Rise of Rurik

The fleet has entered the Weser River, but the atmosphere in this area is a little scary.

Arik stood at the bow of the boat and frowned, he muttered to the people around him: "The atmosphere is too quiet, there is no one's breath, I don't think this area is very rich."

Lan Fox also felt strange: "It's strange. When I left a few months ago, there were still many fishing boats floating on this river, and there were also boats at the mouth of the sea."

"Maybe we were exposed? They fled out of fear?" Yevlo was also puzzled.

After some deliberation, they decided to move on. Arik even gave instructions to prepare for battle. After all, the brothers entered the unknown hinterland of Frankish territory for the first time, and they may encounter enemy attacks under any circumstances.

Soon, there were obvious signs of villages ahead, or simply village mutilation.

Arik squinted and stared: "Why do I think it was a burnt down village, who did all this?"

This is equivalent to asking the blue fox, but how did the blue fox know the situation?

"There are villages in this generation, and as for signs of destruction, we might be able to send someone to take a look."

Arik shrugged: "Alright, send a dozen brothers to take a look, if you find the barn and seize the grain, it will be good."

The Salmon Chief dropped two broadside oars, real boats, and landed with ten men aboard.

The fleet also took the opportunity to break down, and everyone waited for good news.

They didn't wait too long, but unfortunately they didn't get good news either. The returnees were empty-handed, and there was no "capture" except for some people holding black-burning wooden sticks.

They all got on the ship to report their work, each of them obviously encountered bad things, and their faces turned bad.

Arik was furious: "Are you frightened, or have you encountered an enemy. It doesn't look like there is a fight."

The leader shook his head and said bluntly: "Boss, you still don't want to see it. Those villages smell bad, with rotting corpses lying everywhere. It smells so bad, it's a cursed place."

"Oh? You mean someone attacked there?"

"And it's been a while since the attack. Look at that method, it's quite our style."

"We?" Arik shook his head: "We will collect the dead! So a group of bandits attacked the village?"

"Who knows?"

Arik waved his hand to say no more,

He quickly reached a consensus with the others. The so-called gang of gangsters exists in this generation, and this is probably the reason for such a quiet environment.

The Frankish village was attacked in broad daylight, and Blue Fox's knowledge of this generation immediately pointed out that this should be the reality. Because this area belongs to the Earl of Bremen, it is not surprising that there have been bandits in the territory.

"As far as I know, the earl was ordered to lead the army to attack the Danes, and the departure of the army naturally made the bandits rampant."

Based on such information, Arik couldn't help but think differently. Will the so-called gangsters rob Bremen first, and will the brothers come all the way in for nothing?

Such boxes of cast-iron rounds were carried to the deck, and all the ships' torsion slingshots were ready for battle.

Soldiers with bows and crossbows stood guard on the deck, and everyone watched their surroundings, ready to fight at any time.

Arik and his group of knives and blood-licking guys have such a high sense of battlefield smell, especially when they were crusade against the Karelians, they were also suddenly attacked while sailing on the river, and they were afraid of another accident.

The fleet is lined up in columns, so when any side is attacked, all kinds of long-range weapons can carry out saturated strikes. The Rus army was on high alert for dark arrows coming from the riverside forest, and their vigilance was overdone.

They had passed the fairly straight course of the Weser, and a bend began to appear ahead, and a large forest had blocked the course.

As the first ship completed the turn, the scene in front instantly stirred the soldiers' nervousness.

Because the Salmon Chief was the flagship as the flagship, Arik rubbed his eyes vigorously and exclaimed, "Ah! What did I see? The longship? Who is this large group of people?"

How did the Franks have Viking longships? Arik was confused for a while, he asked Lanhu, but Lanhu couldn't say why.

"At least they are not our allies. Here, everyone may be our enemy." The blue fox warned, and the listeners were on high alert.

Arik also felt that Blue Fox's words were very pertinent. There is a saying that offense is the best defense. In order to avoid being hit by this group of obvious Nordic fighters, it is better for the Ross Army to give them a rain of arrows.

"Attention brothers! Raise our skull flag, the arrows are in place, and wait for my order to fire!"

There was no camouflage in the entire route of the Ross Army, and the flags of each ship flew. Unexpectedly, they encountered unknown armed men in the Weser River, and the skull flag became a battle flag.

