Rise of Rurik

For the people of Münster, life seems to be back to normal.

The property of the local residents was confiscated by the king, and some men were forcibly conscripted into the army. Although the army was crossing the border to fight against the rebellious and invading barbarians, the local people also supported these just actions, and they did pay a lot of price.

This winter has become difficult...

The town was built around the monastery, which became the largest building in the area. Münster got its name from it, but now this settlement has no story, and the people just want to live a quiet life.

However, strange cavalry from the north broke the tranquility here.

There were woodcutter who wanted to go into the forest to cut wood. They were worried that the woodcutter might fall at any time, so they had to move faster.

Suddenly, the ground shook slightly.

The woodcutter didn't take it seriously and continued to carry a large amount of firewood along the Roman road towards the south.

Suddenly, a group of cavalry appeared.

The woodcutter hurriedly retreated to the woods by the roadside, and tried his best to disappear without a trace.

The cavalry all saw a fleeting figure and concluded that it was a woodcutter.

The commander of the cavalry was none other than Fisk's Ross Cavalry, who was determined to expand his victory. They are a group of hunters, but they are hunting the people of the enemy country.

Are the people also at fault? Ordinary Frankish villagers just want to live their agricultural lives. They completely reject war because it is not good for them. However, the kings and lords will always force them to fight. As for why, the people do not care.

For the huge and rapidly fragmenting Frankish kingdom, her unity is now only nominal.

The nobility and the people were completely divided into two classes. The remnants of the tribal era had collapsed. Only the church was still maintaining the people's faith to prevent the collapse of society.

However, the Russian army regarded all Franks, whether nobles or civilians, as necessary targets of attack.

Reality has taught Rurik the truth about survival. He must implement "annihilation of the enemy's vitality" to protect himself. Only by leading the people of the country to carry out general war can Ross, who has a disadvantaged population, win frequently.

Many ideas are too advanced, but they coincide with many customary systems in the tribal era.

In the eyes of the Russian cavalry, Franks are Franks and they are all the same. After all, it can be said that all the people in Ross are soldiers, and women have to take up arms to fight when necessary. The same thinking is applied to the Franks. They are very worried that these people will turn into militiamen.

The map held by Fisk did not mark Munster. Many people felt that since the woodcutter appeared, there was a high probability of encountering a large settlement if they continued south.

Someone shouted in excitement: "Boss, are we going straight to Cologne now? Will we grab a lot of gold?"

"That is inevitable." Fisk called on the brothers to exert their strength without politeness: "The king has made rules for the people of Spyut before, and the property looted by piracy should be divided into 50 and 50 shares! In my opinion, we are also piracy! Horseback riding Fighting is also a pirate, so no matter how much gold or silver we steal, we will split it 50-50 with the king."

The words have been made very clear. With Fisk's explanation, the soldiers' eyes were full of greed when they saw gold.

"Speed ​​up and go!"

The slow pace of walking ended, and the cavalrymen sped up.

The bow and arrow are ready, and the steel sword is ready to be drawn out at any time.

The cavalry galloped down the Roman road, the sound of horse hooves traveling far. Before they even broke out of the forest, the town of Münster had already sensed their presence.

When the priests in the monastery noticed the sound of horse hoofbeats, they immediately started to have different opinions. Especially at this critical moment, everyone speculated whether the king from the Northern Expedition had come to ask for some food again?

Today is very special.

On All Hallows' Eve, the priests of Münster are preparing for a mass event. Tonight, people from all over the town, and even residents of some nearby villages, will come to participate in the evening event. People from some forest villages have already arrived and took refuge with relatives and friends living in the towns. Others stayed temporarily in the lounge prepared by the priests, waiting for the night's grand event.

In normal times, Münster was just a small town with a permanent population of only more than 300 people. Today, it is extraordinary, with a population of close to 1,000.

The town was bustling with people, and they noticed the cavalry appearing and began to avoid it, fearing that they would be detained by the king's men and then have some wheat taken away.

They didn't run away. When they saw the strangely dressed cavalry appearing, they just relied on the buildings to avoid being hit by the horses.

However, arrows awaited them.

When the cavalry rushed out of the forest, Fisk was also shocked by what he saw.

"Why do they seem to be full of people? There don't seem to be any soldiers." He calmed down and noticed many people wearing robes and turbans, confirming that they were indeed just civilians.

