In fact, Ragnar's "Stonewall" tribe has never fought against the Russians, and there is no rivalry in the memory of each other. They only have a hostile relationship based on the principle of protection in the past. They both once belonged to large communities that were hostile to each other, but now that they have cut themselves off from the past, there is no reason to fight against each other.
Ragnar successfully completed a peace deal with the Ross army. He returned to his camp first, and immediately announced the good news of merging with the Ross army to attack Bremen City, and then recruited more than 30 people to go to Ross. people camp to get food.
The hunger situation was relieved immediately, and the attitudes of those who had been skeptical immediately changed after eating the hard wheat cakes provided by the Russians. It's not that this wheat cake is a delicacy. It's as hard as a stone and requires teeth to grind and chew it bit by bit. It's quite laborious to eat. But for so many days, everyone has been essentially a bereaved dog, and no one has given any form of help when they were in trouble.
It happened that the Russians provided a batch of key supplies.
Real Vikings always value brotherhood. If a charismatic man is present, a large number of people will come to join him. Therefore, a pirate who has made great achievements can quickly build a team.
Ragnar was very honest with his people and pointed out without hesitation that the commander of the Ross army was named Arik Ogiersson, who was the cousin of the prince of Ross and a murderer. There are many warriors, known as the "double swords". Even the life story of Arik is worthy of learning by the tribal people. It is said that a young man's biological father was killed. After secretly training for many years, he led a group of brothers to launch a revenge attack.
Ragnar was not advertising Arik, but using this story to inspire the tribe, especially the last group of children in the tribe.
No one is really stupid. Their home was destroyed, and the King of Denmark chose to backstab. These children can only grow up in humiliation, with eyes longing for revenge.
The Ross army came all the way to attack Bremen with a very clear purpose and were well prepared. Even the proud wooden walls of the city were despised by the Ross army.
Arik heard a group of people cheering in the distance just before he fell asleep.
He lay in the shack, covering half of his face with a fur hat, and muttered casually: "Danes, I hope you eat the bread I gave you, and tomorrow you will fight like a pack of hungry wolves."
He didn't know that the Danes were cheering for the war and for the coalition commander Arik.
Why not cheer?
The Ross commander has made it clear that Ross is responsible for breaking the city wall. The brothers of the Stonewall tribe swarmed up from the gap and had the right to rob immediately. risk? The risk is nothing! The brothers just want to avenge the grievances they felt a few months ago, and they want to take bloody battle axes and take revenge on the Frankish nobles through killing.
Ragnar even unilaterally discussed with his brothers that after breaking the city, he would lead a hundred ruthless men to attack the residences of the nobles and kill all the living people they encountered.Kill them several times and then loot all the gold and silver.
In the early morning of the next day, as the morning fog filled the river beach, a melodious horn sounded.
The Russian army took the time to cook a delicious meal this morning, and Arik even sent someone to transport a cart of food to Ragnar's camp in a cart that was unloaded from his clothes.
Jevro was in charge of the escort. When he saw Ragnar smiling playfully and making a gesture of gratitude, he punched his chest unceremoniously.
The sudden move really startled Ragnar.
Jevro warned seriously: "Why laugh? Let your people eat quickly, remember to be full this time. We will make the final voyage, and we will attack the city as soon as we arrive at our destination. You must be there before Maintain your strength at critical moments. We will eventually eat the wheat of the Franks in the city of Bremen." The words inspired Ragnar to quickly accept the heavy breakfast and explain these words to him. The tribesman repeated it.
The coalition forces had a good meal before the battle. When the fog gradually dissipated, most of the Russian army's bivouacs were put back on. Soldiers are boarding the ship one after another, and the entire fleet is about to pull anchor.
This time, the Russian army adopted a smarter way to swim against the current.
That was the aid from Ragnar's men. His fleet was supposed to go down the river. Now all the oarsmen received the cables thrown by the big ships and tied them to the oar lengths. Wooden pilings protruded from the stern of the ship. Each ship was towed, and the fleet transformed into a mixed fleet. The team of more than 900 people zigzagged towards the east along the inland channel of the Weser River.
