Rise of Rurik - Chapter 1392

[Chapter 1,491 The Last Journey of the Ross Navy]

On a new day, the Stone Ship Altar in Gothenburg is crowded with people under the rising sun.

People have learned that the crucial priestess is the countess. As the deputy of the eldest daughter of King Rus, her status has already been extremely noble.

This time it was the first time that Velica in Gothenburg fulfilled the responsibilities of the high priest, and Blackbird participated as deputy priest.

Many accompanying priests, young and beautiful in plain white robes, each stood beside the stone pillars that formed the altar to oversee the ceremony.

The people involved in the work of the priests must not speak nonsense, lie, or blaspheme, and nobles like blue foxes must watch quietly from the side.

Lan Hu also wanted to find out how his fiancée looked like after studying in the Grand Temple for a whole year.

Blackbird was seen holding a short sword with an amber hilt. She was obviously holding her breath as she approached the cow whose hoofs were tied with cables and forced to lie on its side against the altar.

“Gods! This is our sacrifice to you. May you give us strength…” Verica wore a gold-plated iron helmet with large reindeer horns on her head and continued to shout praises for the gods, especially Odin. To thousands of people, she spread her arms in praise of the sun.

At a critical moment in the chanting of the prayer, she gave the sign of the blackbird, who was holding a sword at the ready.

At this moment, the girl who had received the order suddenly closed her eyes, and she stabbed down with her raised sword hands.

In an instant, the sacrificial cow was bleeding profusely. The blood spurted all over her body, and her hooves almost broke free from the rope.

All the stone pillars were splashed with cow blood, and many priestesses were also shocked to pay attention to this exciting move.

Blackbird, the performer of the ceremony, seemed to be holding the hilt of the sword with her immature hands. She stared angrily at the struggling sacrifice and gradually fell into a calm state. When the bull’s eyes lost their luster, she gradually showed a winner’s smile.

“She really dares… to be a priest. Just like us…” Blue Fox knows her identity best. It’s hard to imagine that the frail princess still had a ferocious soul hidden in her weak body. .

Not only was she not afraid of killing a cow alone, she was still immersed in excitement, as if killing was a happy thing.

Talking about the vicious and eldest daughter of the empire, Verica, the blue fox still remembers the way she acted coquettishly beside her father. This time, she held a sword alone, threw away the belly of the cow, took out the huge beef liver, and declared, “Gods bless me.” , the whole set of movements is smooth and smooth. It is obvious that she has practiced too much in the great temple as the next generation of high priest.

The great temple in the capital is a sacred area. Except for the main hall where the gods are worshipped, it is open to the public. It is a serious sin to trespass in other areas without invitation.

“You are a qualified high priest, you are Valkyrie.” Blue Fox sighed deeply…

Killing a cow for sacrifice is a luxury for the poor Yotalan people. They also find it difficult to understand the grand occasion of King Rus’s “Ninety-Nine Deer Sacrifice”.

Killing the cow itself is an act only performed in grand sacrificial rituals, and the person who performs it is obviously a girl of noble status. A different kind of bloody romance is surprising and exciting.

Therefore, the official deputy priest of the Kingdom of Rus, the next generation of high priest, and the eldest daughter of the King of Rus announced that the expedition was officially blessed by the gods. People went crazy and they were already celebrating their victory in advance.

For the first time, the people of the entire Göta River Basin were completely united. Compared with the internal consumption of resources near the river, it was far less enjoyable than robbing the wealthy Franks.

But Frank is, after all, the legendary Big Mac, the monster who once forced the Danes to give in.

Even if Frank’s myth of invincibility has been denied, the Jotalans are not yet confident enough to feel that they can quickly defeat this behemoth that cannot be underestimated by relying on their own strength alone.

As the expedition received blessings from the gods, everyone’s worries disappeared.

Gothenburg must win!

Wienerstadt must win!

As for the inevitable casualties of the war, the soldiers have been mentally prepared. If they die in battle, it is fate. If they really die in battle, they will be sacrificed for the great action of King Rus. The soul of the deceased will surely ascend at the moment of death. To Valhalla.

“Do you want to live a poor life for decades as a fisherman, or do you want to make a fortune while you are young?” This question is on everyone’s mind, and all wise people choose war.

