Rise of Rurik

In the cool and gloomy forest, the breath of the horses seeped through the white mist, and the soldiers who had adjusted their equipment mounted on their horses one after another.

They had polished their spears to a gleaming gleam, and two-sided horse shields wrapped in painted cowhide protected the rider's left and right thighs. Long swords and hand axes were hung on belts, and each was in mail.

The feathers of the tin helmet were soaked with dew, and every cavalry warrior felt the discomfort of dampness.

Everyone is facing a cavalry raid. Although the soldiers have practice on weekdays, most of them are entering the battlefield for the first time in the true sense. Of course, in front of the king, they held their swords high and vowed to fight. It is really before the war, who can not be nervous Woolen cloth?

Aston, the captain of the cavalry, held the reins, his spear in the other.

He looked at his soldiers and said angrily: "I see the army that has always been strong! That's you! Now follow me! Don't be afraid, let the iron hoof trample them to death! Let's go!"

Aston didn't say more, he saw the inadvertent timidity of some young fighters, but it all made no sense.

The captain was already in action, and the rest of the soldiers followed.

One hundred and fifty fighters marched along the forest road leading to Lindisfarne. The horses maintained a brisk and relatively relaxed speed. The soldiers ate bread, the horses ate wheat, and the people and the horses were in good condition. .

The pursuit was far smoother than Aston had imagined, and he felt that his pursuit would encounter resistance, but it was actually a quick outing.

He hoped to catch up with the enemies who attacked the camp, avenge the dead, and more importantly, kill them to prevent them from escaping and reporting the news.

What is the real situation? The twenty Vikings deliberately walked through the virgin forest with bloody axes, for fear that they would be caught and killed by the counterattacking enemy. After all, the group of them ran out of the seaside camp to hunt. The guys in their hands were simple, and there were too few people. Even if they were brave, they were entangled with the enemy and killed by Wan Jian.

The Vikings did not follow a clear path, and it was even more difficult to travel through the forest on foot.

The head of the family intends to explain to the brothers the disaster of the enemy's large army, but unfortunately it is too late!

At this moment, the mobility of the cavalry was on full display.

"Soldiers, it's time for the beach! We'll be on the beach and we're about to reach the monastery."

"You all have to be careful! Maybe the enemy's camp is by the sea!"

"Get your spear ready! Charge as you practiced!"

"Once the spear is broken, it gives up,

Draw your sword and slash them. "

...

Aston said a lot, and he did not ask his subordinates to understand, after all, the current situation news could not be implemented by the entire cavalry column.

His orders can only be accurately conveyed to those around him, but that's enough.

He took the lead, and the dozen or so cavalry around him tightened, giving an excellent example to the cavalry in the rear.

Battles always happen in very abrupt situations!

Time is still dawn, the first ray of sunshine is still shyly hidden under the sea level, and the sea level in the east has a faint yellow color.

It rained only a few days ago, it was obviously summer, and the desolate wind made the Viking warriors sleep uneasy.

Most of the Vikings camped right on the edge of the woods on the beach, awakened by the flock of birds and the strange shaking of the earth.

Before long, a group of brothers camped in the woods ran out in a panic.

They were yelling.

"Not good! The enemy is attacking!"

"Brothers, get up and fight!"

When the people who heard the abnormal alarm got up one after another, they hadn't figured out the specific situation, and suddenly a group of behemoths rushed out of the forest.

Is that a bunch of wild boars on a rampage? !

Do not! It's a horseman!

By the time the Viking warriors turned pale and hurriedly picked up their shields and swords, it was too late.

Northumbrian cavalry, with spears aimed at the enemy.

At this moment, the captain Aston was overjoyed, although he was shocked to see an astonishing number of enemies camped by the sea, and the monastery not far away was obviously destroyed by fire. Maximum tactical effectiveness.

The cavalry team naturally formed a two-layer relatively loose riding wall, and the horses slammed into it vigorously.

At first, the Viking warriors who tried to fight were directly knocked down, and then they were trampled by the iron hooves of the subsequent cavalry and broke their ribs and died violently.

It was also someone who was pierced by a spear, and the cavalry let go after finishing the kill, and took advantage of the situation to draw their swords and continue to fight on horseback.

