Rise of Rurik

Never in York's memory has the city been attacked on this scale.

Even if the Mercian army occupied this place, the Mercian army did not have such a scale, not to mention that their arrival was not a siege. It was the king of Northumbria professing his allegiance to many parties, and the whole process was rather peaceful.

Well now, the Viking demons who landed suddenly, they are threatening to devour everything.

At least the wooden and stone walls gave the warriors defending the capital some courage.

Earl Greywood stood at the front of the city, trying his best to command his subordinates to shoot arrows to meet them.

The arrows flew from the city wall, smashing heavily on the attacker's wooden shield, and also fell on the muddy ground by the riverside like reeds.

There is also a wooden wall in front of the stone wall, and inside the wooden wall is the outer city of York.

Outer Guocheng is very small, and there are not many houses. The dwellings here are mostly wooden sheds, and this is where the market is located.

Lots of agricultural products being traded, as well as pots and pans of pottery, before they made it to the inner city.

The arrival of the Vikings was too sudden, who would have thought that the huge fleet would directly break into the Ouse River?

Seeing that the arrows could not stop the attack of the Vikings at all, Greywood only stomped his feet in anger, and seemed to be cursing.

The warriors with bows had blue veins on their faces, and they gritted their teeth and insisted on firing arrows. The little priest holding the cross stood on the wall, asking God to give courage to the warriors, and then asking God to drive away these barbarians.

But the priests were curled up in the battlements, shivering against the wall, and even diapering with fright.

Is war like this? The peasants who fought for the first time were simply terrified. They only dared to transport arrows, stones and wooden sticks to the city wall. The only soldiers who were actually fighting were the soldiers in orange robes of the Kingdom Army, whose number was only 600.

Magnut is old and strong, and facing the "male city" York, he is not afraid of the stone wall, but arouses his strong desire to conquer.

"This city is more interesting than my hometown. If I rule here in the future, this city must be my core."

Magnut thinks beautifully and his Balmer warriors are strong.

Just, what are the Rus doing?

leave them alone,

Glory to the Balmers!

The most fierce Balmer army rushed to the wooden wall of the outer Guocheng, while the outermost low tower, the Northumbrian warriors who shot arrows fled to the inner stone wall.

Only some arrows fell from the sky with the help of the terrain, but they caused some injuries to the Balmers, and that was all.

They waved the cables to hang on the wooden wall, and everyone worked together to open the gap.

Biyongni even found a big wooden stake nearby. He greeted more than 30 people to hold it and slammed open the wooden door of Waiguo City directly.

Greywood, who thought that the outer city wooden wall could withstand it for a while, was no longer shocked.

"Warriors! Here they come! Guard the city gates! Push the wooden carts into the gates and block them!"

Masses of debris began to clog the city gates, all four of York's gates. The vehicles of the merchants who escaped into the city were requisitioned, and a large amount of wood, stones and even dirt were piled up on it.

York has never encountered such an attack, how to defend the city, the local people also lack the organization calculation.

The gate is not a lift-type iron mesh gate, there is no mechanism for dumping hot oil, and there is not even a moat.

The only weapons they can use to defend the city are stones except bows and arrows.

But the Balmers came in a hurry, as dumbfounded when they actually got to the city.

Some warriors tried to climb the stone wall directly, and either their heads were shattered by the stones, or they were stabbed to death by spears.

Biyonni wanted to smash open the door with wood, but the method was almost in vain.

The battlefield was in a state of anxiety, and Arik, who had already brought dozens of brothers to the front line, thought of the battle of Borgholm again.

When he restrained his men, he ordered: "Crossbow! Support our allies."

It is impossible for Arik to attack others. He doesn't want to die now, but his subordinates are all preparing for melee combat. They only carry ten crossbows, and they are all light things modified from short wooden bows. The strength of support is destined to be limited.

The Balmers began to suffer casualties, as Rurik watched.

The soldiers of the fleet gritted their teeth and watched the battle. They wanted to join the battle, but everyone already knew the Duke's order.

