Rise of Rurik

Some of the warriors kept rowing to ensure that the ship would not retreat along the current, while the rest put on their chainmail armor as quickly as possible. Especially the elites of the First Flag Team of the Standing Army, they had to help each other put on the heavy and strong chest plate armor. This move will take some time, but for the sake of safety, Blue Fox does not want to suffer too many unexpected losses in the big city in front of it.

The elite Ross Army acted as the vanguard, and the Meuse River, which was more than 100 meters wide, was blocked by a line of Ross Army wearing blue stripes and white robes. Once again, the rear troops were unable to take the lead in taking action.

"The biggest church? How much gold and silver do you have? How much food does this big city have?"

Blue Fox was full of energy, but suddenly realized that the soldiers' clothes were too rough, and he had to run to the bow of the flagship, personally drew his sword and waved it, loudly calling on everyone to hurry up.

It was really unpleasant to be pushed, so Grund gritted his teeth and cursed at his guys.

"Hurry up! Otherwise the gold will be robbed by others!" This is the only sentence that is most deeply rooted in people's hearts.

It was a bit difficult to put on the linen lining on the sweaty body, and it was also difficult to put on the chain mail on the slightly sore arms.

The whole army didn't even have time to rest. They paddled hard for most of the day. They only ate some dried fish meat and hardened wheat cakes during the day. They had to put on their armor and stomach first to charge. Against the experienced old men, The Warriors could only be described as a minor challenge, but it was a hell of a torture for the young men of the Seventh Flag.

Askard could see the fatigue of his boys. He refused to admit defeat. He had just put on his chainmail and had no time to put on his helmet. He stood up and called on the boys to hurry up with his changing voice. .

However, some troops just refused to obey.

An army has already begun to rush to the beach with long boats. Anyway, it is not far from the city. The landing troops can rush over on foot to seize the opportunity.

Bjorn, Duke of Mälaren, was invited by Rurik himself to defy all opinions and must take his own troops to participate in the expedition. However, other nobles in the Lake Mälaren region did not want to go to the Frankish capital for various reasons. Drum grass.

This is the pride of being a king.

After all, Bjorn served as the King of Sweden for a year. Even though he was the interim king elected by the nobles, he chose to "abdicate" due to the situation.

Rurik said last autumn that he would launch an attack on the Frankish world and that nobles from all walks of life could plunder according to their abilities.

What the Blue Fox didn't know was that the Mellaren army at the rear of the fleet was very impatient. Bjorn's shouts were washed away by the noise of the wind and the noise of the personnel. After seeing that the Ross people in front made no move, he simply walked alone.

"Stop wearing armor! Come ashore with or without armor. Anyone who steals the gold belongs to him. Let's go!"

Bjorn's longship was the first to hit the beach. Seeing that the Duke led by example, the brothers immediately followed.

After all, many of these Mellaren soldiers owe debts in their hometown, and the best way to repay their debts is to rob other people's property.

Are the Franks strong? It's very strong. However, if the main force is not fighting in the plains, as long as everyone invades their settlements, it will be very easy to plunder and make money.

Bjorn, who landed on the beach, took the lead. He put on half of his chain mail and personally led the charge like a warrior. Behind him were a large number of warriors wearing only commoners or bare backs. The soldiers' round shields were painted with various patterns, and their weapons were mostly axes and short spears. Most of them didn't even have iron helmets.

Such an army is not the elite of the Swedish Mälaren tribe at all. After all, Bjorn's dispatch of troops was "against all opinions," which means that many large landowners of the tribe also lack confidence in the expedition. They do not strongly support it and are tempted to compare. John could only bring a group of poor tribesmen to the war.

Maybe, the poorer you are, the more determined you are to fight?

The march has been smooth sailing, and we have not yet fought against the elite Franks. Perhaps this is an opportunity given by the gods to the brave.

This lightly-armed Swedish army was followed by a group of "vultures", many of whom were Utrecht fishermen dressed as Vikings. This kind of people build simple bucklers and add harpoons and axes to them. Look carefully, the shields of these so-called Viking warriors are not round, and the axes they use are not Nordic hook axes. It's true that the Nordics can detect something fishy, ​​but the residents of Maastricht have no idea.

Suddenly, the west bank (left bank) of the north-south river was filled with shouts of killing, and a large number of warriors holding shields were jogging towards the city on the flat wheat fields.

They didn't care about the trampled oats. After all, according to the action plan, the autumn harvest wouldn't be harvested until the war was over.

On the contrary, the flat wheat fields are most suitable for soldiers to advance.

Bjorn had organized his men to keep a flat cover as much as possible to prevent the city's defenders from arranging a shield wall when they appeared.

"What's going on? How come they attacked first? They didn't even penetrate the armor and stomach? That's crazy!"

