The arrows pierced the air, and the sound of whooshing was endless.
One of the Gotland's two ships has completely lost its ability to sail under the constant shooting of the Russians.
Seeing this, the boat behind them could no longer care so much. They turned around urgently and tried to escape.
There were thrown arrows falling from the sky, and projectiles fired from the torsion slingshot, causing terrible splashes around the ship.
"They are going to run away! Sailor, control the sail, we will catch up with them!" Rurik gave the order while also holding on to the side railings with both hands.
The triangular shape of the Avrora suddenly adjusted its wind-receiving surface. The entire ship turned sideways and suddenly turned at a low radius. Compared with the Gotlanders' rowing longships, her turns were more graceful. And fast.
The Avora showed her due super maneuverability. With just one exciting turn, she passed over the dying enemy ships and smashed a bunch of them with her bulbous bow. The wooden oar rushed to the side of the second boat.
The distance between the two sides was less than ten meters. At such a terrifying close range, the Russians did not hesitate to launch a new round of shooting from above.
Look! It was a torsion slingshot from the side. The mercenary lifted its rear end hard, and the slingshot came with a solid blast!
With two dull sounds, two of the three projectiles successfully hit the inner ribs of the longship and directly penetrated it!
Even if the hull is made of oak, its weakest point is always the side.
In an instant, two jets of water surged up from the Gotland ship. The strong water pressure was difficult to block, and the ship was leaking rapidly.
However, the Russian attacks continued.
The attack of arrows left the Gotlanders with no place to hide. They wanted to fight back, but the tools in their hands were like the autumn firewood sticks, which were useless. They raised their shields to resist in vain, only for their shields to be chipped open by steel-armed crossbows.
The battle was completely one-sided. With the continuous firing of torsion slingshots and the support of slingshots from neighboring ships, the last Gotland longship had been riddled with holes. Speed sinks.
Soon, the ship sank completely, and the dead immediately sank to the bottom to feed the fish. The blood of the injured stained the sea area red. At this moment, there were still more than ten living Gotlanders, who were scrambling to hold them afloat. The wooden planks were rising and falling in the waves, and from time to time they had to dive to avoid arrows shot by the Russians.
They became the perfect prey. The Russians on the boat stretched out their fingers and laughed wildly, speaking dirty words on their lips, showing their disdain and contempt vividly.
The battle is over like this? ! He leaned over and looked at the handful of living people floating on the sea. Before the battle, Otto knew that he would win, but he never expected that winning would be so simple and easy.
He remained calm and said to Rurik: "That's it. We don't need to worry about them. Let these enemies float on the sea and die naturally."
Admit it, no matter how low the salinity of the Baltic Sea is, it is still salt water. These enemies will soon die of dehydration if they float on the sea.
The Russians can ignore them, or show mercy and kill them now.
Rurik also leaned over and watched. Although they were enemies, the eyes of these guys holding the residual wood were begging for mercy.
Begging for mercy? joke! Who will forgive the pirates?
Yes, Rurik now defines these people as pirates. When dealing with pirates, Rurik showed no mercy and dealt with them more brutally. Apart from avoiding them, the tribesmen were eager to see the pirates tortured to death.
But these enemies were defeated after all. They must be Gotlanders. So what is the current situation on Gotland?
"I think these people are still useful." Rurik replied solemnly.
"Huh? You...you actually want to be merciful to these filths?!"
"How is that possible! At least we killed them all after asking about their situation. It’s not too late. We need information about Gotland so much.”
Otto nodded and motioned for his men to drop the rope ladder.
The Aurora temporarily furled the sails and put down the rope ladder. The panicked floaters felt that they had a chance to survive. Even if they were slaves, it would be better than being fish feed!
They climbed up the rope ladder one after another, and in shock boarded the big ship they saw for the first and last time in their lives. It was also the first time they boarded the ship of the hateful and terrible Russians.
As soon as they landed, they were beaten down with a punch by the prepared Ross warriors. Then they were tied up with prepared hemp ropes and thrown into the corner, and were closely guarded by sword and shield hands. With.
Eight people successfully boarded the ship and were successfully captured. The ninth and last person was killed by a steel-armed crossbow at close range just because the ropes used to tie him up ran out. They were shot through the neck and fell into the sea with a groan...
