If there is an effective means to attack competitors, the Salmon Lord Tribe will certainly use it without hesitation.
This method is to take advantage of the Russian military strength.
So when this tribe was conquered by the Rus within a few hours, their leader Kaihas changed from resolute resistance to active cooperation.
Kejas told all the truth about the gray squirrel tribe in a hostile and competitive state, and out of emotion, he described the enemy as a powerful enemy.
"There are at least a thousand people in that tribe, and they are very powerful. The bows and arrows shot by their warriors can accurately penetrate the gaps in the leaves and hit the deepest squirrels. Their people also It can hunt wild boars, white bears, and completely eliminate forest wolves."
Kejas tried his best to prove that this statement was true with a horrified expression.
But when Otto knew the order of magnitude of the enemy's population provided by this person, he couldn't help but laugh.
"A thousand people? Only a thousand people, do you deserve to call yourself powerful?"
Kehas was a little surprised. In fact, how could the gray squirrel tribe have such a large population? At best, there are only more than 500 people.
Kehas immediately changed his mind: "Yes, compared to your tribe, we humble Covin people are really...too weak. Being your hunting dogs is our greatest honor."
p>Otto was very satisfied when he heard this disgusting flattery, and even felt a little elated.
Rurik had a different feeling when he heard it. Facing the surrendered servants, the master must show his strength, so-called having the face of a king.
According to Kehas's description, the territory of the gray squirrel tribe is in the south. As long as you continue to trace upstream along the frozen river, there is a small lake there, and the real gray squirrel tribe is established on the south bank of the lake.
There are no mounds in any sense where the gray squirrel tribe is located. The land there is relatively flat and covered with vegetation, mainly pine and oak. It is entirely because of the cold local climate that the locals have only cultivated a very small amount of land to grow some cold-resistant vegetables.
All the Kovin people are fishing and hunting people, and they settle mainly in the Oulu River Basin.
The Salmon Lord tribe lives near the mouth of the sea. When huge numbers of salmon come upstream in autumn and go straight to Lake Oulu to spawn, this tribe can pick up hemp beside the fast-flowing river. Rope nets can easily catch large amounts of plump salmon, which can be used as food for the winter.
The tribes upstream of them lost their best fishing spots and could not get the best fish. They could only think of other development directions.
Catching a large number of squirrels, skinning them and selling them to the south in exchange for food seems to be the best way, not to mention that the squirrel meat itself is also a satisfying food. They were already exploring the north, looking for overland routes to trade with the Norwegians.
The root cause of the dispute is that with limited access to resources, everyone is trying their best to expand the scope of land control to make more profits for their tribe.
So Kejas specifically mentioned a long wall built by a tribe of gray squirrels in the forest.
"It was a low wall, made of stones and wood. Around the low wall, there were also some traps and some traps. That wall was the boundary they built."< /p>
Hearing this, Rurik first thought of the concept of the Great Wall.
In the end, Otto could not understand the use of a long and low wall. He showed his disdain, "What about that? Let's cross the wall and chop off their heads."
"My master, maybe we need some defense."
Otto didn't care about this suggestion at all, because he didn't look down on these Covin people at all.
Twenty tribal warriors died, and he attributed such casualties to the damn stone wall fortress. I had a successful experience today. Otto had already thought of some strategies for dealing with hillforts and bows.
The gray squirrel tribe also has so-called mountain forts. Due to the need for defense, their settlements have been surrounded by walls.
"Especially the boring stone wall, it will not be easily broken by our army in the future." Otto said disdainfully.
"Master, their walls are...different from ours."
"What? Are they built higher?"
"Yes. ! There are even some special wooden frames on which someone can shoot arrows. "Is that all?" Otto's attitude was still dismissive.
Rurik heard a lot of secrets. With these limited confidence, Rurik felt that the gray squirrel tribe might have used the materials at hand to build a "city" in the style of Japan's Warring States Period. To put it bluntly, they use stones and wood to make simple walls to wrap up the village. This is a primitive but relatively effective defense.
To understand why that tribe carried out such large-scale construction, the reason is very simple. It was forced by the Salmon Lord Tribe.
In this regard, there are no real evildoers on both sides, only simple conflicts of interest.
“Are those people, like you, very good at shooting arrows?” Rurik suddenly asked.
"Yes! My master, there are excellent archers among them who can shoot more accurate arrows. But there are not many of them."
Rurik nodded: "This way The enemy is most dangerous. I understand, I will take some measures. Are they a lot of iron arrows?"
"We are seriously short of iron, my master. The large number of iron helmets you wear on your heads means that you are powerful Varyags."
He was still uttering words of praise, but Rurik was not moved at all.
He shrugged and sat upright: "In this case, we can make some large shields. As for the enemy's higher walls, it would be good to make some ladders."
