A terrifying monster of the ocean is wandering just outside the island!
A strange ship attacked fishing boats everywhere. The fishermen who witnessed the tragedy gave up last night and took the time to escape to the island. They returned to the village to explain the disaster at sea to people. As the matter unfolded, it became the so-called "monsters emerged from the sea, and their bloody mouths were devouring ships."
On Bornholm Island, a stone plateau nearly 200 meters above sea level, many people climbed to the top in order to witness the so-called monster.
The rumors are apparently true!
Hundreds of climbers witnessed the vague sight of the monster. Although they were a little suspicious, their strong fear and anxiety interfered with their judgment, and people became increasingly convinced that it was the legendary sea monster.
"We must have angered the Poseidon by fishing too much."
"No! Some bastard got God's treasure, and now God has released the sea monster to attack it."
"What you said is wrong. The monster is there, and it appeared out of thin air. We have to think about killing it, otherwise we won't be able to catch it, and the result will be that we all starve to death."
Kill a monster? Easier said than done?
More and more people gathered on the high ground, some were frightened, some were curious, and some were eager to try. They had no mentality whatsoever, but no one could tell that it was a big ship.
Until a strong man climbed onto the stone hill.
This man had a long golden beard. He looked at the "monster" swimming in the distance with a solemn expression, and his eyelids kept twitching for a while.
He roared: "Stop speculating! That's not a monster! It's a big ship."
The crowd gradually became quiet, and no one thought about the lord's words until this moment.
It was evening at this time, and the soft light of the setting sun shone on the giant sail and huge figure of the Aurora. However, the long distance made her phantom become more blurry and illusory, and it was understandable that she was mistaken for a cruising sea monster.
The illusion of light and shadow cannot disturb Gullel, the lord of Bornholm. The reason for his eyelids twitching is not fear, but entirely anger.
No less than ten people came over to ask their knowledgeable lord why.
So does Guler know anything about the Avora?
No! But he knew about last year's war, and learned from the Danes and the fleeing Gotlanders that the Svealans in the north had a terrifying ship and a huge fleet. The most critical information was seriously distorted during the transmission process, but there were two messages that were so important that they became the core messages.
First, the guy from the north has a big ship. Second, this ship has very strong combat effectiveness.
Gullar gathered all the strong men on the top of the stone hill and announced to them the so-called truth.
He pointed at the shining spot under the still-cruising sunset and roared: "Foolish people, keep your eyes open! That's not a sea monster, it's a big ship of the northerners. Those northern guys attacked Silver Castle last year, and now they are again Coming to attack us!"
As soon as the news came out, the quiet crowd immediately became excited.
More than one person asked: "Guys from the north? The Danish leader organized a large army to counterattack last year, and we also sent people to participate in the war. How can those northerners still have the ability to attack us after they have been defeated?"
This is a good question. Guler thought about it for a while and gave a reason that everyone thought was appropriate.
"The guys in the north are determined to be evil. They thought they couldn't plunder Silver Castle, so they came to attack us. They sent the best ships to attack us, and there must be a huge fleet behind them."
A huge fleet? Invasion? Landing on an island and burning everything down?
People continue to fear, this time, they worry about the terrible war in the future.
The fishermen on Bornholm Island did not want to be sheep waiting to be killed. As a man roared "fight" in a hoarse voice, people roared one after another.
Yeah, fight. If that big boat is allowed to wander around, how will the people catch fish? How do nearly ten thousand people live?
Originally, Guler didn't think too much. He was interested in discussing a better countermeasure. Now seeing how excited the tribesmen were, it was obvious that the only option left was to fight immediately.
A new day, another clear start.
After waking up, Rurik deliberately continued to circle around the island. He felt like a cheetah swimming in the savanna, waiting for an opportunity to hunt a lone antelope with his speed.
The Avora was indeed fast. She moved in a counter-clockwise direction and made a half-circle around the coast of the island in less than a morning.
The midday sun brings extreme comfort, and the sea breeze makes everyone feel lazy.
The people who were preparing to fight were all discouraged. They sat on the deck boredly, holding crossbows and yawning.
Rurik, standing at the bow of the ship, held on to the wooden railing and looked at the empty sea and the dark green and gray islands in a daze.
Biyony, who was equally bored, walked onto the forecastle deck: "It's been a whole morning, and we haven't found any prey. Rurik, your prey is all hidden. In my opinion, we shouldn't waste time here anymore." .”
