Rise of Rurik

Chapter 1188: The Russian Army captures Maastricht

Some of the soldiers maintained their oars to ensure that the boat would not retreat with the current, while the rest of the soldiers put on their chain mail as quickly as possible. Especially the elites of the First Banner Team of the Standing Army, they have to help each other put on the heavy and strong breastplate armor. This move will take some time, but for the sake of safety, Blue Fox doesn't want to have too many unexpected losses in the big city in front of him.

The elite Ross army served as the vanguard, and the Maas River, which was more than 100 meters wide, was blocked by the Ross army in blue-striped white robes lined up. Once again, the rear troops were helpless if they wanted to take the lead.

"The biggest church? How much gold and silver do you have? How much grain does this big city have?"

The blue fox was full of energy, and suddenly realized that the soldiers were wearing too rough clothes, and had to run to the bow of the flagship, drew their swords and swung them, calling for everyone to hurry up.

It's really uncomfortable to be urged, Grund gritted his teeth and cursed at his guys.

"Hurry up! Otherwise the gold will be taken away by others!" Only this sentence is the most deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

It is difficult to put the linen lining on the sweaty body, and it is also difficult to put the chain mail on the slightly sore arms.

The whole army didn't even have time to rest, and spent most of the day struggling to paddle, and only ate some dried fish meat and dried wheat cakes halfway through. The fighters were only a small challenge, but a terrible ordeal for the young men of the Seventh Banner.

Askad could see the fatigue of his boys, he refused to admit defeat, this time he had just put on the chain mail, before he had time to put on the helmet, he stood up and called on the boys to hurry up with his voice changing the flag .

However, some armies just don't obey.

An army has already begun to rush to the beach with long boats. Anyway, it is not far from the city, and the landing troops can rush over on foot to seize the opportunity.

Bjorn, Duke of Mälaren, was invited by Rurik himself to defy public opinion and must bring his own army to participate in the expedition. However, other nobles in the Lake Mälaren area did not want to go to the capital of the Franks for various reasons. Drum grass.

This is the pride of being a king.

After all, Bjorn had been the king of Sweden for a year. Even though he was an interim king elected by the nobles, he chose to "abide" due to the situation.

Rurik said last autumn that when he launched an attack on the Frankish world, nobles from all walks of life could plunder with their own abilities.

What the blue fox didn't know was that the Mellaren army behind the fleet was very impatient. Bjorn's yelling was washed away by the wind and the noise of the personnel.

"Don't wear armor! Go ashore with or without an armor. Anyone who grabs gold will be theirs. Let's go!"

Bjorn's longboat rushed to the beach first, and seeing the Duke set an example, the brothers immediately followed.

After all, many of these Mellaren soldiers owed debts in their hometown, and the best way to settle their debts was to rob other people's property.

Are the Franks strong? is very strong. However, if it wasn't for their main force to fight in the plains, as long as everyone invaded their settlements, it would be very easy to plunder and make a fortune.

Bjorn, who landed, took the lead, and he himself put on the chain mail on his upper body, and took the lead in the charge in the posture of a warrior. Behind him are a large number of warriors wearing only civilian clothes or barebacks. The round shields of the soldiers are painted with various patterns, and the weapons they hold are mostly axes and short spears. Most of them don't even have iron helmets.

Such an army is not the elite of the Mälaren tribe in Sweden at all. After all, Bjorn’s dispatch of troops is "overcoming all opinions", which means that many big landlords of this tribe also lack confidence in the expedition. Jon can only bring a group of poor tribal people to fight.

Perhaps, the poorer you are, the more determined you are to fight?

The march has been smooth and smooth, and I haven't fought Frank's elite until now. Perhaps this is the opportunity given by the gods to the brave.

This lightly-packed Swedish army was followed by a group of "vultures", many of whom were Utrecht fishermen dressed as Vikings. Such people make simple round shields and join them with harpoons and axes. Look carefully, the so-called Viking warriors, their shields are not round, and the axes they use are not Nordic hook axes. True Nordics are aware of tricks, but the residents of Maastricht know nothing.

All of a sudden, the west bank (left bank) of the north-south river was screaming and killing, and a large number of warriors with shields were running towards the city on the flat wheat field in a jogging posture.

They don't care about these trampled oats. After all, with action planning, there will be no autumn harvest until the war is over.

On the contrary, the flat wheat field is the most suitable for soldiers to advance.

Bjorn had organized his men to try to keep a flat cover, in order to prevent the defenders of the city from facing the shield wall when they appeared.

"What's going on? Why did they attack first? They don't even wear a stomach? It's crazy!"

