The fleet has entered the Weser River, but the atmosphere in this area is a bit scary.
Arik stood on the bow of the boat with a frown on his face. He muttered to the people around him: "The atmosphere is too quiet. There is no human atmosphere. I don't think this area is very rich."
Blue Fox also felt strange: "It's strange. When I left a few months ago, there were many fishing boats floating on this river, and there were also boats at the entrance to the sea."
"Perhaps we were exposed? They fled out of fear?" Yevro was also confused.
After much consideration, they decided to move on. Arik even issued an order to prepare for battle. After all, it was the first time for the brothers to enter the unknown hinterland of Frankish territory, and they might encounter enemy attacks under any circumstances.
Soon, there were obvious signs of villages ahead, or just plain mutilation of villages.
Aric narrowed his eyes and stared: "Why do I think that is a burned village? Who did all this?"
This is equivalent to asking the blue fox, but how does the blue fox know the situation?
"There is a village in this generation. As for signs of destruction, we might be able to send someone to take a look."
Arik shrugged: "Okay, send a dozen brothers to take a look. It would be great if they find the barn and seize the grain."
The Salmon Chief lowered two flat-bottomed rowing boats slung over the side, which were real boats, and landed ten people in them.
The fleet also took the opportunity to anchor, and everyone waited for good news.
They didn't wait long, and unfortunately they obviously didn't get the good news either. Those who returned were empty-handed, and except for a few people holding blackened wooden sticks, there was no "capture".
They all boarded the boat one after another to report their duties, and all of them had obviously encountered bad luck, and their expressions were grim.
Arik was furious: "Are you frightened or have you encountered an enemy? It doesn't look like there was a fight."
The leader shook his head and said bluntly: "Boss, you'd better not go and look. Those villages stink, with rotting corpses lying everywhere. It's so smelly, it's a cursed place."
"Oh? You mean someone attacked there?"
"And the attack has been going on for a while. Look at the method, it's quite our style."
"We?" Arik shook his head: "We will also collect the bodies of the dead! So a group of gangsters attacked the village?"
"Who knows?"
Arik waved and said nothing, and he and the others quickly reached a consensus. It is said that there are gangster gangs in this generation, and this is probably the reason why the environment is so peaceful.
The Frankish village was attacked in broad daylight. With Blue Fox's understanding of this generation, he immediately pointed out that this should be the reality. Because this area belongs to the Earl of Bremen, it is not surprising that there are always bandit activities in the territory.
"As far as I know, the earl was ordered to lead an army to attack the Danes. The departure of the army naturally made the bandits rampant."
Based on this information, Arik couldn't help but have other thoughts. Will the so-called gangsters rob Bremen first? Will the brothers come all the way to be in vain?
As boxes of cast-iron shells were carried to the decks, all ships' torsion slingshots were ready for battle.
Soldiers holding crossbows guarded the deck, and everyone was watching their surroundings, ready to fight at any time.
Arik and his group of blood-licking guys have a high sense of battlefield. Especially when they were attacking the Karelia people, they were also unexpectedly attacked while sailing on the river. They were afraid of another mishap.
The fleet is arranged in a column, so that if it is attacked on either side, all kinds of long-range weapons can carry out saturation strikes. The Rus' army was highly wary of hidden arrows flying from the riverside forest, and their vigilance was excessive.
They had passed the fairly straight channel of the Weser River, and bends began to appear in front of them, and large forests had blocked the river channel.
As the lead ship completed the turn, the scene ahead instantly aroused the tension of the soldiers.
Because the Salmon Chief took the lead as the flagship, Arik rubbed his eyes hard and exclaimed: "Ah! What did I see? The longship? Who are this large group of people?"
How did the Franks have Viking longships? Arik was confused for a moment and asked Blue Fox, but Blue Fox couldn't explain why.
"At least they are not our allies. Everyone here may be our enemy." Blue Fox warned, and the listeners were highly alert.
Arik also felt that what Blue Fox said was very pertinent. Youdao said that offense is the best defense. In order to avoid being attacked by this group of obvious Nordic armed men, it is better for the Ross army to give them a rain of arrows first.
"Attention, brothers! Raise our skull and crossbones flag, put the arrows in place, and wait for my order to fire!"
The Ross Army on the entire route was undisguised, and the flags of each ship were flying. However, when they encountered unknown armed men on the Weser River, the skull and crossbones flag became a battle flag.
