084

I waited for the arrival of the local Jarls who had previously been subordinate to King Halfdan, I ordered makeshift tables to be set up a dozen meters from the burnt settlement, and for a better effect I had the heads of the inhabitants tied to the branches of the surrounding trees. It resembled ... baubles for Christmas trees or Halloween decorations and It had a ghastly effect, the corpse slowly began to deteriorate, the larvae of flies and other insects were already visible on the faces of the victims. Some heads were partially burned ...

The message was to be clear and blunt ... you are either with me or you are dead. There are no more options.

A few days later my future allies or victims have arrived ... but the decision of who they will become is in their hands.

They carefully watched the surroundings to see if it was not a trap prepared by me. They ate and drank equally carefully ... but not for fear of poison, but rather because they refused to show their emotions ... restraint was normal. Stealthy looks, soft whispers ... Each of them tried to sense the atmosphere and decide which side to take and which side would be most beneficial.

- Welcome, honorable guests. The gods made our fates intertwine, so he drank the health of Tyr, Odin and the other Gods. Skål !!! ... (Ulf)

Everyone raised their horns and cups. There was a loud shout "SKÅL !!!"

- I am not a golden-mouthed speaker, I also do not have a silver tongue ... Perhaps some of you have heard of me or maybe not ... My name is Ulf Erikson and I am your king and I am the only king of all Norway ... (Ulf)

My statement caused a little commotion at the table, it is one thing to declare myself king but another to declare myself "their king".

- And why should you be king ... and the King of all Norway? Just because you defeated King Halfdan? (Jarl)

There will always be one brave one who hopes that his attitude will mobilize others ... usually monuments to such people are erected ... usually posthumously.

- Jarl Thorkelsson ... because I have defeated and conquered all the Kingdoms from the north to the south ... I have not only defeated one King, but all the Kings ... and all the Jarls who stood in my way. If you kill one man you are the murderer, if you kill thousands of them you are the King ... kill them all and you will be God ... I guess I deserved to be King? (Ulf)

- It's not enough to be a murderer to be king ... It takes a lot more to wear a crown. (Jarl)

- It depends who you kill. (Ulf)

The feast passed without major problems, but Jarl Torkelsson ... I had to make another example of him. Even during the feast, I discreetly instructed Leif to take two hundred men and turn Jarl's settlement into a smoking rubble... Leif and the men left at night, and in the morning I ordered Jarl arrested. Even if anyone wanted to object, I had five hundred warriors with me... Of course, after his arrest, he was quickly sentenced to death ... Jarl Torkelsson's life ended in a burning stake.

The rest of the Jarls, after seeing the execution, more willingly swore oaths to me.

After Leif's return and two more days of rest, we set out to overcome the last big obstacle ... the Kingdom of Alvheim. However, this time I decided to go by land ... I was also going to eliminate smaller obstacles like Vingulmarken, Hadeland, Toten, Solør.

Days passed, with every settlement I conquered or surrendered, my army grew, I took Slavic slaves and incorporated them into my army. They were not well trained, but those who survive will learn something, the rest ... well, not everyone may live to a very old age.

A month later, when we stood on the border of the Kingdom of Alvheim, my army numbered twelve hundred men ... News about my army's march reached the local rulers much earlier and they gathered their troops to greet us. About two thousand warriors stood in the way of our march. Judging by the banners, they represented various clans and Jarls.

Despite their superiority in numbers, I was sure of our victory. Over the last month, my men have fought a few, bigger and smaller battles ... they were veterans, we also had crossbowmen, so more strength and range.

I ordered my hundred crossbowmen to take their position on a small hill. On the left wing I placed 500 warriors, on the right 300 ... two hundred were to wait in reserve, and the rest were supposed to go behind the enemy and hit him ... they had a few kilometers walk through the woods, but they had a good chance of success... Another advantage of my army was that it had one commander, the enemy army consisted of many Jarls and probably everyone will want to show that he is the most important.

- Give my orders to crossbowmen and archers, as soon as the enemy is within our range, shoot without orders. The right wing is to form a shieldwall and maintain position. (Ulf)

- And what are your orders for the left wing? (Leif)

- When the enemy attacks them, left wing are to pretend that the line is breaking and that they are about to retreat. When the enemy catches the bait, start a counterattack. (Ulf)

A few minutes later, the enemy launched an attack. When the opponent was about 200 meters from our positions, the crossbowmen started shooting, many attackers fell ... sometimes the bolts passed through one body, then stabbed another. At a distance of 100 meters, the archers started shooting. Although they were not that effective ... many enemies fell from their arrows as well.

Both armies collided, shield to shield. The attackers tried to shove their spears into the slots of the shields, but it didn't have much effect, when one of my men fell, he was immediately replaced in position by another.