Except for the Sperosvillea and the two cargo ships that landed on the shore without authorization, all other ships followed behind the Avlora.

The main force of the fleet was shot in a double column along the river, and then anchored in the river, the broadsides were uniformly facing York, and the torsion slingshots began to charge.

Two sailing cruisers, Avlora and Duke of Ostara. Four sailing destroyers, Mercury, Venus, Mona and Mars. In this way, a total of 22 torsion slingshots on the broadside were assembled, and 9 torsion slingshots from nine armed cargo ships were added to the battle.

Based on the narrowness of the Maas River and the fact that the current flight segment is straight for York City, the Ross fleet is stupefied in a double-column array.

Rurik was excited and ordered with his sword, "Shoot at York! Support the friendly forces! Cast iron bullets, free to fire!"

The flagship's five slingshots, they attacked at a very high angle of elevation, and the target of the attack was not clear, or the inner city of York within the stone wall was their target.

Conical cast iron rounds weigh only one pound, and they can be fired up to 350 meters away.

The other ships saw the flagship attack, and each ship immediately took action.

Due to the dents on the surface of the cast iron bullet, it began to spin while flying. They rushed towards York in a beautiful parabola, really hitting the target with probability.

Rurik's original plan was to negotiate with the King Ernred when his troops approached the city, forcing a compromise due to the Viking army.

It is no longer possible to negotiate. The battle has broken out, so try to break through the city.

After all, the strategic initiative has always been in the hands of the coalition forces.

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The fleet is still too far from the inner city of York, and at such a distance, only a torque slingshot can launch an effective attack.

The cast iron shells immediately smashed the buildings in the city.

The stone column of the small bell tower of York Church was hit unexpectedly. The unstable center of gravity caused the bell tower to collapse. The bronze bell suddenly fell and made a loud noise, like the final death knell for Northumbria.

People hiding in the church heard too much crackling, kneeling in repentance and prayer, desperately crossing their chests, and praying for the end of the disaster.

It was a cast iron bullet that hit the stone wall of the church, and even the small palace of the king, because a towering stone tower was too conspicuous, and it was completely the target of public criticism. The cast iron bullets smashed the stone chips into the air, and many projectiles simply smashed through the stone tiles on the wooden beams of the palace.

Several projectiles smashed directly into the queen's bedroom, forcing the queen to escape with her youngest son Ella into the cellar where the royal wealth was stored.

Many people thought of hail, and many people were directly crushed to death. When people were horrified to see that the murderer was actually a piece of iron, they were immediately confused again.

Black things are still coming, more people are flocking to the church, and more daring people are moving to the palace.

Simply because the strongest buildings in York City are these two buildings.

"My lord, it's been a while since the attack, do you think it's effective?" Yevro asked suspiciously.

"Of course it doesn't work. These projectiles are too small to break through the stone wall." Rurik shrugged.

"Then why should we continue to waste ammunition?"

"For now, it's just to support the friendly forces and let Magnut know that we're in the war. Damn, this old guy suddenly attacked, and my plans are completely messed up."

"But my lord." Yevlo persuaded kindly, "We are not infinite projectiles. If it is just support, we have done well enough."

Rurik nodded, "Then change your strategy in advance! Let's go! Let's land!"

With the clear order of Rurik, Duke of Ross, the most elite Ross army in the coalition began to go ashore.

Whether or not the city can be broken today, Rurik's main force must camp outside York.

Standing on the bow of the boat, he also saw the wooden bridge upstream of the river, worried that the enemy reinforcements would be reinforced by this, and also made some arrangements for the landing troops, such as arranging some soldiers to destroy the enemy's bridge.

The fleet that was originally lined up stopped firing. After adjusting the direction, the soldiers disembarked one after another and waded ashore with weapons and equipment.

This was a quick process, and Rurik didn't care about the wet boots, so he mainly assembled the flag shooting team to prepare for a more intensive rain of arrows support.

