Rise of Rurik

Regular Frankish troops would not attack villages, but pirates and bandits had no such concerns.

The Archdiocese of Trier and the surrounding areas have been peaceful for half a century, and there is no shortage of weapons. In fact, only the city of Trier had four hundred guards arranged by King Lothair, and the rest of the area was defenseless.

Another example is a town like Dawn Valley, which does not legally belong to the Diocese of Trier. Archbishop Hutto of Trier is too lazy to care about how the locals live.

But these villages arranged along the Moselle River are like fruit trees growing along the river, like big fat sheep.

The fact is that as long as the Russian army continues to plunder, they can eat freshly slaughtered roasted fat sheep in the Trier area.

Although the fog and rain have stopped, the whole world is still wet. The Ross soldiers spent a dry night in the town of Dawn Valley, but they still couldn't make a fire. Their clothes were only slightly dry.

Clothes were packed away, and the soldiers continued to row shirtless in large numbers.

The indigo camouflage on their bodies has been washed away, and each of the fair-skinned strong men with blond hair is rowing vigorously while still emitting steam from their bodies.

Although the fog and rain have stopped, the weather is still not good. The hazy weather makes people depressed. It is early autumn, and the peaceful residents naturally feel a chill, and an unknown sense of sadness arises spontaneously.

Each village delivers one-tenth of the wheat collected to Trier. Although the life of the villagers here is simple and even boring due to a series of strictly enforced rules and regulations, without the exploitation of the military noble lords, the taxes they pay It is lower than that of people outside the region.

Archbishop Hutto of Trier was an "ascetic" himself. Like the priests, he believed that extravagant life was blasphemy, and he did not know how much gold and silver should be used to worship God. Therefore, the balance of taxes collected was exchanged with other places, slowly in the form of gold and silver. balance.

Hutto therefore paid for the special garrison of Bruno's bannermen guarding Trier, giving them jingling silver and copper coins, and the church provided food.

The defenders also received the cash military pay issued by King Lothair. With double the income, it seemed that this was a good job that provided food, accommodation and additional allowances.

In fact, it was not the case. The mighty Frankish soldiers were confused. They were stationed here and could only eat oatmeal and dry bread every day. As for meat, they basically had no idea about it, and there were not many dairy products. All the church could provide was these meager grains. The defenders were prohibited from hunting by themselves. They went to the villages to buy cattle and sheep, which were not sold. They could only buy some eggs and cheese to improve their lives, and salt was extremely precious.

When the weather clears up, the Diocese of Trier will make every effort to prepare supplies for the winter.

There was a large amount of new wheat accumulated in the city, and the resident priests in each village were responsible for collecting tithes. Such a vertical governance method made the parish very highly organized. As a result, the tax collection work was done quickly and well. According to this system, they should be able to do the best military mobilization work, but they subjectively refused, at least they would never do it because of their pure beliefs.

This is just because the Diocese of Trier is stubborn and unlike the Diocese of Cologne, it is not flexible.

The priests had spent all their organizational superiority on collecting taxes and saying masses, and now the Normans came.

Another village was destroyed, and the Russians slaughtered the local villagers as easily as they slaughtered sheep. Those who escaped quickly did not pursue them, and the troops were supplied on the spot in the village.

Finally they started to light a fire and the damp clothes were propped up to dry. They took the captive women to the campfire to play with, and planned to release the captives tomorrow in accordance with Blue Fox's request of "doing nothing".

But the riverside area has become a large-scale sheep slaughtering site. People used the captured pottery to cook the captured wheat, and roasted the bleeding mutton over the fire. The hungry people ate the dripping blood regardless of whether it was cooked.

The farmer who fled yesterday had gone somewhere unknown, and the blue fox was too lazy to pay attention. On the new day, since the world was dry enough, arson became a natural thing.

He opened his arms and twisted upwards, shouting at the men holding torches: "Go and light a fire and burn everything. Then, let's go!"

Take out the burning sticks from the bonfire and throw them directly onto the haystack houses. The haystack was also set on fire, but the inside was still moist. The slow-burning haystack evaporated violent white mist first, and then became an open flame visible to the naked eye, and the smoke gradually turned black.

Yesterday's prisoners were released on the spot, but the cattle and sheep that could not be taken away were directly assassinated. The legs of lamb with good meat were chopped off and kept as rations for future operations. The sheep skins peeled off last night were also kept.

Behind Ross's fleet was a burning village, with black smoke rising upwards. Blue Fox didn't bother to consider whether such smoke and dust had alerted Trier City. He didn't care at all.

Rather than the fugitives reporting the attack, the plume of smoke in the sky first appeared strange.

In the peaceful city of Trier, few people looked into the distant sky, but the smoke was quite conspicuous. When someone noticed it, they immediately informed the bishop in the cathedral.

"Is there smoke in the north? It's like a forest burning? It's ridiculous, it's obviously been raining." Archbishop Hutto found his cross stick and walked out of the cathedral with his back hunched over.

