Even if war breaks out, the true servants of the Holy One will remain in the holy abode. If the war brings disaster here, then everyone will enter heaven as martyrs.
Eskil's monastery is located in the city of Hedeby. This unique building has been stocked with food and water for a long time, but no one had ever imagined that a free and ownerless city would encounter war.
Many young priests asked Eskil whether the war had spread here, and all they received were boring answers.
"As long as we pray sincerely, the Lord will bless us."
Esquier led the priests to celebrate mass, and at least the monastery had been peaceful since the war broke out.
Of course, this was not because of the kindness of Stade who came with the troops.
The old guy Eskil has a high status in Frank, but he is used to the days of asceticism. He disdains dressing up too luxuriously. The so-called heart has been dedicated to the great Lord, and the glory of the world is not important. He does have his own shortcomings, and his devotion to the Lord is recognized. It is precisely because of this that he himself is not afraid of war at all.
His only worry is that the war will really hit here, and the rebellious soldiers will destroy the monastery, causing a heavy blow to his cause of spreading faith in the north.
What’s even more heartwarming is that the other side of the war is actually the Russians!
"New foreign forces, even though you are Danes, you should not touch the interests of the Russians. The war will continue, and the Russians will take revenge..." While lamenting the uncertainty of the world, he also passed on the order to remove the East Frank Lutherans. The flag of the Vichy prince was hung at the door of the monastery, and another flag showed the identity of the Count of Hamburg.
Is it a sacrilege to hang a flag symbolizing worldly power in a pure-hearted sanctuary?
He repented to the Lord and asked Him to forgive his transgression. He later had a strange dream, in which he was bathed in a pure white world, followed by a golden light that almost blinded his eyes, followed by a burst of low and incomprehensible words.
Perhaps this was divine revelation, and the act of flying secular flags was condoned in order to avoid disaster for the monastery.
Is that all?
He also gave the order to the teachers: "Open the door so that the poor lambs can avoid it, give them food and water, and lead them to conversion."
The more chaotic the situation, the more opportunities there are for missionaries. Eskil was not stupid enough to look for dying lambs to save during the fiercest battle. The war seemed to have calmed down, and he was fully prepared.
There were shouts of death throughout the day. Will the Russian fortress collapse? They have persisted for a long time, which fully proves their strength.
This war completely disrupted Eskil's plans. He pessimistically believed that his plan to go to Russia to spread his faith had been ruined.
The ground of the abandoned house was shaking. After a while, a wooden board was pushed up. The fat blue fox narrowed his helmet and got out with his head covered with dust.
He had to be cautious, fearing that this location would also be searched by the enemy.
Seeing that no one was around, he pulled the injured Wadi out, and immediately began to untie his belt, trying to throw away the useless chainmail.
"Sir. We... escaped?" Wadi could no longer care about his injuries, his survival instinct now taking precedence over everything else.
"Not yet, we have to wait until dark first."
"Is it safe to wait until dark?"
"Only God knows!" Blue Fox didn't want to say more, and ordered Wadi to take off his useless clothes. It would be best for the two of them to dress up like poor civilians, which would make it easier for them to escape.
It was still very dangerous to stay at the exit of the tunnel. Fortunately, the complex and uninhabited shanty town of Haidebi was very suitable for escape.
The smart man took his family and took refuge long ago. The two of them got into a small empty house and curled up like mice. Naturally, they successfully avoided the enemy's subsequent detection.
Because the hidden escape tunnel was discovered not long after!
The Ross mercenaries fought to the last man. When the entire army was wiped out, a pile of enemy corpses lay in front of them, and there were also the groans of the wounded.
The power of the cavalry's short-distance sprint and impact is very powerful. A wall-mounted attack will cause a heavy blow to the standing person regardless of whether it is an enemy or friend.
In order to attack a small temporarily renovated fortress, he paid a terrible price of hundreds of casualties. Stade was still frightened when he recalled the battle just now.
Horse hooves nailed with iron horseshoes trampled the dead. Stade on horseback looked down at the crazy warriors who were still staring at death and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "It would be great if you were my soldiers. Are the people of distant Russia extremely worthy of your allegiance?"
It was at this time that the victorious gangster army rushed into all the houses in the fortress. To everyone's surprise, people who were eager to make a fortune saw only empty houses. They opened wooden cabinets and boxes, which were either empty or filled with rags. They began to smash the floor with axes, hoping to dig out the cellar where gold and silver were hidden.
Not to mention, it was their chopping and smashing that destroyed the wooden planks at the tunnel entrance.
The ecstatic gangsters jumped down one after another, thinking that this was the entrance to a cellar full of wealth.
