Rise of Rurik

In the early morning, the light sea fog haunts the whole world. Kalmar's flames are burning, no, it's not just sea fog, it's smog!

The exhausted coalition soldiers continued to sleep soundly under such bad conditions, and their exhaustion did not recover after a lazy sleep.

In other words, because most of the soldiers got the spoils, happiness suddenly came, and the enemy was either dead or became a slave, should it continue?

"This is really not a good place." Rurik stroked his drowsy head and got up, the smell of burning wood made his mood worse.

He changed his clothes and woke Carlotta, who had the same headache.

"Get up, this place sucks, let's go now."

"Alright alright……"

Carlotta pinched her face hard, and when she walked out of the tent, the world felt even more weird.

The smog shrouded the world, the breath caused a cough, and everyone, including herself, exuded a mushy smell.

Otto woke up early. As an old soldier, he was alert. He was already instructing the Ross soldiers to hurry up and eat.

The morning tide has not yet risen, and the Avrora is now simply stranded near shore, as are the empty cargo ships.

Soon, Rurik's stomach was full of fish, and his mercenaries and clansmen also knew about the next new military plan.

The sackcloth for the tent was tied up and carried by the soldiers on their shoulders.

Some of the seized jerky has been transported and uploaded, and now, the rest are carried in the net pockets and carried by the soldiers.

All the Ross soldiers who landed in the smog carried all their weapons and trophies, and everyone had an amazing load, making it difficult to walk.

It's the loot that isn't worth the money.

A large group of people gathered around Otto, and even Otto himself was carrying a bag of dried fish: "Brothers, let's go! To cut our feud."

The warriors roared in unison, and then followed their duke out to the ankles of the water, till they came with difficulty to all their great ships.

The men on the boat dropped the ropes and pulled the last of the shirane into the boat. They dropped the rope ladder again, and the soldiers returned to their respective ships one after another.

Kalmar was still burning, and the world was covered in smoke and dust, and the faint southerly wind obviously couldn't blow it away quickly.

The sun was looming in the smoke, and it was not a good day to sail.

However, a new battle plan has been set. Regardless of whether Rurik is in a hurry, his people can't wait to participate in the new war.

The tide rose slowly, and the Ross boat, which had been nailed to the shore, was lifted up again.

Otto gave an order, and the stowage jib was put down almost instantly. It was blown by a weak southerly wind and also got a decent thrust.

With the ambition of the warriors in mind, the five Ross ships were photographed in a column, starting with the Avrora, and set off on a voyage north in the Kalmar Strait.

And this is also a tough test for the endurance of the Rus' ships, because their destination is Tombstone Island in the north.

So is the road ahead?

Anything can happen on the sea, and moving forward in the light fog, Otto's fear of yaw is probably not the most troublesome. Just because the fleet is still under the control of the Gotlanders and the Danes, the seemingly calm sea is probably full of murderous intent.

But Otto is full of confidence that this time he has a big ship that the Gotlanders can't easily destroy!

Besides, Rurik, whom he trusted so much, had already taken over the responsibility of military command. That kid stayed on the deck all the time, and his navigating comprehension really worthy of a leader, a group of mercenaries stick to the control position of the torsion slingshot, and the bowmen in the cabin are always ready to board the deck to shoot.

Because when the fleet set sail, Rurik had a hunch that he would meet Gotlanders on the way back. This is not a magic trick of the Rus, but the fleet must be interspersed in the waters off the west coast of Gotland. The Swedish coalition forces were aggressively dispatched, and they were still cruising in the waters under the control of the Gotland people, and it was their friends who went to kill them. If this did not cause panic in Gotland, then there would be ghosts!

fighting? Rurik really wanted it. It is best for the enemy to take the initiative to attack, so that the soldiers' backlogged anger can be vented.

The wind gradually became stronger, and the southwesterly wind blew away the haze that shrouded Karma to a great extent.

Olegin also woke up in a daze. He stood on the beach and quickly felt that something was missing in the sky.

He squinted, suddenly trembling all over and stomping his feet frantically, so frightened that his entourage retreated.

"Russian! You really ran away?! You actually humiliated me..."

But the Rus people did leave, what else could Olegin do when he was standing on the shore? He had nothing to say, and simply did not bother about this matter in a fit of anger.

With more business pressure on Wang's shoulders, Olegin intends to rest in Kalmar for two days before starting his preparations.

The sun rose higher and higher, leaving Kalmar in the haze, and stronger winds blew the five ships of the Rus "all the way."

Otto slept soundly in the comfortable captain's lounge. As a senior sea warrior, his physique was hardly seasick. On the contrary, the slight ups and downs of the ship became a wonderful cradle.

