Rise of Rurik

The cavalry were wandering by the river. Not far away was the smoke-filled hillside fortress, and on the other side was a seemingly peaceful village area.

The humiliated Normans resumed rowing, and Quentin and his cavalry blushed with anger on the riverbank. They responded with obscenities and watched helplessly as the longship sailed upriver.

Quentin was still feeling so humiliated after the operation. He held the reins and walked back and forth while the cavalrymen waited for the flag captain's order.

"Damn it! Let them escape. Ignore the fortress now, we don't have time to put out the fire! Let's take a break and go to the village area to arrest the rebels!"

These cavalrymen dismounted one after another, and some of them knelt down to check the food left by the fleeing Normans. There was also a vat of oats that had been violated and destroyed, and the wheat boiled into a lake of slurry.

"Sir." A soldier happily reported: "At least, we can have some hot food."

"Norman's? I don't have time to eat it! What if it's poisonous?"

"But my lord..."

"I want to eat you!" Quentin said angrily and kept stamping his feet. He took off his helmet to reveal slightly curly hair, pulled out his sword and shouted curses at the other side.

He knew that the Rhine River was a border, and it was now at the peak of the civil war. If his army could run wildly on the water, it would be able to rush into the territory of the Eastern Kingdom.

He said to himself, “Moses could part the furious Red Sea, but who can part this river?”

He thought again and told his men: "I have long heard that there is a big fishing village under the fortress. There should be many boats there. Even small boats. After we enter the village, we will punish the rebels and requisition all the boats. I can't tolerate those promises. Man is rampant and they must die!"

Angry words return to angry words, these words frightened many soldiers.

Without him, most of the flag soldiers led by Quentin are landlubbers. For example, there are only a handful of cavalry here who can swim.

But said the other side.

The fishing village of Landstein is now overcrowded. How many people have escaped? There are as many as five thousand!

There are bonfires everywhere, people resting everywhere, big trees are being cut down one after another, and new wooden sheds are under construction on a large scale.

Black Fox pulled back with the last brother and faced a messy scene.

The small Lland River is crowded with a large number of small boats. The entire fishing village of Koblenz is here. The small quay of Llandstein is now crowded with long boats. Lanhe has never been so noisy. New history was created. Black Fox was not happy at all. He had just been caught off guard by the Frankish cavalry. He ran away in an inelegant manner like a seal seeing a polar bear. It looked like He was so panicked that he would definitely be laughed at by his brothers.

Although it was a relief for the brothers to take off their pants and taunt the cavalry on the ship, it is undeniable that the Ross army has given up on Coblenz at this stage.

It can be said to be a tactical contraction, or it can be said to be an escape without a fight.

The soldiers who came ashore explained their experiences to their brothers who had withdrawn long ago, but all they received were complaints from their brothers.

"Can't you fight them? When have we defeated their cavalry?"

"It's better to at least kill a few and then retreat. It will look like you are defeated."

There were also some vulgar words, but the black fox ignored them.

He sat by the campfire to rest, and when he hadn't eaten, he made some hot food.

Eating the newly baked and slightly rough cake, even if it is coated with some honey, it has a very unpleasant taste.

Vardy and Eric came over. The two old guys were in a good mood.

"You're all here. Damn it, why did I hear someone call me a coward?! Ridiculous." The little fat man didn't want to shout loudly, and secretly complained to the old man.

Eric laughed and said, "It's just that some brothers are tough-talking. Now that we are standing in a safe place, it is natural that we can stand and talk without pain. There are all boats here now, and those guys who call themselves warriors can row over and fight the cavalry."

"They don't dare. Haha." Vardy comforted the little fat man: "At least they don't dare to go there alone. Now it depends on how the thirty brothers hiding will do it. I hope our Sven is despicable enough."

Suddenly "mean" was no longer a pejorative.

The Russian personnel stationed in Nassau were actually very mixed, and many of the soldiers in the army were Viking Saxons. Many people also lack the awareness of "upright duel", which makes them more willing to use some conspiracy.

This gentle man is not a pure old Russian, he is a hero from Unkrasbu, Sweden, a fellow from the ancestral home of Black Fox's family.

He hid in the village with thirty brothers and a crossbow.

The steel-arm crossbow is heavier, which is not a problem for warriors with thick arms who are good at paddling. They have brought the winch for winding, and when necessary, they can also forcefully wind it with their bare hands by stepping on it. The former is very time-consuming, and the latter is very hurtful to their arms.

Of course, there are also lightweight wooden arm crossbows and short wooden bows, but their power is much inferior.

The thirty brothers were divided into three groups, and three captains of ten commanded the men at hand.

