The chosen men were full of enthusiasm and they returned home one after another to seize the time to prepare supplies for the future expedition.
Almost all the able-bodied men in the small fishing village of Old Bryn Goethe have joined the army, and they have strong support from the women, even if the men leaving one after another will make future fishing operations more difficult. Everyone firmly believed that such an adventure was worth it, because Hellafed, the younger son of Bryn Goethe the Elder, had proven himself to be a good fighter, and the final commander of the army was the invincible Rurik of Rus.
Instead of worrying about war, they saw this as an opportunity to get rich overnight.
In the old Bryn Goethe's house, the family members practiced this for the young man who was highly regarded by Duke Rurik of Ross.
The slightly dilapidated longhouse was brightly lit, and the old mother looked at her young son with a smile.
Old Bryn Goethe's eyes were solemn, and he held his sword and handed it to his son.
"Boy, for the glory of our family, you go and fight. Bjorn is in the west and you are in the east. Both of you can make achievements in different fields. I will give you this sword."
"Father..." Hellafed knew the weight of this sword, even if it was just a seemingly ordinary iron sword.
"You have made the whole family lose face in front of the Ross people. It's just a pity that according to tradition, you have to make achievements in person, but this is also a good thing for you. Take this sword and don't think about anything else."
Hellafed knew that he actually had no right to inherit the sword. He couldn't help but glance at his elder brother, only to find that his elder brother actually raised his head and said nothing. Presumably the eldest brother is also dissatisfied...
He took the sword with determination. To a large extent, he inherited the family's glory. Unfortunately, the property inheritance rights still belonged to his eldest brother.
This is tradition, this is everyone's consensus.
According to legend, since the creation of the giants, the human society has been that the eldest son inherits everything, and the remaining children go out to start their own careers. Therefore, Hellafed was never angry that he was a coward like his elder brother but could take everything. Now that he had obtained the sword, his father had broken the rules, so he should leave forever. In fact, he was benevolent and gained mercy.
He pulled the sword out of its scabbard for a moment, stared at it, and closed it again.
"Father, I will lead my brothers to victory without any casualties." His face was full of determination.
Old Bryn Goethe said nothing more, only saying: "You must prove your strength to the Russians, even if you kill some people in battle. If you can be stronger than the real Russians, it will be our blessing."
With the help of the Russians, the Balmoks who stayed behind in their hometowns will be able to prosper. How to impress the Russians and treat them as one of our own, you must do better than the Russians.
You must try your best to be a convert and gain true acceptance from the other party. Bryn Goethe has realized this.
Just like Hellafed received a gift from his father, the young men who went on the expedition also picked up their best spears and shields.
They spent the night painting patterns on their shields or simply carving inspiring words in runes.
They actively prepared dry food along the way. Even though they learned that going to Ross would save a lot of physical energy by sledding all the way, they still tried their best to stock up on the local specialty salted dried herring.
Herring is already high in calories. When it is salted and dehydrated, one pound of fish meat has exceeded the same amount of wheat. Unlike wheat, these dried fish meat can be eaten directly. This is the theory, but the human body consumes starch sugars first. Dried fish is a reasonable emergency food, but once people have tasted wheat flour products such as bread, even the Balmoks will immediately devote themselves to bread. embrace.
No, they have noticed the pancakes carried by the mercenaries under Duke Rurik of Rus, especially the old mercenaries from Balmok. They show off their heroic past to their old families and do not hesitate to show off their own The bread he carried was distributed among the brothers.
After all, these old mercenaries have become "team leaders", and each of them is responsible for the nine people under them. Sharing noodles and sharing delicious food is also a way to build relationships among brothers. As for another effect of noodles, it is to arouse everyone's greed.
Duke Ross’s promise should be fulfilled! You can get free military rations when you fight for the Duke, and you get bread and pancakes for every meal?
This kind of good thing is something that the old leader Magnute would not promise.
On the appointed day, the warriors who went on the expedition gathered at Narvik, the core settlement of the harbor.
When the sky had just turned blue, there were soldiers landing with weapons, shields and large sacks on their backs.
