by Griff Hosker
They all laughed again and one wag shouted, “Two hundred if the wind is right.”
I had them now. They were eager and ready. “But we will need to practise fighting and working together. I want the spearmen to line up here, behind Lord Gildas and the sword and axe men next to Prince Ywain.” They all shuffled into line wondering what my next instruction would be. “Now I want the tallest next to Lord Gildas and Prince Ywain and the smallest at the far end of the line.” When they had done that I saw that there were a number of men in both lines who were the same height as me. That is what I wanted. “Warriors of Rheged, put your hand up if you have fought in a wedge formation before.” About twenty hands in total went up. I had never fought in a formal one but I had seen them and knew the concept.
I went down the lines touching men on the shoulder. “Those men I have touched come here.” All the rest were fascinated. I had to take this step by step so that they all knew what we intended. When this was all over we would have to use this as a regular training exercise. I placed the two tallest warriors next to each other. Behind them I placed two tall axe men with a spearman between them. The next five were three spearmen flanked by two swords men. When I had finished we had a huge wedge with over three hundred men in it. The two hundred I had not used were disappointed. “You men will form the second wedge. First you will watch how we work.” I stood at the front and faced my wedge. “The warriors with the spears, you have been placed in the centre to protect the outside warriors. The most dangerous side is the right for you have no shield to protect you. It is up to the men with the spears to stop the enemy coming close. Keep your shield as high as you can and yet still be able to see over it. They have no archers remember that.”
The next part would be the hardest. They would have to move without tripping over each other. I stood away so that they could all see me. I held up my wolf shield. “This side is wolf. All of you hold up wolf!” They laughed but all except two did it and the ribald comments they received meant they would not do it again. I held up my sword. “This side is slayer. Hold up your slayer arm.” They all cheered as they did it. “Good now I am going to tell you which foot you will use for walking.” I grinned at them. “I will be like your mother and teach you how to walk! I will hold up my sword and you will march on the spot. When I lower my sword we will move forward until I hold up my sword.”
I turned and nestled in to the two warriors. I held up my sword and began to chant, “Wolf, Slayer, Wolf, Slayer.” I heard the men chanting it too. “That’s right, all of you chant it.” When I was happy I lowered my sword and we set off. We marched forwards about a hundred paces and then I stopped them. The rest all applauded.
“Excellent now we will work on attacking. We will turn around.” It was harder than I thought to move three hundred men in a circle but we did it. “This time when I raise my sword we will charge Prince Ywain and the others but we will stop when I lower my sword.” I had not told Ywain of the plan and his reaction would be interesting. They all chanted and we moved forwards. After fifty paces I raised my sword and I saw the look of horror on the faces of the prince and the men behind him when we charged. Some actually ran backwards but when I lowered my sword, my warriors all managed to stop. A little untidily but they stopped. In a real battle that would not matter for we would have struck their line and their shields would halt us.
“You had me worried there Lord Lann.”
“But was it effective?”
“Oh yes. I would not like to face your warriors in that formation.”
“Lord Gildas you need to form your men and do as we did. Can you do it?”
I saw a momentary hesitation and then he said confidently, “Of course.”
We spent the rest of the morning perfecting the technique. I had the men practise pushing shields against each other and others supporting their backs with their shields. I was happy that we would be able to use the wedge formation in the battle, if it came to one.
We had a break for a meal and then we gathered everyone around us. The two young princes, Rhiwallon and Rhun, who were the standard bearers, were brought out with the new standards. Ywain took them through the signals which were quite simple. The standard moved forwards meant attack. To the right meant move to the right. To the left meant move to the left and swung in a circle meant retreat.
As we trudged wearily back to the camp, ready for some hot food I felt satisfied that we had prepared our men well. I was less sure of the other two components of our army but that was not my concern. Raibeart, Aelle, Ywain, Gildas and I hung back behind the men. “You two will have to advance with us, brothers, and cause as many casualties as we can. “
Raibeart had spent part of the morning looking at the causeway and the island. “The problem is, brother, that your wedge will take up the whole of the causeway and if we were at the rear then we would be too far away to see the falloff arrow.”
Silence and depression consumed us. Then Aelle said, “Boats.” We looked at him as though he had spoken Greek. “Lann, you said that you had taken two boats to attack the island then fill them with archers and slingers and they can outflank the Saxons effectively.”
It sounded like a good plan. “Unless they bring boats too.”
Aelle gave me one of his really serious looks. “It seems, wolf brother, that you are the one who has been taking all the risks lately. I think Raibeart and I can manage.”
The cooks had produced a rich stew made from fish they had caught from beach nets and shellfish which abounded on the shore. It was a refreshing change from either dried meat or game and there was a buoyant mood in the camp. When King Urien and Bladud entered the camp they both looked as though they had the cares of the world upon their shoulders. He gave us a wan smile. “It is good to see my warriors so happy.” He looked at me and his son. “When I heard the cheers ringing out on the headland I wished I was with you. You do not need to tell me that you had a good and productive day.”
Ywain could not help his enthusiasm. “We did, father, and I am certain that our tactics will defeat the Saxons.”
