Chapter 611 When Leo I persuaded Attila's army of barbarians
When the sun rose again, the morning light shone in the thick fog, and the whole world looked extremely strange.
Tamworth was so peaceful, as if everything alive had died.
A ramp made of the flesh and blood of the war dead stood beside the city wall. The bodies of the dead were still warm, and the smell of blood still told of the battle last night.
A large area of the Rus and Balmoks slept, but a small group of people who claimed to be in good physical condition had woken up and were carefully cleaning the battlefield with their own weapons.
A corpse that was richly dressed and obviously different from ordinary people had the javelin inserted in it removed. However, the arrows of the crossbow were stuck in the body of the deceased and were stuck in the iron ring of the chainmail. It had to be dug out.
It took only the strength to pull it out. The body was simply tied up with exquisite leather boots, and without caring about the more than ten arrows on the chest, it was pulled to the resting place of the big shots.
Even when the sun rises, the battle continues.
There were sneaky people sticking their heads out on the city wall, and they were greeted by crossbow snipers. Regardless of whether they were actually hit, the people who poked their heads disappeared in an instant.
This was a bald middle-aged man. He was panting while hiding behind a wall. He grabbed his cloth hat, put it on his head and ran away in despair.
He fled to the church in the city with very bad information, and hurriedly approached the bishop who was preaching in front of thousands of people, and whispered a few words in his ear.
Tamworth, who was already uneasy, suddenly changed his face and was unable to do anything else.
A very obvious fact is before our eyes. Prince Botwulf was killed in the battle, and few of the armored city defenders survived. The huge royal city was full of prayers. They were frightened and even lost the ability to escape from the city.
thoughts.
The strength of the Viking soldiers was simply not enough to surround the entire city of Tamworth, but the bonfire formation at night created a terrifying illusion.
They felt that the enemy had indeed surrounded the entire city. Just as the priest said, they were a group of humanoid monsters from hell whose purpose of existence was to kill.
The people did not dare to flee. They also burst out with strong fighting power in critical moments, but this momentum disappeared after the prince died in the battle.
The prince's wife and the queen should have the responsibility to take charge of the overall situation, but these two women have been frightened by the current situation. What is the end of the world? They think this is it.
All the noble people in the city gathered in the church to listen to the bishop's teachings.
"Why is there such a situation? There are many degenerates among you, and it is because your depravity has attracted demons..."
Where are there so many devout people? Of course they believe in the existence of a God. Noble people usually refer to the words of priests, and ordinary people also need to accept the command of nobles. They were not very sure in the first place, and now they have to re-examine it -
—Perhaps I am really guilty?
More than two thousand people crowded into Tamworth Church, and the outdoors was even more crowded.
The bishop himself suddenly left the scene, leaving two or three young priests to take charge of the situation, which immediately caused a violent and low roar. People were whispering, and some even said that even the clergy had abandoned the lamb.
In fact, this was not the case. The bishop was shocked and thought of the only way.
The old priest who had found solid information at the top of the city continued to report what he had seen, and the more he told it, the more dangerous the situation seemed.
"There are corpses everywhere, and the grass is dyed red with blood... Those barbarians are still strong. Sadly, today is their siege day. We... If I don't handle it well, we will all die." The bishop said this.
By the time, my eyeballs are about to burst.
The old priest also had his own ideas and said: "Pada, I think we can escape."
"Escape? Where to go? We cannot escape. This is God's sanction against us."
"However, those barbarians are clearly not devils. They are a kind of warriors that we have never come into contact with. Maybe..." A term is about to come out: "They are Vikings."
"Damn outsiders!" The bishop clenched his fists. He subjectively wanted to escape, but his identity was confirmed by Rome. To escape from the monastery would be to betray everything.
Cursing can't change any situation, but if some changes are not made, the people of the entire city will be slaughtered. As for resistance... they have lost their courage and strength.
"Maybe... we should try this method."
"What is it."
The bishop gritted his teeth and decided to risk his life: "You, gather all the children quickly. We organize a delegation and bring the queen, the princess and their sons. We go to pray for peace."
"Is this appropriate? This is betrayal."
"No! When Pope Leo I persuaded Attila's barbarian army to retreat, I am naturally not as good as the Pope, but I am confident that I can save the lives of the people." Bishop Tamworth is certainly not lying. What happened back then was very special.
Although complex, it can still be considered a successful peace negotiation. Over the past four hundred years, this story has been continuously processed, and it has actually become a credit that can be inherited by successive popes.
