Bjorn looked closely and saw thousands of Viking warriors wallowing in the black mud, sinking into the soft sludge.
Liangzhou was originally an inland area, and all rivers could not flow into the sea. Instead, they formed lakes on land, which gradually dried up and became mudflats.
This vast mudflat spans more than ten miles in circumference, with soft mud reaching depths of tens of feet. It teems with loaches and other reptiles, yet it remains untouched by humans or animals.
The Vikings weren't blind or stupid; they certainly wouldn't walk into such a huge swamp.
To this end, Lin Mo used the system to exchange for a large area of turf, covering the swamp to make it look perfectly natural and undetectable. Even if locals from Liangzhou came, they would only be considered to have taken the wrong path!
Then Lin Mo ambushed them here, waiting for Bjorn to be greedy and reckless, thus driving himself into a desperate situation!
The Viking warriors were swallowed by the swamp, more and more sinking deeper and deeper. The rear guard, seeing this, tried to break free of the terrifying swamp and escape, but it was all too late.
Lin Mo, the regent of the Great Xia Dynasty, had already laid a trap.
The deep trenches he ordered to be dug were like a death trap, mercilessly blocking the soldiers' escape route. Not only were the trenches difficult for men to cross, but even horses hesitated to proceed.
Besieged on three sides, the Viking army was in dire straits. The warriors trampled each other, like wild beasts driven to madness, unable to extricate themselves from the abyss of despair.
These Viking warriors were all tall, strong, and robust.
On the battlefield, their powerful physiques were invincible weapons. However, in this swampy land, these advantages became fatal weaknesses. Their weight became a burden, causing them to sink into the mire more quickly.
The silt, like greedy tentacles, slowly rose from their ankles, gradually submerging their knees, and then climbing up to their waists. Every warrior struggled desperately, but their resistance seemed so insignificant before this merciless swamp.
After a period of time, their bodies were finally swallowed by the mud.
The warriors of Great Xia, tens of thousands of men of unyielding spirit, gripped their shields tightly in their left hands, raised their right sleeves high, and their blades gleamed blindingly in the sunlight.
They remained silent, like statues cast in steel, lying quietly outside the deep ditch, their eyes piercing as they closely monitored each other's movements.
Attacked from three sides, the Xia soldiers, like tigers descending a mountain, launched fierce charges against the Viking forces.
The battle intensified, and the number of Viking warriors dwindled. In less than half an hour, the original 30,000 Viking warriors had all been forced into this seemingly calm but deadly swamp.
The only downside was that Bjorn and his two brothers managed to escape, thanks to the desperate protection of over a hundred Viking warriors.
Countless soldiers and horses rolled, fought, embraced, cried, and struggled desperately in the swamp.
Overjoyed, Xu Chu laughed and shouted, then said to Lin Mo, "My lord, you are truly cunning! You actually came up with such a brilliant way to trap and kill these savages!"
"Hey, can you use a different word to describe me, 'silly'?"
"How would you describe it?" Xu Chu asked, puzzled. "Cunning? Treacherous? Insidious? Scheming? Cunning? A master of deception? Full of tricks?"
Lin Mo, “…”
"Alright, you'd better shut up!"
On the other side of the battlefield, Qin Liangyu rode her warhorse, observing the massacre.
Her generals stepped forward, knelt down, and kowtowed several times, saying, "General Qin, we deserve to die! We were unaware of your brilliant strategies and offended you. Please forgive our rudeness..."
Before she could finish speaking, Qin Liangyu raised her hand to stop her, "There's no need for that!" she said, "This is all His Highness the Regent's scheme. He is the true master of military strategy!"
General Wu was secretly amazed and continued, "There is one thing I don't understand: why doesn't His Highness the Regent lead all the savage troops into the Great Swamp?"
Qin Liangyu replied, "Look, we only managed to drive the barbarian army into the swamp because we have more soldiers than the barbarian troops. If the entire barbarian army were here and rushed out together, how could we possibly stop them?"
The generals praised again, "His Highness the Regent is truly a genius in military strategy!"
In this boundless swamp, most of the Viking warriors had already sunk into the mud, as if swallowed by the earth, leaving not even a trace behind.
Those few who were lucky enough to escape were already half-buried in the mud, as if bound by invisible chains, only able to wave their weapons and utter desperate cries.
The swamp was filled with this tragic and heroic sound, as if even the wind trembled at it.
Time passed slowly, and the shouts gradually faded until they disappeared. The swamp, like a gigantic monster, mercilessly devoured these valiant Viking warriors.
Centaurs, battle axes, longswords, leather armor—everything vanished without a trace in the mire, as if it had never existed. Only a few hundred Viking banners remained, scattered forlornly across the mud, as if telling the tragic story of this battle.
Seeing this, Lin Mo spurred his horse and went to meet Qin Liangyu.
After the generals saluted, Lin Mo announced, "All soldiers, listen to my command: the main force shall head east and assemble on the south bank of the Anyang River."
The generals, each following orders, sped eastward.
After walking for more than an hour, the brigade arrived at the south bank of the Anyang River in the evening.
At this moment, a cavalryman rushed over in a fit of rage to report: "Report! Your Highness, the barbarian leader Bjorn has led tens of thousands of troops to launch a fierce attack on our army. General Zhang has been killed in action, and his deputy has been seriously wounded. Our army has suffered heavy casualties."
"Hehe, this guy is furious and wants to fight me to the death!" Lin Mo laughed. "I will only send reinforcements to support him. Let the remaining troops continue fighting and do not retreat a single step."
The cavalryman went down to relay the order.
However, after waiting for a long time, Lin Mo did not issue any orders.
At this moment, Xu Chu grew impatient and spurred his horse forward. "My lord," he said, "let me go and provide support. Just give me five thousand elite soldiers, and I, Xu Chu, will surely slaughter those barbarians without leaving a single one alive!"
Lin Mo shook his head and said, "No, Lao Xu, now is not the time!"
Then he turned and ordered, "The entire army shall rest on the spot. No fires shall be lit, no sound shall be made, and everyone shall eat dry rations."
"My lord... this!" Xu Chu was stunned.
"My lord, why don't we go to provide support?" Qin Liangyu asked, puzzled.
"I've already made myself perfectly clear! There's no need for further explanation!" Lin Mo said sternly.
"What does this mean?" Xu Chu was completely dumbfounded.
Apart from Xu Chu, everyone, including Qin Liangyu, was also numb.
But the regent's order had already been issued, and the rest of the people had no choice but to obey.
So the tens of thousands of troops of the Great Xia Dynasty rested silently in the darkness.
At that moment, the splashing of the Anyang River and the deafening battle cries of the Viking troops and the Great Xia soldiers could be heard from afar.
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