Three full days have passed since Voyma Kashad returned.
In his wooden house, Mechasta checked his leather armor, and from time to time he waved the iron sword inherited from his father.
Suddenly, his son burst in with a bow on his back.
"Dad, I must participate in this battle. But my mother thinks I am not suitable yet. I think I have grown up."
The person who came was none other than Mechasta's youngest son, Taravis, who originally meant "healthy man". At only ten years old, he obviously had the idea of becoming a hero.
Mechasta admires his son very much, because after the death of his eldest son, only his younger son can inherit his career. He likes his youngest son. He is his own son after all. He is full of shadows of his youth.
Just like Mechasta, the younger son Terravis has vertical tattoos on his forehead and chin. As for Tyravis, if it was his father's rejection, he would take the initiative to ask for the same tattoo as his father.
However, Mechasta felt that only a truly strong person could have a tattoo exactly like his own, and even a son would not be allowed to do so without merit.
"You want to fight? Come to me!"
Terravis hurried over, his shaggy brown hair shaking in place.
"My father, mother and sister don't want me to fight. I don't think I'm young at all. I want to fight like everyone else."
"You still want to fight?" Mechasta squatted down and put his hands on his son's shoulders.
"Of course! I am a man! I want to shoot the Varangians and protect everyone."
Hearing this, leader Mechasta was deeply moved.
After all, it is a battle, and people will die in the battle. His wife only has the last son. It is understandable that she cherishes her son, but excessive love is nothing more than depriving a good hunter of the possibility.
"I give my permission. Tellavis, tell me, how will you attack the Varangians?"
The boy immediately took off his short bow: "In the past few days, I have been practicing archery every day according to your regulations. I am already a very good archer. I don't want to shoot squirrels anymore. I want to shoot the enemy. You give me I have an iron-tipped arrow, and I will pierce the enemy’s neck.”
"Very good!" Mechasta nodded deeply: "Then, I will arrange you to the tower. I will give you a lot of iron-tipped arrows. When you are high up and have a wide view, you can shoot many enemies. Listen, You must become the new hero. Finally..."
Speaking of excitement, Mechasta pulled out his iron sword, grabbed his youngest son's hand, and the two of them held the sword together: "Taravis, you have achieved meritorious service. In the future, you will be this sword. The master. You are the leader of the tribe."
Staring at this grandfather's sword, Tyravis held it, his heart beating wildly, and a warrior's heart awakened!
At this moment, the leader, Mechasta, could no longer care so much. He knew that he was putting his son in a more dangerous position, and it was precisely in that position that he could better display his skills as an archer. The son is really good at archery, and his very short stature may greatly improve the survival rate.
This is a moment of crisis, and the youngest son, Tyravis, is not a naturally noble person. Even the leader himself does not feel that he is noble. At the critical moment, the tribe no longer cares about the life and death of individual people. The only thing everyone has to do is to unite to defend against the enemy.
Even the little girls of the tribe must take up arms. At the very least, they must continue to deliver arrows to the archers or carry the necessities of the battle.
In extreme cases, little girls have to draw bows and shoot arrows.
The gray squirrel tribe is like this, living in an environment with high competitive pressure. Even seemingly weak women, and even little girls who seem to have no strength, practice archery with short wooden bows on weekdays. They were originally involved in hunting to support their families, and in times of crisis, they could theoretically serve as warriors.
The tribe has never suffered a real disaster in the past. Now the great disaster has come!
The leader Mechasta not only persuaded his wife to participate in the battle, but at least she had to shoot arrows to cover it.
There was also his youngest daughter Saipolava, a girl who originally meant "cute little squirrel". At only eight years old, she was also asked to pick up a short bow and become an archer.
This is the Gray Squirrel Tribe. They rely more on bows and arrows than the Salmon Lord Tribe. But the quality of their bows and arrows is very average.
The Ross people had no idea that the gray squirrel tribe was on guard.
In other words, Otto had no intention of thinking about this matter at all.
Because in his opinion, even if the new servant claims that the enemy is very strong, the problem is not big. The result of the battle is basically that the combined team can completely solve the problem with just one attack.
The Russians eventually rested for three days.
These days, Rurik also got the siege equipment he needed, especially a batch of very long ladders. They were sturdy and heavy. Naturally, it took a dozen people to carry them on their shoulders to transport them without much effort.
But the Ross warriors thought of a simpler way, which was to drag a ladder and walk on the ice. A total of four ladders were towed in this way. Due to the ice, towing was not a laborious task.