They were asked to hunt like foxes, hiding and waiting for prey to appear, and then launching a sure-kill sneak attack at the right moment.

Quentin and his people knew nothing about the situation.

The Frankish cavalry finished their rest angrily and rode straight towards the "Deutsche Corner", the flat and wide area formed by the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine rivers. This place is convenient for farming and fishing. People's houses are lined up in rows. Almost all of them have haystack roofs. Some people are very particular about installing small stone walls for their homes. It is also common to install fences.

The cavalry was once in a menacing formation, but Quentin, who continued to advance, felt that the world was becoming more and more terrifyingly quiet.

His helmet was mounted with a saddle, and the sound of wind filled his ears. The sun is not bad today, and it shines warmly on your body. If you were wearing chain mail, you would be dazzling.

Are all the villagers hiding?

Before entering the village area, he made one last request: "Keep your eyes open! Find out all the people who are hiding! We spread out and finally gathered at the monastery. Take all the people you caught and send them to the monastery. Remember Do not kill indiscriminately and do not insult women.”

Even though the hands of Quentin and others were stained with blood during the previous liquidation operation, they maintained the bottom line of military discipline. To be fair, they did not attack any women, nor did they attack any priests.

The methods for ordinary farmers were rough. Those who seemed uncooperative were given a whip, and those who tried to resist were executed as "Norman accomplices."

They encountered no resistance along the way. Overall, the Frankish flag force seemed to have entered uninhabited territory after entering the Coblenz area. As for the incredible turmoil of their actions, all the problems lie entirely with Quentin, the flag captain.

The streets and alleys of the residential areas are messy and disorderly. Except for the open thoroughfares in the riverside area, there are no main roads in the residential areas, and there are mostly narrow paths. The roads are also the most common rough dirt roads.

There were ruts on the soft ground that looked like they were left recently. The scattered cavalry were among them. They could not hear the barking of dogs or the crow of roosters, let alone the movement of living people.

There are many signs that the people have fled completely, leaving behind an empty residential village.

There is no one in this huge village? ! How did they escape so quickly?

Koblenz is not a strange place. This place is considered a relatively densely populated place in the entire kingdom, but now it is as desolate as a desert island.

Many cavalry soldiers were inexplicably frightened. Their thighs were protected by round shields on both sides. They held the reins in one hand and the sword in the other. They began to worry that it was foolish for them to take off their armor so quickly that they now felt unsafe. At first, they stayed together with a few cavalry, but gradually became scattered.

The cavalrymen were calling each other to call their colleagues about their positions, and they were also calling to the houses on both sides, asking people who might be hiding to come out.

They were not worried about getting separated. The cross hung high on the specially built spire of the monastery was an extremely conspicuous landmark, and the scattered cavalry would eventually gather there.

But in the dark corner, the fully loaded crossbows were already staring at these unsuspecting cavalry...

The captain then divided his men into four groups. When it came to sneak attacks, they had to form a team of two for the chance of success.

One person shoots a horse, another person shoots a man. For the sake of success, there is even a team of multiple people, multiple crossbows aimed at one cavalryman.

The ambushing Ross soldiers made eye contact and started sneak attacks one after another.

The short and thick crossbow arrow penetrated the eye of the war horse at close range, and the single blow penetrated the skull. The tall war horse immediately fell to death, and also knocked down the cavalryman who was hit by the arrow.

The Ross warrior put down his crossbow for the time being, drew his steel sword and rushed forward, completing the final assassination cleanly. When they discovered that these horsemen were indeed so arrogant that they could not even pierce their armor and stomachs, their murderous intentions became even more serious.

"Boring!" After completing a sneak attack, Sven directly chopped off the head of the death cavalry, and even spat on the corpse. "You don't wear armor, and we use steel-armed crossbows to deal with you arrogant guys! Who are you looking down on?!"

Several sneak attacks were completed quietly, but the dying cries of the wounded still alerted many cavalrymen.

Quentin was guarded by many people, and he was alerted to an ambush when he heard the wailing.

When he finally realized that he was being reckless, three people suddenly emerged from the corner of the building in front of him. They were wearing white clothes with obvious blue stripes on them. The strange man was carrying something strange, and then there was a swishing sound of arrows missing.

A war horse was hit in the chest, and the cavalryman was overturned in pain.

However, the attacker suddenly disappeared. Even though the cavalry pursued him again, it was not known which house the enemy had fled to.

"Get out of the way! Find my enemies and kill them!" Quentin felt that he was even more insulted. He didn't bother to put on his helmet and led more than a dozen cavalrymen to run. However, the sword he waved was also aimed at the air.

However, more complex sneak attacks are still going on.

