Rise of Rurik

Rather than a relaxing banquet, it was a joint meeting of nobles.

The most critical point of this banquet was that Rurik expressed a fighting attitude for everyone.

The expedition strategy has been formulated. Regardless of whether it makes sense to everyone afterwards, it has become meaningless. All the officers need to do is count their own troops and supplies.

It was also at this meeting that Rurik set a clear time for the expedition.

"The expedition must choose an auspicious day. The summer solstice! I am determined to hold a grand sacrifice on the summer solstice. The regular summer solstice sacrifice will be adjusted to the expedition sacrifice this year. We will sacrifice to the gods, and then all board the ship on the second day of the ceremony to set off for the expedition."

There are still some days before the summer solstice. When everyone thought that the King of Rus who arrived in the capital would quickly mobilize his troops to go on an expedition, everyone was wrong.

The expedition cannot be rushed. If we want to seize the opportunity, it is too late to discuss it carefully.

In that case, what's the harm in staying a week or two late?

As a king and army commander, Rurik had many issues to consider. He currently lacks excellent staff around him, and some of his generals are brave. The soldiers are extremely brave, but they have a huge negligence in strategy.

The soldiers have studied tactics, but when it comes to fighting, it can easily turn into a brutal fight - the Russian army's art of war still has the same bravery and ruthlessness as the barbarians.

Ultimately this is a tactical issue.

Rurik had to consider macro-strategy, or "war economics."

Youdao means "settling accounts after autumn", which when used in military terms means: autumn is suitable for war.

Why is autumn suitable for combat? The Economy of the Frankish World

It was based on agriculture. The former forest barbarians quickly transformed into agriculture after absorbing the old economic model of the Roman Empire.

Frankish economic activities are controlled by a ruthless hand, and it is farming season there.

Different from the peak of global warming a thousand years later, in today's Frankish world, especially in its northern regions, the autumn harvest will be moved to mid-August in the Julian calendar. Cereals with a short growth cycle and large caryopsis have not yet been cultivated. Early varieties of dicotyledonous wheat, oats, rye, barley, and buckwheat have always been grown in the agricultural reclamation areas on both sides of the Rhine River. They are all cold-resistant varieties and can withstand the colder autumn or even early winter, but their yield per acre is relatively poor.

Rurik estimated the time. Even if it was a land operation, if the cavalry and the deer herd walked along the coast to Saxony, would it really take a month on the road. Not necessarily so! When it comes to long-distance marches, last year’s southern expedition started with the first snowfall. The army fought all the way from Novgorod to Smolensk, so that what lay in front of the army was the legendary huge Pripyat Swamp. , beyond it is Kiev - a huge southern Krivi settlement centered on the Blood Altar on the river bank.

If you set off on the summer solstice, you will definitely arrive in Hamburg during the summer season. Or maybe they are being conservative. As long as they keep rushing along the way, the cavalry can successfully reach Cologne by the end of July.

The Ross Expeditionary Force did not go directly to Lothair's army to fight when they arrived in the Frankish world.

Even if Ross really intervenes in the Frankish Civil War this time as an ally of Duke Ludwig of Bavaria, the initiative of this army in the war lies with him.

in hand. Whether to be stationed or to fight, whether to cooperate with Ludwig in the war or to go it alone, Ross would not be at the mercy of others.

No matter how much rhetoric is used to promote the justice of this expedition, how much of it is really tenable?

Rurik will not be swayed by his own banner.

"I will take my brothers to Frank to make a fortune. When I reach my destination, I will be free to attack any city or loot any countryside. They had better harvest all the grain, pound all the oats and wheat and thresh them, and then I will send troops. Plunder the granaries. The day of the plundering will be in the late autumn, it will be in the ninth month."

…

The army has a longer time to prepare, and more rest time will certainly wear down the high morale of the soldiers. However, as the summer solstice ceremony approaches, the lost spirit will be replenished.

Unlike the Frankish world, which relied heavily on growing food, an important way for Rus to obtain supplies was by fishing.

