To prepare for an expedition, Rurik knew that he had to think deeply about the issue of food and fodder.
Ordinary medieval armies would plunder wherever they went to solve the problem of supplies? The principle is this: what kind of supplies can be obtained depends entirely on the enemy's reserves. If our own side is not well prepared, does it mean that logistical problems are actually being manipulated by the enemy? If they create a fortified wall and clear the country, the army will have to starve to death in a foreign land or return home quickly.
At least the Balmoks paid little attention to logistical issues.
This is reasonable. The allies simply do not know that logistical issues are related to the success or failure of the army.
Rurik planned to stockpile wheat that could feed a thousand people for two months, and this was just wheat. He planned to stockpile at a standard of two pounds per person per day, which meant that he would have to stockpile 120,000 pounds of oats.
In his plan, it would take the Ross army three weeks to reach Balmok at the earliest from its hometown, and another two weeks to land in Britain. Although there are probably opportunities to catch fish during the trip, no one can expect unexpected surprises to solve certain problems.
But wait! Perhaps the army can attack Burgundy Island first and force the local fishermen to provide a batch of catches.
After some consideration, Rurik did not reject the possibility of robbery midway, but it was no longer a necessary means.
The best way is to reserve food, whether it is wheat or dried fish, or even dried young pine leaves to prevent scurvy. These should be stored for two months, so as to avoid the dilemma of quickly running out of food when the army lands in Britain. .
Although more than two million pounds of wheat were obtained from various places last year, the huge amounts of wheat were piled up in mountains, and the dry and cold climate made people have no worries about their winter storage. But this batch of wheat can only feed the Russians for more than half a year, and ordinary people still have to go to sea to fish.
Controlling food in your own hands is equivalent to taking the military initiative! Rurik can decide the total amount of wheat to be released to the market every month. Since there is war, it is no problem to directly order the stockpiling of 200,000 pounds or more of oats.
Rurik naturally only considered the problems of his own people. As for the Balmok allies, of course they had to solve their own logistical problems. Of course, the allies can follow the old tradition and bring a small amount of dried fish or even catch fish to eat raw fish on the way, and then loot and replenish their physical strength immediately after landing. The Russians have no intention of helping them in this regard.
As the saying goes, even if they are allies, helping them with logistics is a matter of friendship and not Rurik's duty.
But Biyoni, the future commander-in-chief of the Balmoq Army, this man became smart in actual combat. Since the Rurik brothers are stocking up on supplies for the expedition, they should also be prepared for any eventuality.
There is still some time before the sea ice melts, but the Russians have begun to select men for the expedition, and some people have begun spontaneous fighting training.
It was a sunny afternoon and the temperature was still cool, but no longer aggressive.
In the past days, the Balmok travelers who were miners all became stronger because they received good and scientific meals and passively exercised their muscles in the mines. Now this group of people are armed with brand new steel swords and are officially receiving fighting training from Jevlo!
Regarding how to form a formation to fight, Rurik was not worried that the Balmoks would cause trouble.
On this basis, they should receive better training in fighting alone.
The Balmok travelers began to learn Frankish swordsmanship from Jevro. The combined fighting technique of sword and shield was refreshing to everyone.
The boys of Rurik also received military training as expected, and some of the very young and outstanding ones were selected by Rurik to become members of the expeditionary force.
Do you expect these teenagers to fight in battle? It was too hasty.
No one can deny their courage, but with their thin bodies, short stature and childish faces, these warriors are really weak on the battlefield. The place for people like them is the auxiliary force! It happened that Rurik had to bring a full-time shooting force with him when he went into battle, and he also had to be entrusted with important responsibilities.
This is all a war, and only those who are too naive will seek to win in a one-on-one duel with the enemy warriors.
The essence of war is to use whatever means necessary to win with minimal losses. A wise commander will avoid even close combat. It is great to be able to kill the enemy without guarding them and make them stand on their backs.
A group of boys were selected, all of them carrying steel-armed crossbows, with a backpack hanging on each shoulder, and as many as ten crossbow arrows in the bag. What a burden this is? Three arrows weigh two pounds! Coupled with the crossbow, which weighs an average of twelve pounds, and the portable cocking winch, which weighs two pounds, the load these boys carry is staggering in terms of weapons alone! Not to mention that they also need a small shovel for digging, a small multi-functional dagger, and a backpack with a hemp rope girdle, which must also contain food. One of these linen blankets is circled and tied around the backpack.
Rurik was really particular about this aspect. He was pursuing the needs of future generations of armies for clothing and supplies.
Not only these children, but also belts, shoulder linen bags, linen blankets, shovels and daggers, water bags made from stomach pouches and other items that seem to have nothing to do with combat, every Russian who is about to go on an expedition must have a set of them.
The majority of Russian women also received direct tailoring orders from Rurik. Naturally, he took a special liking to Vodgen, who immigrated to Russia with his entire tailoring workshop, and instructed this man to undertake an important job - making military uniforms for the Russian army. Instructional version to allow the women of Ross to copy this style.
