The Rise of Rurik

Chapter 50: Hafgen The Axe Bearing Lion, The New Chief of the Danes

For the Swiss, they need southern pastures for production.

For the Danes, they not only need pastures, but also intend to unite with the Swiss Alliance, at least to recruit some of the joined tribes under their own alliance. Of course, this kind of behavior is not easy, because the behavior of "betrayal" cannot be tolerated by both parties.

The Dane's poaching has exacerbated the conflict between the two sides.

Since relatively "peaceful" means could not achieve the will of the Danish Alliance, finally in the spring meeting of the Danish Tribal Alliance in 828 AD, as many as twelve tribes attended the meeting, and they all elected the most powerful Robard tribe. The leader Hafgen became the leader of the alliance.

The Robard tribe, the so called Robard, means "red ship" in Old Norse.

Because the main body of the Robard tribe is very close to the Denmark Strait, they have a very advantageous geographical location, and their commercial activities are relatively developed. Naturally, their tribal strength cannot be said.

The clan traded vast quantities of madder, which they used to dye sackcloth and to decorate their battle ships.

There is a huge long boat with as many as a hundred people rowing. It is carved with an exaggerated and ferocious bow decoration, that is, a dragon head, and it is smeared with madder fuel as if the dragon has opened its bloody mouth. It is believed that with the appearance of this ornament, many enemies will be frightened and flee.

It is called the "Red Dragon", and it is also a symbol of the wealth and power of the tribal leader. In a sense, it is the "crown".

Hafgen is a madman with ideas, he beheaded all the challengers in the duel of the clan, and the whole clan worships his majesty.

At the meeting of the tribal alliance, some people questioned his strength.

And Hafgen did not hesitate to propose the ancient tradition of the alliance, the duel.

They rejected it because of fear of death?

Do not! To refuse is to be a coward, and a coward will be expelled from the tribe.

Basically, the skeptics named by Hafgen have no right to refuse.

In the so called duel, the leaders of the two alliances each sent a warrior to participate, and even the leader himself went into battle.

The two warriors will face off to the death and end with the loser's death. The death of a warrior represents the failure of the leader to which he belongs, as well as the failure of the tribe to which he belongs.

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The old chief does not go into battle foolishly himself, he sends the bravest men of the tribe.

And the brave also serve it very much, because winning the victory, its personal prestige will soar, and it is very possible to become a new leader by this qualification.

Hafgen wouldn't be out of the loop and remotely control a Warrior to fight for him.

He is a confident person, and his personal strength is also obvious to all.

Hafgen was so muscular that it was rumored that he could eat a roast lamb in one meal. He always wields a not sharp logging axe, not to mention that the axe is not sharp. With brute force, he easily felled a tree with a thick bowl.

With such brute force, it is not a problem to cut down a big tree, so it is not a problem to cut down an enemy.

Thanks to this brute force, he won the support of many tribes without much resourcefulness. Because of the small families that make up the tribe, after seeing Hafgen's ferocity, they voluntarily and happily submit to his flag, thus gaining a sense of security.

Even if some tribes are suspicious of Hafgen, the loss of a large number of families under his command is real.

Because Hafgen is indeed the kind of legendary warrior!

In any life and death duel, he goes into battle in person. While holding a battle axe, he wears only a simple linen vest on his upper body.

He just deliberately showed his strong arms and golden hair on them.

He is also a man with a perfect beard. Because of his outstanding martial arts, he naturally has many wives and concubines, so his beard is also braided into unique braids by his own women.

By some brute force, one after another tribe in Jutland is willing to identify with such a leader.

If this person is just a reckless man, he will not make much noise in his own field.

But this guy is very ambitious!

The Hafgens gave him the nickname "Golden Retriever", but he himself preferred the nickname "Lion" given to him by the Franks.

First of all, Hafgen had never seen an African lion. Through the Frankish merchant who bravely crossed the border, he knew his nickname and also learned the source of the nickname.

In the far south, in the extreme heat of the world, a ferocious beast reigns there. This beast is characterized by an astonishing beard, terrifying fangs and claws that can easily kill people.

After all, these Frankish merchants are only doing business, and they don't care who their master is "the successor of Augustus" or the new leader of the Danes, the "Golden Lion", as long as they can do business on their land, they can be less Paying taxes is not a problem.

The Danish tribes in Jutland could grow stronger and more distant from their Scandinavian relatives, on the one hand these Frankish merchants.

In the ninth century, they were Frankish merchants. Hundreds of years later, they were German merchants.

They even established a free city in Hamburg, on the border between Shinra and the Kingdom of Denmark, and forged a commercial alliance with the oppressed Saxons.

No matter how the times change, a businessman is a businessman. And in the new era, because of the new science and technology, the merchants of the Hanseatic League have discovered an amazing way of making money, and this way of making money has also been followed by the industrial countries a thousand years later - importing rough processed products. finishing.

