Lindisfarne, this place name is very unfamiliar to Rurik.
What is the reality? This monastery was deliberately built on a remote tidal island offshore. There were many treasures in the monastery, but the priests still adhered to their creed and lived a life of purity and abstinence.
This place is now the most important religious center of the Kingdom of Northumbria. After it was looted by the Bergen Vikings forty years ago, the kingdom rebuilt it.
After learning from the tragedy of the last time the defense was in shambles, the kingdom also began to use very rare granite that was relatively easy to obtain locally to reinforce it.
The disaster has passed, and the youngest witnesses are now almost in their twilight years. Most of the former priests died in the plundering disaster, and the priests who migrated later can only listen to the oral accounts of those who witnessed it and imagine the disaster.
scene, and these people also went to heaven one after another...
Lindisfarne Abbey, tranquility has been restored here. Even if the kingdom has been experiencing civil strife for decades, the nobles vying for power will never covet the increasing funds voluntarily donated by believers in the abbey.
Instead, the king sent an army and built a military camp outside the monastery.
Rather than guarding against possible sea barbarians, the king was more concerned about whether the religious center of the kingdom was truly firmly under his control.
Lindisfarne is a full 200 kilometers away from the royal city of York, but it is only less than a day's journey from Bamburgh, another military town in the north of the kingdom.
Although he learned a lot of information from Paul, Rurik always had a hunch that because his army was going deep into the core ruling area of Northumbria, it was inevitable to face a larger-scale battle.
Will fighting drive these Viking warriors crazy? They certainly will.
After the army finished eating, they immediately began to carry the loot.
Rurik originally planned to set sail at noon, but it took too much time to carry food and other trophies (mainly collected iron tools and cloth). Time passed into the afternoon, and the people who were exhausted from carrying the supplies,
I had no choice but to continue to stay at the beach, eating the captured wheat to recharge my batteries.
The fire in Edinburgh has not yet been extinguished, and it is still a blazing hell.
Rurik even found ropes to tie up the horses pulling the carriage, hoisted them directly to the ship of the Avrola, and finally stuffed them into the cabin. As for the carriage, there was no waste, the carriage plates, wheels, and axles were dismantled and put together.
Loaded on the ship.
The other longships carried a lot of cargo, the most important of which was grain.
The Bergen settlers in Shetland valued food, while the Balmoks hoped for gold, silver, copper and iron.
On a new day, when the sea fog was still spreading, the entire Viking fleet left Edinburgh, where the flames were still burning.
The fog concealed the traces of the fleet, and the huge fleet was drifting menacingly southward along the coastline.
And this is destined not to be a long voyage.
A cool north wind blew in. Faced with the sudden change in wind, each ship raised its sails without hesitation.
The people put away their oars with great relief, and only two or three people were left on the long boat, which could perfectly maneuver the big boat.
At the same time, the captured Paul, with an incredible feeling, was invited by Rurik to stand on the bow deck of the ship.
He felt the sea breeze, and looked sideways at the waves crashing into the bow of the ship, and couldn't help but sigh: "This! Could it be Noah's Teyvat?"
Rurik completely understood what this man said and responded proudly: "The ark is very big, there is only one! My ship is very small. However, when you come to my port, you will see more big ships like this."
"This is the largest ship I have ever seen. No amount of wind or waves can capsize it."
"Of course." Rurik continued arrogantly: "We have the ability to build larger ships. Maybe one day, we will build island-sized ships, just like that ark. But to accomplish this goal, I need a lot of
Money attracts craftsmen to build, which is one of the reasons why I continue to attack. Do you think I am a villain?"
"This..." Paul had nothing to say and spoke with his conscience. He was convinced that this very young Rurik was no ordinary person. He definitely understood the wisdom in those scriptures!
I'm afraid this Rurik also knows Latin! Unfortunately, I know nothing and can only listen to the explanations of those noble and arrogant priests.
Let’s look at the situation again! This big ship named Aurora is completely different from other ships. The people on the ship are generally dressed uniformly. They are indeed not the Lamb of God, but they cannot be said to be dirty. This famous person
The commander-in-chief named Rurik was well-dressed, majestic and full of wisdom.
If this young man goes to Lindisfarn to be baptized by the bishop himself, and then takes this big ship to go to Rome for pilgrimage, then he will definitely become a noble king. And he is a grain officer in charge of food.
, and may be canonized by the Bishop of Lindisfarne as a priest because of the introduction.
It's a pity that all these are beautiful illusions. Just like heaven, the endless beauty is out of reach...
Lord Rurik is an extraordinary warrior, but his army wants to attack Lindisfarne.
