Rise of Rurik

The latest website: "The enemy is coming! All stand up and prepare to meet the enemy!"

The centurion ordered his subordinates without changing his face, and the armored soldiers finally stood up from their sitting and lying state.

Times have changed, and when a warrior has the opportunity to acquire thicker armor, they don't hesitate to wear it for a decisive battle. It's just that the heavy armor is like a huge weight weighing on the shoulders on both sides. It is better to sit as much as possible before the battle. There were no soldiers lying down, but he didn't want the cloth robe he put on outside to be completely blackened by the mud.

The soldiers stood in front of each other, put their shields against their chests, and pulled out a steel sword to prepare to fight.

Those warriors armed with a crossbow are unparalleled in the winding operation.

Or simply wind the wooden-arm crossbow, and then turn to the heavier steel-arm version, and then use a portable winch to buckle the thick tendon string to store power.

And the thirty torsion slingshots that were brought ashore, and they became battery turrets loaded on small trolleys.

"Install cast iron bombs! Oil the chutes!"

The manipulating soldiers immediately carried out the orders of King Rurik who was in the formation.

As for why he didn't use the javelin, it was because the javelin weapon was consumed a lot during the half-year war, although it could be recycled, but the constant wear and tear made Rurik unwilling to waste it now.

However, the reserves of conical cast iron ammunition are very large, just because of its short range and great close-range power, it is really a treasure for fierce battles at sea, and it may not be suitable for use in land warfare.

Unless you put the enemy closer.

The rain fell on the oiled cable and was immediately spread out, the torsion slingshot slide was coated with a layer of semi-solidified seal oil, and even the charged hemp rope was smeared with a layer of assault.

The soldiers were all wet. If there was not a big battle today, no one would be willing to stand in the autumn rain and wait.

Their wait was not in vain, and the battle was about to begin.

Even if everyone saw the scale of the enemy, it was as strong as Ragnar, who reported yesterday, said.

With all the loot plundered from the countryside thrown onto the longboat, Ragnar and his pals had nothing to worry about. They joined the front lightly, but were out of tune with the Ross Army.

Ragnar's team is the real Vikings, and Rurik's legion has already surpassed it. For the former, many people think that the wet clothes are too obtrusive, so they go into battle directly shirtless.

He himself just put on a layer of chain mail, and half of his subordinates were shirtless and deliberately displayed the terrifying tattoos on their bodies, and with some mud, it was like a group of monsters burrowing out of the dark earth.

Seeing the Danish allies joining the army, Rurik's eyes widened and he saw a crowd of strange and ruthless men.

Ragnar approached Rurik with a sword and smiled: "Look, the enemy I said has arrived."

"It's here. There are many troops, but unfortunately they are all peasant soldiers."

"They are seeking their own death, and we can share the glory of blood sacrifice."

Hearing that, Rurik pouted and shook his head lightly, and asked, "So, your people are shirtless? No matter how much you despise them, consider that they came with the purpose of killing."

"Would you advise my soldiers to wear armor? No." Ragnar was full of confidence: "Everyone has their own destiny, and if they die, it is destiny. If I want to sacrifice Odin in blood, I have to fight in pure form. It's a pity you didn't prepare a jug of mushroom soup for me."

"Berserker! I understand." Rurik was silent: "Let your men join the army, and we will fight together. I hope the enemy will take the initiative to attack."

The Russ Army is the main force in the coalition army. Among them, there are more than 600 elite troops drawn from the five flag teams. They are the backbone of the army.

Ragnar's team joined it, so the coalition made up a main battle force of 1,000 people.

However, the heavy armored standing soldiers with bear heads on their heads, their strong and terrifying heroics were not easily exposed to the enemy.

As in past battles, there are always strong teams as tactical reserves.

Rurik was determined to follow the tried-and-true tactics, even though this time his forces were significantly lower than the enemy's.

And look on the other side of the battlefield.

For many Flemish peasants and soldiers, they have traveled in the past few days, and I am afraid they will not be able to travel this far in a year. As a settled farmer, except for grazing and farming, he would not leave the village on weekdays, just because hiking is really unnecessary.

