Leales y salvajes. La leyenda de la Guardia Varega nos habla de unos guerreros de origen vikingo que, animados por las riquezas y la gloria, viajaron hasta Constantinopla a partir del siglo X para poner sus armas al servicio de los emperadores bizantinos.
Su experiencia militar y su juramento de fidelidad hicieron de ellos unos de los combatientes más letales de su tiempo y provocaron que, para líderes como Basilio II, fuesen sus hombres de confianza.
Su experiencia militar y su juramento de fidelidad hicieron de ellos unos de los combatientes más letales de su tiempo y provocaron que, para líderes como Basilio II, fuesen sus hombres de confianza.
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00:00They are vikings who work by order, ruthless mercenaries who instill fear in the enemy.
00:10It is the most brutal version of war in the dark years.
00:16Axes, swords, shields, spears.
00:22They are elite special forces at the service of a foreign ruler.
00:27They conquer rebel territories throughout the great Byzantine Empire.
00:34They are known as the Vargas Guard.
00:38But it will be a man in particular who consolidates the place of this group in history.
00:44Harald Hardrad is the Viking prototype of his empire.
00:50He will employ tactics that will transform the art of war throughout the Mediterranean.
00:56No one in his right mind would want to assault a walled city.
01:00He was usually doomed to failure.
01:03The chain of victories of Hardrada will place the Vargas Guard as one of the most extraordinary special forces of all time.
01:16Almost a thousand years after the birth of Christ, the Byzantine Empire constitutes the largest, richest and best organized state in Europe.
01:27It extends from Italy to the west, passing through Greece and the Balkans, until reaching Asia Minor in the east.
01:40Its leader is the emperor Basil II, the most powerful man in the world.
01:51But the Empire of Basil is in danger.
01:57Like in all empires, and I suppose in the case of all politicians, one must watch his back.
02:04There were a series of very important revolts against his legitimacy.
02:09What Basil needs is a group of experienced warriors who can repress internal revolts and guarantee the security of his empire.
02:18So an agreement is reached.
02:27He sells his sister to the great prince of Kiev in Ukraine, Vladimir the Great.
02:37Vladimir descends from the Swedish Vikings and governs what is known as Larus.
02:45Vladimir the Great was a repulsive warrior.
02:50He was the prototype of a Viking.
02:53He embodied everything that could be unpleasant in an individual.
03:00He had 800 concubines.
03:03He had dozens of wives.
03:06He made human sacrifices, just for whim, to intimidate his aggressors.
03:11That is, there was nothing positive in that man.
03:15In exchange for his sister, Basil gets exactly what he needs.
03:216,000 of the most fearsome warriors on the planet.
03:28They will become known as the Varangian Guard.
03:33The best special forces of the end of antiquity.
03:36The best special forces of the end of antiquity.
03:45Originally, the Vikings of Scandinavia, their ancestors,
03:50had forged a reputation that had spread throughout Europe,
03:54until it reached the ears of the emperor himself.
03:57Most of them were the same who were sowing chaos in Western Europe.
04:01Speaking of the Vikings, we almost always think of the attacks against England
04:06and the Vikings who crossed the North Sea.
04:10For about 200 years, the Vikings have terrorized the north and west of Europe,
04:16becoming famous for their search for wealth and their insatiable appetite for violence.
04:21Ah!
04:27The men of Scandinavia were tough.
04:30They wore tattoos, they were virile, they had hot blood.
04:35They were ruthless warriors who did not stop at anything
04:39when it came to slaughtering their opponents.
04:44But not everyone is dedicated to looting the north and west of Europe.
04:51The smartest Vikings did not go west, they went east.
05:01They are attracted to the possibility of earning huge amounts of money
05:05traveling along the vast rivers of what in modern age we call Russia.
05:09Those river systems are like arteries
05:12that bring talent from Scandinavia to Russia, looking for work.
