At dusk, a large number of tribesmen gathered at the place where the edict board was erected. Everyone saw the words on it and immediately had different opinions.
In the crowd, an old guy with half his beard burned off, after reading the paperwork on the board, hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd and walked quickly back to his home.
He was Clavarson, and when he returned to his home where he had been smelting all night to cast more iron farm tools (mainly digging shovels and axes) and cooking utensils (mainly iron bowls), he immediately summoned his blacksmith apprentices.
After a while, Kawei ran over with his shirtless body covered in sweat.
"Dad, you're back so soon? That order issued by the leader... We really want an all-out war against the Gotlanders."
Klavasen's face was as iron as steel. He did not immediately answer Kawei's words, but faced everyone present: "The big leader chose war, and Rurik will fight with all our strength. Now I have decided not to fight again. Go and forge those farm tools, and we’ll make weapons now.”
"Ah? We..." Kawei asked hurriedly: "What should we build?"
"First..." Klavasen knew that his decision was quite arbitrary, but thinking of the terms on the board, he was convinced that the blacksmiths would contribute a lot to this decisive war. The kid from Rurik would definitely come to the blacksmith tomorrow. Give orders.
"Let's make arrow clusters first. We need to make a large number of carbon steel arrow clusters."
"this……"
Klavason pointed his big hand at his son, "Kawei, Rurik will be our commander in the future war. It seems that we will gather an army of three thousand people, and then I am afraid that you and I will have to follow. Rurik Ke just likes archery when he fights. He asked us to hurry up and make arrow clusters before. Now let’s continue! At my command, all the finished iron bowls were smashed. "
"Ah? Dad, why?!" Kawei was confused for a moment.
"Idiot! Put it in the small stove and stir-fry it. We will make carbon steel arrow clusters now."
Kawei had no choice but to make a batch of iron bowls that he planned to take to Novgorod this fall to exchange for local agricultural products. After all, the local people paying tribute essentially has nothing to do with the blacksmiths. Although the blacksmith also has to pay a tax to the leader, other income is the blacksmith's own.
He raised a huge hammer and smashed the cast iron bowl repeatedly until it was broken into thumb-sized pieces. After throwing it into a small stove, he ordered his apprentice to wear leather gloves and use an iron rod to stir continuously.
This is the steel frying method. This technology can be said to have been discovered by Kawei himself due to an accidental incident. Although this incident was accidental, it was inevitable. After all, he already knew a lot about the "Periodic Table of Elements", especially knowing that the difference between iron and steel lies in the magical carbon content.
The method of mass-producing low-carbon steel has already emerged, but it may be more suitable for making small objects such as arrow clusters and spoons, or for pulling out iron wire.
According to Kawei's estimate, there will be quite a few fragments that will remain the same size during rapid decarburization. The end result will be the excellent arrow cluster blanks, which can be hammered and quenched to bond the arrow shaft.
Exhausted, he had no energy to continue fighting, and the short night was about to end.
In Roseburg, which has a high latitude, it is still chilly in the summer morning.
During this overnight stay, Rick was held in his mother's arms. While satisfying the woman's longing for her son, he also lay on the soft leather bed and had a truly peaceful sleep. The bumps and ups and downs of the sea really make people sleepy.
The sun had already risen, and Rurik, who was awake, smelled the aroma of barbecue and walked into the hall of his home.
The family is sitting together. There is only one boy, Rurik, and the other girls are his future wives and concubines.
Soon the Britten maids in charge of the barbecue entered the hall together carrying a steaming wooden board and placed a huge roasted deer leg on the table.
Look at this sizzling and greasy barbecue!
Otto's stomach growled fiercely. Without saying a word, he even didn't care that the barbecue was too hot. He picked up a knife and pierced it. As the Duke of Ross, he unceremoniously cut off the best meat and tasted it for himself, tearing it wantonly with a bloody mouth, and even the grease splashed on Rurik's face.
"Dad, you look like a hungry wolf." Rurik protested unhappily, gently wiping the oil off his face.
Otto was busy chewing the meat, making a squeaking sound, so Rurik had no choice but to pick up the knife to cut the meat, and then he held the chopsticks gracefully and stuffed the cut pieces of meat into his mouth.
The girls also followed suit. Their ability to handle chopsticks was trained by Rurik. They were completely different from Otto's tiger and wolf eating methods, and they were more elegant.
"That's weird, I thought there was oatmeal for breakfast." Rurik complained slightly.
Niya shook her head: "Silly boy, the wheat has been eaten long ago. The situation is better now than before. At least we still have venison to eat."
"Deer? Are you really willing to give it up?" Rurik suddenly turned his head to look at the smiling Rumia, and asked jokingly: "My high priest, is this really okay? Killing a deer like this?"