They wear more rudimentary leather boots, and many peasants and soldiers are barefoot even now. Or they are used to being barefoot on weekdays, and the thick calluses on the soles of their feet face the soft mud, which is not extreme.

They were still very tired, and it would have been worse if they ate some dry food in the morning.

The fatigue of the army is known to Baudouin, Count of Flanders, and all his fief knights are complaining.

The army was incapable of procrastinating, and the rations they carried in their warehouses were insufficient. For fear of the Normans fleeing early after looting and taking measures to retaliate, the lightly armed army had no time to rest at all. For the Mann army, the short time when the formation was established was the time for them to rest.

How to fight? At least the Normans were ready to fight so that Baudouin didn't worry about their escape.

Out of prudence, he originally wanted to chat with the leader of Norman for a while, to figure out his specific identity, the so-called mutual registration number, and it would not be too late for a decisive battle.

This is how noble battles are supposed to be. Seeing that their enemies were well-dressed, presumably even though they were barbarians, they had to abide by some rules when it comes to fighting.

Baudouin ordered the army to stand and rest, and immediately summoned his own knights of the fief, asking one of them to stand up bravely and approach the enemy as a messenger to chat.

This is simply a life-threatening work, and everyone naturally refuses to do it.

"You don't want to go? Do you want me to go? If they attack me, wouldn't it be over?"

Baudouin himself made his concerns clear for everyone, but even so the knights remained silent.

"Looks like you're still reluctant to go. Then don't go, there's really nothing to talk about with the barbarians. Get off your horses, all of you, these special Normans have powerful arrows, don't get on your horses and be targeted by them. "

What Baudouin said is very reasonable. The defeated soldiers said that Antwerp was killed by arrows. Although he didn't understand that the Russ army had such a magical weapon as the crossbow, he also judged that the enemy had a sharpshooter, and that all nobles were given priority to strike.

Those knights did not dare to joke about their own lives, and they acted as infantry units, personally commanding their retinues and peasant soldiers.

The country of Flanders participated in the battle in a very traditional medieval mode of sending troops into formation, that is, each nobleman led his own soldiers and then formed a long snake formation.

The cooperation of the various arms and the tactical reserve do not exist.

In other words, there is only such a way of arranging troops, which is fair to every noble, and it is also the high-level nobles who can manage the entire army at a low cost without chaos.

It's been half a century! Since Flanders was annexed by the Franks, there have been no major wars in this land, and even skirmishes are rare.

Baudouin's father ceded the land and paid tribute in exchange for the Vikings who stole Durist from making troubles. When Baudouin was in his turn, he frequently exchanged money offensives in exchange for Lothair and Ludwig's appeasement at the same time.

They have never fought a large-scale war. Although the recruitment of 3,000 troops is not the limit of the Counties, Baudouin is very proud, because he has achieved a feat that his father has never done—organized 3,000 troops and Norman pirates. decisive battle.

"This is our most glorious battle! Whether it's the Franks! Or the Frisians! We defend our faith, our land! God is with us!"

Like a one-man show, Baudouin, who also dismounted, called on the soldiers to be brave.

It is true that the huge army was inspired by these inspiring slogans. Those poor, ignorant, and extremely simple farmers and shepherds, seeing their Count himself standing in the army and fighting side by side with everyone, the feeling of being valued is really unprecedented.

Even an old man in black appeared in front of everyone. The bishop of Ghent came in person, and he took a group of young priests, carrying a huge black cross, and patrolled in front of the army.

A little priest held an urn full of holy oil in his arms, and the bishop held a cypress branch dipped in oil and poured it on the soldiers, muttering words in Latin.

Paul Feder is the regional bishop of St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent, and in principle, he is under the management of Bishop Alberg of Utrecht.

Although Ghent's St. Peter's Abbey can be upgraded to St. Bavo's Cathedral, its current status is not high. Bishop Feder hopes to have some merits, so that he can independently establish an archdiocese, so that he can also be promoted to the bishop of the archdiocese and reach the pinnacle of his life.

