While Arik was looting all the way, the main force of the Ross Army was also making active pre-war preparations.
The great businessman Gould and his eldest son "Silver Fox" Snoleva both stood on the island of Gotland. This was certainly not the first time for Gould.
The last time he landed on the island was at least twenty years ago, when he sneaked into Visby as a Danish businessman.
He gave Rurik a general direction, "Visby is to the west, and you can reach it by walking through this small island."
In addition to assisting in transporting supplies, the merchant's other key task is to bring back the loot as soon as possible.
One pleasant morning, the captives in custody met their end.
A large number of women and children, with their hands tied, were driven by Ross warriors onto longships, and then approached the largest Aurora and five other cargo ships.
The children were hoisted aboard the tall Aurora like cargo in a strange lifting method.
As for the women, they were temporarily untied from the ropes and forced to climb rope ladders to board the ship.
They boarded the ship, and from this moment their fate completely changed.
On the occupied pier, Gould, still well-dressed, was eager to board the ship. Rurik and Otto stood in front of him.
"There will be a great battle in the future, and we will win a great victory, and then we will be able to capture more slaves." Gould's words had a sense of vicissitudes, and the words were exciting.
Rurik glanced at the person still climbing not far away from the corner of his eye.
"Those women, they are not slaves. At least not in the future."
Gould smiled, "Oh, I understand. They will be warrior wives, but are they loyal? I hope they are loyal."
Otto shook his head indifferently, "Those children can be groomed into obedient women. As for the existing female prisoners, if they betray their new men, I will order their execution after the war."
Gould subconsciously took a step back, knowing that Otto would really do this.
"Okay." He sighed deeply and asked softly, "Rurik, this time I took away all the loot captured. This Slitomo has no valuables at all. Is this a bit It was too hasty.”
"Are you teaching me how to do things?" Rurik narrowed his eyes and asked with momentum.
"Me? I don't dare. You have your own plans. Of course I fully support you."
"Then let me tell you." Rurik raised his chest, "I will tell you a story. A long time ago, there was a warrior named Hannibal. He led an army to defeat powerful enemies. He always won because he After the battle, the spoils of war were distributed among the brothers. After the warrior vented his anger, he sold the captured women to merchants and used the stolen money to buy wine and meat. When his warriors enjoyed themselves to the point of being penniless, they returned again Organize an army to continue fighting. You know, after they enjoy it, they are afraid of losing it. After they have lost it, they go crazy to get it back."
"Huh?" Gould suddenly realized something on his forehead, and asked with a smile, "This Hannibal you are talking about, could it be that... you got the nickname for yourself?"
"No!" Rurik deliberately lied with a serious face, "I saw it in the parchment kept by the high priest, and Odin rewarded me with the ability to understand it. Hannibal was a hero from a distant era, and now I It’s about emulating him and becoming a new hero.”
Gould couldn't believe it. Otto remained silent for the time being, but his body was also trembling with surprise.
It can be said that the army commanded by Rurik was similar to Hannibal's Carthaginian army in many aspects. It’s not just the tried-and-true pincer tactics here.
Both sides are mixed forces composed of multiple ethnic groups. Although the personnel composition is somewhat complicated, it seems that the combat effectiveness is guaranteed at present. Rurik used marriage contracts, mysticism, charisma, and promises of power and wealth to command this army. That Hannibal used similar methods.
Hannibal's smart way to preserve combat effectiveness was to keep the army "poor".
If every soldier has a family and a lot of wealth, will they still fight hard?
The Rus are an ancient army, and they are also a Viking army.
They like fighting, and of course they also like women and money. Now they have temporarily lost these,
Rurik set an example and entrusted Gould to take away all the captured coins. Like the soldiers, he was very rich with only military rations and weapons and equipment.
Most of the seized cattle, sheep, and reindeer were forcibly transported away, and all the cargo ships of the Ross fleet were filled with human and animal property.
Now Rurik no longer cares about the cattle and sheep making the cabin smelly, and he has no chance to regret it now.
Gould boarded the ship and commanded the Ross transport team, relying on the strong late summer south wind at sea all the way north.
According to the plan, these human and animal supplies were unloaded on Tombstone Island first, and the islanders who stayed behind were responsible for taking care of them. After completing the mission, Gould immediately returned, but the direction of their movement changed.
