Rise of Rurik

In name, because of the addition of Calf Manor and Fisherman Manor, Otto's armed men increased by 300 people.

Is the newcomer a reliable fighter?

Pooh! A barefooted, single-clothed farmer with a spear counts as a warrior? They were untrained, poorly armed, and equally unfit.

Their current task is to defend, Otto arranged for their group to temporarily serve as flankers.

But Otto was very surprised. They were badly armed. They actually raised a lot of cattle, and a lot of wooden cages were stuffed with a lot of chickens.

Poultry is a good thing. They don't need to be carefully raised. They can't fly if they shave their flying feathers. They are free to prey on insects near the farm in the form of free-range chickens. Such poultry can't eat too much fat and grow slowly, and the advantage is that there is no need to deliberately feed wheat grains.

Otto allowed the two manors to eat part of the original pine needle manor after the victory of the war, and naturally had to pay some price before that.

They were all raising chickens, as was the case at Whitetree Manor, and so was the newcomer.

The two estates provided a thousand chickens, and as a reward, Otto gave them more than thirty rusted spearheads to improve their armament.

The old soldiers of Ross were busy eating chicken, and they roasted chicken recklessly until only the bones were left.

The feathers of the chicken wings are all tucked away. Although there are no large and long flying feathers, other feathers are still good materials for arrow feathers.

The three manors of White Tree, Calf, and Fisherman are all actively preparing for battle under the rule of Ross. The men with spears have been on alert, and the women have been mobilized to do military logistics.

For example, the ability to use newly acquired feathers to make arrows is generally a one-time bone cluster arrow.

Reinforcements from Fort Novo Rose finally arrived.

Little Konusson followed his father's instructions and led a force of up to 400 people, rowing a traditional longboat against the Volkhov River.

The twenty boats washed up on the mudflat, and they pulled down long cables and tied the boats to the nearby cedar trees on the shore.

A group of classic Viking warriors disembarked?

Not only that, but also a large number of Neo-Russ who speak fluent Lislav.

Those are the so-called people who defected from the farms, and there are even men who defected from the Pine Needle Manor.

Otto had a lot of trust in their group of people. They were honestly paying the food tax by reclaiming wasteland and farming in New Roseburg, and their family members were all in the north, so their loyalty could be trusted.

Even so, Otto didn't want to take the initiative, and his plan was still to wait at the White Tree Manor.

Little Conusson reported to the old duke with his new force. Seeing Otto's presence, he reported his situation on the spot. He made a bold suggestion: "There are rebels on the banks of the big lake. In my opinion, I will take some brothers to land on the beach, and I will be able to wipe out all the rebels."

"No! You are too impulsive." Otto didn't seem to think about it, he immediately rejected the young man's proposal, and even warned: "I am the most powerful here, you have to restrain your friends, who If you dare to attack rashly, you will be punished afterwards."

"But, do we really have to wait? We should start first!" Little Konusson is still working hard, and he is eager to make great achievements in the new battle.

Otto shook his head, shoved him abruptly, and ordered: "Don't attack rashly, we remain on alert, and we will wait for Rurik to attack when we will attack. By the way, have you seen Rurik's fleet?"

"I...I didn't."

"No? How is that possible."

Little Konusson did not lie. After all, Otto and Rurik acted separately, and there was no clear contact between the two parties before the action, so that when the rebellion broke out in Novgorod, Rurik was ready to take the army to go. New Roseburg.

There is a subtle time difference here, but fortunately the difference is not extreme.

Otto was moved by Conusson's willingness to invite him, and even what he said was very constructive.

According to the existing information, Otto can confirm two things: First, Vadim, the patriarchal tyrant of Pine Needle Manor, can only control the people of his manor very well. Second, most of the other estates had a very ambiguous attitude towards the war.

So who is the main enemy? Naturally this is the pine needle manor.

If a small team is dispatched to launch a surprise attack and directly decapitate Vadim, will it be able to quickly clear up local antipathy?

