The Gotlanders all need the opinions of the king and the nobles, and they need them to lead everyone to defeat the enemy to avoid the loss of everyone's wealth.
So, what do Haken, the big businessmen, and the fleeing village leaders in the forum feel when they face more and more people gathering? Up to now, their superficial thoughts are still "supporting the war", but inside they are already in a mess.
The weather was already very cool, the people in the chamber were covered with sweat on their foreheads, and Haken was spinning with anxiety.
A group of merchants looked at the king's anxiety, which made them equally irritable, and people began to discuss among themselves.
"What's going on? Haken, people are shouting that the Rus are east of the mound."
"If it really doesn't work, I might..."
"What? You actually want to escape. Who can escape? The Danes don't dare to save us now."
"This is a slander. My family is here, how can I escape? We should think about how to contact the Danes."
"What about the Danes? Have we been deceived by them again? This sea is full of liars."
"It's not that the Danes don't want to, it's the guys from Mellaren who are holding back the Danish army. We can only face the Russians alone."
…
The big businessmen and village leaders were arguing endlessly, and the war faction's voice was the loudest in the quarrel, even though there was now more unfavorable news.
Those who were shouting were saying that Sigfast's team was completely wiped out, and there were even rumors that one of his men had been killed.
The patrolling Danish mercenaries captured the ten men from Baisha Port who spread the news and claimed to have escaped from the clutches of the Russians, and they were turned into the chamber. One of them showed off a beautiful sword that belonged to Siegfast, and another presented a hat and a very important amber necklace.
"What?! My eldest son is really dead?!" Haken stomped his feet in anger. He suddenly drew his sword and assassinated the man from Baisha Port who presented his eldest son's "relic".
At this time, someone took out a wooden board from his clothes: "The leader of Visby, the leader of Ross, requires you to fight them. Siegfast is not dead, and they require you to exchange him for money."
"What? He's still alive?! That's great!" The furious Haken's spirit improved dramatically, and he grabbed the board.
He glanced at the runes on the board, then felt dizzy and sat down on the ground with a dramatic thud.
He was helped up by the businessmen present, with veins popping out on his face, and he was cursing in a low voice, "Damn Russians, how cruel they are."
There was also a nervous businessman who picked up the wooden plank. Out of the habit of being highly sensitive to numbers in business, he caught sight of the ransom amount at a glance.
The businessman didn't care about Haken's extension and asked coldly: "The Russians want you to pay two hundred pounds of silver to redeem your son. It's crazy. Can you pay this money?"
"Nonsense! Your son was kidnapped by them. As a father, why don't you get him back? I'd rather spend money."
"Oh, this is your business. Haken...oh no, Your Majesty, this matter is still dangerous. Since the Russians asked you to go in person, the brothers will not bring people to support you for the time being. Since you want to choose to fight with them , brothers will naturally accompany you. This matter..."
"Shut up!" Haken reluctantly stood up, "I will take the people there myself. This is my private matter, and you don't need to take action. Tomorrow I will take the private soldiers, and you can stay in Visby and continue to organize the team. I I will try my best to talk to the leaders of the Ross people and ask them what they want. If I can give these bastards a sum of money to get out of here, I will pay for it, as for you."
"I am willing too." Some businessmen agreed without hesitation, and then more and more people expressed the same attitude - if the price of buying peace is not a lot, of course everyone can accept it.
Of course the soldiers would not discuss such things, but they were all businessmen, and in their view everything could be bought and sold, including war and peace. They do not find it shameful to buy peace and send the Russians away, unless the Russians are whales that cannot be fed. If so, the merchants of Visby did not hesitate to fight to the end.
Ironically, the so-called war faction also advocates the idea of peace in their hearts. They are more pragmatic than the previous peace advocates. The so-called preparations for a decisive battle are the best strategy.
To negotiate with the Rus, King Hakon accepted this extremely dangerous job.
The businessmen present sighed deeply, and then praised Haken's courage.
Of course, in Haken's opinion, the praise given to him by his friends is really false. Look at these people, if the enemy hadn't come to the doorstep, who would care about them? Ask yourself, you are the same as them, it's just that the eldest son was captured happened to you.
With mixed emotions, he began to prepare the ransom. Maybe it was wrong to buy peace, but winter was coming soon and the Russians could not delay any longer. Let the Russians go back, and then the Gotlanders can have good contact with the Danes. With the support of the Danish army next year, will the Russians dare to make a comeback? Probably not.
Maybe it would be better for the Russians to come back, so that Denmark's Hafgen and his army can kill the main force of the Russians in one battle, so that most Gotlanders can regain peace, at least the merchant families can still Be happy and accumulate wealth.