Blue Fox turned his head and was furious. When he realized that the people who were rushing in were all Swedes, he cursed a few times in anger, then stuck his head out and shouted at the still struggling army: "Don't worry about the damn stomach! Sweden!" The charge has been made, all of you move forward immediately.”

However, the Swedish Mellaren Army's solo move has caused a chain reaction, and the five Götaland nobles believe that this is the offensive the commander wants.

In principle, the Götaland army was the vassal army of Blue Fox himself. They also landed one after another to follow the Swedes, which really surprised but not surprised him.

Come and try it quickly. 】

Forget it, let’s attack directly now that the matter is over.

"This city..." Blue Fox looked at it again with wide eyes, "I hope there won't be a large number of elite troops stationed. I will risk my life."

The armed cargo ship was originally intended to be a "mobile arrow tower" because it was loaded with heavy weapons and some Finnish longbowmen. At present, there is no overreaction from Maastricht, as if the city was undefended.

The de jure Finnish Earl Kelha, who is just a teenager, is now participating in the battle with two hundred Finnish longbowmen, but this is not all.

The longbowmen on the big ship immediately got on and off the small ship from the rope ladder, and then immediately landed to assemble. It also includes the armed sailors on the ship. Their identity has been changed to the navy, and now they are more like "Marine Corps". With a group of engineering soldiers landing, the battle turned into a surprise attack. There was no time to transport heavy weapons, so all the engineering soldiers brought their crossbows to join the battle.

This long-distance support force, whose strength swelled to nearly five hundred, gathered on the shore for a while and then rushed towards the city.

With this time to form the team, the most elite thousand Rus troops have already begun to rush to the beach.

When Grund and Askard's elite flag troops launched an attack, Maastricht's counterattack took the lead in the north of the city.

The thousand armed refugees supported by Archbishop Gregory received such a moral boost.

"You go and fight the devil! Your souls will be saved. I forgive all the original sins of you and your family, and your souls will ascend to heaven."

Ordinary people have never received such courtesy from an archbishop, and they rarely have the opportunity to see the bishop.

The humble man became noble in an instant, and with weapons composed of various farm tools, he first rushed to the dangerous north of the city.

Maastricht, the inner city, the lower town and the slums outside the city are all on the left bank of the Maas River. In a sudden attack caused by the Swedish army walking alone, the army landed on the left bank and rushed through the north gate of the city.

The archbishop only had this few people. Although there was a military fortress in the city, only a centurion was stationed in it. When the attack occurred, the centurions standing on the high ground cleared their minds and could not be surprised. Considering that they would never be able to defeat these foreign attackers, they urgently took their weapons with them and abandoned the place where they were supposed to be stationed. fortress.

The existence of Frank's negligible garrison was originally only to assist the army in crossing bridges and rivers. They were not elites, and it was more appropriate to call them servicemen. They had no interest in Maastricht, and the archbishop was paid and paid by his brothers.

The centurions evacuated one after another, smashed the stables in an emergency, moved all the horses out in the astonishment of the stablemen, quickly put on the saddles and fled towards the south of the city.

They abandoned the city and fled, but in panic, they dragged the horseherd and the blacksmith who nailed the horseshoes onto their horses to join them in their escape. They were not fleeing randomly. The cavalry passed through the crowded streets of slums, knocking over some people and even knocking aside innocent passers-by.

At this moment, the city did not fall into absolute chaos. The north of the city was already in chaos, while the people in the south and west of the city only heard rumbling noises and dull horn sounds.

The reason why the cavalry retreated to the south was not entirely an act of escape. The Liège Fortress in the south had a similarly small wooden bridge. There were more garrisons there and the fortress was better defended.

The journey to Liège was not a safe one; the Meuse was teeming with Norman longships, the first time they had ever reached such an inland location. They come with bad intentions, and only elite legions can annihilate them.

The best way to save Maastricht, which is in crisis, is to send a message to the army stationed in the Brussels Fortress. Only local officers have the ability to solve the crisis.

The small soldiers had neither the ability nor the power to think about big moves. These fleeing cavalry mostly wanted to escape to a safe place.

The flight of urban residents has already begun on a small scale.

A thousand city guards, led by junior priests, all stared at the huge black cross carried by the black-robed priests and ran towards the north of the city.

They believed that divine power would protect everyone and that they would defeat their enemies.

This is how the priests live. The lower the priests are, the more pious they are. As soon as these selected city defenders walked out of the chaotic streets of the slums, they saw huge shields pressing towards them in the open space in front of them.

At the same time, the appearance of armed men did not surprise Bjorn, who had been on guard for a long time.

He has seen a lot of big scenes. What kind of rotten fish is the armed man in front of him? There is also a big fool in a black robe, just like that Eskilde, who can carry a cross and be foolproof?

