Rise of Rurik

The reeds obscured the figure of the traveler, and the towed mastless longship was immersed in loneliness.

A bonfire was silently burning in the open space next to it, and there were tired travelers lying all over the place.

Seeing that it was empty and quiet, they lit some more flames in order to scare away the bears that might be swimming at night. Although there was a sentry at night, the sentinel was also drowsy, making the sentry useless.

The elderly Harold had to face his own aging even if he still wanted to have the style of his youth. He reminded the young cubs to be vigilant, but he was the first to sleep soundly after eating the dry food.

Seeing that the boss was like this, the young people looked at each other and huddled together, guarding the bonfire and sleeping on the long boat.

Short spears were poked on the ground, and wooden handles were erected to hang clean clothes, and boots completely soaked from wading to dry them.

They are also inseparable with swords and hand axes, and the most wonderful thing is the large round shield, which directly turns into a hard and dry wooden bed for the owner to curl up and sleep.

There are indeed bears cruising in this large swamp. Brown bears will catch Danshui fish to satisfy their hunger, and they will also take the initiative to hunt some small animals, and they can also attack people when necessary.

There are roaming bears in this area, and the Ross cavalry, who are exploring the environment, try to hunt them as soon as they find them. Bears are not stupid, cavalry is not stupid. Some bears dragged their injured bodies, and let the arrows pierce their flesh reluctantly to escape the forest. The cavalry did not intend to go deep into the forest to chase and kill them considering the risk.

Even with very advanced weapons, bear hunting is by no means easy for the Russ cavalry.

Ross's bear catching team has spontaneously evolved into a professional team, and the heavy hunting weapon is actually a torsion slingshot that can fire a javelin, so as to ensure that the bear's body will be penetrated. Then supplemented by the shooting of the crossbow, it continued to damage the bear from a long distance, and finally the spearmen swarmed up and stabbed the vital point for a while. In this way of hunting, the peeled bear skin naturally has large and small holes. It is not beautiful and is within an acceptable range.

Naturally, there are also smart hunters who change the sharp arrow clusters into blunt heads, only to cause serious internal injuries to the prey after precise sniping, and thus peel off the very intact leather. It's just that the biggest target of such hunting is the beasts with the upper limit of size, such as foxes and forest cats.

Ross cavalry could in principle hunt bears, but Fisk would not allow his veterans to take risks. Veterans are also too lazy to use bear hunting to prove that they are real men, because they have already completed their self-certification on the battlefield.

The cavalry team is assisting the Duchy of Ostara to build a new settlement, and they bear a certain load of materials along the way. Now that the construction of the river bend, it is impossible to use the standing cavalry to mix it.

If the boring patrol can find gold, everyone can make a joke about it. In addition to the forest swamp, they face the forest swamp every day.

So the sudden bonfire in the swamp was so striking, and the cavalry soldiers who found it were particularly excited.

At ten minutes of dawn, the twenty cavalry, who had eaten dry food, began to move under the leadership of the battle-hardened Fisk.

They formed a formation of skirmishers, each with ten identities spaced apart, thus forming a broad front that was equivalent to 200 meters in width.

They held the reins in both hands as well as the handle of the bow, and the quiver hanging from the back of the right leg was full of arrows. The veterans have a high degree of battlefield sensitivity, and they can instantly draw three arrows to hit a group of "prairie three combos" against the enemy that appears at first sight.

There was a lot of water vapor in the swamp in the morning. When the sun was about to get angry, the morning fog in this area slowly evaporated.

The cavalry, who were already familiar with the local environment, decided to hurry up and make contact with those unnamed people. With the silent neighing of the horses, the contact was about to happen.

Those who slept lightly heard strange movements, and those who woke up rubbing their sleepy eyes were immediately shocked by the sight in front of them.

For the inhabitants of the Riga region, horses have always been important in their lives, even if they are small. The carriage and cavalry are not enough. If they suddenly see the cavalry, they will not be surprised, but in this wasteland and swamp, they find that the camp is surrounded by inexplicable cavalry, and the sense of fear instantly affects the head, and the whole person is blown up.

"There are enemies! All are awake! Prepare to fight!"

The battle alarm from the Norse language shocked all the sleeping people. They were very sensitive to words such as "fight" and "enemy". Of course, they fell asleep in the lake, and instantly went from sound sleep to picking up a round shield and drawing a hand axe. Just a momentary thing.

Like muscle memory, Fisk squinted and was surprised to see the surrounded group of weirdos with ships getting up one after another, and very skillfully placed the shield wall, with swords and axes on the shield, watching the cavalry vigilantly. them.

Such armed vigilance forced the cavalry to use their bows.

Fisk stretched out his right fist to signal everyone to hold their troops, and kept a strong sense of military deterrence staring at the group of people.

The awakened old Harold has realized that his own people are surrounded. As for the guys in front of them, they are uniformly dressed. The most important thing is that they are all cavalry. They are Rus!

