by Griff Hosker
We managed to feed all the men early. The sound of weapons being sharpened and the banter of warriors warmed my heart on that cold morning. Hogan brought my gleaming blade, polished and sharpened and donned his own helmet. Pol proudly held the furled standard in one hand and his war axe in the other. I had worried about his ability to defend himself and the standard until he showed me the metal spike he had put on the bottom of the standard. He could plant the standard and then defend it. He would wield the axe with two hands and any Saxon who approached him would need to be a brave man.
We took our place on the walls with the other soldiers, archers and slingers. Garth led the heavily armed veterans to the hill and Tuanthal withdrew behind them. When the Saxons came they would not see a mighty army arrayed before them they would see farmers, fisher folk and workers on the walls. They would be confident that Rheged was ripe for plucking and they would charge recklessly. That was our hope. Myrddyn stood with us; partly as healer and partly as advisor. There were three slingers mounted on ponies beneath me in case we needed to change our plans.
We heard the drums of the Saxons in mid morning. At first that was the only indication of their presence but soon we saw sunlight glinting from helmets and spears. Aethelric brought them on a wide front. He had scouted well and must have known that he faced only a turf wall at this end of the frontier. I suspect the recently erected wooden wall would have come as a surprise but the Saxons knew that their axes would make short work of wood. They halted across the river and I wondered how they would cross. I half hoped that he would be foolish enough to swim his men across but he was too wise for that. I saw his men dragging something to the river and soon saw that it was the first of a number of large rafts.
I turned to one of the despatch riders. “Aedh, ride to Captain Miach and tell him to kill any targets which show themselves.”
I did not want arrows wasting. Miach would use his best archers to kill those who tried to bring the rafts across. A wall of shields appeared at the river’s edge with a gap large enough for the first raft. The men at the back began to push it into the water. I saw that it was large enough to hold many men. When Miach’s men saw their chance they loosed their arrows. The Saxons did not try to pole the raft across; instead I saw them driving stakes into the ground to moor it. Their actions exposed them. Miach’s men killed twenty warriors before the raft was secured. A line of shields appeared and I could see, behind, the second raft being carried by a hundred men.
“They are building a bridge.” Myrddyn voice my own fears.
Miach too saw the danger and his men began to loose arrows at the unprotected legs of the warriors with the shields. Many fell but there were always more behind. When the shields reached the end of the first raft it was dropped on the top and they all walked backwards. Although the fragile bridge sank a little below the river, the top was above the water and I saw men at the rear pushing the second raft over the first. It was slow work but they must have greased the bottom of the second raft for it slowly edged forwards. Miach killed more men but, once it was halfway across the first raft more warriors with shields came to protect the pushers and the weight of the second raft took it across. We watched as ten or twenty warriors dived into the water and swam to secure the two ends of the raft. Miach targeted them and killed some but the water took away the power and they had a bridge which almost reached across the river.
“The last one will do it.”
“True, Myrddyn but we know where they will attack. Ride and bring the men who guard the walls to the east and west. Just leave a hundred paces of wall with men. Send the archers to the walls and the rest to the knoll.”
“Are you sure my lord? That will leave precious few men.“
“It will leave two hundred men and a hundred and forty archers and slingers. They can only bring ten men abreast. They will get across but it will cost them dear. When you have done that, get to your fires.” The wind was from the west and Myrddyn would light the fires from that end of our line. I glanced down at Hogan. This was his first battle. “Are you afraid son?”
I saw the fear in his eyes but his voice said, “No for I am with the Wolf Warrior.”
“Well the Wolf Warrior is scared and that is natural but once I draw Saxon Slayer and begin to kill my enemies, then all fear will go. As it will with you my son.”
The third raft would not be secured, I could see that, but it would rest on our bank. Of course they did not know that the bank was now a muddy morass and was the second of our traps. I turned to Aedh who had returned. “Ask Captain Miach to fire the rafts.” I hoped that, it they had greased the wood then they might burn a little easier.