Not only did they raise the flag, but the horn-bearer blew the deep and majestic bullhorn.

All signs prove that this army, which is like a divine soldier, is about to slaughter!

Let's see that the group of long ships and personnel who docked are doing a positive battle. They don't seem to want to fight with Ross. Indeed, their long ships can't match Ross's big ships at all.

All the people in different clothes went ashore, and they instantly turned into an army at the campfire camp on the shore.

The round shields painted in various colors form a long shield wall, and there is a distance from the river.

"They are going to fight, maybe these people are Danes!" The blue fox deliberately supported the fire: "The Danes should also crusade!"

Arik nodded, seeing that the brothers were ready for archery.

Yevluo came forward at a critical moment: "We don't even know their true identities, we can't even meet and fight! I don't like fighting in confusion."

"When they turn into corpses, we will still have a few survivors to know who they are." Arik raised his right hand, and the arrows were shot in one fell swoop.

Arik's hand was in Yevlo's, and there was a close to his bearded face. "Brother! The prince asked me to accompany you just because you were worried about your recklessness. Look at them! Put up a dignified battle! I think we should negotiate with them. They are obviously not the Frankish army, and we can't fight in confusion."

Arik staggered and gave up the battle order for the time being.

Since the negotiation was proposed by Yevlo, he was in charge of the negotiation.

Look at Yevro now, wearing a typical Viking helmet and a blue and white round shield on his back. He is a little short in stature, and the guards around him are tall and strong gangsters of the first flag team.

They landed, and someone with a Ross flag went straight to the good formation.

The more Yevro moved, the more clearly he could see the faces of those people, and the more strange he felt.

"I actually saw armed women and children?!"

Indeed, those armed men had women with blond hair, whose graceful features were too different from those of unshaven men. As for the armed children, they are obviously small men, still standing on the front line of the army.

Yevro stopped, and then shouted in Norse: "Who is your leader?! Are you going to fight with us Ross? If you want to fight, just rush and kill, come on!"

Behind him was the arrogant Ross fleet. There were 30 torsion slingshots on the enemy side alone, and there were 200 people holding various types of crossbows.

Looking at the armed men, they were lined up in a long line and couldn't see the exact number. The size on the surface was very bluffing, and some of them were sure to be holding the flag of the raven coat of arms. They remained vigilant, unmoved by Yevro's cries.

Time was fermenting the situation, and finally Yevluo shouted for a while, and the other party's array finally moved.

The array stepped aside, and several bearded young men with bizarre braids stepped forward with their round shields and battle axes.

"You are the leader?" Yevro continued to ask.

A young warrior roared like a lion: "I know you! Russ!"

"Oh? So who are you? Danes?"

From Yevlo's point of view, the other party hesitated for a while before indicating that he was indeed a Dane. Hearing this, Yevlo subconsciously grasped the hilt of the sword and signaled the others to prepare for battle in case of unexpected events.

Seeing that the person who was speaking left his entourage and continued to move forward, Yevlo also ordered his entourage to stand by and went up to meet him.

The man in front of him was quite tall and strong, and his deep eyes were filled with vicissitudes. The first impression he gave Yevluo was that he had experienced too many things.

Yevroro asked cautiously: "This is obviously the territory of the Franks, why are you Danes here?"

The man arrogantly asked: "This is indeed the territory of the Franks, why are you Rus here?"

Yevro's self-esteem was offended by asking each other how boring it was.

"Why? Did you see this fleet? We came to loot the treasure, it's really unfortunate, and I actually met you Danes here." Yevro's words were deliberately provocative. He instinctively felt that the two sides still had to fight, maybe this group of people were still Frank's mercenaries, after all, there were long rumors about this.

Unexpectedly, when he mentioned looting, the young man who seemed to be the leader laughed wildly up to the sky: "Oh, I can probably guess what you want to do! You want to rob Bremen."

Yevlo stepped back because of the difference: "You know?"

The two sides were quiet for a while, and the man shouted again: "It seems that I guessed it right. Russ, we may be able to make a deal."

"what?"

"You and I are treated as if we never met. Your fleet continues to sail, and we continue to camp."

