Even the war horses were tied and pulled onto the cargo ship. The open cabins were crowded with horses, and they had to endure the bumps of the sea.

This was a very crazy thing, and even Rurik, who ordered it, thought it was a major risk.

When a war came to an end, Ross got more than just a brand new treaty and gold and silver trophies.

All the war horses from Rus must be taken away, and the strong ones among the captured horses must also be taken away.

Even the portable calves and lambs will be transported back to be used as breeding cattle and sheep.

Seeds of peas, yellow-rooted carrots, and native crops found by the army in Saxony were collected and planted in Novgorod, where the climate is warmer.

But the journey home is undoubtedly their Odyssey for the soldiers who have been on the expedition for a long time.

After arriving at the mouth of the Elbe River, the Russian-Danish mixed fleet quickly separated from the other two squadrons.

One group headed west across the North Sea and returned to the Viking Kingdom of York, while the other group headed south along the coastline and plunged into the Rhine River to continue its operations.

Rurik and the main fleet headed north, rushing along the coastline of Jutland towards the Denmark Strait.

The broad Atlantic northwest wind is still the same, but it is no longer aggressive. All ships raised their jibs and moved against the wind, maintaining a speed of about five knots.

As long as the wind permits, the entire fleet will sail during the day, and in order to get home early, the brothers would rather stay afloat at sea than land at night to rest. After all, they still have to do some important rest on the shore, and this point must be

On the flat land is Mahobi (Malmö), the capital of the Kingdom of Denmark, and the military gathering place on the other side of the strait called Copenhagen.

Even though the fleet would pass through Gothenburg, Rurik had no intention of staying here. He only sent a large sailing ship to separate from the main fleet and a messenger to declare to the locals the king's order and what was happening in the south. One thing must be told to the people of Gothenburg.

The nobles explained clearly that the so-called northerners had won a complete victory in the war against the Franks. There were two newly opened river mouth settlements open to all northerners. Even the Götalanders of Gothenburg had the right to open up new living space there.

Rurik was on an adventure. He stood on the bow of the flagship, with densely packed ships behind him. The sails were as dense as steaming clouds.

He calls his return voyage an Odyssey, but he has no desire to experience the messy adventures of Odysseus.

He didn't want to encounter any storms, and he didn't want any trophies and people to fall into the sea.

After all, in the "Third Bremen Raid" during the December war, the army suffered very few losses on the battlefield, but suffered huge losses in a winter storm when it returned to Hamburg.

By seizing all the time to return, the fleet was competing with nature for time, and now they were rounding the northernmost tip of Jutland.

No ships will land, even if the coast visible to the naked eye is the landing place last July, it was also the beginning of glory and madness.

Standing at the bow of the ship, Rurik looked there thoughtfully.

The eyes of the vast number of soldiers also cast their gaze over, discussing the past with the living.

They are victors but are inexplicably sad.

In the past, this strait was still a forbidden area for the Russian people. It has always required great courage to cross here, and it also requires ships to sail at maximum speed. The enemy cannot catch it at all like arrow feathers passing by.

The Danish Robard tribe, which once had hegemony over the strait, completely lost its hegemony, and even this tribe fell apart. The entire Jutland peninsula suffered a bloodbath from north to south, and the war even burned all the way to the Saxony region, causing a strong counterattack from East Francia, all of which came from here

The continuation of an uncontrollable war.

"It's here. The war I started is gradually getting out of control. I have no choice but to fight on until my enemy surrenders. Now...do I still have the strength to launch a new large-scale expedition?"

Asking his conscience, Rurik also felt war-weary.

This war made Ross a political super upstart. The northern trade system that might have taken ten years to build was actually completed in just half a year of bloody fighting.

Perhaps a more courageous monarch would continue the war in the hope that this kind of war adventure of betting on the fate of the country could continue to reap miraculous benefits.