It must not be the case. I am afraid that the entire Pine Needle Manor should be uprooted to completely remove the bane of this rebellion, and the entire Novgorod can truly obey.

Otto feels that he is getting old, and he has lost a lot of courage to forge ahead in recent years. He likes to hold steady and fight more and more, especially for wars. Otto actually has an inferiority complex. He feels that he has never been able to be very good. to command too many armies to fight large-scale wars.

Obviously, only Rurik has the ability to command an army of 10,000 people in battle.

Although the little Conusson was forbidden to carry out sneak attacks with hundreds of brothers, the investigation work against the enemy still had to be done.

Vadim threatened to gather 10,000 fighters. Regardless of whether there is moisture in it, Ross has never faced 10,000 enemies in a single battle in the past battles. Otto's mentality is very good, even if some people call him old and become a tortoise, so be it.

On the other hand, due to the large number of troops, non-combatants and a large number of supplies, Rurik's fleet sailed very slowly.

Rurik had taken this situation into account from the very beginning, but was forced to arrive at Novi Rosberg one day after the planned time, the first day of June.

Before that, the fleet approached Gogrand Island and Kronstadt Island to take a look. Even a sailing destroyer took on a special task, that is, after landing on Gogrand Island, it collected a batch of weathered and rain-invaded fist-sized granite blocks on the spot to be used as stone bombs for the trebuchet.

The three larger islands in the Gulf of Finland are excellent reference points for the Ross fleet.

During the voyage, Yevlo was ordered to take a group of soldiers and take a sail destroyer to leave the team. Their goal was the city of Helminki (Helsinki), and then went against the river to enter Kupaboka, the core living area of ​​the Finnish Suomi people in the inland lake region, to announce the order of the Duke of Ross to the highest local nobles.

In other words, the Yevlos went to Kupaboka as counts of Finland, especially their infant son Saturli, who is the real count of Finland.

Rurik has long given Yevlo a lot of discretion. As a canonized nobleman, Yevlo has the right to recruit Suomi and Tavastians who are willing to fight for Rus throughout Finland to organize Finnish servants. military. This servant army is not limited in strength, but weapons, food, transportation, etc. are all at their own expense. The servant army will gain benefits in the war, and each soldier can take the spoils according to his ability.

However, they had no idea that something big had happened in Novgorod.

Rurik's plan was to use the coastal plains at the mouth of the Neva as an excellent army gathering place, then rest the army and dispatch scouts to search for information, intending to find the ruling core of the Karelians, destroy it with one blow, and seek the enemy. A decisive battle to complete the final conquest.

The war model of this era is like this. For many tribal groups in Europe, as long as the core of a capital-like nature is destroyed, the entire political entity will quickly go to destruction.

The arrival of the huge Ross fleet did not surprise the people of New Roseburg. When Rurik's subordinates disembarked, the soldiers were amazed by the tall walls and solemn towers of this big city, and also by the stern faces of the onlookers.

Carlotta frowned at the side of the ship, and she slapped Rurik: "It's strange, the atmosphere is a little depressed, don't the people here seem to welcome us?"

"How is that possible." Rurik smiled wryly, "Maybe, a little. We have too many people here, maybe they are worried that our big appetite will eat the local hares."

The girl couldn't help laughing, but the seriousness of the scene was a fact.

Something must have happened here! No new Rosberg has ever been attacked by the Karelians. Rurik had to be suspicious, based on finding the local governor Conusson, asking questions about strategy, and even the situation of his father Otto.

Rurik disembarked, and more than a thousand warriors had landed before him. Numerous Balmers, especially Hellafield Bringgoldson, rubbed his eyes hard and looked up at the Ross flag fluttering in the wind on the heavy wooden walls, and the great city itself, like an old Like what Rosberg had seen and heard, he once again felt his own insignificance.

Many fighters were close to their local counterparts as soon as they got off the ship. Due to the lack of knowledge of the outside world, they were willing to share their knowledge with others. The inquiries were incredible, and rumors of a serious rebellion in Novgorod spread like wildfire.

