The power of the Russians is expanding towards the White Sea, especially with the Bear Festival Fort in the north of Lake Ladoga as a stronghold. Bear hunters use heavy weapons such as sled-mounted torsion slingshots to directly launch javelins at wandering animals. Polar bear strikes with precision.
As long as the bears are not allowed to get close, hunting bears is like dressing up in archery and loses the danger, and some hunters just get fun in the killing.
For each bear skin sold to the prince, the worst one can get is ten silver coins, and usually twenty silver coins can be obtained.
As long as you kill a bear, you will get two hundred pounds of oats. This is a sure-fire deal.
Even with powerful weapons, bears are not animals that are as often seen as squirrels. What's more, the use of reindeer sleighs and torsion slingshots to shoot bears is highly restricted by climate and geography.
There are freshwater seals in Lake Ladoga. Wandering polar bears will flow around the lakeside, looking for cracks caused by the mutual squeeze of the ice, and guard their holes to wait for the seals to capture them. They even seek out arctic fox and marten burrows to actively hunt, hunt wandering reindeer bravely when they find them, and seek out dormant beehives. They will eat anything, but they always give priority to watching the approaching shadows on the ice.
Then, he was hit by a javelin that suddenly flew from the sky. He walked a few steps by the frozen lake and suddenly fell to the ground.
The hunters from Bear Festival Town faced a vast unknown land, especially the large area of forest in the east, which did not look like the activity area of the defeated Karelia people.
There was a bear hunting team of more than 20 people, driving their own reindeer sleigh, and led by two registered deer herder guides, along the east coast of Lake Ladoga.
Their empty sled began to contain gratifying cargo, which were dismembered bear skins, severed bear heads and paws, and some huge pieces of frozen hard meat. They even cleverly cut the bloody bear meat into strips and strung them on branches on the spot. In this way, even if the meat was as frozen as stone, it could be cooked quickly by roasting it by the campfire.
In fact, they themselves wore heavy leather coats tanned by polar bear skins. The leather was even cut into hoods, and they used fox fur to make gloves. Their feet were made of Slavic handicrafts. Buckskin boots. They even wore wooden-framed sunglasses. They were really a group of "people in suits." It was this kind of dress that made them extremely weird, absurd, and even terrifying.
Because they saw a larger human settlement!
"Where is that?" the leader asked.
Although the deer herders who led the way didn't know much about it, they racked their brains and thought of a possibility - the Ludi people's camp.
If this large army launches a direct attack, the settlement can be conquered in a short time.
There are only about twenty brothers, and what’s worse is that everyone is generally elderly. But even a twenty-year-old young and powerful boy, even wearing iron armor, would not dare to launch an attack rashly.
Because those suspected of being Ludi peopleThe residents of the settlement rose up to fight back, using their absolute numerical superiority to beat them with wooden sticks, and they were able to kill all the brothers.
However, if the brothers go with the purpose of trade, the situation may be different.
The Ludi people lived their own lives. In the past, they paid tribute to the powerful Karelia people every year, and even handed over some women as slaves. They exist as surrenderers, and now they have learned about the great disaster in the north from the mouths of the escapees. The powerful Karelian tribal alliance has fallen apart, and the shackles around their necks seem to be gone.
The Ludi people no longer have to pay tribute, and they also know that the remaining forces of the Karelia Alliance moved eastward along a river, and a small number of people joined the Ludi tribe.
The Karelians who escaped were accepted, but the war stories they told were too fantastical.
Powerful, Karelia fell apart overnight. The invader named Ross was too powerful and his methods were too ruthless.
Such a description scared the female leader of the Ludi people out of their wits. She hoped that these were ridiculous. If this was the truth, where would the Ludi people go? Could it be possible to move again?
How can moving be so easy?
One of the main reasons why the entire tribe migrated here with herds of deer was to avoid fighting with the Perm Alliance to break away from their living space. Although the tribe was still conquered by the Karelians, the geomantic treasure land was now firmly established. Now that their master has died, everyone has gained absolute freedom.
They knew that a group of fleeing Karelians had fled to the west bank of Onegahu. Those people had lost their authority as masters, but the Lüdi people had no strength at all to turn against the guests. The two sides regained contact, and a land trade route was established connecting Onegahu and Lake Ladoga.
Perhaps today should be a normal cold winter day.
The priests of the tribe held a sun sacrifice a few days ago, and the days became longer and longer in the following days.
The Ludi people are basically the product of multiple clan families living together. They graze reindeer in the snowy pastures near the settlements, and many people simply hide in thatched huts and wooden sheds to wait for the arrival of spring.
