Rise of Rurik

Rurik wanted to cultivate the entire Novgorod region, and he would no longer hunt here like a hunter as he had done in the past half century.

Sorgon voyages will give way to regular taxes, and the outsiders who collect "protection fees" will be the real kings here.

The strength of the White Tree Manor in Rigus is already relatively strong, and the strength of the two of us, Uski of the Calf Manor and Tolly of the Fisherman, is too weak. All three of them deciphered the great opportunities ahead from Rurik's glorious declaration, and their sworn allegiance came from the bottom of their hearts.

This group of local Slavs has no clear lofty pursuits and beliefs, and worshiping the great god Peron or worshiping the invincible Odin is not the whole of their lives. They are pure farmers. Fishing, hunting and logging are all additions to agriculture. Only by allowing them to obtain vast farmland by various means can they exchange their loyalty.

How to get farmland?

Land reclamation is a means, but it takes years to bring in a steady stream of land wealth.

There are huge risks involved in waging war against neighbors and plundering local people's farmland to grow their own wheat, and the rewards are tempting people to work hard. In the same way, the owner of the farmland will fall to the ground desperately with the invaders in order to defend their farmland. Such people will not fight for some "warrior's belief" at all, they are fighting for their own everything.

It was such an enemy that Rurik had to face with caution, even if they seemed weak.

This is the era of the strong eating the weak. Back then, the White Tree Manor was no match for the military power of the Pine Needle Manor, so it was forced to choose to make peace. It almost took the initiative to withdraw from the fertile Lake Ilmen and handed over the farmland that he had cultivated in the past. Logging in the dense forest to expand the fields, after a long road, the life of the blue thread forcibly opened up new fields on the Volkhov River.

The desire for revenge was passed on from generation to generation, and the farmers of White Tree Manor took up arms to take back the farmland of their ancestors, and they killed their opponents without any scruples or even mercy in moral terms.

As the true duke, Rurik began to lay out his campaign resolutions.

"We will take the initiative to launch a comprehensive and powerful attack. Even if there are 10,000 people, our army should have a lot of troops in the current situation!" Rurik gestured to Rigus with his eyes.

"Yes, Your Excellency. My commander, Medvedt, has always been a flag team, still eight hundred men, and as in past battles, their wall of spears can stab all approaching enemies."

Rigus' reply was very confident, and he added: "My farm population is also not what it used to be, and there are still many young and old people who can take up arms,

Even if I take a sharpened wooden pole and combine the male and female warriors, I can still take out another 2,000 warriors. "

The new two thousand warriors?

Rurik was a little surprised: "I did see a large farm. Tell me, what is your current population?"

"This...about five thousand people."

"So much?! How dare you call yourself a small farm?!" How could Rurik not be surprised? A farm with 5,000 people is a powerful force on the shore of Lake Mälaren in Sweden. This Rigus can call himself a prince, and his manor can call himself a city-state.

Obviously, Rigus still doesn't know how strong he is. Maybe their fear of Pine Needle Manor still can't be gradually improved due to the increase in size.

Otto took the opportunity to signal: "Rurik, this is your first time in Novgorod. Unlike me, I have been coming every year for twenty years. The population surge of White Tree Manor is only a few words. year thing."

"Yes, yes." Rigus immediately complimented: "This is a gift from the great Rus people. Our life has changed for the better. Many people from other farms have boldly moved to me, and even your territory."

"Not only that." Otto smiled: "Those people, use your farm as a springboard to move to New Roseburg."

If Rurik's announcement of direct notification to the ruling Novgorod was wise, Otto's strategy of pulling one faction against another was a coup.

In fact, the Slavs in this lake area are divided into three waves, those who support Ross, who support Ross, and whoever wins and helps whoever is on the wall.

Rurik and Otto couldn't think much of the population of those wall-riding factions.

There was only one thing Rurik wanted to know precisely—what was the population of the main enemy's Pine Needle Manor?

Specifically, are there really 10,000 men and women who can afford weapons?

When it comes to the most critical issue, Rigus, Tory and Usky all have ambiguity.

They frowned slightly, and Rurik was very annoyed: "I ask you something. Their total population must be 20,000? Give me an accurate number."

"Certainly not twenty thousand," Tory said.

Ursky hurriedly denied: "Probably only 10,000 people."

"They persecuted us and prohibited the people of White Tree Manor from inquiring about their population." Rigus regretted: "At least I can't face them."

Rurik clenched the faint golden beard on his chin: "Then assume that they do have 10,000 armed men. What is our total strength now? Rigus, the so-called 2,000 people you said don't count, pick out ten for me. Men from five to fifty. How many can there be?"

"About four hundred more people."

"Then you have a total of 1,200 people," Rurik concluded.

"It's still only four hundred. Because the Slavic flag team is your fighter."

"You...that's right." Rurik turned his face and asked Toli and Usky, "You two also handed over an army at such an age."

Tory blurted out: "Barely two hundred people."

In order not to lose to him, Uski gritted his teeth: "I am also two hundred people."

