Rise of Rurik

While Arik was looting all the way, the main force of the Ross Army was also making active pre-war preparations.

The big businessman Gould and his eldest son "Silver Fox" Snowleva both stood on the island of Gotland. This is certainly not the first time for Gould.

The last time he landed on the island was at least twenty years ago, when Qiao Zhuang sneaked into Visby as a Danish businessman.

He gave Rurik a general direction, "Visby is just to the west, and you can reach it by walking through this small island."

In addition to assisting in the transportation of supplies, the businessman's other key task is to bring back the spoils as soon as possible.

On a joyous morning, the prisoner in custody ushered in his own end.

A large number of women and children were bound with their hands, and they were driven by the Ross warriors to sit on the longboat, and then approached the largest Aurora and five other cargo ships.

The children were hoisted onto the tall Aurora like cargo in a strange way.

As for the women, they were temporarily untied from their ropes and forced to climb a rope ladder to board the ship.

They boarded the ship, and their fate changed completely from this moment.

On the occupied pier, Gould, who was still in gorgeous clothes, was eager to board the ship. Rurik and Otto stood in front of him.

"There will be a great battle in the future, we will win a big victory, and then we will be able to capture more slaves." Gould's words are full of vicissitudes, and the words are exciting.

From the corner of Rurik's eye, he glanced at the person who was still climbing not far away.

"Those women, they are not slaves. At least not in the future."

Gould smiled. "Oh, I understand. They will be soldiers' wives, but are they loyal? I hope they are."

Otto shook his head indifferently, "Those children can be groomed into obedient women. As for the existing female prisoners, if they betray their new men, I will order them to be executed after the war."

Gould took a step back subconsciously, he knew that Otto would really do this.

"Okay." He sighed deeply, and asked softly, "Rurik, this time I took all the trophies I took away, and this Slitomo has no valuables at all. Is this a little bit It's too hasty."

"Are you teaching me how to do things?" Rurik narrowed his eyes,

Questioning with momentum.

"Me? I dare not. You have your own plans. Of course I fully support you."

"Then tell you." Rurik raised his chest, "I will tell you a story. A long time ago there was a warrior named Hannibal, who led an army to defeat a mighty enemy. He always wins because he At the end of the battle, he divides the spoils among his brothers. After the warrior has vented, he sells the captured women to the merchants, and buys wine and meat with the stolen money. When his warriors enjoy themselves penniless, they again Organize the army to continue fighting. You know, they enjoy it but are afraid of losing it, and they are crazy to get it back after losing it.”

"Ah?" Gould suddenly realized the row of foreheads, and asked with a smile, "This Hannibal you are talking about, could it be that...you got a nickname for yourself?"

"No!" Rurik deliberately lied with a serious face, "I saw it in the parchment kept by the high priest, and Odin rewarded me with the ability to understand it. Hannibal is a hero in a distant era, and now I Just emulate him and become a new hero."

Gould couldn't believe it. Otto didn't speak for now, but his body was trembling with surprise.

It can be said that the army commanded by Rurik is similar to Hannibal's Carthaginian army in many respects. It's not just the tried-and-true pincer tactic here.

Both sides are mixed troops formed by the integration of multiple ethnic groups. Although the personnel composition is a bit complicated, it seems that the combat effectiveness is guaranteed at present. Rurik commands this army with marriage contracts, mysticism, personal charm, promises of power and wealth. That Hannibal did the same thing.

Hannibal's clever way to preserve his combat power was to keep his army "poor".

If every soldier had a family and a lot of wealth, would they still work hard?

The Rus is an ancient army, even a Viking army.

They love fighting, and of course women and money, which they have temporarily lost,

Rurik set an example, and he entrusted Gould to take away all the captured coins, just like the soldiers, only the army rations and weapons were very rich.

Most of the captured cattle, sheep, and reindeer were forcibly transported away, and all the cargo ships of the Ross fleet were loaded with human, animal and property.

Now that Rurik can't care about the cattle and sheep making the cabin smelly, he has no chance to regret it now.

Gould boarded the ship and commanded the Ross convoy, relying on the strong late-summer southerly wind at sea all the way north.

According to the plan, these human and animal supplies are first unloaded on Tombstone Island, and the islanders who stay behind are responsible for taking care of them. After completing the task, Gould returned immediately, but the direction of their movement changed.