The Aurora now only has two torsion slingshots left, and the other cargo ships only have one. The ten best ones were converted into land warfare weapons and mounted on small carts to participate in the decisive battle.
Gould's men were a group of sailors, as well as apparently old and weak warriors chosen by Rurik from the standard corps.
This returning fleet must go around the western coast of Gotland. Under the leadership of Gould, who knew the location of Visby, as many as twenty empty and brisk armed cargo ships and the huge Aurora arrived. Ross's flags were displayed to control the port of Visby. All ships entering and leaving the port were considered enemies by default. At that time, the Ross fleet would either directly ram and sink the enemy ships with their bulbous bows, or scuttle them with projectiles at close range using a torsion slingshot.
Gould's mission in the war was to be carried out about five full days later, and the mission was to blockade.
Of course, the huge cargo ship raised an even bigger triangular sail and left, which gave the soldiers a huge shock.
The day of departure is this morning! The twelfth day of August in the Julian calendar.
The long period of repairs allowed the warriors to regain their energy once again. Thousands of people gathered on the coast carrying tall weapons and equipment and carrying bags filled with food and water bags.
Novgorod people have always used a drawstring backpack, which is nothing more than a folded and sewn piece of linen cloth and a hemp rope. This ancient and classic backpack design became popular during this war.
The Ross army became a little strange, and it seemed to Rurik that it had a strong Ross flavor.
They have eaten as many as 500 seized sheep in recent days! Even the Slavic warriors, who don’t usually eat much meat, had a rare feast in their lives this time.
The mutton made the warriors furious and their roars became more ferocious.
Rumia wears an antlered helmet and is gorgeously dressed. She is also complimented by the gorgeously dressed priestess.
The girls of the Valkyrie Legion brought by Rurik, they wrap the altar in concentric circles.
Rumia looked at the sun in the east, raised her head, spread her hands, and shouted in the Norse language, "God King Odin! Thor! Frey! Freya! Freyja! El! And the gods! Grant us victory! These twenty cows are our gift to the gods!"
After saying that, Rurik, Otto, and Haro Zuosen, who were holding swords, took action.
This is a Varangian sacrifice, in which all the Kovans and Slavs take part. These foreign warriors now have common interests with the Russians. During this extremely luxurious sacrifice, they were silently thinking about the gods they believed in.
The Koven people Mechasta and Kejas looked to the east, thinking silently about the river god of the Oulu River and the sun they believed in.
The Slav Medvet and his Novgorod warriors prayed to the Slavic war god Peron to give strength to the brothers, and the sun god Dazhbog to give everyone warmth, and the chaotic Chernobog prayed to him Don't take your life away.
Twenty cows were sacrificed, and the blood of the cows dyed the altar red and flowed into the sea. Finally, even the cow carcasses were thrown into the sea. This time they would not eat the sacrifice, and the cow carcass was eventually sacrificed to the ocean god.
Many Rus' warriors had two streaks of cow's blood smeared on their foreheads to receive blessings from the gods.
The Corvins and Slavs all settled down, and they boasted of some great blessing.
The army withdrew their tents, leaving only a pile of wooden sheds.
"Brothers! Let's go!" Rurik stood on a reindeer cart and started the decisive battle to attack Visby.
The port of Slittomo was deserted, like an abandoned settlement that fell into silence.
Rurik and Otto were too lazy to wait for Arik to return. They both estimated that the fifty elites who killed Red Eye must have been killing everywhere. He was a little worried about his cousin Arik, but Otto was completely unfazed.
Ross's army formed a rectangular array, with Ross's two warrior flag corps at the front, the baggage team (the captured White Sand Harbor men were temporarily unarmed and forced to do this work), the priests and the shooters' flag corps at the core, and at the rear were the long-carrying troops. Spear of the Slavonic Standard and the Mälaren Standard.
Ross's gold-rimmed ducal flag was placed on the deer cart, and Rurik sat cross-legged.
The army set off in the morning and moved at a relatively fast speed along the route taken by the Slittomo people to Visby.
A narrow mound one hundred meters above sea level gave birth to a stream. In the evening, the Rus successfully found it.
The army was camped by the river, and those with keen eyes, such as Carlotta, discovered that the meadows of this generation had obvious signs of being gnawed by sheep.
Because sheep tend to gnaw away the grass roots very carefully, this must be the reason for the sparse meadows in some places. The sheep excrement eggs discovered have become a new example.