Although Ross has stamina, his current military strength has been greatly damaged after all. Most of the veterans who once supported the expansion of the kingdom have withered away. The young warriors are still growing and need to recharge their batteries during this lean period.

What's more, it supports the soldiers to persist in fighting for a whole year. If there is not a large amount of physical wealth to fill their inner dissatisfaction, no matter how loyal and brave they are, they will become passive and war-weary in the later stages.

Whether dead or alive, the soldiers who participated in the battle earned rich silver coins.

Rurik's ability to reward generously came largely from an accident. The cavalry "cheated" an outrageous five thousand pounds of silver coins from Cologne through intimidation and deception. After all, Rurik, as the king, was still bad.

Rules. He didn't ask for a single silver coin, and the five thousand pounds of silver coins were all in the hands of the soldiers. In addition to the plunder they had taken during the war, everyone had at least one pound of silver coins in their hands, as well as completely changed clothes and boots.

The cavalrymen were collectively extremely rich, and the brothers who died in battle would have their families share the war dividends, so that each cavalryman received eight pounds of silver in the "Cologne Tribute" alone.

How much purchasing power does a pound of silver coin have?

In the social production and life of the Kingdom of Rus, only those luxury goods are marked with ridiculously high prices. Silver coins and grain have an unshakable official exchange price. One pound of silver coins is equivalent to a thousand pounds of wheat, which is enough to buy furs and woolen textiles.

Let your wife, children, and children have new clothes that can be changed.

After all, only those who participated in the war will receive war dividends, especially since the Slavic army only sent a thousand troops, and in Novgorod around Lake Ilmen, the Slavic ethnic population has expanded to 200,000. With the help of the war,

Slavic warriors who have made a fortune can immediately hire poor fellow villagers to repair houses, clear fields, and even buy marriages. People who were once poor suddenly become rich, and their experience will become a significant example, which will help the kingdom recruit troops in the future.

At least this year there really can't be any more large-scale wars! Ross will go through a strategic defense period anyway.

Ross has a safe external environment, because Denmark, which can threaten Ross's national defense security, and Frank, its biggest enemy, are both bleeding heavily, and the other side is unable to threaten Ross in the short term. In addition, there is a peace treaty as a second line.

Insurance.

The fleet drifted at sea for ten days!

The strait suddenly became extremely narrow, and the Oresund Strait was in sight.

The turbulence on the sea made people physically and mentally exhausted, and the horses in the cabin were also suffering. Earlier, the bottom of the boat was full of horse dung, and the whole cabin was too stinky.

It was not that Rurik had not imagined the possibility of returning home, the so-called true Odyssey given to Fisk's cavalry.

The so-called cavalry also set out from Hamburg, supported them in running north to the Baltic Sea coast, and then headed east along the coastline.

Rostock, Stralsund, Gdańsk, Königsberg, Courland, Riga, Tallinn...and finally to Novorosberg at the mouth of the Neva River, the destination of this cavalry.

If this is the case, then Fisk will really have to experience one adventure after another like Odysseus, and it is even possible that the entire cavalry team will be wiped out in the middle of the road.

The trend of the coastline and the nearby geography and hydrology have not changed for thousands of years, but the coastal roads pass through areas controlled by the Pomeranians, Prussians, Lithuanians, and Estonians. Although they are in the era of tribal alliances, due to the solidification of Alik ten years ago

After a sneak attack on an Estonian village, he found that the locals were also using a large number of iron weapons. After learning about this, Rurik could no longer despise these unconquered people.

Then just to be on the safe side, let the war horses undergo a navigation test! If these Pecheneg Turkic horses can even endure the long voyage, then when launching an ocean expedition in the future, Ross can directly transport more cavalry, which will undoubtedly be huge

Tactical advantage.

The long voyage finally came to an end at Mahoubi, and the war horses, which had been weakened by torture, were happily transported down to rest on the shore.

Mahobi is still a settlement composed of sandbank villages. It was too shabby for Ragnar to choose this place as the capital of Denmark.

