A group of blue and white warriors walk in the withered yellow world.
Autumn is coming across Northern Europe, and the grass and trees are beginning to wither, and only the wheat is beginning to ear.
Gotland has a warmer climate than Lake Mälaren. However, the soil here is relatively poor, and coupled with the rough planting methods, the wheat here is too sparse.
Heavy rains that began at the end of June caused large-scale lodging of wheat in Gotland's offshore farmland. Only inland oats were slightly affected.
Arik and his brothers were dressed in colorful clothes. He was so brave that he longed to encounter the enemy and have another enjoyable battle.
They walked through the wilderness, climbed up a nearly 100-meter-high mound on the island, and then found a trickling stream on the way down.
They looked out from the top of the mound. The clear air was so transparent. Arik even saw the west coast of the island in the distance, as well as some obvious settlements. Even though those are low buildings, they are obvious in the withered and yellow world.
Is that Visby? Or something else?
Arik didn't think much about it. He considered his own strength and rushed over rashly. Of course it wouldn't work, but it was obvious that he could break into the village along the stream he discovered.
They did see a small village sheltered by hills.
"Brothers, let's go and have a go!"
The Ross warriors opened their mouths and laughed wildly.
They descended the mountain like tigers and rushed into the village quickly. They did not hesitate and had no intention of negotiating with the local residents.
After the sudden attack, many villagers did not know what had happened. They were busy stocking up fodder for their sheep and repairing agricultural tools, such as long-handled scythes and oat-husking flails, in preparation for harvesting wheat in the upcoming autumn harvest.
The working farmers looked at the blue and white people running towards them. At first they thought they were very beautiful, but by the time they realized the danger, it was too late.
The sharp and ferocious crossbow arrows struck accurately, and some farmers fell to the ground crying.
The villagers started shouting in shock: "It's pirates!" and then fled home to get weapons for self-defense.
The villagers' defense was in vain. They took out short swords for slaughtering sheep and chickens, short spears for guarding against wild beasts, and short bows.
How can these weapons withstand the well-prepared Arik.
The warrior's wildness was aroused, and Aric shouted an order: "Don't reload after shooting! Throw down the crossbow and draw your sword to kill them!"
Only Hebie warriors used their "Qilin Arms" to forcibly string their steel-armed crossbows after shooting. More warriors held up swords or axes, held round shields in front of themselves, and rushed over with roars.
The battle was over quickly.
Farmers who resisted were killed one after another, women were pulled out of their homes by their hair, and anyone who resisted was directly assassinated.
If Rurik was principled, Arik had no intention of being principled with these people.
"Kill me! No mercy!"
The soldiers understood. Some of the soldiers who were satisfied straightened their long robes and then killed the female prisoner whose face was full of tears.
The Rus lost nothing, but their gowns were stained with the blood of their enemies.
There were corpses everywhere, but two men who were almost dead were spared their lives. The two men pretended to be dead and were caught when the Russians were cleaning up the battlefield.
Logically speaking, such a coward who didn't even dare to resist should be cut into pieces, and Arik intended to execute him.
"Boss, I have to stay alive to ask about the situation here."
Aric patted his head and thought that this was indeed the case. After some interrogation, the Russians knew the name of this village, a very casual name - Heldenhos (house under the hill).
The village's inhabitants, numbering only a hundred, were unaware of the Ross landings and had not recently gone on business to Slietomo offshore or to Visby further afield.
They just lived quietly in the interior, and today they were completely destroyed.
"It's really interesting. You can reach Visby along this stream?" Arik looked to the west, showing a greedy smile.
"Sir, please spare me! I... will be a slave to you Russians." The farmer lying on the ground begged.
"You? Forget it, you two, get out of here!" After saying that, Arik raised his foot to drive him away.
Upon seeing this, the two of them got up and ran away. As they fled frantically, Arik took over the crossbow from his men.
"Boss, didn't you agree to let these two idiots report the news? You must shoot them?"
Arik skillfully picked up the crossbow, aimed and fired in one go. One of the escapees was shot through the neck and fell to the ground dead on the spot, while the other wailed and ran faster.
"It's enough to leave a message." Aric put down the heavy crossbow. "The weapon invented by my brother is really easy to use. Although it is not particularly glorious, it really makes the battle we perform much simpler. Go! Man, take the arrow from Pull it out from the dead body."
Arik was a savage plunderer. When he realized that he could not take away the captured cattle and sheep immediately, he ordered them to be killed.
The Russians peeled off the skin of the sheep, roasted the meat and ate it.
They made some extra meat to supplement their food rations during the march.
What rare things could be found in the villagers' homes? The soldiers unexpectedly found a lot of silver and copper coins.
Each soldier got more than ten silver coins and even an amber necklace taken from the woman's neck. Unexpectedly, the farmer's family was so rich, and when he thought about his past days, the Russian soldier felt a wave of hatred throughout his life.
They simply do not understand that the rebellious Gotlanders and Danes have been trading furs and fish, always transporting sheepskins produced on the island to the port of Heideby in the southern part of the Jutland Peninsula, and trading with Danish merchants. , Frank merchants doing business. It is for this reason that Gotland has been able to accumulate a large amount of Frankish silver coins in these years.
