One by one, fishing boats left their home port to start this year’s fishing operations. A group of extremely bold fishermen have gone straight to the east of Fort Ross. They are not chasing the sunrise, but are purely based on their glory as Ross people and spontaneously Leading the way for the army that is eager to go out.
At best, this is the case. The essential reason is that they want to seize the fishing resources from the mouth of the Oulu River and catch some large cod before other tribesmen.
On the Fort Ross side, the army is ready.
Soldiers in blue-striped white robes carried their own weapons and walked on the plank to board the ship!
Rurik stood at a high place and witnessed this spectacular scene with great interest. Now he can say, who dares to question that the Russian army is not the Lord of the North?
The pride was palpable, and he casually asked the "little attendant" John Ingvar standing next to him: "Compared to the Franks, what do you think of our Russian army?"
"Powerful! Very powerful." John Yingvar said quickly.
"Really? I must take you with me in this battle, and I will give you a sword and a shield."
Although I have been mentally prepared, when I think about going On the battlefield, the fear in his heart resolutely surged into his heart. John Ingvar refused in his heart. After all, he accepted the so-called sacred faith. The priests said that priests should not kill, and they should not touch their hands with any blood, not even sheep blood.
"You still hesitate? You have no choice." Rurik shook his head and shut up John Invar, who wanted to explain: "Give up your unrealistic illusions, you are a Dane, and Not a sheep. I have already learned Latin with you, and if I want to prove that I am still useful, I will fight with us. I don’t ask you to actually kill an enemy, at least I have to be in the army.”
"Yes...yes!"
This conversation can be heard by Fisk.
The courageous young man came up, grabbed John Ingvar's neck with one hand, and said to Rurik: "Brother, there should be no cowards in our army. He must kill one The enemy proves himself."
"That's fine." Rurik shrugged, "Just give him a crossbow and let him shoot. I changed my mind. If he is cowardly, you will beat him afterwards."
Now even Kanuf, who was considered a bit weak, has become brave. To the young warriors who are thriving under his command, Rurik needs to behave better than before. Even better during the showdown on Gotland.
In this era, boys are born to defend the tribe and the country. Participating in wars and killings plays a large role in their lives.
The teenagers began to board the ship carrying backpacks, quivers, and water bags filled with prepared food, and carrying light wooden crossbows.
The elite warriors in their prime carry more and heavier weapons and equipment. Even some two-wheeled trolleys are being tied up with ropes and being pulled to the deck by the people on the ship and then transported to the warehouse.
The Russian army no longer callsA typical Viking pirate force that comes and goes quickly. Their weapons and equipment are more sophisticated, and their ships are extremely cutting-edge. They also sacrifice a lot of military efficiency for this.
However, under the arrangement of Rurik, such a Russian army will reserve more logistical supplies and heavy weapons for any battle. They have war toughness that far exceeds that of other Vikings and have the ability to fight tough battles. ability.
Of course, the comparison is limited to the internal comparison of the various Viking forces. Compared with the Franks, the current Russians are probably weaker than the Frankish Kingdom only at the limit of the strength they can muster.
A fleet was formed that would sail faster to the Gulf of Bothnia.
Aphlora, Speros, Gurdot, Duke of Ostara and Balmok (Byonny simply named it after his tribe), five sailing ships cruiser.
Mercury, Venus, Mona and Mars, four sailing destroyers.
There is no problem for a cruiser to carry two hundred soldiers, and it is normal for a destroyer to carry a hundred soldiers.
For practical reasons, there are still ten modified armed cargo ships used to transport people and goods.
Because this battle is no longer as simple as defeating the invading Tavastians, Rurik and the elites discussed and came to a very simple conclusion, that is, the Principality of Rus is not yet capable of annihilating it in one go. The ability of the Tavastian forces. Of course, this self-destructive force must be conquered, but not now, and it will be difficult to accomplish even within a few years.
In order to avoid further provocations from the enemy, the Russians must build a permanent fortress at the mouth of the Oulu River. The power of the Kovin people in the Oulu River Basin has actually collapsed. There will no longer be any need for any mandated rule. This area will be directly occupied and colonized by the Rus. For this reason, it was important to transform the island's summer fishing village into a cement-reinforced wooden fortress.
The warm south wind swept away the cold, and the Russian navy was dispatched!
The mighty army took advantage of the technical advantages of their huge triangular sails and used the power of the south wind to achieve the highest sailing efficiency that this type of sailing ship could have, even if the ship was full of people.