But there are some white shadows on the ice, which at first glance look like a group of white bears approaching.
The alert tribesmen began to gather, which undoubtedly caused the Ross Bear Hunting Team to take military alert.
"Boss, do you charge the slingshot?" someone asked.
"Charge your strength! Install the javelin! Some of you listen to my orders." After the leader said this, he immediately ordered the two registered deer herders who came to mind: "Are those Ludi people? You probably know them. Language, let me explore the wind."
Originally, the local deer farmers did not want to deal with those tribal people at all. Although the two of them had only known about the existence of the Ludi people before, they were the servants of the Karelian people. Even so, the two sides were naturally hostile. At least the deer herders collectively reject Karelia and her servants.
The two men took off their bearskin hoods to reveal their black hair. They walked toward the village holding short spears like canes. They are messengers, and they are very afraid that the other party will use the knife if they disagree.
In fact, the village was already within the maximum throw range of the torsion slingshot. The north wind was howling fiercely above the ice lake. The Rossel Bears who were parked on the ice took off their shields and held their swords to watch the fun.
Gradually, more than a hundred tribesmen gathered with sticks. This is their settlement and they want to defend their home. Seeing that the other party seemed to have sent a black-haired envoy, who seemed to have nothing to do with the image of the "golden snow-skinned giant" described by the exiles, his tense nerves couldn't help but relax.
The two cautiously walked into the village and were immediately surrounded by a group of armed tribesmen.
At the beginning, the negotiations between the tribesmen were polite, until the two of them explained their clear identities-Russian people.
The peaceful atmosphere was immediately broken, and the two Ross envoys were directly held down. If there were not a large number of tribesmen, the Ross Bear Team watching from a distance would have discovered that the envoys they sent had been arrested. It's a signal of hostility.
The Ross hunters at least saw that the originally orderly tribesmen suddenly became chaotic.
"Are our envoys welcomed by them?" someone asked.
“Who knows?” The leader of the bear hunter shrugged: “We’ll find out later.”
“I’m just afraid that the envoy will be chopped down by them. I encountered a village in the vast ice field. , If there are more of us, just kill them directly, but there are only twenty of us..." Another person gritted his teeth and said.
"There is something in your words." The leader asked again.
"We have fewer people now, so why don't they attack us?"
"How can they be so bold? Unless they want to die."
" Why not? No matter who they are, they are on the east side of the lake. We must report this to the prince. This is a great achievement. In my opinion, we should continue to be on guard. If there is a battle, I...will not hesitate to fight. . ”
Not even afraid of the ferocious bears, so why should they be afraid of war? This group of elderly bear hunters were unparalleled in killing when they were young, but they still refuse to accept their old age, so they bravely carry out winter bear hunting.
The bear hunting leader listened to this explanation. He ordered the tails of all reindeer sleds to face the village, and the on-board torsion slingshots were adjusted in direction and shooting angle.
The other brothers raised their wooden-arm crossbows and were ready to charge up at any time, especially the two steel-armed crossbows in the team that were on standby in case of any eventuality.
Looking at the two captured messengers again, I learned that a group of despicable strangers appeared on the ice, and everyone who stayed in the tribe showed up.
The envoy was twisted to the leader's room, and then underwent wheel-type interrogation by many tribal elders, that is, the elders of each clan.
But is the interrogation really meaningful?
At the interrogation venue, the representatives of the fleeing Karelian people stared angrily. They demanded that this man be sentenced to death.These envoys were sentenced to death simply because they were servants of the Russians.
As for the small group of Russians on the ice, there is no reason to negotiate with them, so it is better to raise troops to kill them.
The envoy was shocked. He didn’t expect that the people here were indeed Lydians, and even the remaining people in Karelia were still “making suggestions” for the Lydians?
An envoy who realized that he was in deep danger He was so angry that even if he died, he would declare his interests to potential opponents: "Lydi people! Are you a bunch of idiots? You can kill me, but the Rus will fight back with all their strength. How many of you do you have? They will Kill you all, even burn your bones to ashes."
But he looked at the Karelian representative, an old man with a mustache and said: "Don't listen to this guy's nonsense. Yes, we have a clear advantage now. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you must support us as before."
"Who do you think you are?" An elder of the Lu Di clan was furious: " Your tribe is finished and is no longer our master. It is our business whether to go to war with the bear-hunting Rus."
They actually started a quarrel among themselves? Realizing the opportunity, the envoy hurriedly took out the "carrot" and at the same time scolded the Karelians present.
