Rise of Rurik

As Koblenz continued to burn, people's joy at successfully escaping quickly turned into despair and loss.

My home is gone, what should I do next? !

Father Bachbert couldn't understand why the troops loyal to Lothair set fire to it, and now even the sacred monastery was burned to the ground.

He was bald and tried to hide his pain. When he saw Father Conrad, who was maintaining order, the two old guys simply hugged each other and cried.

They were all devout priests, and when they thought of the monastery being maliciously destroyed, and when they thought that those troops were not even as good as the Normans, they could no longer hide their cries.

"What are those two old men crying about? They look like two women." Old Eric glanced at them and muttered in confusion.

Wadi threw firewood into the bonfire and muttered casually: "Cry. My family has been destroyed, so I can only cry."

"If someone demolishes my home and finds an opportunity, I will execute the attacker's entire family. Cry?! How can I cry to death for the attacker?"

"But they are priests. As servants of God, murder is a grave sin."

"Really? We also believe in their gods." Old Eric shook his head with a grimace, "I don't want to be a coward. We might as well continue to put up the altar."

"That's not the case. Only God's servants are pedantic. Besides, who can control us?"

"So?" Old Eric looked at the old man: "Our little fat guy went to negotiate with that Robert, and he must be organizing a counterattack. It's us who are the old civilians, and we are the ones who fight back. Savior? In my opinion We are the saviors.”

"Who knows?" Wadi shrugged: "The brothers who came back have explained the enemy's situation. We have to find a way to kill them all!"

"Yes! Behead them all and throw the bodies into the river and float them to the sea. I heard that according to their beliefs, the souls of those whose heads are missing cannot go to heaven. This is how we will take revenge!"

"That's not necessarily true." Vardy shook his head, turning his head slightly with a fierce look on his face: "Why not give Ludwig upstream a gift."

"what gift?"

Wadi began to decapitate with his knife, and then roared at the top of his lungs: "Give him a thousand heads."

"You're so cruel. I didn't expect you to be so cruel."

"if not?"

Wadi is a Slav of Pomeranian descent. After many twists and turns as a slave, he became a general of the County of Nassau. After surviving this crisis, he will definitely be made a baronet. Once you have a title, you are not subject to others and can have your own opinions.

Especially this Koblenz crisis.

The physical condition of the little fat Black Fox means that he cannot fight hard. He has a good mind, but what he lacks most now is the experience in commanding frontal battles.

The boy needs the help of the old guys. The most important thing he needs to consider now is to determine what kind of attitude he should take and plan a general direction and a big strategy. Then the brothers will help him implement it.

"Still chatting?"

The speaker was the black fox, and behind him stood Robert and a total of five other knights.

Two knights from the Hesse Mountains, and three knights from the Koblenz Mountains who had recently fled with their families.

"Just talking about what to do in the future." After saying that, Wadi pulled Old Eric to stand up.

"We had a chat, and now we get together to chat. We are all warriors, now let's talk about how to fight."

It seems that the young Black Fox has really become a battle-experienced general. Maybe he has the potential in this area. He did learn something from King Rurik of Rus, and the two of them looked forward to him coming up with new ideas.

Tonight, Black Fox took over the responsibilities of his wife's title and negotiated with six other nobles as the Count of Coblenz-Nassau-Leingau.

The Ross army stationed there has sufficient combat experience, and the only other person with experience is Robert, who is about to leave.

Count Robert of Laingau, as a senior military noble, could mobilize an army of up to 3,000 men in his heyday. Of course, his elite is his five hundred cavalry. The vassal knights took their retinues to form a "cavalry tactical team". These people could organize two hundred cavalry. Finally, Robert took out his three hundred elites, and at that time, five hundred came to Ingau heavy cavalry to fight north.

At that time, Henry, Baron of Nassau, also brought all his cavalry, including his only two knights, and gathered fifty people before heading north with the lord. Unlike those knights, Nassau has a certain degree of autonomy.

This happened exactly two years ago.

Two years have passed very quickly, and now the host and guest have changed places. The former enemies have become not only allies, but also the leaders of the war.

Nassau may be weak but also strong! It is a huge population that grabs the current share.