The straight-line distance from Rossberg Fjord (actually present-day Luleå) to the island at the mouth of the Oulu River (actually present-day Hailuoto Island) is only 140 kilometers.
The Ross fleet once reached an astonishing high speed of twelve knots, and maintained an average speed of eight knots overall.
They set off in the morning, and when the sun was almost setting that day, taking advantage of the last rays of light, the Ross fleet gathered in the island's natural bay.
The cargo ship transporting timber stopped at the island to meet up with the fishermen who had arrived earlier.
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One of its fortresses will be built on the island, but the Russian troops will disembark at the mouth of the river.
Arik, who had already received the news, had lit a large number of bonfires on the coast, a bright string of firesHomura marked that place as the best landing site under the dusk!
Although landing at night was a lot of trouble, the hydrological conditions at the mouth of the Oulu River helped the Russians a lot.
The water level here is always less than two meters deep. The seabed is full of fine sand and gravel, without any shipwrecks and rocks. It is also flooded at night, and although the Russian landing activities lasted until nightfall, The anchored ship was parked offshore. Except for some heavy equipment and supplies still thrown on the ship, all the people landed in the water.
Rurik dragged his wet leather boots to a nearby bonfire, skillfully taking off his boots to roast them.
A pair of big hands suddenly picked him up from behind.
"Hey! What's going on?!"
"Brother, you're here!" Arik hugged his brother and spun around three times before putting him down.
The light of the bonfire shone on Arik's face, and he saw his cousin again after more than a month. "You... have become old."
"Really?" Arik touched his bearded face and smiled.
"Your breath is a bit smelly..."
"No way, we have eaten too much raw meat these days and drank wolf blood. Now the ice and snow melt, brothers can eat A chance to fish..." Looking at the army gathering under the night, Arik couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"Rurik."
"Yeah."
"You brought too many troops."
" Is that too much? Two thousand people are considered a lot?”
“It’s actually two thousand people?” Hearing this, Arik laughed slowly and soon attracted his group of campers. They held their chests and burst into laughter.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Haha, I was laughing at those stupid enemies who never imagined that they would be annihilated by such a large army, and we would win quickly."
Although Rurik was tired from traveling, he still had to listen carefully to his brother's detailed introduction to the enemy's situation.
Looking at the vast number of soldiers, they lit new bonfires one after another as soon as they got off the boat. Often seven or eight people gathered in one place to grill the fish caught last night or cook wheat in pottery urns.
There are even five large iron pots sandwiched on a simple stove made of stones, but it takes a while to eat the wheat cooked in this pot.
Never mind the food, many people devoured the fish and fell asleep wrapped in leather blankets.
Rurik’s elite mercenaries built a linen tent for their patron after finishing their meal.
The Ross Army's offshore camp is under construction. The dense bonfires here echo the stars, and the pirates not far away also light up a large number of bonfires.
The Ross army has landed, but the Tavastians have not yet learned about it immediately.
Arik truthfully told his brother what happened during this period. It turned out that the brave Ross scouts had lost a lot of energy. Faced with the swarming enemy reinforcements, Arik's actions became more and more changeful. Gotta be conservative.
The Tavastians realized that their opponents were showing weakness and immediately began to "pursue and fight". Although they still suffered a loss in bows and arrows, and they did not kill or capture any of the enemies they got close to, at least the Russians were driven to the sea.
Tavastia hunters have already discovered that the sea is thawing, and new ships have arrived at the island not far away. This group of mountain hunters saw the ocean for almost the first time. The endless waters frightened them, and their courage to continue chasing disappeared.
Arik had only fifty tired brothers, and most of his arrows were lost after all. When the ice melted and the snow melted, these tired men could take the initiative to attack again. As the commander, Arik The leader doesn’t want to do this.
The warring parties reached an extremely subtle tacit understanding, and both maintained a certain degree of restraint. As a result, the area where the Oulu River entered the sea suddenly lost all traces of human activity.
With a new understanding of the enemy, Rurik also made new arrangements in his mind.
Can the snow in Finland talk?
Those Tavastians will obviously form the foundation of the Finnish nation a thousand years later. If this group of people realizes that they can use the geographical advantages of the mountains and forests to carry out military operations, will the Russian army suffer?
Rurik was really not in the mood to fight guerrillas with them, and presumably the other party had no such idea either. It would be best to use some means to induce all their main forces to engage in a decisive battle with them, but will the enemy easily act according to their own ideas?
He did not dare to think too foolishly about the enemy. The army was here, and there had to be a clear main direction of attack.
