Rise of Rurik - Chapter 1023

[Chapter 1023 Triumph Parade, Funeral and Salute to Odin]

Preparations for a huge war began in 839, and when the dust of the war settled, the entire northern world had completely changed.

The Kingdom of Ross did its best to take out almost all of its elite fighters, as well as the entire fleet, and went into the war with great momentum.

If Rose loses, the kingdom will of course still exist. She has no choice but to continue to lick her deep wounds in the ice and snow far north. It will take years and months to get out of the bitter cold.

Rose wins the national luck with the bet!

In 840, from early spring to early summer, the Ross-Swedish coalition forces swept across the Götaland region, and the Scandinavian peninsula was included in the Kingdom of Ross except for the settlements of Norwegian tribes such as Oslo and Bergen.

Those Norwegians were not enemies, but on the contrary allies who could be contacted abroad.

Because the Kingdom of Viking York that rose on the British Isle was the power of the Norwegians, people who worshiped the brave and chased warmth could not control so much. They rushed to the British immigrant Viking York spontaneously.

And because of the uninterrupted trade connection, the Norwegians in Oslo have no objection to Sweden, Götaland and Ross, other forces on the peninsula.

For these reasons, the army assembled by Rurik did not conquer Oslo after all, let alone conquer the Norwegian fjords along the coastline.

The recovery of all Norwegian power was not the aim of this war, not even a secondary aim.

From the early summer to the early autumn of 840, the coalition forces commanded by Rurik finally encountered a real challenge in Denmark.

The coalition forces began to suffer large losses, and after paying a high price, the Danish issue that plagued the entire Baltic Sea was resolved in one battle!

A new Kingdom of Denmark that believed in Odin was born. Denmark immediately reached a historical reconciliation with all northerners such as Ross and Sweden. Finally, the Baltic Sea was the Baltic Sea of all Vikings, and the civil war between them ended.

Of course, there is still the problem of pirates. Those are all desperadoes who find and kill them. The existence of such bandits cannot shake the peace treaty and alliance treaty at all.

But the great alliance in the northern world directly destroyed the wishful thinking of the great Frankish nobles. While ordinary Franks knew little about the various Vikings, King Ludwig of the Eastern Kingdom knew nothing more than what a strong north meant.

Beginning in the autumn of 840, the Frankish army took the initiative to launch an offensive, which was mixed with factors of the restoration of Saxony.

The expansion of Ross and the huge territory of Frank, once the territory borders, war will inevitably break out.

Rurik didn’t want the war of the century with Frank to come so early, but the so-called “momentum” existed, he followed the trend, and the Winter War broke out.

The Ross-Sweden-Saxony alliance strikes against the Eastern Kingdoms.

The three battles against Bremen and the Second World War on the Elbe River, the war was won, and the Kingdom of Ross paid the greatest price of casualties in history.

If Ross is like this, the Saxons will lose even more.

However, the Eastern Kingdom, which had been attacked by a teacher, forcibly lost a full 30,000 troops.

The main force of Ludwig’s glorious heavy cavalry disappeared, and a large number of infantry died in battle. He no longer has the ability to pacify the north, and what is even more terrible is to use the remaining army to carry the armed force from his elder brother Lothar. Only when a large amount of benefits are surrendered to the victor without humiliation can the prisoners of war be restored to the throne.

In this way, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth banner teams that constitute the core strength of the Ross army are all composed of new and old Ross people who directly obey the king.

In particular, the first and second banner teams not only come from the old Ross tribe, but also have rich combat experience. They are the main force in combat, and they are also commanded by the king’s favorite cousin, the very popular Arik.

Just like this, the loss of troops of the two banner teams is extremely exaggerated. Although some miscellaneous people made up for it during the war, when the banner team returned to the capital, it was originally composed of more than 500 people, and the veterans of the two banner teams were only left with more than a hundred people.

The situation of the other four flag teams is relatively better, and half of them are irreparable losses.

In addition, the newly established standing army lost both cavalry and infantry.