"Damn it, you can still meet the Rosma bandits in this place." He half-bowed, clutching the hilt of his sword for a while, not knowing what to do.

The young brats have never fought like this at all. They have heard of the Rus people. After all, there is a group of pirates cruising in the sea off the Gulf of Riga. In recent years, the pirates have hung the flag of the Rus people. Although they had never seen the Rus army, they knew how the Rus' flag was drawn at that time. Behold! The cavalry in front of them flashed their flags, and the interlaced blue stripes on the front of the white robes were proof of identity.

Someone couldn't help but ask Harold: "Boss, what should I do? Fight them?"

"Don't panic. Let me think about the words, and I'll negotiate with them."

After all, Harold had seen the big scene. After all, he did not intend to stay here for a long time, let alone conflict with anyone. He suddenly thought of a trick, maybe he could take out some salt and amber, and even hand over the three captured women.

Unexpectedly, there was a heroic cry from Leng Touqing that disrupted all his layouts.

"You are actually from Rus! We are not afraid of you! If you want to **** our goods, then come! Let you be the ghosts under my axe!"

If the real enemies meet, shouting like this can be regarded as an excellent morale booster before the battle. Nai He is undoubtedly disastrous for the status quo.

"Northern language?! Who are you?!" Fisk immediately asked loudly.

But the young guy continued to shout: "We are Danish warriors! Either you go away or fight."

Denmark? Now that Denmark and Ross are allied, when did the Danes back away from the alliance? There are obviously some Danes who would rather work in Novgorod until the fall than leave early in order to make money.

Unless, this group of self-proclaimed Danes is not the Denmark everyone knows.

Seeing that the group of shield-holders gathered in a circle, the cavalry kept a certain distance from them, the brothers held three arrows in their right hands, ready to shoot three arrows at the enemy at any time.

Fisk was definitely not furious with just a few words of stimulation, and now the Russ are completely dominant.

Still needing to be sure, he asked, "Who are you instructing you to pass through this area? The King of Denmark? Or the nobles from Kyiv?"

The old Harold, who had been trembling with anger at the stupid provocation of his subordinates, heard the "big bald man" on horseback ask such a question, and instantly realized that there was an actionable situation here. He wanted to lie that the so-called brothers were under the control of the King of Denmark, and they just planned to pass through this place, and there was no hostility.

However, the brave and ruthless subordinates do not have the forbearance of the old man at all. They could understand Fisk's North language and hear the news, but they didn't answer the question in Norse language: "We know you are robbers on horseback! Don't try to rob us of our treasure! Today is either you die or we die! Come fight! Coward!"

coward? ! The worst thing brothers can't hear is being scolded as cowards by a group of stunned youths!

The sky is getting brighter and brighter now, and the morning fog is beginning to evaporate. Fisk, who had no intention of delaying, judged that these guys would definitely be able to see the most obvious Ross flag. If they were allies, there was a possibility of misunderstanding when the light was dark before, but now it seems impossible.

Then hit it!

Fisk gave an order: "Fight! Kill the disobedience and capture the prisoners!"

The young man from the Gulf of Riga who was eager to fight, was really benevolent, and suddenly encountered the "Three Shots of the Prairie" by the Ross cavalry.

Some people were pierced through the eyes and face on the spot, and the spiked armor-piercing arrow pierced the brain, killing them on the spot.

The arrow cluster pierced through the round shield, and the person behind the shield screamed in pain as the arm was pierced, and was also shocked by the arrow cluster stuck in the shield wall.

The beginning was a critical strike, with as many as 60 arrows serving the 20 people in front of them, followed by continuous shooting.

The besieged tried to take the initiative to attack, but the Ross cavalry who deliberately kept a distance backed back and shot to kill.

This is the indiscriminate killing of a group of fledgling young people by veterans of hundreds of battles. The poor ones cannot prepare chain armor because of their poverty. They can only use round shields as the only cover, and the round shields cannot cover up flaws everywhere.

The man who was hit by the arrow and twitched was lying on the mud, struggling to crawl and crawl, and the backup arrow missed the key point.

The recurve bows from the Pecheneg people are small in size and large in size, but the pounds are not low. If they kill at such a close distance, those people's round shields are useless.

There is no reason for Harold to pay for the recklessness of this group of young cubs, or that he has not died for so many years, and to a large extent it comes from disregarding his companions. For example, in the most dangerous one, he and his guys attacked a big businessman in Eastern Rome in Kherson and were killed by their servants. Instead of saving the besieged brother, he ran away decisively.

This time, look around you...

"Oops, am I going to die here?"

If he were a brave warrior, he would gladly face his end, but he was as cunning as a fox, even in this crisis moment, he resolutely squeezed into the center of the shield wall. Take a hit from a missed arrow.

The battle turned into a one-sided killing, because the Ross cavalry did not pierce armor for convenience, they deliberately kept their distance and continued to shoot with a large number of arrows.

