Rise of Rurik

The wooden walls of Fort Worth Cass were breached, and after the city was broken it was supposed to be a revelry for the victors.

Those soldiers who stepped on the enemy's corpse and re-entered the gap, they naively thought that after the city was broken, the enemy would become a lamb who stayed, and the enemy should obediently lead the neck and be slaughtered.

Unexpectedly, they were greeted by the beasts of the panicked warriors in the fortress.

The number of armored Danish mercenaries is already small, and there are still quite a few armed Voskas. There was only one simple thought left in their minds - to continue to resist.

The lightly armed soldiers who rushed in were stabbed and killed by the spearheads of the fortress defenders. The more aggressive the charge was, the first to be killed.

"Stop it all! Don't be impulsive!" Wenderson, the leader of Yermalen, tried to give orders, but in the chaos of the army, his roar was not very useful.

They did not continue their attack until more soldiers were stabbed to death by the gathered defenders.

Although the fort was breached, the battle within the wooden wall was even more stalemate.

Carl and his "black warrior" originally intended to rush in in one go, completely overwhelm the enemy and then start killing, but now he has no chance.

Look at the faces of these enemies!

Men and women, armored, clothed. Most of them were holding simple spears, and even some women just held a wooden stick aloft.

They gathered in a circle, all kinds of weapons aimed at the outside, and under the dim light were the tearful faces of this group of people, and some corpses lying at their feet.

As more and more people entered the fortress, why didn't the Swedish coalition with absolute strength not take the initiative to attack?

After hesitating for a while, Carl finally calmed down. He felt that his soldiers had adjusted their mentality, so he raised his sword and scolded: "Brothers, charge me!"

However, even the "black warriors" of the elite Melalen did not dare to act rashly.

Why?

They are never steel and iron bones. Even if they are wearing chain armor, facing the enemy's "hedgehog formation", rushing into the formation is courting death. Even if they form a shield wall to advance, it is dangerous.

"What are you doing? Kill them all!"

"Are you all cowards? Or because there are women in there?"

"Quickly destroy the enemy,

end it all..."

Carl scolded one after another, and even pushed and shoved himself, but he couldn't make another offensive.

The other tribes saw that the most powerful Melalen people did not attack, and their weapons and equipment were actually poor, so they would no longer take the initiative to swim in the muddy waters. Even if everyone knew that the buildings behind the enemy must contain huge wealth.

The Russ arrived late due to helplessness. Otto and Rurik, with a group of mercenaries, managed to squeeze into the battlefield inside the fort from the side of the friendly army. Although the strange confrontation scene is strange, the friendly forces do not attack, and the Rus people have to be a spectator for the time being.

Fortunately, the Ross people just kept pushing forward.

As Otto twisted his body to open a path in the crowd, he shouted: "Get out of the way for me, we Russ will continue to attack."

No, I was afraid that when the early bird became the target of all the friendly soldiers, I hurriedly avoided it subconsciously.

Like Rurik, still small in stature, he finally stood on the front line of the war.

He didn't have the slightest fear, or the concept of "fear" had disappeared from his mind.

The continuous battle made his heart hard as a stone, and he ordered mechanically: "Brothers! Form up! Three rows!"

This time, Carlota, Fisk, and Kanuf, three little warriors who did not know what to do with danger, knelt on one knee with wooden crossbows, arrows pointed at the grieving enemy.

Carlotta is also like a machine, her golden threads are flowing in the wind, her fat cheeks soaked with sweat are pressed against the wooden support, and the front sight is aimed at the enemy who is posing in the hedgehog array. mercy? Worried? nervous? Everything became meaningless, and she became an emotional warrior waiting for Rurik's orders.

Not only her, as long as Rurik ordered, more than a dozen arrows in the first row flew immediately.

From the perspective of the Voskas, those who had once nervously withdrawn from the wooden wall were already very aware of the half-kneeling enemy in front of them and the deadly weapons they were holding. It must be some kind of bow, but more lethal than the average bow.

In fact, many attacking fighters hoped that the Russ would immediately shoot arrows to break the confrontation, and it is best to keep shooting to sweep everything.

Rurik did not do this after all, only because it noticed the arrogant Karl.

"Boy, this battle is very important to you! If I continue to take your credit, will you be jealous of revenge?" Rurik decided to wait and see.

