Chapter 456 Rurik’s trick

The enemy leader must be killed. It turns out that Otto meant that he would forget about the cruel punishments such as Blood Eagle and give the man the last bit of food, and then cut off his head to end everything cleanly.

Since that person is a prince and a top noble of the enemy has been captured, instead of killing him directly, it is better to find a way to exchange it for greater benefits. Anyway, the tendons of both hands of that man were cut off, and Liangqi had no strength to resist.

The Ross warrior had already wiped the forest ax clean, and when he was about to kill, Arik stopped everything. He came back breathing heavily and was pleased to report that his men had not done anything.

"It's too dangerous!" Otto also let out a sigh of relief and looked at Grund: "Do you know why I spared that man's life?"

"Why? Oh, Duke Ross's determination is certainly not what an ordinary person like me can imagine."

Rurik really understood his father's hint, so he smiled and said: "Grund, You have said that Visby is very rich, and the businessman named Haken is also very rich. Will that guy save his son? Will he pay for it?"

Otto's eyes suddenly opened wide, because that was not what he meant at all, and he had no intention of asking for ransom. Now that Rurik mentioned this kind of thing, what new plans does the child have? It was obvious that the child had many things on his mind.

When Rurik saw the urging look from his father, he deliberately told something, especially the plan for the entire war including the decisive battle.

When Rurik learned that Siegfast, who was beaten half to death, was actually a prince, he came up with the idea of ​​asking for ransom.

Arik rushed to speak: "It's not that troublesome. We won the decisive battle, we robbed Visby, and all the money belongs to us. Ransom? Is it necessary?"

Why ask for ransom, win the decisive battle, send troops into Visby to rob, and finally burn down the largest settlement of the Gotlanders? What kind of honor is this? ! With this honor, both Ross who died in the battle and those who are alive will surely meet again in the Hall of Valor after the war.

"That's not possible! I..." Rurik stood up suddenly and said shockingly: "You all think that our army must plunder Visby?!"

Otto was shocked: "What do you mean? Do you mean not to plunder?"

"Dad, and the brothers sitting here, what is our purpose?"

"Of course I will kill you, gain their wealth, and turn all their wives and daughters into our women." Aric's calm words all revealed his ferocious fangs, and Otto also said frankly Expressing great appreciation for this "perfect answer" from my eldest nephew.

Rurik was not surprised: "That's true. Let me add one more thing, our Russian army must complete all this at the minimum cost. ”

“Oh? What do you want to do? Otto asked hurriedly.

“I am a military commander. In the decisive battle in the future, I will order the soldiers to kill the enemy as much as possible and prevent them from fleeing. Without their main fighting force, the Visby people could not organize new resistance forces. Perhaps it is most appropriate for our army to enter at this time, and this is indeed the case, but..." Rurik deliberately let it slip and paused: "The soldiers spontaneously went to plunder, and they would take the initiative to take away the stolen property. Take it out? "

"Why take it out? It was something they robbed themselves and should be their own. Otto added: "This is our rule. The new rule is that if you grab the cash box and discover the warehouse, it's mine." ”

“It belongs to the Duke of Ross. Rurik also added, "What belongs to Duke Ross is also mine." Therefore, I must find a way to drain the wealth of the Gotlanders. The gold and silver must be controlled by me, and I must redistribute it to the warriors.

Besides, let the soldiers loot spontaneously, and everyone will disperse. The root of our victory is not only God’s blessing, but also my command! The Ross army is most powerful when united as a whole. If individual warriors are scattered, they will be defeated by the enemy one by one.

Individual warriors encountered frantic resistance from Visby's remaining residents, and many would die.

In this way, as the Duke of Ross, I cannot get a lot of wealth, and I will lose many brothers. This is a huge failure. "

Rurik spoke of his own Duke of Rus. Others heard it a little strange, but Otto himself didn't care. Because he had sworn in the longhouse of the priests many years ago that he would serve as " He lives as a servant of the "Son of God". The "Son of God" is Rurik.

Rurik's explanation is very realistic. After thinking about it calmly, the highest nobles in Russia, represented by the Duke of Rus, really need This method extracts the most benefits, because times have indeed changed. In the past, a war chief would lead hundreds of people to rob, and everyone would take out the loot, and it would be easy to complete the distribution after internal negotiations.

But now. With an army of three thousand men, in order to avoid any quarrels and troubles in the future, let’s not allow the brothers to loot freely!

