Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 27: A Powerful Enemy Approaches! A Chance for Victory (New Year's Update)

The morning light is dim.

With the sound of rapid horse hooves, the escort riders brought back the expected bad news: the Saxon barbarians had invaded on a large scale and were preparing to pursue the victory and attack the territory of Duke Dintagir.

The Saxon barbarians started out as plunderers, and they would carry out multiple raids before occupying the land.

Barbarians are not very good at sieges.

Their current main attack direction is London, and they will plunder other places. The wealth looted can attract more Saxons to join the invasion of the British Isles.

The Saxons, Angles, and Jutes were allies and often massacred and looted the Britons together.

Money moves people's hearts.

This is how the Saxons gradually nibbled away at the British Isles.

Outside the castle.

The Saxon messenger arrived here in the morning as a small group of barbarian cavalry came into sight.

——Saxon Noble Knight (one star).

——Zhute guard rider.

Under the gloomy face of Duke Dintagir, the Saxon messenger directly threw the head hanging on the horse outside the castle.

There are five heads in total.

Two were commanders of British regiments appointed by him, and three were knights loyal to him.

Duncan stood on the city wall and listened to the Duke's servants communicating with the barbarian messenger. The other party used Old English, chattering for a while, and then made an obvious threatening gesture.

He felt that he could understand some of it, but not completely. It might be because he had not killed enough Saxon barbarians.

Raven Queen Triss translated softly, "The Saxon messenger wants Duke Dintagir to admit defeat and pay them a tribute of approximately fifteen thousand gold coins."

"Otherwise the Saxon army will destroy everything here."

Putting aside the question of whether Duke Dintagill could still come up with such a large sum of money, just looking at his attentive attitude in recruiting the group yesterday, it was clear that this British Duke was unwilling to submit to the Saxons. The British were generally average in combat, but even after retreating to Wales, they had resisted for nearly a thousand years.

as predicted.

The negotiations between the two sides ended in a bad mood.

By evening, the Saxon army had already stationed more than ten miles outside the castle.

Duncan went out of the city to investigate with the Duke's knights.

At this time, Anya had already reached a preliminary cooperation intention with Duke Dingtagir. In order to "express sincerity", the Roman noblewoman lent her personal guard lover to assist the Duke's few light cavalry in scouting the enemy situation.

In the current situation, Duke Dingtagil needs to seize all available power.

The situation is worse than expected.

Because the Saxon reinforcements arrived, the army increased from more than a thousand people to about three thousand people. It seemed that the reinforcements were drawn from other places, and they planned to defeat the Duke of Tintagel in one fell swoop and force him into the mountains of Cornwall.

Unlike the last battle, this time there were two more eye-catching figures in the barbarian army.

——Henggus [Leader] [King] [Odin's Attention] [Legend] (Two-star gold)!
——Hosa [Leader] [Chief] [Odin's Attention] [Legend] (Two-star gold)!
"Henges and Horsa?"

"The Barbarian leader unit? I don't think I've heard of it."

Duncan observed the camp on the other side of the river from a God's perspective. The most eye-catching things in the enemy camp were the two targets marked as leader units. They were surrounded by many barbarian noble knights and priests of the Germanic polytheistic faith.

Henges and Horsa were Saxon barbarian leaders who invaded Britain. They initially served as mercenaries to help the British defend against the Picts, the early Scots, an indigenous people who had not yet been conquered by Rome. The Britons under Roman rule considered the Picts a barbaric people and suffered long-term harassment from their invasions, even requesting aid from the empire on several occasions.

Later, the two brothers discovered that the British were so weak, and they began to think about seizing this land.

They defeated the British army and established the Kingdom of Kent in the Kent region.

The enemy is now performing a blood sacrifice.

This horrific blood sacrifice ritual originated in Scandinavia and is a blood sacrifice ritual called the Blood Eagle. The priest first carves the shape of an eagle on the victim's back, then cuts open the victim's back to expose the spine, then cuts off the connection between the spine and the ribs on both sides, and peels off the ribs one by one. At the end of the ritual, the victim's lungs will be pulled out to form a pair of wings.

