Rise of Rurik

"The Rise of Rurik ()"

This is not like an army, but more like an armed refugee. They are extremely numerous, and they are passing through the valleys between the mounds, or directly over the hills.

They left their homes with mixed feelings, taking their weapons and leaving most of their belongings at home.

How much property does the average Gotlander have? Their cattle, sheep, livestock, and fish reserves were all placed in the port area, and a few soldiers and a group of old people stayed behind in Visby to guard against the sudden landing and attack of Ross ships offshore.

The fighting force of the entire Gotland Island was almost exhausted. The wealthy big businessmen, leaving a very small number of mercenaries and wives and concubines at home, also put on chain mail and led their children to take up arms to fight.

Six thousand people of all shapes and sizes built this huge army, and the driving force that drove everyone to fight madly came from the anger and hatred of the Rus people.

But they don't count as a real army!

A group of powerful mercenaries reared by King Haken of Gotland and his big merchant counterparts can be described as the main force of this team.

The armed team composed of strong men among the islanders is the second tier of strength.

The third echelon is a large number of women, teenagers and the elderly and infirm.

Only the most powerful Danish mercenaries wear chain mail on a large scale, at least these people have a set of cowhide armor.

As for the other warriors, not only do they lack armor of any kind, an unpatched leather or commoner is excellent.

Many people do not have iron or copper helmets, their hair is loose or tied up, and they expose their upper body muscles and tattoos. They fit well with their historical image as "a group of bare-backed savages who jumped out of boats".

If this army suddenly attacked the Frankish Kingdom, it would definitely cause huge damage, and it would be completely possible to snatch a large area from the empire's territory and establish a state.

However, the Rus army they faced was completely inconsistent with the appearance of the Viking army.

Haken rushed to the battlefield with vigor, saying that before the war started, the powers of the Gotland Army should get together and study the tactics of the battle. Although Haken didn't do this, they also made a meaningless quarrel in the court, and the biggest conclusion was that it was decided to let the army of the islanders charge first, and the mercenaries were the rear. strength.

What can Harken say? In fact, he is not opposed to this method of deliberately preserving the strength of the merchants, but can the armed islanders really defeat the Rus? They must rely on their superiority in numbers to wear off the enemy's vigor. At that time, the sharp Danish mercenaries will charge up again, and the Rus will be defeated.

Businessmen all think this set of tricks is very practical, and they all hide their contempt for ordinary people's lives. After all, if the Russ were not moving too fast, they would be given another ten days to prepare, and the families would pack all their money and goods, and everyone would be safe in the Danish territory and the important southern market, Hazelby, who moved directly south. The life and death of Gotland Islanders and what do they do?

In any case, all the people who have ghosts in their hearts are now grasshoppers on a rope, whether they are businessmen in gorgeous clothes, sturdy warriors with reflective mail, or men with white upper bodies, they have arrived at the bridge one after another. Village battlefield.

Those who arrived first stopped one after another, and invariably saw the enemy who was like a wall in the distance, gasping for breath.

Those young islanders who had never seen the world and thought it would be easy to kill a few Rus on the battlefield had to revise their understanding.

No one dared to act rashly, they stayed. As more and more people gathered, a behemoth finally formed.

The point of view turns to the Rus.

The flag teams have been deployed.

The two warrior flag teams composed of natives of the Ross tribe were divided into two wings, and the Melalen flag team was split to strengthen the warrior flag team.

The Slavic flag team composed of spear-wielding Novgorods became the middle army, followed by the Duke's mercenary troops who stood in front and guarded the command core.

The flag team of shooters was divided into two groups. The man who operated the torsion slingshot stood on the earth wall, and the rest of the shooters were temporarily scattered in front of the formation.

The reserve team of the Ross Army, all the transport vehicles and the reindeer pulling the carts were all inside the camp, and their figures were mostly covered by earthen walls. The soldiers of the reserve team have already put on their silver-scale breastplates, and each soldier's arms and calves are also protected by iron sheets. The special iron helmets have also added a rough-made iron face, only the eyes are left. Down a gap. They don't need any shields, some weapons are a steel sword and a steel axe. They are the berserkers of the Rus army, and they will suddenly burst out after receiving the direct order of the Duke.

