Rise of Rurik

When the sun rises again, the morning light is in the thick fog, and the whole world is extremely strange.

Tamworth was terribly quiet, as if everything that lived had died.

A ramp made of the flesh and blood of the dead stood beside the city wall.

The Russ and Balmers slept a lot, but a small group of people who claimed to be in good health had woken up and carefully cleaned the battlefield with their own weapons.

A corpse that was gorgeously dressed and clearly different from ordinary people was removed from the javelin inserted in the body, but the arrows of the crossbow were stuck in the body of the deceased, and the iron ring of the chain mail was stuck, so it was necessary to dig a large Strength to pull out. The corpse was simply tied with delicate leather boots, and he ignored the dozen or so arrows on his chest, and was stunned to pull it to the resting place of the big men.

Even as the sun rises, the battle continues.

There are sneaky people on the city wall sticking their heads out, and they are greeted by crossbow snipers. Regardless of whether it was really hit or not, the prober disappeared instantly.

This is a bald middle-aged man. He hid behind the piled wall and panted, and then crawled and grabbed his cloth cap, put it on his head and fled away.

He fled to the church in the city with very bad information, and hurriedly approached the bishop who was preaching to thousands of people, and whispered a few words in his ear.

Tamworth, who was already restless, changed his face in an instant, so that he was unable to do the next thing.

A very remarkable fact is in front of us. The prince Bottwoolf was killed in battle, and the armored city guards hardly survived. The huge royal city was full of people who prayed for life. They were frightened and even lost the idea of ​​escaping the city.

The Viking soldiers were not strong enough to surround the entire city of Tamworth, but the bonfires that night created a terrifying illusion.

They felt that the enemy had indeed surrounded the entire city, just as the priest said, it was a group of humanoid monsters from hell, and the meaning of existence was to kill.

The people did not dare to flee, and they had also burst out with strong fighting power in critical moments, but this momentum was not reversed with the death of the prince.

The prince's wife and the queen were supposed to be in charge of the overall situation, but these two women were already frightened by the current situation. What is the end of the world? They think it is.

All the nobles in the city gathered in the church,

Listen to the teaching of the bishop.

"Why is there such a situation? There are many fallen people among you, and it is because of your fall that you have attracted demons..."

Where are so many devout people? Of course, they believed in the existence of a God. Noble people usually take the words of priests as a reference, and ordinary people also need to accept the command of nobles. They weren't very sure, and now they have to re-examine - maybe I'm really guilty?

More than 2,000 people crowded inside the Tamworth church, and it was even more crowded outside.

The bishop himself abruptly left the venue, leaving two or three young priests to preside over the situation, which immediately caused a violent and low roar. People were whispering, and some even said that even the clergy had abandoned the lamb.

In fact, the bishop thought of the only way out of shock.

The old priest who found out the exact information at the top of the city continued to report his knowledge, the more he told it, the more dangerous the situation seemed.

"There are corpses everywhere, the grass is red with blood... Those savages are still strong. Sadly, today is their siege day. We... If I don't handle it well, we will all die." The bishop said this. When the eyeballs are about to burst out.

The old priest also had his own ideas, and said, "Pada. In my opinion, we can escape."

"Escape? Where? We can't escape, this is God's punishment for us."

"However, those barbarians are clearly not devils. They are a kind of warriors we have never met, maybe..." A term came out: "They are Vikings."

"Damn outsiders!" The bishop clenched his fists. He subjectively wanted to escape, but he had an identity confirmed by Rome. To escape from the monastery was to betray everything.

Cursing can't change anything, but if you don't make some changes, the people of the entire city will be slaughtered. As for resistance...they have lost their courage and strength.

"Maybe...we should try this."

"What is it."

The bishop gritted his teeth and decided to fight: "You, quickly gather the children. We will organize a mission to bring the queen and the princess and her sons. Let's go to pray for peace."

"Is it appropriate? It's betrayal."

"No! When Pope Leo I persuaded Attila's army of barbarians, I am not as good as the Pope, but I have the confidence to save the lives of the people." Bishop Tamworth is naturally not nonsense. It's complicated, but it can be considered a successful reconciliation. For four hundred years, this story has been continuously processed, and it has really become a credit that the popes of all dynasties can inherit.

"But the people outside the city are all demons! I see corpses everywhere and blood everywhere."

