A fleet came from the north and saw the ships floating in the blue sea. The raised white sails were all marked with diagonal blue stripes.
Arik, who was arranging the team, was surprised and then ecstatic.
He ordered his men to step back, and couldn't help but mutter: "It's not the agreed date yet, and you can't wait? My brother."
Arik stood directly At the top of the wooden fortress, one can easily identify the most familiar pattern at a glance.
"No, why are there so many people here? Huh? Are there only thirty or forty ships? Where is the big ship?"
He hurriedly got off the wooden wall again, He urgently summoned his Ross warriors and rushed to the north side of the island to fight with the tribesmen who were far away.
Soon, the soldiers stationed on the island saw a large group of people dressed in white.
It’s so strange, who are they? Is it the tribesmen? Their clothes were so unfamiliar, but the pattern of the sails was not fake.
On the other hand, Haro Zuosen has seen his brothers on the shore from a distance.
He wore a striking white cloth gown with a secure belt, and the blue stripes on the chest were clearly visible.
He quickly recognized Arik on the shore. The boy seemed to have a longer beard and was dressed as before. So Harold Johnson was now wearing neat new clothes, and he already had an impression of the previous image of his brothers. Feeling a little bored.
Look at the people on the shore. They are too casually dressed, their hair is disheveled, and their appearance is really a bit stretched.
The two natural bays between Tombstone Island are already overcrowded with boats, and new ships have no choice but to find a beach as a landing site.
As Arik and his brothers watched, the longships rushed onto the beach one after another and deliberately ran aground on the shoal.
They skillfully put away the oars, and looking at the movements, there was no doubt that they were Russians.
A warrior carrying a shield and wearing a white robe jumped out of the boat carrying their leather and metal helmets, and stretched out their hands to greet their tribesmen.
Look at them, they actually display the symbol of Ross very uniformly on their bodies? Whose idea was this? Aric's eyes widened, he was dazzled. It’s true that they are members of their own tribe. This glance is really familiar and yet strange.
A familiar old guy walked happily holding his iron helmet, and behind him, there was a soldier carrying a flag in a high-profile manner.
Yes! It is just a flag. In addition to having the symbolic pattern of the Russian people, it is also marked with "Warrior II" in rune characters.
This is Harrow Johnson? ! What a novelty.
Aric ran over in a hurry: "Uncle, you are here. What's going on? These are our soldiers."
"What do you think?" Haha Luo Zuosen smiled and opened his arms and asked deliberately: "This is my army, are they majestic?"
"They...look. Really majestic."
p>
Aric rarely showed timidity. He didn’t know what to say. Now two groups of Russian troops were gathered together. One side was dressed in dark colors and various styles, while the other side was dressed in beautiful and uniform clothes. In comparison, Obviously, those who are beautifully dressed are more noble.
Even though there are obviously a number of young faces among the newcomers, they are by no means the most elite.
"Your clothes are really beautiful. What's going on? Where is my brother? Where is the army of three thousand people?" Arik asked hurriedly.
"There is indeed an army of three thousand people, and they are still in the rear." Haro Zuosen still wanted to continue to show off, "Let's take a look at my people and my flag."< /p>
Taking advantage of the good opportunity of all the elites of Ross being present, Harold Zuosen took the opportunity to introduce the major events that happened in his hometown, the unified uniforms, the flag team system, a large amount of material reserves, and a preview of Ross's sure victory in this battle. One by one, the assaulters penetrated the minds of the residents of Tombstone Island.
After being crammed with so much news in an instant, Arik's mind was a little confused: "Oh, we are the first flag team, so we also have flags? We can also wear the same flags as you. "Clothes?"
"Of course." Haro Zuosen immediately ordered around, and in a moment, a new flag was trotted over by the soldiers.
"Take it, this is your flag. Arik, your brother Rurik is the commander of this war, and you are the most important flag captain. You and I, we command the most elite The warrior must be the backbone of this decisive battle. Are you ready?"
Looking at his flag, Arik actually didn't have much emotion. After all, it is a very novel thing. , he thought this flagpole with a ferocious beast depicting the symbol of Ross was really beautiful.
The neatly dressed warriors of the Second Flag of the Warriors took off their long shirts, just like their brothers on the island. There is no clear distinction between sloppy and sloppy, because if given the opportunity, people will change into new clothes as soon as possible and discard the old ones on the spot.
Everyone rushed to try on these beautiful robes, but the thought of the enemy's blood splattering on the robes made people upset.
