A few mature Russian soldiers were chatting and laughing around the campfire, grilling fish, and then the messenger who had received Rurik's message came quickly.
"Brother, do you want to catch a fish when you come to our fire?" one person joked happily.
The messenger hurriedly sat down, the firelight shining on his cautious and serious face.
"Brothers, the enemy is in the mountains and forests. The sentry placed in the forest has sent back the news. Lord Rurik tells you that even if you are sleeping, the shield must be hung on your arm and must be held in your right hand. Sword or axe."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was surprised and could not say anything.
Someone asked: "Is the news reliable?"
"Very reliable." The messenger was impatient again: "Your Excellency predicts that they will launch an attack tomorrow and requires us brothers to Just hold the camp and let them die. Anyway, we will attack the fortress and the decisive battle will take place in a day or two. You all... will tell the other brothers."
After saying that, he ran to another bonfire. Looking at the people at this bonfire, they smelled the smell of grilled fish, and it suddenly wasn't so fragrant.
By arranging messengers, Rurik notified everyone that "the enemy is close at hand".
On the surface, the Russian army is surrounded by enemies?
That is indeed the case.
In spring, too much ice and snow melt water was injected into Lake Oulu, and the Oulu River, its runoff into the sea, also entered the flood season.
The river became very fast, and the force was enough to push the large rocks away. It was already a thankless task to rely on human power to paddle upstream. Based on this situation, Rurik could only rely on land travel to carry out his crusade, and the Russians were forced to lose a certain degree of mobility.
All Viking forces have a common advantage - mobility that exceeds that of ordinary enemies.
This mobility comes from the brisk ships. Although there are no ships on hand now, the defensive power of the Russians can greatly make up for this loss.
The Rus’ camp is backed by the flooded Oulu River. Under Rurik’s adjustments, the camp became a semicircle on a macro scale.
The shield-bearers of the Rus and Balmoks were all densely deployed on the periphery. Once the enemy launched a sudden attack, the soldiers quickly stood up and stacked their shields on each other to build a shield wall.
When commanding an army with a huge force, the commander's too precise operations often turn into superfluous micro-management.
Rurik didn’t feel that he had come up with surprises or complicated arrangements, and his subordinates could do everything.
In terms of building shield walls, the Rus, Balmoks, and Lake Mälaren people at hand are all good at it.
Ross was much richer than he had been many years ago, especially due to the large-scale smelting of iron and the seizures from previous wars. Rurik's army had more than 800 men wearing chainmail.
They were sleeping in their armor, and when they heard the commotion, they would get up and fight with their swords.
A group of archers, tenThe word archers were placed among them, but more archers were summoned to Rurik's side.
In cold weapon warfare, only when crossbowmen are used intensively can they achieve great tactical effectiveness. The shooters arranged in the front line are to create chaos for the enemy. The shooters in the rear are arranged in a matrix, and their quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes. Their power is extremely amazing.
Even the children brought by Rurik, and even the girl warriors of the "Valkyrie Legion" under the command of Carlotta, this is not their first time participating in the battle.
There are no cowards in the entire team, only a large group of veteran soldiers who can remain calm in the face of piles of dead bodies.
Many people are even very arrogant, believing that the enemy will die early if they dare to charge into the camp. Such people sleep peacefully, but most Russians took a nap at most this night.
There are a group of enemies watching eagerly outside the bed. How many people can really sleep carelessly?
A tense atmosphere permeated the camp. Even though many people did not get much rest, thanks to this atmosphere, the nervous and vigilant soldiers ignored their fatigue for a while.
The Ross military formation was deployed overnight. Under the bonfire lay an armored warrior who could get up at any time and fight fiercely.
Looking at the Tavastians, they still feel that they have grasped the initiative in the war and have the upper hand.
The soldiers lying in ambush in the forest leaned against the big trees to sleep, waiting for the morning fog to rise after dawn, and took advantage of their weapons to launch an offensive.
Listen!
The endless river, that is the sound of flood! Even the gods were helping the heroic Tavastia. The brothers rushed forward and drove the Rus into the river, and the gods helped the warriors to annihilate these enemies.
Although Vatyala was a little nervous, when he suddenly had a doubt, he used this set of ideas to convince himself.
Over and over again, he felt that he was certain to win, and was just waiting for the early morning birdsong to break the calm.
However, the birds have long had insight into a human war, and the wandering birds have long since run away, and even the nearby squirrels have hid.
Morning fog filled the entire forest, and Vatyala woke up with a wet feeling.
The fog is not that thick. It is dawn, and the visibility is not high in the dark blue world.
"Haha, God is helping me!"
There was no time to eat, so he led the cleaning to wake up all the sleeping warriors.
Young, old, and even young, the warriors of Tavastia stood against the big tree with mixed emotions.
There were no pre-battle lectures, no impassioned speeches, and even the commander Vatyala didn’t say a few words.