The sudden change of circumstances left Greywood, who had endured the bombardment, helpless. Some of his subordinates were crushed to death, and the rest of the people were still defending against the arrows thrown by the Vikings at the top of the city.

The Balmers did not shoot many arrows, and the quality of the arrow clusters was not good. Even with Arik's help, the power of accurate crossbow shooting is limited.

The warrior in white robe found Arik who was fighting and shouted, "Boss, the Duke is calling you back."

"Ah? I'm fighting!"

"This is an order! Your Excellency said, the whole army is starting to attack the city. You are the captain of the flag, and you must lead the entire flag team to fight."

Arik looked back and immediately smiled.

Ross's many flags are flying, and most of the uniformed fighters have landed.

Cousin Arik came back, leaving Rick with no time to criticize his recklessness. After all, he was used to recklessness.

"Brother, it's finally starting."

"Yes. Now organize your first flag team, line up! Set up a shield wall to protect our shooters." Rurik ordered with a sullen face.

"Don't siege the city? Oh, well..."

Arik generally understood his brother's plan, and everything seemed to repeat the attack on Borgholm back then.

On the other hand, looking at the defenders, Earl Grey Woolf was shocked to see a group of soldiers dressed in white robes with blue stripes, actually lined up in a neat array?

"Is this a Viking? A group of robbers? Can the robbers make such a neat array?"

He was still confused, and even envied the neatness of his opponent's army, when suddenly there was a rather dense swish in the sky.

The Russ army has reached the position where the arrows of the defenders can hit, and the Russ archers can also hit the enemy.

The personnel of the flag-shooting team are complex, and so are the weapons.

Suomi short archers, capable mercenaries holding wooden crossbows, they all launch arrows at high elevation angles.

Yevluo led the command, and a single salvo was fired. Nearly 300 whirling feather arrows smashed towards the head with a terrifying swishing sound. They formed a rain of arrows, and the people inside the city walls had nowhere to hide. .

While commanding, Yevro did not forget to make a generous statement, ordering the men in his hometown, "Suomi people! Shoot arrows hard and prove to the Varyag people that you are good hunters."

After that, he ordered the other mercenaries in Norse, "Quickly wind the strings, and don't give the enemy a chance to breathe!"

Fraser, who taught people to shoot arrows, and even the surrendered Dane Grund and others, a group of more than 50 mercenaries, carrying steel-armed crossbows, left the army and approached the melee army under the city. Shooting the defenders of the battlements with precision from a distance is like shooting the turtledoves parked on the branches.

Let's look at this Glenn Wood, he just showed his face to see the current situation, and it happened that a crossbow arrow pierced through his helmet.

He was so frightened that he diapered his pants on the spot, sat down with a mess of brown hair, tried his best to hide the embarrassment between his thighs, and then looked at the iron sheet that fell on the ground, desperately making a cross on his chest.

The arrows of the Rus army were still dealing damage, still mixed with falling cast iron bullets.

The city was even more chaotic, and everything was confirmed by the tragedies that happened in Edinburgh and Bamburgh last year.

For example, there is an angry young priest holding a wooden cross, standing up bravely and angering the barbarians for their evil deeds, cursing them to hell.

How did Grund and Fraser manage so much? A live target stood up and was soon shot down outside the city, where it was torn to shreds by the angry Balmers.

The city walls were in shambles, and many defenders were killed, but the stone walls surrounding York remained impregnable.

It is tall after all, and the sudden attacking army did not prepare a long ladder at all. Among them, the Balmers attacked with blood, and the chaos lasted for a long time. Even if Rurik consumed a lot of arrows and projectiles to support them, York still stood tall. The persistence of the defenders on the city wall is also admirable.

Both armies were beginning to show fatigue, and the sun was about to set.

The city gate was smashed into pieces, and when Biyonni saw that there was a lot of debris piled up in the doorway, he was discouraged after cursing. Because, now we are preparing a siege vehicle, which can knock the gate into pieces, how can the heavy debris inside be knocked away?