“When we win the decisive battle, we will send people to persuade the Visby people to surrender. I want them to pay huge amounts of war compensation. For example, two thousand pounds of silver coins, or four thousand pounds? There are also sheepskin and cheese. All money and materials they have must be handed over. right! And some of their women must be handed over. These things were delivered into my hands in exchange for an armistice. "

Hearing this, Otto took a breath. Looking at his son's attitude was so firm, it showed that he was serious. "Rurik, this is...the last step to cut off the sheep. Root hair? "

Rurik pouted: "What else? They must spend so much money to buy peace, otherwise we will just follow our original plan and rob them of Visby. Oh right,And their ships, all ships of decent quality must become bargaining chips to buy peace. Hopefully, there won’t be more ships trying to escape to sea. Gould’s fleet is scheduled to leave Tombstone Island tomorrow. In three days at the latest, ships such as the Aurora will enter the sea off Visby. All Anyone who tries to escape will be mercilessly sunk! ”

Otto sighed, feeling that his son’s mere dictation was so cruel! He would definitely do this! Just like the Gotland patrol ship he encountered when returning from the south, This boy invented the "seesaw" and used this novel method to execute prisoners as sacrifices to the Poseidon.

Otto thought of something again and hesitated: "That guy named Siegfast. He buried our warrior according to the custom of the Gotlanders, who can give a clean kill or spare his life. Now you want to exchange this person for ransom and put him back. Will he command a new army to fight back? Even though the man's hands were severed, what is needed to command the army is the brain. ”

“This person is still a threat and cannot be kept.” "Aric said harsh words, obviously he didn't take the ransom request seriously.

The power of life and death of a prisoner lies in the hands of the winner. In his heart, Grund wanted his old money. Lord Siegfast is dead. He has his own little Jiujiu. It is said that this person has been replaced and he is promoting things like "Danish Mercenary Backstabbing" in Visby, which is really detrimental to his reputation.

Grund was also dissatisfied with Duke Ross’s statement, so he specifically stated: “My lord, Siegfast, did not order the burial of the bodies of your fallen in battle. "

"What did you say? "Otto consciously heard very ridiculous words.

Grund deliberately amplified his voice. He needed the top Russian nobles present to know the face of the top Gotland nobles they valued.

“Sigfast is an arrogant man. Just as you cut off his hand tendons, this guy is here in this area and treats your wounded soldiers in the same way. Sigfast threatened to slowly kill the Rus's, which he did. He takes great pleasure in watching the Rus warriors bleed, something I cannot tolerate. I stabbed your wounded men to death and put an end to their suffering, for which Siegfast became furious. ”

At this point, Otto and others were trembling with shock.

Rurik felt that this matter was a bit strange. He looked at Grund suspiciously, speculating that this This person deliberately belittled his old master. Obviously, this person also had something to say.

"Sigfast will expose the corpses of all Rus warriors to the wilderness. It's me! He led his brothers to collect your dead bodies and piled up a grave for them. Therefore, the tomb where the Russian warriors are buried is different from the others. "

"You! You mean, you buried those soldiers? ! "The furious Otto panted and asked. This momentum scared Grund almost to the point of lying down.

Aric stood up angrily, suddenly pulled out his steel sword and roared: "Take that idiot.Make it a blood eagle! I'm going now! "

He turned to leave, but was grabbed by Harold Zosen, who caught Otto's look.

"Boy, you have to calm down! "

"Don't call me a boy! Harold Johnson, I am a warrior, and I am going to execute this evil man for my brothers. "

Contrary to Arik's rage, Rurik remained calm. Otto was also furious. Fortunately, fifty years of life experience have tempered him to be stable enough.< /p>

Rurik looked at Grund deliberately: "Danes, we have spared your lives, as we swore to Odin. You don't need to report these times to show off your achievements, nor do you need to throw dirty water on your old master. ”

Grund’s words were unexpected. He thought that all the Russian people would be angry. The Rurik in front of him was really different.

Grund hurriedly beat his chest and swore: "What I said are all facts. If you dare to make a fallacy, you will be struck to death by thunder. That's what we're experiencing is, that Siegfast, he's not a warrior, he's just an egotistical businessman. He doesn't respect soldiers, let alone the dead. Now, Odin sent his warriors to defeat the madman. "

The words that followed were obviously true flattery. Looking at the angry mood of his father and brother, Rurik thought for a moment. If these news spread to the whole army, what kind of ransom would be demanded? The angry warriors would He immediately surrounded the prisoner, and then ate him alive without even leaving any bones.

Rurik closed his eyes and thought about it, and revised his plan to demand ransom in his mind.

He slowly opened his eyes and gave orders as a military commander: "We must get the ransom! "

Aric sat on the ground, his right arm resting on the hilt of his sword, baring his teeth and shaking his head: "I would rather make him a blood eagle. Hey, I just stopped the execution. Why did I run so fast? I might as well have watched my brothers chop off the man's head. "

"There is no need at all, but this man must die. Arik, now listen to my plan..."

On this night, Rurik ordered Grund to rest, which was actually to put him away.

Soon the flag captains of each flag team, as well as some important personnel, were summoned to the bonfire.

