Rurik planned to set out on the first day of August in the Julian calendar, and he planned to assemble the army on July 20th.
The preliminary strength of the army has exceeded a thousand people, and just a few days before departure, several flag teams staying in Rossburg have begun flag-carrying formation training. They were able to move relatively neatly, and everyone knew that when the battle began, they would have to gather with their neighboring comrades, so they needed to maintain their formation even more.
It is too difficult for them to expect them to really march like an army of clones.
Look at the performance of those Mellaren mercenaries. They are a large army composed of too young and too old people. Although the flag captain Herriger and a few others had experience as private soldiers, they could only lead a group of brothers to gather together, move their short spears forward in unison, shout chants and march in sync with the rhythm.
The soldiers of the Malaren Standard Corps have no right to wear blue and white linen jackets. They only wear the cheapest khaki linen clothes.
The most common soldiers in late Tsarist Russia had gray uniforms. Their troops were huge and their lives were the cheapest. They were officially "grey animals."
For these warriors from the Melalen tribe, Rurik promised to pay them only one-fifth of the market price!
After the war, the surviving soldiers were given two silver coins each and sent away. Whether they resist or not is meaningless. They have no right to refuse this war. Everyone has already been appointed and accepted such a low commission.
Only the most elite warriors have the right to wear blue and white coats and gowns, which are enjoyed by the elite warriors of Rus.
The white cloth imported by surprise and the cloth kept by the Russians themselves were made into 1,500 sets of gowns in a short period of time. In order to meet the needs of the Russian elite, Rurik also intentionally gave a small number to the Slavic flag force.
He must ensure that the soldiers on the front line are dressed in absolutely uniform uniforms when fighting in formation. Looking at the blue and white tones, the enemy's morale will inevitably be affected.
If he had more white cloth, Rurik would definitely provide each combatant with a set of clothes.
"It's really sad. If it weren't for the poor productivity now, my army would be gorgeous."
In this era, soldiers always pursue gorgeous clothes. The purpose of magnificence is of course to look beautiful, but also to show one's wealth to the enemy. Only a large amount of wealth can ensure that a warrior eats and drinks well. Then such a warrior is bound to have bursts of muscles. Waving the warhammer in his hand is not enough to see the melons cut on the battlefield. vegetable?
In Fort Ross, Rurik gave an order to the captains of each flag team.
"Your flag represents your honor. The blue cross stripes at the core of the flag are the emblem of us Russians! Letting the flag fall down or be captured by the enemy is a great shame for a soldier!"
People need honor to live. When humble people have a concept of honor, they will immediately burst out with powerful vitality. They all swore that they would not bring shame to the flag of Ross and would lead their brothersWe advance and retreat together with our flag.
Is just the flag of the flag corps enough?
The Principality of Rus must have its own flag, or coat of arms.
For the local warriors of Rus, the eldest son of the family inherits the weapons of their ancestors from generation to generation, including the oak shield of their ancestors.
Oak is the hardest wood available. It is hard and corrosion-resistant. People apply mineral dyes on it to depict eagles, wolf heads, bear paws, large fish, or a rune spelling. beautiful words. It has certain family heraldic attributes, but it is not a symbol shared by the Russians.
The Russians have their own symbol, which is the criss-cross blue stripes printed, dyed and sewn on white cloth. Originally, this stripe was an elaborately painted rowing oar, but now Rurik just wanted to simply paint it.
If all the sky-blue cloth were used to make clothes, indeed only noble people could enjoy it.
Rurik kept some blue cloth for spare, and the remaining several large-scale packages were used to depict the symbols of Rus.
Now, Gould was ordered to gather all the cargo ships of his family in the Rossberg Fjord. Together with all the cargo ships of the requisitioned shipbuilder Hotla family, the number of all cargo ships has reached thirty. Five ships.
The repair and refurbishment of cargo ships is also part of the war preparations. At this moment, two large ships of the same class as the Avora are actively building hulls. This project has to be temporarily suspended, and the reserves A series of excellent timbers, all currently used for ship repairs.
For example, the sides of all cargo ships should be raised and decks installed, and the straight beams of all masts should be removed and replaced with new Latin jibs. The white sails are all made of blue cloth torn into strips, with blue X stripes at the seams.
The top of the mast is also raised with a small Qi, which is a diagonal line of square white cloth, all sewn with blue cloth.
This is basically a replica of the Andrei flag, but the Andrei flag is essentially another Russian flag. What is very fantastic is that the traditional Russian heraldry in this time and space has natural similarities with it. . Rurik followed everyone's advice and called the flag "the oar flag."
