Chapter 630 3 Kings (Sincere Thanks to Silver Alliance Leader Ai Ai)

1066, this year, completely changed the history of Britain, ending the long-term terror invasion of the Vikings, and the world of the Anglo-Saxons was completely overturned - this was the largest division in British history. The aliens thus truly dominated their land.

The events of this year forged a new Britain whose language, laws and customs continue to this day.

Some people say that kingship is a divine right, but sometimes military power is just about being in the right place at the right time.

On January 4, 1066, Edward the Confessor, who would be canonized as the Confessor by Alexander III, the Supreme Patriarch of the Universal Church, nearly a hundred years later, was not the more common horse-riding king of this era, but he was a very enthusiastic king in governing the country. The Anglo-Saxon monarch of the Wessex dynasty, who always centered on the interests of the people, won the hearts of the people. He allocated all the surplus from the tax revenue of the treasury to charity, was very generous to the poor and foreigners, and fully assisted the church. Development and construction, and attending mass on time every morning - one can imagine the attitude of this religious fanatical king towards witchcraft and those who were suspected of being witches or witches.

But Edward's reign is coming to an end. No matter how many good deeds he does to the civilians, how many burnings he performs on wizards, and how pious he is to religion, Edward is just a dying sixty-five-year-old at this time. The aged man, half-conscious, lay dying in bed, surrounded by the local vicar and his wife's brother, Harold Gwenson, who was close to Edward and had proven himself in the Welsh battles. Harold was an excellent commander, and he and his three brothers occupied a large area of ​​land in England, and he was basically the "deputy" king of the Wessex dynasty.

The extremely devout King Edward remained faithful to his marriage throughout his life. He had no children, and there was no heir to the throne of the Wessex dynasty.

"You are just a little feverish. God is with you - you have always been a good king. Under the watchful eye of the Almighty Lord, you have protected this country, Amen." Harold Gwenson tried to comfort him with as gentle a voice as possible. He looked at his brother-in-law, who was twenty years older than him and had almost all his teeth missing. He could only open his mouth and breathe tremblingly, but he didn't know if the other party could hear him, "You have created a kingdom of gods here, a kingdom of gods." There is no longer a country of evil wizards, I will help you take care of it, you are my king and my friend, and it is all thanks to you that England now has reliable people to take over."

But to everyone's surprise, the old king was the same as what was recorded in "King Edward", the only remaining manuscript in the world from Allen's time. He, who had been silent and semi-conscious for a long time, suddenly regained consciousness. He walked toward Those gathered around his bed described his previous dream.

"In my dream, two monks appeared in front of me. The fat one was a wizard I had executed before! His method of treating pox was just to poke the farmer with a stick, and he always He is used to conjuring rabbits from the chalice! But now he has made a prophecy to me..." After finishing the first half of the sentence, Edward, who was still very energetic, held Harold Gwenson's hand, and then his expression became full. Frightened, his breathing had obviously begun to be abnormal again, "Within one year and one day of my death...ho ho...ho...the Lord will hand over all my country to...ho...the hands of the enemy." …Following this will come the catastrophe of war… Ho ho… the devil will sweep across my kingdom with fire and laughter…” (Author’s note: The content of the prophecy is except for the 7 ho words I used to count the words. These are all true contents recorded in "King Edward", and they just fit in well with the plot.)

At this time, two hundred miles south of London, a thirty-eight-year-old illegitimate duke was ruling with an iron fist - he was born from the mingling of the deceased Duke Robert I of Normandy and a maid who was the daughter of a tanner. His only son.

From the age of seven, Duke William of Normandy began to evade and resist assassinations and threats from relatives who believed they had more legitimate inheritance rights than him, and continued to strive towards the peak of power, and finally succeeded in inheriting the title.

Now, not satisfied with the title of duke and wanting to become a king with divine right of kingship, he set his goal to become the next king of England.

King Edward had promised William to inherit his throne when William visited England fifteen years ago, although this Edward had actually made the same promise to others for the sake of the stability of his own throne. Harold Gwenson, who was next to Edward, also recognized William's right to inherit the throne of England when he was trapped in the Principality of Normandy.

William was leading some elite knights with similar equipment to conduct combat training - repeatedly practicing charging against a dummy made of wooden sticks and linen bags. The dummy's head was made of a cabbage. The knights are trying their best to cut off as many vegetable heads as possible along the planned route.

William, Duke of Normandy, wore a blue cloak with the hem reaching his knees and the sleeves extending to his wrists. He was a fully armed knight with much longer chain mail than most of this era. There was also a smaller than traditional small coat hanging on the back of his saddle. The buckler is a kite-shaped shield that provides more effective protection.

"Be careful! Look at my performance!" Seeing that one of his red-haired subordinates missed a cabbage, the extraordinarily strong Duke simply gave up his command training and picked it up himself. The spear charged at the dummies, and after stabbing off a few "heads" cleanly, he pulled out the Norman sword tied to his waist, and charged with a high speed much faster than others, moving cleanly and smoothly. The ground chopped off the heads of the remaining dummies on the route.

This caused cheers from all the knights and the servants who were constantly putting new cabbage on the heads of the dummies.

