The war was finally about to begin, and Yevlo was somewhat nervous.
Although about ten days ago, the Ross army he belonged to easily defeated a group of pediatricians. After all, it was a surprise battle, and his master Rurik used strategies to give the Russian army an advantage in all aspects.
He knows that a strong man who strikes first can often defeat his opponent without the ability to fight back.
Yevluo is a little worried about the current situation.
His iron sword and ax were attached to the belt around his waist, and ten heavy crossbow arrows were inserted into the linen pocket on the belt.
With a crossbow in his hand, Jevro led the scouts to cautiously enter the so-called Kovin village.
"Brothers, be careful, beware of enemies that suddenly appear."
"Don't trust your crossbow too much. When the situation is critical, draw your sword and fight!"
>"Remember, show no mercy! Except for the daughters and children who give up resistance, everyone else is the enemy."
As Yevlo walked, he repeated to his subordinates what Rurik had told him. Some requirements.
Most mercenaries are not as cautious as Yevro. In other words, this meat reconnaissance operation is completely the first raid they have participated in.
These mercenaries are almost all landless farmers in Mälaren. It seems that fate forces them to live by selling their physical strength. It was a pity for these young people that they were not selected into the Guards by the leader of Mellaren.
Moreover, in the past few years, the Melalen tribe has rarely used large-scale external troops, leaving young people in such a large tribe lacking opportunities to seek benefits through war.
Working as mercenaries for local tycoons has become an important way for young people to make a living.
Now, these twenty Melalen people represent the Ross people in the battle.
They have begun to dream about storming into the villages of the Corvin people, and everyone can grab a large amount of high-quality furs that need to be transported in linen bags.
The north wind swept across the frozen river, and the village on the riverbank fell into an eerie silence.
There are more than a dozen sneaky figures hiding in the village's low fences, haystacks, or simply behind houses.
Wearing deerskins and holding bows and arrows, they exposed their eyes through the gaps and quietly observed the approaching enemy.
"Those guys are here, are they really Varyags?"
"Are you stupid? Lekiaras, wait a moment and listen to my orders. Let's at least shoot Kill a Varyag." A senior hunter said to his buddy, but the hunter didn't know what to do.
"Are you so sure? Amovaro, look at their clothes and their weapons. Believe me, maybe our arrows..."
"Don't try How do you know the effect? Are their armors thicker than wild boars’ skins? Are they more terrifying than bears?”
“Okay.” Hunter Lekiaras looked at his bone arrows., couldn't help but sigh deeply. Forget it, he drew an iron-tipped arrow from his quiver. "I hope this expensive sword can kill an enemy."
The residents of the village have evacuated to the mountain fort, and most of the necessary supplies have also been moved. Things are really dispensable.
More than a dozen hunters were named to stay, just because these people had experience in killing bears and wild boars. The leader Kejas felt that these people could shoot several Varyags and force them to evacuate. .
"They are getting closer. Listen to my orders before firing arrows." Hunter Amovaro ordered.
What was different from the strong tension of the Coven hunters was that as the Russian scouts were about to step ashore and could enter the village in just a few dozen steps, they saw an unusually quiet village. The tension in my heart dissipated a lot, and the team became a little looser.
Jevro was the first to step onto the snow-covered river bank. For a moment, he felt that the situation was indeed very delicate.
"It's too quiet. Brothers, be careful."
His instructions did not attract many people's attention.
The mercenaries all landed ashore. They seemed to have discovered the golden mountains and silver seas, and started running straight to the nearest private houses, hoping to be the first to break in and take away the good things.
Following them were the sword and shield bearers of the Ross tribe. How could the good things be snatched away by the Melalen mercenaries? They also joined the wave of fighting for the spoils.
Looking at this scene, Yevluo felt a little helpless. As a Fenren, he really understood that the mercenaries might not be able to find any treasures.
Suddenly, there was a whooshing sound in the air.
Then someone screamed.
Yevro, who was slightly relaxed, suddenly saw that a mercenary was holding his thigh and wailing.
He squatted down subconsciously, holding the crossbow nervously, pointing the crosshair in any suspicious direction.
A stray arrow suddenly struck and flew onto the ice close to Jevlo's face. He even felt the soft arrow feathers slap against his cheek.
For a moment, he saw a suspicious person wearing a fur hat and realized that there was an enemy over there.
"Attention! There is an ambush! Everyone, come back!"
It is really only when someone is injured that the place becomes dangerous for people entering the village.
Since the enemy was hiding in the dark, the mercenaries abandoned their injured companions and retreated to the river beach. Then they held crossbows and shot at suspicious places.
The angry Yevluo yelled: "You idiots, do you think your arrows are cheap? Don't shoot without seeing the enemy's eyes!"
On the other hand, the hidden Kovin hunter was delighted that he had shot a Varyag.
Hunter Lekyaras muttered disdainfully: "It seems that bone arrowheads are less effective, and iron arrowheads are the most effective. The Varyags are not as scary as the legend says."
"It's just that iron arrows are very expensive, so use them sparingly." HunterAmovaro also asked everyone to be careful.