05:17They can be sold as soldiers of fortune,
05:21mercenaries for the powerful lords of the war in the region.
05:27Like the Vikings who wreak havoc in much of Europe,
05:31they bring with them a terrible diversity of weapons.
05:34Your weapon of choice was a longsword,
05:37which, in reality, looked more like a butcher's knife than an axe.
05:44The famous Danish axe,
05:47which has a single thread of 30 centimeters long
05:50that can sever the head of a man in a single blow.
05:54It is the most powerful weapon in the world.
05:57It is the most powerful weapon in the world.
06:00It is the most powerful weapon in the world.
06:03It is the most powerful weapon in the world.
06:06It was a lethal weapon.
06:10They also used the double-edged sword,
06:13brutally effective.
06:18And the spear.
06:23The spear is very easy to transport, it does not weigh much.
06:27It is manufactured in a very cheap and very fast way.
06:30That makes it an excellent weapon.
06:33As an expert in Viking weapons,
06:36Martin Holman knows all the advantages of using a spear in combat.
06:46The spear was very useful.
06:49You could use it behind a shield, holding the shield yourself
06:52and trying to nail it to the height of the leg or head.
06:56You could also fight without a shield.
06:59If he were my friend, he could be behind the line of combat
07:02and he would be covering me.
07:05I could nail this long spear to the enemy.
07:09I move and attack.
07:12I move and attack.
07:15From behind the line.
07:26The real one would have a stop here,
07:29so that when you throw it against another person,
07:32it does not escape completely.
07:35So you could easily recover it again.
07:39And keep fighting.
07:51These Vikings of the Rus,
07:53became known as the Varegos.
07:56They received that nickname
07:59because they were famous for staying together.
08:02It is an old Nordic word,
08:05which probably designates some kind of company
08:08to classify a community of people with common interests.
08:11They are people who take care of the backs of others.
08:14It is a very brutal, masculine and virile world,
08:17of very successful guys.
08:20They are men who have put their sights on prestige
08:23and wealth.
08:30But for these men,
08:33serving in the cold and harsh lands of Ukraine
08:36is not enough.
08:39For this united clan of mercenaries,
08:42the possibility of serving the richest man in the world,
08:45Basil II, is irresistible.
08:48In Constantinople, they had the opportunity
08:50to accumulate more wealth
08:53than they could even imagine.
08:57The Varegos join the service of the emperor
09:00as their elite combat unit.
09:07And they begin to repress the internal revolts.
09:12He had a basic problem,
09:15with a rebellion against him,
09:17led by a man named Bardas Phocas,
09:20who claimed the throne to become emperor.
09:23And his own Greek escort had gone to the other side.
09:26So he needed some troops
09:29in which he could trust to suffocate this internal rebellion.
09:35In a matter of months,
09:38Basil manages to get rid of his last remaining rivals.
09:41For Basil, it is a short-term victory.
09:44After helping Basil to protect his vast empire,
09:47the Varegas guards are assigned the following task,
09:50to take charge of the capital of the empire.
10:01The current Istanbul, Constantinople,
10:04located in the Bosphorus,
10:07at the junction of the continents of Europe and Asia,
10:10constitutes an important commercial market.
10:14In the 11th century,
10:17its magnificence is unmatched.
10:22Constantinople is the most impressive,
10:25beautiful and relevant city in the Mediterranean.
10:30It is a sensation, it is a coveted city.
10:33It has churches of enormous size and beauty.
10:37From the year 500 to the year 1500,
10:40it is the largest city in Europe.
10:43In relation to the European Christian cities,
10:46there is absolutely nothing like in terms of size,
10:49with a population of half a million people.
10:52If we analyze it from the perspective of the English cities
10:55in the same period,
10:58maybe London could reach 10,000 people.
11:01It was a crystal of people, of languages, of sounds.
11:04But Constantinople is also a dangerous place,
11:07especially for an emperor.