They even used wooden forks stuck in grass as weapons. The Russian warriors suddenly sprang out to knock down the horses, and their companions carrying tomahawks and swords suddenly came out and killed the enemy while the cavalry fell.

The Ross warriors were sprayed with blood. They dropped their bodies and started looking for new targets.

However, the layout of the fishing village is really complicated if it is said to be complicated, and it is really simple if it is said to be simple.

The cross of the monastery was a perfect marker for both sides in the secret war. When the retreat horn was heard, the brothers ran towards the monastery first, and then continued north to the river to get the reserved longboat and escape intact. .

In the cramped environment, the cavalry had no advantage. Quentin was so angry that all the cavalry simply rushed straight to the monastery.

Only the monastery is located in the open space in the middle of the fishing village. Cavalry began to gather here, waiting for Quentin to arrive here to organize. Everyone was miserable, and they didn't know where the enemy came from. Now that both men and horses were unarmored, the horsemen became a huge living target, and the enemy's bows and arrows were indeed sharp.

Just as Quentin was rectifying his beaten subordinates, a horn sound with a strange rhythm came to his ears.

The horn has extremely strong penetrating power, and blowing it at different rhythms means different signals.

"Tell everyone to gather in the monastery. Tell them there is a battle!" Sven ordered his men to blow the trumpet.

Three long tones and three short tones, Rurik deliberately taught them this. In Rurik's view, the three long and three short signals of SOS originally meant vigilance and situation. By extension, it also meant "prepare for combat". This signal can easily be reproduced with a horn horn.

The brothers understood by heart, and after winding up the strings one after another, they appeared at the edge of the monastery with crossbows ready to go. When they saw the wandering cavalry, they decisively launched a sneak attack and shot.

The arrow was lost inexplicably. The cavalry did not see the enemy, and their horses went crazy because of the arrow.

After finally seeing the enemy's figure, the shadow came to life in a flash. The cavalry who pursued found nothing, but were faced with the dilemma of being separated from the brigade and being assassinated again.

The cavalrymen who fell off their horses had no time to care about their injured horses. They drew their broad-bladed swords, held up their small shields, and stared nervously at everything around them.

Even so, there were still swift arrows coming.

The short and thick arrow was embedded in the small iron-covered shield. The soldier's hand was so shaken that it hurt. Only when he got up did he fully understand what kind of arrow it was.

If so, it can really be called an arrow.

The army of the Middle Kingdom has never suffered losses from crossbows, and this is the first time.

Quentin didn't want to be a target. He had dismounted and even hunched his back, frowning when facing the small shield "embedded" with thick arrows passed by his subordinates.

"This is the devil's arrow! It can actually break through iron?!"

"Sir, what should we do? They are nearby, let's rush in and kill them?!" someone asked loudly.

"No! Let me think about it."

"But my lord, there is no point in us being here any longer."

"Damn it." Quentin bared his teeth and looked at the situation around him. He didn't know if all the cavalry had gathered again. What he knew was that many people had been hit by sap and died somewhere.

The whizzing sound of missing arrows can still be heard in my ears, and the helpless horses have become a lost sight. Those evil men who did not hit people but only shot horses clearly did this intentionally.

Wait! This must be a Norman plot!

When Quentin wanted to understand, he realized that he had been slapped several times like a fool. He felt that there were many hidden enemies in the entire residential area. The Normans were indeed very cunning, and their past statements were all true. They were unwilling to fight openly. Today, they wanted to use a sneak attack to cripple the powerful Frank cavalry? !

All the buildings are threatened, and even the door of the monastery behind is locked. Will a group of soldiers suddenly come out and launch a sneak attack?

Quentin became more and more frightened as he thought about it, and quickly mounted his horse again: "Soldiers, don't worry about hurting the horses, we will withdraw with all our strength!"

Led by him, the cavalry who broke into the village rushed to the open area in the south as quickly as possible. All the cavalry that could be withdrawn gathered in one place, and Quentin counted the number of people. There were only seventy horses and more than eighty soldiers left.

Twenty of his men died in the village for no reason, more horses were broken, and now large infantry troops were arriving one after another.

The anxiety and fear were gone, and all Quentin had now was anger.

"Evil! Devil! This village is cursed!"

Behind him is the still-burning Koblenz Fortress, and the quiet village hides demons. When the newly arrived infantry learned of the cavalry's unfortunate experience, some were less eager to attack and more fearful of the unknown.

The soldiers all obey the flag captain's orders, and now flag captain Quentin is determined to enforce his privileges.

"All warriors! Prepare torches! Now, burn the entire residential area to the ground!"