"In this way, you can send up to 800 troops? Not too many, but not too many. Your so-called warriors are farmers, and in my eyes they are not real warriors. I am their commander-in-chief, and I will not let them take the lead. You can all rest assured that your men will not suffer battle losses or even be wounded by following my plan. Unless, you violate my plans."

The three looked at each other and said nothing.

As for the real strength of the Rus army, it has been very clear.

The Warriors First Banner Team and Third Banner Team, after the reorganization, were all fully assembled, a total of one thousand Varyag warriors in classic costumes. They wore uniform military uniforms, and the two interlaced blue stripes stitched on the chest of the gown were the symbol of Ross. The warriors all have round wooden shields that can protect the entire torso. The shields are either covered with leather or reinforced with thin bronze skins. The surfaces are also painted. Then apply isatis dye.

Otto came this time with some old guys from the Second Flag Team. He lost some old soldiers, and there are still more than one hundred people. They are eager for revenge, and swore no reply to the villains of the attackers of Pine Needle Manor. However, little Konusson brought more than 100 additional people, and these people were simply incorporated into the second flag team, so that the strength of the flag team exceeded 300.

There are eight hundred warriors in the Slavic flag team, and their armament is almost a spear. Fortunately, they have been trained, and most of them have experienced the decisive battle of Gotland. They have experienced large-scale war scenes and are not afraid of new wars. Moreover, most of them came from White Tree Manor, and a large number of them came from other manors other than Pine Needle Manor. Their current identities are all New Rus, and they are directly responsible for the Duke of Rus himself. So what Rigus said was absolutely correct, this "Spear Banner" was only loyal to Rurik.

As for the shooter flag team, this team is a mixed bag. Young and old, there are elite mercenaries, armed sailors, Finnish Kovins, and deceased Danes.

There are also the Ostara Allies led by Carlotta, and for the time being, they have also been incorporated into the flag team.

The shooter flag team is like a big basket, and all kinds of people are stuffed into it. But no one can deny that they can show their strong fighting power in a special way.

In this way, the real Rus army has a strength of 2,700 people.

Ross's main force is indeed the case, and it is by no means exhausted. Even so, if such an army is placed in Europe, which is now rotten and dark, it will be able to kill all the way from Bremen to Rome on the border of the Frankish kingdom.

When Rurik pinched his fingers and counted the number of troops he could accurately control, the old man Rigus couldn't hide his worries.

"My lord, are we going to fight 10,000 people in Vadim with more than 3,000 people?"

"What? You're actually scared?" Rurik asked harshly.

"No." Rigus groaned inwardly and hurriedly denied: "I didn't say that the Russ army has few soldiers. It's just..."

"It's just that there are too many enemies to make you afraid. Rigus, you should still be a rich family with peace of mind. You don't understand the war, so don't mix things up."

"Yes."

"However, the three manor owners who are present still have to bring their soldiers to participate in the battle. Now is my specific tactical arrangement."

White Tree, Calf, and Fisherman's Manor, they can summon at least 800 so-called peasant armies. Rurik did not believe in the combat effectiveness of these untrained men. They lacked organization and their individual physique was inferior to that of the Ruth warriors. They could only fight against the wind, so they would be used as auxiliary troops in the new campaign, and they were not even worthy. Completely incapable of marching in sync with the Rus army. This is a group of burdens, and it is precisely the burdens that have certain uses.

Rurik believed that they had really arranged a task for them. These three guys could squeeze out all the fighting power of their manor. One was to vent their hatred, and the other was to flatter the rulers of the Rus.

What he is most worried about is the meaningless death of these farmers, because there is a lot of vacant farmland after the war, and these people still need to be cultivated.

Based on these practical factors, Rurik arranged a strategy for the three of them to advance by land. The peasant army of the three manors brought their own various weapons to form a whole. When the Ross fleet launched a strong attack on the enemy's pine needle manor, they took the land to kill the pine needle manor.

These peasant warriors must tie a cloth strip or hemp rope to their left and right arms, and wrap a circle of cloth around their foreheads to show their identities and avoid misunderstandings in a melee state.

The "Nine Changes" of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" once described it as "the generals may be used by the enemy because they are too kind; they may be too cherished for the strength of the people, which limits the use of tactics."

Rurik does have such a problem. What he cherishes is not the people of the hostile forces, but the farms of these three hard-core servants. He originally meant that he did not want these guys to join the battle, but they were indispensable in this battle.

The three peasant warriors of Rigus will march on the river bank and arrive at the periphery of Pine Needle Manor. Whether or not they will march depends on the situation. Once the Ross army enters the farm and the battle is in the most chaos, their group will take the opportunity to kill. In a sense, this group of people is a tactical reserve team, a reserve team with poor combat effectiveness, and the value of its existence is to exacerbate chaos. They were also given an even more brutal mission - to kill anyone they saw at Pine Needle Manor.

Rurik, who gave such an order, was like a slaughter. He used to resent such a tyrant, but when he took the power and took Ross to face many tests of life and death, the brave became a dragon.