The Ross warriors had not received the firing order for a long time. Many people saw their young leader, and their eyes were obviously looking at Karl, who was dancing with swordsmanship not far away.

The farce of confrontation was finally at this critical juncture, and with the appearance of a big man, there was a turning point.

That was Olegin, the first king of the Kingdom of Sweden in this time and space.

He walked out of the crowd with his sword in hand. He did not have any guards and stood directly between the two armies.

Even the Swedish coalition did not know the identities of their enemies. Similarly, the residents of Voskas Port did not know who the attackers were. The two sides fought in a confused but bloody way.

The advantage was clearly in Sweden, Olegin raised his arms, the whole battlefield was quiet for him, and the only sound was the crackling of burning houses.

"You ordinary Danes! I am the King of Svealand! You slayed and killed my people, and now I will slay you!"

As soon as these words came out, the despairing Voskas people were in an uproar! They chatted at once, buzzing like wild bees.

Olegin's sword pointed at them again: "You Danes of Kalmar! Today I will kill you all!"

Kalmar? Who is Kalmar? This is not Kalmar at all!

At least they heard the determination of this group of Svearans from the north to "kill them all". Desperate women with wooden sticks threw their sticks to the ground and fell unconscious, while a man shouted at the top of his voice: "Then Let's fight! Even if there is the last Voskas left, we will fight to the end!"

However, there are individual Danish mercenaries in the Hedgehog Array who are aware of the subtlety of the situation.

If this guy with a golden crown and reminiscent of the Danish leader "Hafgen the Lion" is the king of Svealand, who wants to be killed, why bother here for a long time?

As mercenaries, everyone is not a slave of a certain family, and the relationship between everyone and the gold master is essentially a commercial transaction. The metal pays for it, and the brothers work hard for it. If the situation is in crisis, it's a big deal for everyone to run away. As for whether it is brave or not, the mercenaries want to save their lives.

An armored Danish mercenary squeezed out of the hedgehog formation, and in full view, he took off his helmet, revealing blond hair and beard. He threw his axe and shield again, and took off the leather belt with his dagger hanging from it.

He opened his arms to show that he was not a threat, and approached Olegin slowly and cautiously.

Karl, who was standing on the side, always felt that the situation was wrong, but in his heart he really hoped that these reckless enemies could successfully assassinate his father when he was not prepared, so that he could take the place on the battlefield.

A seemingly innocuous man approached the king, and the chiefs of the tribes all stood still, watching nervously.

Otto made a little preparation. He ordered Rurik and the three rows of mercenaries with crossbows, all arrows to aim at the enemy at all times.

Everyone soon saw such a scene, a man in chainmail knelt down on one knee about five paces away from Olegin, and gave a warrior salute to the old man wearing a golden crown.

Then the man said in Norse: "King of Svealan, this is not Karma, this is Voskas."

"Huh?" Olegin froze for a moment, then took a step back subconsciously.

In fact, as the battle became more intense, Olegin felt more and more that this place might be Karma. The news he learned was that Kalmar also had a wooden fort, and the local people were rich and sturdy.

Could it be that this is not Kalmar, but some strange place called "Voskas Harbour"?

Olegin was actually very satisfied with this soldier's subservience. Looking at these guys who persisted to the end and still had the intention to resist, he suddenly had a plan to incorporate them. Of course, the premise was that they were willing to give a hint of surrender like this man.

Origen simply sheathed his sword and continued: "Warrior, tell me your name."

"I'm Francis, I'm... a Dane."

"You! Danes?!" Olegin's slightly calm heart instantly became tense again, and his slack right hand held the hilt of the sword again.

However, the honest mercenary Francis was still half-kneeling on the ground. He himself knew that he was on the verge of death, but it was worth the risk of his life.

"My brother and I are both from Denmark, we are mercenaries, we only serve noble people. King of Svealan, we are willing to be your mercenaries and fight for you. I kneel here, you can Kill me now, but you'll lose a solid warrior."

A witty guy who can speak pretty words, his words hit Olegin's itch. "You and your brother are willing to surrender to me?"

Beneath the silent appearance of the mercenary Francis, there was inner ecstasy. He randomly sent a signal to the guys, and the nearly fifty Danish mercenaries who were still alive immediately threw their axes and shields, and knelt down in Austria with only their chain mail. Legin's feet.

Olegin had lived more than fifty years, and he had never seen such a sight in his life. The enemy's elite soldiers actually admired their dignity, and they put down their weapons to show their surrender.