"But the people outside the city are all demons! I saw corpses everywhere and blood stains everywhere."
"Go quickly!" As the bishop scolded, he looked up at the beam of the church and confessed to God: "Lord, forgive me. I have a reason for making peace with those barbarians. I am doing it to save your lamb and bless me to succeed.
"
However, as soon as she heard that she was going to make peace with the barbarians, the queen, who was the wife of King Wiglaf, was frightened on the spot. After she woke up, she cried loudly and said that she could not go. If it were not for the reason of her belief that she could not commit suicide, she would
He has already committed suicide by hanging himself for his country.
On the contrary, the Crown Princess decided with tears to stop those barbarians. She entrusted her son to the priests and ordered them to protect her closely. She secretly carried a dagger, just to find the body of the Crown Prince and fight with his murderer, even if
The result is that even if she is killed, she will die next to her husband.
The Crown Princess dressed up a little. Even if the kingdom was in decline, the dignity of the royal family could not be compromised. She dressed herself up like an ancient Roman woman and wore an extremely rare purple handkerchief to show her nobility.
, even though she had never seen those ferocious barbarians. But the black burqa covered it all.
The bishops also put on a huge pomp. According to the etiquette standards of festival celebrations in peacetime, they not only wore simple and plain robes (different from the pursuit of the royal family, the priests in this period paid great attention to simplicity), but also held a large number of
Black crosses lined up towards the city wall, towards the terrifying stairs paved with flesh and blood.
The bishop himself held the precious manuscript of the Gospel, and all the priests walked tremblingly, chanting Hallelujah to stay calm.
When they saw a large number of corpses, they were no longer calm, even though they had buried many corpses in the previous battle...
At the same time, since it was almost noon, the Vikings who got up one after another gathered around the pots and urns to wait for the food to be boiled. Some even couldn't wait for the wheat to be cooked, so they took it out of wooden bowls and ate it with big mouthfuls.
Rurik had woken up and saw Magnut and others pointing at a "general" who had died in battle.
"Rurik, my son, come and see this man." Magnut waved happily.
"This man?"
"Yes, you can judge. Well, maybe you should chop off this person's head." Magnut said this with good intentions. The Balmok family leaders present reached a consensus, and Rurik finally
He is the greatest hero of this war, even though he still seems to be a weak boy.
"Behead the deceased? Forget it." Rurik glanced at it a few times and felt more and more something was wrong.
Judging from this person's clothes alone, the clothes were too exquisite compared to other deceased people. Even if he was wearing chain mail, this person actually wore two pieces! The armor-piercing arrow fired from the steel-arm crossbow was about to kill him.
It's also because of this strange chainmail that it's difficult to pull out.
Rurik gave the order, and then several strong men used great force to pull out the sword from the deceased.
"Have you seen any clues? I speculate that this man is a general, and it was he who led the troops to resist, causing us great losses." Magnute said with a hint of regret.
"No." Rurik shook his head.
"What do you mean?"
"He is not a general. He is nobler than a general."
"He will never be their king."
"Of course not. Their king might have fought with Eynred's Northumbrian army again. You and I have both seen that the enemy we are facing is very tenacious. It is not at all the enemy our army faced in the surprise attack a few days ago.
Right coward."
Magnute and many other families nodded, "Maybe this person is the heir to the throne, that's why he is so desperate."
"Maybe." Rurik sighed and stared at his father-in-law: "If a hero dies in battle, even if he is an enemy, how should you treat his body according to your methods?"
"Are you asking me?" Magnute smiled and pushed his eldest son Biyongni again.
"Of course I watched his head make a wine bowl." After saying that, Biyongni laughed loudly, and the ax in his hand really chopped down.
Rurik was shocked, but there was nothing he could do about it. "Oh! What are you doing? I also want to bury this hero with his whole body."
"Forget it!" The laughing Biyongni pulled back a gloomy face that looked like he had been constipated for a week, and then slashed wildly at the forehead of the head, revealing a terrifying red and white thing.
Seeing this at such a close distance, Rurik felt that he had seen enough blood and had a strong psychological quality. This time, he still felt a strong sense of vomiting in his throat. If he hadn't held it back with his strong willpower,
It would be a big embarrassment.
Everything was as Biyongni said, no matter whether this person was a general or what his status was, it was this person's determined resistance that caused the Balmok Army to suffer the heaviest losses since its landing.
Rurik originally wanted to say something with this noble body, but in this situation, what he said was meaningless.
