Several mature Russian soldiers were chatting and laughing around the bonfire, grilling fish, and then the messenger who had received Rurik's message came quickly.
"Brother, you want to catch a fish when you come to our fire?" one person joked happily.
The messenger hurriedly sat down, the firelight shining on his cautious and serious face.
"Brothers, the enemy is in the mountain forest. The sentry placed in the forest has sent back the news. Lord Rurik tells you that even if you are sleeping, your shield must be hung on your arm, and your right hand must be holding a sword or axe."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was surprised and could not say anything.
Someone asked: "Is the news reliable?"
"Very reliable." The messenger was impatient again: "Your Excellency predicts that they will launch an attack tomorrow and requires us brothers to guard the camp and let them die. Anyway, if we attack that fortress, the decisive battle will only take one or two days. It's something. You... all be prepared. I'll tell the other brothers right now."
After the messenger finished speaking, he ran to another bonfire. Looking at the people at this bonfire, they smelled the smell of grilled fish, but it suddenly wasn't so fragrant.
Rurik informed everyone that the "enemy was close at hand" by arranging messengers.
On the surface, the Russian army is surrounded by enemies?
And indeed it is.
In spring, too much ice and snow melt water was injected into Lake Oulu, and the Oulu River, its runoff into the sea, also entered the flood season.
The river became very fast, and the force was enough to push the large rocks away. With such water flow, it was already a thankless task to rely on manual oars to paddle upstream. Based on this situation, Rurik could only rely on land travel to carry out his crusade, and the Russians were forced to lose a certain degree of mobility.
All Viking forces have a common advantage - mobility beyond ordinary enemies.
This mobility comes from the light ships. Although there are no ships on hand now, the defensive power of the Russians can greatly make up for this loss.
The Rus' camp was backed by the flooded Oulu River. Under Rurik's adjustments, the camp became a semicircle on a macro scale.
The shield-bearers of the Rus and Balmoks were all densely deployed on the periphery. It was said that once the enemy launched a sudden attack, the warriors quickly stood up and stacked their shields on each other to build a shield wall.
When commanding an army with a huge force, the commander's too-fine operations often turn into superfluous micro-operations.
Rurik didn't feel that he had come up with surprises and complicated arrangements, and his men could do everything.
When it comes to building shield walls, the Rus, Balmoks, and Lake Mälaren people at hand are all good at it.
Ross was much wealthier than he had been many years ago, especially due to the large-scale smelting of iron tools and the seizures from previous wars. Rurik's army had more than 800 men wearing chainmail.
They were sleeping in their armor, and when they heard the wind and grass, they would get up and fight with their swords.
A group of archers and crossbowmen were arranged among them, but more archers were summoned to Rurik's side.
In cold weapon warfare, only when crossbowmen are used intensively can they achieve great tactical effectiveness. The shooters arranged in the front line are to create chaos for the enemy. The shooters in the rear are arranged in a matrix, and their quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes. Their power is extremely amazing.
Even the children brought by Rurik, and even the girl warriors of the "Valkyrie Legion" under the command of Carlotta, this is not their first time participating in the battle.
There are no cowards in the entire team, only a large group of veteran soldiers who can remain calm in the face of piles of dead bodies.
Many people are even very arrogant, believing that if the enemy dares to attack the camp, they will die early. Such people sleep peacefully, but most Russians took a nap at most this night.
There are a group of enemies watching eagerly outside the bed. How many people can really sleep carelessly?
A tense atmosphere permeated the camp, even though many people did not get much rest. Thanks to this atmosphere, the nervous and vigilant soldiers ignored their fatigue for a while.
The Ross military formation was deployed overnight. Under the bonfire lay an armored warrior who could get up at any time and fight fiercely.
On the other hand, the Tavastians still felt that they had grasped the initiative in the war and had the upper hand.
The soldiers lying in ambush in the forest leaned against the big trees to sleep, waiting for the morning fog to rise after dawn, and took advantage of their weapons to launch an offensive.
Listen!
The endless river, that is the sound of flood! Even the gods were helping the brave Tavastia. The brothers rushed forward and drove the Rus into the river, and the gods helped the warriors to annihilate these enemies.
Although Vatyala was a little nervous, when he suddenly had a doubt, he used this set of ideas to convince himself.
Over and over again, he felt that he was certain to win, and was just waiting for the early morning birdsong to break the calm.
However, the birds have long had an insight into a human war, and the wandering birds have long since run away, and even the nearby squirrels have hid.
Morning mist filled the entire forest, and Vatyala woke up to the feeling of wetness.
The fog was not that thick, it was daylight, and visibility was not high in the dark blue world.
"Haha, God is helping me!"
There was no time to eat, so he led the purge to wake up all the sleeping warriors.
Young, old, and even young, the warriors of Tavastia stood against the big tree with mixed emotions.
