The golden sunshine shines on the white earth, and the whole world is so pure and sacred.
Leaving the fjord of Rossburg, Rurik was in the team. He was immersed in the clear air of Northern Europe and saw the solemnity and holiness around him.
"Huh? No wonder the ancients would describe this as paradise. Because this is paradise."
The world fell into ice and snow, and the non-stop north wind rumbled in my ears, Rurik I felt that my mind was completely at peace.
"Are we just going to keep going like this?" Rurik asked his father.
"Of course. This is the only fast path we can choose."
Rurik didn't say much. He wrapped himself in the deerskin and paid attention to the distance. It is magnificent, and also pays attention to the solid footsteps of the charioteer.
It can be said that the entire huge team is moving forward on the frozen sea.
The howling north wind blows across the entire ice surface, which makes the frozen sea surface very different from the snow-covered land.
The frozen sea surface is simply a thoroughfare. People on foot do not need to worry about getting stuck in the snow, and they can move forward at a faster speed. But they cannot leave the coastline
They need the snow-covered coast and the white land not far away as a perfect guide.
In this era when compasses did not exist in Northern Europe and geomagnetism did not exist at all, hunters followed this northern hunting path.
Everyone generally wore black leather clothes, and some wore white fox hats.
The short day passed quickly, and under the glow of the Northern Lights, the team was still moving forward.
Because the ice and snow covering the entire world reflect moonlight, starlight and even laser light, as long as it is a clear day, the Russians can theoretically travel all night.
After leaving Fort Ross, Rurik felt that his people were always on their way.
Whether it is a short day or a long night, everyone is running along the coastline in an organized manner.
How far can the tribesmen walk in one day? Rurik had no tool to calculate, he could only assess empirically.
The young warriors of the selected tribes are generally tall, and this advantage in height and strength makes the Russians generally taller than the Novgorodians
A lot . Just like Kawei's wife Lilia, compared to Kawei who is good at blacksmithing and has huge arm muscles, Lilia is too thin. People with a little common sense can see that the huge difference in stature between the two people is not a difference between the sexes at all, but because the two ethnic groups have different bloodlines.
However, the Rus and Novgorods are all descended from the "Indo-European" ethnic group.
Rumia is not of Indo-European descent at all. Although she is twelve years old and has "proof that she can become a mother," she looks more like a child
< p>子.She is thatA woman who doesn't seem to grow up.
For Rumia, it is already commendable that her height can exceed 160 kilometers.
In the past year, Rurik has grown a lot in height, and his golden growth period is about to come. Even so, Rurik used a rope to measure the length of leather and determined that his height exceeded 1.3 stikas, which actually exceeded 130 centimeters. In the next few years, Rurik's height will surely increase by leaps and bounds
It is not a bad idea to grow to 160cm by the time he is twelve years old.
A boy with such a height can already become a sword-wielding warrior.
This is not only true for boys. When a girl from the Ross tribe is twelve years old, her height can almost exceed 1.6 stikas.
I am afraid that this is the reason why the Russians traditionally set the age of adulthood at twelve years old.
A group of tall and strong Russian warriors traveled all night, like tireless mules and horses. Only when the stars in the sky moved to the right position did Otto announce a stop
rest.
Only at this time did the people of Beishou begin to build their own camps on the snow-covered shore.
They piled up snow, quickly built snow walls, and dug snow pits as their own sleeping quarters.
Many dug semi-burrowed snow pits, building a frame over the pit with branches and covering it with a sheet of burlap. In this way, a winter camping tent is formed.
After munching on the wheat cakes they carried with them, Rurik and Rumia took the lead in getting into the tent that could protect them from the wind and cold.
"Haha, am I becoming an Eskimo like this? Bah! The indigenous people in North Asia must live like this, even..." Rurik is crazy
With his thoughts wandering around, he couldn't help but ask his head maid Rumia about the so-called winter life of a deer herder.
"Rumia, did you also live in a pit like this during the winter?"
"That's basically it." Rumia lying on the leather mat , counting the hands of his master Rurik, he replied calmly: "I...I'm in a trance. It's like, you
are my brother."
"I think of the past days "?"
"A little bit. I'm a little scared. I know you are not my brother."
"No, just treat me as your brother." Brother." Rurik coaxed his woman and wiped away her tears. "Don't cry anymore. In the next period of time, I also want to experience the winter life of a deer farmer. I want to know those people better. You know, I want to treat them well, just like I treat you well." ..."