Even though these guys are from Denmark, it looks like they don't want to be Danish anymore.

Olegin continued to ask in detail, and completely understood the difference between Voskas and Kalmar.

It turns out that there are many settlements in this narrow sea area, Kalmar is the largest one, and the rest have large strongholds like Boryholm. Hearing these unheard of information, for a moment, he had to think about his own military strength.

At this moment, Olegin realized for the first time that his 3,500 Swedish soldiers were not as strong and indestructible as he imagined.

"Okay! Francis, and you Danes. From now on, you'll be Meralen, my mercenaries. Your chainmail will soon be inked, and you'll be my soldiers!"

"Oh, then I am now... your warrior." After all, Francis himself didn't know anything about the Melalen tribe.

As a mercenary, I work hard for the gold master. Now, as long as I still have money to take it, why not do it? Besides, it seems that the new master is powerful, and if he can directly work for the new master, at least he has a better future than working for a wealthy businessman.

The act of incorporating the traitors in this way, Rurik watched the whole process feel a familiar feeling.

"Oops, do you, Olegin, know how to win people over? I thought you were a greedy person."

Rurik still felt that the so-called inclusion was definitely not a true loyal person, and the kneeling was showing submission, and was it not an expedient measure to attack the city?

There is also Karl who has the same concern. As the crown prince of the Kingdom of Sweden, he approached his father: "Should we incorporate them? In my opinion, they don't want to be killed. They are only worthy of being lowly slaves."

"Bah! They obviously admire my military might." Olegin glared at his son fiercely.

Carl pouted and scolded: "Father, wake up! Do you still want to recruit those people? If you knew this, why didn't you persuade them to surrender earlier?"

"It's not too late now."

The Vorskas were in chaos, and now the most elite Danish mercenaries joined the attackers and turned into enemies. Their former owner of the Danish businessman yelled in anger, and the morale of the Voskas collapsed.

Almost all of them were waiting for the fate of being killed until Olegin "generously" offered the condition of avoiding death.

The so-called immediately throwing down their weapons, immediately handing over all the wealth in the fortress, and all men immediately swearing to fight for the Swedish army, in order to avoid death. In fact, this is not only to avoid death, as long as the person expressing submission, he and his family do not have to be slaves.

Their morale completely collapsed, and the perpetrator took out an "olive branch", which they seized without hesitation.

In an instant, the Voskas threw their weapons and knelt on the ground one by one. Some men were pushed out and climbed in front of Olekin, swearing that the entire Voskas residents would no longer recognize the Danish leader. It is the master, who respects the king of Sweden as the new master, will pay tribute every year, and will fight for it.

It was clear that the battle would come to an end with their capitulation, which Olegin did not expect.

He once felt that the only way to deal with those guys in the south of the old Ostara tribe was iron and blood, and he never thought about making peace and incorporation. Now, he feels that future battles can first try to persuade them to surrender.

After the Voskas were immigrants from Gotland after all, Olegin was eager to recruit a group of warriors to make up for his losses in battle. He indulged in the scenes of the enemy's surrender and worship, forgetting the collective betrayal of the residents of Gotland. . As the saying goes, "The biggest lesson human beings have learned in history is that they can't remember the lesson." Olegin didn't care about this. He wanted thousands of people to worship him, and he wanted to expand the battle. Even if the situation became complicated, he had to defeat Karl. The horse completes the combat goal, otherwise it is the tragedy of life.

Fortunately, Carl has a clearer mind on this issue.

It's not that Karl is smart, but that he doesn't believe that the Danish mercenaries who fought so hard in the evening turn into loyal ones when the moon rises. There were also those fishermen from Voskas Harbor who were in ragged clothes and whose fighting power was average. Carl was not willing to admit that these guys had the same strength as his Melalonians.

Since it was the father's decision, it was really difficult for Carl to refuse, but these traitors needed a nomination.

The battle against Voskas Port lasted for four hours, and the overall time was not long, but it was the first time that the Rus people of war intensity had seen it.

The surrendered Voskas, facing their devastated homes, began to carry the bodies of the dead, piled them on fishing boats, piled up firewood, pushed them into the sea and burned them on fire. They had no right to go back to their homes, so they had to obey the victor's orders, take their wives and children, and huddled together in the longhouse where the Danish merchants stored their goods.

As for the women whose husbands had died, they were suddenly the playthings of the victors because they had no protection whatsoever.

