Rise of Rurik

Even if he can only lead 200 people, Ragnar is full of confidence in the future war.

After all, this operation was his first battle as a military commander. At the age of fifteen, his act of beheading a rival clan leader was nothing more than a brave one-on-one duel ordered by his father. He felt that he could leave his father's wings and use his sword and axe to make himself more famous and impress other allies.

He just wants to be the king of Denmark!

But when he arrived at the port of Robard, he was surprised to find that among all the clans that responded to the call, only his clan sent the most troops!

Suddenly, he thought of his father's teachings.

Sure enough, each tribe intends to maintain its strength, and the troops dispatched are often filled with two ships!

For Hafgen, how could he not be angry at the clumsy tricks of his allies?

On the contrary, Sigurd, the ring of the "Stonewall" tribe, sent his son with two hundred people. It was them who dispatched the most!

Hafgen summoned the commanders of his allied armies, and he entertained them in his banquet hall.

Even though these guys were clearly not so keen on their war resolutions, he still held a sumptuous banquet to show his power and generosity.

There were eleven commanders of the allied armies, old men and young men among them.

That is, the army they ruled, at least thirty people! There is only one warship! It's absurd as if it's just for a play.

All the allied armies seem to have arrived, and the total strength of the allied armies of eleven tribes is only 800 people.

Hafgen ordered a few fat sheep to be slaughtered and roasted for a feast.

He also organized a group of beautiful women from the tribe to serve as temporary servants for allied commanders.

And just like that, a shepherdess was ordered to serve young Ragnar. But for such a woman, Ragnar just wanted to finish the feast early and take part in the great battle with his troops.

In the banquet hall, the aroma of meat and wine was overflowing, and all the military commanders, on behalf of their respective tribes, raised their glasses to greet their alliance leaders.

Ragnar also raised his glass high, but unlike the others, when the old fellows praised the beauty of the ale and women bestowed by the leader, only Ragnar kept his face serious and his eyes Full of fortitude.

The young man's eyes caught the attention of Hafgen, who was obsessed with praise.

A group of people toasted and drank three times in a row, and then, everyone held their daggers, or directly showed their hands, tore up the oily roast lamb, and chatted about the future war.

In fact, most of the tribes had no intention of sending shrewd and powerful officers, but sent some senior members of the local tribe with high status, as well as a small group of young people who had not made achievements in other wars.

To put it bluntly, if the group of people who went north to fight suffered a lot of losses, it would be completely acceptable to the tribe they belonged to.

However, after these commanders fell into the indescribable group frenzy at the banquet, they did not think of their existence like cannon fodder at all.

They have explained to the leader that they are strong, and even the tribal warriors are trustworthy.

Seeing them so excited, Hafgen couldn't say anything.

After all, looking at the looks of this group of people, you can see that they are not very believable.

After all, Haf is basically a warrior, but he knows the temperament that a warrior should have.

Among all the people sitting, only one young man caught his attention.

"You!" Hafgen pointed with a big hand and looked at Ragnar, "What's your name."

Seeing this, Ragnar responded with a serious face: "I am Ragnar, the son of Sigurd of the Ring."

"Oh! You are! It's you..." Hafgen slapped his head. "It's you. You beheaded that man, and a few years have passed, and you've grown into a hero."

Among the people present at the meeting were members of the clan chief whose head was beheaded by Ragnar. People were booing, but only the commander of this clan felt the pressure.

The praise of the leader has brought back everyone's memory.

Hafgen simply stood up and raised his glass: "Ragnar, you are very promising. Of all the Allied forces, you have brought the most people. Respect to you!"

"Thank you, great leader." Ragnar also stood up and drank the ale in his glass.

Hafgen put down his glass and continued his praise: "Okay. You are a real warrior, I know your glorious record, and today, I saw the strong muscles in your arms. Your Stonewall tribe is also a powerful presence. It's a pity that your number is a little small."

Ragnar felt a little offended.

In fact, his understanding of the alliance leader Hafgen all came from his father Sigurd. His father was not satisfied with this Hafgen, which made Ragnar despise this so-called alliance leader from the very beginning.

Who is the leader of the Danish alliance? Who is the king of Denmark? it's me! Ragnar!

He suppressed his ambition in his heart, but the unintentional look in his eyes really made Hafgen feel a hint of threat.

Hafgen continued: "You are a ferocious sea wolf. Unexpectedly, Sigurd sent a hero like you. I know that this action is a little out of time. However, the northerners are provoking the whole of Denmark. We have to get revenge on them. Ragnar, what do you think?"

"My opinion? Revenge? Of course I want revenge. I also want honor. I am willing to fight! I want to fight with the bravest people. I want to behead the brave and refresh my record."

