There are actually only seventy ships belonging to the Ross tribe, which sounds like a small number, and they are mostly small boats that can be rowed by thirty people. Considering the limitations of this era, the Franks, Britons, and even the Iberians
The Asians lacked the technology to build such large ships. The Eastern Romans could even build larger ships, but they now only had indirect trade with the Rus and the legendary visits of missionaries.
The sudden appearance of such a fleet must shock the Danes and make them anxious.
Behind them is a larger fleet!
That is a purely commercial fleet composed of merchants.
After all, when you are on the sea, it is difficult for others to interfere with what happens, or even completely unknown to you.
Now, the great businessman Gould can finally take the two maids who have served him all winter and the warriors to protect his own safety, and head straight to his tribe of Onkras. He just wants to follow Otto's fleet.
In order to get shelter.
This year, because he was carrying particularly valuable cargo, Gould even hired a warrior from the Ross tribe for this purpose. As an armed escort, he had to pay a larger commission for this.
As for other businessmen with much smaller strength, they looked at the actions of the big businessman Gould and imitated him. This led to a larger commercial fleet, but with almost no leading warships and mainly flat-head transport ships.
.
Because the so-called fishermen, of course, fishermen mainly focus on fishing. Even if they see a ship sailing alone, they will always have evil intentions. As long as the method is clean enough, people die, wealth is taken away, and the ship is scuttled in the end, who will be the one in the vast sea?
Would you know?
Fishermen belonging to the Melalen tribe once attacked Gould's caravan, which made him very angry, but unfortunately he did not have enough evidence. Although he suffered a loss, he still had to do business with the Melalen people.
After all, everyone in the entire tribal alliance knows that the Melalen people are richer, and all kinds of valuable things in the sea world can be found in the market of Melalen.
Gould, who learned a lot from his mistakes, postponed the voyage for a while in order to follow the actions of the Russian leader and get a shelter. Not to mention, the voyage in the past few years has been really uneventful.
Three fleets with different purposes are sailing together temporarily.
Whether it is Otto, Arick or Gould and other businessmen, everyone knows that when everyone sees a string of islands appearing in the distance, that is the moment when everyone goes their separate ways.
Only on the afternoon of the second day after setting sail, the mighty army had already sighted the key Peugeot Åland Islands.
The flagship at the head of the fleet, Otto went through some ideological struggle and still ordered to reduce the speed.
Slowly, the flagship approached the group of ships of the punitive force and the command ship of the "War Chief".
The distance between Otto and Arik was less than ten meters. When Peravina saw her husband, she quickly waved to him.
Otto just wanted to say goodbye to Arik. He shouted loudly: "Arik, go and prove yourself. Don't forget everything just because of revenge. Listen to Harold Johnson!"
Did Arik hear that?
He responded in a loud voice: "I will win! Dad!"
He called himself daddy again!
Otto felt warm in his heart. If his eldest son had not died early, he would have been stronger than Aric.
The warmth in his heart was not expressed directly. Otto tried to remain as deep as possible. Then, looking at his nephew's face in the distance, he waved his hand and ordered the helm to be turned.
The fleet has no intention of docking at the Åland Islands, even though this island is also home to a group of fishermen belonging to the Mellaren tribe.
Otto didn't stop, of course not because he was worried about being attacked by such a group of people, but simply because he didn't want to waste time.
However, the fishermen on the island really saw a mighty army passing through the strait, including a large number of leading warships!
Suddenly, an ominous premonition emerged in the minds of these fishermen. They chose to lie dormant, worried that the Russians coming from the north were planning to attack their allies? So the army simply continued southward. It seemed that the Russians were still going to the east to collect taxes. However,
How come there are so many leading warships this year? What about the merchant ships that follow closely behind? Why are there so many?!
The fishermen are on high alert, and all Ross ships have no interest in this place. As in the past, Otto's feeling about this archipelago is just a good place for fishing. Although it is a good place, the fishing ground is also Mera
The area controlled by the Lun tribe.
Because the entrance of Lake Mälaren is directly opposite the Åland Islands. The large number of islands at the entrance form a checkpoint with the entire Åland Islands, which just controls the chokepoint of the entire sea extending to the Gulf of Bothnia.
The commercial value of the region will only develop further with the increase in trade.
Now, there are only a few micro-villages on the tiny islands at the mouth of Lake Malaren. As long as they continue to develop, it will be Stockholm.
The merchants were well escorted, and their ships suddenly began to sail westward. In order to show his identity, Gould ordered the attached ships to display the Peugeot flag of the Unclas tribe.