"Why? Hold on!" Yevluo realized something unspeakable. He frowned and asked, "So, you don't really want to attack us? Even if you set up a battle formation."

The man also tapped the shield and pointed out: "If you attack us, our army would rather fight back."

Yevro took advantage of the situation with a low smile: "You know how powerful Ross is, so you should understand that choosing to fight is to hit the stone with the egg. Our Ross Navy killed your old king Havgen, and no Dane can defeat our fleet. "

"Not necessarily if it is a land war. But we would rather fight for honor, even if it is defeated. If my tribe is defeated by your hands, we will be honored even if we are defeated."

The words of this young leader are admirable, and there are many signs that they are really just camping on this beach, and the encounter with the fleet is really accidental. They do not want war, nor are they afraid of war.

Essentially they still don't want to fight!

Yevluo thought for a while, and often the sun began to slant in the west. After a little bit of talk, he said something nice: "We are also looking for a suitable campsite. We didn't want to fight, and neither did you. Maybe, we can share this A beach."

"you……"

"I am Yevlo, the Finn Yevlo, a subordinate (war chief) under the Maharaja Rus." Yevlo took the lead in releasing the peace signal.

Look at the man with his head held high again: "Okay! A warlord among the Rus. I am Ragna Sigurdsson. People say I am a man in wool pants. I killed a big man named Olegin. , is said to be the king of the Svealans. I am a big man, and you must be just a small role in the Rus."

A small role? Yevlo had no intention of showing off that he was the count of the entire Suomi, theoretically representing the 30,000 people who managed Finland, especially Suomi, on behalf of the prince Rurik.

Indeed, this man is Ragnar, a great pirate destined to be legendary. It's a pity, just as history destined, he illegally robbed Paris in that plane, so that both the East and West Franks found a reason to invade Denmark, so he was expelled by King Horrick.

Now Ragnar, he has been in a state of exile. The people who camped on this beach were the last of his clansmen.

A brave man will always continue to be brave. He has lost many excellent warriors, and he has also lost many women and children. Although the essence of the tribe is still there, it is a pity that everyone has turned into rogues who have lost their territories, and they are really lost dogs. However, they have not lost their pride.

Ragnar continued to claim that he led the entire Stonewall clan in exile, and he did not want to fight in principle, at least not with the Rus.

Yevlo has no affection for the concept of Svealan or Sweden, but this man claimed to have killed Olekin himself. If it is true, he is indeed a person worthy of respect.

The two sides are still caught in the chain of suspicion, and a misunderstanding can lead to a big fight between the two sides.

Perhaps the Rus army can try to maintain restraint, but it is not ruled out that this group of Danes will strike first.

Yevlo thought for a while, and persuaded Ragnar, who was caught in a conflict: "Our Rus army is indeed planning to attack Bremen. Since you are not involved, don't cause us trouble. I don't ask you to lay down your weapons, at least when we land. Don't make fun of yourself afterwards. This beach is huge, and our army will keep your distance. You can't fully trust us, and we can't fully trust you. But since you're a warrior, we might as well get together tonight for ale and roast Fish, you can also have a good chat. The Franks are all our enemies, and the enemy of the enemy is our friend. At least we can’t make a big fight. Please think about it carefully.”

Yevro felt that he had exhausted his power. No matter what Ragnar chose, the Ross army just needed a qualified berth, a suitable large military camp. He withdrew safely, and all his actions were clearly seen by Arik and the others in the distance.

From Ragnar's point of view, even if he is more heroic, he is not stupid enough to be the enemy of the Ross fleet. So far, are you still a Dane? The entire tribe has been expelled by the Danish King Horrick, and if they are not evacuated fast enough, everyone will be killed by those people.

The Danes remained on alert, and Ragnar and his cronies watched as the largely uniform Russ troops landed. Their formation looks more chaotic, and they will definitely not take the initiative to attack.

Upon seeing this, someone yelled at Ragnar: "Leader, let's strike first. Their big ship is very good, and there must be a lot of food in the cabin. We took the opportunity to grab the supplies, and everything will be fine."

"Are you an idiot?" Ragnar was furious, and immediately took this remark as an example, and announced to all his clansmen: "You don't want to attack them in delusion. The Rus are not fools! Now the Franks are after us, and the villain in Denmark is after us. Kill us. If you provoke the Rus and are hunted down by them, everything will be over!"

