Otto heard the enemy standing on the fortress not far away laughing and speaking some unintelligible language. Needless to say, it was a vicious taunt.
He has seen too much, and it doesn’t matter if he makes the dying people happy. And looking at the current situation of the Salmon Lord Tribe, he feels that his plan has been successful.
The Russians did not use force again, and everyone looked at the dejected tribesmen sitting on the snow.
Kejas almost crawled to Otto with a look of despair. His hand continued to cover the bleeding ear wound, and the other hand kept holding an arrow. When he saw Otto, he was crying desperately. After Javro translated, he found out that this man was not only complaining about the power of the Gray Squirrel tribe, but also complaining about why the Russians did not invest troops.
Otto asked calmly: "Didn't you say that the Gray Squirrel Tribe is a bunch of fools? Didn't you have a feud with them? What? I gave you a chance to take revenge, but you actually complained that I didn't take action. Help?"
Kehas was in pain, hesitating with the arrow stuck in his ear.
"Are these your ears?" Rurik asked.
Kaihas immediately said with a sad face: "My little master, we made a mistake! The enemy is very strong, they have strong archers."
"Don't listen to his nonsense, but A coward," Otto said scornfully.
Rurik looked at Otto's serious old face, and then at Kejas's face full of blood and tears. "Dad, I believe the enemy is very strong. So when we attack, we must be careful."
"But, this man abandoned all our ladders."
Rurik shook his head: "Dad, it turns out those ladders are not easy to use. It seems that the enemy has reinforced their walls with ice and snow, so we should not expect to climb the walls to attack."
"So, we What should I do?" Otto asked his son.
“Cut down a big tree, or prepare a lot of bonfires. We can’t continue fighting today, we need to rest. Tomorrow we’d better use a big tree to break open their door. If that doesn’t work, we’ll set fire to it. Their wooden doors were burned down! We have plenty of ways to deal with them!"
Otto nodded: "You are the most clever."
Otto looked at the injured one. Kehas: "Throw away your ears and count your survivors. I will reward your people with wheat cakes and dried meat. And you, I will give you a special gift. Now go down and rest!"
In this way, the first day's battle is over, but the battle is only the beginning.
The memory of the Russians is not defeated, and the young warriors are even more indulged in the joy of sweeping the Gotland stronghold last year. Now when you encounter a nail, there is no reason not to knock it.
Mechasta's victory was not easy at all, because the Russians were so hateful that they lit bonfires and camped on the edge of their bow and arrow range. The Russians surrounded the village, and a large number of bonfires surrounded the village. This made the gray squirrel tribe completely unable to survive after the victory.to the joy of any victory. ,
What’s worse is that for a victory, all the tribesmen fired more than a thousand arrows, including at least a hundred iron cluster arrows.
If the archers lost their arrows, they would have to fight with stone axes and stone spears. If you risk going out to pick up arrows, you will probably be ambushed by the enemy.
No one is willing to risk leaving the wall that protects them, and the reality is that Ryuri ordered his mercenaries to lie down on the snow. The crossbow has become an excellent ambush weapon, and can be used in a lying position for the first time. shooting.
The people of the Gray Squirrel tribe are under great pressure. They only have more than 3,000 arrows left. Due to the lack of combat effectiveness, all tribal women who know archery are required to become archers. Women have a high level of awareness and know that fighting is for self-protection. There were more archers, and the limited arrows meant that each archer was assigned less than fifty arrows. If the enemy launched a few more attacks, there would really be no spare arrows.
On the contrary, the Ross people's operations during the day can be said to serve multiple purposes.
More than fifty corpses fell on the battlefield, and only ninety-five Salmon Lord tribesmen returned, many of whom were injured.
The Gray Squirrel Tribe also suffered more than 30 casualties. Almost all of them were hit during close-range attacks by archers from both sides in the final stage. Compared with the Russian coalition forces, after the day's battle, the Gray Squirrel Tribe also achieved a tragic victory in a sense. After all, they only have one hundred and fifty men who can fight. This is good, but now the number of men who can fight is over one hundred.
Of course women are organized. Do women join in the fight? Even Mechasta himself found it unreliable.
How happy was Mechasta when he learned of the casualties? He feels that tomorrow is the decisive battle! He did not dare to exaggerate the atmosphere of terror in the tribe, and could only tell everyone that "we have won a great victory." He also asked the tribe's wizard to do a divination. In order to stabilize people's hearts, the wizard claimed that a large reinforcement force would arrive soon, probably before the sun sets tomorrow.
Everyone believes in wizards. For the time being, they can only go into battle to defend their homes while caring for the wounded, men, women, old and young.
