Rise of Rurik

The Mercian army was a mess, and King Wigraf, who had just escaped from the pontoon bridge, couldn't care less. He himself was running away, and when the soldiers saw this, they also put the resistance to one side and put the escape first.

Earl Lindsay's army has lost the chance to escape, and the powerful enemy is charging towards his subordinates wielding swords.

The narrow pontoon was overcrowded, and it was the main target of Rurik's long-range weapons.

The Avlora was very close to the pontoon, and the longboat pulling her forward continued to advance. As the distance decreases, the Torsion Slingshot will only hit more accurately and more powerfully.

The cast-iron projectile pierced the fighter's body and hit those behind him.

When the torsion slingshot was replaced with a javelin, the javelin came directly to a three-person pair. The slain fell off the pontoon and simply sank to the riverbed, and some struggling in the water gradually drifted downstream, and even passed by the ship.

Warriors holding steel-armed crossbows climbed to the commanding heights of the poop, and shot another indiscriminately at the crowd gathered by the river in the sunset.

This is not a war, it is a one-sided killing!

It was an extremely dangerous move to forcibly pass through the pontoon to deform. Bye bye, many brothers had already come close to the enemy who suddenly killed them. They gradually felt that they had to fight to the death.

A squire persuaded Earl Lindsay: "Sir, please let us evacuate you, escape here first and then make a big plan."

But the Count had already drawn his sword and roared: "None of you are allowed to retreat! We must fight these nasty Northumbrians here to the end! Fight with me and cover the king's safe evacuation!"

"But my lord, that's not Northumbrian."

"Never mind! We attack."

Earl Lindsay was a man, but unfortunately he didn't even know that he was fighting to the death of the most vicious part of the Vikings.

Grund's group, who were wearing heavy armor, charged towards the messy formation of Mercia with swords and axes.

Soon, their bodies were really covered in blood, all the blood of the Mercia Army.

The axe fell like chopping wood, and the steel sword stabbed without obstacle. These iron men are really Rurik's tool people. What he needs now is not an indestructible berserker, but a user for the indestructible heavy armor.

They rushed to the focal point of the chaos, hacking and slashing at the crowded bridgeheads.

The arrows hit their armor, and then they bounced off.

"You...are you always aiming at me?"

Grund was surprised at first, then relieved. This is the support of friendly forces, and even a crossbow with a steel arm cannot pierce this heavy armor.

At the same time, the fleets led by the Avlora broke down one after another, and the ships settled on the Don River, becoming arrow towers floating on the river one after another.

A large number of arrows fell from the sky, first accelerating the chaos of the fleeing people across the river, and then dealing a terrible blow to the enemy on the other side.

Rurik ordered the bowman to continue outputting with a sullen face, but he could not see any joy in killing.

But this move really shocked the accompanying Northumbrian king Ernred.

The King of Broken Arms questioned Rurik loudly with strong puzzlement, "Aren't your arrows afraid of killing your own soldiers?"

"Afraid? Why be afraid? They like fighting like this, but the Mercians will die."

With just this word, Ernred only felt his chest burning, this beautiful young man is a fierce person.

The chaos at the bridgehead was completely beyond Count Lindsay's expectations. His armored warriors were also facing armored enemies, and the enemy's armor was too outrageous.

The Rurik mercenaries in the Russ army rushed the most fiercely, followed by a large number of sword and shield players with round shields.

After a brief encounter, the brave Mercian warriors were all killed, and the rest retreated spontaneously.

"Don't run away! Keep fighting for me! Kill these Northumbrians..."

But how else could the words of the Earl boost morale? They rolled and crawled to escape, and Earl Lindsay assassinated several deserters, but it still didn't help.

The battle was a complete disaster for Count Lindsay's army! Arik noticed that the enemy was fleeing, so he took more than 200 people to outflank and intercept them.

Arik took one step ahead of the enemy, and the warriors with steel-armed crossbows first fired a salvo, and then the warriors swarmed up.

The frightened people became fat sheep to be slaughtered, followed by horrific slaughter, blood dripping from Arik's double swords, and the whole face and hair turned red...

