Chapter 136 The Great Battle in the Eastern Sea of ​​Gotland

In order to allow the Russians to have an opening advantage in the naval battle at the moment of the engagement, Harozov began to make some adjustments.

He has a good teacher on how to fight a naval battle, and that is Otto.

In principle, naval battles rely on gang-hopping to achieve final victory, and Otto always believed that this was the best way. To gain an advantage, place your most powerful warriors on powerful ships.

In addition, you must not miss the opportunity to hit the side of the enemy ship with the hard dragon head decoration on the bow. You must also shoot some arrows, throw short spears, and also shoot some arrows when contact is about to happen. Can gain some tactical advantages.

However, the power of the bow has always been unsatisfactory. Throwing a short spear often causes the entire spear to sink into the sea. The cost of losing the entire spearhead is too high.

The intensity of war always increases, and the pressure of reality forces soldiers to use their imagination, come up with new tactics, and invent new weapons.

Changing gangs is still the first key to victory in naval battles, but after the storming of Skenberg, the scene of the army fighting in the fire really shocked Harozov's aging heart.

The archers achieved good results in the attack on the castle. The archers are also hunters. Their shooting skills are very good, so they can hunt fifty rabbits a day. Humans are not rabbits. Warriors with weapons often have hard leather armor. It is difficult for ordinary bows to kill with ordinary arrows, unless the archer accurately hits the enemy's neck after the ship approaches.

There may only be one or two opportunities to shoot at close range, and then it will be a gang war.

Harozov thought of a fire attack, which required him to summon all the archers, and before contacting the enemy, seize the time to gather the archers on the flagship, attack and transform ordinary bone arrows, and tie them with linen strips Soak the remaining pine oil and prepare some slow-burning fire in a pottery jar.

Harozov has already taken action!

The Russian fleet began to change, and the young warriors who stood up were preparing for battle.

The ships began to throw cables to each other, and some people even untied the cables towing the ship carrying supplies.

The captives noticed the appearance of some ships in the distance. Looking at the actions of these Russians, even fools knew that a naval battle was about to happen.

These captured women began to huddle together again. Some prayed that they would not be buried in the ocean, while others longed for war not to happen.

They probably knew that the ships that appeared came from Gotland. However, in this world, the Russians were defeated and they were just slaves of another group of people.

Because even in Gotland, it is perfect for people who have lost everything to become slaves of others.

Out of Skenberg, these women no longer regard other people living on the island as their own, and the other people have exactly the same attitude.

After all, the guy living in the castle does not regard the fishermen down the hillside as one of his own, let alone the people from other family forces and fishermen settlements.

The captives only wanted to protect themselves, and their huddled behavior actually caused a lot of trouble for the Russians.

After Harozov's operation, there were five boats towing all twenty captured boats, and one hundred people were responsible for guarding them. If an accident occurs, the one hundred people who guard the prisoners will also row to participate in the battle. They are the reserve team in a practical sense. Of course, Harozov has no intention of deliberately designing the reserve team.

The other fifteen ships serve as the main attack force!

The wide oars of the Russians became a bridge of communication between the two ships. Several oars were put together and they could move freely.

All the archers began to move to the flagship, and a work of quickly making flaming arrows was underway.

The combat commander should not participate in frontal combat, but should control the overall situation from the rear.

Harozov believes that this is how a naval battle should be, and even if the great leader Otto is here, he will definitely command like this.

Hearing Harozov's decision, Arik was really dissatisfied: "Harozov, you might as well stay behind. You are already old, so let us young people fight in the front."

"Huh? It sounds like you are dissatisfied with my decision?"

"Of course, you are the war leader, you should have led us to fight."

"That was a land battle! This was a sea battle! Arik, follow my arrangements. Since you want to continue to be a hero, then I can say that you are now a real war leader, not a deputy."

"Are you serious?" Arik asked excitedly.

What else can be done? Young people are very aggressive and full of desire to win.

Harozov knew that he really shouldn't fight rashly, because he had to be responsible for the entire fleet. If he died suddenly in battle, everything would be messed up. The more naval battles are on the sea, the more organized the fleet must be. This is not land. Basically, the loser will fall into the sea to feed the fish.

