Viking Raid (23 page)

Haaken asked, "Then how did King Coenwulf slaughter them?"

"The King's brother charged the Mercian shield wall and the Mercians surrounded them with horsemen. They trapped them and assailed them from all sides."

"We need to make them hurt so much that they withdraw."

"That is easier said than done."

"It depends upon Coenwulf's strategy.  He has many men.  He may choose to send his weaker warriors first.  If he does then when we slaughter them it will dishearten the rest.  If, on the other hand, he sends his best warriors first then we may struggle for they will have mail and your archers will not be able to kill as many. This battle will depend much upon the cunning of King Coenwulf. I will place my men here, at the gatehouse. This is the place they will attack. I can see where they are needed then. Where will the King be?"

"He will consult with his advisers."

Haaken said, incredulously, "He will not be on the walls?"

"He is not a warrior king; that would have been his brother."

"Then who commands?"

"I do."

I nodded.  That was better news for this Llewellyn looked to know his business.  I had seen his men look at him with pride in their faces.  He was a warrior and a leader. "Then hurt them in their first attack."

We watched as the enemy ranks swelled. They halted out of bow range. They had horsemen but we did not see them which made me think that they had gone to the west to prevent our escape. It is what I had done many times. Lines of spearmen stood before smaller lines of mailed warriors.  I saw King Coenwulf, his banners and his eorls standing on a piece of high ground to the east of us. They definitely outnumbered us but it was never easy to assault a fort; especially one defended by archers.  The men of Gwent were renowned for their skill in archery. However as I looked along the walls I saw that only a handful of Welshmen had mail. Some did not even own a helmet.  If the Mercians broke through the shower of arrows which would assail them and breach the walls then it would be a bloodbath.

I saw the banner of Mercia wave and a gap appeared in the Mercian ranks.  I saw men pushing a ram. They had not wasted their time while they had been gathering their forces. The ram had eight wheels on and there was a wooden roof to protect the men pushing it. This was a well made war machine.  I would be interested to see how they manoeuvred it over the ditch.

"What do we do about that, Jarl?"

"Nothing, at the moment.  I cannot see how they can bridge the ditch."

Snorri's sharp eyes came up with the answer. It was the same trick they had used in Wessex.  They had men carrying bound logs. There were three of them. They were heavy and it took four men to carry them. This time, however, they had warriors with large shields protecting them as they hurried alongside the ram. Gradually they overtook the lumbering wooden machine but they kept a steady pace so that they were protected by their shields.

I pointed to them. "I would have your archers slay those men.  They are making a bridge to enable the ram to strike your gate.  Perhaps you can use fire or heated sand if you have it."

Llewellyn shook his head, "We have sand aplenty but it is not within the fort. I will get fire."

He shouted to his archers on the towers and they loosed their arrows.  Their first flights were the most successful for the men with the shields were not tight enough to the men carrying the bridges and three men fell. They had to halt while three replacement warriors ran up.  Two of those were hit before the make shift bridges were manned once more and they could progress. The archers shifted their aim to the men with the shields. One was so keen to protect his charge that he moved the shield too far and an arrow plunged into his head.  As he fell three more arrows struck the man carrying the bridge. The others dropped that bridge and ran back.  We had eliminated one of the bridges but two more remained. The other two had learned their lesson and there was no gap for arrows.

The last two bridges were now moving very slowly for they were close together and were giving each other mutual protection. "Asbjorn, can you hit them with your spear?"

"I could give it a try. Is my target the man with the shield or the man carrying the bridge?"

"The man with the shield."

He stood.  There were a few Saxon archers behind the ram but the range was too great and when the arrows they released fell perilously close to their own advancing men they stopped. The bridges were just twenty paces from the ditch and fifteen from the walls. Asbjorn chose his moment and hurled his spear. There was not much of a gap but he found it.  An arrow might not have succeeded but the heavy head of the spear struck one of the men with the shields in the cheek. It went through his head and he fell to the floor.  As soon as he did then the archers sent their arrows at the exposed warrior. When he fell the bridge tipped and another of the carriers was slain.  They dropped their load and ran.  Three were struck in the back.

The men carrying the last bridge took advantage of the archers' attack on their comrades and ran to the ditch.  They dropped it in position. Llewellyn shouted, "Kill them!"

Six of the eight men died but the bridge was across the ditch. It was barely wide enough for the ram but if they were careful then it could cross and we had nothing else left to stop it. Ominously the ram began its journey towards the gate.  The archers could do nothing about the ram. Our spears could not harm it either. Only fire would work. We had one thing in our favour; the bridge they had made was not directly in line with the gate house.  It was some paces to the right.  They would have to come at an angle.

Eystein suddenly said, "I have an idea, Jarl."

I waved an arm, "Make it happen."

He turned to the nearest warriors, "Siggi, Snorri, come with me."

I wondered what my latest Ulfheonar had in mind.  Until the fire was ready we had nothing to attack the ram. It took some time for the men pushing the machine to reach the bridge.  They had to move slowly for the bridge was not securely in place and the crudely fashioned wheels were running along the edges of the log bridge.  They would have to edge slowly over the temporary structure. The men with the lighted torches arrived and Llewellyn ordered them thrown. Three of them landed on the sloped roof of the machine.  Still the ram came on and the torches had no effect. They had soaked the roof in water.  It would never burn.

Just then my three Ulfheonar struggled up the ladders. They were each carrying a large jute sack.  I wrinkled my nose at the smell. "It is horse dung, Jarl.  Sawdust would have been better but this will have to do."

"What will you do with it?"

"Watch." He picked up the sack and threw it, not at the ram but some paces before it. He repeated the same with the other two.  He was a strong man and he managed to throw them in a line so that the wheels of the ram would have to cross them.