Ross’s elite troops lost as many as a thousand people. A large number of ruthless men with years of combat experience who broke through the sea of corpses and blood finally died together with the sturdy Frankish heavy cavalry in the far south.

Such a vigorous death in battle fulfilled the long-cherished wish of a senior Viking to die in battle.

While the survivors lamented the death of their comrades-in-arms, they also comforted themselves—their spirits had already gone to the temple.

But to be fair, more than 5,000 Frankish heavy cavalry all died in battle in one winter, and even Ross achieved huge spoils by pulling off the armor of the dead and stripping the horses.

The massive loss of elite veterans, as well as the death of a group of young warriors who had just joined, undoubtedly weakened the kingdom’s military strength.

Is this really the case?

Not at all.

The Kingdom of Ross is no longer the kingdom of the Ross tribe. When the men of the tribe marry Slavic and Finnish women on a large scale, there are very few descendants of “pure-blooded northern Germans” in the kingdom.

The crazy war gave the Finnish and Slavic flag teams participating in the war great confidence. They suffered little loss due to responsibilities and tactical factors, and they were also the main force in the key decisive battle.

The governor of Novgorod and the king’s brother-in-law, Medved, led an army composed of people from his hometown in the final decisive battle on the Elbe River Glacier. In fact, he was the absolute main force of the Russian army in the coalition.

From this battle, even the humblest warrior can hold his chest up and tell his fellow countrymen: “Actually, I am a Rus warrior, and I am no different from a Varyag.”

When thoughts change, everything changes.

At least nearly a thousand Slavic warriors returned triumphantly, each of whom carried a large amount of spoils of war, possessed a large amount of silver coins and cash, and had a mouth that could tell the whole process of the war.

They no longer think of themselves as serfs subject to the Rus, from now on, they are Rus!

In the future, if the king raises troops again, he himself will be the core combat power.

A nation named Ross is being born, and the children of North Germanic, Eastern Slavic and Pan-Finnish blood are growing up screaming.

Even according to the tradition of the Slavs, a boy who reaches the age of twelve is an adult, he has the obligation to defend the farm, and he is also eligible to marry a wife.

Instead of counting years, they counted the year of birth as the first year, and when the twelveth was reached, the boy was considered a man of age.

The large-scale marriages that began that year officially showed its strong stamina. From 841, the second batch of men and women of the baby boom generation came of age, and the boys among them were the source of soldiers for the kingdom.

In Novorosberg and Novgorod, each settled family raised at least three children, and their births continued. This situation was particularly prominent in the agricultural area of Novgorod, where there were Five kids is no surprise at all.

All of this was unimaginable in the past, due to Rurik’s hard work and one war dividend after another, the core population of Ross has been growing rapidly, but the huge number of children before was a huge pressure. Now, Ross officially enjoys Huge human resources, enjoy the demographic dividend.

In the next ten years, at least 30,000 so-called Varyag warriors will be born. A considerable proportion of them have the blood of the old Ross tribe, so-called common ancestors with King Rurik himself.

Anyone who has the blood of the old Ross is a first-class person in the kingdom, and they are naturally the core members of the royal family.

In addition, there are extremely large Slavs, who must be the majority of the people at the grassroots level of the kingdom.

They are the objects of necessary marriage, another force that can be mobilized.

After all, they will become a whole with each other, but people with the blood of the old Ross can enjoy more social resources and status.

Hierarchy is necessary, otherwise such a huge kingdom would collapse in this day and age.

In this way, those soldiers who have done meritorious service must be rewarded, and the entire kingdom needs to enjoy the war dividends after victory. The closer the bloodline is to the old Ross, the more dividends he will enjoy.

In the Kingdom, the Slavs from the Old Ross tribe (including the recognized follow-up members) and the White Tree Manor are the first-class people in the Kingdom.

The second is the Vikings from other backgrounds, and the third is the huge Slavs.

The division of people into three classes is now just a conventional saying, and there is no part of the law to define it.