The girl suddenly remembered the cold night last year, a boy holding a sword, risking his own life to defend his heroic appearance. Rumia cried harder and boldly hugged her master tightly.Man, his own brother. It was as if the two were real siblings.
Rurik had the unique experience of sleeping in the snow for the first time. When it got dark, he woke up peacefully.
He and Rumia climbed out of the snow nest and easily smelled the aroma of barbecue filling the air.
Because just in the early morning, the traps built by some tribesmen who brought special tools were effective. The ignorant snow foxes and snow rabbits tried to eat the bait and fell into the trip wire.
Compared with shooting these animals with bows and arrows, it is more efficient to lay traps. This is what most hunters think.
Although the purpose of our action is to engage in a fateful battle with an unknown enemy, the action still has the title of "Northern Hunting", and of course we must take the opportunity to hunt.
If we step into a truly unknown land and catch a large number of ferrets, we will really make a fortune.
Otto ate the roasted snow rabbit provided by the tribe. He tore into the half-cooked rabbit meat and took a sip of the strong liquor from the glass bottle. He gnawed on the wheat cakes he brought with him again.
This breakfast was really delicious.
Otto also threw a skewer of roast rabbit to his son.
The roasted rabbit with dripping oil looked ferocious. Rurik didn’t think much about it and started to eat it, not forgetting to tear off the rabbit legs and give them to Rumia.
Otto saw this scene clearly, and when he thought about the two children sleeping in the same bed yesterday, he couldn't help but joked: "Rurik, you are still too young.
Did you know that your Rumia is old enough to get engaged?"
"I will be twelve soon, Dad. You mean, I will become a real man when I turn twelve?"
Otto said deliberately: "Being a real man is not just about getting your woman pregnant, but you need to have some merit. Listen. "The more noble you are, the more merit you have. If you can get Rumia pregnant, I will be happy."
As soon as this was said, Lu was stunned. Mia's heart was strongly shaken. She had a dull expression on her face, and many things immediately came to her mind.
"But she is a deer herder. If she becomes my high priest, could it be..."
Otto understood what his son meant and immediately said: "She can It can be your high priest, or it can be your wife. We are not the Franks in the south.
There are no restrictions in this regard."
Rurik said oh. , directly handed some of the rabbit meat that he had chewed to Rumia.
"In this case, I have to be nicer to my woman."
Otto held the glass bottle, and he felt that his son's behavior had a deeper meaning.
"We will be on our way again in a moment. Rurik, you know that prophecy, and Vilia's prophecies are never wrong. This time our enemy is not deer herders
People, but the enemy is very mysterious and we need to stay vigilant."
"I understand. "Rurik said perfunctorily: "I hope there will be some mysterious enemies that are necessary and easy to deal with. Then my mercenaries will be the first to attack. ”
Soon, the team set off again.
To Rumia’s great relief, the Ross people’s primary target of attack was no longer the deer herders. Besides, if the Ross people The army continued to advance along the coastline in this way, and the team basically could not meet the deer herders.
She had already revealed some information about the north to Otto. The information about the world is also reserved.
Because of Rumia's appearance, Otto has a new understanding of the unknown places in the north, such as the sea at the end of the world.
< p>Rumia claimed that when she was a child, she and her family once looked out at the Northern Sea. It is said that the end of the icy sea is the edge of the world.Only when winter comes and darkness completely covers the world, the sea becomes empty. It will be completely covered by ice and snow. At this time, brave people can step on the ice to explore the end of the world.
Otto certainly believed what Rumia said. The information provided coincides with each other.
Of course, Rurik has greater reservations about this information.
Rurik did not explain that the so-called sea at the end of the world is covered by ice eyes. , and did not tell his father and all the people the details of the entire world. For example, he did not explain the true coastline of the Baltic Sea world where Fort Ross was located.
Rurik felt that. Sometimes it is too detailed, and the tribesmen cannot understand the vast amount of information. In short, it is enough for them to believe that they can see the "sea at the end of the world" if they keep walking.
If the tribe’s army continues to move north, it is almost certain that they will encounter the deer herders grazing in winter.
Lumia knows that the deer herders will not risk entering. On the southern coast, everyone did not want to meet the Vikings, nor did they want to have too much contact with the Finns.
