Arik withdrew with great resentment, and his anger was even deeper when he saw that the enemy did not catch up.
He ran to the place where his brothers had left their crossbows and ordered his brother who was still alive: "If you can't take them away, cut off the arms of the bow."
They did not find all the crossbows. After taking away ten, the remaining ones were all chopped up with axes, and the important carbon steel bow arms and crossbow parts were taken away.
Carrying the taunts of the Gotlanders on their backs, they followed the stream eastwards.
Sigfast's warriors surrounded the battlefield, and while moving the corpses away one by one, they were also checking for those who were still alive.
Those seriously injured members of our own side were killed by last-ditch blows, and the Ross soldiers who were still alive became treasures.
The wounded Ross soldier was vomiting blood and dying. Thinking that these ruthless people were still killing like crazy just now, the Gotland soldiers were so afraid that they did not dare to approach rashly.
A Russian warrior tried to stand up again with his hands on his sword. Gotland was horrified to see this man pull out the arrows on his body, a stream of blood spurted out, and he fell down like a big tree.
Only then did the Gotlandic warriors dare to approach.
Siegfast held his sword and scolded his men with disdain, "We obviously won, but you are still so cowardly?"
He continued to move forward, stabbing the newly dead Rus warrior with his sword without hesitation. "Look, I killed him."
The captain of the guard, Grund, didn't want to say anything. Bullying a corpse was not considered credit.
He took the Danish mercenaries to sort out the corpses of the Russians one by one. This job is very easy, just because the opponent is dressed exactly the same under the burqa!
"You! You are not ordinary pirates!" For a moment, Grund felt that he had offended someone he could not afford to offend, and he had the idea of leaving.
Gotland has suffered a major disaster, but the islanders are not fellow Danes. Their relatives and friends are all in the western world. He is fighting for money now and has nothing to do with glory. He thought that he would no longer be able to make a living as he got older, so he would go back to his hometown with his commission to live a good life.
Even if Haken, who proclaimed himself king, recruited a huge army, judging from this encounter alone, the king's chances of winning were not great.
The Russians even had uniform clothes. They must have planned this war for a long time!
A seriously injured Ross warrior was pulled to Grund with his feet tied by a rope.
"Boss, there is a living one. If you chop it down, you can still give it to the donor."
A warrior was being dragged like a dead dog. Grund looked down and said, "Untie the rope. The warrior should not suffer this humiliation. I'll call the man over."
It was indeed boring to assassinate an enemy's corpse. Looking at the pile of corpses piled up on his side, Siegfast was so angry that his teeth ached.
The men came to report that they finally found a living person. He walked happily, twisting his steps as if he had killed a group of enemies himself.
"Where's that damn Ross guy? I'll cut him down."
The financial owner came with a ferocious look on his face, and Grund said hurriedly, "It's not too late to at least ask about the situation of the Ross people before they are killed."
"That's right, that's what I meant."
The only injured Ross soldier who had been hit by multiple arrows felt that he was about to die. His mouth was bleeding continuously, and his blue eyes turned blood red. He tried his best to mumble, but he always said some curse words.
The Danish mercenaries present just stood and watched indifferently, waiting for the donor to arrive.
A sword was inserted directly into the wounded soldier's ear. Siegfast knelt down and was surprised that the man didn't even blink.
"Is this guy dead?"
Suddenly his empty eyes narrowed, and the wounded soldier suddenly spat blood on Sigfast's face and laughed.
"The last bravery?" Sigfast wiped off the blood and shouted loudly, "Russians, your leader Arik, that bastard is now a coward. He was afraid of dying in battle, so he abandoned you and ran away!"
The wounded soldier continued to smile and managed to say, "Aric, he is not a leader, nor is he a coward. He is a warrior. And you... are all idiots."
"A warrior? He is clearly a coward. What else are you talking about? He is not your leader? Tell you everything now."
Ross Wounded knows that the army has landed on the island, and it makes no sense to keep it secret until now. Seeing that this group of guys who boasted of being proud of themselves for fighting against the small, the round-skinned man in front of them could not be called a warrior. It was obvious that this man was the real commander of the Gotland army.
The wounded soldier cheered up: "Our... Duke is Otto! Our real leader is Rurik. Rurik was blessed by Odin. God is on our side."
"Rurik?" This was the first time Siegfast heard this name. This name is indeed very rare in the Nordic world. "Who is this? I've never heard of him, and he doesn't seem to be anyone."
The wounded soldier regarded Sigfast's words as humiliation and said angrily, "He is the one who took your life! He is the one who conquered your island."
"Ridiculous! Tell me, how many people did you send?"
The wounded soldier chuckled again, "Three thousand soldiers, we are well-equipped and have plenty of food. We are going to fight you! Our army is marching, and the target is your... Visby."
Three thousand people? Siegfast was just surprised. He could not imagine the scene of such a large army gathering.
Danes like Grund have seen big scenes in their hometown!