He immediately changed the subject: "You can dispose of this man's body as you please, I don't care! Our soldiers have basically recovered their strength, and the next step is to attack Tamworth. Tell me, what are you going to do?"
Magnute shrugged: "What else can we do? We rush in, kill them, and then seize their wealth. In this battle, everyone will make a fortune!" After saying this, the family leaders laughed.
"This... is really too extreme."
"Are you pitying them?"
"So, at least they are respectable enemies. Their men may be wiped out by us, and the rest are women and children." Rurik had already thought of a countermeasure after the city was broken. Since he was here to talk, he might as well say more.
Say: "You may say I am merciful, but at least this time I should be merciful."
Magnute was actually a little relieved in his heart. He had long known that his son-in-law Rurik was different from other madmen. Sometimes this boy was really kind, but he was extremely cruel on the battlefield and he couldn't make up his mind.
"Do you want to forgive them? Don't think too highly of them. They are obviously not docile pets. Rurik, they will fight to the death to protect their property, in order to..."
While Magnute was speaking, the crowd gathered not far away became extremely commotion. More than a dozen warriors hurried over, shouting: "The Mercians are about to attack again! We are going to fight them to the death!"
Hearing this, Magnute pouted, and then there was the buzz of a sword being unsheathed: "You pity them, and this is how they repay you. They want to die in battle, and we will make it happen. Brothers, we
Keep fighting."
Rurik also stamped his feet, looked at the lowering of the city wall and whispered: "I wanted to restrain my army and give you a chance to leave peacefully. You Mercians have the guts to fight to the last soldier, so let's fight.
"
The Russians and Balmoks holding shields were gathering, and a large number of crossbowmen were loading and charging arrows.
What was very subtle was that Rurik quickly realized that this seemed to be another confrontation. However, if his subordinates did not take the initiative to attack, the situation there might be a big problem.
He cautiously approached the front line, only to discover that the intelligence about the Mercian attack was false.
The Mercians did come, and they were all priests and monks.
"Everyone stop!" Rurik shouted at the people around him with his sword. After a while, he called his cousin over and ordered him to restrain his brothers and not move.
Indeed, at least thirty priests suddenly appeared, uniformly dressed in solemn black robes, holding high a huge wooden cross, and walked down the "slope of flesh and blood" under the leadership of an old man holding books in his arms.
"Kill them, so as not to cause trouble." Arik, who had just expressed his restraint on his brothers, declared.
"I want to negotiate with them personally."
"It's not necessary, I'm afraid there's some fraud involved."
"So I need your protection and bring a few brave men to protect me."
Arik smiled, showed his swords, and flicked his neck: "Let's go."
"Don't worry yet." Rurik added: "Let's take that noble corpse with us. Even if it's without its head, they should recognize it."
"That's fine. I just want to ask who this person is."
The priests and the princess, who was in a complicated mood, all stopped. Facing the barbarian army, everyone was watching them at such a close distance. Naturally, they were filled with fear.
Even the bishop was uneasy. He wanted to talk to the barbarians, but for a moment he didn't know where to start, let alone whether they could understand what he said.
The whole scene was strangely stiff!
Finally, something happened in the Viking camp.
The headless noble corpse was carried on a cart, and Arik led a dozen warriors with clean white cloth coats, put on shiny helmets, and led Rurik forward aggressively.
After a while, the two sides met under the city.
Rurik leaned out from under the protection of the guards. He first glanced at the old man with a wrinkled face and a book in his arms, and then asked: "I won't ask anything else. First, take a look at the deceased. Do you recognize him?"
This statement was made in Latin. In order to ensure that his language was accurate enough, he also called John Invall.
The priests in Mercia couldn't believe what they heard. The bishop asked in Latin casually: "You! Who are you? Who are you!"
Rurik did not return for the time being, so the guards made a gap and the headless body was pushed out.
Seeing this step again, all the priests were speechless. Only the bishop hugged his head and shouted: "It's the prince! He is dead! His head is gone!"
The tragedy of the corpse was clearly seen by the Crown Princess. Even though the head was missing, there were only two women in the world who knew the body of Crown Prince Botwulf best, and one of them was the Crown Princess.
The most unfortunate thing was right in front of her. She had been prepared and suddenly pulled out the prepared dagger.
After all, there are brave princes who are not afraid of death, and there are strong princesses.
Perhaps, without the Viking Age, without the expansion of the Rus, and Wiglaf would have died because of a piece of chicken rib stuck in his throat while eating, after the crown prince succeeded to the throne, the couple would be able to lead Mercia to regain its former hegemony.
