Chapter 200 The Rise of Ragnar and the Oslo Mercenaries
Even if he can only lead two hundred people, Ragnar is full of confidence in the future war.
After all, this operation was his first battle as a military commander. His act of killing the leader of the enemy tribe at the age of fifteen was just a brave one-on-one duel on the order of his father. He felt that he could leave his father's wings.
Shelter, use your sword and ax to create a greater reputation for yourself and impress other allies.
He just wants to be the king of Denmark!
But when he arrived at Robard Port, he was shocked to find that among all the tribes that responded to the call, only his own tribe sent the most troops!
Suddenly, he thought of his father's teachings.
As expected, each tribe is interested in maintaining its strength, and the troops dispatched often fill up two ships!
As for Hafgen, how could he not be angry when he saw the clumsy tricks of his allies?
On the contrary, Sigurd, the Ringmaster of the "Stonewall" tribe, sent his son to bring over two hundred people. They were the ones who sent the largest number of people!
Hafgen summoned the commanders of his allied armies and hosted a banquet for them in his banquet hall.
Even though these guys were obviously not that enthusiastic about his war determination, he still held a sumptuous banquet to show his power and generosity.
There are eleven commanders of the allied army, including old men and young men.
The army they commanded only had at least thirty people! There was only one warship! It was so ridiculous that it seemed like they were just here to watch a show.
All the allied armies seem to have arrived. The total number of allied armies from eleven tribes is only 800.
Hafgen ordered some fat sheep to be slaughtered and roasted for a feast.
He also organized a group of beautiful tribal women to serve as temporary servants to the allied commanders.
Just like that, a shepherdess was ordered to serve young Ragnar. But for such a woman, Ragnar, after feeling refreshed, just wanted to end the banquet as soon as possible, and then lead his troops to participate in the great battle
middle.
The banquet hall was filled with the aroma of meat and wine. All the military commanders, representing their respective tribes, raised their glasses to pay tribute to their leader.
Ragnar also raised his wine glass high, but what was different from the others was that when those old guys were all glowing and praising the beauty of the ale and women given by the leader, Ragnar was the only one who kept a serious face and eyes.
It is full of perseverance.
The young man's eyes caught the attention of Hafgen, who was intoxicated by the praise.
A group of people toasted three glasses in a row. Then, everyone held their daggers, or showed their hands directly, tearing into the sizzling roast mutton, and chatting about the future war.
In fact, most tribes had no intention of sending smart and capable generals. Instead, they sent some high-status old guys from local tribes and a small group of young people who had not made any meritorious deeds in other wars.
To put it bluntly, if the group of people fighting north suffered heavy losses, it would be completely acceptable to their tribe.
But these commanders, after being caught up in the indescribable group fanaticism at the banquet, had no idea that they were almost like cannon fodder.
They all explained to the leader that they were powerful and that the tribal warriors were trustworthy.
Seeing how excited they were, Hafgen didn't know what to say.
After all, if you look at the appearance of this group of people, you can tell that they are not very trustworthy.
After all, Harvgen is essentially a warrior, and he understands the temperament a warrior should have.
Among all the people sitting there, only one young man caught his attention deeply.
"You!" Hafgen pointed with his big hand and looked at Ragnar, "What's your name?"
Seeing this, Ragnar responded with a serious face: "I am Ragnar, the son of Sigurd the Ring."
"Oh! You are! It's you..." Hafgen slapped his head, "It's you. You cut off that man's head. A few years have passed, and you have grown into a hero."
Among the people attending the meeting were members of the chief of the tribe whose head was beheaded by Ragnar. People were booing, but only the commander of this tribe felt the pressure.
The praise from the alliance leader brought back everyone's memories.
Hafgen simply stood up and raised his glass: "Ragnar, you have a great future. Among all the allies, you have brought the most people. Here's to you!"
"Thank you, great leader." Ragnar also stood up and drank the ale in his glass.
Hafgen put down his wine glass and continued with his words of praise: "Okay. You are a real warrior. I know your glorious record. Today, I also saw the strong muscles on your arms. Your Stonewall tribe is also a powerful existence.
, It’s a pity that your number is a little small.”
Ragnar felt a little offended.
In fact, all his understanding of the alliance leader Hafgen came from his father Sigurd. His father was not satisfied with this Hafgen, which made Ragnar despise this so-called alliance leader from the beginning.
Who should be the leader of Denmark? Who should be king of Denmark? It’s me! Ragnar!
He suppressed his ambition in his heart, but the unintentional look in his eyes really made Hafgen feel a hint of threat.
Hafgen continued: "You are a ferocious sea wolf. Unexpectedly, Sigurd actually sent a hero like you here. I know that this action is somewhat inappropriate. However, the northerners are provoking the entire Denmark.
We must take revenge on them. Ragnar, what do you think?"
