Rise of Rurik

Northumbria suddenly encountered a huge crisis. The Holy Land was occupied or even destroyed by the enemy. It was the responsibility of the king to take it back. After the victory, the prestige of the king would be further improved.

King Ernred was unable to organize the strongest elites in the kingdom in a short period of time. He planned to use local lords and recruited farmers to put together a mighty but worrisome army.

What is the combat effectiveness of those farmers? What about their loyalty? Are you facing a war and running away just to witness a skirmish?

These things are unpredictable for the king.

The morale of the army was greatly improved, and Ain Reid himself was also infected by this atmosphere.

A huge army finally started, and as a king, surrounded by 150 elite cavalry, he became the most beautiful figure in the army.

Behind him are regular soldiers with a strength of up to a thousand, or so-called "standard soldiers".

This group of people at least have relatively uniform weapons and equipment, boots, and belts. The kingdom pays them a salary and a batch of cloth, and the individual has to find a tailor and make the cloth into a suitable style.

The "standard warriors" scattered in many regions are the strength to defend the foundation of the kingship of Ernred, and a cavalry force is his sword.

The cavalrymen's spears of about three meters were also tied with cloth bags, and the iron-reinforced leather helmets also had dyed geese flying feathers.

The riders' chainmail was polished to a lustrous finish, and they rode on leather saddles, the stirrups, which were rudimentary, but a holster that restrained their feet.

In this era, the double-footed stirrup was also popularized in the Frankish cavalry during the reign of Charlemagne. As a rare old Northumbrian king in Britain who had seen the charm of the Frankish heavy cavalry, his successor son could not continue to improve in this regard. Perhaps the improvement was unnecessary. Northumbria's cavalry team was strong, and it was the decisive weapon of the kingdom, which was feared by the surrounding countries.

However, the cavalry were all British native horses, which were left over from the Romans on the island hundreds of years ago.

The best horses are the Arabian desert horses, which are the famous thoroughbreds mixed with the native British horses.

The horses of the cavalry were not outstanding, and the equipment could not be said to be well-equipped. They had the name of heavy cavalry, but by the standards of the East, these cavalry were lightly mounted scouts at best.

The real heavy cavalry should have equipment,

It is in the form of an iron can, doing the work of a tank more than a thousand years later.

In this rotten island, Ernred's cavalry determines his absolute confidence.

After all, there has never been such a cavalry team in Northumbria, and the cavalry team has never been defeated since his father invested in the establishment of this team at the suggestion of the Franks.

The king was very confident, and the cavalry captain Aston was even more excited.

The relative peace of the kingdom has been maintained for ten years, and the cavalry has never faced a strong enemy. Some veterans have retired, and many horses have become cart-pullers. Although a horse can live for thirty years, the prime time of a war horse is only five to seven years.

The Kingdom's cavalry still represents glory, but most of this glory is inherited from its predecessors.

The cavalry team consists of young cavalry and upright horses. The riders are carefully selected warriors, and many of them are children of nobles. The children of nobles need to win battles to improve their prestige and honor, not to burn up their seniority or simply protect the king to participate in some activities.

The sudden war, the kingdom's city was hit, and the angry expressions of many cavalry warriors were more acting, and their hearts were ecstatic. The so-called battle is probably the only chance for them to become famous and gain great glory for their family.

There are also a group of infantrymen with similar ideas.

Of course they are not as noble as those cavalry, but they can get some rewards in battle by cutting off the enemy's ears on the battlefield. Soldiers who have made meritorious deeds will definitely get bounties, and even the priority of cleaning the battlefield after the war. When the number of years of service is up, you can easily marry a wife and buy a piece of land to become a more noble farmer different from ordinary farmers.

Even, once he made a miracle, such as beheading the enemy's leader, the king would definitely be overjoyed because of this, and canonized an ordinary soldier to become a small lord, that is, a small landlord who could recruit squires.

The kingdom did learn from the Frankish system in many ways, at least all the "standard warriors" and cavalry, they were all promising futures.

It was just those farmers who were really recruited. They were dressed in commoner clothes, carrying simple farm implements and weapons, huddled together with bare feet, brought their own wheat and cooking utensils, and tried their best to follow the large army without falling behind.

The team of 2,400 people dragged and dragged into a three-kilometer team.

