No matter how big a ship is, it will eventually become a small floating existence facing the vast sea. This is the case with the Avora, so that the fishermen who saw her from a distance could not judge her exact size at first, but it was just because of her beauty. Another strange triangular sail stopped and watched.
Last year, the war crisis swept across the narrow Kalmar Strait, and all settlements here were attacked by the Swedish coalition forces.
Many settlers died and many more fled inland.
A lot of strange news about the Svealan Alliance invaders spread wildly in this area, but the invaders' momentum was finally stifled in Silver Castle.
Among the many pieces of information, the information about the invaders owning a huge ship attracted people's attention the most, especially the Saxons of Borgholm, who had once again submitted to Danish power, provided more detailed information. Strangely, the exact information about the big ship still seems to be hidden behind the truth.
Aurora, she didn't really reveal her true identity.
What do the enemies think? Rurik couldn't care less.
He clearly saw that his big ship entered a special area, which was a wide waterway sandwiched between two land masses. The land to the east is not a real continent, it is the cucumber-like slender island of Öland, and to the west is the southern main part of Scandinavia.
The big ship entered the waters, and the relaxed people cheered up in response to Rurik's orders.
A sailor stationed at the top of the mast saw the target in the distance. He grabbed a cable and descended to the deck in less than ten seconds. Barefoot, he broke into the captain's cabin at the bow of the ship.
"Is there an enemy?" Rurik suddenly jumped up from the comfortable leather quilt.
"Sir! It's a fishing boat, right in front! Two fishing boats."
"Excellent." Rurik nodded and asked the Biyoni brothers who were catching up on their sleep: "What a lucky morning. The target appeared just after we entered this sea area. Get up, let's kill them."
"Fight!" Biyongni clenched his fists and jumped up suddenly, grabbing his sleeping brother Floki directly.
People resting in the cabin stood on the deck one after another, standing deep with heavy weapons on standby.
Considering the needs of combat, all long-range weapons, including bull slings, were placed on the deck. Due to the special structure of the Aurora, the bow deck and stern deck are the most armament-rich, and heavy weapons are placed in these two places.
The Avora, which was facing the wind, was walking on a zigzag line, her sails were raised to the top, and blown by the south wind, the huge triangular sail was like a wing. Her progress was a "rapid climb of the aircraft." But the Aurora is not this sail! The auxiliary mast at the stern also raises the sail. It is much smaller than the main mast and normally serves as an auxiliary rudder. Now it is also forced to become the driving force for forward movement.
With two triangular sails, one big and one small, the Aurora rushed towards a fishing boat in front of it.
Rurik stood on the forecastle deck with squinted eyes. He held on to the railings and cables tightly, fearing that the high-speed zigzag movement of the ship would throw him out.
The big ship entered combat mode. She was advancing at high speed. Every time she adjusted her direction against the wind, she was accompanied by a very low-angle turn. The Aurora turned at a large pitch angle, as if it was drifting on the sea? The huge waves finally made the fishing boats watching the show realize the danger - a huge monster was rushing towards them.
The fishing boat simply throws down the dragging net? At the moment of life and death, it doesn't matter how many herrings are in the net. The fishing boat quickly set sail, but it was too late.
The Aurora, which once reached a speed of eight knots? With her huge body running at such a speed, it would be an exaggeration to say that it was a terrifying steamroller.
"Hold on to the cables, prepare for a collision! Don't be thrown out!" As Rurik roared with all his strength, he put his elbow directly into the cable sleeve, fearing that he would be thrown away.
A collision occurs!
No! This is another condescending crush.
The speed of the Avrora was much faster than that of the fishing boat that was also escaping against the wind. The bronze bulbous bow directly smashed the keel of the fishing boat, and then the entire big boat rode on it. The huge, flat and extremely strong bottom of the boat crushed the fishing boat to pieces. .
The big ship brought death, but for those herrings that were just caught and lingering in the rattan baskets, they returned to the sea with the wreckage of the fishing boat.
This was a victory without any suspense. Rurik did not fire a single arrow or a single projectile, but used the most primitive, simplest and most brutal collision tactics in naval warfare? Once again he won easily.
And this is just the beginning of the killings in the Kalmar Strait.
Rurik didn't care about the exact identity of the fishermen working in this area? Anyway, they were not friendly forces. As for whether they were enemies...
He didn't have time to chat with the fishermen he met? All he wanted to do was attack indiscriminately.
On the first day after entering the strait, four fishing boats that were discovered were crushed? Rurik did not let go of any of the discovered prey.
The next day, they successfully arrived at the Borgholm Fortress, which had caused heavy bleeding to the Swedish coalition forces.
The fort is just to the west? Anyone can see it.
Biyongni was a little confused for a moment: "Look at this fortress, it seems to be stronger than your Fort Ross. They seem to have formed an alliance with you, so the fishing boats on the sea, we..."
"Continue to attack." Rurik said decisively.
"Okay. I'm just suggesting that since you have formed an alliance, if you ask them for something now, they should give it to you."
