After a long journey, the Russian army unit led by Herriger escorted this large amount of seizures and more than 2,000 prisoners, and finally arrived at Lake Oulu, a new activity area for Russian fishermen. .
What is the source of the water in the East? Now many Russians have figured out that the hinterland there is the entire lake area, which transports fresh water to the distant ocean year after year.
Lake Oulu seems very big, but it is far less beautiful than the lakes and mountains of the traditional territory of the Tavastia people. It is just a gathering point of water in the river flowing into the sea.
Faced with the brothers who suddenly appeared, the fishing people were surprised and then rejoiced.
After arriving at Lake Oulu, there is no need to rely mainly on walking for the rest of the journey.
The fishermen's ships began to transport people, and they received a small reward for this, such as axes, spearheads and some leather captured from the enemy. They even asked for some captured women, but they had to give up because all of them were marked like tattoos by the soldiers.
But two thousand women will join the Principality of Ross at once, and the male and female fishermen are really worried about the future.
They are all short, dark-haired women. If they all become new Russian women, will the remaining children still be considered pure Russians? Maybe I should forget it, after all, Rumia, the high priest who was commissioned by Odin, also looks like this.
It will take some time for a large group of people to arrive at Covenstad and then take a boat back to Roseburg on the other side of the bay.
Before that, the five hundred Suomi girls had their own new destinations, and the men in their camp were already in joy.
Those young and most energetic men become their husbands. Likewise, these men are also the mainstay of the Russian army at this stage.
Can they fight again? Can their energy still guarantee an expedition?
Rurik could not help but have some concerns, but he could not change the goal he had set during the winter.
When he issued a new war mobilization, pointing his sword directly at the British Isles in the west, the men of the entire Rossburg responded positively.
Especially those young warriors of the First Flag Team who recently beat Tavastia violently in the east, and the enemy's blood stains still remain on their steel swords. They are obviously the most active group of people.
"These guys just married a new woman, and a group of women will come back soon. You still like to fight when you are entangled with women?!" Rurik was very happy but speechless.
Any fool can feel the fierce atmosphere in Roseburg. All the men, from childhood to old age, are shouting for war and the looting of wheat, cloth and money.
It was a sunny morning, and the gentle south wind poured warmth into the entire fjord.
Women are busy taking care of their children and doing laundry. Craftsmen from all walks of life stepped up their work in such good weather, hoping that the men fighting in the war, who were busy polishing their swords and spearheads, wouldGive your shield a new texture.
Although the Duke has not yet issued a formal expedition plan, it is obvious that after the adults’ meeting this morning, the formal plan will be released, and then launching a new expedition by ship will only be a matter of the next few days. .
Rurik sat at the core of the first floor of the palace.
He sat cross-legged on a bear skin, and the bear head hanging on the wall showed his majesty.
Old Otto, with his white braided hair and beard, sat next to him. He was already the de facto Grand Duke, and became an old guy who wanted to spend his old age. There are many old guys like him. They were all the elites of the Ross tribe, but now their era has inevitably passed.
The young people in front of us are all the pillars of Ross, and the children held, nurtured and pulled by the hundreds of thousands of women represent a bright future.
The two core flag corps of the Principality of Rus that are purely composed of Rus, the ten centurions and the two flag captains are all here.
Fraser, the captain of several flexible shooting flag teams, and Grund, who had a raven shield and led his brothers to surrender, were also fortunate enough to participate in the meeting.
Another example is the Biyoni brothers, the heroes of the Balmok people. Not only were they present as honored guests of the alliance, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Balmok people were going to make a big effort in the next war to conquer Britain. .
Everyone present got the news. Everyone was waiting for Rurik to announce the expedition plan, and the brothers hurriedly implemented it.
Rurik said something twice, and seeing that the time was ripe, he solemnly said: "We made the plan to expedition to Britain last winter. This plan cannot be interfered with by various external forces. Maybe some of you think it’s June now, so it’s appropriate to go to such a distant place to conquer the enemy. Yes, it’s a bit risky, but we have to do it.”
In fact, he still misjudged everyone’s thoughts. , the people present are not afraid of war, let alone give up because of the many difficulties they may face. There are no doves here at all.
Rurik added: "We must conquer Britain, and we must plunder a large amount of wheat. Brothers, do you know that we are facing a huge difficulty now?"
Prince Rurik put the question here, and everyone stared at him, not knowing how to answer this question for a while.
As his cousin, Arik yelled carelessly: "What's the difficulty? We have extraordinary strength, and the Danes who are now considered powerful have also died under our swords. Brother, you killed it with your own hands." "My lord, the King of Denmark, you actually said there are any difficulties."
After Aric finished speaking, he laughed, and the others also laughed out loud because they were immersed in their past achievements.
They had laughed enough, and Rurik shrugged and had no choice but to point out the difficulty.
