The huge tree trunk was dragged to the frozen dock by the combined efforts of crowds and deer, where further processing of the big tree awaited.
The pier at the pier was covered with snow, the vast river was covered with solid ice, and on the shore, a group of ships were covered with a lot of snow. It seems like this is a scene of death? This is not the case at all.
The wharf has not only become a timber storage yard, but also a log processing place.
The big tree was just dragged to the dock, and Rurik turned around and fulfilled his promise.
The three pounds of wheat reward promised to the laborers immediately became a reality. This favor is not only for the Russians and mercenaries, but especially for the fighting tribesmen.
The scope of the favor has expanded. In this dinner alone, the current residents of Ironburg have consumed as many as 500 pounds of oats. For the children of the tribe, it was the first time in their lives that their little stomachs were actually filled with a lot of wheat, so the feeling of fullness was what they considered happiness.
This is just the wheat eaten by people. Those reindeer who worked hard and took credit for their work simply consumed nearly a thousand pounds!
Only when Rurik really counted grain consumption seriously did he realize that his previous estimate was naive.
Seventy thousand pounds of grain did arrive here, weighing over twenty-five tons.
A thousand years later, the transportation of grain of this magnitude will only require a heavy truck to complete it instantly and easily.
In the current era, the Russians use a large number of cargo sleds to transport them. Sleds are generally made recently, and the materials used are mostly oak, so the overall structure is quite solid. Sleds can generally carry up to two tons of supplies, and there is no problem in transporting grain on them.
The current problem is that even if there is so much food, in the long run the people in the entire settlement will be ordered to do high-intensity winter material production, especially felling, transportation, and deep processing of wood. It will be exhausted in three months.
Although the large amount of grain arrived is to provide sufficient security for the labor force, they need to do a bigger job, which is to provide the surplus grain to the residents of Ironburg, which can also be regarded as a kind of after taking away a large amount of iron from their hands. Helpful feedback.
Extreme logging should come to an end.
The tree still needs to be cut down, but certain restrictions must be made.
No, there is no need to continue cutting down those ordinary small trees. Digesting the tree trunks all over the ground is an arduous task for Ellenburg.
The focus of felling was entirely focused on those tall spruce trees that "stand out from the crowd". In order to get them, Rurik had to send a large number of strong men and the strongest group of reindeer to provide a large number of With wheat as their strong backing, five large fir trees were cut down and transported away on the eve of the Russian Hanukkah.
The difference in their heights is quite large, but the shortest one has more than 20 stikas.
Overall, their height is too extreme.
While the brave ones cut down the tallest trees, others are doing a very delicate job.
That starts with the arrival of the team transporting supplies.
The deer herders have taken some of their deer herds for winter grazing, and they will not consume a single bit of Ironburg's supplies. The people who stayed in the settlement were essentially hired by Rurik for their active logging, and it became natural to provide them with wheat as payment.
Life has added challenges, and the feeling of boredom seems to have been diluted a lot.
On a quiet night, only a group of mercenaries took turns lighting bonfires outside each gate of the wooden wall of Fort Iron. They were ordered to serve as night watchmen, with blazing bonfires to drive away the chill.
Rurik didn’t want to go to bed early that night.
A bundle of tree trunks, which looked gray under the oil lamp and were as thick as an adult man's thigh, were brought to the meeting hall of Rurik's mansion by mercenaries.
Mechasta, the leader of the tribe, is naturally sitting here. Today he was asked to sit down by Rurik because he was ordered to witness these trees.
Rurik also didn’t know whether this person knew as much about the “Ash Tree” as Jevro did.
"Do you recognize this tree?"
"This... was cut down from the forest?" Mechasta's expression fully demonstrated that he had no idea.
"Huh? You really don't know?"
"Yes. It seems that the color of these tree trunks is very special, just like the pebbles in the stream, most of them are gray."< /p>
"My mercenary captain told me that this is an ash tree, the best material for making bows." Rurik asked again: "I thought you knew. Unexpectedly..."
