The general died and morale collapsed. The courage of the Karelian army that was condensed by hatred and rage collapsed again in blood.
This is a total collapse, and they are trying their best to escape from the encirclement.
Those who can escape seem to have a chance to survive, while those within the encirclement will be ruthlessly crushed by the wheels of history.
Russ will definitely conquer Karelia, and Rurik will complete this major victory a generation ahead of schedule.
Multiple spears pierced Aesailas' body, and he fell into a pool of blood after being poked with several more swords.
"If I had known this, I might as well have led the tribe to retreat quickly..."
The Dazhang tribe has not perished, but it is not far from destruction. The demographic advantage of this most populous Karelia tribe is a thing of the past.
The men in the encirclement are being crushed into powder, and another group of Russian troops have begun to chase them.
Once they break into a rout, their pursuers will chop their backs mercilessly, and the most exaggerated results often come from this.
The fleeing people were confused. They saw many pursuers similar to themselves. They were all short men with black hair, completely different from those blond giants.
Because they are Suomi.
Once upon a time, the Suomi people, who tried to avoid the Karelia people when they encountered them, boarded the warships of the Russian army and seemed to have gained the courage of the principality of Rus. This pursuit was not only about killing, but also about robbery.
Perhaps the Suomi people have little desire to kill fleeing enemies. Killing enemies is a convenient task. Their biggest purpose is to rush into the enemy's camps and enjoy killing all the tiles lost in the blood first. A good army went to plunder the spoils of war.
Because the Duke has already said that robbing means robbing based on ability. The Suomi people will seize the opportunity to rob, and the loot won will be recognized by the Duke.
Arik no longer knew how many enemies he had killed. His robe was stained red with blood, and his helmet was so sticky that it exuded a strange smell of rust.
He has been directing his men to fight, but the battle has turned into a chaotic battle, and the Ross army has basically turned into a personal chaos.
He finally saw that the people with their heads tied with cloth strips had rushed far enough, and reason finally returned to his head.
“Oh no, let those servants get the upper hand, they will get more!”
Aric raised his two swords in the chaos, “Brothers , those Suomi people have already gone to rob. We don’t want to fight, follow me and rob!”
He tried his best to shout to attract the brothers’ attention, and his efforts seemed to have achieved some results.
However, the Suomi people who were the first to take action have already rushed to the enemy's core camp area, and the looting has begun.
How many treasures are hidden in the tents made of wooden slats, linen and animal skins? !
The Suomi people have been broken into pieces. They are looking around with sharp weapons, and even let hundreds of Karelian warriors escape.
They really gained a lot. Someone discovered the shivering young women, huddled together.The eyes were frightened, and some even held iron daggers in a state of resistance.
There were also men who were hiding. When the tent curtain was opened by the intruding Suomi warriors, they stabbed them directly with short spears.
This is a kind of desperate resistance. The person who was stabbed was pulled away by his companions, and the resisting enemy was mercilessly killed by the subsequent intruders.
The women who were found were all disarmed. They were dragged by their hair or dragged out of the tent by their feet, and then their hands and feet were tied with hemp rope.
A Suomi warrior with a bandage on his forehead controls a woman, who is his trophy.
Rurik warned his men at the campfire last night not to kill indiscriminately. When they arrived at the Suomi servant army, they did not kill indiscriminately. Those who resisted will naturally be killed, and everyone else will be captured.
They are more keen on finding young women. After all, many Suomi men are difficult to marry. They enthusiastically accepted orders to participate in this large-scale war, just to capture a woman.
Many people gained something. All the inexplicable women who stayed in the tent were arrested. More than 400 people were arrested.
Once the woman was captured and some daily necessities were collected from the scene, a Suomi warrior tried to leave the chaotic battlefield quickly. They used various means to escort the prisoners towards the lake. This move really surprised Arik, followed by anger and contempt.
"This group of short women are obviously only liked by these guys who are also dwarves..."