On the other side, Stade's men were actively cleaning up the battlefield.
The armored soldiers who had seen the world were very knowledgeable. They saw the swords scattered beside the corpses of the Russians. In the Franks of this era, steel swords were extremely rare, and bards would not hesitate to praise a certain steel sword as a creation of God.
The soldiers were all picking up steel swords, which reflected the unprecedented bright orange light in the setting sun.
Someone who was good at flattering smiled and presented a steel sword with a gem-encrusted hilt to Stade.
The moment he took over the sword, this battlefield veteran realized that his old sword had become useless from that moment on.
The old sword is not unusable, but it is completely meaningless compared to the captured sword.
He turned his sword back to himself, and suddenly saw his blurred beard, and he couldn't help but be shocked and trembled all over.
"What kind of sword is this? It has gone through a fierce battle, the blade is not bent, and the surface is as smooth as water, but I actually see my face?!"
After sighing with emotion, he urgently ordered his subordinates: "While those idiots are searching for gold and silver, let's quickly pick up the good weapons."
The armored soldiers had to obey Stade's orders and were not allowed to plunder gold and silver without orders, so they had to suppress their inner desires.
Some soldiers couldn't hold it in anymore and raised their heads and shouted: "Sir, is there anything more important than grabbing silver coins?"
"Idiot, there is no gold or silver. The Ross sword you picked up, I dare say is worth a hundred gold coins. Do it quickly, otherwise those gangsters will fight with you."
When Stade entered the fortress, he had a premonition that this place was not a place where gold and silver would be hidden. Moreover, there was news that a Russian fleet had fled long ago. If there was really a huge amount of gold and silver, they would naturally follow the fleet. escape.
Looking at the current situation, the gangsters who were rummaging through the boxes made a loud rumbling sound, and some gangster soldiers rushed out with sad and resentful faces. Is this the expression of someone who found gold and silver?
The gangsters found nothing, but they discovered a secret escape tunnel and saw a helmet and chainmail removed at the tunnel exit.
Some of his subordinates explained this situation to Gray Wolf Karl, but Karl was completely immersed in anger and did not even find a copper coin.
Night was falling, and hundreds of corpses were lying on the cramped battlefield. It had been a while since the battle ended, but some of the wounded were still alive. Will Stade rescue these gangsters? Pooh! Firstly, there is no obligation, and secondly, there is no medical treatment. In this era, only the Eastern Roman Empire had a rescue corps, and the Franks were almost indifferent to the wounded on the battlefield. Only devout priests would pray and chant sutras for the lightly and seriously injured. Whether they survived or not depended on the Lord's will.
Studd and his unscathed army moved away from the pile of corpses and camped in a house near the ruins of the previous fire. They lit a bonfire and continued to eat dry food. They had a good rest and planned to clean up the mess tomorrow.
Soon, after walking through the battlefield full of corpses, the gray wolf Karl and his little brother who suffered heavy losses walked towards Stad's camp with unquenchable anger.
The Stade troops who had taken off their armor realized that something was wrong, so they didn't care too much and hurriedly picked up their weapons.
The captured steel swords gleamed under the fire, and the polished lances moved forward in unison.
This move really made Karl even more angry. The severely bald man cursed: "Stade! You are a liar! There is no gold or silver at all! I have killed so many brothers and I haven't even gotten a single copper coin. What do you want?" …”
"What are you going to do?" Stud put on a suit of armor and walked out of the dark corner with his sword. Seeing the aggrieved and angry look of Gray Wolf Karl and his miserable so-called army, it was really impossible to give him a good look.
Hestad simply resented others getting angry at him.
"Compensate for our losses! You liar." Karl continued to yell.
"Liar? You didn't find any gold or silver?"
"We searched everywhere for any gold or silver, but found nothing but a tunnel."
"Wait a minute!" I planned to exchange a few words with this reckless guy, but this person actually mentioned the tunnel? "What do you mean by authentic?"
"I dare say that some Russians ran along the tunnel! It is a very long tunnel, and you...you definitely don't know this. It's like you lied to us about their wealth!" Then there was another burst of emotional curses. .
Stade grimaced. He saw that his close sergeant was on guard very correctly. His left hand that was not holding the sword could not help but twist his fist, and he showed his men clearly with his eyes.
For the time being, he still wanted to ask some questions in a coquettish manner, but Stade continued to ask: "A real thing? I really don't know. If any Russians escape, I will go and search."
"Would you do it? Because of you, two hundred of our brothers died!"
"But don't you still have three hundred brothers?"
