On a new day, in the early morning, the Aurora sheathed its spearhead and continued to sail westward on the waves.
The route ahead is becoming more and more dangerous. The large ship that is in danger alone will encounter the strength of the Danes at any time, and the soldiers on the whole ship have to stay prepared for war.
Nowadays, it is impossible to keep a low profile, and Rurik no longer expects a giant to fantasize about himself and turn a blind eye to others.
Look at the current situation!
Standing on the bow of the ship, Rurik looked north. Even if there was a faint sea fog that blurred the world, he could still clearly see the dim outline of the land.
He gnawed on the dried fish, his keen eyes gazing at the shoreline for any anomalies.
From the perspective of Biyongni who was approaching, his little brother was confident about the way forward.
"Rurik, if we continue to the west, can we successfully reach the sea at the end of the world?"
"No." Rurik muttered lightly.
"Why?"
"Because there will be many obstacles ahead."
"Is it the Danes' obstruction?"
"They? They can't stop us. Brothers, if we sail for a while we can see islands or land again. Listen, we will have to make a choice soon."
Rurik did not stop. Needless to say, but a target soon appeared ahead.
At this moment, the sailor riding on the top of the mainmast had already seen the dim sea level in the west. He could not tell whether it was land, but it looked very much like land. There was only one target that stood out, and that was a sailing ship. Judging from its appearance, it was clearly a sturdy cargo ship.
Looking at the approaching target, Rurik clenched his fists with a smile.
He hurriedly shouted to his eager brothers: "The prey is coming! A cargo ship! Let us seize that ship and search for the goods!"
The desire to plunder is high. People's hearts, everyone is in their positions, the torque slingshot is full of power, and the arrows are also loaded from the arrow trough of the crossbow.
The Avora took advantage of the wind and rushed towards the lone cargo ship, and the battle became one-sided again.
As soon as the big ship hit the enemy from the side, a volley of torque slingshots and crossbows made the enemies who tried to fight back lose any courage to fight.
With its huge body, the Avora circled the slow enemy ship and followed the wind and pushed the ship's side directly over. Jevro and his brothers jumped into the enemy's cargo ship one after another, capturing all the trembling guys alive.
The two ships came together, lowered their sails and swayed on the sea.
Rurik slid along a cable to the opposite ship and immediately asked: "What kind of goods are they transporting?"
"It's wool!" Yevlo said At this time, the sword blade was still pressed against the neck of a prisoner.
“It’s actually wool? The whole ship’s linen sacks are full of wool?”
"It seems so."
At this moment, brothers Biyongni and Floki also boarded the captured merchant ship. Biyoni approached Rurik: "These are Danish merchants? What's your decision? Seize the goods and kill them?"
"Of course. We still have a lot of space in the cabin, look. These sacks full of wool are our trophies, and we brothers should divide them equally. As for these Danes, kill them now."
Rurik knew that what he was doing was piracy, so-called. Compassion is really unnecessary.
Is mercy necessary? If he fell into the hands of the Danes, he would probably die.
"Jevlo!"
"Yes."
Rurik roared sharply: "Kill these Danes!"
< p>Just when Jevrod was about to kill him, the captured men wailed almost in unison: "We are not Danes! We are from Bergen.""Wait a minute!" Yongni was suddenly startled, stepped forward and pinched Javro's sword-holding wrist, then turned to look at Rurik: "Are they really Danes?"
"What else?"
The prisoners still claim to be from Bergen and have been to Oslo. Each one of them desperately claims that they have nothing to do with the Danes.
"Listen, my brother. We have not yet reached the point of fighting with the Bergens."
"Are they Bergens?" Liuli Ke asked in surprise, "Aren't they your enemies?"
"But the war never broke out, and I don't want to be the instigator of a wrong war."
Seeing Biyongni's determination With a look in his eyes, Rurik canceled the killing order.
After a simple interrogation, the prisoner fully confessed in order to survive. They not only explained where they started from, the ports they stopped at, how they paid tolls and passed through the sea pass controlled by the Danish leader, as well as their final destination - Hedeby. But the words were empty, and after Biyongni asked a few more questions, it was confirmed that this merchant ship did come from Bergen.
The captured ship boss survived the attack of the Aurora. This man had no time to care about his two sons who were shot and killed. He needed to do his best to ensure the survival of others.
He pointed to the northwest and said with a trembling mouth: "That is the pass of the Danes. Any merchant ship passing through must pay fifty silver coins."
"Half a pound of silver coins. Tolls? That Hafgen is really greedy for money." Rurik sighed, he didn't care what the gray-bearded man thought of him, and continued to ask: "How is your route to Hedebe?"
