Upon receiving the order, Ivar gathered his troops, reformed his line, and turned north to attack the main French force led by Charles the Bald.
The core of the offensive force in this battle was a thousand armored warriors. He himself was dressed in a leather vest decorated with plates, under which lay a chain mail. The total weight, including the iron helmet, reached a staggering fifty kilograms.
Following the banner of the gray wolf, the warriors moved against the shield wall of the Frankish infantry. After a short fight, the Frankish line spontaneously retreated to the north.
Instinctively, Ivar was in no hurry to break through the enemy line, but instead confidently advanced, gradually pushing the enemy back to the Seine.
On the western central platform.
Seeing Ivar's army making good progress, Vig felt that the battle was 80% won. He waved his banner, signaling his direct troops to encircle them from the east, quickly cutting off the Franks' path to the bridgehead.
At this point, Charles the Bald realized the impending crisis. He now understood that the Viking "main force" in the west was just a facade, a powerful but ineffective march.
The real killer weapon was the 1,000 heavy infantry in the south and the two Viking phalanxes ready to encircle the enemy from the east.
Unfortunately, even having figured out Vig's tactics, he was unable to prevent the enemy from being encircled.
After the loss of troops on the southern front, the Franks were left with just over 6,000 men. Despite their apparent numbers, they were in reality a mass of demoralized and disorganized militia. Now, under pressure from both the west and the south, these 6,000 men unconsciously streamed north toward the Seine like a disorderly flock of sheep. Time
passed, and Vig gave new orders, gradually reducing the enemy's chances.
The southwest corner is weakening. Send Oleg the White-haired to relieve Ulf's troops.
Niels' archers are ready to attack, following Leonard and Theowulf's troops. As soon as they are within range, they will fire arrows toward the enemy's center. There is no need to aim for intense destruction in a short time, but rather a prolonged shooting to prevent them from regrouping.
Ohm has moved too fast, and the line has lost contact with Leonard's troops! Damn it, let him slow down!
"Bjorn's troops have finished their rest and are heading for the southern battlefield to cover Ivar's back and prevent isolated units of Frankish cavalry from interfering with his advance."
It was one o'clock in the afternoon. Accompanied by five hundred light infantry, two phalanxes of spearmen had successfully retreated to the eastern side of the battlefield, blocking the Franks' retreat to the bridgehead.
After a series of maneuvers, Vig successfully implemented the plan devised before the war and surrounded the main body of the French army on the banks of the Seine.
The overall situation was decided. He sat cross-legged on a high platform and asked the shield-bearer to hand him a bag of clean water. He drank half the bag and washed his face with the remaining water, washing away the sweat.
A light breeze caressed his cheek, ruffling a strand of hair near his ear. Vig looked at the endless expanse of white clouds, shrouded in warm sunlight. It was as if he had immersed himself in a fragrant bath.
"The situation in war is constantly changing, the shape of water is constantly changing. In this battle, I won the victory by adapting to the enemy's changes."
I doubt we could have done it with Gunnar, Ivar, or anyone else."
After this battle, he realized that his leadership skills had increased significantly, and from now on, he would have no problem commanding an army of less than 10,000 men.
At 2:00 p.m.
, under a hail of arrows from three sides, the Franks made five successive attempts to break through, each of which was repulsed. As the battlefield continued to shrink, six thousand soldiers huddled on the banks of the Seine, unconsciously heading for the shallows.
Sensing their king's plight, the defenders of the Ile de la Cité quickly sent over thirty ships to reinforce them, but were met by Viking longships. The two sides clashed, and the Frankish tactic of attacking the ships with gunfire proved ineffective.
Half an hour later, a clipper with Charles the Bald and more than a dozen nobles on board docked and set sail.
"I am the nephew of the cousin of the Count of Orleans."
"Take me with you, and I will give you two castles in Bordeaux."
"Your Majesty, are you abandoning a devout priest like me?"
Ignoring the cries of the crowd, the clipper rowed furiously towards the Ile de la Cité, with only a few people reluctantly clinging to the side. As the ship threatened to capsize, the captain of the guard drew his sword and, with the silent approval of the king, slashed at the side. Fingers were cut off one by one, and the bones fell to the deck in an icy mass.
Finally, protected by the desperate efforts of the French ships, Charles the Bald returned to the Ile de la Cité, where he was met by the pale queen and many noble ladies.
"Do not panic, my friends. The Ile de la Cité is strategically located, and the barbarians will not be able to reach it.
Before the king could finish speaking, a noblewoman ran up to him, seized him by the sleeve and exclaimed: "Your Majesty, why did not my son return with you?"
Led by the lady, they broke through the guards and began to ask about the whereabouts of their sons, husbands, fathers and brothers... At
three o'clock in the afternoon
the king fled, and the remaining Franks, demoralized, surrendered without hesitation, lowering their weapons. The Battle of the Seine was over.
The Vikings lost 1,300 men, most of whom were from the southern flank. Björn, Ulf, Gunnar and two phalanxes of spearmen paid a high price for their victory over a thousand French cavalry.
On the Frankish side, 1,500 men were killed, and the remaining almost 6,000 were captured, and hundreds fled. The battlefield was in disarray.
After summing up the battle, the nobles held a short council of war. The battle ended in a decisive victory, with the French losing only a thousand men. The commanders unanimously decided to capture Paris, make a huge profit, and return to Britain.
Then, before sunset, the Vikings set up a siege camp outside their bridgehead on the south bank. The proximity of numerous houses and the market square greatly accelerated the construction.
Based on the experience of previous years, Vig was chosen as the siege commander, responsible for the construction of the camp and the siege itself. Ivara was abandoned by the nobility, and Bjorn led hundreds of experienced warriors to the north bank in search of his father, while the rest sought refuge.
As for the method of attacking the city, Vig's first thought was a siege.
A few days earlier, as the army passed through Rouen, the Franks threw a chain across the river. The Vikings captured the fortress on the south bank and cut one end of the chain, causing it to sink. Gravity.
Now Vigue planned to capture Rouen on the north bank, leaving the other end of the chain secured there. He would then pull the chain out of the water and row it upstream by boat, thereby damming the Seine east of Paris.
"Now that the main French army has been completely destroyed, there remains on the Ile de la Cité only a handful of palace guards and a thousand or two thousand ineffective militia. I can set up siege camps outside the bridgeheads on both the north and south banks and set up iron chains upstream to completely encircle this city in the center of the river."