Rise of Rurik

Large numbers of prisoners were escorted to the muddy squares of York City.

The black mud here was strewn with the blood of the dead, and the terrified people sat on the ground tremblingly.

The child cried, and the woman cried too. The captured men were either grief-stricken or frightened.

Before them stood a large group of unkempt savages, many with their upper bodies exposed and horrific tattoos on display.

Barbarians are Picts?

The captured people have different opinions, in their knowledge only the Picts of the north are terrible and tattooed.

But they are not!

Everyone was surprised to see the queen, the young woman, like a walking corpse, followed in a trance to a man with a bald head and a tattoo on his head.

Although the queen is unclean, she is now clearly reduced to a slave, and the people are sighing and worrying about their own fate.

[Reading to receive cash] Follow the vx public account [Book Friends Base Camp], and you can also receive cash for reading!

This is not the end, a group of barbarians entered the city again.

These guys seem to be decent fighters, they are dressed in uniform white robes and blue stripes, but they are escorting him!

Many captured Kingdom soldiers stood up in amazement, unable to believe that His Royal Highness was captured.

Rurik, who was standing at a high place and talking with his father-in-law Magnut about how to deal with this large number of captives, noticed the captives' movements from the side.

They became noisy when they were silent, just because Fraser and the others came back?

Rurik turned around and saw Fraser, the archery master, not only carrying a crossbow, but also a short boy wrapped around his waist.

"Is that a nobleman?" he said.

Magnute also turned around, pointed and said, "Your subordinates have caught a game. I saw a deer."

"Maybe a noble deer."

Fraser's gang didn't know that they just waited and caught the first in line to the throne of Northumbria.

He was looking for his golden master, and when he saw the dejected prisoner sitting on the ground again, they were also shocked and felt that their capture had become meaningless.

He easily found Rurik standing high.

But the place made him feel uncomfortable.

It was a stone platform, and its role was probably to be the place where prisoners were executed in public. It was unexpected that Lord Goldman and Balmer allies would issue orders here.

"Sir, I'm back." After saying that, the short boy bound by Ben Jiang was still on the ground, "Look, this is a nobleman."

Rurik glanced at it. Compared with ordinary children, this short-haired boy was too pampered.

"Who is he?" Rurik asked.

"I don't know. Maybe the prince."

"Wait a minute!" Rurik crouched down, stared at the shivering boy, and immediately asked in Saxon, "Who are you?"

"E... Ella."

"Ella? Are you Ella?!"

Rurik stood up suddenly, with a smile on his calm face, and said to Magnut, "Well now, we have their prince. Children don't lie."

"It's this brat?" Magnute gave him a scornful look, "You can be my slave."

"Whatever." Rurik shrugged and mentioned the conversation just now, "If you rule this place, I will support it. Northumbria is so weak, I still fantasize about negotiating with them, and I don't need it now. . So, I will take most of the wheat in the city."

"Of course." Magnute patted his son-in-law on the shoulder, he was really satisfied with this arrangement.

Because in Magnut's current cognition, eating fish can survive, and there is no need to worry about the gain and loss of a lot of oats. If it wasn't for the Balmers to start spring plowing next year, it would be fine to give all the wheat to Ross.

What he really cares about is the captive population, fields and pastures, cattle and sheep, and the warm climate here. And most importantly, gold and silver.

As long as the son-in-law only wants wheat, he can decide so, and he has to give something else.

If you act too greedy, the Balmer brothers will criticize it.

He then said, "I'll give you some other property, I'm not a greedy old guy."

"Ah, thank you so much."

After a short while, Biyonni came aggressively, strangled the walking dead queen by the neck, and said to his father cheerfully, "This is their queen, and now I have it. Haha, what an honor!"

"You!?" The eldest son's move surprised Magnut. "You are so good at this? I still want to..."

"Very young woman? Forget it. The woman who conquered the king, I am proud."

Then Queen Ella suddenly became irritable, and her trance-like expression became firm. It was on this platform where the death row was originally executed that Anna and Ella met her mother and son.

Anna was not restrained, she cried while holding her son, and Prince Ella was also howling.