Those who are surrounded are unable to move an inch, and must try to cover their bodies with shields, any flaws are fatal. The casualties could not be stopped at all. In the eyes of the Ross cavalry, they were like prey. The boredom of the past few days was well vented by this killing.

In the end, only seven shield bearers appeared to survive, along with three women huddled up against each other.

The former's shield was hit like a hedgehog by an arrow, while the latter three women were safe and sound.

"Pause!" Fisk gave an order, and Jianshi's violent catharsis came immediately.

He ordered again: "Surrender! Surrender if you understand what you say."

surrender? Easy to say. The young cubs witnessed a large number of deaths of their fellow villagers, and the warm blood soaked the land. Their pride just now was ruthlessly beaten to shreds. Those who survived were trembling, their faces were drawn out and their mouths trembled, and they could not even announce their surrender. Say.

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At least the Rus gave a way to live.

At this moment, old Harold felt disgusted as if he had eaten a lot of maggots. He was so angry at the recklessness of his subordinates that he showed no mercy for the large number of casualties, and even thought about venting his anger with a few feet.

"Nearly got killed by a bunch of young idiots..."

But now, the only one who can save his life is himself.

Come Harold climbed out of the last shield wall, hung his sword in his waist, and held up his hands to show no weapons.

"Stop fighting! Warriors! We won't fight anymore."

"It's ridiculous, you obviously chose to fight." Fisk glanced at the corner of his mouth and continued to ask: "You are the leader? Surrender?"

Old Harold hurriedly denied it, and then pointed to his gray beard and hair: "Warrior, do you think an old man is the leader? I'm just an ordinary armed traveler. That guy." He pointed to a man who was shot and killed. He opened his mouth and said, "His name is Bjorn, and he is the leader of our first team."

"A dead body? Also worthy of being called Bjorn?" Anyway, it was a good name for a bad street, and Fisk didn't care. "If you are willing to surrender, you will lose all your weapons."

In this way, Harold immediately complied and said with a smile: "Warrior! I know you are actually Russ. Don't kill me, keep me useful to you."

Fisk, who was riding a horse, remained arrogant: "You know what we are, why should you resist? You don't know what's going to annoy us? Danes, do you understand the current situation?"

Harold really didn't understand, so he had to fight haha ​​at this moment: "Even if I understand, they don't understand. I know a lot of things, keep me, and I will report to your leader. Warriors, you... You should always want to know something about Sri Lanka. Molensk."

Hearing that last sentence, Fisk's attitude immediately became ambiguous.

"Okay! Old man. You gave me a reason why I can't kill you, and I'll take you north. If you can provide a lot of information as you say, you'll be entertained. As for the others..."

Harold turned his head and glanced: "They? It doesn't matter whether I live or die."

"So heartless? You are also travelers who act together. It's still you! Tell me your name, and where you... come from."

A lot of things have to be buried forever, and this guy made a fool of himself and said, "We're from Riga, my name is Olaf."

"Okay, Olaf. At least you're smarter than your comrade."

Riga, Fisk is no stranger to this geographical concept. As Rurik's favorite general, and a fellow old Ross with a common ancestor, Fisk was able to learn a lot of advanced knowledge. He knew the trend of the coastline in Eastern Europe, not only the name of the place in Riga, but also its approximate location, but Ross did not communicate with the locals. Maybe this is an opportunity, UU reading www.uukanshu. Because this swamp is the source of the West Dvina River, and the river's mouth is Riga.

One prisoner is enough, not to mention this is a valuable prisoner.

The brothers couldn't let go of the words "you are cowards", the old warriors went into full combat mode, and those who raved must be held accountable for their words.

Fisk then signaled to a few brothers, and a team put down their bows and drew their steel swords collectively.

A powerful cavalry charge, trampling with iron hooves and slashing with steel swords, it was all over.

The cavalry tackled the battle like a wreck, and Harold saw it all as a witness and a bystander. He began to understand why those guys in Smolensk have been constantly losing blood due to cavalry strikes in recent years. I'm afraid it's not that those guys are stupid and weak, but that this group of Rus cavalry is too strong. A group of combative Danish boys were unilaterally shot and killed, and the cavalry had no "Nordic shame" and did not fight dignifiedly at all.

If Harold had been pedantic in spirit, he would have died a few years ago, and he was able to survive until now thanks to his laziness and cowardice. Just like when he received a lot of money from Pine Needle Manor, he did not listen to the command of the manor owner Brudeni during the decisive battle. He ran away with the money knowing that it was impossible to defeat the Rus army at that time. It can be said that he has no mercenary spirit.

He knew very well that if it was discovered that he was an enemy of Ross at one time, he would definitely lose his life because of the ferocity of the Ross people.

Fortunately, the guys who can know the inside story here were killed by the cavalry. He felt that he could continue to save his life in Ross under the alias Olaf, and even bring some new possibilities.

Only at this moment, he is very pleased with his aging. The white beard, white hair and the folds on his face changed his past appearance, which obscured his past.