In theory, war horses and reindeer only need to eat grass, and they do not need to be fed refined grains unless necessary.

Although the expeditionary force carries a variety of baggage, due to the presence of super battleships such as the "Sea Monarch", all large sailing ships are heavy transport ships. The full load displacement of the largest battleship has reached one thousand tons, which is the Avora class sailing cruiser. Three times as much.

On the sea, there is no ship from other countries that can challenge such a fleet. Simply relying on its size advantage, the Ross army can run rampant in the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic. Rurik believed that there was nothing wrong with the warship drifting across the Strait of Gibraltar and wandering in the Mediterranean. As for why he did not do it, it was just a lack of strategic opportunity.

The main position of the Sea Monarch is as a grain transport ship.

The equivalent of 500 tons of grain was obtained.

What kind of concept is this? Due to the characteristics of war in this era, real battles are often resolved within a few days through one or more large-scale field battles. On non-battle days, the army basically stays quietly.

Compared with the military operations a thousand years later, the food consumption of today's army is relatively small. On non-war days, the army stays in the military camp for training.

Rurik's standard for soldiers was "no less than two Roman pounds of wheat a day." The total amount of dry wheat was close to 800 grams. After cooking, the wheat products that absorbed water and swelled became a huge thing.

Even if each soldier really consumed one kilogram a day, the 500 tons of wheat on the warship alone would be enough to feed an army of 5,000 people for a hundred days. But can those thirteen or fourteen-year-old children really eat two pounds of dry wheat a day? Can their bodies handle such a digestive burden?

The movement of the army has the advantage of ships, and the infantrymen have to row upstream on the Rhine, which is very tiring. As soon as the army arrives in Coblenz and is stationed, the energy consumption will plummet. By then, they can eat a pound of wheat a day and stay quiet.

The so-called "enough food for half a year" refers to the 2.5 million pounds of wheat and its ready-to-eat products in a narrow sense.

Dried fish, dried meat, and pickled vegetables are not included.

In the past, one million pounds of grain was an astronomical figure to Ross, but now it is nothing. The land reclamation movement that lasted for more than ten years has turned Lake Ilmen into a large granary, and its annual grain output has been several times that.

Just from the royal family's fields, the annual grain output has reached four million pounds.

Although the tax exemption policy has been implemented in recent years, Ross relied on monopolizing iron and steel

The production and trade of utensils alone can efficiently collect agricultural surplus products among the people.

The royal family holds so much grain that it not only has enough money to stabilize the grain-based economic system in this era, but also has enough surplus grain to brew ale and then distill it into alcohol with the highest possible purity.

The food prepared for the expedition has already been transported to the capital through various methods. The warships are waiting at the Kronstadt mooring. When the entire bay is frozen, their spacious cabins have been turned into warehouses for storing food. With so much grain crammed in, each ship still had room to load other supplies.

Now, there are more than 200 traditional dragon-headed longships.

The Russian naval squadron, which was anchored on Tombstone Island, also separated its ships under the command of Count Spuut of Saaremaa and entered the depths of the Gulf of Finland to rendezvous with the royal fleet.

The fleet, which had been in neat formation, anchored at the anchorage, swaying slightly with the waves.

The figures from near to far are:

The sailing battleship Sea Monarch.

The four sailing cruisers Spellosvilia, Gray Squirrel, Salmon Lord, and Ostara.

Sail destroyers Mercury, Venus, Mona, Mars, Eubit, Saturn, Neptune, Ouranos.

There are also twenty standard armed cargo ships (fishing boats). These cargo ships are not of a fixed establishment. They only have ship numbers and no specific names. They usually serve as cargo ships between the northern ports and the capital, but now they have become logistics ships.

The Ross Navy has almost all elites coming in and out. Except for those ships that must be stationed in the ocean to continue patrolling and cruising, all the others have returned to the grand fleet.

Such a behemoth was not meant to fight a naval battle with the Franks, and the latter was not qualified to fight with the Romans.

Battle at sea.

