Rise of Rurik

The Smolensk army rushed towards the Vitebsk Fortress with thunderous shouts. They were as powerful as a rainbow and dressed in thick fur clothes, like a collective action of countless bears.

Spears faced the fortress, and the bow-wielding hunters followed closely behind the spearmen.

They were not rushing in a random manner, and their attack was aimed directly at the suspension bridge at the east gate of the outer city, even though the suspension bridge had been pulled up.

Only old warriors can face such an impact without fear. Many of the defenders were shivering. They tied round shields on their left arms and held swords and axes in their right hands. A large number of them stood behind the wooden door and looked around uneasily.

Only the bravest thirty or so people stood on the simple scaffolding, and they were the only ones holding crossbows and recurve bows.

The old man Jellinger has not succumbed to his own aging. Although his blond hair has turned gray, today he is wearing chain mail and a butterfly eye patch helmet. He is standing on a high place with a crossbow that he personally holds, half-covered. Observe the enemy's movements.

Only two gates were built in Vitebsk, namely the east gate and the north gate.

The gate was built like this to meet the needs of defense, but no one expected that it would be put to use now that everyone was working hard to dig trenches and build walls two months ago.

Everyone wants fighting to break out, at least not now.

There is no turning back for both sides, and the battle is about to begin.

"Hold still, get them closer before shooting." The old man shouted in a powerful voice, and the soldiers had a tacit understanding that basically completely concealed their presence.

It seemed that there were only a few reflective heads dangling on the wall.

The attacking Smolensk army had no time to take care of it, or even noticed it at all. The soldiers kept following the flow, only a few meters away from the ditch that attacked the city.

Almost only one step away.

"It's now!"

Jellinger, who had been hiding for a long time, was suddenly possessed by the God of War. He stood up openly, stared at a random target with his crossbow, and gently pulled the trigger.

The bow arm is a sinew-horned compound bow imported from the grassland. It shoots powerful armor-piercing arrows, which can easily break through the leather armor of those elite soldiers.

A dozen people fell down in one round of shooting.

Although some people saw their companions suddenly fall down and saw arrows flying, they had already touched the ditch filled with water. They had no time to exclaim or think. They were completely infected by anger and excitement, but due to the reality, they stopped in the ditch. At a loss.

They yelled and cursed at the edge of the ditch. Those soldiers who were accidentally pushed into the water by their companions behind them took the spears handed by their companions in surprise and were dragged back to the shore wet.

At this moment, Yellinger, who had fired one round, sat down with his back against the wooden wall, stretched his bow arm with both feet, stretched it hard to wind it, and quickly loaded the second arrow.

The ditch outside the city wall was already crowded with people, and Smolensk's soldiers were pressed here, and they were at a loss when facing the ditch.

Suddenly someone leaned out on the city wall, but he shrank back just for a moment. The flying arrows caused new casualties.

A slight smile appeared on Yellinger's old face. He sat back and winked at his companions next to him: "They are a bunch of idiots. They may not even know how to swim. Let's shoot freely and slowly consume them..."

"Boss, are they really not going to fight back?" a soldier asked back.

…

"If they fight back, we'll just shoot."

The fortress's arrow reserves are relatively sufficient, and there are even torque slingshots.

Powerful weapon.

Yellinger appeared again. He didn't even need to aim carefully. He was shooting at the crowd with his crossbow, which would almost certainly cause casualties.

From the perspective of the attacker, at the gate that was supposed to be the weakest, the hateful Russians suddenly emerged from their holes like groundhogs and then retracted, using strange tools to fire arrows. What was even more terrifying was that. The leather armor everyone prepared so painstakingly turned out to be useless.

The attackers began to retreat actively, and their strong momentum was quickly dissipated by the trenches and the elusive arrows.

The Russian flag is still flying, and its existence is a complete mockery, as if it is invisibly saying: "We are here, and we have the ability to capture this city."

Vadim, who was riding a horse, had no idea that the battle would turn out like this. His elite soldiers were losing.

No! They have begun to retreat.

The soldier raised his shield above his head, held the spear tightly with his other hand, and stepped back slowly while clenching his teeth, not forgetting to seize the opportunity to grab his comrade who was hit by the arrow and evacuate.