The real capital city is directly across the strait from Mahobi, but it is even more empty there.

All the warriors landed on solid land, and those Danish warriors finally came home!

Their return surprised the fishermen of Mahobi, and immediately attracted the attention of the Danes in Zealand.

Instead of sending messengers to various Danish villages to report the news, the nobles witnessed the return of the huge fleet. On the second day after the fleet arrived, messengers arrived in Mahobi one after another, and many of them met in person.

There are boats moored everywhere and camps on the shore.

In the Oresund Strait, the warmth of spring was finally rewarded, and the fish that had been dormant due to the cold became active. The Russian army that arrived here just threw down the big net and fishing line and started fishing.

They were able to grill salted fish on the shore and take out the uneaten wheat and cook it in urns.

They often choose the forest land behind the sandbar to build their shacks, and they also drive their listless horses to the grassland in the forest and let them eat the fresh and tender grass that has just sprouted.

New shoots sprouted from dead trees, mushrooms sprouted from rotten wood roots, and little nameless flowers appeared everywhere. The sound of sea waves kept coming, and at night the tide completely submerged the sandbank of Mahobi, and the anchored ships kept swaying in the tide.

Near the woods were bonfires as dense as stars, and there was talk and laughter in Norse everywhere.

Rurik, Ragnar and other nobles gathered together to enjoy a feast of grilled cod, each holding a fish steak and devouring it.

"I want to stay here for at least ten days! I want to take a good rest." Rurik shouted loudly in a happy mood.

"Ten days? Even though this place is very simple? Although I am the king, well... even that guy Liudov has a castle."

Looking around, there are only three villages here, as well as the remains of the military camp when the army gathered last year. Now the abandoned camp has been picked up by the army. What Ragnar said was very cowardly. He saw a lot in the Frankish world, although those people did not

As fierce as the northerners are, those nobles at least have big houses of their own.

Rurik could understand what he was thinking. After all, the Kingdom of Rus had been carrying out large-scale construction projects whenever there was an opportunity in recent years. As the king of Rus, although the palace was not a huge restricted area, it was a five-story attic with the roof.

The largest building of the palace, it became a behemoth in New Roseburg that could overlook the entire city. It was also the original ship that could be used as an obvious landmark.

"Just build a city!" Rurik said, pointing to the dark west. "We agreed to call it Copenhagen. It has very flat land. There is no need to call it a small pasture for cattle and sheep.

It was God who gave you the land to build the royal city. Most of your Danish compatriots are now concentrated on the island of Zealand. Jutland, which has experienced war, will not develop much in recent years. You just manage it first.

Zealandia! You are absolutely right to listen to me."

Rurik said it to the point, and Ragnar nodded: "That's really all I can do. I'm very happy that you stayed like this for a long time. I hope all the nobles can come to see me."

Even if the Ross fleet is rushing along like crazy, everyone has to face an extremely embarrassing problem.

Insightful people silently record the time on the day the fleet sets off. They all find a piece of wood and mark it with a knife every time the sun sets.

They showed their records to each other and finally got a very accurate time.

It is only March now, but the ancestral place of Rossburg in the Gulf of Bothnia will not completely thaw until April. Even the Kronshtadt mooring outside Neurosberg is definitely covered by a layer of sea ice at least for now.

.

Spute, who has very rich navigation experience, provides extremely accurate navigation for the entire fleet. After all, no one in the entire Ross knows the route from Fort New Ross to the British Isles better than him. He made a judgment that the so-called sea conditions should not be exceeded before bad sea conditions.

Under the circumstances, starting from the Mahobi moorings in the current Oresund Strait, you can reach Tombstone Island in the Åland Islands in as little as eight days.

Arriving at Tombstone Island is like going home.

Even according to the standard of ten days of rest and then another non-stop sailing, it was only April when we arrived at Tombstone Island.
To be continued...