A terrifying army is attacking Bremen!
For the people in the city, although they are not aware of the approaching enemy situation, they are already full of fear for the world outside the city walls. Because tens of thousands of villagers have always lived an idyllic life, most of them are actually Saxons, but they have been conquered by the Frankish army for more than half a century, and many things have been changed.
The villagers know almost nothing about the past history, and no one tells them what the "Barbarian Principality of Saxony" once existed. The role of a teacher is essentially that of a pastor in the village. The pastor preaches with handwritten gospels written in a scrawled manner, so that the people feel that the many stories in the Old and New Testaments are their history.
Obviously this is the northern border area of the Frankish princes, but a large number of villagers do not know the existence of Denmark, and only have a vague concept of "Normans". There are almost only two major things in the life of the villagers, paying agricultural taxes to the lord and going to the monastery to worship.
It wasn’t until the Norman fleet burned, killed, and looted along the Weser River in 836 that they finally realized that the Satan described in the scriptures was real, and the Normans were Satan!
So the Count of Bremen suddenly raised taxes during the wheat harvest season. For the sake of their own safety, the villagers paid the grain tax for three more years in a rare and cheerful way. Some farmers who could not afford to pay the arrears He was even recruited to join the earl's army to defeat the Normans.
The earl led theThe warriors of earthly origin were all fighting in the north, but the rear was ravaged by the Normans.
In peacetime, the city of Bremen could be described as a medium-sized city in Western Europe by current standards. Now, with 10,000 people crammed into this city, it has become a large city by ninth-century standards! People from villages all over the place fled, driving horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts carrying newly harvested wheat to evacuate.
The Earl was not in the city, and the lower-level nobles, especially the patrol captain who had arrested Blue Fox, suddenly became the commander of the city defense.
The acting bishop of St. Peter's Church in Bremen held a surprise mass and actively mobilized the power of the priests to give a collective blessing to the city's guards. The "holy water" mixed with rose essential oil was dipped in cypress branches that symbolize nobility and poured accurately on every warrior. Even the peasant warriors armed with sharpened sticks and bare feet were given blessings.
Because of the heavy losses in the first half of the year, now in August, the people hiding in Bremen were frightened and at the same time, the anger in their hearts was finally awakened. As the saying goes, risk death and live again. Some farmers have awakened. After they were blessed by the holy water, they immediately had something that they must protect with their lives - faith.
Defending Bremen has become a great deed, even a merit that can be used at the Doomsday Judgment.
Realistically speaking, their families and belongings were all evacuated to the city. The Normans' brutal methods were too terrifying, and they had to hold on to the city for their families and wealth.
Bremen is a riverside city. Now the pontoons on the river have been completely demolished and all the city gates are closed. A lot of debris was piled up behind the thick wooden door. This operation turned the whole of Bremen into a giant turtle shell.
The city is overcrowded, many refugees live in churches, and the city square has become a huge refugee camp.
Everyone is trapped in the city. They firmly believe that it is dangerous outside the city and dare not go out. Now it is impossible to go out in this situation. The farmers were confined and they were happy to be safe now, while the stranded businessmen just wanted to leave this terrible place as soon as possible. Because thefts occurred one after another in the city, the merchants' property was plundered by the people in the city. Whether it was robbery by the Normans or the Bremen people, it was a loss after all.
In a sense, the people of Bremen are resting on their laurels. They have not even prepared to ambush outside the city so that they can report the situation to the city. There are relatively narrow corridors on the wooden city wall of the city, where a group of soldiers are stationed for a long time, and more soldiers are stationed on the circular road under the city wall.
The simple tower always has archers on duty. It only gathers the entire Bremen garrison. There are only more than a thousand defenders in name. Among them, the good fighters are the top and bottom of the city patrol. There are only more than a hundred people, and the remaining people may have a lot of passion, but in the end they are still a bunch of rabble.
