Rise of Rurik

The Ross flag flies on the island of Bornholm, which has become a rather strange presence today.

It is a large island in the South Baltic Sea, a long way from the nearest mainland.

The dense, high-salt water from the Atlantic Ocean flows from the bottom of the Great Bell Strait and the Oresund Strait to the Baltic Sea, stirring the seabed and bringing nutrients into the upper warm water area. In this place where warm and cold meet, a huge fishing ground has been created. Bornho Erm Island is located in this unique location.

As such, the expected bountiful catches made it easy to become densely populated.

Because of the war initiated by Ross, a large number of people on the island died and were taken away as slaves. The living space vacated was immediately filled by the Ross people, Ross's Danish allies, Swedes and Saaremaa islanders.

Swinde, a native nobleman of Bornholm, was canonized as an earl. Although he was an earl, he did not have many people on hand.

Nowadays, there are all kinds of people gathered on the island, but most of these guys just covet the fish caught in the sea. He has no ability to collect taxes.

It was as if Earl Swinder was just helping Rurik keep an eye on the land.

With the arrival of spring in 840, Swedish and Russian fishing boats from the north came again.

This time it wasn't just them, there was an army.

And a piece of news that surprised Swinder.

Ragnar, a down-and-out Danish nobleman, was reborn in Rus. He was a Dane but did not hate the Rus. He knew the root cause of his downfall - the direct and indirect blows from the Frankish Kingdom.

Today's Denmark is in chaos, and in this huge area there is no leader worthy of the recognition of all the lords.

"Or, I can be such a leader."

Because of the promise of Rurik, the king of Rus, an opportunity to become the king was placed in front of Ragnar.

One day, the Russian army will gather the heroes of Scandinavia to directly attack Denmark itself. Rurik promised that Rus would ask for Danish land like Frank did. Even if he really asked for it, he would have no intention to annex the entire Denmark or sell all the Danes into slavery. What Rurik needs is an alliance that respects the Nordic gods and an end to the internal fighting among the Nordics, so that everyone can do business with peace of mind and jointly curb the Franks' northward invasion.

He gave himself a lot of face and a bright future.

But he is not simply kind. His wife, children, and tribe are all in his hands. If he opposes Ross, the tribe will be in danger.

Ragnar was completely kidnapped on Ross's warship. He did not want to be controlled by others, but in the foreseeable future, with the help of Ross's power, he could reach the glorious limit of his personal career.

Now, he returned to Bornholm Island with a group of tribal brothers, and gathered some heroes who opposed King Horik, the Frankish agent. He gathered more than 500 warriors under his command, and started working as fishermen on the island. .

A group of Russians are here, that is Spuyut, a legendary traveler, a fierce explorer, and the royal pirate leader of King Rus. Most of the people under his command are not Russians, but the vicious pirates of Saaremaa Island. Many of them are even brown-haired Estonians, which are very different from the blond Viking brothers.

The Kingdom of Rus has assembled a large army to conquer Jotalan. The war has nothing to do with Bornholm Island for the time being.

The Götaland area is just north of the island. There are also some Danish fishing villages in the southernmost area of ​​Scandinavia. The largest settlement is Silver Castle.

Silver Castle is the Silver Castle of the Danes. Are the local Danes someone to win over?

It is just north of Bornholm Island. Ragnar has no hostility or extravagant expectations towards the locals. He had no idea that a group of selfish businessmen would help him seize power across Denmark, and the residents of Silvercastle would not support the Danish trespasser Horik.

Ragnar got in touch with Zealand, the largest island in the Danish world, or some local Danish lords came here because of it.

King Horik, who betrayed Odin, lost a large number of his troops, and the Godfrehagen he built was burned to the ground. This battle was a good thing done by the Rus. There were also rumors that some Danish heroes fought side by side with the Rus. Only then did they win. Big win.

King Horik suffered a loss, and the lords who were forced to compromise under military pressure were furious. Many opposition lords had the desire to overthrow his rule, but they suffered from the lack of anyone to take the lead.

