Rise of Rurik

York Bridge is burning. It is the only access road connecting York to the right bank of the Ouse River. If it is lost, pedestrians will either take a long detour or cross the river by boat.

York was surrounded by circles, and the city, together with the more than 6,000 soldiers and civilians who had escaped, had become fish on the chopping block.

The Viking army was burning their dead. Fifty brothers died in one battle, which really touched Magnut and aroused his anger.

There are bonfires everywhere, as dense as a galaxy.

It should have been pitch-dark, because the dense bonfire was illuminated, and the anomaly here could be seen even from a long distance.

The broken-arm king of Northumbria just wanted to get back to York as soon as possible.

They headed north along the dirt road along the Don and reached the point where the Ouse meets it.

They arrived again along the right bank of the River Ouse, only to encounter scouts loyal to him, the Earl of Roydis (Leeds).

His Majesty the King personally led the main force to come, which surprised and moved the scouts.

All the scouts reported what they knew, the so-called Lord Earl was organizing troops to reinforce York, and a war seemed inevitable.

However, this report can only cause Ernred to continue to be nervous.

Because those Vikings have been up the river and they have surrounded York, whether the siege has happened.

if……

More than half of Ernred's inherent extravagance has disappeared. He is worried that his son will be killed and his ministers will be cut off, causing his family to become extinct.

Some subordinates asked: "Your Majesty, how should our army be? If we use this tired army to return to York, it will not be good for our army in a decisive battle..."

"Then go to Roydis! Try to get men into the army and save our York. God will save us!" His right arm jerked on the reins, turning the horse's head.

Many people could not see on the surface that the king lost his left forearm, and their fighting spirit was not high, and they just followed the king blindly.

It is really the friction and small-scale conflicts with Mercia on the southern border for several months, which continue to wear down the morale of this soldier, and now he has to fight the Vikings who besieged York?

It is also good for the army to detour to Roydis first.

The increase in the strength of the army has at least increased its momentum.

Until now, Ernred knew almost nothing about the Vikings who invaded the capital. Are they Rus? or something else? All in all Vikings.

This army of 2,000 people did not arrive at Roydis City until night. The frightened defenders thought that the Vikings had killed them, and a soldier who closed the city gates came to the battlement.

It was not until the king's cavalry shouted in Saxon that Gafred, Earl of Roydis, realized that the situation was abnormal and opened the gate himself.

A group of earl's guards with torches went out first, and the earl himself, holding the hilt of his sword, approached His Majesty's mount under this night.

Ernred had an old face, and he got off his horse and shouted sharply, "I have learned that something has happened in York! The Vikings are besieging the capital, and I will recruit an army from you! Organize all the twelve-year-olds as quickly as possible. Fifty-year-old man! Whether it's a servant, a serf, or even a prisoner, hand it over to me immediately."

Earl Gafred was taken aback, the smile on his face disappeared, and some were just panic, "Your Majesty, I have organized 500 farmers. I can organize 700 people. Is this... not enough?"

"Of course not enough! They are Vikings! Give me two thousand men at any cost and all your sons to fight. Listen, if we fail, the whole kingdom will be destroyed, and everything you have will be destroyed by those seas. The thugs took it!"

"Okay... okay. Your Majesty, advance to the city."

"Alright. Immediately prepare food and water for my army."

The king came with a large army, and the people who fled into the city did not feel relieved.

The chaotic streets are full of soldiers sitting and resting, and they wantonly use the toilet, making the already dirty streets even more stinky.

Ernred wasn't sleepy at all, or he had forgotten what sleep was because he was so nervous.

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At His Majesty's order, all the prisoners in the prison were pulled out.

Those rapists thought they were going to be chopped off or hanged, but they were unexpectedly received by the king.

Thieves, murderers awaiting execution, debt prisoners, underpaid taxpayers, more than fifty men were held in the muddy squares of the city.

There were people holding torches everywhere, and the man in the gold-trimmed iron helmet was the king himself.

"You are all criminals!" Ernred pointed at the prisoners from a height. "Many of you should have been executed. But now there is a chance to absolve all guilt. Our country is besieged by savages, and now All take up arms and fight the savages. When we win, your credits will offset your sins!"

Is this a good thing? Pooh!

Only the murderer was slightly relieved that he had at least a theoretical chance of survival. But debt prisoners realize that the so-called pardons are a joke! Everyone must fight the barbarians desperately, fearing that they will be killed in an instant.

Ernred guessed what they were thinking, and began to shout again, "I want to recruit the army! All age-qualified people must join the army, or they are traitors! Will be executed!"

After all, he drew his sword, which surprised the people who were watching all night. After that, the regular army of the Kingdom waved and surrounded the square. The men in the circle, except for the meaningless boys, must all join the army!

