In order to enable the Russians to have an opening advantage in the naval battle at the moment of the engagement, Harozov began to make some adjustments.
He had a good teacher on how to fight a naval battle, and that was Otto.
In principle, naval battles rely on gang-hopping to achieve final victory, and Otto always believed that this was the best way. To gain an advantage, place your most powerful warriors on powerful ships.
In addition, the opportunity to have the hard dragon head decoration on the bow of the ship hit the side of the enemy ship must not be missed. It is also necessary to shoot some arrows and throw short spears when contact is about to be made, so as to gain some tactical advantages.
However, the power of the bow was never satisfactory. Throwing a short spear often caused the entire spear to sink into the sea. The cost of losing the entire spearhead was too high.
The intensity of war always increases, and the pressure of reality forces soldiers to use their imagination, come up with new tactics, and invent new weapons.
Gang-hopping is still the first key to victory in naval battles, but after the storming of Skenberg, the scene of the army fighting in the fire really shocked Harozov's aging heart.
The archers achieved good results in the attack on the castle. The archers were also hunters. Their shooting skills were very good, so they were able to hunt fifty rabbits a day. People are not rabbits. Warriors with weapons often have hard leather armor. It is difficult for ordinary bows to kill with ordinary arrows, unless the archer accurately hits the enemy's neck after the ship approaches.
There may only be one or two opportunities to shoot at close range, and then it will be a gang war.
Harozov thought of a fire attack, which required gathering all the archers, and before contacting the enemy, seize the time to gather the archers on the flagship, attack and transform ordinary bone arrows, tie them with linen strips and soak them in the remaining pine oil. You also have to prepare some slow-burning fire in a pottery urn.
Harozov has already taken action!
The Russian fleet began to change, and the young warriors who stood up were preparing for battle.
The ships began to throw cables to each other, and some people even untied the cables towing the ships carrying supplies.
The prisoners noticed the appearance of some ships in the distance. Looking at the actions of these Russians, even a fool knew that a naval battle was about to happen.
The captured women began to huddle together again. Some prayed that they would not be buried in the ocean, while others longed for war not to happen.
They probably knew that the ships that appeared came from Gotland. However, in this world, the Russians were defeated and they just became slaves of another group of people.
Because even in Gotland, it is perfect for people who have lost everything to become slaves of others.
Outside of Skenberg, these women no longer regard other people living on the island as their own, and the other people have exactly the same attitude.
After all, the guy who lives in the castle doesn't regard the fishermen down the hillside as one of his own, let alone the people from other family groups and fishermen settlements.
The prisoners only wanted to protect themselves, and their huddled behavior actually caused a lot of trouble for the Russians.
After Harozov's operation, he had five boats towing all twenty captured boats, and one hundred people were responsible for guarding them. If an accident occurs, the one hundred people who guard the prisoners will also row to participate in the battle. They are the reserve team in a practical sense. Of course, Harozov has no intention of deliberately designing the reserve team.
The other fifteen ships serve as the main attack force!
The wide oars of the Russians became a bridge of communication between the two ships. When several oars were put together, they could move freely.
All the archers began to move to the flagship, and a rapid process of making flaming arrows was underway.
The combat commander should not participate in frontal combat, but should control the overall situation from the rear.
Harozov believes that this is how a naval battle should be, and even if the great leader Otto is here, he will definitely command it like this.
Hearing Harozov's decision, Arik was really dissatisfied: "Harozov, you might as well stay behind. You are already old, so let us young people fight in the front."
"Huh? It sounds like you are dissatisfied with my decision?"
"Of course, you are the war leader, you should have led us to fight."
"That's a land battle! This is a sea battle! Arik, follow my arrangements. Since you want to continue to be a hero, then I can say that you are now a real war leader, not a deputy."
"Are you serious?" Aric asked excitedly.
What else can be done? Young people are very aggressive and full of desire to win.
Harozov knew that he really shouldn't fight rashly, because he had to be responsible for the entire fleet. If he died suddenly in battle, everything would be messed up. The more naval battles are on the sea, the more organized the fleet must be. This is not land. Basically, the loser will fall into the sea to feed the fish.