He knocked on the wooden floor and said: "The problem is that there are so many of us! It's not that there are so many people now,Rather, there will be an astonishing number of people in the future. "
He then pointed at the experienced young people present: "In the past, the number of women in our Ross tribe was less than the number of men, but now it is completely the opposite. Which one of you doesn't have two women at home? Which one of them is not holding one in their arms and carrying one in their belly? Soon, we Russians had ten thousand children, then twenty thousand, fifty thousand, and even one hundred thousand! In just twelve years, a boy can take up arms, and in fifteen years, an infant girl can become a new mother. I fully trust your strength, just like I already have seventeen women. I also have complete faith in the strength of the women we shelter. I dare say that when I reach the age of gray beard, we Russians will have a population of more than half a million people! "
Half a million people?! Rurik used five hundred and one thousand to describe it.
Seeing that everyone was a little confused, he deliberately said: "A flag force has five hundred troops. people. At that time, we can rely on a population of 500,000 to organize 200 flag corps composed entirely of strong men! If you think about it, that's our true strength. However, to feed so many people, we need a lot of wheat! "
"Sure enough, the only thing is to rob the British? "The calm old Otto coughed and said.
Rurik turned back slightly: "Yes, at least for now. We are still pioneering in the East. Before the newly cultivated farmland can produce enough wheat to feed everyone, we must continue to attack others in the next ten years, otherwise we will inevitably starve. Not only are we going to attack Britain this year, I'm afraid this will become the norm in the future. "
"So, is this the reason why you decide to continue this war? Arik smiled again after saying, "Very good, I like it." The brothers must like it very much. "
Aric said this, and the people present raised their fists in response.
He added: "Brother, no one refuses war, and brothers are all eager to kill the enemy. . explain! When will we raise troops? How is the military strength? Brothers, hurry up and prepare. ”
The matter has come to this, no matter how much time is spent, it is a waste of time!
Rurik suddenly stood up, standing like a giant, and began to give orders.
"Obey the order! Brothers..."
As for how to send troops, according to the original plan, the Ross army sent a thousand soldiers to expedition to Britain. The attack was still directed at Northumbria, which was a soft persimmon. Even this expedition was not necessarily possible. There will be a decisive battle with them.
Rurik estimated that the armless king named Eynred would consider the strength of the Viking army and either hide in the fortress to die or send out troops. The envoy seeks a peace plan.
Any war must have a purpose. If it is a war for the sake of war, how is it different from the rogue bandits?
So the strategic purpose of fighting the Principality of Ross is The first step is to use all subjective initiative to grab wheat.
At the same time, we must also work with the Balmok Alliance to formally sign a treaty with Northumbria.After the treaty, a piece of land was cut off from its territory and became the common territory of Balmok and Rus. Then the kingdom had to pay an annual tribute to meet the needs of the northern army.
The latter's plan is actually more to satisfy all the Balmoks in Narvik Port. They can properly manage the territory cut off from Northumbria, so that the Russians also have it. A free port in the Western world.
Therefore, where should be the long-term control area of the northern army, naturally Lindisfarne and Bamburgh, which were the focus of last year's expedition, should be built as a new castle for the northerners, also known as Newcastle. . To put it bluntly, Newcastle itself was a military fortress built by the Normans of Viking descent, located near what is now Bamburgh.
In fact, everyone who listened carefully understood that this expedition was also helping allies to a large extent. Nowadays, no one will think that the Biyoni brothers and their Balmok warriors are outsiders. This is not the first time that we have fought together. Although we are half-brothers, the comradeship cultivated on the battlefield makes us brothers. .
It would be a good thing if Northumbria could surrender and pay tribute by displaying a strong military presence.
Of course, the bellicose Arik understood his brother’s idea and immediately questioned it.
Rurik’s casual explanation forced his cousin to think again: “We now have the ability to hit York directly and destroy the Kingdom of Northumbria. But if we do this, other nearby The kingdom will devour the corpses of the dead like vultures, and then we will have to fight them endlessly, and it will be impossible to get a steady stream of wheat and other tributes.”
Keep one. The weak Northumbria allowed the northern warriors to carve up a territory and use their land to grow their own wheat and graze their own sheep. When they became strong enough, they would naturally destroy the kingdom and replace it.
The strategic plan is like this. How many troops should be sent?
The first thing Rurik thought of was of course the young men of the First Banner Corps. They had suffered some losses in previous wars, but their essence was still the same, and their strength was only slightly reduced.
He was a little hesitant at first. These young people had just finished their two-month expedition to the East, and they were probably being emptied by the newly acquired women in the past few days. Now that Arik and the five centurions under him were all in full swing, Rurik put aside his concerns.
Thinking about it again, maybe I shouldn’t have any worries. The advanced fleet of the Russian army can drift all the way along the coast to Balmok. As long as they do not take the initiative to provoke a fight with possible enemies along the way, they can reach Narvik Port in as soon as sixteen days. They had enough time to recuperate on the ship. Without the entanglement with women, their recovery speed should be faster.
The number of soldiers in the first flag team is less than 500, so we will take some experienced old guys from the second flag team to supplement them!
In addition, the Flag Shooting Corps is essentially a hodgepodge of various people, and today it still has to be characterized as a hodgepodge.Identity goes into battle.