Intelligence pointed out that Frank's fleet, which could be called a naval force, only operated in the waters off Provence. Since there was no clear enemy, the so-called navy was also in a prophetic state.

A huge transport fleet was dispatched just to quickly transport people and materials to the mouth of the Rhine River. At that time, the warships will stay at the mouth of the river to show off their power, thus ensuring that during the war, Flanders, the Netherlands and Saxony will never dare to have any intention of stabbing Ross in the back.

All eight sail destroyers were dispatched, and they would not be idle. After completing their cargo transport duties, they transformed into large trawlers. After all, their body is built to imitate the positioning of Caravel-type ships. Her body is more slender, the huge sloop is highly seaworthy, and the speed is also fast. The only drawback is that the tonnage is small and the cargo capacity is low, but as a trawler, it is Have advantages.

To operate such a large fleet, the navy's active duty plus those "volunteers" who signed up for service, a thousand sailors can judge who is on duty and who is temporary by wearing uniforms and standard foldable tricorn hats.

Admiral Goldlund and his men will not participate in actual combat in principle, but there are always exceptions. If they were not authorized to plunder, how could there be five hundred temporary personnel rushing to sign up to fight?

There were a large number of rowing dragon-headed longships. During the period of ocean navigation, these purposely empty ships were towed by cables by large ships according to the plan. When they arrived at the mouth of the Rhine, they transformed into the main force in inland river warfare. At that time, it was the dragon-headed longships that towed the large ships. Entering the interior of Nassau and Koblenz.

continuous rest

During these few days of rest, there was an endless stream of small boats carrying supplies onto the big ships.

No one thinks they are carrying too much supplies. On the contrary, everyone wishes there could be some kind of magic that would allow soldiers in war zones to easily get the supplies they need from their hometowns.

That is of course impossible, and King Rus, known as the Son of God, cannot do this. As a king, Rurik thought of bringing as many objects as possible with the imagery of his hometown, so he ordered the Grand Temple to take out some artifacts and planned to build a stone ship altar in Koblenz, which is said to be relatively flat. .

As long as there is a large altar adhering to the northern faith and performing sacrificial activities there, the soldiers on the expedition will surely be relieved of a lot of homesickness.

There are more than 200 large and small ships in the navy, and this is not all that the first round of transport ships dealt with.

The people were certainly trustworthy and willing to participate in the expedition in their own way, even if it was just to transport the king's reindeer to Riga. The realistic consideration is that everyone wants to earn a labor fee immediately. The reputation accumulated by the Rus royal family over the years allowed Rurik to summon a large number of fishermen at once. Although it is a bit strange, placing reindeer on his own fishing boat and drifting with the army, think about it There is nothing wrong with it, because the king has promised to pay a deposit first, and then make up the other part after the completion of the project.

Suddenly, thousands of boats started to stir again!

New Rossburg is the hub of ocean and river trade routes, with the largest number of ships in Russia gathered here.

Although the Neva River mouth area has annoying tidal floods, the dense small waterways in the mouth area, with mainly sand and gravel on both sides, are really suitable for ordinary ships to be deliberately stranded on the beach.

The mooring style is in line with the Russian tradition.

The largest Vasil sandbank faces the tide, and a group of fishermen deliberately take advantage of this feature. When the tide goes out, the boats are stranded. When the tide rises, they can comfortably anchor and catch fish.

A large number of merchants came from Lake Malaren, and their ships were temporarily idle. The merchants learned that they could make some money by transporting reindeer, so why not? Besides, the Gulf of Riga has only been included in the Kingdom of Rus in the past two years. It is unfamiliar to the Swedish ministries in the Lake Mälaren area. There are a lot of rumors that the local business atmosphere has great potential. Why not take advantage of the opportunity of transporting deer to take a look. Woolen cloth.

The whole capital is in turmoil until the summer solstice.

Before the summer solstice, a short period of large fish raided New Roseburg, which briefly worried Rurik and his ministers.

The summer rain dissipated quickly as it came, and it was sunny again in just two days.

It is like a good omen, the heavy rain washes away the dirt of the world, and the summer solstice is a wonderful sunny day, which is the most suitable for worship activities at noon.

