The wooden walls of Fort Voscar were breached, and after the city was breached, it was time for the victors to rejoice.
Those soldiers who stepped on the enemy's corpse to re-enter the gap naively thought that after the city was broken, the enemy would become a standing lamb, and the enemy should obediently accept the slaughter.
Unexpectedly, what greeted them was the trapped beast Youdou of panicked soldiers in the fortress.
There are not many armored Danish mercenaries anymore, but there are still many armed Voskars. There was only one simple thought left in their minds - to continue to resist.
Some of the lightly-armed attackers who rushed in were stabbed and killed by the spearheads of the fortress defenders. The ones who charged the fiercest were the first to be killed.
"Stop it all! Don't be impulsive!" Winderson, the leader of Yermalen, tried to give orders. However, his roar was not easy to use among the rebels.
Only when more warriors were stabbed to death by the gathered defenders did they stop attacking.
Although the fortress was breached, the battle situation within the wooden walls was even more stalemate.
Karl and his "black warriors" originally intended to rush in at one go, completely overwhelm the enemy and then start a killing spree, but now he has no chance.
Look at the faces of these enemies!
Men and women, armored and clothed. Most of them were armed with simple spears, and some women even just held a wooden stick high.
They gathered in a circle, with various weapons pointed outside. Under the dim light were the faces of this group of people full of tears in grief and anger, as well as some corpses lying at their feet.
As more and more people entered the fortress, why didn't the Swedish coalition with its absolute strength take the initiative to attack?
After hesitating for a while, Karl finally calmed down. He felt that his soldiers had adjusted their mentality, so he raised his sword and cursed: "Brothers, charge me!"
However, even the elite "black warriors" of Melalen did not dare to act rashly.
Why?
They are never made of steel. Even if they are wearing chainmail, facing the enemy's "hedgehog formation", rushing into the formation rashly is courting death. Even forming a shield wall to advance is dangerous.
"What are you doing standing still? Kill them all!"
"Are you all cowards? Or is it because there's a woman in there?"
"Quickly destroy the enemy and end all this..."
Karl yelled and cursed one after another, and even pushed him personally, but he was unable to stir up another offensive.
The other tribes saw that the most powerful Melalen people were not attacking and that their own weapons and equipment were actually poor, so they no longer took the initiative to wade into the muddy waters, even though everyone knew that the buildings behind the enemy must contain huge wealth.
The Russians had no choice but to arrive late. Otto and Rurik, with a group of mercenaries, finally squeezed into the battlefield inside the fortress from the friendly forces. Although the strange confrontation scene was strange, the friendly forces did not attack, so the Russians had no choice but to be spectators for the time being.
Fortunately, the Russians just kept pushing forward.
Otto twisted his body in the crowd to clear a path, while shouting: "Get out of my way, we Russians will continue to attack."
No, he was afraid that the friendly soldiers would become the target of public criticism, so they hurriedly and subconsciously avoided it.
Like Rurik, he was still short in stature and finally stood on the front line of the war.
He didn't have the slightest fear, or in other words, the concept of "fear" no longer existed in his mind.
The continuous fighting made his heart as hard as stone, and he ordered mechanically: "Brothers! Line up! Three lines!"
This time, Carlotta, Fisk and Kanuf, three little warriors who didn’t know what danger was, knelt down on one knee and raised their wooden crossbows, pointing arrows at the angry enemy.
Carlotta is also like a machine, her gold threads are flowing in the wind, her plump sweaty cheeks are pressed against the wooden support, and her crosshairs are aimed at the enemy in the hedgehog formation. mercy? Worried? nervous? Everything became meaningless, and she became an emotionless warrior waiting for Rurik's orders.
Not just her, as long as Rurik gave the order, more than a dozen arrows in the first row flew immediately.
So from the perspective of the Voskas people, those who once nervously withdrew from the wooden wall were already very aware of the half-kneeling enemies in front of them and the deadly weapons they were holding. It must be some kind of bow, but it is more lethal than ordinary bows.
In fact, many attacking soldiers hope that the Russians will immediately release arrows to break the confrontation. It is best to sweep everything with continuous shooting.
Rurik did not do this after all, just because it noticed the arrogant Karl.
"Boy, this battle is very important to you! If I continue to take away your achievements, will you be jealous of revenge?" Rurik decided to wait and see for the time being.
The Ross warriors had not received the shooting order for a long time. Many people saw their young leader, whose eyes were obviously looking at Karl who was dancing not far away with his sword raised.
