Hosker, G [Wolf Brethren 02] Saxon Revenge

by Griff Hosker

  “Perhaps. Garth put one third of our warriors behind the wall on the right and the other third behind the wall to our left. They may have a surprise yet for us.”

  Garth had no sooner put the warriors in position when Tuanthal and his horsemen came galloping up. “My lord. They have landed a large number of men downstream. We charged them but there are too many. They are coming this way.”

  “You have done well. Bring all our sentries in and get yourselves behind these new walls. Put your equites at the top of the hill behind the last ditch. You will be our reserve.” I paused. “You will be fighting on foot.”

  Raibeart joined me. “Well at least we know what his surprise is.”

  “Aye. You and Miach need to spread your archers evenly; place a third around each side of our perimeter. They have crossed the river but so long as we stand they cannot move their army.”

  Aella then launched his second attack across the bridge. Angus had done well in the time available and the barrier was effective. I knew that they could build a ram as they had before but they would struggle to use it effectively on a bridge slippery with gore and filled with their dead. Aella showed his final cunning as a third attack materialised along our right flank. Like the ones in the night raid they must have floated over on crude rafts. Riderch estimated a thousand men and, added to the two thousand coming upstream we were well outnumbered. It would be a long day.

  Myrddyn came up to me. “If you have men wet the slopes before the ditches then the Saxons will find it hard to climb.” Myrddyn was the best of all worlds, he was a healer and yet he had a military mind as sharp as any warrior. “We have plenty of water from the river and it will give the villagers a part to play.”

  Soon there were two human chains carrying any kind of receptacle to the walls and pouring it down the slopes. The fact that some of the water went into the ditch did no harm, in fact it aided us by hiding the stakes. We stopped it when we saw the first Saxons on our flanks. Angus and the men at the bridge were busily engaged and one disadvantage of the barrier was that the men from Strathclyde could not longer reclaim their hammers and so they fought with their swords, supported by Raibeart and his men. Leaving Raibeart and Angus to defend our bridge I went to the greatest threat, our left flank; where the greatest numbers were attacking. Garth was there with the bulk of my men. Riderch had the survivors from Elmet and the Bernicians on the other side. As soon as my banner was unfurled my men began banging their shields and they chanted, “Wolf Warrior!” over and over. The Saxons now knew whom they faced.

  They had formed a shield wall and they had many spearmen amongst their warriors but they struggled to keep a straight line as they approached us at an oblique angle. Miach’s archers chose their targets carefully. We had used too many arrows lately and could not afford to be profligate. They came on steadily until they reached the wetted ground. As soon as a warrior slipped he was despatched by an arrow. The gaps were then exploited by other archers but still the Saxons came on. The first warriors who reached the ditch had their shields held up to protect themselves from the rain of arrows and stones. They crashed screaming into the muddy, stake filled bottom. Those who were able to tried to extricate themselves but they were quickly killed. Perhaps the warriors were lured on by the thought that, if they reached me, they would be rich men; whatever the reason they kept coming until the ditch could be negotiated for it was filled with the bodies of their dead.

  When they reached the wall they tried to hack it down with their axes whilst protected by their spears but the archers and my own spearmen made that task difficult. Even so we began to lose men. They were winning the war of attrition. We fought through a long afternoon. Myrddyn found the time in his healing to send food and drink to the men at the walls and we rotated whenever possible. Inevitably it was the Saxons who tired, and as night fell they withdrew taking, wherever possible, their dead and wounded with them. Before we could rest I sent out my men to empty the ditches of the bodies and to have the villages pour as much water down the slopes as possible. By the time the hill was sodden and the ditches cleared everyone was exhausted. I gave the orders for the men to sleep at their posts and I ordered Tuanthal to use his horsemen as sentries. I hoped the enemy would not return but I could not be sure.

  I met with Myrddyn and my officers to plan the next day and we hungrily grabbed bites of food as we talked. “Let us start with the bad news first and get that out of the way. How many dead and wounded?”

