Longships washed up on the beach one after another, and Mälaren warriors swarmed into Norrkoping, which was established by the Gotlanders on the ruins of Ostara.
After regaining his strength, Karl obtained this new group of troops and took the remaining soldiers with him, together with the hundreds of "black warriors" raised by his father, to launch a comprehensive counterattack.
The ensuing battle can be described as elite against elite. Both sides of the war are wearing iron helmets and chainmail. The Malaren army still has an overwhelming advantage in strength. Those "iron guys" have no chance to escape.
The very hard tempered chromium iron axes of the Malaren Army directly broke the enemy's chainmail, but they were also smashed by the wrought iron axes rammed by the enemy. In fact, even extremely hard chromium steel weapons,
It is also difficult to demonstrate tactical advantages in the current melee.
In the cramped battlefield in the village, the side with the upper hand in terms of number of troops and physical strength of the warriors is using brute force to win.
All the Gotlanders who dared to resist were killed. Some Malaren soldiers dragged wailing women and children from the wooden houses. If they dared to resist, they directly assassinated them. Then they began to loot wealth, looking for silver coins, copper coins and gems.
, and even all valuables such as cloth and leather. Especially the Melalen peasant soldiers mixed in, they are the most greedy, but they are also surprisingly a little "kind".
For example, Olegin ordered his black army to attack. These guys who usually eat the king's salary can be said to attack indiscriminately, but they are poor peasant soldiers who hope to get rich in a battle. Once they capture a female prisoner, their first priority is to protect them.
Live. It cannot be said that this is truly merciful, it is just because they want to take the captives back as wives, nothing more.
They intend to pull these prisoners to the coast. Whether the king will fulfill his long-cherished wish depends on the king's decision.
But in doing so, they completely lost a real feast of robbery.
Aren’t those enemy “iron guys” suddenly transformed into berserkers?
They themselves are guards raised by a wealthy family, and they always wear armor to protect their master's wealth-silver coins and leather.
The so-called big businessmen were essentially instructed by the Danish alliance leader to lead a group of elite warriors to do business in Norrkoping to make profits for the alliance leader "Lion Hafgen", and at the same time symbolize that this place was a Danish-controlled area.
As those warriors from Denmark, who were covered in chainmail, were overrun and killed by the Mälaren army, which had an overwhelming advantage in strength and weaponry. A wooden house area where the Danish big family and Denmark's strength was located had been destroyed by Mälaren.
Surrounded by legions.
What's even crazier is that Karl led a group of soldiers and kicked open all the wooden doors without mercy. This man was violent towards his own women, and he was naturally merciless towards the wives and concubines of his enemies.
Finally, the well-dressed guy who could tell he was rich at first glance was stabbed to death by multiple short spears in the rebel army.
Karl looked at the miserable corpse and couldn't help but spat: "Really, so many of my people died when dealing with such a rich man. It's a pity that a good leather coat was ruined so much."
A little leader wearing ink chainmail with a crazy expression on his face followed Karl closely, "Sir, the king asked us to look for gold and silver. The brothers have gone to catch their sheep, what should we do? Here
It looks like..."
"Look for gold! Find it for me! Dig everywhere for me and find the gold they buried!"
As soon as Karl was out of breath and issued an order, a soldier hurried over to report the good news, "Sir! We found their silver box. And a lot of sheepskins?"
"Really?" The excited Karl directly grabbed the man's neck.
The soldier muttered in great pain: "Yes... yes! It's all a wooden house."
"Let's go! That's all my wealth. Leave my father alone and take me to see it!"
Soon, Karl and his people took control of the main treasure they found, which were two wooden boxes of silver coins. The weight was really gratifying. The additional goods were naturally sheepskins. They were stacked on top of each other, almost filling the entire wooden house.
The armored warriors played with the silver coins, and many of them subconsciously stuffed them into their clothes. They did not dare to stuff too much, for fear that the noble people would blame them. However, after seeing so much wealth, Karl was not blinded by the wealth.
So much to pursue.
