A large group of enemies have begun to flee, and those who have been knocked down are still being hit by their subordinates.
Otto yelled several times: "Brothers, stop chasing. These enemies are too weak. Let Rurik handle the rest."
Some Russians were still roaring and chasing, while more people stopped to clean the battlefield on the hill.
Otto realized that he was actually standing on a stone mountain. Unexpectedly, not only had the snow on the top of the mountain been cleared away, but this gray stone mountain also showed signs of extensive excavation.
Not only that, some of the stones that were a little shiny under the rays of the sun that had just emerged from the horizon were obviously similar in shape, as if they had been deliberately cut into the same shape and piled together in large numbers.
Why are they shiny? Kawei, who was curious and sensitive, rushed over directly. When he got closer, he realized what was going on with just his naked eyes.
Kawei laughed wildly in the chaos: "Hahaha! It's iron ore! The whole hill is iron ore! These foreigners are all miners! We destroyed the miners' camp."
In the chaos, Otto couldn't notice Kawei at all. Besides, Kawei also wore a leather helmet reinforced with bronze sheets and held a steel sword and shield in his hand. Kawei called himself "Thor's servant", but he was not "Otto" yet. Din’s Warriors”?
The sun is also one of the incarnations of Odin, and everyone is happy to fight in the rising sun.
The tents began to be destroyed one by one, and the Ross warriors prepared to assassinate the hiding enemies and search for hidden leather, silver coins, or other useful things.
Otto used his sword to tear open the linen covering of a tent. As the tent was destroyed, two frightened and crying women suddenly appeared.
The woman is a bit short, and she is covered in brown deerskin. Just based on their faces, Otto seems a little familiar: "How come she looks a bit like Rumia? You can't be a deer farmer, right?"
The young Ross warriors who gathered around stood beside their leader, with greedy eyes in their eyes.
To the two strange and unknown women, they are the sheep and the Rus are the wolves.
"Don't be impulsive." Otto sternly stopped his men, and then he walked over in person, used his sword to open the deerskin, and saw their hands and feet tied with hemp rope, and their gray linen clothes.
Otto was inspired and sighed: "Pay attention, these two are slaves. They are not our enemies. Now I declare that all slaves are mine!"
He thought again and continued to order his men: "Pay attention to it. You must ensure the safety of the slaves. Anyone who does something they shouldn't do will be punished."
The young warriors were a little disappointed. Who didn't want to own a private slave? Since the leader had announced the possession in advance, he couldn't say anything.
However, some of the leather in the tent was good stuff, and the leader did not claim possession of the property.
In addition to the thick leather coats left for the frightened woman to wrap herself up against the cold, the Russians looted all the leather and linen. After all, young soldiers are still poor.
Things soon made new progress, because the soldiers cleaning the battlefield suddenly discovered a large number of slaves controlled by foreigners. There were not only men and women, but even some children.
This is very strange, how come a large group of strange slaves appear on the hill.
Otto was very puzzled. After all, slaves were not enemies. He sent people to cut off the hemp ropes binding the feet of all the slaves, because he was worried that some of them would try to escape, but the hemp ropes on their hands remained. The slaves were gathered together, and there were actually as many as thirty people in total. Fifteen of them were obviously mature men, and even five of them were obviously little boys.
As a batch of hammers and chisels for cutting stones were discovered, and Kawei, who was somewhat mentally stable, reported his astonishing findings, Otto somewhat understood the current situation.
It turns out that these bound slaves are slave miners controlled by mysterious aliens!
Otto could not have imagined that this fateful battle would actually lead the Russians to discover a large mine?
Although the hills near Rossburg contain not only iron ore but also a little copper, the Ross people have never been short of iron.
An open-pit mine was discovered in a remote, unexplored land, and as many as thirty slaves were captured. If the trip ended here, the action would be worthwhile.
Otto stood on the piles of ore, facing the sun on the horizon, bathed in the holy golden light.
"Rurik, you have taken care of those fleeing enemies! Under the sun, you must have a complete victory, right?"
Otto could have led his men to pursue the enemy himself. In fact, there were already war-loving tribesmen taking advantage of the victory to pursue them.
He felt that the battle had ended victoriously, so he waited here while his son, who was waiting for victory, sent someone to the hillside to report the good news of the victory.
What thrilling thing happened on the other side of the hillside?
Rurik continued to stand still. As the shouts became more intense, Rurik's heart became more and more excited. He was a little anxious about the rope, fearing that he would not be able to catch up with the battle.