The army encamped in the woods beside the stream. They cut down the pine trees and immediately started a fire. A large number of people ran to the stream to replenish fresh water, and some tried to catch a few fish.
The sunset becomes gentler and the whole world becomes golden. However, some soldiers sensitively noticed something strange about the scenery in the distance.
Some soldiers were troubled by the discovery of sheep excrement eggs. The world seemed too empty in dialect, which was simply unbelievable.
The mound is to the east. If you look carefully, there seems to be a house there?
The main force of the Russian army carried a large amount of baggage, and it was not easy to cross the mountain. They spent some time going around the mound and then followed the river. A village was bypassed in this way.
A group of soldiers approached the leader's camp which was being set up in high spirits. Chinese Chinese
"Sir, there seems to be a village to the east." The soldier held up his ax to guide, his eyes filled with greed.
Rurik sat on the ground warming himself by the fire. He could tell what his men wanted to do by looking into their eyes.
Otto, who had finished tying the rope, walked out of the tent, "What did you say? The village to the east?"
"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke. The brothers' intuition is not wrong, that is a village. Wouldn't it be good if we take people there and catch their cattle and sheep."
Otto's mouth watered when he thought of roasted mutton. During these days on the island, he ate mutton unscrupulously. It was a treat he couldn't get on weekdays.
"Then go and do it!" Rurik stood up and thought for a moment, "Let Harozolson lead you there. I will give you some advice, try to catch as many as possible alive."
Some soldiers immediately asked, "What if they resist?"
"Then chop off their heads!"
Soon, Haro Zuosen gathered nearly a hundred people. This group of warriors ran wildly under the dusk, eager to make another profit before the decisive battle.
The temptation of wealth and delicious food made the soldiers tireless, even if they walked for most of the day.
However, when they actually arrived at the village, they were shocked to find a large number of corpses lying dead here. The large number of charred pillars and blackened stones in the village all told of the horrific events that had happened here.
As dusk fell, the Ross warriors who stayed at the death scene had no plans to plunder. They felt inexplicable terror, as if the village had been cursed by God or attacked by monsters.
However, Harold Zosen had experienced many battles. He inspected some of the gray corpses of the deceased and saw only some thumb-sized holes and a large number of ax marks.
It's Arik! Either this madman is a ghost.
The brothers didn't want to stay in this disgusting place any longer, so they encouraged Harold Johnson to leave quickly.
"Okay! This is a cursed place, let's go back quickly!"
They continued walking along the stream, and saw a large number of bonfires in the distance, which was the camp of the army.
Rurik was about to go to sleep in the tent, but at least the two girls in the tent, High Priest Rumia and Duchess Carlotta of Ostara, were sleeping soundly next to each other.
After eating, a large number of soldiers huddled around the campfire and fell asleep.
Otto took off his boots. As a duke, he still walked a lot that day. Rurik also took care of his father. He asked his maid Otto to pinch his feet, which made the old guy applaud one after another.
Rurik blew in the wind and clasped the fish shreds between his teeth, thinking about the decisive battle. He was confident about this battle.
Harold Zuosen hurried back with the marauding brothers. He went straight to the Duke's battalion commander and saw an old guy with a beard being pinched by a group of girls. Those stinky feet?
Harold Zuosen smiled naively and hurriedly came over: "My brother, you are so good at enjoying it."
"You? You came back suddenly?" Otto waved his hand to let them leave.
The girls gathered around Rurik again.
Rurik casually ordered: "Okay, my servants, you all go to the stream to wash your hands, and then rest."
They muttered Slavic and left chattering, obviously they were really dissatisfied with Otto's jio.
Rurik raised his head, "What happened? Did you kill all the villagers? Or were you defeated?"
"Defeat me? Ridiculous! We are Russians. But..." Haro Zuosen sat down immediately.
Otto asked to come over and slap the lamb chops, "Eat something first and then talk."
Harold Johnson regained his strength for a moment, which revealed the horrific scene in the village. After hearing this, Rurik and his father almost instinctively made a judgment. They said in unison: "Arik did it."
"It must be him. All the villagers were killed, including the cattle and sheep. Those cattle and sheep began to emit a foul smell. It's really disgusting! Now..." Harold Johnson looked at the half-eaten mutton chop in his hand. It suddenly no longer smelled good. .
He threw the lamb chops directly into the fire.
"Why don't you eat?" Otto asked.