He had no burden in his heart, and the order given to the Ross army was exactly the same.

The Ross army will take a ship to enter Lake Ilmen by water, and Pine Needle Manor will see the style of the strongest navy in northern Europe in this era.

Lake battles would be non-existent, and the Slavs' canoes would be meaningless in front of the massive size of the Avlora-class sail cruisers.

The Russ army will take a landing battle, but the landing battle is not as violent as the beach landing.

Since we have very good ranged weapons, we should try our best to develop their powerful combat power.

Now, Avlora, Sperosvillea, Duke Ostara, Grey Squirrel, and Chief Salmon. These five sail cruisers alone were equipped with fifty torsion slingshots.

Mercury, Venus, Mona, Maas, Eubit, Saturn, Uranus, these seven sailing destroyers also have a total of forty-two torsion slingshots.

As many as twenty torsion slingshots will be maneuvered for disposal, and Rurik has also prepared carts for these weapons, which are intended to be heavy weapons for land warfare.

There are also twenty-five bull trebuchets. The accuracy is not high. The advantage is that it can throw a variety of stones, and the pebbles with the size of a fist can also be thrown to a distance of 300 meters.

Basically, it is the sailors and the flag team of shooters who are controlling these heavy weapons. It should be that these terrifying shipborne and land weapons will give the enemy a heavy blow first.

Rurik always believed that it was a stupid tactic for the warriors to fight at zero distance, especially the fighting of the sword and shield hand was too dangerous.

Gunpowder weapons can be created according to Ross' current strength. For the time being, Rurik has no idea of ​​​​attacking this technology. The biggest reason is that the existing armament situation is already rampant in northern and eastern Europe.

Two thousand seven hundred Rus warriors will be divided among sail cruisers, sail destroyers, armed cargo ships, and as many as thirty traditional longships.

It is the most traditional longboat, and the landing battle on the lake has the most tactical value. Because they themselves are the most suitable landing craft!

Thirty longboats crowded a little, the most elite soldiers of the first and third flag teams rowed hard, and a thousand warriors would be the first landing troops, and they were engaged in work similar to Ma Run.

Arik and Hellafield will open up the situation on the landing beach, but I am afraid that the first thing they will face is a dead body on the beach.

Rurik decided to deliberately spread the fleet, put each ship's broadside against the enemy, deliberately let it stand for some time to allow the enemy to gather forces, and induce them to form a formation (at least in a group) by the lake and launch a long-range attack.

What kind of tactic is this? It is indeed the most classic cooperation tactic of sea and land beach landing since ancient times. It's just that the ironclad ships are now wooden hulled ships, the steel heavy guns are now torsion slingshots, and the landing craft are all Viking longships.

"I do hope they actually gather 10,000 people by the lake, so that our hundreds of torsion slingshots can kill 10,000 of them at a time. I hope they are as tough as pine trees, so that our people take some time, You can kill them all with arrows, javelins, and stone bullets."

Rurik's summary drew applause from everyone.

Because the opponents are not real Vikings, Arik and the others have no intention of performing a duel of warriors with such rebellious farmers. The opponents are not worthy at all, so how to kill them has nothing to do with them.

It is inappropriate to formulate complex tactics in the current era, precisely because the generals are unable to transmit new orders to the grassroots units in a very short time. Since the delay time is too long, a tactical framework has to be formulated.

Rurik finally concluded: "I don't have a lot of rations. My main enemy this year is the Karelians. The crusade against the rebellion is purely an accident that must be settled. I will give you a day's rest tomorrow, and we will launch two days later. War! Note that this time we are not punishing the rebellious Vadim of Pineneedle Manor, which will cease to exist after this war. You should know what I mean!"

The people present looked at each other and laughed one after another, but this smile was ferocious.

But it was miserable for the rebels of Pine Needle Manor, who brought a variety of weapons to congratulate "Prince of Novgorod" Vadim, and followed his feat of resisting the invaders of Rus. It's a pity that they don't even know what kind of terrible enemy they have provoked. All the armed peasants can see are their comrades who have gathered in an astonishing number, and everyone's morale is high!

But what they look like now is almost the same as a shrinking tortoise. Vadim has not planned an active attack, at least not yet. He consciously prepared a huge army and decided to hold a grand sacrifice on the summer solstice. He summoned the leaders and priests of the farms and used the heads of the Rus people as sacrifices to become a well-deserved prince of Novgorod. .

Even though they all knew that the ships of the Rus were anchored in the waters where the lake entered the Volkhov River. Their optimism led them to grossly misjudge the situation, even ignoring the defections of small estates and entire families. They naively thought that the Ross ship did not go deep into the lake as a symbol of cowardice, and the people of Pine Needle Manor did not take the initiative to attack. Seems like this is a delicate confrontation?

Pooh! Stupid Vadim could not have imagined that in the past few days, the elite main force and the strongest fleet of the Rus who have killed all over Northern Europe have gathered in the Volkhov River, just like the arrow has been put on the bowstring.