"My opinion? Revenge? Of course I want revenge. I also want to get honor. I am willing to fight! I am eager to fight with the bravest people. I want to cut off the brave man's head and refresh my record."
While speaking, Ragnar kept staring into Hafgen's eyes. Therefore, these words were actually a double entendre, and the implication contained Ragnar's ambition for the position of leader of the alliance.
The words were not explained clearly, but Hafgen was frightened by Xiao Xiao.
After all, since becoming the leader of the alliance, the former challengers have disappeared.
Now, a vigorous young man who is not yet twenty years old is actually very proud of himself and showing off his majesty.
"Okay, I hope you can show your courage as always on the battlefield."
"Of course!" As he said that, Ragnar stabbed the dagger inserted into the roasted lamb leg into the square table in front of him. "The Northern Alliance will suffer a heavy price!"
Hafgen could not help but clapped his hands: "Well said. So, I have decided that our departure time will be in the early morning three days later. In this operation, we do not have the ability to directly attack the core of the Northern Alliance, Melalenburg.
.However, in retaliation for their attack on Gotland, we will also destroy at least one of their settlements. They completely destroyed Skokenberg, and we will retaliate in kind."
The alliance leader's determination surprised the commanders.
Some people can't help but ask: "Must it be destroyed? Maybe we can occupy it for a long time. We can capture the locals and turn them all into our slaves."
Hafgen ruthlessly rejected this decision.
"When they killed the people of Skenberg indiscriminately, they should have thought that what they did would happen to them. We are here to take revenge. You can do whatever you want carefully."
Do whatever you want to do?
To be honest, none of the people sitting here are the kind of bloodthirsty madmen who have lost their souls. After all, capturing a group of prisoners and taking them back to their hometown as slaves is the best way to maximize their profits. Killing someone simply to vent their anger? It is difficult to do such a thing.
But Hafgen, he must use violent means to further declare his authority to the entire alliance, and by the way, bring terror to the head of the Northern Alliance. He hopes that in doing so, those in the north will be afraid and will not continue to invade the south.
Hafgen made all his decisions known. He claimed that he would personally lead a thousand of his elite warriors to participate in the battle. After the banquet, everyone was waiting for the Allied Forces to be completely assembled.
Because of Hafgen, he estimated from the beginning that the allies were wary of going north to "gnaw hard bones" and would not necessarily send elite forces here.
Then you can't expect your allies to put in a lot of effort, and your tribe shouldn't be expected to put in a lot of effort in the war either.
Hafgen thought of gathering some special people.
Those people are not allies, but they are better than allies.
Who are they? Norwegians!
Long before the banquet started, three ships set off from the Robard tribe port and headed northwest.
The destination of these three ships is a place called "Sacred Meadow", which is Oslo and is the original meaning of her name.
Today's Oslo is just a trading port. There is no clear tribe here. There are only a group of retail investors engaged in commerce and agriculture, spontaneously organized into a symbiotic group. They all have their own tribes. Now they have settled in Oslo, and there are no
Forget your roots.
More than 3,000 Norwegians live here, and even more Norwegians live in a group of fjords facing the Atlantic Ocean at the western foot of the central mountains of Scandinavia. It is in this group of fjords
The Norwegians have been rowing to the British Isles for the past fifty years to search for treasures, capture Britons, Picts, and even Northumbrians, and all the locals they can catch.
.
Holy grassland can be cultivated with spring wheat, oats, and even vegetables such as cabbage.
Its climate conditions are better than those of the Svealand Plain.
Oslo became a commodity distribution center for the Norwegians. Furs, timber, grain, vegetables, gold and silver were transported from this port to Denmark, especially to the nearest and most powerful Robard tribe.
In exchange, the Robard tribe, which controls the strait, has long given Oslo merchant and fishing vessels preferential tolls.
If the residents of Oslo were a complete tribe, they would have been classified into the Danish tribal alliance system long ago. The reality is that the people of Oslo are actually a hodgepodge of Norwegians.
Hafgen's messenger arrived and announced the Danes' determination to the Oslo people.
War? War against the Silian Alliance?
At first, the people in Oslo refused. They said it was all business, and it would be the same with anyone, as long as the money given by the other party was reasonable.
Because of the geographical separation, there has been no conflict between the Norwegians and the Svealans. They have been bounded by the central mountain range since ancient times, and they have good business relations with each other, so that's it.
However, relying on the support of the alliance leader behind him, the messenger issued an absolute order to the Oslo people: "You must organize an army and must join our allies. Otherwise, all Danes will regard you as a threat. We will restrict
Your business, then lead an army to attack it."
If it were just a threat, Hafgen felt that the effect would not be very good.
The messenger immediately issued another statement: "Anyone who decides to join the Allied Army will receive five silver coins immediately. You will be allowed to do anything in the war, and you can plunder as much as you like, and all the treasure you gain will be
Own it.”