Some smart guy pointed out: "We don't have to worry about the enemy's blood contaminating our robes. Can we just wash it off with soap?"
July 2 of the Julian calendar On the 17th, a larger fleet appeared in the sea north of the island.
At the same time, the small Tombstone Island was already overcrowded, hosting more than a thousand Russian warriors and five hundred Slavic warriors.
Messengers sent to the east to deliver news of the war received an enthusiastic response from Novorosberg and some from the Novgorod region
Another three hundred Slavic men arrived on Tombstone Island , and received several days of training. There were also a hundred Russian immigrants who settled in New Roseburg who responded to the call, but these people were generally too young and immature.
Everyone desiresA general attack on the Gotlanders would solve the problem once and for all.
The Russians are not monolithic on the issue of Gotland. Of course, there is a large group of people who are eager for revenge, and there is a large group of people who are loyal to fighting for the honor of warriors. Of course, whether it is revenge or for honor, , can't hide everyone's desire to plunder the wealth of wealthy Gotland.
Now, the army of three thousand people has finally assembled!
The Aurora and all the cargo ships were anchored offshore. The cargo on the ship was not moved, and all the personnel disembarked in small boats.
The long sailing against the wind came to an end, and it was really hard for those on the ship, especially the female warriors, who had to endure some additional difficulties.
At noon that day, the fleet had basically completed the landing, and the small Tombstone Island had turned into a huge military camp with more than 3,000 people.
Not only the people, but also twenty strong reindeer landed on the island together with their reindeer owners. These people are actually equipped with some pullable two-wheeled carts, which are used to transport those "silver scale breastplates". One cart can carry five pairs of armor. This is Rurik's plan.
The flat land on Tombstone Island was filled with people, and they began to build tents and wooden sheds on a large scale. Fortunately, there were many trees on the island, which could withstand people's destruction.
A large number of new clothes were shipped to the shore in packages. On this day, the distribution of new clothes was completed.
Almost instantly, the Ross army changed the color of their clothes.
The First and Second Flag Troops of Warriors enjoyed nearly 1,200 robes.
Although the flag-shooting team was only allocated a hundred pieces (mostly worn by the Kewen archers in the end), the children in the team had already unified their uniforms, and their clothes are now all sewn in blue. Strips of cloth.
The remaining clothes were basically handed over to the Slavic flag team.
Rurik also had to accept a new piece of good news, which was that the strength of the Slavic Flag Army had now expanded to 800 people. He didn't know whether to be ecstatic or worried. No matter how bad the Slavs were, the first five hundred people had gone through a total of two months of Viking-style training. They also lived according to the standards of Russian men, and their physical fitness and The technical and tactical level, as well as the key organization level, have surpassed the tribesmen in their hometown.
Now that there are three hundred "recruit eggs", the Slavic flag army has too many people, that is, its combat power...
Rurik also said in front of Medvet It was hard to say anything, but when he learned that the three hundred men who had recently arrived were basically cut off from their own estates and came to work for the Russians, it was equivalent to saying that these guys were threatening Rurik: We will fight for the Russians and win. We must be settled in the end.
They neither want to be slaves nor serfs. They currently have nothing, and it is impossible for them to become free farmers. Rurik knew what these guys wanted to do, which was to finish the war, for example, go to New Fort Ross, take the farm tools and seeds distributed by the Ross people, and open up new territories.farmland, and have been tax payers protected by the Russians for generations.
Only when he reached this point, Rurik laughed at himself with a wry smile: Do you think I am giving you benefits? That can only mean that your life in your hometown is too miserable.
After finally gathering, the strength of the Russians has exceeded Rurik's estimate.
The huge army wore uniform clothes on a large scale. As the Duke of Ross, Otto saw the huge army composed of his people and the densely packed ships docked off the coast of Tombstone Island. He was excited that night. Unable to sleep at all, he ate fish and drank the liquor he had collected, laughing at the bright prospect of victory in the battle.
Of course there is no runoff on the surface of Tombstone Island, because it is connected to the continental shelf with hundreds of surrounding islands.
After all, the Slavs were more advanced than the Rus in agriculture. Medveit, who landed on the island, really didn’t want to take a boat to the estuary of the stream on the east coast to transport fresh water, so he led his people to dig holes on the spot. I dug to about eight meters and found a shallow layer of fresh water. It actually still has a bit of saltiness, but the saltiness is so weak that it's hard to detect unless you taste it carefully.