Therefore, if the Count annihilates a huge army of barbarians in one fell swoop, it is equivalent to his own achievement.

Bishop Feder has such a utilitarian nature that he took the risk to join the battlefield, that is, he has always been very low-key when acting with the army. After all, he is disgusted with war in principle.

He personally anointed the army with oil and blessings, and even if a soldier was dripped with a little oil star, he would receive a great blessing.

The Count Baudouin was happy to see all this, and seeing that the Normans had no movement for the time being, he just happened to do a good job of the pre-war ceremony.

Such a strange move caused Ragnar, who was ready for battle, to be dissatisfied.

The two kings murmured in the coalition.

"Rurik, what are the monks doing? A strange ritual?"

"It's a ritual. That way they'll be invulnerable." With that, Rurik laughed wildly.

Ragnar understood: "A boring ceremony. Let's just keep waiting? Since it's a ceremony, I can't wait to drink some sacred mushroom soup."

"Let's get ready for battle. I'm not going to attack, I'll just wait for the enemy to charge. Let's play a nice defensive counterattack. Remember, try to capture those monks in black robes when the fight is over."

"Is it necessary?" Ragnar asked in confusion.

"Can catch them and wriggle into a burger to surprise that northern sage."

"You still think highly of that old man who is almost sixty years old in Esquill? That's fine. Let me listen to you."

For the Army of Flanders, there is no longer any hesitation.

Baudouin chatted with the bishop in person, and then issued the battle order. With his sword pointed straight ahead, the whole army burst out with a spirited roar.

With a wide variety of weapons, they launched a group charge against the Norman army in white.

Although there are no rules and tactics to speak of, it is like a large group of wild boars, and the power of the pigs should not be underestimated.

They were huge in strength, advancing rapidly through the muddy field in dense formations.

Seeing that the enemy was so brave and so stupid, the soldiers of the Rus army were greatly relieved.

The resting ships received orders from the Bullhorn, and the sailors who stayed behind immediately pulled the wedge of the torsion slingshot, and the charged slingshot immediately fired the javelin.

Only the fleet can fire javelins, and the slingshots are fired in turn by the sailors. Objectively, a denser barrage of javelins is formed above the heads of the coalition forces. They swirl and fly towards the charging enemy with a strong buzzing sound, followed by death.

The unarmored peasant soldiers were stabbed by the javelin, and they were nailed directly to the mud, and even a javelin smashed through two people.

Even wearing chain mail or leather riveted iron armor, it is useless under the powerful potential of the javelin.

The sudden loss shocked the army of the country, but everyone couldn't stop, and they didn't want to be trampled to death by the brothers behind, so they could only continue to charge with their mouths open.

With the Count Baudouin and his armored cronies among them, he could of course choose to watch the battle from a distance, but his brother-in-law was killed and the wealthy Antwerp was in ruins.

However, the Russ army shooters who were taking their time at work deliberately put the charging team in, giving them a deadly argumentative shot.

The cast-iron projectile smashed people into blood, and the arrows hit the people precisely, eliminating the ability to fight on the spot.

Talking about salvos, those who charged the most fiercely by the Boguo Army suffered heavy casualties.

Of course, the Russ still had only one chance. They finished the launch and retreated to the shield formation behind them.

The momentum of the army's charge was curbed for a while, and some casualties were paid, and the hand-to-hand combat finally began.

The Boguo army used tomahawks, short spears, day's sticks and swords, stabbing and ramming. They had a lot of soldiers, and faced with the Russ-Danish coalition, which formed a tight shield formation, they literally turned the battlefield into a can of herring, and it became an unfortunate situation where people faced each other.

Now, without Rurik's orders, his subordinates kill the enemy step by step.

The enemy's weapon crossed the shield and hit his armor. The pain was really painful, at most, it was a bruise and an internal injury.

The situation of the enemy is different. The Ross warrior stabs forward frantically. The steel sword does not obstruct, piercing the unarmored enemy. Every stab is a **** action.