Hutto was not too young. He had been a priest since he was a child. His piety was worthy of respect from other priests, but at such an age, it was impossible for him to be promoted to the pope.

The smoke in the distance was extremely obvious, as if there were cracks in the earth and flames were rushing from the ground.

"The forest is really on fire? Did lightning hit the forest? Or...fire spewed out of the cracks in the earth?"

The volcanic phenomenon is really strange. Hutto knew some ancient legends and believed that this was due to the impurity of people's hearts, which led Satan to take advantage of it. The devil from hell came out of the earth with the fire of purgatory to cause destruction. The disaster would eventually be suppressed by the power of sacred faith.

Hutto immediately met with Bruno, the captain of the garrison flag, to discuss the vision before them, and intended to send Bruno to send people to the lower reaches of the Moselle River to check out the situation. Considering that there might be gangsters at work, Bruno thought that he had been eating sour vegetables for more than half a year, and he was resentful of the priests and was too lazy to leave now unless he paid more.

"Okay, I'll give you extra perks."

"Give us brothers ten silver coins each and give me a pound. Hand over twenty sheep and we will improve our lives. Otherwise, we will not go."

Hutto closed his eyes and secretly criticized the greed of these people, and finally agreed. "Okay, you send someone first, and I'll give it to you."

"No. You have to pay first."

"What? Are you worried that I will refuse to pay?"

Flag captain Bruno just smiled and said nothing, the distrust in his heart was reflected on his smiling face.

But Hutto is indeed unhappy with his reward, and Bruno's attitude is clear. The brothers can go and see what happens. If they don't get the fat sheep and hold on to the bonus, they won't go.

Archbishop Hutto cannot say anything, otherwise he will be guilty of arrogance among the seven deadly sins. This requires discussion with other cardinals to determine whether to give, how much to give, and when to give.

Even as this was going on, the Ross fleet was still advancing.

Trier lingered for a whole day, and on the next day, they saw a brand new smoke column rising, like a beacon, and seemed to be approaching the city of Trier.

The priests finally felt the fear, and the flag captain Hutto could no longer ignore it. After all, the latter was a general of the regular army. He realized the danger and first ordered his armed subordinates to be alert and enter a state of war preparation.

No one knew what was approaching Trier, and no scouts or escapees reported what was happening. In fact, hills and forests obscure what is happening in the north and block escape routes for those fleeing attacks on villages.

The fugitives must flee to Trier for refuge, but unfortunately their speed cannot match the Ross longship.

From Koblenz to Trier, there are two hundred kilometers of winding waterways. The Moselle River in the dry season is gentle enough, and although there is light rain, it has no substantial impact on the flow rate.

The Blue Fox group has reached the final stage. As they cross a large bend in the river, a riverside city with obvious stone walls appears - like the old city of Trier on the east bank of the river.

The world suddenly opened up, and the warriors on the oars screamed and shouted with excitement. They knew very well that the opportunity to make a fortune was right in front of them.

Blue Fox looked very calm after many battles, but Black Fox, his younger brother, was so excited that his arms were shaking.

"Silver coins! Gold coins! They're all ours. I'll get rich immediately and I can do anything I want." Black Fox spoke incoherently as if possessed.

Seeing this, the blue fox rebuked calmly: "You have to kill the sheep before eating the meat. Be careful not to get the horns on it. Don't try to kill the enemy yet, it's not your chance yet."

That's all. Blue Fox supported the strange beast on the bow of the ship and shouted to the ships behind: "Get your weapons ready! Take action as soon as you land! Now hang up the cross flag again to deceive them! Let's go! Remember to be fast."

The cross flag was flying again on the mast, showing that they were actually a fleet that believed in God. People in the distance cannot clearly see the outline of the ship, and they know little about the Norman longships. They know what a cross is most, and they naturally have a good impression of it when they see the cross flag, so they are less vigilant. Little did they know, the people on the boat were all evil people.

There is a small open-air market on the small pier by the river, where fish, eggs and some vegetables are traded on a small scale. The commerce in Trier was negligible, but the priests opposed commerce but it was necessary, so they allowed trading at the city gate.

The few people looked at the approaching fleet with curiosity and dullness, without any fear because of the flags flying.

Suddenly, the ship forcibly washed up the beach. The first group of blond and shirtless men bravely disembarked from the ship holding round shields and rushed towards the market.

The conflict happened so suddenly that it wasn't until someone's head was cut off that others realized the disaster was coming.

There were loud screams and cries for a while, and the wandering civilians instinctively ran towards the city gate. The guards guarding the gate were watching the fleet with the mentality of watching the excitement. Faced with the sudden killing, they did not want to draw their swords, but closed the door immediately.

The blue fox looked worried: "Damn it, I have to seize the opportunity quickly. Shooter, shoot the guy who gets in the way."