"Damn, they must be freaking out."
"Yes. They hide on the island and don't come out to fish. When we leave, they go to sea again."
"I can wait." Rurik said angrily, stamping his feet.
"Don't waste time, brother." Biyoni pointed to the island, "Are they really Danes? Are they your main enemies? Or are you just eager to fight, even if the battle itself is not necessary."
"Creating an atmosphere of terror in this sea area is one of my goals." Rurik turned his face sideways, and his handsome face showed ferocity.
"That's enough, brother." Biyongni patted Rurik on the shoulder kindly, "The hare got into the hole. Do you want to completely abandon the hole? Wait for the rabbit to come out before hunting? What do you have to wait for? Time. Maybe you think the time is ripe, so bring the Ross army. I will also send troops to fight at that time. If you like this island, we can conquer it together."
Biyoni's words spoke to Rurik's heart: "Well, I really don't have the ability to land on the island to fight now. Tomorrow we will cruise for another day, and then we will continue to the west. These cowardly guys, they are hiding on the island That’s fine. But one day they will surrender.”
There is only one settlement on the entire Bornholm Island, and the so-called settlements in the rest of the islands are just scattered fishermen in twos and threes. The terrible news spread throughout this small island immediately, so no one dared to go to sea on a brand new day.
It was also on a brand new day that they saw clearly that it was indeed not a sea monster, but a large ship. Under the control of Lord Guler, the men on the entire island quickly gathered and eliminated an army of 1,500 men!
Fifty longships were organized, nearly half of the large ships on the island.
With the local shipbuilding skills, it usually takes six to seven months for each shipbuilder on the island to build a standard longship. This is based on the fact that there is a lot of hard oak on the island.
Fifty battle-ready longships, each with 1,500 warriors on board, would it be overkill to besiege a large local ship?
The people on the island are determined to win the battle in the future, and given the current situation, the relationship between Bornholm Island and Denmark, and the people's attachment to Jutland, everyone intends to capture the big ship through battle. Then drag it to the hands of the "Lion" Hafgen of the Robard tribe of the Danish leader (this person has also been given titles such as "Ruthless Slayer" and "Savior of Silver Castle" in recent years), and through flattery Let the people of Bornholm have a greater say in the league.
The matters discussed by the islanders were also discussed in the chief chamber of the island.
All the powerful families on the island feel that a whole day of preparation is enough. Once a huge army comes out, a pack of wolves can kill a mad bear, right? They selectively ignored that the hateful big ship destroyed the fishing boats one by one through collision, forgetting that there was no difference in materials between the keels of the combat-type longships and the fishing boats.
They are a big family on the island, and they are all nobles with private soldiers and servants. Guler is the most powerful one. Everyone elected him as the lord, so that he can lead the islanders to fight in times of crisis. Everyone's attitude was surprisingly unified. Guler didn't have any worries. His mind was already imagining the beauty of seizing that monster-like ship.
"That Hafgen, he has a big ship named Red Dragon. He even named his tribe after it. We give him the captured ship, and Hafgen will remember us so that our merchant ships can be guarded by him. You won’t have to pay a toll of a copper coin for the pass.”
Everyone agrees with this seemingly wishful thinking. After all, behind such thinking is the desire for greater wealth.
Because the people of Bornholm sit in the richest waters of the Øresund fishing ground, their traditional skills are pickled herring and smoked fish jerky. Good news came from the west many years ago. Harald, the expelled former leader of Denmark, was actually thriving among the Franks, and his nephew Horik led a group of men in Friesland (now the Netherlands). A stronghold was established near the town of Durist in the north).
Those expelled guys have already believed in the Frankish god, but trade is trade, and no one will have trouble with gold, silver, and goods. The people of Bornholm intended to cross the Strait of Jutland and go to Flanders to trade with their former friends, selling large quantities of herring in exchange for Flanders wool or lambs. So some of the sheep raised in the central area of the island come from there.
The warriors of Bornholm slept a night in excitement, while Rurik and his men, expecting that tomorrow would be another boring day, had already planned a new voyage, thinking about how to deal with the Danes they encountered. fighting.
Another peaceful morning.
It just seemed so peaceful.
Instead of taxis running around the streets to see if anyone is waving at the roadside, it is better to wait at the bus station and wait for passengers to come by themselves.
With this mentality, Rurik simply arranged the big ship directly offshore of the settlement. The anchor was hung on the seabed only seven meters deep, and the big ship was set on the sea surface and swayed with the waves.
