They seemed to have a hatred for everything. They smashed the wooden chairs in the monastery with their big axes, and hacked at the stone walls everywhere. It seemed that they could find the mezzanine and fish out gold.
Those who first broke into the monastery got some gold and silver, more or less, but most still did not hunt what they had hoped for.
Most of the Viking warriors had to plunder the bodies, taking away boots and belts. Even the black robes and stoles of the priests were plucked off, and the bodies discarded.
More than a hundred people searched everywhere. They reached the southeasternmost exit of the monastery and saw some stone tablets standing here. They took it for granted that this was a tomb.
"Brothers, there must be gold and silver buried in the grave. Let's dig it!"
Someone started, and people from all walks of life began to knock down the stone monuments, and started digging with the shovels they found, and even with their hands.
However, all they found were rotten wooden coffins and piles of bones.
Instead, they found a silver ring and a cross from the skeleton's finger bones.
They even destroyed the tomb of St. Cuthbert, Bishop, just as the monastery he had chosen and built on the site was destroyed by barbarians from the sea.
Even those who didn't get enough wealth looked at the smiling faces of the guys who got gold and silver, and they were jealous and directed their hatred towards the monastery itself.
Finally someone started setting fires!
The so-called holy water is more appropriately said to be holy oil. It is actually an essential oil extracted from roses. This holy water has a strong floral scent, and the floral scent is believed to have the power to cleanse away dirt. The monastery stores a lot of this rose essential oil, which is also used as a medicine, so the monastery is also known as the "Place of Healing".
But these holy oils have become arson agents.
Rurik and his men found some parchments in the confusion except the Gospels.
The book, or record book, is actually written in Latinized Old Saxon. It is a record of the monastery's events and contains details of the monastery's rules and regulations.
Another batch of letters was also seized.
The chaos in the monastery forced Rurik to evacuate, and the few books and documents he needed were taken outdoors.
He held a piece of parchment in both hands and couldn't help but shake his head as he looked at the densely packed text.
"What does it say? Paul."
"A letter from the king, a compliment to the monastery, and..."
Suddenly, Paul's eyes widened and he hurriedly said, "Sir! It's..."
"what exactly is it?!"
"It's a letter from the king. The king is coming to attend mass on the fifteenth of this month."
"Is it a grand festival?" Rurik asked.
"The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a great festival."
"It's so amazing." Rurik hurriedly collected the letter, looked at the already smoking monastery, and shook his head with a tight mouth, "It seems that the king will be disappointed. However, I can also attack him."
"Ah! Sir...you. This is not good."
"What's wrong? Do you think you are a sinner by doing things for me?"
"This..." Paul's hesitation said it all.
Rurik said bluntly with a straight face, "In Northumbria, you are just a lowly serf. If you and those nobles are not the lambs of the Lord, how can they be noble? Are you lowly? I will not take it away from you. Faith. Take these holy books back and I will keep them well. Don’t you still understand your current situation?”
Paul got enough of the hint and said silently, "The king will surely come with the best troops in the kingdom."
"Elite! What I fight is the elite. This is truly glorious."
Paul really didn't know how to evaluate this young man. He was rational, wise, and knew the value of the holy book, but he was also crazier than those barbarians.
Attack the king? How arrogant this is. He knew he had no way out...
Lindisfarne Abbey still has a lot of wooden structures, and the smoke from its marvelous spire became more and more serious, and finally the red flames filled the sky.
Taking all kinds of things they grabbed, the Viking army hurriedly fled the monastery. As for the dead, they were naturally buried in the monastery.
People stepped on the road that was about to be submerged due to high tide, and everyone retreated to the coast and retreated to the camp next to the boat mooring.
There were only a dozen people in the army who sprained their arms and bruised their skin in the chaos. They retreated with almost no casualties.
The beach was full of people sitting, some were happy and some were upset.
After all, this is really a robbery based on skill, and those who seize the opportunity will naturally gain the most. For example, Geiger of Vashoby caught a lot of Frankish silver coins. Since the Floki brothers were also involved, he had to share it with the chief family and some with Biyoni according to the agreement.
The heads of various families gathered together to communicate with each other about today's gains.
Indeed, some people complained about showing off. The excited Biyongni boasted of his great glory. He patted his chest and boasted of capturing and killing a big shot. He also made fun of Rurik's persistence in parchments.
"My brother Rurik said those written things are the most precious! The Russians are indeed a little different from us, and maybe that is indeed very precious."
After that, everyone laughed.
Laughing too, those who did not get rich continued to shout, "I want to keep fighting! I want to go south and keep exploring."
Someone immediately echoed, "The prisoner of Lord Rurik, didn't he say that there is Bamburg in the south? That is a city. We can fight there, and everyone can make a fortune."
