Rise of Rurik

The defenders were still fighting back, and the wooden wall was not as fragile as imagined, even if it was built hastily.

Building wooden walls in the Kingdom of Rus is based on a set of old principles. First, after cutting down large trees, thick wooden piles are placed in the deep pits dug in advance in the pattern of installing masts for large ships, and then covered with soil and tamped down.

These thick wooden piles are the base points of the fence, and a large number of small timbers are assembled into the fence based on these base points.

In Rus, this is the case with all plans for building a wall. The attack was blocked, and the attacking soldiers began to try to throw the cables and hang them in the gaps in the wooden wall, and cross the wall by pure climbing.

This tactic did not work well, and all those who tried to climb fell under the precise strike of the crossbow, and even fell into the cold water of the trench.

The door-breaking operation continued. After spending a lot of time on the attack, the attackers were happy to find that the wooden door had been knocked crooked. There were obviously a lot of cracks in the wood that made up the wooden door, but the door would not collapse.

This is due to the large amount of soil piled up by the defenders, and the wet soil has been frozen hard in the continuous snowfall.

Of course you can break into the door, but the door must be completely destroyed. And this... is just the battle on the outer wall.

The core of the Vitebsk Fortress is the inner city, which has the strongest defense. Avender and his brothers still have a trump card, but he is unwilling to stick to the inner city unless it is absolutely necessary.

After all, holding on to the inner city meant that the fortress was completely surrounded and the brothers were in a desperate situation. The two sides were still shooting arrows at each other, and the well-armored defenders were literally invulnerable.

Considering that armor-piercing arrows are very precious, the soldiers simply started to pull out the enemy's bone cluster arrows and inserted them into the card slot.

Leaning on the battlement, he raised the crossbow above his head with only his hands and pulled the trigger at the approximate location of the enemy.

Anyway, the enemy positions are extremely dense. Except for those wearing armor and holding large wooden shields, the rest of the personnel are poorly armored.

Some soldiers even simply untied the fixed cable of the crossbow, and the bow arm was a recurve bow imported from the grassland.

Such a warrior has his back against the battlements, surrounded by captured arrows handed over by his companions. The warrior puts on the trigger, does not fully draw the bow, and does not take aim. Often three arrows are placed on the bowstring and thrown into the air, relying on the gravity of the earth to cause a large number of arrows to attack densely packed enemies at vertical angles.

More and more people were doing this, and Ayvind hurriedly ordered the soldiers in the inner city to stop being on guard. He initially thought that the East Gate would soon collapse under such a strong attack, but the result was just the opposite.

No matter whether it was the cold that froze the moisture in the hastily built wooden wall to a solid state, making the wooden wall extremely strong, or the enemy figured out the correct way to attack the city but was still weak in strength.

Since the enemy had indeed gathered all their forces to attack the east gate according to the sentry observation from high places, the defenders invested the main force in it.

Avender and his brothers were really stretched thin and relied on dynamic defense mode to constantly revise their defensive center.

Fortunately, the four torque slingshots, which were originally used for bear hunting and were in excellent condition, finally began to show their tactical value.

The slingshots owned by the Vitebsk Fortress are not these four. All twelve-seat torque slingshots will not be equipped with a torque unit unless necessary.

The cables and tendons responsible for torque output are normally stretched. The damaged strands are removed, replaced with new strands and then smeared with thick whale oil or seal oil.

Fixing the torque unit are two ratchets on the left and right, so that a large number of strands ensure an initial tight state. The Kingdom of Ross has tried its best to be as advisory as possible in this regard, making the torque slingshot a heavy weapon that all young warriors can repair by themselves. However, Avender and the others are not professional engineers, and the weapons they have repaired cannot be in the best condition at all. .

Even so, based on the principle that it was enough to successfully launch the javelin, all twelve torsion slingshots were thrown onto the city wall by the inner city defenders.

"Angle of 45 degrees, adjust the elements."

"Hurry up and charge these big guys with energy."

"Hey, bring over the javelins and see how effective they are? May the gods bless these reassembled rags that are easy to use..." The defenders are mostly young people, and the most well-equipped ones are on the front line, and the overall quality of the soldiers in the rear is low.

As these heavy weapons are all thrown into the battlefield, their presence greatly increases the combat power of the weak.

After some tinkering by the young man, the captured spears were in large numbers. They were cut into approximate lengths and stuffed into the slide of the torsion slingshot.

"That's it. Guys, are you all ready?" A younger and older boy imitated an adult and raised his steel sword high in the fog and snow.

"Go!" With an order, twelve torsion slingshots of varying quality launched a volley at the most efficient shooting angle.

A group of black shadows streaked through the air, and with a whooshing sound, they leapt over the heads of the Eyvinds who were fighting at the east gate at an extremely terrifying distance. The brothers were so frightened that they grabbed their crossbows and shrank their heads.