There were no pre-battle lectures, no impassioned speeches, and even the commander Vateyala didn’t say a few words.
it is more than words!
The short spears kept moving forward. Tension, fear, and excitement all became meaningless.
The warriors of Tavastia, under the personal leadership of their commander Vateala, 1,200 people advanced in the morning mist forest, officially launching an attack with more than 1,000 troops that the tribal alliance had not seen in ten years. Armed advance!
Young and old know all too well that the Tavastians' opportunities are short-lived, and when the sun shines upon the land, the morning mists quickly engage. If the army delays, the advantage of the surprise attack will be lost. Although it was a decisive battle (that is, a group fight), and the madmen of Tavastia were confident, the surprise tactic could at least lead to a quick victory.
Soldiers covered in animal skins were advancing in the morning mist. They tried not to whisper to each other, but the sound of crushing dry pine branches was still unavoidable. The sound of one person crushing a branch can be ignored, but the same is true for a thousand people. Unless the Russians are deaf or know nothing about hunting, they can ignore this strange sound.
When it comes to hunting, the skills of the Rus are just as good as those of the Tavastians!
The soldiers who were arranged by Rurik to keep watch at night became alert when they noticed that the sky turned blue. When they noticed that in addition to the sound of water flowing there was also a strange buzzing sound (too many people stepping on tree branches), they began to move around like crazy. They rushed around the extinguished bonfires, roughly waking up the resting warriors.
Rurik managed to sleep in the linen tent. He slept lightly.
Yevlo suddenly broke in and stamped his feet hard in front of Rurik.
"Has it started yet?" Rurik sat upright with his heart beating wildly.
"Sir, they are here. Everything is as you expected. The decisive battle has begun."
Rurik covered his heart and frowned: "It's finally begun. Help me up and fight!"
This morning mist was far from being invisible, but the Ross army, which had the main color of white, coincidentally also had camouflage in the mist.
The Russians and Balmoks held their shields against their chests, and their steel swords and spearheads formed a shield wall.
They fought against the odds and built an arc-shaped array with the baggage trolley as the core.
They spontaneously formed a shield wall composed of three layers of people. Most of the crossbowmen were arranged in a matrix behind, and the trebuchets were also ready to launch.
However, the torsion slingshots and a few lying crossbowmen placed on the shield wall were ready to take advantage of the chaos to harvest lives.
Soon, the Tavastians walked out of the forest. They stepped on the flat land of the river beach, and any hiding was meaningless.
"Brothers! Roar! Scare the enemy!"
Vatyala roared, causing all those charging to roar.
This roar did give the Russians a sense of fear. After all, the fog still hid the enemy's strength to a great extent. No one knew how many enemies were rushing over.
Rurik believed that the enemy's strength was only a thousand men, and the Russian army had an advantage in this regard.
He was guarded by many armored and bloodthirsty veterans, and was at the safest rear of the array.
It is here that a crossbow is pointed forward at an angle of approximately 30°.
Boys and girls, elite mercenaries, and Kovin longbowmen suddenly launched a volley at Rurik's order!
This was no ordinary salvo, it was a salvo of nearly four hundred arrows!
Light conventional bows and arrows, heavy crossbows, they crossed a low parabola, were covered by the fog, and plunged into the relatively dense Tavastia array of the attacking team.
People couldn't see the arrows, only the dense swishing sound made them aware of the fear.
Countless Tavastians fell to the ground after being hit by arrows. The running warriors realized that their opponents seemed to be prepared, and the bow holders fired arrows in confusion.
Arrows fell in the Russian array, and the skin of three unlucky warriors was scratched. Fortunately, the well-prepared chain armor blocked further damage to the body from the enemy's clumsy arrow clusters.
Rurik didn't care at all, or he didn't have time to care.
"Trebuchet! Now!"
He roared at the top of his lungs again, deliberately charging a mere third of the ten bull trebuchets, and threw the pebbles he had obtained on the spot.
As for the damage caused, no one could see clearly under the fog.
But Ross and Balmok, the sword and shield bearers on the front line, had vaguely seen the black shadow suddenly emerging from the fog in front of them.
Someone was shouting in Norse that the enemy was coming. All of them were half-bowed with their shields pressed in front of them, and the hands holding their swords were clenched tighter.
It was at this critical moment that the crossbowmen and torsion slingshots placed in the front row attacked at the same time.
The Tavastians, before they could see clearly the face of their enemy, were struck head-on again.
Those who charged were shot straight through the chest by projectiles from the torsion slingshot, and their heads were beheaded. The accuracy of the crossbow is instantaneous, instantly forcing the person hit by the arrow to fall to the ground.
The crossbowmen hurriedly crawled back to the array. At this moment, a contact battle between the two armies broke out.
The Tavastians finally saw the faces of the Rus after suffering some casualties. They were actually dressed in white, standing like a snowman!
Many people felt that this was a powerful enemy, and some wanted to calm down, but the torrent of war urged them to hit it.
