Rise of Rurik

The men who were chosen were full of enthusiasm, and they all returned to their homes to hurry up and prepare supplies for future expeditions.

Almost all able-bodied men in the small fishing village of Old Bringoethe joined the army, and they had strong support from the women, even if the men's departure would make fishing more difficult in the future. Everyone was convinced that such an adventure was worthwhile, because Hellafield, the youngest son of Blingothe the old, had proved himself a good fighter, and the ultimate commander of the army was Rurik of the invincible Ross.

Far from worrying about war, they saw it as an opportunity to get rich overnight.

In the old Bryn Goethe family, the family practiced for this young man who was highly valued by Rurik, Duke of Ross.

The slightly dilapidated longhouse was brightly lit, and the old mother looked at her little son with a smile.

Old Bryngod's eyes were solemn, and he held his sword to his son.

"Boy, for the glory of our family, you go to fight. Bjorn is in the west, you are in the east, and both of you can make achievements in different fields. I will give you this sword."

"Father..." Hellafield knew the weight of this sword, even if it was just a seemingly ordinary iron sword.

"You've made the whole family look good in front of the Russ. It's just a pity that, according to tradition, you have to make merits yourself, but it's good for you too. Take this sword and think of nothing else."

Hellafield knew that he actually had no right to inherit this sword, so he could not help but glance at his elder brother, only to find that the elder brother actually hung his head and said nothing. Presumably the eldest brother is also dissatisfied...

He took over the sword with a single heart. To a large extent, he inherited the glory of the family. Unfortunately, the right to inherit the property is still the eldest brother.

This is tradition, this is the consensus of everyone.

According to legend, since the creation of the giants, the human community is that the eldest son inherits everything, and the rest of the children go to work on their own. Therefore, Hellafield was never angry with his eldest brother, but he was a coward, but he could take everything. Now that he has a sword, his father has broken the rules, so he should leave forever, but he is also seeking benevolence.

He pulled the sword slightly from its scabbard, stared at it, and closed it again.

"Father, I will take my brothers to victory without casualties." His face was full of determination.

Old Blingoethe said nothing, but said: "You must prove your strength to the Rus,

Even if some people were killed. If you can be more powerful than the real Rus, we are lucky. "

On the thighs of the Rus, the Balmers who stay in their hometown can develop. How to make the Rus people look up to them as their own people, then they must do better than the Rus people.

To try to make the converts fanatical to get the other party's true acceptance, Bringoethe has realized this.

Just as Hellafield received a gift from his father, the young men who went on the expedition also picked up their own best spears and shields.

Overnight they daubed their shields with patterns or simply inscribed uplifting words in runes.

They actively prepared dry food along the way. Even if they learned that going to Ross would save a lot of physical energy by doing sledding all the way, they still tried their best to reserve dried salted herring, a local specialty.

Herring is already high in calories. When it is salted and dehydrated, a pound of fish meat has surpassed the same amount of wheat. Unlike wheat, these dried fish can be eaten directly. The theory is so, but the human body is the priority consumption of starch sugars, dried fish is a reasonable emergency food, but once people taste wheat flour products such as bread, even Balmers will immediately put in bread embrace.

No, they have noticed the noodles carried by the mercenaries under Rurik, Duke of Ross, especially the old mercenaries from Balmerk. The bread that was carried was distributed to the brothers.

After all, these old mercenaries have become "group leaders", and everyone is responsible for the nine people under them. Sharing noodle cakes and sharing delicious food is also a means to win over brothers. As for another effect of noodle cakes, it arouses everyone's greed.

Lord Ross's promise should be fulfilled! You can still get free rations for fighting the Duke, and you have bread and bread every day?

Such good things are not promised by the old leader Magnut.

On the appointed day, the warriors who went out for the expedition gathered in Narvik, the core settlement of the harbor.

When the sky was just turning blue, there were soldiers who landed with weapons, shields and large sackcloths.