On the contrary, there was a group of poor warriors, all of them standing in front of the Ross army formation, trembling in the face of the huge monster in the distance.

Nearly 300 surrendering men in Baisha Port, look at this battle, they did not die in the battle to defend Baisha Port, and now they will surely die in this decisive battle with the Visbys. They are all people who live on an island, and they have to fight against each other? They are not malicious subjectively, but unfortunately they can't help themselves.

Most of them would die in battle, but Rurik gave them a little hope of living.

"You must fight against the Visby army to prove your surrender. When you hear the horn sound, you run back immediately. If you don't hear the horn and return without authorization, you will be killed as an enemy."

At least, they found a very slim hope in their despair, but now that they saw the huge army from Visby, how could they not be afraid?

Rurik and Otto are now standing on the dirt wall, watching the enemy's army. The two of them didn't know the actual strength of the enemy, but they only noticed that the enemy's number was dominant. Little did they know that the total strength of the soldiers on the battlefield in Qiao Village was close to 10,000.

Otto's deep eyes could not hide the trembling of his eyes, and he felt a trace of fear, because the enemy's troops were too many. From the corner of his eyes, he looked at his son, who was standing upright, and saw that the boy stood like a pine tree.

Otto's big hand was on his son's shoulder: "It will be a war soon, you..."

"Are you worried about me? Or worried about the setback of our army?"

"No! I'm not worried, it's just...I've never seen so many enemies in my life. Is this the power of the Gotlanders? We underestimated their power."

To be honest, Rurik was a little worried, but looking at the ready torsion slingshot from the corner of his eye, and the large number of backup arrows stacked on the earthen wall, his worries disappeared immediately.

"Dad, you also underestimated our own strength! And our army, only when the battle starts, will they find out how powerful they are!"

Hearing these words, Otto squeezed his son's shoulder hard: "Next, shall we attack first?"

"It's totally possible. Anyway, I've agreed with everyone. If the enemy is sending someone to negotiate, they will kill them. If they don't move, I will let the guys from Baisha Port attack first, but I want to see the enemy. strength."

Otto smiled, "Alright. Let's take a look at the high priests and the others first! You really have an idea, and you actually let your Rumia walk around the prayer line in the front line."

Rurik's eyes were burning, and his eyes were fixed on the girls in plain clothes: "This way everyone will feel that Odin is with us. Rumia will not fight. As for those girls, they will all draw bows for me after the war."

The little priest was walking in front of the army with the holy elephant in his arms. When the big priest was reciting the scriptures, he kept pouring holy water on the armor of the soldiers with birch branches.

Rurik didn't know when this 19th-century rite of passage began, but he wanted to follow it, hoping to inspire the front-line soldiers through the prayers of priests.

The fact is that the first-line troops of the Rus are very uniform, and the "walls" tend to be blue and white as a whole, but they have given their opponents a great spiritual shock.

On the other hand, the Gotland army here, their clothes can be described as varied, 6,000 people are simply gathered in a group, and there is no formation at all. The Gotland warriors on the front line were at least equipped with shields. The only tactic they knew was to form a shield wall, slowly approach the enemy's line, try to maintain their own line, and stab and slash wildly until the final victory.

Fighting as they know it is like that. If the Shield Wall Front collapses, it will be a gang fight with everyone's ability.

The biggest difference between fighting and fighting in groups is probably limited to the fact that the outcome of the battle must be that one side surrenders as a slave and is killed in battle.

The only thing that can keep the morale of the Gotland army at the moment is its huge force.

Ten wealthy merchants gathered in front of the battle, and Haken saw that everyone's face was iron, and he knew that the merchants were not optimistic about the prospect of a decisive battle, even if the Gotland army was superior.

"Sure enough, as the legend goes, there are at least 3,000 Rus people!"

