York Bridge is burning. It is the only way from York to the right bank of the River Ouse. If it is lost, pedestrians will either have to take a long detour or take a small boat to cross the river.
York was surrounded, and the city, together with more than 6,000 soldiers and civilians who fled into the city, had become a fish on the chopping block.
The Viking army was burning their dead in battle. The death of fifty brothers in one battle really touched Magnut greatly and aroused his anger.
There are bonfires everywhere, as dense as a galaxy.
This should have been a dark land, but because of the dense bonfires it was suddenly illuminated, and the abnormalities here could be seen even from a long distance.
The armless king of Northumbria just wants to return to York as soon as possible.
They went north along the dirt road along the Don River and arrived at the intersection of the Ouse River and it.
They then arrived along the right bank of the Ouse River, but unexpectedly encountered the scouts of Earl Roydis (Leeds) who was loyal to him.
His Majesty the King personally led the main force, which surprised and moved the scouts.
All the scouts reported what they knew. The so-called Earl was organizing troops to reinforce York, and a big war seemed inevitable.
However, this report can only make Eynred continue to be nervous.
Because those Vikings had gone up the river and they had surrounded York, had the siege taken place?
What if...
Half of Eynred's inherent extravagant hopes have disappeared. He is worried that his son will be killed, all the ministers will be chopped off, and his family will be extinct.
Some subordinates asked: "Your Majesty, what will happen to our army? If we use this tired army to come back to support York, once the decisive battle is over, our army will be unfavorable..."
"Then... Go to Roydis! Get as many men as you can and save our York. God will save us!" With a jerk of his right arm he turned the horse's head.
Many people could not tell on the surface that the king had lost his left forearm, and their fighting spirit was not high at all, so they just followed the king blindly.
In fact, the frictions and small-scale conflicts with Mercia on the southern border for several months have continued to weaken the morale of these soldiers, and now they are going to have a decisive battle with the Vikings who besieged York?
It is also beneficial for the army to take a detour and go to Roydis first. The increase in the army's strength will at least enhance its momentum.
Until now, Eynred knew almost nothing about the situation of the Vikings who invaded the capital. Are they Russians? Or something else? They are all Vikings anyway.
This army of two thousand people did not arrive at Roydis City until night. The frightened defenders thought that the Vikings were coming, and a soldier came up to the battlements with the city gates closed.
It wasn’t until the king’s cavalry yelled and cursed in Saxon that Garfred, Earl of Roydis, realized that the situation was abnormal and opened the city gate himself.
A group of earl guards holding torches went out first. The earl himself held the hilt of his sword and walked under the night.Near His Majesty the King's mount.
Eynred had a sullen expression on his face. He got off his horse and yelled loudly, "I learned that something big happened in York! The Vikings are besieging the capital, and I want to recruit an army from you! The fastest Order all men between the ages of twelve and fifty! Whether they are servants, serfs, or even prisoners, hand them over to me immediately." Earl Garfred was shocked, and the smile on his face disappeared. Some of them were just terrified, "Your Majesty, I have organized five hundred farmers. I can organize seven hundred people. Isn't this... enough?"
"Of course not! They are Vikings ! Organize two thousand people at all costs and let all your sons join the battle. Listen, if we fail, the entire kingdom will be destroyed and everything you have will be taken away by those villains from the sea!"
"Okay...Okay. Your Majesty, go to the city first."
"That's fine. Prepare food and water for my army immediately."
The king comes with his army. , the people who fled into the city felt no relief at all.
The chaotic streets are full of soldiers sitting down to rest. They defecate wantonly, making the already dirty streets even more smelly.
Eynred was not sleepy at all, or he had forgotten what sleeping was because he was extremely nervous.
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At His Majesty's order, all the prisoners in the prison were pulled out.
Those who committed crimes thought they were going to have their hands chopped off or hanged, but unexpectedly they were received by the king.
Thieves, murderers awaiting execution, debt prisoners, and those who have not paid enough taxes, more than fifty men were detained in the muddy square of the city.
There were people holding torches everywhere, and the man wearing an iron helmet with a gold edge was the king himself.
"You are all criminals!" Eynred pointed at the prisoners from a high place. "Many of you should have been executed. However, now there is a chance to be exempted from all guilt. Our The capital is besieged by barbarians, and now everyone takes up arms to fight against the barbarians. When we win, your merits will offset your own sins!"
Is this a good thing? Pooh!
Only the murderer was slightly relieved that he at least had a theoretical chance of survival. But the debtor prisoners realized that the so-called pardon was a joke! Everyone must fight desperately with the barbarians, fearing that they will be killed in an instant.
Aynred guessed what they were thinking and started shouting again, "I want to recruit an army! All those who are of age must join the army, otherwise they are traitors and will be executed!"