Aric climbed along the oars to another boat and took off his leather armor in front of everyone, as well as the linen lining, revealing his upper body covered with chest hair. And the wound that was beginning to heal.

He shouted desperately: "Brothers! Now I am the war leader! Follow me and take off your shirt! We will be berserk warriors!"

Hearing this When the word "berserker" comes up, young people really start going crazy.

Everyone screamed desperately, Harozov glared, there were just a bunch of berserkers there!

Arik continued to shout: "Brothers, let's move quickly! Our brothers and father who died in battle died in this sea area. We are fighting on the same battlefield as them! For them! Revenge! "

"Hurry! Apply charcoal on your body and write the spell, and we will become berserkers blessed by Odin. We will be invincible! I, Arik, will take you to win again! A great victory."

"Remember! The souls of our fallen fathers are still alive.Valhalla in the sky looks at us. We must make great achievements! ”

Arik tried his best to boost morale, and everyone kept making amazing roars.

Young Ross warriors generally have golden beards at a young age, and their chests He also has thick hair and golden hair on his arms.

All warriors of the Viking tribe generally have this image. In their community, a man who lacks body hair will be regarded as a freak. .

With a golden beard, complicated braids, astonishing chest hair when fighting shirtless, and strong muscles, a person with such an attitude cannot be said to be a berserker, he should be a berserker. There must be such a heroic figure.

Aric's front chest was painted with rough patterns, and his back was painted with a few words, meaning "Odin bless me"

Most people have similar words painted on their bodies.

In fact, most people have a very limited understanding of their own nation's rune writing. They can generally spell their own names, but they can't. It cannot be used to spell out a large number of words and combine them into the national classics.

However, they have a superstitious understanding of some special words. Some sacred phrases must have magic power, and the phrases are engraved on their own. A necklace, or even a weapon, can have magical power and become a perfect amulet.

Smear it on your body, and then go into battle naked, and you will have almost invulnerability.

Aric. While actively preparing for the war, a large group of people shouted crazy slogans and vowed to annihilate the new enemies they encountered.

Harozov, who directed the normal battle, looked even more calm. Courage is very important in war, so be prepared before the battle. A formation that is advantageous to oneself is also necessary.

The Russian fleet is actively operating, and all their weird actions are discovered by the opponent.

On a clear day. , the sea is vast, and a person with strong vision can climb up the mast and see almost all details of the sea within a radius of twenty nautical miles, which is the limit of human visual observation due to the curvature of the earth.

Only those with unique patterns would print their sails. Only people with high status can perform this operation.

Most of the Russian warships have beautiful sea snake-like dragon heads, and the sails are made of thickened linen, and the whole body is gray-white. .

The Gotland ships were exactly the same.

Harozov did not want to expose his identity too much when he launched the attack. Seeing that the naval battle was about to break out, he had no intention of exposing himself. .

In this way, if the enemy really pulls the Danes to retaliate, they will not go all the way to Rossburg. They will think that the attackers are from the Svealan tribal alliance. As for Rossburg, To the Gotlanders to the Danes, distant and mysterious

A large number of gray sails appeared, engaged.When they saw the sails of the Gotland fleet, they thought that the visitor might be one of their own.

The eight Gotland warships began to line up in a single column, sailing against the wind in groups in order to contact each other quickly.

In the era without telescopes, it was really difficult for the pilots to expect a small group of pilots with amazing eyesight to learn the identity of distant ships early.

So when the Gotland ships gradually approached, they were surprised to notice a series of special actions by the other party, and subconsciously took precautions.

That’s a huge fleet!

Why did they take advantage of the southerly wind and suddenly collectively close the sails?

They actually moved the two ships closer together and moved people at sea!

Is there any suspicious explanation for such various behaviors? Could they be enemies? !

The eight Gotland warships accepted the orders of their clan to go south for reconnaissance. Although they were a partial division, their armed strength was not small.

