Chapter 767 This is the feast of the Viking coalition
However, it was said that Ragnar led his tribe into the city of Bremen. This hard-core ruthless man was armed with an iron sword. As soon as he saw the panicked and fleeing people, he led his troops to pursue and kill them.
They killed indiscriminately and spared no one.
The frightened people in the city had already lost their morale and even forgot to resist, and were killed in the screams.
But Ragna didn't care about the enjoyment of killing. He ordered his subordinates to retaliate cleanly and kill one person with one sword. Sending these obstructive personnel would help everyone plunder.
Ragnar's men groped forward in the alleyways. At first they looted the houses, but apart from some daily necessities and a batch of stored grain, they found only a few silver and copper coins.
"You guys, search for all the wheat. Don't grab the grain first. Find a pocket and put all the silver coins you find..."
He gave orders like this, trying his best to control the crazy tribesmen to keep robbing rationally.
Finally, one of his subordinates told him: "There are a large number of people crowded in the south of the city. They seem to want to escape. There is also their temple (referring to the church). It is said that there is a lot of gold there."
At this moment, Ragnar was overjoyed.
"Then focus on attacking the temple!"
More than two hundred Viking fanatics, led by Ragnar who was covered in blood, ran wildly along the road leading to the church.
They entered the city square first, and were shocked to see a crowd of civilians running around.
On the other hand, when the citizens in the city saw a group of guys holding round shields, they had no choice but to run away except holding their heads and screaming.
"That's it." Ragnar pointed his sword directly, "Enter the monastery, kill them, and take the gold and silver!"
Ragnar's follow-up personnel also entered the city square, and the three hundred last elite Viking warriors of the Stonewall tribe, led by the leader who fell into madness, rushed towards St. Peter's Church in Bremen with all their strength.
In terms of architectural scale, this church is the largest wooden building in the city, and it has a history of half a century.
When Blue Fox was in trouble, he stayed here for a while and had a certain understanding of the history of the church. Moreover, he himself was baptized here. Even so, Blue Fox, who was completely on the side of the invader, had only one idea of the church being captured.
Just a little touch.
As for Ragnar, no one restrained his actions at all. Even the Russians, who were allies, wanted this group of madmen to kill and destroy as much as possible, thereby attracting the firepower of Bremen's military and civilians and giving the Russians enough time to grab food.
However, Bremen has completely become an undefended city, and the city is full of sheep running around.
Especially this church, it looks like a sheepfold.
On the other hand, the high priest who served as bishop of this church on behalf of Eskil still firmly believed in his faith in times of crisis.
He stood on the podium, holding the covered scriptures to his chest with both hands.
There were as many as 2,000 believers in the audience. Some of them were sitting anxiously on the benches, while more people randomly found an open space to kneel down, listening to the sermon and praying for a miracle.
The priests were singing the content of the Old Testament in Latin, about the so-called Messiah happening, the prisoners in Babylon being saved, the aliens suffering divine punishment, and so on.
At this moment, there is no need to think about logic.
The city has been conquered, and they are praying with great expectation, hoping that the entire church will become a barrier blessed by the Lord, and that the power of sacred faith can form an invisible wall to keep the Normans out, and then wait quietly for the coming of the Seraph.
The flames burned the Normans to ashes...
However, a double-edged Nordic forest ax angrily smashed the bronze lock of the church door to pieces.
The door suddenly opened.
What suddenly intruded was not the angels they were expecting, but a group of vicious Normans with blond hair dyed red, shouting Odin.
Ragnar didn't think this was a sacred place, and he was surprised to see so many people in front of him. He was shocked. If the entire auditorium were full of warriors, it would be difficult for him to deal with his current manpower.
Ragnar and his gang were attracted by the legend of getting rich. They have long tried to attack Bremen. In the past, they only had thankless attacks. Now, getting rich is today. As long as a large number of "obstacles" in front of them are solved, the treasure
All in linen pockets.
The cowering crowd screamed in terror. Some ran away screaming, some fell into unconsciousness, and some knelt down and continued to pray...
Some Viking warriors were involuntarily panicked when faced with the chaotic crowd: "Boss, what should we do? Are we going to kill these people?"
