The white-on-blue-striped uniforms of the Russian army are too eye-catching. After forming the shield wall, there is an orderly white wall.
What is very exaggerated is that the Russian army took advantage of the Danes on the city wall to be at a loss and hurriedly put the torsion slingshots carried on carts into place.
The warriors holding crossbows and torsion slingshots formed a dense formation behind the thin shield wall.
Behind the crossbowmen were another group of warriors holding swords and shields, as well as Slavic soldiers holding spears.
A large number of Ross flags were flying, and their uniforms were distinctive and distinctive. Most of the soldiers were uniformly dressed, and together they brought a huge sense of oppression to the enemy.
Horik, the Danish king, has already climbed onto the city wall. He temporarily dressed himself up to look unattractive, just to take a good look at the appearance of the Russian army.
He took a breath, and when he saw a man with a strange beard and braid, he was so angry that he stood up straight regardless of the danger. He simply found a wooden box to put his feet on, and then yelled: "Ragnar! The scum of Denmark! It was you who attracted the Rus' people?! I regret my kindness in the past and not driving you and your people to death!"
Hearing the roar of this fellow, Ragnar bluntly told Rurik that the arrogant and domineering man was King Horik of Denmark.
"That's Horik?!" Rurik became more aggressive and asked his subordinates to bring him a light wooden-armed crossbow with an arrow. He also ordered Ragnar to scold him.
Ragnar was full of hatred for Horik and wanted to eat his flesh raw, then chop his wives, concubines and children into minced meat and feed it to the fish. His scolding was very unpleasant, and the focus was on the so-called "dirty body transactions between Horik and Frankish male nobles." How insulting is this? !
Just as Horik blushed and cursed, a silver-gray object flew away from Horik's head with a whoosh.
"Bang! The wooden arm version just doesn't work. I almost killed that bastard with a sniper." Rurik threw the crossbow to his men angrily.
Horik himself froze on the spot, with an arrow stuck in his iron helmet, which had fallen under the wooden wall. He was in a daze from shock, and the soldiers protecting him hurriedly helped him down and hid him.
"Damn the Russians, I almost died! Brothers, shoot arrows to repel them!"
The Dane holding the bow began to draw the bow, and when he saw this, the Russian sword The shield bearers used huge round shields to protect their bodies to avoid the thin arrows.
At this moment, the Ross army began to attack first!
Both sides fired arrows almost at the same time. The Russian army's crossbows and slingshots were fired at the same time. Under Rurik's order, they fired the first round of powerful punches. More than a hundred cone-headed cast-iron bullets hit the wooden wall. It caused wood chips to fly everywhere, and the wall in front of it trembled slightly.
Those thick pine logs are neatly arrayed and planted in the dug pit. The diameter of each pine log reaches 30cm. The pine wood has such a diameter and has been standing for more than a year. The whole tree has become overcast.Loss of water on drying, the overall strength reaches a higher level.
They have such an exaggerated thickness that even a torsion slingshot cannot penetrate the cast iron projectiles when fired at close range.
Rurik did not expect that he could complete the violent demolition of the wall with only a slingshot.
More than a hundred slingshots were divided into multiple shooting groups, with at least ten gathered in each group. Each unit was ordered to storm a point in the wooden wall, relying on frequent shooting to continuously expand the small defects, expanding each impact point into a damaged surface.
The projectiles hit the wooden wall heavily, and a large number of cone-head projectiles were directly embedded in it.
The people manipulating the slingshots kept shouting: "Hurry up and load, smash their walls!"
The soldiers were roaring, and the strong warriors turned the winches frantically, waiting for the metal to catch. As soon as the winch was locked, a projectile coated with seal oil and whale oil was placed on the slide. As soon as the soldier who loaded the bullet took his hand, another man suddenly pulled out the latch.
"Quick! Let's do it again." So it's a new cycle.
All torque slingshots are allowed to fire freely. For this battle, Eureka also prepared sufficient projectiles. He was expected to have a fierce battle with the Danish Navy at sea. Enough projectiles would be the key to victory. As a result, the armed longships of the Kingdom of Denmark were nowhere to be seen, and the Russian army, which had not experienced the pleasure of naval battles, vented their violence here by relying on projectiles.
And this is just the power of the torsion slingshot.