For example, the leader of the alliance, King Hafgen, organized thousands of people to fight against the Svealans in the north and won. Of course, the Gotlanders also sent 1,500 people to participate in the battle.
Grund was in the army that year, and the army captured and destroyed the Ostara tribe. But the Ross tribe did not participate in the war that year, so they only have memories of fighting.
Grund and Siegfast had different memories of the past. Siegfast was focused on the wool trade. It didn't matter that the settlements in the south of the island were destroyed. They had nothing to do with the Danish port of Hezeby and the nearby port of Sirius. The attack on the fur transportation line was a big deal.
"Damn it. Three hundred Rus are a thorny problem, and now they have three thousand!" Grund estimated that defeating such an army was not an achievement that the Gotlanders could accomplish by themselves.
Siegfast couldn't believe it: "Is this reasonable? There are so many people in Russia. This guy is lying."
Grund shook his head seriously, "I don't think a dying person can lie."
"Is he going to die?" Sigfast tried to incite the wounded man to rebel. "Listen, Russian, you are a brave man compared to the coward Arik. Surrender now, I will find a way to save you, and do it for me in the future. work."
"Is there any greater shame than this... shame? You idiot, I'm already dead! Kill me, quickly!"
"You!" Siegfast gritted his teeth, "You don't appreciate it. You want me to kill you, but I won't! I have caused so many people to die, and you want to die simply? You're dreaming."
The cruelty of the Russians is not hidden, and the Gotlanders hate them with all their heart. Nearly a hundred Gotland army corpses were collected, and the corpses were covered with soil to serve as a large pot.
Compared to the Rus or other Vikings, the Gotland Islanders tended to bury their dead, so some of the abrupt mounds on the island were actually tombs. The reason is that this funeral culture was also learned from the Danish Vikings in Jutland.
The injured Ross soldier was cut off by the angry and arrogant Gotland warrior with a dagger, and the sharp blade was still slowly cutting the flag's flesh.
Siegfast half-knelt in front of the wounded soldier, staring at the patient face with a tight mouth. His face showed an arrogant and fierce look, and he obviously appreciated the other person's pain. "Russians, after killing so many of my people, you still want to die quickly? I will kill you slowly, but you can't scream. As long as you scream in pain, your soul will not be able to go to Valhalla."
They are torturing a dying warrior. Look at those stupid Gotland natives. In the battle just now, these guys deliberately stayed at the back of the team and did not join the fiercest battle. Now this group of real cowards are actually here. Bullying the dying warrior.
Grund couldn't stand it anymore, and his men were also talking about the immorality of the donor. He held the sword and silently approached the benefactor, stabbed the injured man in the heart in front of him, and then twisted it to end everything.
"You! Grund, what are you doing?" Siegfast stood up in anger.
"That's enough, my lord."
"It's not enough! You ruined my show."
"You..." Grund couldn't bear it anymore, "Sigfast! You are a simple fool. What is the difference between what you are doing now and that butcher Arik? You are not a warrior at all. .”
"How dare you question me? Watch out if I don't give you money."
Grund's guys came over one after another. They all stood on the side of their eldest brother. As for the financial backer, forget it.
"What? You are all against me?!" Siegfast felt inexplicably terrified.
"No. You are indeed not a warrior. Who would like it if you tortured a warrior for fun? Maybe Loki would like it, but Odin would definitely not. The biggest difference between us and that butcher is that we have a bottom line. You challenge us warriors Bottom line, dirty money is nothing, we would rather find a new owner. I think the Danes in Visby know what you are doing and a lot of people will leave."
Danish mercenaries also play a big role, and this Grund is also a master of slashing.
Sigfast really didn't understand the thoughts of their mercenaries. He was a businessman himself, and now he had no choice but to give up.
Soon, people searching the battlefield discovered some strange weapons. They instinctively knew that they were some kind of bows. After all, there were some arrows scattered around them.
Gotland knew about this damn arrow, and the fishermen at sea were suffering from it. Just now, a brother was shot dead.
Three strange weapons were presented to Sigfast.
Sensitive Danish mercenaries have guessed the use of this weapon.
"Ah! So this is the truth!" Sigfast was shocked, and then screamed in surprise, "Haha, the Russians' mysterious weapon is in my hand!"
Three crossbows were captured, and the broken remains were still in front of Sigfast.
The businessman saw how the weapon was used, which was to buckle the string in a strange position and then trigger a mechanism to launch it.
The bow arm is made of iron, or a kind of elastic iron! The characteristics of the weapon shocked all those who knew it.
Siegfast didn't think much about it. He just wanted to control this weapon, so he tried to pull the bowstring with his hands. Unfortunately, he used a lot of strength and couldn't get the string to hit the mechanism.
The task was left to Grund. This powerful warrior forced the bow to wind with a step. Then, a crossbow arrow was placed in the groove, and the end was stuck by the tenon.
It was also the first time for Grund to play with a crossbow. Fortunately, he was an old warrior and had a high understanding of any weapon: "In this way, I can probably fire it."