It was another new day, and the Gothenburg Army and the Wienerstadt Army, which had prepared their own dry food, weapons, and living supplies, boarded the ship one after another.

Since he happened to meet his brother’s Nassau transport ship in Gothenburg, Blue Fox also asked about the situation in the south. He learned that his brother and his brothers, with the help of the first expeditionary force, plundered the area near Metz City. .

“Hey, is there no way to deal with the huge stone city? Why shouldn’t the king be angry when he knows this? It doesn’t matter, after the navy arrives with heavy weapons, the torsion trebuchets and engineering blowers can destroy the city!”

Blue Fox boasted that he knew Rurik very well, and he also knew that Count Metz was a powerful enemy of the Ross forces in this civil war.

The Frankish Aachen Palace was sacked by his own troops. Why couldn’t Metz conquer it?

How many other fortified cities like Metz were there in the Franks?

There is actually a city that the Russian regular army cannot conquer. Its existence is a provocation. Can the king tolerate it?

Blue Fox was a little anxious. He was not in a hurry to urge Goldlund to lead the entire army to leave immediately, nor did he urge him to speed up while sailing.

After all, he had led troops to sack Trier and along the Saar River, and he had a vivid memory of the complex hilly and mountainous scenery there. He also knew that as long as he arrived at the ruins of a Roman palace named Conze and continued south along the river, he would soon reach the city of Metz. .

Attacking Metz requires long-term planning, and as the climate continues to turn colder, matters related to this battle cannot be rushed.

“I have to plan a strategy for Rurik. When I see him, I will encourage him to attack Metz. It is best to leave that city empty of humans and animals after it is captured, as a blood sacrifice to Odin.” He thought so, completely ignoring it. Among the many small statues of gods hanging around his neck, one is a sterling silver cross.

The number of troops gave Blue Fox great confidence. Based on his understanding of the Frankish world, if he alone led the Gothenburg Army, it would be enough to create huge chaos in the south, and then fish in troubled waters to make a fortune.

Now he estimates that the army under the command of King Rus can reach ten thousand people, and an unprecedentedly powerful fleet is currently waiting at the port of Gothenburg.

Next stop!

The mouth of the Rhine River!

The promised date is today!

The rituals of sacrificing sacrifices to the river gods and sea gods have ended, and it is time for the entire army to board various ships and set off for battle.

The low horns sounded one after another, and the earth and forest seemed to be shaking.

The Jota River was densely packed with longships. In this battle, the Jotalan tribe gathered almost all their combat power.

For them, this expedition can only be won but not defeated.

They sang inspiring songs, shook their oars so happily, and then collectively drifted towards the Denmark Strait driven by the calm water.

How could it fail?

Not even the possibility of setbacks exists.

Because these Jotalans have truly seen the strength of King Rus’ regular army, they have also used force to defend their homeland. More than 200 warriors were easily annihilated by the Rus’ army.

That was actually only three years ago. The hatred caused by the friction of the battle was finally bridged by unprecedented benefits. It was a good thing to be conquered by Ross. In this way, by following the strongest man, you can definitely eat fat at a very low cost. So far, they have become solid supporters of King Rus.

Excluding the Götaland army that has arrived at the mouth of the Rhine and whose strength is still unknown, the existing strength of the Gothenburg Army and the Wienerstadt Army is close to 2,000.

Because some people made a temporary plan before the army was about to set off.

No more quiet winter in my hometown!

Bring the prepared food (mainly dried fish) and follow the blue fox!

As a result, a group of weirdos appeared in the army. They generally wore exaggerated beards. Because their beards were gray, it can be estimated that the age of these guys was no longer optimistic.

Are a bunch of old men going to fight for Odin too?

Are they so noble?

It is obvious that he hopes to get some loot while he can still fight, and the reason is so simple.

The more such troops that do not need to provide logistics, the better. As for the chaos caused by their wanton plundering, any chaos can be done as long as it does not interfere with the actions of the Russian regular army.

Taking this into consideration, Goldlund agreed that Brother Blue Fox had recruited such a large group of poorly equipped and armed fishermen in his fiefdom.

On the empty Denmark Strait, the morning sunlight made countless sails shine white.