Rurik still had a sullen face and said seriously: "I will not land. I don't want to waste time here. They have formed an alliance with the dead Olegin. What does it have to do with us, the Russians? Let's continue the attack."
Poor Stein Saxon, this poor leader who once again surrendered to the Danish leader Hafgen, has few followers and few fighting soldiers left. The tribe is struggling to survive, so the fishermen working at sea are more appropriately described as fisherwomen. He saw the classic-looking ship from a distance. Look at her most striking feature, it was a Russian!
What are the Russians doing?
"Attack?! You are actually attacking my fishing boat! Silly women, run to the shore! Run quickly!"
Chief Stein, who was standing on the wall, just watched helplessly. His poor troops were unable to attack at all. Besides, he knew the combat power of the big Ross ship. Even if he had a group of elite soldiers, attacking rashly would be the same as getting killed.
As for the Avora, it was attacking like crazy right under the nose of Chief Stein.
Rurik has already given an order, and his order will not change. The fishing boat he witnessed must be sunk by various means before it escapes to the shore.
He didn't care who the people on the fishing boats were. After a whole day of collisions, crushing, twisting slingshots, and trebuchets, he destroyed eleven fishing boats.
Rurik boasted that he should prepare for a sailing day, but unfortunately he has not yet produced the paper, but these results really need to be recorded.
A batch of pine boards were stored in the cabin for ship repair. Rurik took one and whittled it into a small wooden sign, and then carved traces to describe how many ships were sunk on a certain day. So on this day, he carved eleven traces on the wooden sign.
On the third day after entering the strait, the Aurora arrived at the narrowest point, and two sandbars like gatekeepers were clearly visible.
As usual, Rurik stood at the bow of the ship and issued a battle command to his brothers: "Some of you came here with me last year, and in front of you is Kalma! It is also the farthest south that our Russian army has ever gone. Kalma must have been defeated by Denmark again. The people are in control, we will try our best to sink the enemy ships and continue sailing south!"
The warriors were very enthusiastic, especially all the Balmoks. Sitting on a big ship, they could crush any opponent from a high position. This happy victory made the blood swell.
The settlement of Kalma is being rebuilt. A group of new fishermen have no idea that this place was a battlefield a year ago, and no one cares about the wandering ghost legends. They are the most realistic guys. Since the small island in their hometown is too crowded, Then take the opportunity to grab a new living space.
The new settlers were not Danes in the narrow sense. They did not come from Jutland and its affiliated islands, but from another densely populated island.
Burgundy Holm Island, or Bornholm Island. The former is what the islanders call themselves, and the latter is a term that the Russians have heard of.
Although the Rus have not yet reached this far south, some Merlaren merchants are aware of the island and have revealed some information.
It’s just that the islanders on that small island have changed one after another. It is very obvious that once the island reaches the limit of its population capacity, the islanders must get out.
Today, the population of Bornholm Island has swelled to 10,000, and it is impossible for the islanders to leave.
Times have completely changed.
Six hundred years ago, the "Scarlet Tribe" who migrated from the fjord near Oslo landed on Bornholm Island in a simple boat and became fishermen. When the population of the islanders became too prosperous, the chief led his people into the European continent.
The coagulated blood was a dark red, described in their Germanic dialect as burgundy.
Everything is in the distant past. The Burgundians who have established kingdoms on the European continent have completely forgotten their past and never thought that they were the same family as the Danes in the north. The Kingdom of Burgundy must continue to survive under the control of the huge Frankish Kingdom, and the Danes, together with the Saxon refugees who were ravaged by the Frankish army, have begun plundering the Frankish Kingdom year after year.
But all this has nothing to do with the current islanders of Bornholm.
The old Burgundians migrated to mainland Europe, and the islands were occupied by Danish immigrants. The islanders with an expanding population can hardly move to the European continent on their own. The southern land is the territory of the Pomeranians. They are Slavs who speak another language and have another way of life. The most direct The thing is, those guys have been actively attacking Schleswig, Denmark!
Some islanders from Bornholm landed in Kalmar, where they quickly built new settlements on the ruins, hoping to continue developing and fishing for the seemingly inexhaustible supply of herring in the sea.
However, they completely underestimated the intensity of the war and how long it would last.
The Baltic Sea has never been calm, and all those who go fishing must bring their own weapons. It is a generally accepted theorem in the sea that any unknown ship is an enemy.
When the fishermen saw the approaching big ship, they immediately started to avoid it, but the Aurora was well prepared.
Rurik didn't even care who he wanted to attack, whether it was a Dane or a Bornholm Islander. The ship that appeared was an enemy ship, and if it was an enemy ship, he would attack it!
A tiger entered the flock, and the Aurora rammed into the fishing boat with a literal crushing force...
A new day has arrived, and the golden light of the rising sun illuminates a piece of wood debris on the sea, as well as the horrified faces of the residents on the shore.
As many as twenty fishing boats were forced to work intensively in the narrow waterway to catch the shallow herrings that were desperately looking for food. All of them were sunk by the Avora.