Llanstein is the mouth of the Llan River, and the deep Llan River basin is the main body of Nassau. The long mountain valleys and plains gathered more than 7,000 people in a short period of time. According to Viking tradition, it would not be possible to gather an army of 3,000 people from it. question. However, there are many prerequisites for these farmers to join the army. The most important thing is whether they are willing to fight the enemy desperately.

If the lord summoned the local peasants to fight, the peasants would definitely bring their own dung forks, threshing flails, and short spears, and follow the lord's elite. They would not necessarily fight hard, but they would definitely wave the flag and shout. Your life is your own, and it is up to the elite lords to fight bravely and fiercely, unless the war really harms the property of the peasants.

Now, the refugees in Koblenz have an absolute reason to fight.

The knights who escaped could be said to have truly escaped death. Those farmers who had seen the Middle Kingdom's army deliberately killing people, after some encouragement, the sparks in their hearts turned into flames.

The farmers wanted revenge, so they used the farm tools they brought back as weapons. If not, they cut down a small tree and sharpened it to make a whistle stick.

Overnight, nearly a thousand peasant warriors emerged from the Koblenz refugees alone. Of course, no one is optimistic about the combat effectiveness of these people. They cannot confront the armored enemy head-on. Unless the enemy retreats, these peasant soldiers can join in the downwind battle and beat down the drowned dogs.

At least they have a lot of momentum! Coupled with the peasant soldiers mobilized from Nassau, it is obviously no problem to make up the previous two hundred people.

Who is their commander? Robert couldn't be more suitable.

The Earl of Yingao led everyone to defeat the enemy who burned down their home. The two priests endorsed the Earl's righteous deeds. The earl has some elite troops and five knights to assist him. With these elite troops, he can finally gather up to 1,400 people.

Although more people do not mean stronger combat power, the Nassau side does have ships that can quickly transport them to the other side of the river to launch an attack.

However, if there is a beach landing-style battle, no matter how you think about it, the Nassau-Lehengau side will show its weakness to the enemy.

Of course Black Fox knew that he could send a boat downriver to summon reinforcements, but he chose not to do so.

Is the situation so dangerous that reinforcements must be called? What will others think of me?

The young fat man got angry and decided to use his existing power to defeat the enemy as much as possible!

A group of military generals gathered together. Not far away was Coblenz, which continued to burn. They worked out a method of warfare.

People who have experienced panic need to continue to rest, but the Ross Army will not rest for a night.

Three hundred warriors were assembled at Landstein at the mouth of the river, and ten longships were ready to go.

"Then it depends on your people. You have to torture them until they have no peace!" Black Fox said a few final words to Wadi.

"Don't worry. If we don't have an easy time, they won't have an easy time either. Let's go."

Three hundred soldiers boarded the ship one after another, and those with a discerning eye noticed that they carried a large number of crossbows and even several special heavy weapons.

It was a torque slingshot temporarily unloaded from an armed cargo ship anchored in Nassau Village. As the main battle weapon of the big ship, the six-seat slingshot has an unparalleled tactical advantage in this battle. However, the big ship is not suitable for today's combat mode that emphasizes maneuverability and flexibility. .

Six longships had torsion slingshots mounted on their bows, which could fire javelins, cast-iron projectiles, and even multiple light arrows.

They have an excellent range advantage, and coupled with the Russian army's tradition of using bows and arrows, the Black Fox wants to bully the enemy with its own advantage.

Vardy led his brothers into action. At the same time, the fire in Coblenz had been burning all night, and the smoke from the open fire was still slightly reduced. Only the fire at the fortress was about to extinguish naturally.

Quentin, who fantasized about punishing traitors, purging the Normans, and plundering some property for military supplies in Coblenz, was greatly disappointed by the situation.

Even the vast number of Frank warriors stood outside the fire, and those with sharp eyes saw the cross at the monastery spire crumbling in the smoke, and they were all judging themselves.

The soldiers could only camp on the spot, with the fire on one side and the news of the cavalry loss on the other. In addition, they saw the Norman ships going upstream openly twice in a row, but they lacked the ability to counterattack. regret.

The soldiers were exhausted from the continuous march. They lay down and fell asleep. When they woke up, it was daylight.

This was when most of the Frankish army was at its weakest. They didn't even wear armor, and only had cloth linings lying around.

