Rise of Rurik

Remember [new] in one second! When the sky is still dark, the fresh herrings caught overnight are being brought ashore one after another.

The fish in the net bag were still on the beach casually, and the naval soldiers who landed let loose their voices and shouted.

Forget it, those lazy and awakening warriors got up from the various shacks and went to the beach to choose what they liked. They prefer big fish and don't let go of small fish, so they continue to clean the small fish that have had their internal organs and heads cut off in the waves one by one. They even skewer ten of them on a stick and grill the meat skewers on the bonfire. By the time this morning's wheat is cooked, these fish will be basically roasted.

According to Rurik's plan for the entire army, after eating a hearty breakfast, they would not stop to eat throughout the day. If the soldiers were hungry, they would make do by chewing dry food on the boat or on horseback.

Despite his predictions, Rurik subjectively did not want to have too much involvement with the locals. He just wanted to enter the so-called "Western Pomerania" as quickly as possible through the mouth of the Oder River.

At the same time, Woyzeck, the leader of Wolin City, the head of Zifna Village, and the Danish residents, all kinds of people organized a fleet and rushed to their port before the sun rose. Prepare, when the east is just shining with golden light, there are actually eight serious dragon-headed longships marching towards the sea along the easternmost waterway of the Oder River mouth.

They even look more like an army, while everyone on board comes for peaceful purposes.

So far, no one has determined whether the dense fishing fires on the sea in the middle of the night are related to the legendary Ross Expeditionary Force.

The residents of Wolin met to study and decide, adhering to the belief that it is better to ignore the fallacy than to ignore it, they decided to organize

Organize a tribute team and go to the seaside village of Zifna to prepare pots of jelly to welcome the king's army.

Some wine in wooden barrels, honey and yogurt in earthenware jars, and even ten living sheep.

Leader Woyzeck was smart: "If I see King Rus or his generals, I will pay tribute to them. The tribute should not be too rich to avoid causing them to covet wealth, nor should it be too shabby to show that I am not sincere."

Some sheep are considered the biggest investment, while others are just for personal enjoyment, just to make King Ross happy.

He thought so, and the Danes who were visiting were under no obligation to pay tribute to King Rus.

Even in their hometown, these guys will not pay tribute to Ragnar, the current king of Denmark.

What is a king? Brothers support you because they hope you will make everyone rich, rather than authorizing you to ride on their heads and demand tribute.

Under this understanding, the so-called King of Denmark only has a good name. In fact, he is still an alliance chief, and his status is even lower than that of Hafgen who has been dead for many years.

These Danes showed themselves as warriors. They deliberately put on their best clothes. They were most proud of their broad-bladed swords and patterned hand axes. What was rare was that they all wore uniform helmets.

Because what is very subtle is that when Ross united various forces to launch the first round of expedition more than a year ago, among the various trophies, the iron helmets of Frankish soldiers were also a key trophy. Originally, northerners did not consider wearing helmets when fighting. Because Frank soldiers had this equipment, people in the Danish world and further north followed suit.

The Frankish iron helmet is a fashion that is slightly modified and infused with northern characteristics.

Colors flowed into the Danish market, and some helmets flowed into Wolin City with Danish traveling merchants.

It was twenty kilometers away from Wolin to the village of Zifna. Even if the water flow was very slow, they were still going down the river. Then they raised the sails to catch the south wind, and together with the spread out oars, the entire fleet of longships Able to move forward at high speed.

They can reach the village within two hours, which is much faster than the village leader who came out of breath to report the news last night.

The fishermen who reported the news did not sleep with them, and the village chief was worried that his village would be plundered by the Russians if there was a misunderstanding.

Fortunately, their speed was fast enough, and everything was peaceful when the fleet arrived at the village of Zifna.

However, the people who were supposed to go out to sea to fish are now keeping calm. They are afraid that if they go out to sea rashly, they will be discovered by Russian ships and cause misunderstandings.