Otto led the army into the Gulf of Finland.
Only Harold Zuosen, an old guy, led the crusade and continued southward. Everyone's relaxed mood suddenly became tense.
Harold Johnson is nearly fifty years old. He knows how to get to Gotland and he also fully understands how to avoid those people's eyes.
Want to avoid being noticed by the Gotlanders? Then you can only take a roundabout way.
Seeing the fleet led by his uncle go further and further away, gradually disappearing from his sight, Aric suddenly felt complicated. He held the hilt of his sword tightly, seemingly ready to fight at any time, but in his heart
There is no shortage of worries about the unknown.
Many people are exactly the same. They are young and eager to make achievements. Many people have been injured in the barbaric games, so they are not afraid of blood at all. They just lack experience. None of the young people have set foot in this sea area. The weather, hydrology and
Wait, you know nothing!
That's why Otto had to arrange a group of seniors for them.
Twenty standard dragon-head warships currently carry 450 soldiers, most of whom are young people.
According to the Russian concept, the so-called "young people" probably refer to boys between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. It seems that the older you are, the older you are, the older you are.
Although young, most boys start growing beards around the age of eleven. Many have thick beards by the age of fifteen, and by the age of twenty-five, their beards can be braided into numerous braids.
.
Harold Zuosen knew the meteorology and hydrology of this area, and he also knew the special geographical conditions nearby.
If the northern part of Gotland is difficult to attack by surprise, the southern part must be weakly defended.
Arik couldn't help the anxiety and excitement in his heart, and asked Haro Zuosen: "Next, why don't we go straight to Gotland? We must continue to go south?"
"Of course." Harold Johnson, who was also paddling, replied casually.
"Perhaps...we can catch the enemy by surprise if we suddenly turn to launch an attack."
"Oh ho ho, maybe we can succeed, but we will easily encounter their counterattack. Listen Arik, we want revenge, but we don't want to kill all the Gotlanders in one fell swoop. We don't have the strength, let alone the plan. Remember,
Look for as much gold as you can, and other useful things."
Arik tried his best to purse his lips: "Actually, I still long for a real battle. You know, I need to become a real man."
"Oh? Then shut up and obey my command. You will get the battle you want. Before that, I will bring everyone to land safely."
The ships formed an oval array, with a light blue cloth strip hanging from the top of Harold Johnson's flagship mast, and other ships only had to follow it.
There is no compass in the West. In the age of the compass, even the Vikings sailed entirely based on experience.
That night, the fleet was drifting on the sea. Harozolson ordered his men not to light fires. Except for a few people who were left to take turns watching, the others were wrapped in furs and slept on the deck.
When the day started, everyone ate the dried fish and a few wheat cakes they had brought with them, and then started paddling again.
Although the factors of ocean currents caused the entire group to shift significantly during the night when they were dormant, Harold Zosen still found the correct south after waking up.
After another boring paddling session, everyone could only sing old folk songs to pass the time, or discuss the so-called act of revenge and how many treasures they could grab.
Suddenly, the land appearing ahead interrupted everyone's discussion!
"Ah! It's land?!"
"It must be Gotland, we're here."
"Let us continue rowing over and kill all those people, and we will move that golden mountain away."
…
Everyone is too focused on the final destination, Gotland. As long as a big land appears in front of us, isn't it the ultimate goal?
At this moment, Harold Zuosen poured cold water on the excited Arik.
He scolded Arik, who was happily talking with his peers about arriving at the so-called destination: "Idiot! Stop being excited, that's Semelia!"
"Semelia? Where is that? Isn't it Gotland?" Aric felt very strange. It was the first time he heard this word.
Harozolson answered straightforwardly: "It is an island, a paradise for all escapees. Those who broke away from the alliance are happy to run here, and there are even a few Gotlanders."
"What? They are actually our enemies too?" As he spoke, Arik held the oar with his left hand and already held the hilt of the sword deeply with his right hand.
"Child, don't be nervous. They are just ordinary people. They are not our enemies, but they are not our friends either. You should not think that you can easily conquer them. If you don't provoke them, they will not actively provoke you.
"
Arik still doesn't quite understand. If he's not a friend, he's an enemy. Isn't that how relationships are in the world?
At this moment, Harozolson had no intention of landing on Semelya Island, and he knew clearly that there must be a settlement on the southeast side of the island.
War? No! That's impossible.
Because some of the spontaneous immigrants of the Russians must have come here. Semelia itself is a colony of Viking tribes. Many people who insist on leaving their crowded hometown to make a living in other places are here in a cooperative relationship.
A settlement was built on the island.