All the javelins hit the enemy formation and caused some casualties immediately.

"Stupid! You almost killed me." Avender yelled at the back, but was completely drowned in the shouts of killing.

Seventy percent of the soldiers gathered at the east gate. They transported arrows, picked up enemy arrows that fell on the ground, and gave them to the brothers fighting at the top of the city.

Although no one was injured and lost their ability to fight, they were ready to rescue the wounded and replenish their positions.

Looking at the current formation, the enemy's bows and arrows are not even qualified to show friction marks on their helmets and plate armors. What everyone is most worried about is being accidentally injured by the javelins of the torsion slingshots behind them.

Not far away from the inner city wall, the slingshot group began firing round after round. The javelin transformed from the captured spear has a small wrought iron spear. It relies on gravity to hit the attacker's anti-arrow shield and can barely penetrate the spear head, unable to cause substantial damage.

As for the tribal warriors who only wore thick leather clothing, their small shields were unable to withstand such a blow.

They instinctively avoid javelin and arrow strikes, and their positions naturally become more comprehensive. Vadim, who was watching the battle, saw that the army did not flee, but simply avoided the arrows and did not suppress them. Anyway, the current siege battle does not require too many infantry.

Because the tactic of climbing the wooden wall is always shot by the enemy, and the wooden wall is covered with snow, the bad slippage makes climbing really not a good tactic.

The key lies in the soldiers who hit the door head-on! Vadim gritted his teeth and persisted.

He then ordered the messengers: "Inform the drummers to beat the drums with all their strength. We cannot lose in terms of momentum!" The Smolensk soldiers who beat the leather drums with all their strength waved their arms wildly and soon started to sweat profusely. The soldiers simply He took off his thick leather jacket and exposed his steaming upper body in the fog and snow, showing off a strange and tough image.

Apparently inspired by the sound of drums, the soldiers who struggled to smash the door became more energetic... At the same time, the defenders in the inner city also went into battle lightly.

No heavy plate armor was worn, not even linen lining. With their newly hairy chests facing the torsion slingshot, the young Ostara Principality soldiers were just like their adult fathers.

They are "little golden retrievers" who are unnecessarily cold, their hands are raised and lowered just to launch the javelin more efficiently. During this high-intensity loading and launching, two of the twelve slingshots were suddenly damaged with the disintegration of the torsion unit.

"Damn it. It's broken at this juncture? Brother, are you okay?!" A soldier loudly heard the news about the soldier who was injured by the disintegrating parts.

The young man suddenly saw that his chest had been severely cut by the broken cable, and blood was oozing out.

"It's okay. I won't die from just a minor injury."

"It's better to take it easy. You're injured, so leave for now."

"No need! I'm not a coward. Let's go, change positions and continue fighting." After that, the wounded soldier changed positions and continued shooting regardless of his injuries.

There are only ten torque slingshot groups left. Due to the large number of captured javelin arrows, they can shoot without restraint.

Even the conical cast-iron projectiles, which are powerful in close combat, are still not used by them. The melee at the east gate of the outer city lasted from morning to noon, and both the offensive and defensive sides inevitably showed signs of fatigue.

Vadim, who was determined to win at first, became increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo. Is it really unreasonable that the damn door has not been broken down?

Looking at his own warriors, the brothers who were shirtless and beating drums were all panting, and the warriors who were afraid of being hit by arrows were avoiding each other.

There were only about 200 people leaning against the wooden wall. Many of them carried wooden shields made of tree branches to resist the arrow attack, and destroyed the wooden wall in their own way.

"Do I want to stop here?! Oh God..." Vadim imagined the gray sky, and the endless tiny snowflakes were like knives, causing pain on his face.

I finally boosted my morale, but now the army is getting tired of war? I simply can't afford to lose. Can't I even build a small fortress?

How can I attack their other settlements? God, am I living like a joke? ! Vadim, who was questioning himself, became increasingly uncomfortable, and suddenly he made a bold decision.

In the meantime, a horse was galloping in the snow, and the horse's hooves kept kicking up snow. A well-dressed man braved arrows and rushed towards the trench and the broken bridge.

Avender felt that it was the enemy's commander, damn Vadim, who was leading the charge. After all, he also attracted a group of cavalry behind him to join the battle.

He and his brothers tried to shoot the equestrian, but in the end they miscalculated the time difference and were able to let the equestrian roll off the horse with a quick step and quickly get into the door collision site protected by an anti-arrow shield.

The soldiers under the anti-arrow shields were panting. The gate of the Russian fortress was obviously devastated. How could it not collapse?