The blue fox turned his head and was so angry that when he realized that the intruders were all Swedes, he cursed a few words angrily, then poked his head out and yelled at the army that was still dawdling: "Don't worry about the **** beast! Sweden! Men have charged, all of you advancing at once."

However, the lone move of the Swedish Mälaren Army has caused a chain reaction, and the five Gotaland nobles believe that this is the offensive the commander wants.

In principle, the Gotaland army is the army of Blue Fox's own vassals. They also landed one after another to follow the tail of the Swedes, which really surprised him.

Let's go and give it a try. 】

Forget it, let's attack directly after the matter has come to this point.

"This city..." Blue Fox stared again, "I hope there won't be a large number of elite troops stationed here. I'm going all out."

The armed cargo ship originally intended as a "mobile arrow tower" was loaded with heavy weapons and some Finnish longbowmen. At present, it is not clear that Maastricht has any overreaction, as if the city is not fortified.

The de jure count of Finland, Kelha, is just a teenager, and now he is leading two hundred Finnish longbowmen into battle, but that's not all.

The longbowmen on the big ship immediately got off the small boat from the rope ladder, and then immediately landed and assembled. It also includes the armed sailors on the ship. Their identities have been changed to the Navy, and now they are more like the existence of the "Marine Corps". Accompanied by a group of engineering soldiers who landed, the battle turned into a surprise battle. There was no time to carry heavy weapons, and all the engineers took part in the battle with crossbows.

This long-range support force, whose strength expanded to nearly 500, gathered on the shore for a while and then rushed towards the city.

With this whole team time, the most elite thousand Russian troops have already begun to rush to the beach.

However, when the elite flag team of Grund and Askad launched an attack, Maastricht's counterattack took the lead in the north of the city.

The thousand armed refugees who were supported by Archbishop Gregory received such spiritual encouragement.

"Go and fight the devil! Your souls will be saved. I forgive you and your family all the original sins, and your souls will go to heaven."

Ordinary people have never received such courtesy from the archbishop, and they rarely have the opportunity to meet the bishop.

The humble people became noble in an instant, and then they took the weapons composed of all kinds of farm tools and rushed to the dangerous north of the city first.

Maastricht, the inner city, the lower city and the slums outside the city are all on the left bank of the Maas River. In the sudden attack caused by the Swedish army walking alone, the army landed on the left bank and rushed over the north gate of the city.

The archbishop only had this few people, although there was still a military fort in the city, and there was only a centurion stationed in it. When the attack happened, the centurion who stood on the high place, after his head cleared up, didn't care about being surprised. Considering that he would never be able to defeat these foreign attackers, they urgently brought soft clothes, and gave up the station they were supposed to be stationed at. fortress.

The existence of Frank's tiny garrison was originally only to assist the army to cross the bridge and river. They are not elite, and it is more appropriate to call them the miscellaneous services. They have no interest in this Maastricht, and the archbishop is paid by his brothers.

The centurions evacuated one after another, smashed the stables in a hurry, moved all the horses out in the astonishment of the stablekeepers, put on the saddles urgently, and fled towards the south of the city.

They abandoned the city and fled, but in a panic, they dragged the stablekeeper and the horseshoe blacksmith onto their horses to join in their escape. They didn't run away randomly. The horse team passed through the crowded streets and alleys of the slums, knocking over some civilians and even knocking innocent passers-by aside.

At this moment, the city has not fallen into absolute chaos. The north of the city is already in chaos, while the people in the south and west of the city can only hear the rumbling noise and the dull sound of horns.

The reason why the cavalry evacuated to the south was an escape. The fortress of Liege in the south has an equally small wooden bridge, and there are more garrisons in the area, and the fortress defense is better.

It was not safe to go to Liege, the Meuse was full of Norman longships, the first time they had ever been so inland. They are not good people, and only the elite army can annihilate them.

The best way to save Maastricht, which is in crisis, is to send a message to the army stationed in the Brussels fortress. Only the local military officers have the ability to solve the crisis.

The little soldiers have no way and no right to think big, and these fleeing cavalry want to escape to a safe place.

And the flight of city dwellers has already begun on a small scale.

A thousand city guards, led by junior priests, all stared at the huge black cross carried by the black-robed priest and rushed to the north of the city.

They believe that divine power will protect all people and they will defeat their enemies.

The priests lived in this way, and the lower the priests, the more pious they were. As soon as these selected city defenders walked out of the chaotic streets of the slums, they saw huge shields pressing towards them in front of them in the open space.

At the same time, the appearance of armed men did not surprise Bjorn, who had been on guard for a long time.

He has seen many big scenes, what kind of rotten fish and shrimp are the armed men in front of him? There is also a big fool in a black robe, just like that Esquier, who is foolproof with a cross on his shoulders?