Only the Russian army walked along the coastline, and their troops encountered new deer herders. But, what is the mysterious enemy?
Rumia is even more convinced of the high priest's prophecy. Rurik
She was extremely nervous.
Who is the enemy? Is it necessary to fight against an unknown enemy? He... won't be hurt.
The changes in things cannot be controlled by Rumia, and even the march route of the Ross tribe cannot be affected by human will.
The march lasted for four full and short days.
While marching, they also carried out hunting activities.
Many tribesmen gained a lot in the past days. Rich. On the sleds pulled by some people, the supplies increased.
If it is not particularly necessary, the Russians are not as precious as they consume.of wheat. They tried their best to satisfy their hunger with the meat of snow rabbits and foxes they hunted. They peeled off the furs and kept them to sell for money.
They also paid special attention to preserving the leg bones of the foxes and processing them into special tools.
Compared with the tribal warriors with short wooden bows, Rurik's crossbow has gained a lot. Because they could aim and shoot, the heavy arrows fired were very powerful. What the tribesmen saw was that hunting suddenly became easier.
Jevro led his men, and after losing five crossbow arrows (which flew into the thick snow and couldn’t find them), they hunted more than fifty snow hares, and /p>
Ten white foxes.
It’s funny to say that those white foxes stopped deliberately and saw strange things approaching them. They felt that the distance was still safe, and just as their bodies prepared to escape, they were suddenly shot by crossbow arrows. The arrows can even penetrate the body of the fox, killing the snow fox on the spot. It is the fox fur like this that has two huge holes
which makes it unsightly.
But it also truly proves the lethality of heavy crossbow arrows against flesh and blood.
According to Jevlo's claim, everyone who tried their luck in the nearby woods also encountered a group of Arctic wolves. However, the wolves chose to retreat, causing Rurik to miss an opportunity to get the wolf skin.
Rurik’s mercenaries did not succeed in hunting the wolf, but some tribesmen succeeded.
The warrior who killed the Arctic wolf cut off the wolf's head and inserted it into the spearhead of his short spear that served as a marching staff. Such people don't bother themselves at all, just to show off their strength to others.
For four or five days, the Ross tribe's army continued to move towards the end of the so-called "explored world". The northern hunt so far was a true hunt
.
Some experienced young hunters who were armed with bows and arrows in the revenge battle against the Gotlanders at the end of April, they were not holding very good hunting bows, but they let their snow fall
A large amount of rabbit skins were accumulated on the sled.
Along the way, the team crossed several frozen rivers, and soon the team also made an obvious geographical turn.
The team no longer goes straight to the north, but goes straight to the east along the coastline.
Soon, the fishermen accompanying the team recognized a large river frozen by ice.
The fishermen of the Ross tribe have long thought that the waters north of Rossburg were lacking in fish resources, but some brave fishermen decided to investigate on the spot. As far as the results of the investigation are concerned, there are indeed a few fish in the northern seas, but there are large numbers of salmon and trout in several nearby rivers.
The river estuary in this area is a bit far from Roseburg, and the migration of salmon happens to be in September, which is already very cold. Fishermen generally don't want to take risks, for fear that they may catch fish and the fishing boat will be frozen on the sea.
ThisThis time, after exchanging opinions with a group of young fishermen accompanying them, they clearly informed the leader Otto: "This is the Salmon River that has been explored by brave men."
"Salmon River"? A very strange and unfamiliar name.
Otto thought for a while, maybe the team passed the upper reaches of this river during last year's adventure in the north, but at that time everyone helped on the way and saw the so-called scenery
Everything is brand new. In those extremely cold and harsh conditions, people exploring were full of fear of the unknown world.
After learning that his tribe had actually explored this place in the summer, Otto no longer felt that the road he had traveled before was a so-called adventure road.
It’s just that the route that should have been traveled by ships in the past has become the feet of brave people this time.
Facing the wide frozen river, under the "scorching sun" of the short day, Otto raised his sword and raised his arms and shouted: "Brothers! This salmon river is our country
The limit of human exploration! Let’s cross this river and fight the unknown enemy! Brothers!”
Otto didn’t say anything more. Not even sledding.
He held high the patterned Damascus steel sword and took the first step to cross the river in the name of the great leader.
Seeing this, people who were deeply encouraged followed closely behind.