In the woods, the ever-powerful combat force was approaching the occupied village. It happened that everyone was still sleeping soundly at this time. If the sneak attack went wrong, the losses would be too great.
At the time of crisis, one of the sentries finally remembered that he was still carrying a calf horn, so he puffed his cheeks and blew loudly while running.
The melodious sound of the trumpet echoed in the woods. It was not loud at all, but only the shock of those who were awakened.
As if he had been stung by a scorpion, Arik rolled over and stood up with his sword in hand. He knew that the horn was not blown randomly, and no lunatic would blow it continuously. The horn means great danger!
Jevro suddenly shook the sleeping Rurik.
"Oops, what's going on?" Rurik, who was angry at getting out of bed, was extremely angry.
"Sir! It's the enemy! Listen to the trumpet."
"Enemy?" Rurik was still confused.
At the time of crisis, Yevluo could no longer care so much. He pinched his master's face hard and said, "Sir, please wake up quickly. We are going to fight."
"Ah!" Upon hearing the word "war", Rurik immediately cheered up. He regained his strength and suddenly pulled out his sword. He saw that his tribesmen, who had once slept like dead pigs, now all picked up their shields and swords at Aric's call.
"Shield wall! Prepare!" Arik shouted with his sword. At this moment, Rurik's eyes looked like his cousin was possessed by the God of War.
The tribesmen also let out alarming roars in a rhythmic manner, and their loose state was gone. They were gradually gathering into a group to fight each other. Soon, Rurik also joined this group.
The sudden situation made Rurik very nervous. He thought that because he had not equipped his men with crossbows, he lacked the confidence to win in the face of an unknown enemy.
Not so with Arik!
Arik, who had already put on his shining silver chainmail, held his sword and shouted: "Brothers! Those with chainmails stand at the front, and those without stay behind. Form a dense formation!"
The Rus retreated outside the village, close to their ships, and constructed a semicircle formation that could converge into a circle at the most critical point. This is a defensive tactic commonly used by the Russians. The key is to stand upright and let the enemy attack first, and then defend and counterattack. Once the enemy is confused, the team will disperse to pursue.
Did Arik think of any more advanced tactics? Absolutely not.
Due to the limitations of his personal vision, he could only lead his brothers to use rigid tactics to face the enemy. What's more, they don't know the specific strength of the enemy. What kind of enemy will emerge from that dark forest? I am afraid that the battle is inevitable and there is no reason to avoid it. The Rus people have become very conservative under the leadership of Arik.
Finally, people began to emerge from the forest.
"Be careful, those are our mercenaries, let them in!"
Arik's instructions avoided accidental injury, and the mercenaries who tried their best to remain calm got into the formation and began to report to Rurik and Arik one after another.
All the mercenaries who retreated told the same thing. An unknown number of enemies were advancing towards the village.
The situation became a little tricky. Arik gritted his teeth and sweat broke out on his forehead.
If a battle can be avoided, then don't take the initiative to fight it, Rurik suggested; "Brother, if... we can, we should retreat. The ships are behind us."
"It's this time, and you actually want to run away?!" Gritting his teeth, Arik lowered his head and said viciously: "If I run away, my brothers will call me a coward. Brother, do you think I can run away?"
"Then fight an unknown enemy?"
"Fight! They are coming anyway. Rurik, you are right, we really encountered their attack. You did a good job, if there were no sentries, we would be finished."
Rurik was not happy at all. Since his cousin and other guys were determined to fight an unknown enemy, and they were full of confidence, it would be stupid for him to retreat even at this juncture.
He calmed down, thinking that he was a person who had experienced battles, how could he be afraid of another battle?
However, this battle was not planned at all, and he actually responded to it hastily.
Just as the Russians were preparing to meet the enemy, Rurik quickly organized his mercenaries: "We will not actively participate in the battle of the Russian soldiers. Your task is to protect my safety. You must obey my order form, or carry out Support, or do other things. Give them the credit for killing the enemy, and none of you are allowed to take the credit."
Jevro was very surprised: "Sir, are we just watching other people fighting?"
"Don't you understand what I mean? You are my people and you must protect my safety now! Whether to join the war or not, obey my orders completely! Remember that your master is me, not my cousin!"
