The enemy did not leave, and the Russian soldiers who stayed at the original front did not dare to really relax their guard.
As more and more Balmok friendly troops crossed the river, the momentum of the army became stronger.
King Aynred of Northumbria, who brought the bishop with him to negotiate peace with him, could clearly see this with his naked eyes.
The horse's hooves trampled on the blood-stained summer grass, and the sight of dead or dying corpses on the ground shocked him. If he hadn't had enough concentration, he would have vomited them out.
At least the Bishop of York was clutching the silver cross on his chest tightly. He suddenly retched many times. The accompanying young priest could only cling to the large wooden cross and kept reciting scriptures to cheer himself up.
"They will never kill the envoy. If they find out that the king himself is coming, they should maintain basic courtesy." Thinking of this, the Bishop of York looked at the king himself.
Eynred at least seemed to be maintaining great composure, and I hope this is indeed the case.
If this great king dies, the throne of Northumbria will definitely be cheaper than Osbert in the north. But, can the army led by that man withstand the barbarian army?
The further they advanced, the more dead bodies there were, and Eynred's mood became more and more complicated.
The corpses of war horses appeared in front of them, and the dense rain of arrows on the ground looked like ears of wheat waiting to be harvested, although spring wheat was only grown in the territory of Wessex in the far south.
As the distance increased, Rurik could see Eynred's face clearly with the naked eye.
Although there was only a very brief encounter last year, Rurikben was not sure whether it was the king himself.
Wait, what is that man doing?!
I saw that the person took off the wooden prosthetic leg of his left arm, showed the severed arm, and then took off his helmet.
"It is indeed the king himself." Rurik nodded, and immediately called the grain officer Paul to his side to whisper a few words, and then ordered Jevro to bring the king who was bound to fail to him.
The group of them headed forward in a vigorous manner, except Paul, the grain officer, who was trembling with great nervousness.
Magnut, who had declared himself king, narrowed his eyes and looked at him: "Rurik, is that their king? Now I am the owner of this land. Very good, you lure that man over, I will chop him down
He will avoid future troubles."
Rurik was really shocked: "Father, why bother? That is a dog with a broken spine. If you keep him as your servant, you can break the bones and suck out the marrow."
"is it necessary?"
"It's very necessary, at least for the time being. When he finally loses its use value, it's not too late for you to take action again."
"Alas, I'm afraid your kindness is inappropriate." Magnut stroked his son-in-law's hair and said: "If my daughter Nolen was here, she would probably advise me in the same way. Anyway, if this man does not surrender,
It is not a problem for you and me to kill him and his army."
This is like the defeated Celtic king personally surrendering to Caesar. Whether to kill or behead him depends entirely on the victor's mind.
Eynred saw that the Vikings also sent envoys, which were a group of madmen with blood-stained robes!
Why is there a man in black robes among them? He doesn't look like a combatant.
The contact between the two parties finally began, and Eynred was still riding his own horse. His posture was really arrogant, as if he was looking down at Jevro and others with a victor's attitude.
"You! Get down!" Yevluo pointed directly at him with his sword.
Grain officer Paul immediately translated, but his soothing tone was completely incompatible with Jevlo's domineering attitude.
"Why should I dismount? I am the king of Northumbria! You are just a barbarian general, so dismount for me."
Hearing this, Jevro was not angry. He then slashed the horse's leg with his sword. Aynred immediately fell off the horse and was pinned to the grass by a swarm of warriors. The priest and the Bishop of York were caught off guard and were restrained.
"You are a group of villains! Don't be so powerless! I am the king! Tell your Rurik, he is just a duke, and I am the king!"
Yevro finally understood what he said. After the king was pulled up, he slowly took off his helmet, revealing his black hair and head with a rather North Asian style.
"Ah! It's you?!"
"It's me."
In the whole of Britain, only the inner city of London (London) is still home to a group of noble Roman remnants, all of whom are black-haired. There are black-haired Vikings among the Vikings, and they have nothing to do with the Romans.
There was a well-respected guard beside Rurik. Eynred noticed his black hair and took it to heart. He also knew that this short man was really a ruthless person.
Yevro didn't want to say anything more, so he said: "My master is none other than Rurik. Now my master has said that if you negotiate, you will unload all your weapons and go to our military formation. If you veto, I will get the master's permission."
Authorized, I can kill you now, and your last army will be wiped out as well."
Eynred knew that what this man said was true, and that he had come to mediate because his life was on the line.
"I want to see your master. Now, you disarm me."
Jevlo was really surprised by the king's obedience, so he called on his men to strip him down to his clothes, and finally tried to tie his only right arm with a rope.