There are only two torsion slingshots left on the Aurora, and only one other cargo ship. The best ten were converted into land combat weapons and installed on small carts to participate in decisive battles.

Gould had under his command a group of sailors, and obviously old and feeble fighters that Rurik had picked out from the standard.

This returning fleet must go around the west coast of Gotland. Under the leadership of Gould, who knows the location of Visby, as many as twenty empty and light armed cargo ships and the huge Aurora, Raise the flag of Ross and control the port of Visby. All ships entering and leaving the port will be regarded as enemies by default. At that time, the Ross fleet will either directly hit and sink the enemy ship with a bulbous bow, or scuttle the enemy ship with a torsion slingshot at close range.

Gould's mission in the war was implemented about five days later, and the mission was to blockade.

Of course, the huge cargo ship raised even bigger triangle sails to leave, and the shock given to the soldiers was huge.

The day of the expedition is this morning! Twelfth day of August in the Julian calendar.

After a long period of rest, the exhausted soldiers regained their energy. Thousands of people gathered on the coast with tall weapons and bags full of food and water bags on their backs.

The Novgorodians have always used a kind of girdle backpack, which is just a combination of folded and sewn linen and a hemp rope. This old-fashioned classic backpack design was popularized in this war.

The Ross army has become a little strange, but in Rurik's view, it has a strong smell of Ross.

They have eaten as many as 500 captured sheep in recent days! Even the Slavic warriors who don't eat much meat on weekdays, this time is a rare feast in their lives.

The mutton made the warriors manic, and their roars became more ferocious.

Rumia wears an antler helmet and is gorgeously dressed, being complimented by a gorgeously dressed priestess.

The girls of the Valkyrie Legion brought by Rurik surrounded the altar in concentric circles.

Looking at the sun in the east, Rumia raised her head and opened her hands, shouting in Norse language, "God King Odin! Thor! Frey! Freya! Freja! Al! And the gods! Give us victory! These twenty cows are our gift to the gods!"

After all, Rurik, Otto, and Harrow Zuosen, who were holding swords, started.

This is a Varyagian sacrifice, in which all Kovins and Slavs take part. These alien warriors now have common interests with the Ross people. In this extremely extravagant sacrifice, they distracted themselves from silently reciting the gods they believed in.

The Kewen people, Mechasta and Kaihas, looked at the east and meditated on the river god of the Oulu River and the sun they believed in.

The Slavic Medvet and his Novgorod warriors prayed to the Slavic war god Peron to give strength to the brothers, and the sun god Darzbog to give everyone warmth, and the chaotic Chernobog, prayed to him Don't take your own life.

Twenty cows were sacrificed, and the blood of the cows stained the altar and flowed into the sea, and finally even the carcasses of the cows were thrown into the sea. They would not eat the sacrifice this time, and the carcass was finally offered to the sea god.

Many Ruth warriors were blessed with the blessing of the gods by smearing two streaks of ox blood.

The Corvins and Slavs all settled down, and they boasted some great blessing as well.

The army withdrew the tents, leaving only a pile of wooden sheds.

"Brothers! Let's go!" Rurik stood on a reindeer cart and started the decisive battle to attack Visby.

And Slittomo Harbor is empty, it is like an abandoned settlement that has fallen into silence.

Rurik and Otto couldn't be bothered to wait for Arik's return, and they both estimated that the fifty elites who killed Red Eye must have hacked everywhere. He was worried about his cousin Arik, but Otto didn't care at all.

The Ross army lined up in a rectangular array, with Ross's two warrior flag teams at the front, the baggage team (the captured Baishagang men were temporarily unarmed and forced to do this job), the priests and the archer's flag team were at the core, and the tail was carrying long soldiers. Spear's Slavic Banner vs. Mälaren Banner.

Rose's gilt-rimmed duke's banner was planted on the stag cart, and Rurik sat cross-legged.

The army set out in the morning and moved at a relatively rapid pace along the route of the Slitomos to Visby.

A narrow and long mound at an altitude of 100 meters gave birth to a stream. At dusk, the Ross people managed to find it.

The army camped by the river, and those with keen eyes, such as Carlotta, discovered that the meadows of this generation had obvious signs of being eaten by sheep.

Because sheep gnaw grass and often eat grass roots very seriously, the sparse meadows in some places must be the reason for this, and the sheep dung eggs discovered have become a new example.

The army camped in the woods by the stream, and they felled the pine trees and made fires immediately. A large number of people ran to the stream to replenish fresh water, and some people tried to touch a few fish.

