Rise of Rurik - Chapter 649

[Chapter 650 The Danes Don’t Beat The Danes]

This war basically has nothing to do with women, but it is about a new and wonderful future. The women of White Tree Manor sincerely want to make a contribution to the men who go to war.

They cooked for the assembled more than 3,000 soldiers, regardless of whether they were active or not, and a large amount of surplus grain and wheat were taken out.

These women set up a large number of earthenware pots to cook the Novgorod special oatmeal porridge.

In fact, it is nothing more than boiled oatmeal grains and some salt. This kind of bland diet is not uncommon in the Principality of Ross.

More than 3,000 bloody mouths can swallow fifty cows in one day, and also eat up the poultry brought by the calf farm.

Calf Manor offered ten cows, which will be used first as sacrifices.

This was the last day before the start of the war. In the early morning, Rurik had dispatched the surrendered Danish Grund and his group to order them to take a boat as sentinels to the near mouth of the Volkhov River.

This riverside location was so close to Pine Needle Manor that they could see it with the naked eye.

“Boss, do the Ross people just let us stand guard? In my opinion, we can start a sneak attack and get some treasures by the way.” Some guys couldn’t hold back their desire to slash and plunder.

Grund looked at his old buddies, and couldn’t help baring his teeth and ordered: “Don’t be too hasty. The Ross people are too lazy to investigate, and Rurik’s army of 3,000 people is basically invincible. We follow this benefactor and do things with peace of mind.”

“But boss, my ax thirsts for blood.”

“No! Karl. No matter how weak the enemy is, there are too many of them. We may be courting death if we rush up. Rurik just asked us to watch on the shore.”

“Then why don’t you catch your tongue? If we capture a prisoner and give it to Rurik, we can get some rewards. Besides, who are we brothers afraid of? Those who are working hard, who would be afraid of death?”

Indeed, Grund and his gang were a bunch of outlaws.

Rurik had seen this for a long time, and gave them a lot of money and surprises without really trusting them.

This group of people can act freely, and they are placed at the mouth of the river as so-called sentries, which has Rurik’s deep meaning.

However, Rurik did not bother to investigate the Pine Needle Manor at first. He had already learned quite a lot of detailed information from other people, and had a relatively clear understanding of the enemy’s possible maximum strength and armed situation, so he was very confident. .

This is the arrogance of a king, and Rurik’s arrogance comes from his own strength.

Unable to resist the urging of the guys, the old mercenaries killed by Grund’s group of twenty dead men still acted.

They carried round shields on their backs, wrapped reeds around their iron helmets one after another, and inserted reeds into the gaps in the mail armor on their bodies.

They looked like a group of green turtles. It was this camouflage that made the grass cover the reflection of the metal, and they could hide themselves by jumping into the reeds on the spot.

They rushed towards the periphery of Pine Needle Manor in the majestic place of the Great White Heaven. Knowing that the enemy most likely had set up peripheral defenses, they still boldly broke through.

This action was completely out of Rurik’s expectation, and it was really a variable.

So what is Rurik doing?

He was busy with personally executing the sacrificed cattle, and in front of all the Vikings such as Ross, Balmerk, and Ostara, he, the “Holy One Blessed by Odin”, sacrificed to Odin.

A sacrificial ceremony is necessary, it has deep mysticism, and its most important meaning is to calm people’s hearts.

Everyone always believes in metaphysics, so the great duke personally presided over the priest ceremony, Odin must be able to pay attention to everyone’s upcoming feats, and he will pay attention to who is the most heroic in the fierce battle.

People feel at ease, and they have no scruples about tomorrow’s all-out war.

After that, it was the sacrificial activities of the Slavs.

They slaughtered the new cattle, and a group of wizards with feathered heads and faces smeared with chalk rose up, jumping and jumping around a campfire, muttering words.

Who knows what they are talking about?

Rurik didn’t care about these things. He cared more about these dead cows. Thousands of eyes were staring at the cows, waiting to share a small piece of meat.

The powerful posture of the Ross army is hidden by the dense fir forest, and the huge fleet is moored in the Volkhov River.