Indeed, from the perspective of the Rus, how could Arik, as a commander, be moved by Yevlo's remarks. Especially the man named Ragnar who claimed to have killed Olegin!

Even if Olegin is not a thing, he is the leader of all the Svealan tribes, and his uncle Otto has to be respected on the surface.

At this moment, for a moment, Arik was very jealous of his younger brother Rurik. Although my brother didn't kill the old Danish king Hafgen with his hands, he also used the ship Avlora to ram it into fish feed.

Instead, Arik was a little timid, and it was a pity that he did not have the "Killing King" level of achievement.

He didn't know the specific reason. This encounter was fantastic in the past. Since the other party's original intention was to not want to fight, the Russ army would not have to fight to the end with a group of exiled Danes before attacking Bremen.

The Ross Army landed, but the ships stayed behind. Torsion slingshots are aimed at the Danes' bonfire camp, the slides face the enemy at a high angle, and the weapons are also replaced with light javelins.

Arik himself also set foot on the beach, and the soldiers carried the iron pots from the boats, and then piled up the bricks brought from New Rose Fort to build the stoves on the spot. With the charcoal brought by the hometown, the water from the Weser River is used to boil the wheat and dried salted fish to make a salty soup.

Commanders on both sides exercised restraint, as well as vigilance and hostility. The camps on both sides were about 300 meters away from each other, because Ragnar believed that keeping such a distance, the terrifying bow and arrow of the Ross Army would definitely not hit him on the head. At least Ragnar didn't dare to really provoke the Ross Army for the sake of the lives of the last women and children of the tribe.

The night gradually fell, and the fragrant oatmeal wafting from Camp Ross relentlessly filled the sky above Camp Ragnar. During these days, the Ragnar group relied on looting along the river, and the piracy had frightened the Frankish civilians to flee in all directions. They tried to attack Bremen, watching all their efforts come to nothing.

In fact, Ragnar couldn't hold on any longer. According to his plan, he would sleep on the beach tonight, eat some food that was not much, and leave the river tomorrow by rowing a boat. As for where to go in the future? Denmark is definitely not going back, maybe try your luck in Flanders (northern Holland), or continue to loot all the way south along the coastline, if you can find an island with fresh water, you will settle down with your family. After all, the tribe's old line of business is fishing, and if a stable fishing village can be formed, it can make a comeback.

However, another story began to circulate in the camp.

Someone groped to Ragnar's side: "Boss, brothers are really hungry. Since the Rus people don't want to attack us, can we actually ask them for some help. They are obviously cooking a delicious meal, and everyone It's Odin's warrior, and you should give us some."

Hearing it, Ragnar really wanted to scold his buddy for being an idiot, but his stomach growled and immediately made a fool of himself.

If anyone can impress his perseverance, it is his two children. Especially his eldest son Ivar, whose legs were shriveled, and his second son, Bjorn, who had just learned to walk. The child was crying and hungry, and Ragnar's heart softened, even though he was hard-hearted.

He didn't want to have anything to do with the Rus people, and today's encounter with each other can be regarded as ignorance. But the emotions of the whole tribe are restless, and not everyone can hold on to their honor to resist the temptation of food.

He gritted his teeth and summoned the clan's cronies to gather together for a small meeting.

"I've decided! The head of Ross's army wants to talk to me, I can go to the meeting and maybe get some food for the brothers. Just maybe this will be a conspiracy. If I get killed, you bring The tribe retreated to the woods and tried not to fight with them."

The cronies looked at each other and fell into silence...

They all wanted to say something but couldn't speak. Looking at them again, Ragnar sighed and ordered: "I will go to the meeting myself. Don't follow you! I don't believe they will be despicable people, go... …”

Ragnar stood up, patted his body, arched his back, picked up a burning firewood, and ran to the Russ camp.

A burning flame is approaching the camp, and the vigilant Ross Army has secretly picked up the guy.

"This is the guest you're talking about? Maybe Ragnar?" Arik, who had already stood up, asked Yevlo in confusion.

"It should be. He is only one person. I told the brothers not to be too nervous and not to be rough without an order at any time. I... go and see the situation for myself." , go towards each other.