Two hundred and ten Gotlanders were sitting on eight boats. They belonged to the same clan, and they were old and young. Just like the Rus, when faced with a real all-out war, the men of the entire tribe will fight as brothers, father and son. Unlike the Russians, the Gotlanders are no longer monolithic. The rapid development of economic activities has made their tribe very fragmented. They have become a mixture of some large families, clan settlements, and scattered households, all of whom are slaves to the Danes. Hodgepodge.

When a powerful force launches a war, they can still unite to fight.

This partial division carrying out reconnaissance work was shocked to see forty warships, combined with the strange behavior of the other party, and thought about it carefully, they were definitely not one of their own.

Because, our main force is moving in the western waters of the island!

How come there is a large fleet running to the eastern waters of the island and still heading north? !

Perhaps some people were doubtful and hesitant until they saw the sudden change in formation of the opponent's large fleet, and everyone was horrified!

Hallo Zuosen didn’t want to have any verbal negotiation with the other party at all. He didn’t even have the intention to curse a few dozen meters away.

In his understanding, naval battles are all about decisiveness. Now that he personally leads many Russian soldiers and ships, he can use his superior strength to cut off the heads of everyone on the other side and end this encounter as soon as possible.

Hallozossen arranged his fourteen warships in a horizontal formation, forming a wide and concave curved front. He placed the flagship filled with archers in the center.

He just wanted to use a pincer tactic on the sea, like a crab's pincers holding its prey.

Although the ships on both sides are highly maneuverable and can turn in short distances, as long as the enemy enters his semi-surrounded pocket, Harozov believes that in one bite, he will eat away at least half of the opponent's strength.

The Russian fighting force is already rowing naked, attacking the opponent with a wave ofThe impact was launched at a speed of five meters per second.

Seeing the opponent's obvious collision formation, the Gotlanders realized that something was wrong.

However, the Gotlanders were dumbfounded. They had completely concluded that the other party was the enemy. It was most likely the attacker who was said to have burned down Schickenberg. The other party was killing them like crazy without any intention of escaping.

That was a large group of sea wolves, and their target was their eight ships.

The Gotlanders will not escape! To flee without fighting is a shameful coward. Seeing that the attackers deliberately let them go, a group of people will be reviled by all the islanders when they return.

The enemy's crazy actions further prove the statement that has begun to spread rapidly: the Siya Alliance is really going to launch a full-scale war against Gotland!

The lips are dead and the teeth are cold! Eight Gotland warships carrying 210 warriors chose frontal combat and began to charge against the wind.

"Brothers! We must stop those pirates, we will fight with them!"

"Get ready for collision, get ready to join gangs and fight!"

"Brothers! For the sake of our families and our freedom, attack!"

The elder of the division division The leader waved his battle ax and tried his best to boost the morale of everyone.

Even if the next battle will be difficult, if the enemy cannot be made to pay the price, will they think that the Gotlanders are just big fat sheep that can be slaughtered? How can that be done? !

Besides, who knows what other goals they have. Are these enemies heading north to attack their own clan fishing village?

It must have been them who burned down Schickenberg and killed at least a thousand people! To make matters worse, many men in the fishing villages have already set out to search for enemies. There are only a large number of women and children and a small number of soldiers left in the fishing villages, and the defense is extremely empty.

Many of those who escaped from Skenberg had immediately become new slaves of the wealthier families.

Some men settled down for a while and immediately boarded the boats of residents of other settlements to seek revenge on the Siyans.

Both sides have reasons to fight, and both sides think they are seeking revenge!

No one chose to avoid it.

What the Gotlanders saw was a total of fifteen ships launching an attack. Not far behind them, there were twenty-five dragon-headed warships!

Eight against forty? Five times the disadvantage gap.

The war broke out when the Gotlanders considered themselves to be at an absolute disadvantage.

But the Gotlanders were not stupid enough to dive into the pincer-shaped encirclement arranged by the Russians.

Due to the structure of the dragon-head warships on both sides, the dragon-head wood carvings spliced ​​on the bows are a hard presence.

It was okay if the bows of the two sides collided with each other. If the other side hit the sides, it would not be surprising if the entire ship was smashed into two pieces.

The Gotlanders are comingWhen they were about to hit each other, they were shocked to notice the huge strength of the opponent. Look at those strong men. They all exposed their arms for a fight on the sea.