"Are you trying to persuade me to be merciful?"
"No! There are too many of them. Once they fight, we may be outnumbered..."
Ragnar shook his head hard and suddenly shouted: "Shield wall! Kill these enemies! No mercy!"
Knowing that they were a large group of unarmed people, Ragnar, who felt no guilt, identified them all as Frankish warriors. For very practical reasons, he could have taken the opportunity to capture many prisoners and sell them as slaves to make money, but Ragnar could not do that at the moment.
At this point, just kill as much as possible, firstly to vent the tribe's suppressed emotions for a long time, and secondly, to show the new Ross allies what a madman is.
The shield wall was like a meat grinder. After Ragnar's troops entered the church, they set up their formation and charged forward. The shield wall continued to advance, and behind it were all the people lying in a pool of blood.
The priests were all panicked, and they and the people rushed out of the church's side doors. However, the two side doors were not big, and it caused a congestion in a short time.
The fear became even worse, and they began to trample on each other again, and many people were trampled to death alive.
In this closed space, the sacred and noble St. Peter's Church becomes the territory.
Even Ragnar could not imagine that he led his troops to kill so smoothly. Behind them were already covered with corpses in a pool of blood, and the blood gathered into a river and flowed out of the main entrance of the church.
In terms of the scale of the killings, the tragedy that occurred in Bremen in 836 was more horrific than the tragedy at Lindisfarne Abbey in 792.
More than a thousand people were killed, and nearly a thousand people escaped through two side doors.
Ragnar and his men were also exhausted, but the brothers felt that their achievements were destined to impress Odin. The dead were all sacrifices to the gods of Asgard. Although they were panting from exhaustion, even the iron sword was
Curly, their pursuit and killing continues.
As many as ten priests wearing black robes were not killed directly, but were escorted outdoors to be used as priests.
Ragnar is not a mindless butcher, he knows what a Frankish "priest" is, and killing such people in a public way is the best sacrifice.
At this time, the belatedly arrived Russian army arrived at the church.
Arik suddenly saw the dead body lying outside and a dark red river flowing from the church.
This was the first time Blue Fox had seen this scene. Thinking that he had lived here before, he never imagined that it would become a battlefield.
Ragnar tried hard to keep his head clear and suppress his racing heart. Seeing Arik who finally arrived, he very proudly pointed at the church where there was no big problem on the surface: "I killed a thousand people, this is
Huge achievement. My people grabbed some gold and silver! Damn it, there is no mountain of gold and silver."
"Ah!? You only have three hundred people, and you killed a thousand people in such a short time?!" How could Arik not be surprised? This number is too exaggerated.
"I just did it. You! You must admit my bravery."
"Don't talk about it yet. Keep chasing them! Let's go, Ragnar brothers, and continue to take revenge on Frank." After that, Arik patted Ragnar on the shoulder and led his troops to rush towards the south of the city where the shouts turned into roars.
go……
Ragna gritted his teeth and called to his brother: "Take the gold and silver you grabbed and continue to fight with me! Kill the Franks, and then we will slowly loot them."
The Viking fanatics, covered in blood and sweat, entered the final battle after a short rest. At this moment, they would encircle the Russian army and suppress the last enemy entrenched in the south of the city.
Arik had already arrived first with his team, and when he saw the people huddled together, they became entangled on the spot.
According to their own inherent principles, enemy women should not be killed, but should be tied up, transported to their hometowns and sold. Eventually, these women will be absorbed by the Rus and become the mothers of a new generation of Rus warriors. Given the traditional Nordic tribal thinking, each
This is what the tribe should do.
When he felt a sense of compassion, Jevro suddenly asked: "Aric, do you want to take action immediately? According to the prince's order, we must show no mercy."
With just one glance, Arikna's kindness suddenly disappeared.
"All archers!" he said, "line up and shoot!"
Arik is indeed different from Ragnar. Having experienced too many actual battles, he has become more and more fond of the strategy of using an arrow formation to defend the enemy first. Actual combat has proved that this is an excellent means to reduce one's own losses.
But the battle had changed, and even the shooter felt that his attack was far from glorious.