"It looks like another boring day. The hungry wolves are blocking the entrance of the rabbit's hole, and the rabbit dare not come out." Biyongni looked helplessly at the huge settlement and patted his little brother on the shoulder: "Those are a group of cowards. I think It’s best for us to leave now.”
"I just have to wait. I keep my word."
Rurik's words seemed to be full of anger, but Biyongni did not insist on it: "Then, I will take my people to rest. Don't worry, brothers have always been prepared. If those guys who are not afraid of death dare to come out, I will fight immediately."
Rurik sat on the deck and waited. He lay flat on the deck and took a comfortable sunbath. He didn't know what the result of this waiting would be, and he even forgot his purpose. Is it really what Biyongni said? Is this a waste of time now?
Suddenly, a sailor on duty shouted at the top of his lungs: "Enemy! The enemy is attacking!"
Rurik, who was napping, was simply woken up by the frightened sailors. When he was displeased and saw clearly a large fluttering gray-white sail rushing towards him, any tiredness was replaced by a racing heart.
To his relief, Biyongni and his Balmok warriors all stood on the deck, and everyone was ready for battle.
Rurik slapped his head hard and screamed at Yevlo who was adjusting the torsion slingshot: "My helmet, bring my helmet."
He screamed at the sailors again: "Sail! Raise anchor! Fight!"
The stationary Avora suddenly started to move, and she quickly raised her huge triangular sail. This sight shocked the oncoming Bornholm army.
Standing at the bow of the longship, Guler, who was wearing leather armor, looked solemnly, and most of his men simply rowed hard with their shirts off. These guys understand the truth. Naval battles are accompanied by a high probability of falling into the water. If you wear heavy armor to fight in a naval battle, you will die if you fall into the water. But I am a true warrior who does not wear armor.
This group of people conceived a tactic. The so-called enemy ship is very large, so prepare more ropes with hooks. The brothers surrounded the big ship like waves, then climbed onto the ship from all directions and controlled the entire ship through gang-hopping. It was a wonderful tactic.
In order to achieve this tactic, they had to adopt a dense formation and naturally build a crescent formation to form a "pincer offensive".
To be honest, Rurik was shocked by this enemy's tactic. It was obviously his tried and tested tactic, so why did this group of enemies also understand it?
Rurik knew that he only had one ship. There was no tactical formation for the Avlora, and there was no need for any special tactics.
The bull trebuchet was the first to attack, and a large number of stones were thrown at the enemy in the distance.
The first round of attacks had immediate results!
The oarsmen from Bornholm didn't know what was happening, but they saw the people sitting next to them being ejected. It was a horrific scene.
However, Rurik could only use the stone-to-head attack once for the time being. He wanted to break the enemy's formation head-on, and a collision was imminent.
With the help of the wind, the big ship was sailing wildly, and the two sides fighting could clearly see each other's faces. A violent collision occurred.
The Avora suddenly raised its bow, and Rurik was also shaken to the ground by the violent vibration. Not only did the big ship's bronze bulbous bow directly knock down the local longship, but the entire thick oak keel directly pressed the enemy ship into the water. This was the most brutal tactic of the Aurora. Except for those who jumped into the sea to escape before the collision, all the others were crushed to pieces by this single blow.
In the first round, the Avora crushed an enemy ship and hit another ship with a huge, irreparable hole. The ship was sinking rapidly.
She turned suddenly, and Rurik, who regained his consciousness, got up, straightened his helmet and ordered various weapons to fire.
There were cries of killing on the sea, and when the Bornholm army saw the hateful big ship rushing towards them again, people were left screaming in terror.
The battle is like this! The dumbfounded Guler never imagined that his defeat would be so quick, so helpless, and so irreversible.
In a sense, this northern guy's big ship is indeed a monster of the sea.
The Aurora relies on its huge size, relying on brute force and "bronze head" to rampage, supplemented by the shooting of torsion slingshots and crossbows.
Many enemies fell into the water and were holding pieces of wood and spitting out seawater, but the Aurora still crushed them away.
"Lord! If this continues, our brothers will be dead. We have to evacuate! Look, those brothers have already run away!"
Everyone on the boat began to clamor to retreat. Due to the reality, Guler completely lost his fighting spirit.
Unfortunately, when he decided to follow the unauthorized escapees, his chance of escape was lost.
