The victory came too easily, and Ragna even thought about killing them himself, but the battle ended before the main force of the army arrived.
Defeating a group of guys who are unable to resist is indeed not brave. The captured materials are distributed among the army, and not much is left in the hands of everyone.
The blood-stained Karelian camp was too unlucky, and the dead bodies were pulled onto the ice and covered with snow to make graves. After the ice and snow melted, the bodies would sink into the huge Lake Onega.
Rurik chose an open space to camp, but when the soldiers went to pound the wooden stakes to fix the tent, they hit a stone.
That's literally rock!
Rurik was still staying by the campfire to warm himself up. His soldiers killed some captured deer on the spot, cut the deer skins into pieces, and everyone got a piece of bloody deer meat to roast.
Arik led his men into the forest to search for small animals, and Ragnar led his brothers to another reverse exploration.
The army of the Principality of Ross arrived here, and the only other settlement was destroyed, which meant that the west bank of Lake Onega was already the territory of Ross.
The battle ended in the morning. Many people did not have time to build camping tents and went to explore the forest treasures in the afternoon. As for those who set up tents, they reported to the prince with their major discoveries.
"Prince, we found a large piece of stone." The speaker's eyes were shining, and what he said was definitely not what he said.
Rurik had long noticed that there were stones in the annihilated remnant camp of Karelia, and was wondering how they got the stones since there was a shortage of stones in this place.
The report from his subordinates surprised him.
"Stones? Are there any rocks here?" he asked.
"It's a stone. You can see it just by digging through the snow."
"How could such a good thing happen?" How could Rurik sit still like this? He stood up suddenly.
Svetlana was about to reach out to hold her hand when she suddenly heard her man's request: "Lana, come with me. And everyone else, come with me."
Rurik was followed by a group of people, and soon they picked up wooden tools and began to dig out the snow at the place where the so-called stone was found.
Rurik saw that the bottom layer of the snow nest that was first opened by his men was very hard gray.
"It's a rock!"
The snow here is up to the knees. The wind that sweeps across the ice carries all the snow attached to the ice to the lakeside, so in some places the snow is up to the waist.
"What should I do?" someone asked.
"I've always wanted to get stones to build our city. Brothers, get moving and clear the snow as much as possible. I want to see how many stones there are here."
Some makeshift wooden shovels were made, and even reindeer participated in the snow removal work, relying on the strong strength of the deer to pull the wooden boards and peel off the snow as quickly as a snowplow.
The rock formations under the snow gradually revealed their true appearance, and the sun began to shine on the stones.
It seems to be a whole piece of rock, with a small amount of lichen and even some special textures attached to it.
As the peeling continues, those lines become more defined.
Suddenly the people clearing the snow saw patterns made of rough lines.
"What is that? It looks like a swan." Svetlana asked, covering her mouth in surprise.
"Did the Karelians do it? Do they worship birds?" someone else asked.
The paintings on the rocks may really have been done by the Karelians, or by some other mysterious tribe.
Rurik had an idea and sighed: "In my opinion, this is what God has given us."
"How?" Lana asked again.
Now, Rurik's blue eyes looked at the frozen Ladoga Lake: "All this is an oracle. When spring comes and the lake thaws, the swans and geese that went south will come back. Therefore, we are the masters of this land, The pictures on the rocks are evidence of God’s gift.”
Everyone heard it without objection and accepted the Kingdom’s explanation as the truth.
Rurik gave an impromptu order: "We are going to mine the stone here, and we will do it now. We will have to bring the ship over in the spring. We are going to carve out this swan stone and move it to New Roseburg. Well, we If we want to build a quarrying settlement here, let’s call it Swan Stone Town.”
How to dig rocks! It can be rammed with a sledgehammer or forest ax, or slowly struck with a chisel to make square stone bricks.
The snow was further cleared, and the people working were panting from exhaustion.
In the evening, the faces of those returning were filled with the joy of the harvest. They discovered the abundant resources of small animals here, and used a wooden-armed crossbow to accurately snipe. The ferrets and squirrels that were hiding in the treetops fell to the ground one after another.
There was even a hunting madman who returned with ten giant squirrels tied with ropes and immediately started skinning them at the camp.
At night, the lakeside is full of bonfires.
The stone excavation site has reached a certain scale, with as many as fifty people smashing stones desperately.
It doesn't matter if you create a lot of granite rubble, which will be mixed with lime cement to make concrete. Or it can be smashed into smaller and larger particles to partially replace the quartz sand necessary for cement.