The cavalry swept through the unprepared like a tsunami, and the Balmerk Vikings whose camp was too close to the south, where the cavalry had come, suffered heavy casualties on the spot.

As many as fifty people were trampled and stabbed to death in the first round.

However, more Vikings rushed to the rear, rolling and crawling, and some even ran away empty-handed.

"Stop it!" Aston waved his iron sword high, and ordered the cavalry team, which had lost its impact, to rectify. After hearing the news, the cavalry soldiers stopped their offensive.

This seemingly absurd and stupid behavior objectively caused the once stunned Vikings to take a breath, and they began to set up a shield wall, nervous or terrified to face them that they had never heard of, and even their imaginations could not imagine it. terrifying enemy.

The Balmers have never seen any form of "cavalry regiment" at all, and quite a few young people have never seen a horse. The fishermen in Shetland had seen horses, but in their conception, riding a horse was a difficult task, and all the enemies who had been killed suddenly were fighting on horseback.

The Vikings were vigilant against the incomprehensible enemy, they wondered why the enemy suddenly stopped, maybe preparing for another round of attack? Perhaps so, but if one chooses to flee now, with his back to his mounted foe, an Odin warrior loses all his glory.

"Brothers, stay steady! Don't be afraid of them! We keep the shield wall, and they can't help us!" Some family leaders shouted, and some people's hearts were stabilized in the crisis.

Some people also shouted: "Hurry up and notify the people of Biyonni and Guyger, and let the Russ come too."

As soon as the words fell, someone shouted: "Don't think about them! Rurik of Ross bewitched some brothers to be turtles. They want to defend, so they won't come to help us easily."

"Then guard the shield wall, we will advance slowly, squeeze the enemy and kill them all."

This is really a good idea. Some people start to move forward slowly, and the shield wall that has formed a whole is turning into a protruding shape again.

On the other hand, Aston, the cavalry captain, gritted his teeth, and his orders were indeed not out of cowardice, or some kind of brain.

What he has learned is the Frankish cavalry tactics of the present era. The so-called face of an enemy with a well-organized array, a rash collision will cause large-scale losses of horses.

For the kingdom, any group of cavalry horses are selected, and the number of horses in the entire kingdom is also limited.

Every horse is important, and he was surprised to see that the enemy sent a city wall made of huge round shields on the coast, and he did not dare to act rashly!

"Damn it! This is really like the Great Wall left by the Romans!" He couldn't help sighing.

A soldier around him held a spear and asked, "Sir, are we attacking?"

"Crush! You take the first team to rush, and the second and third teams stand by!"

King Ironred's cavalry consisted of five hundred men, so weaving it was equivalent to a slightly shrunk Frankish version of the cavalry flag.

However, the kingdom of Northumbria, which has suffered from civil wars and poor productivity levels, is really poor (except for the monastery), and the king lacks the financial resources to continue to expand his cavalry force.

The king organized the cavalry into ten squads, and he brought three squads on this trip, and now all of them are handed over to his loyal cavalry captain to participate in this battle.

The Fifty Horsemen of the first team rushed forward aggressively, and the Viking front, which had formed a macroscopic salient, hurriedly retracted.

"Don't be afraid, brothers, protect your body with a shield."

"Brothers with spears are waiting to stab them."

"Don't let them break through our shield wall."

The Vikings naturally felt that the enemy was going to charge, but this was not the case at all.

The Northumbrian cavalry adopted classic Frankish tactics. They had withdrawn their spears from the battlefield and rushed to the Vikings line with bloody spears, deliberately keeping a distance of a wooden pole with both hands or even one-handed spears, To poke the enemy behind the shield.

Some Vikings were directly stabbed and slashed in the neck, and one was stabbed with bleeding holes in the chest.

Unlike the Frankish cavalry, who wore chainmail, only a very few of the Balmers wore chainmail.

Most people only wear animal skins, and the leather used for clothing plays a role in armoring to a certain extent, but it can't help the cavalry's spears.

The people in the chaos were shouting, hoping that the spear-wielding brothers behind would stab the enemy to death. The brothers in the rear are not watching the show either, they are distressed that their short spears are really too short in the current battle.

