Chapter 650 The Danes Do Not Beat the Danes

This war basically has nothing to do with women, but this war is about a new and wonderful future. The women of White Tree Manor sincerely want to make a contribution to the men who go on the expedition.

They cooked for the assembled more than 3,000 soldiers. Whether they were active or not, a large amount of surplus grain and wheat was taken out.

These women set up a large number of pottery urns to cook the porridge typical of Novgorod.

In fact, it is just cooking oatmeal and adding some salt. This kind of bland diet is not uncommon in the Principality of Ross.

More than 3,000 bloody mouths can swallow fifty cows in one day, and then eat the poultry brought by the calf manor.

The Calf Manor offered ten cows, which would first be used as offerings.

This was the last day before the war, and early in the morning Rurik had dispatched the resigned Dane Grund and his gang, and ordered them to go as watchmen by boat to the mouth of the Volkhov River.

This riverside location is so close to Pine Needle Manor that they can see it with the naked eye.

"Boss, do the Russ just let us stand guard? In my opinion, we can launch a sneak attack and grab some treasures by the way." A man said that he couldn't hold back his desire to hack and plunder.

Grund looked at his old buddies, and couldn't help but bared his teeth and ordered: "Don't be too hasty. The Rus people are too lazy to investigate, and Rurik's army of 3,000 people is simply invincible. We follow this gold master to work with peace of mind."

"But boss, my axe is hungry for blood."

"No! Carl. No matter how weak the enemy is, there are too many people. If we rush up, we will probably be courting death. Rurik just let us keep an eye on the shore."

"Then why don't we grab a tongue? We can capture a prisoner and give it to Rurik, and we can get some money. Besides, who are our brothers afraid of, who will be afraid of death if they do it?"

Indeed, the Grunds were a bunch of outlaws. Rurik had seen this for a long time, and he gave them a lot of money unexpectedly without really trusting them.

This group of people can act somewhat freely, and they can be placed in the estuary as so-called sentinels, which has the deep meaning of Rurik.

However, Rurik was disdainful to investigate the Pine Needle Manor first. He had already learned a lot of detailed information from other people, and had a clearer understanding of the enemy's possible maximum strength and armament status, so he was very confident. .

This is the arrogance of the king, and Rurik's arrogance comes from his own strength.

But the old mercenaries from Grund's group of twenty dead men still took action.

They carried round shields, wrapped iron helmets with reeds on the spot, and inserted reeds into the gaps in their body mail. They look like a group of green-haired turtles. It is this kind of camouflage that makes the grass cover the reflection of the metal, and they can also hide themselves by sneaking into the reeds on the spot.

They ran to the periphery of Pine Needle Manor from the Great White Paradise and the Emperor's Land, knowing that the enemy was most likely to set up peripheral defenses, but they boldly broke through. The action was completely unexpected by Rurik, and it was a variable.

So what is Rurik doing?

He was busy personally executing the cattle sacrificed as sacrifices, and in front of many Vikings such as Ross, Balmerk, Ostara, etc., he, the "Holy One blessed by Odin", sacrificed Odin.

A sacrificial ceremony is necessary, it has a deep mysticism, and its most crucial meaning is to calm people's hearts.

Everyone always believed in metaphysics, and such a great duke personally presided over the priesthood ceremony, and Odin would definitely be able to pay attention to the feats that were about to unfold, and he would pay attention to who was the most heroic in the fierce battle. People are complacent and have no scruples about tomorrow's total war.

After that, it was the sacrificial activities of the Slavs. They put to death the new cattle, and a group of wizards with feathered heads and faces painted white with chalky mud stood up, dancing and jumping around a bonfire, mumbling words.

Who knows what they're talking about?

Rurik didn't care about that. He was more concerned about the dead cows. Thousands of eyes were staring at the cows, waiting to eat a small piece of meat.

The mighty posture of the Rus army is hidden in the dense cedar forest, and the huge fleet is moored in the Volkhov River. There were a lot of bonfires on the river beach, and the whole area was covered with blue smoke, and they were all covered by the blue sky.