From then on, the island, which was originally inhabited by only a few Baltic people, became the territory of Viking pioneers. The new immigrants reclaimed the land on their own, planted wheat, caught game fish, built their own small docks, and spontaneously and further southward entered the mainland.
Immigrant trade, also with native Livonians.
The immigrant population of the entire island is less than a thousand, and human activities here still remain at a very low limit.
It has huge development potential. Over hundreds of years, immigrants from various Viking tribes merged with Livonian tribes, gradually forming the Estonian nation.
There are only a handful of people on Semelia Island, and now there are many Viking settlements on the Livonian land. When they left their homeland, set foot on the Livonian land and settled
After coming down, they are no longer Danes, no longer Gotlanders, no longer members of the Svealan Tribe Alliance, and no longer Russians.
They all speak Norse. They were abandoned by their former tribes because they left alone. They frequently intermarry with the Livonians and are actively building their own community. A brand new force is taking shape.
The young man didn't know these things clearly, and Haro Zuosen also knew a little bit. In short, landing on Semelia Island or even communicating with the locals was not part of the plan of action.
The heavily armed fleet approached the island with only a very simple purpose - to find the most reasonable reference point for the roundabout attack on Gotland.
The fleet moved along the coast, not caring about being witnessed by the locals.
They wandered like this for a whole day, until dusk fell, the coastline to the east of the fleet suddenly changed direction, and the south of the fleet turned into the vast sea again.
Seeing this situation, everyone panicked for a moment.
Fortunately, the elders in the team stabilized the young man's mood. Seeing this, Harold Zuosen continued to order to go south, and the fleet would continue to move forward in the night for a while.
As a result, they bumped into another piece of land, which was actually the land called Culonia, also called Courland, which was the main part of the later Latvian country.
Everyone has been bored on the ship for many days. If we continue not to dock, our fighting will will inevitably deteriorate. Landing on Gotland in a bad mental state? It is really crazy.
Ships rushed ashore on a large scale, and people began to raise bonfires on a gravel beach. In this way, they spent the first night on the shore in several days.
The peaceful time was fleeting, and they set sail again the next day. Fortunately, in the new night, they still spent the night on the shore.
After two days of confused sailing, many young people saw a new land that they had never known before, and their horizons were broadened. Even Arik could not imagine that the so-called human world was so huge.
Therefore, Arik also had new questions. He heard Haro Zuosen personally with strong confusion: "It has been five days. When will we launch the attack? Are we going further and further?"
Under the light of the bonfire, Harold Zuosen looked at the angry expression of this young man and realized that there were some things that he could no longer hide.
He did not reply directly, but muttered: "Go and call everyone here, I have to arrange something."
"About the attack?" Arik asked impatiently.
"Yes. Go quickly."
One reason why Harold Johnson lost the leadership competition was that he lacked charisma. He lacked a loud voice and lacked the charisma to boost morale.
This kind of person also has his own existence value. For this operation, it is perfect for Harold Johnson to serve as the general of the "War Chief".
Chewing dried fish, young warriors with colorful braids and beards, and wearing leather armor all the time, gathered near Harold Johnson. Hundreds of people gathered, and the scene was truly amazing.
There was no morale boost, and Harold Johnson didn't even raise his sword to make a summons gesture.
He just tried his best to announce in a very straightforward manner: "Brothers, order us to start sailing westward. It is expected that we will spend another night on the sea tomorrow night. When Sirius reaches the correct position, we will row at night. We will
Before sunrise the day after tomorrow, launch a surprise attack on the enemy."
Everyone understood it clearly. To be honest, what was supposed to be war mobilization was turned into a straightforward narrative by Harold Johnson.
It doesn't matter!
The young warriors' fiery hearts, which had been suppressed for many days, suddenly boiled over at this moment. All the previous depression and dissatisfaction with continuing to sail south disappeared in an instant.
"rua!rua!rua..."
They spontaneously roared out the "Viking War Cry", which was a chant deliberately shouted in rhythm when the shield wall was advancing. This momentum can scare the enemy into silence, and it is also a good encouragement for themselves and their brothers.
They roared slogans on the lonely beach, and were extremely excited about it, and their morale was instantly maxed out.
No locals were aware of their existence, or in other words, the locals living in the inland areas did not dare to go to the seaside and be robbed by the Vikings.
Harold Johnson and the others still maintained a good deal of secrecy, and it was just a matter of heading west for the new day.
Soon, a new day arrived, and the boats on the shoal were pushed into the sea again. After a night's rest, everyone adjusted their mentality and fully understood the next tactics.