"Is it a good material for making a bow? To be honest, I have never seen it. Master, can I touch it."
Rurik shrugged: "Of course, you can do whatever you want. . ”
The ash tree is an ash tree, and its bark is generally grayish in color. People who are sensitive to color can easily spot it in the woods. In addition, one of the characteristics of wild ash trees is that their trunks are very straight.
This is indeed the first time in Mechasta's life that he has seen an ash tree. Since this tree is a good material for making a bow, it must at least show good elasticity. He untied the hemp rope, found a wooden pole that was much thicker than his forearm, and tried to bend it with his feet.
What’s the result? The tree trunk had a very obvious bend. When Mechasta released his strength, the tree trunk instantly returned to its original shape.
This magical tree trunk called "Ash Tree" completely refreshed Mechasta's understanding, and his whole face changed from cautious to ecstatic.
"It is really a good material for making bows, much better than the oak we commonly use."
"Of course." Rurik shrugged, "I think you chose oak as well. As a matter of expediency, oak wood is very strong and should be used for building ships. You Corvin people are very good at archery. Now I order you to make a batch of longbows from this wood. I will not ask you to have it.In addition to the tribute, once you have made the bow, it will be your weapon. My only request is that if my army is to fight the enemy, you must send some archers to fight for me. ”
Mechasta immediately understood that the wood for making bows was not as simple as a reward. His tribe handed over thousands of axes and spearheads as tribute, and the tribe was burdened with this. It was a heavy burden. As a result, Rurik also gave a batch of wheat and these bow-making materials as a reward, even if Rurik didn't say so.
The more Mechasta thought about it, the happier he became, and he couldn't help asking: "My master, where did you get these precious woods? ”
“From a magical island. "
"Oh..." Mechasta's cheerful old face was a little stiff. He felt that this was a secret kept by the Russians, so he did not continue to ask.
The fact is that Liuli Ke told the truth.
Although this area of Europe is not suitable for the use of sinew composite bows, in the 15th century, a batch of composite crossbows made of wood and beef tendons were put on the battlefield. Due to the mass production of steel-arm crossbows and their lower maintenance costs than the former, steel-arm crossbows have become the mainstream of long-range weapons in an era.
The longbow made of rosewood has almost become a British weapon. Exclusively for the residents, they paid a lot of money to get the yew wood produced in the warm Mediterranean.
After all, many single bows in other parts of Europe are made of various oaks. It's also a temporary measure. After shooting five hundred times, the weight will inevitably drop.
It's not that they don't understand the subtleties of using ash poles to make bows. It's just that the distribution of ash trees in Europe is also very strange. They mainly grow in places. In the southern region, even if this species can tolerate extreme cold of minus 20 degrees, it does not mean that it can grow on a large scale in areas such as Finland.
For example, the Oulu River Basin where the Kovin people once settled, ash. The tree does not exist, so it does not exist in the Kemi River Basin further north. Even the saplings were artificially moved to Ellenburg, but they still froze to death in the winter.
Rurik believed that the "hard stone island", that is, Gogland Island, due to geographical reasons, the Finns and Estonians were unable to touch it. There is an ash forest.
Using ash to make a long bow is of course not as good as yew, but it is much better than an oak bow.
Rurik asked about the key. Question: “Now that the wood is given to you, how many can you make? Remember, I don’t want short wooden bows, I want you to make a batch of long bows that are similar to your height. "
This made Mechasta a little embarrassed.
"Well, probably... twenty cards are enough. "
Rurik knocked on the wooden floor hard and asked loudly: "How many men do you have who can draw a bow? Are there thirty? ”
"Yes! If you count some boys who are about to grow up, there must be thirty."
"That is thirty bows, which must be as long as your height."