A large number of bonfires appeared on the river beach, and the entire area was filled with blue smoke, all of which were covered by the blue sky.

The soldiers had a hearty meal, including roast beef, fish, and wheat porridge that they could not get tired of eating.

They even ate their own dry food, especially those who bought the “honey biscuits” baked by Yaslaqi were also willing to share them with their friends.

All this, Vadim of Pine Needle Manor is still kept in the dark.

The power foundation of this patricide and self-reliant person is not stable. He was the user of Pine Needle Manor because he resolutely led everyone to resist Ross. The initiative to assassinate Otto was to coerce everyone and tear up all previous peace agreements with Ross.

Vadim chose war. He knew that the Rus hadn’t really left. The opponent must be recruiting troops, but he was also actively planning a war on his side!

Pine Needle Manor has a large population, but it is a pity that iron ore has never been found in the area around Lake Ilmen, and the locals trade for iron ore or mature iron tools.

Ross has started to sell ironware in this area in recent years, and the biggest beneficiary is White Tree Manor, while other manors have to buy it at a very high price.

As for poor Pine Needle Manor, due to past acts of rebellion, the Ross people have embargoed salt and iron.

This is not a problem for Pine Needle Manor, because where there is demand, there is trade. The ordinary people of White Tree Manor actually sold some ironware to friendly manors, and those manors were sold to Pine Needle Manor at high prices.

It’s a pity that Vadim mobilized all the men of the right age on the farm to take up weapons. When he checked his soldiers, he found that the amount of iron equipment was not ideal.

There is really no way to use a sharpened wooden pole as a spear.

Vadim was after all a young man, but the son of a seventeen-year-old manor.

He could sense the lack of his military equipment, and was pleasantly surprised that thousands of soldiers could obey his orders.

This feeling of monopolizing power is so refreshing, so almost instantly, there are a group of women around him.

How could a prince of Novgorod not have many wives and concubines?

A few days ago, he led a large army around the lake, ordered the farms passing by to be loyal to him, and raised his troops to participate in the war against Ross. The first thing to bear the brunt was to act together at the right time to eradicate the White Tree Manor with a large amount of iron.

He asked many farms for women to be actual concubines. Due to the military strength of the other party, each farm could only let young girls stand up to recognize the new prince’s choice.

Just at this crazy move, Vadim’s pregnant wife stamped her feet angrily, but what can she do?

Vadim chose five people, and Yingyingyanyan was next to him. The kid did not hesitate to lift up his robes to make fun of them, so that including the dead father Borudne raised two maids.

Seven women waited on him, and Vadim indulged as much as he could. He felt that he was indeed the king of this lake district, and he could enjoy all the pleasures of men.

As for training their own team, so that they have at least a certain combat effectiveness and can make up for the lack of various aspects, the leader of the thirty Varyag businessmen from Pskov, Harold, was hired as a coach.

These thirty people are all coaches!

They took a sum of money, and Vadim stuffed two women around each of them to do whatever they wanted.

For the generosity of the young prince, Harold had to do a good job, but it was impossible for them to look down on Vadim.

“This is the stupid son of an arrogant manor owner. Brothers do things for you for money. Why are you really fighting the Ross people?”

The infantry tactics that Harold and his gang knew were completely traditional Viking tactics, the so-called pure barbarian tactics.

He used two tricks: first, the brothers formed a shield wall to fight the enemy desperately.

Second, the shield wall is broken, and the brothers can fight the enemy freely with their abilities.

Relying on their excellent physical fitness, this group of people is not afraid to fight the same number of local Slavs in Pskov, but the locals are obviously more organized than the guys they saw in Lake Ilmen. Forced them not to make mistakes.

In fact, Harold wanted to get the money, so he took the opportunity to catch some beautiful local women and ran away in a boat.

Look at this stupid Vadim, who gave the brothers a total of sixty young women, saying that it was entertainment and rewards. Wasn’t Vadim afraid that the brothers would run away with the women?

After all, it is not a long journey to Smolensk along the southern Ruhu River all the way south.

They are somewhat professional, and they really trained the farmers and soldiers of Pine Needle Manor.