Compared to him, his subordinates didn't say anything. They really wanted to leave their positions, drop their crossbows and use swords instead, and join in the melee, for fear that no one else would take away the benefits.
Jevro was half-kneeling in the snow. He was ordered to bend his back to cover Rurik, who was also lowering his body.
"Master, we have been waiting for a while. Maybe the big leader has solved the battle."
"Are you suggesting that I take the initiative?" Rurik asked.
"Perhaps now is the time to strike."
Rurik gritted his teeth and raised his head to look up at the top of the hill. So far, there are indeed no enemies rushing down.
"Your suggestion may make sense and keep everyone moving forward in formation."
Rurik stood up. Just as he was about to give a new order, he was pulled into the snow by Javro.
Because, a group of panicked black figures appeared.
All the warriors who had been waiting anxiously finally got their dream prey at this moment.
Rurik held up his leather hat and hurriedly picked up the crossbow that had been strung up. He ordered: "Everyone, the enemy is coming. Don't be anxious. When they get close, we will attack. It's like hunting a deer."
An excellent bow-wielding hunter knows that the weapons they have are limited, so these hunters are all masters of stealth. They are so-called concealment when they touch the prey and suddenly fire cold arrows. This skill is the key for hunters to shoot snowshoe rabbits more efficiently.
Without Lauryurik's excessive supervision, his men stood in the prescribed positions, half-kneeling on the ground one by one, watching with ferocious eyes the strange and hurried crowd rushing towards him.
Suddenly, Rurik saw the Ross warriors rushing down the hill, chasing them with swords and shields in hand.
"Damn it. If you shoot an arrow rashly, will it hit our people?" Suddenly, he felt a little defensive.
Yevluo's face turned cold: "My lord, life or death depends on your fate. You don't have to worry about others. The enemy is about to rush over. We..."
Rurik breathed a long sigh of relief. He tried his best to calm down his inner excitement, and suddenly shouted in a childish voice: "All hunters! Release arrows!"
The first to receive orders were the foot archers with short wooden bows, who began to shoot long arrows with bone arrow clusters.
In the eyes of the fleeing aliens, a group of archers hiding in the snow suddenly appeared.
Some arrows fell from the sky, but due to a misjudgment of distance, none of these arrows killed any of them. The fleeing crowd was startled by the arrows scattered around them, but there was an ambush in front of them and there were pursuers behind them. Should they just sit there and wait for death?
The leader wearing a squirrel-skin hat wielded his hammer and shouted words that Rurik could not understand.
Is that guy the leader of the enemy? Rurik stared at the changes in the battle situation. He did not expect that his archers did not cause the so-called first round of damage that he expected. Instead, the enemy became extremely bellicose, led by a guy holding a sledgehammer.
Rurik slowly picked up his crossbow and continued to order: "Hunter! Keep firing arrows! Crossbowmen, prepare to shoot!"
The second round of long arrows was fired, and the Ross hunters finally caused some damage to the enemy.
In Rurik's eyes, there were indeed enemies who were shot by arrows, but the enemies were like wounded deer with terrible arrow feathers stuck in their bodies, and they were running hard.
Are these crazy enemies planning to break through head on?
You are really brave people, but you have no chance.
Rurik's crossbow took the lead in aiming at the suspected leader, and suddenly stood up and shouted: "Crossbowman! Fire!"
Twenty half-kneeling mercenaries suddenly stood up, aiming their crossbows at their respective targets.
The trigger was pulled, Rurik's body trembled violently, and a heavy crossbow arrow swirled in the air, heading straight for the selected target.
The alien leader also had quick eyesight and quick hands. When he saw a foreign object flying straight towards him, he subconsciously blocked his face with a big hammer.
What a coincidence, Rurik's crossbow arrow came straight to this man's neck.
After a very strong metal collision, the leader fell to the ground. But the leader was not hit in the head by the crossbow arrow. He lay on the ground with stars in his eyes, and when he raised the hammer in his hand, it was also deeply dented by the steel arrow cluster.
In just one salvo, ten of the thirty people who fled were shot.
These crossbow arrows, which were deliberately designed with very long arrow clusters, directly penetrated the leather clothing of the aliens, dug deeply into the body, and caused terrible and fatal penetrating wounds.
With only one arrow hit, a soldier immediately lost his ability to fight.
"Haha, it looks like I hit an enemy. Jevlo, do you think I have become a real man?" Rurik was very excited, and then Jevlo handed his master another crossbow with a good string. .
"Sir, the battle is still going on, please be careful."