Rurik woke up early today. When the golden light of the rising sun passed through the snowy hills of the central mountain range and spread to the entire fjord, all he saw from a high place were soldiers with reflective metal helmets on their heads, which should have been rusted spearheads. He harpoon was clearly polished to a lustrous finish, a large army stood in front of him, and a strong morale was blowing towards him.

After a while, Hellafield, who had changed his outfit, hurried over to meet his master: "My lord, all the brothers are here, we can go now."

"Well, even if I'm not ready, you are ready."

Now that they are ready to go, Rurik has no intention of lingering.

He stood on top of a snowdrift to meet everyone, and he stood there quietly waiting for the noise to subside completely.

People's eyes were fixed on the hero.

"My brothers," shouted Rurik, raising his arms, "excuse my hasty, now we must get on the sleigh and reach Roseburg before the ice thaws. What awaits us all is a race to the far east. The expedition is a great achievement that you can proudly tell your children and grandchildren. Let's go now, take your bags and get on the sleigh!"

They roared, forming a Viking battle cry, which shook off some snow, but couldn't scare the deer.

The deer pulling the sleigh has long been accustomed to the chaos of human beings. They were driven by the Lapp man in charge of grazing on the spot to nibble on the local pastures on this short day. It is also a delicious delicacy. The deer ate a belly of hay, supplemented with some oatmeal, and their energy has recovered.

It was the act of feeding oatmeal that shocked the locals. The Balmers who stayed behind did not understand how rich the Rus were to be rich enough to feed the deer with wheat.

Thousands of ordinary people gathered in the Narvik settlement, cheering as armed men boarded sleigh after sleigh. They shouted the slogan of blessing, and they were thinking about the future in their hearts.

Perhaps the fleet of the old chief Magnute is already sailing back to his hometown while the warm season begins?

However, a group of those left behind were destined to leave. Today they sent away the Rus and the brothers who went to war in the East, and soon they themselves, together with their family and friends, would row a long boat straight to Britain with all their tenderness.

The wind was no longer like a knife, and although it had only been five days, the sled team was once again running wild on the ice of the slender Lake Torna on the top of the mountain.

The reindeer kept advancing, the people on the sleigh were talking and laughing, and the atmosphere was very lively.

But the euphoria came to an abrupt end when a snowfall struck, and people had to huddle up in their leather blankets and pray that the sled shelter was strong enough to keep out the wind.

The wind and snow did not make the road difficult, and the sudden drop in temperature really reassured Rurik.

What is the sudden coldness? If the glaciers thaw quickly due to rising temperatures, that's the worst!

This snowstorm is really a gift from the gods, and a marvelous scene is presented on the glacier.

In the fine snow, a team of reindeer sleighs lined up in double column, speeding up the frozen Torna River.

How long it took when you came, maybe the same when you went back.

The time has entered May, and even with such a wind and snow, the arrival of the warm season is unstoppable.

Finally, when the snowstorm was over, the sled team that had entered the lower reaches of the Torna River, everyone noticed the abnormality of the ice layer - it was clearly thinner.

Continuing to advance on the ice was full of dangers, and Rurik resolutely chose to advance in the forest by the riverside, which was still full of snow, but his chosen way home soon caught everyone by surprise.

He immediately explained his decision, and the old mercenary, who was a low-level officer, gave them the clearest explanation.

Because Rurik and a group of Rus people knew the geography of this area, and Modgen, a native of Balmerk, probably knew the most about geography and hydrology.

The sled team turned around and headed east. They were advancing in the pine forest, and the snow falling from the branches from time to time clearly showed that the area was thawing rapidly.

Rurik will go to Elronborg, where he will obtain key supplies, and then recruit all the local longbowmen. At that time, it is best to thaw the frozen Gulf of Bothnia enough to sail, then the Rossburg side will soon be able to drive a large ship and easily transport the fresh forces to Rossburg to achieve army assembly.

Don't look at the majestic fourth banner team composed of Balmerks, and the weapons they bring are nothing to Rurik. The group had to undergo a complete makeover, such as replacing the slender, pointed spearheads of stainless chrome iron on site in Elrond Castle. Even give them some bows and arrows.