The so-called unsurpassed training is to make them gather together and rush towards one direction in a relatively neat group.

Among them, those who hold simple wooden shields, hand axes, and iron swords are in front, and the shieldless warriors behind are assisted by various spears.

As a result, the Pine Needle Manor screamed loudly, and more than 3,000 armed farmers of all ages were dismantled into more than 20 groups, supervised by a Varyag warrior who could speak a certain Slavic language.

Their shouts of killing can’t spread very far, and their actions are mostly at the intersection of the farm and the forest, just to avoid trampling on the young crops in the farmland by the lake.

As the Ross Army Grund and his group approached, they heard the suspicious commotion with one ear and one ear, and instinctively became vigilant.

“They really have a big army. Boss, are we in danger.”

“That’s right. If you keep trying to grab your tongue, you might be looking for death.”

“No! We’re all here. Besides, I was reluctant at first, but you insisted on it. Now I have a lot of fighting spirit, and you are trying to amuse me by retreating!” Grund gritted his teeth and took off his shield , show the raven pattern on it to everyone: “Don’t forget our beliefs. Also, that boy Rurik may have been blessed by Odin. If we retreat now, it will be bad if Odin gets angry gone.”

They are desperate guys, and the simplest reason for daring to fight the enemy is the worship of Odin.

When Grund said this, the guys were stunned.

He also said: “You have all spent a lot of money to buy new iron armor. Iron or bronze pieces are hung on the chain mail. Your helmets are stronger, and your shoulders are also protected by mail armor. Have you heard about it? That old guy Ding was assassinated, and it was because his armor was unscathed that this war started. We will rush up and fight these Slavs.”

The brothers squatting in the reeds looked at each other, still feeling something was wrong.

Grund shook his head: “Don’t say you are timid. Don’t worry, we brothers are basically happy all these years.”

But what he said was not true. Some of his friends died in Gotland, and some died in Britain. Everyone’s life is indeed very legendary, so can the legend continue to be written?

Grund was so stubborn that the brothers had no choice but to follow him on.

But luck just fell on top of his head.

The Danish mercenaries under this group of Ross can exchange their own commissions for the excellent weapons that Ross deserves. They are famous warriors in Eastern Rome.

They can jump out of the woods and bushes to attack, and fight the Slavs upright.

Grund didn’t do that, and his men were forced to stay on their guard.

why?

They just hid in the forest and saw the wasteland near the farmland in front of them. A group of men in civilian clothes gathered together and charged back and forth with various weapons.

We also saw an amazing character, a Viking brother?

!

“Damn it, did someone give their life to this group of people? Vikings don’t fight Vikings!” Someone crawled to Grund’s side to comfort him.

“Damn it.” Grund gritted his teeth, “That boy Rurik is so arrogant that he doesn’t need to investigate. If our brothers hadn’t dared to touch here, how would we know that there are Vikings in the enemy team?”

“Then fight or not?”

“Fight! Why not fight? However, the Vikings don’t fight the Vikings, and they leave their hometown to make a living. Maybe that guy is also Danish. If you insist on fighting him, you have to ask about his identity.”

“This… What if it’s a Svealan guy?” Someone asked again.

“Then you can’t fight anymore! If that boy Rurik wants to become king in Svealan (Sweden), who can stop him? I don’t want to get burned. I think this group of people must be tired when they run around. Wait We do it while they rest.”

Like a pride of lions hiding in wormwood, wildebeests busy grazing did not notice.

More than two hundred men from Pine Needle Manor ran for most of the morning, and their movements were more coordinated than the previous few days, and they were able to keep the team together while running.

It is every man’s duty to fight, whether they want to or not, and many farmers don’t want to fight at all, they are brought in because fear drives them to arms because those who don’t want to fight are killed along with their families.

Exhausted, they sat on the grass to rest and talk, and then they planned to go home and eat the boiled wheat.

At this stall, Grund led the guys out!

Twenty strong men all wore iron armor with many reeds stuck in them.

The men wore raven-painted bucklers strapped to their left arms, and all of them held Ross steel swords in their right hands.

