Chapter 517 The collapse of the important town of Edinburgh
There are some orange flags flying on the top of the city, which are the royal flags of Northumbria.
The attacking Viking army also raised this flag, which was the Ross Oar Flag held by Rurik.
The army that attacked Edinburgh was indeed a Ross army in nature, because its commander was the de facto ruler of the Principality of Ross. In other words, this army was almost entirely composed of Balmoks and Shetlanders.
The combat mode should be exactly the same as that of the former Russian army.
But the real Russian army has been completely reborn under Rurik's personal training. How can its strong combat effectiveness be compared to that of a thousand Balmokh warriors?
As for the Northumbrian people in front of him, Rurik saw this city that could be called a "bandit fortress" and was already wondering how many treasures there could be in it.
No!
They do have babies!
Rurik squinted and suddenly saw a man with a pointed hat, even though the man was hiding behind the battlements and sneaking around. The man had been holding up a shiny golden cross with a strong metallic color, and the hat was clearly a "bishop's hat"
”.
"If a big shot doesn't just stay in the monastery, how can he come to the city to suppress the battle? Give the defenders a sacred buff?"
Rurik had nothing to say, and there was no need for him to say anything on the battlefield.
A group of bow-wielders under his command gathered together to shoot arrows at the wooden city gate where the drawbridge was located.
A batch of bone cluster arrows flew out, projecting with a high density, giving the opponent a devastating attack.
How useful are arrow clusters made of bones? They are also effective in hunting small game.
Rurik did not expect the strength of the Balmok archers at all. If he really wanted to suppress the enemies who were shooting arrows at the top of the city, he would have to rely on crossbows.
The "crossbow shooting team" composed of the Balmok explorers, elite mercenaries, and sailors of the Aurora who had stayed in Ross for a whole year, began the most precise strike.
The warriors of Northumbria were shot down one after another like birds on the branches.
Including the Earl of Edinburgh, no one in the city had seen it, let alone knew about the existence of the crossbow. At first, they thought the opponent's bone arrows were too ridiculous, and people tried their best to resist despite being overwhelmed by the occupation.
, and the fatal blow came.
The archers of the defenders gritted their teeth and hid, while the brave man Fener among them continued to shoot arrows, and the result was naturally fatal. Their integral cowhide armor could be broken by the surface-hardened cone-shaped armor-piercing arrows with just one poke.
The brave Bishop of Edinburgh, whose hat always exposed his position, was directly shot away by the arrow. The bishop, a bald middle-aged man, was so shocked that he hurriedly hugged the gold-plated and gem-encrusted cross and lay on the wooden gallery at the top of the city.
, he no longer cares about the image, he covers the cross with his left hand, and keeps making the sign of the cross with his right hand, and keeps chanting prayer scriptures on his lips.
Pity his two young priestly attendants...
Perhaps, these two people felt that the power of faith was infinite. They were dressed in gray robes, holding high the cross hanging on their chests, shouting sacred slogans and glaring at the barbarians attacking the city.
However, both of them were hit by many arrows and fell to the top of the city to their death.
Even an armor-piercing arrow fired from a crossbow hit the Earl of Edinburgh himself on the helmet.
Thanks to the hemispherical structure of the helmet, it objectively caused the arrow to bounce. The count's head was hit hard and he was knocked down. When the soldiers rushed to rescue him, he held his neck and shook it as it was about to break.
Stand up unsteadily.
"Sir! Please retreat to the city. We will defend the city to the death." A soldier said shivering.
The earl, with stars in his eyes, did not reply to the warrior who spoke, and then withdrew from the wall under the escort of others.
Unfortunately, the morale of the defenders was already on the verge of collapse.
A group of residents in the city are eager to escape through other city gates, but outside the huge city of Edinburgh, barbarians are everywhere looking at them. There are hungry wolves everywhere. Once the city gate is opened and the drawbridge is lowered, it will be nothing more than a mile for civilians to escape.
What's even more terrifying is that the barbarians will easily take the suspension bridge and rush into the city, and everything will be over!
No matter what the defenders of Edinburgh thought, all the preparations for Rurik's most proud ten-seat torsion slingshot were completed.
On the big ship, Biyongni truly saw the terrifying power of the torsion slingshot. He never imagined that this device could also be used to attack castles.
Rurik looked serious and pointed his sword directly at the suspension bridge: "Shoot me at the two corners of the suspension bridge!"
Biyoni was shocked: "Rurik, do you want the projectile to break the suspension bridge chain?!"
"No! Biyongni, let your people aim at the place where the chains are fixed and smash the wood. The bridge will naturally fall down."
The crossbowmen paused their suppression and transformed into torque slingshot shooters.
From the perspective of the Edinburgh defenders, they saw even more bizarre instruments beginning to show their power.