However, those priests were out of luck.
Because Rurik's order was too simple, it was just to bring the king himself back.
All those little priests were killed. The shocked Bishop of York suddenly closed his eyes in front of the bloody sword and waited for his miserable fate. Naturally, his head fell to the ground...
Eynred's heart was broken by the sudden change. He glared at the Viking warrior with grief and anger, and sighed deeply.
He lamented: "Do you still think that I can strangle your young duke to death with one hand? My life is in your hands, why do you need to tie my right arm."
Jevro didn't say anything, and finally simply put a rope around his neck and walked back to his military formation like he was leading a cow or horse.
At this moment, the kingdom soldiers and peasant soldiers watching from a distance witnessed all this and naturally thought that the king had been killed, and immediately began to flee on a large scale.
In the end, only about a hundred people and the last dozen or so cavalry saw clearly that the king was being led away like an animal. They shed tears of grief while waiting for the final news.
Eynred was determined to die, and he had only one request to make to Rurik.
The defeated king stepped through a large number of dead Northumbrian warriors' corpses and finally entered the Viking formation.
When he actually entered here, he didn't feel that this group of people were simply barbaric. The enemy maintained a very strange orderliness. A large group of neatly dressed warriors stood neatly with large bucklers, seemingly building a passage.
Rurik, Arik, Magnute and Biyoni stood at the end of the "road". Behind them were ships parked densely on the Meuse River, and the towering masts of the ships even created huge shadows. A large number of them
The temperament sways and sounds violently in the wind.
"Stay back first." Rurik ordered casually.
In the blink of an eye, he looked down at the defeated king with a calm face, and said in Saxon: "Your defeat is fate. Broken-armed Eynred, our army is here again. This time, York is already in our hands."
inside."
This Rurik is still a handsome boy. When we meet again after a year, this boy is more like a pure man, but a very fierce man. His handsome face has deep eyes, and his eyes reveal great ambition.
Rurik can actually speak Saxon. Although his accent is a bit strange, he can basically understand it.
Aynred took another look at York, where the orange king's flag should have been flying, but now it was the Russian flag with white background and blue stripes called "oar", and even a flag with a huge bird printed on it.
Seeing his hesitation, Rurik immediately introduced his father-in-law and brother-in-law.
For Biyongni, this down-and-out king is an acquaintance.
Naturally, it was the first time for Magnute to see him. His first request for a defeated person was to order him to kneel down and surrender.
"I have taken possession of your royal city. This is the new territory of our Balmoks. You must surrender to me, otherwise, you will be killed."
At least he surrendered to an unshaven old man, and Eynred felt quite satisfied. But this old man actually wanted to humiliate his own character.
"Just kill me." Eynred turned his face away and closed his eyes.
The furious Magnute wanted to take action himself, but was stopped by Rurik because this situation was not in line with his original intention.
Rurik comforted his father-in-law: "After all, our Russian army completed this battle independently. It was my people who defeated him. It is up to me to decide how to deal with it."
"That's...okay."
Whoever has the greatest achievements has the most say. Viking society follows this culture. Even Magnute cannot violate tradition. Of course, if he really kills an enemy leader with a rope around his neck, there is no way.
People think this is an honor.
Rurik signaled his men to untie all the restraints of Eynred, and then pointed into the distance: "You are a proud king, but your subordinates have betrayed you. You are already alone. Logically speaking, we should not give you anything.
Any courtesy.”
"So? What are your conditions?" Eynred asked immediately.
"You are a smart man, and you guessed my intention at once. Killing you will indeed do no good to us, and even the war itself can be avoided, but you were not here at all when we landed. This is you
Responsibility! If you had sacrificed your life when our fleet arrived, ceded the land and paid tribute, this bloody battle could have been avoided. This is all your fault. But it is not too late to do it now."
This is a true statement, and it clearly illustrates the hypocrisy and arrogance of the winner!
But Aynred had nothing to say, and after thinking for a while he asked: "So, I became a tool in your hands."
Rurik smiled: "Exactly. I plan to conduct a peace negotiation. I don't know what you want."
This is simply an olive branch from Satan. Is it worth believing?
If he was truly brave, Eynred would have led the last warrior to fight to the death, or he would have madly angered his opponent and killed him. But he didn't. He didn't want this from the beginning, but he couldn't let go of his noble spirit.
to do the groveling act of a lowly servant.
"Peace talks? Of course you can. However, I must hold peace talks with your equal king as a king."
After saying this, Eynred's eyes immediately looked at Magnute, who had proclaimed himself king.