11:10We don't talk about Byzantine politics, because yes.
11:13The Byzantine Empire is legendary
11:16for its twisted intrigues.
11:19Although pleasant to the eye,
11:22the Byzantines are not the only ones
11:25who are interested in Byzantine politics.
11:28The Byzantines are not the only ones
11:31who are interested in Byzantine politics.
11:34Despite appearing pleasantly chaotic and colorful on the outside,
11:37under that facade,
11:40the city was a labyrinth of power changes
11:43and political maneuvers.
11:46That made everyone suspect everyone.
11:49There were those who enjoyed the emperor's favor
11:52and quickly aroused envy.
11:55And there were those who felt they should receive more for what they did
11:57by setting up taverns, planning what would be their next step.
12:01Everyone was sealing deals,
12:04keeping friends close and enemies even closer.
12:10It is, above all,
12:13to avoid the horrible fate of some of their predecessors,
12:16so Basilio needs the Vargas Guard.
12:19Byzantine emperors often ended up murdered and overthrown.
12:28THE VARGAS GUARD
12:39Thus, the Vargas Guard becomes
12:42the protection team of Basilio II.
12:45They have the mission to watch over all the important public buildings
12:49and are always stationed in the emperor's imperial palaces.
12:53They accompany him when he attends church
12:55and on other formal occasions.
12:58They are close to the emperor.
13:01They can form a ring around him and move him through the palace,
13:04like the cordon of special services that surrounds our leaders today,
13:07like the president of the United States.
13:17But the Vargas Guard has another sinister task.
13:21They are the emperor's assassins.
13:24They are the people that the emperor sends
13:27to deal with the suspects of treason.
13:34They also do the dirty work.
13:41They become the secret police of Basilio,
13:44responsible for arresting the suspicious criminals
13:47and the political enemies
13:49who are locked up in the gloomy prison of Constantinople,
13:52which quickly becomes famous for its extraordinary brutality.
14:01There were many cases of intimidation and torture.
14:05It was common to cut their nose or cut their ear.
14:10There were even cases in which they collected human excrement
14:14and put it in their eyes, nose and mouth.
14:18The deprivation of sight
14:21is one of the favorite punishments of the Vargas.
14:25It is believed that they did not physically tear their eyes
14:28or use objects to extract them.
14:31It is believed that they actually used acid.
14:37And they used it to damage the cornea.
14:40It is believed that they used it to damage the cornea.
14:43It is believed that they used it to damage the cornea.
14:45It is believed that they used it to damage the cornea.
14:48In this way, people suffered, in a way, a functional blindness,
14:52but they were not 100% blind.
14:55They could probably perceive the difference between night and day.
15:00Castration was another popular Byzantine punishment.
15:04There is no doubt that when it was carried out,
15:07they were probably the ones who took out the scissors to walk.
15:16When they are not doing the dirty work of the emperor in Constantinople,
15:20the members of the Vargas Guard enjoy a good life.
15:24There are numerous activities in the city
15:27to keep the young and virile Vikings occupied.
15:31Constantinople offered a lot of fun.
15:35The chariot races were the most popular.
15:39It was the place where the chariot races took place.
15:43The chariot races were the most popular of all the activities.
15:47I suppose they would be something like professional footballers,
15:51women, booze ...
15:54For men raised in the cold and harsh lands of Scandinavia and Russia,
15:59this is like paradise.
16:02I think we can not imagine the cultural shock
16:05that these Scandinavians must have experienced.
16:08These Vikings from the snowy lands,
16:10when they stepped on Constantinople for the first time.
16:15Keep in mind that they lived in cabins.
16:19Now they came to an exuberant and tropical climate,
16:22and to their delight, with an endless supply of good wine.
16:32For the aristocratic Byzantine elite,
16:35the rough behavior of the imperial guard is scandalous.
16:38The alcoholic habits and the entertainment of the Varangians
16:42make them lose the nickname of the Emperor's Wine Boots.