The Aurora sailed away at dusk yesterday, and Rurik rushed further south without looking back. He only continued to carve twenty scratches on the wooden board, which was considered the greatest respect for the enemy.
So far, Rurik has recorded the sinking of forty ships. Although they are all small fishing boats, sinking them cannot be said to be a great military achievement.
But wait! Fishing boats are the most important means of production for local residents. The wheat harvest on the barren land has always been mediocre. However, the sea area in this area is the Oresund fishing ground with extremely rich fish. People make a living by eating fish. If a large number of fishing boats fishing for herring are lost, it will Famine occurs.
Rurik's desperate attack on the fishing boat was not considered honorable by real warriors, and both Biyoni and Floki viewed it this way.
Rurik had his own ideas.
It was another sunny morning. He stood on the bow of the ship and pointed proudly, pointing straight in the direction with his sword: "Look, we have left the strait after a night's sailing. The coastline has expanded to the west. We are heading west to Silver Castle. We can use A larger-scale attack to directly attack Danish merchant ships. But! We will continue to go south and attack the island called Bornholm. I will continue to sink fishing boats and steal their fish to fill our stomachs. !”
As usual, everyone raised their fists and roared in response to Rurik's words. Everyone didn't care anymore and just wanted to continue the battle.
Rurik had to admit that the brothers' mentality was becoming crazy in the constant fighting. Killing enemies and fighting became the happiest things.
This kind of person is a berserker in a certain sense, and he should be exploited if he is so crazy.
The Aurora headed south, but when it was sailing at full speed, the big ship accidentally encountered a slow merchant ship, which was groping the coastline heading north.
If a huge piece of fat appears in front of a tiger, is there any reason not to eat it?
What's happening here?
It turned out that a bold Danish businessman decided to go to Kalmar to expand his horizons. The businessman certainly knew the risks there and the bad luck in the ruins of the war. The desire to make a fortune had made the businessman ignore all risks. Now, businessmen should pay with their lives for their adventures.
Ordinary merchant ships are much larger than long ships, but their disadvantage is that their speed is too slow.
The Avora is essentially a Cork-type merchant ship, but she is larger and has some unique designs that make her completely different.
It was still a classic collision tactic. The businessman watched helplessly as his ship was knocked out of a large hole by an unknown ship that rushed straight towards him. Then the ship quickly took on water and sank into the sea with some supplies.
Did the ship sink so quickly? This is not much different than a cooked duck flying away.
Biyongni felt unhappy when he looked at the calming sea. He complained: "Now we are doing pirate things! But we are not real pirates."
"No! We are pirates," Rurik shouted.
"We are not."
"how?"
Biyony approached Rurik and patted him on the shoulder: "My little brother, did we grab anything? We sank a merchant ship and harvested sawdust floating on the sea."
"Okay. Okay... let's move on, be gentler next time, and at least get some fresh fish." Rurik mumbled helplessly.
Both the Rus and the Balmoks are willing to accept eating herring raw. It is a simple delicacy to remove the internal organs and fish head, grab the fish tail and put it into the mouth, and sprinkle a little salt during the process.
Rurik never complained about eating sashimi, especially raw herring. The soft and waxy fish meat was really delicious, but it was a pity that the variety of seasonings in Northern Europe was too scarce.
The Aurora managed to eliminate a longship without any damage in just one collision. She is the God of War on the sea and immediately rushes to the sea further south.
Rurik has officially entered the Øresund fishery. Under the sea are millions of tons of herring swimming in the shallow waters. He even saw schools of fish and seals chasing the fish.
Soon a large number of fishing boats appeared, and the man standing on the top of the mast pointed to the south: "Sir! Lord Rurik! Is this the island you mentioned?!"
After some time, the people on the Aurora could clearly see the black dot on the distant horizon, the only island in the vast sea.
It's Bornholm, it must be the island described by those Mälaren merchants!
A brand new killing belonging to the Aurora, a drama of human versus human on the Oresund fishery suddenly unfolded.
One fishing boat after another was sunk, Rurik was not one to be complacent about small victories, and he did get some loot.
Throughout the day's battle, fifteen fishing boats were sunk, some fish were captured, and the people on the Avora were able to happily eat delicious herrings.
"Now, we are pirates." After saying that, Biyongni swallowed a fish in one mouthful, and then belched.
"Yes! It's a pirate. I just want them to know how powerful I am."
Biyongni beat his chest and suggested: "It's time to be well prepared. We are wandering near their Danish island. Is it called Bornholm Island? We will be besieged by them in the future, and they will not Let us plunder freely. We still need to be careful."
Rurik nodded: "I am very confident in the big ship. You are right, there is nothing wrong with being prepared. I will fight in this area again, and rob the island for at least three days. If I scare them, I will go straight to The Danes got to the core and left only the horror legends of the sea to the local people."
Biyongni nodded, smiled and lightly hammered his Rurik brother: "You are a beautiful boy and the most terrifying person I have ever seen, but I like it. Fight with you, and I will too Becoming very brave, aren’t you.”