It’s all said and done!
The short spears kept moving forward. Tension, fear, and excitement all became meaningless.
The warriors of Tavastia, led by their commander Vatyala, numbered 1,200Advancing in the morning mist forest, officially launching an armed assault with more than a thousand troops that the tribal alliance has not seen in ten years!
Everyone young or old knows very well that the opportunities for the Tavastians are short-lived, and when the sun shines on the land, the morning mist will quickly fight. If the army delays, the advantage of the surprise attack will be lost. Although it was a decisive battle (that is, a group fight), and Tavastia's madmen were confident, the surprise tactic could at least lead to a quick victory.
In the morning fog, soldiers covered in animal skins were advancing. They tried not to whisper to each other, but the sound of crushing dry pine branches was still unavoidable. The sound of one person crushing a branch can be ignored, but the same is true for a thousand people. Unless the Russians are deaf or know nothing about hunting, they can ignore this strange sound.
When it comes to hunting, the skills of the Rus are just as good as those of the Tavastians!
The soldiers who were arranged to keep watch by Rurik became vigilant when they noticed that the sky turned blue. When they noticed that in addition to the sound of water flowing, there was also a strange buzzing sound (too many people stepping on tree branches). , and began to rush around like crazy at the extinguished bonfires, roughly waking up the resting warriors.
Rurik barely slept in the linen tent. He slept very lightly.
Jevro suddenly broke in and stamped his feet hard in front of Rurik.
"Has it started yet?" Rurik sat upright with his heart beating wildly.
"Sir, they are here, everything is as you expected, the decisive battle has begun."
Rurik covered his heart and frowned: "It has finally begun. Help me up and fight!”
This morning fog is far from being invisible, but the Ross army, with its main color of white, also has camouflage in the fog.
The Russians and Balmoks held their shields against their chests, and their steel swords and spearheads formed a shield wall.
They fought against the odds and built an arc-shaped array with the baggage trolley as the core.
They spontaneously formed a shield wall composed of three layers of people. Most of the crossbowmen were arranged in a matrix behind, and the trebuchets were also ready to launch.
However, the torsion slingshots placed at the shield wall and a few lying crossbowmen were ready to take advantage of the chaos to harvest lives.
Soon, the Tavastians walked out of the forest. They stepped on the flat land of the river beach, and any hiding was meaningless.
"Brothers! Roar! Frighten the enemy!"
Wateyala roared, causing all the charging people to roar.
This roar did give the Russians a sense of fear. After all, the fog still hid the enemy's strength to a great extent. No one knew how many enemies were rushing over.
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Rurik believed that the enemy's strength was only a thousand men, and the Russian army had an advantage in this regard.
He wasNumerous armored and bloodthirsty veterans guarded them, at the safest rear of the array.
It is here that a crossbow is pointed forward at an angle of approximately 30°.
Boys and girls, elite mercenaries, and Kovin longbowmen suddenly launched a volley at Rurik's order!
This is not an ordinary salvo, it is a salvo of nearly four hundred arrows!
Light conventional bows and heavy crossbows crossed a low parabola, were covered by the fog, and plunged into the relatively dense Tavastia array of the attacking team.
People couldn't see the arrows, only the dense swishing sound made them aware of the fear.
Countless Tavastians fell to the ground after being hit by arrows. The running warriors realized that their opponents seemed to be prepared, and the bow holders fired arrows in confusion.
An arrow fell in the Russian array, and the skin of three unlucky warriors was scratched. Fortunately, the well-prepared chain armor still blocked the enemy's clumsy arrow cluster from further impacting the body. harm.
Rurik didn’t care about this at all, or he had no time to care about it.
"Trebuchet! Now!"
He roared hoarsely again, deliberately charging only one-third of the ten bull trebuchets, and threw the pebbles he obtained on the spot. go out.
As for the damage caused, no one could see clearly under the fog.
But Ross and Balmok Sword and Shieldmen, who were on the front line, had vaguely seen the black shadow that suddenly emerged from the fog in front of them.
Someone shouted in Nostic that the enemy was coming. All of them were half-bowed with their shields pressed in front of them, and the hands holding their swords clenched tighter.
It was at this critical moment that the crossbowmen and torsion slingshots placed in the front row attacked at the same time.
The Tavastians, before they could see the enemy clearly, they were hit head-on again.
Some of the charging men were shot straight through the chest by the torsion slingshot projectiles and their heads were beheaded. The accuracy of the crossbow is instantaneous, instantly forcing the person hit by the arrow to fall to the ground.
The crossbowmen hurriedly climbed back into the array. At this moment, a contact battle between the two armies broke out.
The Tavastians finally saw the faces of the Rus after suffering some casualties. They were actually dressed in white, standing like a snowman!
Many people felt that this was a powerful enemy, and some wanted to calm down, but the torrent of war urged them to hit it.
