The axes and javelins rained down on the pirates, and Byron fled with his cavalry into the shield wall. Hold off the throwing weapons by those wide, thick round shields. The power of those things is not too great, and throwing it from such a long distance is not to mention how bad it is, even if it hits Byron, it will not be able to penetrate his sturdy plate armor. But the Thunder couldn't bear such damage, and Byron didn't want to take his horse because of recklessness.

There was a clang, and the two rounds of the pirates' throws failed to do any effective damage, instead slicing a man's cheek with the axe they threw back in the gap. The pirates' axes and javelins were not meant to cause damage (but the axes of the regular Nord troops were really deadly, Byron had learned it), and the flying axes were far more terrifying to the merchants and civilians they plundered than the crossbows, and the pirates generally used javelins and axes to frighten each other, disrupt their formation, and then quickly engage in hand-to-hand combat.

This tactic was tried and tested against exotic caravans and escorts, but it was of little use against Nord forces, whose tactics were very similar. The compact shield wall blocked the throwing axes and javelins, and even returned fire with javelins and crossbows, and after a round of throwing by both troops, the casualties of the troops were not large, and the formation was somewhat untenable on the side of the pirates.

Seeing this, the leader of the pirates quickly ordered to stop throwing and prepared to have their own troops form a shield wall to collide with each other, so that their numerical superiority would give them the upper hand. But Ekirsson, with his vast experience, guessed their intentions, and with a loud shout, the shield wall immediately parted, and the infantry switched from defense to attack, pulling javelins from their javelin bags and throwing them as they went, while the few crossbow-wielding mercenary sentries in the rear of the troops took the opportunity to fire a volley.

The pirates were now rallying on the orders of their leader, but before they could get together, they were suppressed by the round of fire. A few slow ones were directly shot and wounded and fell to the ground, and many stopped their actions and formed a small shield wall with the people around them, instead of converging with a large army with a small javelin projection. From this alone, it can be seen that they are not a team, but a combination of several small-scale pirate forces, and there is no tacit understanding between them.

In this way, the original large shield array became many small-scale shield arrays, and the numerical advantage was reduced a lot at once. Ekirsson stared at the nearest pirate force and rushed straight over, the royal guard's big shield knocked down a pirate at once, followed by the superposition of a dozen other shields, the two sides hedged, the shield wall of the pirate force with less than ten people was directly knocked open, spears stabbed out one after another, assassinating half of the pirates, and the remaining half also escaped in embarrassment.

Byron also seized the opportunity to rush forward with the other two, he naturally did not dare to face the shield wall, but under the deterrence of the cavalry, a shield wall magic circle that was originally intended to approach the large army immediately stopped and pointed its spear at them, this is the result Byron wanted, the feint attack attracted the attention of the small pirates, and gave Ekilsund and them time to defeat the opponent's large army.

The two sturdy shield phalanxes collided with Nord's roar, and the two sides were equal in number, shields stacked on shields, and neither could help the other under the violent impact. They kept trying to hook each other's shields with axes, or stabbed the enemy in the head with spears, and the battlefield immediately turned into a battle between the two phalanxes, and even Byron, who was heavily armed and riding a war horse, could only harass the two phalanxes.

But the various forces of the pirates were relieved at this time, and although they were at odds with each other, they were reluctant to unite at this time, and they all rushed towards the two phalanxes in the center of the battlefield, trying to surround the phalanx of Byron's infantry. Once they began to work together, there was nothing even Byron could do.

Just when he didn't know what to do, a reinforcement appeared in his sight.

With a shield in one hand and a spear with a banner in the other, Mathilde shouted the name of the gods of the north and led his ten northern warriors into battle. Dressed in cloaked chain mail, goggle helmets, battle axes wielded in their hands, and shields in front of them, the warriors rushed into the pirate force that was trying to surround Ekirsun, and the swing of their axes sent a rain of blood and iron rings.

Seeing that the situation was not good, many of the pirates began to retreat, and the large force that was their main force was suppressed by Ekirsson and the infantry around him. The combat effectiveness of the former royal guard was not vain, even if he was a little old, he still tore over the helmet of the leader of the pirates with an axe in the collision of the shield wall, and cut a hole in the other party's face. The leader of the pirates was a little dizzy from the attack, and he took several steps back, and the gap he exposed became a breakthrough for Ekilsun. In the blink of an eye, he had severed the neck of another seaman and tore a hole in the shield wall.

The shield wall competition is to see which unit tears apart the opponent's formation first. In the case of equal numbers and equal strength, once the shield wall is broken, the victory or defeat will be decided. The leader of the pirates fled with a small number of his troops, and the remaining pirates were either killed or taken prisoner, and Byron won more than the pirates. Of course, without Mathilde and her northern warriors, the outcome might have been a different story.

When the battle was over, Byron, of course, dismounted to comfort the warriors, and after words of encouragement, let them go freely to collect the spoils of war. Only two people were killed on Byron's side in this battle, and the rest were lightly wounded, so the morale of the troops was still high, and except for a few friends of the deceased, the rest cheered and went to seize the booty.

After that, it was Byron's gratitude to Mathilde.

"You've done a great job, and we wouldn't be able to hold it out without you." Byron thanked her from the bottom of his heart.

"I don't want to sit idly by, especially when they're probably coming for our employer, which is what I have to do. But I must say that you are all brave warriors, no worse than the ones I have seen in the north. Mathilde smiled, she had a much better impression of Byron and his soldiers after the battle. As the saying goes, if the northerners don't brag about themselves after fighting with you, it means that you are really good at fighting, and that's what you are talking about.

"How's it going over there? Is your employer okay? Byron asked.

"Don't worry, those pirates were killed by us before they even touched the corners of his clothes. They did draw our attention from your side in two ways, but this little trick didn't work for us, and it seems that the god of intrigue was not on their side this time. Mathilde replied proudly, holding his head high.

Byron and Ekirson both nodded in agreement, they had seen the strength of the northern warriors in the battle just now, and Mathilde was proud to have such a group of warriors.

While the soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield, they also accepted to accompany Mathilde to their place to see their results, which was the way the northern warriors showed off.

As Mathilde had said, there were more than twenty corpses of pirates next to their convoy, and a group of captives tied to the wagon, but not a single one of their own. But at such a celebratory moment, the northern warriors and the merchants' guards gathered together, and the silence was somewhat frightening.

Mathilde frowned, and walked briskly, and Byron followed, through the crowd, and found that the faces of the people were ugly, and on the ground lay a well-dressed man.

The man lay on the ground, the back of his body stained red with blood, a blood-stained spear thrown aside, and next to the corpse of a smiling pirate on his face.

"What's going on?" Mathilde asked in a deep voice.

"He had to get out of the carriage to see, there was a guy who pretended to be dead and poked his ass with contradictions..."

After a brief moment of silence, a northern warrior replied to her with a strange expression.

The sad way of dying would definitely cause a burst of laughter in normal times, but at this time it is extremely sad. Mathilde won the battle honorably, but once his employer died, all glory would fade.

They won the battle, but lost the result.