"Go!" When the bishop scolded, he looked up at the beam of the church and repented to God: "Lord, forgive me. I have a reason to make peace with those barbarians. I am here to save your lamb and bless me with success. "

However, as soon as she heard that she was going to make peace with the barbarians, the queen, the wife of King Wigraf, was frightened and married on the spot, and when she woke up, she cried and cried out that she could not go. If it is not because of belief that he cannot commit suicide, he has already committed suicide by hanging himself.

On the contrary, it was the Crown Princess who decided with tears in her eyes that the barbarians would wait for a while. She entrusted her son to the priests and had them keep them closely guarded. She quietly carried a dagger, just to find the Prince's body and fight the murderer who killed him. As a result, she was killed and also died by her husband's side.

The crown princess dresses up a little, even if the kingdom is down, it can't detract from the dignity of the royal family. She dressed herself in the bun of an ancient Roman woman, and wore an extremely rare purple handkerchief on her body to show her dignity, even though she had never seen those fierce savages. The black burqa concealed all this.

The bishop also put on a huge pomp. According to the etiquette standards of festival celebrations in peacetime, they not only wore simple and simple robes (different from the pursuit of the royal family, the priests in this period paid great attention to simplicity), and held a large number of robes. The black cross, lined up to the city wall, to the terrifying staircase paved with flesh and blood.

The bishop himself held the precious manuscript Gospel, and all the priests walked tremblingly, chanting Hallelujah forcing their composure.

When they saw a large number of corpses, they were not calm, even though they had buried many corpses in the previous battle...

At the same time, when it was almost noon, the Vikings who got up one after another gathered around the pots and urns to wait for the food to boil. Some people even couldn't wait for the wheat to be cooked, so they took them out from wooden bowls and ate them.

Rurik was already awake, and he saw Magnut and the others pointing at a "general" who died in battle.

"Rurik, my son, come and see this man." Magnute waved happily.

"This man?"

"Yes, let's judge. Well, maybe you should be the one to cut off this person's head." Magnut said this with good intentions. The family leaders of the Balmers present reached a consensus, and Rurik was the only one Is the greatest hero of this war, even if he seems to be a weak boy.

"Cut off the head of the deceased? Forget it." Rurik glanced a few times, and felt more and more wrong.

Judging from this person's clothes alone, the clothes are too delicate compared to other dead people. Even if he was wearing chain mail, this person was actually wearing two! The armor-piercing arrow shot by the steel-armed crossbow is about to kill, and it is also difficult to pull out this strange chain armor.

Rurik gave the order, and then a few strong men pulled the sword out of the dead man with great force.

"Do you see any clues? I speculate that this man is a general, and he led the troops to resist, which caused us a lot of losses." Magnut said with a trace of regret.

"No." Rurik shook his head.

"What do you mean by that?"

"He's not a general. He's more noble than a general."

"It will never be their king."

"Of course not. Their king might have fought against Ernred's Northumbrian army again. You and I have seen it. The enemy we face is very tenacious. Right coward."

Magnut and many families nodded, "Maybe this person is the heir to the throne, so he is so desperate."

"Maybe." Rurik sighed and stared at his father-in-law again: "If a hero dies in battle, even if it is an enemy, how should you treat his body according to your methods?"

"Are you asking me?" Magnute smiled and pushed his eldest son Biyonni again.

"Of course I watched his head make a wine bowl." After that, Biyongni laughed, and the axe in his hand really chopped down.

Rurik was taken aback, but Naihe couldn't help it. "Alas! What are you doing? I also want to bury this hero with a whole body."

"Forget it!" The laughing Biyonni pulled down another gloomy face that seemed to have been constipated for a week, and then slashed wildly at the forehead of the head, revealing terrifying red and white things.

Watching at such a close distance, Rurik felt that he had seen enough of the blood light, which has a strong psychological quality. This time, a strong feeling of vomiting was still in his throat. If it wasn't for his strong willpower to hold it back Embarrassed a lot.

Everything is just as Biyonni said, no matter whether the person is a general or what his identity is, it must be this person's resolute resistance that has caused the Balmerk Army to usher in the heaviest losses since the landing.

Rurik wanted to say something more about this noble body, but in such a situation, what he said was meaningless.

He immediately changed the subject: "You dispose of this person's body, I don't care! Our soldiers have basically recovered their strength, and the next step is to attack Tamworth. Tell me, what are you going to do?"