The Ross army stationed in Nassau knew nothing about this, but Vardy brought his brothers to deliberately cause trouble, and it was not too late.

They carried horns and two drums. These tools for cheering and communication have now become special weapons for scaring people.

The sentries of the Frankish army who were keeping watch at night were drowsy. Now the sentries have changed ports, and the replacement soldiers are twisting and wandering around the riverside area.

The soldiers were ordered to search for the barge, and the cavalry put on heavy armor early in the morning and searched the riverside area together. The lazy soldiers woke up one after another and were told to start crossing the river as soon as they found enough ships. The centurion asked his people to be more vigilant.

Want to fight across the river? The soldiers who learned the news woke up one after another. They had to consider a terrible fact - I can't swim.

Wear heavy armor to avoid being attacked by cunning Normans. But if you fall into the water while crossing a river while wearing heavy armor, you will definitely die.

What to do? This is the order of the flag captain.

Whether they are excited or confused, the Quentin Banner of the Frank Army is waking up, and they are regaining their slack combat effectiveness.

It was at this moment that suddenly there was a loud sound of trumpets and drums.

It was not the trumpet of the Frank army, but a distant and low sound, as if it came from another world.

who is it? ! Could it be the enemy? !

They couldn't help but doubt anymore. Viking longships with pointed ends appeared boldly in the river, and the sound of drums and horns came from these ships.

Riding the current eliminates the need for rowing, and the Rus warriors on the ship are ordered to drop the anchor at the right time.

Wadi and his brothers simply stood up, holding a shield in his left arm, and holding a scabbard or ax handle in his right hand. He kept banging his shield, accompanied by rhythmic Viking war cries. It looked like he was attacking the enemy. challenge.

When the time came, Wadi's flagship dropped its anchor, and subsequent ships took action one after another. The boats were incredibly stationary on the Rhine River, arranged in two staggered formations. The soldiers wore armor and were deliberately positioned within an arrow's reach of the enemy. They seemed to be putting themselves in danger. As the saying goes, if the enemy's arrows can hit me, I can attack better.

The soldiers on the port side lined up on the shield wall and kept banging on the shield and shouting, their figures completely hiding the brothers behind them.

A layer of round shields has been hung on the port side, plus a row of warriors' shield walls. Because the anchored ship is stationary, it looks like a small fortress.

The warrior on the starboard side said nothing, busy winding the steel-arm crossbow, and even adjusting the torsion slingshot.

Wadi narrowed his eyes and stared at the violent movements of the Franks. The enemies stood up and gathered one after another. It was obvious that his moves had completely attracted their attention.

From Quentin's perspective, this is the Norman army taking the initiative to challenge!

"The Normans are about to attack! Form a formation quickly and fight them! Penetrate the armor quickly!"

"Quick! Gather the archers and shoot them to provide armor-piercing cover for the infantry."

…

Quentin talked a lot and took the time to gather the existing cavalry. Even the two hundred men sent by Count Metz, who acted as logistics troops, took up arms, and everyone was willing to wait for work on the shore.

According to previous legends, the Normans always took the initiative and charged at their ships like wild beasts when they docked. According to these statements, Quentin believes that waiting for work is the right choice.

More than fifty archers are also guest infantry. They do not attach importance to bows and arrows, just because they have the right choice for the purpose of killing the enemy and winning. Weak bows and arrows are of limited use against soldiers wearing armor. After all, the Ross Army is an anomaly. Apart from them, there is no other force capable of equipping a large number of carbon steel armor-piercing arrows, and no other force is equipped with more advanced ones. Crossbow.

It was just a small setback yesterday, but Quentin didn't take it seriously today. He would not be ashamed at all if he had to fight on foot. He even intended to bring fifty heavy armored cavalry to launch a sure-win attack at the right time. He felt that all he had to do was lure the enemy ashore.

But what Wadi and the Ross warriors were staring at were the archers.

"The enemy's archers are coming! Take cover!"

When he came down like this, the warriors who made the big noise bowed down and covered themselves with their round shields. They also conveniently covered up the crossbowmen behind them who were preparing to shoot.

The Frankish archers didn't say a word. They stood by the river, ignoring the cool waves of the Rhine River lapping at the soft beach. Many people's shoes were soaked. They stuck six arrows in the mud, and soon they were shot by a commander. Under the leadership, the first salvo was launched.