On the one hand, these Kewen hunters want to give the enemies who appear a showdown, and on the other hand, they want to contain them. The leader Kaihas never expected the Varangians to leave meekly. Large-scale battles were basically inevitable, so the Kovin "Salmon Lord" tribe needed more preparation time to make the mountain fort truly militarized. Hill fort.
The mercenary who fell to the ground was still wailing. He was bleeding desperately because of an arrow in the main artery of his leg.
Seeing the Varyags retreat, a Kewen hunter finally couldn't help but rush out from his hiding place. A shorter hunter rushed out with a short spear and stabbed the screaming mercenary directly in the throat with the obsidian spearhead.
The mercenary screamed twice, and suddenly lowered his raised arm.
The hunter was still not satisfied after completing the assassination. He pulled out the bloody spear and shouted at the Varyags who were cowering not far away.
"What is that idiot talking about? Boss, Statla is dead!" A mercenary gritted his teeth.
Jevro was furious. After all, the deceased was also a mercenary trained by him, and he died like this. What's more, I actually understood what the enemy was saying.
The so-called "Varyags, you are seeking death when you come to our territory"!
"Brothers, shoot at the enemy!"
Originally, everyone was waiting for Yevlo's order.
More than ten crossbow arrows hit the target with extremely fierce force. The Kovin hunter, who was still complacent about assassinating a Varyag, was pierced by multiple crossbow arrows and died on the spot.
"Ah! What's going on? What kind of weapon is that?! Is it an arrow?" Hunter Amovaro was shocked.
"Isobra is dead, what should we do?" A hunter asked loudly.
"Damn it, fight them! Brothers, use iron arrows!" Hunter Amovaro took the lead to stand out from the hiding place, and the other hunters appeared one after another.
The Coven hunters began to shoot arrows at the Russian scouts desperately. This move was completely beyond Jevro's expectations, forcing the Russians to take precautions.
The shield-wielding swordsmen and shieldmen became the covering force. The crossbowmen quickly strung up their bows, mounted their crossbows and immediately took aim and fired.
At this moment, arrows hit the wooden shields of the Russians from time to time. Looking at the wooden shields that were slightly penetrated, the sword and shield hand couldn't help laughing. Compared to the powerful crossbows of your own tribe that can penetrate the ship's planks, the enemy's arrows are really too weak.
Hunter Lekiaras is still questioning why the Varyags are good at archery, and he hopes his companions can give an explanation. A crossbow arrow came without warning, and it actually penetrated the hunter Amovaro's head!
In Lechiaras' shock, his companion's eyes widened, like a felled pine tree, and he fell to the ground stiffly with a roar.
An experienced hunter who has practiced archery since childhood and plans to kill at least ten hundred bears in his life.The man Amovaro died just like that.
Five brothers also suffered the same fate. They were all killed directly by strange arrows.
Lechiaras lay down and tried to rescue his companions, but everything was in vain. In grief and anger, he realized that the situation was very complicated. After struggling to pull out the unique stubby arrow that harvested the lives of his companions, he called on his other living brothers.
"Brothers, let's retreat quickly, or everyone will die!"
In the end, only five Coven hunters managed to escape, and they left seven corpses in the village.
A somewhat unexpected battle ended.
The Russians lost one mercenary and the Covins lost seven.
But in a sense, the Russians lost nothing at all. Mercenaries, aren't they just "tools" bought with money?
The scouts captured the entire Kovin village at the cost of one death.
The ones who died were mercenaries after all, at least mercenaries died in battle.
Everyone felt a little sorry for the deceased and wished that his soul could enter the Hall of Valor, because the deceased was a mercenary of Rurik.
After all, everyone was the first to enter the village. They started searching with great interest, and found that the most valuable items in each house were just some empty clay pots and a pile of thatch.
A large number of clay pots were broken, just because everyone believed that there was something hidden inside.
As a result, the clay pot was empty, and the semi-crypt-like house was not a deserted existence.
The empty-handed warriors began to check the shot enemies, looking for the crossbow arrows they had missed, and collected the enemy's bows and arrows as their own trophies.
Some time later...
It seemed that the encounter ahead had ended, and the scouts had taken control of the entire village.
Otto could sense that the troops he sent were fighting with the enemy, and he immediately ordered the rest of his men to squat down and remain on guard.
Now that the enemy was destroyed, Otto took Rurik and all the tribesmen and set foot on the enemy's village.
Rurik maintained a high degree of vigilance. He was a little afraid of the low-rise village houses of the Kovin people, for fear that an enemy would suddenly appear and point the finger at him.
Jevro quickly stood in front of his father and himself.
Otto asked arrogantly: "You fought a battle and the enemy was defeated? How many enemies did you kill?"
"Seven."< /p>
"So few?"
"That's seven people. Chief, please take a look." Yevro winked, and seven corpses were pulled out and Yin Hong's horrific blood stains were left on the snow. To be honest, Rurik was a little touched when he saw this scene.
"Do you have any losses?" Rurik asked before his father.
“Master, one of us died.”