Soldiers holding crossbows fired arrows toward the city gate. The first batch of people hit by the arrows fell down one after another. Many of the injured with arrows stuck in their backs continued to flee in panic.

Some lucky ones had already rushed into the city, and there were indeed more than 200 people crowded at the gate. One side wants to seal the door, and the other side is trying to squeeze in to survive.

How could a few guards withstand the pushing and pushing of so many people? The instinct of survival brought powerful strength.

The heavy wooden door was forced open by Trier's own peaceful residents, and behind them were the Ross Berserkers who were killing madly.

Blue Fox was overjoyed when he saw it. He didn't expect the raid to go so smoothly.

"It went so well. No need for a battering ram at all."

All the landing warriors joined the siege, and the gate facing the river in Trier was quickly filled with Rus' warriors. The residents blocking the door delayed the soldiers' advance, and the hacking and killing further increased the chaos. The corpses became obstacles, and it was impossible to close the door. The first Rus warrior stepped on the corpse and rushed into the city gate with a bloody battle ax held high.

At the same time, flag captain Bruno, who noticed the unusual shouting, came with more than a hundred subordinates to check the situation. They were completely unaware of the situation until they saw a large number of civilians running in the streets and alleys towards the safe East Gate.

People were crying and running, chanting words like Satan, danger, and murder.

Bruno immediately grabbed a frightened man. The man pointed tremblingly at Simon, who faced the river, and muttered: "Barbarians are coming off the boat! They are killing people everywhere."

It sounded like his head was being pounded. Bruno was shocked and felt that the troops he had on hand might not be enough.

Fight or flight? At the critical moment, even if his life in Trier was not good for more than half a year, the honor of the military drove him to lead his brothers to fight against the enemy.

Bruno drew his sword: "Warriors! Fight against the barbarians, follow me!"

Although the soldiers were surprised, they showed their heroic qualities in times of crisis and resolutely defended the city of Trier.

Only two people were ordered as messengers to immediately mobilize most of the troops from the military camp guarding the royal palace, and then planned to arrange a hundred-man team to guard the church in the southern area of ​​the city.

Bruno decided to defend the streets to buy time for reinforcements. He charged forward with fearless momentum, and soon saw a steady stream of barbarians breaking in.

They were a group of shirtless ruthless men, all of whom had blond hair but were visibly different from the locals.

At least many of Bruno's men wore leather armor inlaid with iron plates. In order to make the attack faster, most of the people on Blue Fox did not wear armor.

The two armies met in the streets behind the city gate. There was no time to think anymore, and a fight ensued.

"Shield wall!" Someone shouted in Norse, and then a solid wall suddenly appeared.

This scene really startled Bruno. He didn't care about anything and took the lead in charging with his broad-bladed sword high. More than a hundred people fiercely charged at the shield wall.

Hand-to-hand combat begins, and all that remains is the killing of real men. With thrusts and slashes, many Russian soldiers continued to fight regardless of their wounds even without armor. The shield wall advanced steadily, and the Frankish defenders were suffering casualties.

More Rus invaded the gate, and Blue Fox noticed the melee inside the city and realized his recklessness.

"Quick! Just put on your armor and chop! Remember, the person in front is lying down to be a stepping stone, and the person behind is jumping over to break the formation."

A group of extremely strong ruthless men must be able to withstand the daily feasting and feasting. They urgently put on heavy armor, their helmets only exposed their eyes, and rushed into the city gate with two axes in their hands.

But it is said that some warriors raised their strung crossbows above their heads and fired, killing the enemy first and then disrupting the enemy's line.

Bruno was struggling to hold on. He thought he should be able to carry it until the reinforcements arrived, but some black shadows actually rose into the sky.

With majestic shouts, the five heavily armored warriors stepped on the backs of their classmates and "flyed" into the ground formation, followed by a frenzied slashing attack.

He even brought down multiple enemies, and then just got up and slashed randomly.

How did Bruno expect that these savages had such tricks? Twenty heavily armed berserkers completed the leap one after another. The Frank army blocking the gate was in chaos, and multiple flaws appeared. The Ross army took the opportunity to complete a fatal charge.

The Viking hook ax forcibly broke Bruno's unprotected calf, and the wound went deep into the bone. He instinctively slashed at the lying armored warrior, which was obviously just a scratch on the armor.

Bruno was brought down by the hook axe, and then his face was smashed.

The flag captain Bruno died in the battle, and the Ross army was in an uninhabited territory.

No one knew that they had killed a flag captain, and the Ross army entered the city. They clearly saw two tall stone buildings, and immediately rushed towards the largest one, the Royal Palace.

But the blue fox noticed the cross on top of the smaller building.

"Everyone follow me! Go to the church!" He called to his old follower Wadi, gathered nearly 300 people, and ordered Black Fox to follow him closely and go straight to the church. And "Big Tooth" Eric led another group of brothers to continue to kill the biggest one.