However, there are still some obstacles left. Rick never imagined that the concept of "ladder" would be so important to SalmonThe Fish Lord tribe is also relatively new. First of all, these tribesmen have seen ladders, but they lack the skills to really only make them.
In other words, the locals are very lacking in the ability to process wood mortise and tenon structures. This was not the case for the Russians. Those shipbuilders had to use mortise and tenon structures to piece together the core frames of their ships.
In this way, Rurik thought of three types of equipment needed for siege.
First, an arrow-proof wooden shield. That is to say, some small pine trees are cut down, and a large number of thin trunks are pieced together and tied with hemp ropes, eventually forming a large wooden shield that can be as wide as two stikas (nearly two meters) wide. Because the wood was cut from wet pine, the water in the trunk quickly froze after it was felled, accidentally increasing its strength. The materials selected are all fine pine, and the overall large shield must be something that a strong man can easily lift and push forward. What Rurik could be sure of was that even if the opponent fired an iron-tipped arrow, due to its clumsy short wooden bow, it would at most penetrate the large shield, revealing an arrow that might only be a few millimeters long. As for the bone arrows, the wooden shield will intercept them all.
Second. Build a ladder. It is better to cut down two pine trees of similar growth age. The trunks of the trees should be as thick as a strong man's thigh, and some defects should be cut out to hold the thick branches arranged horizontally. Finally, they should be further tied and fixed with hemp ropes. Since Rurik didn't know the height of the opponent's "city wall", he assumed that the height of the "city wall" was at least three meters, so the ladder needed to be four meters long.
Third, the battering ram. Only the weapon proposed by Rurik attracted positive responses from several young Russian warriors present. Because the Russians have ample success stories. The so-called battering ram, in Rurik's idea, is to pick a large pine tree and chop it down after arriving at the destination, and then tie a large number of hemp ropes throughout the trunk, and then a number of thin tree trunks are tied around the hemp ropes. A group of warriors carried thin tree trunks, and finally large pine trees, and directly attacked the enemy's wall or gate.
All the opinions came from a little boy. Kejas was shocked and realized what a powerful enemy he had fought against before.
The battle is inevitable and the battle will continue.
The siege weapons used to attack Gray Squirrel Hill Castle were easy to build. Otto was very satisfied with his son’s whimsical idea, but he still couldn’t believe that with the help of these items, he could The tribe can achieve zero casualties.
Otto did not forget about himself due to arrogance. In the melee, he saw the courage of the local people to defend their homeland. So will this kind of person’s surrender last long? If one day the Russians become weak, they will definitely declare themselves free.
We must use them to fight for the Russians and inspire their fighting spirit.
Otto thought of a clever trick.
He solemnly said to Kehas: "Now, I ask you to provide an army to fight for us. You already know this very well."
"Yes. ! Master!"
"Now I give you a chance to show your loyalty. I know you will benefit from it after the battle is won.Dao, you donated a lot of furs and food to us, but you actually lost a lot. What you lost can be regained from the gray squirrel tribe. I promise that after the battle, you can take half of the loot. ”
Hearing Yevlo’s cautious translation, Kejas rubbed his ears hard and said nothing, and asked Yevro if there was a problem with the wording when translating. Ah, he really didn’t believe Varyag. People are actually kind.
Otto said again: "I can give you half of the loot, provided that your people actively cooperate. Say, how many people can you provide? "
"This..." Kejas immediately thought that this was the Russian people's temptation to him.
While hesitating, he realized that there was something deep in it. It is a foregone conclusion that sending people to join the war is an act of surrendering to the master. Even if a fight breaks out, his own people may suffer heavy casualties.
Kehas also believes that if he declares it. The men of the tribe are absolutely indignant and want to regain their dignity, which has been trampled by the Russians, by completely defeating the Gray Squirrel tribe.
Keha. Si thought for a while, "One hundred people, it should... be enough. "
"No! Too few, you need at least 200 people. "
Kehas looked embarrassed: "But! The men of our tribe, those very brave men, were all killed by the mighty you. Master, do you ask me to organize some ten-year-old boys to join the army? "
Some ten-year-old boys? Otto knew indeed that when the old guy was resisting, he did organize a large number of little boys to throw stones and cause trouble. Those children were simply a burden, and fighting was a matter for strong men.
Perhaps there was not much deception in what this guy said. Otto thought about it. Almost all of the buried enemy corpses were adult men.
Otto thought of a compromise: "You must. Provide me with one hundred and fifty people. I don’t want a ten-year-old boy, and the minimum age must be twelve. What I want is a man. In my opinion, when a boy reaches the age of twelve, he can do what a man should do. "
Kejas is still very embarrassed.