Ten bull trebuchets stood on the battlefield, and some special projectiles were thrown directly into the city. Those were the Danish cavalry who had been killed before. Their heads were taken off and their bodies were basically thrown into the sea.
Although there is a headhunting culture among various Viking clans, and Rurik's so-called "use your skull as a wine bowl" is actually a provocation, but what he wants to do now is indeed a provocation.
The head of the deceased was thrown into the inner city. The infantrymen of the Kingdom of Denmark, who were equipped with full weapons and watched eagerly, thought it was a stone falling from the sky. They raised their wooden shields to resist it. Only after the impact did they realize that it was a ferocious human head.
This kind of "projectile" cannot kill anyone, but it is insulting.
When the head is thrown away, the truly lethal pebbles begin to be fired.
The array of the Russian army is already within the bow and arrow range of the Danish army. Such a close range can not only take advantage of the absolute arrow advantage of the Russian army, but also allow the huge torque launch arm of the Bull trebuchet to pop out. Bigger pebbles.
A real stone fell from the sky. Even if it could not break through the soldier's shield, the force could still break the soldier's left arm, and that was enough.
Heavy weapons were mainly used to destroy city walls, and the arrows of the Russian army directly disrupted the rhythm of the Danish army.
Rurik kept holding the steel sword with a sullen face. The sword was like a baton, and the soldiers shot where the sword pointed.
The Danish archers who hit the city with their crossbows were unable to fight back, and they were shot down wantonly like innocent birds. Occasionally, there are those who are angry and fight back hard. They show their chests just nowPulling the bow, he was directly sniped by the Ross crossbowmen who were eyeing him.
Soldiers fell heavily from the top of the city, and a group of soldiers could only kneel and sit under the battlements of the city wall to survive. They were suppressed, and some soldiers saw soldiers fleeing in empty areas in the city.
The firefight had only lasted for a while, but the Danes at the top of the city had almost disappeared.
Rurik deliberately waited until now.
He gave a loud order: "Jevlo! Take your Finns forward and form a phalanx to launch into the air!"
That's all, Rurik gave a loud order: "Fisk, you and your guys are with the Finns, line up the team to throw arrows!"
That is the "Russian Arrow Formation" that is a mixture of longbows and recurve bows. There were even ten Pecheneg warriors, forming an arrow array totaling 300 people.
Both longbows and recurve bows will shoot heavy arrows. They are no longer needle-like armor-piercing arrows, but broad-bladed steel arrow clusters with barbs. This arrow Just to kill the opponent's large number of armor-deficient infantry.
The crossbowmen of the Russian army were already throwing short, heavy arrows, causing panic to the Danish army behind the wall. The assembled soldiers were running around, and the entire cavalry team was also in disarray.
A lot of people were killed and injured by arrows and stones. These arrows came in an unorganized manner, so it was not difficult to avoid them.
However, if the terrified Danish King Horik had not ordered his troops to continue to defend, these Danish warriors would have taken the initiative to retreat, even if it meant cowardice.
The Danish soldiers gritted their teeth and persisted until they encountered an unbearable burden.
A dense rain of arrows fell from the sky. They were launched at a very high angle, and they swirled and fell desperately high in the sky with their spiral feathers.
The arrows directly penetrated the soldiers' shoulders, penetrated the thin iron helmets, and severely beat those who were unprepared.
The soldiers who insisted on building the shield wall immediately suffered more than 30 casualties, and a large number of brown-gray arrow feathers were planted on the sand. At first glance, they looked like ears of oats waiting to be harvested.
The horrified King Horik witnessed the terrible damage. He tried to remain calm, but his men began to retreat.
The intact warrior pulled away the injured companion who was screaming. When he tried to pull out the arrow that had stabbed his companion, he got even more serious wails.
Less than ten seconds after the first round of arrows, the second round of arrows hit again.
This kind of shooting continued for ten rounds. The Finnish longbowmen holding the bows all had sore arms. Fisk and his young men could barely endure the pain of shooting heavy arrows. This is how shooting with a high-pound war bow was. Now, when they finished shooting arrows, they were asked by Rurik to temporarily remove their resting arms, but to be ready for the final battle.
Looking at the other side of the wooden wall, Horik was lamenting his tactical mistakes.
