The prisoners were pushed and escorted ashore, where they sat vigilantly not knowing their fate.
However, one thing they already knew very well was that the so-called invaders were here, and they were actually Varyags.
Trying to fight them was the stupidest decision. Looking at the situation now, I didn't even have the possibility of escaping.
Rurik was busy eating, and Yevlo entered his house with his cronies in a complicated mood.
"Sir, I'm back." Jevro asked through the leather curtain.
"Why don't you come in? When did I make you cautious?"
"Yes, I'll come in right now."
Jevlo was indeed in a complicated mood. They walked into the house to meet their master. This face really made Rurik suspicious.
"What's wrong with you? You can't tell me that you lost?"
"No. The brothers easily dealt with them, but..."
"What happened?"
"Because those enemies..."
"You are hesitating." Rurik stood up.
Jevro sat down quietly and lowered his head. This behavior was indeed very abnormal. "They are Suomi, my kindred."
"Really Finn? Carlotta, you are really right."
Carlotta sat aside and giggled. Rurik motioned to Jevro to stand up and change into his leather clothes: "Let's go and see what's going on with your Suomi people."
But Jevro did not get up, "Sir, I have something to ask for."
"Please say."
"Please spare them. If they are willing to surrender, spare them. It seems that this is just an advance force, and there will be many more behind them."
Rurik paused. He really didn't expect that Yevlo, who was so decisive in killing, would actually...
"You mean, our army has defeated their main force, so there is no need to kill them all? Then, if their identity calls, will they also be merciful?"
"This...maybe not."
Suddenly, Rurik also hesitated. In these years of fighting, his heart has gradually turned into steel and his methods have become vicious in order to allow the Russians to survive. But back to the beginning, how could he want to be a massacrer?
Rurik thought for a while and then said: "Whether they are merciful or not depends on whether they are respectful. You explain to the attackers because you are a Suomi. That's fine. You can control them for the time being. If something goes wrong, You are responsible."
Yevlos felt relieved, and then followed Rurik to meet the prisoners.
Another bunch of idiots giving away their heads! The Rus warriors wielded their swords and axes and showed off their power to the frightened captives. They laughed when they saw the captives shaking in fear.
"Everyone, get out of the way!" Rurik came fiercely and dispersed the crowd of onlookers.
He saw the captives who had been trapped all over the place, and almost all of them had black hair, and they all had a rather strong Asian appearance, but they also had some European colors. But they are all small, and when fighting with such people in close combat, the Russians will naturally take advantage.
Rurik then conducted an interrogation on the spot in a language that the Suomi people could understand. It was still the most commonly used language. It was said that as long as the truth was told, life would be spared.
In order to survive, the prisoners did not hesitate to tell the truth about the following large forces.
This piece of news alone was enough to make Rurik's scalp tense.
Even if the enemy is a group of chickens and dogs, it is still an army of 3,000 people. Even if it is 3,000 wild boars, it is quite difficult to eliminate them in one day.
The cooperative attitude of these Suomi people is really gratifying. At the critical moment, Yevro was ordered to reveal his true identity.
Let’s take a look at the performance of these Suomi people!
As if grasping a life-saving straw, they lay on the ground one after another, saying with playful smiles that they were useful because they respected the Yevlu brother as their eldest brother, accepted his command, and were willing to be servants of the Varyags.
Can you harvest a large army of servants in this way? If all Suomi people were so submissive and flexible, there would be no need to fight again.
In itself, Rurik knew about the existence of the Suomi people, and using troops to conquer them was not something they should do this year at least.
But the opportunity is fleeting, the Suomi army comes uninvited, and the Ross army is here. It would be stupid to give up the historical opportunity.
How long until the enemy arrives? Maybe just a day or two.
Rurik urgently called all the centurions and banner captains to convene a military meeting in the parliament of the occupied Tavastians.
At a gathering of people, the Ross people were really chatting and laughing with each other. They all knew that a group of Suomi people were coming, but they were only talking about having fun with their new women.
They laughed wildly, complimenting each other that they were real men, and then said that their new women were docile lambs, or some had a strong temper, and they would just pinch their necks and they would be submissive...
"Don't laugh." Rurik appeared with a serious face and shouted.
The scene became quiet, and Arik said casually: "Brother, I heard that another group of people are coming to die? My swords have not drank blood for too long."
"But the third sword under you has already drank blood." Rurik said casually with a sullen face, which made everyone burst into laughter.
Arik was not embarrassed at all, but instead puffed up his chest, and the laughter of his brothers was a compliment to him.
Because Arik picked a pair of good-looking sisters from the prisoners, and then...
Arik thought that his family needed some servants. The so-called servants can also give birth to some children, so that they can become a branch of the family.