There was no need to hesitate anymore. Fisk raised his recurve bow high and waved his arm to signal. Without a verbal order, the army launched an attack.

As a result, the Ross army divided into two groups and launched a rapid outflank of the small town of Münster.

The helpless people looked at the sudden appearance of the cavalry, dumbfounded until they saw their companions suddenly fell to the ground with arrows piercing their throats.

In an instant, screams broke out.

The endless whooshing sound of arrow feathers was accompanied by the screams of the people. The Ross cavalrymen all had pockmarked faces and rode on horseback like ruthless archery machines.

They shot at unarmed civilians with precision, like a herd of scurrying deer.

The horses' hooves kicked up the dirt, and the cavalry fired in the face.

The people ran around in panic. Some people dropped everything they had and fled towards the nearest forest, while more people instinctively rushed towards the monastery.

How could a small monastery accommodate hundreds of people?

Soon the monastery was overcrowded, and when the priests learned that a group of murderers on horseback had emerged outside, they were at a loss as to what to do.

The bishop could only keep chanting scriptures and calling on the people taking refuge not to panic.

But what is the use of this cowardly behavior besides self-paralysis? Priests can only believe in the power of faith. They will be favored by God because of their piety, and miracles will appear to eliminate the attackers.

Those who could not break into the monastery had to hide in the narrow streets of the town.

But as for the Ross Cavalry, they noticed that many people were running towards the forest.

A soldier rode up to catch up with Fisk: "Boss, are you chasing those who run towards the forest?"

"No chasing." That's all. Fisk pointed directly at the wooden spire of the monastery: "Prioritize the gold! Draw your sword and follow me to charge."

The Parthian tactics of circling the town and shooting arrows came to an abrupt end, and most of the soldiers had no time to take care of the escapees. Seeing that the boss had led a group of people into the town, the whole army launched a final assault.

They slashed left and right with their swords, and the helpless people were either chopped to death or trampled by iron hoofs. The Russian troops were uniformly dressed and all mounted on horses, making it easy to distinguish each other.

They killed people like crazy, and soon the streets and alleys were filled with dead bodies. The originally dry ground gradually became muddy, and a fishy smell filled the air.

After all, the town was too small. When they noticed that most of the people in the town were dead, all the cavalry gathered outside the monastery.

Through the wooden walls of the monastery, they heard obvious sobbing and noisy whispering. It was obvious that there were many people hiding inside.

"Everyone dismount!" Fisk ordered.

That's all. He shook off the blood on his sword and ordered: "Everyone hold a shield! Shield wall! Follow me and advance."

After a moment, he ordered again: "Use the cart over there, put the wood on the ground, and knock open the door of the monastery!"

All orders were given decisively, and the soldiers acted quickly.

This is not the first time that the monastery has been attacked. The cavalry has fought many tough battles this year, and many of the soldiers have become numb. They quickly completed Fisk's request, and under the cover of the shield wall, a cart piled with moldy wooden strips rushed straight to the latched wooden door of the monastery.

A very violent impact, the wooden door fell down, and even hit the back directly, hitting many evacuees.

The dim sunlight shines through the door onto the ashen faces inside.

Fisk Neng's face was as steely as he pointed his steel sword at him: "Brothers! Attack!"

All that's left is the killing of Vikings...

There were dead people everywhere, and the shield wall was like a harvester. It pushed forward, leaving only dead bodies behind. It is obvious that the injured person will be hit by the warrior on standby.

Some people escaped from the monastery gate, but there were Russian soldiers waiting outside. Some of them were armed with swords and shields, and some were waiting with arrows.

Even some people outside had seized the time to draw fire with bows and drills. The flames had already ignited. They were waiting for the army to rob the gold and burn the place to the ground.

The killing continued until the men in black robes were surrounded.

At this moment, the bishop of the monastery was already weak in his legs. The most desperate thing he knew was to watch a large number of people being slaughtered by barbarians but could only watch, and to see the butcher knife finally pressed against his throat.

However, those apostles of Satan suddenly stopped.

Then, something extremely weird happened.

A tall "devil" suddenly spoke Latin.

"You are all priests! I will save you from death. Tell us where the gold is stored and hand over your possessions and you will be saved from death!"

The Devil Can Speak Holy Language? The bishop had nothing to say, he had no idea what was happening now.