Magnute shrugged: "What else? We rushed in and hacked them and took their wealth. In this battle, everyone will make a fortune!" After that, the family leaders laughed.

"It's...it's too extreme."

"Are you pitying them?"

"Forget it, at least they are respectable enemies. Their men may be annihilated by us, and the rest are women and children." Rurik had already thought of the countermeasures after the city was destroyed. Say, "You may say that I am merciful, at least this time I should be merciful."

Magnut was actually a little relieved. He had long known that his son-in-law Rurik was different from other madmen. Sometimes this kid was really kind, but he was extremely cruel on the battlefield, and he couldn't make up his mind.

"You want to forgive them? Don't think too highly of them, they obviously can't be docile pets. Rurik, they will fight to protect their belongings, in order to..."

Halfway through Magnut's words, the crowd gathered not far away was already extremely commotion. More than a dozen soldiers hurried over and shouted, "The Mercians are going to attack again! We are going to fight them to the death!"

Hearing this, Magnute pouted, followed by the humming of swords unsheathed: "You pity them, that's how they repay you. They want to die, and we'll do it for them. Brothers, we Keep fighting."

Rurik also stomped his feet, looked at the city wall and whispered: "I wanted to restrain my army and give you a chance to get out of peace. You Mercians have a kind, and you plan to fight until the last soldier, so let's fight. "

The shield-wielding Rus and Balmers gathered, and a large number of crossbowmen completed the loading and charging of arrows.

Very subtle is that Rurik quickly realized that this seemed to be another confrontation, but his subordinates did not take the initiative to attack, and the local situation was probably also a big problem.

He approached the front line cautiously, only to realize that the information about the Mercian attack was false.

The Mercians did come, and they were all priests and monks.

"Stop!" Rurik shouted at the people around him with his sword, and Xu Mo called his cousin again and ordered him to restrain his brothers from moving.

Indeed, at least thirty priests dressed in solemn black robes and holding huge wooden crosses appeared all at once, and they walked down the "slope of flesh and blood" under the leadership of the old man with books in their arms.

"Kill them to save money." Arik, who had just expressed his restraint on his brothers, declared.

"I want to deal with them in person."

"It's not necessary, I'm afraid there is a fraud."

"So I need your protection, and bring some brave people to protect me."

Arik smiled, showed his double swords, and shook his neck: "Let's go."

"Don't worry." Rurik added, "Let's take that noble body with us, even if he loses his head, they should recognize it."

"Alright. Just to ask who this person is."

The priests and the prince concubine who were in a complicated mood all stopped. Facing the army of barbarians, watching them from such a close distance naturally filled their hearts with fear.

Even the bishop was uneasy. He wanted to talk to the barbarians, but he didn't know where to start, and he didn't know if they could understand what he said.

The whole scene was bizarrely stiff!

Finally, there was a change in the faction of the Vikings.

The headless and noble corpse was carried on a cart, and Arik led Rurik forward aggressively with more than a dozen soldiers who had washed clean white cloth coats and wore polished helmets.

After a while, the two sides will meet under the city.

Rurik leaned out from under the protection of the guards, first glanced at the wrinkled old man holding a book in his arms, and asked, "I won't ask anything else. Look at the deceased first, whether you can deny it."

This remark was spoken in Latin, and in order to ensure that his language was accurate enough, he also called in John Ingvar.

The priests of Mercia couldn't believe what they heard, and the bishop couldn't wait to ask in Latin: "You! Who are you? You! Who is it."

Rurik did not return for a while, the guards let in a gap, and the headless corpse was pushed out.

Seeing this step again, the priests were speechless, only the bishop clasped his head and shouted: "It's the prince! He's dead! His head is gone!"

The tragedy of the corpse was clearly seen by the Crown Princess. Even if she lost her head, there were only two women in the world who knew the body of the Crown Prince Bottwoolf best. One of them was the Crown Princess.

The most unfortunate thing is in front of her eyes, and she suddenly pulled out the prepared dagger.

In the end, there is a prince who is brave and not afraid of death, and there is a prince who is steadfast.

Perhaps, without the Viking Age, without the expansion of the Rus, and Wigraf would have been killed by a chicken rib because of a certain diet, the couple would be able to lead Mercia to restore its former hegemony after the crown prince succeeded.

A woman charging with a gilded dagger?