Those people running around were all unarmed people, and their actions were all trying to escape from the city. They were obviously crowded at the gate and trying their best to rush out, so that the double wooden doors that were originally opened inward could not be opened at all! Of course
Even if it is opened, there is still a hanging door that needs to be pulled up with a winch. If this door does not pull in the refugees, they still cannot escape.
The city walls were also filled with people, and a large number of people were wandering around in despair.
Arrows flew mercilessly, and crossbows and longbows mercilessly shot at this large group of unarmored targets.
In fact, a group of people had already escaped by descending the city wall along the ropes, and there were also some people who were injured in the fall, dragging their injured limbs and forcibly leaving.
There were still more than 4,000 people crowded in the southern part of the city of Bremen, and the Russian arrow attacks undoubtedly made the already bad situation worse.
"Those who shoot at the city wall, hurry up!" Gevro ordered.
In terms of combat experience, Yevro actually has more experience than Arik. When he was younger, he had to fight for the former financial lord Gould, and he always experienced a fight to the death on a scale of fifty people. Small-scale battles are very important.
It is to scare the enemy with momentum, which is even more important in large-scale battles.
People who were lingering on the city wall, afraid of jumping to their death, became living targets. At first, some people were hit by arrows, and then they were hit by arrows one after another, and many people fell because of it.
The panic further intensified, and at this moment Ragnar finally arrived with his army.
Without any words, Aric and Ragnar looked at each other and began to cooperate in the killing with a tacit understanding.
This was not a battle between armies at all. Businessmen, craftsmen, farmers, and even a large number of women were mercilessly slaughtered by Ragnar's Viking warriors. The same was true for the Ross army. Even though Aric once moved
To show some sympathy, his subordinates had a completely different attitude. They didn't think they were a group of non-combatants, just a group of cowards who had not had time to take up arms and fight.
On one side, there is a shield wall that forms a terrifying meat grinder-like thrust, and on the other side, there are dense arrows falling from the sky.
A large number of people trying to escape realized that there was no point in taking the south gate, so they had no choice but to take the risk.
No longer thinking about the risk of death or injury if you jump, a large number of people walked onto the city wall at the risk of being shot, and then jumped with their eyes closed.
Some people broke their necks and cracked their skulls, and they died immediately. Some people broke their arms and staggered away while holding their broken arms. Some broke their legs and had to crawl.
Escape from Bremen, a hell on earth.
Arik saw a strange sight. He had been fighting for Ross for eight full years, and he had never seen such a crazy escapee in these eight years.
"Cowards! You dare to jump over the city wall, but you don't have the guts to fight us!"
This shocking scene further aroused his anger, and he further shouted: "Brothers! Show no mercy! Help them jump over the wall and fall to their death!"
Indeed, the people who initially jumped over the wall suffered a large number of injuries, but then a large number of soft "sandbags" appeared under the wall. This was a group of people who fell to death and were shot and killed. The presence of a large number of corpses gave the successors enough opportunities.
buffer.
Like lemmings leaping into the sea, the people of Bremen jumped in panic, and even mothers jumped out in anger while holding their children tightly in their arms.
At least there is a possibility of survival if you jump. Look! The living people who jumped earlier have already run away in the field where there is only one stubble left after harvesting the wheat.
In this way, the killing of the coalition forces quickly stopped. Even because of excessive exhaustion, Ragnar's troops saw the enemy jumping over the wall to escape frantically. There was no need to use their sore arms to swing the prisoners to kill. On the other hand,
Considering the need to save arrows, the Finns from Gevlo holding longbows also suspended their attacks.
At the last moment, the coalition forces watched ferociously as the last hundred or so people jumped over the wall to escape.
Until then, the coalition soldiers stepped on the dead bodies and climbed onto the wooden city wall, watching the Bremen people gradually running away with mixed emotions.
"There is no need to pursue anymore." Arik couldn't help but sigh while standing on the city wall.
Ragna sighed after hearing this, and then agreed: "Killing cowards is not an honor. But I captured ten of their priests, which is reflected in the fact that the sun is in the sky, which is just right to sacrifice to Odin."