He looked at the dense wooden house and gritted his teeth as he sighed: "You really deserve to die. I lost so many brothers just for this little money?"
"Sir, are we going to move the loot out now?" The soldier, who had secretly taken a lot of silver coins, hurriedly hinted Karl to do more damage.
"Move out now, carry your things to the beach, and take care of them with your brothers. After that, burn all these houses!"
After receiving the order, the crowd was excited. All the Melalen soldiers present knew that they would definitely get a share of the pie after the battle. There were so many sheepskins here, wouldn't it be easy and reasonable to get a sheepskin in the battle? In this way, those who died in the battle would
My brother's death was not in vain.
No, just as they started to carry away the bundles of sheepskins, there were already soldiers stripping off the dead people's clothes.
All they took off were the chainmails and helmets of those "iron guys", even if they were stained with blood. The armors were all pulled off, revealing twisted blond heads. The dead men all stared blankly, proving that
They died in battle.
To such ruthless characters, the Malaren warriors had no intention of insulting them. They respected such warriors and spontaneously collected their corpses. As for the Gotlanders who only wore civilian clothes, their corpses were still lying on the ground without anyone paying attention.
As many as a thousand sheep were severely frightened during the battle. They had been completely controlled by the Mellaren invaders, and all the sheep owners had been killed. In fact, the Gotlanders had more sheep, and the shepherds brought
They were going to graze their sheep. When they saw a lot of thick smoke coming out of the settlement, they felt that something serious had happened and they very wisely chose to hide first.
The sheep were driven to their landing site by the Mellarens, and a large group of white things squirmed on the beach.
Rurik originally just wanted to take a good look at what the Mellaren people would do after the battle was almost over. He raised his head and squinted his eyes, and was surprised to see the sheep.
"Huh? Did they get a surprise?"
This was Carlotta's hometown, and Rurik somewhat rudely dragged the mentally ill girl back to the bow deck of the ship.
Carlotta raised her eyes and looked into the distance: "Ah! Those are actually sheep!"
"Yes, it's the sheep. Carlotta, what do you think?"
"That's our sheep! It must be ours!" Carlotta said anxiously with a cry in her voice.
"Um?"
Carlotta was depressed because she thought of the horrific memories. Now that she saw the sheep, her grief and anger surged into her heart again. Rurik noticed the girl's clenched fists and her desire to take back the sheep.
"Those are our sheep! That must be it. We took nothing with us when we fled, only a few Ostara people escaped. Our cattle and sheep were all captured by them, and they are ours. Ah!
Now the sheep are being hunted by the Mellarens..."
Carlotta's arbitrary statement is partly true.
When the Danish allied forces arrived here, some Gotlanders occupied it and built a new town, Norrkoping, on the ruins. The plundered sheep naturally became the means of production for the new settlers. In addition, a group of people from
With the import of sheep from Gotland, the size of the local sheep flock has expanded. While meeting the needs of local people, they can also sell surplus wool and leather products. Norrkoping has become a "wool production base"
.
The anchored Avlora was anchored on the sea, and the distance between the ship and the land was only 200 meters. Carlotta, who seemed to have very good eyesight, could clearly see the Mellaren people slaughtering sheep in public, and they were already celebrating.
My own victory.
It is the right of the victor to enjoy the spoils of war for the first time. Carlotta felt cruel but could not interfere.
Rurik looked open-minded. He patted Carlotta on the back: "Don't worry, after we land, we will go and talk to Olegin and at least get you some sheep."
Carlotta nodded, her clenched fists relaxed, and she looked at Rurik with tears in her eyes. She didn't know what to say other than thanking her.
The Malaren Army encountered some setbacks in the battle and lost some troops, but in terms of the results, it was a complete victory.
Origen had never experienced a real large-scale battle in his life. Just as Otto said, this old guy's world view was always limited to Lake Malaren and the surrounding areas.
Origen ushered in the biggest victory in his life. He learned from the news obtained by his son that the fiercest resistance was actually the guys in iron armor who launched a counterattack. They were all elite Danish warriors.