Rurik did not dare to neglect in the war. He would rather spend a lot of money on arming his troops. Even if the Russ army was already very strong, he would not dare to rush into battle because of optimism.

Just like the war against the Karelians in the warm season this year, this war is simply not something that can be finished by dispatching the army and the enemy in a decisive battle.

"I'm afraid this war will start after the autumn harvest." Rurik was thinking.

The Principality of Rus is very unusual now. He estimates that the battle against the Karelians will not be able to get much capture immediately. The value of this battle is to completely wipe out the strategic threat of Novrosburg on the Neva River, and the huge Lake Ladoga can be used. The huge economic value of the Rus people's wanton fishing and even the wanton hunting in the surrounding areas will only be revealed in the following years.

But the strategic achievements of the conquest of Britain are still to be tasted this year. A small fleet must rush to the Viking kingdom of York before the autumn harvest in Britain, capture the wheat tribute from the weakened kingdom of Northumbria, and return to sail. However, Rurik's heart was not optimistic about the trip to Britain for wheat. After all, Northumbria was very weak after the war, and the amount of tribute offered to them was huge. Wang Fei had to smash the pot and sell iron to get it together.

The grain self-sufficiency rate in the core control area of ​​the Rus Principality is too low, and it must be too wishful thinking to expect the wheat of the British Isle to fill the vacancies of the Principality.

Desperately plundering the fish resources in the sea area can basically maintain the livelihood of the people, just like the way of life of the Rus people in the past hundreds of years, but the main reason for the principality to become strong and the people to get enough food is to grow wheat.

"When Karelia is conquered, I should also focus on the reclamation of the East."

There were no twists and turns in the final journey, and Rurik took advantage of the opportunity of passive leisure to seize the time to deduce a rich future in his mind.

The sled team found the Elon (Kemi) River very smoothly, and to everyone's surprise, they heard the sound of the water!

The snow on the shore is still thick, but the melting snow has washed away the ice floes, and the currents are not serious, but the sleds cannot be walked on the river, and even the boat cannot be walked temporarily. Look at the blue sky, the sun is so warm and the wind is no longer cold.

A lake lay in front of the sled team. From a distance, there were large and small ice cubes all over the lake, and they even turned blue.

In the distance, a village suddenly appeared, and now the old mercenaries in Rurik knew where it was - Fort Fisk.

It was the lake fishing season again, and the people who waited for the ice to melt enough to push boats off the lake were surprised by the sudden arrival of Rurik's sleigh team.

How was Rurik not surprised?

Because a man and his guys happen to be here too.

With a rare opportunity to stop and rest, the soldiers of Balmerk went to the ground one after another. Now that everyone is from Rus, these guys immediately called brothers and sisters with the remaining local Rus fishermen, exchanged some things and shared some stories by the way.

At night, in the slightly rudimentary yet warm woodcut, the stubble on his face looks like a twenty-year-old explorer Spuut sitting cross-legged casually, opposite Rurik himself.

A piece of leather lay on the ground, some jerky on a glass plate, and two glasses of plain ale.

"Speuter, I hardly recognize you. Let's have a drink and honor our chance encounter." Rurik had raised his glass.

This is the toast of the Duke himself, which is an honor.

Thinking of his work in Murmansk, the northernmost city, Spuut's nose was sore, and his tears were still held back. He raised his glass and drank half of it at once.

"My lord, I know you want me to talk about Murmansk. Well, I'm asking for a chance to report to you."

"Speak now."

"Yes……"

Speuter continued to talk, and what he said was within Rurik's expectations. The construction speed of Murmansk is still slow. At present, the positioning of Murmansk is based on the existing strength of the Principality of Ross. It is extremely difficult to maintain a hunter base at most, and it is extremely difficult to maintain 50 people to settle down.