The slingers were now able to affect the battle and many of the warriors bringing over the last raft fell to accurate lead balls but Aethelric seemed oblivious to the losses he was taking. I suspect the warriors he was using were not his best and were expendable. I smiled ruefully to myself, it was what I was doing. I turned to Pol, “Unfurl the banner; let them see where we are.”
I pulled down my face mask and drew my sword. As I raised it in the air my warriors roared, “Saxon Slayer!” and banged their shields. As the end of the raft dropped on to the bank with a sloppy plop the men who had built it fled. None reached the far shore. They had paid for the bridge with their lives. Miach began to loose fire arrows at the raft and, although some fizzled out, others began to burn. I could see movement on the far side and I was pleased. My action was going to make Aethelric change his plans and attack quickly. Any time you could make an opponent change his mind was a good thing. His shield wall came across too quickly. The raft tipped and rolled and some of the warriors at the sides fell to their deaths in the river. The archers and slingers had many targets. With another one hundred archers we could have cleared the bridge all day but we were limited. They were brave Saxons but six out of every ten died before they reached our side.
Once they reached the southern bank any thought they would just roll us up faded as they fell into the pits and bogs with which we had lined our defences. The javelins we had issued to our men slaughtered those who were helplessly trapped. And still they poured across and still they died. However sheer weight of numbers and the dead at the foot of our wall meant that, at last, some of them were able to scale the turf wall and begin to fight. Even then my men gave a good account of themselves. They had gained confidence when they saw that it was Saxons who were dying.
“Pol, give the signal.” The standards was raised and lowered. Myrddyn would begin the fire. I was delighted that the middle raft was burning down one side which slowed up the attack but now they had a foothold on our side and I saw my men dying. Suddenly the first cloud of smoke drifted over and soon it grew thicker. I turned to Hogan who held the buccina, the Roman horn, in his hands. “Now son, give the signal!”
He put the horn to his lips and blew as hard as he could. The effect was instantaneous. The Saxons paused, wondering what it meant whilst my men leapt from their posts and raced as fast as they could back to the safety of the shield wall. Miach’s men loosed three more flights and then they ran. Then there was just the three of us. I turned to the other two. “Mount your horses, I will join you.” There was a slight hesitation. “Obey the Warlord!” They left and I was alone. It was not bravado; I wanted them to fear me even more. I stood at the edge and roared, “I am Lann the Warlord of Rheged, the slayer of kings and champions; the ghost who kills in the night. You will all die!” There were four warriors clambering over the edge of the wall and they made the mistake of listening to me rather than killing me. In two blows I chopped off their heads and then leapt on to the back of my horse. I hoped the effect was that I had disappeared. The three of us galloped back to the knoll.
As we approached the shield wall I heard the banging of the shields and the roar and cheers of my men. It was as though we had had a victory already; a small victory but we had killed many and lost few. That would soon change.
Pol took the horses to Tuanthal as spa
res and I took my place at the crest of the knoll. The smoke did its job well, too well, for we could see little of the turf wall. We knew that the Saxons would have two hundred paces to cover once they had scaled the walls and they would not see the traps. The traps on the other side of the wall were still working for we could hear the screams and curses as men tripped or fell.
Myrddyn arrived; he looked elated. “The middle raft is almost burned through. They will have to either repair it or risk not having enough men to fight us. And,” he added cheerfully, “the raft fire is adding to our smoke.”
That was something we had not expected and gave us a little more time to echelon the wings and position our archers. Prince Pasgen had brought with him many spare arrows from the armoury at Civitas. We would not run out of those. He commanded the left horse reserve while Gildas and Tuanthal had the right. We were as ready as we ever would be.
The smoke started to thin and we could see movement. We could also hear the coughing as the warriors fought through the smoke. Their sight would be affected after they had crossed through our screen. We watched them form up. There was no doubt that these were veterans and, even at more than a hundred paces, we could see the battle amulets and bracelets.