Classes are not determined by ethnicity. In essence, this is a class division. A top-down feudal hierarchical society is evolving naturally. As a king, Rurik can feel it personally, and he has no doubts what to do Interfere unless it threatens your own power.

Because he is the biggest beneficiary!

Rurik has two hands, the left hand holds the Viking power, and the right hand holds the Slav power.

Hold both hands firmly, and then clasp them together.

This, then, was the real reason for the triumphal parades, fire tower returns, and mass burials in the capital.

The Viking army and the Slavic army, and even the army of the counties of Finland with autonomy, must form a square formation to parade around the city and accept the cheers of people of different ethnicities.

The collective burial is more particular, no matter what ethnicity the deceased came from, and even many of the deceased were Götalands and Danes who joined during the war. They all died in battle, and now the remaining ashes are eligible to be buried in one place.

The elite troops suffered a lot of losses, and the kingdom needed to train a lot of new recruits, especially adding those 12- and 13-year-old mixed-race children to the banner teams.

These cubs are only young, and their physique has nothing to do with immaturity.

This situation is only reflected in New Roseburg. Although the capital is a commercial center rising from the desert, the earliest settlers have lived here for more than ten years.

She has always enjoyed the dividends of Rose’s rise. The children living here have eaten well and lived well since childhood. Their physique is far better than that of their ancestors who grew up in Roseburg Fjord. Most of them have reached the equivalent of 160cm at the age of twelve. Tall, and looks like just a thin physique.

It’s just that their height is already the same as that of the majority of Frankish peasant soldiers. This is what Rurik called the confidence that a twelve-year-old child can be a soldier.

Simply facing the Frankish peasant soldiers, this group of cubs can take a sword and spear to kill them after a military lesson.

The Triumph Cruise is on schedule!

Berserkers with bear heads on their heads held a flag to open the way, and directly behind was a “military band” carrying leather drums and blowing bone flutes and horns.

Rurik was dressed in fine attire, accompanied by the high priest, and walked at the front of the procession with his wives, concubines and children by his side.

They rode to the cheers and praises of the crowd.

Then, each flag team wore a full set of shirts and lined up in six columns, and marched in the same way as each flag team.

Each carried a round shield, and hung an assortment of weapons on his belt.

They tried their best to decorate themselves, the painting of the shield was restored, the armor was polished and polished, and the helmet was wrapped with patterned animal skins and even dyed feathers out of personal preference.

Unsurprisingly, these warriors were all dressed in clean blue-striped robes.

There were inevitably a large number of holes in the robe, some were stitched and repaired, and everything was left on purpose.

Such battle-damaged attire also proved from another side that they had experienced bloody battles, further enhancing their sense of bravery.

The Finnish flag team also wears the Russian standard dress. Most of them wear velvet hats made of squirrel skin. The big red squirrel tail is a sign. The leather quiver in the waist and the longbow with the same height are another feature. .

They are generally short in stature, and now they don’t have the slightest inferiority complex.

Because among the cheering crowd are many Finnish fellows who have lived in the capital all winter, and if you listen carefully, you can hear the praises shouted in their native dialect.

Because the leaders of the Finnish flag team are none other than Earl Gevlo and his eldest son Kerha.

Even the kingdom’s artisan troops participated in the parade. Kawi, his son Kuzneslav, and more than fifty Slavic blacksmiths who only worked for the king formed a special team with hundreds of professional sailors. .

They brought ashore the heavy equipment that made special feats, and pushed and pulled the vehicle-mounted torsion slingshot and bull trebuchet to open the eyes of the general public.

Many people recognize this group of blacksmiths, and they must deal with them if they want to order swords and even various tools in the future, and most of the metal utensils on sale in the New Roseburg market are from this group.

In the end, a forest moved around the city in full view.

The halberds were spliced into a complete state, and the Slavic flag team wore their normal uniforms, and all of them put on their own spoils of Frankish chain mail.

They carried extremely long war halberds, and the cleaned heads of the halberds were shining brightly in the sun.

