His wife and children are still alive, and their situation seems to be good. As for the death of the slave, Swinder can no longer care about it. His wife and children are still alive, and he has no more worries.
He held his waist and raised his chest, and after letting go of his wife, he shouted in a rich voice: "You guys don't resist anymore! The Russians want you to surrender!"
As soon as these words came out, the people on the stone hill who were already wavering became even more swayed.
However, the powerful patriarchs of big families will not surrender so smoothly based on their own life experiences. If we wanted to surrender, we would have surrendered long ago, so why hold on until now.
There was an old guy leaning on a stone and sticking his head out, shouting: "Swinder! It was you who led the way and led the Russians here!? You are a traitor, you have made the entire island suffer!"
Swinder was not to be outdone: "Sounds like Holmsund? I expected you to say that! My friend, I am not a villain, and besides! The Russians don't want to be villains either!"
"Absurd! We chose you to make peace with the Russians, but you betrayed everyone! We all thought you were dead, but we didn't expect it to be like this. If we had known this, we might as well have killed your wife and children."
Swinde estimated that if his family had not run down without authorization, it would have been a sure thing that they would have used it as a bargaining chip for surrender. No matter how cruel the people in Shiqiu say, they must have some meaning behind their words.
"But you have no chance." He said triumphantly: "Look at your situation! Do I know how much food and water are stored on the stone hill? The current weather does not seem like it will rain soon. As long as Ross If the siege continues, you may die of thirst tomorrow. As long as the Russians are willing and do not fight, you will surely die. But! The Russians hope that you surrender. My friends, surrender! We and the Russians have nothing to do with it. Reasons to keep fighting.”
These words were provocative because Swinder was telling the truth.
There is still some food on the stone hill, but there is really no fresh water.
Fleeing to the stone hill for refuge now seems like a bad move, but no one thought of this when they first fled, let alone that the Ross army was everywhere, like a net trapping a struggling cod.
The heads of the big families were in a dilemma, and the Danes in exile were even more entangled.
They showed hesitation, but the large number of heads exposed from behind the stones fully proved that their mentality was strongly shaken.
Considering the past friendship, Swinder didn't want these old friends to die in vain.
He continued to shout: "If I had landed on the island early, I could have avoided this misunderstanding! Friends, we have all misunderstood. There is no need for a war. As long as we surrender to Ross, everything will be fine. Just because you took the initiative to launch the attack a few days ago, Let the prince of Rus misunderstand that you will fight to the death. Why bother! We used to submit to King Hafgen of Denmark, but now Hafgen is dead, and the new past despises us. Since we once surrendered to Denmark, what's the problem with surrendering to Rus now? Besides, Yes! The conditions offered by Prince Rus to our brothers are very good!"
Hearing this, someone else simply leaned forward and said, "Tell me! What do the Russians want to do? If we surrender, what will be the benefits? This is our island! This is our island!"
"so what?!"
"You have to accept our conditions!"
Swinder's head was buzzing. A group of old guys were going to die from internal friction, but they still wanted to negotiate terms? He was unmoved and continued: "Negotiate terms? Yes! I am just a messenger appointed by the Russians. I can only tell you the conditions of the Prince of Russia. Surrender! The Russians will guarantee your life safety. You will submit to the Russians every year in the future. Rus pays tribute, openly declares his opposition to King Horik of Denmark, and hands over some slaves, that’s it! The Rus want this.”
From the perspective of the Russian people, ordinary soldiers felt that the prince gave too high conditions to a group of idiots who were dying. How could they get peace? It's better for the brothers to swarm up and kill all the people on this island.
Rurik himself also made a huge concession. He was unwilling to do so, but in order to resolve the situation as soon as possible, let Swinde describe it this way.
It was said that the people on the stone hill should surrender after receiving such a promise. In fact, on the contrary, the patriarchs of the big families were still hesitant.