Rurik decided to select 300 people to participate in the battle, which were the 200 mercenaries under his command and the 100 Suomi servants. He actually wanted to choose the Heligel and Malaren banners, and also wanted to bring the useful Kewen archers, but those people were still on their way back.
There should be 800 Russian soldiers who landed for the landing, and 200 auxiliary sailors (actually a group of elderly fishermen and professional sailors).
A total of 1,000 troops from the Russian army is enough, and it doesn’t look like a large army at first glance.
No! This is an army!
Because, for this expedition, Rurik decided not only to dispatch all the current main force of the Russian navy, but also to match it with twelve armed cargo ships to build a fleet of up to twenty A great fleet of great ships!
This is the plan of the expedition to Britain. At least the Russians went there with the intention of filling their ships with loot. A fleet of this size also has another function, which is to deter all Danes when passing through the strait controlled by the Danes, and try to avoid unnecessary battles. Yes, Rurik did not intend to launch any attack even on the island of Bornholm he was passing through.
The plan has been formulated, and Rurik set the time for the expedition to start on the 20th day of June in the Julian calendar.
This time is actually not over. It is said that when the army first went through a lot of troubles to reach the Balmok people's hometown in Narvik Port, and then organized a huge fleet to arrive in Britain, it was just eight years ago. moon. Rurik was already very aware of the day when the British people harvested spring oats. Everyone arrived in early August, just in time for the locals to finish shelling the wheat grains, which was actually the right time to grab the ready-made goods.
There were still some days left before the planned time. When the order was issued, Fort Ross turned around and began to allocate grain and fodder to prepare military supplies.
So much so that merchants immediately began to sell wood carvings of their gods at reduced prices, hoping that warriors and their families who were in urgent need of expeditions would buy them for good luck.
The four sailing cruisers Aurora, Spellosvilia, Duke of Ostara and Balmok, as well as Mercury, Venus and Mona The four sailing destroyers No. 1 and No. 1 Maas, and 12 armed merchant ships marked with hull numbers, all began to increase their armaments.
Rurik really doesn’t have to worry too much about weapons. He goes out to fight, but military production in the rear never stops.
The elderly Klavasen is still a busy man. Although he is too lazy to forge iron himself now, he is instructing his blacksmith apprentices to make the metal parts of the torsion slingshot. He also cooperates with carpenters and cobblers to quickly manufacture them. Here's the torque slingshot!
All sail cruisers have five torsion slingshots on each side of the ship. Sail destroyers are reduced to six on each side of the ship. All armed cargo ships still only install one. What's even more amazing is that these torsion slingshots can be disassembled and installed on a two-wheeled trolley to become a land warfare weapon.
For thisWeapons such as the various rowing longships and torsion slingshots of the era, which were originally not very powerful, can also show terrifying destructive power.
Although adding so much military equipment to Rurik cost a lot, so what? When the looted materials were brought back and the wheat and leather were sold, there was another powerful wave of "silver coin recycling."
Soon, another piece of good news came. There were hurried ships reporting good news from the east!
Detachments of the Russian army finally returned to Covinstad on the fourth day after Rurik returned, and on the sixth day, the day after Rurik concluded the military meeting, the news Arrive at Roseburg.
The good news was spreading like wildfire. Upon hearing this news, Rurik gave an order and eight large ships headed by the Aurora set off immediately and headed towards Covinstad due east, trying to do their best to do it all at once. Bring people back.
The facts were as Rurik expected. The large ships showed their powerful carrying capacity and their high speed under high carrying conditions, but the handling of subsequent matters was really embarrassing.
Although the crew miraculously arrived at Roseburg after a day and night of drifting on the sea after boarding the ship, it was a terrible crowded situation. Although it was not suffocating due to lack of air, the environment inside was really It was uncomfortable, mainly due to the smell of urine and even vomit...
The ship had to be cleaned again. Fortunately, the soldiers from the Russian army detachment from the east and the captured tower A total of 2,500 Vastiya women and their children were transported back by these hundreds of ships. It was really crowded, but Yerurik also tested the manned capacity of his ships. It can even be improved further, after all, the cabin can be filled with people, and the deck can also be filled with people.
Perhaps the Aurora can transport five hundred people in one ship? That is only a maximum cumulative weight of thirty-five tons. According to her design, Rurik will have no problem loading up to one hundred tons of cargo.
At least his expedition does not have to face such a dilemma. Even if there are more than 200 Balmoks (with battle damage) on board, and 20 large ships carry 1,300 people, one ship will not be able to survive. Just carry sixty people, why bother?
The expedition was imminent, and the men of Fort Ross divided the captured Tavastian women among themselves. Most of the men found the women they marked according to the "tattoos", so they became a "family". Reunion of people."
So what? The selected young soldiers of the First Flag Team are no longer too lazy to tangle with women. Now only a new great victory can satisfy their restless hearts.
Similarly, they have never been more aware of the good intentions of the Duke. Facing his two or more wives, a man feels a heavy burden on his shoulders, which drives him to have no choice but to Not to do everything in this expedition to get as much spoil as possible, especially wheat.
Otherwise, my women and children will really have to live frugally and live a miserable winter.