"That's right." Rurik felt that he was getting carried away, and he hurriedly ordered: "Hunters, keep firing arrows. Crossbowmen, shoot another round. Others, draw their swords and prepare to fight!"
The aliens were momentarily frightened by the sudden death of their companions. Their eyes widened and they suddenly became overwhelmed.
The Ross hunter got this opportunity to shoot accurately at the dull "target".
The frightened alien archer actually forgot to fight back.
The mercenaries were very obedient to the orders of the gold master. After setting up their crossbows, they mounted the crossbow arrows.
"Guys, launch."
Rurik held a crossbow and led his troops in another round of shooting. This time, five unlucky enemies were hit.
The two pieces of arrow rain, which are bonded at an intentional angle, give the crossbow the ability to spin while flying. They are short, thick and heavy spiral feather arrows. They are powerful and heavy because they rotate when flying, which relatively overcomes the disadvantage of being prone to unstable flight.
Rurik even watched the arrow fly in a low and flat arc, aiming at the target and flying accurately. These shooting feelings are indeed something that a bow cannot bring.
Even the enemy's head was pierced by arrow clusters. The Russians did not even give the deceased any chance to fight back. Everything that belonged to the deceased ended.
"Good job, brothers! Keep on cocking, let's try to kill them with the crossbow! I will reward each of you with a silver coin..."
Jevro was very happy for his master's favor, but the current situation no longer required him to bother with stringing his crossbow.
He suggested loudly: "There is no need to shoot anymore. The enemy has lost their momentum. They are just a bunch of fat sheep. It's time for the sword and shield men to move out."
Rurik was actually a little unsatisfied. He hoped to complete a perfect shooting with a crossbow in this ambush battle. In the current situation, it was indeed unnecessary.
"Okay! Brothers, draw your swords and let us charge."
Jevro also picked up the melee weapons, the so-called short iron sword in his left hand and the short-handled battle ax in his right hand, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, leave a few lives for our master."
The crossbowmen picked up short spears and swords, and the bow-wielding hunters took the lead in charging forward with their axes raised, followed closely by the warriors holding swords and shields.
Those who were hit by crossbows and survived were all killed by the Rus. Perhaps for these seriously injured foreigners, a last-ditch attack is also a kind of kindness in a sense.
Finally, those who were lucky enough to survive the crossbows and tried to turn around to escape were either caught up by the pursuers and beheaded, or were beheaded by the pursuing Ross hunters.
Some poor people were even stabbed directly by short spears that turned into javelins.
The leader who was almost shot by Rurik fell in the snow, and instinctively pretended to be dead when his head regained consciousness.
However, the Ross warriors in a violent state had forgotten how many survivors needed to be left in this battle.
The leader, who was lucky enough to survive, was almost killed by a short spear. Jevluo rushed over and stopped the warrior's actions.
He yelled angrily: "Don't you understand? Master Rurik wants to keep one alive, now go away!"
Forget it, Jevro looked at the man who was almost executed, and saw clearly the man's trembling lips and trembling hands. He suddenly kicked the guy in the crotch who was still pretending to be dead. After all, this person was a man. For a critical hit to such a part, the instant pain could negate all pretense.
After being around for so many years, Yevluo certainly knows some dirty fighting tricks. After all, this is war, and it is shameful to use random tricks in normal combat training. In battle, certain tricks that can make the enemy lose the ability to fight are really unnecessary.
The strange man who had been struck was rolling in the snow, his squirrel-skin hat shaking off.
Rurik finally caught up and shouted puzzled at the guy rolling on the ground.
Looking at Yevlo's determined eyes again, he had to ask: "What's wrong with this person?"
"He was beaten by me. Master, maybe we can get some information from this person."
It seems that the tribe has executed all the enemies except this person. Rurik feels that this battle is confusing. The Rus have obviously agreed to fight. What is the identity of the enemy?
"Jevro, go and ask this person's identity."
"Yes! Master."
Jevro stepped forward and asked the guy who had pain in his crotch as usual in Norse.
However, what this man said made Jevro's eyes widen.
Yevro immediately took out the language of his hometown, which he had almost forgotten, and asked the other party's exact identity.
I could only hear this middle-aged man with shaggy hair shouting one word frequently: "n! lamakiven!"
Rurik also opened his eyes wide, because he could understand just these words.
"Kiven? The name of a tribe?" With curiosity, Rurik approached cautiously with his sword.
"Jevro, have you found out the identity of this person? Kiven? Is it a tribal name?"