For no other reason than this group of men don't seem to be controlled by others.
Even if it was ruled by Denmark in the past, it was only in name only. The Danish leader or king did not ask for any tangible tribute from the Bornholm islanders. If there was any, it was some herring. There are two reasons why the islanders fell out with the new king of Denmark. One is that the visitor is actually an agent of the Franks, and his existence itself does not represent the interests of Denmark. The other is the biggest contradiction-the new king announced to collect taxes. .
After all, the new Danish King Horik became an actual vassal in Frank. Even though Frank's tax system was primitive, it was a clear tax system. Naturally, after becoming the King of Denmark, the method of making money has been upgraded to relying on taxation to make public demands. Tribes under the rule of the new king of Denmark must pay head taxes. Ships doing trade must also pay berth tax and trade tax. Danish farmers all have to pay grain taxes.
The Frankish Kingdom has not invented many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes so far. Even Charlemagne, a talented and strategist, often faces the problem of lack of money in the treasury, so that the king has to rely on tax collectors to subdue him and require local powerful nobles to find ways to regularly come up with enough money. Tributes were used as military pay to continue the kingdom's expansion war. The nobles also had to participate in the war after spending money, and the spoils of war often offset the tribute. But this system has huge loopholes. Local nobles can do their own thing. When the hero is about to die, the kingdom is actually divided.
The new King of Denmark, Horik, was a servant of the tribal leader. He got the throne of Denmark today by doing things for the Franks. This by no means means the approval of the powerful people in Denmark. A considerable number of people do not recognize the Kingdom of Denmark.
Horik wanted to rely on taxation to stabilize the finances and then consolidate the royal power. Because his disloyalty aroused the ambitions of the Franks, he lost a lot of money and consumed national funds, making the already insufficient coffers even poorer. It is obviously reasonable to ask for taxes from various tribes, but to implement taxes even for babies in the tribe is to challenge the bottom line of the Danish people! Logically speaking, the head tax is not a big problem, the tax standard is also very low, and the people can obviously afford it.
From the perspective of ordinary people in Denmark, this is not a good thing. Charging a poll tax is viewed by many Danish people as an insult, as if even babies have to be Horik's slaves. The tribes in those remote places simply rowed long boats to find other settlements, and some tribes rose up to resist. The most remote place, such as Bornholm Island, has essentially separated from Denmark.
These major economic interests have led to the island's separation from Denmark. Let's hear what Swind has to say! After everyone surrenders, they still have to pay tribute or pay compensation. What is the difference between the conditions proposed by the Prince of Rus and that of Danish Horik? Even the names of the two monarchs are similar.
Because Ragnar had been here before and mentioned that the name of the prince of Rus was Rurik Ottoson.
The new king of Denmark is Horik Haraldsson.
What kind of thing is this? Because Horik and Rurik are both variants of the name "Erik", there is no difference between them.
The names of the two monarchs are almost the same, so the conditions proposed cannot be said to be similar, they can only be said to be exactly the same.
But the big real problem is also facing us - the brothers are really going to die of thirst and starvation.
Swinder continued to talk nonsense, even if it took some words, it would be good to persuade them to avoid killing. His mouth went dry as he talked, so he had to untie the water bottle and drink freely.
He deliberately made his movements very exaggerated, and when he was full, he poured out the rest of the water openly.
"Just come down! Friends, the Russians will not treat those who surrender badly. You see, those who came down first are already eating fish and drinking water..."
Ragnar and Arik, who were present, maintained the greatest restraint. They really felt that Swinder's talk was a waste of emotion.
Ragna stepped forward and patted this guy on the shoulder: "That's enough! Maybe those men finally thought that they still had the courage of warriors and planned to fight to the end."
"No! Let me try again."
"That's enough. Your kindness seems like a crow to them. Let me do it. I want to convince the Danes."
No, Ragnar appears publicly.
