The enemy leader must be killed. It turns out that Otto meant that he would forget about the cruel punishments such as Blood Eagle and give the man the last bit of food, and then cut off his head to end everything cleanly.
Since that person is a prince and a top noble of the enemy is captured, instead of killing him directly, it is better to find a way to exchange for greater benefits. Anyway, the tendons of both hands of that man were cut off, and Liangqi had no strength to resist.
The Rus warrior had already wiped the forest ax clean, and when he was about to kill, Arik stopped everything. He came back breathing heavily and was pleased to report that his men had not done anything.
"It's too dangerous!" Otto also let out a sigh of relief and looked at Grund: "Do you know why I spared that man's life?"
"Why? Oh, Duke Ross's determination is certainly not something that an ordinary person like me can imagine."
Rurik really understood his father's hint, so he smiled and said: "Grund, you have already said that Visby is very rich, and the businessman named Haken is also very rich. Will that guy save him? Where is your son? Will you spend a sum of money to redeem it?"
Otto's eyes suddenly opened wide, because that was not what he meant at all, and he had no intention of asking for ransom. Now that Rurik mentioned this kind of thing, what new plans does the child have? It was obvious that the child had many things on his mind.
Rurik saw the urging look from his father and deliberately told him something, especially the plan for the entire war including the decisive battle.
When Rurik learned that Siegfast, who was beaten half to death, was actually a prince, he came up with the idea of demanding a ransom.
Arik rushed to speak: "It's not that troublesome. We won the decisive battle, we robbed Visby, and all the money belongs to us. Ransom? Is it necessary?"
"What your cousin said makes sense. Why should we bother with this? However, asking for ransom is also a way to test the enemy. I...actually think so." Otto spoke a little timidly, and his true thoughts were actually different from those of his eldest nephew. same.
Why demand ransom, win the decisive battle, send troops to enter Visby to rob, and finally burn down the largest settlement of the Gotlanders? What kind of honor is this? ! With this honor, both Ross who died in the battle and those who are alive will surely meet again in the Hall of Valor after the war.
"That's not possible! I..." Rurik stood up suddenly and said shockingly: "You all think that our army must plunder Visby?!"
Otto was shocked: "What do you mean? Do you mean not to plunder?"
"Dad, and the brothers sitting here, what is our purpose?"
"Of course I will kill you, obtain their wealth, and turn all their wives and daughters into our women." Aric's calm words revealed his ferocious fangs, and Otto also expressed his admiration for them. This "perfect answer" from my nephew.
Rurik was not surprised: "That's true. Let me add one more thing. Our Russian army must complete all this at the minimum cost."
"Oh? What do you want to do?" Otto asked hurriedly.
"I am a military commander. In the future decisive battle, I will order the soldiers to kill the enemy as much as possible and prevent them from fleeing. Without the main combat force, the Visby people will not be able to organize new resistance forces. Maybe at this time our army will enter "It's the most appropriate, and it's true, but..." Rurik deliberately put it off and paused for breath: "The soldiers went to rob on their own initiative. Will they take the initiative to take out the looted property?"
"Why take it out? They robbed it themselves and should keep it as their own." Otto added: "This is our rule. The new rule is that if you grab the cash box and find the warehouse, it's mine. "
"It belongs to the Duke of Ross." Rurik also added, "What belongs to the Duke of Ross is also mine. So I must find a way to drain the wealth of the Gotlanders. Those gold and silver must be controlled by me, and It must be redistributed by me to the soldiers.
Besides, let the soldiers loot spontaneously and everyone dispersed. The root of our victory is not only God’s blessing, but also my command! The Ross army is most powerful when united as a whole. If individual warriors are scattered, they will be defeated by the enemy one by one.
Individual warriors met with furious resistance from Visby's remaining inhabitants, and many would die.
In this way, as the Duke of Ross, I will not be able to gain a lot of wealth and will lose many brothers. This is a huge failure. "
Rurik spoke of his own Duke of Ross. Others sounded a little strange, but Otto himself didn't care. Because he had sworn in the chief priest's house many years ago that he would live as a servant of the "Son of God" for the rest of his life. The "Son of God" is Rurik.
Rurik's explanation is very realistic. After thinking about it calmly, the highest nobles in Ross, represented by the Duke of Ross, really need this method to extract the most benefits. Because times have indeed changed. In the past, a war chief led hundreds of people to rob, and everyone would take out the spoils. After internal negotiations, the distribution could be easily completed.
There are now an army of 3,000 people. In order to avoid quarreling and causing unhappiness in the future, let's not let the brothers loot freely!
"When we win the decisive battle, we will send people to persuade the Visby people to surrender. I want them to pay huge war compensation. For example, two thousand pounds of silver coins, or four thousand pounds? And sheep skins and cheese. They have All their money and supplies must be handed over. Yes! Some of their women must also be handed over. These things are handed over to me in exchange for an armistice."