A woman charging towards me with a gold-plated dagger?
Arik was still holding two steel swords this time! As a veteran warrior, he could even see the murderous intention in the air. A woman who lifted the hood of a black burqa and held a dagger rushed over. He did not hesitate to regard the woman as respectable.
A female warrior. If she dares to fight, she is a female warrior! The Vikings’ attitude towards enemy female warriors was extremely straightforward, either being killed by her or killing her.
Arik acted extremely decisively and gave the Crown Princess Viking dignity in front of the priest...
New killings were in front of us. Many priests collapsed and the standing crosses fell to the ground.
In shock, the bishop hurriedly bent down to pick up the gospel book that he had accidentally dropped. He immediately knelt on the ground and humbly prayed in Latin: "Brave foreign warriors, I beg you to spare our lives."
Due to his cousin's decisiveness and the woman's assassination, Rurik had to review his father-in-law's advice. Indeed, these people are not worthy of trust.
Even so, Rurik would not feel any pleasure in killing Rurik. He could not control how barbaric the other Vikings were. Only the Rus' army must be organized and could not turn into unorganized bandits anytime and anywhere.
He stood up and patted his chest: "I am the commander of this army, and I am the only one who can speak Latin. Priests of Mercia, now tell me who the dead we have brought are. And the woman who committed the assassination."
For you to attempt an assassination is not a blasphemy against your God!"
A young man is the commander-in-chief of a barbarian army. Is there anything more bizarre? At least this young man incredibly understands Latin. The bishop said: "That headless man is the prince of the kingdom. He leads the people to resist you. This woman,
She is...the Crown Princess."
"They are actually a couple? Both husband and wife are very brave."
The bishop boldly asked again: "Sir, can you forgive us? The city is full of women and children. They cannot fight with you, and they dare not fight. If you need wealth, you can take it as long as it does not hurt the rest.
people. This... is just my humblest request."
Rurik nodded: "It seems that you are a bishop. Let me ask you again, where is your king?"
"The king and the army are not here. Before the fierce battle with you, someone has already informed the lords everywhere. Perhaps one army after another is already on its way to Tamworth..." In order to survive, the bishop explained a lot of things,
Including but not limited to information about reinforcements, royal treasures, and the actual number of residents in the city. He hoped that his cooperation would gain the peace of the people.
The knife has been placed on his neck. If he angers them, he will be killed. If he is an old man, he will die. However, there are still ten thousand women, children, old and young in the royal city. They should live! Since the king cannot protect their lives, maybe the king's
Wealth can.
Without Lauryurik's words, the bishop actually came up with a plan that made him feel comfortable. That was for the people to evacuate the city, leave peacefully and empty-handed, and the remaining treasures would go to the Viking army.
Until this time, Rurik was surprised that the enemy still didn't know that the people he was fighting were Vikings. He solemnly announced his identity, and the bishops and priests didn't look very surprised.
However, the war is not just a war between the Rus and the Balmoks against Mercia. This war has expanded to a new round of all-out war between the military alliance between Northumbria and the Viking army and the Kingdom of Mercia!
The priests who learned the truth were really surprised. The bishop shouted to the sky and even cursed loudly: "Wiglaf! You are a stupid king! You provoked Northumbria, and now their Viking mercenaries are going to
Let’s kill them all! You don’t deserve to be king!”
Mercenary Rurik heard this word and immediately retorted: "Idiot, we are not mercenaries. Stop cursing and obey my orders now."
The bishop lowered his head again and remained silent.
"I will not release the people casually, but I will also promise to stop the killing. Of course, all this depends on your cooperation. You go back, bring all the people out, and assemble by the river. I will send troops to guard them. Wait until Northumb
The Romanian army arrived, and all these civilians were handed over to the King of Northumbria. You should also consider it, if you want to die, I can help you now, and if you plan to go to Northumbria in the future, you can survive."
Undoubtedly, they all chose the latter. As for letting the people leave the city and be willing to be controlled by the Vikings, the bishop bluntly said that he would think about it.
But Rurik had no intention of messing with them any longer, so he warned: "My patience is very limited. Your assassination made me angry. Thank you for my kindness. This is the only chance I give you. Let yours come out as soon as possible. Tomorrow morning we will
The army will enter the city, and the Mercians who have not left by then will be regarded as soldiers who have resisted to the end and will be mercilessly killed."
The bishop hurriedly agreed, and immediately led the young priests to escape back to the city, climbing up the slope of flesh and blood...