Rise of Rurik - Chapter 1197 Zinc Ingots and Eric "Whitebeard" in Bright Lead Village

Falling in Love with You Read Books, The Rise of Rurik

The Russian army marched neatly and majesticly, and the soldiers advanced steadily along the Aachen Avenue. It's an amazing feeling to walk on the old Roman roads with one pair of feet.

"Smooth! Such a smooth road was actually built by the Romans. It is so comfortable to march on this road. No wonder Rurik wants to build a road in New Roseburg." Blue Fox felt the road for himself. He looked left and right, then stared again. The rammed earth road under your feet.

Even if it is only being rammed continuously by leveling stones, and the ground is poked with a short spear, the feedback feels like it has been poked on a stone.

The coalition forces set off early in the morning, and the soldiers were full of boiled wheat because they were full of energy. They moved forward at a steady speed of about four kilometers per hour, which actually took into account both physical exertion and speed.

Why run like a horse? According to the available information, Blue Fox said that riding from Maastricht can reach Aachen in one day.

It's the height of summer and the days are extremely long in this high-latitude world. There is no need for the coalition forces to advance at full speed, not to mention that considering the possibility of resolute resistance from the Franks, the entire army must ensure energy and physical strength before the war.

The "Road Map" marked a mining village and town, and said that the village was next to a small river.

The continuous march made a large number of heavy-duty soldiers feel pressure. They continued to rest and needed to replenish drinking water.

Just when everyone was getting tired, a village and town surrounded by mountains and rivers suddenly appeared.

The road surface of the Roman Avenue here has already appeared abnormalities visible to the naked eye. There are many stones on the ground, and then some obvious ruts begin to appear.

All this caused the blue fox to be highly vigilant. He found the veteran Grund, and pointed to the road as he walked: "There are a lot of stones, and it feels like there are mines nearby."

"So?" Grund became equally alert, "The information says that the place where the strange bright lead is produced, has it arrived?"

"Very likely, let the soldiers be vigilant."

"There's no way the enemy will line up here?" Grund shook his head, "I don't believe it."

"There is no harm in being wary. Besides, once we find their warehouse, we will loot some of all the bright lead."

"Alright." Grund panted heavily, and after gathering his composure, he turned and faced the soldiers of the standing army: "The whole army is in armor, just in case!"

No, the current team paused their march and began unloading armor from carts, which immediately caused a chain reaction.

All the troops were on guard when they marched. Everyone thought that they encountered an enemy attack, and no one was nervous or afraid. On the contrary, the soldiers wanted what they wanted.

The chain mail is slippery on the body, or the cloth face armor riveted with iron plates is worn on the body like a jacket.

Time was running out, and armor-piercing soldiers generally put armor on their upper body, and the "iron skirt" that protected the crotch and thighs was still thrown on the trolley.

However, those Danish fighters all looked blank. Armor piercing? no need.

The boneless Yinvar, who was only twelve years old, saw those Ross warriors in white robes take off their robes and put on their armor on a large scale, and then put on the robes again. Why bother?

He prefers the words of his father Ragnar, the so-called bravery comes first.

"Everyone is ready to fight! After the battle, use your ability to rob what you like."

The too-young Danish army commander sits on a trolley, blankets covering his underdeveloped legs. The more than one hundred personal guards he brought were loyal to Ragnar himself, and they were loyal to Yinvar in this operation. No one thinks there is anything wrong with this disabled man, he is now a symbol, representing the Danish King Ragnar here. That's why a group of Danish fishermen who emigrated to the mouth of the Inn River joined in the marauding feast with howls.

The mixed army has a different attitude towards war. Compared with plunder, the blue fox pays more attention to the political significance of combat, followed by plunder. Of course, some weird things were unearthed in the core area of ​​Frank, and then paid tribute to Rurik, he was very motivated.

They changed their armor on the main road. In this open forest, the noise frightened the birds in the woodland, and also attracted the surprise of the slave labor who transported the ore.

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So, who exactly is mining and smelting in "Bright Lead Town"?