Earl Lindsay didn't want to withdraw, but he was almost a bare commander.

He was still coerced by the retinues to escape, and tried to escape through the camp in Dole Village to hide in the wooded area to the north, but was hit by Arik.

"Ah! It's Satan's Familiar!"

He sat on the ground in horror, seeing the corpses shivering all over the place.

At least a hundred fleeing soldiers were slaughtered to corpses by the Rus army that surrounded them, and only ten of the Rus army suffered some flesh wounds.

Arik stretched out his sword and pointed directly at Earl Lindsay, who was sitting on the ground. A large number of soldiers went up, and the sword and the axe chopped the poor Earl into minced meat indiscriminately. The scene cannot be seen directly.

The Rus people sacrificed Odin in blood, and the Balmers also joined the carnival.

When the sunset gradually dissipated and the world became dark, the killing finally came to an end.

The victors stayed among the corpses on the ground. They pulled out the corpses of their own people, lit bonfires on the spot, and plundered the enemy's wheat for food.

Ernred landed with his own army, and he himself witnessed all the killing. The accompanying kingdom warriors could only gather in a group and follow their king closely, lest they be cut by the mad Vikings.

Walking on a battlefield full of corpses, he felt that the battles he had experienced in the past were nothing but group fights.

He was terrified and excited, and the King of Broken Arms laughed wildly in the last rays of the sunset.

"Master, is that king stupid? I thought he was a little insane when I was in their Roedis." Yevro, who was covered in blood, asked Rurik.

"Don't worry about him. I asked you to execute the enemy's wounded and take prisoners. How is the situation now?"

"Captive..." Yevro hesitated suddenly.

"What happened?"

"There were no prisoners, the enemies were all killed. There were some women, and their lives were spared."

"Then protect them, we are just interrogating."

"Ah! This...they are controlled by the Balmers, and the situation is worse."

Hearing that Rurik already knew it, the fact was that the victorious Balmerk men were playing with the controlled women in groups of threes and fives. It wasn't until Magnut listened to Rurik's request that the army did not catch a single prisoner.

However, the embarrassment came to an abrupt end when the Balmerk warriors who ran across the river to chase the fugitives caught a few slow-moving enemies and returned.

Rurik, Magnut, and Ernred, the three and their troops took full control of the village of Dole.

Sweeping the battlefield are temporary Confederate Northumbrian warriors. They carried the corpses with mixed feelings, thinking that some time ago, the dead of Mercia rushed to kill and destroy the camp in Northumbria.

Now, the former fugitives are collecting the bodies of the former victors.

The Northumbrian warriors had no joy of victory, only fear and heartburn. The Vikings who killed their enemies like pinching ants were by their side, and if they suddenly became angry, they would also die.

They collected the corpses overnight, and only found as many as 700 corpses of the Mercia Army. As for the corpses that fell into the river, it was impossible to count them.

The commanders of the war, such as Rurik, occupied the camp of the Mercia Army, and the remaining army camp was also full of Ross Balmerk soldiers.

Those who had enough to eat and drink immediately fell asleep with their weapons in their arms, even though the blood of the enemy on the armor was still giving off the smell of rust.

The tent was brightly lit, and the three Mercian warriors who were tied up waited in horror for questioning. They were astonished that the king of Northumbria was here, and his left arm was easily recognizable.

However, the clothes of the other two people are all despicable outsiders.

Ernred was the first to ask the question. He first ridiculed the stupidity of Mercia to relieve his hatred, and then focused on a question that went deep into their souls: "Did your king Weegraf abandon the army and escape?"

The three exchanged glances, and immediately expressed their loyalty to Ernred, willing to be loyal to Northumbria.

This is just an expedient measure for the captives, Ernred is sure that they are not loyal at all but just don't want to die, but he is indeed short of soldiers now.

Ernred asked about Rurik and Magnut, and when he was allowed to spare, he also made a promise.

It was Ernred who promised as a king, and all three of them recruited...

They truthfully describe...

"I can't believe that Mercia's army is so weak." After listening to the translation, Rurik was cautious about this kingdom, but now it seems really bad.