The hill-like Ross battleships were centered on the Sea Monarch. They first used sail destroyers to clear the way, and then moved forward in a wedge-shaped array to seize the wind. A large number of armed cargo ships carrying various supplies followed closely behind.

And this is only a small part of the Ross fleet. Behind all the large ships is an overwhelming number of leading warships. Nearly a hundred ships belonging to the Yotalan tribe have joined the team, making the fleet’s strength seemingly doubled.

It is very simple to distinguish who is the main force of the Ross army and who is the vassal army. The ships of those vassals are all sails, unlike the Ross army which mainly uses spinnakers.

An unprecedentedly large fleet appeared on the Baltic Sea. Five thousand people of various colors shared all the ships. There was no enemy in front of them, and even if there were enemies, they did not dare to resist.

Standing on the bow of the towering flagship, Admiral Goldlund looked around. Whenever he saw the same thing, he would be intoxicated with a sense of pride derived from absolute violence.

He sighed to Blue Fox with an arrogant attitude: “Even if Jörmungandr appears, our fleet can destroy it.”

“Jörmungandr?” Goldlund reminded the blue fox, and he was so startled that he almost rushed forward and covered Goldlund’s crow’s mouth.

“Jormungandr has appeared before. Three years ago, we attacked the enemy’s army in Bremen. On the way back, we encountered a strange storm and hundreds of brothers were buried in the sea. You… don’t challenge the power of Jormungandr.”

“Hey. Whether it’s Jörmungandr or Egil, or the Kraken of southerners’ legend, as long as they dare to appear, the javelins we launch will let the monsters know who is Misgard (the known human world) ).” Gothlund dismissed the ominous talk, for the priests had announced that the expedition was successful.

Blue Fox no longer struggled with this issue. He hoped that the good weather would continue and that the rest of the voyage would be smooth overall.

They continued sailing, easily bypassing the western coast of Jutland, and officially rushed towards the West Frisian Islands, which were arranged like a necklace of gems.

This place is already called Friesland in the broad sense, and the Frisians live here, and now they live with their new identity as residents of the Netherlands.

“Are you going to Hamburg again?” Blue Fox asked Goldlund.

“Is it necessary to go? Go to Rotterstad early.”

“I think so.”

After a brief discussion, the two decided that the Grand Fleet would not visit Hamburg. In fact, if the fleet rested in the Elbe Bay, they could meet Rurik by chance before sending an envoy to Hamburg.

The navy did not visit Hamburg, let alone Bremen, which was still in ruins, and there was no plan to send a partial division to Groningen.

They continued to travel during the day, and at night they randomly found a small island in the archipelago to land and camp.

Their presence immediately attracted the attention of the Danes fishing around them, and some of the islands were no longer uninhabited.

Thanks to the information provided by these Danish fishermen, Blue Fox and Goldlund had already learned some important information before they arrived in Rotterstad.

Among all the intelligence, there is one that is extremely weighty – the Danish King Ragnar and his army that invaded the British Kingdom of Wess*x have planned to spend the winter in Rotterstad with a large amount of loot.

If Rurik was plundering the Frankish world, could Ragnar stand by and watch?

No!

He will decisively lead troops to help the situation, and will announce in a high-profile manner that he and Ross have formed an alliance. In fact, he wants to gain wealth at a low cost in the melee.

Blue Fox boasts that he has dealt with Ragnar a lot and has a much deeper understanding of him than Rurik.

No matter what kind of character that guy has, he doesn’t have Rurik’s broad-mindedness, let alone profound wisdom. He is best at leading a group of desperadoes to rob homes, but he has never thought about building and developing his own Kingdom of Denmark.

Now Ragnar is the king, and his title has only been upgraded from “Great Chief” to the higher-level “Konig”. In the end, he is still just a nobleman like the previous Danish rulers such as Godfrey and Hafgen. recognized military leader.

“If you are old and unable to fight, and can no longer lead your brothers to plunder and make a fortune, they may no longer recognize you as the King of Denmark. Fortunately, your two sons are receiving education from Rus, or the lame Yi Val, or wiser, Bjorn, can inherit your power. What a lucky berserker you are.”