  There was a pause then Myrddyn’s calm voice listed what he knew. “There are fifty wounded warriors. All can fight again but only thirty will be ready tomorrow.”

  Raibeart chimed in, “We have lost fifteen archers but we are desperately short of arrows.”

  “We lost another thirty horsemen delaying the enemy; we are down to one hundred and twenty equites but we now have ten spare horses.” I threw him a look. I knew what was behind his last comment; we could all have an escape route on a horse but I think Tuanthal knew me better than that. I would not ride away to leave my men to be slaughtered.

  “Garth?”

  “We have lost heavily today my lord. We have less than two hundred warriors left. If we add the wounded that will still only give us seventy men on each side of our defences. Another attack like the one today and we lose.” He looked at Miach. “We may have to arm some of the archers and let them fight in the shield wall. We have the shields and the armour,” he paused, “from the dead.”

  “Aye that might work. We could give our arrows to Lord Raibeart’s men.”

  “Tomorrow we will send the villagers to the top of the hill where the equites will be. When I give the signal to retreat then everyone falls back there. Myrddyn has sent all our food there and we will have that as our last defence.” I nodded to Prince Ywain. “You, my lord can organise the defenders for I shall stay outside until all hope is gone.”

  There was an ominous and sombre silence around the fire. All of us were exhausted but none had given up hope. The fact that they were still coming up with ideas spoke well of their morale. Pol came in with a gleaming Saxon Slayer.”Here is your blade my lord, sharp enough to shave with!”

  For some reason that cheerful comment made everyone laugh and in that laughter came release. We were still positive and we all thought we could still win, even a young squire. None of us knew how but there was a belief in the camp that King Urien would reach us in time and the sacrifice would be worthwhile when we defeated Aella.

  When the next day dawned we could see that the forces on our flanks had been massively reinforced. They intended to finish it that day. “Raibeart take half the men from the bridge and reinforce the two flanks. I think the bridge will be a diversion and their real effort will be where their main forces are.” I sought Riderch. “You take charge of the same flank you did yesterday but send me five of your warriors.” “Garth, you are to defend the left flank. Send me five of your warriors.”

  When I had the ten men I sent Pol to Tuanthal for five of his warriors. Raibeart came over when he saw the small detachment. “What do you intend brother?”

  I pointed up the hill. “That will be the last point of defence but I want to delay the enemy. When he breaks through I will take these fifteen men and we will attack the ones who break through.” I shrugged. “I know it will only delay the inevitable but every hour we save might mean the king reaches us or at least reaches us in time to bury our bodies and defeat Aella.”

  No words were needed and I clasped my brother’s arm. “Pol, get a shield and find a helmet.” He cheerfully ran off. I wanted him protected and able to defend himself. “The rest of you arm yourself with a couple of spears. There are plenty. We will throw one and then use the other. We need to be mobile. We fight as a line of ten warriors with the equites watching the rear and the flank. We will be the last to retreat. We give the others time to get to the top of the hill.” From the looks on their faces one would have thought I had given them a bag of gold rather than signing their death warr
ants.

  Myrddyn trudged up the hill. “I will heal from the top of the hill. We may save more that way.”

  “Good and, Myrddyn…”

  “Yes my lord?”

  “Arm yourself. Aella will remember the spy who was in his camp and helped the prince to escape.” He nodded and his face became serious as he understood the implications of my words. His service to me might be brief and cost him his life.

  Aella tried to intimidate us by banging drums at the same time as his men banged their shields. I didn’t mind. Any delay was welcome. When his horn sounded the whole Saxon line, on three sides, leapt forwards. They were relying on numbers and on speed. We had fewer archers but they could keep the arrows flying for longer as they had more shafts. The warriors at the front fell like wheat to a scythe but still they came on. They tried to leap the ditch but the water we had used had made the grass greasy and they slipped and fell on to the stakes which were covered in last night’s shit. The men had particularly enjoyed that bowel movement. The dead bodies in the ditches meant that they soon closed with the walls. I glanced at the bridge. Raibeart and Angus had half the number of warriors they had had the previous day but the Saxons were making no impression on their barricade.