During last year's war, Rurik really noticed that the Northumbrian army was trying its best to uniformly dress, but in fact they could not fully achieve it.
The Northumbrian army has a distinct khaki-orange color scheme, while the Balmoks are really unkempt and dressed in a variety of colors. Gorgeous attire demonstrates military power to intimidate the enemy, enhances one's own sense of glory and boosts morale, and most importantly distinguishes between ourselves and the enemy on the battlefield.
The Russian military uniform does not need to be modified. It is still a white robe that can be worn on the body, with staggered blue strips sewn on the chest and back.
This obviously required fine tailoring, and Ilyurik required that characters such as centurions should be sewn on their shoulders with epaulettes dipped in cinnabar and dyed red. As usual, they had to have feathers on the top of their helmets so that they could be easily seen by warriors in battle. If he hadn't thought it was too silly to put a small flag on his back, Rurik would have done it. Of course there is a flag. Since a flag team is going to be dispatched, of course the flag captain is his cousin Arik, and the flag officer is also a professional.
A subtle atmosphere enveloped the entire Roseburg.
The Duke is going to war! All participants in the war have the opportunity to gain wealth and glory!
Rurik set the date for the expedition near June, so he would not go straight to Britain when the ice and snow melted. He had a lot of time to train the troops, including but not limited to training three hundred Balmok travelers into true warriors to adapt to the Russians' fighting method that was different from that of ordinary Vikings.
Considering that Northumbria had cavalry, Rurik had no doubt that the freed Eynred would rebuild his cavalry. Since there is a decisive battle, the fight between one's own and the enemy's cavalry on the battlefield is essential. It is estimated that with that guy's elm head, of course he still ordered the cavalry to charge according to traditional tactics. Maybe they did not intend to rush and break the formation, and assassination with spears was indispensable.
Therefore, the Russians should prepare a batch of spears, and also sell a batch of spears to the Balmoks. The coalition formed a "hedgehog formation", which should be able to cause heavy casualties to the British cavalry in this time and space.
If there are sufficient preparations, there are no problems with armaments and logistics, and there is a grain officer Paul who leads the way, and they really kill York this time, Northumbria may be defeated and the country will be destroyed!
However, in so-called wars, half of the plans are often scrapped once the war begins.
Rurik was preparing for an expedition that could be called adventurous, with crazy goals, and whose success would bring great rewards and great glory, but the east encountered big trouble.
A group of sled teams suddenly rushed north to Fort Ross. Look at their dejected appearance, like cocks that have been defeated in a fight.
They are indeed the defeated! They took a long circuit around the frozen coastline of the Gulf of Bothnia, and after receiving a batch of supplies at Ellenburg, they successfully arrived at Fort Ross.
Kejas came, he was caught off guard.
This old guy had a face full of vicissitudes of life, and his eyes were filled with the sorrow of defeat.
There are only over a hundred of his followers, men, women and children, and these are already the last members of the "Lord of Salmon" tribe.
As soon as they arrived, a bombshell news began to spread from their mouths.
It turned out that the Salmon Lord tribe of the Corvin people, who had completely sworn to the Rus, was attacked by a powerful enemy! They lost their mountain fortress, the last of their men was nearly killed, and the remaining people were forced to abandon their belongings and flee for their lives. Here are the squirrel and ferret skins that were supposed to be tribute to Ross in the warmer times, and now everything is gone!
Rurik was overwhelmed by such a major incident. He could not think of any other enemy that could attack Kehas.
Rurik urgently summoned the old guy who had fled for his life, and because he was worried that the man would lose control of his emotions, he specially brought Lumi with him.
Daughter Rumi has been working as a priest among the Rus, and now it seems that her relationship with Rurik is even closer.
Seeing his daughter, Kehas was filled with sadness. He stamped his feet, beat his chest, and cried loudly. It took Rurik a long while to understand the reason for his crying.
"Your mountain fortress! It was actually breached by the enemy. Your wife was killed by them?! Is there such a tragic thing?"
Rurik tried his best to remain calm, but he couldn't.
Kejas wiped away his tears again, "They did it..."
"who are they."
"It's the Tavastians. They came, they noticed us, and now they occupy our territory. All the leather stored in our mountain fortress has been robbed by them. And..."
"Then what?" Rurik asked urgently.
"They didn't leave. They occupied our territory and didn't want to leave. Now I need you to... fulfill your agreement."
"The agreement! I will carry it out! People of Tavastia, I heard you said that there is no point in me attacking them. Now they are looking for death!"
Rurik said this without hesitation, his clenched fists seemed to crush the iron into powder.
He temporarily resettled Cajas and the tribesmen who had successfully escaped, and then sent Lumi to comfort her poor father.
That night, Cajas, who had stabilized his mood, was invited to the meeting hall on the first floor of the palace. He entered the Rossburg for the first time. While he was shocked by this huge city, he was also full of joy for the future counterattack.