The setting sun becomes more and more gentle, and the whole world becomes golden. However, some soldiers sensitively noticed that the scenery in the distance was a bit strange.

Some soldiers, they were troubled by the discovery of sheep dung, and the dialect seemed to be too open for this world, it was unbelievable.

The mound is on the east side. Looking carefully, there seems to be houses there?

The main force of the Ross army carried a lot of luggage, and it was not easy to climb over the mountain. It took them some time to go around the mound and walk along the river. A village was bypassed in this way.

A group of soldiers enthusiastically approached the leader's camp which was being built.

"My lord, there seems to be a village in the east." The soldier pointed his ax up, his eyes full of greed.

Rurik sat on the ground and warmed himself by the fire, he could see what his subordinates were thinking with their eyes.

After tying the rope, Otto walked out of the tent, "What are you talking about? The village in the east?"

"Yes, Lord Duke. The brothers' intuition is not wrong, it is a village. Wouldn't it be great for us to take people there and capture their cattle and sheep?"

Otto drools when he thinks of roasted lamb. During the days when he landed on the island, he eats mutton unscrupulously.

"Then go do it!" Rurik stood up and thought for a while, "Let Harrow Zuo Sen lead you there. I will give you some advice and try to catch as many as possible."

Some soldiers immediately asked, "What if they resist?"

"Then chop off their heads!"

Soon, Harrow Zuo Sen gathered nearly a hundred people, and this group of warriors ran wildly in the twilight, eager to make another fortune before the decisive battle.

The temptation of wealth and food made the soldiers tireless, even though they had been walking for most of the day.

However, when they arrived at the village, they suddenly found that there were a large number of dead bodies, and the large number of charred pillars and blackened stones in the village were all telling the terrible events that happened here.

As dusk fell, the Ross warriors who stayed at the scene of death, how could they plan to rob? They felt inexplicable terror, and the village seemed to have been cursed by gods or attacked by monsters.

However, Harrow Zuosen has experienced many battles. He inspected the gray and white bodies of some of the deceased, only to see some holes as thick as thumbs, and a large number of traces of ax chopping.

It's Aric! It's not that this lunatic has a ghost.

The brothers didn't want to stay in this disgusting place any longer, and they urged Harrow Zorsen to leave quickly.

"Okay! This is a cursed place, let's go back!"

They continued walking along the stream, and there were a large number of bonfires in the distance, which was the camp of the army.

Rurik was going to sleep in the tent, at least in the tent Rumia the High Priest and Carlotta, the Duchess of Ostara, the two girls were sleeping soundly cuddling up.

After eating, a large number of soldiers curled up by the campfire and fell asleep.

Otto took off his boots, he still walked a lot that day as a duke. Rurik also took care of his father, he made his maid Otto pinch his feet, which made the old guy applaud one after another.

Rurik was blowing the wind, biting the shredded fish between his teeth, thinking about the decisive battle in his mind, and he was confident in this battle.

Harrow Zuo Sen hurried back with the looting brothers. He went straight to the Duke Battalion Commander, and saw the old guy with a beard pinched by a group of girls with his stinky feet?

Harrow Zuo Sen smiled foolishly, and hurried over: "My brother, you are too good at enjoying yourself."

"You? You came back suddenly?" As he spoke, Otto waved them away.

The girls gathered around Rurik again.

Rurik casually ordered: "Okay, my servants, you all go to the stream to wash your hands, and then rest."

They muttered Slavic and chattered away, obviously they were really dissatisfied with Otto.

Rurik raised his head, "What happened? Did you kill all the villagers? Or were you defeated?"

"Beat me? Ridiculous! We are Ross people. But..." Harrow Zuo Sen sat down suddenly.

Otto asked for a dry scallop of lamb, "Eat some before we talk."

Harrow Zuo Sen regained his physical strength for a while, which explained the terrifying scene in the village. Hearing this, Rurik and Dad almost instinctively judged, and they said in unison: "Aric did it."

"It must have been him. The villagers were all killed, including the cattle and sheep. Those cattle and sheep began to emit a stench. It's disgusting! Now..." Harrow Zuosen looked at the half-eaten lamb chop in his hand, and it suddenly tasted bad .

The lamb chops were thrown directly into the fire by him.

"Why don't you eat?" Otto asked.

