Rise of Rurik

"The enemy is coming! Stand up and prepare to face the enemy!"

The centurion ordered his men without changing his expression, and the armored soldier finally stood up from his sitting position.

Times have changed. When a warrior has the opportunity to obtain thicker armor, they will not hesitate to wear it to face the decisive battle. It's just that the heavy armor is like huge weights weighing on both shoulders. It's better to sit down as much as possible before the battle. There were no soldiers lying down, but they just didn't want the cloth robes they wore to be completely blackened by the mud.

The soldiers stood forward one after another, holding their shields to their chests, pulling out steel swords and preparing to fight.

Those warriors armed with crossbows perform the cocking operation like no other.

Or you can directly stretch the wooden arm crossbow to string it, then turn to the heavier steel arm version, and then use the portable winch to buckle the thick tendon rope string to accumulate power.

There were also the thirty torsion slingshots that were brought ashore and loaded on small handcarts to become forts.

"Install cast iron bullets! Oil the chute!"

The commanding soldiers immediately implemented the orders of King Rurik who was in the formation.

As for why the javelin is not used, it is actually because the javelin weapon was consumed a lot in the war for more than half a year. Although it can be recycled, the constant wear and tear makes Rurik reluctant to squander it now.

However, the reserves of conical cast-iron bullets are very large. Because of their short range and extremely powerful at close range, they are actually treasures for fierce battles at sea and may not be suitable for use in land battles.

Unless the enemy is placed closer.

The rainwater fell on the oiled cable and was immediately spread out. The torsion slingshot slide was coated with a layer of semi-solidified seal oil, and even the hemp rope that stored power was smeared with a layer of assault.

The soldiers were all wet. If there was no big battle today, no one would be willing to stand in the autumn rain and wait blindly.

Their wait has not been in vain, the battle is about to begin.

Even though everyone saw the size of the enemy, the force was quite large as Ragnar who reported yesterday said.

With all the loot from the countryside thrown onto the longship, Ragnar and his men had no worries. They joined the front line lightly armed, but were incompatible with the Russian army.

Ragnar's men are the real Vikings, and Rurik's legions have already surpassed them. In the former case, many people find wet clothes too inconvenient, so they just go shirtless.

He himself only wore a layer of chainmail, and half of his men were shirtless and deliberately showed off the horrific tattoos on their bodies. Coupled with some mud, they looked like a group of monsters emerging from the dark earth.

Seeing his Danish allies joining the military formation, Rurik's eyes widened as he saw a group of strange and ruthless people.

Ragna approached Rurik with his sword in hand and smiled on his face: "Look, the enemy I mentioned has arrived."

"We have arrived. There are many troops, but unfortunately they are all a group of peasant soldiers."

"They are seeking their own death. We can share the glory of blood sacrifice together."

Hearing this, Rurik pursed his lips and shook his head slightly, asking: "So, your people go into battle shirtless? No matter how much you despise them, you have to consider that they come with the purpose of killing."

"Do you advise all my soldiers to wear armor? No." Ragnar said confidently: "Everyone has his own destiny. If they die, that is their destiny. If I want to sacrifice Odin with my blood, I must fight in a pure form. . It’s a pity that you didn’t prepare a jar of mushroom soup for me.”

"Berserker! I understand." Rurik said without hesitation: "Let your people join the military formation, and we will fight together. I hope the enemy will take the initiative to attack."

The Russian Army is the main force in the coalition. Among them, there are more than 600 elite hundred-man troops drawn from the five flag corps. They are the backbone of the army.

Ragnar's team joined them, and the coalition gathered a main battle force of one thousand men.

However, those heavily armored standing soldiers with bear heads on their heads, their strong and terrifying appearance were not easily exposed to the enemy.

Just like in past battles, there is always a strong team as a tactical reserve.

Rurik decided to fight according to the old and tried-and-true tactics, even though this time his troops were significantly lower than the enemy.

Let’s look at the other side of the battlefield.

For many Flemish peasant soldiers, they may not be able to walk this far in a year after they have traveled a distance in the past few days. As a settled farmer, except for grazing and farming, I would not leave the village on weekdays, because hiking is really unnecessary.

