The sun shines through the gaps in the trees and onto the rocks under the trees. Sixty-five roughly carved statues, each representing a Russian killed in battle.
"Look, Rurik. They died for our great cause of revenge. I think God should recognize their bravery, and their souls must return to Valhalla." Arik's words were full of pride, and he had no Condolence for the deceased.
Yes, the soldiers have a different worldview. Generally speaking, they are determined to fight to the death. Regarding death, people will not always be immersed in the wails of dead soldiers.
Rurik said lightly: "Maybe we should carve their tombstones carefully."
Arik sighed: "Ah, then we need to find some high-level masons. In my opinion, there are no such people in Melalen."
Rurik didn't say another word. He drew his dagger and knelt down on one knee in front of everyone's attention. He was just putting on a show, and this kind of show made many soldiers left behind burst into tears with joy.
Maybe now he would rush to give an impassioned speech to boost morale, but Rurik thought about it and let it go.
If you want to give a speech, wait until you grow a beard and become thick and tall.
He looked sideways and saw a small stone boat altar built under the forest on the side of the cemetery. If there is a wooden house next to the altar, then the priest's residence must be kept.
Tombstone Island seems small, but you can feel how big it is when you go deeper into it.
The settlers cut down all the trees in the distance and built wooden walls for wind protection and defense outside the large number of wooden houses in the settlement. The big trees almost cover the entire wooden wall, making the settlement look like an elven sanctuary in the dense forest, a paradise.
Being in it, Rurik felt that real sense of security, but this place was much more humid than Ironburg in the far north.
"I gave them 50,000 pounds of wheat. Can they do a good job in warehousing?" Rurik lacked full confidence. In his opinion, the Novgorod people in the far east were purely agricultural people (although Still very primitive and backward), they are really masters of warehousing, and the Russians have reason to learn from them comprehensively.
The fleet docking at Tombstone Island is essentially a show of strength and condolences to those left behind.
Rurik had no intention of staying here for too long, so much so that he just wanted to spend one night before leaving.
But on the island's beach, warming himself by the fire, Rurik had a new idea.
"What's wrong? Is the grilled fish here no longer delicious?" Arik looked at his brother carrying a grilled herring skewer that he took a few bites of. The child looked thoughtful.
"I'm thinking about something."
"What's the matter?" Arik immediately became excited. "During the day, you took a good look at the wooden wall I supervised and built. Our Tombstone Island is already very strong. I have no worries about these enemies attacking us."
"That's not the case." Rurik turned his face sideways, "The big leader didn't come back. Don't you think this is unusual?"
"Abnormal? Are you very worried about him?"
"Why am I not worried?" Rurik asked.
Arik pouted and shook his head, "You underestimate our leader too much. Even if he is your father, he is also my uncle. He is a born conqueror, and your worries are unnecessary."
"Better take it seriously. Now I have an idea?"
Arik raised his head suddenly: "Huh? Are you planning to go to Novgorod?"
"That's really what I thought!" Rurik slapped his thigh, his beaming look really surprised Arik.
"Oh, my stupid brother, don't think that just because you have trekked through the snow, you can ignore all the severe cold. You will arrive in Novgorod sooner or later, and I think there is a girl waiting for you there, but not now .”
Rurik shrugged, realizing that the topic was getting off topic. "The leader has not come back, or the fleet is already on its way back. Should we go back to Roseburg first and just wait for them to come back? That is so unmanly. In my opinion, we organize a fleet to go to New Roseburg , I really want to see how the new settlement we worked so hard is doing."
When Rurik said this, Arik was also moved.
A true sea warrior's attitude when facing the vast sea is similar to that of facing a lake.
"Ah, I have not sailed the route to the east. I am busy fighting south, but I don't know our new home."
"Then go and have a look?" Rurik deliberately encouraged, "I remember that our brothers were actively pioneering there, and a large number of Novgorod people were captured and settled by us. The guys in Novgorod are all Those who surrender to us, our Ross's strength is rising rapidly. In my opinion, within a few years, our New Rossburg will be more prosperous than the towns of the Mellarens."
"It's okay." Arik made up his mind. "There are old guys in the team who have participated in the Sorgon voyage many times. We don't have to get lost. But we have agreed in advance that we will only organize a small fleet and the goal is only New Roseburg. Chief. It’s better to be busy with the physical goods there, and if they haven’t come back yet, we’ll wait.”
"Then let's do it."
Rurik continued to eat fish, and suddenly felt that his decision was too impulsive.
Forget it, a real man has his say and will not regret his decision instantly.