The elite soldiers are retreating, and the tribal warriors from various villages have to retreat even more.

What is incredible is that the Smolensk army is in great danger of retreating.

"Boss, are the enemies trying to escape? They are all retreating."

Some soldiers turned their heads and looked at Yelinge with a ferocious face.

The old man stuck his head out and took a look: "Boy, what are your plans?"

"Hehe. Maybe we can use some people to pursue the victory. It's not our style to always stay here. Odin! We need a blood sacrifice!"

"No." Jellinger flatly refused: "The Duke's order is that we guard Vitebsk."

"But the Duke didn't let us just defend. The enemy is a bunch of idiots. Why can't we pursue them? They just

Going out of range. "

Indeed, even though Jellinger's youth has made him conservative enough, and he has been a warrior all his life and can be insinuated as "somewhat cowardly" by the reserve, his own soul cannot withstand such questioning.

The enemies are indeed retreating en masse. Maybe today's battle will be a farce.

He thought that the enemy might have a conspiracy, so-called luring everyone out of the city to fight and annihilate everyone by relying on their numerical superiority.

"Boss! Let's just charge once." The young man yelled again, his face indeed looked anxious.

"Are you teaching me how to do things?"

"I wouldn't dare. But I don't want to be a coward and stand here and keep shooting squirrels."

"But why did you rush out? We only have two hundred brothers, and you expect two hundred of us to kill them all?!"

"At least, capture a few prisoners. At least we need to know their identities." The young man who spoke simply stopped talking nonsense with the old man. He grabbed the crossbow and pointed at the soldiers who were on high alert on the ground inside the city gate: "Brothers, the enemy We were actually repelled by us. I want to go out and watch a few fools beheaded in blood sacrifices to Odin. Does anyone dare to charge with me?"

The enemy is actually fleeing? The people standing inside the city wall were completely unaware of the situation outside.

The young man's name is Carl Eriksson. Like many ordinary Nordic people, his name is too ordinary. Unless you can do something to earn a more domineering nickname among your relatives and friends.

…

In 829, Karl was just a little boy who fled. He was adopted by the Hjelmalen people. When the Principality of Ostara returned to nature, he brought his adoptive parents and family with him. He returned to Ostara with this relationship and followed Rus. People lead a more stable life

He is now a father of two children.

People like him are really rare primitive tribesmen in the Principality of Ostara. His wife and children stay in the safe rear, and he just wants to stay at the front line of the Principality to perform meritorious service.

Some people are born to want to be adventurers, berserkers who kill countless enemies.

That's the kind of person Ostara's Carl Eriksson is.

Some people were persuaded by him and saw the young man jump off the scaffolding with all his strength, throw the crossbow to his friend, and then draw his sword.

He stood in the crowd and put on a frivolous posture: "Don't listen to the old man's nonsense. Now is the time to make a meritorious service. The blood sacrifice to Odin is today. Come on, a dozen brothers, let's go out and capture at least a few prisoners. At least we know whether they are The Smolensks are beating us."

The former statement is somewhat false, but the latter is really pragmatic.

Seeing that that boy Karl has a tendency to continue to instigate adventure, it would be too bad if everyone is persuaded to abandon the city and take the initiative to attack.

"Shut up, everyone!" The old man Yelinger also jumped down and calmed everyone down with one sentence.

After hesitating for a while, young Karl asked disdainfully: "Uncle, you are too old. The opportunity is right in front of you. Young people should make meritorious services."

"Do meritorious service! Just go ahead and do meritorious service!" The old man punched Karl suddenly, causing the latter to take a step back and look angry.

"Boy, are you angry?! Then direct your anger at the enemy. Come here!" Yellinger shouted: "Bring out the wine. I'm not a priest, I can't make magic soup for you. You all need to be berserkers." I can't stop you crazy people, so just drink and vent your anger on the enemy."

This time Karl didn't talk nonsense anymore, he hit his chest with a smile and said

Swear to look good to the enemy.

There was no strong alcohol but another batch of ale and honey were poured into wooden bowls. Thirty soldiers gathered together to drink the wine.

