Rise of Rurik

The chiefs left Olegin's mansion, all the chiefs of the tribe before they entered the wooden wall, and again standing outside the land, they all became dukes.

Whether they realized the nobility of this title or not, they at least realized that everything was different.

The already restless Melalen market became more lively, especially Oak, Duke of Gran, who made and sold iron tools, became the object of various "peers" competing for inquiries, because his tribe had been smelting iron on a large scale. .

There are also some dukes who try to get some high-quality iron from the Rus, and the inquirers are also noble dukes. Since Olegin said that everyone is a nobleman, he naturally needs a gorgeous sword or axe, preferably with a gold border, to be worthy of this honor.

Otto wanted to agree to these special orders in person, but Rurik wanted to refuse them.

Why pass up the opportunity to make a lot of money? What was this kid thinking?

Before the expedition, the Avrora was docked at the pier of Mälarenburg. She has become a symbol. Those who don't know the inside story must take it for granted that this is Origen's latest treasure.

Otto, Rurik and even Carlotta, they returned to Gould Island in a small boat, only the Avlora and more than twenty Ross warriors remained on board. It is really inappropriate to simply put the ship here and let the soldiers take care of it.

It was Gould's thoughtful plan. He directly used the pier where the Avrora was located as the loading point for the island and the land. So in the days to come, every day there will be ships from the Rus people coming and going from the Avlora.

That night, Gould Island.

The atmosphere on the island could not be described as joyous. Olekin on the other side became king. The preparation order issued by King Origen made the people on the island who were fully psychologically prepared to feel nothing. They started to obey the leader two days ago, oh, the order of Duke Ross is doing it.

The Ross soldiers and mercenaries continued their daily patrols for the time being, and it was the end of another day, and Gould's men were also stepping up to count the silver coins they earned today.

Only in the largest wooden house, all the idle people, even the mercenaries, even the most central Yevluo had to avoid temporarily.

A very short square table stood on the sandy ground in the house, with an oil lamp on the table.

The huge room was extremely dark, and the whole scene seemed to be holding a black meeting.

It is indeed a secret meeting concerning future wars in which the Rus will be involved.

This small meeting was proposed by Rurik. After leaving the Origen Mansion,

He really has some latest plans that need to be implemented. He figured in his head that time was probably enough.

In fact, Otto was still worried about his son's refusal of the order. He suppressed his displeasure and urged: "Okay, if you have something to say, hurry up. There will be a big sacrifice tomorrow morning. Before the morning mist evaporates, we will All to reach Mälaren Castle, and stand near the lakeside altar."

"Yes, I know it. What are you mad at, Dad?"

"I... didn't."

"Okay." Rurik paused, only because his next plan was a bit shocking.

He said seriously: "I have a huge question. Did Olegin say we can only send 200 soldiers, and that's it? We can bring more soldiers, such as three hundred, five hundred soldiers. , we can bring a thousand people."

"Huh?" In the dim light, a figure as huge as a mountain suddenly stood up: "What did you say? The agreement is 200 people, if you increase it... But if you do this, the hidden strength of your plan, Isn't it exposed. My little baby, as your father, I would welcome an expedition of thousands of warriors. You know, your people will always love war."

Rurik shook his head vigorously: "No. I mean, of course we can send a lot of people. Our contract with Olegin is to send 200 Rus warriors. Mind you, warriors! But our Rus people , there was never just one Roseburg."

In an instant, Otto, Gould, and even Carlotta, who was about to turn eleven, all noticed that there was a subtle game of words in it.

"I decided to send some children on board. Who would think they were Ross warriors? They were just sailors on the ship, non-combatants. Although they were children, they could steer the crossbow just as well, and their arrows were no worse than adults. They They don't need to fight head on, they're good fighters in naval battles."

This statement was described by Rurik before, and Otto agreed with this theory: "Well, are you going to bring all your men here? You changed your mind?"

"No!" Rurik shook his head vigorously, but his little finger pointed to the east: "They are still young, and only the best of them can get on board. I'm talking about the east. This time, we can organize the soldiers of Nova Rosberg, and even promise The Fugorods went to war. Dad, can you say they are not Rus?"

"This..." For a moment, Otto felt that it was inappropriate to directly refuse, and he smiled: "Tell me."

Rurik's words were unequivocal: "In my opinion, they are the Rus. We are not hares in caves, we have ruled a lot of people, and we are essentially no worse than the Melarens. Olegin organizes a coalition, then we Coalition forces can also be organized. But our core is the clansmen from Rosberg. Other clans must fight for us. If we fight, people will die. It’s better for them to die, not us. I plan to start from Novgorod. De called 200, or even 500 local men, I think at least that White Tree Manor has this ability."