It is also called the Blood Raven Sacrifice, and is usually used against prisoners who dare to resist. Another blood sacrifice is the hanging of a body. Odin was hung upside down from the World Tree for nine days and nine nights, so the ritual dedicated to him requires a hanging sacrifice.

Duncan almost vomited.

He was not afraid of killing people, and it was the first time he had seen such a brutal and primitive blood sacrifice ritual.

"Compared to Roman and Greek gods, the Germanic barbarians' worship of their gods is even more bloody."

The ancient Greek gods just liked to mess around, not to engage in bloody and cruel sacrifices. (Zeus mentioned)

These two should be the barbarian leaders who established the Kingdom of Kent.

“That’s a lot of markings.”

Duncan had only seen the 'Thor Warrior' before, but now seeing the 'Odin's Attention', he couldn't help but concentrate his mind and observe it more.

[Odin's Attention]: The target conquered the Kent region of Britain and established a Germanic kingdom there. Their sacrifices to Odin attracted the attention of the polytheistic gods, greatly increasing their influence and appeal among the Germanic barbarians. (Odin's Attention lasts for three months and requires sacrifices to maintain the deity's attention.)
[Legend]: The target holds Legend status among the Germanic barbarians. He is considered the leader of the successful invasion of Britain, and his legend spreads throughout Germania. (Killing the target grants Legend status.)
Both of these brothers are two-star gold units, and they should be very powerful.

No matter what, even if it is a small country, the strength of the founding monarch will not be weak, and the other party seems to have many special conditions.

"Are there legendary leader units?"

Duncan was ready to make a move for a moment, but after weighing his own strength, he realized that he had no way to deal with them. Not to mention the barbarian noble knights guarding on both sides, even the German priests who followed the army were enough to give him a hard time.

As the last faction of European polytheism, the 'Norse Pantheon', these barbarian priests still possess certain supernatural abilities, and they can inspire nearby soldiers on the battlefield.

In addition, they can also divine, predict, and perform a small amount of witchcraft.

"This battle is going to be difficult."

If Duke Dintagir had not suffered a crushing defeat yesterday and could still maintain a certain advantage in military strength, Duncan would have found an opportunity to command a British legion. Relying on his God's perspective and his powerful personal strength, he could have barely fought against the regular barbarian army.

But now the British Legion is almost dead, and the captives who dare to resist are used for blood sacrifice. The few remaining soldiers of Duke Dintagir are simply unable to resist.

"In the Middle Ages, even individual strength could hardly counter absolute military superiority."

Two two-star gold.

There are also some two-star silver-gray units, including Thor Warriors, Tyr Warriors, high-level Barbarian Warriors, etc. All of them are very difficult to deal with, well-equipped, and have superb combat skills.

"Fortunately, there aren't any powerful spellcasting units."

The highest barbarian priest Duncan observed was one-star silver-gray. It seemed that the main attention of the Norse pantheon camp was not here. Those powerful barbarian priests might be on the battlefield of the two river defense lines in Germania.

Perhaps they are secretly fighting with the church's monastic orders and temples, competing for the ultimate ownership of mortals' faith.

The enemy on the other side of the river seemed to have discovered them.

After a round of warnings, more than ten riders came to drive them away. They should also be the barbarian reconnaissance riders.

"You still dare to come?"

Duncan looked at the light cavalrymen beside him who looked a little uneasy, thought for a moment and said, "You two should move around and attract their attention."

"Leave the rest to me!"

Come here.

If we don't kill them and dampen their fighting spirit to establish our authority, tomorrow's battle will be even more difficult.

——Saxon Viking rider.

The enemy's army had two different markings, one marking regular soldiers, and the other marking 'pirates'. These more than ten riders were riders of pirate origin. They joined forces with another group of barbarian light cavalry, and there were about thirty riders who surrounded them.

The captain of the scouts here is a young man named Gil. He is not a formal knight, but he is probably from a noble family and his fighting skills are higher than others.

He looked hesitant and after a moment's hesitation, he decided to follow Duncan's orders and lure the enemy over.

