Chapter 441: Preparations in the blizzard
Chapter 441: Preparations in the blizzard
The Nordic army advanced through the frozen swamps while a blizzard was falling, so their speed was reduced.
Although fortunately through the trees of the swamp, the progress was without so many problems, they only had to stop when they reached the end of the swamp area.
Because they did not know what things he could see in the fields that were further ahead, because the blizzard was too strong, so the army prepared everything to be able to camp.
Einar who was holding onto a tree looked at the white color of the blizzard with a serious face.
‘I have the slight feeling that there are enemies in front of us. I will order the soldiers to prepare a defensive line and lay barbed wire.
It reminds me of that mission in the northern highlands during that cold front that made it snow in all the northern states of the Republic … ‘
Einar felt a hand on his shoulder, so when he turned his head he could see Dreide who was wearing a bearskin scarf and coat.
“Do you have a bad feeling too?”
Einar raised his eyebrow and turned his head. “Did you also face enemies in a snow blizzard?”
Dreide nodded and folded his hands. “When she was a child King Cenn tried to launch a great attack in winter against us. One of our scouts informed us of the attack.
We tried to prepare the defense, but with the frozen swamp it was impossible to use our tactics that we used to attack.
He would have won, but the goddess of winter Cailleach Béirre gave us her blessing with a blizzard so we could prepare our troops.
Taking advantage of the blizzard’s blessing, we advanced using the snow cover and were able to attack his camp, destroying his army.
After this, King Cenn never tried to attack our home again, but we learned a valuable lesson, so that from that day on we always have soldiers ready and lookouts throughout the territory.
However, the feeling I feel this time is that we will meet something or someone in front of us. I can’t explain it but I feel the danger. “
Einar smiled and stroked his mustache. “Possibly in front of us is Athenry Castle or the army of the kingdom of Ui Maine.
I think either of the two options is dangerous, however we have the advantage that not even they can see us and we cannot see them.
Do you have any idea how long blizzards last in this place? “
Dreide scratched her head. “Using the time measurement you showed me I’m sure the blizzard will last about 5 or 9 hours.
This is because it is the first blizzard of the season, although it could last less or it could last a little longer, before they only lasted a couple of hours.
But they slowly intensified, as if a gradual change had occurred in nature. “
Einar remembered the same thing Natukt had said, so he only sighed. “It is a cycle of nature, but possibly we are facing the beginning of a glaciation or a small ice age.
Either way, that’s bad news for countries in a hot region and good news for nations in the north. “
Dreide looked at Einar curiously. “Why do you say that?”
Einar opened his hands. “Because the nations of the north have to conquer all the lands that are in the south in order to survive a hostile climate.
That is why the nations of the south will always suffer when it is cold in the north. It is something that cannot be modified and it is part of the history of mankind.
The glorious Roman empire fell mainly because of a series of situations that occurred, but one of them was the migration of tribes from the north to the south in search of a better life.
However, I will order that the assembly of an onager with forced labor be prepared in order to have an extra means of defense because we may have a glorious battle in this place. “
After those words Einar organized the army, for this he prepared a defense line. Because of the snow the time for building defenses was simply reduced since it was enough to simply compress the snow and place some boards around it.
Creating trenches similar to those used in the Napoleonic wars, he also laid barbed wire in front of defense lines and some land mines.
All this was done with the intention that in the event of a surprise attack or a conventional attack there would be enough time to be able to repel the attackers.
Also, as an extra defensive element, it began with the assembly of an onager. To speed up the process, Einar personally participated in the assembly.
So in a matter of 3 hours the onager was already fully functional, although due to lack of time it was in a rigid state.
This meant that they could not move in a simple way. That did not worry Einar at all, because it was only an auxiliary weapon. The value of his troops was in the use of the crossbow with explosive bolts.
After a few more hours, the blizzard reduced its intensity, so Einar’s troops prepared with crossbows.
Since they did not know if they would face enemy soldiers, the atmosphere slowly began to tense.
Einar who was holding his revolver looked through the trench and narrowed his eyes as he could hear some noises.
A signal from his hand Einar ordered his soldiers to prepare their weapons, so they all aimed their crossbows or Nordic carbines.
At that moment, a horde of Irish warriors emerged from what was left of the blizzard, who screamed and threw themselves on the army in a desperate attempt to kill everything they could.
Einar aimed his revolver and shot the first enemy warrior in the head, at which point all the soldiers started firing their weapons.
Dreide who had a repeating crossbow fired at three enemies with her explosive bolts. At the end of her ammunition, she took cover in the trench and reloaded the crossbow.
While she was doing it, she heard the noise of something falling from the sky sos he could see how hundreds of arrows fell, fortunately the soldiers had taken cover so there were no casualty.