Jevro was a little surprised: "Sir, can you understand the language of our Finns?"
"Huh?" Rurik pointed his sword at the fallen man, "Is this person a member of your hometown tribe?"
Yevlo denied it flatly: "No, this is a Covin."
"Corvin man? What kind of strange guy is he again?"
Jevro shook his head: "He is not a member of my tribe, but what I can be sure of is that our enemies are not Tavastians."
After saying that, Yevro squatted down and put a short sword directly against the throat of the fallen man.
The man who fell on the ground looked at the sharp sword with wide eyes, his whole body trembling.
"Are you really from Covin?" Jevro asked cautiously.
The leader who was the only one left alive responded hurriedly: "I am a Covin, and we are doing some work here. Who are you? Are you Tavastian? Oh, sir, don't kill me."
Jevro almost laughed out loud: "Tavastians? No! I am a Finn, that is, a Suomi. Now, except for me, all the people standing in front of you are Varyag warriors."
"Actually... he's actually a Varyag?!" The surviving leader almost fainted. The Varangians were a hundred times more powerful than the Tavastians. They were beings that even the Kovin people would not dare to provoke even if they were crazy.
Yevluo continued to explain his identity: "I am now a servant of the Varangians..."
Jevro wanted to say a few more words, but unexpectedly the man rolled his eyes crazily and his attitude changed instantly: "Oh! That's right! Are you a Suomi? A brother from the south! Oh, the Tavastians are all ours. Enemies, why should we be enemies? Is your master a Varyag? If I can survive by being a servant of the Varyag, I am willing to be a servant...I even..."
Jevro was speechless for a moment. He could tell that this man looked like a businessman. His begging for mercy reminded Jevlo of his previous master, Gould. Because this guy's words are too commercial, this person is not simply praying for life, but saying, "Hero, please save my life so that I can do things for you."
"Haha, you Kewen people are not good at fighting, but you are a real businessman! In order to survive, you will sell anything?!"
"Hehe." The leader forced a smile, "Isn't it good to be alive?"
Jevro felt that this man was no longer a threat, so he sheathed his sword.
However, this move aroused Rurik's vigilance, and he asked displeasedly: "Are you sure that this guy is your past friend?"
"No! Master, this man is from Covin. He is willing to be your slave. All he wants is to spare his life."
"Begging for my life? Is it necessary? Who is the Kovin man?" Rurik asked.
Yev shrugged his shoulders, turned around and ordered the leader of the Kewen people: "Kneel down to your master, kneel down to this child. Get down here."
For a moment, like an old sheep lying on the ground, leader Kewen crawled close to Rurik's feet with his head raised.
"You see, the Kovin people have surrendered."
Glancing at Jevro's proud face and then at the lying guy, Rurik felt that the development of the situation was very absurd.
"Jevlo."
"exist!"
Rurik frowned and asked, "Who are the Kovin people?"
"They are some merchant tribesmen." Jevro pinched his chin and recalled: "I have forgotten many things from my childhood, but the Covin people are not powerful enemies. They are just merchants."
"Just a businessman?"
"That's probably it. Master, the word kiven, in our common language, refers to a walking stick. It's a bit like the short spear we use recently. Master, your Rumia also understands this word."
"But I don't know. I didn't come across this word when I was learning the deer herder's language from her."
"Maybe because they are more mysterious." Jevro shrugged: "My hometown is in the south. I know that there are some Kewen people in the north, but I didn't expect to meet them here."
Is there something valuable about this place that attracts businessmen?
Rurik felt that something was strange, so he ordered the kneeling Covin man in the language of a deer herder: "Be my slave and avoid death."
After that, he imitated the moves he learned from his father Otto, and stretched out his right foot towards the Covin people in front of the warriors of his own tribe.
"Kiss my boots! Be my slave! Avoid death!"
Obviously, the leader of the Kewen people thought it was a bit absurd, but he could understand what this apparently noble Varyag boy said, and the words he spoke were still very similar to the language of his own tribe.
Ah, because in the 830s AD, the deer herders (Sami people) and the Finns (Suomi people), and even the entire modern Finland, even the residents of Karelia, spoke the same language. They are all part of a large Finnish ethnic group, and the dialects they speak to each other have not yet become independent languages.
The leader immediately stretched out his head and showed his surrender to Rurik.
What would one more Corvin servant mean? Rurik doesn’t know yet. But he had a hunch that this matter was not as simple as accepting a servant.
Today's adventure is destined to mean even more magical events.