Not only did they raise the flag, but the horn holders blew the deep and powerful horn.
All signs prove that this army, which is like a divine weapon descending from the sky, is about to kill people!
Let's look at the group of longboats and people docked on the shore. They are all actively fighting. They don't seem to want to have a water battle with Ross. Indeed, their longships are no match for Ross's big ship.
People in different clothes all came ashore, and the bonfire camp on the shore instantly turned into a military formation.
Round shields painted in colorful colors formed a long shield wall, some distance away from the river.
"They are going to fight. Maybe these people are Danes!" Blue Fox deliberately responded: "The Danes should also attack!"
Arik nodded and saw that the brothers were ready to shoot arrows.
Yevluo stepped forward at the critical moment: "We don't even know their true identities, so we can't just fight when we meet! I don't like fighting in a confusing way."
"When they turn into corpses, the few remaining alive will be enough for us to know who they are." After speaking, Arik raised his right hand, and with one fell arrow, thousands of arrows were fired.
Arik's hand was held by Jevro, and he was close to his bearded face. "Brother! The prince is worried about your recklessness so he allowed me to accompany you. Look at them! They are putting on a grand battle formation! I think we should negotiate with them. They are obviously not a Frankish army. We cannot fight in a foolish manner."
Arik staggered and temporarily gave up the battle order.
Since the negotiation was initiated by Jevlo, he was responsible for the negotiation.
Let's look at Javlo now. He is wearing a typical Viking war helmet and carrying a blue and white buckler on his back. He is a little short, but the guards around him are tall and strong maniacs from the First Flag Team.
When they landed, some people held the Ross flag and walked straight to the arrayed military formation.
The more Jevro moved around, the more clearly he could see the faces of those people, and he felt something strange further.
"I actually saw armed women and children?!"
Indeed, among the armed men there were women with blond hair, whose beautiful facial features were very different from those of the unshaven men. As for the armed children, they are obviously small men, but they are still standing on the front line of the military formation.
Jevro stopped and then shouted in Norse language: "Who is your leader?! Do you want to fight with our Rus? If you want to fight, charge and kill, come on!"
Behind him is the tense Ross fleet. There are thirty torsion slingshots on the enemy side alone, and there are more than 200 people holding various types of crossbows.
Looking at the armed men again, they were lined up in a long line and it was difficult to see the exact number of them. Their apparent size was very intimidating, and one of them was definitely holding a flag with the raven heraldry. They remained vigilant, unmoved by Jevlo's cries.
Time continued to ferment the situation, and finally Jevro roared for a while, and the opponent's array finally moved.
The array gave way, and several bearded young men with strange braids stepped forward holding round shields and battle axes.
"Are you the leader?" Jevro continued to ask.
A young warrior roared like a lion: "I know you! Rus!"
"Oh? So who are you? Danes?"
From Javlo's perspective, the other party hesitated for a while before pointing out that he was indeed Danish. After hearing this clearly, Yevro subconsciously held the hilt of his sword and signaled others to prepare for battle in case of any eventuality.
Seeing that the speaker left his entourage and continued to move forward, Jevro also ordered his entourage to stand by and went up to meet him.
The man in front of him was quite tall and strong, and his deep eyes were filled with vicissitudes of life. The first impression that gave Yevro was that this man had gone through too many things.
Gevroluo asked cautiously: "This is obviously the territory of the Franks, why are you Danes here?"
The man asked arrogantly: "This is indeed Frankish territory, why are you Russians here?"
Asking each other how boring it was, Jevro's pride was offended.
"Why? Have you seen this fleet? We came to plunder treasures. It's really unlucky that we met you Danes here." Jevro's words were deliberately provocative. He instinctively felt that the two sides were still going to fight. Maybe these people were Frank's mercenaries. After all, there had been rumors about this.
Unexpectedly, when the robbery was mentioned, the young leader looked up to the sky and laughed wildly: "Oh, I can probably guess what you want to do! You want to rob Bremen."
Jevro was so surprised that he couldn't help but retreat: "You actually know?"
The two sides were quiet for a while, and the man shouted again: "It seems that I guessed it right. People from Russia, maybe we can make a deal."
"What?"
"You and I will treat it as if we have never encountered it. Your fleet will continue sailing and we will continue to camp."