The Viking warriors began to break away in rage, and the brave, armed with shields and axes, vowed to kill a cavalry or two.

This move was in the arms of the Northumbrian cavalry.

Individual soldiers broke away from the front line and became the target of key strikes.

The warrior wanted to chop the horse, but the experienced cavalry moved quickly, then sprinted and chopped it to death with a swing of the sword.

Vikings with bows tried to shoot their opponents, but the number of archers was too small, and the manoeuvres that came on horses were like fish.

In the end, the Vikings had the upper hand, and they began to try to counterattack, but the enemy actually ran away on horseback.

The courage that had just been mustered was weakened again, and the second wave of cavalrymen rushed over again.

The lines that were once loose were gathered into tortoise shells, and the Vikings had to experience the disaster just now.

The battle is so useless! Those enemies didn't dare to fight in an upright manner, and it could be said that they ran away when they were counterattacked!

Viking warriors were killed one after another, and after a few rounds, only one cavalryman was killed.

Horses were chopped down, cavalry warriors were minced by furious Vikings.

But in terms of exchange ratio, the Northumbrian cavalry occupied a great advantage.

The battle situation has become extremely delicate. The most real situation now is that nearly 600 Vikings face 150 Northumbrian cavalry. It seems that Rurik and the warriors who really obey him are watching on the sidelines. So occupied, the Vikings' military superiority cannot be reflected at all. Some people want to launch a counterattack, but how can one pair of feet chase the cavalry? ! What's worse is that a group of people who leave the team will become the key target of the cavalry.

If the fighting continued like this, the Viking army would sooner or later be exhausted by the tossing of the mobile cavalry. And this is exactly what Aston, the cavalry captain, is eager to see. After the enemy is exhausted, he will face the kingdom's large troops. Victory belongs to Northumbria!

Probably so!

However, a large number of arrows and stones fell from the sky, and Aston watched helplessly as the team that completed a round of harassment missions fell on the way back to the rear. What's more, the horses were roughly hit by stones, and the cavalrymen fell on the spot and turned their horses on their backs.

what's going on? !

It's Rurik! The Vikings' counteroffensive began.

The perspective is on Rurik, and when he was awakened by the chaotic shouts of killing, he immediately got out of his suggestion tent. He hurriedly ran to the civil platform where the torsion slingshot was placed, and he saw the cavalry!

The men of Biyonny and Guyger awoke one after another, and the Shetlanders took up arms.

Just like the two days of rehearsal, everyone picked up the wooden sticks that acted as spears and waited for Rurik's order.

Biyonny and Guyger hurriedly boarded the platform.

"What's the situation? Those horsemen are all enemies? Who are we fighting?" asked Biyonni in panic.

Geiger also asked: "What do we do? I saw some brothers killed by those horse riders."

Rurik did his best to keep his composure, and in all fairness he did not think the Balmerks' line would be overwhelmed by a small number of cavalry. He felt the absurdity of the world, the kingdom of Northumbria behaved like a sheep to be slaughtered, how could it be so brave now? The enemy actually has such big killers as cavalry troops? !

"Let's... see the situation first."

"Why?" Geiger was very hurried, "Brothers have never fought against this kind of enemy, many people will die!"

Rurik immediately turned his head and asked harshly, "Have we ever fought against them? Do you want me to give up my current formation? Listen, my formation is designed to defeat cavalry."

Biyonni patted Guyger's shoulder: "Listen to Rurik, let's wait!"

"This...to be a coward."

Geiger's anger turned into anger. He rationally considered that his brothers in Gashebi couldn't have any losses. He couldn't afford to lose at all. Since Rurik had the means to fight cavalry, it was most appropriate for him to keep quiet.

The change in the battle situation is not conducive to the Vikings. Rurik and others stood on a relatively high ground, and he gradually understood the enemy's routine.

"It's not actually riding the wall and hitting the formation?! Why did you start playing with spears before the formation? Fortunately, I also prepared a spear wall and wanted to stab you to death."

Rurik felt that he looked down on the enemy a little bit. He thought about it carefully. I am afraid that the classic rushing and breaking tactics of Western European heavy cavalry had not been thought of in this era, or the level of weapons could not keep up.