They thought they could survive, but what they waited for was a cruel interrogation by the Russians.
To prevent them from being dishonest, Otto ordered his men to punch and kick them. Although this act was too violent, Rurik stood on the bow deck and watched. Because they were bound to be executed, he should think of a way to execute them, at least not too violent.
The eight captured people were beaten with wooden sticks and whipped with hemp ropes. Their heads were bleeding and their pleas for mercy were all hesitant.
Otto was so arrogant that there was no point in interrogating these guys himself.
Jevlo took on the task of interrogation. In order to survive, these prisoners scrambled to tell themselves everything they knew.
The information they told had no choice but to make the sitting Rurik stand up and quickly walk to the prisoner.
"What did you say? Your fishing port, Visby, has already taken action? You have already guessed that we are going to attack you!" In the current context, Rurik was sure that the Gotlanders were worried about Visby. WealanThe alliance launched a large-scale crusade on the island, and the Russians were naturally on high alert because of their alliance.
The captives were shocked and rushed to claim that what they said was true, and they even discussed conditions.
Negotiate terms? Are some pirates who are about to be beaten to death willing to negotiate terms?
Otto had already drawn his sword and assassinated a guy who asked for terms in front of Rurik. He was so shocked that others did not dare to make any more demands.
An enemy's blood splashed on Rurik's face. He wiped off the blood and asked with wide eyes: "Tell me your strength. How many men have you gathered? What weapons do you have?!"< /p>
The frightened people were trembling with color. They rushed to reveal the secrets, just for the possibility of survival.
Some people suggested that Visby had at least a thousand troops. One person claimed that it had two thousand, and even threatened that if the forces of the entire island gathered in Visby, Gotland would be able to organize an army. A "behemoth" with a strength of 5,000. At least in their perception, an army of 1,000 people is already invincible, and a team of 5,000 people is even more powerful and is an existence that any opponent is afraid of.
Unfortunately, the so-called "five thousand army" is just the fantasy of the Gotlanders. They inadvertently revealed that except for the huge settlement of Visby, a large number of fishermen live scattered on the island. Various offshore villages. In other words, there were three large settlements on Gotland. The one in the southern bay of the island was destroyed by the Russians, and the remaining two were in the north. They could not be defeated quickly by five hundred elite Russian warriors.
Visby Port, there are probably two thousand armed men gathered here. If some young people and old people are organized again, or mercenaries are recruited from the surrounding fishing villages, the residents of Visby Port will gather Raising an army of three thousand men, Rurik estimated that this was feasible.
They have many people, so the quality must be poor, and the weapons and equipment are also poor.
Yes! Their weapons must be terrible. Look at what scrap metal these captured Gotlanders are holding. They are helpless against the arrows of the Russian army.
"It seems that the enemy has at least two thousand people." Rurik looked at his father, "We have to gather two thousand people to attack. Dad, I don't want to fight a battle with less to win. This We must gather more people at once."
"Three thousand people," Otto bared his teeth and stabbed another pirate in public while holding a bloody sword, which attracted continuous applause from the Ross soldiers present.
Because the situation has become very clear, because these Gotlanders and the Ross fleet are all cargo ships, and they are all easy targets to bully. Just imagine, if the Aurora was indeed a purely defenseless cargo ship, wouldn't these pirates succeed directly, and wouldn't everyone on the ship be killed?
Anyone who dared to plunder should be killed. Otto did not want to show mercy and made great plans to assassinate them one by one.
The enemy's blood stained the deck of the ship red. Rurik felt that something was obviously wrong, so he grabbed his father.
"Huh? How dare you stop me from executing the pirates?"
"No! I have a better way."
"What?!"
"Let them go back to the sea to feed the fish!"
Although this is the Baltic Sea, the pirate atmosphere is not at all as relaxed as that of the Caribbean Sea.
This sea area has never been peaceful. Even in this era, when the Hanseatic League competed for maritime power, Denmark, the Netherlands and the Hanseatic League, each other's merchant ships were also warships. When the hostile two sides meet, there is a fierce battle, and pirates of all kinds are frequently active in the main sea area.
Piracy has been a tradition since ancient times. In this regard, Rurik and Otto called the enemies in front of them dirty pirates. However, Arik of Ross has relied on pirate plundering methods to use advanced The crossbows attacked the Gotlandish fishermen, and the sea area to the north of the island has become a restricted area for the Gotlanders.