“Pol, unfurl the banner!”
A cheer went up from my men as the wolf banner fluttered above us. The Saxons began to walk forwards, banging their shields with their swords as they did so. Suddenly there were screams as four men fell into a spike filled trap. Soon there were others in different traps. They began to slow their approach as they watched the ground. “Miach! Now!”
The Saxons were paying too much attention to the ground and many of the arrows found unprotected skin. Soon they had to raise their shields and the slingers scored hit after hit. The Saxon line had to halt to allow the gaps to be filled and that caused more casualties. It could not last for, soon, they would be too close for the archers and we would be locked in battle. When they were fifty paces away they stopped and formed a huge wedge. The point was aimed at my standard, as I had expected. That suited me for it meant the weaker soldiers on our flanks would not bear the brunt of the lethal assault. The knoll helped us as the spears of the third rank could stab down on the necks of their front rank. They would need to knock us off the knoll before their numbers could be brought into play.
They ran at us and I wished I had Angus and his war hammers with us for they would have punched holes in the solid wedge. Garth and my oathsworn did their job; they absorbed the first shock. Their superior shields withstood the blows from the Saxon swords and axes and the spears from the third rank caused mayhem as the Saxons found that they were fighting two warriors at once. Miach, with his archers and his slingers was aiming at the ranks behind the tip of the wedge and it was becoming weaker and lacking cohesion. It was then that I saw Aethelric. He was dressed in shining mail with a helmet like mine. The difference was he had a raven emblem on the top. That told me a number of things but the most important was that their king would not be fighting for the helmet he wore was too impractical; it looked good but a blow to the raven would rip it from his head. That decided me. At the tipping point of the battle I would join the front rank and lead my men.
Aethelric was forming two wedges on either side of his main attack. I could see that they would charge my flanks. “Pol signal Tuanthal. I want the horse ready to attack the Saxon wedges.”
We had already worked out a number of signals. Scean had started it and Myrddyn had worked and refined it. I did not need to look. I knew that my three leaders of horse, Tuanthal, Prince Pasgen and Lord Gildas would be putting their two hundred and ten horsemen into position. I knew I could trust their judgement about when to charge. I had placed Riderch on the left and Ridwyn on the right and given them command of the ordinary warriors. They too would use their judgement but, more importantly they were two champions and could deal with whoever the Saxons sent against them. I had no doubt that Aethelric’s elite warriors were coming for me.
The traps along the sides were not as numerous and many more of the Saxons were able to charge. Although my two Bernicians fought well the soldiers were forced back. I heard the cheer from the Saxons as they thought they had broken us and the ones in the centre took heart. Now was the time, “Rotate!” In one seamless move the front rank punched with their shields as the third rank jabbed and then the front ranks exchanged places with the third rank. The spears were passed back and the fresh warriors faced the tiring Saxons. The effect was instantaneous. The Saxon wedge was pushed back to its starting point. Riderch and Ridwyn had allowed themselves to be pushed all the way around so that we were an island surrounded by Saxons. The Saxons outnumbered us but we were all together and my archers could now loose all the way around the circle.
I had seen the cavalry detach itself, unseen, from the rear and they were now in position. I watched as my warriors hacked and slashed at the Saxons who were tiring. I turned to Hogan. “We are going into battle son. Use your seax well. Stay behind me and stab at anything which is foreign. Pol, leave the standard here, you will need both hands.” I grinned, “Besides no man will retreat beyond the wolf!” I raised Saxon Slayer to head height. I could see the warrior who would be the first to die. “Rotate!”