After saying that, he drew his sword, surprising the people who had been watching all night. After that, he waved his hand and the regular army of the kingdom surrounded the square. All the men in the circle, except for the meaningless boys, must join the army!
That night, many families gathered together and cried.
One after another, yeoman families fled toThis is a refuge! Many of them saw the terrifying large ship and the astonishing number of barbarians on board. Wouldn't it be like seeking death to fight these villains?
But without fighting, the king would really go on a killing spree.
Even the old man Eynred who was wandering around was not spared. He recruited all kinds of people overnight and captured all the effective forces of the Earl of Roydis. .
Earl Garfred dared not speak out in anger, not only because he was the king, but also because the king's master was at least stronger than himself.
Overnight, the army swelled to more than 4,000 people. There are ragged farmers everywhere, many of them are barefoot, wearing rags with only a hemp rope as a belt.
Peasant warriors are unarmored and most only have a short spear at hand.
Regular inventory weapons have been distributed. Those without weapons used sharpened wooden poles to make spears, or even hammered iron nails into short wooden sticks to make maces.
Is this considered an army? Can morale be so high?
Eynred had no choice but to at least gather such a large number of people. He was relieved in his heart and hoped to force the Vikings to evacuate with sheer numbers. Although this was basically an extravagant hope, it could be exchanged. The opportunity to negotiate is also excellent.
In peaceful days, it would take some time for Eynred to recruit an army of thousands of people from the country.
Now that a large number of civilians were pouring into the city of Roydis, he finally pulled out this chaotic army and began to move towards York the next day.
It was also on this day that Rurik was making final preparations for the siege.
York was still besieged and the people in the city could not escape.
Should we persuade them to surrender? Even though there was grain officer Paul as a leader in the camp, Rurik still didn't want to take risks.
Until now, Rurik does not know whether Northumbria is in the city. If he is really there, their fierce resistance yesterday would be meaningless even if they negotiate.
A monarch who is willing to die for the country? It is worthy of admiration.
Then be kind and be kind!
The stone city of York gave Rurik the feeling that it was much taller than Borgholm. The city was obviously a church building, and it also had a tall tower.
If there were artillery, the city would be able to breach the walls very quickly. No matter how bad the counterweight trebuchet was, the big rocks kept hitting it and the wall collapsed.
At least the huge weakness in York's walls was perceived by Rurik. They knew nothing about cement when they built the city. They piled stones on the walls. In order to avoid collapse, the natural cross-section was trapezoidal, which provided opportunities for climbing with bare hands.
The wooden walls of Waiguo City were destroyed, and the supplies that had not been transported away became the possessions of the coalition forces. The agricultural products traded immediately supplied the army.
Those large wooden pillars and long wooden poles immediately became materials for assembling long ladders.
The Rus and Balmoks tied them with ropes and built thirty ladders in one day, one for every hundred people.
Rurik also unloaded the twenty handcarts that had been prepared from the ship. They were originally used to transport loot, but now they have become the best vehicles for the torsion slingshots unloaded from the ship.
The fleet anchored at the Ouse River can still launch projectile strikes against York. After all, this is a waste of ammunition. Hearing Jevlo's worries, Rurik thought again and was worried about these supports during the melee. It will accidentally injure friendly forces, and I don't intend to do it again.
Twenty torsion slingshots and ten bull trebuchets will provide fire support when the general offensive is launched.
Rurik suddenly asked to assemble all the men with bows and arrows in the Balmok army, so that the shooting flag team suddenly expanded to 500 people!
Even though many people are holding short wooden bows that are not high in weight, if they are used intensively, the rain of arrows produced should have a significant effect.
Everything is under Rurik's control. Tomorrow is the day of decisive battle and siege. In the evening, he has to hold the last pre-war meeting.
Including the distinguished leader Magnut, everyone listened attentively to Rurik's final arrangement, and even doubts continued about the special request to reduce killings.
A family leader shouted: "Why bother? For your kindness?"
Arik also suggested: "They are warriors. If they dare to resist us, our army will kill them." They. This is the fate of warriors."
What Arik said is an explanation. They all support mass killings.
Rurik said hurriedly: "At least you must save the lives of women! Listen, brothers, if you want to settle here, you must at least have enough women. You must save the lives of men, They will be your slaves and farm for you."
This was mainly meant for Magnute, and Rurik stared at his father-in-law again, "It may be impossible to blackmail Northumb now. The king of Riya. They are too weak, and the royal power will inevitably be controlled by us. This is fate, father, you should rule here, and all the local farmers are your servants."
These words are direct. Lifting Magnut up, the other family leaders felt really uncomfortable when they heard this, but they had no choice but to do anything.
Magnut stroked his beard and laughed, "Okay, Biyongni! My son."
"Yes."
