Compared with previous years, this year’s Hanukkah festival is obviously more grand.
On December 28 of the Julian calendar, there was no sunshine on this day, and Roseburg entered the only day of absolute daylight in the year.
The stone boat altar, brightly illuminated by a large number of bonfires, was crowded with people for a while. Businessmen who were staying over the winter also joined the crowd at the event.
Under the attention of countless tribesmen, a young priestess took the old high priest's antlered helmet in public and put it on her head.
High Priest Vilia, she has become too old to perform the entire ceremony herself. She stood in the stone ship altar surrounded by the flames of the candlestick, and with a hoarse voice, guided Rumia, who was wearing a deer-horned helmet, to do the most critical work.
Otto and Rurik, on the other hand, half-knelt in the altar quietly, watching everything that happened.
A stag's throat was slit by Rumia's reluctant hands, and the steaming deer blood was used to worship the Valkyrie parading in the sky.
She sprinkled the deer's blood on the snow, and then worked with other priests to cut open the deer's belly and pull out its liver.
"The next part is my work. Otto, Rurik, follow me."
Finally, the real high priest Vilia, who was in a state of supervision and observation, began the only divination that he had to personally participate in.
For the deer's blood has been shown to the gods, and the deer's blood nourishes the earth.
This time the divination no longer requires the "gem trick". The deer's liver must be cut, and Vilia will judge the good or bad luck of the northern hunt through the arrangement of blood vessels.
And this is the key to making this sacrifice different from the past.
A carbon steel dagger inlaid with gold was held in Vilia's hand. Because of carbon steel, Rurik had always lied that it was "technology from Valhalla." Naturally, this recently made dagger had some kind of Divine power, Vilia firmly believed in this.
The bright red deer liver was carried to a wooden platform by Rumia. Under the illumination of the aurora moonlight and even the candlelight and bonfire, Vilia completed the cutting.
She held the oil lamp with trembling hands and concentrated on observing the cut section of the liver.
"Otto, come to me..."
Otto was ordered to approach the high priest with great caution. "Great priest...is this a good omen?"
"It's a sign, maybe it's good, maybe it's bad."
"High Priest..." Otto was confused and his attitude was more cautious.
As for Villa, she felt that she had received some special revelation from the deer liver. I am afraid that this is God's will, and she firmly believes in this.
"Tell the people. As you go east, you will inevitably fight against the unknown. The master of the deer will gain his first victory, and the territory of Rus will expand to the sea at the end of the world, and new discoveries will be made in the frozen land. The treasure..."
"What...what does this mean?" Otto asked doubtfully.
"This is the omen. Please inform your people."
Otto faced all this with confusion. He didn't understand what a "deer owner" was, but he was quite interested in the so-called expansion of territory. Will there be a fight? It is better to have a fight, so that the young people involved in the operation do not think that the operation is a boring bully deer herder.
Therefore, Otto asked again: "The great priest, our enemy... is the deer herder?"
"No! Your enemy is an unknown person, not a deer herder."
Unknown enemy? Otto found it even more interesting.
As for the deer owner's first victory, now, Otto felt a little bit like he was talking about his son.
Otto did not hesitate any longer. He grabbed the deer liver dripping with blood and told the tribesmen in a roaring voice: "Brothers! The high priest has completed the divination! Are you eager to fight?"
His question immediately aroused the excitement of the young people in the tribe. The tribesmen who became very lively began to let out war cries.
"Then go fight! All warriors who participate in the hunt, you will definitely fight against the unknown enemy, and you will definitely expand the territory of the Rus people to the sea at the end of the world. Brothers! We are not going to hunt, we are going to conquer the north. .”
Speaking of excitement, Otto pulled out his sword, picked up the deer's liver with the tip of the sword, raised it high, and let the steel sword drink the blood.
And the warlike tribesmen also fell into madness.
Seeing such a spectacular scene, Rurik's mood did not fluctuate violently. The young tribesmen became excited when it came to fighting, and they never even considered possible injuries and deaths.