"Well... although I'm a little reluctant to part with it, it's the leader after all... no, it's the Duke's triumphant return, so this meal should be sumptuous."
It sounds reasonable. Rurik nodded, and then Lurk asked about the most important thing: "I remember it correctly. There is no night between tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. When the sun stops at the sea level, it is our Great Sacrifice. How are you preparing for the sacrifice?"
Rurik, who returned yesterday, quickly fell asleep. Rumia was called by Otto to explain some major events, so she now fully knows about the major events of the Ross tribe's all-out war on Gotland. No one is joking about this matter. Rumia knows very little about the Gotlanders, but she has fully understood that this war is not a continuation of the previous war southward launched by the Alliance, but a full-scale revenge by the Russians.
When she thought that the outcome of this battle was either victory or destruction, she became stumbling when she spoke: "There is... a plan to have five deer as sacrifices."
"That's it? Too few!" Rurik pointed to the deer legs, "There need to be more sacrifices to worship the gods. Ten deer! You choose ten from the herd."
"Huh?! So many."
"You can't bear it anymore? High Priest! Listen to my orders!"
"Yes." Rumia lowered her head helplessly. She really didn't want to spend too much money.
Rurik looked at the table again: "Lumia, raise your head. This sacrifice is of great significance. You must get things done."
"Yes! I will."
"After you have eaten enough, you can continue to discuss with the priests. As for me, I have some important matters."
This morning's meal was anything but enjoyable. He even bluntly stated that he no longer wanted to be with his mother, but instead devoted himself wholeheartedly to war preparations.
Even though there was no official announcement of the actual general mobilization, the notice board had already been put up, and some important members of the tribe began to take action. He knew that he had to race against time, especially the production and maintenance of equipment, and he had to go down personally.
To put it bluntly, considering the way of life of the Russian people, although the soldiers and horses have not used food and grass first, since the army will go out to control a large area of the sea, the so-called warrior's job is to be a fisherman, spending some time netting and fishing in the vast sea area that he has occupied. , not to mention eating to fill your stomach, there is no problem eating fish to fill your stomach. Because the herring caught by the Ross fleet during an off-net fishing operation more than ten days ago did meet the meal needs of 300 people that day.
The most important thing for the Russian people is to solve the problem of weapons and equipment.
Perhaps the number of weapons retained by the Russians was enough to cope with a full-scale war, but Rurik really saw clearly the major weakness of his tribe-the inability to bear the loss of too many soldiers.
The agreed date of departure is in August, and there is still a whole month left in August! Even including the final gathering time of all parties, let's count it as ten days, then the time to prepare for war based on the Russian ordnance is still three weeks.
Three weeks may not seem like a long time, but in fact it is.
As long as a group of people are mobilized to help, Ross Blacksmith will surely create miracles.
After dinner, Rurik called a dozen mercenaries and hurried to Klavason's house.
Otto was not idle on this day. He estimated that the standing notice board had aroused the blood of the clan members. As the big leader, the Duke of Ross, he had to shoulder the responsibility of recruiting everyone. He took his cronies and began to call on the men left behind to take up arms on the complex roads of the tribe. However, more strong men are still holding the fishing ropes at sea and fighting with the hooked cod.
Where blacksmiths gather, the smoke and dust never dissipates, and there is a faint burnt smell in the air.
Rurik's visit was completely unexpected by the Klavasen family. What surprised Rurik was that he remembered that Kavey took his wife and children to Novgorod to visit his mother-in-law. Now...
This sturdy young man is already sweating profusely. He is holding a poker in one hand and a small hammer in the other hand to build some gadgets on the blacksmith's bench.
For a moment, Rurik saw clearly, "Ah! You are actually making arrow clusters?!"
"A lot has been done." Arik wiped the sweat from his face with his arm and pointed at the small iron fist at his feet with his hammer.
"They're all arrow clusters, so many?!"
Klavason chuckled and joined in: "I already know the news. Finally... I'm going to fight the Gotlanders."
"What do you think? This is my decision."
"Okay! That's great!" In fact, Klavasen felt a little anxious about his decision. He had no right to question the current situation, so he continued to agree: "I will have no regrets in my life if I can watch those guys completely defeated in my lifetime."
"Okay, I remember you said something similar when your grandson was born. Hmm? Where's Kamne?" Rurik looked around and asked, "Where's Lilia?"
"Lilia is still in Novgorod. I asked her to take the children and come back in the autumn. You know, I am a blacksmith, and our family now has some influence in Novgorod. Lilia is a very good person. A woman who is helping my family expand its influence."
"Oh, so where is Kamne? I see why your place is a little deserted now. Where are the large group of apprentices?"
"They all went to the mountains to mine." Klavason stroked his beard and relished: "The blast furnace cannot be stopped. I asked some old guys to help take care of the furnace. But when it comes to mining, this kid Kamne is really He is smart, he can already look for ores on his own, and those apprentices are just young, they have good physical strength and endurance, and they don't look tired when they come back carrying ores."