"It's up to you! I don't like those priests at all. Did you get a lot of gold and silver?"
"I got some in the church." Ragna then forced a smile to cover up his fatigue.
"Okay, apart from getting a lot of wheat, we Russians didn't find any other treasures. We had an appointment beforehand, and you grabbed the gold. I have nothing to say. Next, we will separate and plunder using the city square as the boundary. Remember
Giving a sword to the dying person is the last act of mercy between you and me."
"Just do it."
Just in the evening, Ragnar held a sacrifice in public, and the ten priests who were captured had their throats cut by him in public.
What’s even crazier is that Blue Fox, who took off his helmet, was at the scene, and what’s heartbreaking is that he deliberately flashed the cross on his chest. Although he had grown a beard, it hadn’t grown too outrageous in the past few months. He is to be executed.
The acting bishop suddenly recognized the identity of Blue Fox.
"Joseph! You are a traitor! It was you who led the Normans to Bremen. The Lord will send down divine punishment! You will be burned to death!" This was the acting bishop's final outrightness.
Blue Fox was unmoved. He participated in the action as an Odin warrior, and ended up wearing a cross pendant. The man himself was full of contradictions.
Blue Fox himself understood it clearly: "Don't forget! The Russians are also Normans! Your king killed many Russians. This is our revenge! I have no grudge against you, but you must die. Eski
You have been controlled by us, and obviously the Lord will not help you anymore."
After the sacrifice was over, all the exhausted warriors under Ragnar roared with joy. They further searched for loot, and this time they searched very carefully, looking for iron tools, copper coins, and silver coins.
The same Russians were also looking for these things, and the two sides made a temporary treaty for this purpose. The treaty was proposed by Aric, and Ragna thought it was fair. The so-called city's central square was used as the boundary, and the north was for the Russians to plunder.
The south belongs to Ragnar. The reason Ragnar felt it was fair was because he thought he had gotten a big bargain. He got a batch of gold and silver vessels from the church, but little did he know that the Russians had gained a huge amount.
Just how much rye was in stock in the seized granaries? It could have been as much as a million pounds, and just moving it would be a hassle.
So what does one hundred pounds of wheat mean? According to the agreement with Prince Rurik, the army can share half of the spoils, and then divide it equally according to the number of soldiers and sailors. On average, each person can get exactly one thousand pounds of wheat. Sure enough, one person
Most of the family's rations for the whole year were obtained. Even if it had to be converted into money, the prince had already said that it would be purchased at the price of ten pounds of wheat and one silver coin, and the settlement would be made immediately.
Looking back again at this large granary that was firmly controlled by the Russian army, Arik, who held a torch and inspected them carefully in the evening, couldn't help but sigh: "Maybe I didn't bring enough ships!"
That night, the coalition forces spent the night in a city full of corpses.
Ragnar's men found a group of women, and they immediately became the playthings of the victors, only to be killed again. They made delicious meals with the captured grain. Although it was not known how much the Russians had captured, Ragnar boasted that
I made a big fortune this time, and I have never been as crazy and happy as I am today in my life. This is the joy of making a fortune, and it is also the pleasure of getting revenge. The central square of the city is an obvious open space, and Ragna took the people outside the city.
The non-combatant tribesmen were brought into the city to share the victory, and at the same time, they gathered the manpower to carry the loot outside the city tomorrow.
The situation is similar on the Russian side, but starting at night, the work of transporting food begins. The small cart equipped with a torsion slingshot unloads the slingshot and uses all its strength to carry the linen bags full of rye. A large number of bonfires are lit at the wharf that is firmly controlled by the fleet.
For lighting, the tired soldiers took a lot of rest, and professional sailors disembarked and began to transport wheat. This work will be carried out all night until early tomorrow morning, when the awakened main force begins to participate in the operation.
Both Arik and Ragnar reached a consensus that it was not suitable to stay here for a long time. Ragnar had already stated that there were pursuers behind him, so the window period for the coalition forces to fight and plunder was very short. Even though everyone was very tired, after two days,
The plunder must be completed within the time limit, and then you can retreat to a safe area and have a good rest before trying to find a way out.