Arik is still holding a double steel sword this time! One of his old warriors could even discern the murderous aura in the air, and a woman with a black burqa and a dagger dashed over, and he did not hesitate to regard this woman as a respectable female warrior. She dares to fight, she is a female warrior! The attitude of the Vikings to the enemy female warrior was extremely straightforward, either kill her or kill her.

Arik's behavior was extremely decisive, and in front of the priest, he gave the crown princess Viking-style decency...

New slaughter was in sight again, many priests collapsed directly, and the standing cross also fell to the ground.

In shock, the bishop hurriedly bowed to pick up the Gospels that the money accidentally dropped, and immediately knelt on the ground and prayed humbly in Latin: "Brave warriors from a foreign land, I beg you, forgive our lives."

The decisiveness of the cousin, and the assassination of the woman, Rurik had to examine his father-in-law's advice. Indeed, this group of people is not to be trusted.

Even so, slaughtering Rurik would not feel any fun, and he couldn't control how barbaric the other Vikings were. Only the Rus army must have rules and regulations, and not turn into unorganized robbers anytime, anywhere.

He stood up and patted his chest: "I am the commander of this army, and I am the only one who can speak Latin. Priest of Mercia, now tell me who the dead we brought. And this woman who assassinated. Wouldn't it be blasphemy to your god that you tried to assassinate!"

A teenager is the commander-in-chief of a savage army, is there anything more bizarre? At least the young man understood Latin inconceivably, and the bishop said, "That headless man is the prince of the kingdom. He led the people to resist you. This woman is... the prince."

"It's actually a husband and wife? Both husband and wife are very brave."

The bishop boldly asked again: "My lord, can you forgive us? The city is full of women and children, and they cannot fight against you, nor dare to fight. If you need wealth, you can take it as long as you don't hurt the rest. of the people. This... is just my humblest request."

Rurik nodded: "It looks like you are a bishop. Let me ask you again, where is your king?"

"The king and the army are not there. Before the fierce battle with you, someone has already notified the lords of various places that maybe one army after another is already on its way to Tamworth..." In order to survive, the bishop explained a lot of things, Including but not limited to information on reinforcements, royal treasures, and the actual number of residents in the city. He hoped that his cooperation would be exchanged for the safety of the people.

The knife was already on his neck, and if he angered them, he would be killed. If an old man dies, he will die. However, there are still 10,000 women, children, and children in the royal city, so they should live! Since kings can't protect their lives, maybe the king's wealth can.

Without Laurik speaking, the bishop personally came up with a plan that made him feel comfortable, that is, the people would evacuate the city, leave peacefully and empty-handed, and the remaining treasures would be returned to the Viking army.

Up until this time, Rurik was surprised that the enemy still did not know that it was the Vikings who were at war with them. He solemnly declared his identity, and the expressions of the bishops and priests were not very surprised.

However, the war is not only the war between the Rus and the Balmers against Mercia. This war has been expanded to a new round of total war between the military alliance of Northumbria and the Viking army and the kingdom of Mercia!

The priests who learned the truth were really surprised. The bishop shouted to the sky, and even cursed loudly: "Wygraf! You are a foolish king! You have provoked Northumbria, and now their Viking mercenaries will We kill them all! You don't deserve to be king!"

Mercenaries? Rurik heard the word, and immediately retorted: "Idiot, we are not mercenaries. Stop cursing, and obey my orders now."

The bishop hung his head again and remained silent.

"I will not release the people casually, but I will also promise that the killing will end here. Of course, it all depends on your cooperation. You go back, bring all the people out, and gather at the riverside, and I will send troops to watch them. Wait until Northumbria. The Ria army arrived, and all these civilians were handed over to the king of Northumbria. You should also think about it, if you want to die, I can fulfill you now, and if you plan to go to Northumbria in the future, you can live."

Undoubtedly, they all chose the latter. As for letting people out of the city and willing to be controlled by the Vikings, the bishop bluntly thinks about it.

But Rurik had no intention of dawdling with them, so he warned: "My patience is limited, your assassination angered me. Thanks for my kindness, this is the only chance given to you, let yours come out quickly, tomorrow morning we will The large army of the people will enter the city, and the Mercians who have not left by then will be regarded as soldiers who resist to the end and will be mercilessly killed."

The bishop hurriedly agreed, and immediately took the little priests and fled back to the city on the slope of flesh and blood...