After leaving the Åland Islands, the main fleet led by Otto turned into the Gulf of Finland.
Along the way, they sailed zigzag with the help of the south wind and the occasional sudden north wind.
Otto had no interest in some of the islands that appeared on the route.
It was the sudden appearance of some ships that aroused his great interest.
Because this bay has never been exclusively used by the Ross tribe. Some Finnish tribes and Baltic tribes had sporadic activities on the seaside, and they rashly landed to fight with them. This was something Otto did not want.
Those tribes were not conquered by the Rus at all, and they did not even have peaceful trade with each other. Instead, they had experienced several wars in history.
He didn't want any accident to happen, so after turning into the bay, the huge fleet never docked at the shore.
The fleet only stayed on a deserted island that was sure to be deserted for one day, leaving traces of a bonfire before continuing towards its destination.
The sea area is covered with thin ice floes. As we continue to move eastward, the number of ice floes is increasing.
"Chief, the situation ahead is a bit unclear. Will there be thicker ice that our ships can't pass through?"
The speaker is the young blacksmith Kawei, who is staying in the leader's flagship and is deeply uneasy about the unknown future.
"Are you afraid that the ice will damage our boat?!" Otto, who was paddling, asked with a smile.
"I'm worried. Because our ship..."
"It doesn't matter. The worst case scenario is that you lie down on the bow of the boat and break the ice with an axe, and we move on."
Hearing what Otto said, Kawei became even more worried.
Otto breathed a sigh of relief. He continued to paddle and shouted loudly: "You young people don't have to worry about anything. This is your first time coming with me. You will settle in our New Roseburg in the future. It's hard to be arrogant." Is ice worrying you? You should think about your future life."
Because this year's tribute voyage is not as simple as Otto leading a group of people to ask for tribute.
Rather than going to Novgorod to collect taxes, establishing new settlements is the most important thing.
Since a large number of houses are to be built and life is to be settled, labor is bound to be needed to work.
The Russians have not captured a large number of male slaves so far, so they must do all the work of cutting down trees, building houses, and even reclaiming land for farming.
The biggest purpose of this trip for a large number of young people from Russia is to get a wife from Novgorod. As a price, they have to pay a dowry that allows for a peaceful marriage. After that, they must accept the arrangement of the leader and become the first wife of New Rossburg. A group of residents and thrive.
Nostalgic for homeland?
No! Young people are willing to venture out.
The hometown of Roseburg is not a wonderful place. The young people simply cannot understand that their ancestors could not live in the good Svealand Plains, but insisted on breaking away from the core of the alliance and moving to settle in the bay further north.
Young people do not want to know more about the fact that the ancestors of the Rus people faced the pressure of life and went north to obtain the rich animal furs in the north.
Once upon a time, the Rus moved north and gained a lot from decades of hunting. They did not intend to kill all animals, large and small. In fact, their hunting efficiency was higher than the reproduction rate of local animals. This prompted this tribe, which hunted reindeer as a whole, to start fishing on a large scale.
Catching fish? It would be better to find a good Feng Shui land to grow wheat.
After all, everyone has been able to enjoy the wheat tribute from the Novgorod people for decades. Unfortunately, the amount of tribute from the other party is limited, so that the wheat distributed to ordinary residents can only be eaten for a short period of time.
The current tribal distribution method is changing. Young people who lack power within the tribe are getting less and less.
Besides, as there are more and more young people in the tribe, it is really hopeless to expect a little wheat from Novgorod to satisfy their greed.
Everyone is dreaming about a better life where they can eat wheat cakes, bread and wheat porridge every day, and even use excess wheat to brew ale.
Some people even fantasized about organizing a large army to conquer Novgorod completely, so that the locals could pay tribute of wheat all year round.
Of course, people with a right mind think this idea is too unrealistic. No matter how bad the Novgorod people are, their numbers are too many. If they are really to be completely turned into slaves, the prerequisite must be a decisive military victory.
This victory must also be based on the killing of a large number of men in the Novgorod area.
Of course, the local men will bring a large number of wooden sticks and stone hammers to the battle, and it seems that such enemies can be easily eliminated.
Killing the vast number of men in Novgorod is the most stupid thing. If they all die, who will farm the land?
Completely conquer Novgorod, Otto, as the leader, has not never thought of this idea. However, there are too many people on the other side, so maintaining the current situation is the best choice for the Ross tribe.
