I don’t know when a group of people living in the Gulf of Finland began to move north.
They settled among the hills and lakes, forming as many as fifty villages, large and small. These villages once attacked each other, and finally the strong ones among them slowly integrated the people in the area and formed a regional power.
They naturally believe that their location is the center of everything, they naturally believe that mountains, rivers and lakes are gifts from God, and the territory they recognize is the holy realm, which means they call themselves people loved by the gods. , which is "tavast" in their language.
They are the Tavastians, the most powerful tribal alliance in the East (Finland).
Even in the development of history, they got to know other people and had economic contact with ancient Roman travelers, but on the whole they still lived their lives behind closed doors. Little days.
Until the general trend of historical development, when the Karelia people in the east began to compete with them for the resources in the forest, the war inevitably broke out.
Perhaps, only when they are passively involved in the war can the Tavastians know how powerful they are.
They began to actively expand, began to trade and fight with the Suomi people in the south, began to attack and drive away the Kovin people, and began to build large and small mountain fortresses to resist the erosion of the Karelian people.
They became stronger and stronger as they fought, and even obtained a large amount of iron weapons in trade. It is a pity that the Tavastian people control the lake in the central area of modern Finland. This area is indeed rich in water and grass. They can make a living by fishing, catching squirrels and ferrets, and raising a small number of sheep, which is basically all. That’s it.
After all, the climate here is relatively cold. With the current level of technology, it is impossible to grow wheat here. Only a small amount of vegetables can be harvested.
The environment is so bad. When you know that there are better areas in the outside world, it is only human nature to seize them and make them your own.
What’s even worse is that these mountains, forests and lakes produce no ore. Even if they know how to smelt iron, any iron tools and ore must be purchased from the Suomi people in the south.
There is no currency in the world. When the value of some scarce goods reaches everyone's consensus, it has certain currency attributes. In this small area of the "Land of the East", it seems quite closed due to the limitations of the times. Only a small amount of old silver coins from the Roman era are in circulation, and squirrel skin has become currency!
Squirrels are obviously small animals with strong fecundity, but they cannot withstand capture by humans.
The military threat from the Karelia people forced recent generations of Tavastia chiefs to find ways to improve their armaments, which required a large number of metal weapons.
I know that attacking the Suomi people is a very costly act, but it is necessary to transport batches of squirrel skins to the south in exchange for iron tools. The number of squirrels in my territory has dropped sharply, and they have survived. The individuals and their offspring seem to have become extremely alert and difficult to catch.
If you can’t betray SongHow to exchange rat skin and ferret skin for metal?
Then we can only expand our territory and go to the north to find new resources.
Didn’t those Kewen people go to the north to open up? Just chase them and grab resources!
The old chief of Tavastia died, and the elders of as many as fifty villages gathered at the sacrificial center in their mountains and forests for a meeting.
The old chief's son Watkad (with strong arms) was in the prime of life and had the influence of his late father, so he was naturally elected as the new leader by many elders.
But who can guarantee that there will be no doubters or opponents in the alliance?
The new chief is actually not too young. He is almost forty years old. His brown hair is already mixed with white strands, and there are already some deep wrinkles on his face to hide his beard. This man is considered tall among the Tavastians. He is now a bit older. People still know that when he was young, he could break the neck of a reindeer with his bare hands.
Watkard was originally just his nickname, but now it has completely become his name.
How does the new chief convince the public when he takes office? Of course, it is necessary to build up one's reputation through some external battles instead of performing "breaking the deer's neck" for the people.
He led the warriors of the alliance to attack the Karelian hill forts and creatively used some new methods in the war, such as making wooden ladders to let the warriors climb the stacked stone walls to fight. Even use fire attack.
The flames may cause a fire and kill the enemy, and the thick smoke can also choke people to death, and the thick smoke is the best cover. When the opponent cannot see clearly, the alliance's warriors can continuously rush in.
The Karelia people suffered a loss, but when they retreated to their territory in the north of Lake Ladoga, their offensive and defensive momentum was different.
War is accompanied by consumption. Tavastia killed some warriors and consumed a lot of supplies.