Rurik got up early today. When the golden light of the rising sun spread through the snowy hills of the central mountain range and towards the entire fjord, all he saw from a high place were soldiers with reflective metal helmets on their heads. They should have been rusty spearheads. The harpoon was clearly polished, and a large army stood in front of him, with strong morale coming towards him.
After a while, Hellafed, who had changed his outfit, hurriedly came over and met his master: "Sir, all the brothers are here, we can set off now."
"Well, even though I'm not ready, you are."
Now that they were ready to go, Rurik had no intention of lingering.
He stood on a snowdrift and looked at everyone. He stayed here and waited quietly for the noisy sound to subside completely.
People's eyes stared at the hero.
"My brothers." Rurik raised his arms and shouted, "Please forgive my haste, now we must get on the sled and arrive at Roseburg before the ice and snow thaw. What awaits us all will be a race to the distant east. The expedition is a great achievement that you can proudly tell your children and grandchildren. Let's leave now, take your luggage and get on the sleigh!"
They howled and roared, forming a Viking war cry. The roar shook some snow off, but it couldn't scare the deer into jumping.
The deer pulling the sled have long been accustomed to human chaos. In these short days, they were driven by the Lapp charioteers in charge of grazing on the spot to eat local pastures. The dry grass under the snow, which is naturally rich in salt, is very difficult for the deer. It’s also a delicious meal. The deer had eaten a full belly of hay, supplemented by some oats, and their physical strength had recovered.
It was the act of feeding oats that shocked the locals. The Balmoks who stayed behind did not understand how rich the Russians were, and they were so rich that they fed wheat to deer.
Thousands of ordinary people gathered at the settlement of Narvik, watching with loud cheers as armed men mounted one sleigh after another. They chanted slogans of blessing and were thinking about the future.
Perhaps the fleet of the old leader Magnute is already taking advantage of the beginning of the warm season to sail back to his hometown?
However, a group of those who stayed behind were destined to leave. Today they sent away the Russians and their brothers who were going to fight in the east. Soon they, along with their family and friends, would row straight to Britain in a long boat, taking all their belongings with them.
The wind was no longer as sharp as a knife. Although it had only been cutting for five days, the sled team once again ran wildly on the ice of the slender Lake Torna at the top of the mountain.
The reindeer kept moving forward, the people on the sled were talking and laughing, and the atmosphere was so lively.
But when a snowfall comes, the fun ends abruptly, forcing people to huddle up in their fur blankets and pray that the sleigh shelters are strong enough to protect them from the wind.
The snowstorm did not make the road difficult to move, and the sudden drop in temperature really reassured Rurik.
What does it mean to suddenly become cold? What would be the worst thing would be if the glacier thawed quickly due to rising temperatures!
This snowstorm is really a gift from God, and a wonderful scene appears on the glacier.
In the fine snow, a team of reindeer sleighs lined up in double columns, speeding up the frozen Torna River.
How long it took when I came here, maybe it will be the same when I go back.
It has entered May, and even with such a storm, the arrival of the warm season is unstoppable.
Finally, when the snowstorm ended and the sled team entered the lower reaches of the Torna River, everyone noticed something unusual about the ice layer—it had clearly become thinner.
Continuing to move forward on the ice was full of dangers. Rurik resolutely chose to move forward in the riverside forest that was still full of snow. However, the path he chose to go home soon aroused everyone's astonishment.
He immediately explained his decision, and then the old mercenary who was appointed as a junior officer gave them the clearest explanation.
Because Rurik and a group of Russians knew the geography of this area, and Modgen, a native of Balmok, probably knew the geography and hydrology best.
The sled team turned around and headed east. They advanced through the pine forest. The snow falling from the branches from time to time clearly showed that this area was thawing rapidly.
Rurik is going to Ironburg to obtain key supplies, and then recruit all the local longbowmen. By that time, the frozen Gulf of Bothnia had better be thawed enough for navigation, and then Fort Ross would be able to quickly bring in large ships and easily transport all the new troops to Fort Ross to gather the army.
Despite the majesty of the Fourth Flag Team composed of Balmoks, the weapons they brought were nothing to Rurik. This group of people had to completely change their equipment, such as replacing the slender pointed spearhead made of stainless chromium iron on the spot in Ellenburg. They even distributed some bows and arrows to them.