The Avrora directly caught up with Gould's command ship with a broadside attack. The five powerful torsion slingshots, which were full of power, accurately hit all five shots from a distance of only thirty meters. Conical tip cast iron bullet.
Except for one bullet that smashed away the wooden sculpture of an alien animal on the bow of the ship, the other four directly caused a large hole in the bottom of the ship. A large number of crossbow arrows fired from high up easily killed many oarsmen. In such a critical situation, Guler simply took off his leather armor and jumped into the sea to escape.
…
The battle was over by noon, as many as ten longships were destroyed, and a large number of men fell overboard and died. There were also twenty ships. At the critical moment, they saw the terrible situation and left the lord Sayazi behind and ran away. After all, the lord can choose another one later, but his life is his own.
Very fortunately, or very unfortunately, Gullar took the hemp rope thrown from the big ship and boarded this terrifying big ship as a prisoner.
Of course, he was first greeted with a violent punch and kick. It wasn't until his face was bruised and bruised that Rurik signaled his men to stop.
Only ten people were captured. As Guler vomited blood and shouted that he was the commander of the army, the remaining nine dying people were thrown into the sea directly.
Such a crazy move made Gould tremble with shock.
A short man with muscular arms and dark brown hair squatted down and asked Guler: "Who are you? Are you really the commander-in-chief of the army?"
"Yes... I... I am Gullar, Lord of Bornholm. You northern Svealans are unreasonable."
"Unreasonable?" Rurik stepped forward and gently pushed away Jevlo who was asking questions. "Have you ever been reasonable? Think you can defeat me by sending out a large number of ships? Now you have failed."
"You? A... child?"
Rurik had no intention of announcing his name to himself, and it made no sense at all.
"Kill this coward. Since this man is a lord, he should be buried with his people." Biyongni stepped forward and suggested that Ryuri should be ruthless.
"No, I want to keep this person." Rurik was not showing pity, just because this guy with a bruised nose and face was still useful. He bluntly told the so-called "reason" for everything that has happened so far: "Listen, I don't even need to know your name. We are just the vanguard of the Swedish army. You Danes think last year's war was a victory?" No! A new war has begun. We have a new king in Sweden. The king has gathered 20,000 people and is on the way to Jutland. What is Silver Castle? We are going to attack Hafgen’s lair. You Born Holm is just a small obstacle in the way of our army. Now I will let it go, and you return to the island and tell your people the truth. Listen, when the army from the north comes, all you have to do is surrender. can be forgiven."
At this moment, Guler did not dare to doubt the child's words at all. The words came from the enemy, and they were exactly the same as what he had speculated before the war! Since he saw the victory of the Danish army in the Battle of Silver Castle last year, he believes that the war behavior of the northern Svealans will continue. Besides, isn't the Danish leader Hafgen also planning a large-scale war against the north?
Caught in the middle, how should the people of Bornholm choose sides? At this moment, Guler already had his answer.
Rurik did not simply let this man go. Guler's ear was cut off, which was both a humiliation and a lesson. Simply putting this person at sea is no different from letting him die. An expedition boat on the Avrora was lowered, and Guler was thrown into it. Rurik ordered the man to use the readily available broken wood on the sea as an oar, and slowly swayed back to his port.
The great battle was over, and Rurik boasted of good results.
Under the setting sun, the Avora restarted its route to the west. Under the setting sun, her bow and bulbous bow were still hard, and all parts were still stable. The battles fought one after another left only traces on her hard hull. Just big and small scratches.
In the captain's lounge, the captain Rurik finally became quiet.
Lying on his side, Biyongni chewed the dried fish and couldn't help but ask: "So, the King Karl you call is really organizing a large army?"
"How is that possible! That Karl doesn't have that much charisma to summon a huge army." Rurik laughed directly.
"Are you lying to that one-eared guy?"
"certainly."
"is it necessary?"
"Of course it is necessary. They will be very worried about the invasion from the north and will be on guard. Unfortunately, everything is in vain. They will do nothing but waste their efforts and live in fear of being invaded every day. They will fear fear itself."
"This...I don't understand a bit."
Rurik shook his head and suddenly covered himself with a blanket: "We are far away from the island, and the ship anchors at night. I'm going to sleep first, so don't think too much about it. Recharge your batteries, we will soon enter the strait guarded by the Danes. Pass. At that time, fighting is inevitable. I will take the initiative to attack their merchant ships."
