Chapter 521 Tragic history reappears

The long boat rode the huge waves to the beach, and what jumped out was a sword and shield wielder with braided hair and tattoos on his bare back.

The huge round shield that can protect the entire torso is engraved with strange patterns. Some warriors wear masks that protect the entire face, which makes them even more fierce.

The Northumbrian soldiers who had just suffered two rounds of long-range attacks had not yet recovered from the sudden attack, and had to face the landing of such a strange and powerful army.

"Follow me to fight! No escape! Those who run away will be hanged!" John, the infantry captain, raised his iron sword in the hopelessly and roared, but he knew that with his own frightened troops, How to resist this army?

Perhaps if the entire army retreated to a better-defended monastery as soon as the enemy fleet was discovered, the situation would not have become worse.

Byongni, Geiger, and all the Viking warriors who claimed to be brave, without exception, they pressed their shields against their entire torsos and charged forward with swords and axes in their right hands. The sword and shield bearers were all in the front, and hundreds of warriors from the climate were carrying short spears with axes mounted on them to prepare to support the brothers in the vanguard in the anxious hand-to-hand encounter.

The poor Northumbrian army was not only at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength, but their tactics were also a mess.

In the decades of civil war in the kingdom, apart from the decline in people's livelihood, the quality of the army has not improved during the war. They even forgot the knowledge of forming a formation to fight. In previous wars, sergeants rushed forward to fight in chaos. This most primitive "group fight" without any tactical literacy has become the mainstream situation on the battlefield.

As for the Viking army that rushed over, they at least knew how to fit their shields into each other to form a shield wall and press them up.

Only slightly stronger than the Northumbrian infantry, these Viking troops, mainly composed of Balmoks, had an advantage as soon as they landed.

Chorus combat is inevitable.

More than fifty Kingdom soldiers who have not lost their creed are fighting on the front line of the fierce battle.

Even though they were better equipped, they couldn't bear to be attacked in groups.

They caused almost no casualties to the Viking army before being overthrown.

The shield wall seems to be an indestructible stone wall! Only the archers in the barracks tower and their short bows can cause some damage to their opponents. Unfortunately, this damage is only equivalent to mosquito bites.

The more than 50 soldiers died quickly and martyred their country. The battle line collapsed so quickly that the infantry captain John had no choice but to flee when he shouted in confusion.

"Brothers! Follow me to the military camp!"

John waved the iron sword with all his strength. He was trying hard to restrain his men, and this move also made him the target of public criticism.

No! He was only targeted by a crossbow.

The steel-armed crossbow that Biyongni took care of was skillfully and calmly aimed at the man in chainmail and orange, who looked like a "war chief" no matter how he looked at it. Gently pull the trigger and move your whole body backHe was startled, and the fatal armor-piercing arrow hit him quickly.

The quenched, tapered carbon steel arrow clusters were originally used to deal with heavy targets at the level of Eastern Roman armored cavalry, and the chainmail armor must be easily opened.

John suddenly felt weak and then fell to the ground. He struggled to get up, and then he suddenly saw something piercing through his heart. His mind went blank, and he suddenly lay down exhausted again, and then did not get up...

Those confused Northumbrian warriors watched their captain fall to the ground!

Falling to the ground means death in battle, and their last bit of morale collapses randomly.

Only two centurions and their brothers with extremely limited strength were left. Some people rushed to the military camp and tried to continue working in the pit. Others looked at the monastery not far away, and then Without looking back, he threw away his weapons and even his helmet, and ran away towards Bamberg in the south in a shamefully light manner.

Is the battle going to end in such an inglorious way? There is nothing joyful about such a victory.

The attack target of the Viking army with almost no losses was directed at the military camp. Even if there were wooden walls and towers for defense, how could the wooden wall be worth the Vikings' Nordic forest axes.

The military camp was surrounded by Vikings, and the archers on the tower were like squirrels surrounded by wolves, helpless and afraid.

The Viking archers continued to fire arrows and soon suppressed the tower archers.

As the closed wooden door was smashed into sawdust by more than a dozen two-handed axes, everything was over!

The army rushed in, but those Kingdom soldiers who had signaled their surrender were still being killed wantonly, and the landing battle seemed to end here.

Geiger of Washobi was panting, his face full of joy of victory.