"Why? Wait!" Yevro realized something unspeakable. He frowned and asked, "So, you don't actually want to attack us? Even if you set up a battle formation."
The man also banged his shield and pointed out: "If you attack us, our army would rather fight back."
Javro took advantage of the situation and laughed in a low voice: "You know how powerful Ross is, so you should understand that choosing to fight is to fight with an egg against a stone. Our Ross navy killed your old king Hafgen, and no Danes can defeat our fleet. "
"Not necessarily if it is a land battle. But for the sake of honor, we would rather fight, even if we are defeated. If my tribe is defeated at your hands, we will be honored even though we are defeated."
The words of this young leader were admirable, and there were many signs that they were really just camping on this river beach, and the encounter with the fleet was really accidental. They do not want war and are not afraid of war.
Essentially, they still don’t want to fight!
Jevro thought for a moment, then changed the subject a little and said something nice: "We are also looking for a suitable campsite. We don't want to fight, and so do you. Maybe, we can share this A river beach."
"you……"
"I am Javlo, Finnish Javlo, a general (war chief) under the command of the Prince of Rus." Javlo took the lead in releasing a peace signal.
Looking at the man again, he held his head high and said: "Okay! A warlord among the Russians. I am Ragnar Sigurdsson. People say that I am a man in woolen trousers. I killed a big shot named Olegin." , it is said that he is the king of the Svealans. I am a big shot, and you must be just a small role among the Rus."
A small role? Javlo had no intention of showing off that he was the count of the entire Suomi people. In theory, he managed Finland, especially the 30,000 people in Suomi, on behalf of Prince Rurik.
Indeed, this man is Ragnar, a great pirate destined to be legendary. Unfortunately, as history is destined, in that plane he illegally robbed Paris, causing both East and West Franks to find a reason to invade Denmark, and was expelled by King Horik.
Today Ragnar is in a state of exile with his entire family. The people camping on this river beach are the last group of his tribe.
Brave people will always continue to be brave. He lost many outstanding warriors, and also lost many women and children. Although the essence of the tribe is still there, it is a pity that everyone has become a bandit who has lost his territory, and is really a bereaved dog. However, they have not lost their pride.
Ragnar continued to claim that he was leading the entire Stonewall tribe into exile. On principle, he did not want to fight, at least not a meaningless battle with the Rus.
Jevlo had no affection for Svealan or the concept of Sweden, but this man claimed to have killed Olegin with his own hands. If true, he was indeed a respectable man.
The two sides are still trapped in a chain of suspicion, and a misunderstanding can lead to a fight between the two sides.
Perhaps the Ross army could try to exercise restraint, but it is not ruled out that this group of Danes struck first.
Jevro thought for a moment and persuaded the conflicted Ragna: "Our Russian army is indeed planning to attack Bremen. Since you won't participate, don't cause trouble for us. I don't ask you to put down your weapons, at least after we land. Don't ask for trouble later. This river beach is huge, and our army will keep its distance from you. You can't completely trust us, and we can't completely trust you. However, since you are warriors, we might as well get together tonight to share ale and toast. Fish, you can also have a good chat. The Franks are all our enemies, and the enemies of our enemies are friends. At least we don't have to fight. Please think about it carefully."
Jevro felt that he had exhausted all his power. No matter what Ragnar chose, the Ross army just needed a qualified anchorage and a suitable camp for the army. He withdrew safely, and all his actions were clearly seen by Arik and others in the distance.
From Ragnar's perspective, no matter how heroic he was, he was not stupid enough to become an enemy of the Ross fleet. Now that things have happened, can I still be considered a Dane? The entire tribe has been driven out by Horik, the Danish king. If they don't retreat quickly enough, everyone will be killed by those people.
The Danes remained on alert, and Ragnar and his cronies watched helplessly as the Ross army, which was basically uniformly dressed, landed. Their formation looks chaotic and they will definitely not take the initiative to attack.
Seeing this, someone encouraged Ragnar: "Chief, we should strike first. Their ship is very good, and there must be a lot of food in the cabin. We take the opportunity to seize the supplies, and everything will be fine."
"Are you a fool?" Ragnar was furious. He immediately took this statement as an example and announced to all the tribesmen: "Don't try to attack them by surprise. The Russians are not fools! Now the Franks are chasing us, and the Danish villain is chasing us." Kill us. If we offend the Russians and are hunted by them, everything will be over!"
