In the big tent, Ragnar collected the broken sword on the ground and solemnly expressed his opinion to Hafgen: "Leader, I think we should continue to go north, and we should continue to raid Melalen. We are now There are three thousand people, and if we withdraw immediately when we win another victory, we will definitely hit the enemy hard."
However, everyone was indifferent to Ragnar's suggestion.
At this moment, no one expressed their opinion on his proposal, and there was even rejection in their eyes.
The leader of the alliance, Hafgen, felt that his strategic goal had been achieved, that is, if he decided to withdraw his troops now, he would definitely make this young man angry or be detrimental to himself.
Hafgen deliberately asked: "Everyone, what do you think? Do you want to continue the attack?"
Seeing that everyone was still indifferent, Hafgen further asked: "Didn't you plunder so much? Many cattle and sheep? You see, this brave Ragnar has defeated the enemy's elite. With him, we can continue to win. Put it here, and I will send someone to watch it for you. In this way, the army can go north with confidence.”
Originally, according to tradition, the tribes participating in joint operations need to hand over part of the loot to the alliance leader, because this is The power of the leader.
What’s good now? If we continue to expand the results, the large amount of loot previously obtained will be kept by the alliance leader. Will the alliance leader return it? He will definitely not return it.
Many allies are short-sighted, or in other words, they do not have that big ambition. They looked at the intentions of the alliance leader with the most troops.
The Gotlanders, who have the second largest number of troops, are actually a joint force organized by a group of families, and the people within them also have their own agendas.
It seems that only Ragnar is determined to continue going north to expand the victory, while the others are all uncooperative.
Finally, everyone began to express their opinions after appraising the attitude of the alliance leader.
"Oh! Keep going north, forget it! If the Melalen people organize an army, we will win, and many people will die."
"Leader, now It is not the time for a decisive battle. You should understand that the Melalen people can organize ten thousand people. If you choose to fight, we should take action in March next year and spend the whole winter organizing the troops."
Some people also expressed their opinion: "Now is really inappropriate. Now is the trade period of the Northern Alliance. If we attack them at this time, it will be equivalent to declaring war with all the northern tribes. They will be united as never before, and they will destroy our island first."
As for the Oslo people, they gave no thought to their new enemy: "Our employment relationship has ended. We will no longer fight for you, we just want to go home."
Oslo The mercenaries took the lead in bluntly demanding withdrawal. With this first move, many allied commanders immediately announced their withdrawal.
Allies announced one after another that they would withdraw as soon as they were ready, but Ragnar remained the same.Insisting.
“Are you guys cowards?” Ragnar gritted his teeth, “Which one is faster if they organize 10,000 people, or is it faster if we rush over now? Remember, we are only 3,000 people!”
A strong man with a beard stepped forward and shook his head: "We are not cowards. And you are not the leader of the alliance. Why must we continue to go north?"
" We can obviously get greater wealth and greater honor."
"Forget it, young man. If you want to continue fighting and gain honor, that's your business. Bring back what you caught."
"No, you are just cowards." Ragna saw that they were unwilling to cooperate. What else could he do except curse?
But his words really angered many tribal commanders.
Another person shouted: "Hey! Sons of Sigurd. Instead of attacking the Melalen people, consider your own affairs first. We haven't settled the accounts with you yet!"
p>"You?" Ragnar stepped forward, and the chain mail on his chest had already stuck to the man's leather armor. "Oh, I know you, a bunch of cowards."
"Cowards? Maybe we should have another fight."
Ragnar did not flinch in the face of this provocation. : "Okay, tell your new leader to come and challenge me. No matter who you replace, I can chop off that person's head. You are all a bunch of cowards." After saying that, Ragna turned his head. He spat. Roared again: "Coward!"
"You! Damn it."
In a sudden move, Ragna was pushed. After he reacted, he punched him with his fist.
The provocateur was immediately beaten until his nose bled, and chaos ensued.
Although the people gathered in this temporary tent belong to the Danish alliance, they are never a piece of steel inside. The most powerful Robard tribe uses force and economic means to force each tribe to respect itself as the leader and avoid internal disputes as much as possible under its governance.