There are also as many as twenty wooden shields. They are deliberately built to be thin. They must not be able to withstand the shooting of their own crossbows. They are obviously sufficient to deal with the stone arrow clusters fired by the enemy's short wooden bows.
What is very interesting is that the wooden shields made of these thin branches are completely transformed into a sled.
One quiet morning, the coalition of Russians and servants, totaling 350 people, began a new journey. A group of warriors who stayed behind assumed control of the newly conquered territory. The main thing was to control the remaining tribesmen and prevent them from taking advantage of the opportunity to rebel.
Although he was helpless, Rurik left his Rumia in the village of the Salmon Lord with the remaining tribesmen.
In this battle, at least there were no women in the Russian army. The ones that were there, except for Rurik, were all strong and capable men.
The weak north wind brings coldness, even though everyone knows that spring is not far away, and the glacier under everyone's feet will soon return to its original appearance.
Winter is by no means a good time for war. The leader Kaihas is always strong. He knows that the female relatives of his tribe are completely controlled by the Russians. Miraculously, the Russians have not done anything excessive to the women, but he firmly believes that this is Based on the cooperation of your own tribe.
The boy with the golden ponytail sitting on the sled, maybe he is the real reasoner. However, this rationality must also be based on the cooperation of the men of the Salmon Lord tribe.
The tribe was conquered and the tribesmen were left to fight for their new masters.
Knowing that although he would be on the front line of the battle and would encounter a concentrated attack from the enemy, the new master promised that the first batch of people to invade the enemy's settlement would have the right to be the first to select the spoils.
The warriors of the Salmon Lord tribe are still equipped with the same crude and crude weapons. All the men wore animal skins and furs on their heads. Together with the so-called boots, they were almost made of cut leather with holes tied to hemp rope and tied to their feet.
These so-called snow boots are far less reliable than the finely stitched leather boots of the Russians. If they have that kind of advantage, they are probably more slippery when stepping on ice.
They carried short wooden bows on their backs and carried short spears. Their hemp rope belts were also tied with small sacks of linen, in which a batch of dried meat was stuffed.
Some of them were crude and shabby, and Rurik felt a little sorry. Even if they were to be the main offensive force and a large number of people would die, they should not have sent a group of people in extremely bad condition to lead the charge.
This group of servants, the Covins, led the charge with simple weapons. Behind them were two hundred Russian troops fully armed with metal and leather.
Rurik, who was sitting on the sled, was guarded by his mercenaries, because the mercenaries performed very well in the battle. In Otto's heart, these outsiders had become his own people in a real sense.
Rurik could not sense the inner feelings of the Kovin tribesmen who opened the way. Along the way, he often discussed battle-related matters with Jevro.
"Those bloody arrows have lost all their feathers. Don't worry. When the distance is relatively close, our crossbow arrows don't need feathers."
"If there is a battle in the wilderness in the future, all crossbowmen must first break away from the formation and kill a group of enemies with arrows. Even if you are involved in the formation, you must find ways to shoot arrows through the gaps."
"We broke some arrows, and there are still 1,300 available. You ask the brothers to be ready. Once the crossbow arrows are gone, you can continue shooting with the captured bows and bone arrows..."
Basically, Rurik is the one giving orders, and Jevlo's job is to listen and remember them deeply.
Jevro kept nodding his head. He secretly admired him in his heart. This child must be born to know how to fight. Rurik is really a strange person!
It took Voyma Kashad a day and a half to escape from the fallen Salmon Lord's mountain fortress to his own tribe. He ran at extremely fast speeds along the glacier.
In exchange for the Russian army, which carried a large amount of food, siege equipment, and even a total of four thousand arrows of various types, the army had already walked along the glacier for two full days.
If it weren't for the leader Kejas personally leading this trip, Otto would have long suspected that this group of Salmon Lord tribesmen were deliberately playing tricks.
Finally, things took a turn for the better.
At night, the already cold temperature became even worse. Fortunately, the weather was kind during this period, and there was no severe snowstorm to cause disaster.
The Russian coalition lit a large number of bonfires by the river. It was these bonfires that aroused the vigilance of the sentinels of the gray squirrel tribe who were already on alert.
Otto and Rurik sat next to the campfire, nibbling on snowshoe rabbit meat that had been frozen into lumps but was now roasted until it was sizzling with oil.
Kejas came over nervously: "Great Chief Ross, we are about to enter the territory of the Gray Squirrel Tribe, and we will pass through that low wall."
The trusted Gevro now had the right to approach Otto, who translated truthfully, and Otto's beard trembled with joy.