They were surprised by the sudden appearance of the leader Vadim. Before they could exclaim, the leader sternly ordered: "Don't wait, cowards. Follow me and break down their doors now!" The following cavalrymen dismounted one after another, and their horses immediately became the guardians. The army's preferred target.

They didn't care that their horses scattered after being hit by arrows, and rushed to the city gate, fighting against the city together with the big leader Vadim.

At this time, more than 40 fresh troops with excellent physical strength went into battle. Vadim and the men hugged the big tree trunk, shouting chants and continued to hit it.

From Avender's point of view, the enemy leader may be directly below him. Jump down, draw your sword, and wait for an opportunity to kill him?

Maybe he can complete the assassination, but he will definitely be hacked to death with axes. And he gradually felt that something was wrong.

Although the brothers were still shooting, they could no longer stop the attackers from charging at the city gate. Each impact caused a tremor that became increasingly intense, and the ominous premonition was frightening.

"Evind!" A brother standing under the wall shouted.

"What's the matter!?"

"Come down quickly! The door is about to burst!"

"Cracked?!" At this moment, the east gate was on the verge of collapse. Under constant collisions, the gate made of wooden poles finally broke on a large scale. Even if a large amount of frozen soil was piled on the gate, it could not stop the gate from shattering. .

There is even a high possibility that the entire wall will collapse. Avender decided to hold on a little longer, and ordered the brothers on standby in the city to immediately build a shield wall and prepare to fight.

Everything... is like fate. There were creaking and twisting sounds everywhere, and the sound was louder than the shouts of killing.

Vadim, who was protected by the anti-arrow shield, was overjoyed: "Haha! The damn wall is going to fall! Get ready for them to fight." As he spoke, he had already grasped the hilt of his sword.

The east gate and part of the wooden wall began to tilt as a whole. Avender suddenly found that he could no longer stand firmly, so he and his two brothers who had climbed up other city walls in the area rushed down.

"Boss, what should we do? Fight with...fight them?!"

"What? Are you afraid?"

"I...I haven't killed an enemy yet."

"I will have a chance soon, and then I will become a real man." Avender patted the young brother on the shoulder. At this moment, he acted like a big brother, as if he was possessed by the soul of the dead Yellinger.

Avender calmed down and spoke like an adult: "Just like what we learned! Crossbowmen in front, shield wall in the back, concave arc defense!" Vitebsk's outer city wall and inner city wall are just one shot away Although there are some buildings in the intervals, all valuable things have been moved, and what is left are just some empty barns covered with snow and leaking air.

There are many open areas in the interval, and there is a man-made passage leading directly to the east gate of the inner city. Compared with the east gate of the outer city, the east gate of the inner city has a higher level of defense, but it is now partially open, just to leave a way out for the fighting defenders.

"Stay steady, everyone. Even if the wooden wall collapses, we must stabilize the front." Avender was once the spiritual support of the brothers. He seemed to know how to fight, but in fact, he was rushing to the top and was forced by reality to become calm. A ruthless character.

During the constant impact, the gate collapsed along with part of the wooden wall. Vadim was overjoyed, baring his teeth like a hungry wolf about to eat raw meat, but he suddenly saw a shield wall actually appearing within the city wall, and... an enemy carrying some kind of deadly bow and arrow.

His expression changed drastically, and he fell down smartly, while the defenders' crossbows had already launched a volley. The attacking soldiers who had just breached the city were panting. They thought they had won after they breached the city. However, their sweaty upper bodies were pierced by deadly arrows, either through the heart or lungs, and some were hit in the eye sockets. , penetrated through the head, a sudden death like no other.

Only a few people such as Vadim escaped this disaster. But the defenders' counterattack was not over. So far, there are only eight torque slingshots left that can still be launched, and the situation of two of them is no longer optimistic.

The good news is that since it's already a close range fight, they don't have to have their power recharged full before they can fire it. Under Avender's clever command, the torsion slingshot from the rear cooperated with the brothers in the front to fire crossfire, and the javelin swept through the enemies who had just climbed out of the collapsed wooden wall.

The warriors holding crossbows had retreated behind the shield wall, quickly strung up and cocked their bows, and launched a volley at the enemies that were coming up again.

Now, that's pretty much the end of long-range combat. Avender and many brothers had no more extravagant hopes. In the open area, as many as forty warriors wearing plate armor built a concave shield wall with large shields painted with Ross's logo.

And those warriors with crossbows ran all the way to the inner city, for no other reason than to seize the time to rush to the city wall and continue to provide fire support from a high position.

Vadim himself is a Russian who is extremely sharp in fighting and does not want to die hastily. He relied on the broken wall and waved his iron sword to cheer for the soldiers who continued to pour in from the break. Most of the huge Smolensk soldiers did not know the true situation of the inner city. Now that the wooden wall finally broke through the huge hole, victory It must be within easy reach.