No one knows what the Ross people will think of the strength of Wolin City. After all, it does not exist within Ross's sphere of influence. Whether it is peace or war depends entirely on the temporary attitude of the Ross army.

The village chief returned to the village, surrounded by more than a hundred acquaintances of all kinds.

The Danes each had helmets on their heads and bucklers on their backs. A tall and strong man is the patrol captain Karl. Today, this brother was elected by many of his fellow tribesmen as the temporary leader of everyone.

A spear had its head removed, and a stick was tied across it, and a flag was hung from the stick, which was driven deep into the sand.

I saw that the flag had a white base, with an abstract raven simply sewn on a black strip of cloth in the center.

This is the flag designed by Ragnar for his Kingdom of Denmark. The raven is one of Odin's symbols, and the highlight is "We are Odin's warriors."

In this era, the national flag

The flag is not particularly important. Wolin City has no flag or coat of arms to show its unique identity.

Leader Woyzeck approached the mercenary leader Karl who was quickly satisfied with him, looked at the ocean in the distance, and asked: "You can just plant this flag here."

"Okay. If the visitor is really King Rus, he will recognize this flag."

"Is it really King Rus? But the sea I saw was calm and there were no ships at all."

"Not now, maybe there will be in a while." Karl shrugged: "Friends, let's wait and see."

They had to wait on the beach outside the village. More than a hundred people suddenly came to the small village, and its population exceeded 300. The innocent children had never seen so many people come to the small village. They were playing and running around on the beach. They had no fear of the possible arrival of King Ross, and even had some expectations.

When the villagers saw their leader Woyzeck, they thought that with him there would be no trouble. They remained calm and waited honestly except when they went out to sea to fish.

We have never seen the huge Ross fleet in our lives, and we have only heard some bizarre stories from the Danes in the past.

Everyone didn't have to wait long.

"Look over there! Woyzeck." Karl pointed his right hand directly at the eastern horizon, and saw what looked like a huge white sail appearing over there.

The morning sun illuminated the white sails of the Ross fleet extremely brightly. The huge fleet was centered on the flagship and deliberately slowed down in order to keep in line with the land cavalry.

A behemoth was slowly approaching. When the people staying in the village could clearly see the appearance of the huge navy, the Ross Navy could also clearly see that there was a village on the coast ahead.

The semaphore soldier quickly contacted Rurik, who was operating on land. This sudden news was still within his expectation.

"It seems that we are going to have some exchanges with the villagers of the Lyutich people. Fisk!" Rurik shouted.

"exist!"

"Take the first team to explore the coastal fishing village ahead. Remember, if they are not hostile, you are not allowed to do any damage. As fast as possible. Go quickly!"

"As commanded."

Fisk immediately whistled to greet his subordinates, and the horses of the most elite First Cavalry suddenly began to accelerate. While they were running wildly on the beach, a group of rowing long boats were also speeding up, because Rurik's reply also prompted Admiral Goldlund to immediately send people to peacefully occupy the fishing villages he saw as quickly as possible.

The speed of the cavalry was obviously faster. I saw a group of cavalry with feathers on their heads and Ross flags on their saddles galloping. Their white cloth robes are the most distinctive feature, and the blue stripes sewn on their chests fully prove their identity.

The Danes staying in the fishing village certainly know their stuff. Almost all the brothers are from Zealand. Three years ago, some of the brothers teamed up with King Rus to clean up the Frankish forces in Jutland.

Adhering to the fate of fighting side by side in the past, they recognized at a glance that it was the Russian army, and they laughed and stood in a human wall on the beach.

These people did not take any precautions, and they all had bucklers on their backs. They were just lined up in a human wall, and their iron helmets shining brightly in the sun inevitably made the belligerent Fisk nervous.

Fisk ordered his men to be on alert, and the cavalry who were running fast now also slowed down.

Suddenly, he saw a flag that seemed familiar in his memory.

"Bah! What a Liutich man.