Anxious to make up for the losses and worried about the enemy's revenge, Chief Watkard could only step up his plundering of the mountains and forests.
He didn’t know what the Suomi people who had obtained the fine furs would do with the leather. He only knew that if they transported the leather, they would be able to exchange it for iron tools.
A great dream is brewing in Watkard's heart - all my warriors must have iron spears and iron arrow clusters.
At least half of this dream has come true.
He counted the men in the entire tribal alliance who could fight (including boys over ten years old), and unexpectedly found that he could organize an army of up to 5,000 people.
In people's mathematical concepts, this is already an extremely astonishing number. With such a powerful force, we are an unbreakable forest alliance. If this is combined into one fist, wouldn't it be invincible?
That’s not necessarily the case. In everyone’s mind, the Karelians are strong enemies, while the Suomi people are friendly and long-term trading partners. These three forces exist in this "Eastern Land". On the other hand, the Covin people and even the wandering deer herders further north are like squirrels and ferrets, they can be hunted.elephant.
But the Corvins escaped. Where they fled to, only a few Tavastia forest explorers knew the approximate direction.
Ordered by the chief, an armed expedition began its journey north.
This group of people went north along the stream and walked the equivalent of 250 kilometers to stand next to a large lake.
They encountered the hunters here, and after a brief battle, something unexpected happened suddenly!
We are from Kewen! Here they are!
However, these Kewen people were as humble as docile pets. Three tribal leaders expressed their goodwill to the explorer leader and emphatically explained their experiences.
The expedition achieved great results. The leaders of the three Kovin tribes jointly declared that they would take their tribes to join the chief of Tavastia.
The eager explorers hurriedly took the Covin people back home, and finally the three chiefs knelt in front of Watkad obediently.
In the house made of wood and thatch, the bonfire in the hall kept the whole house quite warm.
Watkard walked on a wooden chair covered with bearskin, and deliberately stepped on the head of the ferocious black bear with his feet to show his strength.
The Kovin people and the Tavastian people speak the same language. Meeting the leader of the Kovin people in this way really made him surprised and proud.
Because killing the Kewen people was not his purpose, as many as three Kewen tribes took refuge in him. If he was sincere, it would mean that the strength he lost in the war was greatly replenished in this way.
"You...are all Kewen people! I thought it would take an expedition to completely defeat you, but I didn't expect you to surrender without a fight. You...are you sincerely our servants? The three of you each What's your name?"
The three of them announced their names.
These three people are none other than Bukan (extreme cold), Terho (acorn) and Ojedo (big bear).
One of them, Bukan, was very anxious to explain his experience: "We live upstream of the flood river. We fish for salmon and catch squirrels. We originally lived a peaceful life. But the river flows into the sea. Salmon guy, they control the salmon fishing rights..."
"Wait, what do you mean? Are you trying to deal with me?" Watkard waved his hand to the warrior standing on the side. Show a mighty posture.
Bakan looked at the warriors and said with trembling lips: "Every autumn there will be a large number of salmon there, and there is an endless supply of fish there. If you Tavastians occupied it, Fishing can ensure that everyone has enough food and clothing. There is no way to catch all the fish, but the hateful salmon man controls the river."
Hearing this, Watkard became interested: "So, After you were defeated, you surrendered to us?"
Bakan quickly looked at his two men and exchanged glances.
Now Terho began to speak: "It is true, but to the west of the sea isNew enemies. They came and attacked us. Those who controlled the salmon joined the enemy coming across the sea. They..."
"Wait! "Watkard slapped his thigh: "Enemies coming across the sea? Aren't they Varyags? The Varangians who had attacked the Suomis. "
Although he was quite unfamiliar with this term, Terho hurriedly said: "That may be the case, but those guys call themselves Rus." They are coming to turn us into miserable slaves. We gathered a thousand men and were defeated by them. Many men died in the battle, so the three of us went to you, bringing many women with us. We believe that you can accept us and no longer require us to hand over ten thousand squirrel skins every year. ”
Terho’s words were either true or false. This flattering effort made Watkad think about a lot of things. Indeed, among the three Kewen tribes that requested to join the tribal alliance, among their tribes There are an astonishing number of women. This situation is incredible. Now the problem is clear. It turns out that a large-scale death of men in a war led to this situation.