Rurik did not dare to neglect the war at all. He would rather spend a lot of money to arm his own troops. Even though the Russian army was already very strong, he did not dare to rush into battle rashly and conceitedly because of optimism.
For example, this year's war against the Karelia people in the warm season cannot be completed by sending out all the troops to fight the enemy in a decisive battle and win.
"I'm afraid this war will start after the autumn harvest." Rurik was making calculations in his mind.
The Principality of Rus is now unusual. He estimates that the war against the Karelians will not yield much immediate gains. The positive value of this battle is that it completely wipes out the strategic threat of Novoros Fort on the Neva River. The huge Ladoga Lake can For the Russian people to catch fish as much as they want, and even hunt as much as they want in the surrounding areas, the huge economic value will only be revealed in the next few years.
But the strategic results of the conquest of Britain still have to be tasted this year. A small fleet must rush to the Viking Kingdom of York before the autumn harvest season in Britain, seize the wheat tribute from the weak Kingdom of Northumbria, and then return. However, deep down in Rurik's heart, he was not optimistic about traveling all the way to Britain to harvest wheat. After all, Northumbria was very weak after the war, and the amount of tribute offered to them was huge, fearing that the broken-arm Eynred Wang had to sell everything to get it together.
The food self-sufficiency rate in the core control area of the Ross Principality is too low. It must be too wishful thinking to expect wheat from the British Island to fill the vacancies in the principality.
Desperately plundering the fish resources in the sea can basically maintain the people's livelihood, just like the way of life of the Russians in the past hundreds of years, but the fundamental reason for the principality to become strong and the people to have enough to eat is to grow wheat.
"When Karelia is conquered, I should also focus on reclamation in the east."
The final journey was uneventful. Rurik took advantage of his passive leisure to deduce a future with abundant harvests in his mind.
The sled team found the Aylon (Kemi) River very smoothly, and to everyone's surprise, they heard the sound of water flowing!
The snow on the shore is still thick, but the melting snow has washed away the ice floes, and the drift is not serious. However, sleds cannot be used on the river, and even boats cannot be used for the time being. Look at the blue sky. The sun is so warm and the wind is no longer cold.
A lake lies in front of the sled team. From a distance, the lake is full of ice cubes of all sizes, and they are even a little blue.
In the distance, a village suddenly appeared, and now Rurik's old mercenaries knew where it was - Fort Fisk.
The lake fishing season is coming again, and people who are waiting for the ice to melt and push the boats off the lake are surprised by the sudden arrival of Rurik's sled team.
How could Rurik not be surprised?
Because a man and his guys happened to be here.
With a rare opportunity to stop and rest, the Balmok warriors got off the ground one after another. Since everyone is a Russian, these guys immediately became brothers with the Russian fishermen who stayed in the local area, exchanging some things and sharing some stories.
At night, in the slightly shabby yet warm wooden ridge, the explorer Spyut, whose face was covered with stubble and looked like he was twenty years older, was sitting cross-legged casually. Opposite him was Rurik himself.
A piece of leather was placed on the ground, some dried meat on a glass plate, and two glasses of ordinary ale.
"Spuyut, I almost don't recognize you. Let's drink a little wine to celebrate our chance encounter." As he said this, Rurik had already raised his glass.
This was a toast from the Duke himself, and what an honor it was.
Thinking of his work in Murmansk in the far north, Spuyut felt a sore nose and held back his tears. He raised his glass and drank half of it.
"Sir, I know you want me to talk about what happened in Murmansk. Okay, I'm looking for an opportunity to report to you."
"Say it now."
"yes……"
Spyut kept talking, and what he said was within Rurik's expectation. The construction speed of Murmansk is still slow. The current positioning there is based on the existing strength of the Rus Principality. It is extremely difficult to maintain a hunter stronghold at most and maintain the settlement of fifty people.