Magnut was so happy: "They are too weak, but they have fertile land. I want to bring all my brothers to immigrate."

Rurik first thought of plundering ready-made wheat and other real materials. Magnut thought about expanding the control of the Kingdom of York and giving subsequent hometown immigrants a lot of living space.

Ernred is in the political geography of this region. Although he is a down-and-out king, he has a basic political sense.

He saw a huge opportunity, the so-called since Count Peksart's attitude towards King Mercia was very subtle, then he and his people were worth wooing. Because of those local nobles, they generally lack the idea of ​​becoming kings because of their lack of strength. As the vassals of the strong, they continue to live their small lives, which is very attentive.

Peksart is also considered a sanctuary. It used to be the territory of Northumbria, and it makes sense to take it back.

The captive gave a lot of information, such as the true strength of the Mercia Army, that is, more than 1,000 elite soldiers in chain armor and more than 4,000 farmers in the coat of the Kingdom Army.

But in this battle, soldiers in chain mail were found everywhere on the battlefield. Didn't they experience the fiasco of Mercia in this battle?

King Mercia fled, and Earl Lindsay and his army seemed to have no time to escape. Where is that earl? Maybe already dead in the chaos?

Ernred had seen Wigraf, and he had seen the earl of Lindsay during the confrontation. He hadn't heard that the man who was cleaning the battlefield found a dead nobleman. Maybe that person also escaped, but the captive said bluntly that Earl Lindsay did not escape.

At this point, Rurik concluded: "King Mercia led his troops to flee, and Earl Lindsay's army was obviously wiped out. This should be the truth. The elites of the Mercia Army suffered huge losses, and our army's losses can be ignored. Ernred , you said you wanted... Pexat? Is that the name?"

Ernred said hurriedly: "Yes. This is the home of my kingdom."

"Oh, then it's time for you and our York Kingdom to redefine their territories."

"..."

Rurik cleared his throat and asked the doubtful King of the Broken Arm: "Ernred, you should march to the south, do you have the courage to attack the fleeing Mercian army?"

"Yes! I also want to win the allegiance of Earl Peksart immediately." But Ernred's tone lacked the toughness of victory, he was obviously trying to make a swollen face.

"Very good. But I'm still worried about you. Well, I'll arrange for someone to be your bodyguard for the time being. Yevro!"

Rurik shouted, and soon Yevlo, who was holding the hilt of his sword, walked into the camp aggressively.

"Yevlo, you temporarily lead fifty brothers as Ernred's escort and support him in the next battle. Remember!" Rurik emphasized his tone, "He is our friend, you must Keep him safe."

Rurik cast another glance at Paul, who was acting as a translator: "You also go. Do your translation work well, you will be protected, and I will reward you afterwards."

Guard? Pooh! Obviously surveillance. Ernred knew that if he really led his troops into the north alone, he would be killed by the so-called guards.

Originally, Yevro was quite bored, but this was the order of Duke Ross.

Rurik was the decision maker of the war, and it would be foolish not to expand the results given the new situation faced by this raid.

He arranged the course of action for his own army: "We are about to return to the Ouse Bay, we will enter the Lindsay (Trent), first sack Lindsay, and then hit their royal city of Tamworth! You say I don't care if that Mercia king is alive or dead, I order you, Ernred. When we attack Tamworth, your army must go south, and no matter what happens to the city we attack, you and my army Must meet at Tamworth."

Just after listening to the translation, Ernred stood up suddenly, his eyes were trembling, and he muttered: "Are you really going to attack Mercia? This..."

Rurik looked up coldly: "You, don't you want to be the king of Mercia? Do you think what I said before was just an idea?"

"I... how could I not want to?!"

"I know that if you want to be strong again, it's useless no matter how deep you hide. We can make you stronger, but you can't afford less tribute. So, let's break down Tamworth, what's that area called? "

Ernred was surprised at first, and he really couldn't hide his thoughts. Since Rurik of Ross knew it well, he neither confirmed nor denied it, but followed the words: "It's the central Mercia, there is Tamworth, and there is Beomundham."

"Beomundham?" Rurik wanted to laugh. Wouldn't this name be Birmingham? I think this term is also very old.