"Look, some brothers have escaped from Zhenqiang." Geiger pointed out.

"Coward!" Biyonni exclaimed angrily.

"Cowards? I think we have been called cowards countless times by our brothers in front of us by staying here."

"Geiger! It's all Rurik's scheme, and I think it's right."

"We should help them!"

Rurik's mind was really messed up, and he roared violently: "Stop arguing!"

After that, he looked down at Yevro, who was on standby, and shouted: "Yephro! Take people to take away all the bull catapults, and get into the shooting range to kill them! You go and call the Shetlanders again, and you have to bring them with you. All our bows and crossbows, reinforce our brothers!"

Yevluo panicked for a moment: "Sir, we are not stationed?!"

"Bah! Yevluo, the enemy must still have a large army! You are now taking people to disperse those cavalry, go! Don't linger!"

"Yes!" Yevlo randomly greeted his guys: "Follow me."

Rurik's side just dispatched, pulled the trebuchet to a relatively suitable range, and started throwing stones.

Shetland, holding a bow, pressed on the Viking warriors who were not far from the collapse, and threw a large number of arrows to drive away the cavalry. Yevluo simply took his ten mercenary brothers and rushed to the front line of the battle with steel-armed crossbow.

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The appearance of reinforcements gave everyone a huge boost, but the attack of the enemy cavalry continued unabated.

Even with the loss, Aston, the cavalry captain, felt that the casualties on his side were really small, and now the weak and exhausted enemy was still the first priority.

Knowing that the enemy was shooting arrows and throwing stones, another round of attacks began.

Fifty cavalrymen charged forward with their spears in high spirits. Although Yevluo and the others were instinctively scared, they were relieved when they saw that the chests of those horses seemed to be defenseless.

"Follow my orders! Shoot the horses! Get ready! Launch!"

With a single order, eleven heavy crossbow arrows flew out, hitting as many as eight horses on the spot.

Most of the arrows were smaller than the chest of a horse, and even pierced the heart. The horses fell with a bang, and the cavalry fell heavily to the ground.

The cavalry squad leader was completely stunned, and the rest of the cavalry tightened their reins.

"There is a situation! Hurry up! Hurry up!"

Although it was a bit shameful, the squad leader, who was afraid of being completely wiped out by some kind of weapon, hurriedly announced the withdrawal, and the other cavalrymen turned around one after another.

Sudden death, the captain Aston in the distance fell from his horse in shock. After he got up, he saw that the cavalry he had fallen was being slashed and killed by the enemy, and the remaining cavalry were all retreating.

"There is a situation! Stop the attack! Let's evacuate temporarily!"

Aston himself gave the order to retreat, and the shocked cavalry hurriedly followed the captain's horse into the forest.

Seeing the enemy's terrifying cavalry suddenly disappear, the Vikings, who were so tormented by them, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Now, the Balmerk Vikings, who have won a lot of victories and have become very inflated, they are all awake as if they had been hit by a sap.

Because many brothers' dead bodies appeared beside them. They began to try to collect the corpse, but were directly banned by Yevlo himself, sent by Rurik.

"What are you doing? Why don't you come to support?"

"You sit and watch your brother die! Don't let us take the burial now?"

...

All kinds of harsh words than Jonny can think of, and his words stunned everyone. He roared with his sword: "You forgot what the slain enemy Pathfinder said? There are 2,000 enemies! There are many of them, and they may be killed soon! We withdraw to Rurik to maintain our front and fight decisively. Start soon!"

I heard that some family leaders started to retreat with their own people, and the rest of the people couldn't care so much.

At this moment, twenty people suddenly came out of the woods in the west. They were barebacked, and they used the tattoos on their chests to prove their allies.

They ran and shouted until they broke into the camp and said something terrible; "A very large number of enemies are moving towards the beach, and we wanted to explain the situation but were worried about being attacked by the enemy cavalry. Our description is true."

It seemed that everything was going smoothly, and this blood-soaked beach was bathed in a blood-red dawn.

Is the rising sun too red? !

The Vikings retreated to the camp arranged by Rurik with all their strength, waiting for a fight that would be witnessed by Odin (the sun).