Will those Tavastian invaders increase their numbers? How many people will they send? Did they give up because they had second thoughts?
As far as the current intelligence is concerned, the intruders will not run away until they are beaten violently.
Go to the East to fight, maybe you can kill a thousand enemies? This kind of good thing allows Rose's warriors to sharpen their swords early.
But even if this war is won, Rurik estimates that he will not get any benefits from the war. Although this can be a training battle, after all, the enemy has little oil and water. He does not want this battle to last too long, so he must beat the enemy until he vomits blood for a long time, so that he will not dare to invade for a long time.
The Russian army should dispatch elite soldiers and use elite weapons to win with as few casualties as possible.
Since the first message was sent, it took an average of five days for the messengers sent by Arik to bring new messages, reporting on what they had seen in the occupied Old Gray Squirrel Hill Fort.
But the thawing of the sea was unstoppable, and the sea melted before the land-based snow. This forced Arik to have his sleigh ride circle around the entire bay by the end of March, around Ironburg and back again. Roseburg.
A new messenger has arrived. This man has returned from his travels and has only one sentence to report.
Even one sentence is exciting news.
Now this news has spread in Fort Ross, where hundreds of strong men are shirtless, showing their chests full of golden chest hair, holding axes and swords high to cheer the enemy Increase the number of troops!
The sea ice is melting at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the ice and snow on land are also melting at an alarming rate.
The courtyard of Rurik's palace reappears with a flat concrete floor. The servants had already cleared away the snow, and almost under the influence of John Ingvar, these Lambs of the Lord became more willing to work.
The ground that had been frozen solid gradually turned into mud. Under the noon sun, the ice hanging on various houses was also dripping water rapidly. In order to avoid sudden falls and injuries, people were already moving. Get rid of these dangerous items.
Rurik hurriedly invited the messenger to the first floor of his palace, and summoned the elite forces of Fort Ross.
Especially the flag captain and centurion who were conferred by him during the previous conquest of Gotland, a group of arrogant warriors sat in two rows with great interest.
Rurik sat proudly on the bearskin throne in the main hall, and asked the messenger to repeat the news that had already spread.
"Yes!" The cross-legged messenger drank some ale and ate wheat cakes. He announced energetically: "We have been wandering near the mountain fortress, attacking and killing the Tavastians. Hunters. We saw a large number of people with spears and bows stationed in the mountain fort a few days ago. Lord Arik asked the brothers to stay away for the time being. We can estimate the strength of the enemy."
"How many? Really a thousand?"
"Yes. At least a thousand people, maybe more."
"But heThey are very weak, aren't they? "Rurik asked this deliberately, causing the brothers present to laugh.
The messenger was also laughing wildly, and threatened: "We think too highly of them. If not fifty but five hundred men were sent, the enemy would have been completely annihilated. Sir, we have been conducting ambush operations for more than a month, and there have been no casualties. ”
Rurik nodded, looked at the confident faces of the men on his left and right, and asked himself, if he had sent out a strong expeditionary force more than a month ago before Kejas issued an alarm. , the war problem should be solved.
It is still him who decides how many troops to send, and the brothers are waiting for him to make a decision, because the sea is about to thaw.
"Okay. . Spring comes early this year, so wheat from far away can be sown in advance, and there will be another bumper harvest in the fall. "
As he spoke, Rurik stood up: "I was cautious and thought they were strong enemies. In this case, I decided to respect this group of enemies who invaded Ross's territory. "
Otto was keenly aware that his son had some hidden whims, and suddenly said: "You...won't you also send a thousand people to attack? "
"No! The greatest respect for them is to kill them all. Why should I fight with equal strength against them? Is the bay very wide? Our sailboat can reach the eastern land on the opposite coast in as little as one day. Besides, after the sea ice melts, many fishermen will also go there to fish. I will send out two thousand people to show them how powerful I am. ”
Two thousand people, this is actually the best of Rossburg.
While all the centurions and flag captains were here, he immediately made arrangements.
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Rurik's troop deployment is as follows:
The Warriors' First Flag Troop and the Malaren Flag Troop have a strength of one thousand people.
The shooting force also has a strength of 600 people, but it is a hodgepodge of various long-range troops.
There are also Rurik's elite guards here, which should number 100 people. Go out to fight.
As a result, the Russians sent a team of 1,700 soldiers, and the remaining 300 warriors were naturally filled by the Balmoks.
Even. The people of Ostara will also send out warriors as a token, but Carlotta and a small number of her selected female warriors will be organized into the shooting flag team to participate in the battle.
As for why not. Instead of bringing in the Second Banner, in Rurik's plan, in addition to guarding the rear and waiting for opportunities to provide support, the Second Banner would follow Otto to Novgorod to ask for tribute.