From Bamburgh to Lindisfarne Abbey, the dirt road connecting the two places is equivalent to only 30 kilometers.

The situation of the march made the king speechless. It was true that the quality of the peasant troops was really bad, and the road soaked in rain was really difficult to walk. He was fortunate that he had put the queen, the prince, and a group of unrelated followers in Bamburgh, so they could not participate in this battle.

A group of clergymen sat in a carriage led by Bishop Edmund of Bamburg, so-called prayers for the soldiers before the war, and prayers for the dead after the war.

Another group of carriages dragged a small amount of rations, as well as weapons and equipment for replacement, and materials for setting up tents.

The existence of these really proves that the Northumbrian army did not simply perform badly in battle, they had something.

The scouts sent out still did not bring back news. The Northumbrian army, due to the dawdling of the peasant army, could have finished the journey in one day, and the king ordered to camp in the forest.

The tent has been set up, and the king, the earl, the bishop, and the captains of the cavalry and infantry gathered together to discuss the countermeasures for the fierce battle by the warm bonfire.

The king made no secret of his displeasure: "Those farmers, I think too highly of them."

Count Albert hurriedly said: "They are very tired soon after the wheat harvest. Besides, they are just farmers. It is also good for us to camp here temporarily. If the enemy is stationed at the monastery, we walk for a day, and we are tired. At war, the situation is bad."

"Are you... teaching me how to do things? I understand combat very well. You don't need to explain this situation yourself."

"Yes!" The count hurriedly nodded his head, muttering in his heart how boring his cousin was.

"You look up."

"Ah?!" The Count did as he ordered.

"What are the scouts you sent out? Are the guys on horseback lost? Are the enemies still in the monastery?"

"I have no idea."

"Okay! Okay..." The king shook his head with a sullen mouth, grabbed a branch, and threw it into the fire.

At this time, Edmund, Bishop of Bamburgh, urged urgently: "We must arrive at the monastery early, and the situation there must be very critical. Can the stone wall fortified by the previous king resist a thousand barbarians? Those barbarians attacked Edinburgh! My Friends are just afraid of..."

"Then they are dead! The monastery is destroyed again!" The king hammered his thigh hard.

Since the camp is already very close to the destination, there is no point in continuing to send scouts.

The bishop's words did give King Ain Reid another inspiration. The so-called Bamburgh defense near the sea was already very empty. If he threw himself into the air and the enemy took advantage of it to sneak up on the rear, the result would be tragic.

However, if he cared about the safety of the rear, how could he have enough troops to recover Lindisfarne?

In this state of disregarding his head, the king who can't afford it is playing a gamble.

...

The entire Northumbrian army camp was quiet, and the farmers who had walked all day and their feet were covered in black mud, wrapped in burlap scouts from their homes, wrapped their bodies and fell asleep.

Regular soldiers also slept around the bonfire, while the cavalry guarded themselves and knelt down to sleep and the horses slept peacefully.

Only high-ranking figures, such as kings, earls and bishops, lived in tents, and the rank of rank was clear at a glance.

There were still a few soldiers patrolling the camp, and they grew weary as the night went on.

King Ernred prides himself on being so well defended at night that he even feels his own

It was almost dawn, and a sneaky figure was approaching the camp.

A large number of bonfires were lit in the wet forest. The long-burning flames dispelled the dampness and ensured the warmth of the soldiers. It also forced the beasts to dare not approach.

But these twenty or so shadows are not beasts.

Northumbria as a whole is still extremely vast and sparsely populated. Except for the cities and affiliated villages, the rest of the kingdom can be called a barren no-man’s land.

Wolves and even bears are still active in the forest.

The twenty or so Balmerk Viking hunters armed with spears and bows only listened to the orders of their own family leaders, and did not stop at Rick's orders at all. Instead of building camps and setting up battlefields, they used their exploration skills and began to assess whether this new area could become a new home for the Balmers.

This move is a bit too urgent, so they don't care about killing the enemy scouts at all, but continue to march into the depths of the forest.

Finally, the group collided with the large army camp in Northumbria.

"Boss! I'm dazzled?! Here... are all enemies?!" One person was so shocked by the amazing large-scale sleeping scene that he didn't dare to act rashly.

Although the family leader was also very nervous, he sensed the opportunity here.