That's a lot of ragged people, criminals, debtors. Frank's serf system is naturally disintegrating due to the gradual disappearance of the big manors. Instead, more and more serfs have become self-cultivated farmers and serve the church and lords.

This is a slow process, and the change is most drastic in Frank's core area. But the mine was an accident. Criminals, those who insulted the faith, debtors, prisoners of war, and even simple serfs were punished to dig in the mine as slaves.

In the bright lead village on the banks of the Geul River, the armed overseers and smelters here are free men, and almost everyone else is slaves.

The village is next to the main road, and next to it is an open pit. It is not a big mine, but there are ready-made water resources here, and the smelted lead ingots are more whitish than the lead in other places, which is a rare treasure.

A few slave miners pushing a trolley noticed the commotion on the main road, realized that there were strange people who didn't bother to carry ore, and rushed to find the nearest armed overseer in the village to report what they had seen and heard.

This disrespectful act was regarded as laziness, and after being whipped several times, the suffering miner had no choice but to leave cursing secretly.

The villages and towns are next to the main road. This Roman road has been the only way for the mobilization of armies since ancient times. In recent years, the world has not been peaceful, and this year, a large number of heavy cavalry passed by.

The chief supervisor of the village and town didn't care. What he cared more about was that the finished lead ingots produced could meet the quota and be handed over to the king.

However, the Ross Army attacked.

A thousand Russian troops carrying a large number of crossbows launched an armed raid along the road!

They were uniformly dressed and equipped with refined food, and the sword and shield players and the crossbowmen rushed forward in unison, and quickly entered the edge of the village.

The absurd thing is that until this moment, the smelting workshop in the town was still full of smoke, and the slaves transporting the ore just looked sideways and continued with their work. It seems that they are used to military activities here.

Blue Fox, who personally led the team to attack, originally wanted to fight a battle. At this moment, he felt that he was despised by the locals.

"Why, these people don't run away when they see us?" Blue Fox was puzzled.

Grund gritted his teeth and hurriedly asked, "Should we fight or not?"

"Hit! Kill everyone alive! Let's go."

Grund nodded, then pointed his sword straight ahead, and shouted in Norse, "Brothers! See them all killed! Go!"

Then, in an embarrassing short silence, the allied forces squeezed on the main road resumed their advance.

The whizzing sound of missing arrows pierced the tranquility, and the slave laborers who transported ore and finished products were regarded as prey. The arrows hit these ragged and callused people inaccurately, and they died in pain to the end, vomiting blood continuously.

It wasn't until there were casualties that the confused slaves realized the threat, and it was precisely when they saw the slaves being killed that the chief supervisor who heard the news and came to find out realized that it was not a Frankish soldier!

It is fair to say that the Ross Army, which was fighting head-on, was dressed in blue and white, similar to many Frankish soldiers. At first glance, the flying Ross flag looks like a cross.

The Chief Superintendent originally thought that this was another large noble army that was about to cross the border, so-called using the road to move eastward to join the king.

"What's going on? We are not your enemy!"

The Chief Superintendent and his armed overseers have always been wearing armor, so-called beware of slave rebellion, their clothes were misunderstood as soldiers, and the Rus army, eager to kill the enemy, precisely targeted them.

The arrow fired by the crossbow swished, and the grassland recurve bow was greatly improved. The light arrow pierced through the chief supervisor's leather armor and pierced into his flesh, causing him to vomit blood.

"Boss! Are you okay?" The armed supervisor hurriedly helped his leader up.

He didn't care about vomiting blood, he didn't know what happened when he was sober, and now he just wanted to run away instinctively.

"Let's go! Let's go to Aachen in the carriage. Take my wife and children and let's go! You guys follow me and escape."

"But what about the other brothers in the mine?"

"Fools! They are dying and still care about them? May God bless them, let's go!"

In this way, Bright Lead Town had no resistance, and the Ross army who entered it slaughtered everywhere like executing a group of hares.

The injured chief inspector fled with a small group of subordinates, and the bright lead villages and towns quickly fell into the hands of the Ross army.

The blue fox who entered the village with a sword checked the people who were killed, and saw that a large number of the dead were in ragged clothes, many of them were barefoot, and there were obvious thick calluses on their dirty feet, and some people even wore shackles.