This night, Tombstone Island enjoyed rare happiness. Happy days are always fleeting. On this night, Rurik and others divided the rights and responsibilities for the next part of the fleet.
Gould was very surprised by Rurik's sudden idea. This boy actually wanted to take a boat to New Roseburg in the east to take a look. What happened there? Gould knew nothing. What he particularly hopes is that if the Rus people can become wealthy in the new settlement they have built with all their strength, his family will also gain huge benefits.
The fleet split into two.
Those cargo ships are still the core of the fleet. They lead a large number of small ships and rush to the port of Roseburg under the leadership of Gould, just like this old guy does every autumn. The only thing that is special is this year. The voyage took a detour.
Another fleet, reduced in size to just three longships, had as many as a hundred armed men. Arik became the core leadership of the fleet, and Rurik became a noble guest.
But in Rurik's view, all the warriors were protecting himself, the noblest one, although he did not feel that there was even the slightest danger in running to the east. The Road to the Future is simply an armed parade in autumn, with such force that it seems like we are going to fight.
Let's see! How Arik and his guys are dressed!
Speaking of Arik himself, he was tall and strong, wearing a thick leather coat and a helmet inlaid with iron plates on his head. He always carried his mail mail and a shield, as good warriors always have these equipment ready for emergencies. The warriors were all dressed similarly, it was just a matter of wealth that only a few had their own chainmail. Of course, for general enemies, especially naval battles, the overall effect of chain mail is limited. It is still not as useful as a log shield reinforced with iron or copper sheets.
It has to be said that Arik established his prestige in Iron and Blood. He has the highest prestige on Tombstone Island, and the settled warriors are happy to obey his orders.
Originally, Arik was unable to summon a large number of warriors, but after he ended the looting of the enemy, the warriors on the island fell into a state of stability, which did not bring them much happiness. They were warriors, and they experienced great success in a series of battles against the Gotlanders. Compared with catching fish, it would be more satisfying to rob the enemy and obtain huge wealth.
The few who went to New Roseburg began to brag to their brothers that life was getting better for the people who had immigrated there. The soldiers on the island are not envious. In fact, they intend to immigrate and can leave now with their families. When they were armed, they went to Fort New Rose not to rob their relatives, but to buy some useful things from their own tribe with money that could not be spent locally.
Half of the warriors who settled on Tombstone Island responded to Arik's call, and there were twenty other veteran warriors who would serve as navigators on the voyage to the east.
What about Rurik? His loyal mercenary captain Yevro and the other ten mercenaries may only serve as personal guards.
At a new dawn, after procrastinating for a while, the fleets set off on their own routes.
The three long boats lowered their oars and set up their sails. This small fleet formed a column and sailed quickly in the Gulf of Finland.
The old guys on the ship are saying that at the current speed, the fleet can reach Fort New Rose in only four days of sailing. Just four days of sailing is enough? The warriors on the boat were in high spirits, because many of them were entering this sea area for the first time, and the novelty made everyone very excited.
Initially, the fleet followed inertia and sailed along the southern coast of what is now Finland.
While traveling on this route, the Russians were full of enthusiasm, but only Jevro mentioned his uneasiness.
Even though he has lived in the Varyag society for more than ten years, he has always been obsessed with his hometown. Do the tribes from my hometown still exist? Can he be found in the vast world?
Yevluo has long given up hope. He knows the strength of the Russians, and he does not want this group of madmen to have the idea of attacking the Fen people (that is, the Suomi people). If the Rus are destined to have hegemony, then Yevluo I hope that all the Finnish tribes will recognize the current situation and swear surrender, so that by paying a tribute, everyone can live in peace. Moreover, by boarding the Russian longship, the Finns would have a backer. Maybe the two sides could unite to resist the aggressive Tavastians and Karelias.
If the Finnish fishing boats were to enter the sea to fish, it was almost inevitable that they would witness the Ross fleet.
It is up to the Russians to decide whether to launch an attack. Whether to land and plunder, Jevlo is convinced that if the Russians think it is profitable, they will definitely do it.
At this moment, Yevlo was somewhat grateful that his master was Rurik.
He never expected his master to be truly merciful. In fact, on the contrary, although his master was young, he was not ambiguous at all when he should be cruel.
Fortunately for him, because of his connections, he could give some suggestions to his master, which would definitely help the fleet adjust its direction.
Yevlo's words were very clever: "We don't have to go along the coastline here. If the sea leads directly to the east, we can just use the wind and turn the sail side to the north wind, and the ship can continue Move forward. Let the brothers save some energy. After all, it is not wise to row when the north wind is strong."