"I'm tired, and I don't want to think about Arik anymore. Just..." Haro Zuosen smiled heartily, "It seems that I have to select a few beautiful women from the captives and arrange them for my Kanuf. Let them pinch my feet. I’m leaving!”
Harold Zuosen waved his hand, but Otto laughed.
The next morning, the Ross army left behind a large number of traces of black meadows and bones of cattle, sheep and fish.
Before the sun even reached the sky, more than a dozen warriors who were exploring the front ran back to the huge matrix where the Russians were moving.
Because he was getting closer to Visby, Arik, the really smart scout, didn't know where he was slashing.
Rurik had to send some more people who were good at running to act as scouts.
Now, the guys are back with big news.
They gathered in front of the deer cart of the Duke and his son. The leader said: "We found death again in front. There were dead cattle and sheep everywhere, as well as some burned human corpses."
After what happened yesterday, Rurik is no longer surprised now. He quickly jumped out of the car and asked, "Are all humans and cattle and sheep dead?"
"Yes, sir, even the house was burned down. We checked and found that the dead bodies showed signs of being hit by our crossbows. The remains of the house are still warm."
"It's still Arik." Rurik pinched his waist with an angry look on his face.
"Don't be angry." Otto's big hand covered his son's head, "Let's go check out the situation. Our army will spend the night there tonight."
"Hmph! In the end, I had to clean up his mess." Rurik looked forward.
When seeing a dead body for the first time, many people will yell in fear or even faint. Perhaps women are more timid in this matter.
There are a group of women in the army, most of them are Rurik's female warriors. They have seen a lot of corpses in the beach battle, and after being stimulated by screaming, they now have strong resistance.
As for the elite Ross warriors, they no longer care, because death is also a part of life.
Now Rurik saw a horrific tragedy. The grass was just littered with corpses. What was even more ridiculous was that he actually saw the corpses of chickens.
The Ross warriors instinctively drew their swords and axes, and the crossbowmen also cocked their arrows. They instinctively felt that the murderous atmosphere here was too strong.
Rurik pinched his waist and stamped his feet, Otto walked up behind him, "You...shouldn't you be scared?"
"This must have been done by Arik, and it can only be him. How can a criminal who avenges his uncle be so cruel? Does he want to impose the death penalty on the entire island? Also, look at these chickens, they have also been chopped down. What a waste! What is Arik planning?"
"Revenge of course!"
"Is this considered revenge? I don't understand, and I can't do it."
"This is bravery!" Otto stroked his son's head, and Rurik took his big hand away.
"I don't want such bravery. This is the behavior of a butcher. I have to dispose of these corpses."
Otto and Harold Zosen relied on experience to determine that the corpses had been dead for three days.
The men of Baisha Port who were forced to fight were now forced to collect the bodies.
If the Rus feel fearless, the Slavs and Kovins have a new understanding of the ferocity of the Varangs. This group of Rus is just as ferocious to another group of Varangs!
However, the Slavs felt a certain sense of similarity from the destroyed village. It turns out that Varyag also grazes and grows oats.
Rurik failed to observe that there were a large number of wheat fields here, and the Slavs realized it. Parts of the wheat fields were also burned, as they were clearly almost ripe. The destroyers were the Varyags, and they were also the ones farming and grazing. It's a pity that the brothers in Novgorod are not as warlike as them.
The stinking corpses with black blood were piled up, then covered with a large number of wooden blocks and ignited, forming a huge mound of fire that illuminated the entire ruins of the village.
As the high priest, Rumia also prayed for the corpses of these hostile forces under Rurik's instruction.
People's hearts calmed down, and the army set up camp on the spot. Rurik, who had just calmed down, was sitting on the ground munching on a piece of dried salted fish. His brother-in-law Medvet came over with a handful of grass and enthusiastically introduced the yellowing pieces of grass in his hand in Slavic.
"This is oats?!" Rurik was shocked.
"Yes! This village is surrounded by wheat fields, but unfortunately many of them were burned down."
"It's really unlucky." Rurik rubbed the oats vigorously to remove the bran and reveal the soft and waxy particles inside. "The wheat is not yet ripe."
"Yes, but I think we can harvest it in ten days."
After seeing enough dead bodies, this unburned wheat is good news.
"Then take control of this place. After finishing the Gotlanders, we will also take away their wheat!" After that, Rurik threw the soft wheat grains into the fire, igniting a ball of wheat-scented flames...