It is more important to obtain warm land than to launch a war to completely conquer and then enslave them.
The Russians can completely cultivate their own land. Since the purpose is to harvest wheat, it is safer to cultivate their own land.
The mighty fleet, carrying 900 people, sailed for another five days after passing the Åland Islands!
Finally, on the morning of the sixth day, a large island in the distance appeared in front of everyone.
Otto put down the oars and stood on the bow of the boat to look far into the distance.
"Brothers! We are finally here! Keep rowing, and in the afternoon we will choose a good place to land."
The long journey is finally coming to an end. The young people have finally found a way to vent their emotions that they had been holding back for a long time. They are already cheering.
Also cheering were the Novgorod women who were returning to their parents' homes with the ship. They followed their husbands with their bellies puffed out.
If these women continue to live in Novgorod, they are almost destined to never leave the shores of Lake Ilmen throughout their lives.
Because large and small Slavic farms in the Novgorod region live around Lake Ilmen, the locals have completely transformed into a farming nation.
Agricultural production is the most important thing for a family, and rashly traveling far away is really an act of seeking death.
Even if you marry a Rus, your living situation will be a little better than in your hometown. For example, the once scarce meat can now be eaten regularly, and the half-starved and half-full life has also been alleviated to a certain extent.
But her hometown is her hometown after all, no matter how bad she is, she is still her hometown.
What's more, the biological parents still stay in their hometown!
As long as the Russian army docks, it means that everyone has left the ocean.
Because she was Aric's wife, Peravina was treated as his niece by Otto and had the right to sit on the leader's flagship.
She held her belly and crawled slowly in the boat, fearing that the rocking of the boat would wet her clothes.
She crawled closer to Otto and asked: "Dad, as soon as we land, we enter the river. Can I go back soon?"
"Why did you come to the front? Go back quickly!" Otto said harshly.
"I just want to... just want to ask." Peravina quickly lowered her head and explained carefully.
"Very soon. We will land in the afternoon and we will continue our journey tomorrow morning."
Because after Arik's biological father died in the war, he called Otto his father for many years. The married Peravina also followed her husband's habit and called Otto his father.
This intimate call really made Otto's imagination wander.
Seeing Peravina's face, he thought of his eldest nephew Arik who attacked Gotland, and those young people who took revenge.
Their battle should go smoothly!
Otto really couldn't think too much. He arranged the army's time very tightly. The so-called hundred families who came with the ship would set up permanent camp as soon as they docked. They would officially start their visit to New Roseburg at dawn the next day at the latest. Infrastructure.
He went straight to Novgorod with his army of brides and tributes, and stayed at Lake Ilmen for at most one day. In the end, after up to seven days, the army would bring more young people from Novgorod. The women returned and joined the great cause of building the town.
The mighty fleet passed Kotlin Island smoothly.
What everyone is most worried about is the collision between the ship and the sea ice, causing the ship to be destroyed and people to die. As the ship continues the winter, there are indeed more and more floating ice, and soon patches of floating ice appear!
As a result, everyone discovered that there was obviously a wide waterway between the ice floes. The fleet naturally rushed into the waterway and moved forward unaffected by any ice floes.
However, when entering this waterway, the paddlers also felt a resistance.
People all understand the reason why there is no ice floating in the waterway, and some people deliberately put their hands into the water to test their ideas. Licking your hand, you can't feel the salty taste at all on your tongue!
Facts have proven that this waterway is full of fresh water.
Walking along the waterway, a yellow beach not far away appeared in front of everyone again.
Is that the landing site for the fleet? If it was just for landing, all the paddlers would hit the beach with all their strength, and everyone would be able to land safely.
Many felt itchy, and they paddled harder.
"Chief, the beach in front is really a perfect landing site, why are we just rushing there?!" Kawei asked excitedly.
"No!" Otto retorted bluntly.
"Why? That beach is obviously better than our Roseburg."
"Young man, this is your first time here. When the tide comes in, that beach will be submerged. We continue rowing, and you will soon know that it is not a landing place."
In fact, the so-called beach presented in front of the fleet is the west beach of Vasily Island.
The average altitude of this island is only eight meters, and the altitude near the beach is less than two meters.
The so-called Vasily Island is a sandbar washed out by the sand and stones of the Neva River, and its size is still slowly increasing.
It is now that it does not have the name "Vasily Island" at all, and no one has named it. Otto now only wants to call it "Western Sand Bank".