The messenger simply roared at the top of his voice, almost losing control of his emotions: "Karelia is the destroyer, and they are despicable cowards. They have declined to the extreme. Do you still want to surrender to them? Ross Man is the most merciful conqueror. Listen up, anyone who surrenders to Ross will receive rewards and security. Ross has discovered you. If you resist, you will all be killed, unless you all flee. Talents are your real masters.”
This description came from a black-haired deer herder, which caused the elderly female leader to yell in confusion.
"You obviously speak the same language as us, why do you want to speak to those Russians? Are you a Russian?"
Through these words, the two envoys looked at The female leader's eyes changed, and she realized that she was wavering, and now was the time to pursue victory.
“Because we surrendered to the Rus and became the New Rus, and all the people got a good life. We paid some live deer every year in exchange for salt and iron. We can freely enter and leave the Rus. The settlement will not be harmed."
"This is really not true. Do the Russians only want some live deer as tribute?"
"Of course!" To give another example: "Vips, do you know? They have surrendered to Rus. They no longer need to give women and deer to the Karelia people as tribute. The Rus don't need these at all. The Vips surrendered because of their surrender. You have already lived a good life, why don't you? You are just a small tribe. Is it more painful to surrender to Rus than to Karelia? Let me tell you a secret. The high priest of the Rus is our deer herder woman, and the Rus will surrender. As friends and family, look at the Karelians around you.Yu will exploit you as reindeer, and the next step will be to take your place and conquer your entire tribe. ”
When the messenger was threatened with death, he suddenly became possessed by a negotiator. He was really exchanging his interests with the female leader of Lüdi, deliberately trying to sow discord between the Lüdi people and the Karelian exiles.
p>Suddenly, the Karelia representative who was blushing was furious. He picked up a small saber for cutting meat and rushed towards the eloquent Ross envoy who was tied up and sitting on the ground. He grabbed his neck and stabbed him several times to kill him. When he was about to kill another person, he was held down by the surprised Ludi people.
The old lady, the leader of Ludi, held him down. The aging head screamed, but the guy who was held down bared his teeth and yelled angrily: "Now, you must listen to the opinions of us Karelians and go to war with them! ”
The exiles coerced the entire Ludi tribe in this violent way.
Some things cannot be completely changed overnight, such as Kare, which was almost destroyed after a fatal blow. The remnants of the Lia people still feel that they are powerful kings, and the Lydian people who have been servants for a long time still have not really adjusted their position.
The Lydian people at least know what the Karelia people are. And what are the Russians?
It is true that the Russians are crazy killing monsters, and they are also very kind to their subjects, which is really questionable.
Fortunately, everyone is now. There is no doubt that one of Ross's envoys is dead anyway, leaving the other one alive. It's time to gather the men and use their weapons to defeat the invading Ross hunter team.
Standing on the female side. From the leader's point of view, she doesn't want to start a war at all, or the Ludi people as a whole reject war. However, it is impossible not to fight now. At least a lot of iron tools and precious salt can be seized from the corpses of the Russians.
The clan leaders have never seen a real Ross warrior, and it is precisely because they have never seen one that they are very optimistic. In the end, those stories such as "terrible giants" are just legends, except for a group of frightened cards. Who has seen the exiles in Lelia?
Optimism spread in the settlement, and the people also heard that the Ross Bear Hunting Team had a lot of iron tools and other good things, so they attacked them and robbed them according to their abilities. The clans are all competing on this issue.
The tribal men mobilized. They wore deerskin clothes and were generally brown and gray. The warriors generally carried spears with sharp deer bones and wood covered with deerskin. They also have short wooden bows, the quality of which is quite average, and the performance of the bows is even worse due to the poor quality of the arrows.
At least they have a numerical advantage, right?
The entire tribe quickly assembled a "robbery army" of more than 300 people. They didn't need a particularly high-sounding reason for the war. Anyway, they had iron weapons from the bear hunting team. This was the most sufficient reason for Lu Di. The men blew the antlers and the men rallied for it. Faced with this situation, the female leader could only delegate the power to each clan. At least she arranged for the manpower to guard the last messenger.It's like having a backup plan.
There is no doubt that the act of blowing the trumpet is a signal of war.
After waiting for a while, the Ross hunters became increasingly bored. When they heard the sound of the horn, their malaise naturally disappeared.
"Damn it! It seems that I guessed it right. They must be looking at our small number and want to annihilate us!"
"Thanks to you, brother!" The bear hunting leader Immediately summon people: "It seems that the envoy has been chopped down by them. We could have evacuated now, but we will not be cowards. Let's kill a hundred of them and offer sacrifices to Odin!"
The words were fresh. After falling, everyone banged their shields in unison and let out a Viking war cry.
Unfortunately, the roar was blown away by the lake breeze...