Rise of Rurik

It is precisely because of the amputation of his left forearm that the humiliated Ernred hoped to stabilize his power with his own strength.

He took the kingdom's most elite troops and stationed in Dole Village (Sheffield) on the border. Regarding the territorial claim of the King of Mercia, Wigraf, it was naturally categorically rejected.

But the fact that there is a full-scale war on the border between the two armies and Chen Bing is definitely not a good thing for Northumbria.

At the end of the wheat harvest, Ernred, who has enough food and grass, really has enough time to stalemate with the Mercia Army here.

But unlike Northumbria, Mercia's capital is Oxford. From Oxford to the scorching land of Dole Village, the traditional dirt road is equivalent to 200 kilometers.

And York has only 70 kilometers of roads to get here, and Northumbria has the advantage in terms of logistics.

Several horse-riding messengers rushed to the village of Dole like crazy, and rushed to the king's account.

"What's the matter with you? What happened to York?" The soldier in charge of the horse stopped them and asked casually.

The messengers were all terrified. They fell off their horses, and when they got up, they stretched out their hands and shouted that they were going to report important events to the king.

What's more important than resisting Mercia's aggression?

In the king's tent, Ernred, dressed in chain mail and wearing a leather glove and a wooden prosthesis on his left arm, summoned the messenger of the report.

Seeing several people kneeling on the grass, the first one saw the monarch, and he opened his arms and shouted: "It's the Vikings! They're here again! They have a huge force, and their ships are everywhere on the sea. It's like a mountain. ships with thousands of fierce warriors."

Just hearing this, a rush of blood almost burst through Ernred's head, and his blood pressure jumped to one hundred and eighty.

This move shocked the Bishop of York who was standing beside him.

The bishop shook the king's body in a hurry, barely awakening the frightened man.

"What...what are you saying? Vikings? Are all their ships on the sea?!" Ernred started slowly.

The messenger continued to panic: "They are here! The target is York."

"York!? No! Wait!" Ernred, who forced his head to calm down, replied angrily: "Who asked you to report? If the news is wrong,

I will hang you! "

The messengers were taken aback and said, "It's the Duke of Bamburgh. He said it. People in the north are fleeing, and now Bamburgh... is occupied by the Vikings again."

"He? Greywolf, I made him an earl and let him rebuild Bamburgh, but..."

The messengers hung their heads and listened to the king's curses, lying on their stomachs and doing nothing.

Things got very tricky, and the Viking invasion suddenly disrupted his plans.

However, Ernred can't be said to be unprepared for what happened, because he did have an account with the blond Viking boy last year, that is, he made a humiliating agreement with this group of northern robbers. The land was ceded to them to live in.

This is a covenant of shame. When the situation is stabilized, the nobles of the whole country are against it, and the radical young nobles are clamoring to assemble a large army for revenge. The so-called Vikings landed when they were destroyed. Outraged, Ernred had to agree to their demands, and both Mercia and the Picts in the north began to attack.

After all, like fate, did the Vikings really come?

The soldiers on the front line were still facing each other, and there were huge military camps on both sides, and neither of them had any intention of retreating.

The flag of Northumbria with orange plaid on a white background fluttered, as did the blue-and-yellow flag of Mercia on the other side of the river.

The two sides faced off across the Schiff River, and there was not a single boat on the river.

On that day, the generals of the Northumbrian army were summoned by the king to hold an emergency military meeting.

Although Ernred is not sure what the crisis is based on the difficulty of information transmission, he has already decided that this group of Vikings is carrying a large number of ships, probably to force themselves to fulfill their promises.

As night fell, the king's tent was ablaze with lights.

The captains of the flags, the captains of the cavalry, and even the leaders of the village militia were invited to the meeting.

Fear was written on people's faces. They were afraid of a full-scale war with the Vikings, but the Vikings really came.

Based on limited information, Ernred has wishful thinking about the Vikings.

"You're all scared! You all thought we had to fight the Vikings to make sure our territory wouldn't be lost, and now they're here and you're scared!"

The captain of the banner was stimulated, he stood up and beat his chest to show his loyalty to the king: "I am not afraid! If it is to defend everything we believe in and our homeland, I am willing to bring soldiers and fight this group of savages to the end. One person, swear to death!"

"Okay!" This was really encouraging, but Ernred was not pleased at all.

He simply pointed at the man: "Vetley, I believe you are a brave man. So, I should arrange an important errand for you."

"It was His Majesty's service." The man patted his chest again, feeling dark in his heart.

Ernred faces the generals again. He has no reliable staff around him. The whole person can be regarded as a dictator in the army. In other words, his family now relies on his existing military strength to maintain this. .

If you don't control yourself well, you will be swallowed up alive by the Vikings, or overturned by the nobles in the country, especially the young man from the north, the descendant of the royal family of Pennesia.