Aren’t the people standing there a member of the King of Denmark? Guys, that's the Dane! Don't attack, follow me carefully. "

Through the narrow beach area, Fisk's troops arrived at the fishing village.

He deliberately kept a distance from the human wall, and after the whole team stood still, he shouted loudly: "Are you from the King of Denmark? Is Ragnar, the King of Denmark, also here?"

"Russians!" A tall and strong man stood up. He was none other than the patrol leader Karl: "We are Danes! We are friends."

"Yes! We are friends. Tell me quickly if the King of Denmark is here."

Karl wondered why the mounted Ross leader kept asking the King of Denmark? He couldn't lie, so he didn't try to make it bigger first. Instead, he asked, "Is King Rus coming?"

"The King of Rus is here. It would be great if the King of Denmark is also here. Please tell your king! Me! Fisk! The bald Fisk of Rus arrived first, and King Rus is about to arrive."

A horse rider with the nickname "Bald"?

Karl's eyes lit up.

Because many heroes stood out in the war three years ago. At that time, the Northern Alliance only had a small cavalry team, but it was able to use the terrain and its own advantages to defeat the Frank cavalry. They are all warriors who believe in Odin. The leader of the Ross Cavalry has the iconic bald head, and the bald general gave the brothers a sigh of relief.

"Could it be that guy from back then?" Karl was surprised. He turned around and walked quickly to the leader of Volincheng, Woyzeck, who was admiring Ross's military appearance with wide eyes.

"You're back. Could it be that the man who took off his helmet and showed his bald head is King Ross?" Woyzeck asked.

"He's not

. "

"Who is it?"

"That's exactly what I want to say. This man is called Bald Fisk, and he is also a famous figure in Denmark. Unfortunately, he is not from Denmark."

"A great hero?"

"You can beat the Franks until they cry for father and mother."

"What a hero." Woyzeck stared at Fisk with an attitude of appreciation, imagining that he could hire such a warrior to strengthen the defense of Wolin City. Of course, this is just the delusion of an old guy. How can little Wolin tolerate such a hero.

The leader Karl said again: "I have already asked clearly, this is the Russian expeditionary force."

"Ah! King Ross is about to arrive?"

"Yes. Since you want to pay tribute to him, make preparations now! Or, you can go talk to the bald general now."

"That's fine."

Even when the King of Denmark came, Woyzeck dared to chat and laugh with him. Wolin City adheres to an open attitude. After all, the source of its wealth comes from the patronage of Danish businessmen. Otherwise, everyone would have to live a miserable life just like in the past.

Now that King Rus is really here, it means those legends are true.

The Ross Army is really moving along the coastline. Where they will go in the future, Woyzeck also has a plan in mind while making an estimate: "If I send someone to help him, even if it is to lead the way, wouldn't that be a good idea?" Can you get some benefits?"

He wanted to believe everything those Danes said about the "Kingdom of Rus", and now he approached Fisk with his hands spread out in a gesture of absolute peace.

Woyzeck was smiling all over his face. In addition, this man was unarmed and dressed more gorgeously.

He looked more like a businessman, and his brown hair was different from the blond hair of northerners, which made Fisk still think that this person was the legendary Liutich man.

"Stop! Liutic people!" Fisk yelled.

Woyzeck was startled: "Lyutich? I am not one of those people."

"Wait a minute. You are not a Dane, who are you!"

"Hero! I have heard of your name. You are Bald Fisk, and you defeated the Franks." This is what Woyzeck is now learning and applying. Fisk was very satisfied with his accurate description, and later The vigilance of the readers disappeared a lot.

Wallin City? This is an extremely unfamiliar name to all Russians, but there are indeed some Danes here, and Fisk has some understanding of the local situation after communicating with them.

Along the way, Ross's horizons have been greatly broadened. Ross has already understood all kinds of people in the southern Baltic continental area that he was extremely unfamiliar with in the past. Fisk was no longer surprised. There would always be Danes visiting this area. Many of the settlements discovered were Danes mixed with locals, making it extremely easy to conquer them.