Biyonni was also taken aback. He had no sympathy and pulled the queen up again.

Anna was crying, begging the Vikings to save her son's life.

Rurik understood what he said, and motioned to Biyonni not to be rude, and then stepped forward, "You are the queen, I have seen you. You served that Ernred's subordinates, and you are an unclean one. If you were not the queen, you would be beheaded here!"

Of course Rurik knew that this high platform was the place of execution, and he said to Biyonni, "You really don't have any interest in keeping her."

"It doesn't matter. You still ask her where the king went. If I personally kill that person on the battlefield, it will be the greatest honor."

"Alright."

In order to survive, for mother and son to live together, Queen Anna explained everything Rurik wanted to know. Now she doesn't care about the heartless king who abandoned his wife and children, and even when she was demoted to a monastery to atone for her sins, she also thought of revenge.

The so-called garrison general is Earl Greywolf, whose whereabouts are now missing. She also said that the main force of the kingdom's army was fighting with the Mercian army in the south, leaving the kingdom empty. Then it is described that the king's army is likely to be on the way to rescue York.

Is this the case?

Rurik listened and hurriedly informed Magnut, "Their main force is not here. We occupy York, and we will probably face a decisive battle. Their king has an army of five thousand in his hands, and it is likely that he is coming. !"

Magnute didn't care, "You said this? Shouldn't you be afraid?"

"How is that possible. I just reminded that our coalition forces must remain vigilant. If the soldiers are indulged in treasures and are hollowed out by the women here, they may encounter setbacks. We must be vigilant!"

"It doesn't matter!" Magnute said, waving his hand, "it's time to deal with these captives. Yes, I don't want to kill, but some people must die!"

When Biyonni heard this, he immediately thought of his new slave girl. "This queen is already my slave, at least..."

Magnut gave his son another look, "I really can't think of you, this woman is not young. You can keep it as a toy. However, all the soldiers in their royal army clothes, they did not fail to fight. After all, they are traitors! Traitors must die."

Rurik naturally didn't think what Magnut said was wrong, but he didn't want to witness the killing of the prisoners.

Rurik did not stop it at all, just because the nature of the war was rather special, the Rus army was indeed here to loot, but the Balmers planned to emigrate with their families, just like the ancestors of the Northumbrians 400 years ago Immigrated from Denmark, killed and deported the local Picts, and laid down the territory. The most capable men who knew the area, and their modest security measures for new land possessions. Rurik is no longer qualified to make any criticism, just because he did the same thing in the eastern land.

Magnut selects twenty women from the captives and throws them at Rurik, in the name of making the brothers happy.

Pooh! Is this okay?

Rurik didn't think this was a good thing, so he simply called John Ingvar, who was accompanying him, and taught him to take care of these women.

Although they were all barbarians, the Rus who looked like they were wearing blue-striped robes on a white background were at least not pure villains. At least these people know what the holy faith is, but what kind of decency is a young priest mixed with a group of savages?

Women are hard to understand, but since doing things well can even save you from being humiliated, don't resist saving your own life first.

These twenty women directly became cooks, which really solved the problem of the efficiency of the army to eat for Rurik.

The trolleys that Rurik brought were all put to good use, and a large number of sacks full of oatmeal were already being carried nervously.

Wheat began to be transported to cargo ships, which is really a huge project.

At night, the Rus army officers and soldiers guarded the fleet and camped by the river. Everyone gathered around the campfire to eat cooked wheat and shared the joy of victory.

Naturally, some people questioned that the Duke was too kind, and actually let the Balmers get the most trophies. Some people also appealed to everyone not to talk too much, and they shouted that so many wheat games will be redistributed in Rosburg, but the whole family can eat for a year or two.

Even the cooks who cook are given a large bowl of wheat porridge, which is then sprinkled with a lot of salt and stirred into the edible seal oil that also lubricates the cable.

This was Rurik's reward. He could see the thinness of these firewood girls. It was obvious that these peasant girls lived a shabby life.

High-carb, high-fat, and high-salt foods are indeed fattening monsters for people a thousand years later, but for the poor in this era, it is really a delicacy that can only be enjoyed by aristocrats.