He made what he thought was the right decision to divide his troops at this special moment.

The elite should return to York at once, and the army of the peasants should stay here.

To be honest, Ernred felt that the Viscount was not a strong man at all. This person forcibly came forward in order to obtain his new title, what is the use of speaking beautifully?

Maybe Whateley would really take his brothers and the Vikings to the last one, and that would be equivalent to weakening the king's military power.

Since Ernred's defeat last year, he was killed and did not want to fight the Vikings again. Therefore, this time he returned to York urgently, not with the attitude of "the monarch died", but found the Vikings in person. made peace with the young commander-in-chief.

To cede a little land, yes. Even if you pay a batch of tribute, as long as you can buy peace, you can.

When he made this decision, he already believed very much that the commander of the Viking army was the boy named Rurik. At least, that boy is very beautiful, and beautiful children are not bloodthirsty beasts.

Ernred has seen the terrifying fighting power of the Vikings, and he also knows their strong speed of action.

After this night, Ernred also decided to act fast.

Many ragged peasants suddenly changed their outfits, and two soldiers of the infantry flag were ordered to take off their orange-colored robes and hand them over to a thousand peasants.

That Whateley wanted to fight the Vikings for meritorious deeds? Pooh! Ernred didn't want to go to war with the Vikings at all this time.

Whateley was left behind, only himself.

The man was immediately confronted with the peculiar sight of his soldiers turning into a large group of up to a thousand farmers disguised as regulars. His task was to lead this group of people swaying with flags on the banks of the river every day, creating the illusion that the main force of Northumbria was still active, in order to deceive Mercia on the other side and deter him from acting rashly.

Actually? At noon on this day, Ernred had already taken a thousand elite infantry, more than eight hundred armed peasants, and a hundred cavalry, along the road leading to York, trying his best to move lightly and fast.

At the same time, Rurik and Magnut's 3,000-strong crusade had just arrived at the mouth of the Ouse River.

The upstream action has begun! It just so happened that the Wusi River was a relatively standard northwest direction in this era. With the still soothing south, the fleet could raise its big sails and move forward smoothly.

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There are a group of villages living along the river, and the Rus and Balmers on the boat are forcibly suppressing their idea of ​​looting and getting rich.

The captains of the ships are calling on the brothers to restrain themselves.

"You all row the boat and wait quietly. We will lay down York, and all the wealth is yours." Similar remarks are spreading, and the army has a clear hope.

But in the eyes of the residents of the villages along the river, a large number of strange ships suddenly broke into the calm Ouse River!

what flag is that? what! Could it be that the Mercians attacked by water?

It is pure coincidence that the flag Rurik designed for the Rus is very similar in pattern and structure to the flag of the King of Mercia.

Large ships like the Avrora sailed unobstructed on the Ouse River, and the flags on the white background fluttered on the masts, and the diagonal lines were sewn by blue cloth strips. The Mercia flag is a sky blue background dyed with isatis, and the diagonal lines are stitched with yellow cloth strips.

Ordinary farmers can't control that much, and they start to flee when they see the flag with a similar structure. They were unaware of the Viking invasion, or that the inhabitants of the villages near York had fled into the city.

The peaceful life of the inhabitants of the lower Ouse River was disrupted by a fleet of suspected Mercia who suddenly invaded the river, and they began to flee, flocking to Roedis (Leeds), a city that has existed since Roman times.

Rurik didn't know that Roydis was also a place to loot, and he took aim at York.

At night, the fleet camped on the riverbank.

The Viking army who disembarked tried to find something useful nearby. Originally, everyone thought that the hinterland of the British island was full of treasures, but when they entered the hinterland, they could not imagine that the riverside was either reeds or woods. You can feel that the climate here is much more comfortable than that of the Nordic home.

The village discovered during the day is long gone, and the brothers can't suddenly leave the camp to smear and rob their homes.

They lit a large number of bonfires on the river bank, ate the dry food they brought, and even grilled a little fish caught during the voyage.

When it comes to when they can reach York, the soldiers have received an exciting news-the army will arrive at the city of York tomorrow.

The genius was shining brightly, and the army who couldn't wait got on the boat and started the final journey.

At this moment, the wind was slightly weaker, and Rurik's large ship was pulled forward by a longboat with oars. The entire fleet was squeezed into a river with a width of only 50 meters, and was forced to be compressed into a long snake array. They are still moving forward, much slower than they were yesterday.

The voyage is already at the last minute. From the mouth of the Ouse River to York, the waterway route is only forty kilometers.

York, when the noon sun shines on the earth, the city is not only crowded with a large number of civilians taking refuge, but also sergeants who are ready to fight.

Prince Ella was in town, in the well-protected palace.