"How does that help?"

"The ram is heavy and will press into the horse dung.  They will find it hard to push.  When the first wheels do get over the sacks they will tear it and it will become slippery underfoot. The only way to avoid them will be if one braves our arrows to remove them." He pointed. "They are too close for our archers to miss if they try to do so."

"If this works then you shall have an extra share of gold."

We watched as the front wheels rolled towards the dung filled sacks. They rose and then fell back.  The men pushing kept trying to cross the obstacle. They rolled back and forth.  As they did so they weakened the edge of the ditch and I held my breath as the back of the logs moved a little.  The logs slipped down the far side of the ditch by a hand span. The ram now had to contend with the dung sacks and an uphill roll. The men inside must have been exhausted. One of Llewellyn's archers suddenly loosed an arrow at a leg.  There was a scream of pain. The wounded man must have lurched and it proved to be the tipping point.  The ram began to lean as the back of the bridge sank deeper into the ditch.  The men inside had no purchase for their feet and, when the sacks of dung split they found themselves slipping on the horse manure. The logs slid at an angle into the ditch. Suddenly the ram tipped on its side.  The archers had been waiting for this and the men inside were slaughtered as they were exposed. The cheer from inside the stronghold was as though they had won. The back of the logs slid all the way down and the ram was now on its back.

Llewellyn clapped Eystein on the back, "Well done warrior! That has stopped them!"

I shook my head, "No, it has given them a bridge.  See the ram and the log have filled the ditch. They can come over whenever they like. They will just use axes to break down your gate.  It is a single gate and you have no secondary defence. We have delayed their attack.  They cannot use the ram to break down the walls but it will allow them to cross the ditch and close with us." I pointed to the mailed warriors. "They will come tonight."

"You are so certain?"

"I have fought Coenwulf before now. He will send men over tonight. He does not waste his warriors.  Your walls are high but not high enough.  They can scale them with ladders."

"Is there no hope then?"

"So long as a warrior stands with a shield and sword there is always hope.  The odds are now in their favour."

"But they have lost men and we have suffered no casualties."

I pointed at the bodies.  "These were strong men but they were not his warriors.  They were like cattle.  It was their strength he needed.  His attacking power is undiminished. See those men with mail and axes? They will come tonight. Your arrows will bounce off their shields and they will hack your gate to pieces.  When they come through then we will meet them with spears and swords but King Coenwulf can reinforce them any time he likes.  Your archers will need night eyes to spot them in the dark."

He nodded, "I will walk the walls and then speak with the King." He smiled, "You do not try to win friends with words of hope, do you?"

"I told you, I speak the truth."

When he had gone Haaken joined me, "What can we do, Jarl?  Do we sneak out and fight them when they approach?"

"If we had more Ulfheonar then I would say yes.  But the new warriors do not have the skill and I would not waste them for this. We have few enough as it is. Besides they will have men watching the ram and watching for such a trick. However I like Eystein's plan.  Is there any more dung?"

"Aye Jarl."

"Then fetch it and Snorri, go and find pig fat and oil.  We will make life hard for them."

When my men had gone I descended the ladder.  The Mercians showed no sign of a sudden movement and I needed to see what other resources we had.  Surprisingly it was close to the stone church which was under construction that I found my inspiration.  There were some large stones which were waiting to be lifted into place.  There were eight of them and each one was the length of an arm on all four sides.  They would take some shifting. 

Llewellyn came from the hall and his face was not happy. "I told the King and he said we should put our faith in God."

I smiled, "Then, for once, I agree with him. Have your men carry these eight stones and place them behind the gate as a second wall.  Lay three across and tight to the gate then another three on top and the last two behind.  When the Mercians break through they will get a shock."

"But they are intended for the Church!"

"Did I not hear that your God moves in mysterious ways.  Perhaps this is
wyrd
that they have not yet been used."

"It is worth a try."

I returned to the gatehouse where my men awaited me. "Do we make the gate way slippery now, Jarl?"

"No, wait until dark.  Let them think we are bereft of ideas."

When the Welsh defenders began to haul the stones into place Haaken laughed.  "Now I see why you are so cheerful.  You see a way out."

"Let us just say that I see a chink of light, nothing more."

I went down with Llewellyn to inspect the stone blocks. Even if the Mercians did manage to knock them over, and that was unlikely, they would still be a barrier and the huge numbers of Mercians would mean nothing for they would have to negotiate a stone barrier.

As night began to fall Llewellyn had the men fed and we watched from the walls for any sign of  movement from the Mercians. They sat in small groups just watching our walls. If I had not known better I would have thought that they were waiting for us to leave the safety of the stronghold and meet them in the field. King Coenwulf was a wily old warrior.  He was trying to play tricks with our minds. As we waited I studied the entrance. The men who had built this stronghold had used Roman cobbles from the nearby Roman fort to make a better entrance.  That would help us now for the stones would become slick.  I saw that the ram had fallen kindly for the Mercians and they would be able to move quite quickly across it; the wooden machine was firmly jammed in the ditch.

The ramparts were quite pungent with the sacks of dung waiting to be thrown. I would leave the throwing to Eystein and Asbjorn. They had shown me that they had their eye in. There was precious little oil and I would use the pig fat first. It had been warmed and was in a liquid state.  As it cooled it would become more solid and the oil would help to grease it. I did not think for one moment that it would stop the warriors who would attack us.  They would be the best that King Coenwulf had but the slippery nature underfoot would induce mistakes and make it hard to keep their footing. I had had every javelin and throwing spear we could find so that we could add to the barrage of arrows the attackers would have to endure. It would be a slow and deadly journey for the Mercians.