"Okay, it seems that my worries are unnecessary."
Rurik took another look at the current situation and bluntly told Kawei to suspend the work at hand.
Klavasen brought three leather mats and spread them on the gravel floor of the blacksmith shop. He knew that Rurik's visit this time would be for something big, just like before.
Sure enough, Rurik's words were astonishing.
"It seems that you understand my thoughts very well. The notice board I asked to put up has some effect. You are making arrow clusters, and it seems that they are the best carbon steel arrow clusters. It's great! Kawei, you are someone I respect. man!"
"It is an honor to serve you."
Rurik was very happy with Kawei's flattery. Since they were so cooperative, his next plan would be easy to implement, although it was indeed a challenge for them.
Taking this opportunity, Rurik briefly explained his experience of fighting south in the past twenty days. Although there are too many thrilling details in it, Kawei and Klavason were so shocked that they had great energy to ask why.
Rurik did not have time to spend any time promoting the great achievements of the Russian army.
He emphasized one point in particular: "In this battle, the enemy suffered huge losses, but the elites of the Malaren Army suffered heavy losses. All allies suffered considerable losses, but we did not even have a single wounded person. Why is this? Because We have been shooting with bows and arrows, and when the enemies rushed in front of us, we shot them all. It can be seen that it is great that we use bows, crossbows and torsion slings on a large scale!"
Kawei held his head high, his body trembling with excitement as he sat: "You mean to encourage me to work hard to make arrow clusters before our war comes?"
"Yes! You and your son are both masters in making the best steel-arm crossbows and ordinary oak crossbows. You are indeed the best blacksmiths in Ross, and you will definitely train a large number of young blacksmiths. Of course you will make a large number of arrow clusters , we want to fight against very strong enemies, so we naturally need to prepare a large number of hardened carbon steel arrow clusters. You are only responsible for making arrow clusters, arrow shafts and gluing tail feathers, I will send someone to take care of it."
"Your girls? Oh no, the children of the Valkyrie Legion." Klavason said with a smile.
"Of course, the arrows they made and assembled have proven to be useful in actual combat."
"That's a good thing." Originally, Klavasen thought those girls were really unreliable, but since their master Rurik trusted them, he always kept silent.
Unexpectedly, Rurik said something shocking again.
"This time I plan to gather an army of 3,000 men, but if I think about it carefully, our tribe does not have 3,000 men who can stand up and walk, not to mention babies. I must gather 3,000 men for this battle. This is The promise I made to everyone is also...a promise to God. So my Valkyrie army, those girls, they also have to go to the battlefield." In fact, Rurik just didn't want to break his promise, and he deliberately showed that he kept his word. , anyway, the plan is to have an army of 3,000 people, including cats and dogs, or even a group of "cheerleaders". If there are 3,000 people, it means that he has not broken his promise.
Besides, strength in numbers can also frighten the enemy physically, right?
"Huh? You...are really..."
"Klavason, you want to say this is ridiculous?"
"I..." Klavasen denied it, but his eyes made it clear.
Rurik shrugged: "If they don't go to the battlefield, what's the point of training them? I never expect those children to go into battle to kill the enemy, and they can't become female warriors fighting in close combat in the future. They shoot with crossbows. That’s it, that’s what my Valkyrie Legion does.”
This was Rurik's decision. Klavasen was very self-aware, so he immediately changed the subject: "So, in the previous battle, you mobilized many people to make arrows, and together with the stocks made in advance, the total amount was 20,000. ? They must have been greatly consumed in the war. Sir, you need us to work quickly and there is very little work to do."
"You're on to something." Rurik thought for a moment. Considering that there were only three weeks for full production before the battle, we really couldn't expect the blacksmith to be so terrifyingly efficient on his own. "Let's just do this. Make a thousand large arrow clusters of hardened carbon steel. They are used in steel-arm crossbows. I want to use them to shoot the enemy's elite. I also need a large number of ordinary crossbows and wooden bows. The arrows and arrow clusters are made of molten iron. You know the time of my planned expedition. You still have three weeks to complete 10,000 arrows!"
"Ah?! So many?" Kawei lost his composure for a moment and asked: "Rurik, do you think we can do it?"
"This is an order." Rurik said with a sullen face, as if he would not take a step back.
"this……"
"Kawei, you have no right to hesitate. Remember, this is a bet on everything of our Ross tribe. For this victory, we must work hard to make weapons in order to reduce the number of casualties. Even if you don't sleep or hire labor, Make these 10,000 arrow clusters. Even if they are bronze arrow clusters, that’s fine. I only want weapons now, and..."
"Ah? What else?!"
At this time, Rurik's eyes were focused on Klavasen, who was a little embarrassed...