At that time, he also saw Duncan single-handedly forcing back more than ten barbarian noble cavalrymen.

"bring it on."

"Practice the feel first."

Duncan had come this far and was already a veteran of the battlefield. He was alert to the units with special marks and whether there were any barbarian priests nearby. Then he rode out and directly confronted the Saxon pirate riders.

call out.

An arrow shot out.

The captain of the Saxon pirate riders fell off his horse and died suddenly. This sudden scene made the Saxon pirates stunned.

No.

Where does this enemy come from?
The Saxon pirates' captain had died suddenly and inexplicably, struck dead by an arrow in the head. The panicked group scattered, their horses slowing to a crawl, their faces shrouded in terror, unable to pursue or retreat. Duncan took his time, nodding his bow again.

Since he was here, he had to collect at least five or six heads before leaving. The Saxon barbarians should still have fighting skills that he had not yet seized.

Two kills!

Continuous shooting.

Three kills!

Duncan went straight towards them. His riding skills were far superior to those of the Saxons and had reached the level of the elite riders of the Huns on the grasslands. If it really came to a horse battle, he would not be very afraid.

Then, in the open area on the other side of the barbarian tribe, an extremely strange scene appeared.

The Saxons sent out more than 30 riders to drive away the scouting light cavalry, and on the other hand, they chased three or five light cavalry all over the map. On this side, Duncan faced the enemy head-on without any hurry. In just a short while, those Saxon pirate riders were defeated.

The scene changed to him chasing a dozen Saxon pirate riders alone, and he even had enough energy to turn his horse around to intercept another group of barbarian cavalry.

A bag of arrows was shot.

Six heads were obtained.

Duncan never carried many arrows with him because his quiver was specially made, usually holding 6-12 arrows. It was a ranger quiver, like the ones used by elves. It could hold arrows so they wouldn't fall off during movement, and the position of the arrows was also fixed, so he could reach out and pull out the arrow at the corresponding position in an instant.

Normally, there would be one or two special armor-piercing arrows inside, but due to the backwardness of the current era, he did not make any special preparations.

Mongolian armor-piercing arrows are heavy arrows, and longbow arrows are also heavy arrows. These all need to be specially customized.

The arrows of English longbowmen are usually about 90 cm long, and the normal length of arrows is 50 to 70 cm. This heavy arrow, which is nearly one meter long, can directly penetrate a person.

Even the Mongols did not carry many heavy arrows when riding and archery, because it would affect horse combat.

Across the river.

When Duncan saw movement in the barbarian camp, several two-star silver-gray marked units appeared, and a barbarian priest followed, he immediately ran away with the others.

This is really unbeatable.

Those two-star barbarian elite units are all noble warriors, all wearing heavy armor. Their bows can hardly penetrate their defenses and can only cause minor injuries. It takes a lot of arrows to kill one person, and you also have to be on guard against whether they have any killer weapons.

This small group of reconnaissance cavalry withdrew immediately, and on the way back, the expressions of the others when they looked at Duncan were different.

respect!

The admiration was almost written on her face. In this turbulent era of war, a man's military strength could not only attract women, but also attract more men.

"How do we fight this wave?"

"Are you relying solely on the few hundred defeated soldiers Duke Dintagir hastily recruited?"

Duke Dintagir has even begun to conscript peasants.

Anyone who has played Total War knows how powerful peasants are. Thousands of them can be easily defeated.

In a head-on collision, all the peasant troops had to raise their white flags.

Duncan looked at the panicked soldiers on the city wall, his expression growing serious. Even the magic of Triss, the Raven Queen, couldn't affect a war of this magnitude. Furthermore, Triss's last rampage had come at a price, using an extremely rare ancient Roman sacrificial stone.

This kind of thing is not worth wasting here.

Defenses are being arranged on the city walls.

The castles of the current era are actually military fortresses of the Roman Empire. They cannot be compared with the fortresses of the Middle Ages. The walls are not high enough and not strong enough. Although it is a city defense battle and there is a certain terrain advantage, the overall military quality of the enemy and us has also widened a huge gap.