The life and death of ordinary people has nothing to do with the businessmen, and the money lost by the businessmen can be quickly earned back. In such a situation, according to Haken's own estimation, the so-called force of force will force the Russians not to dare to really fight a decisive battle, and then release the idea of buying peace. , they should agree to withdraw with the money.
For all this, you still need to personally take the people and the ransom to have a good talk with the leader of the Rus.
I'm afraid it was a complete mistake to let Siegfast lead people to find out the news from the beginning. In the end, no useful information was found, and all the news came back was bad news.
The family's property and wealth still need to be inherited by the eldest son. If he is really lost, the successor of all these should be inherited by the second son. Haken never felt that the second son's business level was higher than that of his elder brother. Moreover, I am afraid that what the second son is looking forward to now is to hope that the Russians will cut off the eldest brother.
Haken took out two hundred pounds of silver from his family's coffers overnight, which was not a lot for his family, but it was still a lot.
He summoned most of the private soldiers he supported and also recruited more than 200 strong men.
The plan to redeem his son could not get the support of other businessmen, so Haken had no choice but to take his men, organize a small force, and personally lead the team out of the heavily guarded Visby early in the morning.
After all, he is a king, and he who establishes himself as a king is also a king.
Each merchant family sent their own spies, disguised as hungry refugees fleeing, to follow Haken's team as they approached the hills.
Some big businessmen are already plotting something about what everyone should do if Haken dies. Smart businessmen will always estimate the worst outcome of things in advance and formulate a set of response plans first. Their plan was very straightforward. If Haken died during this trip, a second king would be elected.
At first, many businessmen supported the war. It was said that the five hundred soldiers who climbed the mound were wiped out. Many people were shaken after learning this news. Now Haken has brought more than 400 warriors to negotiate with the Russians. If Haken and his team are destroyed, war and peace have become unknown.
Defeat without fighting is a stupid thing that no one dares to mention rashly. Businessmen don't say anything on the surface, but their inner thoughts are hinted to others quietly. They were filled with righteous indignation and pretended to fight to the death with the Russians. The so-called new king was elected to continue the fight after Haken died suddenly, which was to hide their inner thoughts of sitting on the fence through toughness. Of course, the biggest role of this new king is probably to be responsible for ending the surrender of the Gotlanders.
After all, once Haken dies during this trip, it means that before the decisive battle, Gotland will permanently lose a total of 900 soldiers who will protect the interests of merchants. In this way, no matter how many people are recruited, their quality will vary greatly, and there is a high possibility of being massively defeated by the Ross army.
They were all colleagues, and Haken had already guessed the mentality of the businessmen.
Haken also had his own worst-case scenario, which was to have his captured son killed.
No matter what, the Russians will definitely send someone with high status to negotiate. To find out their purpose, of course you also have to protect your own safety.
The elderly Haken does not have the habit of eating greasy food all day long. He is just a little fatter than ordinary people. He put on a warrior's uniform and deliberately put on two layers of chainmail on his upper body. The Russians have amazing archery skills, and two layers of mail armor are already an excellent defense.
Haken was also afraid of being hurt by his opponent's hidden arrows, so he made a big move and equipped one hundred of his elite mercenaries with mail armor. The wooden shields they carried with raven patterns proved their identity as Danish mercenaries. . .
As for the strong men who casually support the scene, most of them are shirtless, showing gorgeous and ferocious tattoos, and their blond hair is messy. They are equipped with wooden shields and battle axes. Their entire image is the berserker that Gotlanders recognize.
The sky is a little gloomy and there may not be any rain, but the weather today is not very good.
Rurik led the ransom-demanding team to sleep all night on the top of the hill. When everyone woke up, they all realized that their hands and feet were cold.
The wind direction has changed, and the warm southwesterly wind has stopped and been replaced by the bleak northerly wind. Autumn has started early in the Nordic world.
The chilling atmosphere made Rurik feel very bad.
Today was the day agreed upon for the exchange of prisoners. Rurik and Arik made the worst plan together. Although it is a cloudy day, if everyone feels that it is already afternoon and the opponent has not sent anyone to exchange money for prisoners, Siegfast's throat will be cut, and then he will be hung on a tree to shock and provoke Gotland. people.
The worst plan did not come true. The Ross army did not wait long before a mighty army appeared.
Most of them wore helmets that covered half of their faces, and all of them carried shields. Many of them went into battle shirtless.