Nojorn does not think belief in God is foolish, he is a moderate man when it comes to faith.

But just like whether you believe in Odin, Thor or Frey, you can't really hold up the symbol of the gods to ensure that you are invincible.

"Shield wall!" Bjorn roared, and then he himself took the lead. First, he and the personal guards raised by his family formed the first group of shield walls, and the rest of the troops quickly followed suit.

The round shields were stacked on top of each other, pressing on them at a moderate speed.

And those city guards suddenly burst out of courage. When the little priest holding the cross walked forward in the posture of a martyr, they rushed up holding the scythe, the long-handled flail, the felling axe, and the pitchfork. .

"Accept the impact! Stack shields!"

Following Bjorn's order, the soldiers in the second row put their shields on the shields of the soldiers in the first row, thus firmly receiving a fierce impact.

The shield wall formed by the warriors paddling for most of the day was really knocked open, but this was indeed the only achievement of the city defenders.

The hand-to-hand killing has begun.

The Swedish Mälaren army, followed by various Danish fishermen, Utrecht fishermen, and the rather large Gotaland noble army, they all threw themselves into the battlefield of the shield wall melee, and immediately had an overwhelming force advantage.

These taller and larger Nordics can temporarily suffer due to fatigue. With the stabilization of the ground, Bjorn began to advance steadily. He could clearly see the steeple of the cathedral in the city, and he called on the soldiers to be brave during the chaotic battle: "People of Mälaren! Kill the enemy in front of you! Break into the church! Take your gold!"

Warriors are inspired, while city defenders are dying in horrors they have never seen before.

Slashed in the head by a hooked axe, pierced through the back of the head by a short spear, pierced by a broad-edged iron sword...

Their only victory was to defeat the invading Norman army by relying on numerical superiority, and now the so-called numerical superiority no longer exists.

When the blood of his comrades was stained on his face, the awakened city defender thought of running for his life.

When morale fell to a critical point, the battle in the north of the city was meaningless, and the guards fled, followed by the Swedish Mälaren Army entering the slums first.

At the same time, the attack on the east gate of the city by the main force of the Ross army has begun.

The panic in the whole city has already begun, and the people in the slums outside the gates are fleeing.

However, those who were unable to walk due to hunger, faced the strange army in blue-striped white robes rushing towards them, many of them showed silly smiles, as if welcoming their own death with a smile .

But Grund, without any resistance, asked his veterans not to do anything to a group of poor people. This is not because he is kind, but because the people sitting by the cramped huts are in rags, and robbing them probably won't even touch a copper coin.

"Follow me to the gate of the inner city with all my strength, and break in while they are still open!"

The soldiers only wanted to plunder gold and silver. They took advantage of the last town, and they will take even more advantage this time.

And this kind of frenzied move was completely learned by Askad's Seventh Banner Team who tried to follow up.

The stinky boy continued to utter wild words: "Those old guys are going to steal our gold again. Don't worry about the idiots on both sides of the road, we can't lose to them!"

The young soldiers tried their best to follow, and behind them, the Finnish army, engineers, landing navy, and even Yinvar's Danish army who were carried by small sedan chairs joined the offensive in person. Blue Fox himself was among them. Except for a few people who were responsible for watching the ships, most of the soldiers launched raids from two directions.

Even the supreme commander, Blue Fox, will go to the east gate with his own elite. The east gate is facing the wooden bridge, and there are few buildings in the slums and the lower city. I saw Grund's elite quickly go from under the thick stone wall of the inner city, and suddenly found that the wooden gate here has been closed.

The strong warrior slammed into it like a savage bull, but there was no response, so he resorted to the simplest and rude method - smashing.

This is an ordinary wooden door. It looks heavy. How long can it last under the smashing of a long-handled carbon steel forest axe?

Faced with this situation, the army has already prepared plans, UU reading www. In the standing army of uukanshu.com, there were five giant men with a height of nearly two meters. They stood in a row and swung their double-edged giant axes to smash the wall forcibly.

The narrow inner city of Maastricht is less than 300 meters in diameter, and the four gates have been closed. At this moment, the archbishop has no choice but to gather in the cathedral with all the priests and residents of the inner city, praying to God and hoping for a miracle .

So far, it can be said that the entire city is completely undefended, and the city has fallen. As long as the gate of confinement is smashed open, everything is over.

Finally, under constant blows, the bronze clasp that held the hardwood latch was smashed off.

it's all over…

It was the Ross elite who took the lead in breaking the city. At this moment, there are as many as 1,700 troops of various colors gathered outside the east gate.

The Ross army in blue-striped white robes swarmed into the city, rushing towards the largest cathedral with towers visible to the naked eye like a tide.

Of course, there is more than one church and monastery in the inner city.

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