He found Biyongni with a bloody hand ax, pointing the ax south: "Some cowards have run south, should we pursue them?"

"Cowards? Let them escape. Okay. Now that the sky is darkening, we have occupied this camp as our resting place. Soon the Russians will land. Before Rurik lands, we will loot everything here. "

Geiger was a little confused, and pointed his ax to the east: "That is the monastery. Let's rush over and occupy the monastery while our brothers are happy. We can spend the night holding gold and silver."

The morale-filled army raised its swords and axes high. At this moment, Biyongni felt that he had indeed become the commander-in-chief of the army, even Balmok. King of men!

The Viking warriors rushed out of the military camp one after another. At this time, some of them had put on new weapons they had captured, and even put on leather boots pulled from the corpses of the enemies.

A few soldiers pulled out a few frightened women from a certain wooden shed and asked Biyongni: "Boss, what are these women doing?"

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“Them?” Biyongni recognized at a glance that these were soldiers recruited by his family, and instantly understood the identities of these strange women: “These women are slaves raised by those people. Keep them all with you. Go back. Just like this, you guys can hold on to this camp while the others follow us to the monastery to grab the gold!”

As soon as these words came out, those Viking warriors who were still complacent simply raised their swords and fell. He followed the large army with a roar. At this moment, the Northumbria military camp that had just been occupied was equivalent to being abandoned again.

For the Viking army now, nothing is more wonderful than catching gold.

Biyongni had no interest in capturing some women. In the entire occupied military camp, he was only interested in a few captured horses. He simply got on the horse, but unfortunately the situation was too different from his fantasy. These horses that specialize in pulling goods are really docile, but it is difficult to urge them to run wildly.

In the fjords of Bergen, the local people have domesticated and bred local horse breeds since ancient times, but the local Vikings have long used them to pull carts and carry loads, and riding on horseback is also a recent thing.

Byongni knew about riding horses, and the Viking army rushed towards the monastery. Biyongni was the most handsome boy in the army.

"That guy...how did I see Biyoni riding a horse again?!" Rurik on the bow of the ship squinted his eyes and couldn't help but sigh.

And Jevro also shouted at the right time: "Sir, I noticed that the tide is rising. Our landing..."

"Do it quickly." Rurik He turned around and urged: "Those people can't break through the stone wall of the monastery. Our heavy weapons should be in place as soon as possible."

Aphlora's packhorse in the cabin was tied with ropes again and was pulled out of the deck by the warriors and sailors. Such a laborious operation once made everyone think that this move was necessary?

The horses were finally hoisted to the longship, followed by the torsion slingshot and trebuchet.

This is a transportation process that takes time. It stands to reason that the ship can suspend operations, pull anchor and go straight to the monastery.

However, well-informed sailors realized that the area where the monastery is located is definitely a tidal island, with a large area of ​​tidal flats that may only be knee-deep in water.

Of course the big ship can rush up, but the result will be a terrible stranding. If the rising tide cannot float the big ship, the result will be fatal.

The Avrora was able to knock down enemy longships one after another, but Rurik did not dare to take the risk of running aground.

Rurik naturally could not provide support to the Balmok Vikings. After all, the siege had begun.

Thousands of soldiers are walking on the road leading to the monastery. This road resembles a breakwater.People in high spirits fought against the sunset. They just wanted to get gold and silver, but they never noticed that the tide was rising.

Finally, they rushed under the outer stone wall of the monastery.

According to the beliefs of the priests, they hold holy positions, so it is naturally impossible for them to take up arms and fight.

At this moment, all the priests in the monastery finally realized that the legends in the past were definitely not fabricated by their ancestors. Tragic history repeats itself! The sea barbarians are coming again, and their goal must be to sack Lindisfarne Abbey again, and everyone will be killed without exception.

Although priests cannot fight in person, the warriors standing on the wall need divine blessing!

The priests held a huge wooden cross on the wall, and the bishop living in the monastery poured holy water on the defenders with cypress branches. He tried his best to suppress his horrified cry: "This is Saint Casper." This is a special sanctuary. We cannot let these barbarians destroy the purity of the sanctuary. God forgives your sins, and God is with you. Fight for your faith..."

Maybe this teaching really has some meaning. As a result, the nervous Northumbria's less than a hundred defenders suddenly burst into great morale!