As soon as they hear about the opportunity to make a fortune, everyone ignores that their ships may no longer be able to carry more treasure. People are greedy by nature, so who would dislike getting too much treasure?
People became interested and stared at Rurik.
"You don't laugh at me anymore? Do you want to listen to my opinion again?" Rurik scolded deliberately.
"Sorry, brother." Biyongni asked, "What do you think if we attack that Bamburgh."
"Not so much. Since you choose war. Everyone! I like war too. Now I have learned something big."
"What's the matter?"
Rurik grimaced: "You are busy robbing gold and silver, and I have captured a letter. I have learned that a festival is approaching in this kingdom, and the king himself is coming to the monastery."
"Is it a sacrifice?" Biyongni immediately became alert.
"Exactly. So, we can intercept and kill them. We may fight their strongest army and get a lot of treasures."
Suddenly someone slapped their chest: "Why are you hesitating? My people haven't grabbed many treasures. I won't go back unless I get rich!"
"Then fight! Fight them openly! Odin hopes so, this is our destiny." Biyoni's shouting resonated with everyone, and Rurik said nothing after seeing this.
Although he didn't know what he would encounter, Rurik estimated that the Kingdom of Northumbria could be forcibly reduced to the Danfa Zone. Coupled with the recent war, the kingdom's military equipment and national strength must be unbearable.
The strongest army? The king's bodyguard?
Then set up a battle line on the beach and have a decisive battle with the king's army!
Although the men under his command were not elite Russian troops, they were still warriors carefully selected by the Balmoks.
These people's personal weapons and equipment, which were once very rudimentary, have been greatly improved due to the victory in the battle.
The King of Northumbria will surely come. Rurik vaguely remembered that it was the legendary king here who killed Ragnar, which triggered a fierce attack by the Viking army. Is that king's name Ella?
No, Ella is probably still a young man or even a teenager.
The king's name didn't matter to Rurik, nor did the other warriors. Maybe it was not good to be too relaxed, but none of them were Rus. Rurik knew that he could only mobilize those family leaders and force ordinary soldiers to do something, which was really inappropriate.
People began to build their own camps, and a sudden rain made the world bleak.
The rains extinguished the monastery's fire, and the messy courtyard was a daunting sight. The Vikings had to hide in the occupied old military camp, huddled in wooden houses and waited for the weather to clear.
The rain continued for two days and the land was still muddy. It was not enough for people to just eat wheat. They began to fish in boats and went hunting in the woods with captured bows and arrows.
The fifteenth day is getting closer and closer, and it seems that the threat of war is approaching.
They are not preparing for a battle, so Rurik can slack off.
Because of his in-laws and personal relationships, Rurik was able to mobilize a total of three hundred people from Biyoni and Geiger.
War should not be a group fight based on individual use of force. Since a large number of spearheads were captured, Rurik simply trained this group of people to form a long-haired team.
New wooden poles were tied to the spear heads, and three hundred people formed a spear team. The team was training, and Rurik sent Yevro to simply train the group in two movements, which were nothing more than walking in a group with spears, and following orders to point the spearhead in unison.
He knew that Bruce of Scotland, with a group of barefoot farmers and a large number of so-called spears made of just sharpened oak wood, defeated the English mail cavalry on a suitable battlefield.
Compared with those farmers, these Balmoks have a clear sense of teamwork. Moving the shield wall is a specialty, but if you switch to a spear, it will also be a spear push.
What is different from the emergency training here is that the other Vikings are either lazily watching the show or hunting and fishing.
Some people even ran very far away in an attempt to find wild boars and kill them, but they ended up encountering Northumbria's mounted scouts!
In the encounter on the forest trail, only two scouts were besieged, one was killed and the other was captured.
The neatly dressed soldiers immediately stripped off their equipment, and after being beaten again, they were taken away barefoot and undressed by the Vikings like prey.
As for the two rare riding horses, they were taken away.
The prisoners were escorted to Rurik, a situation that caused the whole camp to explode.
Many people believed that war was about to happen and imagined that a large army was coming to kill them. They were not afraid at all. Instead, they felt that they were a group of idiots who were giving away gold and silver and were ready to be killed.
Rurik has a "translator" Paul beside him. After a few days of contact, Paul has been forced to learn some Norse vocabulary. This is not difficult because Old Saxon and Norse have so many things in common.
After learning that he was killed and roasted by his fellows on horseback, Rurik felt speechless and did not want to ask any more questions.
He directly interrogated the prisoner surrounded by many family leaders. The trembling man had no integrity at all and directly confessed the important information.
The so-called King Aynred of Northumbria was coming to the monastery in person to attend the festival. The king is very particular about grandeur when he travels. In addition to a group of capable guards, he also has to bring a group of treasures and attendants with him.
The family leaders were overjoyed, but Rurik had to be particularly vigilant.
Someone shouted: "Haha, their king has arrived in Bamburgh. We killed this most noble man to show Odin our strength."