After the meeting, Rurik spent two days refining his troop arrangements.
Even after hearing about this number of troops, the Bjorn brothers in Balmok were very envious. .
Bjorn envied Rurik’s powerful appeal. He was obviously just a young man, but he raised his arms and more than 2,000 people responded.
But what followed was an army. The gathering brought Bjorn a complete shock.
What a neat scene this is!
The flag captain of the Warriors' first flag team was supposed to be Arik. Since he was still improving guerrilla tactics across the sea, Harold Zuosen temporarily took the position of flag captain.
As for the Malaren Banner, most of its troops are composed of allied tribes who defected to the Russians, and there are even Danish Grund and his friends who surrendered on the battlefield. The flag captain is still Heli. Geer, an old warrior of the Melalen tribe.
No matter where the warriors come from, they are all Russian soldiers now.
The Principality of Rus has essentially become a hodgepodge of various ethnic groups. The Rus tribe occupies the highest military power, and Rurik cannot refuse other people's pursuit of status. The Principality of Rus is an imaginary community. If people's hearts are broken, the Principality will also disintegrate.
In terms of strengthening the community, the completely unified dress of the soldiers must be a concrete expression.
Now all Rus warriors are dressed exactly the same, no matter what they wear on the inside, which is all covered with knee-length white robes sewn with interlaced blue patterns on the outside.
Everyone’s buckler is no longer painted in a variety of colors. Soldiers can of course pursue their own personality and make a personal shield, but when going into battle, everyone must be prepared to apply rosin and chalk on one side. Clay, and then dyed with woad to create a round shield with cross blue patterns.
The entire army must highlight the white and blue tones, echoing the flag of the Principality of Rus.
Even the "children's troops" dispatched by Rurik, the selected boys and girls were also dressed in this way.
The weapons held by the young men are all crossbows, and only these weapons can give them a tactical advantage.
The mature warrior not only carries a sword and shield, but also a short spear in his hand, and there is also a blue and white cloth tied under the spearhead.
They gathered for the first time and formed a matrix, which shocked Biyongni and his men to shame. Compared with the uniformity of the Russians, his own people were extremely useless!
After all, they are brothers, so Rurik can feel comfortable seeing his brother's troops acting carelessly. Rosberg had been purchasing flax rods on a large scale before, and now the flax has been turned into white shirts after a certain process. There was still a lot of white cloth in stock, so Rurik sold it to Biyongni at a fair price, just to distinguish it from the real Russian army. The three hundred warriors of the Balmok army were just wrapped in white shirts.
The first assembly was just preparation for the real military parade.
Rurik is going to conduct a military parade, and the military parade itself is just a ceremony among the high priests this spring.
Every year when the sea ice melts enough for navigation, it is the time of spring for the Russian people. This year is very different from previous years!
Once upon a time, after this sacrifice, fishermen resumed normal operations during the warm period. A large number of merchants returned to Lake Malaren with northern furs for trade, and Ross’s Sorgon fleet would also rush to Novgoro. Virtue.
This year, two major events will be added to these: the launch of four new shipsand the military parade before the expedition.
Everything is being prepared in an orderly manner.
Rurik’s wives and concubines all had to serve as priests in the ceremony. Even Svetlana, her face was so beautiful that she had to stand prominently in plain clothes and a crown of pine buds. location.
Although the concept of confinement does not exist in the Nordic world, due to the cold weather and snow everywhere, High Priest Rumia actually did confinement after giving birth to her child. This spring sailing of the High Priest can be described as her comeback, and her physical condition has been fully recovered.
And Nolen and the ten Slavic maids from Rurik are now all serving as musicians. They will play flutes and drums to make the ceremony more sacred. It was for this purpose that Rurik not only brought all the Kovin longbowmen from Ironburg, but also the local priestess Borla, and asked the old shaman to play with the mouth reverb. The piano adds to the music and moves away.
Finally, on the tenth day of April, everyone can now conclude that the ice blocks floating on the sea are not a threat to ordinary fishing boats. The entire port area has essentially thawed, and only needs a ceremony. , everyone can enter the sea to fish.
The ceremony is being held early this morning.
All the residents of Fort Ross walked out of their homes, and ordinary people saw a large number of white-robed warriors standing densely on the beach.
Under the gaze of all kinds of people, a small fire tower burned brightly.
Rurik stabbed a deer with his own hands amidst the complex and melodious music, let the deer's blood flow into the ocean, and threw the deer's body into the fire tower for burning.
Rumia raised her jeweled wooden staff and looked up at the sky, telling God the long-cherished wish of the Russian people.
People standing on the wooden wall, people using simple tower cranes on the pier, or people already sitting in fishing boats, the rituals they have witnessed so far are just some new tricks compared to last year.