The rebellion provoked by Vadim was almost just the rebellion of the Pine Needle Manor wrapped around other manors. Most of the rebellions that were wrapped up were nominal support for the rebellion, and he was very entangled in his heart.

But the messenger sent by Otto arrived in Novi Rosberg, and the message was subconsciously added to the news, and then explained to Rurik by Konusson, and it became a terrible geopolitical event: a savage guy assassinated Otto, and The assembled army vowed to expel the rule of Rus.

Konusson, who was standing on the trestle, explained this very urgently, which instantly made Rurik, who was smiling, frown.

"What? Otto was assassinated and nearly died?!" How could Rurik believe this?

Conuson pledged with his grey beard: "My lord, I have never deceived anyone in all my life. In my opinion, the news is absolutely reliable. My son has taken four hundred brothers to Nove. Gorod's reinforcement of your father can make Otto-sama so eager, I'm afraid the situation in Novgorod is worse than I imagined."

"Is Otto still alive?!" Rurik asked cautiously.

"He's fine, and the iron suit is an excellent defense."

Rurik asked, "Who is the perpetrator?"

"It's that Vadim, who now calls himself the Princip of the entire Novgorod. Your lord, that crazy man is clearly provoking you. There can only be one Princip in this area, and that's you!"

Hearing this news, as an iron-blooded nobleman who relied on hard power, Rurik's blood pressure rose. He had long since lost his innocence, and now it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a ruthless aristocrat.

"Assassinate my father, betray Ross and dare to call himself Princip (duke), this person will die. It seems that I will kill a group of people in Novgorod and kill all the rebels and their families!"

Rurik said ruthlessly, and he really planned to do this during the special period.

Is there anything more disgusting than this? When Rus gathered heavy troops and contacted allies with the intention of conquering Karelia rationally, making Novo Roseburg an absolutely safe place. It was at this critical and historic period that the Slavs in Novgorod turned their backs!

Rurik had no intention of visiting Novo Roseburg, his palace and the "Harvest Square" with rammed earth at the entrance.

In the meeting room here, he had just landed and summoned all the flag captains under his command for a meeting on the same day.

It is not an exaggeration to scold Novgorod's rebellion in the most vicious tone, after all, reason has overwhelmed Rurik's emotions.

The rage did not dissipate, but turned into a plan to conquer traitors.

The most intolerable thing for Arik, Hellafield, Fraser and others are traitors. When they heard that their servants dared to rebel, the three of them thought exactly the same as Rurik - giving priority to quelling the rebellion.

Moreover, this situation is also related to Sorgon this autumn. If the traitors are not strangled and liquidated, I am afraid that they will not receive enough food from Novgorod in autumn. This is very important for the Rus Principality, whose food self-sufficiency rate is still extremely low for the time being. unfavorable. The attitude towards life of many Rus people who speak the Norse language has changed. They instinctively pursue delicious meals. Today, they cannot live without wheat.

In the council chamber, he loudly announced his new decision, and at the same time wanted to hear the opinions of the guys: "It seems that the war against Karelia will be postponed. What do you think?"

"Fight the traitor first!" Arik said without hesitation with a sullen face.

He said so, and Hellafield said the same.

The people who participated in the meeting were completely consistent in their remarks. There was no need for new discussions here. Conquest of rebellion became the best choice for everything, and it was worth keeping the entire army in Novgorod, and even Novgorod no longer needed a new garrison.

Taking into account the population of Novgorod, Rurik feared that the enemy would be able to assemble an astonishing force, perhaps 10,000 or even 20,000.

Maybe the locals will burst out with grievances over decades of looting their fortunes.

Now that the information he has received is very limited, which is exactly the case, Rurik prides himself on being more cautious. It’s not impossible to assemble a superior force to fight a war, then pull out a team of 3,000 people, and Rurik will be confident.