Although the palace minister felt that Grey Woolf, Earl of Bamburgh, who had fled back with a cavalry, was a serious arrogant act to lead the capital's "city defense commander", but the king was leading troops, and the people of York could only rely on him as a great noble. .

It's not that Grey Woolf does not covet the throne. If his cousin Ernred dies, he kicks the young crown prince to become the king himself, and then chooses the opportunity to go to Rome to pay for the coronation and canonization to become a legitimate king. Why not? ? At least he needed a feat to get the other nobles to recognize him as a hero for resisting a Viking attack on the capital.

Grey Woolf, who had only a few dozen personal squires under his command, was now in charge of the defense of York, and counting the peasants who were recruited by surprise, only a thousand people could fight. On the contrary, there are still many nominal armed men. These people are barely able to protect themselves, so don't expect them to be able to fight possible enemies.

Just like this, what is the meaning of courting death when people are fighting with the Vikings?

If everyone relies on the York Stone Wall for defense, at least it can last for a long time, and when the king's army returns to help, and other earls lead reinforcements, this group of invading Vikings will be driven away.

But the archer at the head of the city saw a big tree moving on the river in the distance.

what is that? Oh no! It's them!

It's the Vikings!

The soldiers at the head of the city immediately shouted at the people in the city: "The devil is here! Men, take up arms and fight!"

The priests called the Vikings demons, and when the warriors at the top of the city sounded the alarm, the people began to flock to York Church in the city.

On the contrary, a nun left in a low profile under the escort of several others. She was none other than the queen who was forced to atone in the monastery.

The Viking army came anyway, and the queen just wanted to go back to her son Ella. She didn't feel that Grey Woolf could really resist the Viking attack, and even felt that the man who suddenly returned was more threatening.

If both mother and son are going to die, let's die together! Let York be buried with his absurd life.

"Look! That's York." Paul, the food officer who was already a senior leader, pointed his finger.

Rurik stood at the bow and followed Paul's fingers to clearly see the pier outside York, and even the city surrounded by a double-layered defense system of stone walls and wooden walls.

"Hey, that Ernred is quite smart. He reinforced his defense." Rurik was a little surprised.

Yevro consciously got the fighter plane and asked, "Shall we get off the ship and start the siege immediately?"

"No need." Rurik sighed slightly: "This city is not easy to attack."

"My lord, in my humble opinion, our army will conquer this city according to traditional methods."

"Indeed, but I want to talk to the king. If they are willing to provide what our army needs, our army will not have to break the city with blood and sweat."

Listen, Yevro said no more.

Rurik quickly saw the flat area between York's small wharf and the city walls. After all, this was a city built next to a river, giving the army an excellent landing ground.

He began to let the soldiers of the leading ship shout to the nearby ships, asking the army not to rush to attack the city after disembarking, but to scare the enemy and force the enemy king to negotiate.

Rurik had already thought about it. If the negotiation broke down, it would not be too late to attack the city, and by that time, his siege weapons would also be ready. It was true that he was not unprepared for the storm.

But Rurik just overlooked one point, that is, this is a coalition army. Due to the narrowness of the current channel of the Ouse River, the fleet formation has been stretched too long.

Magnut didn't hear his son-in-law's request at all, and the man saw the great city of York, and his whole mind was already fantasizing about the mountains of gold and silver, and being a prisoner bound by ropes.

Magnut roared and his beard trembled, then drew his sword and commanded: "Balmerk warriors! For this wealth! Attack the city!"

Those longboats couldn't manage so much and they forced their way to the shore. The soldiers held shields against most of their torso, swords, spears, and axes in their right hands, roaring and attacking the city walls of York. Regarding how to siege a city, he has at least a little experience than Jonny, but the majority of Balmerk warriors really lack understanding. They are charging with enthusiasm, and their minds are already blank.

In an instant, there was a sound of killing, and the people who disembarked in advance of the ships that were clearly in the rear would rather run more routes and forcibly attack.

"Damn! Damn! You are too hasty!" Rurik stomped his feet in anger at the sudden situation.

Completely infected by the impulse of the Balmers, Arik, who was staying on the Sperosvillea, also began to order the nearby soldiers of the First Banner to start wading and landing reinforcements.

A group of soldiers dressed in white robes and blue stripes were caught in the messy Balmerk assault army.

"Damn, Arik, you are reckless!" Rurik cursed.

That's how the battle started?

Yevro hurriedly asked: "Sir, they all started to attack spontaneously, we..."

"No! Keep sailing, I'm getting close enough to York," Rurik growled.

Then he gave Yevlo an order: "Let the brothers shout as much as possible, and tell the ships of the Ross fleet that they must follow the flagship and can no longer land without authorization!"

"As ordered!"