Under such circumstances, the exiled "Wool Pants" Ragnar emerged.

The island of Bornholm has become a base for the "opposition against King Horik of Denmark". The island is large enough to accommodate many exiles. And when the people who came here in exile saw the real Russians, the fear caused by the lack of knowledge quickly disappeared. After all, King Horik took the entire Robard tribe to the Franks, and the people betrayed Odin on a large scale and believed in God. At least the Rus people are still Odin's warriors, and there is even a legend that Odin, the king of Rus, cast a pure gold statue of the god.

Small boats drift to this island almost every day, whether they are simply fishing or following Ragnar. The island's population continues to increase, and the vast majority are armed forces capable of fighting.

Especially the lords of Zealand, they sent envoys to ask about Ragnar's attitude, and they all got this promise from him: "Denmark needs a king. You support me as king, I will make peace with the Russians, and we will Live a comfortable life and fight the Franks together. In the end, everyone can live a stable life."

Such an attitude is what the lords are happy to see. They believe that this famous Danish hero just cannot relax his vigilance against the Russians just because of his one-sided remarks.

The situation in the eastern part of Denmark has become very delicate. It has completely entered a state of peace. The Danish lords of Zealand asked their people to take care of their own fishing work and banned sneak attacks on all fishing boats flying the Ross flag.

Ross has Spyut in charge, and he himself is the pirate leader. After hearing the peaceful attitude shown by the Danish lords, he must sell it to Ragnar to save face, and he must also consider King Rurik's grand strategy, so he targeted Systemic piracy of the Danes was suspended.

Complete peace has returned to the huge fishing grounds of the Eastern Baltic Sea, but under the appearance of peace, nearly a thousand soldiers are silently sharpening their knives.

Until a small fleet flying the Russian flag arrived from the west.

It was Arik, who received a major mission. After crossing the Oresund Strait and entering the eastern Baltic Sea, he decisively arrived at Bornholm Island for a key supply.

A sailing cruiser served as the leader, leading five standard armed cargo ships. The fleet lined up in a single column with a wide triangular sail, and was steadily anchored at the island dock.

Seeing this fleet can only mean one thing!

Spyut immediately sent a boat to pick up these brothers. Especially after seeing Arik, he understood that these boats, which were originally drifting along rivers and lakes in the inland areas, had miraculously entered the Denmark Strait from an incredible position.

He leaned on the railing and stretched his head fiercely, shouting with a smile: "Arik! It's really you! Did the gods let us meet here?!"

"It's me! Si Puyut, I want to dock immediately to rest. Let's talk about anything after we get ashore!"

Arik did not want to talk about certain things at sea, and Spuyut determined that this must be related to the war.

The big ship anchored near the shore, and Arik took a group of followers and rowed a small boat to the largest fishing village on the island.

When the fleet entered the waters, he was surprised by the fact that there were a large number of fishing boats nearby. Considering that he was on a mission, he had no intention of plundering non-our ships without flags. His arrival on the island for supplies was one purpose, and conveying King Rurik's order was the biggest purpose.

With Arik himself landing on the island, it is not surprising that the fishing village is bustling with people.

He pinched his waist and said to himself: "It's strange. In the war two years ago, I remember our army slaughtered this place. There should be very few people under that Swinder."

Soon, two very familiar people came face to face at the dock, followed by a group of armed men carrying bucklers.

Not to mention Spyut and Ragnar, the warriors behind them were quite loosely dressed, their golden beards were tied into very fancy braids, and their boots were obviously leather-wrapped and tied with hemp rope.

The point is these so-called boots! This proves that many of the soldiers are not Russians or Swedes.

This is easy to identify. After all, Slavic women under Rus' rule were good at tailoring. When shoemaking materials were in sufficient supply, they were organized to mass-produce leather, linen, and woolen products to increase their income, among which leather boots were the flagship product. Nowadays, even the royal pirates of Saaremaa Island have purchased Ross leather boots.