Aric climbed along the oars to another boat and took off his leather armor in front of everyone, as well as the linen lining, revealing his upper body covered with chest hair and the wounds that were beginning to heal. .
He shouted desperately: "Brothers! Now I am the war leader! Follow me and take off your shirt! We will be berserkers!"
As soon as they heard the word "berserker", young people really went crazy.
Everyone screamed desperately, Harozov stared, there were just a bunch of berserkers there!
Arik continued to shout: "Brothers, let's move quickly! Our brothers and father who died in battle died in this sea area. We are fighting on the same battlefield as them! For them! Revenge!"
"Hurry! Smear charcoal on your body and write a spell, and we will become berserkers blessed by Odin. We will be invincible! I, Arik, will lead you to another great victory."
"Remember! The souls of our fathers who died in the battle are watching us in Valhalla in heaven. We must make great achievements!"
Arik tried his best to boost morale, and everyone kept making amazing roars.
Young Rus warriors generally have golden beards at a young age. They also have thick hair on their chests and golden fur on their arms.
All Viking tribe warriors generally have this image. In their community, a man who lacks body hair will be regarded as a freak.
Golden beard, complicated braids, astonishing chest hair when fighting shirtless, and strong muscles. It cannot be said that a person with such a posture is a berserker. A berserker must have such a heroic posture.
Arik's front chest was daubed with rough patterns, and his back was daubed with several words by his companions, meaning "Odin bless me."
Most people have similar words painted on their bodies.
In fact, most people have a very limited understanding of their own nation's rune script. They can generally spell out their own names, but they cannot use the large number of words it spells to compose their own national classics.
However, they have a superstitious understanding of some special words. Some sacred phrases must have magical power. If the phrases are engraved on their necklaces or even weapons, they can have magical powers and become perfect amulets.
Smear it on your body and go into battle shirtless, gaining near-invulnerability.
Arik was actively preparing for war. A large group of people shouted crazy slogans and vowed to annihilate the new enemies they encountered.
Harozov, who commanded the normal battle, looked even more calm. Courage is very important in war. It is also necessary to arrange a formation that is advantageous to oneself before the battle.
The Russian fleet is actively operating, and all their strange behaviors are discovered by the other party.
On a clear day and the sea is vast, a person with strong eyesight can climb onto the mast and see almost every detail of the sea within a radius of twenty nautical miles. Twenty nautical miles is the limit of human visual observation due to the curvature of the earth.
The Russians saw the ships of the Gotlanders, and the Gotlanders also noticed the fleet of ships that suddenly emerged from the sea.
Only those with high status would print and dye the sails with unique patterns.
Most of the Russian warships have beautiful sea snake-like dragon heads, and the sails are made of thickened linen cloth, and the whole body is gray-white.
The ships of the Gotlanders were exactly the same.
When Harozov launched the attack, he did not want to expose his identity too much. Seeing that the naval battle was about to break out, he had no intention of exposing himself.
In this way, if the enemy really drags the Danes to retaliate, they will not go all the way north to Rossburg. They would think that the attackers were all from Svealand's tribal alliance. As for Rossburg, it was distant and mysterious to the Gotlanders and Danes.
A large number of gray-white sails appeared, causing the Gotland fleet who saw the sails to think that the visitor might be one of their own.
The eight Gotland warships began to line up in a single column and sail against the wind in groups in order to contact each other quickly.
In the era without telescopes, it was really difficult for the pilots to expect a small group of pilots with amazing eyesight to learn the identity of distant ships early.
So when the Gotland ship gradually approached, he was surprised to notice a series of special actions by the other party, and subconsciously took precautions.
That's a huge fleet!
Why did they suddenly lower the sails collectively while taking advantage of the southerly wind?
They actually moved the two ships closer together and moved people on the sea!
Is there any doubtful explanation for such various behaviors? Could they be enemies? !
Eight Gotland warships accepted the orders of their clan to go south for reconnaissance. Although they were a partial division, their armed strength was not small.
