Chapter 819 Rurik points at the skull of the King of Denmark at the city of Goldfrehagen
A man tried his best to escape in the night. He ran under the wooden wall and shouted loudly.
The guards on the city wall noticed the presence of this man. They were quite surprised that Rasmussen, who had gone to negotiate, came back so quickly?
The rope was lowered, and Rasmussen made a noose for one foot to stand on. Then he grabbed the rope with both hands and held the folded letter in his mouth, and was pulled up by the defenders.
As soon as he returned, he was interrogated by nervous soldiers: "What's the situation? What do the Russians want?"
What else could Rasmussen say? He couldn't tell his brothers that Ross was confident about the plan to attack the city. Besides, it was better for ordinary soldiers not to know a lot of inside information.
He encouraged in every possible way: "You insist on standing guard to observe the situation and open a way for me. I will tell the king the request of the leader of Ross!"
Although this brave messenger did not explain the situation, judging from his attitude in speaking, it seemed that the negotiation was in danger. Because the two followers did not return, Rasmussen's breathing was clearly that of fleeing.
The inner city is full of people sleeping on the ground. Thanks to the warmest season in Northern Europe, they wear leather armor and huddle up like armadillos. They don't have to worry about catching cold while holding swords and axes like this. They don't dare to take off their leather armor.
Or they are hard-skinned, fearing that the Russians will suddenly launch a surprise attack and they will not be able to launch an immediate counterattack.
King Horik of Denmark was in his palace, sitting in a huge long room with a pointed roof. He had no intention of getting involved with any of his wives or concubines. He had trouble sleeping, eating and sleeping, and it was the only time he was surrounded by an unknown number of Russian troops.
Instinctively, he felt that this battle was more dangerous than the previous battle against the Frankish army.
Horik's concerns are not unreasonable. The single-round "siege war" is not uncommon in the East, and often even becomes the norm, but it is extremely rare in the current European world.
The traditional European army prefers that each lord personally leads his retinue and peasant soldiers to the battlefield, and leads the army under the lord's flag, with multiple lords leading their respective armies in an array that is not subordinate to each other.
Both sides of the battle mostly adhere to this array pattern, followed by the sound of drums and trumpets, and the two armies impact, clash, and chop with swords and axes.
They don't even use bows and arrows very much, and the winner always favors the side with more infantry and more cavalry.
A battle in the wilderness often resolves most of the grievances between nobles. Sieges and sieges are difficult to achieve and often mean a thankless effort.
But the Russian army under Rurik's rule is clearly an army that transcends the times! Any complimentary words are redundant. Whether the army is powerful must be proven by actual combat.
Just when the fleeing Rasmussen was about to deliver the letter to Horik, Rurik's entire army was not fast asleep.
In the middle of the night there were only the snores of soldiers, the crackle of burning firewood, the gentle south wind, and some low rumbles.
The parts from the flagship cabin have all arrived on the beach, and a siege weapon is being assembled!
The Danish city walls were made of wood. How strong could they be?
The engineering rush vehicle is being assembled, and two two-wheeled vehicles are pieced together to form a base. A long-cut pine tree was unloaded from the ship and floated in the sea water before being pulled ashore. Now the trunk of the tree is connected to a tapered bronze collision angle.
This tree trunk is the core unit of the impact vehicle. A large number of straight wooden beams from demolished houses are thrown directly onto the impact vehicle to increase the mass and obtain greater potential energy during impact.
The prefabricated parts were further assembled to assemble the arrow-proof and stone-proof frame on the top of the ram car. The prefabricated wooden boards were placed directly on top, and the soldiers used small hammers to hammer down the nails to hammer out the hard top cover.
Heavy siege weapons must be manufactured on the battlefield. In order to assemble them efficiently, the Ross Army brought all the parts. The use of so many different weapons was definitely not Rurik's deliberate intention. Everything came from bloody lessons!
Is Godfreyhagen even more disgusting than the Borgholm fortress of the Saxon settlers on the island of Öland?
As long as there is such a siege ram, Rurik doesn't have to worry about whether the defenders pour hot water or throw stones. The top cover can not only block falling debris, but the soldiers at the bottom can push the ram body to ram it, or carry it.
If you use a double-edged ax to smash the wall, the enemy can only watch as your wooden wall is broken open bit by bit.
However, such siege vehicles are not completely unfamiliar to the Danish army. According to the Franks, this kind of weapon is called a "war pig". It relies on brute force to directly smash the gate of the fortress. This is the Danish general Stadt a year ago.
I was able to follow the example of the Franks and crash the wall of Ross' shop with a car.
There is only another weapon of the Russian army - powerful arrows. The current Danish King Horik is no stranger to it. The information last year was indeed completely true, just because he saw the reality of the hateful arrows of the Russian army this year.
power.