The situation here in Russia is much better, and Kejas also got his own reward-a bottle of strong wine.
It was late at night, and Rurik, who was sitting around the campfire, was a little confused about his father’s decision.
"Dad, why did you give them wine? Why did you give them meat and wheat cakes. Don't you hate them? Or is it because I am actually their master?"
O Tuo shook his head: "Do you think I am merciful?"
"Yes."
"No! This is not mercy, this is called strategy."
"Strategy?" Rurik couldn't help laughing. He really couldn't imagine how many tactical strategies his father could have. "How can you see it?" he asked deliberately. < /p>
"Everything is ready."
Otto, as an old father, told his son: "Okay, I tell you now, their bravest man is dead, and the remaining people cannot say If not brave, they will at least be obedient. I have told the guy that we will attack together and if we prepare well, tomorrow will be the day of the decisive battle. I don't believe the one who lost one ear. The guy will refuse."
Rurik finally understood: "Dad, actually you still need them to have a proof of loyalty, just like my mercenaries have participated in the battle, and now you no longer doubt them. "
"You are also very smart." Otto tugged on his son's golden ponytail kindly: "I have thought about it. When everything is over, I will declare that men like Javlo are us. A member of the Ross tribe. I don’t care what ethnicity he is. In short, he has made military exploits for us and is loyal to the leader. This is the Ross man I need.”
Rurik was really surprised and he smiled. Said: "But such people still cannot participate in the dividends of the spoils."
"Of course. Remember, they are the new Russians, and they are your servants first. How much reward you give to your servants depends on everything. It depends on the master. Go to sleep. You showed the calmness and decisiveness of an excellent warrior today. Remember, this is still a battle of destiny. We must conquer the enemy's village tomorrow."
Rurik nodded: "I have only one request."
"Say it."
"Those who kneel down and are willing to be servants should have their lives spared."
"Okay! I agree." Otto replied readily.
This night, Rurik slept in the open wrapped in leather. Many warriors never took off their armor, but just put on a layer of leather and went to sleep.
The soldiers sleep very lightly, often still holding the hilt of their swords in their hands. It is said that when the sentry alerts of an enemy sneak attack, all the soldiers can immediately jump up and go into battle.
The Russians gave the enemy a higher estimate, but the enemy did not launch a night attack.
The people of the Gray Squirrel tribe unanimously chose to be conservative. The darkness frightened them. The large number of bonfires lit by the Varangians made many people believe that their victory might not be worth mentioning and that the real decisive battle had not yet happened. start.
The victory did not improve everyone's morale. Among the tribesmen, men, women and children, Alexander, only the most naive child did not know what happened, so he rested in the arms of his parents. The others waited and stayed up almost all night.
The long night gradually passed, and at dawn, the tired tribal warriors took up their weapons one after another and climbed listlessly onto the scaffolding behind the wall.
The world is still cold, and the exhausted tribal warriors have seen strange agitation coming from the sparse pine forest not far away.
"What's going on?"
"Is the earth shaking? Are there big trees shaking?"
"No! Go and report to the leader quickly !”
The early soldiers broke into Mechasta’s home and suddenlyThe sudden warning led the leader to think that the Varyags were launching a full-scale attack.
"The forest has become strange? What stupid thing to say!" Mechasta was very doubtful.
Only when he climbed up the wall did he notice the strange scene from the enemy camp.
Russians, what are they doing?
Early in the morning, the sleepy Rurik was awakened by the cheers of the warriors. He soon saw that some tribesmen were using the most traditional Viking felling technique to try to cut down a large pine tree with a straight trunk.
It is indeed not the largest pine tree, but as a battering ram, its size is acceptable.
To cut down the tree, Kawei, the blacksmith who accompanied the army, used the big ax himself. He cut a deep dent in the trunk, and then made a smaller dent on the other side. A wooden wedge was smashed into a small dent. As he reversely operated the big hammer turned into a forest ax, Kawei hit the wooden wedge crazily amidst the rhythmic shouts of the warriors.
After dozens of blows, the towering pine tree became more and more skewed, and finally broke and fell, making a terrifying loud noise. The ground also trembled violently. It not only shocked the enemy and ourselves, but also shook the enemy. All the snow on the tops of nearby pine branches stunned even the hiding squirrels.
A large number of gray squirrel tribe warriors gathered on the city wall, and they still didn’t know what happened.
An extremely bad premonition came to Mechasta's mind, "Are they cutting down trees? Are they trying to break through our wall? Or..."
Suddenly Realizing that something was wrong, he immediately called for people to strengthen the city wall, whether it was stones, ice, wood, or even the frozen corpses of his own tribe's dead. In short, everything that could block the gate would become extremely important.