"I..." The furious Karl really wanted to lift an ax and chop off this Stad's head. He continued to curse: "Idiot! Look at the situation! At least five hundred people died for all your gangs!"
"Yes. Do you want me to be responsible for these dead people? This is a war, not your usual group fights. You are weaker than the Russians and you deserve to be killed a lot. Unlike my people, who broke down the walls of the Russians in one fell swoop, I led Charge with the cavalry and directly destroy their shield wall. This battle is my victory, and you, I saw you fighting outside the wall with my own eyes. It is you who are fully responsible for the death of those people."
"You!" Gray Wolf Karl suppressed his blush, and his surviving subordinates were also exhausted. It's already very frustrating not to find gold or silver, but now you have to stand here and be humiliated. How can you bear this tone?
At first, some people joined in the shouting, and finally it turned into a flurry of wild bees, all asking Stud to give him money.
Let Stade get the money? What a joke. Hestad came to Hedeby just to prepare for King Horik to take over the city. He was also very distressed by the current situation of people fleeing and commerce declining, because he also wanted to appease his own soldiers. Business in Hedeby will recover.
Although the Russians were a source of suffering, the gangsters themselves were no good.
Stade was already planning to use the knife, but before that he still had to make sure: "Apart from you, where are the other gangs? You are so brave, have they all escaped?"
"Them? Either die or escape. I don't care about them. I took my brothers to ask you for money. We killed many people fighting for you. Even though we didn't get gold or silver, you still have to pay the reward."
"Really? You volunteered to fight, how can it become that I am hiring you? Besides, you are threatening me."
The enraged gray wolf Karl must give an explanation to his younger brothers. If he gives in to this situation, his position as the boss will be gone, and he will become a bereaved dog and die alone.
His head nearly exploded and he suddenly pulled out his iron sword and ordered Stade with a master's attitude: "Hedeby is my territory! If you want to stay here, you must give us money..."
"Okay. I understand everything." Stud agreed casually with a look of understanding: "I will get you money right now. I still have some gold here. Gray Wolf Karl, you are really a greedy wolf... "
After he finished speaking, he walked towards the darkness. The gangsters who had received the promise of money felt relieved, and their already exhausted bodies became even weaker.
Shortly after Stade completely entered the darkness, a burst of war horses suddenly neighed, followed by the tremor of the earth. As soon as the gangsters reacted, the cavalry rushed over.
Carl's small team was knocked down like a bowling ball in an instant, and many people suffered serious internal injuries.
The centurion, who had received the clear indication from his eyes, immediately gave an order, and the armored troops swarmed forward and began the most brutal massacre against the exhausted bandit troops.
Gray Wolf Karl was completely confused. When a spear was stabbed in the chest, he still didn't know why Stade turned against him. Based on his own concept, he thought this was called a black man eating a black man.
The shouts of killing and the clash of swords soon ended, and the moaning and crying person was no longer heard from.
It was only then that Stade reappeared, and a ball-shaped object was kicked directly by the Centurion. He took a closer look and saw that it was probably the dead-looking head of the gray wolf Karl.
"This foul-mouthed reckless man is finally dead." He commented.
"But sir, we do this..."
"Are you worried that other gangsters will be afraid? My old friend, this is our brother's Haideby, and gangs are not allowed to exist in our territory. From now on, I will be the Earl of Haideby, and you will make a fortune with me, how can you still Are you willing to share your wealth with gangsters?"
"I won't." The centurion shrugged and smiled heartily. He laughed for a while and then asked: "Hedebe is such a dead city now, how can we explain it to the king?"
"Hedeby will regain its prosperity, and the fleeing merchants will come back. You remember, the gang leader Gray Wolf Karl and the Ross merchants did not recognize King Horik. They attacked us with force and are now wiped out by us. Alas! It's this stupid one. The guy revealed some important news, and some Russians escaped. Damn it, our methods were so tough that we didn’t even take any prisoners, so I still don’t know anything about the Russians.”
The centurion shook his head: "If we control all the ships, the Russians will have no way to escape. We will surely find them if we conduct a search."
"That's the only thing we can do. Even though there are too many corpses, our brothers should still have no casualties."
"A few brothers suffered minor injuries that are not worth mentioning, but the others are safe."
"Very good. These dead corpses will soon stink. Excuse me, brothers, take all the gangster corpses to the sea and discard them nearby. As for the corpses of the Russians..."
"Abandon it too?" asked the centurion.
"I don't want to be punished by Odin. These Rus are very brave. They could have joined us in fighting, but they chose the wrong path. Now that you have obtained their swords, you will burn their bodies to ashes. This is a disgrace to the gods." explain."
Everyone looked at each other and there was no objection to this.