Since we are dealing with pirates, let’s use a “more ornamental” criminal law to let them feed the fish!
At least when dealing with pirates, Rurik didn't have even the slightest bit of psychological discomfort. He just hoped for some kind of bloodless method.
A wooden plank placed inside the cabin to be used to repair damaged ships was moved to the deck. A section of it extended out of the side railing, and the tied people were forced to walk on the seesaw one by one.
Such a good show was actually created by Rurik? ! The Ross warriors and mercenaries laughed, and even the Covins present were amazed at the weird methods of this group of Varyags.
The captives' arms were tied. They knew that if they jumped, they would drown, but there were shining swords threatening them behind them.
A guy who didn’t want to die stood nervously at the end of the board, with the sea below him.
Suddenly the ship trembled, and the man fell in and was swallowed by the waves in an instant.
Subsequently, another person was forcefully pulled over and kept being driven and fell into the sea.
The Russians laughed wildly, and the captives' panic before death became the best joke, which also quickly alleviated the hostility of the Russian soldiers.
Otto stretched his neck and saw the last executed person sinking into the sea. He turned around again and lightly punched Rurik in the chest.
"You are a ruthless warrior. I like it very much. If you catch an enemy in the future, you will execute him in this way. By the way, what is this punishment called? Give it a name."
p>"It's called Caribbean Execution."
"What a strange name, okay..."
Otto was smiling when he spoke, Liuli Ke couldn't laugh at all: "Dad, let's think about practical issues. Those guys have clearly stated the possible strength of the enemy. We must go back as soon as possible and start preparing accordingly."
"Oh, I don't know about this. Not worried at all."
"Huh?"
"Because." Otto smiled again and gave Rurik a light punch: "You are. Military commander, how you want to fight depends on your attitude."
"Okay, this is my war."
Rurik lowered his head slightly, and at this moment he finally looked happy.
The encounter with the Gotland patrol ship was expected, and a quick victory was even more expected.
The Aurora turned its bow and approached the last half-dead longship. The Ross warriors were lowered on the rope ladder, and the dying ones were hit with wounds, and the bodies were thrown directly into the sea.
With a long ship and a small number of axes, swords and other weapons, no one can say that the Russians gained nothing from the battle south.
The Aurora relied on the cable to pull the loot, and the entire fleet resumed its formation. No enemies were seen in the future route, and no other ships were even seen on the sea.
The fleet moved as close to the coastline of Scandinavia as possible. Finally, when they were confused from being tortured by the all-day sailing, a series of trumpet-shaped harbors finally appeared in the distance. The waters are almost no longer salty.
This must be the entrance to Lake Malaren, and the fleet has entered our control area.
Will the fleet enter the Great Lakes?
No! The fleet had no intention of resting. After another night voyage, everyone finally discovered the vagueness of the northern world in the light sea fog in the early morning, and even some strange bright spots.
The sleepy Rurik was awakened by his panicked subordinates. Also getting up was Otto, who was still sleeping.
"Jevlo, can't you be calmer?"
"But your lord, there are flames ahead! It looks like a fishing boat."
" I’m afraid it’s an ally’s fishing boat. If they don’t attack it, we won’t attack it either.”
“Duke! I’m afraid that’s our boat!”
"Really?"
No one was sleeping soundly now. Although Rurik felt a little cold, he climbed onto the bow deck and indeed saw the lights and the lush greenery in the north.
At this moment, the boat was full of people, and they were ready for battle with crossbows in their hands.
"Haha! Don't be nervous anymore." Otto, who was standing high up, raised his arms and shouted, "Brothers, you are in great pain after being on the ship for so many days! We are about to land on Tombstone Island, and we have to take care of ourselves Rest!”
The soldiers cheered, and Otto laughed heartily.
The next route is no longer in doubt. The Ross fishermen, who have been fishing all night with oil lamps, have caught many cods and are waiting until daybreak to rush back to the Tombstone Island Supply Island with their catch. A huge garrison on top.
Unexpectedly, a miracle happened! The fishermen never expected that their leader and the huge boat would arrive at Tombstone Island again.
Fishermen are also fortunate enough to become pilots.