A small but resolute figure stood on the bow of the ship, and Rurik stood here, sometimes vigilantly overlooking the land on both sides of the Kalmar Strait, and sometimes looking down at the bulbous bow of the Avlora riding the wind and waves.

Without the drag of the tail of the crane and the interference of the Melalen fleet, the Ross people fleet enjoyed the full force of the southwesterly wind, and the speed also soared to eight knots.

Eight knots is already an extremely amazing speed, although a long boat with oars can easily achieve such a speed, it does not last long.

Avrora's own advantage is that if faced with strong winds, she can soar to ten knots without stopping. During this period, the sailors only need to monitor the sails and rudder, and can maintain high speed until the wind weakens.

The waters ahead are becoming more and more dangerous, and cargo ships without longboats will obviously be used as big fat sheep by the enemy to try to rob them.

This is the case with the fishermen of the Baltic Sea. If they encounter a fleet that accidentally breaks into the field of view, it will be against the rules if they do not vote. Just because they came ashore and transformed themselves into Viking warriors.

Rurik looked forward to fighting but did not reluctant to fight. The first priority of the fleet itself was not to take the initiative to attack the Gotland fishermen, but to rush to the north as quickly as possible and reach Tombstone Island. In the name of the big leader, the entire Ross tribe and Servant tribe's military power to attack.

The fleet continued day and night. Five ships set off early in the morning and rushed past Boryholm just after noon. In the morning of the next day, the fleet rushed through the port of Voskas without turning back.

The long non-shore voyage is an exercise for the fleet, and it is also accompanied by a huge crisis.

Until noon, when the people of the flagship Avlora were eating jerky, taking this opportunity, Rurik, who was the military commander, issued an order.

"Brothers! The sea of ​​Gotland is in front of you. I want you to be ready at all times. If there is a battle, kill all the enemies! We will be ruthless, let those idiots go to feed the fish!"

The command was short and full of hostility, and the listeners all laughed.

Otto stood beside Rurik, admiring his son's order.

Looking at his son's flowing ponytail, he couldn't help but sigh: "It's a pity I'm old..."

All the cargo ships were chasing after the Avrora. The distance between the two ships was only 200 meters, forming a single column of about one kilometer.

This is really Rurik's favorite formation. Just because they encounter enemy ships, they can seize the T-head and use the maximum firepower of the torsion slingshot.

The day ahead is bound to be risky, with the Ross fleet racing through the western waters of Gotland throughout the long day, and longer if the wind weakens.

It's a new day. The people on the boat eat, drink, sleep, and then settle on the boat. The troubles have already caused everyone to lose their energy, even though this sea area is already in danger.

Some sailors climbed directly to the mast, tied themselves with twine, and looked up in the summer sun.

The fighters on deck were all sitting on the side of the ship, dozing in boredom with their longbows and torsion slingshots on their shoulders.

The long and peaceful voyage had wiped out Rurik's vigilance, and just as he was relaxing, what was destined to come was already approaching the Ross fleet.

The people watching from the mast immediately descended down the rope and hurriedly kneeled in front of Rurik: "It seems that those bright spots in the distance are fishing boats, but..."

Rurik, who instantly regained his vigilance, hurriedly asked: "Is it really an enemy?"

"If...they come close to us, that's the enemy. Even the fishermen are the enemy."

"Okay!" Rurik raised his head to look at the sun, and then glanced at the brothers who were all standing up and gearing up: "Russian! The battle we dreamed of has come! A group of pirates who are not afraid of death really came to attack us and kill them! "

The Rus army had been looking forward to this fateful battle from the very beginning, but there were two bright spots approaching the fleet in the distance. After all, it was a narrow road to meet. No matter what the attitude of the other side, the Rus people had already unified their attitude three days ago— -Sink first.

Yevlo stretched his neck and shouted: "The winch is charged! Ammunition is ready!"

The Kewen longbowmen on the other side have changed to long iron cluster arrows one after another, and the soldiers with steel arm crossbows have prepared the cheapest cast iron cluster arrows without tail wings, just because close combat does not require the most expensive arrows. good weapon.

The Russ encountered patrol ships from Visby, the largest stronghold on Gotland Island. There must have been a lot of major incidents in the south. Since the patrol ships saw the black smoke from Voskas Port from a distance, it was concluded that the war had already ended. expand.

The army from the north was not easy to provoke, their new settlement in North Köping was eradicated, and their friends from the south were also slaughtered.