He slowly took off the robe given by the Russians, and then took off the inner shirt, exposing his chest and arms. He showed his tattoo to the people on the stone hill and raised his fist to show that he had a special ring.
It's "Ragnar the Beheaded Hairy Pants"!
The Danish exiles were originally the lords of Denmark. They were defeated steadily by the new Danish king and the Frankish coalition, and fled to Bornholm with only a very small number of troops. After a very ugly battle with the Russian army, some losses were suffered, and during the days when they were trapped in the stone hill, another brother died of thirst.
Ragnar's reputation is very loud. After all, at the young age of fifteen, this man was able to chop off the head of the snake-charming leader in a duel.
Ragnar also spoke very nicely: "Danes! Tell me why you want to mix with the Bornholm Islanders? Is it just because of asylum? Me! Ragnar Sigurdsson, I and the Ross people The leaders have a close relationship. Our Stonewall tribe has formed an alliance with the Rus people, and my people all live a very good life. The Rus people appreciate you very much! The Prince of Rus asked me to give you a message! The enemy of my enemy is a friend! As long as you oppose Denmark King, the Russians are willing to make friends with you. Come down!"
Yes, why do Danes need to work for the islanders? A group of large and impoverished families only allowed the exiled Danes to live in the past. They are actually living together as partners, and now that the Russians are targeting the people of this island, wouldn't it be absurd for the exiled Danes to intervene in this war.
The Danish exiles, who had figured it out, were impatient, but they were still not entirely sure that they would be promised safety.
Someone asked loudly: "Ragnar! We can go down. You swear! You swear to Odin! If the Rus take revenge on us, you will be cursed by the gods, and heroes like you will never be able to enter Valraha."
Ragnar is a true believer. He firmly believes that he has his own place in the Hall of Valor, so he must abide by the principles of a warrior, such as not betraying his companions. He believed that Rurik's so-called new policy towards Denmark was true. When the new Danish king was taken care of in the future, peace between Denmark and Russia would even expand, and peace would come to the entire Baltic world.
"Okay! I swear to Odin! If you come down and the Rusians kill you, let Odin take away my life, let Thor chop me into charcoal with thunder, and let Freya curse my children. die."
It's enough. These Danes who vowed to make the stone hill are convinced that Ragnar is serious about it.
The Danes did not care about the feelings of the big families and private soldiers, and staggered down the stones one after another.
At the same time, the Russian army is paying attention to the attempts to persuade them to surrender. Rurik kept squinting and stared. He let out a long breath. After all the twists and turns, it seemed that the matter could be resolved peacefully?
Arik led the archer troops to remain on alert. He ordered that no one should fire. As long as those who came down did not try to fight, the crossbows held by the brothers would be pointed vertically into the sky.
There were hundreds of Danish exiles walking down. They were not a strong force to begin with.
Ragnar fist-bumped them, patted some on the shoulder, and continued to promise peace.
But Arik stopped them: "Danes, please hand over your weapons first."
As soon as these words came out, the exiles who had just come down were instantly alert and drew their swords one after another. Although they were exiles from different tribes, they drew their swords very quickly and in uniform movements.
The Ross army was even more orderly here. The crossbows pointing toward the sky were suddenly flattened, and Arik's team formed a Ross arrow array.
"You still don't want to surrender? Resistance will lead to death!" Arik ordered through gritted teeth.
The exiles were not to be outdone. Even though their bodies were seriously short of water, they still put up a shield wall and looked like they were resisting.
The two sides were in a stalemate with a distance of about twenty steps. The Russians did not attack mainly, and the Danish exiles also adopted a completely defensive posture.
Seeing this, Ragnar stood alone between the two armies, spreading his arms to mediate between them.
"Brothers Aric, why bother? They are sincerely surrendering, don't scare them. Hey! Danish friends, you can avoid misunderstandings by handing over your weapons first. When the Prince of Rus thinks that you are no longer a threat, everything will be easy to handle. Besides, Now, Prince Rus is still recruiting mercenaries, wouldn’t it be great if you all defected together? For my sake, both of you should exercise restraint."