All ships, whether cargo ships or longships, must fly a "paddle flag" on their masts.
Rurik also made some plans. The so-called largest Avlora is the flagship of the Ross fleet now and for a long time to come. She flies the "oar flag" during daily sailing. , when a naval battle occurred, she would hoist a black flag, so-called ordering the war. Rurik had the idea of making a semaphore system. Considering the current situation, he knew that it could not be done overnight.
In the leader's home, Niya took on a special task. He wanted to personally sew a "Flag of the Prince of Rus" for the Principality of Rus, especially for the power of his own family.
These are two flags, one will be hung on the flagship, and the other will be carried by Rurik's soldiers as a guard of honor for power.
It is still diagonally stitched with blue stripes hanging on theOn the upper side, a blue stripe is sewn horizontally at the bottom of the flag, giving the entire flag a new meaning: the oar clan conquered the sea.
The other flag can be quite particular.
Klavason was ordered to take the time to use the gold coins provided by Rurik to pull them into gold wire. Niya used these gold threads and sewed them on the blue pattern of the flag with steel embroidery needles, making the flag more gorgeous.
Rurik was willing to spend money, and since he had enough gold threads, Niya simply made a real gold border for the front flag.
The flag became gorgeous and the colors became diverse, which corresponded to the power of the Duke.
On July 18th of the Julian calendar, the flag of the Prince of Rus was completed with the decorated dragon head fastened on the flagpole!
Rurik stood on the wooden board at home. He personally carried the flag with a total length of nearly two and a half meters with some difficulty. He first accepted the scrutiny of his parents, wives and concubines.
"What do you think? This is our symbol."
Otto was serious about his words, but he was actually very happy. He still asked: "We must fight with this flag? In my opinion, the beast on your flagpole best symbolizes our strength."
Rurik raised his head, the so-called The dragon head is actually the legendary sea serpent, or the earthly python.
"I...still value the flag. You see, it is trimmed with gold. It is really a gorgeous and noble flag."
"Of course." Ni Ya boasted that she had done a great thing. The woman raised her head and stared at her husband: "Otto, this was sewn by me, and it was your son's idea. You should be happy and should not have any doubts."
"I question it?" Otto slowly sat down on the wooden floor and said casually: "Your son's idea is unusual. In the past, only the leader could enjoy the symbol, but now it appears on all ships, including masts. There is also a flag flying at the top."
"Dad, do you think..."
"It doesn't matter!" Otto shook his head: "This is your decision, and I know you. "
"So, the flag that symbolizes the power of the Duke must be more noble." After saying that, Rurik looked at the flag he was carrying. "Next, I think it should be made of cinnabar and mud. It should be further decorated with various gemstones, preferably with a large amount of amber hanging on the edges. Well, colored glass beads would also work. "I support what you want to do next." "Take people for a walk around the residential area?"
"That's what I meant"
I saw that the Russians made a gorgeous flag to symbolize power, and Carlotta was there. In addition to praising her man for being extraordinary, she felt so itchy in her heart!
She is also the Duchess of Ostara after all. Sadly, the former Ostara tribe did not have its own coat of arms or symbols. He must work hard to restore his tribe, and he must also learn from the Russians and make himself a "duke flag."
What kind of symbols should be used?Woolen cloth?
Carlotta, she thought of drawing a simple sheep head with disc-shaped horns on white cloth. Because the Ostara tribe has always been good at raising cattle and sheep.
This war is a Russian war. The so-called Ostara warriors are currently children who are in urgent need of growing up. They have all been incorporated into the army, and they are all holding crossbows. Become a member of the Flag Shooting Team. The Ostara people have no right to use their own name, just like Carlotta is Rurik's woman. The entire Ostara people are now completely dependent on the Rus people for survival, so they can't expect too much.
Rurik gathered a group of the strongest mercenaries, as well as those strong men selected by his father. These people totaled exactly one hundred people.
As for the production of the Silver Scale Breastplate, the blacksmiths and many apprentices have been working hard to complete the task ahead of schedule. They feel that they are working during the day, and they are not getting enough sleep during this time. His eyes were bloodshot. Their hard work had a good result, and the one hundred sets of scale armor Rurik needed were completed.
Since he was going to carry the "Flag of the Prince of Rus" across the city, Rurik knew that he had to bring his selected berserkers with him. He just wants to take this opportunity to promote the symbol of Ross to everyone, and also wants to show his tribe what the strongest warrior is.