Rurik felt that the so-called prophecy of the high priest was not a "god's will", but was just another excuse for the old lady to use it. Of course, he himself also understood that until now, this old woman was still trying her best to promote herself, and even used prophecies to urge herself.
"I am the master of the deer. Because I am now the master of all the reindeer in the tribe. When I rule the group of deer herders, I will be the master of all the reindeer..."
Therefore, Rurik did not feel that there was any ambiguity in the words of the high priest.
On the winter solstice, the Hanukkah festival ended successfully in the excitement of the group. After that, those who decided to participate in the northern hunt returned home and began the final preparations.
On December 29th of the Julian calendar, the sun finally returned, although it still passed by briefly.
Life is already full of hope. People who see the sun again understand that the days will only get longer in the future, and spring will return soon.
Different from previous group hunting, Otto decided to organize an elite team of 300 people and head straight to the northeast along the frozen coastline to find the so-called "unknown enemy."
What is an elite team? Those young men who had participated in the war against the Gotlanders at the end of April aroused Otto's strong concern.
As the leader, he naturally selects the most elite warriors himself.
Otto even forced the blacksmith Kawei to join the team, not only because he trusted the young man, but also because for this operation, the team needed a blacksmith who knew how to repair tools and weapons. What about Kawei? Being able to participate in new adventures is what he wants! Rather than hunting, Kawei actually wanted to find new iron ore, copper ore, or even directly dig for gold. Because the blacksmith in this time and space is basically a "geological expert".
Otto ordered this group of young boys, generally only twenty years old, to forget the idea of hunting and instead seize the time to prepare their own weapons and all supplies for camping in the wild, especially leather blankets and making a large number of wheat cakes.
Beikuri's mood has changed. Otto wants to follow the high priest's prophecy and go to war with the so-called unknown enemy.
Of course, there are also a group of brave people who simply go hunting, but the route heading north is completely different from Otto's team.
The hunters acted spontaneously, while Otto assembled a real army.
Rurik was not idle during the last three days of preparations.
Right in front of his house, Rurik gathered his guards - mercenaries who mainly existed to make money.
All the mercenaries began to receive training from Jevro while they were still on Gould Island. They arrived at Fort Ross and received rigorous formation training.
Even at the last moment, this group of people received brand-new training in order to master the new weapons.
Rurik observed the twenty people standing in line in front of him, among whom Jevro was their leader.
A pair of sharp eyes came from a child, but all the mercenaries did not think this child was childish in any way. The legendary Rurik behaved much like an adult.
There is also the magical steel-arm crossbow he developed, which is now in everyone's hands. This weapon has the ability to make arrows penetrate wooden boards. It can be used to attack enemies or hunt, and its power should be considerable.
Today's mercenaries all have cowhide hoods on their heads that can protect their ears, and wear warm cowhide jackets of a similar style, tied up with leather belts. They also all wore layers of burlap trousers and warm and durable moccasin boots. A burlap waistcoat covered almost their entire upper body.
Not only are their costumes unified, but their weapons are also highly unified.
Fully equip the mercenaries with steel swords? Rurik felt that this consumption of property was unnecessary for the time being. There is no need for this group of people to have excellent weapons for the time being, let alone the steel sword that every warrior wants.
The mercenaries all have a short spear, and the spearhead is actually mass-produced cast bronze. After all, it is used as a piercing attack weapon, and the hardness of bronze is completely sufficient. Its greatest use besides being a weapon is as a marching staff.
The mercenary also had a small hand axe, an iron dagger hanging on his waist, and a round wooden shield on his back.
With these equipment, a standard Viking warrior looks like this.
But this group of people is equipped with a new type of weapon that transcends the era - the steel-arm crossbow.
Compared with children, these mercenaries all have the strength to string a bow with their bare hands. They wear leather gloves, so they don't feel the stringing. The equipped crossbow has a linen strap installed on the wooden support, so that the mercenary can directly carry the crossbow on his back.
Each of them has a sewn cross-body bag, which is the so-called quiver, but it can only hold ten crossbow arrows.
Rurik actually designed the quivers like this for them. He said that every crossbow arrow was heavy. Since his men were destined to march for a long time, they should not be equipped with too heavy equipment.
