On the river bank, archers led by a handful of Picts were hurling arrows, most of which pierced the mud of the stream, frightening the Viking foot soldiers who were building the bridge.
Seeing that the ambush had been discovered, Lord Duncan of Stirling left his hiding place and led his troops in a furious shout. The dense forest was filled with countless cries, and a huge flock of birds rose into the sky like a rapidly rising black cloud.
On the southern bank of the stream, Vig laid down his scroll with an impassive expression.
"You have held out until the third day! You are quite patient. No wonder our ambushes harassed the Romans so much, forcing them to build Hadrian's Wall."
In response, he sent heavily armed crossbowmen to the bank of the stream, who fired at the enemy troops at the edge of the forest.
Faced with these "iron turtles," the Pictish archers were broken. After a few minutes of forced firefight, they retreated deeper into the forest, ignoring the Vikings' provocations.
The howling died down, and Wig continued to sit in the shade, reading, occasionally glancing into the distance to soothe his tired, puffy eyes.
A damp, hot sea breeze blew from the southeast, across the Firth of Forth. Grey, dark clouds hung low. Not far away, oblivious to the threatening glances on either side of the stream, a lush black goat wandered, leisurely nibbling the juicy, tender grass.
Scouts soon arrived with news that the fleet had successfully entered the mouth of the Firth of Forth and should be north of Stirling by midday.
"At last,"
Wig stretched and ordered the entire army to light a fire and cook.
It was only when the Vikings had finished their meal that the ambushers in the woods finally responded. In the woods north of the stream, Lord Stirling grabbed a scout by the collar and asked, "How many are in the fleet?"
"Fifty longships, enough to carry two thousand Vikings."
The surrounding Indigo Raiders panicked at the scout's assessment. Someone urged Lord Duncan to return for reinforcements, saying, "The Serpent of the North is too ruthless. He sent men around Stirling. Return to Stirling while there is still time! Do not linger here!
Retreat?
Duncan was reluctant to abandon this key battlefield. The north bank of the stream was covered in forests and marshes, and the soft ground was not conducive to cavalry charges.
Simply put, this was the Northern Alliance's only chance of return. If they retreated to Stirling and held out, they would sooner or later be destroyed by the enemy.
While he was thinking, the Vikings on the south bank of the stream left their camp and deployed. Under cover of archers, two small detachments of a hundred men quickly crossed the river and attacked the Pictish ambushes at the edge of the forest.
As time went on, more and more Viking light infantry crossed the stream. After much persuasion from the crowd, Duncan finally decided to retreat north.
However, the two armies were entangled, and the vanguard had no time to escape. He was forced to lead his eight hundred men and retreat quickly northwest, to the city of Stirling.
Climbing the northern wall, Duncan looked at the huge fleet on the river north of Stirling and asked a young man with a young face:
"How long ago did the enemy arrive?"
The young man, holding his spear twice as high as he was, whispered: "About dinner time."
"Why haven't they landed yet?"
Duncan suddenly thought and ran alone to the shore of the Forth. A few dozen meters across the river he noticed rowers leisurely eating their lunch, some even fishing, and not intending to attack.
"Oh no! I have been tricked by the Serpent of the North! The fleet is but an empty shell, used to confuse us.
" .
Shocked and furious, Duncan shouted insults towards the river. His shouts attracted the attention of the fleet, and the crew drew their heavy crossbows, drawing their strings back and scaring off an indigo-drenched Pict.
In the woods north of the stream,
After Duncan had hastily led the main force back to Stirling, only a few hundred Pictish infantry remained, locked in combat. Faced with numerous foes, they held out for ten minutes, eagerly hoping for reinforcements from their allies. Instead, they received the sad news that Duncan had already retreated to Stirling.
"Damn it! Why didn't they say hello before they retreated?"
Morgan cursed when he learned that the allies had intentionally left him behind. In order to save about sixty men, he made the difficult decision to flee secretly, leaving the rest to fight in the woods.
Within half an hour, the woods north of the creek were cleared, and Whigg began interrogating the prisoners.
"You're not lying to me. There are 1,200 ambushes in the woods? Is that all Pickett's mobile force has left?"
With the 3,000 men left before, Pickett could muster only 4,200 mobile forces. Wasn't that too few?
After interrogating several prisoners and receiving the same answer, Whigg stopped worrying and continued down the road, leading his army to encircle the town of Stirling.
After riding round the wall, Whig found the country covered with forests. North of Stirling, the River Forth flowed from west to east. Further north, the country became increasingly rugged, belonging to the northern uplands.
"The forests are thick, and there is plenty of timber suitable for smelting iron."
Nowadays, charcoal is used to smelt iron ore into ingots, not hard coal. Coal must be coked, and only after it has become cokeable is it suitable for smelting chain metal. Whig did not remember coking coal, and for a long time he could only use charcoal for smelting iron.
"This is the early Middle Ages, the population is very sparse, and the forest resources are abundant, probably enough to last until the advent of the steam engine."
After an indefinite amount of time, Wygh put his thoughts aside and devoted all his energy to besieging the settlement.
Under his orders, the soldiers methodically cut down trees and built walls, quickly creating a siege camp suitable for a long-term garrison.
The camp, located north of Stirling, on the banks of the River Forth, was to be supplied with water, protecting the heavy convoys from attack.
Even after the siege camp was complete, the soldiers continued to work, armed with hoes and shovels, digging trenches around Stirling, cutting it off from the outside world. Duncan had mixed feelings as he watched their toil from the walls.
This army was truly unusual. Unlike most Vikings, they paid more attention to discipline, like the legendary Roman legions. Legend has it that the Romans also built fortified siege camps, manufactured various equipment, and followed a strict procedure for attacking settlements.
Duncan struck the battlements and sighed.
"It seems that our tactics have failed gravely. We should not have charged the Vikings head-on and retreated into the city. It was best to attack them in small groups, constantly harassing and harassing them."
Duncan's heart filled with irritation, regret, and resentment. If he could go back six months with these memories,
he would surely have been able to convince the coalition to change tactics and avoid massive losses north of the Tweed.
"I hope the Gaels in the west are wise enough. If they make the same mistake, sooner or later the whole North will fall."