Even as early as the ninth century, Frankish merchants knew that the North produced a great deal of iron.

What attracted these Frankish merchants to venture into Viking territory were local specialties: animal skins, pig iron and copper.

Merchants also secretly sent horses, linen, and a large number of Western European handicrafts in.

This trade route has existed in peacetime and will continue to exist for a long time.

With the introduction of the steel making method from India to Shinra, the Hanseatic League merchants immediately began to import pig iron from the north or directly ship iron ore on a large scale, processed it into steel in their workshops, and sold them to Denmark and Sweden. One by one, the price skyrocketed sixfold.

Finally, the king of Sweden had a hard time, and he recruited blacksmiths from the German region to serve him.

That's all hundreds of years later.

In the ninth century, even the Franks had poor iron smelting.

Of course, the iron smelting process in the Roman era hardly developed, which also led to the successors of many Germanic tribes such as the Franks. Even if they formed a feudal country, they lacked the ability to forge fine iron.

In contrast, the Danes and Swiss, who are as backward in craftsmanship, are probably the blessings of the so called Odin!

The iron ore they discovered was a particularly high-quality ore vein, and the quality of the iron ore was really good.

A battle axe cast from these iron ore doesn't have to be sharp enough to smash most Viking swords.

After all, the blacksmith who has to forge it with poor iron smelting skills has too high carbon content, which makes the iron sword poor flexibility, and the blade is easy to break and bend in a fight.

Especially when it comes to flexibility, don't think about trying to block, cutting too hard can lead to breakage.

Its only advantage is that it can be made into a piece of iron wire and then woven into a chain mail.

The poor iron smelting technology of the ninth century was popular throughout Europe, but the swordsmen were smart. Whether it's the Franks or the Vikings, they always use iron swords to thrust tactics, in a sense, they are like holding an elongated spear in their hands. Not to mention, the killing caused by this thrusting tactic is even more terrifying.

But for the vast majority of Vikings who are good at one-on-one combat, they always carry an axe. It is a tool for cutting trees, a tool for repairing ships, and the most ferocious weapon for fighting.

With an axe in hand, Hafgen was not afraid of his mail-clad foes.

All the clans, including Hafgen's own Robard "Red Ship" clan, also have a number of master weavers.

The chainmail can resist the attack of bows and arrows to a large extent, and can basically resist the thrusts of sharp swords and spearheads, so that it cannot penetrate into the flesh, only causing a bruise, and after all, life is saved.

However, chain mail cannot resist the powerful attack of blunt weapons. In the face of tomahawks whose main purpose is logging, chain mail is of little significance.

I am afraid that throughout the Middle Ages, the attack of blunt weapons was inexplicable. Even if it is a plate warrior dressed as a can, the enemy uses an axe and a chisel into battle, as easily as a can opener to press open a can.

Armed with a battle axe, he becomes the leader of the Danish tribal alliance, and Jutland welcomes a fierce man.

What is the ambition of "Golden Lion" Hafgen?

It's simple!

Inheriting the footsteps of the predecessors, continue to attack Britain to obtain the gold stored in the monastery there, take the cattle and sheep there, and even take the people there as slaves.

He was more than happy to show his force to outsiders.

Those Swiss are their own clan, but they are not only unwilling to submit to the Danish command, but also unwilling to hand over the other half of the pasture. Isn't this behavior an affront to yourself? The alliance of the Swiss is absurd, they must disintegrate, and all the tribes must submit to their own!

However, there is no rush to solve the problem of the Swiss Alliance, because not only the Swiss, but also a large number of Norwegians on the "road to the extreme north" in western Scandinavia, and they are also to be included.

Hafgen's biggest dream is to integrate all the tribes that speak the Norse language in his lifetime.

The battle axe will strike all of Britain, which will be the territory of himself and his heirs.

The battle axe will also hit the Frankish kingdom. Since the leader of a tribe can obtain the title of "Augustus", why can't I, Hafgen?

Although Hafgen does not know what the meaning of "Augustus" is, in short, according to the Frankish merchant's description, the so called "Augustus" is the only place that governs all places where footsteps can be stepped on and all ships can sail. The leader, the greatest leader.

Hafgen is approaching forty years old, and he is still brave and confident about the future.

However, on the road to realizing their ambitions, there are many thorny problems to be solved first.

At present, his first job is to eliminate those who question and oppose the Robard tribe in the tribal alliance, and use the most determined means to eliminate them to consolidate his rule.

After completing this major event, go to conquer the Wende who also surrendered to the Franks and began to encroach on the Danes' territory with Frank's support.

After dealing with the rabble on the southern frontier, the strategic move to unify all the Norse speaking tribes must begin!