< p>"Ah this! Isn't this too extreme?""Not extreme. Listen, only a longbow can shoot long arrows, so that the arrows can go farther. Just do as I ask. "When you finish, we have to hunt a few bears to try the effect."
In this way, Mechasta began to organize people to use the newly obtained high-quality wood to process bows of extreme lengths.
They used the traditional method of cutting the wood first. Since the advent of hard and sharp scrapers, choppers, axes and saws made of chromium iron, the efficiency of processing wood has reached an unprecedented level.
The wood is cut into a nearly cylindrical stick as thick as a child's forearm. After processing, the bow's excellent elasticity and good hardness are demonstrated. But it was a cylinder, and Rurik gave another big order, that is, the Kovin people who made the bow were asked to use a scraper to flatten it, that is, it became like a pole.
They have never processed bows in this way. In fact, they just don't know the benefits of doing so.
In this era, the arms of European single bows were all made of a cylindrical wooden stick. Their poor structure caused a serious waste of their power storage capacity. Only flat bow arms are correct.
The flat bow arm is baked on the flames. This is a heat treatment operation that utilizes the heat and bending of the wood. A crude bow string made of hemp rope is tightened on it, and stones are dropped for bow training.
There are exactly thirty bows for processing, which is considered a mass production operation. Mechasta's men are forest hunters, and they make their own bows. Due to the quality of the oak shortbows in their hands, they often have to make new bows, so everyone has rich experience in making bows. .
It took them more than ten days to make these 30 bows, but they were still working hard.
The length is fixed at 1.6stika, but it is actually 157cm. Thirty longbows are all of this length, and they are all guided by the height of Mechasta himself.
Yes, the man Mechasta is a dwarf himself, and his people are all dwarves. They are far less tall and strong than the Russians, and they are well aware of their natural disadvantages, so they are very careful in archery training.
The white wax pole longbow was all completed. On November 11th of the Julian calendar, when the day was so short that it was almost a "god's charity", Rurik publicly Showing off the style of these new longbows to the bored residents of Ironburg.
No, a team of thirty archers suddenly appeared. Among them were Covins, Rosses, Melalen mercenaries, and even a Finn named Jevlo.
The arrow shafts are all made by women and the material is pine wood. The arrow feathers come from birds captured in traps. The flight feathers are glued to the arrow shaft by rosin. As usual, it also has three tail feathers.In order to pursue a gyroscopic effect stability, the arrow fletching is still slightly inclined to the arrow shaft.
As for the arrow cluster, it is also very high-end. It is made of chromium iron by the Cowen blacksmith, and is finally tied to the arrow shaft with rosin and hemp rope.
The iron cluster arrows that were extremely precious to them in the past have now become standard equipment.
Thirty people wielded the longbow, and every person who pulled the bow felt the unprecedented power of this bow.
Because their short wooden bows used to weigh only twenty pounds at most. What about this long bow? All weighed in at forty pounds.
Even the Kewen people are short in stature. They have done a lot of heavy manual labor in the past, and their food arrangements are much better than before. They have become stronger, and it is easy to draw the bow with twice the strength.
Of course, even if it is a 40-pound single-body bow, don’t expect it to really break armor when it fires armor-piercing arrows, but its arrows do have the ability to penetrate the fur of polar bears. Youdao is that the power does not need to be too big, just the right amount.
A shooting range appeared in Ironburg, and thirty people were asked by Rurik to line up in a dense formation and shoot at the crudely erected wooden wall fifty meters away.
As Jevro took the lead in roaring, they fired their arrows.
These rotating arrows left a shocking and beautiful pattern in the air. They formed a rain of arrows. Each arrow rotated crazily and flew towards the target in a parabola cluster on the ground. Soon after the target was released, it was heard that Come the crackling sound of arrows.
They all have good abilities in handling short wooden bows. Now that they use long bows, they generally feel that their skills have improved. This was not what they felt, because when checking which arrows had hit, Rurik saw the arrow cluster that was sunk into the trunk of the pine tree. To pull it out, it actually required a strong man to hold the arrow with his own hands and pull it hard. In one moment, many arrow shafts were broken.
