Querencia \\ Hvitserk Ragnarsson

Chapter 18: The plan

"The Saxons are less than a day's ride away. They have a large army," an elder man said. The entire Viking army had stopped by now and was waiting for further orders.

"We'll make camp here. Tomorrow we shall fight. In the name of our father we shall overcome," Björn said.

"You can make camp," Ivar said as all of the other Vikings got off the road and made their ways into the trees. "I want to take a look at where we're going to fight."

All of his brothers and Bjarke stopped and turned around.

"What are you talking about?" Ubbe asked.

"They will expect us to fight in a certain way. Why should we do that? Why don't we plan to fight in a different way and surprise them?" Ivar said.

Bjarke knew Ivar was right. It was a damn good idea.

"Our warriors won't understand what's happening," Hvitserk said. "We fight in she shield-wall. That's how we fight."

"But we have a bigger army now. And they have a bigger army now, Hvitserk. We cannot fight in the same way," Ivar said.

Bjarke sighed.

"It's too late to change now," Sigurd said.

"Who are you to say that? Shut your mouth!" was Ivar's response.

"We are brothers! Together!" Björn said. "Why do you want to change the tactics?"

"Do you want to win, brother?"

"Alright, alright! Calm down, all of you," Bjarke interrupted the boys. She took Hvitserk's hand and said: "Listen, I'll go with Ivar. We'll investigate the battlefield. Perhaps, instead of a narrow and small place, we should stretch the battlefield across a large area, many miles. And use the landscape! Ditches, hills, woods."

"What do you say?" Ivar asked his brothers.

"If it works, it is a good plan. If it doesn't, then it is a bad plan," Björn said as another man handed him a horse.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm the one who's going!" Bjarke said. Björn smiled and handed her the reins.

"Just be careful," Hvitserk said as he kissed her temple.

Bjarke got onto the horse and said: "Well, what are you waiting for?" to Ivar.

They were gone within seconds, but Bjarke still heard Ubbe say: "That's one hell of a woman you've got there, brother."

---

Bjarke and Ivar had returned later that day. The two of them had come up with some great ideas and they had discussed them with the other brothers.

Today was the day. Bjarke and Hvitserk had gotten up not knowing whether or not they'd ever lay back down.

They weren't afraid. "If the gods cannot protect us, then who can," Bjarke had said.

They'd made their way to the battlefield, but not before they were sure the other person knew they loved them.

There was a moment filled with tension. There they were.

Bjarke stared at the Saxon army. She knew that if it came down to a fight, the Vikings would win. However, she also knew that they would not win without sacrifice.

Someone blew a horn. That was the sign for her to turn around and walk away.

The Viking army split up into two parties. One went left and the other went right.

As expected, the Saxon army approached. However, the Vikings had already gone downhill and disappeared when the Saxons reached the top.

They then appeared on the other side of the hill (where the Saxon army had stood only moments ago). And again, as expected, the Saxon army approached.

Bjarke and the Ragnarssons, together with lots of other Vikings had made their way through the woods, grabbed their bows and arrows and started firing at the Saxon army.

"Turn! Turn back! Turn back!" Bjarke heard Æthelwulf, the English prince, shout.

The Saxons were panicking. Bjarke knew it when she heard the prince shout: "Shield-wall!"

They'd scared them, but Bjarke's plan was nowhere near finished. She was just playing with them. One of the first things Ragnar had learned her was to control her anger. Anger was never a good thing in a fight. "If you lose your temper, you lose the fight," he'd told her.

Æthelwulf was losing his temper. He approached the spot where the Viking archers had been only seconds ago, but they were long gone by the time he could take a look around.

"There you go, Ivar," Bjarke mumbled.

She heard four blasts and knew Ivar's part of the army had disappeared into the woods only moments later.

This was the moment. For a second she closed her eyes. Hvitserk's hand rested on her back, trying to comfort her. She was nervous. This was the only real flaw in her plan. Æthelwulf's decision.

Bjarke knew Ivar's army had appeared on the prince's other side again. She knew because she heard Æthelwulf shout: "I won't be their fool or their dupe any longer!"

She couldn't make out the words he had spoken, but she'd find out soon enough. The next moment the Saxon army was moving away from the Viking one and towards Repton.

"What are they doing?" "Where are they going?" "What are the Saxons going to do?"

"To Repton, I imagine," Bjarke smiled. Her plan had worked.

The Saxon army was going for their boats. They'd try to destroy the boats.

"You were right!" Hvitserk exclaimed right before he kissed Bjarke.

Bjarke smiled against his lips. She had not known whether or not her plan would work. Ivar, however, had approved. That did give her some confidence.

What the Saxons didn't know was that Bjarke had seen this move coming. Björn, Sigurd, Ubbe and the other Vikings (except the very few that had stayed behind to see whether the plan had worked) had made their way towards the part where the roads were not very wide. From there they'd be able to kill the Saxons one by one.