Because war is not simply a pile of numbers, the gap between soldiers can be huge under the combined influence of factors such as strength, armament, discipline, and logistics.

Now that Konusson's son and a group of soldiers have gone to Novgorod to meet Otto at the White Tree Manor, it means that Medvedt's Slavic flag team is full of 800 people.

As a result, the First Banner Team and the Third Banner Team consisted of a thousand powerful Viking warriors, as well as a shooter force of more than 500 people.

How is this kind of military really? It was close to the military appearance of the Battle of Gotland.

Not only that! There are still some people here in Novo Roseburg who are now Ostarans, and they are to take part in the war under the command of Carlota. Another group of Slavs who immigrated to Novo Rosberg, they were armed and capable of fighting.

What's more, White Tree Manor hugged the huge oak tree of Rus Principality like a dodder, and Novgorod rebelled on a large scale. As the first attacking spearhead of the rebels, White Tree Manor would definitely use all its military strength to protect itself.

The meeting didn't last long, and there wasn't even much discussion. The Rus warriors present all demanded to eliminate the traitors and cut the grass and roots. As for the situation that the Karelian identity was still accompanied by fog and did not come to the south bank of Lake Ladoga to provoke the Principality of Rus, Rurik made a bold decision.

He entrusted Konusson with a major order: "Organize the remaining forces of yours, ensure the alertness of Novo Rosso, and ensure that the Karelians are unable to attack. You also send a new expedition to the north of the lake to explore and collect intelligence."

Konusson nodded yes, no more critical questions.

The situation was so urgent that Rurik was only willing to spend one night in New Roseburg.

His determination cheered Carlotta, because this time, the Duchess of Ostara can truly lead her army to fight as an ally of the Duchy of Ross, even if there are only seven men and women who can fight the war together. There were only ten people, and because of their extremely weak strength, the so-called Ostara Army directly formed a team of saboteurs and used bows and arrows as tactical support.

Rurik's decision also made Svetlana gratified, but when she realized that the rebellion of Novgorod's main manor would bring disaster to her family's White Tree Manor, she cried so much that her eyes were swollen. . The Ross army will immediately go south to suppress the rebellion, and her pessimistic attitude has completely reversed.

The next day, the majority of the warriors completely gave up the illusion of rest. Some non-combatants such as Arik's wife Aslaqi stayed outside the local area with their children, and all the combatants went south.

Old Harald was very happy with the arrival of his daughter and son-in-law, and he was even more delighted at the birth of his grandson. He made his son-in-law, Arik, his son, and now the mighty young man was about to go to war. Old Harald didn't make any more comments, he gave Arik a few pieces of amber and then encouraged him with words.

Just like other fighters, Arik is also a passer-by now. The huge fleet pulled up to 1,700 soldiers and sailors. This extremely powerful fighting force passed the Neva River smoothly by the wind, and then floated to the Volkhov River on the bank of the Great Lake.

The large number of troops and the necessary baggage forced the ships to no longer be able to go upstream quickly. Rurik even knew that when he assembled a large army, he would have a disadvantage - logistical problems.

The Ross army cannot be stationed for a long time, and the army must start training immediately after arriving at Whitetree Manor, and even launch a full-scale attack on the traitors a few days later.

Rurik couldn't afford it, even if he unloaded a large amount of wheat at Nova Rosberg, the grain was prepared for the attack on Karelia, and the time to put down the rebellion had already cancelled more than half of the original plan!

If this battle cannot be resolved quickly, it will directly affect the success or failure of this year's conquest of Karelia.

Finally, on a cloudy afternoon, taking advantage of a wonderful north wind, the main fleet of Ross, which was upstream, suddenly gained strong momentum. Rurik's final voyage was exceptionally smooth. , and even a large number of Viking longships parked on the river.

People on the shore also probed, dancing and cheering for the Ross flag on the fleet mast.

Rurik and his army, as expected, obeyed Lord Otto's request and arrived at White Tree Manor!