He wanted to break the discipline he emphasized, and even if some sergeants questioned whether it was going too far, he took out King Lothair's charter that no mercy should be used against traitors and Normans.

"I know you are afraid that fire will engulf the monastery! Don't worry. The monastery has been occupied by devils, and there are a lot of devils in the entire residential area. Only fire can burn them to death. We will use fire to make Koblenz clean!"

He is justified no matter what, even though the Normans and the traitors, or even the so-called devils, have not clearly seen each other, and there has never been a real battle. The soldiers could only follow the flag captain's request, and then they began to prepare torches and lined up in horizontal lines to perform the so-called "flame purification".

"It's really strange, these guys don't enter the village anymore." Sven regretted not taking a few prisoners. He couldn't figure out what the enemy wanted, but there were a few injured horses lying in the open space at the entrance of the monastery.

Sven ordered the brothers to take the horse's leg off. There were too few opportunities to eat red meat these days, so the bloody horse's leg was very precious. The horses' hooves all have hoofs, and showing them to the boss can prove what the brothers have experienced.

The soldiers carried more than 20 horse legs and loaded crossbows, still thinking of continuing the sneak attack. They waited for a long time, until the sun was about to set, and everything seemed to be calm again.

Just when everyone was about to evacuate collectively, more intense smoke ignited in the south.

"Isn't it?!" Sven saw red flames rising blatantly into the sky, and even the thick smoke could not suppress them. It was obvious that the Frankish troops were setting fire!

"Black Fox really got it right. Haha!" Sven was surprised at first, and then stamped his feet happily. "Brothers, it's time to go, our final mission has been completed."

Seeing that many people seemed not to have heard, he patted a few casually: "Hey! Do you want to be burned to ashes? Let's go!"

On one side, residential buildings were burning on a large scale, and on the other side, the Russians were blowing the horn to retreat.

Thirty people sat in two long boats, carrying more than twenty fresh horse legs, and happily entered the main channel of the Lain River.

There were only a few of them, and they were not able to paddle quickly against the current. It was for this reason that Swain ordered the men to deliberately approach the dock to see the enemy's situation.

The entire settlement of Koblenz was engulfed in thick smoke, and the flames grew stronger and stronger, making the sunset look dim.

Quentin, who was venting his anger, witnessed the intensifying flames and kept chewing curse words in his mouth, cursing that both the Normans and the traitors were burned to death.

It was at this time that a soldier pointed out to him: "Sir, there are actually Norman ships in the river to the north!"

"What?!"

Quentin turned around and saw two longships heading north in a hurry, looking very mocking.

"Dammit, follow me to the shore. All bow-wielding soldiers, follow me!"

As fast as he could he gathered a handful of archers and cast from the shore at the drifting longship. The projectiles were meaningless, and the longships did not return fire. Sven deliberately moved the two ships out of the enemy's range, taking advantage of the opportunity to get a good look at the enemy's size. He is also an old warrior and can estimate the enemy's strength with his eyes. "What the escapees said is certainly true. There must be a thousand enemies. We were right not to fight them to the death."

Sven muttered to himself before conversing with his oarsmen. Everyone looked at the Franks who missed the arrows as if they were fools, and then everyone rowed upriver with all their strength.

As night fell, the two longships that had completed their mission finally arrived at the fishing village of Landstein, where bonfires were as dense as stars.

This place is full of refugees from Koblenz, and no one is in the mood to eat now, just because the lake in the direction of Koblenz is soaring into the sky, and the clouds are burned red, which is redder than the sunset. Even a fool realizes that something is wrong with the Koblenz home! Some people were so angry that they stamped their feet, some burst into tears, and some just fell into a coma.

Because the Black Fox who had withdrawn was already promoting and building momentum. The so-called Frank army was together. If they couldn't kill people, they would probably set fire to vent their anger.

The prediction came true! Black Fox was happy and regretful at the same time. The soldiers he arranged to withdraw were unscathed, and the more than twenty fresh horse legs left behind proved that they had fought against the cavalry. For this reason, some people began to use "horse legs" to tease the victorious Swain. Although the old guy didn't like this nickname, he couldn't stop others from calling him that.

How is the enemy? Who is setting the fire? !

Swain made it clear, and soon everyone who was paying close attention to the situation understood.

The people are angry again, anger causes hatred, and hatred makes them want to kill!

Looking at the people around him, Black Fox felt that they were clearly militiamen who could be used!

Insufficient troops were once a problem, but probably not anymore.

Their home was burned down by the enemy. What's the point of living if they don't stand up to resist? With the thinking of the north, such a shame must be seized as soon as possible to avenge.

Black Fox and his old buddies began to take action under this night...