Arik mocked the servant army's useless style with contemptuous eyes. The brothers continued to hunt down the remaining enemies, but unfortunately the last Karelian warriors had escaped far enough. The pursuit did not last long and ended when the last enemies fled into the dark green forest in the distance.
Isoltalwa has collapsed. There are a layer of corpses lying strewn around the lakeside. A large area of the lake has been dyed dark red by the bloody stream.
The red warriors stood on the pile of corpses. The Rus and Balmoks, these pure Viking warriors, checked the corpses everywhere. If they found the dead or pretending to be dead, they immediately stabbed them to death with an arrow.
The occupied tent group was full of sword-wielding warriors, who destroyed the tents wantonly, cut off the wooden supports, and looted the leather to find anything useful.
This place has been explored by Suomi and Vips, and the subsequent pure Viking warriors are in a sense picking up leftovers. The brothers expected to catch a lot of leather, but what they didn't expect to find was just garbage.
Negativity is spreading. The bloody Viking warriors scold the servants for taking too much. They say they just sit back and watch the remaining soldiers escape successfully for the purpose of robbery.
Arik was so angry that more than a dozen brothers were complaining to him about not being able to find any useful trophies.
He bumped into Jevro who was also collecting trophies with his men in the Isotalwa camp area, and the two met quietly.
Looking at the old man, Yevlo said hello with good intentions, but of course he was harshly criticized.
"What did you Suomi people do? You stole all the good things, so that my brothers couldn't grab anything."
The startled Jevro suddenly came to his senses. When it comes to looting loot, the poverty of reality also makes him angry: "Brother, you are blaming us for grabbing too much. God is watching us, you can't talk nonsense."
"How? Are you talking nonsense? I saw with my own eyes that your tribe was the fastest and you were busy robbing the enemy before they were wiped out."
"Does it mean that we robbed a group of slaves? A short woman?"
"Of course I don't like it," Arik continued harshly: "You must have grabbed gold and silver, but now my brothers and I can only grab a lot of rags."< /p>
"You? You are slandering me!" Yevlo stabbed his sword directly on the ground in anger, took off his helmet and opened his arms, "Lord Rurik will make the judgment! It was the lord who gave the order, all People rob based on their ability, and those who can’t get it are not allowed to complain. Besides, we didn’t get any gold or silver. This group of Karelia people are incredibly poor. I’m just standing here, and you can search me.”
"You..." Arik was restrained, mainly because his brother gave the order. As a cousin, one should not disobey the orders of a Duke's cousin. Arik, who prided himself on being generous, did not want to leave a bad reputation for others.
He hesitated for a moment and sighed: "However, we did not wipe out all the enemies, you are responsible."
"I am responsible, pincer tactics because I am responsible The mistakes of my troops let go of some enemies. As for how much responsibility I have and what kind of punishment I should receive, this matter should be judged by the Duke." After saying this, Arik felt very uncomfortable. Feeling like that, I had no intention of asking further.
The battle is over, and the sun finally shines miserably on the post-war land at noon on a cloudy day.
The enemy's wounded will eventually die of excessive blood loss, so the Ross army's last-ditch attack can be considered a cruel mercy.
Even the seriously injured members of the Ross army, those who were obviously only breathing one breath, were killed by their companions to end their pain.
War is so cruel, and the lake wind begins to carry the smell of blood. In wars in the cold weapon age, when the battle ends, the battlefield is always muddy, and the blood and flesh are as miserable as the meat minced by a meat grinder.
However, Rurik was completely immune to such cruel scenes. The fleet had all anchored, and he took all the subsequent soldiers ashore.
"Is this the core camp of the enemy? They are really a polar nomadic tribe..."
The groups of conical tents made Rurik first think of the Inuit People, wait a minute, when it comes to blood and culture, the Karelia and the Inuit do have roots, so it is not surprising that there are commonalities in building tents.
Soon Rurik saw the Suomi warriors sitting on the ground. The battle was over, and the men who had grabbed some trophies were chatting happily. hereThere were also a group of women sitting there, who were clearly prisoners. Their fate could already be guessed by Rurik, and that kind of ending was something he was happy to see.