Olegin's men also counted more than 20 pure war orphans. They were male and female. It seems that being a slave is also a burden at the moment. At least the Melaren Army didn't need them, and in the end the Russ took over.

As for the goods in the longhouse, namely the hoards of wheat, dried meat, leather and linen, all at once became the spoils of the victor.

Their own still-undestroyed house was completely the victor's home, and the starving Swedish troops were given the supplies they could only dream of, enough to fight for ten more days.

Where do ordinary residents have so much surplus food at home? The wealth of five Danish merchants was completely looted, and the merchants' families were tied up. How could a man in honorable clothes knelt in the empty field in the fortress? Thousands of Swedish coalition soldiers were watching the next execution.

Including Rurik, who led his mercenaries to collect arrows and projectiles for slingshots, and Otto, who commanded his soldiers to carry wheat (the army ration distributed by the Rus) from the merchant warehouse, all saw the so-called so-called The scene of "The Name of the Danish Mercenary".

At this moment, Olegin has already set the next operational goal, that is, to attack Boryholm on the long and narrow island (Oland Island) not far away. With the guidance of the renegade Danish mercenaries in the new battle, the army will never take a detour, and it can be prepared before the new siege battle.

How to prove the betrayal of the Danish mercenaries and the Voskas? They need offerings to prove themselves.

What's the use of keeping a fat Danish businessman? These people have no property, they are a bunch of useless waste.

"Go and prove your loyalty!" Olegin kept the large forest axe that was usually logging on the ground, and the mercenary Francis picked it up.

This man walked towards his former master intently, his whole person was sinister.

The businessman, who knew that his family would be destroyed, yelled, "Damn traitor! I gave you money, but you actually betrayed... You have to die..."

Francis picked up his axe and fell, and the merchant's hideous head rolled down randomly. Immediately afterwards, the descendants of the merchant's wives and concubines were also beheaded by Danish mercenaries.

Do you feel guilty for beheading the former gold owner? Absolutely none. Francis and his guys can be described as a group of outlaws. They only want money, as long as they are happy, and their partners are killed in large numbers. They can only say that those people's lives should be like this. Life is short, they just want to live a happy day.

Those renegade fishermen from Voskas will also have to prove themselves, with their short spears and their eyes closed. Because they really couldn't do it. In order to survive for themselves and their families, they just did it, and then they screamed in an abnormal state.

"It's so sinister," Rurik commented with goosebumps all over his body. He did feel a touch of coldness, and was surprised by this scene.

Otto shook his head and said deliberately: "As a mercenary, he is not loyal to his gold master. This is not a mercenary, but a group of desperadoes, who do not deserve the title of warrior at all."

Rurik suddenly realized that Dad was talking like this, because there are also a large number of mercenaries in the current Ross army, and Dad was beating Yevluo and other mercenary soldiers with words.

"But Olegin and Karl are not really noble." Rurik said deliberately in a hurry: "I have the protection of God, and those who die in battle for me or who are loyal all their lives will enter Valhalla directly, while traitors will fall. into the endless nether world."

Duke Ross and his son sang in harmony, and the mercenaries present were actually happy that they had followed the right master.

Otto asked Yevlo casually: "Have the projectile been folded?"

"Duke, most of it is over. We fired a hundred and twenty rounds, and now we have found a hundred."

This number was also beyond Rurik's expectations. "Okay, cast iron projectiles are a weapon for destroying ships! I'm afraid that we will still need them in the future battle against Boryholm and Kalmar."

"Continue to fight..." Otto sighed deeply. He always felt that in order to conquer Voska Fort, most of the momentum of the coalition had been wiped out, and it was inappropriate to continue fighting.

There was worry in Otto's words, why wasn't Rurik like that? He estimated that there were as many as 300 fighters in the coalition who died in this battle (injured basically means death)! Note that these dead are warriors from the Svealan plains, and the possibility of their betrayal does not exist.

However, among those newly recruited, there are still 400 people who can serve the coalition forces. Will they really work hard when they have the application certificate?

This is the big unknown.

Because both Rurik and Otto had determined that the coalition would make corrections at the port of Voskas for two days at most, and then due to the problem of food shortages, they rushed to Boryholm to continue looting. At that time, the newly incorporated guy must be the main attack force! After all, these people were killed on a large scale, and Olegin and Karl had absolutely no regrets.