In fact it was indeed the old name of Birmingham.

"Okay, you and I will redraw the southern border. You own most of the newly acquired Mercia land, and we get Lindsay. If you're smart enough, go to Mercia King. But you have to remember, we are Britain true master."

"Yes, you are the honorable Lord." Ernred bowed his head to Rurik.

"No! To my father." Rurik pointed to Magnut.

Ernred saluted himself, and Magnute couldn't stop laughing. For Magnut and Biyonni, and even most of the Balmers, they are very satisfied with the current harvest. It would be very good if they continue to expand the results. However, the territory is too large to be firmly controlled by the current manpower. .

There is a proverb in Balmerk: small fish swallow, seal nibble slowly.

Get the Lindsay area in the South again? That area is very close to York, just south of the Ouse River Bay. In the future, the Balmers can rely on ships to easily and quickly communicate with each other, and the control cost is very low.

This night, the revised war plan was bigger than before.

It was about September, and it rained that night.

The world became muddy, the temperature dropped and the rain washed the blood of the battle.

Rurik, who had rested all night, looked at the gray sky and wondered in his heart that yesterday was the sunset, how is it raining today?

"Britain is a country of rain and rain..."

But the battle plan has been set. It is true that the Viking warriors are not afraid of huge waves. What is a little continuous rain?

On this rainy day, the rain washed away the blood of the soldiers, and the Ross and Balmerk troops boarded the ship again. Braving the rain and the north wind, they raised their sails and sailed down the river at an astonishing speed.

Yevro remained in the Northumbrian army, "guarding" Ernred with his brothers.

"Please think about it again. When my kingdom is about to use people soon, I will make you an earl and my vassal, and you can enjoy the glory." Ernred still lobbied unconsciously.

Yevro looked at the back of the Avrora, and sneered at Ernred, and then asked: "When are you leaving? If you don't go south, I'm welcome."

Glancing at the short ruthless man clenching the hilt of his sword, Ernred actually swallowed and said, "When my follow-up troops arrive, we will set off immediately. Besides, my messenger has already gone to look for Peksa in the rain. Earl Te, I will soon have a new force."

Ernred is now confident, and the follow-up army is indeed heading to the Dole Village barracks along the river. Rurik's fleet came across this army of infantry, and the soldiers on board booed and continued on their journey.

And what about Wigraf, the defeated King of Mercia? The old boy and his subordinates retreated all the way, accompanied by more than 2,000 people who ran fast enough, hungry, sleepy, and enduring the wind and rain, and they fled all the way to the city of Peksart.

But the terrifying news has been sent by the faster-running troops. The people in the city learned that the Northumbrian army was about to annihilate the King of Mercia and kill the king. The people hiding in the city were all focused Northumbria, where the people of the village of Dole, who had been transferred, ran to appeal that the king of Northumbria was not a villain.

Of course, the people's words did not affect the earl. Based on his own interests, the earl of Peksart really felt that this war was a provocation by Mercia. Since the northern neighbors were so strong, why would he be the earl of Northumbria? ?

Now Wigraf of Mercia clamored to open the door in the rain, while Count Peksart just watched with indifference.

Someone advised him: "Lord Count, he is the king after all."

"No, let him in, and his men will eat our food."

In the city, some people also advised Wigraf: "Your Majesty, they must be mutiny if they don't open the door for a long time. The people of Peksat are obviously supporting our enemies. Maybe we can try to attack."

"We can't attack, we lack strength. It's hateful!" Wigraf turned to leave, and yelled in the rain: "Fools! We were defeated by the Vikings! Stupid count, wash your necks and be slaughtered! Warriors! Guys, let's go to Beormondham to rest, eat and drink and then go back to Tamworth!"

The messy rout continued south, and in the rain, they left only one place of mud, and the disdain of Earl Peksart...

The earl immediately declared to the people solemnly: "Now, we are Northumbrians! Show the banner of Jane's forty years in the warehouse! Hang it on the city gate!"

Yes, the Northumbrian king flag quickly replaced the Mercia flag, and the earl really rebelled.