The Balmers were tired, as were the defenders.

One after another, soldiers followed their clan leaders to the rear panting, and Rurik also suspended all fire support.

The old and strong Magnut finally couldn't hold it anymore. He led his men to withdraw, which immediately led all the Viking army to retreat.

"It's all over? They..." Greywood poked out one eye, cautiously seeing that the Vikings were retreating against the big round shield, and they didn't pull away their war dead when they were evacuating.

He was not relieved, but rather worried.

Look at the river, the big boats are flying with blue flags on a white background, and the colors of the flags have changed in the sunset.

They were Viking robbers, although the flags resembled Mercia. If this army were to charge towards Mercia, the army there would also be destroyed. I am afraid that there is no kingdom in the whole of Britain that can defeat this army with its own strength.

But everyone still held York!

Greywood raised his right fist, endured exhaustion and tried to roar, and until now the soldiers have been roaring as if they were unloaded.

"Listen, they seem to be taunting us." Yevlo heard the roars and remonstrated, "Sir, let's shoot arrows one more round."

"No, there's no courage in that roar. They're just saying they're alive."

"But we didn't break York."

Rurik shrugged, "It doesn't matter. Prepare tomorrow and attack the day after! However, I have to make a new decision."

Magnut lost a lot of energy, but he couldn't get over it, and with the help of his son-in-law, York still couldn't beat him.

The Viking army had already begun to camp outside the city. In order to prevent the enemy from escaping in the chaos, Magnut wisely sent people to set up camps blatantly near all four city gates.

Before the tent was set up, he first found Rurik and asked for his son-in-law's opinion as soon as possible.

Regarding this old guy, Rurik was too lazy to be polite now, so he criticized sharply: "I gave you a chance, you are useless!"

Magnut was taken aback, and then he thought that he had indeed failed, so he couldn't defend himself.

Rurik added: "If you want to attack the city, you should listen to my command! You have agreed to land first, and then negotiate with them. If you can't negotiate, then attack. You are better, now we can only attack the city. For your recklessness, A lot of people died fighting."

Biyonni was a little displeased, and said, "Brother, my father is too eager for glory."

"Okay! My father Magnut, I was the one who spoke fiercely. I am speaking on behalf of the brothers who died in battle, please forgive my rudeness." This was the case, and Rurik's face was still complaining.

Having said this, Magnut was even more ashamed, and he sighed, "You should have the right countermeasures."

"Yes! We rest and cremate our dead heroes. How to siege the city listen to me!"

Shortly after the large army was encamped, Rurik immediately resorted to traditional tactics. There were a lot of bonfires in three directions in York, and the river was full of boats!

York was surrounded by bonfire groups and fleets, putting enormous pressure on the soldiers and civilians in the city, and they had no way to escape.

Greywood was still waiting for reinforcements, and people prayed all night in the church. As many as 200 people died in the city, and more than 300 people were injured in varying degrees. The casualties were mainly from arrows and projectiles.

Of course, the Vikings also paid more than 50 deaths, most of which were broken by thrown stones and wooden blocks.

Suddenly, the upper reaches of the river burst into flames!

Greywood, who was busy praying in the church, was called to the top of the city, and he was almost fainted by the fire upstream of the river.

"York Bridge! They're burning York Bridge! How about the reinforcements from the west! How about the King's army..."

After a lot of abuse, he still fainted. He was carried to the church by his subordinates, and he was accustomed to a mouthful of holy water with rose essential oil. After coughing, he slowly woke up.

As soon as he awoke, he shouted, "Quick! In any case, all of you must keep the prince safe."

A soldier said, "Sir, the prince is in the cellar."

"Oh, that's great. Listen, no matter how chaotic the situation, make sure to keep the prince safe."

Yes, at least these remarks made the priests feel that this man who presumptuously acted as the commander of the city defense was indeed the loyal and good man of the kingdom.

Unfortunately, York is already an isolated city. The days of peace are gone, and darkness has come.