Women are the most important thing in a tribe. Important strategic resources, as long as they are still giving birth, even the tribes that have entered a trough and are declining in population have hope of rapid recovery.
It is really possible to integrate the three tribes and make the three chief families alliance. Meeting? Forget it! The women they brought back are of most interest to Watkard.
Watkard did not comment yet, but asked the last leader, Ojedo.
“We...we were defeated. We didn't want to be slaves, so we fled. The north was too bitter and cold, so we rushed to the south, and now we can only get your protection. However, you should also be vigilant, because those Russians who came across the sea are hungry wolves who cannot be fed enough, and they are the most dangerous attackers. They have a lot of iron and are even protected by iron sheets. Their spears were made of iron, their axes were made of iron, their swords were made of iron, and their arrow clusters were all made of iron. I even noticed that they had bows made of iron. ”
“A bow made of iron? absurd! You are frightened. That's right, Watkard laughed out loud: "But they do have a lot of iron tools, right?" ”
“That’s right. "Ojedo said cautiously.
Watkard nodded with satisfaction: "A large number of squirrels and ferrets, endless fish, and new enemies who came across the sea and were covered in iron. Even the people you call salmon fishermen have become what are they called? Slaves of the Rus. is that so? ”
“That’s right. "The three of them said in unison.
It seemed that the Tavastia chief suddenly had a strong interest in conquering the north. In fact, they did not know that the chief's attack was originally aimed at the Covin people. .
Bakan took this opportunity to deliberately release a war warning: "Those Russians have a huge demand for squirrel skins. We learned that when they know who is rich or whose territory is rich, they will definitely launch a war. War is just the difference between early and late. "
"What did you say? ! "Suddenly, Watkard became alert again.
"As you have noticed. The Rus will attack Tavastia. If you don't attack first to show your might, they will think that you are not strong. Now they actually control the squirrels in the north. Leather, even if you want to get leather, you must fight with them. Don't try to negotiate with those people. They regard us as a kind of prey and will..."
"Shut up!" Watkard. He stood up angrily, then sat down with a smile.
"I heard it. You are persuading me to send troops to attack them. You... want to use our strength to take revenge."
This is indeed the case. The three surrenders The leaders looked at each other and declared that they had plans in this regard. What they said was more thorough. As the saying goes, the three tribes have existed in name only, and the people have been displaced and unable to settle down. As long as they can bring peace to everyone, the three chiefs do not dare to expect any power. The only thing they hope to do is to be accepted by the Tavastian people, even if they are ordinary people, it is excellent. As for the women who fled, all three of them hoped that Tavastia could ignore their past grudges and accept them as members of the tribe.
The only condition for the three of them is to beat up the Russians and make them pay with blood.
Watkard knew that these guys had no choice. Unexpectedly, they were so self-aware that he suddenly softened.
"Okay, I can accept you, and I also want to attack the north. I will accept your tribe now, but the three of you are no longer distinguished leaders. You all obey my arrangements."
Any war will definitely cause losses to one's own side, but if the gains from the war far exceed the losses, it is worth the risk. Adhering to this mentality, Watkard convened a meeting of the elders of the alliance to discuss matters about the "mysterious and seemingly powerful Rus", and everyone reached a consensus.
Because after Watkad became chief, the Tavastians never lost again.
The people have unprecedented self-confidence, claiming that they are indeed loved by the gods and are the natural kings of these mountains, forests and lakes. The only way for the enemy's people is to surrender.
Look, the three Kewen tribes brought a large number of women to surrender is the best proof!
We need to organize the army to rush to the north, find the lake and go down the "flood river" leading to the sea. We can overturn the fortresses of the Russians and their servants and plunder their iron. .
As long as victory is achieved, everyone does not need to desperately obtain furs to go south to exchange for iron. Wouldn't it be easy to solve the problem by capturing them on the battlefield?
Tavastia’s new strategy is to send troops to occupy the Oulu River Basin to continuously seize local resources, and to defeat the local Rus’ forces and annex all the Kovin tribes.