While speaking, Ragnar kept staring into Hafgen's eyes. Therefore, these words are actually a pun, and the implication is that it contains Ragnar's ambition for the position of the leader.

The words didn't make it clear, but Hafgen was a little frightened.

After all, since becoming the leader of the alliance, the former challenger has disappeared.

Today, a young man who is not yet 20 years old with vigor and vitality is actually very proud to show his majesty on his face.

"Okay, I hope you can show your courage as always on the battlefield."

"Of course!" Saying that, Ragnar plunged the dagger inserted into the roast leg of lamb into the square table in front of him. "The Northern Alliance will pay dearly!"

Hafgen couldn't help clapping his hands: "That's a good point. So, I decided that our departure time will be in the early morning three days later. In this operation, we have no ability to directly attack Melarenburg, the core of the Northern Alliance. But, in retaliation for their attack on Gotland, we will also destroy at least one of their settlements. They have completely destroyed Wickenburg, and we will retaliate."

The decision of the leader made the commanders a little surprised.

Some people can't help but ask: "Must be destroyed? Maybe, we can occupy it for a long time. We can capture the local people and turn them all into our slaves."

Hafgen ruthlessly rejected the decision.

"When they killed the Thinkenburg people indiscriminately, they should have thought that what they did would happen to them. We are here for revenge, and you can do whatever you want."

to do whatever you want?

To be honest, there was no bloodthirsty maniac who lost his soul among the people sitting. After all, capturing a group of captives and taking them back to their hometown as slaves is the best way to maximize the benefits. Killing people just to vent their anger? This kind of thing is hard to do.

But Hafgen, he must use violent means to further declare his authority to the entire alliance. By the way, he will bring terror to the northern alliance. He hopes that doing so will make those people in the north fear, and then will not continue to invade the south.

Hafgen made his full decision, claiming that he would personally lead a thousand elite warriors of his own tribe to participate in the battle. After the banquet, everyone just waited for the Allied forces to be completely assembled.

Because of Hafgen, he estimated from the beginning that his allies were afraid of "biting hard bones" going north, and he might not necessarily send elite forces here.

Then you can't expect your allies to make great efforts, nor should your own tribe make great efforts in war.

Hafgen thought of calling some special people together.

Those people are not allies, but they are better than allies.

who are they? Norwegian!

Long before the banquet started, the three ships set off from the Robard tribe port and headed northwest.

The three boats are targeting a place called "Sacred Meadows", which is Oslo, which is what her name meant.

Today, Oslo is just a trading port. There is no clear tribe here, only a group of retail traders engaged in business and agriculture, spontaneously organized into a symbiotic group. They all have tribes to which they belong, and they now live in Oslo without forgetting their roots.

More than 3,000 Norwegians live here, and many more live in a fjord facing the Atlantic Ocean in the western foothills of the central Scandinavian mountains. It's the Norwegians in the fjords who have been rowing to the British Isles for nearly fifty years, scavenging for treasure, capturing Britons, Picts, even Northumbrians, and all. The locals you can catch.

Sacred Meadow can be used to grow spring wheat and oats, and even vegetables like cabbage are perfectly fine.

Her climatic conditions are better than those of the Svealan plains.

Oslo has become a distribution center for Norwegians. Furs, timber, grain, vegetables, gold and silver are transported from this port to Denmark, especially to the nearest and most powerful Robard tribe.

In exchange, the Robard tribe, who controls the strait, has long given Oslo's merchant fishing boats preferential tolls.

If the inhabitants of Oslo were a complete tribe, she must have been classified into the Danish tribal alliance system long ago. The reality is that the Oslo people are actually a hodgepodge of Norwegians.

Hafgen's messenger came and announced the Danes' decision to the people of Oslo.

war? A war against the Mind Asia Alliance?

At first, the Oslo people refused. The so-called business is the same as whoever does it, as long as the money given by the other party is reasonable.

Because of the geographical estrangement, the Norwegians and the Svealans have not yet had a conflict. They have been bounded by the central mountain range since ancient times, and they have a good business relationship with each other, that's all.

However, the messenger, relying on the support of the allies behind him, gave an absolute order to the people of Oslo: "You must organize an army, you must join our allied army, otherwise, all Danes will regard you as a threat. We will restrict Your business, and then lead the army to crusade."

If it was just a threat, Hafgen felt that the effect must not be very good.

The messenger immediately issued another statement: "Everyone who decides to participate in the Confederate army will receive five silver coins immediately. You will be allowed to do anything in the war, and you can loot as much as you want, and the treasures you get will be all yours. to myself."

Five silver coins is a lot! Really attractive to ordinary farmers.