Hearing this, Otto took a deep breath. Looking at his son's attitude is so firm, it shows that he is serious. "Rurik, are you...going to cut off the last hair of the sheep?"
Rurik pouted: "Otherwise? They must spend so much money to buy peace, otherwise we will just rob their Visby according to the original plan. Oh, by the way, there are also their ships, all of which are of good quality. Good ships must be used as bargaining chips to buy peace. Hopefully, there won’t be more ships trying to escape at sea. Gould’s fleet is scheduled to leave Tombstone Island tomorrow. In three days at the latest, the Aurora The ship will enter the sea off Visby, and anyone who tries to escape will be mercilessly sunk!"
Otto sighed, feeling that his son's mere dictation was so cruel! He will do it! Just like the Gotland patrol ship encountered on the way back from the south, this guy invented the "seesaw" and used this novel method to execute the captives in sacrifice to the sea god.
Otto thought of something again and hesitated in his heart: "That guy named Siegfast, he buried our soldiers according to the custom of the Gotlanders. This kind of person can kill him cleanly, or spare his life." He has a life. Now you want to exchange this man for ransom and put him back. Will he command a new army to fight back? Even if the man's hands are cut off, what is needed to command the army is the brain."
"This person is still a threat, and he really cannot stay." Arik said harsh words, obviously he didn't take the ransom request seriously.
The power of life and death of a prisoner lies in the hands of the victor. In his heart, Grund hopes that his old financial boss Siegfast will die. He has his own Xiao Jiujiu. It is said that this person has really been replaced, and it is really detrimental to his reputation to publicize things such as "Danish Mercenary Backstabbing" in Visby.
Grund was also dissatisfied with what Duke Ross said, so he made a special statement: "My lord, Siegfast, did not order the burial of the bodies of your war dead."
"What did you say?" Otto realized that he had heard something very ridiculous.
Grund deliberately amplified his voice. He needed the top Russian nobles present to know the face of the top Gotland nobles they valued.
"Sigfast is an arrogant man. Just as you cut his tendons, this guy is here in this area, treating your wounded soldiers in the same way. Sigfast threatened to slowly kill the Russians , and he did the same. He took great pleasure in watching the Rus warriors bleed. I cannot tolerate these things. I stabbed your wounded people to death and ended their suffering. For this reason, Sigfast became furious."
At this point, Otto and others were trembling with shock.
Rurik felt that this matter was a bit strange. He looked at Grund suspiciously, speculating that this man was deliberately belittling his old master in this way. Clearly, the man had something to say.
"Sigfast is going to blast all the corpses of Ross warriors into the wilderness. It's me! I will lead my brothers to collect your corpses and pile up a grave for them. So the grave where Ross warriors are buried is different from the others. "
"You! You mean, it was you who buried those soldiers?!" Otto, who was furious, gasped and asked. This momentum scared Grund almost to the point of lying down.
Arik stood up angrily, suddenly pulled out his steel sword and roared: "Make that idiot a blood eagle! I'm going now!"
He turned to leave, but was grabbed by Harold Zosen, who caught Otto's look.
"Boy, you gotta calm down!"
"Don't call me boy! Hallo Johnson, I am a warrior, and I am going to execute this evil man for my brothers."
In contrast to Arik's rage, Rurik remained calm. Otto was also furious, but fortunately fifty years of life experience had tempered him to be stable enough.
Rurik looked at Grund deliberately: "Danes, we have spared your lives, as we swore to Odin. You don't have to report these times to show off your achievements, and you don't have to blame your old master. Dirty water.”
These words were unexpected by Grund. He thought that all the people in Russia would be angry. The Rurik in front of him was really different.
Grund hurriedly beat his chest and swore: "What I said is all true. If you dare to have a fallacy, you will be struck to death by thunder. This is what we have experienced, that Sigfast, he is not a warrior, he is just a conceited person." A merchant. He doesn’t respect warriors, let alone the dead. Now, Odin sends his warriors to attack this madman.”
The words that followed were obviously genuine flattery. Looking at the angry mood of his father and brother, Rurik thought for a moment, if this news spread to the entire army, what kind of ransom would be demanded? The angry warriors would immediately surround the prisoner and eat him alive, leaving no bones behind.
Rurik closed his eyes and thought for a moment, revising his plan to demand ransom in his mind.
He slowly opened his eyes and gave orders as a military commander: "We must get the ransom!"
Arik sat on the ground, his right arm resting on the hilt of his sword, and gritted his teeth and shook his head: "I would rather make him a blood eagle. Hey, I just stopped the execution, why did I run so fast? I might as well watch my brothers chop him." Killed that man’s head.”
"It's not necessary at all, but this man must die. Arik, now listen to my plan..."
On this night, Rurik ordered Grund to rest, but in fact he was sending him away.
Soon the flag captains of each flag team, as well as some important personnel, were summoned to the bonfire.
