The unarmed horsemen, soaking wet in the cold river water, were the first to surrender, and under their leadership the soldiers also laid down their arms.
However, this was far from the end. More than 130 people agreed to surrender, but the war horses did not understand human language. Seeing that several of their kinsmen were wounded by arrows, the horses immediately became furious and desperately rushed to the east, north and west.
Faced with the enraged horses, Vig climbed to the treetops as quickly as possible and shouted to the trumpeter standing nearby:
"Quick, give the signal, let them pull the tripwire!"
…
This farce continued until sunset, and the commandos lost 27 men, all due to collisions and trampling of horses. Fortunately, Vig had foreseen the risk of the horses getting out of control and had stationed over 30 men at six crossroads.
Hearing the horn, these men intercepted the horses as planned, and ended up capturing 140.
Having tied the reins together, the Vikings used axes and chisels to make many wooden models of palm-sized boats and launched them into the river to drift. According to the agreement, if the Ivar tribe, traveling downstream, found this signal, it meant that the tribe traveling upstream had succeeded and they should flee as quickly as possible.
After a night's rest, Vig refused his subordinates' suggestion to continue the search and resolutely set out from the forest with his warhorse and the prisoners.
Returning to Lutterworth by his original route, Vig found the camp outside the castle sparsely populated and the town walls sparsely adorned with flags, with only those of Ulf, Pascal and Leonard remaining.
"Pascal is a civilian, Leonard is wounded, which leaves Ulf to defend the town. The army has marched out, has something happened to Ivar?" Entering the
town gate, Vig led the horses to the stables and asked Ulf, who had come in on hearing the news, "What has happened?"
"Ivar's men returned last night to report that they had received news of success upstream, and then retreated. On the way, Ivar changed his mind and decided to hide behind the main Wessex force, waiting for our attack, and he suddenly fell upon the enemy from the rear!"
…
The eldest son was willing to take the risk. Ragnar was angry and helpless. He left Lutterworth and a group of wounded men with Ulf, and led 4,000 men south along the road.
After half a day's march, Wessex scouts spotted the Vikings moving. They pursued them furiously, sending men back to the manor to report the news.
"Will Ragnar himself attack?"
The horses and baggage train sent from the rear had not yet arrived. Aethelwulf was unwilling to act hastily, and repeatedly refused his subordinates' requests for battle.
"Your Majesty, the Vikings are six miles away."
"Four miles to go."
…
As the distance grew shorter and shorter, Aethelwulf ordered everyone to prepare for battle and to form up relatively conservatively, relying on the trenches dug outside the manor for defense.
When he reached the top of the mill, he saw that the enemy approaching from the north was almost equal in number to his own – four thousand men, less than thirty horsemen used for reconnaissance and messengers, and about eight hundred heavy infantry.
"The numbers are equal, but he has three hundred suits of iron armor less than I do. Why does he dare to take the initiative in the attack?"
Aethelwulf counted his forces, including the eighty Frankish horsemen who remained fighting, and decided that he would not lose to the enemy.
In a small hand-to-hand fight, the Vikings, with their physical advantage, could defeat the same number of English. As the number of troops increased, the importance of formation and discipline increased dramatically. The complete Gallic War and several other military books are kept in the palace at Winchester, which mentions that Roman soldiers were generally shorter than the Germans and Gauls, but relied on good formation, training, and equipment to often win with fewer men.
In Aethelwulf's view, the Viking army was made up of marauders from all over the world, and was poorly disciplined, like the Germanic barbarians of the time (he ignored the fact that the Angles were also a branch of the Germanic people, originating from Schleswig in southern Denmark).
Gathering the commanders of the various units, he confidently gave the order: "After the battle, use the trenches to block the enemy and wear down the physical strength of the Viking barbarians. With the right timing, the warhorses will arrive within the next two days, and the counterattack will begin as soon as the cavalry numbers have been restored to 200 men."
"For Wessex!"
The commanders shouted a slogan and left the mill to command their troops. During the few days they spent at the manor, Wessex's warriors dug a ditch two meters deep and three meters wide around the perimeter, and dumped the excavated earth behind the ditch, forming an earthen rampart.
When the Vikings had retreated 300 paces from the ditch, Wessex finished gathering his troops and calmly waited behind the earthen rampart for the enemy to begin the attack.
"It seems that Aethelwulf is no fool."
Ragnar looked serious. He bypassed the most fortified northern section and led his troops in a circle, preparing to attack from the west.
Under his command, Wessex's soldiers moved the center of defense to the west, where the trench had not yet been completed, leaving a strip of land about 50 paces wide.
As the attack was about to begin, Gunnar suddenly called for a halt: "Your Majesty, do you remember the trick Vig pulled at York? He deliberately allowed the Northumbrian army to enter the camp and lured almost 3,000 men into traps. I fear the enemy will resort to the same tactic."
Feeling the morale slowly fading, Ragnar asked quietly: "What do you think we should do?"
"Create enough momentum and use only 30% of our forces. When they find out that the supply route is attacked and the horses robbed, they will naturally reveal their weaknesses."
At Gunnar's suggestion, the Vikings converted the supply trains into shield wagons, moved them to the shooting range and covered the archers in the rear so that they could shoot at the enemy.
Under a hail of arrows, hundreds of infantrymen slowly pushed the shield wagons toward the breach. After a short and fierce fight, the enemy behind the breach began to show signs of fatigue, as if another attack could defeat them.
"Indeed, these guys are playing."
Seeing this, Gunnar stopped advancing inward and concentrated on attacking the enemy on the left and right flanks. Understanding his intentions, the Wessex army suddenly increased its resistance. Elite warriors in iron armor replaced the militia and in one fell swoop drove the Vikings out of the camp.
Mill.
Aethelwulf looked out the window at the battle and was deeply irritated by the Vikings' vigilance. "What a disappointment! Why did the strategy described in the war book not work?"
Suddenly a guard ran up and reported that the cavalry had been attacked at the ford, and the search parties had found only ten horses in the forest.
"What did you say?"
The proud splinters proved to be of no use. Aethelwulf grabbed the guard by the collar, hesitated for a few seconds, and pushed him away. "Temporarily block the news, do not let it undermine the army's morale."
"Yes!"
"Wait a minute," the old king stopped the guard. "The ford was attacked, will the Vikings ambush another crossing?"
Looking at the forest in the distance, Aethelwulf felt that he had fallen into a trap.