16:46The ordinary people of Constantinople
16:49watched the Varangian guard with distrust.
16:52And they could not be blamed for it.
16:55They were drunk 24 hours a day, they were drunkards.
16:58There was a famous historian and poet who was imprisoned.
17:01He wrote a poem about the fact that he could not sleep at night,
17:04because those guys were screaming and screaming,
17:06causing a terrible uproar.
17:14That behavior could explain why, even today,
17:18you can see a strange Viking graffiti
17:21engraved on the balustrade of the Cathedral of Santa Sofía,
17:24the largest of its time.
17:27I guess we already know how the football hooligans behave
17:30when they go on a trip.
17:32If you've had enough to drink and you're in a place
17:34where you don't want to leave your mark,
17:37recording something with a chisel on a wall is a way to show
17:40that you've been there and to show your colleagues that you've done it.
17:43The inscription says,
17:46Haftan was here.
17:49He could have left his mark anywhere.
17:52Why did he choose to do it in the great cathedral?
17:55I guess if there's a good way to show
17:58that you've been in a place, it's that one.
18:05The Varega Guard may be causing a stir in Constantinople,
18:09but Basil II has another mission for them.
18:14Now that he has stabilized the empire, he wants to expand it.
18:24The Varega Guard joins the Byzantine army.
18:27They are divided into companies of 500 men.
18:30Each company is under the command of a regular officer,
18:33known as a Colouzos.
18:36This means that the Varegas,
18:39unlike the typical Vikings,
18:42must be instructed in the discipline.
18:45The Varegas have to be very organized,
18:48very aggressive, but at the same time,
18:51they have to be able to fulfill their duties.
18:53But there is another key difference
18:56in the way they are used.
18:59While most Vikings are assigned
19:02to carry out urgent charges in the battlefield,
19:05the emperor uses his Varegas in a different way.
19:08He keeps them in reserve.
19:11They would have preferred to occupy
19:14a more advanced position.
19:17They would have preferred to be able to exercise
19:20some kind of control and command,
19:23during the course of the battle,
19:26and come up with tactics to respond
19:29to the enemy's movements.
19:32Only when combat enters its most incarnated phase
19:35is when the emperor uses his best troops.
19:44They start by hitting their shields.
19:50And then they launch into the charge.
19:54The information we have received from the Varegas repeatedly
19:57is that they were incredibly brave in combat.
20:12They never gave up.
20:15They always fought for the others,
20:18and their intensity was so enormous
20:20that they never stopped fighting.
20:28Their swords always ended up dripping with blood,
20:31and they always fought until the very end.
20:43The Varegas are not only violent,
20:46they also dominate the tactics.
20:49A key to their success is the use of the shield wall.
20:56Basically, they intertwined their shields.
20:59They could be used for defensive purposes,
21:02against cavalry, archers, infantry.
21:07We have to imagine that there were
21:10several people placed like this,
21:13and that their shields were overlapping in this way.
21:15They had a very strong formation,
21:18and they could even advance like this.
21:21But the shield wall of the Varegas
21:24offers something more than protection.
21:27They can deploy an exclusive tactic of the Vikings
21:30to pierce enemy lines.
21:33The boar's snout.
21:42To break a shield wall,
21:45they used something similar to a wedge,
21:48and they placed the strongest men in the front.
21:51By placing one of their warriors
21:54of greater size and fierceness in the center of the wall,
21:57and charging against the shield wall of the opponent,
22:00their weight and impetus not only serve
22:03to cross enemy lines,
22:06but also to unleash panic among their ranks.
22:09They were probably bigger,
22:12and they had very heavy weapons,
22:15so that if you hit an enemy, you can open a hole.
22:33Under the banner of Emperor Basil II,
22:36the Varega Guard achieves success after success.
22:41It has often been suggested that the reign of Basil II
22:43really constituted the golden age of the empire,
22:46and that was largely due to the Guard.