Because this monastery was built by "Saint Cuthbert", a preacher in Northumbria, and his holy remains are buried in the monastery cemetery. The original handwritten parchment of the "Lindisfarne Gospels" written by him during his lifetime is placed in a pure gold "holy cabinet" in the monastery.

This monastery does contain a large amount of gold and silver, but they are almost all sacred objects. The defenders have realized that the wealth of the monastery is probably like a big pile of fat, attracting the beasts. Bite.

The defenders stood on a stone wall of about three and a half meters. The stone wall, which was stacked entirely with granite and reinforced with logs, actually formed a solid defense line.

Biyongni and others are already standing under the stone wall, and a group of warriors are already repeating their old tricks, carrying big axes to break down the door.

There is only one road leading to the land from the monastery. Once the tide rises, the road will be closed immediately. The defenders only need to hold the front wall and wait for the tide to rise. If the enemy does not withdraw, they will be submerged in the sea to feed the fish!

The centurion, who had been blessed by the holy water, was very aware of his major disadvantages, and immediately ordered his men to work hard to seal the wooden door first, no matter what kind of thing they used. Therefore, a batch of wooden carts and sundries were dragged and piled up at the wooden door by the soldiers.

While firing arrows desperately, the soldiers at the top of the city also began to throw stones.

Those people who crowded under the city wall were unable to climb the wall with bare hands, but they were hit on the head with stones.

At first, some Viking warriors had their heads smashed and died violently. As soon as someone covered his injured arm and backed away

Those strong men with axes who struggled to break down the door suffered the most severe blows. , even though they were covered by the shields of their brothers, they were still suffering losses.

Geiger, who was trying to win the first victory and rushed in first to plunder, finally realized that the momentum was wrong.

The big guy inside the door who smashed the door kept shouting: "The door is too strong, we can't break it!"

"How can it not be broken! Hold on." Geiger yelled.

"Geiger! Think of a way, they keep throwing stones, the brothers can't stand it anymore!"

Geiger and his work are still persisting, and His brother Esbjorn also got directly into the city gate.

"You kid! How did you get here?!"

"Brother, Biyongni and the others are already retreating." Esbjorn roared angrily.

"Damn! That guy will be a coward again."

"No. They found that the sea water is rising. If we don't withdraw, the water will drown us all."

"Damn it! Damn it!" Geiger was so angry that he stamped his feet and beat his chest, and yelled and cursed: "Obviously he called for everyone to attack now, but he chose to withdraw. Brother, where are the Russians? Rurik What are you doing? Why is there no support yet?"

"The Russians are moving things, they are not participating in the war at all..."

"That's enough." Geiger almost broke his teeth. , he didn't know how the tide was rising, but the light was really getting dimmer. If the battle drags on until night, it will be detrimental to everyone.

Although Biyongni was unwilling to give up and even complained that Rurik's support was not in place, the tide was indeed rising rapidly, and delaying for some time would be very fatal.

He took the lead with his two hundred men, dragging the bodies of the dead and retreating, and the captured horses were also put to use. Using horses to drag corpses is obviously disrespectful to the brothers who died in battle, but it would be the greatest tragedy to let one's brothers fall into the hands of the enemy.

Seeing that Biyongni, who had the most powerful troops, ran away, the other family leaders began to retreat when they saw that the momentum was not right. Now they can follow the retreat openly.

As for the Bergen immigrants in Shetland, they were really shameless. They just followed the army, but when they saw the war situation, they all returned to the coast. They mingled with Rurik's men, and Rurik himself learned of the situation ahead.

Looking at the people who were retreating one after another, Rurik frowned under the setting sun and couldn't help but underestimate: "It seems that we need to build some ladders to climb the wall and make a battering ram to smash the door."

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In the end, it was the one hundred people from Washobi who retreated under the leadership of Geiger. None of them died in the battle, and their bodies were dragged away by their companions.

When they arrived at the passage, they were already facing seawater up to their knees.

Behind them, the Northumbrian defenders shouted Harilia, thanking God for his protection, and some cursed the fleeing Vikings.

Although Geiger couldn't understand those words, he knew he could hear the vicious tone in them.

"Just wait for me. Tomorrow! When we get some rest, we will kill you to pieces..."