Chapter 28: Strong Enemy Pressing the Border

The faint light of dawn.

With a burst of rapid hoofbeats, the attendant rider brought back a bad news that was expected: the Saxon barbarians had invaded on a large scale, preparing to take advantage of the victory to attack the territory of the Duke of Tintagel.

Saxon barbarians started by plundering; they would loot and sweep multiple times before occupying the land.

Barbarians are not very good at sieges.

Their main direction of attack is London, and other places are just looted. These looted wealth can attract more Saxons to join the ranks of invading the island of Britain.

Saxons, Angles, and Jutes are in an alliance relationship, often slaughtering and looting the British together.

Wealth moves people's hearts.

This is how the Saxons nibbled away at the island of Britain bit by bit.

Outside the castle.

As a small team of barbarian cavalry appeared in sight, the Saxon messenger arrived here in the morning.

—Saxon Noble Knight (One-star).

—Zhu Te Guard Rider.

Under the iron-blue face of the Duke of Tintagel, the Saxon messenger threw the heads hanging on the horse directly outside the castle.

There were five heads in total.

Two were the British legion commanders he appointed, and three were knights loyal to him.

Deng Ken stood on the city wall and listened to the Duke's attendant and the barbarian messenger communicating. The other party used Old English, chattering for a while, followed by a very obvious threatening action.

He felt he could understand some, but not fully, maybe because he hadn't killed enough Saxon barbarians.

The Raven Queen Su Lisi translated softly: "The Saxon messenger wants the Duke of Tintagel to admit defeat and pay them about 15,000 gold coins in tribute."

"Otherwise, the Saxon army will destroy everything here."

Not to mention whether the Duke of Tintagel could still take out this large sum of money, just looking at his diligent attitude of pulling the group yesterday, it could be seen that this British Duke was not willing to submit to the Saxons. The combat power of the British was quite average, but even if they retreated to Wales, they resisted for nearly a thousand years.

Sure enough.

The negotiations between the two sides broke up unhappily.

By evening, the Saxon army had already camped ten miles outside the castle.

Deng Ken went out of the city to scout with the Duke's knight attendants.

Anya had already reached a preliminary intention of cooperation with the Duke of Tintagel at this time. In order to "express sincerity," this Roman noblewoman lent her personal guard lover to assist the Duke's few light cavalry in scouting the enemy situation.

In the current situation, the Duke of Tintagel needed to grasp all available forces.

The situation was even worse than expected.

Because the Saxon reinforcements had arrived, the army surged from over a thousand people to nearly three thousand, seemingly drawing reinforcements from other places, intending to crush the Duke of Tintagel in one go and force him into the mountainous area of Cornwall.

Unlike the last battle, this time there were two striking marked figures in the barbarian army.

—Hengist 【Leader】 【King】 【Odin's Gaze】 【Legend】 (Two-star Gold)!

—Horsa 【Leader】 【Chieftain】 【Odin's Gaze】 【Legend】 (Two-star Gold)!

"Hengist and Horsa?"

"Barbarian leader units? I don't seem to have heard of them."

Deng Ken observed the camp on the other side of the river through the God's-eye view. The most striking targets in the enemy camp were the two targets marked as leader units, surrounded by many barbarian noble knights and priests who believed in the Germanic polytheistic religion.

Hengist and Horsa were the Saxon barbarian leaders who invaded Britain. They initially served as mercenaries to help the British defend against the Picts, which were the early Scottish savages, indigenous people who had not been conquered by Rome. The British under Roman rule believed that the Picts were a barbaric nation and had long suffered from their harassment, even repeatedly asking the empire for help.

Later, the two brothers found that the British were so weak, so they had the idea of seizing this land.

They defeated the British army and established the Kingdom of Kent in the Kent region.

The enemy was performing blood sacrifice at this time.

This terrifying blood sacrifice ritual originated in Scandinavia and was a blood sacrifice ritual called the Blood Eagle. The priest first carved the shape of an eagle on the victim's back, then cut open the victim's back to expose the spine, then cut the connection between the spine and the ribs on both sides, and lifted the ribs one by one. At the end of the ritual, the victim's lungs would be pulled out to form the shape of a pair of wings.