The Tavastians rushed into the battle like wild bulls and hit the Russian shield wall. Unfortunately, they were not bulls.
At the moment of contact, swords and spears stabbed randomly, and axes and halberds (even if the spear was equipped with an axe) chopped bravely.
The Rus' bucklers were stacked on top of each other, and the Balmoks followed exactly the same tactic. The Russians are simply using the Roman tortoise shell array. It seems like this is a retro style? To be fair, Rurik knew that this formation was still a very cost-effective tactic for dealing with chaotic armed gangsters many years later.
Even if they worship Odin, a group of bare-chested berserkers will emerge during the battle. Even if most Vikings are so poor that they don't even have reliable clothes, they must have a shield that can protect most of their torso.
The Tavastians slashed at the Rus' shields frantically, and the effect was really bad. As the fighting progressed for a period of time, they became more and more strenuous.
In terms of body shape and strength, the Rus and Balmoks, as "northern Germanic groups", have stronger bodies than the Franks and Saxons, while the Tavastians, immigrants from North Asia, are naturally shorter ( During this era, Finnish direct ancestors had almost no Slavic or Germanic ancestry).
Cries of killing came and went, and there was the sound of metal clashing everywhere.
It was impossible for the Russians to suffer no casualties, but with the protection of shields and armor, the injured suffered almost all internal injuries, especially bruises on their arms and shoulders.
The battle continued. When Vateyala realized that his surprise attack could not break through the enemy's line, and his plan to drive the enemy to the flood river and drown them had been ruined, the sun shone on the battlefield by the river!
The chance of belonging to Tavastia is almost gone!
Wounded soldiers were pulled to the rear, but Rurik still had no time to take care of these wounded soldiers. He continued to order his long-range shooters to continue causing chaos to the enemy.
Because of the enemies who threw javelins, Rurik could tell at a glance that these guys were also throwing Roman-style javelins.
An unlucky Rus warrior suddenly died under such a javelin, and Rurik had to fight back with a bow and arrow.
"Damn morning fog! Dissipate quickly! It makes me lose the advantage of my weapon, damn it!"
Of course, the casualties of war are inevitable, and no matter how strong the Russians are, they are still made of flesh and blood. Every soldier is important. Rurik does not want to kill any of his subordinates. The reality is that the Russians are suffering inevitable casualties.
Looking at the front line again, when the sun suddenly appeared, the Ross people started a defensive counterattack.
Biyongni, Arik and Heligel, with their respective men, pushed back against the enemy.
The energy of the Tavastians was almost exhausted. After paying the horrific price of about two hundred dead bodies, the remaining people all kept a certain distance from the Rus.
There was also a person with red eyes who temporarily broke through the Russian shield wall with an axe, and was stabbed to death by random swords.
Originally a Russian with blue stripes and white robes, almost all the soldiers in the first row were red. It was the enemy's blood, and even the wood of the shield was soaked with the enemy's blood.
It seemed that the collapse only occurred in one moment. The Tavastians did not want to be cowards. Everyone knew that not only did the raid fail, but the possibility of defeating the enemy in one fell swoop was also low.
The world becomes clearer and clearer, and golden light shines on this river beach.
It takes a person or a measure to break the enemy's psychology.
Rurik couldn't care less. The fog was dissipating at an extremely fast speed. The man standing on the cart operating the trebuchet could already accurately see the position of the enemy's line and estimate their distance.
Taking this opportunity, more than 300 crossbowmen at the rear were gathered together again.
"150 stikas! Noise an arrow!"
"get ready!"
"Hjutraaaa!"
Long arrows, short arrows and stones fell from the sky, and together they formed an impact surface approximately fifty meters wide and forty meters long.
At a distance of about 150 meters, the Russians suddenly launched a concentrated attack within such a range. Especially the surprise attack when the enemy seemed to be tired, it really shattered the morale of the Tavastians.
With this blow, more than thirty people fell to the ground and did not get up. Many people were so panicked that they did not pull out the arrows stuck in their bodies, threw their axes and ran away.
Vatyala was not dead, but his old face was cut open by an arrow cluster, and his whole body was bloody and bloody.
As the commander-in-chief, she knew that if she stayed here any longer, she would be courting death, so she could still hold on relying on the fortress at the rear.
"Brothers, let's retreat! If you don't leave, you will die!"
However, his shouts were drowned in the Viking war cries of the Rus and Balmoks.
Why?
Led by their flag captains and commanders, the Rus' and Balmoks' rock-solid shield walls suddenly dispersed, and the defensive counterattack began now!
Countless polar bears covered in plasma rushed over, first slashing wildly at the injured, and then began a fatal pursuit!
There's an avalanche! The attacking Russians are like the avalanche itself. Once they are overwhelmed, they will surely die!
The Tavastians could no longer care about each other. They fled without their armor and fled back to the fortress to make further plans.