The soldiers ate a sumptuous meal, including roast beef, fish, and porridge that they never got tired of eating. They even ate the dry food they brought with them, especially those who bought the "honey biscuits" baked by Aslaki were also happy to share them with their friends.

All this, Vadim of Pine Needle Manor is still in the dark.

This father-killer self-reliant's power foundation is not stable. He was a user of Pine Needle Manor because he resolutely led everyone to resist Ross. Taking the initiative to assassinate Otto coerced everyone and tore up all previous peace agreements with Ross.

Vadim chose war. He knew that the Russ did not really leave. The opponent must be recruiting troops, but he was also actively planning for war!

Pine Needle Manor has a large population, but unfortunately no iron ore has been discovered in the area around Lake Ilmen. The locals trade in exchange for iron ore or mature iron tools.

In recent years, Ross has started to sell ironware in the area, the biggest beneficiary is White Tree Manor, and other manors have to buy at high prices. As for the poor Pine Needle Manor, the Rus's salt and iron embargo was caused by past acts of resistance.

This is not difficult for Pine Needle Manor, because there is trade when there is demand. The ordinary people of White Tree Manor actually sold some ironware to friendly manors, and those manors were sold to Pine Needle Manor at a high price.

It's a pity that Vadim mobilized the entire farm's school-aged men to take up arms. When he checked his soldiers, he found that the amount of iron equipment was not ideal.

Using a sharpened wooden pole as a spear is indeed a no-brainer.

Vadim was a young man after all, but the son of the seventeen-year-old manor owner.

He could perceive the lack of his military equipment, and was surprised that thousands of soldiers could obey him.

This feeling of being in control and its comfort, so almost instantly, there are a group of women beside him.

How could a prince of Novgorod not have a group of wives and concubines?

A few days ago, he took a large army to cruise around the lake, ordered the farms he passed to be loyal to him, and raised his troops to participate in the war against Rus, so the first thing to do is to act together at the right time to eradicate the White Tree Manor with a lot of iron.

He asked many farms for women to be actual concubines. Due to the military strength of the other side, the farms could only ask young girls to stand up and recognize the new prince.

Just at this crazy move, Vadim's pregnant wife stomped her feet in anger, but what can be done?

Vadim chose five people, Yingying Yanyan beside him, this kid did not hesitate to lift up his robes to be happy with him, including the dead father Borudne who raised two maids. Seven women served him one, and Vadim indulged himself to the fullest. He felt that he was indeed the king of this lake area and could enjoy the pleasures of men.

As for training their own team, allowing them to have at least a certain combat effectiveness can also make up for the deficiencies in all aspects. The leader of the thirty Varyag businessmen from Pskov, Harold, was hired as a coach.

These thirty people are all coaches! They took a sum of money, and Vadim placed two women around them at will.

Just because of the generosity of this young prince, Harold had to do things well, but it was impossible for them to look down on Vadim. "This is the stupid son of an arrogant manor. Brothers do things for you for money. Why do you really work hard with the Rus people."

The infantry tactics that Harold and his gang knew were completely the Viking tradition, the so-called pure barbarian tactics.

He has two axe tricks: First, the brothers form a shield wall and work hard with the enemy. Second, the shield wall is scattered, and the brothers can fight freely with the enemy based on their abilities.

With their excellent physical fitness, this group of people is not afraid to fight with the same number of local Slavs in Pskov, but the local people are obviously more organized than the guys they met in Ilmen Lake. Forcing them to dare not make mistakes.

Harold actually thought about getting the money, so he chose to catch some beautiful local women and ran away in a boat. Look at this stupid Vadim, who gave his brothers a total of 60 young women, saying that it was an entertainment reward, and Vadim was not afraid that his brothers would run away with women? After all, it is not a long journey to Smolensk, following the southern Ruhu River all the way to the south.

They have some professionalism, and they really train the farmer warriors of Pine Needle Manor.