  Suddenly part of the thin wooden wall on the left flank gave way and Saxons hurtled through overrunning the defenders. Adair and his slingers slowed them a little but it was time for my detachment. We raced forwards towards the fifty men who had broken through. Fifteen spears flew through the air and twelve men fell. We struck the disorganised mass with a solid line of spears and every spear struck home. I threw my spear at a warrior ten paces away and watched as he gurgled his bloody death. I drew Saxon Slayer and backhanded a warrior who was coming towards me with an axe. I heard a groan behind me and saw a Saxon, who was about to stab me on my unprotected side, fall to Pol’s seax. I looked around for my next Saxon but the slingers and my men had ended the threat. Garth had fortified the gap in the wall but it was still a desperate fight.

  Scean shouted, “My lord. Riderch is in trouble!”

  I saw that the Saxons had now broken through on the other flank and Riderch’s men were being attacked on all sides. “Follow me!” Grabbing a spear I led my men towards the Saxons who were oblivious to the danger in their rear. We threw our spears and then hacked into unprotected backs and legs. Soon we were standing side by side with Riderch who nodded his thanks but I could see that there were another thousand warriors massing before us. “Pol, tell my brother to retreat. Scean signal the retreat.” I yelled as loudly as I could, “Retreat!” and we began to edge back up the hill. “Riderch take your men and form a defensive line just below the ditch.” He looked as though he was going to disobey but then thought better of it.

  We were a line of twelve warriors and we faced the Saxons who thought that they had won. They advanced towards us, each one of them anticipating being the one to kill the Wolf Warrior. That was their undoing for they forgot about the other eleven who were all skilled warriors. Nor did they anticipate my brother and Angus charging into their flank. It was a bitter battle as we edged backwards and the Saxons had to fight over their dead and dying to reach us and we were always just out of reach. And then we were in one line with Riderch and Garth. The last warriors left, standing in a circle before the ditch. Behind us were Miach and the last archers who had arrows. There was a hiatus as the Saxons paused. They had us surrounded and were eagerly waiting for the order to charge us.

  “Miach, use your last arrows when I give you the order. Riderch and Garth, when I give the order, retreat to the prince and we will fight from the walls. Now!”

  A number of things happened at once: the arrows flew, we ran back and then I heard the thunder of hooves. I stopped and I turned, The Saxons before me were now fleeing and I saw the standard of Elmet. King Gwalliog and his men had arrived. We had reinforcements! One of the kings had reached us in time.

  Chapter 13

  Although the king had only brought a thousand men, two hundred were horsemen and they had destroyed the men on the right flank. The one thousand men who had started the attack had paid heavily at the hands of my men and the sudden charge of the mounted men had been enough to send them fleeing back across the river. Although over three thousand still waited below us the sudden collapse of one of their wings had halted them. “Quickly, form a new line on me and the men of Elmet.” Within minutes we had our left side anchored at the top of the hill defence and the right flank at the river. We were still outnumbered but at least we had fresh troops and, more importantly, hope.

  I had not seen Aella until that moment but I saw him then. He stood at the rear of his line with his bodyguards around him. I risked a glance across the river and saw that he still had many more warriors ready to flood across the bridge once he secured it again. Our barrier had thwarted their attempt to rush through the middle and I could see that Aella would try to attack there. “Miach take your archers and the slingers. I want any Saxon going near to the bridge killing. Tuanthal, mount your equites and join the men of Elmet on our right flank.”

  Raibeart was next to me. “You are gambling that he will try to take the bridge?”

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  “Of course but if you are wrong then we lose the hill and that will mean that we lose the battle.”