They mostly wore simple leather boots, and many peasant soldiers were even now barefoot. Or maybe they are used to going barefoot, and the thick calluses on their soles face the soft mud. The situation is not extreme.

They were still very tired, and the situation would have been worse if they had not eaten some solid food in the morning.

The fatigue of the army was known to Count Baudouin of Flanders, and all the feudal knights under his command were complaining.

The army did not have the ability to delay. They did not have enough rations in their operational warehouses. They were worried that the Normans would escape early after looting and take revenge. The lightly-armed army had no time to rest at all. In other words, they opened their eyes wide and looked at the uniformly dressed Normans. The short time that the Man army took to stand in formation was their time to rest.

How to fight? At least the Normans were already in a fighting posture, so Baudouin didn't have to worry about them escaping.

Out of caution, he originally wanted to have a little chat with the leader of Norman to find out his specific identity. The so-called exchange of registration numbers would lead to a decisive battle.

This is how noble fighting should be. Seeing that his enemies were well-dressed, they must have followed some rules in fighting even though they were barbarians.

Baudouin ordered the army to stand and rest, then summoned his fief knights and asked one person to bravely stand up and approach the enemy for a chat as a messenger.

This is simply a life-threatening job, so naturally no one will do it.

"You don't want to go? Do you still want me to go? If they attack me, wouldn't it be all over?"

Baudouin himself made his concerns clear for everyone, but even so the knights remained silent.

"It seems that you still don't want to go. Then don't go. There is really nothing to talk about with the barbarians. You all dismount. These special Normans have strong arrows, so don't be used as a target by them on horseback. "

What Baudouin said makes sense. The defeated soldiers said that Antwerp was killed by arrows. Although he did not understand that the Russian army had a magical weapon like the crossbow, he also determined that the enemy had sharpshooters, and all noble people were given priority.

Those knights did not dare to joke with their lives, so they acted as infantry units and personally commanded their retinues and peasant soldiers.

The Count of Flanders participated in the battle in a very traditional medieval troop formation mode, that is, each nobleman led his own troops and then formed a long snake formation.

There is no such thing as coordination of various arms and tactical reserves.

In other words, this is the only way to arrange troops, which is fair to every noble, and allows high-ranking nobles to manage the entire army at a low cost without causing chaos.

It’s been half a century! Since Flanders was annexed by the Franks, there have been no large-scale wars in this land, and even small-scale armed fighting is rare.

Baudouin's father ceded land and paid tribute in exchange for the Vikings who stole Durist and did not make any mistakes. When it was Baudouin's turn, he frequently used money offensives in exchange for Lothair and Ludwig's appeasement.

They have never fought a large-scale war. Although the three thousand soldiers recruited this time are not the limit of the count, Baudouin is very proud because he has accomplished a feat that even his father has never accomplished - organizing an army of three thousand to fight against the Normans. Pirate showdown.

"This is our most glorious battle! Whether it's the Franks! Or the Frisians! We defend our faith and our land! God is with us!"

Like a one-man show, Baudouin, who also dismounted, called on the soldiers in the army to be brave.

Indeed, the huge army was inspired by these inspiring slogans. Those poor, ignorant and extremely simple farmers and shepherds saw their Lord Count standing in the army and fighting side by side with everyone. The feeling of being valued was unprecedented.

Even, an old man in black appeared in front of everyone. The Bishop of Ghent came in person. He led a group of young priests, carrying a huge black cross, to patrol in front of the army.

A young priest held an urn full of holy oil in his arms, and the bishop held a cedar branch dipped in oil and poured it on the soldiers, while he muttered words in Latin.

Paul Feder is the regional bishop of St. Peter's Monastery in Ghent, and in principle is subject to the management of Bishop Arbery of the Diocese of Utrecht in religious affairs.

Although St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent could be upgraded to St. Bavo's Cathedral, its current status is not high. Bishop Feder hopes to have some merits that will allow him to independently establish an archdiocese, so that he can be promoted to a regional bishop and reach the pinnacle of his life.