How can it not be easy? As soon as the Russian army arrived, they asked for tributes but also rewards. The two sides were more like doing business. Everyone got visible and invisible benefits, and smart people naturally enjoyed this kind of fun.

It was here that Fisk realized that the small city of Wolin did not belong to the Liutic people, but was a small tribe independent of all forces.

A force with a population of 2,000 is not small. In fact, the leader Woyzeck is a Slav. He stands here hoping that his fantasy will become a reality - Woyzeck

Lincheng surrendered to the Kingdom of Rus.

"You are the leader of Wolin. You are a Slav and you can also speak Norse. You want to meet the King of Rus and offer tribute to ask the king to recognize Wolin? This is very good. I can be your introducer."

Fisk had already estimated that Rurik would definitely repeat his old tricks. The Russian army blocked all the way, so the dukes, counts, and boyars blocked a lot of them. Wolin City seems to have no advantage in population compared to other forces that have surrendered to the Rus' system, but it is too close to the Kingdom of Denmark, and their defection is also good for the Rus'.

Soon, the rowing infantrymen began to land, and the phantom of the Ross giant ship on the sea had attracted all the villagers to admire it.

Including all the Danes, they had heard that a huge ship was being built, and now they couldn't help but be shocked when they saw her true phantom - it was clearly a sea fortress that even Jormungandr could not destroy.

Now Karl and his Danes also learned the name of the great ship, the aptly named Sea Monarch.

The real monarch arrived soon after, and Rurik noticed that the people he sent out had obviously occupied the fishing village peacefully, so he held the reins and rode up with great interest.

Rurik did not expect that a man with brown hair and a group of guys who looked like ordinary fishermen at first glance would come forward and kneel down on one knee when they saw his mount.

There were also some blond warriors wearing non-Rose cloth robes, and those guys were half-kneeling with their helmets in their hands.

Although they did not understand the sudden situation, it seemed that the village knew that it was time to surrender.

"Although I don't know who you are, I like the way you kneel down. Let me tell you!" Liu

Rick announced in a loud voice: "I am the King of Ross! I am satisfied with your kneeling. Now your life and property will be protected by me! Get up! The leader of you comes to see me quickly."

Rurik is already familiar with this kind of thing. In the past two months, the Russian army has been just servants who know their way around. The more servants, the better.

Woyzeck stood up. He was surprised that the legendary King of Rus was actually a young man, but this also confirmed the authenticity of those legends.

He stepped forward, and his entourage carried bottles and jars and led the ten sheep.

"Great King Rus, the small city of Volin has long heard of your name. We... are the residents of Volin. I am the leader of Volin, Woyzek Bolevich."

"You? Are you a member of the Lyutich tribe?" Rurik asked in Slavic.

This made Woyzeck startled: "It turns out that King Rus understands our language."

"Is it a Liutich?"

"No. We are not in alliance with them. But since the king is here, we are willing to become King Ross's subordinates."

Rurik nodded: "Your surrender is a smart move. So your Wolin City is this small fishing village?"

"No. Our big city stretches out on the waterway, and I have two thousand people. We learned about the king's expeditionary force from our Danish friends. I am waiting here, hoping that our little Wolin can do something for the king's cause. Good thing..."

This was the first time Rurik encountered such a smart man along the way, and he was also surprised that he could actually make a Slavic tribe surrender entirely by relying on his influence.

Rurik, who was in a very good mood, opened his mouth and said: "Okay! Two thousand people have already

a lot of. Is it called Wolin? I can name your tribe the Grand Duchy of Warin! you! It was Duke Wallin. "

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your favor!" Woyzeck responded quickly with smiles, because he really knew what a "principal" and what a "duke" meant.

Because this is how King Ragnar of Denmark ennobled the tribes under his command, all lords regardless of their strength were given the title of "princeps", whose status was second only to the king.