  “Our task was to defend the river crossing and that we will do. The king should be here in two days. With King Gwalliog’s men we might just do it. Now join your father in law and tell him of our plight. I will stay here and defend the top of the hill.”

  Aella waved his warriors forward and they came at us in three enormous wedges. We still had the advantage that we were uphill of them and they were tired; so were we but we did not have to drag our armour up a slope steep which was slippery with gore. We had no archers now and they came on relentlessly without the annoyance of archers and slingers. They were able to watch us as they steadily trudged up the hill side of death. They had seen some of their men defeated, they were now swimming back across the river or fleeing to the west, but they still outnumbered us and their king was leading them this time.

  “Lock your shields!” They would push us back. We were but two lines of warriors but they would find the slope hard. I took the first sword which hacked at me on my shield and gave it a slight turn so that it slid down and snagged on a nail. It only took the warrior a moment to free it but that was all I needed. I slashed down on his neck and almost severed his head. The next warrior had punched with his shield but Scean’s sword appeared next to my head and pierced his eye. I ended his life swiftly but I was forced to step back. The Saxons took that to be a sign of weakness and pushed forwards but they only served to hamper the warriors on the front line who could not swing their swords. We had no such problem and I swung Saxon Slayer over my head to split the helmet and head of the unfortunate warrior who had lunged at me. There was no time for self congratulation for there were more enemies to kill. Had the Saxons been able to enjoy another hour of daylight they might have beaten us but as night fell Aella withdrew his men to our first ditch which he used as a defence against us.

  Soon both sides had fires going, partly for defence but also to give warmth and to cook some food. We had fought all day and I knew that we would struggle to stay awake. I sought King Gwalliog and I embraced him. “You have saved the alliance this day.”

  He gave a shrug which almost appeared to be one of embarrassment. “I could not have my daughter widowed yet could I?” Raibeart too embraced his father in law. “I took a leaf out of your book Lord Lann. I brought the one thousand warriors who were ready. The others will leave in seven days when their tasks are complete. I came to the Roman Bridge and was told where you were. I could have waited for King Urien but now I see the state of your force then I am glad that I came earlier. Where is the king?”

  “Still two days away and no sign yet of King Morcant Bulc but I expect him with King Urien. We have two more days of hard fighting if we are to hold th
is river crossing.”

  King Gwalliog looked at the fires which littered the hillside and across the river. “It is a mighty host. Can we hold them?”

  “Had you not arrived then the answer would have been no but I now have hope. Let us join the prince for he will be pleased to see you.”

  While the king and the prince spoke I sought Myrddyn. “What is the cost?”

  “It is a high one.” He looked at me with sadness in his eyes. “Adair is dead.” I felt my heart sink. Adair was brave and he was intelligent. I had high hopes for him he would have made a fine leader of horse to aid Tuanthal and now he was gone. “You have less than five of your oathsworn warriors left and that includes Garth. Two are wounded but may fight again. Rheged has paid a high price. I think you have less than a hundred warriors and a hundred archers left from the ones who left Rhege.” I suddenly realised that I had not told the king of the loss of his contingent of warriors. There were just six of them left. Only Angus and his Strathclyde men seemed indestructible.

  It was dark when Pol awoke me. “My lord you are sent for. There is something happening in the Saxon camp.”

  I threw my wolf cloak about me to take away the chill of the night. Garth and Raibeart were stood watching the Saxon camp. “What is amiss? Are they attacking?”

  “No, my lord. We have sent Ridwyn to investigate but we think that they are leaving. They banked up their fires and there was noise but, for the past hour there has been silence and we can detect no movements.”

  “What about the bridge?”

  “The fires still burn on the other side of the river but, as with this camp here there is no movement.” Was this another of Aella’s tricks? True we had been reinforced but we were still vastly outnumbered. “Should we wake the men?”

  “No we can wait until Ridwyn returns. I can see that what you said was true there is no sign of sentries but I wonder where they have gone.”