The servants of the Rus' "Eastern Land" were massacred? ! How unreasonable!
The news has spread throughout Roseburg. Although most people don't even know who the attacker is, the brothers have begun to spread the word that the Duke will definitely issue an order to send troops.
This is not an expedition, but a crusade against the invaders to regain the wealth belonging to Ross that was stolen by the enemies.
The entire Rossburg has exactly the same atmosphere, which is to send troops early to kill the enemy and take revenge.
In Rurik's chamber, the atmosphere of revenge was very strong, including the large Balmok armed envoy, who were also very interested in a sudden war.
The elite of the Rus are all here, as well as the Balmok hero Biyoni and the Duchess of Ostara Carlotta. Kejas saw the political significance of this at a glance.
Kejas accepted Rurik's request and told everyone personally what had happened to him. He was so frightened and so filled with a desire for revenge that he went too far in describing his enemies.
"There are a thousand of them, and each warrior has an iron spear. They throw javelins and shoot arrows. They are also good at setting fires. Because they couldn't take down our mountain fortress, they set it on fire. We took advantage of the chaos to escape..."
In its description, the old gray squirrel tribe's hillfort was captured by Tavastian expeditioners, who then attacked Kaihas' territory.
Rurik felt a little strange, "Your fortress located on a mound should be very strong. Even if they set fire, is it really reasonable in this snow-covered world?"
"My lord, there were so many of them that they piled up firewood to create smoke, which set some of the pine trees on fire...some people choked to death from the smoke."
Rurik stared, knowing that thick smoke in fires was often more dangerous than flames.
Rurik was still asking the key question: "Are there really a thousand of them?"
"It's absolutely true. I'm afraid there will be warriors later. As far as I know, the Tavastians hunt prey in their territory everywhere. The more they have, the more wealth they need. We Corvin people have been getting rid of them, but we didn't expect them to come again. ”
"Sounds like this is a fateful fight."
"Yes. They know that if they want to rob the leather resources in the north, they must annihilate us. But all these leathers belong to Ross, and we are Ross's servants. The Tavastians are humiliating Ross!"
Kejas' words were very irritating to everyone. Now Biyongni looked sideways and spoke, "Brother, your servant was attacked by the enemy, which means that you are also humiliating us Balmoks. I don't know what kind of villains the Tavastians are. , now I declare that I will take my brothers to help you fight."
Is that the new ally of the Rus? Wouldn't the Russian army be more powerful in this way?
Kejas took this opportunity to add fuel to the fire, "They also did an evil thing!"
"What's the matter?"
"The enemy destroyed our cemetery, and also destroyed the summer camp of Ross. I understand that the intruders must be destroyed, otherwise the fishermen of Ross will..."
Rurik stood up suddenly when he heard that the cemetery was destroyed: "I heard that two children of Russian fishermen died on your side. Is it possible that their cemetery was also destroyed?!"
Kejas nodded hurriedly, "There are also the Ross warriors who stayed at my place this winter. They helped our daughter to be conceived, and they are all our heroes. But these Ross heroes all died in the battle!"
"Are they dead too? Damn it!"
"The boats that were pulled ashore were all taken away by the enemy."
"That's enough." Rurik stood up and raised his hand to signal, and everyone else also stood up, with hatred in their eyes.
Kejas told the truth, but deliberately made things miserable, for example, describing the brutal enemies as mad dogs tearing at the corpses of dead Rus warriors, or even vultures pecking at the livers.
The details of the facts are no longer important. Rurik ordered on behalf of everyone, "It seems that before the expedition to Britain, we have to attack the Tavastians first. When the ice melts and the snow melts, our fleet rushes directly to the other side of the sea, letting Let all the young men of Rus join the battle as much as possible, and let the blood of the Tavastian invaders be sacrificed to Odin!”
People roared and word spread quickly.
Now it is no longer a question of who is qualified to go to the battlefield, but that the Russians can go out to attack them.
Theoretically, Rurik can send an advance army now, but wait, it would be bad if the enemy feels that the battle situation is unfavorable and flees.
To fight a war, it is either a war of annihilation or creating opportunities to fight a war of annihilation.
And this battle makes everything more subtle.
Rurik was worried that this battle would delay the expedition to Britain, and he was also worried that the enemy would escape after gathering the army to prepare for the expedition.
Spring must have come early this year, with the ice melting enough for navigation in April. Of course, a land expedition is not as efficient as taking a boat. The army must sail directly!
Now, Arik, who was eager for new military exploits, stepped forward. He led the organization of a fifty-man reconnaissance team, ran wildly on the sea ice on a sled, and rushed directly to Oulu in the direction determined by Rurik based on his geographical knowledge. The mouth of the river, and then went deep into the robbed territory of the Salmon Lord tribe, revisited the old territory to spy on the invaders, and then ordered his men to rush back on the reindeer sleigh to report the news...