How can hundreds of years of blood feud be eliminated just because Hafgen becomes the leader of the alliance? To put it bluntly, Denmark is still in the period of tribal alliances, and everyone is highly united only when they are unanimous in dealing with the outside world.
Carrying their respective hatreds, the commanders of the two armies fought in front of the alliance leader.
Ragnar relied on his youth and vigour, and when he got away from others, he had already made a lot of money.
At this moment, the commander who had suffered a loss was already covered in blood. He suppressed his blush and shouted: "I will tell my master that you are openly provocative. It is you who provoked the war and you tore up the truce treaty. "Wait for death."
"Okay!" Ragnar was even more unconvinced, "We have killed all those Frank cavalry."
The messy scene. The leader of the alliance, Hafgen, felt very uncomfortable.
"Shut up!"
With Hafgen's roar, the chaotic crowd finallyBe quiet.
Obviously, Ragnar is now isolated because of his own intentions and bloody fists.
Hafgen saw the young man's dissatisfaction. He clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention: "At this point, we should not have internal strife. Since most of you are determined to retreat , I can’t say anything.”
Hafgen looked into Ragna’s eyes deliberately: “Son of Sigurd, calm down, actually, I am willing to continue attacking the north. ."
"Really? You order us to continue fighting. I really can't understand that the people here are satisfied because they captured some cattle." Ragnar said holding his breath.
"Haha, things can't be that simple." Hafgen deliberately smiled strategically and began to explain a very realistic thing.
It is said that if the three thousand Danish coalition forces continue to fight, the time when the army will fight the enemy will be early June.
If the Danish army launches a surprise attack, they may achieve a great victory. Wouldn’t the enemy gather a large number of people to counterattack?
Can the battle end in a short time?
Definitely not.
The battle is likely to be delayed due to a large-scale counterattack by the Northern Alliance. If the war cannot be declared over in July, the result will be catastrophic.
Early August is the wheat harvest season in Jutland. Once the wheat harvest is disturbed, many people will not be able to survive the long winter.
Even for the so-called powerful Robard tribe, the tribe does not have enough grain reserves for the whole tribe to eat for a year without working.
“Ragnar, do you really think that the Northern Alliance is weak? As long as we attack the Mellarens, we must be prepared to fight the entire Northern Alliance, and the war may last for several months. Will your father Sigurd allow you to risk the tribe's food for the next year and fight here for your honor? Let's be realistic! We are just taking revenge this time. We have succeeded here for at most two days, waiting for the enemy to try. Before the counterattack, our main force withdrew. Listen, if the Northern Alliance is really determined to retaliate, we will fight them at our doorstep, and they will be the ones who suffer..."
Hafgen said. A lot, and he didn't know if Ragnar understood it.
He continued to face everyone: "Brothers, my decision will not change. I order you to rest now and another day of rest tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, we will evacuate. Now, you can leave "
Ragnar didn't say anything. He shook his head and left the tent with a tight mouth.
Perhaps what the leader said makes sense. When he returned to his tribe, all he could think about was expanding the results of the war. He even imagined that if he personally killed the leader of the Mellaren people again, would it cause the collapse of the Northern Alliance?
If this is true, people will remember that Denmark's "Wool Pants" Ragnar is the first warrior in the north.
He returned with anger, and saw that his tribe had already become temporary couples with the handful of captured women.
Seeing his men happily pressing on the woman, hearing their men's joyful laughter, and the woman's crying and wailing, Ragna was furious.
He walked over in person, kicked away a few people who were just walking around, and almost found a whip to beat them.
That's all, he even yelled: "I thought you were all old warriors. You don't want to continue fighting and are already playing with your new slaves. Today, don't let me see you again."< /p>
It is late at night, and the beach is full of bonfires. The fire that filled the Ostara tribe occupied by the Danish army did not know when to extinguish.
In the crackle of the flames, there is the joy of a group of men howling, and the cries of the captives.
All the slain Ostara people were piled up by the Gotland army of servants, piled with wood and burned on fire, which was regarded as a "merciful cremation".
Many cattle and sheep were also dragged to the seaside. The bay was dyed red with blood. All the cowhide and sheepskin were collected, and the fresh meat was used as food for the army.
Among the troops participating in the battle, Ragnar's men later brought an extra batch of rations. The rations for the rest of the people were generally only enough to last three or four days, especially the mercenaries from Oslo. They brought almost no rations and were waiting to eat the spoils of war after the battle.