The Gulf of Finland runs east-west. Seeing his cousin paddling hard and sweating in the cold wind, Rurik was not worried that they would be exhausted due to their exertion. He was just worried that they would catch a cold.
In this era, diarrhea, which is considered a minor problem in later generations, is also a serious disease that can kill people. It is not uncommon to suffer from diarrhea due to wind and cold, and it is not uncommon to develop diarrhea and even death.
Perhaps out of respect for his brother's opinion, or simply because everyone was tired of rowing, after a whole day of sailing, under Arik's order, the fleet completely folded their oars and let the north wind blow the sails. Due to the subtle enough angle of the sail, the fleet was indeed moving rapidly at a not low speed.
The fleet docked for the night on a lush island (an island near the north shore). The soldiers who landed were instinctively vigilant, wary of enemies, or beasts, that might attack. While none of these attackers seem likely to exist, it's always good to be vigilant in unknown territory.
As we all know, the land in the north is the so-called "Eastern Land", where there are at least Finns, Corvins, Tavastians and other ethnic groups. Although they are weak as a whole, the strength of the current Ross warriors is also very weak. Arik didn't want to take the initiative to attack those guys in the north, at least when his troops were stretched thin. Even if he had the idea of attacking, facing the situation, he just wanted to deal with it conservatively.
On a new day, the soldiers in the fleet ate the new cooked oats, and everyone ate high-quality food. They sang ancient songs and set out again.
Due to the wind factor, they were heading straight to the east facing the eastern sun, but the fleet was constantly deflecting to the south.
Only a few people know the structure of this water area, and Rurik knows it best.
Everyone spent almost the whole day at sea. Bored people might chat about random things, such as bragging about their property, whether the kidnapped wife was pregnant with a boy or a girl, or even holding silver coins in their hands and imagining how to marry their brothers in New Roseburg. What good stuff did we buy?
There are also more bored people who put their hands through the gaps in the ship's shield and put their hands into the seawater to feel its coolness.
Routine vigilance work requires more people to do it. Some people always stand upright in the evening. They are observers. Their eyesight is extremely sharp. Their biggest task now is to find a desert island for the brothers to spend the night.
Unless absolutely necessary, no one is willing to spend the night on a cramped and cramped ship.
"Aric! Look over there! The island!"
Arik, who was a little depressed, suddenly stood up, stroking the mast and looking into the distance.
In the distance, a shadow resembling an island appeared in the hazy sunset.
Is that an island? Oh, of course it is. It's just that the island looks a bit strange.
Arik then stamped his feet: "Hey, brothers, stop dozing off! Retract the sails! Put out the oars!"
At this moment, Rurik, who was already suffering from boredom and fatigue, and was sleeping on his side using Jevlo's thigh as a pillow, was woken up.
"What's going on? They can't be enemies."
Jevro immediately comforted him: "There are no enemies, we just discovered the island. Hehe, we discovered a new island in the south."
"New island?" Rurik rubbed his head hard and watched as Jevlo quickly entered the paddling position. He felt that he had become an obstacle to everyone's paddling, so he stood up and moved to the bow of the ship. .
The three longships all adjusted their direction. They needed an island to dock, and put down their pottery urns to cook the wheat they carried, and even lit a bonfire to process the smoked fish.
But the scenery over there gets a little strange.
The outline of the island became clear, and the sea level actually disappeared. Even though the soft light of evening made the world feel distant, the hundreds of soldiers on the ship knew that it must be land. For a moment, some who remembered the ancient teachings realized what the distant land meant.
Suddenly, someone shouted to Arik: "Boss! Are we really going? We may be attacked by the Baltic people."
This term Arik was very unfamiliar to him.
"What kind of bastards are the Baltic people? Are they strong?"
The speaker was speechless, and his behavior made Arik even more disdainful. He simply pulled out his sword and pointed it directly at the hazy land over there: "Brothers, we discovered a brand new land! I heard that there is a group of unknown idiots living there? Are we afraid of them? We want to live on that island One night, if the fools intend to attack, let them die. My sword longs for new blood!"
Rurik couldn't help but admire Arik's impromptu speech.
Look at these wild warriors. They have changed from being sluggish to having high morale. They are already roaring while paddling hard.
In fact, Rurik knew very well that the land over there was definitely not a "Baltic land". The tribal alliance generally knew the legends about the Baltic people, but they were still very unfamiliar with the Rus', so it was understandable that Arik knew nothing about them.
It's just that those people who may exist on land are definitely not Baltic people.
Rurik could conclude that the land ahead was the land of the ancient Estonians.
Estonians and Baltic people are not the same people at all.