Originally, Magnute wanted to talk nonsense with this guy. Cut him down and seize his territory.
After all, Rurik thought long-term. He did not ask that the Balmoks, who should be classified as Norwegians in the broad sense, who colonized Northumbria, would really live peacefully in the new land they owned because of a treaty. At least the Balmoks
The Merks must first use several years of business to establish a solid core of governance on the island. The Principality of Rus will not rule here. What Rurik needs is a new source of goods to do business, and even let Bal of Narvik Port
A group of Merk people immigrated to Britain so that they could penetrate the old land of Balmok and replace it with their influence.
What seems to be the beauty of becoming another person, behind it is naturally Rose's consideration for the future.
Rurik is willing to be a guarantor so that a peace treaty can last at least two or three years.
After all, the wilderness is not the place for peace talks. The best place is naturally the royal palace in the city of York.
Aynred crossed the Meuse River in a Viking longship. He saw the big ships one after another with his own eyes. He was astonished and envious.
He wondered if the city of York had become a hell on earth, and the result was not far from hell.
There were Vikings everywhere with colorful braids, their arms bare, deliberately showing off their tattoos.
Many young women worked silently, and women's screams and cries were heard from time to time.
Aynred closed his eyes and kept blaming himself for his sins. As a king, he led a heavy army to the border with the Mercian army, but the royal city was easily occupied by them and reduced to this situation.
He simply hurriedly asked Rurik with grief and anger: "These are my people, and you actually treat them as slaves."
Rurik shrugged, turned around and said: "This is how your ancestors dealt with the Picts. Well, they are not slaves. At least our army will occupy this place forever. Young men do not have wives. You are not qualified.
Wang, our men are not villains, we have our own principles."
"You! You are barbarians." Eynred bared his teeth.
Rurik became anxious upon hearing this, and choked back: "Is it because we don't believe in your gods?"
"this……"
"I'm surprised, why didn't you ask me about your son? I'm not stupid enough to kill Ella. By the way, your unclean queen is also alive now."
Eynred was stunned on the spot, refusing to move even as the soldiers pushed him. He stared at Rurik with dull eyes, and for a moment he shed two lines of hot tears, and squeezed out a thank you for a long time.
It was originally the stone room where Aynred summoned generals to discuss political affairs, but now the people standing there are Vikings who have come from afar.
A rough square table was placed in the middle, with Rurik and Magnut sitting on one side, and Eynred sitting on the other side.
The atmosphere of the entire negotiation was full of the arrogance of a winner, but Eynred was not a groveling person.
Rurik was of course prepared for the coalition's request, but Eynred, who had just sat down, immediately became angry: "Where is my son! I want to see Ella!"
"Of course. After the negotiation is over, your father and son will naturally be reunited." Rurik said casually.
"No!" Eynred suddenly became furious: "I must see him now. Rurik, prove your own honesty and let Ella stand by my side, and I will negotiate with you."
"Presumptuous! The failed king." Aric, who was standing aside, suddenly drew his sword. Although he could not understand the Saxon language of the island, he knew that the king was quibbling.
Rurik twisted his temples, glanced at Magnute with an old face, and casually ordered: "Here, bring the prince out. Biyongni, let your toy come out to meet her. After all, she was originally
She is the king’s woman.”
After a while, Ella was actually brought out. When the boy saw his father, he burst into tears and rushed over to his father's arms.
Aynred was also crying loudly, but after a while, he saw her out of the corner of his eye.
"It's the queen. It's the unclean queen. What is this woman doing now?!"
Even after changing into a barbarian's fur clothing and putting on a Viking's braided hair, Eynred still knew Queen Anna's face.
After all, she is an unclean woman serving a new master.
Look at Biyongni who pulled him out again. This tall, bald man with a pattern on his head, just gave an order, and this unclean woman actually knelt down on her knees and sat sideways on the ground.
At Han's feet, a big hand casually moved his chin and stroked his hair.
Her eyes were dull, and she showed no expression even though she saw herself.
Eynred estimated that this woman's soul had completely dissipated and became an empty shell owned by the Vikings. It was pure humiliation for this tall and terrifying man to be pulled over. Eynred considered
In the current situation, even if he had to curse completely, he could not say anything. He would not make any overreaction for a woman who had betrayed him long ago and was now insane. He just wanted to do his best to save Northumbria.
existence, even if the territory is severely reduced.
But wait! Maybe this army of barbarians...
"That's right! Why do I, Northumbria, have to bear all the suffering alone?! Wiglaf of Mercia, it's all because of you, the villain, that I almost destroyed my country. I want to take revenge on you!"