"What's next? Let the islanders rush up and kill them?"

"Yes! Let them rush, and our people will stand behind. We force them to fight, and kill those who dare to retreat."

...

The businessmen express their opinions and teach Haken to do things. Of course, as the king, Haken himself lacks opinions. To be fair, it is also an unprecedented event that the entire Nordic world can command 6,000 people to participate in the decisive battle!

Haken's mind is very confused, and his rage and arrogance before on the battlefield, as well as the decisiveness of sacrificing his heirs and smashing the statue of Frey, have all given way to rational prudence.

"How about, send someone to talk about their tone first? If they are willing to retreat... Maybe they will be afraid to see our crowd?"

"Ridiculous!" Harald of the Krorev family really wanted to slap Haken, so he yelled: "It's all at this juncture, why do you suddenly imagine that the Rus people will withdraw? Are your eldest and youngest sons? Dead in vain? You smashed the statue of Frey and worshipped Odin. If you don’t fight today, you! If you blasphemed one god, you cannot blaspheme the second. If you dare to blaspheme Odin, the people will kill you. "

"Even so... Forget it, you all go back and prepare!"

Haken's attitude is very firm, and he obviously doesn't want to talk to his colleagues with a stinky face.

The richly dressed merchants have returned to the rear of the army, and now the eyes of thousands of Gotland warriors are focused on their king.

Haken turned around and opened his arms to roar. He succeeded in raising the morale of the people, and the men and women were all shouting.

This roar directly stimulated the Ross army, and now the Ross army spontaneously responded with a fierce battle cry.

Taking advantage of this momentum, Haken dispatched five daring warriors to approach the Ruthian army.

At first glance, these guys were talking nonsense. Arik who was in front of the formation shook his neck and walked over with more than a dozen soldiers out of the army formation.

As soon as the other party was about to speak, Arik instructed his men to do it with his eyes.

The person sent out was suddenly killed by the Rus! The Rus do not accept any conditions at all! No idea at all other than a decisive battle!

Arik has gone too far! He chopped off the head of the slain, took off the helmet, pulled the head by the hair of the deceased, and lifted the head high.

This is not the end, he is all his subordinates pulling up the sackcloth coat in front of the Gotland army, exposing his crotch, roaring vulgar swear words and mocking the enemy.

"These goddamn Russ people!" Haken's face was shaking with anger, and he also heard the yelling of his own people!

Arik's taunts worked very well, and the Gotland army was in a state of rage.

Taking advantage of the anger of his subordinates, Haken Sword Peak pointed directly at the Ross army formation: "The warriors of Gotland! Attack!"

The front line of the Gotland army was full of the crackling of shields.

The soldiers on the front line can be described as the elite soldiers among the islanders. First of all, they are all strong men, but the overall equipment is somewhat unsatisfactory.

The Gotland Army spontaneously set up three shield walls, some of which formed a human wall that was more than 300 meters long and comparable to the Rus. Behind it, the Gotland army could not guarantee the order of the army, and those armed men of all kinds were surrounded by their kin and walked forward with weapons.

The Gotland army began to move, and Arik threw the enemy's head directly upon seeing it.

"Brothers, let's withdraw! Let's see what Rurik's plan is."

After Arik returned to his flag team, he immediately restrained his impatient men to remain calm.

Just before the Ross army formation, Rurik's little soldiers, the 200 boys and girls lying on their stomachs, took up their wooden crossbows and prepared to shoot. In the first actual battle, they couldn't help trembling. Fortunately, they were ordered to fire only once, then immediately retreated along the gap in the army formation, and finally turned on the so-called safe area of ​​the earth wall, turning on non-stop firepower output.

The soldiers of the Archer's Flag Team were all waiting for the order to shoot arrows, but the first round of the attack of the Rus came from the traitors in White Sand Harbor.

The order to attack has been issued!

The men in White Sand Harbor didn't care about the formation, they held their axe high and charged towards the attacking Gotland army.

Soon, the fight begins!