As long as you rush in, you will have money and food! All debts owed to village landowners will be offset by the loot, ordinary farmers will become rich overnight, and the scores of relatives and friends who were attacked and killed by Ross gangsters will be settled today.

A withered tree came to life. The sluggish morale returned to high spirits, and the Smolensk tribesmen who were infected by the enthusiasm rushed towards the gap. They completely ignored their companions who were killed by arrows. Even if they were not dead, they trampled these wounded soldiers to death with a pair of feet.

However, it wasn't until they broke through the outer city wall that they found another scene of decay in the city. The Ross gangsters were already well prepared. Many tribal warriors were stunned subconsciously, and were pushed by their brothers behind to join the fight... The tribal warriors wearing leather armor, only animal skins, and even only thick linen clothes carried a variety of weapons. Rushing toward the enemy in a black mass.

The fighting has begun. The steel sword suddenly turned red when it stabbed, and the unprotected arms of individual defenders began to be cut and bruised by the enemy's axes, but the armored defenders had the advantage.

The young warrior roared, leaning his shield against his body, and stabbed straight ahead. The mad dog-style attack was quite effective.

Above their heads, javelins and arrows whizzed past, constantly weakening the Smolensk army.

The Smolensk army had already consumed a large amount of arrows and spears in previous battles, and now that they had entered the fortress they no longer needed these long-range weapons.

But for other clear-headed warriors, what if they broke the wooden wall? ! The Ross gangsters actually had an inner city. Although the damn inner city was small, it looked stronger. However, the brothers just destroyed the outer city and defeated the boss's efforts.

On the other hand, as for the defenders, all the Ross flags were hung clearly in the inner city in the fog and snow, and blue-and-white warriors kept appearing, forcing the attackers to dodge arrows before they could fight with the defenders.

However, the earth has turned red, and one tribal soldier after another fell in a pool of blood. However, there are no bodies of the Ross gangsters here.

Because no one from the defenders was killed! Even if the injuries were minor, the number of injured was very small.

Avender has no extravagant hope of killing the entire enemy army with a hundred brothers, even if the current situation is more favorable to him.

Considering that there are few brothers and limited physical strength, this advantage will disappear after a period of fighting.

Looking at the enemy's formation, he had to admire their courage. Even if one wave of enemies was defeated and a second wave came up, the shield wall would definitely collapse under the constant impact of the waves of people.

"Shield wall! Retreat slowly." Avender's meaning was clear. The brothers retreated to the inner city in an orderly manner while fighting.

The enemy still stepped on the corpses to rush into the fence, entered a more open area, faced with the dead bodies and the earth, and had to avoid the flying arrows, javelins, and cast iron projectiles at all times. Their impulse was restrained, and they finally watched helplessly. Watching the blood-stained bucklers, the Ross gangsters poured into the inner city.

"Quick! Close the door, close it quickly!" Avender, who had just come in, was panting. He simply threw down his shield and dragged a wooden pole to hold the door against it.

The soldiers on the city wall continued to output firepower, fighting back those who tried to break through the gate.

After the "Smolensk Warriors" finally forced the enemy to find somewhere to hide. Various carts of miscellaneous goods were piled up against all the gates of the inner city, and even carts filled with snow were pushed to the east gate of the inner city and then immediately removed from the wheels, becoming a real blockage.

The inner city of Vitebsk Fortress has become like a closed-shell turtle, and the defenders have no intention of leaving the city to fight in a short period of time.

After finishing the work of blocking the door, Avender leaned against the wooden wall and panted, holding his head high and stabbing the sword hard at his side.

"This...it should be over now. I will keep killing the enemy here. Vadim, may Odin freeze you to death..."...At the same time, facing a more difficult situation, Vadim My heart is like a knife.

Has the Ross gangster's fortress been breached? The city is broken, but not completely broken. No matter from any angle, their inner city is stronger than the defense of the outer city, but do they still have the capital to continue fighting?

The soldiers can no longer rush forward! The elite soldiers he trained suffered heavy losses. Seeing that the siege of the city was hopeless, a large number of soldiers were panting and withdrew from the gap again. They tried their best to take their injured companions out and try to avoid the arrow attack range of the Ross gangsters.

The battle once again started but ended. But this time, Vadim realized that he should think about more than just fighting.

"Ah..." Relying on the wooden wall of the outer city, facing the open space outside the city, there were many new corpses and the dying people writhing in pain in the snow.

"I didn't lead them to break the city, I'm afraid I would have to face their wrath." He couldn't help but look at the sword in his hand that was not yet stained with blood, and bad thoughts arose: "Am I going to use it to commit suicide? ! No!" He resolutely gave up the idea of ​​committing suicide: "I haven't lost yet. As long as I can get food, the rest of my army can continue to fight."