One hundred and eleven stags, a number that can be measured in numbers, were led to the large stone ship altar outside the city.

As long as deer are slaughtered here, the deer blood will flow into the ocean along the drainage channel, and then be washed into the entire mooring by the Neva River.

Thirty thousand soldiers and civilians gathered near the altar early in the morning. There were also a large number of fishing boats floating on the moorings. People eagerly waited for the time to enter noon.

Today, the high priest had to wear full ritual attire as always, and she now had three more assistants.

Except for the deputy priest, Verica, and Blackbird, whose hands were tattooed.

The most noble assistant is none other than King Rus himself!

have a look

Today’s king!

He deliberately went shirtless so that he could show off the golden chest hair on his chest and the tendons on his arms to his subjects.

He has fair skin and obvious rune tattoos on his upper arms and shoulders.

He still had a golden ponytail and a golden laurel crown on his head.

Some old guys living in the capital couldn't help but think of those scenes more than ten years ago. Rurik, who was still a child at that time, took a sharp knife with his own hands and slaughtered a deer to sacrifice to the gods under the guidance of the old king Otto and the high priest Vilia. .

Rurik, in his presence, satisfies all the northerners' imaginations of a "warrior."

Those holy people who live in Asgard are probably like this!

The men envied the young king's heroic appearance, and the women admired the king's masculinity. The old people were full of praise. The onlookers saw how majestic Rurik, King of Rus and King of Sweden, was under his coat, and they became more confident in future business activities. .

Everything was going on step by step. Rumia and the lower-level priests sang the prayers that had been passed down from ancient times in the form of chants, accompanied by a variety of musical instruments.

Rurik is very confident about his daughter Vilia. As for the princess Gisla, who was renamed Blackbird Theresa, can she do it?

He just heard that this blackbird personally killed many sacrificial deer during the Hanukkah festival on the winter solstice half a year ago.

This is real?

"Let's wait and see." Rurik was still a little skeptical, and finally the ceremony entered the most critical stage.

"Slaughter the deer! Gods! Accept our humble gift! Now, your child, the great King Rurik of Rus, will offer you the deer!" Rumia, wearing sunglasses, shouted towards the sun.

Sunglasses almost covered most of her face. Coupled with a huge antlered helmet and a bejeweled ritual costume, the whole person gave off a strange and abstract feeling, which can naturally be extended to a sense of sacredness.

Rurik gave the two daughters a look, and he took the lead in drawing his sword, and then the children drew out their own daggers.

Unlike the child, his sword is really the "Destroyer" patterned steel sword that is a sacred object of Ross. Its combat significance has been diluted and it has been turned into a holy weapon. The old people all know that this sword is of great significance to Ross, and they use it to take the lead. Slaughtering a deer is most appropriate.

The sword stabbed directly into the neck of a deer, and the deer's blood sprayed all over Rurik. The noble king was covered in blood. This was the good sign that everyone wanted to see.

Just like in the Roman triumphal ceremony, Caesar painted his face red with cinnabar. It was so simple that it symbolized that the victor had just returned from the battlefield, so it was called a triumph.

Rurik's words have a similar meaning. It is a good sign and means that the Russian army will have the last laugh on the battlefield.

Rumia was very happy about such a good omen. Amid the cheers of all the people, she cut open the first deer with her own hands, took out and cut the liver of the deer, and shouted: "Good luck!"

Then, amid the roaring cheers of the people, a full-scale massacre began.

Rurik, his daughter, and his adopted daughter were like ruthless killing machines, which both the military and civilians wanted to see.

Eventually the deer blood turned into a crimson stream and flowed into the ocean, and the altar was filled with fresh deer meat. The people on standby are not idle either. The skinning work has already begun. As for the remaining venison... tens of thousands of people are not leaving, just waiting to buy the sacrificial deer that has just undergone the ceremony, cut it into pieces, and buy it home. Eaten, simply because people believed venison was already available

It is sacred, and eating it can ensure the health of the whole family throughout the year.