Five silver coins is a lot! It is really attractive to ordinary farmers.
The sowing season in the sacred grassland has long passed, and there is still a whole summer waiting for the local farmers. They are farmers after all, and after selling the excess grain, they live with their own surplus grain.
Compared with those families in Oslo who specialize in trade, pure peasant families have to fish as fishermen during their leisure time. With their existing fishing tools, the catch they can only make a living and cannot become an industry at all. Moreover, they
How to beat the mighty Danish fishermen?
The two sides do have a long-term trade relationship, but it is not an alliance. If the fishing boats of both sides get too close, conflicts are inevitable.
After all, Oslo is not the core control area of the Norwegian alliance. The Oslo people, who are destined to have difficulty getting military protection from their own alliance, are determined to accept the convening order from the Danes.
It is too unrealistic to turn businessmen into warriors. They believe in Frey, the god of wealth, and they always cherish their lives.
Many farmers feel that they have found an opportunity to get rich.
The Danes gave money, and all the plunder during the war was theirs. They gave such good conditions, so why did they care who the enemy was? Just fight!
In a short period of time, nearly three hundred local farmers in Oslo decided to suspend their fishermen's life during the off-farm period. They brought their own weapons, organized ten long boats without dragon heads, and followed the Danish messenger towards the south.
As the expedition neared Port Robard, the demands of the war immediately gave local blacksmiths and leatherworkers huge orders.
The blacksmiths sold all the iron swords they had in stock. Even the blacksmiths of the entire tribe were working overtime to produce axes, a treasure that can be quickly produced as a weapon and tool.
As for the leatherworkers, they sold all the leather armor in stock and quickly cut down the leather in stock to make makeshift leather armor.
The so-called leather armor here is basically just one or more layers of leather.
Thick cowhide can block the attack of arrows to a great extent. Although everyone estimates that the other party, like themselves, is not very good at using bows and arrows. In fact, this is because the Nordic people's bow-making technology is still in its early stages, and they are not yet able to make high-pound bows.
Bows, so that this type of weapon is not considered a battlefield weapon. But the army needs it, because projectile arrows made of linen soaked in turpentine can be set on fire.
Even among the wealthy and powerful Robard tribe, quite a few warriors do not have chainmail.
They just put on a cowhide, either two or three layers.
It is said that in battle, when the enemy's sword becomes blunt, only a strong man has the strength to pierce the stewed sword through three layers of cowhide, and strong men are rare everywhere.
The most threatening person is the guy holding a battle axe. His powerful and heavy swings, even with the best riveted chainmail protection, will kill him with broken bones even if he receives a single blow.
Hafgen did what he said, and he gathered a thousand people.
Facing the tribe's unusual prosperity due to the war, he felt that he had created this prosperity and it was his own glory.
In the Robard tribe, Ragnar and his army bought all the supplies with their own money. However, Ragnar, who led an army into battle for the first time, soon realized that he was a little rash.
Ragnar did not bring enough food, and his army also bought a lot of things from the Robard tribe, which cost another sum of money.
This results in some people being short of money and some having more money. The army is a whole and everyone needs to eat, but the alliance leader will not spend another copper coin to support everyone's meals.
Since it was close to his hometown, his father Sigurd also urgently sent a batch of food, and Ragnar distributed this batch of food to his subordinates.
He estimated that this batch of food would never be able to support a long-term battle.
What to do? Of course, go to the battlefield and grab the enemy! In this regard, Ragna thinks this method is very desirable.
On the day before departure, a group of ragged people came.
Oh, it's not that they are really sloppy, but this group of people really only landed in clothes made of linen and leather, carrying their own shields, and one or more axes.
Ragnar soon learned the identity of this group of people. They were actually a group of farmers from Oslo.
They are actually mercenaries of the Danes? Can such people be considered warriors?!
The young Ragnar didn't know what the alliance leader was thinking. Such a group of poorly dressed guys who lacked protection would also be involved in the battle?
However, due to their arrival, the Union Army's strength reached 2,100 men.
And this is only the army assembled on the Jutland Peninsula.
Ragnar felt that even if they suffered a serious blow, the Gotlanders would send even 500 men no matter what! Perhaps the final strength of the Allied Forces could reach 3,000 men.
Wow, with such a large army, why does Hafgen think it is not advisable to attack the Northern Alliance's Malarenburg?
After attacking Melalenburg, gaining huge wealth and gaining great glory, Ragnar not only had the desire to become the King of Denmark, but he also saw the reality that one man could command three thousand soldiers or even more.
What a great honor it is to lead an army of more than 10,000 people, conquer the entire Northern Alliance through a decisive battle, and then conquer the Norwegians to become the King of the North Sea.
Ragnar, he fell asleep with dreams of glory. What awaits him and his army is an expedition starting tomorrow, and a future full of wealth and glory.