The planting season for Sacred Meadows is long over, and the local farmers have all summer ahead. After all, they are farmers, and after selling their surplus grain, they live on their own surplus grain.

Compared with those families in Oslo who are specialized in trade, pure peasant families have to go fishing as fishermen in the slack farming season. With their existing fishing tools, they can only make a living and cannot make an industry at all. And, how do they compare to the mighty Danish fishermen?

The two sides are indeed a long-term trade relationship, but not an alliance. If the two fishing boats get too close, conflict is inevitable.

After all, Oslo is not the core control area of ​​the Norwegian alliance, and the Oslo people, who are destined to be difficult to obtain the military protection of their own alliance, are determined to accept the summoning order of the Danes.

It is unrealistic to want to turn businessmen into warriors. They believe in Frey, the god of wealth, and they always take their lives.

Many farmers feel that they have found an opportunity to get rich.

The Danes give money, and all plunder in war is theirs. They have given such good conditions, so who is the enemy? Just fight!

In a short period of time, nearly 300 local farmers in Oslo decided to suspend the life of fishermen in their slack farming season. With their own weapons, they organized ten long boats without dragon head decorations and followed the Danish messenger to the south.

It was said that the port of Robard was approaching the expedition, and the needs of the war immediately gave huge orders to the local blacksmiths and tanners.

The blacksmiths sold all their iron swords in stock. Even the blacksmiths of the entire tribe are working overtime to produce axes, which can be quickly produced and integrated with weapons and tools.

And the tanners, they sold all the leather armor in their inventory, and quickly cut the leather in the inventory to make a makeshift leather armor.

The so-called leather armor here is basically one or more layers of leather.

The thick cowhide can block arrows' attacks to a great extent, although everyone estimates that the other party, like himself, does not use bows and arrows very much. In fact, it is because the Nordic bow-making technology is still in the early stage, and high-pound bows cannot be made at present, so that such weapons are not considered to be battlefield weapons. But the army needs it, because throwing arrows with burlap soaked in turpentine can be set on fire.

Even among the wealthy and powerful Robard tribe, quite a few warriors did not have chain mail.

They just put on a coat of cowhide, or two or three layers.

The so-called in battle, when the enemy's sword becomes blunt, only Hercules have the strength to pierce the stewed sword through three layers of cowhide, and Hercules are rare anywhere.

The most threatening one is the guy with the battle axe. That powerful swipe, even with the best riveted chainmail bodyguard, will shatter his bones and die after a single blow.

Hafgen did what he said, and he assembled a thousand people.

Facing the extraordinary prosperity of the tribe because of the war, he felt that he had created this prosperity and it was his own glory.

In the Robard tribe, Ragnar and his army bought all the provisions with their own money. However, Ragnar, who was leading the army for the first time, quickly realized that he was a little reckless.

Ragnar did not bring enough food, and his army also bought a lot of things from the Robard tribe, and spent another sum of money for this.

As a result, some people are short of money, and some people have more money. The army is a whole, and everyone has to eat, but the leader of the alliance will not spend another copper coin to support everyone's meals.

Due to the proximity to his hometown, his father Sigurd also urgently sent a batch of food, which Ragnar distributed to his subordinates.

He estimated that this batch of food would definitely not be able to support a long-term battle.

What to do then? Of course, he went to the battlefield to grab the enemy! In this regard, Ragnar thinks this approach is desirable.

On the day before the departure, a group of ragged people came.

Oh, not that they were really sloppy, but that the group really landed in nothing but sackcloth and leather, with their shields, and an ax or axe.

Ragnar soon learned the identity of this group of people, which turned out to be a group of farmers from Oslo.

Are they all Danes mercenaries? Is this guy a warrior? !

The young Ragnar didn't know what the leader of the alliance thought. Such a group of guys who were poorly dressed and lacked protection should also be involved in the battle?

However, because of their arrival, the strength of the Alliance Army has reached 2,110.

And this is just the expedition army assembled in Jutland.

Ragnar felt that even if they received a serious blow, the Gotlanders would send even five hundred people! Perhaps the final strength of the Confederate army could reach 3,000 men.

Wow, with such a large army, why does Hafgen think it is not advisable to attack Mälarenburg in the Northern Alliance?

Attacking Mälarenburg, gaining great wealth and gaining great glory, Ragnar not only has the desire to become the king of Denmark, but he also sees the reality that a man can command three thousand soldiers or even more soldiers.

It was a great honor to lead an army of more than ten thousand people, conquer the entire Northern Alliance through a great battle, and then conquer the Norsemen and become the king of the North Sea.

Ragnar, he fell asleep with dreams of glory, and what awaited him and his army was the expedition that began tomorrow, and a future full of wealth and glory.