In this way, the so-called devil Fisk had to hear the news again in Latin, but the answer he received was: "Who are you? Why do you kill?"

Is it necessary to talk nonsense with them?

Some soldiers said: "Anyway, there should be a cellar in the monastery. We can find it if we search casually. Execute these people quickly so that we can find the next target."

Fisk thought about it. After all, the brothers were in the enemy's territory, and these few soldiers could be wiped out by the enemy's army at any time.

Of course, he didn't know that most of Eastern Frank's mobile forces had gone to the north, and there was already an emptiness behind them. Out of caution, he didn't want to give the priests another chance.

The sword struck him, and the bishop died on the spot.

Finally, the entire town of Münster was destroyed on Halloween. Except for those who fled into the forest, there was no one alive in the town.

Standing here were all Russian soldiers with bloodstains on their bodies. They were busy searching for property. Sure enough, they easily found the cellar and found a box of silver coins. The brothers took away all the gold and silver utensils visible to the naked eye.

They also paid special attention to pendants and other accessories on the deceased's body, and immediately took them away when they found they were gold and silverware.

As for ordinary ironware, no one cares about it.

The Russian cavalry did not want prisoners of war or iron tools. They only wanted high-value gold, silver and precious stones, as well as utensils that could be used for portable picnics.

Some grain was looted and they immediately fed their horses. Some gold and silver were to be delivered to the king, and they were packed and placed on horseback. The remaining property, especially silver coins, was immediately divided among everyone.

The cavalry quickly gathered again. Fisk didn't want to stay here any longer, so he gave orders to his brothers who lit a bonfire.

Violent smoke ignited in the forest, and the small town of Münster was burning. The Ross cavalry who looted did not suffer any losses. They did not stop at all and continued southward along the Roman road.

So, who is the next target?

When people who fled into the forest returned to Münster to see what was going on after a night of hiding, all they saw was a mess after the fire. The monastery was burned to blackened ruins, and the flames were still burning slowly.

The attacker cavalry disappeared without a trace. The people could not believe that this was the work of the king's cavalry, but these ordinary farmers could not imagine that anyone other than the king had a large number of cavalry. They didn't dare to guess too much. Munster was full of dangers. They fled into the forest and went straight to nearby villages, telling everyone about the terrible things and calling for more precautions.

These people would convey terror far and wide, and that was exactly what Fisk wanted.

But Fisk is not a master of strategy. His current actions are just like his solo action in the Götaland area, the so-called sneak attack on Växjö and his direct attack on Silver Castle.

The town named Duisburg was clearly marked on the map, and the people there were attacked mercilessly.

It was here that they finally met resistance.

Duisburg had just been attacked by Ragnar's fleet, and the settlement was demolished and set on fire.

Fisk noticed traces of burns everywhere. Doesn't it match Ragnar's description to prove that it is the town marked on the map?

There are actually living people here, and even horses. Wouldn't it be a reward from God Odin if he didn't plunder?

The Ross cavalry targeted a group of merchants who wanted to arrive in Cologne with some wool from Flanders, which had to pass through Duisburg. The merchants were unaware of the previous attack and were surprised when they arrived in Duisburg. The accompanying mercenary guards asked the sponsor to be on guard and planned to set off immediately after spending another night.

Unexpectedly, at this moment of thought, he was intercepted and killed by the Ross cavalry.

Those mercenaries were unable to fight back under the attack of arrows. All the mercenaries died, but the merchants were also executed.

In less than thirty days, Duisburg was attacked twice by the same enemy. The new batch of transit merchants were wiped out, and trade lines were cut off to a certain extent.

Fisk did not consider that his cavalry could cut off the logistics supplies of the enemy's expeditionary army. As long as they continued to control the "Road to Hell", the Roman highway, Ludwig's army in the north would be exhausted after the supplies it brought were exhausted. It would no longer be possible to get supplies from Cologne.

The cavalry also found some silver and copper coins from the merchants. As for the large amount of wool they found, it was a pity to destroy them, but the brothers couldn't take them away.

At most, the cavalrymen used some small sacks to grab some wool. After all, the weather was getting colder and colder. The brothers could wait until they rested at night to make some simple felts to help keep warm. They took away all the merchants' pack horses, so that the number of cavalry horses reached 300.