Regardless of their origins, they have extremely strong Nordic ancestry. They speak Norse to each other and dress up exactly like the Varyag warriors in the eyes of the Smolensk people.

They came up with a more pragmatic approach.

It is said that some soldiers continued to stand on the scaffolding with crossbows. The brothers who walked out deliberately provoked through the lowered suspension bridge. When the enemy was attracted to the range of the arrows, everyone quickly retreated along the suspension bridge. The defenders at the city gate The suspension bridge was hurriedly retracted slightly to ensure that the enemy could not cross the bridge smoothly. It also made it easier for the brothers to cross the bridge again and continue the provocation after the enemy was shot back again.

Provoke and anger, shoot arrows to kill, and go back and forth to kill and injure the enemy as much as possible.

Drag the wounded enemy back for interrogation, and then recover the arrows to achieve sustainability of the attack.

When the old man thought of such a tactic, he felt that it was not brave enough. It was still a defensive method - elastic defense.

The wooden door of the confinement opened a gap, and thirty drunken armored berserkers filed out.

Behind him there was a group of garrison soldiers who were responsible for retracting and lowering the suspension bridge, and two torsion slingshots placed on trolleys were also pushed to the bridge head.

…

The warriors holding crossbows on the scaffolding of the city wall were standing ready, even though the bow holder had been replaced.

It seems that the suspension bridge directly in front of the east gate forms a solid bridgehead.

Those Smolensk warriors did not flee, they just wanted to avoid the damn Russian arrows.

They never thought that the battle would be like this. For a moment,

Bewildered.

However, if he was so frightened that he collapsed, he deserved to be destroyed.

"Don't retreat. Anyone who dares to escape will be put to death!" Vaji, who was riding a horse, raised his iron sword high to show off his power. In his opinion, his shouting had an effect, and the army's retreat was completely contained.

The army organized itself again. When everyone calmed down, it became clear that their losses were very small.

Vadim personally led the cavalry to reorganize the team in front of the formation and inspect the team's losses, intending to bring back morale with his courageous and leading attitude.

This will take some time. The elite warriors are in good condition. Those tribal warriors first attacked and charged on the battlefield and then retreated repeatedly. They consumed a lot of energy and urgently needed a rest. Being able to continue to stand in the open and follow orders has given Vadim a lot of face. .

It was here that the city gate in the distance not only opened, the suspension bridge was quietly lowered, and a group of Varyag warriors carrying round shields suddenly appeared.

"Chief! The enemy has taken the initiative to attack!" A cavalryman shouted while raising a battle ax.

Vadim turned the horse's head, and when he saw the sudden appearance of the place, his veins popped out: "They?! Are they looking for death?!"

"Chief! This is a rare opportunity. Let's rush over on horseback and kill them all?!"

"Okay! Let's go!"

Vadim didn't think much and immediately launched an attack with only a hundred cavalry.

cavalry? At best, he’s just a “man who can ride a horse.” Some cavalrymen didn't even have stirrups, they just relied on one pair of legs to clamp the horse's belly.

At the same time, Carl's troops rushed out of the fortress. Together with his brothers, he immediately began to check those guys who had been hit by arrows.

Those who were not taken away by their companions were still moaning and moaning while covering their wounds, with arrows stabbed into their bodies.

It takes a lot of effort to pull it out of the armor, which is not something a wounded soldier can do.

The frightened injured thought that the suddenly appeared Varyag warriors would kill him with a knife in his hand, but he did not. Instead, he was dragged with a rope towards the fortress. But this is like being dragged to the cave by a bear, becoming a piece of fat meat that can be enjoyed by wild beasts at any time.

"Hurry up and capture the prisoners. Damn it..." Karl noticed that the enemies were not very far away. They did not leave, but kept a safe distance. "Let's tuck the arrows in. Hey! You guys! Pull up your pants and humiliate them."

More than a dozen warriors smiled and agreed to Karl's strange request.

How to provoke? Everyone has their own tricks.

That is a common provocation method in Northern Europe, which is to raise the hips of a warrior, using an indecent posture to make the other person feel ashamed, and then the shame can lead to anger.