The farce of the confrontation finally took a turn for the better at this critical juncture with the appearance of a big shot.
That was Olegin, the first king of the Kingdom of Sweden in this time and space.
He walked out of the crowd carrying his sword. He stood directly between the two armies without any escort.
Until now, the war has started, and even the Swedish coalition forces don't know the exact identity of their enemies. Similarly, the residents of Port Voskas don't know who the attackers are. The two sides are fighting in a confused but bloody manner.
The advantage clearly lies with Sweden. Olegin raised his arms, and the entire battlefield became quiet for him. The only sound in the environment was the crackle of burning houses.
"You ordinary Danes! I am the King of Svealand! You crusade and kill my people, now I will crusade you!"
As soon as this statement came out, the desperate Voskas people were in an uproar! They immediately started talking, buzzing like wild bees.
Olegin's sword pointed at them again: "You Danes of Kalmar! Today I will kill you all!"
Kalmar? Who is Kalmar? This is not Kalmar at all!
At least they heard the determination of this group of Svealans from the north to "kill them all". The desperate women holding wooden sticks threw the sticks and fell to the ground unconsciously, while a man yelled at the top of his voice: "Then... Come and fight! Even if there is the last Voskas left, we must fight to the end!"
However, there are individual Danish mercenaries in the Hedgehog Formation, and they are aware of the subtlety of the situation.
If this guy with a golden crown, reminiscent of the Danish leader "Hafgen the Lion", is the King of Svealand, and he wants to kill everyone, why bother lingering here for a long time?
As mercenaries, we are not slaves of a certain family. Our relationship with our sponsors is essentially a business transaction. Metal pays wages, and brothers work hard for it. If the situation becomes critical, everyone will run away at the worst. As for bravery or not, the mercenaries are more concerned about saving their lives.
An armored Danish mercenary squeezed out of the hedgehog formation. In full view of everyone, he took off his helmet, revealing his golden hair and beard. He threw down his battle ax and shield, and also took off the cowhide belt that carried his dagger.
He opened his arms to show that he was not a threat, and approached Olegin slowly and cautiously.
Karl, who was standing on one side, always felt that something was wrong, but in his heart he really hoped that these reckless enemies could successfully assassinate his father without warning, so that he could take over on the battlefield.
A seemingly non-threatening man approached the king, and the tribal leaders all stood still and watched nervously.
Otto made some preparations. He ordered Rurik and three rows of mercenaries with crossbows to line up. All arrow clusters were always aimed at the enemy.
Everyone soon saw this scene. A man in chainmail knelt down on one knee about five steps away from Olegin and gave a warrior salute to the old man wearing a golden crown.
Then the man said in Norse: "King of Svealan, this is not Kalma, this is Voskas."
"Huh?" Olegin was stunned for a moment and took a step back subconsciously.
In fact, as the battle became more intense, Olegin began to feel more and more that this place might be Kalma. The news he learned was that there was also a wooden castle in Kalma, and the locals were wealthy and strong.
Could it be that this is not Kalmar, but some strange place called "Port of Voskas"?
Olegin was actually very satisfied with this soldier's humility. Looking at these guys who persisted in resisting until the end, he suddenly had the intention of recruiting them. Of course, the premise was that they were willing to make a hint of submission like this man.
Origen simply sheathed his sword and continued: "Warrior, tell me your name."
"I am Francis, I am... Danish."
"You! Dane?!" Olegin's slightly calm heart suddenly became tense again, and his relaxed right hand grasped the hilt of the sword again.
However, this honest mercenary, Francis, was still half-kneeling on the ground. He himself knew that he was on the verge of death and was trying desperately, but it was worth risking his life.
"My brothers and I are from Denmark. We are mercenaries. We only serve noble people. King of Svealand, we are willing to be your mercenaries and fight for you. I will kneel here and you can Kill me immediately, but you will lose a reliable warrior."
A witty guy who can speak beautifully, his words directly hit Olegin's itchy flesh. "You and your brothers are both willing to surrender to me?"
Beneath the silent appearance of the mercenary Francis was an inner ecstasy. He randomly sent a signal to his men, and the nearly fifty Danish mercenaries who were still alive immediately threw away their axes and shields and knelt down in front of Austria wearing only their chainmail armor. At the feet of Lejin.
Olegin had lived for more than fifty years, and he had never seen such a scene in his life. The enemy's elite warriors actually admired his own dignity and put down their weapons to express their submission.