"This is a slave? It must be Frank's slave."

Lan Hu didn't feel any emotion in his heart, he was more concerned about whether the soldiers got the "bright lead" or not.

Soon, soldiers rushed into the smelting workshop, killed the craftsmen indiscriminately, and seized some lead ingots that had just been smelted. A small warehouse next to it was found, and there were not many of them stacked with particularly whitish lead ingots, while there were more dull lead ingots piled up on the other side of the warehouse.

It's normal to feel darker. Is it really lead that is too whitish? Maybe.

The soldiers of the standing army immediately invited Lan Hu, asked him for credit and asked him to appraise it.

"Did you really find the legendary bright lead?" Blue Fox looked at Grund's cheerful face, "The legend is actually true."

"Perhaps. I may have acted too hastily. My people killed the artisan. It was really reckless. People who can smelt bright lead can be used by me. This is our loss."

"Never mind. Only the king knows what the bright lead is for. Come! Move it out into the open and let us see if it shines."

After all, this is not a big mine, the characteristic is that it is a lead-zinc mine rich in zinc.

The Franks followed the saying of the Romans and called zinc bright lead, and realized separation and smelting by controlling the temperature without melting point.

What is zinc used for? Adding it to copper water to make more white and shiny bronze is the best destination. However, zinc mines are rare, and it has been developed for too few uses. The traditional tin bronze mixed with tin and lead in bronze looks no worse than the one mixed with "bright lead".

The daily life of the royal family and the church was more exquisite, and more shiny bronze utensils were highly sought after.

It is now in the afternoon, and the summer sun shines on the lead ingots placed in the open air. It is clear at a glance which is ordinary lead and which is bright lead.

The hooked blue fox played with the obviously shiny lead ingot for a long time, and then smashed it vigorously with a hatchet. After making a deep dent easily, the section showed an even weirder bright white.

"What a strange thing!" Blue Fox pulled out his sword again. This is a carbon steel sword made by Ross craftsmen. It is almost white steel, but it is not as bright as this ingot of bright lead?

The blue fox, who is sensitive to business, immediately thought of a way to use it. He teased Grund, "I will give you a sword with a layer of gilt, and the blade will be whiter when the blade enters the story."

"Really?" Grund immediately thought of something, "The heavy armor made by the king many years ago has a layer of silver plated on every piece of armor. The armor is extremely white, but... if these bright lead are replaced, we Armor..." It slammed its thick breastplate vigorously, "it's extremely shiny in the sun, and it will blind the enemy's eyes."

"Yes! That's exactly what I mean. Hey, it's just that the Kingdom of Ross doesn't have such treasures."

Grund shrugged: "Unless the king intends to occupy this place forever."

"I don't think it's possible. It's too radical to rule the Franks. We're only here to make money and destroy. I plan to destroy the mines here."

Grund shook his head: "You're not a frost giant, you can't destroy it."

"At least take away the existing finished products, kill their artisans and miners, and destroy all equipment, so that the Franks cannot recover in the short term."

"feasible."

Blue Fox and other nobles realized that those miners were probably slaves. In the past, these slaves would all be taken away, but this time the slaves are a bunch of burdens.

The soldiers who poured into the mine slaughtered everywhere, and in the end only more than 20 people were turned back to the town.

These slaves used to live in a muddle every day, but now they fell into the hands of a group of ferocious soldiers, and they had already sat on the ground and were slaughtered.

The soldiers circled around, and when to decapitate all depends on the decision of the blue fox.

Blue Fox is not in a hurry to do anything, and he is too lazy to tell these lowly slaves his identity.

He asked about the local situation in Frankish, and even how far it was from Aachen. "As long as you tell the truth, you will avoid death."

Of course, he was serious when he said this. In order to make the next operation smoother, it is okay to capture a prisoner and provide information, but it is enough to keep one useful prisoner.

They were obviously terrified, and only after Blue Fox pressed him three times did a seemingly old guy with a white beard speak up to explain.

"You only need to go to the evening to get to Aachen? The big city should not be far away, but I can't see it? Old man, you are lying."