"Brothers, we have a small family. If we want to gain more voice in the tribe, we must rely on war. There are some brothers who stay behind, you..." He looked around: "You follow me to attack and cut Kill some enemies, grab some useful ones and withdraw."

Everyone looked at each other, completely different from the thoughts of the family leader, and everyone showed obvious fear.

"You idiots, I thought you were all strong!"

One person hurriedly defended: "But boss, we are too few. In my opinion, we should go back and report to everyone."

"Report? Of course I will. I have to kill a few enemies first and then go back to report. Rurik of Russ is right. The enemy must send a large army to destroy us. The war is about to break out, and we started the first one. The battle, the first credit is ours. You all follow me and withdraw at my order."

"So boss, where are we attacking?"

"Find the nearest campfire and slash. Take out your axes and follow me!"

A family leader and his buddies touched it quietly. They relied on the cover of a big tree and finally reached the camp of the farmers and warriors.

The stance of the enemy is very strange, and it doesn't look like a brave warrior, at least not like those he has encountered before.

Having given up so much, the ruthless Vikings began to cut down.

The poor farmers were chopped off in their sleep and died on the spot.

By the time the Vikings' horrific deeds were discovered, as many as fifty people had been killed. At one point, the situation became very strange. The head of the family felt that the person he encountered was clearly an idiot. If he brought all fifty of his brothers, he would be able to understand this army in his sleep in this strange way, at least a big one. part.

But the crazy move was discovered. Some people blew conch horns, some people beat small waist drums, and even simply shouted and pushed, and the sleeping army suddenly woke up.

A guard frantically broke into the king's tent.

Iron Red had been awakened by the noise outside, and he drew his sword as soon as possible.

"what happened!"

"King! Something big happened outside! The enemy has come to rob the camp."

"The robbery! Damn! This group of savages still have some strategies." Iron Raid raised his head, hurriedly put on his helmet, and ordered: "Let all the soldiers rise up and kill the robbers!"

On the other hand, the family leaders saw that the momentum was not right, and they were supposed to be the unlucky ones who had been hacked, and they began to flee in all directions.

Under the shadow of the bonfire, he saw a group of people with reflections on their bodies, and instinctively told him that this was an army with a lot of iron weapons, which was completely different from those who died before.

The family leader immediately shouted in Norse: "Brothers, let's go! Go back and report!"

The Vikings in animal skins immediately dispersed. After all, they thought from the beginning that the leader's decision would kill the brothers, even if they succeeded at first.

Thanks to this animal skin, under the weak moonlight and starlight, their bodies were not reflective, and they quickly disappeared into the black forest.

The military camp in Northumbria was a mess, and there were many stampedes and oolong fights.

It wasn't until the sky was getting brighter, when people fell into the camp of a big fight, that the chaos subsided after people could see each other clearly.

Witnessing the piles of red and white objects in the messy fighting scene, even many regular soldiers spit them out on the spot.

Ernred had lived through a terrible war, even if it was ten years ago. He felt that he had been able to hold back the blood on the battlefield, and it could be seen that he really vomited at this scene.

Farmers' wars are all that have died, and now the morale of the farmers is suffering a fatal blow.

Those priests have endured tremendous mental stimulation and came to pray for these tragic deaths. Several other priests, under the leadership of Bishop Edmund, tried their best to appease the army.

After the king rinsed his mouth and summoned all the officers, everyone's heart was beating wildly. In this case, he had no intention of criticizing his subordinates.

His anger was all directed at the enemy: "It's all clear now, we're in Lindisfarne! They didn't go!"

The earl clutched his chest and said indignantly: "We should assemble the army and kill them directly, and kill all the barbarians!"

The cavalry captain Aston took the initiative to ask: "Those barbarians in the dark night can only rely on the night to attack our weakest peasants. Now that it is dawn, I can lead the cavalry team to charge directly! The cavalry's iron hooves will trample those barbarians to death."

"That's what I mean! Aston!" King Ernred ordered urgently.

"Aye!"

"Rectify the troops and launch an assault immediately! If you find the enemy's camp, attack immediately! My large force will arrive soon."

Aston slapped himself in the chest: "Lord King, please witness your loyal cavalry team win again! I'm off!"

After all, he turned around and headed straight for his cavalry camp...