Rurik signaled everyone to be quiet again, and added: "It seems that you all know what happened! Those captured claimed that they were just the vanguard, and there were three thousand people in the rear. The enemy came in rowing boats, obviously intending to start a fight with us. war."
When the phrase "water war" is mentioned, everyone becomes eager to try it again.
Rurik raised his hands again: "They actually dare to start a water battle with us. This is asking for death. Brothers, we should be prepared to annihilate them in one fight. Odin bless us, and the gods will give us a chance. , this year we will conquer the entire eastern land!"
The whole land of the East? People's blood boiled with excitement.
This is indeed the case. The so-called Eastern Land probably refers to present-day Finland. However, this vast area has been encroached on by the Russians in a few years. At the beginning of the period, the Russians and even the Swedes living in the Svealand Plain only understood the concept of "Eastern Land" and lacked understanding of the specific geographical conditions.
Rurik had already come up with the geographical outline of the real world, and the Russians knew what the East was before anyone else.
The Corvins and Lapps (deer herders) have become reliable servants. Tavastia fell in the battle, and soon they will also submit to Rus's tribute.
As for the Karelians, they are no longer considered people living in the "Eastern Land", but are residents of far-off Northeastern Europe.
As long as Suomi is conquered, the Rus can be said to have conquered the entire eastern land and the entire Finland.
Then, the lake war that will inevitably occur in the future will determine the direction of all history.
Standing at a critical juncture of the historical trend, Rurik became more and more thrilling the more he thought about it. Looking at my brothers, everyone is full of enthusiasm.
Rurik immediately deployed tactics. Since the wind on the lake was not as strong as the sea, the Russians' rowing long boats happened to have strong maneuverability.
The Mercury has a human-powered propeller, which is auxiliary power. What it really relies on is the wind. She is still the flagship of the fleet and may not be able to show too much combat effectiveness in lake water battles.
According to those prisoners, the Suomi's tactic was to use the canoe to approach and then the archers on the boat to fire arrows, relying on their numerical superiority to win.
They seem to think that war is just a hunt with many people, but...
The advantage of the Russian army lies in the dual advantages of leading warships in mobility and defense. What's more, the Russian army also has these heavy weapons. Whether it is a bull trebuchet or a torsion slingshot, they can be immediately transported to the longship and become special ship-borne weapons.
Since it was a water battle, the Suomi people felt that archery could solve most of the battles, so Rurik simply asked his subordinates to equip more bows and arrows.
A short wooden bow is at least a good thing for hunting. It takes a lot of effort to process wood, rattan, and animal sinews into a short wooden bow. After a fierce battle with the main force of the Tavastians, the Russian bow and arrow equipment was captured. Volume has increased significantly.
To put it bluntly, every warrior now has his own long-range weapon. Even if many people only know how to draw a bow and shoot arrows based on luck, once large-scale use is used to create "barrage", there will always be arrows to kill the enemy. Then twenty dragon-headed warships became the main force of the battle, each equipped with a torsion slingshot or trebuchet, and the remaining oarsmen were all equipped with a set of bows and arrows.
The leading warship was filled with forty people, and eight hundred warriors formed a mobile fleet capable of rampaging.
This is not over yet, the rest of the longships are closely following the sail destroyer Mercury. Although this force is no longer a mobile fleet, the fleet will still have a thousand people, becoming an existence that may move slowly but is indestructible.
The tactics have been laid out, and the Russian army is determined to wait for work, holding Tavastalu waiting for the enemy's main force to appear.
The main force of the Suomi people only appeared on the lake at noon the next day.
Uko, the chief of Suomi, could see a large number of ships floating on the lake in the distance with his eyes, and his instinct told him that there was something fishy about these enemies.
However, a group of village leaders who were eager to win had recklessly led their men to rush forward at all costs.
"Hey! You guys want to be heroes? The enemy has something fishy!"
"Come back quickly, let's move forward together!"
Uko shouted, but was met with taunts from several villages: "Brother, why are you still lingering? Come on and rush with us. If it's too late, the spoils will be ours."
Uko gritted his teeth. He actually wanted to rush, but he felt more and more that this was too strange. He simply gritted his teeth and stamped his feet. Even if someone scolded him for being a coward, let him scold him.
Most of the Suomi canoes are waiting for the leader's intention. If Uko's flagship canoe does not charge, it is better for the brothers not to charge.
Another twenty canoes went to challenge. The village leaders who were in high spirits saw how the brothers behind them all turned into cowards. The people who were cursing now calmed down.
"What's going on? We agreed to attack together, but why are we brothers the ones who take the lead?"
Someone asked cautiously: "Boss, aren't we now scouts?"
"Keep paddling and see what's going on with the people in the distance. You all should be on guard and shoot as soon as the distance is reached."
That being said, this group of Suomi people's canoes were running wildly on the calm lake, but they had no idea about their opponents' situation. The only thing they can judge is that as the distance approaches, the blurred outlines of enemy ships are emotional enough.