The dead did not need money or jewelry, and Arik had no intention of burying these people. The corpses were all thrown into one room.
The Russians stayed in the village for one night and burned the village to the ground the next day, turning the corpses into ashes.
Some people questioned that Arik's decision was a waste of resources. After all, there were many sheep that did not need to be killed. Wouldn't it be better to take them back to other brothers to eat? Now the dead sheep will eventually emit a stench and rot on the ground.
"What do you know? This is my revenge! Brothers, show no mercy. Except for the people we landed on, everyone else on this island is an enemy and deserves death!"
The accompanying Ross soldiers had nothing to say. The boss was so fierce. Everyone was in awe from the bottom of their hearts and admired this ruthless man. Oh, the best thing about Arik is that he is not greedy for money. For example, during this robbery, he didn't even want a single copper coin. All the coins he grabbed belonged to his brothers.
After a successful raid, they were eager for a second and a third.
Having learned from the experience of attacking Heldenhaus, Aric decided to keep a low profile.
The very flamboyant blue and white robes sewn with the Russian logo were gathered up, and the fifty warriors turned into gray and black. Many disguised themselves in coarse burkas captured from peasants and hid their crossbows before brazenly searching for new targets.
They seemed to be fishermen from the east coast, people who brought goods into the inner islands or went to Vis to sell their catch.
Almost all the inland villages were unaware of the Russian invasion, and now they suffered greatly from the temporary lack of information.
The villagers welcome people from other villages to trade. After all, they are people living on the same island. Although everyone has some unavoidable grudges on weekdays, no one is on guard when it comes to trade.
Arik led his troops to leave Heldenhos and continue to advance along the direction where the stream flows into the sea. Like a mudslide, he captured another village named Lukuluje that day. It's still the same move. When Arik comes, he brings death, burning and destruction.
Speaking of which, the people in this village should know the news of the Russian attack. Arik interrogated the people who had been bypassed, and then learned that the guy running from the north was indeed preaching that "murderers from the sea destroyed the village." As a result, this person spread the terrible news wildly, threatening that the next person to suffer was the village of Lukuluye. The angry villagers didn't believe this at all, so they gave the fugitive a bit of cheese and kicked him in the butt with their boots to drive him away.
The sea breeze dispersed the thick smoke that burned the village. The residents of Lukuluye failed to see the danger signals and missed the opportunity to escape.
After Arik once again let go of the villagers who spared their lives, he led his brothers to live in a quiet village. On the next day, Lukuluye lit up a huge fire, killing all the cattle and sheep, and even the oats that were about to ripen, and he ordered people to deliberately set fire to them.
The ground was littered with dead bodies of humans and animals, and the continuous tragic scenes even made many executioners feel uncomfortable.
Some people suffered from mental problems due to excessive killing, and they roared at the sky and bared their teeth.
Others want to leave this uncomfortable area quickly, because this is not the battle they want, and it is not honorable to kill someone who is unprepared.
Arik decided to continue plundering, and a soldier said: "Boss, we are really close to Visby. The Duke is looking forward to a decisive battle with them, we..."
Aric, who was leading the march with high spirits, was really impatient: "What? Do you want to be a coward? Or do you plan to follow me to meet those idiots in Visby?"
Listening to this, Arik wanted to take a mere fifty lightly-armed soldiers to do meat reconnaissance.
Meat detective, that's not a good job.
Isn't it agreed upon? The job of testing the enemy's army is to be left to the hundreds of tool men of the Mellaren mercenaries.
Why do the most elite Rus warriors have to take this unworthy job?
"Boss, the Duke said that the army will set off in five days. We are already on the fourth day. Our brothers have gone too far. We should go back early."
Hearing this, Arik stopped suddenly. He turned around and glared at everyone with a pair of sharp eagle eyes: "What? Are you afraid? I led you to beat the Gotlanders at sea, and now they have boarded their damn... Island, are you actually timid now?"
At this moment, no one spoke, and everyone could hear only Arik's criticism and rumors.
"Shut up now! I said, there must be no mercy. We want to give the enemy fear. Now follow me and attack the next village. Remember, no mercy."
The so-called no mercy means not even sparing the egg-laying hens raised by the villagers.
Arik's actions have gone beyond ordinary pirates. He came here to kill and destroy. Wherever he passed, there was only scorched earth.
On this day, he led his troops to capture a village called Qiao Village. It was also in this village that the Ross raiding party attacking along the stream saw a small wooden plank bridge, and the village got its name.
But this fight was completely unexpected.
The team seemed to have entered a deserted village, but the village was by no means abandoned.
The alert Arik walked into a house. He stuck his sword on the ground and knelt down to explore the carbon residue from the fire. He was shocked to find that the deep carbon residue was still burning slowly.
The soldier holding a crossbow on alert said casually: "Boss, it seems that the enemy has just escaped. Your intimidation plan seems to have been successful."
After careful consideration, Arik stood up, held his sword and ordered: "Burn this village as usual."
"Ah?" The soldier was shocked, "Brothers are very tired after a day of fighting, and now..."