"As long as you go south and enter the huge bay there, you will soon reach Hedeby. It is a large coastal city. You... can see it from a distance and you will never get lost. Young heroes, we Just businessmen, please forgive our lives."
An old guy begged to himself, and at this moment he ordered to raise the butcher knife.? Rurik shook his head, his heart softening.
"Old man, what's the price of your wool?"
When asked this question, all the captured people were stunned.
"A bale of wool weighs a hundred pounds. We plan to sell a bale in Hedeby for fifty silver coins."
Rurik nodded, "I'll buy it. Two bales of wool for you. And I'm sorry for the innocent people who died in this conflict. I'll give you two pounds as compensation. Look, you have no right to bargain. You, simply because you are not Danish. You even pointed out to me the exact location of Hedeby and the location of the Danish pass. I will give you another pound of silver as money to buy the information."
< p>People climbed back to the Aurora one after another along the rope ladder. As Rurik climbed up in person, the boss of the merchant ship holding four pounds of silver coins still couldn't understand what kind of pirate he was encountering. He had the courage to ask; "Who are you? You have huge ships. Your sails are very unique. Could it be that they come from the warm sea in the south? You can speak Norse..."Rurik paused, he wanted to Say something and finally shut up.
The Avora resumed sailing, and Rurik on board consciously made the right choice. Of course, many people feel that they should not be merciful to those guys. After all, this is an encounter on the vast sea. It does not matter if they do any cruel things, because the only witness is the sun in the sky. The sun is the incarnation of Odin. Based on faith, everyone wants to believe that Odin is happy to see the killing battles of mortals on the earth.
Compared to killing those merchants and seizing their goods, the information provided by those people is priceless. Both Biyoni and Rurik were very surprised to meet a businessman from Bergen in this sea area. Based on the other party's confession, Rurik completely understood the origin of the wool-Oslo.
Bergen merchants transported crude iron ingots to Oslo to buy local wool, and then trafficked the wool to Hedebe to buy a variety of goods from Europe, such as slaves. Bring it back to Bergen. Although you have to pay a sum of money to pass through the Danish alliance, compared with the profits from trade, those tolls are nothing.
Land finally appeared in the west. The imprints in Rurik’s mind and the confessions of previous merchants allowed him to confirm his current geographical location.
The sailors shouted, and the soldiers also participated in the work of pulling the cable.
The big ship began to sail in a wide waterway leading to the northwest. The strong south in the afternoon gave the big ship extremely strong power.
The Aurora was unstoppable, and her speed once reached ten knots! A ship of this size is "racing" on the sea, and its powerful momentum makes her an unstoppable monster.
The plan to attack the Danish fishing boats began to be implemented. Many targets appeared in the increasingly narrow waterway ahead. Rurik completely stopped showing mercy. He wanted to wreak havoc near the Danish pass.
Rurik knew that he hadEntering the Oresund Strait, it is also the core area of the Robard tribe, the rumored leader of the Danish alliance. But Rurik knows this place better by another name, Copenhagen.
Copenhagen did not exist in the ninth century, or it was only the prototype of a miniature fishing village.
Rurik’s eyes did see a small fishing village on the coastline. The scene there was indeed different from the lush woods. The white beach was very unique, but he only had one boat and forty people. Brother, the only damage you can do is to actively attack fishing boats.
The Aurora is desperately attacking fishing boats, and the boats it attacks are all from the same fishing village. The name of the village is Malholm (Malmö), which is named after the chalk soil rich in calcium carbonate. Only in the era of intensive manufacturing of cement and glass did these chalk soils have huge utilization value. Nowadays, the locals are just a group of fishermen.
The Aurora is like a monster, and its purpose of existence is to cause destruction. Her attack ended after nightfall when all the fishing boats fled for their lives. After causing fatal terror to the fishing village, Rurik ordered the anchor to be dropped. The brothers ate the captured fresh herring and recharged their batteries to wait for the crossing of the Danish pass tomorrow.
A big scary ship is causing destruction everywhere!
The terrifying news was spreading, and it reached the ears of the pass guards immediately.
Hafgen, the leader of the Danish alliance, the main part of his Robard tribe is located at the northernmost tip of the Jutland Peninsula. The so-called Oslo people are across the sea. The areas he directly ruled were scattered across multiple straits. The Great Bell Strait, the Little Bell Strait, and the Oresund Strait, the three straits from the Baltic Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, were all controlled by the Robard tribe. Hafgen actually inherited and consolidated them. This is the hegemony of collecting tolls. In other words, the Danish leader has the right to have this power. The ships of any Danish tribe that joins will only pay a symbolic toll to pass freely immediately. As for the ships of other tribes, Hafgen will ask for a lot of silver coins as usual.