Working can be rewarded by the prince. No, a group of Ludi people also joined in the work after eating.
The camp was filled with the sound of rocks being smashed, and Arik, who had hunted a lot, returned, and it was very unpleasant to hear this all over his ears.
He chewed squirrel meat and teased his brother: "Other brothers are busy hunting, but you are in love with the rocks here."
"Do you think I'm weird?" Rurik asked with a smile.
"It's strange. We should obviously seize the opportunity to hunt."
"It's better to dig more rocks! I was completely unexpected to find rocks here. A city will be built here in the future, and the new city is expected to replace the island quarry on Gogland Island. This place is a lake after all, and we don't have to consider the tide at all. Problem, excavation work during the warm period does not have to worry about bad weather. Moreover, after the ship enters Lake Ladoga, the stone can be selectively transported to Novorosberg or Novgorod..."
"Are you planning this?" Rurik obviously hadn't finished speaking, and Arik, who had a headache, interrupted: "I am a pure warrior, and it gives me a headache to think about this. Maybe my Aslaqi can have a good relationship with you. Let’s talk.”
"Yes. Of course she can. She is a professional businessman and the best at calculating. So, her second child will be born soon, right?"
"Soon. Just like a high priest." Arik asked casually: "Have you decided on the name of the child?"
"My name is Oleg."
"What if the girl?" Arik asked again.
"It's easier, just call it Onega, that's the name of this big lake."
In Old Finnish, the suffix "ga" means "huge water surface". Naming a girl after a lake is also a wonderful name.
"So what is the name of Gustav's brother or sister?" Now it was Rurik's turn to ask.
Arik shrugged: "It depends on her own wishes."
Two women kept listening to the brothers' conversation about their wives and children.
Lana was determined to give birth to a direct crown prince, and Carlotta wanted to give birth to a son for her principality.
No, there were still people working at the stone excavation site after dark, and another battle was going on in Rurik's house-style sled.
Rurik was entangled with his two women, and now no one could avoid suspicion. The three of them all took the initiative, but Rurik felt a slight backache from being tortured the next morning, while Lana and Carlotta, It was clear that he had a happy face after winning the baby.
It's not suitable to stay here for a long time because of the cold weather. It would be bad if there is a sudden cold wave and heavy snowfall.
After breakfast, Rurik held a military meeting. In addition to admiring the rapid assault of the cavalry, they also talked to each other about the rich local products.
The prince then delivered an important speech on the development of local stone resources, emphasizing the importance of lakeside stones for urban construction, and all nobles agreed.
Thus the servile Ludians found new employment.
Lake Onega is located on the edge of the low mountains extending from the Kola Peninsula. It is a huge glacial lake as a whole, and there are rock formations protruding from the soil around the lake.
The Lydy people did not have to capture animals, skin them and sell them to the Rus. They could just dig up the stones and transport them to their villages and wait for the Rus. to pick them up.
Digging rocks cannot be a high-value-added job. You can earn daily necessities by doing this job, which is much better than the original poor life.
The female leader Ludi and the elected Makut received new instructions - to dig stones for generations.
The Russian people generally disdain to do this kind of work, so a group of servants is perfect for it, and everyone agrees with it.
Rurik wanted to stay by the lake for two more days. He wanted to give the army more time to hunt, and he also wanted to personally set foot on this large lake to observe the landscape.
At the same time, the stone excavation project continued. Lu Di's men obtained more axes, hammers and iron spears, used modified chisels to peel off the boulders, and began to use the technique of thermal expansion and contraction to create a large amount of gravel.
Stones, large and small, began to be produced, and they were thrown indiscriminately onto the sled. Even if a sled is not allowed to carry too much weight, no matter what shape the stone is transported to New Roseburg, it must be processed again.
As many as three undiscovered "Swan Stone Carvings" will be carefully chiseled out. They have sacred meanings to Rurik Fuyu and will be placed in the Great Temple of Rus.
Of course, it was not the Karelia people who carved the "Swan", but an even older ethnic group. Those lakeside settlers who disappeared for thousands of years left these legacies and became the treasure of the Rus people.
Rurik led the team to inspect it over two days. He was surprised that there were a large number of stones under the snow in this area, as if a huge mountain range had sunk in its entirety.
There were as many as ten sledges filled with rocks, piled haphazardly that looked to Rurik like a pile of construction debris.