22:52He keeps his army occupied,
22:55pushing the borders in small waves
22:58constantly towards the exterior.
23:01They fight valiantly and gloriously for their emperor,
23:04and intervene from the front
23:07in a series of victories in Syria,
23:10Georgia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece,
23:13Macedonia, and southern Italy.
23:16They not only crush the rebellious factions of the empire,
23:19but also increase their influence throughout the East.
23:22In Scandinavian literature,
23:25the Varegas are described as incredibly important people.
23:31They are the ones who keep the empire united
23:34and win all the battles, in the West, in the East and in the Center.
23:44The victories turn the members of the Varega Guard
23:47into very rich men.
23:50They were paid the equivalent of between 17,000 and 32,000 pounds a year.
23:57If a Varego had wanted to have a young virgin slave
24:00and very beautiful for himself,
24:03he would have gone to the slave market
24:06and bought it for about 360 pounds.
24:09Even the best estimate is that
24:11it would have given them a huge purchasing power
24:14in Constantinople.
24:17In addition to their monthly salary,
24:20the Varega Guard usually receives gratifications
24:23and a third of all the war booty.
24:26And there are even more advantages.
24:29The food is paid,
24:32they give you all the weapons,
24:35and they are also of the best quality
24:38because the emperor wants you to look magnificent.
24:41And what do they do with these war booty?
24:44They spend them.
24:47In the market in Constantinople,
24:50everything is sold.
24:53It is something unimaginable.
24:56There are spices, there are metals, gold, silver, etc.
24:59There is no limit to the money you can spend
25:02buying those things.
25:05The Varega Guard becomes the envy
25:08of their relatives and friends.
25:11who live in Scandinavia and Ukraine.
25:14After the Guard,
25:17after completing their service,
25:20they would go home and reach those northern lands
25:23with incredible riches
25:26that you could not imagine that anyone had,
25:29except an emperor.
25:32We can imagine the hysterical emotion
25:35they must have generated in their homeland.
25:38Soon, all the young Vikings
25:41will become members of the Varega Guard.
25:44The Varegas who have been in Constantinople have returned
25:47and they have been told about it, and that encourages others to go.
25:51Because the men who saw all that
25:54thought, yes, please, I also want to be part of the action.
26:07In the early years of the 11th century,
26:09there are more and more
26:12Viking mercenaries willing to join the club.
26:15The success they enjoyed
26:18proved to be the best possible impulse for hiring.
26:25The young Scandinavians who went to Constantinople
26:28were looking for something like a sabbatical and glamorous year
26:31in which to earn their wages.
26:34They could know the world, perceive visions and sounds
26:36that they had never seen before.
26:39They could become military profiles
26:42because of their tattoos and their skill.
26:46The basic idea is that if you are loyal,
26:49if you are good, you can earn your livelihood
26:52and rise in the hierarchy of the system.
26:55Among those who make their way from Russia
26:58is a Viking warrior
27:01who will lead the Varega Guard to completely new heights.
27:07With more than 180 in height,
27:10this muscular young man with his long blond hair
27:13represents a striking figure.
27:16Her name is Harald Hardrada.
27:20Harald Hardrada
27:23is the Viking prototype of his time.
27:26He is a rock star.
27:29He is the guy from the calendar, from the Varega period.
27:33Hardrada, to fight for his country,
27:36has been fighting since he was 15
27:39when he witnessed the death of his brother, King Olaf,
27:42at the hands of the insurgents in Norway.
27:47Olaf was killed in the middle of the battle by the rebels
27:50and Harald saw it with his own eyes.
27:53It was not only his brother, the king,
27:56it was also the mirror in which he looked.
27:59That was etched in his memory.
28:02A bad battle changes his life.
28:05Exiled from Norway,
28:08Harald escapes to Sweden
28:11and travels to the safe refuge of Kiev,
28:14the home of the Russian Vikings.