Unjohn did not think that faith in God was foolish; he was a moderate man in his faith.

But just like whether you believe in Odin, Thor or Frey, you can't really guarantee your invincibility by holding the symbol of the god high.

"Shield wall!" Bjorn roared, and then he took the lead. First, he and the personal guards raised by his family formed the first group of shield walls, and the rest of the troops quickly followed suit.

The bucklers were stacked on top of each other and pressed forward at a neither fast nor slow speed.

The city defenders suddenly burst out with courage. When the little priest holding the cross walked forward in the posture of a martyr, they rushed forward with scythes, long-handled flails, wood axes, and pitchforks. .

"Accept the impact! Build up your shield!"

Following Bjorn's order, the second row of soldiers placed their shields on the first row of soldiers' shields, and thus received a fierce impact.

The shield wall formed by the warriors who rowed for most of the day was really knocked open, but this was indeed the only achievement of the city defenders.

The hand-to-hand killings have begun.

The Swedish Mellaren Army, followed by various Danish fishermen, Utrecht fishermen, and the rather large Götaland noble army, all threw themselves into the battlefield of the shield wall melee, and immediately had an overwhelming strength advantage.

These taller Nordics could suffer temporarily due to fatigue. With the position stabilized, Bjorn began to advance steadily. He could clearly see the spire of the cathedral in the city, and called on the soldiers to be brave in the chaos: "Melarenites! Kill the enemies in front of you! Attack the church! Take away the gold that belongs to you!"

The warriors were inspired, but the city's defenders were dying in horrific killings they had never seen before.

His head was split open by a hooked axe, his head was pierced by a short spear, and he was pierced by a broad-edged iron sword...

Their only chance of victory was to rely on numerical superiority to defeat the invading Norman army. Now the so-called numerical superiority no longer existed.

When their faces were stained with the blood of their companions, the awakened city defenders thought only of escaping for their lives.

When morale dropped to a critical point, the battle in the north of the city was meaningless. The guards fled, followed by the Swedish Mellaren Army who took the lead in entering the slums.

At the same time, the main attack of the Russian army on the east gate of the city has begun.

Panic has begun throughout the city, and people in the slums outside the gates are fleeing.

However, those who could no longer walk due to hunger, faced with the strange army dressed in blue stripes and white robes, many of them actually showed silly smiles, as if they were welcoming their own death with a smile. .

But without any resistance, Grund asked his veterans not to attack a group of poor people. This was definitely not because he was kind, but because the people sitting by the cramped shack were in ragged clothes, and they probably couldn't even touch a copper coin if they robbed them.

"Follow me and rush to the inner city gate with all your strength, and break in while they don't close the door!"

The soldiers only wanted to plunder gold and silver. They had taken advantage in the last town, and this time they would take advantage even more.

And this crazy running move was completely learned by Asgard's Seventh Flag Team who worked hard to follow up.

The brat continued to rant: "Those old guys are going to steal our gold again. Don't worry about the idiots on both sides of the road, we can't lose to them!"

The young soldiers tried their best to follow, and behind them, the Finnish army, engineers, landing navy, and even Inval's Danish army were carried by small sedans to join the offensive in person. Blue Fox himself was among them. Except for a few people who were responsible for watching the ships, most of the soldiers launched raids from two directions.

Even the supreme commander, Blue Fox, will go to the east gate with his elite. The east gate faces the wooden bridge, and there are few buildings in the slums and lower city. Grund's elite quickly walked under the thick stone wall of the inner city, and were shocked to find that the wooden door here had been closed.

The strong warrior was like a bull charging and hit him a few times with no response, so he resorted to the simplest and most brutal method - smashing.

This is an ordinary wooden door. It seems thick. How long can it last under the beating of a long-handled carbon steel forest ax?

Faced with this situation, the army had already prepared for it. Five giant men in the standing army, nearly two meters tall, stood in a row and wielded double-edged giant axes to smash the wall.

The narrow inner city of Maastricht is less than 300 meters in diameter, and all four gates have been closed. The archbishop has no choice at this moment. He led the priests and inner city residents to gather in the cathedral, praying to God and hoping for a miracle. .

At this point it can be said that the entire city is completely undefended and has fallen. As long as the closed door is smashed open, everything will be over.

Finally, under constant blows, the bronze buckle holding the hardwood door latch was broken off.

it's all over……

It was Ross's elite who took the lead in completing the breach of the city. At this moment, there were as many as 1,700 troops of various colors gathered outside the east gate.

The Russian army, dressed in blue-striped white robes, swarmed into the city and rushed like a tide toward the largest church with a tower visible to the naked eye.

Of course, there is more than one church and monastery in the inner city.