The soldiers of the Russian army could endure the ups and downs of the ocean and fell asleep, and they could ignore the sound of "ding-dong-dong-dong" in their ears.
The soldiers standing guard at night were rotated as usual. As time went by, the short night seemed to be passing, and the sky turned dark blue. It was obvious that the Danish army would not launch a dawn raid.
On the other hand, at the end of the night, Rasmussen delivered Rurik's autographed letter to the King of Denmark.
A strange thing has become the carrier of writing? It feels like a kind of silk, but it breaks into pieces when it is torn.
King Horik was already in a bad mood, like a stone weighing on his heart. Now when he saw the content of the letter, he was even more furious!
He tore the paper clean in a few seconds and said angrily: "The Prince of Rus himself is coming to beat me?! That villain wants to use my skull as a wine bowl! Fool! It should be your skull as my bowl!"
"
King Horik was so angry that his round face turned red. The matter had become very clear. Not only did the Russians refuse to accept any negotiation, but they also saw their own plan to delay time. Horik gave up his illusion. Since the provocative way of King Horik
If you want to launch an attack after dawn, then go ahead!
Horik did not forget to stomp on the confetti on the ground a few more times, waiting for Rasmussen's face: "The Russians want to kill me! And I also want to kill them. Tomorrow is the day of the decisive battle.
We have to prepare some stones and clay pots, and use these things to smash the Russians to death."
It sounded like he was asking himself. Rasmussen, who was still in shock, hurriedly echoed: "Your Majesty."
"The Russians are really bullying! Now that you have entered their camp, tell me what you have seen. How many troops do the Russians have and what are their weapons?"
But had Rasmussen visited all of Ross's camps at night? How much could he see?
"The Russians have about three thousand people, and many of them are equipped with bows and arrows. They have a kind of bow that lies flat. I'm afraid this is the key to their accurate shooting..." he muttered.
"What else?" Horik urged.
"The Prince of Rus is very young, probably not even twenty years old. Such men are often brave, and usually the least measured."
"I can understand this, so he wants to kill me. I'm surprised. I don't want to provoke any monarch now, so why am I being attacked like crazy by this guy from the East?"
Rasmussen's mouth trembled, and Horik noticed this.
"You? What did you see again? Tell me quickly and I will forgive you."
Rasmussen plucked up the courage and said bluntly: "I think I already know the whole story. This is the revenge of the Russians! It is because our Stade killed many Russians in Hedeby, which attracted the attention of the Russian prince.
Angry. Moreover, there are traitors in those teams who betrayed us."
Horik immediately became alert: "Destroying the Russian shops was a failure. I admit this. If only a few people died, would the Russians have to attack in an all-out way? No, no, it is the power that the Russians covet. As for those who
Human traitors? Could it be that those exiles are also attacking us?”
"It's Ragnar."
"Ah? Ragnar the Hairy Pants? The coward who ran away is not dead?"
"Not only did he not die, I noticed that the Russians had attracted many exiles. That Ragnar said that this battle was his revenge."
After learning the news, Horik's legs couldn't help but tremble. At this moment, he had to think about some very in-depth questions - how many Danish lords really recognized me?
In a daze, he felt that the messenger sent out would not attract many troops from King Qin, and the exiles from various places were recruited by the Rus who also spoke Norse to form a coalition to kill him.
Horik had thought about this, but he never dreamed that this decisive battle would come on the first anniversary after he became king. It was as if the entire Denmark and the external Viking forces deliberately rushed to provoke a war on this day.
Three thousand people is not a small number. The Russian ships are very large. Naturally, it is impossible to estimate the enemy's strength based on the number of rowed long boats. For now, he believes Rasmussen's description of the strength of the Russian army, and then take a look.
Their own military strength is actually a numerical disadvantage.
It was precisely because of the "three thousand people" that Rasmussen said and the resolute attitude of the Prince of Rus that Horik did not dare to act rashly. Because the core camp of the Rus had been fortressed, they were on guard against him launching a night attack.
And with a huge force, a night attack would do more harm than good to Denmark, and the army needs to practice tonight to maintain a high-spirited salute.
The Danish soldiers were fast asleep, with huge pressure on their shoulders. Horik could only sleep until dawn.
When the sky turns blue and the sun in the east is about to break through the sea level, the inner city of Godfreyhagen is filled with the sound of horns.
The Danes were blowing their trumpets loudly, as if they were about to open the door and launch an all-out counterattack.
This is very possible!
Rurik had woken up early, and so had the Russian army. The army was busy cooking breakfast, thinking that they would be able to replenish a lot of physical energy for today's siege battle. Just as everyone was busy grilling fish and cooking wheat porridge, the intensive sound of Danish trumpets attracted the attention of Ross.
The whole army was nervous.