28:17There he is hired as a mercenary
28:20by the new ruler of Kiev,
28:23Prince Jaroslav I,
28:26the son of Vladimir the Great,
28:29and quickly shows his courage.
28:31His skill and his services are highly valued by Jaroslav,
28:34who identifies in Harald a brave and very competent man,
28:37ambitious and with good contacts,
28:40who has a chipped spine.
28:43He is a man who really feels the pain
28:46of having been excluded from power
28:49by men he considers less valuable than he is.
28:51But finally,
28:54he can not resist the charms
28:57of the offer of the Byzantine Empire.
29:00Being a man of royal blood,
29:03he had charisma.
29:06People would have followed him just for that.
29:09So he could have traveled to Constantinople
29:12with an incipient force of armed followers.
29:15But Harald,
29:18he was not alone.
29:21He did not go to Constantinople just for the money.
29:24He has never forgotten that he is a Viking prince.
29:27His plan
29:30is to return one day to Norway
29:33under the command of a huge army
29:36to recover his crown.
29:44Around the year 1033 AD,
29:47Harald and his men embark on a journey
29:49for a year along the Russian rivers
29:52with the purpose of joining the emperor's guard.
29:59They arrive just at the right time.
30:08Basil II has died
30:11and has been replaced by his niece,
30:14Empress Zoe and her husband Miguel IV.
30:16The new rulers are under great pressure
30:19and need to reaffirm their authority.
30:22Harald is just what they need.
30:25He is trustworthy, he is effective,
30:28he knows how to do things, he is smart,
30:31it is good to have someone like that by your side.
30:34He is so much better than the rest
30:37and he has practice.
30:40He has participated in the most brutal battles,
30:43so he knows what it takes to win,
30:46to mutilate, to torture, to create alliances and truce
30:49and then to break them.
30:52He would be capable of anything
30:55in order to be victorious.
30:59Fighting with the Varangian guard throughout the empire,
31:02Harald leaves his mark.
31:04But the problem with Zoe and Miguel
31:07is that they need something more
31:10to keep the empire together.
31:13In comparison with Basil II,
31:16they seem to be drifting.
31:19If they want to silence the sceptics,
31:22they need to reach greatness.
31:25That means expanding the empire.
31:28If they want to silence the sceptics,
31:31they need to reach greatness.
31:34So Miguel sets his sights on the west,
31:37Sicily.
31:51The objective of attacking Sicily
31:54is to recover the western provinces of the Byzantine Empire.
31:57For centuries, Sicily had been under the Byzantine government.
32:00Sicily is the wheel that turns the Mediterranean.
32:03It is a great meeting point
32:06between the Islamic, Greek and Latin worlds.
32:09It controls the access to the east and west of the Mediterranean
32:12and is an extremely important commercial area.
32:27But now, the island of Sicily
32:30is in the hands of the Arabs.
32:33Sicily is very important strategically.
32:36They must capture it.
32:39If they want to control the transports to the west of the Mediterranean,
32:42Sicily is essential.
32:45And for the Byzantine Empire,
32:48trade is essential,
32:51also for the prestige of the empire.
32:54It is better to conquer and capture
32:57than to fall defeated and lose.
33:00It is a great opportunity.
33:06Harald disembarks
33:09and discovers that the Arabs are prepared.
33:12Aware of the effectiveness of the Vargas in the battlefield,
33:15they have devised a plan.
33:18They have retreated behind solid fortifications.
33:21From a military point of view,
33:24it is a very hard place to conquer.
33:27The cities are well built, well fortified,
33:30with large walls and ditches in many cases.
33:33And a citadel that can resist for a long time.
33:36In the Middle Ages,
33:39they built walls because they worked.
33:42The castles, the cities, the fortifications,
33:45were built by the Arabs.
33:47In terms of strategy,
33:50the Arabs have taken the lead.