It is also called blood crow sacrifice, generally used for captives who dare to resist. There is another blood sacrifice, which is hanging the corpse upside down, because Odin hung on the World Tree for nine days and nine nights, so the ritual dedicated to him requires hanging the sacrifice.

Deng Ken almost vomited.

He killed people just by cutting their heads, and this was the first time he saw such a cruel and primitive blood sacrifice ritual.

"Compared with Roman gods and Greek gods, the blood sacrifice of Germanic barbarian gods is more bloody."

Ancient Greek gods just liked to mess around and didn't like bloody and cruel sacrifices. (Pointing to Zeus)

These two should be the barbarian leaders who established the Kingdom of Kent.

"So many marks."

Deng Ken had only seen "Warrior of Thor" before, and now seeing "Odin's Gaze," he couldn't help but concentrate his mind to observe more.

—【Odin's Gaze】: The target conquered the Kent region of the island of Britain and established a Germanic barbarian kingdom there. His sacrifice to Odin attracted the gaze of the polytheistic god, which will greatly increase his influence and appeal among the Germanic barbarians. (Odin's Gaze lasts for three months and must be maintained by sacrifice to the god's gaze.)

—【Legend】: The target possesses legendary status among the Germanic barbarians and is regarded as a leader who successfully invaded the island of Britain. Legends about him circulate in the Germania region. (Killing the target can capture legendary status.)

Both brothers were two-star gold units, and their strength should be very strong.

Anyway, no matter what, even if it was a small country, the strength of the founding monarch would not be weak, and there seemed to be many special states on the other party.

"A leader unit with legendary status?"

Deng Ken was eager to move for a moment, but after weighing his own strength, he really had no way to deal with them. Not to mention the barbarian noble knights guarding them, even those accompanying Germanic priests were enough for him to drink a pot.

As the last faction of the European polytheistic religion, the "Norse pantheon," these barbarian priests still possessed a certain supernatural power. They could inspire soldiers nearby on the battlefield.

In addition, they could also divine, prophesy, and cast a small amount of witchcraft.

"This battle is hard to fight."

If the Duke of Tintagel hadn't suffered a crushing defeat yesterday, he could still maintain a certain advantage in troops. Deng Ken would find an opportunity to command a British legion, relying on the blessing of his God's-eye view and his powerful personal martial power, and could barely touch the barbarian regular army.

But now the British legion is almost dead, and the captives who dare to resist are all used for blood sacrifice. Relying on the remnants of the Duke of Tintagel, they cannot resist at all.

"In the medieval era, personal martial power is also difficult to resist absolute military advantage."

Two two-star golds.

There are also some two-star silver-grays, all of which are units such as Thor warriors, Tyr warriors, and high-level barbarian warriors, all of which are very difficult to deal with, well-equipped and with superb combat skills.

"Fortunately, there are no powerful spellcasting units."

The barbarian priests Deng Ken observed were at most one-star silver-gray. It seems that the main attention of the Norse pantheon faction is not here. Those powerful barbarian priests may be on the battlefield of the Germania two-river defense line.

Perhaps they are secretly hacking each other with the Sanctuary of the Ascetics of the Church, fighting for the final attribution of mortal faith.

The enemy on the other side of the river seems to have discovered them.

After a warning, more than ten riders soon came to drive them away, which should also be the barbarian scout cavalry.

"Still dare to come?"

Deng Ken looked at the light cavalry with uneasy expressions beside him, thought for a while and said: "You wander around to attract their attention."

"Leave the rest to me!"

Since they are here.

If you don't kill their spirit, tomorrow's battle will be even harder to fight.

—Saxon Pirate Rider.

The enemy army has two different marks, one marked as a regular soldier, and the other marked as "pirate." These ten riders joined another barbarian light cavalry team, and about thirty riders surrounded them.

The captain of the scouts here is a young man named Jill, not an official knight, but should also be of noble birth, and his combat skills are higher than others.

He looked hesitant, hesitated for a moment, and decided to follow Deng Ken's order to attract the enemy.