The work of cleaning up the battlefield has been fully launched, and an astonishing number of arrows are being carefully recovered. Whether they are enemy or own arrows, whether they are useful or broken, arrow collectors are patiently searching for them.
The enemy's arrows are all of poor quality. The only thing that satisfies the searchers is that the arrow clusters of the enemy's arrows are mostly carefully polished deer bone fragments. It's pretty good for hunting, and it can also be used to kill enemies, but it's a pity that the quality of the enemy's bow is really poor.
A large number of short wooden bows were seized. Compared with the bows themselves, the bow strings were what the searchers were most willing to collect.
The bows of the Karelian people were of poor quality, but they were good for use as fire sticks. However, more than two thousand bow strings were found, and the number surprised everyone.
Reindeer are full of treasures, and the economic life of the Karelia people almost entirely depends on reindeer breeding. Reindeer can be said to be the only large herbivore in northern Asia and Northern Europe. Male deer often grow very tall and strong. The big tendons on their backs are used by the Karelian people to make special strong ropes and bow strings.
Deer tendon bowstring may not be as good as beef tendon, but its quality is at least much better than oil-soaked hemp rope. Rurik was surprised to find so many ready-made bowstrings!
There were surprises and astonishments. What shocked the entire Russian army was that everyone expected to capture an astonishing number of reindeer here, but only found a few dozen reindeer. What was going on? Don’t the Karelians here live off their reindeer?
What is even more strange is that Rurik ordered his men to prohibit the killing of women and children, but except for Suomi and the Vips servant army who captured three to four hundred women with panic-stricken eyes, there were really no other prisoners.
There were some old men among the dead enemies. Apart from that, no enemy sons or other women were found in the entire tent group.
My brothers did not kill indiscriminately. There is no evidence of indiscriminate killing. Facts have proved that when the Russian army landed, the entire tent group had already lost all women and children!
As for the staggering number of women who were captured, the situation was extremely abnormal.
Unfortunately, Lauryurik went to investigate in person, and Jevro had already brought surprising results of the interrogation, and there was even major news brought by Terravis on behalf of the Vips.
The battle is completely over and thousands of corpses have been inspected.
The bodies of the Russian dead were pulled out and moved to an empty lakeside to be arranged in a matrix.
It is a pity that Rurik hoped that the Viking brothers in the army would not suffer any losses, but ten unlucky guys were pierced through vital parts of the neck by the enemy's spearheads, and the dead basically died from this.
The largest number of casualties came from the Suomi people. There were as many as 150 short corpses lying here. Their heads were all tied with red bandages. This headdress made the corpse collectors sure. its identity. There are all kinds of wounds on their bodies, onlookers can be sure that if they all wore metal chain armor when fighting, most of the dead would not have died.
In the chaotic battle, the combat effectiveness of the Suomi and Karelia people was about the same. Even if the former accepted part of the change of clothes, they faced an opponent who was trapped and still fighting. They pecked each other like novice chickens, and their fights were extremely ferocious.
The total losses of the Russian army were like this. The total number of casualties was less than 200, and there were also 200 wounded, and almost all of the wounded were Suomi servants.
As for the enemy's corpses, the exhausted Russian army did not carry the corpses to make detailed statistics. People made estimates and judged that no matter what the enemy did, 3,000 people would be killed.
In the evening, arrogant soldiers dressed in dirty clothes lit huge bonfires. They looked down upon the enemy's shabby tents, and resented the enemy's poverty for not being able to grab many good things, so they used those tents as Some materials were used as firewood, and some rotten leather were also used as fuel, causing the campfire to still emit a special smell similar to barbecue.
The largest bonfire was where Rurik held a post-war military meeting.