"No! Listen to my order and burn quickly. The enemy has not run far, we will catch up and kill them."
No one could resist Arik's temper. The houses in Qiao Village were on fire, and the fire was even more terrifying under the setting sun.
Just to the west of Qiao Village is another mound with an altitude of 60 meters. From the geographical perspective of Qiao Village, it is only 30 meters tall.
Arik led the tired warriors to climb up in the dim light. Finally, when the stars were shining brightly, the warriors spent the night on the hill.
The tired warrior soon saw a horrifying sight. It shocked Arik, who was also tired, as if he had drank several buckets of coffee. Looking at the dense firelight not far away, he really couldn't sleep.
Standing here, there is a faint salty smell in the air. There are stars in the sky, and the fire below is like stars.
The sleepy warriors leaned against the pine trees one after another, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
A soldier approached Arik: "Is this Visby? We couldn't see clearly from the previous mound. We didn't expect Visby to be like this."
"Boss, look at the number of their bonfires as dense as stars. They really have a lot of troops. The decisive battle in the future will be really tricky."
The unruly Arik was frightened for a moment. He gritted his teeth and blamed himself for having such a stupid idea.
Thinking again of the southern battle deeds told by his brother Rurik, in order to confuse and deter the enemies of Borgholm, the Swedish army deliberately lit a large number of bonfires.
"This is the enemy's conspiracy." Arik said sternly: "How can there be so many of them? They are deceiving us, making our army think that Visby has more troops and be scared to leave the island. Haha, we can't be fooled. "
This was a reasonable explanation, and the brothers believed it to be true.
In short, it should not and is impossible to loot at night. After several days of marching and fighting, each warrior killed ten enemies. Oh, if the screaming woman can be considered a "dangerous warrior". Killing so many people was like accompanying Arik to seek revenge. So far, only five of the Russians had suffered minor injuries. The result was that the so-called enemies were not warriors at all.
Standing on this low mound, the Russians could vaguely see the dark sea in the distance under the night. After four days and nights of marching, they finally penetrated the entire island.
The Russians did not light a fire. After eating some cooked mutton, they curled up in their cloaks on the withered grass and fell asleep.
Arik hugged his two swords and rested against the pine tree with his eyes closed.
The world to the west of the mound is a little red and shiny, that is the Burning Bridge Village!
This special spectacle was like a warning trumpet, giving a slap in the face to everyone staying in Visby Port and its surroundings - it was a Russian! The damn Russians are coming!
From where Arik rested to the sea, the straight-line distance was only seven kilometers. He took the large number of bonfires as evidence that enemy soldiers were camping. How could that be true?
He and most of the soldiers subconsciously believed that a decisive battle between the two armies was inevitable. Now that the Rus are well prepared, Gotland's main force should also be assembled.
He subconsciously believed that the Gotland army would gather quickly, and a circle of soldiers would have to sit around those dense fires.
However, those sitting around the campfire were all villagers, or refugees, who were confused about the future.
These people are from the north of the island.
Just a few days ago, White Sands Port was destroyed by a powerful Russian army. All those who had no time to escape must have died.
The early escapers who were scolded as cowards took the overland route and informed nearby villages, which caused a chain reaction. In all five villages in the northern part of the island, the villagers dragged their families, cattle and sheep, and even the egg-laying chickens into wooden cages. People subconsciously gathered towards Visby, the largest settlement, hoping that one person would be more powerful. .
However, in villages like Qiao Village, villagers not only encountered refugees fleeing Lukuluje, but also saw strong smoke igniting in the village.
The villagers climbed over the mounds with their cattle and sheep and rushed to Visby as quickly as possible to avoid the disaster. As for the fate of the oats they grew, they really couldn't care less.
A large number of refugees appeared around Visby, with the total number approaching 2,000. Because not only people from the north of the island, but also people from some villages in the south of the island learned the terrifying news of the invasion of the Russian army from the tribesmen who went to Visby to sell sheepskins.
A fishing port named Clintholm is home to as many as two thousand people. All residents actively go north either by boat or by land.
The two brothers Rurik and Arik both accomplished their purpose of creating fear on the island.
Residents of most of the settlements on the island are gathering towards Visby, while a few people are leaving the island by boat to avoid disaster.
Visby's population rapidly increased to 11,000 people, which exceeded the settlement's carrying capacity. As a last resort, a large number of refugees had to be stationed in the outer areas in original villages. The village leaders hurriedly went to Visby. The Thing listened to the discussions of the twelve merchant families who had not suffered losses.
Just as a group of noble people were quarreling over the issue of peace or war over the Russian invasion, a faint red light shone brightly in the east covered by the mounds east of Visby.
The quarrel in the council chamber has come to an end. Whether it is the war faction (willing to continue to surrender to the Danish forces) or the peace faction (who suddenly defected and returned to the arms of the Svea Tribe Alliance), they are spontaneously recruiting mercenaries and encouraging men. When he picked up the weapon, he also decided to send someone to take a look early in the morning.
Of course, they didn't know that Ross's scouts were on the mound.
As they gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into them...