"Yes! This is the greatest honor."
"I can't wait. I want to kill a hundred enemies."
Some even called: "It's a waste of energy for us to stay here, we row to Bamburgh. Kill them and gain wealth!"
But there are also leaders who are more prudent, because they don't want to suffer too much loss. If they can fight more with less, they will naturally insist on doing so.
The family leader hoped that Biyongni, who had the largest number of troops, would come up with one. Biyongni and Geiger said that Rurik was the master in this area.
The prisoners were pulled down, and they were deemed to have lost their use value and were killed directly.
After all, Rurik had experience in commanding large battles, and the Balmok people believed that this was not bragging.
He stood up and faced everyone: "You have all heard that they have cavalry! I advise you to be more vigilant. Fortunately, I am also prepared."
However, Rurik's words are like playing harp to a cow, because those who don't know the power of cavalry at all.
Of course, Rurik can't say that he has rich experience in this regard. He has never fought against the cavalry personally, and all his knowledge of the cavalry can only be described as talk on paper. It would naturally be effective to deal with the infantry's spear array by paying more cavalry, he hoped so.
Rurik continued to shout, "Let's not talk about the cavalry. Their king has been waiting for us to occupy the monastery, which is the report of the previous escapees."
This statement caused some people to look down upon them and sarcastically said, "Are we afraid of cowards? Why? Even if they gather people, I will fight them here and chop off a hundred heads."
People were talking and laughing again, and optimism permeated the entire camp.
This is simply a danger signal, but what is the enemy's specific strength and armament? Rurik couldn't quite believe what the prisoner said.
After all, it was just as the prisoner said, two thousand people. This kind of force was nothing.
The Kingdom of Northumbria quickly assembled a regular infantry of two thousand men, but Rurik did not believe this. Britain in this era was just a group of peasants led by lords and capable retainers to fight, and the battlefield would be filled with sickles, dung and forks. Only a few cities are guarded by standing troops with acceptable equipment. However, these city defenders have proven their weakness with poor combat.
The only thing Rurik was wary of was the cavalry. Thinking about it carefully, there must not be many cavalry in the kingdom.
Just deal with the cavalry properly. Forget about the farmers and the standing soldiers who are better than the farmers.
Reason told Rurik not to take it lightly, but the more he thought about it, the more he looked down on the enemy.
Who will win between a thousand strong Viking men who take pride in killing their enemies versus two thousand armed farmers with farm tools?
They were full of confidence, and Rurik sat down again, "We will just wait. The enemy may have two thousand people, or even more."
"Then kill them all. One of us can kill ten of them." One person shouted confidently.
Biyongni nodded, "Indeed, we still have some powerful weapons. We may have killed two thousand enemies in Edinburgh and here, and our losses so far are less than a hundred. This time we will prepare again to use the utmost strength." Kill another 2,000 of them to save losses."
From what Biyongni said, it was so easy to kill the enemy. Everyone thought so, and Rurik could only agree.
After learning the basic intelligence of the enemy, Rurik and the people he could directly mobilize began to actively arrange the battlefield.
The people of Geiger and Biyoni were the most stable, and Rurik persuaded the one hundred fishermen in Shetland, saying, "You just want to get rich and don't want to fight head-on. You should stand behind my line with bows and arrows. If necessary, Shoot arrows for cover, and I will give each of you a silver coin after the war, as well as peace and kindness from us Russians in the future. You are also qualified to clean up the battlefield after the war."
The people of Shetland do value their lives, and if they really wanted to be Bergen warriors they would not immigrate to the islands. They are indeed afraid of fierce battles, so it is a good thing to be an archer.
Rurik wanted to recreate the decisive battle on Gotland, but the scale of the battle was greatly reduced.
He began to pile up wooden platforms on the flat land near the sea, and then piled them up to suddenly create a ramp. Ten torsion slingshots were densely placed on five platforms with a height of only about one meter. Together with their own height, they were just above the heads of the soldiers in front.
As a flexible weapon, the trebuchet can move at will by pulling on the rope.
Ten trebuchets, ten slingshots, and nearly eighty crossbowmen. The three hundred people holding spears were the core of the battle. When necessary, they threw the spears and put on the shields behind them, instantly becoming a classic defense force. Beijing Sword Shield Hand.
All the family leaders could clearly see that Rurik of Rus did have the means, and the army was trained to be more impressive.
But is this really the case? The approaching enemy is nothing more than a farmer coming to the rescue. Killing the peasants can only be the glory of victory. Only by killing the king's guards and stealing the king's baggage vehicles can huge wealth be obtained.
Rurik and the men decided to wait for work, so the other brothers were the first to attack and join in the plunder. He always had a hunch that his conquests should not always go so smoothly. Those family leaders and their subordinates who went their own way and did not obey orders might suffer in future battles.