The Blue Fox’s evaluation of Ragnar is that of a berserker.

This guy reminds one of Rose’s famous ruthless guy Arik.

Arik and his close friends are all in Smolensk now, and the blue fox can guess that Rurik, the king of Rus, intends to exclude his cousin.

It makes sense for him to control the newly conquered Smolensk, but it is a pity that Rus’s most famous berserker missed the expedition to Frank.

In this way, the glory of defeating the Holy Empire will not belong to Arik, but all the glory will belong to the King of Rus and the Rus regular army loyal to him.

At least Aric’s eldest son Askard was still in Rotterstad, and the blue fox knew very well that the son had captured a Lombard woman of similar age and with a certain amount of old Roman ancestry.

That woman has been trained to serve others. How can such a professional person not make Askard feel comfortable?

That is a beauty. Maybe if you go back and take a look, you will find that the woman has already given birth to a son for Askard and a grandson for Aric.

Thinking of these blue foxes, he had to think more, and he also considered his fiancée, the blackbird.

If Blackbird and the woman named Alicia met, would they hug each other and cry?

Or do they look at each other and feel like strangers?

What is certain is that they all have a new life…

After passing the Elbe Bay, the huge fleet floated on the sea for three full days. The long voyage went without any trouble. The weather was indeed getting colder, and the wind turned to the north wind like fate.

The morning was so cold that paddling became a quick way to warm up quickly.

Because of the north wind, the soldiers no longer had to strain their muscles and bones. The entire army was able to sail at a high speed of more than 100 kilometers every day. Especially in the final stage, the coastline area ran north-south, and the sails of any ship under the north wind could sail around. With the most winds, the fleet speed also tends to the extreme value.

Like the Sea Monarch, which has a full load displacement of over one thousand tons, this honest Galen ship is also experiencing rare violent surges on the sea.

Therefore, in the Rhine estuary area, the Danes, Swedes, and Götalanders seized the opportunity to fish at the tail end of the warm period throughout the year. The fishermen of the Count Landers, like no other, noticed the behemoth coming from the north.

They saw a huge ship belonging to the Ross Navy that they had never seen before. There were more than one coming. It seemed that they were all dispatched. A huge ship was approaching quickly. People could only describe her as Jörmungandr. huge.

The fishermen gave up fishing and casting nets. Since they saw the Ross flag flying everywhere in the fleet, they were completely safe friendly forces, so they all went over to watch the fun. The fishermen stood on the boat one by one and watched the warship sail away quickly. , UU Reading www.SonicMTL.net paid attention to the Sea Monarch.

After seeing the main force on the densely packed long boats, the fishermen picked up their jaws and rowed quickly to keep up with the large force.

The matter is now very clear. The “second expedition of the King of Rus” that has been rumored in Rotterstad for more than a year is a fact.

Based on past knowledge, everyone knows that the King of Ross has always been generous enough to welcome all northern warriors to voluntarily join, and form a coalition with Ross to attack powerful enemies and make a fortune.

The customs and customs in the Rhine Estuary area have become Nordic. Those Catholic believers do not dare to criticize the “Norsk customary law” practiced here based on the treaty. They can only comment on the local worship of Odin, Thor, Freya and other gods. Be able to remain restrained and watch.

This place has its own order, and all Nordic people maintain apparent harmony within themselves. However, this place is full of sea wolves who cannot get enough to eat. If Ragnar, Red Fox, Grund and others did not try their best to control their own people, there would be nothing. The problem of uneven distribution of spoils has caused small-scale fights to occur every day in this area. Fortunately, the fights have never turned into large-scale conflicts.

It can truly unite a diverse group of people who can only speak Norse, either to resist foreign humiliation or to unite to attack powerful enemies.

Obviously, as the Ross Navy successfully arrived at the mouth of the Rhine River, the restless local people instantly had a backbone, which was to carry out the war to the end.

In this way, fishing disputes, buying and selling disputes, and spoil-sharing disputes are no longer problems. As long as we plunder wealth in the new war, all our past conflicts can be ignored.

Red Fox, Grund, Askard, Henry Nassau, Baudouin II… all kinds of local nobles with varying strengths are waiting for the Ross fleet to dock and land.

[End of This Chapter.]