The barbarians fought all year round, looting the empire and fighting the Huns. They had extensive combat experience, and their adult men were well-trained infantry.

It is not an exaggeration to say that one hundred of them defeated a mixed peasant force of one thousand men.

Just as Duncan was thinking.

Suddenly, he saw the Britons pushing out an old siege weapon. It should have been left behind by the Roman legions when they evacuated. The surface was covered with dust, but fortunately it was still usable.

——Crossbow!
Ok?
and many more!

Can I use this thing? Will it benefit from my calibration buff?
Duncan immediately had an idea in his mind.

He rode his horse directly into the city and came to the location where the crossbow was set up. From a God's perspective, when he controlled the crossbow in front of him, a cross star to assist aiming gradually emerged.

it works!

You can actually use the aiming crosshairs to operate the crossbow!

Duncan calculated the distance, signaled others around him for help, and then controlled the crossbow to aim at a distance of about 500 meters.

boom.

An arrow as sharp as a spear broke through the air and hit the position where Duncan was aiming, with an error of no more than one meter.

Most of the spear was stuck in the soil.

This is really powerful!

If launched on the battlefield, it would probably penetrate the human body directly.

Although the ballista was invented by the Greeks, it grew in power in the hands of the Romans. At the peak of the empire, a regular legion of 5000 people was equipped with 50 ballistas as standard.

At that time, the armored cavalry of the Parthian Empire were all shot to death. They were the top heavy cavalry of the era and belonged to the first echelon of armored heavy cavalry.

Even a light crossbow would penetrate both the person and the horse. Stone bullets could shatter and scatter corpses.

However, the crossbow also has obvious shortcomings. It is slow, slow to move, slow to deploy, slow to fire, everything is slow. To unleash its power depends on tactical level and a bit of luck.

The death of the Mongolian commander Mongke by a catapult was an accident, and such a thing rarely happened in history.

"I think I know how to turn the tables!"

Duncan fell into deep thought: "Now it depends on whether the enemy will give me this opportunity."

Beheaded.

Their only chance of turning defeat into victory is to shoot the enemy king.

Duncan probably only had one chance to attack; once exposed, it would be difficult to find another opportunity. Given the slow firing speed of the crossbow, the person would have already run out of range.

As long as this shot hits the target.

Not to mention the two-star golden leader unit, even the three-star demon hunter might die on the spot.

The only drawback is that controlling a crossbow is much more difficult than shooting a bow. Duncan will also make errors, and it is more difficult to grasp a moving target, so he can only rely on temporary feel.

The Kingdom of Kent had only recently been established and was not very stable internally. The barbarian king urgently needed a big victory to maintain his ruling prestige.

King Uther was more powerful, so Duke Dintagir became the soft persimmon.

The barbarians are not stupid either, they only pick on the weak.

The Heptarchy of Britain began with the establishment of the Kingdom of Kent, the original form of the Seven Kingdoms in the American TV series Game of Thrones.
These seven states were founded by the Jutes, Saxons and Angles respectively.

Together they make up England, which covers a total area of about 13 square kilometers, about the same size as the province of FJ.

For Duncan, Britain was just a novice village.

Because they did not have the powerful force that could easily mobilize tens of thousands of regular troops, and they would not encounter the main force of the steppe Huns, and would be shot into hedgehogs by the enemy.

This is a local war.

The Saxons tried to invade Gaul, but were defeated by the Franks, and the defeated sailed to sea.

"I wonder if I can find an English longbow?"

At the moment, Duncan really couldn't find a rare war bow, and it was many years later that the English longbow was invented.

If he had a longbow in his hand, it would be much easier for him to kill the heavy cavalry.

Now that he has no bow, he can only fire cannons.

A ballista would also work.

Duncan gradually became familiar with the operation of the crossbow and began to find the feel. The crossbow's aiming star had a larger deviation because of the long range and other wind direction interference, so it might require a bit of luck.

………………

PS: I wish you all a happy new year and all the best. I'll add another chapter, 5,000 words.

(End of this chapter)