Rurik especially emphasized to Yevluo who was the master, because he was worried that Yevluo had become too familiar with Arik during the long-term robbery. Even if there was an inferiority gap between the two parties, both They are essentially comrades who kill together, and it is natural for them to develop a friendship with each other. Having said that, if Jevro thinks that Arik is worthy of respect and following, it will be his own loss and failure.
Ultimately, it is human nature to be self-interested, especially in times of crisis. Rurik felt that his cousin and those brothers were determined to win, and there was no need for him to cause more trouble.
Besides, although the mercenaries did not bring crossbows, they at least had short wooden bows in their hands. Even if their quality was poor, firing arrows for fire harassment could bring good results.
Now, the burning bonfire is still making crackling sounds, and noisy crowds have begun to come from not far away.
The Ross soldiers who had reorganized their formation and were ready to fight all had their brows furrowed and their attitude was determined.
They are mainly warriors who have settled on Tombstone Island. Each of them is a veteran who has climbed out of the sea of learning. Their strong self-confidence supports their confidence in winning the decisive battle with the unknown enemy.
Finally, the enemy appears!
At dawn, the sun is almost ready to come out, and the east has become golden.
A light morning mist filled the forest, and a large group of men wearing animal skins and rough linen emerged from the dark green forest.
right! They are men! The tall and shaggy figure holding a short spear and a small shield proved their identity as men.
"Attention, everyone! The enemy is coming!" Arik shouted warily.
The soldiers at the front hurriedly squatted down, and the swords they held were close to the edge of the buckler, although they were poking at the enemy. Some short spears were almost resting on their shoulders, and the rusty yet sharp spearheads pointed straight ahead. For the entire formation, the space cover had a realistic double force. But this is not the end! The strong man in the last row holds a modified long-handled ax, waiting for an opportunity to support the frontline warriors and give the enemy a blow to the head.
If they set up a flag, it would be more like a centurion from the classical period, Rurik thought.
More and more enemies came out of the woods, and through the narrow gaps in the human wall, Rurik saw the appearance of those people.
They were people with obvious brown hair, and many of the men had a hemp rope tied around their foreheads, which seemed to keep their hair from being too messy.
Almost all of them were covered in leather. Rurik couldn't tell what kind of animal skin it was. Could it be that of a wild boar because of its dark appearance? There is a large area of black leather, either wild boar or bear. As long as they can kill these two dangerous animals, he does not believe that these people are weak.
Fortunately, Ross's chainmail sword and shield hand gave Rurik a lot of confidence.
The number of enemies was indeed large. They held up short spears and walked cautiously in their own villages. With a strong sense of tension, they approached the Russians who were fully prepared.
They are mainly spearmen, but they don't have much organization. Their so-called short spears can't be seen to have any technical or tactical performance. I'm afraid they only have a way of killing enemies by stabbing them.
The luck of a single spearman is E. Only by organizing a group of spearmen, preferably forming a spear wall, can they exert strong combat effectiveness.
If they were a group of fusiliers equipped with bayonets, this aggressive advance like skirmishers would indeed give the enemy a sense of oppression. Unfortunately, they are just a ragtag group of armed men.
Among them, there were also many people armed with axes and short swords, and some with weapons that looked like javelins.
Archers are indispensable, but they are small in number, and the bows they equip are essentially the same poor performance as the short wooden bows that the Russians first had.
How many enemies are there?
Arik, who covered half of his torso and half of his face with his buckler, stared wide-eyed to estimate the number of enemies.
His initial estimate led to a very crazy conclusion - are there five hundred enemies?
Five hundred enemies? How can it be? Can this small village accommodate 500 men?
Arik suddenly thought that maybe this place unknown to him and his tribe had already been developed by this group of "Baltic people".
Until this moment, facing an enemy several times his own, Arik did not think of the advice of his uncle, Otto, the leader of Rus: "Don't sleep on the beaches in the south during the Sorgon voyage, and don't take the initiative to start a war with the Baltic people." .”
"Damn it, I even went to stay at the Baltic people's house. These guys, they must destroy us at all costs!"
Arik made up his mind that he did not think that the two sides needed to engage in mediation, but that they should fight fiercely when they met.
Arik knew nothing about the situation in this area, which was why he decided to refuse any negotiations. If the opponent doesn't attack first, he will lead his brothers to attack for the sake of honor.
When a large number of armed villagers, obviously under the command of their leader, deliberately kept about a hundred meters away from the Ross shield wall (the limit range of ordinary inferior short wooden bows firing light arrows), they all stopped. .