They were all Rurik's slaves, and it was not bad to bring them back to their hometown to serve and live.

It was because of the ten little maids that the old man had chosen for him from Novgorod. They were getting more and more beautiful. In a few years, they would have to exercise their responsibilities, and then they would not be able to do any work related to servants. .

The Rus army camp was quite stable, in contrast to the Balmer occupied York, the city fell into madness.

After all, York is the capital of a country, more beautiful than the Narvik Fjord. Magnut deliberately indulged his subordinates to loot and toss all the captives, even if the men wilted him after excessive joy.

Is arrogance bound to fail? At least not now.

Northumbria's army was still too weak compared to the Viking army that came from afar.

The next morning, the river became lively.

A group of Balmerk soldiers escorted more than a hundred soldiers dressed in orange to the River Ouse. Their eyes were tied with cloth strips, and one by one they knelt helplessly.

After some uproar, Magnut personally ordered the execution.

These people were the last fighting force among the thousands of captives. They did not die for the kingdom, but the Balmers helped them die with dignity.

The dead body that fell into the river slowly drifted to the ocean, what to do with the remaining captives?

Magnut didn't hesitate to set up a field in the city, and the captives were auctioned off. This is indeed what Vikings from all walks of life do, and even caused a commotion in the Ross military camp.

Rurik had to arrange another order, which was to prohibit his subordinates from mixing in.

The conquered people were put on shackles again, but many of them were actually serfs of lords and kings. If they simply changed their masters, their lives would never get worse.

Those women carried their children, obedient or not, their fates were linked to the fortunes of the whole of Northumbria, and a new era began in this year.

In the extremely noisy city square, Magnut couldn't wait to raise his sword and establish himself as king.

Although Rurik felt the strange change in the situation, he still brought a group of followers to participate, and then publicly announced that the Duchy of Ross supported Magnut's move.

According to the locals, he arranged for himself the title of "Konungr" in the Norse language, and "Kuning" in the Saxon language of the Northumbrians, which is a higher concept than "Leader of the Union". "The leader of all".

Most of those ordinary Balmers support Magnut as king, and there is no problem in letting Biyonni succeed.

At least, no young man dared to question Biyonni's contribution to the entire Balmer, this man is a big hero among the brothers.

Then it was all joy again.

At this moment, Rurik realized that he beheaded the prisoners of war early in the morning. In fact, the old guy couldn't wait for the sacrifice of the king. It was a sacrifice to Odin!

The kingdom of York founded by the Vikings was born in the wasteland of Northumbria? Like what happened in history?

Rurik's concern was limited, he now cared more about filling the cabin with wheat and returning home full.

But how can the natives support a barbarian to be king? The real king must be approaching the royal city with a large army, and the people who compromised have another thought, that is, Ernred took the king to drive out the barbarians to save everyone.

I had to look at the eyes of the locals. Many people's erratic eyes were not pure despair.

They still held out hope that it was Ernred's army.

At night, the Rus people still stayed outside the city, guarding their fleet and spoils.

The city continued to be noisy, and Arik was really full.

He threw away the half-eaten grilled fish and muttered angrily to his brother: "That old immortal guy has to be king? Without our support, the Balmers can't break the city."

Rurik's face didn't matter: "Magnut is dying soon."

"Oh? Is he dying? He looks like he has a few more years to live."

"It depends on Biyonni. Brother, that man is very ambitious now. Magnut can only be king when he is dead. Biyonni's prestige is not enough now, so..."

"Father murder?" Arik was taken aback.

"Who knows? Brother, let's prepare first. I'm very worried now."

"Worried that Biyonni will start now?"

"No. It's Ernred and his army."

"What's there to worry about." Arik didn't care.

Rurik immediately probed: "When they see that the country has been occupied, they will definitely attack like crazy. Now, I am afraid that negotiating with Ernred is meaningless. Do you want to kill freely?"

"Oh! I already understand..." Arik laughed slowly, and then burst into laughter.

However, the situation was as Rurik had expected. An army of more than 4,000 people formed by Ernred's king and Galfred, Earl of Roydis, was constantly approaching York.