Do you still have any doubts about the longbow? Rurik even lamented their excellent eyesight and even their excellent archery ability that was suppressed by inferior short wooden bows.
Afterwards, these thirty people stood outdoors again, shooting at a 45° angle towards the ice in the distance. It was later found out that most of the arrows had flown an astonishing 200 stikas, or 200 meters. The killing distance of this projectile is already more than twice the ability of the oak short bow! Didn’t it shock the Russians greatly?
Because two hundred meters is already a very astonishing distance, it can give the Russians a huge tactical advantage. If this is used together with a crossbow, it will be a smart Eastern tactical method.
People’s understanding of arrows has been refreshed.
Five days later, a hunting team led by Yevlo, armed with longbows and steel-armed crossbows, went to an unexplored forest further north from the mine, using only longbows to hunt. Hunted two wandering polar bears. Just the long arrows fired from the longbow achieved results, and there was no need to use the powerful steel-armed crossbow.
This is hunting in GevloThe main purpose is to improve life, and the secondary purpose is to find the big cedar tree. Even if you don't cut down the tree immediately and take it away, you can still get it after marking it.
The equipment of the ash pole longbow once again enhanced the strength of the Iron Squirrel tribe.
It is precisely because of this work that Rurik thoroughly understood the fighting power that the tribe still possesses.
It can be said that the combat effectiveness of those Covin women needs to be ignored, because they will gradually become potbellied, and the fathers of their children are generally Russians. Every child will find his own identity. Is he a Covin or a Rus? For the sake of honor, financial status and even future, they still have a very simple bloodline. They cannot deny that their fathers are Rus and their home is one of the many settlements in Rus.
After the disastrous military defeat, the Iron Squirrel Tribe has only about thirty string controllers left, and these people are destined to be a tiny fraction even as servants.
This Kewen tribe has an absolute population disadvantage, and it will not take too long for it to be assimilated by the Rus.
Making excellent longbows made the days before Hanukkah a little more fun. People in the entire settlement saw those holding longbows shooting targets as a game, and they were eager to try it.
The Rus’ Hanukkah has finally arrived. In fact, on the day of “complete darkness”, the Rus’ of Ellon lit a large number of bonfires to celebrate the most important festival of the tribe every year.
The people of Kewen were also offering sacrifices, especially the priestess Parla dressed as an owl. She was beating a small leather drum and playing a harmonica. Strangely, there was a solemn sound for the sacrifices. Rituals became complex and diverse.
Yes, Rurik was happy to see the two groups performing sacrifices on the same day. As usual, he beheaded a sacrificial stag with his sword, showed the deer's blood to the Northern Lights, and cut open the deer's liver. He announced in public: "Odin, who protects Rus, wishes that the Ailon-Olava Castle will be stabilized and people will be prosperous."
Everyone was cheering, and Rurik knew that he had stabilized the settled Rus fishermen. their hearts. He also understood the oracle made by the priestess Coven, that is, "the gray squirrel tribe surrendered to the Rus with the permission of the mountain god and river god." In fact, the words of the priestess had political considerations. After all, the noble Rurik understood their language, and the words were spoken to Rurik, which was a clear statement of surrender.
Rurik naturally understood it tacitly and told her his relief with his eyes.
"Now that Hanukkah is over, I also made a guest appearance as a priest. Otto, your winter hunting army should be back. When you come back, I will control the sled and pull it. I will take all the wood and take my people back to my hometown." Rurik has already planned the next thing. The first Russian ship to imitate the Caravel ship, the Avora "galleon", must come early. After the most critical mast is installed, it must be launched into the water for trial navigation after the sea thaws.
No, that is no longer a trial voyage, but putting it into use and becoming the bestTransport ships and the most capable warships.