“I am glad but I wished that I shared your conviction. The others are all for a direct assault on the causeway.”
Our smiling faces made the king wonder if we had heard him. Ywain said, “We expected that and we have a strategy to make it work. We will have archers behind our assault wedge and slingers and archers in two boats which will harass them with missiles. Lord Lann will lead the first wedge and Lord Gildas the second. The other forces can follow it needed.”
“Oh that is a relief! And I dreaded to tell you the news. I thought the attack would be suicidal.”
“We have practised father and we have the signals too. It will be a hard fought day but we will prevail.”
Gildas brought out an amphora of wine and we all celebrated our plan. The only one who looked put out was Bladud who kept casting looks of hate in my direction.
When the king returned the next morning he had agreed with the other kings the plan of action. King Morcant would provide the two ships and the crews. We would assault on the next low tide and the two missile ships would be rowed out on the high tide and wait. If the Saxons showed undue interest then the two ships would row inshore and we would evaluate our strategy. King Morcant was happy as his men would only be the rowers but King Rhydderch wanted his men to begin the assault. Eventually he agreed that if we failed then his men would take up the attack. King Rhydderch was informed that if the attack totally failed then the men of Strathclyde would lead the next. He was placated.
We were up before first light as the low tide coincided with dawn. My brothers had each taken command of the boats on each side of the causeway; both boats contained a mix of slingers and archers. As I waited on the mainland I looked at the two warriors who would be behind me, Scanlan and Tad. It was important that they knew their job. “We are the tip of the sword. We have to fight as one man. You Scanlan have the slightly easier task for you guard my shield side. You Tad hav
e a more onerous job for you have to protect Saxon Slayer. Talk to me while we fight and tell me of any problems.” I turned to the men behind. “You spearmen must keep the men from us. We have to penetrate as far as we can and those further behind let us know of any signals you see.”
King Urien rode before us. “Today I cannot lead you for it will be up to your swords and axes. But you are well led and you will prevail. You fight for Rheged and freedom. May god be with you.” I hoped that my gods, all of them, were with me, and that my mother, in the spirit world would do all that she could to aid us against those who had slain her and the rest of my family.
Chapter 11
The king nodded and I said, “Wolf, Slayer!” The chant went up and I saw the king’s look of surprise. The guards at the end of the causeway had seen us and there was no chance of surprise so our chant was a warning for the Saxons of the fight to come. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Raibeart’s boat glide alongside us slowly and silently. I knew that they would all have arrows and stones ready to assault the Saxons and that gave me heart. Saxon Slayer was before me and, in the pale light of dawn, appeared to glow. I saw a brief flash of light as the gates opened and disgorged the Saxon shield wall which would face us. I concentrated on the man at the centre of their line. He would be my opponent. I saw that he had a helmet with a nasal and carried a sword and a shield. The shield had no boss and I assumed no metal. That gave me an advantage. I knew, without looking, that the boats were in position and I waited for my brothers to begin their attack. They would judge the moment well, that I knew. When they did loose their arrows and stones all that I heard was a faint whoosh and then I heard the clatter of metal on metal and the screams of men who were struck. Their front ranks crumpled and then the arrows and stones came a second time. More men fell and the ones who replaced them had their shields held high. It was our chance and I raised my sword. We ran. Three hundred men encased in armour and protected by wood and iron crashed into their lines. I thrust my sword forwards as we hit and the warrior I had watched had my sword driven through his mouth and through the back of his skull. The men behind me pushed and the wedge over ran their front ranks. The warriors behind us were killing those who squirmed on the floor. I stabbed blindly and felt the sword strike something soft and fleshy and another warrior fell before me. The arrows and the slings were taking their toll and the two lines before us were crumbling. We had won and we had victory.
Suddenly the men before us just ran and fled to the safety of the stronghold. We roared forwards, an uncontrolled mass of exultant warriors. Then we realised the trap they had set. The bridge over the ditch was raised, leaving forty or fifty of the last Saxons to be slaughtered like fish stranded on a beach. I halted the line. There was something I did not like. “Prepare for an attack.” My men dressed their shields and prepared for the Saxons to come towards us. Suddenly King Rhydderch appeared. “You have done well Lord Lann but now is the time to attack.”
“There is something amiss here.”
“You are tired. Allow my men the honour of the final assault.” He was a king and I was just a warrior. I could not gainsay him.
I turned to my men. “Take thirty steps to the rear and leave a gap for the men of Strathclyde.”
The warriors of the king had obviously been watching us practise and they formed their own wedge with the leader of the King’s bodyguard at the point. At a nod from the king they roared into the ditch and attacked the wall. Suddenly a flaming torch was thrown from the ramparts and the whole ditch erupted in flame.
“Raibeart, Aelle support the attack!”
It was a forlorn hope. The ditch was filled with faggots soaked in pitch and pig fat. The brave warriors of Strathclyde burned and roasted. Raibeart and Aelle kept the men from the walls killing those in the ditch but it would have been a mercy had they done so as they would have ensured a quick end. We waited to help out of the ditch those who were not badly burned but there were few of them. Ywain came to the King and me, “The tide is returning. We must clear the causeway or we will all perish too.”