The people of Baisha Hong Kong collided with the shield wall of the Gotland people and immediately fused together.

Swords are jabbing, axes are slashing, and the poleaxes and spears of the Gotlanders help the front line to do more damage.

The White Sand Harbor Army and the Gotland Army suffered casualties. As the fierce battle continued, Haken saw the situation in the battle, and he immediately ordered the team to surround the enemy and kill them all.

The encirclement of the Gotland army began to form, and the pessimistic White Sand Harbor man wished to hear the horns of the Rus' retreating troops, but there was only the sound of the collision of swords and axes and the roar of soldiers.

At this moment, Rurik was still sitting on the sidelines with his father with a blank face.

The soldiers of the Ross Army saw that because of the efforts of the defectors in Baisha Harbor, the Gotland Army did not continue to advance for the time being, although the enemy's front-line troops were already within the coverage of Ross' arrows.

Otto held his breath and saw that the battle had suddenly made significant progress, and asked in particular: "Now the men in Baisha Port have been killed by the enemy, and their front has been broken. You need the time to come!"

"Yes! It's here!"

Rurik stomped his foot hard and gave the Torsion Slingshot Archer an order to fire!

With an order, ten heavy javelins fired from slingshots flew into the sky at a 45° angle with the violent whirring sound of whirling feathers, and then fell sharply.

The people in the fierce battle suffered this sudden blow, their chests were pierced, and their whole bodies were stabbed to the ground.

The damage is indiscriminate, and of course Rurik did not regard the defectors as enemies. As for blowing the horn to make the defectors retreat, Rurik had deceived them from the very beginning. What's more, they have changed their minds now. Even if the bullhorn is blown, those defectors from Baisha Port are unable to break through.

Ten javelins plunged into the enemy's line, and because the enemy stood very densely, they caused a lot of damage, and even two people were pinned to the ground for the same javelin.

The launch of the torsion slingshot is a signal that the Russ Army's marksmen's flag team is on an all-out attack!

All the long-range weapons were fired, and the first wave of arrows composed of nearly 500 arrows soon appeared in the sky, smashing the Gotland army like a hail of heavy casualties.

Many Gotland warriors died before they came into contact with the Rus army!

Some of the targets killed by the arrows, the young soldiers and female soldiers of the Gotland Army were all hit by arrows. Once they fell, there was no one to treat them sadly. To make matters worse, the morale of the Gotland Army was in an instant turmoil, because the five hundred large and small arrows were at least all iron arrow clusters, whether they hit shields, mail armor, or commoners. All are similar! As many as 300 people were actually hit by arrows, and more than half of them were incapacitated and fell to the ground on the spot.

The Gotland army began to panic.

But how could they collapse the whole army just because they endured a rain of arrows?

The Rus still shoot arrows, but the new arrows are no longer dense.

"This is your secret weapon? Rurik! Butcher Aric! Russ!" Haken almost gritted his teeth and scolded, then threw away the shield with two iron arrows inserted.

Haken roared in the chaos: "Brothers! Fight with them! Charge us!"

Haken first led his mercenary troops with raven-patterned shields to charge, and the Gotland army soldiers who were frightened by the arrow rain all eased, and they all saw their king beating and being held high. The Raven Shield, facing the arrow attack, adjusted the formation and continued to advance.

At the same time, the crossbowmen on the front line of the Ross army formation have gradually withdrawn to the rear of the army formation. Those children are already climbing the dirt wall and are about to continue shooting arrows. And the Torsion Slingshot and the Corvin Archers, they didn't stop shooting.

Of course, archery alone cannot contain or defeat the enemy's charge. What shatters the opponent's offensive is still the battle of swords and axes.

"Shield Wall! Prepare to stab!" Arik growled.

"They are here, ready to kill the enemy!" Haro Zuosen ordered calmly.

Medvitt commanded in the ancient Slavic language: "Don't be afraid. Spear array, stab me to death this group of Varyags!"

As the shields of both sides collided, the full-scale fight began.