The sight in front of them immediately shocked everyone.
Just because they are reckless doesn't mean they are fools, because those ships are clearly...
"It's a Varangian!" The reckless village leader was immediately trembling with fright, and all his courage was frightened away.
"Silly children, turn the boat around! Let's run!"
At the command, all the canoes turned around.
However, the twenty mobile warships of the Russian army were pursuing. As many as thirty oarsmen were manning the large concave oars of the Russians, which had already allowed the long ships to reach a charging speed of ten knots. Because they were physically strong, but It can maintain this rapid attack for more than half an hour!
Su Oumi's recklessness has already taken hold.
Although Jevro hoped that his people would disarm wisely, the battle was still inevitable. The Russian army had already been mobilized, and only a group of lightly injured people were left on the shore to control the camp. The Russian army was also full of expectations for this decisive battle. Respect.
First the rocks flew over and splashed water near the canoe. Then the clay-fired conical projectile of the torsion slingshot leaped with a low whistling sound.
The running dragon-head warship ran against the south wind. As the distance approached, the heavy weapons' shooting became more and more accurate, and the crossbowmen on the ship also began to exert force.
The Suomi people, paddling frantically in an attempt to escape, felt that they would be safe if they blended in with the large group, and therefore they had no chance to fight back.
They became living targets one after another. Some people began to be hit by arrows and fell into the water. Some canoes were hit by high-grade cast iron projectiles that suddenly flew in, causing sawdust to fly everywhere.
There was no suspense in the battle so far. The Ross longship, which had the advantage in the water battle, caught up with Suomi's canoe, and the merciless killing began immediately.
The Russians suffered no casualties, so they used torque slingshots to easily dig holes in the enemy ships, and then used crossbows to accurately shoot the people on board. They also stabbed and hacked those who fell into the water with long-handled halberds.
The killing simply happened in front of the main force of the Suomi people. Uko could not be relieved that he did not lead the main force in a mad charge. Instead, he saw those dragon-headed warships wreaking havoc like hungry wolves preying on them, and he immediately lost his position.
The surrendered Nuori was in Uko's canoe, and the messenger immediately became the target of his venting.
Uko punched the boy, causing his mouth to bleed immediately.
"You lied to me! These attackers crossing the sea are Varyags! You actually incited us to fight the Varyags!"
Nuori was also very surprised: "They are Russians!"
"No! Idiots, they are Varangians. I am crazy to fight them, and Suomi will perish for it!"
But then again, the Varyags were obviously swimming in the southern seas. In the past, they had repeatedly attacked the offshore villages of Suomi and robbed wealth and people. Uko was not mentally retarded. He could see that those "sea wolves" were the Varyag's customary long ships decorated with sea snake heads.
Seeing his own people being annihilated, Uko thought of escaping, but it was not appropriate for him to run away because he was weak. The Suomi people mobilized in full force, and when they saw the incredible Varyag army appearing in the lakes, everyone felt very complicated.
The situation was more serious than it seemed at first glance. When Uko saw the raging Varyag warships, he clearly saw that the large group of canoes on the lake by the Suomi army had no tendency to attack further. This was by no means cowardly. I am afraid it was Waiting for the large army behind it? !
Uko squinted his eyes and took a closer look. He counted twenty dragon-headed warships in front of him. Not far away, there was a very huge ship approaching with more warships!
"Don't panic!" he yelled.
The roar calmed down the nervous people, and the restless morale of the Suomi army stabilized. The canoes instinctively moved closer, and no one deserted at all.
Do the two sides have to fight, and do they have to fight to the death with the Varyags? If the Varangians wanted to kill, the Suomi people would have faced annihilation many years ago.
Maybe this war can be avoided through some special means?
However, as the big ship got closer, the huge crossed blue stripes on the triangular sail made many Suomi people in the military formation clearly realize that they were encountering that group of Varyags.
"It's actually...them!" Uko was so shocked that his whole body trembled, and his words were trembling.
Nuori wiped the corners of his mouth and asked, "Do you know them?"
"Why don't you know them? Their large fleets wander in the bay every year and always encounter our ocean fishermen, but they have never attacked us Suomi people. How..." Suddenly, Uko thought. A bold and dangerous idea, but this idea is indeed in line with the characteristics of the Suomi people who pay more attention to trade.
Since they have met each other many times at least, no conflicts have broken out before.
If the war crisis can be handled through negotiation, wouldn't it be the safest thing to do?
Someone has to be the messenger! Wu Ke had no choice but to be the messenger, but he also had to drag Nuori along.
Nowadays, even betraying old friends is something that has to be done. Besides, most Suomi people do not regard the Tavastians as allies. Then, this Nuori is a bargaining chip in exchange for a truce.