"Is he Danish?"

Guessing that he was a Danish warrior, Arik became decisively vigilant.

The three met here. He pretended to be casual and asked: "Brother Ragnar, it seems that you are recruiting a lot of troops here? I know you want to return to Jutland to regain the lost territory of your tribe. Maybe you already have enough manpower." .”

"It's still not enough." Ragnar didn't think much about it: "My brother Rurik wants me to recruit more people. Anyway, we are all Odin's warriors and we are all against that Horik. We didn't kill him two years ago. He counts him lucky, when I get another chance, I will chop off that traitor’s head without Brother Lauryrik or you taking action.”

"Really? Haha! You will have a chance soon."

"Huh?!" Sensitive Sipuyut suddenly smelled something special, "Aric, obviously the king has already reached the coastline. Tell me what the king wants. Could it be?!"

"You don't need to ask! The king plans to attack Horik in Denmark. And I..." Ragnar beat his chest hard like a gorilla: "This is absolutely true. The Ross army, together with our allies, We will launch an attack on Denmark. Let's find a room to have a good chat. Oh, and you..." He winked at Ragnar again: "Do you want to restore your territory? Your opportunity has come early, this year!"

With just these words, Ragnar tensed up with joy. He dreamed of regaining his territory, especially by killing the trespasser Horik.

He hurriedly approached Arik, eager to make the matter clear now.

Ragna's excitement was naturally easy to understand from Arik's point of view, so he was not in a hurry to explain. Arik glanced at the large group of warriors in front of him and asked: "Are they all mercenaries you recruited?"

"Not counting mercenaries. Everyone is against that Horik. We bring our own weapons and kill that man even if we don't get paid."

"Oh, it's that guy. If that guy doesn't run away this year, we can kill him. It's a rare opportunity, and you and I can't miss it this time. These people are all good and will definitely come in handy. So..."

"How?" Ragna was a little confused.

“Pull out the best of them and we’ll have a meeting together.”

The meeting hall on Bornholm Island became lively again. Arik, Spyut, Ragnar, the pirate Telarang of Saaremaa, Governor Swinde, and more than a dozen envoys from the lords of Zealand, he Everyone gathered in the bright room to make plans.

There is no doubt that Arik is a figure that attracts much attention, and when he opens his mouth, there is a huge noise.

Some things are just words, especially when countries become large enough. Converting verbal orders into written orders can avoid distortion when messages are transmitted over extremely long distances.

Likewise, when a written order is present, the messenger cannot make unreal remarks.

As Arik said this, he showed the document written on hard paper by King Rurik.

"The King has ordered that Spjut, who is active on Bornholm Island, attacks Silver Castle. Count Swind must fully support Spjut's work. After conquering Silver Castle, we must seize its wealth. If not necessary, we must not Indiscriminate killing.”

With a major task on his shoulders, Spuyut stood up suddenly: "Ah? The king actually appointed him as a war chief to attack Silver Castle?!"

"Exactly. The documents are here. If I report half a word of falsehood on such a big matter, the gods will punish me, and so will the king."

Arik, who values ​​loyalty, swears like this, which shows that it must be true.

Is this the Russian general? Is it Arik, nicknamed "Two Swords"?

This was the first time for many envoys from the Lord of Zealand to see the top nobles of the Ross people. They had long known that this man was the brother of the King of Ross. Now when they saw him, his eyes were burning with fire. He was indeed a person.

How to describe Si Puyut’s mood now? He was both happy and worried.

"It was a fortress, and Olegin died there ten years ago. As many as two thousand Swedish soldiers died in the Silver Fortress, that place..."

"Are you actually worried about this? Are you afraid that there are ghosts there?!" Arik felt speechless, glanced at Ragna, and deliberately muttered: "Is it possible that Ragna, who killed Olegin with his own hands, doesn't say anything now?"