The rotation had come quicker than the Saxons had expected and they were taken by surprise. As Ragnar stepped back two spears struck the two warriors ahead and Saxon Slayer went through the skull of the lead warrior in the wedge. I thrust so hard that the blade entered the eye of the man behind. I was in danger of losing my blade and I twisted and withdrew it. I heard bone crunch as it emerged with blood and grey matter. As the two men fell dead I punched the next man as Pol’s axe hacked down on another warrior’s skull. Behind me I heard the roar as my men shouted, “Wolf Warrior!” over and over. They had the blood lust upon them and we were moving forwards at a steady walking pace. We were stabbing, slashing and hacking with impunity. We had the weight of the army behind us and they had no cohesion. When I heard the wail of the dragon standard then I knew that the charge of horse had begun and I renewed my efforts. One warrior had been lying on the ground, feigning death and as I stepped over him he tried to stab me with the broken haft of a spear. Hogan’s seax ripped across his throat. I grinned at him and nodded. As I punched with my shield I drew Saxon Slayer across my body and gave the Saxon line a sweep of its steel sharp edge. I know not how many it took for Pol chose that moment to swing his axe in the same direction but there was suddenly a gap before us. “Pol, the standard! Charge!”
It was a risky order as I could not see beyond the men around me but, as I saw that we were close to the traps and I could see the wall I knew that we had advanced further than we had hoped. We could drive them back to the wall. It was we who had now lost cohesion but the Saxons turned their backs and an unprotected back is an easy target. As my men spread out the Saxons just ran and headed for the wall. I could no longer see the raven helmet of Aethelric and that meant his men could not either but they could see the wolf banner being waved behind the Wolf Warrior and any Saxon heroes were long dead. Had they halted at the wall they could have defeated us for they still outnumbered us but they had had enough and they ran across the disintegrating bridge which still burned in places. A large number had crossed when it finally fell apart and the last few hundreds threw themselves at the timbers or tried to swim the river. We were too tired to do anything but watch. The Saxons had been driven back. They had conquered Strathclyde but Rheged, despite the inactivity of its king, remained free.
Chapter 11
For the first time since I had fought alongside my brothers my first reaction was to check that Hogan was intact. He was covered in blood but none of it was his. He looked at me and threw his arms around me. “I was always proud of you but today…” and he burst into tears. I felt like crying myself but I just held him. I was proud of him. He had faced an enemy who must have seemed as numerous as ants and he had not flinched. He was my son.
The worst part of any
battle is the aftermath. It matters not if you win or lose you still have to see who paid the price and that day was expensive. The heaviest losses had been amongst the horse although it was they who had caused the rout of the Saxons. Lord Gildas lay dead and Prince Pasgen had a bad wound. Over a hundred had been slain and many others were wounded. We had only just over three hundred warriors who could stand in a shield wall again. Calum had died as had the faithful Riderch. Both would be welcomed in the Otherworld but I would miss Riderch most of all for he chose to change his country and that was a choice made because of me. Our archers and slingers were largely intact and we had only lost two hundred other warriors. It could have been worse. Even though the Saxons had lost many we could see, from their camp fires which burned across the river that they still outnumbered us.
We sent Prince Pasgen and the rest of the wounded back to Civitas. Before he left the prince gave Tuanthal the dragon standard. “I watched you today, Captain Tuanthal, and you deserve to carry this into battle. I will never need it again and my brother deserves it not.”
Tuanthal was touched by the gesture and was about to refuse the honour when I said, “That is the symbol of Rheged and so long as you carry it in my retinue then Rheged will be free.” I thought that Prince Pasgen would fight again but, as he had lost some of the fingers on his left hand as well as being hamstrung, I did not think he would be leading his warriors. His was a serious loss.
We buried our dead but kept apart Lord Gildas, Riderch and Calum for they were the leaders of their people and they were buried with their arms in honour of their prowess. After we had stripped the Saxons of anything worth taking we burnt their bodies as their comrades watched.
When it became obvious that the Saxons would not attack again for a while I sent the soldiers back home, keeping just the horse, slingers, archers and shield wall. Garth gave me a worried look. “They might be waiting for us to do as we have done and then they will flood across.”