Even though these guys are from Denmark, it seems like they don't want to be Danish anymore.
Olegin continued to ask in detail and completely understood the difference between Voskas and Kalma.
It turns out that there are many settlements in this narrow sea area, Kalma is the largest one, and the others include large strongholds like Boriholm. After hearing this unprecedented information, he had to think about his own troop strength for a moment.
At this moment, Olegin realized for the first time that his 3,500 Swedish soldiers were no longer as powerful and indestructible as he had imagined.
"Okay! Francis, and you Danes. From now on, you are the Malarens, my mercenaries. Your chainmail will soon be coated with ink, and you are my soldiers!"
"Oh, then I am now... your warrior." After all, Francis knew nothing about the Melalen tribe.
As a mercenary, you have to work for your financial master. Now, as long as you still have money to change your master, why not do it? Besides, it seems that the new master is powerful, and if he can directly work for the new master, he will at least have a better future than working for a wealthy businessman.
This act of recruiting traitors felt really familiar to Rurik who was watching the whole process.
"Oops, do you, Olegin, also know how to win people's hearts? I thought you were just a greedy person."
Rurik still felt that the people he obtained through this so-called recruitment were definitely not really loyal people. If the kneeling people expressed their surrender, was it not a temporary measure for them to attack the city?
Karl also had the same worries. As the crown prince of the Kingdom of Sweden, he rushed towards his father: "Should we recruit them? In my opinion, they don't want to be killed. They are only worthy of being humble slaves."
"Bah! They obviously admire my military prowess." Olegin glared at his son fiercely.
Karl pouted and angrily shouted: "Father, wake up! Do you still want to recruit those people? If you had known this, why didn't you persuade them to surrender earlier?"
"It's not too late now."
The Voskas were in chaos, and now the most elite Danish mercenaries joined the attackers and turned into enemies. Their former Danish merchant master was furious, and the morale of the Voskas was completely shattered.
They were almost all waiting for the fate of being killed until Olegin "generously" offered to avoid death.
The so-called throwing down their weapons immediately, handing over all the wealth in the fortress immediately, and all men immediately swearing to fight for the Swedish army can avoid death. In fact, this is not only to avoid death, but as long as the person expresses surrender, he and his family do not have to be slaves.
Their morale collapsed completely, and the perpetrators offered an "olive branch", which they grabbed without hesitation.
In just an instant, the Voskas people threw down their weapons and knelt on the ground one by one. Some men were pushed out and crawled in front of Olegin, swearing that the entire population of Voskas Port would never recognize the Danish leader again. He is the master, and he will respect the King of Sweden as his new master, he will pay tribute every year, and he will fight for him.
The battle was obviously going to end completely with their surrender, a situation Olegin had never expected.
He once felt that the only way to deal with those guys in the south of the old Ostara tribe was iron and blood, and he never thought about making peace or integrating them. Now, he feels that in future battles, he can first try to persuade them to surrender.
After the Voskas were immigrants from Gotland after all, Olegin was eager to recruit a group of warriors to make up for his battle losses. He indulged in the scene of his enemies surrendering and worshiping, forgetting the collective betrayal of the residents of Gotland. . As the saying goes, "The biggest lesson that mankind has learned in history is that it cannot remember lessons." Olegin didn't care about this. He wanted thousands of people to worship him, and he also wanted to expand the battle. Even if the situation became complicated, he still wanted to defeat Karl. The horse completes the combat goal, otherwise it will be a tragedy in life.
Fortunately, Karl has a clearer mind on this issue.
It cannot be said that Karl is smart, but that he does not believe that the Danish mercenaries who fought hard in the evening will turn into loyal guys when the moon rises. There are also the fishermen of the Port of Voskas who are in ragged clothes and have mediocre fighting capabilities. Karl is not willing to admit that these guys have the same strength as his Melalen people.
Since it was his father's decision, it was hard for Karl to refuse, but traitors like them needed a certificate of surrender.
The battle to attack the Port of Voskas lasted for four hours. The overall time was not long, but the intensity of the war was also the first time the Russians had seen it.
The surrendered Voscas people faced their devastated homes. They began to carry the bodies of the dead, pile them on fishing boats, pile them with firewood, push them into the sea and burn them. They no longer had the right to return to their homes, so they had no choice but to obey the orders of the victors, take their wives and children, and huddle together in the longhouse where Danish merchants stored their goods.
As for those women whose husbands died, because they did not receive any protection, they suddenly became the playthings of the victor.