"Elite? I am fighting the elite! The legendary brave Danes are nothing more than that!" He patted his son Karl on the shoulder, quite satisfied with the spoils obtained in the battle.
Look, two boxes of silver coins were placed in front of him. Some people said that the money was not much. Considering that this settlement was founded by Danish and Gotland invaders, they naturally would not put too much money here.
The flock of sheep and the large amount of leather made Olegin jump up and down with joy. He was the king, and the eight hundred elite "black warriors" under his command only lost less than ten people. He could claim that all the spoils were his, at least
He also has the right to distribute. If there is anyone who refuses to follow, with eight hundred elite soldiers standing here, who dares to say no?
There were already cases where people from Mälaren caused fires during robberies. They pulled women and children out of their cabins, not caring about the burning of the houses.
On the beach, a small group of poor women were holding their children. In fact, many of them had been killed. Those who survived seemed to be lucky. What was the reality? What awaited them was separation of flesh and blood, and even more cruel torture.
Origen was not a good person, and besides, the Gotlanders destroying the Ostara tribe was tantamount to urinating on his head. This was such a shame and humiliation that he felt that he had to use the most violent means to vent his anger.
He instructed his son Karl: "The existence of this Norrkoping is an insult to you and me. Take your men, burn all the houses, let the Ostara girl see it, let other people's armies see it,
It was us, the Mälaren Army, who defended our dignity."
"Okay!" Karl was planning to indulge the devil in his heart during the arson. He pointed to the trembling captives gathered not far away: "What about those women? Are they slaves?"
"Bah! That's a damn burden. We have to expand the war and let more enemies die. Wouldn't keeping those women distract the soldiers?"
Karl felt that he understood what his father meant, so he drew his sword: "I understand, I will arrange for people to kill them all. Or it is not too late to make the brothers happy first."
Having said that, Karl will lead his brothers to take action.
"Wait a minute!"
"Huh? Father, you hesitate?"
"Yes, I changed my mind."
"Why? Aren't they a burden?"
Origen pointed at the Russian sailing ship: "We have an agreement with them, and we owe them a debt."
"That debt? In my opinion, they should respect us. Do you want to give them a batch of property? I don't want to..."
"I don't want to either, but..." Origen sighed deeply, "As a man and as a king, I must have faith. Let's do this. All those captives will be sold to the Rus to pay off our debts."
"What about the price?" Karl asked cautiously.
Origen looked at the sky and thought for a while: "Let's do this! Keeping men is a disaster. The Russians will definitely not want them if they want to come. You kill all the men. One pound of silver coins for a woman and half a pound for a girl. That's the arrangement."
Karl nodded and really started to take action.
So Rurik, who was watching not far away, soon saw a thrilling scene. When he and Carlotta saw clearly the terrible things that happened there, even Rurik, who boasted that he was not afraid of bloody battlefields, was frightened.
Return to the cabin.
Norrkoping, the de facto northernmost stronghold of the Danes, was built on the ruins of old Ostara. Just two years later, it would return to ruins and turn into a piece of scorched earth.
A group of desperate women had their hands and feet tied and their mouths stuffed with cloth.
In the Viking world, even ten-year-old boys are usually treated as warriors. If it were just a tribal war, the defeated would naturally be slaves. However, Origen was simply retaliating with tooth this time, and he was about to die.
Despite his age, he felt no guilt or even pressure to do something cruel.
Babies were also killed by the Mellaren army, and the surviving women and girls have been turned into a commodity, just waiting to be sold to the Rus. Of course, some Mellaren warriors have indulged themselves with the benefit of Karl.
It didn't matter that the women were disheveled and in pain. After tidying up their armor, they went to slaughter the sheep and roast them.
The burning Beiköping fired up fierce smoke, which was the best signal to lead the belatedly arriving armies of various tribes to approach.
The Onkras Army, Hjärmalen Army, and even other troops arrived belatedly. They complained that the battle was over, and they were just rushing on their way, and gained nothing new except panting.
