Kontoubernion to the walls of the city to spy out the land.”

By the time night fell we had a ditch, albeit shallow yet and we had the ramparts up.
  Andronikos had returned with his men.  They had suffered eight losses when they went too close to the walls and archers sortied after them but they were able to report many banners on the walls and the ramparts filled with men.  Our presence had alerted them; so Roussel had assumed that we were the vanguard of a larger army.  What he did not know was that we were an isolated group and he could have swatted us away easily had he not been cautious.  It was a good sign and bode well for the coming campaign.

The next day the cavalry continued to act as a screen with half of them resting ready for night sentry duty.
  Ridley and I organised the shield wall and wedge and we practised what we knew would be crucial in the coming days moving from one to the other quickly. Aidan had been standing at the rear during the battle and had seen which warriors took charge; he identified them and I gathered the five of them around me.

“You all distinguished yourselves the other day and I will reward you. You are all Kentarches.”

They all beamed happily.  Unlike serving a lord it meant more money and a better uniform. “Cnut, you will stand on the right of the front rank. Egbert, the right of the second and Edward the right of the third. Ethelred you will stand on the left of the first rank and William to the rear of the three lines.” They all knew that each position demanded different skills and they were all pleased in their own way. “The Komes and I will be in the centre. You will need to organise the warriors near you.  I would do this but I barely know you.” I looked each of them in the eye.  “Know this.  I have given all of you promotion which means I trust you.  But we are Saxons and I know the oath you took to the strategos will mean you will behave well.”