Two hundred and ten Gotlanders were sitting on eight boats. They belonged to the same clan, and they were old and young. Just like the Rus, when faced with a real all-out war, the men of the entire tribe will fight as brothers, father and son. Unlike the Russians, the Gotlanders are no longer monolithic. The rapid development of economic activities has made their tribe very fragmented, becoming a mixture of some large families, clan settlements, and scattered households, all of whom are slaves to the Danes. Hodgepodge.
But when a powerful force launches a war, they can still unite to fight.
This partial division carrying out reconnaissance work was shocked to see forty warships, combined with the strange behavior of the other party, and thought about it carefully, they were definitely not one of their own.
Because our main force is moving in the western waters of the island!
How come there is a large fleet that has been running to the eastern waters of the island and is still heading north? !
Perhaps some people were left in doubt and hesitation, until they saw the sudden change in formation of the opponent's large fleet, and everyone was horrified!
Haro Zuosen didn't want to have any verbal negotiation with the other party at all. He didn't even have the intention to curse a few dozen meters away.
In his understanding, naval warfare is all about decisiveness. Now that he personally leads many Russian soldiers and many ships, he can use his strength advantage to cleanly cut off the heads of everyone on the other side and end this encounter as soon as possible.
Harold Johnson arranged his fourteen warships in a horizontal formation, forming a wide and concave curved front. He placed the flagship filled with archers in the center.
He just wanted to use a pincer tactic on the sea, like a crab's pincers holding its prey.
Although the ships on both sides have high maneuverability and can make short turns, Harozov believes that as long as the enemy enters his semi-surrounded pocket, he will eat away at least half of the opponent's strength.
The Russian fighting force was already rowing shirtless, attacking the opponent at a speed of five meters per second.
Seeing the opponent's obvious collision formation, the Gotlanders realized that something was seriously wrong.
However, the Gotlanders were dumbfounded. They had completely concluded that the other party was the enemy. It was most likely the attacker who was said to have burned down Sikkenborg. The other party was killing them crazily and had no intention of escaping.
It was a large group of sea wolves, and their target was their eight ships.
The Gotlanders will not run away! To flee without fighting is a shameful coward. Seeing that the attackers deliberately let them go, a group of people will be reviled by all the islanders when they return.
The enemy's crazy actions further proved the statement that began to spread rapidly, that the Siiya Alliance was really going to launch a full-scale war against Gotland!
My lips are dead and my teeth are cold! Eight Gotland warships carrying 210 warriors chose to fight head-on and began to charge against the wind.
"Brothers! We must stop those pirates, we will fight them!"
"Get ready to collide, get ready to gang up and fight!"
"Archers prepare their arrows and try to cause as much damage as possible!"
"Brothers! For our families, for our freedom, attack!"
The older leader of the partial division waved his battle ax and tried his best to boost the morale of the entire army.
Even if the next battle will be difficult, if they can't make the enemy pay the price, will they think that the Gotlanders are just big fat sheep that can be slaughtered? How can that be done? !
Besides, who knows what other goals they have. Are these enemies heading north to attack their own clan fishing village?
It must have been them who burned Skokenberg and killed at least a thousand people! To make matters worse, many men in the fishing villages have already set out to search for enemies. There are only a large number of women and children and a small number of soldiers left in the fishing villages, and the defense is extremely empty.
Many of those who escaped from Skokenberg had immediately become new slaves of the wealthier families.
Some men settled down a little and immediately boarded the boats of residents of other settlements to seek revenge on the Siyans.
Both sides have reasons to fight, and both sides think they are seeking revenge!
No one chooses to avoid it.
What the Gotlanders saw was a total of fifteen ships launching an attack. Not far behind them, there were twenty-five leading warships!
Eight against forty? Five times the disadvantage gap.
The war broke out when the Gotlanders considered themselves to be at an absolute disadvantage.
But the Gotlanders were not stupid enough to dive into the pincer-shaped encirclement arranged by the Russians.
Due to the structure of the dragon-head warships on both sides, the dragon-head wood carvings spliced on the bows are a solid presence.
It was okay if the bows of the two sides collided with each other. If the other side hit the sides, it would not be surprising if the entire ship was smashed into two pieces.
Just when the Gotlanders were about to collide, they were shocked to notice the huge strength of the opponent. Look at those strong men. They all exposed their arms for a fight at sea.