For these one hundred people, the belts of their silver-scaled breastplates were deliberately decorated with strips of blue and white cloth. The so-called skirts actually made the white and silver-toned armor more gorgeous.
It is undeniable that these wearers have silver scale breastplates with helmets (many of them wear helmets and masks), and they are the extreme end of gorgeousness. Steel swords, steel daggers, and two hand axes hung on their waists. Their arms are all wearing chain mail, which is integrated with the scale armor.
However, their exposed calves and feet lack protection. Only a few people hang a pile of thin iron sheets on the front of their calves.
Only strong men can put on such heavy armor and swagger through the city. When they spent some time putting on the heavy armor and gathered together, Otto looked at them and couldn't help but take a breath, and even more so in his heart. He muttered: "If Ogier was dressed like this ten years ago, would he be able to die in battle?!"
Rurik's wives, concubines, maids, these girls could not imagine that their own A man can create such an incredible iron army. They gave the maids from Novgorod the most amazing visual impact. Are the people in front of them actually wearing armor made of precious silver?
"Okay, very energetic!" Rurik nodded vigorously, smiled and cheered: "My warriors, look at yourselves! You are indestructible! No weapon can break through your Defense, and each of you kills a hundred enemies with battle axes and swords." Hearing this, everyone laughed at each other, as if they ignored the pressure on their shoulders.
Rurik took another look at Yevluo, who had won the honor of carrying the flag: "Let's go! Let everyone see how powerful we are!"
A large silver gunThe army marched in order, and right in front of the team were the Duke of Ross and his son, as well as a group of girls dressed in simple yet gorgeous clothes.
Jevro carried the flag and shouted as he walked: "This is the Duke's power! This is the Duke's flag! This is the Duke's iron man!"
He kept Shouting these three sentences, everyone was soon infected by these words. Hundreds of people repeated these three sentences, spreading propaganda to the tribesmen with the power of "brainwashing".
The mighty team attracted the crowds of Ross tribesmen to welcome them. Everyone was shocked that their tribe actually had such an iron army, and they also lamented that the flag was really gorgeous.
In recent times, the women of the tribe have been working hard to sew cross-blue stripes on various whites. As a result of this work, the entire tribe has accepted the Ross coat of arms like never before. In fact, everyone did not think that this coat of arms was naturally noble. After seeing Rurik's copy framed with gold wire and even a hundred silver guardians, everyone changed their minds.
Since both the Duke and his son think it is absolutely noble, what else should everyone think?
This gorgeous parade happened just before the army set off. The sudden appearance of the Iron Man Army gave the tribe a crucial boost.
The procession finally stopped at the door of the chief priest's house.
Rurik personally carried the flag, entered the longhouse with his father, and met with the jealous and aging high priest Vilia.
Rumia was preparing for a small sacrifice for the army to set off. She had been working, and she knew that not only would she and many priests have to go with her on this expedition, but also her own deer herders, You must also participate in the work of transporting supplies.
Welia was excited, but her aging body could not withstand too much hardship.
She was carried out from the inner hall bedroom by the priestess and received an audience from the leader and his son.
I saw Rurik carrying a gorgeous flag, his face filled with happiness, it was clear that he was sure of victory.
"Grandma, I'm here." Rurik's kind words touched Vilia's heart.
"You... came well..."
The tiredness in Vilia's words really made people feel uneasy, as if she would leave at any time. Otto felt a little uncomfortable. She really hoped that Vilia could live to a hundred years but...
Rurik deliberately introduced the flag. He didn't know if Vilia understood it. , at least all she gave was positive feedback.
Villa thought a lot about the interlaced blue striped flags, and as he thought about it, two tears actually flowed from his wrinkled face.
When Rumia saw this, she hurriedly walked over and wiped away her tears with a handkerchief.
"This is...a symbol of the leader, and also a symbol of us...Russ. You...Rurik..."
"Grandma..." Rurik He hurriedly came over and knelt down beside the high priest.
"I heard about your plan. We will win this war. You put our symbols on all the ships and warriors. God is also very happy.. "
Rurik looked up at the meritorious old man sincerely: "I have another one for you to see. "
Villa squeezed out a smile for a long time: "Is there anything else good? "
Villa was wrapped in a sheepskin blanket and was carried to the door of the longhouse. She was the only one in the group. She widened her aging eyes and couldn't help but poke her head out slightly. She didn't know what to say. .
Because she consciously saw a noble silver army, an invincible army, and she had no regrets in this life.