"I'm tired, I don't want to think about Arik. That's..." Harold Zuo Sen smiled brightly, "It seems that I also have to pick a few beautiful women from the captives and arrange them for my Kanuf. Let them pinch my feet. I'm leaving!"

Harrow Zuo Sen waved his hand, but Otto laughed.

The next morning, Ross's army left behind a large number of black meadow marks and bones of cattle, sheep and fish.

Before the sun even reached the sky, more than a dozen warriors who explored the path ahead ran back to the huge matrix where the Ross people moved.

Because he was getting closer to Visby, Arik, the really brainy scout, didn't know where he was hacking.

Rurik had to send some people who were good at running as scouts.

Now, the men are back with big news.

They gathered in front of the deer cart of the duke and his son, and the leader said: "There was another death ahead. There were dead cattle and sheep everywhere, and some burnt human corpses."

With what happened yesterday, Rurik is no longer surprised. He quickly jumped out of the car and asked, "Are people, cattle and sheep all dead again?"

"Yes, my lord, even the house was burned. We checked, and the dead body has traces of our crossbow arrows, and the wreckage of the house is still warm."

"It's still Arik." Rurik pinched his waist with an angry expression.

"Don't be angry." Otto put his big hand on his son's head, "Let's go and check the situation, our army will spend the night there tonight."

"Hmph! In the end, I will clean up the mess for him." Rurik stared forward.

When seeing a dead body for the first time, many people would yell in fright, and even faint directly. Perhaps women are more timid in this matter.

There are a group of women in the army, most of them are female soldiers of Rurik. They have seen a large number of corpses in the beach battle, and after being stimulated by screaming, they now have a strong resistance.

As for the elite Ross warriors, they don't care anymore, because death is also a part of life.

Now Rurik saw the horrific tragedy, the grass was just a mess of dead bodies, and what was even more absurd was that he actually saw the dead chickens.

The Ross warriors instinctively pulled out their swords and axes, and the crossbowmen also drew their arrows to the strings. They instinctively felt that the murderous aura here was too heavy.

Rurik pinched his waist and stomped his feet, Otto approached behind him, "Aren't you... afraid?"

"Aric must have done it, only him. How bad is it to avenge your uncle? Is he going to give the death penalty to the whole island? Also, look at the chickens, they were chopped up too. What a waste! What is Arik up to?"

"Of course it's revenge!"

"Is this revenge? I don't understand, and I can't do it."

"This is bravery!" Otto stroked his son's head, and Rurik directly removed his big hand.

"I don't want to be so brave. This is the behavior of a butcher. I have to deal with these corpses."

Based on experience, Otto and Harold Zuosen judged that the corpses had been dead for three days.

The men in Baisha Harbor who were forced to fight are now also forced to keep their bodies.

If the Russians feel fearless, the Slavs and Cowens have a new understanding of the fierceness of the Varyags. This group of Russ is as fierce as another group of Varyags!

But the Slavs felt a certain similarity from the destroyed village. It turned out that Varyag also grazed and grew oats.

Rurik didn't pay attention to the large number of wheat fields here, the Slavs realized. Parts of wheat fields were also burned, as they were almost ripe. The vandals were the Varyags, and they were also the ones farming and grazing. It's a pity that the brothers in Novgorod are not as warlike as they are.

The foul-smelling corpses stained with black blood were piled up, then covered with massive blocks of wood and set ablaze, forming a huge mound of fire that illuminated the wreckage of the village.

As the high priest, Rumia also prayed to the corpses of these hostile forces under the instruction of Rurik.

When the hearts of the people settled down, the army camped on the spot. Rurik, who had just calmed down, sat on the ground and gnawed a piece of dried salted fish. His brother-in-law Medved came running with a handful of grass, and in Slavic, he enthusiastically introduced the yellow grass with hanging particles in his hand.

"This is oatmeal?!" Rurik was taken aback.

"Yes! This village is surrounded by wheat fields, but unfortunately many of them were burned."

"It's really unlucky." Rurik rubbed the oatmeal with all his strength, rubbing off the bran to see the soft grains inside. "The wheat is not yet ripe."

"Yes, but in ten days I think I will be able to harvest."

Seeing enough dead bodies, these unburned wheat can be described as good news.

"Then take control of this place, and we'll take away the wheat from the Gotlanders!" After finishing speaking, the soft wheat grains were thrown into the fire by Rurik, and a flame of wheat-scented flames ignited...