33:53In an age before the gunpowder,
33:56the defender enjoyed all the advantages.
33:59So the attacker had to wait,
34:02sitting and trusting that,
34:05because of a long siege,
34:08perhaps a disease would spread
34:11or the city would run out of provisions.
34:14Nobody in Susano-Juarez knew
34:17who would jump a walled city
34:20with people throwing stones,
34:23pouring boiling water and throwing wool.
34:26It was something absolutely full of dangers
34:29and almost always doomed to failure.
34:40This situation poses a serious problem for Harald.
34:44The classic Vargas tactics
34:47including the Havallí ditch
34:50are useless against a solid wall.
34:53He must come up with something new.
34:57It is a usual test
35:00for the special forces of today.
35:03The ability to improvise and use everything
35:06that the environment and circumstances put at your disposal.
35:09The ability to think differently
35:12and come up with a creative plan is absolutely essential.
35:14Harald begins to wonder
35:17what the Arabs could have gone through.
35:20What could be their weak points?
35:24And then,
35:27while observing a fortified city,
35:30he realizes that if he can't go over the walls,
35:33he will do it underneath.
35:36Harald develops the idea
35:39of digging a tunnel under the wall
35:41that will lead to the city.
35:47Far from the sight of the city walls,
35:50Harald chooses a place near a river
35:53and his Vargas guards get down to work.
35:56Instead of leaving huge piles of soil everywhere
35:59that would reveal his intentions,
36:02they spread the soil in the current
36:05so that the current drags it and destroys all the evidence.
36:08At the crucial moment,
36:11the city guards wait.
36:15There's a moment of respite.
36:22The guards are waiting for the perfect moment
36:25to catch their unprepared enemy.
36:29In this case,
36:32it's dinner time.
36:36The local Saracens were eating and drinking,
36:38doing what they always did,
36:41because they thought those people
36:44would never be able to enter their castle.
36:48According to Harald's Scandinavian saga,
36:51while the Arabs enjoy their dinner at dusk,
36:54he and his men emerge through the limestone floor
36:57of the great banquet hall.
36:59The Vargas carry out their deadly work.
37:09The defenders are completely astonished.
37:12Those wolves have entered their city without invitation.
37:30They just started slaughtering those people.
37:36It was over.
37:39And the city was theirs.
37:47It's the first of a series of extraordinary victories.
37:56Faced with a new fortification,
37:59Harald's stories are even more astute.
38:02On this occasion,
38:05he borrows an idea from the ancient Greeks.
38:08One of the stories is similar
38:11to the famous story of the Trojan horse.
38:14He created the impression
38:17that something is not what it seemed.
38:20In other words, he created the impression
38:23that he was dying.
38:26Harald pretends to be sick.
38:29He goes to a Byzantine camp
38:32so that the defenders can see the soldiers
38:35entering and leaving the tent constantly.
38:38Harald's trick works like a charm.
38:43The Arab defenders,
38:46confused by the interruption of the attacks against their city,
38:49even send their own spies to investigate.
38:53They discover that Harald has died.
39:00A delegation of barracks is sent to the city
39:03to make a surprising request.
39:08They tell the citizens,
39:11it is important for us to bury our leader as it should be,
39:14and we would like to bury him in your church.
39:17We are willing to pay generously if you agree.
39:21For the Arabs who are in the fort,
39:24the opportunity to have such a famous soldier
39:26buried inside their walls
39:29represents an honor and something irresistible.
39:31The barracks transport the coffin through a religious ceremony,
39:34with priests and other people from the city.
40:02According to the saga, the doors were opened
40:05and the carriers of the coffin entered solemnly,
40:08walking slowly.
40:16They leave the coffin on the ground
40:19and thus prevent the doors from closing.
40:22At that decisive moment,
40:25Harald makes his trap jump.
40:34The Balearic Guards take out their weapons
40:37from under their ceremonial clothes.