"No. White Tree Manor alone is not enough." Otto thought for a while. He was surprised that he did not object, and responded extremely cautiously. "There are also a group of Novgorod immigrants in Novgorod, you can bring them with you."

It can be said that Rurik's initiative is a complete innovation. For a long time, Otto did not intend to use the farmers of Whitetree Manor as a servant army.

This matter is important, Otto finally hooked his head to show his prudence.

Rurik didn't finish his words: "Maybe one day, our Rus tribe... No! It is the principality of Rus. We can command an army of 10,000 people, and there must be a large number of Novgorods and Kovins joining it."

"They? They're weak, a bunch of idiots. Well, the Kovins are braver. Those guys from Novgorod, forget it."

It is very difficult for Otto to recognize that the Slavic peoples in the east have some fighting power, because all this guy has seen in his life is a guy who is beaten and stalked. He has never seen and cannot imagine the Slavs raising their troops to resist. The case of the Rus. What he saw was the flattery of wise men and the obedience after being beaten.

However, in Rurik's concept, maybe they are not really brave and good at fighting, but they are indeed ruthless characters who are willing to fight to the death in some specific situations.

A reality has always been in front of the Ruth tribe, if they can't take advantage of the Viking world in the west (it seems difficult to compete with Denmark), then they must find opportunities in the east, in terms of difficulty, entering the east is relatively easy.

Rurik said boldly: "Dad, since you have chosen a Novgorod woman to be my wife, after the wedding, I will be the local ruler! Then I ordered them to send people to fight three years in advance, wouldn't I? Does it fit?"

Otto thought about it for a while, and it really was the case. Even the contempt in his heart can't go away. The only two things he admits are that the people in the east have beautiful daughters and they are very active in paying tribute.

Rurik actually thought very long-term: "We need to follow Olegin's example to organize a coalition army. In the future, our Rus army will be composed of at least Rus, Novgorods, Kovins and deer breeders. I want them now. Send people to this war!"

Otto is very relieved that his son thinks for a long time, but now the question arises again: "Did you put them in, isn't the team's combat power going down?"

"No!" Rurik said amazingly again: "I thought about it, maybe we really need to organize an army of a thousand people."

"Ah?" Even if the oil lamp was dim, Otto's wrinkles like cracks in the ground were clearly visible. He became a little anxious: "You... what are you thinking?"

"I have an idea!" Rurik clapped up when it came to the mobile office: "I don't care how Olegin feels, it's a war. Only idiots think about making a plan, we Russ must Think of a second plan for yourself."

No, Rurik began to follow his previous rhetoric and explained his calculated plan B.

According to his plan, Tombstone Island will be the first strategic rallying point for troops in the history of the Duchy of Ross. It is located near a deep waterway in the Åland Islands, northeast of the mouth of Lake Mälaren, which is very close to Gotland, thus reflecting its great strategic value.

A large number of Rus troops will gather on Tombstone Island. According to Rurik's idea, the densely packed island group, after the previous two years of exploration, the Rus people are really the only colonial pioneers. Not only do the Rus not have to worry about the leakage of information about secret gatherings, but the local islands are also natural gathering points for large-scale troops. It is dangerous for cargo ships with deep draughts to walk on the shallows there, while ordinary long ships are not dangerous. Personnel, supplies and warships, these troops are the tactical reserve of the Rus.

Besides, the messenger has already spread the letter, and the Ross warriors on Tombstone Island are all veterans. They are eager to participate in the war, but the order is to choose only the best among them.

As Otto said, all Roth men, as long as they are fit and able to take up arms, are all eager to fight. As for the death in battle, the thought of dying in battle for Rurik, the "Blesser of Odin", is not equivalent to "the souls of the dead enter Valhalla directly".

Rurik planned to have at least 1,000 warriors in the season of Tombstone Island, of which 500 should be Rus, and the remaining 500 should be Slavs from Novgorod. Each manor needs to send troops to prove that they are indeed very strong. surrender to the power of Ross.

The son's plan was shocking, and Otto was horrified when he heard it: "In this way, our force will almost be the same as the Melalen Army."

Rurik shrugged: "In my opinion, those Novgorods just lack training, lack of eating a lot of meat, and lack of suitable weapons. We can transform them, we can firmly control the entire surrounding of Lake Ilmen. All the local tribes. In this way, we can pull up an army of 10,000 people in a short time, but Sister Lilia told me that the population there is very large."

The son's resolutions were all serious, not on a whim. There was also this thoughtful logic. Although there were some things he really didn't understand, Otto's resolutions were unconditionally supported.

Next, Rurik's decision shows that his ideas are longer than the Viking tribes of this time and space.