Three generals guarded the three strait passes. A man named Halik became more and more important after marrying Hafgen's sister. This man placed his family at the pass to build a military castle. He sent troops to patrol every day to collect tolls and then turned them over in full to show his loyalty to his brother-in-law Hafgen. Because Hafgen was almost forty years old, his wife and concubines did not give him a son. Who is the future successor of the Robard tribe? Harrick feels that his son has a good chance.
Information about the crazy attacker reached the ears of Hallick overnight, and this man who loved beef and was as strong as an ox, making his beloved wife both loved and hated, was furious! In his extreme rage after learning the news, he strangled two Saxon female slaves who were sleeping with him. He was able to vent his anger. Of course, this kind of thing made his wife happy the most.
A big ship comes to provoke? Killing the fishermen of Malhom Village?
Halik was not sleepy at all. A string of torches were lit on the top of the wooden fortress, and all the soldiers were awakened. Even the men of the Robard tribe who settled near the fortress were awakened.Called overnight.
The perspective turns to the Aurora anchored in the strait.
The sleeping Rurik was invited by the night watchman to see a strange scene.
Rurik squinted and saw the extremely obvious fire in the distance.
"Sir, what is that?" His capable mercenary carefully speculated: "I suspect it is an alarm from the enemy."
Rurik nodded: "It seems that our The action is too much. Are you afraid? I'm going to fight their guards."
The mercenary smiled: "I have been with you for many years and I am not afraid of fighting. It's just..." The mercenary suddenly laughed.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Sir, I want to get a woman, and I also want to have a family."
This statement is really annoying. People thought deeply, Rurik thought that his capable mercenaries had indeed experienced all the foreign wars of the Ross people in recent years. They themselves were not from the Ross clan, but they had sacrificed too much for the interests of Ross.
"Women? Okay."
"Oh, thank you so much, sir."
"But not now. You are in the prime of life, and women only It will affect the speed of your sword draw. Keep following me. When you are almost thirty, I will find at least two young and beautiful women for each of you. Before that, follow my orders and fight well." p>
Thirty years old? The mercenary felt unspeakable pain in his heart. For example, the mercenary leader Yevluo was already twenty-eight years old. The current situation seemed as if this man was not naturally a womanizer. In fact, it was not allowed by the financial owner. . On the other hand, whenever the mercenary brothers go to Ironburg, they have a brief relationship with the group of women who are eager for men. Unfortunately, it is not home, and those women are just greedy for the strong muscles of the mercenaries.
The weather was getting colder, and at dawn Rurik gathered everyone on the deck.
He stood on the forecastle holding a sword and shouted: "Brothers, I learned that Denmark has been prepared. They lit bonfires overnight and must have organized a fleet to try to prevent us from breaking through. For Denmark People! We must fight with a high profile! This has nothing to do with revenge for the death of King Olegin. This is a battle that belongs to the courage of our Rus and Balmoks. I just want to show the Danes how powerful we are."
Everyone roared happily, flapping their shields and stamping their feet, and even the sailors felt like they had become warriors.
Rurik's sword reaches the east again: "The sun is about to rise, and the sea wind will be fierce. Odin is watching us. I ask you to be merciless, not afraid of any danger, and to protect yourself. Remember! I ask that you do not suffer any injuries and do your best to kill the enemy."
The people of the Avrola are not afraid of any number of enemies in the front. Past battles have proven, and new battles will continue to prove, that the big ship Aurora is the nemesis of any longship!
People are even imagining that the legendary Danish leaderThe Red Dragon will also participate in the containment.
People are eager to try it, because sinking the red dragon will be a glory that will last a lifetime.
With the belief that it would win, the Avora suddenly surged to 11 knots under the strong south wind. Of course, the waves should not become a little violent, and the roaring sea wind was simply right for it. A hymn to heroes.
At the same time, Harik, who was stationed at the strait pass, organized more than 300 people, divided into ten combat longships, into a fleet and was already waiting in the offshore of the strait.
As the day dawned, they squinted their eyes to avoid the golden light of the morning sun, and saw only a huge sail on the sea. It formed a golden light spot and was about to rush towards the ship group.
"It's that murderous monster. Brothers, seize the ship and dedicate it to our lord! Fight for Hafgen!"
Halik is as strong as an ox He personally beat a calfskin drum, and the sound of the drum led the entire fleet to launch what they thought was a sure-win interception...