That night, how many families gathered together to hug and cry.

One after another homesteader families, they fled here with their softness, which is a refuge! Many of them saw the terrifying large ship, and the astonishing number of barbarians on board. Wouldn't it be courting death to fight this group of villains?

But if you don't fight, the king really wants to kill.

Even the swaying old man Erin Reid was not spared. He recruited all kinds of people overnight, and all of a sudden he captured the living force of the Earl of Roydis.

Earl Galfred dared not speak, not only because he was the king, but also because the king was at least stronger than himself.

Overnight, the army soared to more than 4,000 people. There were ragged peasants everywhere, many of them still barefoot, wearing rags with a hemp rope as a belt for their trousers.

The peasant warriors were unarmored, and most had only a short spear at hand.

Regular stockpiles of weapons were distributed, and those without weapons used sharpened wooden poles to make spears, and even nailed nails to short wooden sticks to make maces.

Is this an army? So morale can burst?

Ernred had no choice. At least he gathered such a large number of people. He was relieved and hoped that he could force the Vikings to evacuate by relying on the simple number of people. Although this is basically an extravagant hope, the opportunity to negotiate is also excellent. of.

In peaceful days, it would take Ernred some time to recruit an army of thousands from the country.

Now that a large number of civilians were pouring into the city of Roydis, he finally pulled out this disorganized army and began to move towards York the next day.

It was also on this day that Rurik was making the final preparations for the siege.

York was still surrounded by water, and people in the city could not escape.

Do you want to persuade them to surrender? Even if there is food officer Paul in the camp who leads the way, Rurik still doesn't want to take risks.

Until now, Rurik didn't know whether Northumbria was in the city or not. If he was, their fierce resistance yesterday would be meaningless even if they negotiated.

A monarch willing to die? It is admirable.

Then ask for kindness!

The stone city of York gives Rurik the feeling that it is much taller and larger than that of Boryholm. The city is obviously a church building, and it also has a towering tower.

If there were artillery pieces, the city would soon be blasted through the walls. No matter how bad the counterweight trebuchet is, the big stones keep hitting and the wall collapses.

At least there was a huge weakness in York's wall that Rurik was aware of. When they built the city, they didn't know anything about cement. They built the walls with stones. In order to avoid landslides, the natural cross-section was a trapezoid, which provided an opportunity to climb with bare hands.

The wooden walls of the Outer Guocheng were destroyed, and the materials that were not transported in time became the possessions of the coalition army, and the agricultural products traded immediately supplied the army.

Those big wooden posts and long wooden poles immediately became the materials for assembling long ladders.

The Rus and the Balmers were tied with ropes, and in one day they built thirty ladders, one in a hundred people on average.

Rurik also unloaded from the ship the twenty trolleys that were prepared for transporting trophies, but now they became the only vehicles for the torsion slingshot unloaded from the ship.

The fleet anchored on the Ouse River can still launch projectile strikes on York. After all, this is a waste of ammunition. Hearing Yevlo’s concerns, Rurik thought about it again. Again.

Twenty torsion slingshots and ten bull catapults will provide fire support during the general attack.

Rurik demanded that all men with bows and arrows in the Balmerk army be assembled, so that the flag shooting team suddenly expanded to 500 people!

Even though many people are holding short wooden bows that are not high in pounds, if they are used intensively, the arrow rain produced should have a significant effect.

Everything was under Rurik's control. Tomorrow was the day of the decisive siege, and in the evening he had to hold one last pre-war meeting.

Including the honorable leader of Magnut, everyone listened to Rurik's final arrangement, and even had doubts about the special request to reduce the killing.

Some family leaders shouted: "Why? For your kindness?"

Arik also suggested: "They are warriors. If they dare to resist us, our army should kill them. This is the fate of warriors."

What Arik said is an explanation. Those who believe in Odin all support massacres.

Rurik hurriedly said: "At least save the women's lives! Listen, brothers, if you want to settle here, you must at least have enough women. You save the men's lives, they are your slaves, for You farm."

These words were mainly addressed to Magnut, and Rurik stared at his father-in-law again, "It may be impossible to blackmail the kings of Northumbria now. They are too weak, and the kingship must be controlled by us. This is fate. , Father, you should rule here, and all the farmers in the land are your servants."

These remarks directly lifted Magnut up, and when other family leaders heard it, they were really uncomfortable, but they were helpless.

Magnute stroked his beard and laughed, "Okay, Biyonni! My son."

"exist."

"Go and tell our people to bring more ropes. After the city is broken, the resisters will be killed, and those who lay down their weapons, both men and women, will be tied up. From now on, I will be the king here, and we must keep these people as slaves for farming. Oh, and the wives of the brothers."