The sunset does not exist. It should be dusk, but the sky in the west is dark yellow. People with experience think that there will be rain in the future. The weather in August is like this, every rain means cold. Anyone who knows something about the eastern region far away from Roseburg's hometown knows that September in the Julian calendar is the rainy season in the east. There will be a high probability of rain for the first half of the month, and the world will become muddy. If When the time comes to launch a war, the soldiers will really have to fight fiercely in the cold, wet, and mud. Maybe the soldiers will not die in the battle, but will lose their lives due to the cold and sudden and inexplicable diseases.
The flames dispel the coldness of the night.
Rurik saw that everyone was not happy after the victory. He already knew very well what the captains and centurions of each banner were thinking.
Of course, he knew something about the enemy better, which was a series of information that Yevro easily heard from a group of female prisoners. The contents of those messages are basically the same, so it can be concluded that these messages are true.
Many people were holding back their words. When Rurik asked the brothers to speak freely, everyone made a noise at the campfire.
"Take your time, everyone, tell me one by one!" Rurik ordered.
They were asked in order to tell their opinions about the battle, especially the reasons for their depression.
Perhaps most of the people who have the right to hold a meeting here have reservations. Seeing that the two fierce generals Arik and Khelaphid complained without reservation, the brothers had no reservations. Followed up without any hesitation.
Many people were pointing at the Suomi servant army, accusing them of not being busy killing the enemy but busy looting, resulting in an incomplete pursuit and allowing some people to escape.
As for despising the enemy for being too poor, that is another matter.
This is a bad sign!
Rurik gritted his teeth and asked himself, what do the proud Vikings think?A group of Finnish servants? After all, the appearance of the enemy they fought was indistinguishable from the servant army. The accusations of the Viking warriors are not unreasonable. Since they are servants who dare to keep pace with the main force, how can this be done? !
"I have to coordinate this matter well. If the interests of some people must be sacrificed, then the Suomi people's must be sacrificed..."
He thought about it and shilled The restless people calmed down and continued to preach: "The Suomi and the Vips have captured some prisoners. After my investigation, I found that these women are slaves of the Karelian people! They are not slaves themselves, but The women captured from other places were even given to the Karelia people as tribute. Some of them were originally Vips and Suomi. Our servant warriors found their lost tribesmen. That's why they didn't seal the siege."
This is a fact, but only a very small part of the truth. The children of slaves are still slaves, and that's how it's done here in Karelia. The slaves did come from the Vips and Suomi people, and a large part of them actually came from the Tavastian people who had completely collapsed.
Slaves, these female slaves dare not go to war, and they have almost no thoughts of their own. They are like docile lambs being led away by the new conquerors. They were timid at first, then showed signs of submission, until they learned that the conqueror would treat them as wives capable of bearing children, and the situation changed completely.
Rurik was very satisfied with the actions of the servant army. From a perceptual point of view, he felt that this was the last warmth on the violent battlefield. From a rational point of view, the Suomi community could get a group of fertile young women.
This is a war, so let’s calculate the economic accounts carefully!
Allowing the servant army to obtain spoils of war is a useful means for the monarch to maintain the loyalty of the other party. In most cases, it is more effective than military deterrence. The expansion of Rome was based on this set of tricks. The Roman army naturally ate meat every day, and the outstanding servants also ate meat dregs every time. Even the most inferior servants had broth to drink.
However, if your basic army, especially the brothers who came out of Old Roseburg, feel that the Duke has treated your brothers badly, then the monarch is shaking the foundation of his rule.
It is undeniable that this trend seems to be sprouting.
Rurik continued his words: "The warriors of the servants can enjoy the women they captured, the Rus, the Balmoks, the Melalens, all the warriors of Odin, I know What kind of women do you like? You want to be tall and young, with a pretty face and good at working. You like girls of the same race, and you also like Slavic girls of the same race. You don't look down on these short women at all, so you let the servants serve. Get it! In addition, all their seizures will be taken away! This is the punishment for their wrong behavior!" If this is the arrangement, the pure Viking warriors in the team will be satisfied. . To be fair, over a hundred of the servants died, after all, they shed their blood for the Principality of Ross, and it is natural for them to get some spoils. However, the crime was also very serious. In such a way that the merits and demerits were balanced, those prisoners who were short and illiterate and did not look down on the Viking warriors were allowed to be taken away by the servant army.