"A berserker?!" The Gotlander leader thought for a moment and then ordered: "Quick! Turn right!"

The eight ships of the Gotlanders After all, it was a small fleet. All the oarsmen operated urgently, and the eight boats retracted in formation and turned to the right.

"They want to escape?!" Harozov, who had already stood up, could see the other party's face clearly.

Harozov's best performance came at the last moment, when the Gotlanders made a "cowardly" emergency turn and missed the target.

"Archers, shoot flaming arrows at their sails!"

Harozov gave an order, and twenty shirtless oarsmen stood up, immediately picked them up and put them away Single oak shortbow at side.

There was no time to organize a volley. When the pre-made arrows were ignited by the fire, the flaming arrows were shot out immediately.

A large number of burning arrows dragged blue smoke and flew toward the enemy ship nearly a hundred meters away.

The sails still lowered by the Gotlanders were like a huge net bag. When sailing against the wind, they had to turn the entire sail sideways to the central axis of the ship. It really became a huge target. It was a solid encounter. Set fire to the flaming arrow.

Dry linen is an excellent flammable material. Polished and barbed bone arrowheads shot through the sails, and burning strips of oil-soaked cloth quickly ignited the linen.

The two ships on the left wing of the Gotland formation quickly caught fire.

"Brothers! Keep shooting! Others, turn the corner immediately, rush over and join the gang! Quick!"

"Aric! You stinky boy, get hit by me! You will be killed when you turn the corner Them!"

Harozov roared with all his strength, and Arik, who was not far away, completely understood his uncle's intention.

Aric didn't say much. He stood on the bow of the ship, holding a sword and shield, and shouted: "Brothers, listen to me, turn and ram them!"

Ross fleet's The seven ships on the entire left wing turned collectively and rushed towards the side of the moving Gotland ship with their bows.

Facing the menacing enemy, they were severely frightened when they saw their companions in the two boats rushing to jump into the cold water to avoid being burned to death amid the fire.

Not only are there many enemies, these shirtless berserkers are also well-trained.

"Don't come over!"

"The Siyans are coming! Use your oars to push their bows!"

Some reactions The Gotlanders who came over immediately lowered their oars to block the powerful collision. However, everyone knows that the reason why the dragon-headed warship is a warship is that it has a reinforced bow! Everyone knows that naval battles use collision and gang-hopping tactics.

The Gotlanders' oars were more fragile, and the pine oars were broken.

Seven Russian ships collided with each other, and two Gotland ships were knocked out of the terrifying mass on the spot.Hole!

The leading warship does not have watertight compartments, not even a deck!

The two boats were knocked out of big holes, and then sank into the sea with an unprepared crew.

Those Gotlanders wearing chain armor thought that they would gain a certain tactical advantage in the gang war. As a result, their cold-resistant leather jackets and defensive chain armor became a real burden. , dragging the owner to slide into the deep sea.

Such people quickly sank into the sea more than ten meters deep. They had no time to unload their heavy burdens and float to the surface to escape. The increasingly strong water pressure had already crushed them to the point of unconsciousness. The fish were fed on the spot.

Some people soaked in the water and hurriedly got rid of their wet clothes. They also lost their weapons, and like seals trapped in fishing nets, they were stabbed to death by the prepared short spears of the Russians.

There were still three ships that only vibrated violently during the collision, and the ribs made of simple oak luckily withstood the impact.

But after the shock, the shirtless Russians rushed over.

A gang-hopping war occurred.

"Brothers! Cut off their heads!"

Aric simply threw away his shield, held the steel sword in both hands, leaped onto the enemy ship, and slashed directly at an enemy ship. The poor Gotlander who blocked the attack with an iron sword died on the spot, and the iron sword he blocked broke into two sections.

On the battlefield on this ship, Arik became a real berserker.

He killed four enemies in a row and was covered in their blood.

As a result, he was suddenly kicked by an enemy and fell into the cold sea.

Even so, he held a piece of wooden ribs that floated after the collision, and continued to stab the enemy with his steel sword.

In gang fighting, the Russians and Gotlanders cannot organize effective infantry formations at all, and fighting depends entirely on individual abilities.