"Is the war finally going to begin? How long will it take for us to reach the enemy's village through the low wall?"
"There's about one to two days' journey left. We'll walk all day tomorrow and we can arrive in the daytime the day after tomorrow."
Otto nodded deeply and asked seriously: "Have you been to those people's villages? You must make sure you know the path."
"I fully know that I guarantee the lives of my people."
Otto was not in a hurry to speak. He laughed and said nothing.
Apparently, the leader of the Salmon Lord tribe is smart.
Otto patted the shoulder of this little old man who was a few years younger than him: "You understand your mission, you and I don't need to say more. You go back and tell your people to prepare for battle. Listen, you are responsible for the first attack ,if……"
Otto's tone suddenly became serious: "If you retreat without my order, I will kill the retreaters."
After hearing what Otto said, Kejas's eyes were as wide as bells.
It seemed that the warriors of the Salmon Lord tribe would either charge and win at the cost of heavy casualties, or they would be killed by the Rus in the rear on the grounds of slackness.
Kejas informed the tribesmen who were in complicated moods about the Ross people's orders, and everyone gradually unified their thoughts, that is, they were determined to defeat the Gray Squirrel tribe in one fell swoop. otherwise……
Even if it is for the lives of the women and children of his own tribe, he must fight to the death.
It’s a new day and the team continues on their way. Completely different from the previous days, Otto ordered his warriors to be on high alert, especially the archers in the team, to hold their bows tightly at all times.
Even Rurik ordered his crossbowmen to be on standby at all times.
They continued to walk on the glacier because theoretically the enemy could not build a low wall on the glacier.
As it turns out, there really is a low wall stretching across the frozen river.
Otto immediately ordered his men to be on guard, and then ordered his servants to find out.
Kejas had never seen anything like this before. He sent two of his men to find out. After learning the information, he personally informed Otto of the information and his understanding.
"Big Chief. I think the Gray Squirrel Tribe is already on alert. Maybe the escaped slave you mentioned has informed the enemy of all the news."
Otto sometimes even thought that the escaped guys had frozen to death in the forest. After hearing Kejas's description, Otto was willing to believe that what he described was true.
"Big Chief, please be more careful."
"Prudent? Forget it! My sword will cut off all enemies, and my son's wisdom will make rebellion painful." Obviously, Otto didn't care at all for the so-called advice.
A group of men from the Salmon Lord tribe began to work together to move the big trees that had been brought down on the ice.
As the Ross people inspected it in person, it was clear that the tree had been cut down recently. When an ax hit the trunk, one could see ice crystals in the blade. This was not the case with dead trees.
Different from Otto's indifference, seeing such a scene, Rurik could not let go of his doubts and worries.
Doesn't this explain the problem? The enemy is already on guard!
Are the armies going to attack a city? Is it really appropriate to forcefully attack a defended city?
Apparently Father Otto thought it was a good fit.
Rurik thought, maybe it was just because the first attackers were so-called cheap servants. Thinking about it in an absolutely rational way, Rurik couldn't say that what his father did was wrong. Precisely doing this is particularly beneficial to the Russians themselves.
The big tree was pulled away, and the team truly set foot on the territory of the gray squirrel tribe.
The Russians camped by the river again. They lit a bonfire, intending to wrap themselves in animal skins and sleep. After eating and drinking, they waited for tomorrow's battle.
"The war will start tomorrow, so you should prepare well. Maybe this is for the war you predicted." Otto blessed his son and stuffed the barbecue in his hand into his mouth.
It is impossible for Rurik to say that he is not nervous. In fact, quite a few Ross warriors are also nervous, or in other words, nervousness is mixed with strong excitement.
But those servants, they were almost afraid.
Because in the history of the battle between the Lord of Salmon and the Gray Squirrel, both tribes were sporadic hunters who crossed the border to conduct sneak attacks. There had never been a real attack by a team of more than a hundred people.
Rurik ate some barbecue. He had been thinking about something for a long time, and now he said to his father: "I suspect that our actions have been discovered by the enemy a long time ago."
Otto was surprised: "How can you see it?"
“Don’t building roadblocks on the glacier explain the problem?”
When Otto thought about it, it was indeed reasonable for him to lead the crowd to march forward so arrogantly that he was discovered early. But so what?
Otto said arrogantly: "I don't care if they find us. After all, tomorrow night, we will occupy their village. Rurik, by then I will have to catch a beautiful girl for you and let her be your woman."