The truly magnificent scene now finally begins.
As many as six large ships will be launched today. Compared with reviewing the soldiers, this is the most spectacular!
A wooden path smeared with whale oil was laid out on the ground, and the big ships rushed towards the sea one after another, pulled by ropes pulled by more than a hundred strong men. Finally, taking advantage of the terrain, one big ship after another slipped into the sea. into the ocean.
Every time the big ship stirred up a splash of water, it would startle the people on the shore and cheer.
Until they saw such a strange-looking ship, they screamed for her.
At this moment, among the several strong men inside the ship, the leader shouted excitedly: "Let's move and let the other brothers open their eyes!"
This is the Mercury, she The human propeller system has been activated! Although the speed was not very fast, this time under the attention of nearly ten thousand people, she had not yet installed a sail. When she entered the water, she drew a track line at the stern of the ship and sailed into the fjord sea visible to the naked eye. What is even more magical is that It turned a big circle under the control of the rudder!
The miraculous performance made Otto’s face tremble with shock, although he knew it was not a miracle., but a complex mechanical combination. Sure enough, the son did it. The ship can move forward in the harbor area without being restricted by the wind direction. Once it enters the rowing boat, where is her oar?
Otto naturally knew that the Mercury had a magical propeller, but the majority of Russian people did not understand!
People were screaming and cheering, and they were able to move forward without sails or oars, claiming that this was the divine power given to the Ross ships by Odin.
Today is a grand event after all. Eskil, who was essentially imprisoned, was released to participate in the event. After this ceremony, Eskil should also be let go.
The old missionary, leaning on a wooden cross, witnessed a ship moving freely without wind or oars. He exclaimed "This is the power of the devil", which was completely different from the surprise of the Russians. Some are more fear. Eskil was not a fool. He saw the reflection of the Russians' spearheads and helmets in the morning sun, and then looked at the neat uniforms. This military appearance alone was a hundred times stronger than the Earl of Bremen and the Earl of Hamburg.
Because the two earls, in addition to their own retinues, could not even think of raising a thousand "army" from the peasants in less than three weeks.
This group of armies is definitely not going to attack the south...
Rurik's voice is limited, and he knows that even if he shouts to break his throat, he cannot express his feelings. The order resounded throughout the army. After the ceremony, there was no need to say what actions the Russians would take. Rurik personally waved a flag, and the waiting seaside army began to march in a circle in a majestic manner. This is also important. The so-called letting God see the true appearance of the Russian army also means letting all the Russian people, visiting businessmen and all kinds of people see the strength of the Russian people.
Up close, their movements are not uniform, but from a distance, what people can see is just a few white square formations walking in neat steps.
So far, what I have seen and heard in the territory of the Ross people has completely exceeded Eskil’s highest estimate. There are as many as nine large ships and densely packed small boats floating on the sea, a group of people wearing completely uniform uniforms. The army even walked in order.
A powerful force has emerged in the north! This force is also obviously hostile to the Danes! Its leader’s attitude towards sacred belief is also very ambiguous! Maybe they will soon develop into new believers, and even accept the canonization of the Pope as a northern kingdom and form an alliance with the Franks...
Esquier will inevitably not think about many things. After all, he Not just a missionary either.
He kept what he saw and heard deeply in his heart. Eskil was not happy to learn that he had been released. In other words, he couldn't wait to return to Hamburg as soon as possible to meet with the Count of Hamburg to report. this matter. Then go to Bremen, and finally run to Reims to report this shocking secret.
How can Rurik care about everything Eskil thinks about?
The Russians cheered and cheered to prepare the army that was eager to go out. This battle was very special. They no longer hoped to get a lot of loot through the war, but simply warned the invasion through killing.The stupidity of his actions even proved to Odin that he was indeed a true warrior.
Only the Tavastians are still unaware of the powerful enemy on the other side of the sea!
Now that he had reinforcements in hand, Vatyala was so confident that he began to go out to hunt down the lurking attackers, and small-scale battles naturally broke out one after another. The newly arrived Tavastian warriors finally encountered an unprecedented vicious battle, but it seemed that the enemies hiding the attack were running farther and farther away.
Some bold rumors are circulating among the Tavastia people. The so-called Covins and Rus are giving up here, and the wonderful mountains and rivers have become the new territory of Tavastia.
In fact, when Arik saw the ice and snow melting, he hurriedly retreated to the small island at the mouth of the sea due to the pressure of lack of food. Naturally, he and his friends took advantage of the melting sea ice to fish quickly to satisfy their hunger.
At this moment, the opponent seems to be retreating, and Arik no longer cares.
He and the guys spontaneously looked at the sea in the west where the waves had returned. Everyone knew that the fleet from his hometown was about to arrive.