The lack of military rations is indeed a major factor that hinders the Danish coalition from going north to expand its results. The army has taken advantage of the Ostara tribe. If it cannot continue to get a large amount of food in the new battlefield, of course it will not be empty. Belly battle.
Just now, the slaughter of cattle and sheep by the army is an act of luxury that can be called crazy.
They are doing this precisely because, if they don’t eat beef and mutton, they really don’t have anything to eat.
Having said that, ordinary soldiers rarely eat meat on weekdays. In Nordic culture, meat refers to "red meat", typically beef and mutton. Fish is not considered meat.
Everyone knows that barbecued beef and mutton are delicacies. Ordinary soldiers can eat a herring in one mouthful and a large piece of roasted beef on weekdays, but this is extremely rare.
What they gnawed was beef, what they drank was milk, and they were served by captured women.
Many soldiers had such a refreshing experience for the first time in their lives.
Unlike those wild guys, Hafgen also wanted to learn about the luxurious lifestyle of the Frankish nobles from hearsay. Even on the battlefield where the war has not yet been extinguished, he wants to be more gentle to show that he is a noble person.
He took off his helmet and put on a mink fur robe sewn from more than a dozen ferrets in his tent on the beach.
There was no table in the tent. There was a silver dinner plate placed on a leather mat, and on it was a sizzling roast leg of lamb.
He owns a natural crystal cup that has been transferred to him several times. NowThe glass is filled with wine.
For the time being, he just wanted to be alone, and had no intention of mixing with his large group of crazy subordinates.
Suddenly, a general broke into the tent with an excited and rude look.
"What's going on? I told you, I want to be alone."
The general said with a red face: "Oh, sir. Brothers are afraid that you will be lonely. Isn't that right?" ." As he spoke, the general who looked like a strong bull pushed a crying young woman into the tent. "Sir, please enjoy."
The woman sat directly on the ground, then put her hands on the ground and begged for forgiveness.
Hafgen looked at the woman with contempt, "Your men all died in the battle. According to tradition, you should have been martyred for them. Are you actually begging me for mercy?"
After that, he looked at the general with regret: "Are you asking me to have fun? I'm afraid you have already enjoyed it."
The general denied it: "My lord, I will use this woman to my pleasure." If she is captured, she will be under strict guard. I just want to dedicate her to you."
Hafgen looked at the woman again. Under the dim oil lamp, the woman was indeed pretty. He didn't believe what the general said, otherwise how could this woman cry so miserably.
"Forget it. You are not a priest. I don't believe you can really restrain yourself!" Hafgen waved his hand.
The general’s eyes revealed embarrassment. "Sir, you really don't want it?"
"You are such a fool. I am the leader of Denmark, and my woman must be noble. You take this woman away and do whatever you want. Anyway, before we set off , all the captives will be executed."
As soon as she heard "execute", the woman fell directly to the ground, wailing for her life, and saying that she was willing to be a slave.
Hafgen picked his ears: "It's really annoying. Take her away and don't disturb my peace."
And the general couldn't help but boldly asked: "Sir, your Are you serious? We have captured a lot of women. We should take them back." "Get out of here!" Hafgen shouted, picking up the leg of lamb on his plate and smashing it. , then roared: "That's an order! I gave the order before setting off. My battle is revenge! They killed my friend Oxon, killed my people, and robbed my money. It's all my money." ! Have you ever heard of tit for tat? The captives of Ostara don’t deserve to be alive! This is my revenge!”
Hafgen opened his bloody mouth. Teeth inlaid with gold.
Seeing this, the general stood stunned on the spot and didn’t know what to say.
In fact, Hafgen's anger was also mixed with anger and jealousy towards young Ragnar. The greatest honor was actually snatched away by that boy! Somehow, Hafgen felt that that boy was a future threat.
The anger was also vented. Hafgen looked at the empty plate and pretended to be calm and said: "You, get me another roasted leg of lamb. Take this woman and get out."< /p>
"Yes." saidAfter that, the general grabbed the woman's feet and dragged her out like a dead dog.
After a while, a brand new piece of sizzling and oily roasted lamb leg was delivered to Hafgen.