Since they captured Edinburgh in just one afternoon, what about the monastery facing the south?
No! Not just the monastery! There is also the military camp attached to it!
It's not just a military camp! This sea barbarian army may directly attack Bamburgh further south and burn that city to the ground.
Thinking of this, Paul felt more and more that he was going to hell after death.
However, this Rurik claims to be a saint blessed by the great northern god Odin. Anyone who fights for him will enter the Valraha Temple after death. Even the worst will go to the wonderful Asgard.
Maybe, Valhalla, Asgard, and Paradis (heaven) mean the same thing?
For a moment, Paul suddenly had doubts about his own beliefs.
The fleet followed the wind and sailed at a very fast speed, reaching a speed of eight knots in some periods.
People's enthusiasm has not waned at all. Many people dreamed of a quick voyage and could reach their destination on the same day. In the end, everyone held a large amount of gold and owned the local women and spent the night happily. After that, the brothers were
After a complete victory, the ships can no longer carry more wealth, and everyone will return home fully loaded.
Then because I knew the route, I came back next year.
This is indeed the case. People have been watching the coastline. It was not even evening yet. Through the clear air blown by the cool breeze, everyone with good eyesight saw the distant city and a strange building.
.
Paul, who was sleeping on the side, was lifted up by Rurik. He pointed into the distance and asked: "Is that the Lindisfarne you mentioned?"
Seeing the building with a spire in the distance, Paul swallowed hard: "Yes. It's Lindisfarne, a monastery with a spire. My lord, look over there."
Paul pointed in another direction: "That is the camp of the defenders. If you want to attack the monastery, you...must fight fiercely with those people."
"Hoo? A battle?" Rurik cheered up a little, "It seems that I can't plunder without defeating the defenders."
Soon, several people with loud voices began to shout and dance at the long boats behind them, indicating that there was a hostile target ahead.
The people who were bored by the long voyage quickly became full of fighting spirit. People were shouting excitedly, and the folded oars were turned out again.
The wind and oars drove the longship to its maximum speed. Realizing the actions of those guys, Rurik also ordered not to continue to reduce the speed. The mainmast was fully sailed and the stern jib was hoisted. The Avora suddenly
Shocked, it started racing at full speed.
Paul saw that these sea barbarians were already debugging their heavy weapons! There were even some strange things moved from the cabin to the deck. Paul himself had no idea what they were. He instinctively told himself that they were some kind of weapons.
The fleet rushed forward menacingly, and as the distance shortened, Rurik couldn't help gritting his teeth as he saw the entire sight of the so-called Lindisfarne Abbey.
Why? He saw that this monastery, which was said to be full of wealth, turned out to be located on an offshore island with a small cliff, and an obvious road that resembled a breakwater extending to the land.
Not only that, the people who built this monastery were worried that even the small cliffs could not be strengthened, so they built another low stone wall.
The stone walls were not scary. Rurik really felt that the geographical conditions of those small cliffs made it impossible for the fleet to land on the beach and go straight to the monastery.
Many circumstances clearly illustrate one thing: since Lindisfarne was attacked a long time ago, the new monastery has strengthened its defenses sufficiently.
However, this is probably just a small obstacle encountered by the Viking army on its offensive path.
The mast of the Avora is now flying the flag of Ross with a white background and blue stripes. This is the naval flag of the Principality of Ross!
Rurik had ordered the flagship Aurora to adjust its course, causing all subsequent longships to begin to turn.
He looked at the flag on the mast for an inadvertent moment, and suddenly he had a clever plan in his mind.
"Jevlo!" Rurik shouted.
"exist."
"Did we not throw away the Northumbrian King's flag we captured?!"
"How could it be thrown away?" Jevro said with a proud look on his face: "That is our glory! That piece of felt cloth has been washed and dried."
Rurik pointed to the mast casually: "Send someone to take down our flag and put that flag up."
"Ah! What does this mean?"
"You are too naive, Jevlo! This is a ploy! I want the defenders, the priests, to think that we are their friends."
After being personally instructed, Yevlo suddenly understood, and after roaring, he assigned people to climb the mast and change the flag.
This was an era without telescopes, and everyone in Lindisfarne had already watched the huge fleet heading this way.
Everyone has heard about the attack on the monastery decades ago, but that happened so long ago that it has become a legend.
The perspective changes to Lindisfarne.
In the naval camp of Nornbria, an infantry captain named John was awakened by his men.
"Sir! Something big happened! The sea..." The soldier trembled violently and pointed in the direction of the ocean.
"What are you scared of? Take me to see it."
As soon as the infantry captain walked out of his barracks, he saw a large number of soldiers standing outside the camp, squinting at the approaching fleet. They had never seen a fleet of this size, especially when they noticed that there was another fleet among them.