As a military commander, Rurik decided on the so-called decisive battle in Qiaoqiao Village.
The former Qiao Village has turned into a scorched earth, but the local area has been developed on a large scale. A large number of forests were cut down, and wild grasses grew wildly, suitable for sheep herding, and oats were also planted in some areas.
There is an open space here that can accommodate tens of thousands of people for a decisive battle, so the Russians do not have to climb over the mound with the entire army and then line up in front of the city of Visby to attack.
Rurik knows best the strength of the Russian army, and even some visible disadvantages.
Today's Ross Army has become an army that emphasizes land power. Three thousand soldiers gathered together and spoke three languages. All of this challenged the commander's organizational ability and the soldiers' execution ability.
What if the whole army climbed over the mound and formed a decisive battle? Then the team will inevitably become lagging when climbing over the mountain. By then, the army will have flaws everywhere, and it will be troublesome if it is attacked by the enemy.
The most critical thing is that the Ross army is trained for fighting on flat ground. Only in a large enough open area can the strength of the Ross army be exerted. At that time, spear formations, sword and shield hand outflanks, crossbowmen and torque slingshot shooting, and even heavy armored warriors' fights must be used to achieve optimal results in an open area.
Many people thought that the army quickly wiped out 500 enemies, so why should the decisive battle in the future follow the rules. The warriors climbed over the mound like a pack of wolves, and swallowed Visby like a mudslide.
Rurik no longer bothers to preach to people who hold this idea, it is meaningless.
"We don't have to tire our feet and climb over the mound to fight them. We will line up here, drink the sweet stream water, and wait for the enemy to climb over the mound. The enemy is tired, we are full of energy, and the advantage is mine!"
Rurik kept elaborating on his idea of waiting for work. Otto consciously understood a lot. He still had some questions: "How do you judge that the enemy will definitely cross the mountain to fight us? There is a mountain between the enemy and us. If we don't take the initiative to cross the mountain, they will Why take the initiative?"
Rurik looked into his father's eyes: "It's like a sword hanging above the head. Although the sword has not fallen, everyone knows that if the sword falls, it will stab and bleed. Of course, we must find a way to get it away. We are This is what the Visby people are like. We are entrenched here, the army has a good rest, and the enemy feels the pressure. As for inducing them to climb over the mountain and fight us, I have enough bait."
"Bait? Could it be the same Siegfast?" Otto asked.
"That's him. In addition, I should let some prisoners go."
"Prisoners?" Arik, still angry, asked, "Do we still have any prisoners? All the prisoners have been brought back."
"Yes, there are still three hundred men captured in Baisha Port. It seems that no one can conclude that this group of traitors will sincerely fight for us, and maybe they will turn against us during the charge. These people cannot be trusted. , then let them go!”
"Huh?" Arik continued to question: "If you don't trust them, just leave it to me and I'll let the brothers chop it down."
"No, these people are all useful. I can gather those people and give them a chance to escape back to Visby. Those with the most determined attitude are just impossible to really surrender. Let them go back to Visby and spread our Ross There is news about the army and the conditions for redeeming Sigfast. I want their king to personally redeem his leader, and..."
Suddenly, Rurik thought of a new and grand strategy.
He stood up suddenly, "We will bring a group of crossbowmen. We will pretend to release the prisoners and shoot them in front of them. We must send a lot of crossbowmen, so that we may be able to directly assassinate their king. In my opinion, Wei Wei The king of the Sibi people is dead, and they will fall into irreversible chaos."
"Just cut off their king? This job should be done by me." Arik felt that this job was his duty.
Having said this, Rurik shook his head: "It would be best if the assassination can be completed. It depends on whether our arrows are lucky. I can at least guarantee that the brothers can shoot that Sigfast. Whether their king is successful or not Death by an arrow is not very important. Of course, it is best for that guy to be shot. Maybe it is also best for the king not to die. What will the Gotland king do when he sees his prince dying in front of him?!"
Arik smiled, his slit eyes showing arrogance: "He will take revenge! He will pay like crazy. I really can't understand, brother, when did you become so vicious."
"It's probably the battle on the glacier in the east. I've seen it through! That's what war is like. I want to induce the enemy to become reckless avengers, so that they who become stupid will be killed by our army according to my idea. Tomorrow morning, Let’s release some prisoners and take a group of brothers to camp on the mound. By the way, that Sigfast can’t die yet.”
In this way, Rurik finally explained his strategy. At the end, Otto had goosebumps all over his body. He felt that his son had turned into a cold evil man, and it was fair to say that this was the most irritating thing a father could do.
With an old face staring at the stars, Otto hoped that the Valkyrie would appear. He hoped that green streamers would appear in the sky, because this area would soon become littered with corpses, and the souls of the dead warriors needed to be taken away by the Valkyrie who was watching the battle.
He also imagined that Rurik would deliberately and through his correct command, the Russian army could achieve a complete victory with minimal losses.