In the Balmerk Army, Magnut led the most troops and was the strongest, and this person was also the most powerful.

Rurik also harassed his cousin Arik: "Don't be too fierce."

"Of course I do." Arik pouted, and the thought of not being able to fight with blood made him feel uncomfortable.

When he left for the expedition, Rurik said that he had no intention of asking for too much in Britain, and his biggest hope was to get a lot of wheat to bring back to his hometown. He concluded that since York is the king's city, there must be a lot of wheat in the city.

Most of the wheat belongs to Ross, and most of the other treasures belong to Balmerk. This is the agreement between the two groups.

A new day, the sky is full of haze.

The awakened Rurik looked at the gray sky and sighed again: "There will never be another rain."

There was no rain for the time being, but the north wind was a little fierce. The sudden drop in temperature made the guards' mood drop further. The Viking army outside the city was just the opposite. After a day of repairs, they had completed their final preparations.

All the Balmers with horns blew their horns, and there was a commotion outside the city, and soon a large number of soldiers gathered with weapons.

The Balmers raised the many-faced white raven flag appointed by their leader, and the Rus carried more white and blue oar flags.

In order to siege the city, Rurik also made a lot of money. The "silver scale breastplate" he carried in this battle, this batch of heavy silver-plated iron plate armor, can finally come in handy.

Since ancient times, the fighters who climb the ladder have always taken great risks. It seems that they are looking for death to climb the ladder and fight in the city head with flesh and blood. They must be equipped with heavy armor!

Rurik picked out fifty brave men from his own mercenaries, and even beat the Dane Grund and his more than ten brothers, saying: "Now give you a chance to make great achievements. Put on the heaviest iron armor, you Invulnerable, let me climb up the wall and fight, let the blood of the enemy wash away the mud on the armor, and destroy their will. After this is done, there will be a reward."

It doesn't matter how much you reward people like Grund. They are surrendered generals, but showing loyalty will take a lifetime, not to mention that they are treated very well on weekdays.

Seeing these fifty "iron bulls", Arik was actually very envious. He also wanted to put on heavy armor and climb the wall to fight. After all, he was the flag captain of the first flag team, and it was inappropriate to leave the command.

The Viking army began to shout, hitting the shield with swords and axes, accompanied by the sound of horns, bringing a terrifying momentum.

The soldiers and civilians in the city were so frightened that they shivered. When Grey Woolf climbed the stone wall and witnessed the assembled army, it was estimated that today was the last day of his life.

Poor, today is a cloudy day.

He bared his teeth and led the soldiers down the city first, and more than a thousand men in different clothes knelt together.

The left-behind priests were in a complicated mood. They held a "golden urn of holy water" filled with rose essential oil, and blessed all the soldiers with fresh cypress branches dipped in holy water.

"..., God is with us, a... door."

The priests knew that they could not protect themselves, and even the words of prayer stumbled, and they could only rely on these soldiers now.

This is the only man who can really fight in the whole of York, and most of them are just temporarily armed farmers.

There are more than 400 soldiers of the kingdom who seem to be fighting, and look at those Vikings, they are demons.

Although Grey Woolf is afraid, he has nothing to do now. Thousands of people in the city still rely on the soldiers for protection, especially the queen and the prince.

The soldiers of the kingdom with bows stood at the head of the city one after another, and all the king's flags in the city stood up, and nearly fifty orange flags of various sizes fluttered fiercely in the north wind.

"Do they know that today is a decisive battle? There are flags everywhere," Arik asked of his brother.

"fair enough."

"Okay? But, you won't let me take my brothers into the city to hack and kill."

"Are you resenting me?" Rurik shrugged.

"How is that possible!" Arik casually patted his brother's iron helmet, "I still like fighting."

"However, this is the battle of the Balmers, and we are helping the battle. Brother, I hope that none of us Ross will die in this expedition. Our men are all very precious."

"Hey, except for those mercenaries."

"Not really. Except that Grund and his guys. You know, I don't like this kind of mercenary who betrayed his gold master."

Arik was startled at first, then nodded and praised what my brother had said.

But how did Grund know? Their group of heavily armored fighters is nothing short of iron men, chosen because they are consumables.

The mercenaries that Rurik really liked are now doing bowmen and even manipulating heavy weapons.

Who will announce the start of the attack?

Rurik ordered a Rus warrior to walk to the front of the formation, carrying the white and blue flag of Rus, and waved it bells and whistles to attract everyone's attention, and then suddenly waved forward again.

Seeing this, Magnut ordered his men to launch an offensive, which attracted the entire army to launch a surprise attack!