Since the Russian army threatened to break the city, they probably have the strength in this regard. King Horik himself isLack of confidence in guarding the city gate, even now the largest wooden gate facing the south of the fortress has accumulated a large number of small carriages with wheels removed to act as a barrier to the gate. Once the Ross army broke through, he planned to let his Danish army wait for work, attack them with a shield wall, and rely on the absolute advantage of local forces to continuously kill the enemies who broke in through the breach.
But Rurik, Prince of Rus, why do you want to fight like this?
Just the put together Ross Arrow Array shot two thousand heavy arrows in a short period of time. The warriors holding crossbows continued to throw short and fat crossbow arrows, and the warriors holding short wooden bows threw light arrows. .
The Russian army fired nearly 10,000 arrows of various types. Rurik was not worried at all that the enemy would shoot back the easily available arrows, because when the enemy shot arrows, he was also exposed to being shot. Within killing range.
The intensive arrow strikes completely defeated Horik's attempt. There were clearly audible commotions in the city. The Danish warriors were evacuating. They were retreating to the south of the city, the only place where they could escape. arrows.
However, more than 300 people, including some cavalrymen, were killed by arrows and stones. Even those who were not dead were squirming desperately in the "wheat field" composed of arrow feathers.
A large number of warriors who were originally sword and shield bearers also became archers. Only the elite Arik's troops and the allied Ragnar's troops held shields throughout the show.
Those armed Bornholm slaves and surrendered Danish exiles stood in the formation of the Ross Army and observed the powerful charm of the Ross Arrow Array from close range. The counterattack of the Bornholm islanders before was so stupid. The Rus army seemed to be able to shoot arrows with everyone, and could defeat any enemy with close arrows.
Manipulating the wooden arm crossbow does not waste much physical strength, and the heavy steel arm crossbow is assisted by a winch. These warriors know that they are about to fulfill a new mission and will inevitably push the siege to the highlight moment of the Ross army, and this depends on whether the prince has had enough.
At this moment, Arik looked at the crazy firepower output of the other brothers. He really couldn't wait any longer: "Brother! Are you satisfied? Do you really expect the slingshot to keep shooting through their walls?"
Rurik then shouted: "Arik, I know what you are going to say! Now keep waiting for me!"
"How long do we have to wait?! We only attack Here, what if the enemy escapes through the small door, or they send troops to attack our flank?"
The last sentence of Arik's rhetorical question gave Rurik a sudden reminder.
Yes, if the King of Denmark launches a cavalry counterattack, it will be detrimental to our army.
Looking around, the brothers had already intended to attack and kill the city, and they had been preparing firepower for a while. There were already more than a dozen damaged spots clearly visible to the naked eye on the wooden wall. Unexpectedly, the enemy's wooden wall was quite thick, so the next step was to use more powerful weapons to turn "scraping" into "cutting".
Rurik immediately decreed, and the impatient soldiers fell into ecstasy, and they pushed forward with smilesStart attacking the city and rush the car.
The entire army is doing its own new work in accordance with military orders.
The torsion slingshot starts to throw iron bullets at a low charge and a large elevation angle, just like throwing stones. It throws the projectiles to about fifty meters and lets them fall to focus on potential targets. Most of the warriors with crossbows dropped it on the ground and picked up their bucklers and swords.
The Finnish archers from Gävlo and the young dismounted cavalry warriors led by Fisk, who had rested for a while, were waiting for support with bows and arrows.
Wearing exaggeratedly heavy armor and looking like an iron man, Grund's more than 50 men guarded the siege vehicle driven by armed slaves.
Rurik wanted to ensure that the losses of the main body of the Russian army in this battle were minimal. He didn’t know what the city looked like. In short, after the city was broken, the Danes also gave priority to the mercenaries who received money and wages, and exchanged them. The master's slaves fought fiercely.
Those elite mercenaries were holding double-edged Nordic forest axes with spearheads. They swung them round and smashed them against the pine wall that was scratched wildly by the projectiles. As a result, sawdust flew across and hit their armor hard. .
The slave warriors pushed the construction truck to hit the wooden wall with strong potential energy. Every impact of the bronze impact angle caused irreparable cracks in the wooden wall.
Even though the wooden walls of Godfrehagen were made of pine logs connected in parallel and reinforced with cables, they were broken through as many as six gaps.