Arik, who was extremely sensitive to battle, used his warrior instinct to order his brothers to be ready to attack at any time. He also warned his brother Rurik: "You shouldn't have extravagant expectations of them. You asked their king to bring a hundred men with him." Guard, I think he has brought an army. We are ready to fight at any time, and I will arrange for some brothers to ambush and wait for opportunities to shoot."
"Don't be impulsive." Rurik stretched his head and looked at it for a few times, then turned to question his cousin: "That's it? Can it be considered a large army? We have three hundred veteran soldiers. I don't think it will be difficult to annihilate them."
"I think so too. All our troops should be the first to attack."
"It still doesn't work. Our mission is to get the ransom first. If you want to kill the enemy, at least get the gold and silver first. Once you get the money, you wait for my order to do it. Don't worry, I have no mercy towards these people."
"Maybe I'm too sensitive?" Arik shrugged disdainfully: "I'm afraid they won't bring a single copper coin. The death of a Siegfast should not be a big deal to their king. Maybe this group of people are here. Those who challenge us, we are temporarily at a military disadvantage, but I am still willing to take the initiative and shoot them directly by surprise. Isn't this what you want most? If they bring money, the money will still be ours. Rurik, You must know that even if you have Odin's blessing, Odin will tolerate you seeking death at will. If you stand in front of your opponents rashly, be careful of being killed by them."
Ask yourself, Rurik did initially intend to directly assassinate the king of the Gotlanders. However, in order to carry out the decisive battle smoothly, their king cannot be stabbed to death. As for his own safety, Rurik is not a cautious person now.
"Listen to my decision, Aric. You and I will show up to meet them with a hundred brothers. The other warriors will lie in wait, and if we are in danger, we will stand up and shoot arrows mercilessly."
After all, he is still the commander-in-chief. Arik felt that this decision was too risky, so he agreed.
Arik untied the hemp rope and his stitched left arm was now tied with a wooden shield. It seemed that it was really God's blessing and Rumia's medical skills. Aric was excited that he was now in good health and energetic. There was still some pain in the wound, but other than that, he was fine.
God has blessed me once, and obviously he will bless me many more times.
Because Odin needs him to protect Rurik who is in danger, but this child has forgotten that he is not an adult yet and is not yet a reassuring warrior.
A flag bearer appeared carrying a "Ross Oar Flag". In a world of mixed withered yellow and ink, a white cloth suddenly appeared, with an extremely obvious blue X-shaped strip on the cloth. Around the standard-bearer stood a number of warriors in mail armour, of whom Jevlo was the commander. They are also Rurik's elite mercenaries. No matter what kind of accident they encounter, they will protect the financial owner Rurik to the death and repay the favor. Of course, they have a simpler idea - since Rurik has been blessed by God, To die for him is to get a letter of introduction to the Hall of Valor.
"It's the Rus! Brothers, be on guard, beware of their sneak attack!" Haken saw the situation in the distance. His men obeyed the order and took off their shields to protect most of their bodies, observing everything around them vigilantly.
Haken and his men finally saw the figures standing in a row in front of them. Look at their extremely uniform blue and white clothes, as well as a group of wooden shields painted white with chalk mud and partially nailed with blue cloth strips. This is not Russians or what? !
However, seeing the Russian Haken dressed like this, he just felt incredible.
"You butchers on the sea, are every man trying to flaunt that he is a Russian? You are quite gorgeous after all." Haken gritted his teeth. He had to admit that the handful of opponents he showed up did have something to say. Unclear momentum.
Haken stretched out his right hand and the entire team stopped.
Wearing a double layer of mail armor, he walked out of the shield wall. In order to show that he was peaceful and not threatening, he deliberately pulled out his sword in public and stabbed it into the ground. He then took off his helmet and handed it to his men, and approached the Russians with open arms.
At this point, he did not dare to show off his majesty as a king in front of a powerful enemy. Any arrogant move would lead to the death of his captured son and an immediate general attack by the Russians. He didn't believe that those who came forward were most of the soldiers of the Ross army, just a small group of people who came to negotiate. He subconsciously looked up at the pine forests on the hills and swallowed deeply. The pine forest will cover up many things, such as covering up the main force of the Ross army.
Maybe the Ross people wanted an upright decisive battle just like their letter of challenge, but Haken couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't launch a surprise attack, such as a surprise attack against themselves.
Thinking about it this way, the small group of guys in front of him who were dressed in extremely bright colors and told everyone from head to toe that they were Russians, if Haken looked at them again, they looked like bait for fishing cod, maybe. I am that big, fat cod.
Before meeting the nobles of the Rus' people, the cautious Haken spoke first: "I am the king of Gotland! My Haken! I brought what you want, where is the leader of your Rus' people!? "