Indeed, from the perspective of the Russians, how could Arik, as a commander, be moved by Jevlo's remarks. Especially the man named Ragnar who claimed to have killed Olegin!
Even if Olegin is no longer a thing, he is still the leader elected by all the Svealan tribes. He is uncle Otto, so he has to be respected on the surface.
At this moment, a moment, Arik became very jealous of his younger brother Rurik. Although I didn't kill the old Danish King Hafgen with my own hands, I still used the ship Aurora to smash him into fish feed.
On the contrary, Arik showed some timidity. It was a pity that he did not have the "king-killing" level of achievements.
He didn't know the specific reason. This encounter was strange. Since the other party's original intention was not to fight, the Ross army had no need to fight to the end with a group of exiled Danes before attacking Bremen.
The Russian army landed, but all ships were left behind. Torque slingshots were aimed at the Danes' bonfire camps. The chute was used at a high angle to confront the enemy, and the weapons were all replaced with lightweight javelins. This way, if the Danes made a mistake, the Russian army could take advantage of the initiative.
Arik himself also set foot on the river beach. The soldiers carried the iron pots from the ship, piled bricks brought from New Roseburg, and built the pots and stoves on the spot. Along with the charcoal brought from his hometown, he boiled wheat and dried salted fish with water from the Weser River to make salty soup.
Commanders on both sides exercised restraint, but also remained vigilant and hostile. The camps of both sides were about three hundred meters away from each other, because Ragnar believed that by maintaining such a distance, the terrifying bows and arrows of the Ross army would definitely not hit his head. At least Ragnar did not dare to really anger the Ross army for the sake of the lives of the last women and children in the tribe.
As night gradually fell, the aroma of wheat soup from the Ross camp ruthlessly filled the sky above the Ragnar camp. During these days, Ragnar and his people relied on robbery along the river to make a living. Piracy had scared the Frankish civilians into fleeing with their belongings, making it even more difficult to rob homes and provide supplies. They tried to attack Bremen, but all their efforts came to nothing when they saw the wooden castle.
Ragnar actually couldn't hold on any longer. According to his plan, he would sleep on the river beach tonight, eat some food that was not much, and paddle out of the river tomorrow. As for where to go in the future? Denmark definitely can't go back, maybe try its luck in Flanders (northern Netherlands), or continue to rob all the way along the coastline, and if they can find an island with fresh water, the whole family can settle down. After all, the tribe's main occupation is fishing, and they can make a comeback if they can form a stable fishing village.
However, another theory began to circulate in the camp.
Then someone groped to Ragnar's side: "Chief, brothers are really hungry. Since the Russians don't want to attack us, can we actually ask them for some help. They are obviously cooking a delicious meal, and everyone is They are Odin’s warriors and should share some with us.”
Hearing this, Ragna really wanted to scold his man for being a fool, but his stomach growled and he immediately made a fool of himself.
If anyone could impress him with his perseverance, it was his two children. Especially his eldest son Ivar, whose legs have shrunk, and his second son Bjorn, who has just learned to walk. The child cried out that he was hungry, and even though he had a heart of stone, Ragnar's heart still softened.
He didn't want to have anything to do with the Russians, so he just treated them as if they didn't know each other during today's encounter. But the mood of the entire tribe is restless, and not everyone can insist on their honor and resist the temptation of food.
He gritted his teeth and summoned the tribe's cronies to gather together for a surprise small meeting.
"I have decided! The leader of the Ross army wants to talk to me. I can go to the meeting and maybe get some food for the brothers. But maybe this will be a conspiracy. If I am killed, you will take it with you The clansmen retreated to the woods and tried not to fight with them.”
The confidants looked at each other and fell into silence...
They all wanted to say something but could not speak. Looking at them again, Ragnar made up his mind and ordered: "I will go to the meeting by myself. Don't follow me! I don't believe they will be despicable people, let's go..." …”
Ragnar stood up, patted himself, arched his back, picked up a burning firewood, and ran towards the Rus' camp.
A burning flame was approaching the camp, and the vigilant Ross army had secretly picked up the guy.
"Is this the guest you are talking about? Maybe Ragnar?" Arik, who had already stood up, asked Jevro in confusion.
"It should be so. He is only one person. He told the brothers not to be too nervous and not to use violence without orders at any time. I... will go and see the situation for myself." After saying that, Yevluo also picked up a piece of firewood. , walked towards each other.