As a military commander, Rurik decided on the so-called decisive battle place - the bridge. Village.

The former Qiao Village has been transformed into a scorched earth, but a large number of forests have been cut down, and weeds have grown wildly, and some areas have been planted with oats. p>

There is an open space here that can accommodate tens of thousands of people for a decisive battle, so the Russians do not have to climb over the mound and then form an attack in front of the city of Visby

Rurik knows the Russians best. The strength of the army, and even some visible disadvantages

Today's Ross army has become an army that emphasizes land power. Three thousand soldiers gathered together and spoke three languages.Everything challenges the commander's organizational ability and the soldiers' execution ability.

What if the entire army climbed over the mound to form a decisive battle? Then the team will inevitably become lagging when climbing over the mountain. By then, the army will have flaws everywhere, and it will be troublesome if it is attacked by the enemy.

The most important thing is that the Ross army is trained for fighting on flat ground. Only in a large enough open area can the strength of the Ross army be exerted. At that time, spear arrays, sword and shield hand outflanks, crossbowmen and torsion slingshot shooting, and even heavy armored warriors' fights must work best in the open space.

Many people thought that the army quickly wiped out 500 enemies, so why should the decisive battle in the future follow the rules. The warriors climbed over the mound like a pack of wolves, and swallowed Visby like a mudslide.

Rurik no longer bothers to preach to people who hold this idea, it is meaningless.

“We don’t have to tire our feet and climb over the mound to fight them. We will line up here, drink the sweet stream water, and wait for the enemy to climb over the mound. The enemy is tired, but we are energetic. Abundant, the advantage is mine!"

Rurik kept explaining his idea of ​​waiting for work. Otto consciously understood a lot, but he still had some questions: "How do you judge that the enemy will definitely come over the mountain to fight with us? ? There is a mountain between the enemy and us. If we don't take the initiative to cross the mountain, why should they?"

Rurik looked into his father's eyes: "It's like a sword hanging above his head, although this sword does not If it falls, everyone knows that when the sword falls, it will kill and bleed. Of course, we have to find a way to get rid of it. We are entrenched here, the army has a good rest, and the enemy feels the pressure. They come over the mountain to fight us, and I have enough bait." "Is it the same Sigfast?" Otto asked.

"That's him. In addition, I should let some prisoners go."

"Prisoners?" Arik, still angry, asked: "Do we still have prisoners? Those All the prisoners were taken back."

"Yes, there are still three hundred men captured in Baisha Port. It seems that no one can conclude that this group of traitors will sincerely fight for us. They may turn against us during the charge. If these people are not trustworthy, let them go!”

“Huh?” Arik continued to question, “If you don’t trust them, just leave them to me. Brothers, kill them."

"No, these people are useful. I can gather those people and give them a chance to escape to Visby, but it is impossible for those with the most determined attitude to really surrender. . Let them go back to Visby to spread the news about our Ross army and the conditions for redeeming Sigfast. I want their king to redeem his leader personally, and..."

Suddenly, Rurik thought of a new major strategy.

He stood up suddenly, "We will bring a group of crossbowmen. We will pretend to release the prisoners and shoot them in front of them. We must send a lot of crossbowmen, so maybe we canThe king who could directly assassinate them. It seems to me that with the death of their great king the Visby people would be plunged into irrevocable chaos. ”

“Just cut off their king? It's up to me to do this job. "Arik felt that he was doing his part in this job.

Having said this, Rurik shook his head: "It would be best if the assassination can be completed. It depends on whether our arrows are lucky. I can at least guarantee that the brothers can shoot that Sigfast. It doesn't matter whether their king is hit by an arrow and dies. Of course, it's best for that guy to be shot. Maybe it would be great if that king didn't die. The king of Gotland watched his prince die in front of him. What would he do? ! "

Arik smiled, his slit eyes showing arrogance: "He will take revenge! Will pay like crazy. I really can’t tell, brother, when did you become so vicious. ”

“It’s probably the battle on the glacier in the east. I’ve finally seen it through! This is what war is like. I want to induce the enemy to become reckless avengers, so that if they become stupid, they will be killed by our army according to my idea. Early tomorrow morning, we will release some prisoners and take a group of brothers to the mound to camp. By the way, that Siegfast can't die yet. "

Rurik finally explained his strategy in this way. At the end, Otto had goosebumps all over his body. He felt that his son had turned into a cold evil man. To be fair, this move was the most effective. Angry a father.

An old face stared at the stars. Otto hoped that the Valkyrie would appear. He hoped that green ribbons would appear in the sky, because this area would soon be filled with corpses. All over the land, the souls of dead warriors need to be taken away by the Valkyrie who is watching the battle.

He also imagined that Rurik could achieve a complete victory with minimal losses through his correct command. .