Olegin's men also counted more than twenty pure war orphans. They were both male and female. It seemed that being slaves was a burden at the moment. At least the Malaren Army didn't need them, and in the end it was the Russians who took over.
As for the goods in the longhouse, that is, the hoards of wheat, dried meat, leather and linen, they all instantly became the spoils of the victor.
Their own house, which had not yet been destroyed, became the residence of the victors, and the hungry Swedish army received the supplies they had dreamed of, enough for everyone to fight for more than ten days.
Where do ordinary residents have so much surplus food in their homes? The wealth of five Danish merchant families was completely plundered, and the merchants' families were also tied up. Why did a small number of noble-dressed people kneel in the empty space inside the fortress, and thousands of Swedish coalition soldiers were watching the subsequent execution.
Including Rurik, who led his mercenaries to collect the arrows and slingshot projectiles, and Otto, who directed his soldiers to carry wheat (the army rations allocated to the Russians) from the merchant's warehouse, all saw the so-called "The Danish Mercenary's Certificate of Surrender" scene.
By this moment, Olegin had already set the target for the next battle, which was to attack Boriholm, which is located on the narrow island (Oland) not far away. With the guidance of the renegade Danish mercenaries in the new battle, the army will not take any detours and can be prepared before the new siege.
How to prove that the betrayal of the Danish mercenaries and the Voskas is credible? They need sacrifices to prove themselves.
What's the point of keeping a fat Danish businessman? Without their property, these people are just a bunch of useless trash.
"Go and prove your loyalty!" Olegin left the large forest ax used for logging on the ground, and the mercenary Francis picked it up.
This man walked towards his former master without blinking his eyes, and his whole person had a sinister aura.
The businessman, who knew that his family would be destroyed, yelled: "Damn traitor! I gave you money, but you betrayed... You will not die well..."
Francis raised his ax and dropped it, and the businessman's hideous head rolled down randomly. Immediately afterwards, the merchant's wives, concubines and descendants were also killed by Danish mercenaries.
Do you feel guilty for killing your former financial financier? Absolutely nothing. Francis and his guys can be described as a group of desperadoes. They only want money and their own happiness. A large number of their partners died in the battle. They can only say that those people deserved such lives. Life is short, and they just want to live happily one day at a time.
The renegade fishermen of Voskas also had to prove themselves, and they started with short spears and closed their eyes. Because they really couldn't do anything, in order to save themselves and their families, they just did it, and then they screamed and screamed in a psychotic manner.
"It's so sinister." Rurik commented with goosebumps all over his body. He did feel a touch of coldness, and was also surprised by this scene.
Otto shook his head and said deliberately: "As a mercenary, you are not loyal to your sponsor. This is not a mercenary, but a group of desperadoes, and they are not worthy of the title of warriors."
Rurik suddenly realized that his father was talking like this because there were a large number of mercenaries in the Russian army. His father was trying to hit Yevro and other mercenary warriors with words.
"But Olegin and Karl are not really noble." Rurik said in a hurry, "I have the protection of God. Those who die fighting for me or who are loyal throughout their lives will directly enter Valhalla, while traitors will fall." Enter the endless nether world.”
Duke Ross and his son sang in harmony, and the mercenaries present were actually happy that they had followed the right master.
Otto asked Jevlo casually: "Have the projectiles been collected?"
"Duke, most of it is done. We fired one hundred and twenty rounds of pellets, and now we have found one hundred rounds."
This number also exceeded Rurik's expectation. "Okay, cast iron projectiles are a weapon for destroying ships! I'm afraid we will still need them in the future battles to attack Boriholm and Kalmar."
"Keep fighting..." Otto sighed. He always felt that in order to conquer Fort Voska, most of the coalition's momentum had been lost, and it was no longer appropriate to continue fighting.
Otto's words revealed worry. Wasn't Rurik like this? He estimated that there were as many as 300 coalition soldiers killed in this battle (injury basically means death)! Note that these dead were all warriors from the Svealand plains, and the possibility of their betrayal did not exist.
But among the newly recruited people, there are still 400 people who can serve the coalition forces. Will they really go all out if they have the certificate of surrender?
This is the big unknown.
Because both Rurik and Otto were sure that the coalition forces would be able to correct themselves at the Port of Voskas for at most two days, and then due to the renewed shortage of food, they would swarm towards Borgholm and continue looting. By then, the newly recruited guys will definitely be the main attacking force! After all, these people died in large numbers in battle, and Olegin and Karl had absolutely no regrets.