“Who died?Already? ! "Rurik asked in a panic.
" Statla is dead. "
"Huh? He..."
Rurik remembers the names of all the mercenaries. It's not that he pays special attention to mercenaries, it's just because he doesn't have many mercenary subordinates.
Otto looks at When his son felt a little depressed, he comforted him: "At least the person who died was not one of our clansmen, so why should you worry? "
"But, after all, he is a mercenary hired by me. "
"That mercenary died fighting for us, but he was a mercenary, not a Russian. This is the fate of that person. Next, we should launch a larger-scale attack! "
After saying that, Otto squatted down, grabbed Rurik's cheek with a big hand, and forced his eyes to look at the hills not far away: "Child, do you understand the situation? ”
Rurik squinted his eyes, just to see the distant scenery clearly in the very dazzling sunlight reflected by the white snow.
I could only see the hills not far away. A wall suddenly appeared.
“Dad? ! What is that! ”
“That’s the mountain fort. "Yevluo responded quickly: "The people in this village must have evacuated to the mountain fortress. "
When Otto heard this, he couldn't help but become interested; "Oh? Jevlo, do you still know something about the mountain fort? "
"Yes! Big Chief, my hometown and village will also build a mountain fort surrounded by stone walls to defend against enemies. Unexpectedly, people from Kewen are actually doing the same. ”
Yevlo’s words made Rurik think that since the Finns built mountain forts, the Kovin people, who were also born out of the Finns, would also build mountain forts.
“Dad . Rurik asked, "Are we going to attack the mountain fortress soon?" ”
“What if? They are unwilling to kneel down and be slaves, so we can only use force to make them submit. Also, your person died and you don’t want revenge?
"I think!" Rurik said angrily.
"That's right. My child, hatred is a weapon. I think your mercenaries are eager to attack and take revenge immediately."
"Then fight. "Rurik got into his fist. At this point, he felt that he had enough reasons to fight.
Otto looked at his son with relief, and then through the condition of the enemy's corpse, he understood that the crossbow was indeed powerful.
For example, if an enemy has a terrible hole punched in his face, the only person who can do this is a crossbow.
Since there was going to be a war, Otto asked people to pull Woima Kasha over who was leading the way.
He made him kneel down and asked: "This is your village? Where are your people?"
Facing the current situation, Voyma Kashad tried hard to suppress his heart of joy. He deliberately put on a frightened look, deliberately trembling his right hand, pointing to the mound not far away: "That's it! The mountain fort. All our people must have withdrawn to the mountain fort. They must have sent people to attack you.Provocation, I hope to have a decisive battle with you in the mountain fort. "
"Really? "Otto's deep eyes looked at the stone wall of the mountain fort, and his beard was swayed by the cold wind.
Otto clenched the hilt of his sword and asked again: "Tell me, what is inside the mountain fort? What's there? "
"All...all the treasures. There are also many, many women who can be used as slaves. ”
“Is there food? "Otto asked a very critical question.
"Yes! Lots of jerky, that’s our key to surviving the winter. "
Otto nodded: "Just right, my people are short of food. you! If you don't lead us here within the time, I will really kill you. "
"Oh, thank you for your kindness in not killing me. "
Otto shook his head: "No, no, the work is not over yet. Now I am going to attack the mountain fortress, and I want you to tell them first that we Russians are coming. ”
After Jevro translated, Voyma Kashad suddenly trembled in panic and lied: “I can’t go!” To them, I am... a traitor. They would kill me and reject everything. "
"Really? Indeed, traitors deserve to die! Otto spat into the snow and said, "You are just my dog now." That's fine, you just stay here. After victory, I will still need you. ”
Woima Kashad immediately kowtowed, because it seemed that the Russian army was going to attack the mountain fort with force, and a bloody battle was about to take place.
So I finally got a chance to escape.
Woima Kashad's actions deceived everyone, and even Rurik felt that this man was a real coward and a pure greed. People who are afraid of death.
Now, including Woima Kashad who led the way, all the deer farmers who followed the team, and even Rumia, were asked to stay in the Kovin village. Twenty relatively weak warriors were assigned to defend the controlled village, and they were promised to share some property with them after winning the battle.
The remaining nearly three hundred warriors were gathered together by Otto.
Otto stood on a haystack. He drew his sword and looked at the expectant eyes. The sword pointed directly at the obvious hill on the east side of the village. Stonewall. He shouted angrily: "Brothers! I'm going to fight the Corvins. There is food there! Skins! woman! Gold! Everything you need! They dared attack our scouts, and soon I will have them on their knees begging for their lives. Fight! ”
The anger of the Russian people was ignited, and Otto’s pre-war mobilization had a very good effect.
Rurik knew that the current team must rush forward in one go, It was best to overwhelm the enemy's mountain fortress in one go.
Immersed in the general excitement, Rurik also pulled out his dagger and joined a large group of tribesmen banging their shields, issuing his own Viking attack. War cry.
“Russians! go ahead! "Otto pointed his sword pointedly, three hundredThe soldiers started heading straight for the mountain fortress.