Rurik reviewed his men, and he felt that these guys had met his expectations.
He gave the order: "Brothers, you have trained with the crossbow, and your training results satisfy me. We Russians will go to the north to fight the prophesied enemy. You are my mercenaries. In the past days , I rewarded you with food and accommodation, and each of you earned thirty silver coins. Ask yourselves, are you stronger now than when you first arrived in Roseburg? Now, you must prove to me that I rewarded Everything given to you is worth it.”
Yevluo immediately stood out of the team and suddenly knelt down: "Master, we will fight for you!"
Is it embarrassing to kneel down to a child?
No!
The other mercenaries all knelt down, lowered their proud heads, and swore: "My master, I fight for you."
The sources of mercenaries are almost all Melalen people, specifically a group of very poor young people who have youthful vitality. They first want a stable life, secondly live with dignity, and then pursue their own honor.
Now, the mercenaries want to prove the value of their existence through fighting and get rewards from their sponsors.
Rurik shouted calmly: "My mercenaries! You must prove your true loyalty through a battle. Once a battle occurs, I will reward those who are brave and punish the cowardly. This time If you take action, I will reward each of you with ten silver coins in advance. In addition, I will also prepare the food we need for our action."
Hearing this, the eyes of the half-kneeling mercenaries shone brightly. Unexpectedly, they had already made a huge profit before the Northern Hunting began.
Rurik continued: "Don't think that I am a benevolent charity. What I need is your bravery." At this point, he suddenly asked about Yevluo: "Yevluo, tell me! What should be done to cowardly guys?" What’s the punishment?”
"Kill!" Yevro's response was concise and to the point.
Rurik was stunned for a moment, and after exchanging glances with Jevro, he made up his mind: "Okay! The best way to deal with cowards is to kill them! Are there any cowards among you? I don't see any. Listen! Let's make an agreement in advance. If you chop off the enemy's head, you will be rewarded with... one silver coin. If you capture a woman or child and bring it back safely, you will be rewarded with two silver coins. What do you think?"
The mercenaries responded most enthusiastically with gleaming eyes.
Seeing their wolf-like expressions, Rurik was certainly happy inside, but also a little nervous.
Rurik was nervous about his irritating remarks, but things had come to this, complete mercy? That's impossible. The Rus people just want to show their animal nature, and he feels that he must also behave like a beast in front of his people, otherwise it would be too naive to expect to rule them as a simple "wise man".
"I just want to lead the troops to fight. This is my first battle. I must get things done."
Different from the preparations made by other elite warriors, Rurik was responsible for the logistics supplies of his "direct army".
If you want to win a battle, proper tactics are of course very crucial, and well-guaranteed logistics is even more critical to victory.
Rurik felt that as the master of mercenaries, it was not only important but also necessary to establish a logistics standard. It even needed to be popularized so that future warriors of the Ross tribe would not have to worry about lack of food, clean water, or even accommodation during combat.
Rurik sent a group of women from the tribe and ordered them to grind wheat grains, then process them into wheat cakes and put them into linen bags, so that a cloth bag was stuffed with ten pounds of hard and dry wheat cakes. The whole wheat oatmeal cake of the Ross tribe is a hard biscuit. It is not an excellent food in Rurik's opinion. Indeed, in this era, the Ross people can make the most shelf-stable cereal food.
In addition, Rurik also purchased a batch of cured meat and even frozen fish from the tribe.
The mercenaries will each have their own sled, on which each person will be provided with fifty pounds of wheat cakes, thirty pounds of cured meat, and frozen fish as extra food. In fact, the calories provided by these foods are indeed enough for a modern soldier to support him in combat for a month in a state of war!
Rurik prepared food for the mercenaries according to the time limit of one month to support the operation. But he really underestimated the endurance of the Viking warriors in this time and space, and even the fact that they could obtain food through hunting.
Rurik completed the final reserve.