"You want me to talk?" Ragna raised his head. Such a scene is really embarrassing. The achievement of killing Olegin is indeed a topic that should not be discussed in the current situation.

"Let the grudges of the past be over..." Ragnar tried to smooth things over, but now he had to explain some things without reservation.

Since Rurik wants to capture Silver Castle, as an ally of Denmark, he must participate in it and even play a major role.

He stood up and said, "Arik, I'm sure you still have a lot of things to arrange. This is the task Rurik has given you."

"You are smart. My friend, I have a lot of things to do. If you have anything to say, please tell me immediately."

"Okay. Spuyut was ordered to capture the Silver Castle, and I must lead my brothers to participate in this matter. You can rest assured that the Silver Castle was destroyed once, and the rebuilt Silver Castle is nothing. There are some local businessmen and Mercenaries, I will try to persuade them to join our team. Ross can force Silver Castle to surrender without force at all. You get the treasure, and I can recruit some more warriors, which is good for everyone."

"This... is okay. But the Silver Castle will belong to Ross. This is the king's order." Arik emphasized, pointing to the order document.

"It doesn't matter. Any businessman will move to a place as long as it is profitable. They are not soldiers, they are all profit-seeking businessmen. In order to survive, they will not hesitate to buy their lives with money."

"That's good. You guys should take action in the near future and capture it as soon as possible. Then..." Arik immediately issued a second order to Spyut: "The king also asked you to find the whereabouts of the cavalry. Fisk goes to attack Weiwei." Damn it, maybe you can get some news from Silver Castle."

"Okay. I hope I can meet the cavalry by chance." Spyut answered casually, because with Ragnar cooperating with him, his current worries have basically disappeared.

However, anyone with a discerning eye can see that attacking and capturing Silver Castle is only a small part of the entire war. The key lies in what King Rurik wants after capturing Silver Castle.

Ragnar basically has an answer to this fundamental question.

He needed the affirmation of Brother Arik: "I can bring out five hundred Danish allies, and the next ones will be envoys sent by the lords of Zealand, Denmark. In fact, many lords and nobles are opposed to Huo who betrayed Odin. King Rurik, everyone is actually willing to put aside their past grudges and work together to fight against the traitors who betrayed Odin and the Frankish invaders. So, King Rurik’s next step is to attack Denmark, right?! Please answer me! Brother Aric!"

Being asked this important question head-on, Arik stamped his foot and said seriously: "Exactly! Ragnar, we had an agreement last year. When Ross begins to conquer Horik, your people must participate. No more Time allows you to accumulate strength, and you will move in immediately after taking the Silver Castle. Or, things can be done more carefully..."

Arik glanced around, considering that there were no less than ten envoys from the lords of Zealand in this room. If the lords behind the envoys were willing to form an alliance with Ross, wouldn't it mean that the people of Zealand, the largest island in Denmark, would all come together? Clear the ground against Horik.

This matter must have been unexpected by his brother the king, and also by other comrades.

Although Arik had little understanding of "conquering the enemy without fighting", find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan. com He only made one principle clear - don't hurt your friends.

Are the lords of Zealandia friends? It was obvious that they were enemies of King Horik the Rogue, and enemies of enemies could become friends. Looking at the current atmosphere, these envoys did not show the slightest intention to be enemies with Ross. They did not even look at them with anger or fear. Instead, they looked more like flattery.

In a war, it would be a huge mistake to accidentally injure a Danish tribe that has a favorable impression of Rus, so it is best to negotiate the terms first.

A possibility began to form in Aric's mind.

"As long as the lords and nobles behind these people do not send troops to help Horik, they will be the greatest help to the Ross army. As long as these people stand still and the entire Zealand Island remains neutral, the Ross army will easily sweep across the entire Jutland Peninsula from north to south. ." He muttered.

Aric, who wanted to understand, suddenly opened his arms and smiled on his tense face, as if welcoming guests from afar: "Denmark envoys sitting here, I have a lot to say to you..."

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