At that time, he also saw Deng Ken force back more than ten Saxon noble cavalrymen alone.

"Come on."

"Practice your hand feel first."

Deng Ken has walked to the present, has long been experienced in the battlefield, he was vigilant about those special marked units, and whether there were barbarian priests nearby, and then rode out, directly meeting the Saxon pirate riders.

Whoosh.

An arrow shot out.

The captain of the Saxon pirate riders fell off his horse and died on the spot. This sudden scene made those Saxon pirates stunned in place.

No.

What is the origin of this enemy?

The captain of the Saxon pirate riders died inexplicably, hit in the forehead by a shot, scaring them to scatter, the speed of running horses slowed down, their expressions were terrified, and they didn't know whether to chase or retreat.

Deng Ken was unhurried, drew his bow again.

Since they are here, at least he must collect five or six heads before leaving. The Saxon barbarians should have combat skills he hasn't captured yet.

Second kill!

Continuous shooting.

Third kill!

Deng Ken met them head-on, his riding skills far exceeded the Saxons, reaching the level of elite Hun cavalry on the grassland, and if it was really horse combat, he was not very afraid.

So, in the open area on the opposite side of the barbarian camp, an extremely strange scene appeared.

The Saxons sent more than thirty riders to drive away the scouting light cavalry, and on the other side, three or five light cavalry were chased all over the map, while Deng Ken met the enemy head-on unhurriedly. In just a while, those Saxon pirate riders actually collapsed.

The picture turned into him chasing more than ten Saxon pirate riders alone, and even had the energy to turn his horse to intercept another barbarian cavalry team.

A bag of arrows shot out.

Six heads in hand.

The arrows Deng Ken carried were always few, because his quiver was specially made, generally 6-12 arrows, belonging to the ranger quiver, like the one used by elves, which can fix arrows, will not fall when moving, and the position is also fixed. You can pull out the arrows in the corresponding position by reaching out in an instant.

Under normal circumstances, there would be specially prepared armor-piercing arrows, but limited by the backward level of the current era, he didn't prepare specially.

Mongol armor-piercing arrows are heavy arrows, and longbow arrows are also heavy arrows, all of which need to be specially customized.

The arrows of English longbowmen are usually about 90 cm long, and the length of normal arrows is 50 to 70 cm. This heavy arrow nearly one meter long can directly shoot people through.

Even for Mongols, the heavy arrows carried by cavalry archery are not many, because it will affect horse combat.

On the other side of the river.

Deng Ken saw movement in the barbarian camp, several two-star silver-gray marked units appeared, and barbarian priests also followed, and immediately ran away with others.

This is really unbeatable.

Those barbarian two-star elite units are all noble warriors, all wearing heavy armor, battle bows can't break defense, only light injuries, it takes many arrows to shoot one person to death, and they have to guard against whether they have any trump cards.

This small team of scout cavalry retreated immediately, and the expressions of others looking at Deng Ken on the way back were different.

Reverence!

Almost written on the face, in this turbulent era of war, a man's martial power can not only attract women, but also attract more men.

"How to fight this wave?"

"Just rely on the hundreds of remnants and defeated soldiers temporarily recruited by the Duke of Tintagel?"

The Duke of Tintagel even started to pull farmers to be strong men.

As long as you have played Total War, you know what the combat power of farmers is, and thousands of people can be easily crushed.

In a head-on collision, the farmer troops will all raise the white flag.

Deng Ken looked at the soldiers who were a bit panicked on the city wall, and his expression became extremely solemn. Even the Raven Queen Su Lisi's magic could not affect this scale of war. Moreover, the Raven Queen Su Lisi's last runaway had a price, and she used an extremely rare ancient Roman sacrificial stone.

This kind of thing at the bottom of the box is not worth wasting here.

Defense is being arranged on the city wall.

The castle of the current era is actually a military fortress of the Roman Empire, which cannot be compared with the fortress of the Middle Ages. The city wall is not high enough and not strong enough. Although it is a city defense battle and has a certain terrain advantage, the overall military literacy of the enemy and us has also opened up a huge gap.