Their attire is no different from that of the Varyag warriors. This time, they all wore captured Frankish helmets and modified them. No one dared to question that they were not elites.

The triumphant parade attracted all the people of the capital city to crowd into the inner city. There were people admiring the army with wide-eyed eyes everywhere. There were also spectators sitting on the roofs, city walls, and even some trees.

Harvest Plaza is where the parade begins and where it ends.

Rurik wanted to make a speech in public, but after all, his voice could not suppress the noise of tens of thousands of people.

A brand new wooden tower is built outside the city. When the parade ceremony is over, the wooden tower can also be set on fire.

Rurik had a lot to do today. After the whole army finished the parade and arrived at the Harvest Square, the whole army went out of the city and went straight to the cemetery area in the south of the city.

Not only the army, but the people of the whole city went south collectively.

This is the Valhalla on earth, where everyone lives.

No matter what the faith of the subjects, as long as they choose, they can be buried in this huge national cemetery after death.

As for those who died fighting for the country, as long as they have the ability, their ashes will be brought back and buried here.

Rurik is deliberately imitating Arlington National Cemetery, which is Ross National Cemetery.

Most of the people who had been buried before had erected steles, on which were engraved the epitaph of Runwen and some abstract depictions.

For example, there are people who believe in Thor, the god of thunder, and his tombstone is engraved with such a picture-God Thor holds the hammer in his left hand, and grabs the giant python in his right hand.

Now nearly 2,000 “wooden box coffins” will be buried. The pit has been dug overnight, and the wooden plaque marking the identity of the deceased has also been prepared.

Because the identities of the deceased compiled by the flag team are recorded in the book, and the deceased also have their own identity plaques, so the kingdom will determine their tombs and erect monuments for them.

More than a thousand people had clear identities, and the rest of the hundreds of dead were those who joined the Kingdom of Wei and died in the war. For the latter, it was a decent joint burial.

As king, he delivered a short speech himself.

“They have won eternal glory, their souls have gone to the Hall of Valor, and their bodies have been buried like this forever, accepting our reverence forever…”

At this moment, Rurik admired the eulogy of the dead by the group of Catholic priests. The eulogy was very particular, and there was an element of imitation in this speech.

He then ordered the bullhorn players on standby to blow their horns collectively, and ordered the arriving soldiers to beat their shields together, and roared a few battle cries rhythmically.

Those who came from Novorosberg were buried and sealed by their families themselves, and the rest came from the direction of Novgorod, and those dead were buried by their comrades-in-arms.

Few people cried, and the scene as a whole was solemn.

I saw that the noble past wore a golden laurel crown and led the soldiers to half-kneel and salute the buried soldiers collectively.

There were half-kneeling people everywhere, and the whole scene shocked the city people who arrived one after another. It infected more people, and after all, the entire capital was paying tribute to the war dead.

When night fell, a fire tower burned rapidly, and the flames spewed out to the stars.

A whole hundred reindeer!

As the king, Rurik stabbed them to death one by one in public to sacrifice to the gods.

He stopped the most important job of the high priest, as “the one blessed by Odin”, and at this moment, no one is more qualified than him.

The flames shone on the face of a little girl, and Verika watched intently as her father assassinated the deer one by one. Her face was solemn, and she saw her father’s stalwart figure constantly jumping in front of the flames.

In the end, the father was shirtless and pointed the sword in his hand at the sky.

Rurik was doing a performance art in front of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians. The people kept a terrifying silence for a moment, only the sound of wind and the crackling of flames could be heard.

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A loud voice traveled far away, and the people heard the king’s cry: “Odin, king of the gods!

Ross did it!

Thank you for giving us a victory!

Accept our gift!

Grant us prosperity!

Grant us new victories!

”

In the end, it was Rumia who held up a dissected deer liver and solemnly announced to all those who participated in the final sacrifice: “Odin heard and saw it! Odin is very satisfied! Odin will reward us with a new victory !”

This night, the entire capital fell into carnival, and the bonfires burning everywhere seemed to ignite the earth…

[End of this Chapter]