"Go and tell our people to bring more ropes. After the city is breached, the resisters will be killed, and those who put down their weapons, male or female, will be tied up. I will be the king here from now on, and we have to keep these people as slaves for farming. Oh, and the brothers’ wives.”
In the Balmok army, Magnut leads the most troops and is the strongest, and he also speaks with the most weight.
Rurik also teased his cousin Arik: "Don't be too cruel."
"Of course I am." Arik pouted, thinking that he couldn't Fighting bloody battles makes the whole body feel uncomfortable.
When he went on the expedition, Rurik said that he had no intention of asking for too much in Britain. His biggest hope was to get a lot of wheat to take back home. He concluded that since York was a royal city, there must be a lot of wheat in the city.
Most of the wheat will belong to the Rus, and most of the other treasures will belong to the Balmoks. This is an agreement between the two ethnic groups.
It’s a new day, and the sky is full of haze.
The awakened Rurik looked at the gray sky and sighed again: "There will never be another rain."
There is no rainfall for the time being, but the north wind is slightly fierce. , the sudden drop in temperature further depressed the mood of the defenders. On the contrary, the Viking army outside the city had completed the final preparations after a day of repairs and recuperation.
All the Balmoks with horns blew their horns, and there was a noise outside the city. Soon a large number of warriors gathered with weapons.
The Balmoks raised the multi-sided raven flag with white background ordered by their leader, while the Russian army carried more paddle flags with blue stripes on white background.
Rurik also spent a lot of money to attack the city. The "Silver Scale Breastplate" he carried in this battle, this batch of heavy silver-plated iron plate armor, can finally come in handy.
Since ancient times, raids by ladder-climbing warriors have always taken huge risks. Climbing ladders and fighting bloody battles at the top of the city with flesh and blood seems to be courting death. They must be equipped with heavy armor!
Rurik selected fifty brave men from among his mercenaries, and even beat the Dane Grund and his more than ten brothers, and said: "Now I will give you a chance to make great achievements. Wear it. Put on the heaviest armor, you are invulnerable, climb up the wall and fight, let the enemy's blood wash away the dirt on the armor, and break their will, and you will be rewarded with whatever you want."
, people like Grund don’t care. They are surrendered generals, and their loyalty lasts a lifetime, not to mention that they are treated very well on weekdays.
Seeing their fifty "iron bulls", Arik was actually very envious. He also wanted to put on heavy armor and climb the wall to fight. After all, he was the flag captain of the first flag team, and it was inappropriate to be separated from the command.
The Viking army began to shout, beating their shields with swords and axes, and accompanied by the sound of horns, brought a terrifying momentum.
The soldiers and civilians in the city were trembling with fear. When Graywulf climbed up the stone wall and saw the gathered army, he estimated that today would be the last day of his life.
Poor, today is a cloudy day.
He bared his teeth and led the soldiers down to the city first. More than a thousand men in different clothes knelt together.
The priests who stayed behind had mixed emotions. They held "golden urns of holy water" filled with rose essential oil and used fresh cypress branches dipped in holy water to bless all the soldiers.
"..., God is with us, A...men."
The priests know that they are not safe, and even the words of prayer are stumbling. Now they can only rely on these warrior.
There are only a few men in York who can really fight, and most of them are just improvised farmers.
There are more than four hundredThe soldiers of the kingdom seemed to have retained their fighting ability, but look at those Vikings, they were demons.
Although Graywulf is scared, he has no choice now. Thousands of people in the city still rely on the protection of the soldiers, especially the queen and prince.
The soldiers of the kingdom holding bows stood at the top of the city. All the royal flags in the city were erected. Nearly fifty large and small orange flags fluttered fiercely in the north wind.
"Do they know today is the decisive battle? There are flags everywhere." Arik asked his brother.
"That's fine."
"Okay? But you won't let me take my brothers into the city to kill them."
"You are here Do you resent me?" Rurik shrugged.
"How is that possible!" Arik patted his brother's iron helmet casually, "I still like to fight."
"But this is the battle of the Balmoks, and we are Help. Brother, I hope not one of us in Ross will die in this expedition. Our men are all very valuable."
"Hehe, except for those mercenaries."
"That's not the case. Except for Grund and his guys. You know, I don't like mercenaries who have betrayed their sponsors."
Arik was surprised at first, and then He nodded and praised his brother for what he said.
But how does Grund know? These heavily armored warriors were nothing short of iron men, chosen because they were expendable.
The mercenaries who were really favored by Rurik are now working as crossbowmen or even operating heavy weapons.
Who will announce the start of the attack?
Rurik ordered a Russian soldier to walk to the front of the formation carrying the Russian flag with blue stripes on a white background. He waved it in a flashy manner to attract everyone's attention, and then suddenly waved it forward again.
Seeing this, Magnute ordered his men to launch an offensive, causing the entire army to launch a surprise attack!