A strange big ship.
What's going on?!
The infantry captain subconsciously felt that there were many dangers, and when he saw clearly that the flag flying on the big ship was actually the royal flag of his kingdom, he suddenly couldn't make up his mind.
In fact, most people are suspecting that maybe this fleet was built by the King? It is incredibly weird, and does anyone know about the King's formation of the fleet?
The soldiers wanted an explanation from the infantry captain, but Johnson had none.
Regardless of whether the visitor is friend or foe, it is always right to remain alert.
Now he could not make up his mind, so he issued an order, which was to order one of his centurions to take his own people to evacuate to the monastery urgently, and then seal the gate.
The remaining two centurions led the troops and followed him to the coast to form a formation. If they were the king's troops, they would welcome them, and if they were enemies, they would fight.
As for the soldiers who had not returned to the army to assist the Earl of Bamburgh in collecting grain in the countryside, John could no longer take care of them.
John achieved the most basic qualities of a soldier. He devoted himself to military deployment in the shortest possible time. The most important thing was that he correctly fulfilled his important responsibility of guarding the monastery.
The wooden door of the monastery has been closed, and the priests have learned about the arrival of a suspected royal fleet.
What is very different from the attitude of the army is that many priests naively thought that the king himself and his beloved fleet had arrived at the monastery, because the Mass of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15th was about to arrive! This year, the king personally arrived with a mighty fleet
Come to the big mass, everything makes sense.
However, Rurik never cared about his opponent's Assumption Festival. The main reason why he chose to plunder in July and August was that Britain had just harvested wheat during this period, and the Vikings from all walks of life wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune.
He estimated that his deceitful methods had deceived his opponent to a certain extent, and the fact that armed men in orange clothes were arrayed outside the coastal camp made him suspicious again.
"Maybe they were not fooled." Yevluo said fearfully.
"It doesn't matter, they are arrayed, but they are more likely to be attacked by us. Yevro!"
"exist!"
"Take the brothers to adjust the weapons, and all the bull trebuchets are aimed at the starboard side. The torque slingshots on the port side are moved to the starboard side. Others, with crossbows, are preparing to launch."
"As you command!"
With the size of the Avrora, rushing to the beach is asking for stranding. As the big ship got close enough to the coast, Rurik stared at a wandering enemy soldier with the mechanical sight of a torsion slingshot fixed on the starboard side, and the sight frame was locked.
The enemy's silhouette, especially the size of the silhouette, determined Rurik's position.
"Rivet now! Distance 150stika! Enemy on starboard side!"
With violent vibrations, the Aurora suddenly stopped. Since the anchor head was thrown from the port side, the entire ship's starboard side naturally faced the coast.
"hjutraaaa!"
Rurik roared fiercely, and all the long-range weapons on the Avora opened fire at the same time!
This move was so startling that Paul fell to the ground. He didn't expect that these devices were firing deadly weapons?! Could it really hit the sergeant on the shore from such a long distance?
The ten javelins with rotating tails of the torsion slingshot went straight towards the Northumbrian defenders in formation with a whirring sound in a parabola per second.
This was followed by ten more stone projectiles from the bull trebuchet, and light arrows from the crossbow.
People on the shore had never seen a torsion slingshot, or these weapons were simply lost in Britain, resulting in these warriors' terrible ignorance of such weapons.
John only heard the approaching rumble, and after a moment of hesitation, he suddenly felt fear.
Unfortunately, what followed were the casualties of the soldiers.
Some soldiers were directly nailed to the beach by javelins, while others had their shoulders broken by rocks and their heads smashed, killing them instantly.
People began to retreat subconsciously and raised shields reinforced with iron sheets.
Those who were ordered to garrison the monastery were considered to be the elites of the kingdom, so their weapons and equipment were much better. In fact, there were more than 300 guards, more than 100 of whom had chainmail armor, and 200 of them had metal-reinforced shields.
It's a pity that these defensive equipment of theirs are little stronger than paper that can be torn with a poke in the face of Rurik's more powerful long-range weapons.
The light arrows hit some unsuspecting people, and more people began to subconsciously retreat while holding their shields.
"No retreat! It's the enemy! Warriors of Northumbria, fight me!"
John waved his sword and appealed with all his strength. His soldiers calmed down, but soon the second round of stone bullets and heavy javelins came down again!
Not only that, more than thirty longships carrying ferocious Viking warriors have begun their final dash to the beach. They are holding back a murderous aura and are only one step away from landing to fight on the beach.
It was not until this moment that John, the infantry captain, finally realized that the enemy coming from Fan was not something he could stop.