Barbarians have been fighting for years, looting within the empire, and fighting with the Huns, with extremely rich combat experience. Adult men are well-trained infantry.

They hack down a farmer mixed army of a thousand people with a hundred people, which is not an exaggeration at all.

Just when Deng Ken was thinking.

Suddenly, he saw the British push out a siege engine that had been around for a while. It should have been left behind when the Roman legion withdrew. The surface was covered with dust, but fortunately, it could still be used.

—Ballista!

Hmm?

Wait!

Can I use this thing? Does it eat my calibration blessing?

Deng Ken immediately had an idea in his heart.

He rode into the city directly and came to the position where the ballista was set up. Under the God's-eye view, when he controlled the ballista in front of him, an auxiliary aiming cross star gradually emerged.

Useful!

It can really use the aiming cross star to operate the ballista!

Deng Ken calculated the distance, signaled others to assist, and then controlled the ballista to aim at a distance of about 500 meters.

Bang.

A sharp arrow like a spear broke through the air and nailed directly to the position Deng Ken aimed at, with an error of no more than one meter.

The spear was almost half-pierced into the soil.

This power is strong!

If it is fired on the battlefield, it is estimated that it can directly penetrate the human body.

Although the ballista was invented by the Greeks, it grew in the hands of the Romans. In the configuration of the regular legion of 5,000 people during the peak period of the empire, 50 ballistae were standard.

At that time, the armored cavalry of the Parthian Empire was shot numb. That was the top heavy cavalry of the era and belonged to the first-tier armored heavy cavalry.

Even a light ballista can shoot through people and horses together. If you fire stone bullets, you can directly crush and lift corpses.

However, the disadvantages of the ballista are also very obvious: slow, slow movement, slow layout, slow firing, everything is slow, and if you want to exert power, you have to look at the tactical level and a little luck.

It is an accident that the Mongol commander Möngke was smashed to death by a trebuchet. In history, this rarely happens.

"I probably know what to rely on to turn the tables!"

Deng Ken fell into deep thought: "Now it depends on whether the enemy gives this opportunity."

Beheading.

Their only chance to turn defeat into victory is to shoot the enemy king to death.

Deng Ken estimated that he only had one chance to make a move. Once exposed, it would be difficult to find an opportunity again. With the slow firing speed of the ballista, people would have run out of range long ago.

This shot hit.

Let alone a two-star gold leader unit, even that three-star monster hunter could die on the spot.

The only flaw is that operating a ballista is much harder than drawing a bow and shooting an arrow. Deng Ken will also have errors, and moving targets are harder to grasp, so he can only rely on temporary hand feel.

The Kingdom of Kent was just established, and the interior is not very stable. The barbarian king urgently needs a big victory to maintain his ruling prestige.

King Uther is stronger, so the Duke of Tintagel became that soft persimmon.

Barbarians are not stupid, they all pick soft ones to pinch.

The Seven Kingdoms era of the island of Britain was opened by the establishment of the Kingdom of Kent. It is the prototype of the Seven Kingdoms in the American drama Game of Thrones. (Song of Ice and Fire.)

These seven countries were established by Jutes, Saxons, and Angles.

They add up to England, which is about 130,000 square kilometers of land, about the same size as FJ Province.

For Deng Ken, Britain can only be considered a novice village.

Because there is no powerful force that can pull out tens of thousands of regular troops at will, and it will not encounter the main force of the grassland Huns, directly being shot into a hedgehog by the enemy.

This is a local war.

Saxons tried to invade Gaul, but didn't beat the Franks. So the loser went to sea.

"Don't know if I can find an English longbow?"

Deng Ken really can't find a wonder-level battle bow at present. The English longbow was invented many years later.

If there was a longbow in hand, he would shoot heavy cavalry much easier.

Now there is no bow, he can play artillery.

Ballista is also fine.

Deng Ken gradually became familiar with the operation of the ballista and began to find the hand feel. The aiming cross star of the ballista has a larger deviation, because the range is long and there are other wind interference, maybe it needs a little luck.

………………

PS: I wish everyone a Happy New Year and everything goes well. Bonus chapter, 5,000 words. ===== CHAPTER 29 =====