What next? All the brothers have gained something, and everyone has heavy silver coins in their pockets.

They were surprised that the Franks were indeed rich, and they were also surprised that they must have fought as far as Duisburg without encountering any obvious resistance.

"We are already facing the Rhine! Let's push upstream along the river! Go to Cologne! Grab the gold!"

Fisk inspired everyone, and the brothers' greed was greatly aroused.

Only two days after the surprise attack on Duisburg, the Ross cavalry had already appeared under the city of Cologne.

The forest in this area has long been cleared, and it has become a plain agricultural reclamation area. The city of Cologne with high walls built on the riverside is clearly visible.

Various accounts indicate that this city is full of gold and silver, but seeing the scale of its city wall, it is really not something that can be captured by two hundred cavalry.

Everyone knows that it is impossible to break the city with this force alone. What will happen next? Everyone is paying attention to Fisk's determination.

"We can't defeat them, so we might as well loot outside the city."

The cavalry immediately started a new killing spree, charging straight at various villages visible to the naked eye.

Their killing behavior immediately caused panic in the city of Cologne, so the armed guards who were supported by money, under the judgment of many priests, ordered them to go outside the city to crusade against the horse-riding villains who were killing people everywhere.

Even among Cologne's armed mercenaries, most of them have accepted King Ludwig's call and gone to the north.

This team usually has extremely limited troops. After all, Cologne is a sacred place. No Frank nobles dare to use troops for this, so the Archdiocese of Cologne does not need to raise many troops.

Wealth supported an elite army, but the remaining defenders felt that it was foolish to destroy a group of priests and thought that relying on the brothers' strength of less than 200 men, they could defeat the strange cavalry raging outside the city.

The City Guards still went out to fight. They all wore chain mail and white cloth robes, with a huge black cross on their chests. They are dressed like crusaders, and they are indeed a kind of crusaders in nature.

But in the open field, this infantry unit naturally encountered non-stop riding fire from the Ross cavalry.

The arrows fired by the cavalry were all stained with blood, and they had been recycled. Some arrows had killed many people, and now they were ruthlessly killing people wearing a single layer of chainmail.

The armor-piercing arrows turned the city guards into hedgehogs, and they collapsed after the final attack.

In this way, the gates of Cologne were locked, the people hid in the city and shivered, while the Ross cavalry looted unscrupulously outside the city.

The Ross cavalry wanted more gold and silver, but they couldn't get a few silver coins from looting the villagers. They fully replenished their food supplies and even grabbed some fragrant cheese.

The map indicates that it has ended here, but the Rhine River in front of us has a long history. Where else can its upper reaches lead?

The next step forward is the great exploration, Fisk solicits the opinions of everyone, and the whole army will then be eager to continue fighting.

They immediately continued to rush upstream along the river. After three days of plundering outside the city of Cologne, they rushed outside another city in only one day.

The Ross cavalry had already appeared under the city of Bonn, and the brothers were faced with the city gate being closed. Fisk repeated his old tricks and launched plundering of nearby villages.

They are causing wanton terror, and people in the Frankish hinterland are panicked. Many villages were unaware of the situation due to lack of information. When such villages were targeted, the Russian army's sneak attacks began.

Until the first light snowfall of winter fell, the deliberate killings presided over by Fisk finally came to a halt.

The cavalry still suffered no losses, not even the horses. It's not that they are all supermen and magical horses, it's because they haven't encountered any decent resistance along the way, and these Turkic horses once again proved their terrifying patience and cold resistance.

They completely occupied a small village, where the cavalry temporarily took shelter from the snow and took a good rest to take stock of the gains from the entire adventure.

What they ignored was that the terror they had created was spreading rapidly, and a Frankish winter escape was quietly taking place.

The fleeing Franks went straight to Aachen, the capital of Central Francia, with all kinds of news. The situation suddenly became tense. The Aachen garrison in Central Francia began to strengthen its vigilance and sent messengers to spread the news to the Earl of Metz in the south.

The chain reaction of the Ross cavalry's retaliatory raids was intensifying, and Fisk was unmoved.

Fisk was already satisfied. After the brothers settled down from the high-intensity battle, they counted their huge results and thought about evacuating.

"Then let's go! We'll go north as soon as the snow stops! As long as we leave early enough, we can still catch up with the decisive battle."

Fisk arranged it this way, and everyone agreed.