As for why Rurik did not attack the gate that seemed easy to break through, it all came from the nightmare of sieges many years ago. Regardless of whether the King of Denmark set up a trap, such as pouring hot oil from the city gate and setting fire to it, a reliable king would have to block the main entrance with a large number of wooden stakes in the current situation.
The Russian army is violently breaking through the wall, and the pine wall is rapidly disintegrating.
There was a rumble from the city wall. The wall itself had not yet collapsed, but the platform on which people could stand to fight back had collapsed on a large scale, and part of the wall was crumbling.
Most of the Danish warriors withdrew to the south of the city, and Horik put on a heart helmet and reorganized his army in the south. He mounted his horse and rallied the cavalry.
Everyone heard the roar from the city wall, and could see black blocks falling from the sky, smashing the fallen warriors into pulp.
King Horik encouraged his subordinates as a king: "These Rus are going to take our lives and use your skulls to make wine bowls! The city wall is no longer a barrier! We are Frisian heroes. , is also the master of Denmark, and cannot be humiliated by this! Brothers, we must fight for the sake of honor! Follow me!”
Since even Arik of the Ross Berserker can think of the Danish Kingdom, it is very likely. He knew how to use cavalry to countercharge, but King Horik had this intention. However, the king still did not know the true strength of the Ross army, and was worried that blindly launching a countercharge from the small door would hit the iron plate. He was also worried that opening the side door early might cause misunderstanding to the whole army - the king was fleeing with his cavalry. If the soldiers misunderstood, it would really turn into a total collapse.
HolickDeciding to stand still, he summoned his cronies and took his brothers to hide as much as possible. He left the cavalry in the alleyway to wait.
He conveyed this attitude to his subordinates: "I will bring in a group of enemies, and I will lead the charge. The cavalry will kill all their infantry, and then all the people hiding will rush in and kill them."
This is called a defensive counterattack. People who were stunned by Ross's arrows said that this was the king's clever plan. Just like the brothers had great trust in this commander in Friesland, and now that Horik is king, no matter what, the brothers still have to form a rope and fight together.
Pairs of eyes stared at the far end of the winding alley, and they raised their ears and waited for the sound of the wooden wall collapsing.
Every time the siege vehicles hit the city, there was a loud sound, accompanied by the deep roars of a group of men.
Suddenly, a big breach was opened!
That was a large hole in the wooden wall when the siege vehicle crashed into it. Then, as the soldiers with axes were frantically chopping wood on both sides of the vehicle, a section of the wooden wall collapsed structurally, and the rumble caused the earth to tremble. .
Rurik, who was observing the battle, was waiting for this moment. He ordered with a tearing voice: "Slaves! Mercenaries! Your chance to make a fortune has come! Rush in and seize the treasure first!"
Hearing the order, Grund led his heavily armored troops and rushed in singing. Seeing the mess in the city, his jaw dropped and he was also greatly surprised, because there was not even a Dane around. The slave warriors were even more happy. They had accomplished a great feat by entering the city first. The new master, Prince Rurik, really kept his word. These humble people would one day have the right to be the first to grab the spoils of war.
Of course, Rurik’s strange order confused Arik.
Aric simply left the team and stood next to his brother and asked: "You will let a group of slaves go in first to enjoy the glory of the first battle? Can they still grab the spoils first?"
Rurik Unblinking: "Brother, you just reminded me to beware of their counterattack. Let the slave soldiers go in, and you and Ragnar are leading the troops in."
"This... is ridiculous." Arik stamped. He stamped his feet. At this moment, he didn't want to have any worries. He just wanted to enter the core of the enemy's capital with his two swords. Even if the enemy launched a counterattack, that was what he wanted.
Seeing the slave warriors and all the heavily armored mercenaries, a team of more than 300 people had entered the city from the largest gap, and Arik and Ragnar also began to take action.
Those exiled Danes claimed to be under the command of Ragnar. The brothers were extremely happy to form an alliance with the Principality of Rus. They finally entered Godfrehagen, which was previously out of reach. The capital was built by Horik Haraldson, a lackey of the Franks. Just standing inside the wall was an insult to Horik, and now the brothers wanted to take the head of that lackey.
Who can use that person’s head to make a wine bowl? Everyone knew that whoever killed Horik would have a huge reputation throughout the Baltic Sea.