Although the materials used to build the city walls are almost all pine wood, since the Edinburgh defenders consciously dug trenches, they naturally inherited some of the techniques from old Rome in making the drawbridge. The capstan mechanism is within the wooden wall, and it is difficult to damage the capstan from external strikes.
.
However, Rurik saw its fatal design flaw at a glance. In other words, when the Edinburgh defenders were building it, they never considered that the Picts had siege weapons other than battering rams (that is, big logs).
The suspension bridge system was incomprehensible to the Picts.
The cast-iron projectiles began to hit the two corners of the suspension bridge heavily. The impact was naturally bad after one or two hits, but the situation suddenly changed after multiple hits.
The torsion slingshot's precise shooting at close range caused the suspension bridge to collapse in just two rounds.
Biyongni was like a raging bull. He roared: "Brothers! Charge me!"
There was no need for him to give orders. The Viking warriors who had noticed the crumbling suspension bridge had already moved closer.
The furious army stepped onto the suspension bridge and rushed under the wooden wall.
Even if there is still a wooden gate at the city gate, it is useless against the Vikings.
The long-handled Nordic forest ax specially built for cutting down giant trees began to show its power. Several strong men rushed to the front line with axes. They were covered with thick golden chest hair and tattooed with animal patterns. They wielded the big axes and violently destroyed them.
Their chest hair was shiny with sweat.
In order to cover these "special engineers", Rurik still ordered the torsion slingshot to continue suppressing fire.
For the defenders of Edinburgh, for everyone in the city, they were trembling! Men and women, a large number of people fled to the most important stone building in the city, fled into the Notre Dame Abbey of Edinburgh, and stood with the bishop who had just escaped, his head buzzing
Together, they kept making signs of the cross, praying for the Lord to appear and for divine punishment to force the barbarians to flee.
But the last wooden door was still smashed to pieces by Viking warriors.
Nearly a hundred Northumbrian warriors gathered behind the city gate. With pain in their necks, they decided to fight to the end and were personally led by the Earl of Edinburgh, who was holding the Northumbrian flag. They decided to live or die with Edinburgh.
Perhaps, the count just did not want to become a prisoner of the barbarians, thereby subjecting his soul to the most tragic desecration.
He was even more aware of the seriousness of the situation. If York learned that Edinburgh had suffered a huge disaster, it would be equivalent to announcing to the king, and even to the whole of England, that Northumbria's northern defense line had collapsed!
The defenders held spears and swords, and all of them were hunched over. Their skinny and generally lack of nutrition could not bring enough confidence. There were only a few warriors wearing mail, and some of them blocked the enemy at the city gate.
confidence.
How could these people block the Vikings' impact?
Relying entirely on the huge advantage of military strength, personal strong breakthrough and bravery, after breaking through, the Viking sword and shield players formed a very tacit understanding of the classic and traditional shield wall tactic, which is simply engraved in the soul. The round shields are stacked on top of each other, really like a wall.
Generally, they go away under pressure.
The shield wall barely blocked the spear thrusts of the defenders. Some Balmok Viking warriors were stabbed to death, and then a close-range fight suddenly began.
The swords and axes were quickly stained with blood, and the long-handled axes held by the Viking warriors in the back row fell from the sky and kept pounding them, and the spearheads also penetrated through the gaps in the fight.
Once upon a time, the army in Edinburgh detained outsiders who attacked the locals, and even tried to convert some of them who had the potential to convert. But over the past few years, those so-called converts were still executed because of the murders they had committed. However, because of the
Through some news, the Earl of Edinburgh learned that the foreign fishermen came from an island in the north.
Due to the lack of contact, the people of Edinburgh believed that they were another tribe related to the Picts. In short, they were savage and difficult to tame.
Until the Earl of Edinburgh himself was in jail, he still didn't know who these ferocious and powerful enemies were. He had lost the chance to understand, because he was already dying!
Even though he was wearing armor and mail, it was useless under the rapid thrusts of the chromium steel spearheads purchased from the Rus by the Balmoks.
How does the Viking army determine the important targets among the enemy in the chaos? The battle has become one side crushing the other side. The red-eyed Vikings just want to annihilate the enemy's armed resisters, and then seize the time to plunder!
The Earl of Edinburgh, any civilian must bow and salute when they see him. He is the most important military governor in northern Northumbria, a local powerful figure, and an important nobleman in the kingdom. Unfortunately, he died like the lowest level soldier.
, the so-called armor could not stop the enemy's stabs. Seven or eight spears hit him and he died on the spot. He lay on the black ground, and his body was trampled by a mass of people fighting. Perhaps, the only thing left was the silver-plated sword hilt beside him.
The bent iron sword and the orange royal flag trampled into mud can immediately prove the noble status of the corpse next to it.