The so-called training is unparalleled, which is to make them gather into a group and rush in one direction in a relatively neat group. Among them, those holding simple wooden shields, hand axes, and iron swords are in the front, and the shieldless warriors behind them are assisted by various spears.

As a result, the screams of killing at Pine Needle Manor were loud, and more than 3,000 armed farmers of all ages were divided into more than 20 groups, under the supervision of a Varyag warrior who could speak a certain Slavic language.

Their shouts of killing didn't spread very far, and their actions were mostly at the intersection of the farm and the forest, just to avoid trampling on the young crops on the farmland by the lake.

As the Ross Army Grund and his group approached, they heard these suspicious agitation in every ear, and instinctively became vigilant.

"They really have an army. Boss, are we in a dangerous place."

"Yeah. If you keep trying to scratch your tongue, you might be courting death."

"No! We're all here. Besides, I was reluctant at first, and it was you who asked for it. Now I have a lot of fighting spirit. You are deliberately retreating to amuse me!" Grund gritted his teeth and took off his shield. , and show everyone the raven pattern on it: "Don't forget our beliefs. Also, that kid Rurik was probably blessed by Odin. If we back off now, it would be bad if Odin got angry. already."

They are life-threatening guys, and the most simple reason for daring to fight their enemies is their worship of Odin.

When Grund said that, the guys were stunned. He added: "You have all spent a lot of money on new iron armor, with iron or bronze pieces hanging on your chainmail, your helmets are stronger, and your shoulders have chain armor for defense. Have you heard that? The old guy Ding was assassinated, and it was because this iron armor was unscathed that this battle was triggered. We rushed up to fight this group of Slavs. "

The brothers squatting in the reeds looked at each other and still felt something was wrong.

Grund shook his head: "Don't say you are timid. Don't worry, our brothers are basically happy for so many years."

But what he said is not true. Many of his accomplices died in Gotland, and some died in Britain. Everyone's career is indeed very legendary, so can the legend continue to be written?

Grund was so stubborn that the brothers had to follow him and move on.

He prefers luck to fall on his head.

This group of Danish mercenaries under Ross can use their own commissions to exchange for the excellent weapons that Ross deserves to have. They are well-known warriors in Eastern Rome.

They can dash out of the woods and grass to attack, and fight with the Slavs.

Grund didn't do that, and his guys were forced to stay on their toes because of the situation.

Why? In the forest where they were hiding, they saw the wasteland near the farmland ahead. A group of men dressed in commoners gathered in a group and charged back and forth with various weapons.

Everyone saw an amazing character, a Viking brother? !

"Damn it, is there someone who worked for this group of people? Vikings don't fight Vikings!" Someone crawled to Grund's side to comfort him.

"Damn." Grund gritted his teeth. "That kid Rurik is so arrogant that he doesn't need to investigate. If our brothers didn't dare to touch this place, how would we know that there are also Vikings in the enemy team?"

"Will you still fight?"

"Fight! Why don't you fight? However, if the Vikings don't fight the Vikings, they all leave their hometowns to eat. Maybe that guy is also a Dane. If you want to fight him, you have to ask your identity."

"This...what if it's a Svealan guy?" someone else asked.

"Then let's not fight! If that kid Rurik is going to be king in Svealand (Sweden), who can stop me, I don't want to get burned. In my opinion, this group of people must be tired when they run around, wait. We'll do it while they're resting."

Like the lions hiding in the wormwood, the wildebeest who are busy grazing are unaware.

More than 200 men from Pine Needle Manor ran for most of the morning, and their movements were more coordinated than the previous days, and they could keep the team running while running. Whether they want to or not, it is every man's duty to participate in the war. Many farmers don't want to fight at all. They are coerced in, just because those who don't want to fight and their families are killed, and fear forces them to take up arms.

Exhausted, they sat on the grass to rest and talk, and then went home to eat boiled wheat.

At this stall, Grund came out with the guys!