40:41They make the battle horn sound.
40:52Chaos breaks out.
40:59The Vikings destroy absolutely everyone.
41:02It turns into a massacre.
41:05But it is in another fortified city
41:08where Harald comes up with the most ingenious
41:11of all the plans.
41:16Harald has besieged the city with no luck.
41:20The Balearic Guards
41:23take out their weapons
41:26from under their ceremonial clothes.
41:29The Balearic Guards
41:31destroy the city with no luck.
41:35Once again, he faces a strong,
41:38firmly defended city,
41:41with stone walls wide and high.
41:44And what is worse,
41:47his Arab enemy enjoys abundant provisions.
41:50It is impossible for hunger to force them to surrender.
41:53Again, Harald needs to use the brain
41:56and not the muscle.
41:58He just sits for days
42:01and observes.
42:05Any intelligence information
42:08that can help you in an assault is essential.
42:15He just observes the town,
42:18looking for inspiration
42:21on how to conquer it.
42:24Any good work of surveillance or recognition
42:26always seeks weaknesses or strongly consolidated routines.
42:35Harald looks at two things.
42:38The homes that are inside the city walls
42:41have straw ceilings.
42:44And second,
42:47the birds are nestling in the wings of these houses.
42:51He observes that the eagles fly
42:53every day,
42:56from the straw ceilings in the village
42:59into the fields
43:02and back again at night.
43:06He comes up with such a creative and cruel plan.
43:10He orders them to capture as many birds as possible.
43:15Once captured,
43:18they tie small wooden sticks to their legs
43:20and then beat them with an alkytran.
43:24Harald sets fire to the wooden sticks
43:27and frees the birds.
43:36Burning,
43:39the birds return inside the walls,
43:42towards their nests, on the straw ceilings.
43:51It's a brilliant strategy,
43:54and it works.
44:00In a short time,
44:03the houses are on fire.
44:15As Harald had foreseen,
44:17the Arab inhabitants flee terrified
44:20and surrender without resisting.
44:24The defenders were obviously terrified,
44:27seeing their whole city on fire,
44:30and surrendered to the barrages.
44:37Harald, full of courage,
44:40forgives the lives of the inhabitants of the city.
44:44Sicily represents a great triumph for Harald.
44:47And for his barrages.
44:50They have proved to be more than just brutes
44:53who carry axes.
44:56They have also become masters of tactics.
44:59Harald's success
45:02represents the apex of the barrage guard,
45:05and places it among the best special forces of its time.
45:08But after nine long years of service,
45:11Harald's career does not end well.
45:15He is imprisoned for embezzling imperial wealth.
45:20Harald finally escapes from Constantinople to Kiev,
45:23and later to Norway,
45:26where he becomes king in 1046.
45:31In the meantime,
45:34Harald is assassinated
45:37when he tries to regain the throne of England
45:40in the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
46:00Without Harald Hardrada,
46:03the barrage guard continues to fight,
46:06but it will never reach the same levels.
46:10In the following years,
46:13they gain numerous victories,
46:16but the arrival of the heavy cavalry
46:19makes their tactics outdated.
46:22In the 14th century,
46:25what once was the squadron of the emperor's invincible
46:28has become little more than a ceremonial group.
46:30However,
46:33his years of glory with Harald Hardrada and Basil II
46:36have ensured that the barrage guard
46:39is remembered as one of the most devastating
46:42and successful special forces in history.
46:46There is something brilliant, I think,
46:49in the initiative and the adventurous spirit
46:52of these people who left their homes,
46:55which were so far away in the north.
46:57These barrages are pioneers,
47:00they are explorers, men who open horizons.
47:06The members of the barrage guard
47:09will not be remembered as mere mercenaries,
47:12but as a noble tradition of warriors
47:15who combined brain and muscle,
47:18pride and desire,
47:21to do what was necessary
47:24in order to achieve victory.
47:27To be continued...