The morale of the defenders was on the verge of collapse long before the fierce battle began. The momentum was forcibly gathered up by the count himself. Now that the royal flag has fallen, morale has completely collapsed.
Edinburgh has been breached!
Some of the frightened defenders were pushed by the more frightened people, some small doors were opened, and the suspension bridge was lowered. As a result, this cunning operation was immediately discovered by the waiting Viking army.
Edinburgh was already riddled with holes. The Balmoks and Shetlanders simply came to participate in a bloodthirsty plundering spree. They ran all the way and immediately brandished their swords and axes to anyone they encountered in the city.
It was truly a terrifying afternoon, the horror of which is beyond description.
Biyongni looked crazy, and even his brother Floki was covered in the blood of others. The two brothers participated in the final fight with the defenders. After the army completely annihilated the group of defenders, they immediately began to look for a new main attack
Target.
Because the Biyongni brothers are the sons of tribal leaders, and they are different from other family leaders! At least they have a higher profile.
Those small families have begun to search everywhere for anything useful, especially gold and silver.
Of course, there are women...
The whole city was in chaos, and some people even started setting fires deliberately.
But Rurik didn't want to get involved. He restrained his most elite men and guarded the crossbows and torsion slingshots all night while the city was in chaos.
Yevlo was very puzzled for a time: "Sir, aren't we going to plunder? Are we giving them all the opportunities to make a fortune?"
"It doesn't matter. I am the Duke of Ross, not a group of gangsters like them who focus on small profits. Me! I am not a despicable gangster!"
That being said, Rurik actually didn't want to go into the city to "appreciate" the human tragedy caused by the Balmok people. Although he already had a strong resistance, if things really happened, he would still watch less.
It's better. After all, Rurik himself couldn't take any pleasure in such violent acts, and only had a lingering displeasure after witnessing them.
Biyongni was just the opposite! He led more than a hundred brothers covered in blood and rushed straight to the largest stone house.
There was a cross on the roof. Although Biyongni didn't know what it meant, considering the uniqueness of this house, he believed that there must be treasure inside.
Pity those who pray, they keep praying to numb their hearts that are about to collapse.
They prayed for angels to come and drive away the raging demons.
Now, the devil-like Vikings broke into the door. People started screaming crazily, trying to find a chance to escape. They looked at the savages covered in blood. What else are these if they are not devils from hell?
All escapes are in vain, the devils reveal their deadly axes to harvest lives...
Biyongni led his men to kill everywhere, and both men and women became victims of the Vikings, until even the bishop himself had his head chopped off with a sword.
What was supposed to be a solemn and pure monastery has now turned into a hell.
It was only then that Biyongni led the team to search for the treasure, and indeed they found a lot!
The sacred vessels made of gold, including the valuable jewelry of the deceased, were all looted. Once upon a time, gold vessels were extremely rare in the Balmok tribe. Biyongni simply obtained two large cups made of pure gold. In fact, these were used to hold holy water.
The gold vessels, plus two crosses made of gold and silver, are the most important sacred vessels of this monastery.
What shocked Biyoni even more was that the stairs leading to the underground of the monastery were connected to the Edinburgh Treasury! After the wooden door was violently smashed open, two boxes of silver coins were moved out.
As for Biyongni's good friend Geiger, this boy led more than a hundred warriors composed of farmers and fishermen from Washobi, and roared directly into the Earl of Edinburgh's mansion.
They did not hesitate to kill the earl's heirs and wives, snatched away the treasures in his family, humiliated the maid and then tied her up with ropes. Their idea was extremely simple, that is, to capture the young woman and bring her back to her hometown of Washobi, thus becoming a
The slaves commanded by the "Resident Alliance" even became everyone's wives and concubines, because the people of Washebi needed foreign women too much.
This is the major difference in philosophy between Geiger and Bjornni's gang. Geiger and the Esbjorn brothers realized that the dozen or so women who were bullied by their men must be local "big shots".
"Slave, since it is a slave, it is perfect for me to use.
In a sense, Geiger and the others are the last bit of humanity in this terrifying city. If that can be considered humanity.
As for Rurik? He still stayed outside the city, waiting for the army in the city to complete the most complete occupation, and then went into the city to find out.
Obtaining prisoners and collecting gold and silver were not particularly important to Rurik. The only thing that mattered to him was the granary in Edinburgh.
He did not expect that those Shetlanders, led by Huo De, who had been here because they were captured, rushed straight to the Edinburgh granary based on their memories. Gold and silver are good, but it can provide food and cloth.
The Shetland people wanted to eat wheat even more. While others were killing him in a daze, pulling the captured women by their hair and committing violence, the Shetland fishermen were already using the burlap sacks they found and stuffing them crazily.
Fresh wheat.
In terms of searching for new wheat, the Bergen immigrants in Shetland really coincided with Rurik.