Each mercenary's sled was piled with a large amount of supplies. There are shovels for digging, hand axes for logging and fighting, daggers and spoons for eating, several pottery urns, some charcoal blocks, a little sea salt, and nearly a hundred pounds of high-calorie food that can be eaten directly for construction. Linen for a personal tent and a deerskin blanket to cover the whole body.
The most important thing besides that is the steel arm crossbow. They will carry this weapon with them and ten arrows in their belts. However, their sleds will be loaded with forty arrows.
The above-mentioned heavy equipment makes Rurik's mercenaries completely different from other Russian warriors. What's more, they wore uniform clothes. Under the command of Jevro, these twenty people were only responsible to Rurik.
The promised first day of the Julian New Year in 830 AD has finally arrived!
The warriors on the expedition to the north gathered on the ice, and behind them were thousands of Ross people. The tribesmen welcomed the warriors into the unknown territory and wished the old leader a new victory.
Everyone has more or less interpreted the prophecy, and this so-called trip is Rurik's first battle.
Children who are favored by God will definitely make great achievements.
"Let's stop here." Otto ordered his old friend: "I will run towards the one who leads you along. Harold Zuosen, I think the tribe must be guarded by a man of high moral character."
"Big boss, please don't worry, everything is just like before."
Otto nodded deeply, but he couldn't completely trust this old guy. Of course Otto has a certain defensive mentality. After all, this guy participated in the leadership competition when he was young.
What Otto trusted most was still his blood family. His feelings for his deceased brother were now completely transferred to his eldest nephew.
He patted Arik on the shoulder: "Hallo Zuosen said a lot. Before we come back, just like in May and June, you two war chiefs must manage our Ross tribe. Do you understand?"
There was some regret in Arik's eyes: "Big Chief, how much I want to go with you."
"Your words are offensive, call me daddy."
"Yes! Dad. I..."
Otto waved his hand: "That's it! This battle is your brother's first action. Listen, we can't go against God's will."
"Yes! I completely understand." Arik said no more. He knew that although he had lost this opportunity, the opportunity to fight would be in the near future.
The deep warrior didn't have many words. The warriors of the Ross tribe who were dragging their own sleds, led by Otto, formed a considerable team.
Here, only Otto's sled was pulled by the young warriors of the tribe.
He was sitting on the sleigh, with Rurik and Rumia sitting next to him. The leader's sleigh is protected by elite warriors, and it is a great honor for the young warriors who hold this job to be able to pull the sled for the leader, future leaders, and future high priests.
And because the Russians have to face the frozen sea and the snow-covered world every year, they are highly skilled in making sleds. People pulling the sled will not feel how strenuous it is. Of course there are exquisite elements in the design of the sled, but also in the warriors Otto selected. They are young and strong, and are full of the violence and tenacity of warriors.
Otto was shocked by Rurik's training of mercenaries. It seemed that these guys were well-trained, but because they had not yet proven themselves through battle, Otto was always highly wary of them. Until now, he ordered all the people led by Yevlo to be at the forefront of the team.
To put it bluntly, if they come into contact with the so-called "mysterious enemy" in the priest's prophecy, these mercenaries will be the first to fight.
Mercenaries! It is the combat power bought with money. If the battle is destined to kill people, it is best for the mercenaries to bear all the casualties of the team.
That's what Otto thought, and Rurik didn't object to it.
Rurik had his own idea, saying that it was best to have a battle, so that the mercenaries could line up and shoot one or two heavy crossbow arrows at the enemy to achieve the first kill.
The women of the tribe cheered for their husbands and sons.
Caught in excitement, they cried one after another and watched the people on the expedition drift away.
"Okay, only us mother and daughter are left..." Niya held the hands of Carlotta and Ella.
"Mom, Rurik and Dad, will they be safe?" Carlotta asked naturally.
"Of course! My daughter, let's go back and wait for their triumphant return."
The prophecy of the high priest has always troubled Carlotta. She doesn't like war, but she longs for violent revenge. This thought is of course very contradictory, just like she hopes that Rurik will make great achievements in the war, but she also doesn't want him to be injured. Because the future of the Ostara people depends on the protection of the Rus' people under Rurik's rule.