"Damn King of Denmark, they may counterattack our army. You and your troops should be on alert, and all the torque slingshots should be charged..." Rurik gave the order, and the generals immediately followed it.
All of a sudden, the Russian army was on high-intensity alert. The infantrymen holding shields had formed a shield wall. Behind the sword and shield bearers, there was a group of spear formations composed of Slavs.
A group of extremely burly warriors put on heavy iron armor and wore helmets with bear heads hanging on them with only observation windows. These were the "iron men" that Rurik was quite proud of, and they were a true heavy armored corps.
The soldiers are also composed of his personal guard mercenaries, whose leader is Grund.
More than a hundred torsion slingshots and as many as 600 crossbow-wielding warriors were aimed at the inner city of Godfrey Hagen.
But the Danes kept blowing their horns, and gradually the vigilance of the Russian army gave way to numbness.
Arik, who was on guard, hoped for a quick kill, and Grund, who was wearing heavy armor and holding an ax with both hands, even hoped to kill the enemy as soon as possible and take off his heavy armor.
It seems that everyone is fighting for their wits in the air?
Rurik gradually felt that this was a tired tactic of the Danish army. The enemy did not look like he was about to leave the city to attack, so he ordered the crossbowmen to be left on standby. The others ate quickly, and when they were full, they switched defenses with the crossbowmen.
The Russians were always on guard, knowing that the entire army had a hearty meal. The fish and meat were mixed with boiled wheat in their stomachs, and the soldiers' bodies were full of strength.
"Your enemies are blowing trumpets and beating drums, what are we going to do? We are going to blow trumpets too!" Ragnar remonstrated with Rurik aggressively, and received full support in return.
Rurik's resolute eyes looked at all the soldiers who were ready to go. He drew his sword and pointed in the direction of the wooden wall: "Odin's warriors! The blessing of the God King will shine on you, and the time has come to win glory and revenge.
! Now follow me, attack! Trumpeter! Blow the trumpet!”
The organized trumpet holders worked together to blow the horns, and the holders also beat hard.
The whole army shouted the Viking war cry rhythmically. This positive signal conveyed the next meaning to the Danish army defending the city - the Russian army began to attack.
The army advanced along the winding alleyway, with a group of crossbow-wielding warriors in front and sword and shield bearers behind. There were more than 500 people in the vanguard, which were the veterans of the First Flag Team of the Russian Army led by Arik, and
An alliance of exiled Danes led by Ragnar.
The slave soldiers from Bornholm Island were also among them, but their clothes were too casual and not as uniform as those of Arik and Ragnar.
The roadway inevitably dispersed the width of the Russian army's front. If the Danish army could launch a cavalry attack at this time, there was a chance that part of the Russian army could be overwhelmed.
But King Horik chose a conservative method of warfare. He ordered the trumpeters in the city to blow the trumpets as hard as they could, which also called for the confused warriors to wake up and actively prepare for war.
Danish warriors holding bows stood on the city wall one after another, and a batch of stones and earthen jars also arrived at the city wall.
At the foot of the city, the confused warriors slapped themselves in the face and stood in a dense formation in an empty space inside the city.
The cavalry team regained its vitality. They held short spears and were as perseverant as a wall. They were waiting for King Horik's order to open the city gate at any time and rush out to fight with the Ross army.
Horik rode his famous horse. He felt that this must be a fierce battle, and he must fight for his own glory. So although there is obviously a back door to escape, even if he has to retreat in the end, it must be without defense.
You can only evacuate when the enemy is in danger.
He even mobilized the women in the city. Danish women put their braids on their heads or tied them into a ball. A large number of infantrymen did not have armor, and these women only had leather clothes and cloth clothes. They had a round shield in one hand.
One hand is a sword, and his face is painted with light blue or black lines to show his bravery.
If it were a pure sword and shield fight, Horik would actually have a huge advantage!
But Rurik didn't want his enemies to have time to show off those damn advantages.
A group of Russian soldiers escorted a "little house" in motion. It was pushed by as many as thirty people and moved quickly on the slope approaching the inner city.
The morning sun shone on the soldiers who were approving the iron armor. Grund and his men formed a fifty-strong "Array Breaking Iron Man". They usually carried double-edged prisoners of war. Their mission was to fight through holes. They entered the wooden wall and chopped down the wood directly.
Piles are also tasks. They are combat engineers!
Horik was not at all disadvantaged by the Ross army's advance. Rurik on the other side of the battlefield was also betting. He was mentally prepared to lose part of his troops, but his only enemy had already reached the gate of the inner city.
, the enemy still has no intention of leaving the city for a decisive battle.
"Well, the most troublesome thing is that time has passed, and now it is time for me to perform. King of Denmark, I will accept your skull." Rurik laughed with satisfaction, because his army had successfully defeated the enemy.
The formation is completed under the city. It all depends on your own wishes whether it is appropriate to attack the city.