"Don't you understand? "Otto suddenly shouted loudly, which scared Rurik. "I will release one hundred and fifty outstanding men, and they will fight for us! Victory, your tribe will receive preferential treatment. If they don't fight well, the rest of your tribe will all die! ”
There is no doubt that this is the ultimate threat. To be honest, Rurik does not like Otto’s threat. No! This is not a threat, but something that is really possible.
After all, his father is also the big leader. Although Rurik declared his ownership of these conquered people and became their master, it would really be of no benefit if his father did not admit it.
So at this moment, Rurik is completely on his father’s side
“Kehas, I advise you to accept me.their requirements. Look, we can help you move into a new level of prosperity, with your unconditional cooperation. If you show any laziness or betrayal, your family will be in trouble! ”
Rurik said such intimidating words with a cold expression. Kejas was afraid. He was not afraid of Rurik, a child, but the powerful force behind him.
p>Kehas lowered his head and knelt on the ground, swearing that he fully agreed with all the orders of the Russians.
“You are very smart. Otto's expression relaxed, then he stood up and said, "Let's go!" Get outside and gather your men. We must form a united army to defeat our common enemy. ”
Originally, even in the warm season, Kejas intentionally organized tribesmen to attack the gray squirrel tribe. Both sides were competing for animal resources in the forest and rivers. When hunters from both sides met, the probability of fighting was very high.
The Salmon Lord tribe did not object to fighting, but Kehas just doubted whether it was appropriate to fight in winter.
In this way, a large number of men were released among the heavily armed Rus warriors. Under escort, they rushed into a relatively flat area in the village.
After Otto’s instructions, Kejas stood on a haystack and waited for his tribe to gather together in a timid manner. In the biting cold wind, he shouted out the good results of his negotiations with the Ross people.
“We are going to attack the gray squirrel tribe! We're going to put an end to this with the help of the Rus! "
"Everything we lose can be regained in the hands of the gray squirrel tribe! ”
“Russians are reasonable! As long as we surrender and fight for them, we will get benefits. "
"As long as we fight for them, when we are attacked, if the Tavastians attack us, the Rus will organize an army to help us! ”
“We could have avoided fighting the Ross people. It was the gray squirrel tribe that caused all this. It was them who provoked dissension and caused this battle!” The gray squirrel tribe is the root of all evil! "
...
After these remarks, the dejected men were originally discussing that the Russians would execute all the men in public, but they did not expect that it would be a huge opportunity for reward.
p>
When Kejas finished speaking, the men's emotions were aroused.
Rurik and Otto were very surprised. These Covin people broke out in an astonishing way. Roaring. It was obvious that they were highly enthusiastic about attacking the gray squirrel tribe.
Rurik didn't think they were very smart, because smarter people could understand that Ross. People want to expand the spoils of war through new wars, but also to consume the men of the conquered tribes. After all, the bravest warriors are often on the front line and will naturally encounter key blows from the enemy.
< p>So there are often only two types of people who survive, those who have good luck and strength, and those who are cowardly.If a fighting madman is promoted, Rurik believes that such people will become loyal supporters in order to keep the rewards of their new master.
As for the weak, they basically can’t make any trouble, but they pay taxes steadily.
Rurik actually has no objection to the gray squirrel tribe, which is just a new tribe that will be conquered by the Rus. As for their conflicts with the Salmon Lord tribe, Rurik was not interested either.
What Rurik is most concerned about is whether the children of the conquered tribes agree with the rule of the Rus after this expanded "Northern Hunting" operation.
After all, the master of the new era is Rurik! Those children will be the warriors of the future, and they are the fighting force that they need to control. But the guy who is now in the prime of life may be old when he grows up.
In the outrage of the men of the Salmon Lord tribe, one hundred and fifty were singled out.
Otto and Rurik supervised this process, and the selected people were as old as forty and as young as fifteen.
Disarmed and rearmed, the Corvins took up bows and spears again. Of course, these so-called weapons are really not that good in the eyes of the Russians.
At this scene lit by a bonfire, Otto appointed the tribal leader Kejas as the commander of the tribal soldiers. This person's job is to be on the front line of the army when the battle begins. Regarding this, Kejas has been fully mentally prepared.
Otto also selected an elite force, but the total strength was actually only 200 people. He left behind a group of warriors who continued to control the village and the remaining natives.
Otto's threats were by no means mere threats. He controlled the families of those men and forced them to fight bravely.
Under the cover of night, a coalition army numbering as many as 350 people was born.
The Russians cheered that the battle could be further expanded, and generally felt disdainful and even worried about a group of losers joining their team. Since the big leader gave this order, the warriors had no choice but to agree.
After a battle, the team needs correction.
The team does need to be revised, because the Russians have been on the road in the past few days, and it is time to seize the housing in Covin Village and settle down for a few days to recharge.
At the same time, we must also use local materials to build a batch of equipment necessary for siege, and walk on the glacier with them to reach the goal.