The bare-backed men put on cloth clothes, and tied their waists with hemp ropes, with hand axes and short swords hung on the ropes.
A large number of short spears were thrown onto the ship, including many high-grade spearheads purchased from the Rus.
As a whole, the Balmok army is at best a group of armed fishermen and herdsmen. As for their comprehensive combat effectiveness, Rurik cannot have too high expectations for them. He only hopes for what he may encounter. The army in Britain will be even worse.
If every soldier in this sea-crossing army lacks defense and only holds melee weapons, the team will suffer in battle.
What is the situation in Britain now? Are those kingdoms already in the customary bow?
Rurik, who remained cautious, called on the family leaders who intended to take their own people on an expedition, asking them to properly organize their warriors. At the same time, he also asked them to bring as many wooden bows as possible, even if their quality was average.
They were probably prepared on the eve of departure, and the result was basically within Rurik's expectation.
Near the fjord where the Balmok people are located, there are large prey for hunting, that is, seals that come ashore to rest. The big beasts on land have long been hunted. For hunting seals, the best weapons are distinct spears and harpoons. Therefore, for soldiers in the army, some people's spears are simply modified harpoons.
They lacked the opportunity to use bows. In the end, Rurik took stock and realized that he could only assemble a mere fifty archers.
"It's really ironic that there are only fifty bow-wielding hunters in such a huge tribe?"
The departure was about to begin, and facing the enthusiastic warriors, he could only bravely welcome Xia Xia. North Sea in Japan.
The Aurora has unloaded most of its cargo, and the amount of ballast stones placed in the cabin and the fresh water in the loading barrels are not much.
The big ship can be said to be very relaxed. She completely leads the following thirty or so rowing boats as a flagship, embarking on an unknown journey.
Only a few people dare to explore in person, because they don’t know the way forward and dare not take their own lives to make fun of it. Maybe the baby is already close at hand, and the huge fear finally forces the trembling body to paddle in the opposite direction.
But this time, everything has changed!
Thousands of men gather together, and when there are more people, they embolden each other. Anyone who dares to evacuate will be immediately regarded as a traitor by his friends, and may even be thrown directly by his family leader. Killed at sea.
There is no timid among them. It is their boldness that gives them the right to join this huge exploratory expedition.
They were full of confidence in the way forward, because the Russian ship was sailing backwards, and the white and blue flag flying on the top of the mast was a signal to everyone. As long as we follow Rurik the Russian, and as long as the ships remain in convoy status, everything will go smoothly.
Now they no longer even worry about the sea becoming violent. A storm has just ended. The Balmoks sacrificed blood to Odin. Will God stillContinue to be angry?
The fleet successfully left the huge Narvik Fjord in one day, and everyone was already floating in the vast sea.
Each ship followed the track of the Aurora, and the big ship headed straight into the ocean. The other ships also looked at the farther and farther coastline reluctantly, and continued to paddle hard.
They were sailing against the wind, and the Aurora had to accommodate the "turtle speed" of the entire fleet. The fleet was actually sailing slowly at a speed of three knots per hour, but Rurik had to admire the strength of this group of fishermen. They were able to row from sunrise to nearly sunset!
When night fell, people connected the boats with ropes, and finally tied the ropes to the big boat.
People have no time to enjoy any nightlife, and their enthusiasm for sailing is quickly diluted by long hours of rowing. As soon as they had a chance to breathe, they immediately lived in leather or without any bedding, and fell asleep after eating some pickled fish.
Perhaps only Rurik slept the best every night.
Aphrola is just like it went to the Balmok Harbor. The people on board are completely unchanged, but it also represents the strongest combat effectiveness of the entire fleet.
It is understandable if leader Magnute intends to go on an expedition, but he has been cultivating his eldest son Biyongni, hoping that this brave young man will win one honor after another in a short period of time, so as to win the conference. was elected as the next leader. The leader of each family needs a popular doer, not the son of the previous leader. Biyongni is very clear about the mission he shoulders.
How to make the tribe believe in you? Biyongni has his own methods.
In a nutshell: Find the enemy, kill the enemy without mercy, and achieve your own bloody glory among the enemy's corpse.
However, after five days of sailing, there was still no land in sight, not even an island! Unfortunately, there is nothing.
It was another quiet night, the stars and rivers in the sky were bright, and the magnificent scenery seemed to Biyongni like the gods were mocking them in the sky. How dare a fleet claim to conquer the sea?
He and Rurik were lying on the forecastle deck of the ship, leaning on their arms and looking at the sky.
"Rurik, it's already the sixth day. I firmly believe in your decision-making these days. Ah! Our route...should be correct?"
"Are you there? Doubt me?" Rurik asked with a hint of anger.