Thatch still hangs on their tin helmets.

As if the grass could talk, they popped out of nowhere and were startled to notice their Slavs hastily stand up.

Grund and the others were ruthless. They wantonly killed these unprepared and once unarmed farmers.

The steel swords were soon stained with blood, and their armor was also heavily stained with blood.

The frightened farmer’s first thought was to run away!

One of his subordinates was about to kill the feller, and Grund, whose face was covered with blood, hurriedly stopped him: “Don’t be impulsive, we have to catch a few alive and bring them back to receive the reward.”

“Alright.” The subordinate stuck his sword in the ground, knocked the man unconscious and captured him in a circle.

This was a boring raid. Twenty fierce men attacked and beat away the peasants and soldiers of Pine Needle Manor, who were ten times their own. The cowardly charge of the opponent showed their weak and weak nature.

But that strange Varyag was surrounded by many of Grund’s men.

The scene directly fell into an indescribable embarrassment, because both sides maintained a state of confrontation and had no intention of fighting at all.

At this moment, someone took off his helmet and shouted, “Hey! Are you Danish?”

Upon hearing this, the desperate Varyag also hurriedly took off his helmet: “What? You are also Danish. Why are you here?”

“Who are you working for?”

“I only give it to myself. I just use money to do things here with the Slavs. I have no grievances with you. Since we are all Danes, let the brothers go.”

“Of course I can let you go.” Grund, covered in blood, came aggressively, took off his helmet and said with a smile, “The Danes don’t fight the Danes. We are all just taking money for our own masters. There is no need to fight each other. How about it? Let’s Sit down and talk for a while?”

“Also.”

The scene was so strange, many dead Slavs lay dead on the ground, and a group of Danish Varyags didn’t care about the position of others at the moment. They were all Danes who had left their hometown, and they met again to chat about their respective lives.

The situation of the conversation surprised Grund. He had no idea that the Slavs still had a group of Varyag coaches.

And this time, through the introduction of this Danish friend, Grund and his team fully understood the enemy’s military strength—the main force of Pine Needle Manor was 3,000 people, and 3,000 idiots with worrying combat effectiveness!

The Ross people actually seriously overestimated the enemy.

And the Dane was also shocked that Ross’s main army not only came, but was led by Rurik himself.

The Danish King Hafgen was hit by a Russian ship and disappeared into the sea. He must have become fish food. The murderer is said to be Rurik of Ross.

“Your benefactor, Rurik, is going to wipe out the entire Pine Needle Manor this time?” the Dane asked cautiously.

“Of course! Any living thing, including poultry and livestock, will be killed. They want to get rid of traitors, brother, we are all Danes, there is no point in killing each other, but they Rus are different. Rus and Svealan People are in the same group, and if you are caught by them on the battlefield, you may be killed. Go back and tell your boss that we will launch a strong attack tomorrow, and you had better retreat quickly to avoid accidental injury.”

This is clearly from the heart, the Dane hurriedly nodded and said: “You saved our brother’s life. My name is Karl Klaasson, and I come from the Sigurd tribe. I have been out for many years.”

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“I’m different. My grandfather was Hedeby’s fish seller, and I’ve been working as a mercenary for others since I came out.” Grund said.

“Then we’re also neighbors.”

“Just withdraw quickly, I have a suggestion.”

“Please speak,” said Karkrasson.

“You all hide first, and come out after the battle is over. You are all working for the benefactor, and it’s not bad for you to give your life to him afterwards.”

“Thank you for your kindness, we still like the days of freedom. Next we plan to go to the South, maybe we can see each other in the future. Friends, I have to leave quickly, and we will evacuate tonight. Don’t worry, we will not do anything about Ross’s army Tell the Slavs.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Grund said with a smile: “Anyway, it doesn’t matter whether they know it or not. They will all die tomorrow. I have to escort the prisoners back to receive the reward. Let’s say goodbye. Goodbye friends, maybe we can be together in the future.” Goodbye, Hedeby.”

They just said goodbye, only the dead body lying on the grass silently recounted the horror just now.

[End of this Chapter]