The Gotlanders woke up and began to fight back. In a single fight, luck may be more important than fighting skills!

Many Russian warriors were hacked to death by the Gotlanders' axes, and many Gotlanders fell into the sea and were stabbed to death by the Russians' short spears and swords like seals.

Some Russians were also hit by arrows fired by a small number of Gotlanders. Their naked bodies were hit by arrows and then fell into the sea.

The numerous Gotlanders were attacked by the Russian archers. For a while, the two groups of people in the ship were fighting, but the sails were set on fire by flaming arrows.

Just before the battle, the leader of the Gotlanders predicted that the battle would be very detrimental to him, and he hoped that the courage of the Gotlanders would delay the enemy as much as possible.

Who would have thought that the other party is obviously well-trained!

Not long after the battle started, two ships burst into flames, two ships were knocked into silence, and three more ships became a terrifying battlefield.

The leader of the Gotlanders was lucky enough not to participate in the fight. The only two remaining Gotland warships would be really cowardly!

Charge in and fight them? !

No!

Everyone has tried their best, but who would have thought that these guys from the Siiya Alliance are really amazing in combat.

In grief and anger, the leader of the Gotlanders roared: "We...we retreat! Hurry to the nearest coast!"

The frightened people immediately Steering the last two boats, they continued to raise their sails and the direction became due west.

The sea water was dyed red with blood. Arik grabbed the spearhead handed over by his own people and was dragged to the good ship by his brothers.

The gang-hopping battle on the ship has ended. The groaning Gotlanders were all stabbed to death, and some seriously injured Russians were vomiting blood in horror.

Many enemies and even some dead Russians have sunk to the bottom of the sea. A large area of ​​red seawater proves what terror is.

A large number of corpses are floating on the sea. The corpses of the Russians are pulled onto the ship, and they will be taken back to their hometown for burial.

As for the dying people, the Russians gave these brothers a quick blow to end the pain.

Because these injured brothers are in serious condition, they have lost the possibility of living. Death by their own people is an acceptable destination.

Looking at the two lonely white sails that were gradually going away, Arik, whose paint had been washed away by the sea water, stamped his feet angrily: "Brothers, how about we catch up and kill them all?" Kill? ”

Many people responded and sat down to paddle in pursuit.

This move was seen by Harozov; "Arik! What are you doing?!"

"Uncle! We can't let those enemies run away. We want to destroy them all."

"Forget it! Let them go! Arik, listen to my command now." Harozov shouted.

“But you have appointed me as the war chief!”

“Now that the battle is over, let’s leave quickly! Don’t think you are complacent about winning a battle. If we are defeated, The Gotland army has discovered that we will all die! "

Don't chase the poor ones? Harozov is just worried that the young people's love affair will cause the Russians to lose the opportunity to withdraw safely.

After all, this naval battle is what Harozov hopes to avoid. Now that the battle is over, how can he want to fight.

Aric sat down angrily and continued to row, and the entire Ross fleet escaped from the blood-stained battlefield.

The naval battle was very short-lived. The Gotlanders lost five ships and a total of 140 people died.

Although the Russians had a huge tactical advantage, fifteen people died in the final gang-hopping battle.

At least they died in the posture of berserkers. Ten corpses were collected and the rest sank into the sea. Everyone also counted the number of people to determine the number of the dead. Everyone felt sorry and happy for them, because they died on the battlefield and completed the glorious life of a man at sea!

aliveAfter the people calmed down and the violent Xin became calm, they no longer thought about continuing to pursue and expand the victory.

What Harozov said does make sense. Everyone is exhausted after this battle. What if the enemy comes not with eight ships, but with eighty ships? The results will be dire.

The south wind continued to blow the sails of the Russians, and the bows and ribs of many ships were stained with the blood of the enemy. The Ross men changed back into warm clothes, ate roughly wheat cakes, and then formed a circular fleet. They endured the muscle soreness and mental exhaustion after the battle and rowed as fast as possible toward the north.

For the sake of safety, Harozov would rather take a detour, and the fleet began to favor the location of Seramiya Island, intending to take an arc around the Åland Islands to gain real safety.