When they started to wash up the beach, the Mellaren army had already prepared the first batch of worms with them and set up camp on the beach of the Gotlanders.
At this moment, Otto had already completed the landing with a group of personnel escorting the rations belonging to the Maylaren Army.
The captured local pottery urn began to cook wheat, mutton, and some fresh onions.
As many as three hundred sheep had been slaughtered, the fresh sheepskins gathered up, and all became the king's property.
Otto, Rurik, and even Carlotta landed. Many short children followed Otto. This scene really made Origen feel ridiculous and boring.
In the tent set up by the surprise attack, Olegin only allowed Otto to enter. Because of his victory, he became arrogant.
"You've finally landed, and I've delivered all the food. Well done, Otto."
Since he noticed that Origen was also killing prisoners, he didn't expect that this person would do such a stupid thing. Seeing Origen's arrogant face again, Otto only felt that this guy had become a fool. There was still work to be done on the surface, Otto.
Tuomu replied with a straight face: "We have sent you food as agreed."
"Oh? Did you really follow the agreement? I noticed that you were shooting arrows at the enemy. The whirring sound of the arrows revealed your identity. You are not just sitting idly by."
Otto was not panicked, he was just surprised that his fears came true: "But we did not intervene personally. My soldiers did not land to fight."
"That's true. Your arrows are very powerful, but the key to victory is to fight in battle." As he said, Olegin pointed to the outside of the curtain: "More than fifty Danish warriors died on this battlefield. They
They were covered in iron armor, but they were all killed by our army, which shows that our Melalen Army is indeed the mainstay of the coalition."
"Yes, I have always recognized your power." Otto agreed with a dull face.
"There is no one else here now, and all the leaders have not landed yet. There are only you and me here, and I am just about to talk to you about repaying the money."
"Will you share the spoils with me now?"
Otto felt that this matter was a bit strange. After all, he and Rurik calculated that the Malaren Army would actually repay the debt by delivering grain during the autumn harvest.
Origen said categorically: "It's now, but it's not silver coins. We have an agreement that I can repay the debt with goods of equal value, so I decided to use slaves."
"Slave? Is he a prisoner of war that you captured?"
"Exactly. I have more than a hundred women and more than fifty girls. They are worth at least fifteen thousand silver coins. Please be sure to accept these slaves. You must!"
Looking at this guy's arrogance, Otto felt like he was being asked to refuse.
However, suddenly acquiring a group of slaves was not part of his and Rurik's plans.
Otto deliberately asked tentatively: "Why is there no man? Even a boy."
"They dared to resist and were killed by our army."
When Origen spoke, his eyes were full of malice, and Otto thought, this matter must not be that simple.
"What if those women...I don't want any of them?"
"You dare!" Olegin, who had been sitting cross-legged, suddenly stuck his head out, then slowly retracted his body and laughed: "They are all enemies anyway. The child Carlotta is also outside the account, I can let her in
, I think she will be satisfied with my decision."
"In the end what you want?"
"Since you don't want to, I will instruct my men to kill all those prisoners. Listen, my old friend!" Olegin pointed his dry big hand to the south: "We will continue to go south to attack the real Danish stronghold. We
The Mellaren Army is the main force, so naturally it is free of any burdens. These women are just burdens, I advise you to buy them."
"you!"
At this moment, Otto really wanted to yell "I just don't want it". When he thought that the eastern settlement of the Ross tribe would always be very short of population, his heart softened. Besides, if he really wanted to sit back and watch Origen continue to kill prisoners, Liuli
Kna boy must be furious.
As the Duke of Ross, Otto certainly has the right to make his own decisions. But he has self-awareness, and even his own wisdom is definitely insufficient.
"Otherwise, let Rurik come in to discuss. Carlotta also has something to ask of you."
Olegin glanced at Otto: "I didn't expect that Rurik is the real Duke, and you actually want to listen to your son's decision. Unlike me, no matter how wild Karl is, he will always be a docile puppy in front of me.
No matter what, I am willing to deal with that kid..."