The old man calmly said, "The forest covers the city. What are you doing? Who are you? It looks like you came from the north."

"Hehe, you are very bold." Blue Fox shook his head, he who has the power of life and death can execute these people, and he can also release them.

Anyway, the army is going to spend the night here. Since it is very close to Aachen, it happens to have a comfortable rest tonight and launch the siege tomorrow.

Do you want to continue killing these captives? They are just a group of slaves, and killing them is not a blood sacrifice to Odin.

Blue Arc said bluntly: "It doesn't matter who we are. Our army will attack Aachen and plunder wealth. How about you slaves? Be slaves in the hands of the Franks, or be abused to death by them, or follow us. When the war is over, you follow us and give you back your freedom. Old man, do you dare?"

"I dare." The old man didn't want to say that, but the others were already terrified by the sudden killing.

"Very well, you can survive. What about the others?" Blue Fox asked again.

In the end, only ten people stood up slowly, they were willing to lead the way for this strange army, and those who hesitated or were frightened, they had already been decapitated.

At night, the Ross Army spent the night in the occupied Bright Lead Village. Hearing that there would be a siege battle tomorrow, all the soldiers in the army were very excited.

A batch of bright lead ingots and more were seized, and nearly all the mining carts were seized in such a large number that it was ascertained that the usable cargo was twenty, and even five wagons with as many as ten horses, these The equipment further eased the marching pressure of the Ross Army.

Since a bold old slave with a white beard is so bold and defy the Ross Army, Blue Fox and the others think that this guy may be a character. As for being a slave here, he knows what he has experienced.

The old man became a guest of honor and was given a large bowl of porridge. However, when a group of people spoke Norse around the bonfire, the old man twitched like a shofar.

"This old guy is going to die? Bad luck!" Askad just felt that it was ridiculous for Uncle Blue Fox to invite a slave as a guest.

The old slave was poured with water, and thankfully he said something amazing afterwards: "You... are you Danish?"

The words were in Norse, and the old man stuttered.

"That's how you ask. Are you? Could it be that you are Danish?" The blue fox was taken aback, and eagerly heard about the old man's past.

Now the truth is revealed, because this old slave is essentially a prisoner of war! The old man called himself Eric, and had lived in the Danish community of Port Durist since his youth. It was not a loss for him to be captured by the Frankish army. After all, he was captured during the looting, and that was almost thirty years ago. Age slaves are extremely rare.

"Are you Danish?" Yin Wair was sitting by the bonfire. He and you sympathized with the old man's experience, and after considering his noble status, he understood compassion: "Then you should serve me immediately!"

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"Presumptuous." Yin Wair imitated the appearance of an adult, pointing with immature hands: "I am the first prince of the Kingdom of Denmark! Be loyal to me! Eric the white beard, I can make you a war chief. A Danish brother was humiliated in Frank, I will avenge you."

These words startled the old slave. He didn't understand the new situation in the Kingdom of Denmark, but he knew the old leader of the Stonewall tribe, Sigurd of the Ring.

According to the self-report of this son, this seemingly disabled boy is actually Sigurd's grandson? The old man was in tears, crying, "When you attacked, I suspected you were a Dane." Now that he has found his real family, the suffering seems to be over.

Blue Fox was indifferent to this bitter drama, and so were most of the others. He even blamed himself, fearing that there was no need to kill many slave workers, and the Danish slaves inside could be quickly naturalized as his own.

However, "White Beard" Eric explained that he was only a Dane in this mining area. He had already lost the motivation to resist, and he didn't dare to commit suicide. He just wanted to die in a daze.

It's different now. It is a special fate bestowed by the gods that people finally have a chance for revenge in their old age. Since he had been to Aachen many years ago, this old guy seemed to be a surprise to the Ross Allied Forces.

As a result, the Ross Army, who had obtained important information, began to log overnight, and the two seized carriages were combined into one, and a large amount of wood began to pile up on them, thus creating a simple wheeled siege vehicle.

The old man made it very clear that the heavy wooden door of Aachen was either knocked open or slowly burned. Based on their past siege experience, the Ross army obviously built siege vehicles and rammed them more realistically.