Because the Earl of Bremen has pulled all the troops that used to attack the forest bandits to the north, the city has essentially fallen into a huge emptiness.
RagnarIf the tribesmen warriors fight these Bremen defenders in the wild, victory will definitely belong to Ragnar.
The tall wooden wall opened Ragna's eyes, and then he fell into an extremely disgusting helpless state. He did not understand siege techniques, and now that he had formed an alliance with Ross, he imagined that the Ross army could easily conquer the city wall.
So the Ross Army’s actions will be absolutely certain?
The fleet sailed at a steady and slow speed. On the flagship Salmon Chief, the main materials for building the siege ram had been transported to the deck. The two large handcarts began to assemble the shafts. After the fleet docked, the wood was cut on the spot. After the tree trunks were laid on the cart, the hard bronze punch was installed.
They have been preparing all morning, not only prefabricating the parts for the punch car, but also moving a large amount of hemp rope stored in the box to the deck and unpacking it. A batch of long ladders will also be assaulted and bundled on the shore. As for the key wooden poles that constitute the long ladders, they have already been prepared, and they are anchored to the left and right sides of the unloaded armed cargo ship.
The coalition forces set out early in the morning, and actually saw the city walls of Bremen by noon.
"That is the target!" Blue Fox pointed with strong excitement.
"Okay! I will anchor at the landing point you mentioned. I hope your information is very accurate."
"Accuracy is inevitable, and I won't be able to leave here without How long?" Blue Fox yelled for a while, looking directly at Ragnar who was lucky enough to stand on the Ross battleship and travel with the Ross army.
"Danes, it's time for you to perform. You can kill as much as you want, but you must not set fires."
"Why?" Ragnar asked in surprise.
"I'm afraid you'll burn the wheat too."
"It doesn't matter, I won't destroy it myself before plundering the property. I just hope that the things you personally inspect are all Correct, I don’t want my people to die on the way to attack.”
The Ross Army and Ragnar Army assured each other that the fleet was still sailing, and Ragnar was thrown off the ship. Rope ladder into long boat.
From the perspective of the Mellaren people, a fleet floating on the river suddenly appeared, and the defenders who were so nervous that they were hypersensitive were suddenly awakened. For a time, the city walls were filled with the roars and screams of men, who made noise in various ways. Until the bells of the church tower rang loudly, the whole city realized that the Norman army was coming again, and they were coming with bad intentions!
The patrol captain is now the commander of the city defense. He hurriedly climbed up the wooden wall, held on to the wooden railing and took a closer look. He immediately stamped his feet and cursed loudly.
Then, he pretended to be calm and ordered his men: "Let all the bow holders go upstairs! The people upstairs put the earthen pots, wood blocks and stones under the city wall. Go quickly!"
After all, this was the ninth century AD, and the so-called typical European medieval city defense projects did not yet exist. The city defense commander had only some crude weapons at hand, either shooting the attackers with arrows, or using clay pots and stones to kill those who tried to climb the city wall.
However, the Ross Army is not playing a game of chess with them.
The Ross and Ragnar coalition forces have landed about three arrows away. Although it is called the "Three Arrows Land", this distance is actually the maximum range of the torsion slingshot throwing cast iron bullets. In theory, the Russian army's formation at the landing site is enough to bring a burst of iron hail to the defenders. In fact, Aric was prepared to do just that.
"Quick! Unload all the slingshots on the port side. People under the boat, assemble the trolleys. You all move quickly and go chop down the trees! We will try to finish the battle today..."
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Arik gave orders at the top of his lungs, and those who landed prepared nervously.
Ragnar was quite curious when he saw the nervous actions of the Ross people. Didn't he agree not to give the enemy a chance? The Russians actually played with a large number of wooden parts on the river beach grass. But he soon understood and praised from the bottom of his heart that the Russians were really cruel.