They did not dare to go too fast, entirely because Ernred at least knew the horror of the Vikings, for fear that his rash attack would lead to a big defeat.

His cautiousness made Count Galfred puzzled, and it was strange to say that when he saw the dense spear forest like a forest, the fear in Gafred disappeared.

In most cases, the war of this era is to compare the strength of the two sides, at least the rookie chickens of Britain praise each other.

Ernred advised him not to go from worrying to hyper-inflated.

On the contrary, Gafried on horseback thought that the king was encouraging himself to fight, and threatened: "As long as we launch an attack, the brave assault of four thousand people will wipe them out."

Ernred laughed embarrassingly, and tried to persuade him not to, thinking that the earl wanted to make a great contribution.

Yes, when ordering the charge, does Earl Galfred have the courage to charge himself? Pooh! Others die, he is honored.

Ernred deliberately said: "Then I will appoint you as the cavalry captain, and you will charge with the cavalry team. If you defeat the enemy, you will be the palace minister."

"Ah! This..." Gafred suddenly looked embarrassed and stopped talking at random.

"Okay, maybe you want the honor to be safe. But..."

"No!" Gafred pursed his lips and said, "I will! With this army, our army will win. I will raise my head and charge."

"Alright. Follow my orders completely now. You can't leave if I let you stand by, and you can't run away if you charge."

Galfred knew that this was a big gamble with the family. When he was caught in the gamble, all he could think about was the glory after the victory, and he directly ignored the horror of the Vikings.

After a long and tedious journey, many farmers and warriors have worn out their boots and marched completely barefoot. They complained and did not fall, so the army could still have fighting strength when it arrived near York?

They gradually discovered villages where people ran clean, and saw a lot of weird big boats moored in the river in the distance, and, York!

"It's my York!" Ernred was so shocked that his hair trembled, and everyone saw the buildings of the royal city.

The peculiar huge ships can only stay here smoothly, all the big ships have flags flying, reminiscent of the kingdom of Mercia, and York also has a lot of smoke.

But that's not the banner of King Wigraf of Mercia!

That's the flag of the Rus! Rus flag in Vikings.

The army was on the right bank of the Maas River, just across the river from the Rus army camp outside the city.

"What to do? Your Majesty," asked Earl Galfred.

"Let's not attack, we're closing in, I want to...talk to them. Those are the Rus, the only Vikings who can negotiate."

King Ernred was obviously frightened, and Gafred was quite disdainful in his heart, but he couldn't say it in the open, so he persuaded: "Negotiation? Your Majesty, with all due respect, quietly now York is clearly occupied by them. There must be people. Captured, we will save them on behalf of God."

"No!" Ernred still asked to remain calm.

But Galfred was still dazzled by the meritorious deeds, and even looking at the king again, his eyes became ambiguous. He simply choked, "That unclean queen doesn't matter, but Ella..."

"Ella!" Ernred woke up instantly, almost gritted his teeth, and his head turned red in an instant because of rage.

"You!" he ordered, "Johna Gafried Roydis. Take your cavalry, take your warriors, and attack them! Destroy their ships! Cross the river! Save my son !son!"

Only the safety of his son made Ernred, who was once very cautious and had the idea of ​​appeasement, lose his mind and suddenly became a belligerent. Because the young Ella is already his last bloodline.

All this was discovered by Rurik, who had made some preparations, and the sun was still in the sky. This morning is really suitable for a battle.

The Russ immediately made a loud noise, and the Balmers in the entire York City got up lazily to investigate what happened.

Rurik has no fear here, and Arik sharpens his knives.

"It's finally here." Rurik, who was already on the boat, sighed in the face of the approaching army.

"But they're stupid," Yevro said.

"No. They're smart, and they look like they want to sabotage our boat and swim across the river."

"But it's even more stupid."

"That's right. They're brave and reckless, they're dying, we'll make it up for them. I'll let the first flag team cross the river and organize the shield wall to fight. We'll keep shooting arrows from the boat. You bring your brothers and get ready. Shoot, remember, no mercy."

"As ordered."