It was rare for Aric to be the first to relent. As the elder brother, he did not want to cause trouble to his younger brother on this critical issue.
The crossbow-wielding warriors relaxed, and the Ross army on the scene lowered their alert.
The Danish exiles looked at each other. Since the Russians were already like this, everyone had no choice. They put down their shields and swords one after another, and handed over the disposal of their lives to the Russians.
Soon the temptation to eat meat and drink water overcame everything. Rurik was also very interesting. He could see that the people who descended the stone hill were full of suspicion, so he added some information to the supplies provided to these people. More than grilled fish? Danish exiles also ate sesame cakes made from wheat. This pancake was unusual, as it was coated with a little honey, making it a delicacy that the exile had eaten for the first time in his life.
When the Danes unloaded their weapons and began to drink water and eat openly, the people on the stone hill collapsed completely.
The patriarchs of big families can no longer restrain others except their own family members.
The slaves rebelled! They did not turn against their masters, but threw away their swords and axes, and threw their empty hands into the arms of the Russians.
The slaves have all run away, why should the private soldiers stick around anymore? The big families can no longer afford the salary, so they might as well go and join the Russians. The brothers are essentially mercenaries, and working for the Russians is nothing short of a first choice. Just because they saw the Danes, who were clearly fighting fiercely, drinking water in the Russian camp.
Without their slaves and private soldiers, the so-called big family was reduced to polished veterans.
At this point, they had lost even the strength to fight for the last time. Looking at the large area of powerless fishermen on the stone hill waiting for death, they simply announced their surrender.
Rurik saw that the big families were the last to surrender. He already despised these idiots, but now he despised them even more.
Of course, he still publicly welcomed the surrender of the big families on the island and emphatically stated: "We will convene a Nordic meeting to discuss matters after your surrender."
Is this Prince Rus? The Danish King Horik was a short, round-faced guy, and this Rurik was a handsome young boy. Handsome men are more approachable. As Rurik really provided drinking water and food, people who were about to die of thirst came back to life. Rurik only had a good impression in the hearts of the patriarchs. It seemed that the previous siege had really become his misunderstanding. Caused by asking for trouble.
But this group of people was not what Rurik valued. Do you have to invite the patriarchs of a group of big families to be your guests? What is the use of this group of lonely guys?
On the other hand, those who were dying on the stone hill and had no strength to come down to offer their sacrifices, they really had nothing and were easy to control.
The Ross soldiers carrying water bags began to rush towards the stone hill, kicking the "dead bodies" first, feeding those who could move with water, and then carrying them down.
This act of rescuing people was ridiculous. Ragnar felt that those people were destined to die of thirst and starvation. Even Prince Rurik had no need to save those people. He did not express his criticism and forbade his men from speaking nonsense, so as not to cause Rurik dissatisfaction.
An astonishing number of dying people were brought down, and first they were given clear water, and then water mixed with honey. Rurik used honey used for military purposes to save people, and the effect was immediate.
They came back alive and ate the food given by the Russian army. After taking the opportunity to conduct a general inventory, as many as 1,200 islanders of various ages survived.
The top of the stone hill is already a huge tomb! When all the living people left, a group of crows took the opportunity to fly over and began to eat the flesh of the dead bodies.
Thousands of people died there, including a large number of young children and elderly people. Most of the survivors were young men and women, with more women among them.
It is people like this who are the captives Rurik needs most.
"Throw the young men into the mines in the north, and send the young women to Novgorod as rewards, and that's it." Rurik was satisfied, so the situation of the blood family members of the big families who surrendered changed. Very embarrassing.
Ross could quickly recruit the slaves and private soldiers who were previously attached to the big family.
As for those people...
For the time being, Rurik still showed a kind smile, but now...