Since we are going to land and establish new settlements, it is very necessary to name the areas near the settlements.
The big lake is called Lake Ladoga, and the river is naturally called Ladoga River.
Without Otto's order, no ship attempted to land. Everyone was paying attention to the nearby environment and planning for future development prospects.
A place that was considered by many to be an excellent landing site a moment ago was soon no longer taken seriously. Because everyone discovered that it was just an island divided by a river. It was not a good choice to establish a settlement on an island, just because the sandy soil there was definitely not suitable for farming.
The fleet has entered the river, and the strong current makes paddling difficult for many young people who are new to this place.
The so-called Ladoga River is the Neva River. The river has begun to enter the spring and summer flood season, so that the rising water on both sides of the river has submerged many aquatic plants.
Very early on, when the Neva River was near its mouth, the strong current broke into three waterways and created many sandbars.
Otto had been looking for a suitable landing point, and he finally identified a suitable location.
And this location is where the Winter Palace is located.
The Russians are going to build a new Fort Ross at the location of the Winter Palace!
"Brothers, let's turn the corner! Land!"
After that, he suddenly drew his sword, and the place where the sword pointed directly was the official landing site.
The leading flagship turned first, followed by all the ships behind it.
The muscular young oarsmen rowed hard, and the keel of the boat rubbed against the reeds submerged by the flooded river. For a moment, the water surged, and the boat rushed directly onto the river beach composed of sand, gravel and mud.
Otto held on to the solid dragon head relief on the bow of the ship. After the violent shock of the ship hitting the beach, everything turned calm.
He jumped off the ship and became the first person to land.
"Great! Guys, we're building our new Fort Ross right here! Everyone, get off the ship!"
Excited people jumped into the shallows one after another, and no one complained about the river water filling their boots.
The quiet place suddenly became lively due to the appearance of more than 900 Russians. Many people had already called their companions to do those things immediately after landing.
The ships docked collectively, and the people who landed on the beach discussed the next work on the ship. Their actions were indeed orderly, and there was no chaos at the landing site.
Many young people jumped down and pulled the cable non-stop, shouting slogans collectively, and pulled the ship to the shore.
Others suddenly drove stakes into the sand to tie up the boats being dragged ashore.
This was the case for more than 40 ships, and Otto did not direct everything personally, just because everyone was worried that a tide would rise in the evening, and those poorly fixed ships would be washed away by the tide.
This concern is entirely valid.
Because once a spring tide hits, the incoming seawater can completely submerge the westernmost sandbank, the so-called "Vasily Island".
In St. Petersburg in that dimension, when Peter the Great decided to build a new city, he encountered the dilemma of seawater intrusion. It was not until the 1970s that the Soviet Union decided to build a breakwater stretching for 40 kilometers with the Kronstadt Port in the west of the city as the center.
Due to the impact of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the construction of the breakwater was shelved midway, but it was still completed in 2011, which permanently solved the problem of seawater intrusion in St. Petersburg.
In this plane, the Ross tribe comes from Rossburg in the north. Their hometown is a small bay, and everyone knows about the erosion of the tide.
Otto's choice of location to establish the settlement coincided with that of Peter the Great in another dimension. In other words, anyone who knew the sea would set the location of the Winter Palace as the core of the settlement.
The reason is simple. People standing on the boat can see at a glance that a small slope suddenly appears on the gentle impact plain, which is the most suitable place for building a town.
The location chosen by Otto is a soothing breakthrough. Compared with the open sandbank, the breakthrough altitude of the landing point quickly rises to fifteen meters. No matter whether it is intrusion of seawater or flooding river, it will never flood here!
There are more than 900 lander of all kinds, they are already unloading their messy equipment.
Especially those 100 Russian families who are about to become the first residents. They hold axes and scrapers in their hands, and there are even men carrying prefabricated wood transported from their hometown, ready to insert it into the sand. , put up the basic frame of the wooden house.
Many of the accompanying housewives lacked the strength to carry the hardwood and walk quickly.
Carrying water bags made from the stomachs of seals or reindeer, they ran to the fast-flowing Neva River to drink water first, and then filled the water for their husbands who had already started building a house.
The children brought by the couple also began to do what they could.
Evening is coming, and without Otto's nonsense, a vigorous construction movement has begun.
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Chapter 137 The Russians are about to build a new Fort Ross at the location of the Winter Palace