After all, Vikings such as the Rus and Balmoks are no longer what they used to be, and the brothers already have the economic ability to be picky. If you must marry a woman, isn't there a ready-made method? They discovered that they could go to Novgorod with a sum of money and buy the marriage of their daughter from a local Slavic farmer. This is actually a win-win choice. The Viking warrior can marry a woman he likes, and the wife's natal family also needs the protection of the Viking conqueror through the in-law relationship.
Due to their aesthetics, their first choice for wives is women of the same race as the Vikings, followed by Slavic women, and finally these short women from the East.
As for the fact that the high priest of the principality is a deer herder, this is a special case, and it is a special case appointed by Odin, and everyone has no doubt about it.
If we say that people in the society of the Principality of Ross will be divided into three, six or nine grades based on their origins, the grade will depend on their mothers. It is not surprising for a Viking man in the Principality of Rus to marry two women. A person whose parents are both Vikings has the highest status. On the one hand, they are Slavs, the second is their identity, and on the other, they are the Finns from the eastern land in a broad sense, and their identity is third. The last one is that both parents are from the East.
Regardless of their ethnicity, hereditary nobles have another chain of contempt for their noble status defined by the Duke.
The Principality of Rus is currently unable to achieve the so-called equality of all people. Rurik, who gave up his naive delusion, based on realistic considerations, knew that he must support the high and low of the people in the ninth century AD. He can temporarily not set a very clear hierarchical arrangement of monarchs and ministers, and the unspoken rules that arise spontaneously in society cannot be inappropriately denied.
The interests of the Vikings in the principality must be maximized, and among them, the people of Ross must enjoy the highest interests. This is the basic base of the principality. Although the current basic base does not seem to be large, but through The men work hard to be old scalpers who plow the fields, and a huge Rus nation can be created out of hand.
Unfortunately, before the war, everyone dreamed of plundering the enemy's 100,000 reindeer in one battle, but this eventually came to nothing. As much hope as there is disappointment, it is reasonable for people to come into the meeting with grievances.
As for why this group of enemies is so poor, Rurik has already heard the description of the prisoners relayed by Jevro and knows the exact reason.
He began to preach about this matter solemnly, and finally asked Yevluo himself to stand up and speak out...
"It turned out that they fled overnight, with tens of thousands of women and children chasing one hundred thousand people. The deer has escaped!" Someone stood up angrily to answer.
Some people also shouted: "We can't let them escape! We have to pursue them!"
"Since this is not all the Karelia people, their chief has not been killed yet. ,IWe must carry out the war to the end! We must not retreat without grabbing a large number of deer! ”
……
What’s amazing is that those who complained just now have no more resentment against the servant army. The battle will continue, and the Russian army will continue. Fighting against the enemy, even if the fighting may last for many years in the vast new world, the fighting cannot stop until the Karelians are completely defeated and a large number of reindeer are plundered.
They are so determined, Ruri! Keya followed suit.
The little leader, who knew the identity of the subordinate officer of the servant army, was present, and Rurik loudly announced: "Continue the war! As a Duke, I only want 30% of the loot! Brothers of the First, Second, and Third Flag Teams, as well as the Shooting Flag Team and the Ostara Army, you have the right to share the remaining 60% of the loot. Servants of Suomi and Vips, because of your wrong performance in the decisive battle, you will only get the last ten percent of the spoils of war in the future. ”
In response to such an order, all the Vikings welcomed it. The servant army felt that the spoils they could enjoy were pitiful. After all, they were busy looting and ran away with a group of broken soldiers. It’s a mistake, so I won’t go into details.
The situation is not bad. If the Russian army really makes a major capture, such as grabbing 100,000 reindeer, according to this Duke’s order, Suomi can also get a share. Ten thousand deer, right? Every living brother can get ten deer. Isn’t this a major reward?