"How dare I? We have been sailing for more than twenty days, and your decision-making has never been wrong. But those brothers are all following you, and no one knows this route except you."< /p>
"Then see with your eyes and feel with your heart. Remember our voyage so that you can go on expeditions alone in the future."
"That is true, but after all, our voyage is too It's far away..."
"There's no way." Rurik stood up slowly. He didn't want to tell his Biyoni brothers about rushing from Narvik Fjord to Bulje.The route to Diandao was largely a matter of luck.
He thought for a while and then said: "I can only say that your location is too remote. You have seen the map I drew."
"Yes, I have Keep it in mind."
"Then don't question it anymore. Your fjord is in the north of the peninsula, but Bergen is in the south, and it is easier for people from Bergen to reach the British Isles. It will take some time. Believe me, we can at least find some islands first and follow the islands to find the destination."
What else can Biyongni say? He could only express support.
With the continuous sailing, the morale of the fleet has been declining. The only thing that aroused everyone's interest was that people with fishing nets successfully caught a batch of herring.
They never object to eating herring raw. The fish meat brings energy and important fresh water.
Compared with previous voyages, due to Rurik's emphasis on logistics, the entire fleet is definitely not short of fresh water. In terms of food, since fish can be caught directly, there is no need to worry.
The voyage has lasted for a week, and Rurik firmly believes that he has been on the right voyage.
Actually? He was certainly on the right track.
Rurik used the sun as navigation, and he deliberately led his fleet to sail southwest. If this were simply the case, his route would have been fatally deflected.
However, the warm Atlantic current created a miracle of navigation!
The warm current flows along the direction of the plate and heads straight to the North Pole, forming a large number of rotating vortices near Scandinavia. The overall flow speed of the ocean current is slow, and those eddies are slowly moving the entire fleet towards the European continent. Objectively, they are constantly correcting Rurik's yaw.
In this way, the continuous voyage actually lasted for twelve days!
I don’t know who started it, but long boats followed, and the oarsmen finally couldn’t hold it in any longer!
They gradually stopped paddling, picked up their hand axes and kept hitting their shields. The unusual behavior immediately shocked Rurik who was resting.
After a while, a sailor ran to the captain's lounge.
"Sir! Those people have given up their game."
"Ridiculous!" Rurik stood up, and Biyoni and Floki hurriedly followed.
The three of them ran to the poop and saw that all the following fleets had stopped moving forward.
Rurik, who was holding the railing, looked at these lazy people and stamped his feet angrily: "Damn it! Our command is one step away from success, what are these guys going to do?"
< p>"I think they can't stand it anymore."Rurik glared at Biyongni: "Your family has sent the most troops. Could it be that they also betrayed you as the commander-in-chief?"
"No! There must be an instigator. We must turn back."
"That's fine."
The sailor quickly manipulated the cable, and the Aurora was in front of Then the lazy Thousand People performed an exaggerated sharp turn, and then the momentumWith the help of the south wind like a broken bamboo, the bow of the ship rides big waves and pounces on the fleet like a sea monster.
Those people were so frightened that they started paddling again, just to avoid being sunk.
But Rurik only intended to intimidate them, and the big ship circled around the stagnant fleet.
Rurik took off his hat, stood on the forecastle and pointed his sword at the people on the long boat.
"Why are you slacking off?"
At this moment, some people are already shouting. As more and more people shout, Rurik deserves to order the torque slingshot to be launched into the sea.
The waves created by the projectiles made people calm down.
“I know what you think!” Rurik roared in a voice that had changed slightly: “You are afraid of the voyage! You even started to question me! I obviously want to lead you to victory and great achievements. Wealth, you are actually questioning me! You are not afraid of the enemy, but you are afraid of the sea."
Thinking that without a loudspeaker, your speech will lack penetration after all. Ke changed his tone again.
"Hey! Leaders of the families! Follow me on the big ship, let's study it carefully..."
Rurik really has no time to talk nonsense with ordinary warriors. He believes that this The common people simply lacked independent opinions, and it must be individual family leaders who are retreating now. Therefore, it is necessary to win the support of these leaders, and this sudden mutiny will be prevented.
The leaders had all kinds of ideas. A total of eleven people had just boarded the boat and were immediately controlled by armed men.
For these people, Rurik did not intend to give any gentle persuasion.
He was standing on a high place, looking at the people on the center deck and ordering: "I don't care what you think, I will continue sailing. You people should not get off my ship until land is discovered."
What is this if not detention?
They bared their teeth and cast angry glances at Biyoni who was standing next to Rurik.
Someone shouted: "Biyongni, what are you doing? You are not the leader, you can't treat us like this."
"But Rurik is our commander! You are here If you question him, you are guilty."