"Is it a Berserker?!" The leader of the Gotlanders thought for a moment and then ordered: "Quick! Turn right!"
After all, the eight boats of the Gotlanders were a small fleet. All the oarsmen operated urgently, and the eight boats shrank into formation and turned to the right.
"They want to escape?!" Harozov, who had already stood up, could see the other party's face clearly.
Harozov's best performance came at the last moment, when the Gotlanders made a "cowardly" emergency turn and missed the target.
"Archers, shoot flaming arrows into their sails!"
Harozov gave an order, and twenty shirtless oarsmen stood up and immediately picked up the single oak shortbows they had placed beside them.
There was no time to organize a volley. When the pre-made arrows were ignited by the fire, the flaming arrows were shot out immediately.
A large number of burning arrows dragged blue smoke and flew toward the enemy ship nearly a hundred meters away.
The sails still lowered by the Gotlanders were like a huge net bag. When sailing against the wind, they had to turn the entire sail sideways to the central axis of the ship. It really became a huge target for arrows, and they encountered the concentrated fire of flaming arrows.
Dry linen was an excellent combustible, and polished, barbed bone arrowheads shot through the sails, while burning strips of oil-soaked cloth quickly ignited the linen.
The two ships on the left wing of the Gotlander formation quickly burst into flames.
"Brothers! Keep shooting! Others, turn around immediately, rush over and join the gang! Quick!"
"Arik! Hit me, you brat! Kill them when you turn the corner!"
Harozov roared as loud as he could, and Arik, who was not far away, completely understood his uncle's intention.
Arik didn't say much. He stood on the bow of the ship, holding a sword and shield, and shouted: "Brothers, listen to me, turn and hit them!"
The seven ships on the entire left wing of the Ross fleet turned collectively and rushed their bows against the side of the moving Gotland ship.
Facing the menacing enemy, they were severely frightened when they saw their companions in the two boats rushing to jump into the cold water to avoid being burned to death in the fire.
Not only are the enemies numerous, these shirtless berserkers are also well-trained.
"Don't come over here!"
"The Sithians are coming! Use your oars to push the bow of their boat!"
Some of the Gotlanders who reacted immediately lowered their oars to block the powerful collision. However, everyone knows that the reason why the dragon-headed warship is a warship is that it has a reinforced bow! Everyone knows that naval battles use collision and gang-hopping tactics.
The Gotlanders' oars were more fragile, and their pine oars were broken.
Seven Russian ships collided with each other, and two Gotland ships were hit with horrific holes on the spot!
There are no watertight compartments in the leading warship, not even a deck!
The two boats were knocked out of big holes, and then sank into the sea with an unprepared boatload of people.
Those Gotlanders wearing chainmail thought they would gain a certain tactical advantage in the gang war. However, the cold-proof leather jackets and defensive chainmail became a real burden, dragging their owners into the deep sea. slide.
Such people quickly sank more than ten meters into the sea. They had no time to unload their heavy burdens and float to the surface to escape. The increasingly strong water pressure had already pushed them into unconsciousness, and they were all fed to the fish on the spot.
Some people soaked in the water and hurriedly got rid of their wet clothes. They also lost their weapons, and like seals trapped in fishing nets, they were stabbed to death by the prepared short spears of the Russians.
There were still three ships that only vibrated violently during the collision, and the ribs made of simple oak luckily withstood the impact.
But after the shock, the shirtless Russians rushed over.
Gang fighting occurred.
"Brothers! Cut off their heads!"
Aric simply threw away his shield, and with his steel sword in both hands, he leaped onto the enemy ship and slashed directly at a Gotlander who was blocking with his iron sword. The poor Gotlander died on the spot. The sword broke into two pieces.
On the battlefield on this ship, Arik became a true berserker.
He killed four enemies in a row and was covered in their blood.
As a result, he was suddenly kicked by an enemy and fell into the cold sea.
Even so, he held a piece of wooden ribs that floated after the collision, and continued to stab the enemy with his steel sword.
In gang fighting, the Russians and Gotlanders could not organize effective infantry formations at all, and fighting relied entirely on individual abilities.