"You..." Rurik felt that his father was dizzy because he drank half a bottle of strong liquor. Indeed, on the way to the "Northern Hunt", Rurik prepared some spirits in glass bottles for his father for his personal enjoyment.
Rurik shook his head vigorously: "There are too many women around me. Let us fight the battle of destiny. Now I have a suggestion."
"You tell me."
"We want to set up a lot of bonfires, even if no one is warming up."
Otto was baffled, but Rurik's explanation surprised him: "Since you and I both believe that our whereabouts have been discovered, we must be monitored from a distance by them now. I am a little worried about the camp being attacked, so I want to use Some strategies. In the dark night, the enemy cannot accurately judge our number. They can only estimate by the number of bonfires. We arrange a large number of bonfires. Maybe the enemy will think that we have dispatched more than a thousand warriors. If the enemy is afraid, we will attack tomorrow I can see the kneeling crowd. If I can win in this way, I will be happy.”
Here, Otto did not understand the idea of "conquering the enemy without fighting" in Rurik's words. He thought it was incredible.
On the contrary, he used tricks to frighten the enemy, and he was happy to use them.
Ever since, the number of bonfires in the Ross camp has been rapidly expanding. Since you only need to carry a lit branch, you can quickly make a bonfire. In a short period of time, the number of bonfires in the Ross camp has expanded at least five times!
For the gray squirrel tribe, the leader Mechasta led a dozen shrewd tribesmen to the top of the village wall, and his son even climbed the tower.
People's eyesight in this era was very good, and the world had never encountered light pollution. Standing relatively high, the people of the gray squirrel tribe could easily notice the bonfire in the distance.
Mechasta's face was trembling: "Damn, why are there so many of them?"
Some tribal warriors said with a guilty conscience: "Chief, they have many people, but they are not good at fighting."
"Are they not good at fighting? They are Varangians!" another person retorted.
Others comforted themselves and said: "They have walked a long way and may be out of breath. They must have brought limited food. As long as we hold the wall, we can force them to evacuate. After all, we have a lot of food."
The words of this tribal warrior really comforted Mechasta: "Go down! They will come tomorrow to take care of the brothers and prepare them for battle. Listen, as long as we persist for a long time, no matter whether reinforcements come or not, we will If the enemy runs out of food, we will win."
This night, many people stayed up all night.
A new day arrived in the desolation. The highly nervous Russians even gave a batch of wheat cakes to the slaves of the Salmon Lord tribe warriors. It was said that every man who attacked could get half a piece.
Many people ate food made by the Varangians for the first time in their lives, and they also had precious wheat cakes. No one was grateful. They felt that the strange behavior of the Varangians was a hint that everyone would fight for them.
In fact, this was not the case. On this day, the Russians also had a good meal before going to battle. Then they brought their own siege ladders and large shields to use their military power to overwhelm the servants, and the servant soldiers started the battle.
The Ross army is coming!
A large number of gray squirrel tribe men stood on the wall with bows, arrows and short spears. There was a terrifying roar in the distance, and these tribal warriors couldn't help but tremble.
Mechasta, holding his sword, shouted: "Don't be afraid! You are the best hunters! When the enemy appears, aim at their necks! Remember, their necks have no armor, shoot through their necks, shoot through them blood vessels, let them know who is the best hunter!"
It has to be said that Mechasta's agitation has achieved some results. Because the hunting skills of tribal warriors are their savage pride.
The roar got closer and closer, and finally, the dark crowd emerged from the distant woods. They suddenly appeared when the morning fog had almost dissipated, and their guide was none other than Kaihas, the leader of the Salmon Lord.
Kehas' only confidence lies in the fact that he has a large number of Ross warriors behind him.
Otto didn't say much. After he made a gesture, Kejas knew that the Russians had given him an offensive mission.
The Russians will definitely not participate in the first attack. It seems that the men who are the first to enter the village and the first to divide the spoils are given to the Salmon Lord, but in fact they are just letting everyone explore the way.
By now, Kejas has understood everything. Now that things have come to this, we can only move forward bravely.
But he still made another inspiring call: "Brothers, the hatred between us and them for many years is about to end! The Russians support us, let us attack and take revenge!"
It seemed that today's battle was a battle of revenge for the Salmon Lord tribe, and they began to charge with howls. The Russians carried large shields, shouted slogans, and advanced steadily, one step at a time. Only the men of the Lord of Salmon carried four large ladders, like a glacial river, towards the ice-reinforced Gray Squirrel Mountain. Fort attack.
There is no pre-battle call, no gauntlet, and no delay in the battle.
The battle has begun.