The main direction of attack is obvious - the old Gray Squirrel Hill Fort.
On a new day, the unfinished landing operations of the Russians continued, and the construction of the camp at the mouth of the sea also began to be stepped up.
With the experience of building fortifications on Gotland, the Russians' civil engineering has also become somewhat methodical. More than a thousand people worked together to cut down trees. A large number of pine trees were inserted into the dug soft soil pits to form wooden pillars. Based on these wooden pillars, a group of suggested wooden sheds began to be built.
In Rurik's plan, the wooden fort on the island is the last fortress of the Russians, and this camp built on land will be operated for a long time.
The military camp currently under construction and the island fortress under construction will exist as a brand-new settlement for the Russians, with a simple and conventional name - Kwenstadt (Kwenstad).
If this was a large settlement, it would naturally have the suffix "burg". After all, it could only be a small fishing village. No Russian would think that this place would develop beyond the glory of Fort Ross.
Kovinstad originally described the fishermen’s summer camp on Hailuoto Island. This conventional name became the official name of the new settlement.
Rurik was not stupid enough to march into the old Gray Squirrel Hill Castle as soon as he landed. Out of a cautious and stubborn sense of security, Rurik asked the army to at least move all kinds of supplies down first. , and then establish the most basic defensive measures in the campOnce it's built, let's talk about the attack later.
For two days after landing, the Russians were busy building camps. The preliminary wooden wall is being put together and men with shovels are digging into the earth to strengthen it. Some people are already mixing the small amounts of cement and river sand they brought, intending to use them to strengthen key parts of the camp.
They were not simply "building a house". A group of sentries with crossbows were arranged to ambush in an area farther away from the camp. They were ordered by Rurik to monitor and guard against possible enemy sneak attacks. At the same time, it also takes care of catching the tongue.
The "tongue" comes uninvited!
After finding no trace of their opponents for many days, some bold Tavastian hunters tentatively touched the coast. Some hunters were shocked to see a large number of ships moored on the distant sea, some of which were as big as mountains floating on the sea!
The hunter hurriedly fled eastward, hoping to inform the leader of the shocking news as soon as possible.
During this process, some people were shot or even captured alive by the ambushed Ross sentries.
Five unlucky Tavastian hunters were beaten violently first, and finally dragged to the camp under construction with their faces covered in blood.
At this moment, Rurik and all the banner captains, centurions, and even Balmok allies made a clear strategic plan to conquer the invaders.
The plan is completely based on the comprehensive intelligence obtained by Arik and his team for more than a month. Rurik and everyone made the same conclusion, that is, the invaders can stay here for a long time. It is the mountain fortress left by the Kewen people.
Fires and the ravages of war have made the old Salmon Lord hillfort less interesting to invaders.
The Tavastia invaders built a stronghold based entirely on the well-defended old Gray Squirrel Hill Fort. As long as this stronghold is removed, the enemy may flee into the forest and not escape for a short time, but there is no After all, all the strongholds left.
Perhaps the two sides can find an open space outside the mountain fort for a decisive battle. However, the river has thawed. Is there any open space in this river area for the two armies to position themselves for a decisive battle?
Then don’t think about forming a decisive battle. The army will go straight to Huanglong and completely demolish the old Gray Squirrel Hill Fort this time! As for fighting a siege, compared to the conquest three years ago, Rurik was much more prepared this time.
Those two-wheeled carts are not just for transporting bundles of arrows, grains and dried salted fish. Their primary task is to carry heavy weapons.
The torsion slingshot and bull trebuchet were tied to the two-wheeled cart with hemp rope, simply becoming a mobile weapon. With ten torsion slingshots and ten trebuchets, coupled with powerful bows and crossbows, the opponent has no chance of winning.
Some of the centurions were actually veterans of the time, and everyone talked about it with great interest when it came to that conscription.
What’s even more amazing is that the former owner of Gray Squirrel Castle was in the Ross army. When Mechasta and his tribe heard that they were attacking the Tavastians, they happily fought for Ross. war. After learning of the victory of the warThe key was to destroy the Gray Squirrel Hill forts, whose old owners had no hesitation in specifying a plan of attack.
Is it still a pleasure to destroy one’s old house? Things have changed and people have changed. Mechasta and his tribe live a very comfortable life in their new home of Ironburg. There is no souvenir of their homeland. They demolished the old stronghold and attacked the Tavastians. The people of Covin all wanted to be driven out for their ancestors. Revenge for the chase.
Now, the five "tongues" were escorted over shortly after the military meeting ended, and the situation has undergone some favorable changes.