The Russians spent almost a whole day making their own battering ram, which was actually a pine tree.
Having lost all their ladders, the Rus had to make new ones from readily available pine resources.
Many people, including Rurik, feel that today is the day of decisive battle. However, smart commanders need to consider the failure experience of the Salmon Lord tribe.
Although it was a pity, Otto successfully calmed his restless subordinates.
Here, many warriors who had participated in the attack on the Gotlanders first agreed with the leader's determination.
It’s entirely because of the carpenters who came as guests. These people handle the axes used for cutting and carefully process their own battering rams. Everyone believed that since the ladder could not solve the problem, then a group of people would hold the big tree and smash open the enemy's city gate to recreate an Arik-style victory.
For a whole day, the villages of the Gray Squirrel tribe were surrounded by the Ross people.
The Russians were just outside the city wall. They stood outside the range of bows and arrows, standing or walking with various weapons.
Although there are no words, the actions of the Russian people are saying: "The bad people are trying to escape."
Fear in the villageThe atmosphere of war is spreading, especially since the reinforcements claimed by the tribal wizards will arrive today. Now that the sun is setting, will those so-called allies choose to travel at night?
More people believe that the messengers they sent have been intercepted and killed, and everyone does not think that those tribes will really fight for the Gray Squirrel tribe. Some people even believe that those tribes may not even think that Varyag people will land in the interior to plunder and destroy.
The wizard's prophecy completely failed as night fell.
For a while, the saying "we have been abandoned" was rampant. The morale of the tribal soldiers was unstable, and Mechasta did not think of killing one or two crows to stabilize their morale.
He shouted in vain in the village: "Don't be afraid! We still have walls! We still have bows! We don't need any allies! Let them attack, we will shoot them with bows! Varyan The Ge people are bandits, and they will retreat after a few people die.”
But who would be so optimistic? Tonight was exactly the same as the night before. In the dark forest outside the wall, a huge bonfire was lit again.
Just standing on the wall and seeing these bonfires, the sentry trembled all over.
It can be said that the "campfire suspicion tactics" that Rurik thought of were too useful for the simple gray squirrel tribe of Kewen. If the wall that surrounded the entire village had not given them the last bit of confidence, the entire tribe would have suffered a mental collapse.
Of course, if they had no city wall facilities from the beginning, the Russians would not deliberately linger in the woods, but would launch an attack as soon as they arrived.
A new day has arrived, and on this day, the sky is gloomy, and the climate is getting colder, as if a cold wave is approaching. The weather is bad, and the defensive gray squirrel tribesmen are in a very bad mood.
Because just outside the range of bows and arrows, there were a large number of Varyags wearing metal helmets, and it seemed that they were finally going to launch an onslaught.
"What are those? Are they some shields?" Mechasta squinted and noticed some strange equipment in the enemy camp.
But what happened next was the most surprising.
Before the battle, Otto felt that his Rurik would definitely be able to give some good boosts, and most of the warriors also believed in the clever "Odin's Blesser", who must be sleeping at night. Got revelation from God.
To be honest, Rurik was a little embarrassed. He labeled his technological inventions as "revelation from God". The so-called making people believe that these technologies were reasonable and sacred also enhanced his own mystery. feel.
Rurik proposed some plans to attack the city, and Otto followed these requests without even thinking about it.
Why should you doubt it? Otto himself believed that his son's plan must come from "revelation from God." If he believed this, other tribesmen would completely agree with it.
The real battle has begun!
Otto held his sword high before the battle, his big feet stepped on the snow, and his serious eyes focused onThe soldiers looked at him with the same solemn expressions.
Suddenly, his sword pointed directly at the wall not far away: "Brothers! Let us break down the city gate and seize your treasures! Furs! Slaves! They are all yours!"
The Ross warriors began to bang their shields and collectively let out a rhythmic roar, giving the enemy a strong mental stimulation.
Mechasta on the city wall called to his men: "Damn it! There's going to be a fight. Don't be afraid, don't be nervous, shoot them with our arrows!"
That's true, but Mechasta's own legs are shaking.
They are forest hunters after all, and their beliefs are not like those of the Rus. The Kovin people are keen on hunting and trading, and they can be good explorers, but they have many natural disadvantages in engaging in the most barbaric warfare. At this point, the gray squirrel tribe had no choice but to passively fight.
"Brothers! Attack!"
At Otto's order, the Russians began to take action, and a special offensive formation emerged from the hidden pine forest on the riverside.
But in the eyes of the gray squirrel tribe warriors, the Varyag's attack method is really strange.
Now, there seem to be three large templates moving on the snow. Behind the planks, they are all Russians.