Reluctantly we turned and retreated. We had almost succeeded but in the end it was a loss and could be viewed as a disaster. Had I led my men across the ditch then we would have lost the war there and then. The men of Strathclyde’s sacrifice had saved the army.
In the camp that night there were no recriminations. King Rhydderch’s name was justly the Generous. He knew that my caution had saved my men and his recklessness had cost him his. Over two hundred of his men had perished and it grieved him for he was a good king and he knew his men. We had lost barely thirty thanks to the accuracy of Aelle and Raibeart’s men but we could not celebrate. We had the smell of human flesh roasting and no one was in the mood for food that night.
King Urien and his son came to visit me in the camp. “We so nearly won and it grieved me to have to watch those men die.”
“The Saxons merely did what we would have done. They used every means available to them to destroy us and it worked. Until they set fire to the ditch we had killed more than they had.”
The king looked thoughtful. Ywain knew him better than I. “Father, have you an idea?”
He did not answer but looked at me. “Could your men fire arrows which were burning?”
I had never done so but I saw what the king was driving at. “I think we could but we would need to devise a strategy to enable us to do so.”
“Try.”
“Father, what is your idea?”
“Use fire to fight fire. If we launched fire arrows at their ramparts then they would burn. It would make the assault much easier. Then we could surround the fortress and starve them out.” He looked at me with a questioning look.
“I think it would work and, your majesty, it is worth a try.” Raibeart gave me a weary look. He and I would need to devise a method of firing arrows
King Morcant Bulc looked quite self-satisfied as he, too, visited our camp. ”I am sorry for your losses, it was a valiant attack.”
King Urien shook his head. “Commiserations should be given to King Rhydderch for his men suffered more grievous losses. We will attack again.”
“My men will be ready to support this time for the King of Strathclyde has done enough. What do you intend?”
“We will surround them and then try to burn their walls. They lost many men today and now, I think, we outnumber them.”
That night I had to reorganise the wedge. It seemed likely that we would need to assault again for this time the Saxons would be desperate. As I was doing so Lord Gildas sought me out. “Please Lord Lann; allow me to lead the attack tomorrow. I felt pained to watch you do all the work with your men while I stood idly by.”
I knew not what to say. Ywain stepped forward. “He is right and we need as many men blooded as possible. There will be many battles before we have driven the Saxons fro our shores.”
Reluctantly I agreed. “I will support you on the morrow my lord.”
I walked with my brothers to the headland overlooking the beach. Wolf was with us sniffing for any rabbits in the dunes. We sat in the tussocky grass, in a sheltered dell. “It seems a waste of good arrows to set them on fire. We have precious few as it is.”
“We could use the ones which are not perfect; after all we only need to hit a wooden wall not a man.”
“Even so there would not be many of those.” He smiled ruefully,” our men are now accomplished fletchers.”
Aelle was the thinker. “What about the arrows which were damaged and are unusable.” Aelle had struck gold once more. Out archers collected every arrow they could find after each battle whether broken or not. The feathers and barbs could be re used even if the shaft was broken. When we had returned from the battle there were many captured shields brought back and many were studded with our arrows.
Raibeart brightened momentarily. “That would give us enough arrows for we would only need two arrows for each man but the range would be shorter.”
“How so?” Aell
e had a look of concentration upon his face.
“If the tip is on fire then we cannot draw the bow fully back for fear of burning the bow or the archer. We will need to be closer than we normally are and I do not know how we will make them burn.”
“While you two discuss that I will go down to the beach and collect some pebbles while there is still daylight.”
Aelle took his responsibilities as leader of the slingers very seriously. He disappeared over the dune. Wolf looked up briefly and then settled down again. There were no rabbits.
“You know the wicked drink that King Rhydderch and his men consume in such great quantities, King Rhydderch’s fire?” Raibeart nodded, “well when they throw it on the fire it burns. If we soaked pieces of wool in it and wrapped it around the arrow head then we could light it just before we loosed.”
“Aye that would work.”
Just then Wolf’s ears pricked up and he growled before ascending the dune and began barking. We knew that meant trouble. As we reached the top we saw Bladud, easily recognisable by his size and two other men running towards Aelle who could not hear them because the wind was coming from the east. Wolf raced towards the men. “I will go along the dunes and cut them off. Use your sling brother.”
I drew my sword as Raibeart and Wolf ran to aid our brother. He must have heard the barking for he turned when they were but thirty paces from him. Aelle did not have much time but he had enough to hurl a stone and strike the leading warrior. I could see that Raibeart was almost there as I saw the flash of light on his blade. Wolf fearlessly leapt up at Bladud’s hand and I heard the scream as his teeth sank in. Aelle fell to the floor with the second warrior on him. I was forty paces away and I would not reach my brother in time. Bladud saw me and, hurling Wolf towards the sea, ran north back to his camp. The warrior’s knife came up, poised to strike and Raibeart hurled a stone which struck the man’s head and he fell over. The first warrior stood and drew his sword. I screamed, “No!” and pulled Saxon Slayer over my shoulder. I did not pause nor did I slow down, I swung the blade and his head flew off towards the incoming tide.