Therefore, if the count annihilated a huge army of barbarians in one fell swoop, it would be equivalent to his achievement.

Bishop Feder had such utilitarianism that he took the risk to join the battlefield, but he kept a low profile when accompanying the army. After all, he was averse to war in principle.

He personally anointed and blessed the army, and the soldiers would receive great blessings if even a little oil star was dropped on them.

Earl Baudouin was happy to see all this, and when he saw the Normans again, they had no movement for the time being. He just wanted to do the pre-war ceremony properly.

Such a strange behavior made Ragnar, who was ready for battle, really dissatisfied.

The two kings were muttering among the coalition forces.

"Rurik, what are those monks doing? A strange ritual?"

"It's a ritual. This way they can become invulnerable." After saying that, Rurik laughed wildly.

Ragnar understood: "A boring ceremony. Are we just going to keep waiting? Since it's a ceremony, I can't wait to drink some sacred mushroom soup."

"It's better to be ready for battle. I won't take the initiative to attack, just wait for the enemy to rush over. Let's make a beautiful defensive counterattack. Remember, try to capture those black-robed monks when we fight."

"Is it necessary?" Ragnar asked puzzledly.

"You can catch them and wiggle them to Hamburg to surprise the saint of the north."

"You still think highly of that old man Eskil, who is almost sixty years old? That's fine. Let me listen to you."

Regarding the Flanders Army, there was no longer any room for hesitation.

Baudouin chatted with the bishop in person and then gave the order to fight. He pointed his sword straight ahead, and the whole army burst out with a spirited roar.

Carrying a variety of weapons, they launched a group charge towards the white-clothed Norman army.

Although there are no organized tactics at all, just like a large group of wild boars running wild, the power of the pig burst cannot be underestimated.

They had a large force and advanced rapidly through the muddy terrain in dense formations.

Seeing that the enemy was so brave yet so stupid, the Russian soldiers were greatly relieved.

The ship waiting for work received the order from the Horn. The sailors left behind immediately pulled the wedge of the torsion slingshot, and the charged slingshot immediately launched the javelin.

Only the fleet can launch javelins, and the slingshots are launched by sailors in turn. Objectively, a relatively dense barrage of javelins is formed above the heads of the coalition forces. They spin and fly towards the charging enemy with a strong buzzing sound. What follows is death.

The javelin hit the unarmored peasant soldier and was nailed directly to the mud. One javelin even hit two people.

Even if you wear chain mail or leather riveted iron armor, it will be useless under the powerful momentum of the javelin.

The sudden loss shocked the Boguo army, but everyone could no longer stop. They didn't want to be trampled to death by the brothers behind them, so they could only continue to charge with their mouths wide open. As long as they started fighting hand to hand, everything would be fine.

Count Baudouin brought his armored cronies among them. Of course he could choose to watch the battle from a distance, but his brother-in-law was killed and wealthy Antwerp was in ruins. He had no reason to stand by and watch. This was his own personal revenge.

However, the Russian shooters who were waiting for work deliberately put the charging team in and gave them fatal discussion shots.

The cast-iron projectiles smashed the people into pieces, and the arrows accurately hit the people, eliminating their ability to fight on the spot.

There was a volley of discussion, and those who charged the most fiercely in the Boguo army suffered heavy casualties.

Of course, the Russians still only had one chance. They quickly retreated to the shield array behind them after completing the launch.

The momentum of the Boguo army's charge was curbed, and at the cost of some casualties, the hand-to-hand combat finally began.

The Boguo army used battle axes, short spears, Ri'an clubs and swords to stab and beat. They had a large number of soldiers. Facing the Ross-Danish coalition forces that formed a tight shield formation, they turned the battlefield into a can of herrings, creating an unfortunate situation where people were fighting against each other.

Now, without any orders from Rurik, his men killed the enemy step by step.

The enemy's weapon crossed the shield and hit his armor. The pain was real, it was just a bruise and internal injury at most.

The enemy's situation was different. The Ross warriors thrust forward crazily, their steel swords piercing the unarmored enemies without any resistance. Every stab was a bloody action.