"Why do you do this?" The man continued to yell, "Brothers can't stand the boring voyage. What have we got except catching some fish in more than ten days? We are on a road of no return, Rurik of Rus! You are kidding us!"
"Snorasund (the speaker)!" Biyoni pointed with his big finger. "I advise you to respect my brother Rurik."
"This is not fair! Many brothers no longer want to leave. You have to listen to the opinions of the brothers. We have to vote on whether to leave or withdraw! ”
Listening to this nonsense, Rurik exerted force so hard that one of his molars was bitten off. For a moment, the people on the center deck below saw Rurik's bleeding mouth.
Like aThe little devil showed his bloody mouth?
Rurik reached out and pulled off his bloody baby teeth. At this moment, he couldn't care less about the pain.
He denounced: "This is the sea! There are laws of the sea above the sea! Put away your Nordic (Nordic People's Parliament), we are going to launch a cross-sea expedition, and you actually want to fight with The commander made a condition. It seems that I want to kill a few traitors!" "No! No! The rules cannot be broken!" Snorasund still shouted.
Now Rurik is very convinced that the culprit of the mutiny is this guy.
However, the development of things was completely beyond Rurik's expectation.
In an instant, Biyongni picked up the steel-arm crossbow that he regarded as a treasure. He quickly picked it up and pulled the trigger at the target.
In an instant, everyone saw the loudest one, Snorasund, with a very thick arrow tail on his forehead. The noisy man closed his mouth and fell heavily to the ground with his eyes wide open.
"What are you doing? You are crazy! That's your Balmok tribe!" The shocked Rurik hit Biyoni hard.
However, Yongni is calmer than anyone else.
While everyone was shocked, Biyongni raised his crossbow solemnly: "This is Havdic (the rule of the sea)! What we want is a victorious expedition, not a cowardly retreat. We want the people in our hometown to see us returning home with great achievements, instead of becoming the cowards they reviled.”
At this moment, even the little bald Floki stood up and shouted to the heads of the families: "Imagine that the sea was not violent these days! Those brothers who sacrificed their lives asked God for our current peace. If you return, you will be punished by God. The huge waves and sea monsters will destroy you. Eat it!”
Rurik looked at the Biyoni brothers and thought that these two bald men, one big and one small, were really born fierce men.
"Biyongni, you are too cruel, killing your own people so mercilessly? Why didn't I notice that you were so cruel before..." With the words in his heart, Rurik gently pushed away The two of them, at this moment, he no longer wanted to talk nonsense.
Facing the remaining leaders, Rurik had only one arrangement: "Continue to follow us. If anyone dares to retreat lightly, kill them!"
Look at what's happening now situation. The people on the center deck instantly became firm supporters of the expedition.
Rurik really had to admit that killing a group of deserters who made the most noise when the army was demoralized could intimidate others without even having to kill them.
Ask yourself, Rurik does not want to personally execute a leader who retreats for this reason. Although the two tribes are an alliance, he does not know whether doing so will have a negative impact on his allied tribes.
This was a "dirty job", but fortunately Biyongni did it for him neatly.
It’s hard for Rurik to say thank you, he really can see thatYongni’s ambition is to be the most powerful dictator in Balmok!
Thinking about it, this kind of thing is natural, and Rurik doesn’t think it’s strange. A tribe of nearly 20,000 people is still in disarray. Isn’t it looking for death in this complicated world? If they want to survive, they must transform into a kingdom. As for who is the king, Rurik doesn't want it to be Biyoni, at least not him in the future.
Each leader was placed in the cabin, their personal weapons were confiscated, and they were effectively placed under house arrest. They didn't dare to curse, for fear that they would be executed again and end up being called a traitor, which would be spread throughout the tribe forever. As a traitor, he naturally cannot convince the family members, and the family will not hesitate to elect another person as the clan leader.
As for the rest of the longships, what else can the thousand warriors on them do? One longship after another continued to follow the Aurora, which continued to sail, and the storm was quickly settled.
But for the majority of soldiers, they still don’t know what the future holds. All they knew was that any retreat would be a shameful betrayal, and the ship would not hesitate to launch a crusade.
Not only that, Floki was young, and his theory of "God's favor and punishment" spread quickly. Now people are further worried about the cost of escaping, that is, even if they escape the commander's punishment, they will eventually be punished by the sea monster instructed by Odin.
They can only be brave men.
And something wonderful happened the next day.
Everything was just as Rurik said. There was something sad and hateful about it, that is, just one step away from success, he retreated shamefully because of cowardice.
A new day. The fleet has been sailing for fourteen days. So far, people have never seen another fishing boat on the sea. However, a strange scene happened this morning.
The sailor lying on the mast saw the ships floating on the sea, and the good news suddenly shocked all the depressed people.
That is definitely a fishing boat! And a fishing vessel can mean one thing, its home port is nearby!