They are not garbage. By smashing the mixed cement to create concrete, the hardened ground project of the Harvest Plaza can be quickly implemented.
Rurik is a smart man, and there are people in the team who can realize the value of stones.
Not only stones, but also metal ores can be found with stones. It would be even better if iron ore and copper ores are found.
The cold wind blowing from the lake was as cold as a knife, and the hunters were not afraid. One hundred Lüdi warriors did not kill the enemy and submit a letter of surrender, but turned into stone workers and provided stones to Ross to prove their loyalty.
The Ludi people were very satisfied with their new job, that is, the captured Karelian women could only be dragged away like animals.
They are all dwarfs, and they are not like this in the first place. It is just because the overall harsh living environment suppresses a person's growth. In this way, every woman is very light. Although the Pechenegs are also short, the latter are short and strong, with arms as hard as rocks. It is easy to control such a woman.
As for the blond, blue-eyed, tall Rus and other Vikings, standing in front of them was a powerful intimidation.
A rather detailed count revealed that as many as six hundred Karelian women had been captured. The first conqueror to arrive was Kagan. He killed the old people and all men regardless of age according to the custom of the grasslands, so these 600 people were only young women and young girls.
They completely lost their resistance, and Rurik, as the prince, announced his treatment of them in public.
The principality still adheres to the old rules. Women who are fertile will be married to new men immediately. Women with young girls will be married off with their daughters.
From their standpoint, it seems that the only option is cooperation. They also feel that the entire Karelia has been completely destroyed. Since they are unwilling to commit suicide and die for the tribe, they can only serve as slaves to the conquerors.
They had no extravagant hopes for the future, and Rurik also had no intention of harming these guys. From the prince's point of view, Rurik wished that these new women would work hard to have children, so that a new batch of howling warriors could be created in fifteen years at the earliest.
Their obedience manifested itself by gathering quietly together, like cargo, in tents designed to keep out the cold.
Those hunters from Suomi and Bear Festival towns insisted on staying to hunt, keeping company with the Ludi people who continued to dig stones, and at the same time began to build the so-called "Swan Stone Town".
The three real "Swan Stones" have been installed in one piece on the sled.
The large army began to return, and the food supplies stored there were still very sufficient, and they could even feed the 600 female prisoners without any problem.
Is this the end of the crusade?
Kagan, who was sitting with his brothers eating porridge by the campfire, was very happy that one of his men was holding a Karelian woman.
Not only did they eat it themselves, they were also busy stuffing wheat into their women's mouths. At night, they carried their women into their shacks and had fun.
The next day, they all changed their appearance when they appeared again.
Both men and women of the Pecheneg people wear strange little braids on the back of their heads. Women have braids because of the tradition of growing their hair, which makes them even more fancy.
These Pecheneg men not only took possession of their bodies, but also further transformed the Karelian women into Pechenegs.
The long, straight black hairstyle of women has disappeared, replaced by dense braids, and some dyed hemp ropes are also mixed into the hair to become a decoration.
The intention of doing this is very obvious. Although bringing some supplies purchased in Ross will slow down the speed when returning home, wouldn't it be even more slow to bring a woman?
That must be done. The Pecheneg Tribal Alliance needs foreign women to give birth to new warriors at any time, not to mention that the appearance of these women is not much different from the Pecheneg women. If they put on traditional grassland clothes, the difference would not be noticeable.
This team continued to advance, and no one was more experienced in the winter Eastern Expedition than the Ross Cavalry.
Every one of them killed the enemy! The ferocious performance can be called a brown bear. Those sons of farmers can no longer go back. They have had the experience of killing enemies and have seen blood, and their whole character has been changed.
He was originally the son of a boyar nobleman, but now that he had used his cavalry to fight with his steel sword stained with blood, they already thought highly of themselves, and now they are even more arrogant.
Because the prince must have determined that they are real Ross warriors and belong to the top class of the principality.
Without him, although there are only eighty people in the pure Ross, each of them will become an officer in the future, and at the end they will have to command ten people, and the best among them can become the flag captain of the expanded cavalry standard.
This Eastern Expedition naturally had a huge impact on Rurik. He was extremely well prepared for this battle. As a result, the war ended with a surprise attack by more than a hundred cavalry.
The cavalry embodies a huge tactical advantage, so why not expand it?
The plan to expand the cavalry was itself designated.
"It seems that the cavalry work is going to speed up..."