This scene happened to be seen by the Smolensk cavalry who were preparing to attack.

Vadim was looking for a way to arouse everyone's fighting spirit, but unexpectedly he did it himself without any trouble. The enemy's collective attitude made everyone feel the same hatred.

"They are a group of denuded wild boars! Brothers, kill them and skin them. Revenge!"

…

It was a cavalry offensive after all!

No one understands what cavalry means better than the Ostarians and Rus.

The soldier who was still blindly making indecent gestures turned his head and turned pale with shock when he saw a cavalry actually launching an attack.

Karl is eager to make meritorious deeds and become a general in the rising Principality of Ostara. In fact, based on his status, if he stays in Vitebsk for a few more years, when Jellinger is old and needs to retire, it will be clear who has the right to become the city lord.

This is the reason why Carl Eriksson is frivolous and reckless and Jeringer cannot hit him hard. After all, there are too few men from the old Ostara.

Karl's recklessness is not really stupid. He now appears as a berserker. In another situation, he is the commander of the Ostara Cavalry.

Precisely because he knew how to ride a horse and understand cavalry, he took it for granted to estimate the enemy based on the strength of the Ostara cavalry.

"Oops! The cavalry is coming, don't draw any more arrows, let's retreat quickly!"

In fact, without bothering him to talk too much, everyone knows what the cavalry means. Do you really think sword and shield players can resist cavalry? What's more, I have too few manpower.

With the recovered arrows, the soldiers retreated to the suspension bridge in a sprint of 100 meters.

Karl didn't care too much, painted the scabbard on his sword, and after all the soldiers had withdrawn, he pulled the winch together with the stranded brothers.

Vadim, who led the cavalry charge, was still a step late. He was unwilling to break through the suspension bridge, but the entire cavalry unit was completely within the shooting range of the crossbow.

They were even targeted by the Torsion Slingshot.

Sadly enough, the gates to the Ross gangster fortress are open and their blue and white flags on the ramparts are still flying, continuing their damning defiance.

Crossbows began to fire, and the defenders who knew how to shoot men first did so deliberately, including javelins fired from torsion slingshots.

A horse was shot directly through its thick body? !

Vadim was stunned. The soldier was thrown off and gnawed mud on the spot.

Even though he had to hold up his shield to resist the arrows, Vadim was unwilling to retreat for a while, holding his sword high and yelling continuously.

"What did that guy say? I can't hear clearly?" Yellinger, who was standing at a high place, heard the news well.

Slavic guy.

"Boss. The horseman may be an officer. He is talking... seems to be revenge?!"

"Revenge? It should be the chief from Smolensk. Since everyone has ridiculed him, we have to find a way to kill him."

At this moment, Vadim was completely occupied by anger. At the moment of his negligence, his horse had been targeted by the torque slingshot.

He is the one who yells the most vigorously, and being the target of public criticism is really asking for trouble.

A javelin accurately penetrated his horse, and Vadim himself was injured and thrown off the horse. He was struck with mud in the mouth and suddenly woke up. Just as he picked up his sword, an arrow passed him by.

Regardless of his staggering situation, he hurriedly called on his men to retreat, and he also successfully escaped on foot under the cover of cavalry.

It's really a battle that ends in an anticlimax.

Even though Karl implemented his tactics and started provocation again, he found that his actions could no longer lure the enemy to attack.

Vadim returned to the military formation. He was so shocked that he didn't want to attack anymore for the time being.

No more blind attacks! Now that the weather is getting dark, the army's first consideration is how to spend the night. The fortress of the Ross bandits is right there, and the army can launch an attack at any time if it is gathered here, without having to worry about gains and losses in one day.

But seeing that his continued provocations were ineffective, Karl lost his fun.

However, the enemy was defeated and died here. What is it if the enemy does not send fresh meat?

Karl led his men to kill all the injured horses, and took the opportunity to see that the enemy's horses were really poor. Such horses were only suitable for pulling in Ostara. The brothers used axes to cut off the limbs of the horses, carried the bloody flesh and returned to the city happily.

The suspension bridge is up again

, the battle continues...