It was just a short-term confrontation, and I thought that I could overwhelm the Norman front with the advantage of the huge force. Baudouin completely miscalculated, because at most the opponent's front moved a little later, and the whole remained motionless.

The chaos continued, and the Rus-Danish coalition resolutely maintained the front line, although there were casualties, which were almost from the Danish soldiers who insisted on going into battle.

Although Rurik himself did not participate in the battle of the front line, he was directly behind the front line, directing the retreating shooters to project into the air, and also sent a signal to the ships behind to install cast-iron projectiles to continue slingshot projectiles.

The arrows never stopped, and the arrows rained down with deadly iron hailstones. The Boguo army, which had formed a honeycomb formation, not only suffered a large number of casualties, but its head was also smashed with holes.

He was hit on the head by a cast iron bullet that fell from the sky, and his skull was shattered even when he was wearing a tin helmet.

Unexpectedly, the battle turned into such unfortunate appearance, and Baudouin could only scream in despair. The formation was too dense, and everyone seemed to be squeezed into a can. The Norman army formed a hemispherical defense line with its back against the dock. The army of the Boguo Kingdom wanted to squeeze out a breakthrough, but the sword was stabbed back abruptly by the sword.

What is even more tragic is that the army has begun to retreat, and the number of deserters is increasing.

"No retreat! All the knights restrain their subordinates, follow me to continue the fierce battle!"

Baudouin's roar was drowned out by the noise of the battlefield. What he didn't know was that, just behind the Norman army, there were the Baron of Groningen and fifteen knights from Utrecht who were already standing in their own ranks. Opposite.

Rurik did not let these people participate in the battle. The so-called Dutch Army formed by them, under the leadership of Earl Henry Nassau, was watching the battle, or if the front was not collapsed, they had no need to go into battle at all.

But they are standing here, as long as they are not against the Rus-Danish coalition, they are tantamount to war against Baudouin.

Seeing the strange tactics of the Norman army from a distance, they noticed the major disaster in the country of Flanders. Those soldiers were dying in large numbers. On the other hand, the Norman army had almost no casualties.

Even the Norman army had a considerable reserve, the ruthless men with bear heads so awe-inspiring that they suffocated.

With the new signal from Rurik, all fire support operations with arrows, projectiles, and javelins were suspended.

It's not that the arrows are exhausted, but that the chaos has continued for a while, and the enemy is exhausted.

Rurik turned his head sharply: "Grunde!"

"exist!"

"Protrude from the right flank with berserkers! Quickly surround the enemy's rear!"

"As ordered!"

As a result, more than a hundred people in heavy armor stood up one after another. They didn't use round shields, but mostly used tomahawks with blades, thorns and spears to fight. This weapon has the same meaning as the Flemish Army's Good Day Rod, after which it is more lethal.

There are prisoners of war, there are hand axes, and there are swords.

An additional 300 people joined the Berserkers, who were the shooters just now, and the remaining standing army fighters.

The tactical reserve team had as many as 400 people. They rushed out from the left flank, slashing violently against the unsuspecting enemy, like a meat grinder.

All the Berserkers such as Grund, they are truly invulnerable, the enemy's spear is deformed, the sword is bent, and even the wooden handle of the axe is broken, which cannot injure the Berserker in the slightest.

On the contrary, Rian's stick rammed abruptly, which could make the Berserker step back. Unfortunately, individual successful defenses cannot avoid the collapse of the entire formation.

Like a wedge drilled into the wood, the formation of the Counties of Flanders has been torn apart.

As a result, the peasant soldiers and a few knights in the back ran away without caring about anything.

The army inside the formation had already been hit by the Norman army, and it happened that Count Baudouin was among them.

"My lord! We are surrounded!" Some knights shouted desperately.

What else could poor Baudouin do? The enemy is the Normans, and the measure for the surrender is to cut the sacrifice to the sky.

"Keep fighting! God is with us!"

At this moment, he can only cry in such despair...