The Gotlanders woke up and began to fight back. In a one-on-one battle, luck may be more important than fighting skills!
Many Russian warriors were killed by the Gotlanders' axes, and many Gotlanders fell into the sea and were stabbed to death by the Russians' short spears and swords like seals.
Some Russians were also hit by arrows fired by a small number of Gotlanders. Their naked bodies were hit by arrows and then fell into the sea.
Many Gotlanders were attacked by Russian archers. For a while, two groups of people in the boat were fighting, but the sails were set on fire by flaming arrows.
Just before the battle, the leader of the Gotlanders predicted that the battle would be very detrimental to him, and he hoped that the courage of the Gotlanders would delay the enemy as much as possible.
Who would have thought that the other party is obviously well-trained!
Not long after the battle started, two ships burst into flames, two ships were knocked into silence, and three more ships became a terrible battlefield.
The leader of the Gotlanders was lucky enough not to participate in the fight. The two remaining Gotland warships would be really cowardly!
Rush in and fight them? !
Everyone has tried their best. Who would have thought that these guys from the Siiya Alliance are really amazing in combat.
In grief and anger, the leader of the Gotlanders roared: "We... we retreat! Hurry to the nearest coast!"
The frightened people immediately steered the last two boats to turn. They continued to raise their sails and the direction became due west.
The sea water was dyed red with blood. Arik grabbed the spearhead handed over by his own people and was dragged to the good ship by his brothers.
The gang-hopping battle on the ship has ended. All the groaning Gotlanders were stabbed to death, and some seriously injured Russians were vomiting blood in horror.
Many enemies, and even some dead Russians, have sunk to the bottom of the sea. A large area of red water proves what terror is.
A large number of corpses were floating on the sea. The corpses of the Russians were pulled onto the ship and they would be taken back to their hometown for burial.
As for the dying people, the Russians gave these brothers a quick blow to end their suffering.
Because these seriously injured brothers have lost the possibility of living, being given death by their own people is an acceptable destination.
Looking at the two lonely white sails fading away, Aric, whose paint had been washed away by the sea water, stamped his feet angrily: "Brothers, how about we catch up and kill them all?!"
Many people really responded to the call and sat down one after another to paddle in pursuit.
This move was seen by Harozov; "Arik! What are you doing?!"
"Uncle! We can't let those enemies escape. We have to destroy them all."
"Forget it! Let them go! Arik, listen to my command now." Harozov shouted.
"But you have appointed me war chief!"
"Now that the battle is over, let's leave quickly! Don't be complacent about winning a battle. If we are discovered by the Gotland army, all of us will die! Leave quickly!"
Don't chase the poor criminals? Harozov is just worried that the young people's love affair will cause the Russians to lose the opportunity to withdraw safely.
After all, this naval battle is what Harozov hopes to avoid. Now that the battle is over, how can he be interested in fighting?
Arik sat down angrily and continued to paddle, and the entire Ross fleet escaped from the blood-stained battlefield.
The naval battle lasted only a short time, in which the Gotlanders lost five ships and a total of 140 men died.
Although the Russians had a huge tactical advantage, fifteen people died in the final gang-hopping battle.
At least they died fighting as berserkers. Ten corpses were collected and the rest sank into the sea. Everyone also counted the number of people to determine the number of the dead. Everyone felt sorry and happy for them, because they died on the battlefield and completed the glorious life of a man at sea!
After the living people calmed down and the violent Xin became calm, they no longer thought about continuing to pursue and expand the victory.
Harozov's words do make sense. Everyone is exhausted after this battle. What if the enemy comes not with eight ships, but with eighty ships? The results will be dire.
The south wind continued to blow the sails of the Russians, and the bows and ribs of many ships were stained with the blood of the enemy. The Ross men changed into warm clothes, ate roughly wheat cakes, and formed a circular fleet. They endured the muscle soreness and mental exhaustion after the battle and rowed as fast as possible toward the north.
For the sake of safety, Harozov would rather take a detour, and the fleet began to favor the location of Seramiya Island, intending to take an arc around the Åland Islands to gain real safety.
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Chapter 136 The Great Battle in the Eastern Sea of Gotland