Or because the number of people is very large, the villagers are not in a hurry to attack suddenly.
Also because the Russians did not destroy any houses and could not see any damage to the village, many villagers naively believed that the uninvited guests were not really cruel.
However, the fear of attackers from the sea is imprinted in the hearts of every villager.
It is precisely for this reason that people who happened to go fishing offshore saw the approaching long boat, and then ran back like crazy to call the police.
A white-haired old man, leaning on a cane and led by several sword-wielding men, boldly approached the Russian array.
The old man spoke; "Who are you! What are you going to do? If you are unwilling to answer, just leave!"
However, Arik couldn't understand it at all.
Perhaps the old man was not aware of the language barrier between the two parties, so he continued to extend his olive branch. Although some villagers found unfavorable feces in their homes, their anger against outsiders did not turn into a war. But when they discovered that the cellar had been opened, many villagers were really angry. The original innocence was gone.
fight? The villagers who had the numerical advantage were not in vain.
But the village elders convinced the leader to stay put and he tried to single-handedly dissuade the outsiders. If a reasonable price is paid to avoid a big war, the old man thinks it is a good deal. Because he always remembers the "Varyag Raid" he experienced when he was young, and also knows that the attackers went deep along the river and ended up settling in the great lake in the south.
The old man called for peace with his aged voice. In short, the villagers intended to let the Russians go.
Rurik, who was at the rear of the line, enjoyed the best safety under the protection of mercenaries like iron barrels.
Jevro heard the old man's words clearly, and he muttered in surprise: "It's strange, I actually understand what they said."
"Ah? You actually understood it?" Rurik was shocked.
"Yes, it's like I can understand the words of the Kewen people. Oh, yes! Of course I can understand it!" Yevluo stamped his feet: "The land to the north of the sea is actually my hometown. I know where to live on the land to the south. Who are they! They have some connection with me, they are estors."
Jevro calls those people Aita people, and Rurik is very sensitive to this so-called "Aita" term. I'm afraid he is the "Eastern" vocabulary inherent in the ancient Ugl language. The Deer Herders, the Kovins, the Finns, and these guys today, they all have the same ancestor.
With Javlo's proof, Rurik completely confirmed that those guys were the ancestors of Estonia.
Jevlo said cautiously: "If possible, I would like to go out and talk to them. If they can pay a tribute, why should we fight?"
When Rurik thought about it, it was really like this, but...
He sighed: "This army belongs to my cousin. If those are my people, of course I will let you find out. Jevlo, give up your illusions and prepare to fight!"
To be honest, Jevlo didn't want to fight these people. However, many things in the world can be changed without personal will.
For example, the heavily armed Arik refused any negotiation from the beginning. Seeing that the other party's equipment was inferior, even though there were many enemies, he still couldn't be his prey?
The old man changed his words and moved forward.
Arik shook his head and ordered a spear-throwing master under his command: "The battle is inevitable, stab it to death!"
As a result, three spear-wielding warriors threw their own short spears, or more appropriately, harpoons.
They are already masters at spearing fish, so it is not difficult to kill the enemy with the same method.
The old man came with the purpose of peace, but ended up lying on the ground with his body covered with his hands covering the spear embedded in his body, and died with his mind blank.
An old villager died like this!
The village leader, who had little hope for negotiation and negotiation, could no longer control his emotions when he saw this.
The volcano finally erupted!
The leader's eyes were about to burst out of their sockets. He raised the spear in his hand and let out a battle cry.
The villagers in Estonia were very excited. Their childhood was filled with stories from their parents about the suffering caused by the Varyag people who came across the sea. In order to avoid the recurrence of the tragedy, they decided to fight to the death. They are indeed confident. Compared with the tragedy a few decades ago, they now have a large amount of iron tools to fight, and they also have an iron mine upstream of the river, which produces a steady stream of iron.
Iron tools build their confidence, and they can also make some wealth through inter-tribal trade.
In this way, two ethnic groups that had never met before, the Russians and the ancient Estonians, met for the first time in history.
Strictly speaking, though, the Russians had no understanding of the Estonians.
These Estonian villagers assumed that the visitors were Varyags, and the elder was dead, very suddenly. The villagers also gave up all illusions and began to take the initiative to attack.
If the information between the two sides is unequal, and they even cannot understand each other's respective strengths and armaments, what will the war situation look like?