Siegfast happily took the weapon, and then casually pointed it at the people who gathered around him. A sudden roar frightened many Gotland warriors to panic and open their arms, and he himself acted recklessly.
"Hahaha! A bunch of cowards, now that I have it, I can easily kill the Ross people. Haha!"
The laughing man pulled the trigger, and the arrow penetrated one man's neck directly at close range, and hit another man's ear.
The first person lost consciousness and died on the spot. The second person's left ear was torn apart and flew away with the arrows. The other person sat on the ground covering his ears and howling in pain. The Gotland warriors were so frightened that they retreated one after another, and the violent vibration of the crossbow also caused Sigfast to take action immediately.
"You actually killed one of your own!" Grund roared loudly.
"It was an accident."
"That's a poor excuse!" Grund picked up the crossbow and said immediately, "Now they are confiscated by me. And you! The king told me to ask the brothers to monitor your behavior. I can't believe that you actually... "
"I...I will pay for it. I just killed someone by mistake. They are all weapons of these Russians. They are cursed."
"Absurd curse! Let's just treat it as an accident! Our mission is enough. There are three thousand Russians. They are all capable of fighting, and they want to fight us. This news must be told to the king immediately, and we have to evacuate."
"What? You mean we withdraw now?"
"Is there any point in staying?" Grund further said, "We must go back early and put the army in order. Our army is very pressed for time. Against three thousand Russians, we must..."
Sigfast interrupted with a roar, "Are you teaching me how to do things? I am the eldest son of the king, and I will be the king of Gotland from now on. I am commanding you, and you must obey my command!"
"Don't you plan to take this news back?"
Siegfast asked, "Do you really believe what the Russians say?"
"This is worthy of belief and we cannot be careless."
"Forget it! They don't have that many people. And you!" Siegfast punched Grund directly. "You call yourself a warrior, then keep walking with me! I want to find the specific identity of the Ross lander. location, and also need to find the body of Arik who died of starvation and exhaustion. I changed my mind, regardless of living or dead, I will take the villain Arik back and hang him up so that everyone can vent their anger."
"This is crazy. Are you going to take these people to fight against the Russian army? Just rely on these so-called elite islanders?"
"Are you worried about me?" Sigfast said angrily, "I want to fight, at least I will attack them hard first. People on the island are afraid of the Russians when they mention it. Now it's up to me to defeat the butcher Arik." Siegfast, lead you to continue to win the battle!"
In any case, Arik did escape. In this battle, 500 Gotlanders died and 100 were killed. The battle loss ratio between the two sides was very unsightly, but the Gotland army did win.
A young Gotland warrior suddenly raised his battle ax and roared, "King Siegfast! Our king!"
This battle at least wiped away the Gotland warriors' fear of the Russian army. In any case, Siegfast was the commander of the army.
More and more warriors shouted "King Sigfast" angrily, as if Hakon had passed the throne to him.
The soldiers supported a "great warrior" who brought victory. Seeing this, Grund also knew to follow the crowd. His eyes hinted that his Danish friends supported his sponsor, and he shouted slogans in a low voice with no expression on his face. .
Siegfast was held in such a high position that he bent over with a smile, even though there were still piles of corpses piled up on the battlefield!
"Keep fighting! Brothers! I learned that the leader of the Rus' people is named Rurik, and there is a guy named Otto. I will lead you to chop off their heads, I will steal their weapons, and we will all be Weiss A better hero! Think about it, so many women are eager to marry a hero. If you follow me, everyone can get honor, wealth and happiness."
Sigfast used some of his trade tricks to organize his army. Not to mention, this method of drawing a bigger pie was indeed effective.
The bodies of the Russians and Gotlanders were buried separately, and two large tombs were erected on the ground.
It was almost evening, and Sigfast continued to advance along the river with hundreds of troops, but the resistant attitude of the Danish mercenaries was very fermented.
"Brother, I don't want to follow this daredevil. The Russians really have an army of three thousand. If we go there, we will die."
"The Gotlanders are good at business, they are not good at fighting."
"When there is a real fight, will we still sacrifice our lives for such a person? The wounded soldier said that the leader of the Rus people was blessed by Odin. Is it honorable for us to fight against such a person?"
"He is right. If the leader of Rus is really blessed by God, what should brothers do? It is very glorious for us to take refuge in the people favored by Odin. We will go directly to the Hall of Valor. Siegfast gave Money is nothing.”
…
They seemed to have ten thousand reasons not to continue walking, which made Grund very embarrassed. Some people's comments made him think more deeply.
"Just believe me for the last time!" Grund urged everyone to follow the large army. "Without the protection of our brothers, if this willful guy goes to fight, he will die. Sigfast is really dead, and so will we. It’s time to consider changing to a different sponsor. It’s better that that man doesn’t die, but we don’t have to worry. There are many people in this world who need the help of our brothers.”
Hearing this, some soldiers who heard the profound meaning laughed. They looked at this group of bold Gotland Army soldiers with ambiguous eyes.