Missing arrows began to hit the Russian shields, and clusters of wrought iron arrows pierced the shields one after another, making the wooden shields crackle.

The first round of volleys was followed by the second round. The Russians were in the posture of an old tortoise. There were many arrows stuck in the shield wall, and even the bow beasts of some longships were hit by arrows.

These barbed arrows were designed to hit infantry without armor. However, the arrows in the wrought iron clusters were thrown from short wooden bows, and their final power was really limited.

In fact, the distance between the two sides was only 70 meters at best. The short wooden bow had to be thrown, and Ross's steel-arm crossbow only needed to shoot at a slightly raised angle. And the latter fires heavier arrows!

The six rounds of arrow rain had ended, and the Frankish archers were a little tired. They still maintained their array and rested their arms.

They didn't know how many enemies they had killed, but now they suddenly saw the shield walls of those ships spread out, and the shield holders squatted down.

Some unshielded people stood up, as if they were carrying strange things.

From Wadi's perspective, he saw that his bow holders were already in position, and with a single order, thousands of arrows were fired.

Those Frank archers in formation became living targets!

Javelins and stubby crossbow arrows were thrown at his head and face. The archers, who were temporarily unarmored, suffered heavy losses in the first round of the Ross army's counterattack.

His chest was pierced by a javelin, his neck was pierced by a stubby strange arrow, and he was hit by arrows in his abdomen and legs...

This isn't the end yet.

"Crossbowmen! String up! Slingshot! Charge up quickly! Others, use your short bows to shoot!" Vardy seized the opportunity and shouted.

The crossbowmen on the flagship set an example for other ships. They directly pulled out the arrows on their shields and mounted them on their own short bows to fight back. However, these brothers were not skilled hunters, and the short bow shooting was just a tactical cover at best. .

Fortunately, the counterattacks of these light arrows further disrupted the enemy archers' position. With the second round of crossbow firing, the Frankish archers fled with more than thirty fallen people behind.

They even listened to the injured moaning and vomiting blood, but they were unable to do anything to rescue them.

Has the riverside area become a dangerous place? !

"They escaped! Don't be afraid! Keep hitting their infantry with the torque slingshot! Give them a big gift!"

All the torsion slingshots threw the javelins at a 45-degree angle. The six lightweight javelins flew over more than 200 meters in a spin and plunged into the Frankish heavy infantry that had just formed.

Even the chainmail or cloth armor he wore was no match for the impact of the javelin. Even though it is a lightweight javelin, light is the right thing to do. The specially made carbon steel needle point is designed to break through armor. The armor provides certain protection, but the person who is hit by the arrow will still have the javelin inserted into his limbs.

All six arrows hit, only because the Frank infantry stood too densely.

The Frankish army immediately became commotion, but only six javelins were not enough to break the momentum. At first they didn't know what kind of blow they had encountered, but upon inspection they found it was a javelin.

Since it is a javelin, there are ways to deal with it. Their small iron shields were raised above their heads, welcoming the brand new javelins, but there were still inevitable casualties.

On the one hand, he was passively being beaten, and on the other hand, he was shooting calmly.

Faced with the fact that brothers were shot by arrows one after another, and the arrows were almost fatal injuries, the morale that the Frankish army had struggled to maintain was rapidly disintegrating. The critical point was reached, and the array collapsed in an instant.

Even if Quentin bared his teeth and urged everyone not to run away, the soldiers had to retreat as far as possible. Everyone just didn't want to die in an unknown situation, and they fled far away.

Did the Frank army just escape like that?

The delighted Russians couldn't help but someone suggested: "Let's land directly."

Log in? Logically speaking, it is necessary to implement Black Fox's request not to log in.

Wadi has absolute command authority, and this time he made an exception based on the actual situation on the battlefield. His choice was more conservative, so he sent a boatload of brothers to land and ordered: "You will retrieve the lost arrows, capture the slightly injured ones, and give the seriously injured ones a happy life. Remember, do not enter the inland."

With the brothers behind them taunting the enemy with waves of swear words in Frankish, they rowed the boat and launched the operation of "recovering lost arrows and catching tongues".