It was just a moment of hand-to-hand combat, and I thought I could use the superiority of the army to overwhelm the Norman line in one go. Baudouin completely miscalculated, because the opponent's line moved back slightly at most, and the overall position remained motionless.

The chaotic fighting continued, and the Russian-Danish coalition forces resolutely maintained the battle line. Although there were casualties, most of them came from the Danish soldiers who insisted on going into battle shirtless.

Although Rurik himself did not participate in the frontline fighting, he was directly behind the frontline, commanding the retreating shooters to eject into the air, and also sent a signal to the ships behind, instructing them to install cast iron bullets and continue ejecting with slingshots.

The arrows never stopped, raining down like arrows mixed with deadly iron hailstones. Not only did the over-arranged Boguo army suffer heavy casualties at the front, but their heads were also hit with holes.

Being hit in the head by a cast-iron bullet falling from a high altitude, the skull would be shattered even if he was wearing an iron helmet.

Unexpectedly, the battle turned out to be so unlucky. Baudouin could only scream in despair. The formation was too dense, and everyone seemed to be squeezed into a can. The Norman army set up a hemispherical defense line with its back against the dock. The British army tried to squeeze out a breakthrough, but despite their efforts, they were forcefully pushed back with swords.

What is even more tragic is that the army has begun to retreat, and deserters are increasing.

"No retreat! All knights restrain their subordinates and follow me to continue the fierce battle!"

Baudouin's roar was drowned by the hustle and bustle of the battlefield. What he didn't know was that right behind the Norman army, there were the Baron of Groningen and fifteen knights from Utrecht. These people were already standing on their side. Opposite party.

Rurik did not let these people participate in the battle. The so-called Netherlands Army they formed, led by Count Henry Nassau, was just watching the battle. In other words, if the front line did not collapse, there was no need for them to go into battle.

But if they stand here, as long as they are not against the Ross-Danish coalition, they are going to war with Baudouin.

Seeing the strange tactics of the Norman army at close range, they noticed the major disaster in Flanders County. Those soldiers were dying in large numbers, while the Norman army had almost no casualties.

Even the Norman army still had a considerable reserve force, and those ruthless men with bear heads were so awe-inspiring that they were suffocating.

As Rurik issued a new signal, all fire support operations with arrows, projectiles, and javelins were suspended.

It was not that the arrows were exhausted, but that the chaotic fighting had continued for a while, and the enemy was exhausted. It was time to use the tactical reserves to deliver a fatal blow.

Rurik turned his head sharply: "Grund!"

"exist!"

"Lead the berserkers to protrude from the right flank! Quickly surround the enemy's rear!"

"As you command!"

As a result, more than a hundred people wearing heavy armor stood up one after another. They did not use round shields, but mostly held battle axes with blades, spikes and spearheads and went into the fight. This weapon has the same meaning as the Flanders Army's Rian Rod, but it was later more lethal.

There were prisoners of war, hand axes, and swords.

An additional three hundred people joined the berserkers. They were the shooters just now and the remaining standing army soldiers.

There were as many as 400 tactical reserves. They rushed out from the left wing and slashed violently at the unsuspecting enemy, like a meat grinder.

Grund and all the berserkers are truly invulnerable. The enemy's spears are deformed, swords are bent, and even the wooden handles of the axes are broken, but they cannot harm the berserkers at all.

On the contrary, the sudden ramming of Ri'an's rod can make the Berserker retreat for a while. Unfortunately, individual successful resistance cannot prevent the collapse of the entire formation.

Like a wedge driven into wood, the formation of the Flanders Army has been torn apart.

As a result, the peasant soldiers and a few knights behind them ran away without caring about anything.

The troops within the formation have been attacked by the Norman army from both sides, and by chance, Count Baudouin is among them.

"Sir! We are surrounded!" A knight shouted desperately.

What else could poor Baudouin do? The enemy was the Normans, and the measure for those who surrendered was to cut them down and sacrifice them to the sky.

"Keep fighting! God is with us!"

At this moment, he could only cry out in despair...