The flag captains gathered together and immediately reached an agreement on the future operations.
Without him, the entire battle plan was decided by Rurik.
No one questioned Rurik's plan during this battle, because the child made a simple sandbox directly on a wooden board using readily available soil, allowing everyone to get a glimpse of the big picture in shock. battlefield.
The most shocking thing was actually Arik. He had some objections, but this time he actually accurately marked the places he had visited. Is this a miracle? At least it was due to the knowledge Odin bestowed upon his brother.
Rurik more accurately represented the relative position of the Åland Islands (where Tombstone Island is located) and Gotland, the exact shape of Gotland, as well as Saaremaa, Estonia, and the Gulf of Riga. And Courland and other places, the geographical structure of many places is unheard of. I think Rurik would not describe them randomly, they are real.
Does the army need to take a large detour and attack from the south of the island like the war three years ago?
The Russians have had too many dealings with the Gotlanders in the past few decades. The two sides basically started fighting when they met, and the chance of peaceful coexistence was very slim.
Everyone knows that in the northern part of the island, a group of local families have built some low earth and wooden walls. Their purpose is not to defend the settlement, but to prevent the army from landing.
Is it inappropriate to land from the north?
If a team of several hundred people forced a landing, the resistance from the enemy would be fierce.
However, the Russians have gathered more than 3,000 people this time, and are well prepared with weapons, equipment and food. If they launch a strong attack, they will not encounter any trouble. It is assumed that there should not be any trouble, but...
In fact, everyone prefers to directly attack the enemy's densely defended areas. It is best to fight a decisive battle early and solve the problem in one package. butYes, is this appropriate?
Fighting directly in the south, Rurik learned from those who surrendered and the Saxons that the so-called Visby, the largest settlement in Gotland, was located in the middle of the west coast of the island.
That is the enemy’s largest settlement. As long as it is captured, the war against Gotland will be won. Doesn’t the enemy know this? Therefore, the decisive battle must be fought around Visby.
Gotland is a long and thin "eggplant" running north to south. It seems that it is enough for the fleet to directly attack Visby on the seaside.
But wait! In any era, when troops carry out amphibious landing operations, it is a great test of the quality of commanders and soldiers.
Rurik did not think that the Ross people had good qualities in this regard. He had the military power of the entire Ross Principality in his hands, and he really should not have rashly launched a landing battle in a narrow sea area.
The army must complete the landing safely, even if it takes a little longer.
He chose the eastern coast of the island as the landing place, relying on the relatively gentle terrain there. Secondly, it was not the main residential area for the Gotland Islanders.
Future phased combat plans have been formulated.
Rurik made clear regulations:
The army gathered on the sea, the longships guarded all the big ships, and the fleet sailed due south.
There are five ships as the vanguard. They are the permanent veterans of Tombstone Island. They know the southern seas very well, and they also shoulder the important task of being the leader.
After the fleet set sail, it did not stop at the southeastern Saaremaa Island and the European land coast. The fleet took a large arc, bypassing the possible defensive focus of the Gotlanders in the north of the island, and directly landed on the waist of the island. Establish a landing site on the eastern coast of the country.
The fleet made corrections after landing all personnel and supplies, and then headed overland to Visby to seek a decisive battle with the Gotlanders.
"Such a plan, we can definitely do it?" Otto needed a complete affirmative answer from his son.
"Of course."
"You...why do you think that the Gotlanders will definitely take the initiative to fight us? Maybe they will scatter when they see our army." Ali K said disdainfully.
"Then let them escape! Fleeing to the south? They happened to be hit by Olegin and the others. Running to the north? Are they crazy? The Gotlanders had no choice, they surrendered immediately, Either fight with us."
"A decisive battle is the best!" Otto clenched his fists, and everyone gathered also clenched their fists, including the latest member of the gang, Meira. Helliger from Lun.
On Tombstone Island, everyone has completely unified their thinking.
The decisive battle in the wilderness is very necessary. Although the information provided by the Saxons is that the residents of Visby did not build wooden fortresses, making the siege easy, and the unbridled siege and destruction are not left behind. Rick wished.
The best result he expected was to eliminate the enemy's effective forces on a large scale on the battlefield and cut off the enemy's remaining power.He wanted to resist, and signed the name of the city with the Russians, and then consciously handed over the wealth he had hoarded. This is much more orderly than the chaos and robbery of the army! Besides, Rurik didn't think that his men would obediently take out the spoils and distribute them among himself after the army robbed them randomly.