The whole island is in a state of turmoil. The largest stronghold, Visby, the wealthy families who settled here have begun to recruit ordinary fishermen to arm themselves. Of course, they hoped that the Danish forces would be able to beat the guys in the Svealan Alliance well, that is, Gotland Island was too far north, and the islanders had to protect themselves by armed forces before the arrival of clear support from the Danish friendly forces.

The waters to the north of the island are dangerous, and the damned Rus are attacking fishing boats again, as they did last year.

The fishing boats of the Gotlanders operate in the waters in other directions of the island, and local leaders organize patrol boats, either intercepting the ships of the lone Svealan alliance, or guarding their own fishing boats.

Now, the patrol ship was surprised to find a lonely transport fleet. Isn't this an opportunity to make a fortune even after hitting the enemy?

Two Gotland longships carried more than eighty warriors, armed with swords, spears, axes, and inferior short bows.

They also carried hooks specially used for looting large merchant ships, that is, they used the high mobility and speed of their rowing boats to catch up with the merchant ships, throwing the hooks to block the sides of the ship, and the warriors climbed to complete the occupation of the jumping gang.

This move can be said to be the best of Gotland's sea warriors. Seeing the five ships on board, although it looks a bit strange, in everyone's eyes, these are five slow fat ships! Even if the next boat is captured, everyone will make a fortune!

The Gotlanders were advancing at full speed, and at this moment the Ross fleet was deliberately slowing down.

The cargo ships in the rear saw that the Avrora had made active preparations for the battle. The ships did not dare to neglect, and in a tacit understanding, almost all the soldiers climbed to the deck with their long-range weapons.

Otto woke up, and he watched with relief that his brothers were about to officially fight an unprecedented naval battle, not to mention how happy he was. He still had a sullen face, and his serious expression made the battle seem very difficult, but in fact, in Rurik's view, when the torsion slingshot finished charging, the Russ were already winning.

Rurik himself stood in front of a torsion slingshot, and he held the railing of the ship with both hands, "Brothers, stay steady, listen to my orders, bring them closer and hit."

The cast iron projectiles of the three slingshots are ready. Due to the existence of the circular tray, the slingshots can be fine-tuned continuously, so that the sight can keep staring at the approaching enemy ship, and the soldiers have locked the enemy ship.

The Ross fleet threw a single column, and the bows and crossbows of the soldiers of each ship were already facing the enemy.

When the two sides were far enough apart, the Gotland ships could not get a good overview of the ships they were about to attack until they were close enough.

what! Look at the strange off-white sails of the largest ship, on top of it! With crossed blue stripes? !

In an instant, the Gotlanders who were rowing desperately took a deep breath, because such patterns belonged only to the Rus!

The patrol leader threw off his wool felt hat. "Brothers, let us meet the enemy again! Follow me to occupy their transport ship and bring the ship back. The owner of the family will definitely reward you."

The leader's words caused a trembling person to cheer up again, and the two longships targeted the largest Avrora. They started paddling desperately to launch a death charge!

But the outcome of the encounter was doomed from the start.

When they saw that the deck of the big ship was full of people, before they could be shocked, the battle had broken out.

"It's now, launch!" Rurik held it back for a long time, and he even suspected that his clansmen couldn't hold back the early shooting. Fortunately, everyone's restraint was good.

Three torsion slingshots fired at the same time, and a longship became a key target.

The cast iron projectile directly hit the bow of the long ship at a distance of only fifty meters.

Unfortunately, when encountering longboats made of real oak, especially the most sturdy bow, the tapered cast iron projectile suddenly became an unreliable chisel, and the two projectiles were embedded directly into the plank.

But wars are always full of coincidences. A projectile hit the bow keel and saw shavings fly across, and the unit that bounced slightly hit the right face of the leader standing at the bow, tearing his right face off. Even with people falling directly into the sea...

The people on the boat didn't have time to react, just because a lot of arrows came one after another!

Longbows and crossbows fire lethal cast iron arrows, and in fact hit the Gotlanders with their wooden oars in their hands!

They don't wear deadly chain mail at all, not even absorbent woollen woollen sweaters, for the sake of sea jumping gangs. Many people simply went into battle with no shirts, with strange patterns tattooed on their chests and backs to show their martial might.

It is a pity that these defenseless people, their shields were directly penetrated by the cast iron arrow cluster, and they were shot one by one.

With just one salvo, a Gotland longship was paralyzed at a distance of only forty meters from the Avlora, and the battle turned into a one-sided terrorist strike.

The Rus people have been overwhelmed by the explosion of emotions, and now they have found the best outlet.

The Gotlanders, when they were shot by arrows and vomited blood, realized that they had miscalculated their opponents, and also realized that the Russ were the monarchs of the sea before they died.