The Tavastians rushed into the battle like wild bulls and hit the Russian shield wall. Unfortunately, they were not bulls.
At the moment of contact, swords and spears stabbed randomly, and axes and long-handled halberds (even if the spear was equipped with an axe) chopped bravely.
The Russians stacked their round shields on top of each other, and the Balmoks followed exactly the same tactic. The Russians are simply using the Roman tortoise shell array. It seems like this is a retro style? To be fair, Rurik knew that this formation was still a very cost-effective tactic for dealing with chaotic armed gangsters many years later.
Even if they worship Odin, a group of bare-chested berserkers will emerge during the battle. Even if most Vikings are so poor that they don’t even have reliable clothes, they can protect most of their torsos. A shield is also a must.
The Tavastians slashed at the Rus' shields frantically, and the effect was really bad. As the fighting progressed for a period of time, they became more and more strenuous.
In terms of body shape and strength, the Rus and Balmoks, as "northern Germanic groups", have stronger bodies than the Franks and Saxons, while the Tavastians, who are from northern Asia, Immigrants were born one head shorter (at that time, Finnish direct ancestors had almost no Slavic or Germanic ancestry).
Cries of killing came and went, and there was the sound of metal clashing everywhere.
It is impossible for the Russians to have no casualties, but with the protection of shields and armor, the injured were almost all internal injuries, especially bruises on their arms and shoulders.
The battle continued. When Vateyala realized that his surprise attack could not break through the enemy's line at all, and his plan to drive the enemy into the flood river and drown them had been ruined, the sun shone on the battlefield by the river. !
The chance of belonging to Tavastia is almost gone!
There were injured soldiers being pulled to the rear, but Rurik still had no time to take care of these wounded soldiers. He continued to order his long-range shooters to continue causing chaos to the enemy.
Because of the enemies throwing javelins, Rurik could tell at a glance that these guys were also throwing Roman-style javelins.
An unlucky Rus warrior suddenly died under such a javelin, and Rurik had to fight back with a bow and arrow.
"Damn morning fog! Let it clear up quickly! I have lost the advantage of weapons, damn it!"
Of course, the casualties of war are inevitable, and no matter how strong the Russians are, they are still flesh and blood. body. Every soldier is important. Rurik does not want to kill any of his subordinates. The reality is that the Russians are suffering inevitable casualties.
Looking at the front line again, when the sun suddenly appeared, the Russians started a defensive counterattack.
Biyongni, Arik and Heligel led their respective men to push back against the enemy.
The energy of the Tavastians was almost exhausted. After paying the horrific price of about two hundred dead bodies, the remaining people all kept a certain distance from the Rus.
When people have red eyes, they temporarily break through the Russian shield wall with an axe, and then are stabbed to death by random swords.
They were originally Russians with blue stripes and white robes, and almost everyone in the first row was wearing blood. It was the enemy's blood, and even the wood of the shield was soaked with the enemy's blood.
It seemed that the collapse only occurred in one moment. The Tavastians did not want to be cowards. Everyone knew that not only did the raid fail, but the possibility of defeating the enemy in one fell swoop was also low.
The world becomes clearer and clearer, and golden light shines on this river beach.
It takes a person or a measure to destroy the enemy's psychology.
Rurik couldn’t care less, the fog was dissipating at an extremely fast speed, and he stood pushingThe man operating the trebuchet on the vehicle could already accurately see the position of the enemy's lines and estimate their distance.
Taking this opportunity, more than 300 crossbowmen at the rear were gathered together again.
"150 stika! Noise an arrow!"
"Ready!"
"Hjutraaaa!"
Long arrow, short arrow Arrows and stones fell from the sky, and together they formed an impact surface about fifty meters wide and forty meters long.
At a distance of about 150 meters, the Russians suddenly launched an intensive attack within such a range. Especially when the enemy seemed to be tired, the surprise attack unexpectedly defeated the Tavastians. morale.
With this blow, more than thirty people fell to the ground and did not get up. Many people were so panicked that they did not pull out the arrows stuck in their bodies, threw their axes and ran away.
Wateyala was not dead, but his face was cut open by an arrow cluster, and his whole body was bloody and bloody.
As the commander-in-chief, she knew that if she stayed here any longer, she would be seeking death. She could still hold on relying on the fortress at the rear.
"Brothers, let's retreat! If you don't leave, you will die!"
However, his shouts were drowned in the Viking war cries of the Rus and Balmoks.
Why?
Under the leadership of their flag captains and commanders, the rock-solid shield walls of the Rus and Balmoks suddenly dispersed, and the defensive counterattack began now!
Countless polar bears covered in plasma rushed over, first slashing wildly at the injured, and then began a fatal pursuit!
Avalanche! The attacking Russians are like the avalanche itself. Once they are overwhelmed, they will surely die!
The Tavastians could no longer care about each other. They abandoned their armor and fled, hoping to escape back to the fortress and make further plans.