Twenty macho men uniformly wear iron armor with many reeds. The guys have raven-painted round shields tied to their left arms and Ross steel swords in their right hands. Thatch still hangs from their tin helmets.

As if grass could talk, they suddenly appeared and noticed their Slavs hurriedly stood up.

Grund and others are ruthless, they wantonly slaughter these unprepared and once unarmed farmers. The steel sword was quickly stained with blood, and their armor was also stained with a lot of blood.

The frightened farmer's first thought was to escape!

Some of his subordinates were about to kill the fallen, but Grund, whose face was covered in blood, hurriedly stopped: "Don't be impulsive, we have to catch a few alive and bring them back to receive the reward."

"Alright." The man put his sword on the ground, knocked him unconscious and captured him in a circle.

It was an uninteresting raid. Twenty sturdy men attacked and defeated the pine needle manor farmer warriors ten times their size.

But that strange Varangian was surrounded by many of Grund's men.

The scene directly fell into an embarrassment that was difficult to explain, just because both sides maintained a state of confrontation and had no intention of fighting at all.

At this moment, someone took off his helmet and shouted, "Hey! Are you a Dane?"

Hearing this, the desperate Varyags also hurriedly took off their helmets: "What? You are also Danes. Why are you here."

"Who did you die for?"

"I only give it to myself, I just take money from the Slavs to do things. I have no grievances with you. For the sake of being Danes, let my brothers go."

"Of course I can let you go." The blood-stained Grund walked over aggressively, took off his helmet and said with a smile: "The Danes don't beat the Danes, we just take money for our masters, and we don't have to fight each other. How? Sit down for a short chat?"

"Alright."

The scene is so bizarre. Many dead Slavs fell to the ground. A group of Danish Varyags don't care about the other's position at this moment. They are all Danes who have left their hometown and meet again to talk about their lives.

The circumstances of the conversation took Grund by surprise. He had no idea that the Slavs had a group of Varyag coaches. And this time, through the introduction of this Danish friend, Grund's group completely understood the enemy's military situation - the main force of Pine Needle Manor was three thousand people, three thousand idiots whose combat effectiveness was worrying! The Rus actually seriously overestimated the enemy.

And the Dane was also shocked that the main force of Ross was not only coming, but also led by Rurik himself.

The Danish king Hafgen was hit by a Rus boat and disappeared into the sea. It must have become fish feed. The murderer is said to be the Rurik of Rus.

"Your financier, Rurik, is going to wipe out the entire pine needle manor this time?" the Dane asked cautiously.

"Of course! Any living thing, including livestock, will be killed. They want to root out traitors, brother, we are all Danes, and there is no point in killing each other, but they are different from the Rus. Rus and Svealan People are a group of people, and you are likely to be killed if you are caught on the battlefield. Go back and tell your boss, we will launch a strong attack tomorrow, you better retreat quickly to avoid accidental injury. "

This was clearly from the bottom of my heart, and the Dane nodded hurriedly: "You saved our brother's life. My name is Karl Krasson, from the Sigurd tribe. I have been out and about for many years."

"I'm different. My grandfather was a fish seller from Hazelby, and I've been working as a mercenary when I came out to roam." Grund said.

"Then we are also neighbors."

"Hurry up and withdraw, I have a suggestion."

"Please speak," said Karl Krasson.

"You all hide first, and then come out after the battle is over. You all work for the gold master, and it's not bad for you to work for him afterwards."

"Thank you for your kindness, we still like the days of freedom. Next we plan to go to the south, maybe we can meet again later. Friends, I have to leave quickly, we will evacuate tonight. Don't worry, we won't do anything about the Ross army. Tell the Slavs."

"It doesn't matter." Grund smiled: "It doesn't matter whether they know it or not, they are all going to die tomorrow. I have to escort the captives back to collect the reward. Let's say goodbye. Goodbye friends, maybe we can meet in the future. Goodbye Hazelby."

They said goodbye, only the dead corpse lying on the grass silently told the horror just now.