The ten ships of the Ross fleet still have to get close to the city, at least to "a stone's throw and a half", that is, to the river a hundred steps away from the city wall. There are only a few armed sailors on the ship, who all operate the torsion slingshot on the starboard side to provide fire support when launching an attack.
Looking at the land route, the coalition forces took a little more than an hour to complete their formation under the fearful gaze of the Bremen soldiers and civilians. In fact, as Vikings, the coalition forces can quickly set up a shield wall and advance. The reason why this little time is spent is on the construction of siege weapons.
It must be said that Blue Fox’s adventurous inspection last year made great contributions to the coalition this year, such as the structural materials and height of the city wall, especially the structure of the city gate. These key intelligence helped the coalition choose the most suitable Siege weapons.
Thirty torsion slingshots are each mounted on a small cart, and a basket of cast iron bullets is also placed on it. It can be pulled forward by a warrior. The auxiliary warriors carry some light javelins and special large arrows, which are actually another kind of weapon for the slingshot.
Eight long ladders have been bundled up, and they are carried on the shoulders of Ragnar's people. At the same time, engineering rush vehicles built with local materials and cut down trees are also in the formation.
Ragnar's men were at the forefront of the battle formation, followed closely by the hundred-man team of the capable First Flag Team of the Ross Army, but they were divided into thirty groups and were temporarily responsible for controlling the torsion slingshot. . The composition of the remaining more than 200 Russian soldiers who landed was more complex, including Finns, Saaremaa Islanders, and even a few Slavs. The same thing is that they all hold crossbows or gray tree longbows. As many as 200 shooters are the best cover for the first-line siege troops.
Even relying on long-range weapons to directly destroy the fighting will of the defenders! After all, the Russians have experienced too many similar battles. Standing under the city and relying on the advantage of the weapon's range to shoot arrows has long been a specialty of the Russian army.
This time Arik resorted to his old tricks without even thinking!
As many as twenty Ross flags are flying. The Ross army is uniformly dressed, while the Ragnar army is still dressed in a variety of colors. non-combatant womenThe children, especially Ragnar's two sons, were all placed at the landing site, saving the soldiers from worries.
Looking at the defenders, they could only watch helplessly as the Norman army arranged their troops in an orderly manner. Upon seeing this, the defenders had given up their illusions. Thanks to the city wall's confidence, they were not frightened by the sudden appearance of the army and fainted. But the city was already filled with mourners, and rumors were flying all over the place. With no choice, the church suddenly held a mass to pray for victory, and now two thousand people poured into the already spacious St. Peter's Church! A large number of people entered, making the church overcrowded, just because everyone hoped that the power of faith could move the Lord. The so-called seraph lowered fire and burned the Normans, this group of Satan, to ashes.
However, Bremen responded with a whooshing sound in the sky!
Then, like hail, strange black shadows fell from the sky.
Some people under the city who were on standby for support were smashed on the head and punched through the chest. Many people began to wail, but at this moment the arrows swished down again.
At this moment, the city defense commander realized that the battle had begun. But how is this the way of the Normans? At the beginning, they were stunned by super-long-range arrows and iron blocks. Not even Prince Ludwig's regular army could do this kind of attack.
The commander had no choice but to face the Norman army, which was advancing in an orderly manner with a shield wall, and the formation looked extremely regular. He could only grit his teeth and order the soldiers hiding in Tibet: "Don't run away, hold on to your posts." ! Kill them in a moment!"
However, a cast-iron bullet fired from a torsion slingshot came over. The commander of the city defense stood up and raised his sword high to set an example and called on the soldiers to hold on, but his whole head was cut off by this iron bullet!
The battlefield is full of coincidences. If you expose yourself to a battlefield filled with arrows, you may die quickly.
This is indeed a coincidence, but this once money-grubbing patrol captain and today's city defense commander gave his life for the city and died on the battlefield as a soldier.
Unfortunately, his death was seen by everyone, and the morale of the army collapsed! The defenders are destined to be unable to form a unified rope and are destined to fall into the dilemma of fighting on their own...