"This is not difficult at all!" William held the horse rope to slow down, turned around and shouted at the red-haired knight who made the mistake just now. It was not until the other party completed the training again that his expression softened slightly, " Don’t let me catch you again! Otherwise, I’ll go back and continue to be your court poet!”

The Normans designated the Vikings and their descendants who settled in the West Frankish Kingdom, and now they have embraced Christianity, learned French, married locals and had children.

They were supporters of the early use of large-scale heavy cavalry in Europe. While most areas were still using shield wall tactics left over from the Roman period, the attacks of the Norman knights were extremely terrifying and quite advanced in tactics. Status - This is due to a series of innovations and improvements in military technology: the Norman saddle was made of wood and the front bridge was raised. Although it was not as comfortable as the previous leather, it made the knight sit more firmly; There are two wide bellybands underneath, one tied around the chest of the mount and the other tied around the abdomen; two leather stirrups fall under the saddle. Norman cavalry was the first to use stirrups in Europe. This allows them to stand up straight on their horses, clamp their spears with their arms and body, and use the speed and weight of their horses to impact the enemy. Although the cavalry before that also used spears, they mostly swung them with their shoulders, and the strength was naturally different.

And to the northeast, about a thousand miles away, lies Scandinavia.

In the Viking lord's longhouse, Harald III, the King of Norway, who was born in 1015 and is a descendant of the blond King Haralda and the son of Sigurd Thor, the chief of eastern Norway, is sitting on a chair and looking at his men. Beating up a civilian who couldn't pay his taxes.

Although Harald Hardrada is over 50 years old, he is tall and has blond hair and beard. He still remains handsome and tall for his age. When he was young, he traveled to many places. With his outstanding appearance, martial arts and commanding ability, he was favored by the Grand Duke of Kiev, Yaroslav I Vladimirovich, and married the Grand Duke of Kiev's daughter, Elizabeth.

The king, who was using a Viking ax as a fan to fan himself, recalled his previous war life. As long as he was willing to pay money, he could lead his men to fight for anyone. Give him a place name, and he would Lead the troops to fight.

Poland? YEP!

Estonia? YEP!

Mediterranean pirates? YEP!

Holy place? YEP!

Sicily? YEP!

Bulgaria? YEP!

He even served as the leader of the Varangian Guards, the Royal Guards heavy infantry unit of the Byzantine Empire for a period of time.

As a result, he was rich, had endless money, and eventually returned to Norway and became king. Although Harald was extremely greedy for power and wealth, something deeper was surging deep in his Viking soul. , who had tried and failed to conquer Denmark, was like an old boxer who had once been a strong and fierce warrior, but that time had passed, and he knew it all.

In addition to treasures and killing people, he likes to write poems on the battlefield. He wants to make himself famous in history in this way and leave records of his victories and triumphs to future generations. And like all great Vikings, Harald understands , the most important thing a person can leave behind after his death is his reputation.

The previous Norwegian king reached an agreement with the Viking king who occupied most of England at that time. "When I die, the Norwegian king can inherit my throne."

So even just hearing the news that Edward was seriously ill already gave him the idea that it was time for the Vikings to reconquer England and become king. From a Viking point of view, their rule over England was It was the same rule as the Anglo-Saxons.

Invading England was what the Vikings were supposed to do, it was in their DNA.

Harald, who was already aware of his aging, longed for one last conquest and created an immortal Viking legend, a legend that would last forever.

The king's thoughts were quickly interrupted by the voice of the civilian who was kneeling on the ground and wailing. UU Reading www.uukanshu． net He stood up holding his ax with some annoyance, and walked towards the poor guy who fell on the ground. The surrounding men immediately dispersed and hid aside to avoid being affected by the king's anger.

As Harald approached step by step, the poor civilian did not even dare to say a word for mercy, "You really should know, I mean, how can you repay me? I ensured the safety of you and your parents, and But you don’t take your responsibilities seriously. You have to pay on time. I can’t help you if you do this..."

With a muffled sound, the king directly used the ax handle to knock him away and fell to the ground. The poor guy couldn't help shouting because of the pain and tried to suppress it because of fear. He kept making strange noises from his mouth and lay on the ground. On the ground, he blindly protected his head with his hands, trying to avoid the next attack.

"It's not that I don't like your screams like killing pigs, but this is enough." The Viking King let himself rest on his axe, lowered his head and looked at the civilian, "Now, crawl on for me. Go home and tell your neighbors what will happen if you don’t pay taxes..."

"I obey... my order... Master." The commoner who couldn't pay the tax just struggled to get up, but his leg was kicked off by the king who was still leaning on his axe.

"I told you to crawl home! Someone, throw him out!" The king spat on the ground and called on his men to throw the twitching commoner out of the longhouse. He did not return to his home. On the throne, he took a large glass of malt wine handed over by the maid - the king did not like to drink the mead that other Viking nobles liked, thinking that it was a bit effeminate.

Harald drank a glass of wine in one gulp, then threw the wooden cup on the ground, then raised his head to ponder for a moment and continued to write poetry.

"Since the acorn came out of the oak tree, I have destroyed thirteen enemies..."