The warm season means comfort for people in most areas, but for those who go to Murmansk, it is a journey of fighting mud. Summer is not a good opportunity to go to Murmansk. However, summer is also the breeding season for elephant seals and fur seals. The local leather and oil resources have reached their peak. The opportunity for large-scale hunting encounters terrifying mud. Murmansk is only a short distance from Rus. The fort is so far away that the people left behind feel like they are in two different worlds.
His words made Rurik feel itchy in his heart, but the mud that reached his knees after the permafrost melted would kill him. The Iron River and the Murman River both come from the same swamp. In today's warm period, the place will soon turn into deadly mud. I am afraid that the only way to reach Murmansk is by sea.
Wait! Sea route!
Rurik chuckled.
"Sir...have you thought of any decision? Then seals are everywhere, we..."
"Of course we must try to capture them as much as possible." Rurik said openly, "Have you seen the Balmok warriors I brought back?"
"See. They're so much like us."
"Of course. There will be no Balmok in the future, or we can say that Balmok is us. The western harbor is already our Russian territory, and these brothers are all our Russians. Soon Balmok will be in contact with Murmansk, we will not If you walk on muddy ground, use the sea as your connection.”
"Ah?" Spuyut was surprised: "Is the sea connected?"
"Of course. Huh? Are you actually doubting that you are an excellent explorer but you don't know this?"
"I'm sorry, if I had brought a longship, I should have been able to detect this. The fact that the two locations are connected by the sea is really a gift from Odin to us."
"It's a gift." Rurik said excitedly: "Soon, I will focus on Narvik, where I will build a new fleet."
"A new fleet? Could it be that the current fleet can't satisfy your... Oh no! My vision is too small. Our Ross fleet must be huge."
Rurik nodded, thinking that this guy was quite smart.
"Yes, what we have now is the Baltic Fleet, which is already invincible. Next, I will definitely build an Atlantic Fleet, with its home port in Narvik. In this way, the Atlantic Fleet may go to Murmansk to capture seals , or going to Britain to get wheat tribute will go smoothly. Oh, and the Western Ocean is full of miracles. Believe me, there are no sea monsters in the West, but a land of miracles. When the time comes, I may send you to explore .”
This was an honor given by the Duke, and Spyout did his part. He slapped his chest and shouted loudly: "Even if you let me explore the end of the world, I will go. This way, the children of Ross will know that there is a man named Spyout." The guy has been to the furthest places and is a hero.”
"Here's to you." Rurik raised the glass.
The two sides exchanged greetings and drank the last of the ale.
Si Puyut did not simply report some information, he returned with a batch of precious goods!
It was seal leather, elephant seal tusks, and seal grease that was slightly hard and white due to freezing. There were a thousand pieces of leather alone. When Rurik saw the bundles of seal skins, he touched the smooth texture himself, and the joy on his face was not simply the joy of the harvest.
This was the output of Murmansk hunters. Rurik did not ask them to hand over some leather as a kind of tax. Instead, he paid the market price for this batch of leather that was supposed to arrive at the Roseburg Market according to the winter market price. Buy them all at the highest price. This is a price that everyone is happy to accept. As for the leather being processed in Rurik's hands and then sold at a higher price, that is what Spuyut and his guys don't care about.
The sled team became larger, and the snow on the land was melting faster. Fortunately, Fisk Castle was very close to Ironburg, and soon, a huge city wall standing on the riverside lay in front of everyone.
Many Balmoks who came here for the first time opened their mouths in shock, saying that they had witnessed the majestic appearance of Fort Ross.
But the reality makes them even more stunned because they are rare and strange. Therefore, it is the Iron Olawa Fort. No matter how majestic it is, it is just the northern iron smelting center of the Principality of Ross. And as far as iron smelting is concerned, Roseburg's iron smelting industry is clearly even more evil. When they learned that Roseburg was even more shocking, they could only take a good rest for the time being.
The entire Gulf of Bothnia has melted. Although the sea is full of ice floes and there are huge ice lumps of staggering size, these obstacles are no longer able to affect the navigation of ships. A group of bold fishermen have already begun offshore boating and fishing operations. .
Another ship rushed to Fort Ross to report the news, so before the big ship arrived, all Rurik had to do was wait at Fort Iron. Take this opportunity to give your new subordinates a big makeover and make them more martial and moral.