The warm season means comfort for people in most areas, but for those who travel to Murmansk it is a trip to fight the mud. Summer is not a good opportunity to go to Murmansk, but summer is the breeding season of elephant seals and seals. The local leather and oil resources have reached their peak. The fort is so far away, the people who stay behind feel that they are already in two worlds.

Rurik's heart was itching to hear his words, but the mud that covered his knees after the permafrost thawed was killing him. The Elon River and the Murman River both come from the same swamp. In the current warm period, it will soon turn into deadly mud, and I am afraid that the only way to go to Murmansk is by sea.

Wait a minute! Sea Road!

Rurik chuckled.

"My lord... have you come up with a decision? Then seals are everywhere, we..."

"Of course we must try to arrest them." Rurik opened his mind and said, "Have you seen the Balmerk warriors I brought back?"

"I see. They look too much like us."

"Of course. There will be no Balmerk in the future, or Balmerk is us. The western harbor is already our Rus' territory, and these brothers are also our Russ. Soon Balmerk will get in touch with Murmansk, and we will not If you walk in the mud, you will use the sea as a connection."

"Ah?" Speuter was taken aback. "Is the sea connected?"

"Of course. Huh? You're suspecting that you're a good explorer and don't know this?"

"I'm sorry, but if I had taken a longship, I should have noticed this. The fact that the two places are connected by the sea is a gift from Odin."

"It's a gift." Rurik said excitedly: "Soon, I will focus on operating Narvik, where I will build a new fleet."

"The new fleet? Could it be that the current fleet can't satisfy your... oh no! My vision is too small, our Ross fleet must be huge."

Rurik nodded, thinking that this guy is very smart.

"Yes, what we have now is the Baltic Fleet, which is already invincible. Next, I will definitely build an Atlantic Fleet, whose home port is in Narvik. In this way, the Atlantic Fleet may go to Murmansk to capture seals. , or going to Britain to pick up the wheat tribute will go well. Oh, and the western ocean full of wonders, believe me, the west has no sea monsters, but a land of wonders. At that time, I may send you to explore ."

This is the duke's promotion, and Speuter does his part. He patted his chest and shouted carelessly: "Even if you let me explore the end of the world, I will go. So the children of Ross will know that there is a man named Speute. The guy who went the furthest and was a hero."

"To you." Rurik raised his glass.

The two sides respected each other and drank the last of the ale.

Spuut is not simply reporting some information, he returned with a batch of precious goods!

It was the leather of the seal, the big tusk of the elephant seal, and the frozen gelatin of the seal, which was slightly hard and white. There were a thousand pieces of leather alone. When Rurik saw the bundles of seal skins, he personally stroked the smooth texture, and the expression on his face was not simply the joy of the harvest.

This is the output of the hunters in Murmansk. Rurik did not ask them to hand over some hides as a tax in kind, but instead paid the market price for the hides that should have arrived at the Rosberg market according to the winter market. Bought all the price. It was a price everyone was happy to accept, and as to how much the leather would be sold at Rurik's hands after processing it, that was not what Spewute and his guys cared about.

The sledding team got bigger, and the snow on the land was melting faster. Fortunately, Fort Fisk was very close to Fort Elrond, and soon, the huge city wall standing by the river lay in front of everyone.

Many Balmers who came here for the first time opened their mouths in shock and called out that they had witnessed the majesty of Roseburg.

But the reality made them even more astonished by the rare and strange, so it was the Elon Orava Fort, and no matter how majestic it was, it was only the northern iron smelting center of the Principality of Ross. And only in terms of iron smelting, the iron smelting industry in Roseburg is clearly more evil. When they learned that Roseburg was even more amazing, they could only rest well for the time being.

The Gulf of Bothnia has melted. Although the sea is full of ice floes and huge ice lumps, these obstacles are no longer able to affect the navigation of ships. A group of daring fishermen have already started offshore boating and fishing operations. .

Another ship hurried to Rosburg to report the news, so before the big ship arrived, all Rurik had to do was to wait at Elrond Castle. Taking this opportunity, it is time to give the newbie a big change and become more virtuous.