In other words, Rurik quickly calculated an economic account, that is, if the war lasted for a month, how much should be invested in the most basic food supply issue in advance.

Of course, the Melarons also had to use the huge cabin of the Avrora to prepare some food in advance, but Origen never rationed it.

Rurik had to plan carefully now, after all, summoning the Novgorods to fight, and not giving them rations would make the generals very mentally retarded.

This has been the case since ancient times, when a monarch called up an army to go on an expedition, the monarch must use the materials in the granary of the state treasury to meet the rations of the personnel and horses, pay for the wear and tear of various equipment, and finally pay each soldier's salaries. Especially in the eastern world, "copper" has long been equivalent to currency. At least in all the early Han and Wu eras, copper arrow clusters were the norm, and the so-called arrow clusters were currency.

The government of the Rus is still that of a tribe. Of course, Rurik can require soldiers to prepare their own food according to the old rules, but this greatly limits the combat effectiveness of the troops, and it is not suitable for the future Rus Principality with an increasingly large population.

Rurik decided to acquiesce in this expedition. The various Rus people, even those sailors, and the children who were forcibly brought in by him for experience, were always counted as 1,500 people.

If it were an army that had to fight hard all day, each soldier would eat three pounds of oats a day to make up for their calorie loss. Rurik felt that the people on standby had hands and feet, and even the Novgorods would immediately try to fish, so giving them a pound of wheat was probably enough.

Considering the bleak status of the surplus grain in the Rosberg warehouse, and the battle was approaching, Rurik really wanted to slap himself. "If I had known this, I should have deliberately hoarded a batch of food for the war."

Rurik planned to give each person a daily ration of a pound of grain, so that when it was boiled into porridge, it would expand to at least twice its original size, and the satiety would make people happy.

It seems to be providing food to the soldiers for free, which is far beyond Otto's cognition.

"A pound a day per person? For at least a month?" Not only was Otto surprised, Gould was also amazed at Rurik's generosity.

"Yes, I don't do this, many people will have worries."

"You! Do you have so much grain now? It's not yet the harvest season."

Rurik gritted his teeth too, and he asked Gould how much wheat he could gather now.

"This..." Gould hesitated.

"Quick! Take out all the wheat you have in the bottom of the box. You and your sons are all like seals. You are so fat because you usually eat too much wheat. Now you don't eat wheat, you go to eat minced meat. Hand it to me!" Rurik's roaring gesture startled Gould.

Fortunately, the old guy Gould is very self-aware, and he can make this child like Rurik anxious. The situation must be very serious. If he is not generous, he is not a friend.

Gould gritted his teeth hard, and almost squeezed the words out of his teeth, "Forty thousand pounds, this is my last wheat, and I still have my family and guys to eat for the next harvest. I still want to spend on grain. At the most precious time, I earned a little at Melalen, and now I take it all out."

"You're smart enough." Rurik laughed slowly.

Therefore, Rurik made a series of preparation plans that night. He doesn't care about the sacrifice of tomorrow, anyway, it's not much to check with the scene, it's just a move by a man and the people of Melalen to pursue flamboyance and show off.

The Russ are very fortunate to have a pragmatic and combative leader like Rurik, and this leader is more generous than everyone can imagine.

He officially gave the Russ a preparation order, which was acknowledged by Otto, and engraved on the wooden board overnight, intending to organize the ships to rush out of the lake tomorrow and deliver the latest order at the craziest speed of the Rus oarsmen.

The command is like this.

1: Assemble 500 men from the White Tree Manor in Novgorod, as servants, take the boat of the residents of Novgorod and finally arrive at Tombstone Island, and set up a camp to be stationed on standby. There are no restrictions on the weapons and food they carry.

2: Emergency recall of Arik and stationed at Tombstone Island with all the elite troops.

Three: Fishermen who lease fishing boats directly under Rurik, when transporting their catch to the army of Tombstone Island in season every two days. Tributes will be cancelled for this merit.

Four: Give all soldiers stationed on Tombstone Island one pound of wheat per day for a maximum of thirty days. The troops involved in the war had an average of two pounds of wheat per day.

Five: Rosberg stepped up the production of weapons, especially arrows, followed by a batch of spears and axes.

In addition, there are some small provisions.

Compared with the plan initially set three days ago, this plan can be described as more refined and operational.

Rurik's mobilization is a great start for the future. This war will become a history of the Principality of Loros, so that historians of later generations will know that on the second day when the Principality of Rus was formally established, the Duke of Rus formulated a plan to form a "Finland, Russ, Slavic" coalition.

Rurik was thinking very long-term. He needed the future state to be a stable union, and even to form a brand new nation with an extremely large population.

He could not identify with the small country and the few people, and the cry in his soul was the need for a unified empire.