Chapter 311 The exploits of Arik who swept the sea in the south
With his hair disheveled, Arik disembarked and returned to his hometown.
Putting his swords back into their scabbards, he wore a weather-beaten smile, took solid steps, and opened his arms to welcome the people in his hometown.
"I'm back! It's a pity that I kept you waiting for a long time."
He was talking as he walked, while his wife Peravina, holding her infant child in her arms, walked quickly over in a strong atmosphere of excitement.
Or seeing the seven-month-old Askard after his father's return, his babbling calls stimulated Arik's enthusiasm even more.
He hugged his son as if he was holding the future. After touching his tearful wife's forehead, he continued to hold the child enthusiastically and approached his little brother.
To be honest, Rurik's blood boiled with excitement when he saw a large number of tribes' ships rushing onto the beach with fearless force. He subconsciously felt that his cousin had gone through a long war, or rather looted, and had gained a lot of loot.
Regarding the controversial nature of plundering, Rurik no longer wanted to dwell on whether or not there was such a thing. The Gotlanders were enemies after all, and their losses had nothing to do with him.
I saw a large number of soldiers disembarking from the ship. Most of them looked slovenly, but at least they were still huge in number.
Could it be that after a long period of looting, our own people suffered almost no losses?!
Rurik couldn't hide his excitement, raised his beautiful little head and looked up at his brother.
"Arik, welcome back. Well, your beard seems to be getting longer."
"Hey." Arik subconsciously stretched out his right hand and touched his little brother's face: "Your face is as delicate as the mink fur on your body. The messenger told me that you have been developing the north. It seems that you have no
suffer."
"Of course, how can I treat myself badly?"
Arik shrugged: "My lovely brother, your delicate little face is like a girl. I hope you grow up quickly and grow a beard like me, so that you can be a real man."
"Ah! Maybe I will also grow thick hair on my chest. Wouldn't that make me more powerful?"
Arik was made to laugh out loud. In fact, just as Rurik ridiculed, Arik's chest was now covered with golden hairs, and his arms were also covered with fine hairs.
Lions do not exist in the Nordic world, but some Frankish nobles have seen male lions from Africa. Therefore, some Frankish warriors who claim to be very brave, who fight with their long golden hair, sometimes claim to have the power of a lion, and then
During the battle, he wore leopard skins obtained from the European mountains and forests on his body to show his martial virtue.
As long as Arik continues to grow his hair and beard, as long as he doesn't feel that the flowing hair hinders fighting, then he can call himself a lion.
A large number of soldiers spontaneously gathered towards their commander Arik with arrogant self-confidence and joy of returning home.
The tribal warriors were outnumbered, and their clothes were in tatters, and they also emitted some peculiar smell.
Rurik was already used to it. He estimated that after these guys returned home in triumph, the first thing they would do would be to carry their trophies home, and the second thing would be to clean themselves up.
Arik continued to caress Rurik's little face: "I made a big gain this time, a large number of ships as you can see."
Arik casually pointed at the ships that washed up on the beach, and the large number of ships loaded in the warships. They did not have high-raised bows, and they had no masts (the masts were cut off), and the ship planks were more simple and plain, at best.
They are just some relatively long ordinary ships.
"I've seen it a long time ago!"
"How's it going? Do you like it?"
"Well..." Rurik didn't know what to say. Although he didn't directly board the ship for inspection, during the process of washing it on the beach, he had realized that the quality of these ordinary ships must be inferior. For example, compared with the largest warships,
The characteristic is that the keel is too slender.
Rurik composed himself: "How many are they?"
"There are twenty ships!"
Arik could raise his voice to show off his illustrious martial arts.
"how do you feel?"
"The number is really amazing! There are as many as twenty ships!" Rurik's little heart was really stimulated. He raised his head and looked at those ships again, and he couldn't help conjuring up a very wonderful picture in his mind.
"How is it? Do you like it? Oh, you will definitely keep your promise."
"Of course." Rurik shrugged, "As long as you bring back twenty ships, I will pay you. Two hundred silver coins for each ship, I will pay you today!"
At first, Arik felt that it was a bit difficult for him to expect his little brother to come up with the money immediately. After all, it was a total of forty pounds of silver coins!
Unexpectedly, his little brother was so cheerful. Arik blamed himself for worrying that his brother would hesitate.
He was in a very good mood. He turned around and faced the gathered warriors and shouted loudly: "Brothers! Our Rurik has spoken. He has bought all the ships. Soon you will have everything in your pockets."
Get some money!"
Everyone gathered around spontaneously, eager to sell the captured fishing boat that had been dragged along. They were even worried that the irreparable damage to the boat caused by the battle would cause the buyer Rurik to bargain.
Rurik certainly lived up to expectations. He was the "Blesser of Odin" after all, and he spoke loudly and resoundingly.
"Arik! Doesn't it seem like there were no losses in your expedition?" Rurik's call made the excited Arik turn around again.
"Of course! You may not believe it, but my men were only injured, and no one died in the battle."
His answer was really surprising, even though a well-equipped warrior would have a very high chance of survival during a bloody battle. Rurik didn't think there was any difference in weapons between his people and those Gotlanders.
No! Wait!
Rurik was busy talking to his brother. From the corner of his eye, he noticed his mercenary captain and all twenty mercenaries carrying crossbows. Their numbers were visible to the naked eye, which showed that they had suffered no losses.
Is there a generation difference in weapons? There certainly is.
Rurik immediately asked a very critical question: "Arik, can you estimate how many enemies you have annihilated in the long battle?"
"This..." Arick grasped the beard on his chin and estimated: "We attacked at least forty fishing boats and killed at least two hundred of them!"
"Ah?! So many. Since there are forty ships, why did you bring back twenty?"
"Because many ships were directly damaged in the battle." Arik pointed to his flagship: "Did you see the thick keel and the raised bow? My brother, it seems that you really don't know
What is a warship?"
"Um?"
"How do you think I fight?"
Rurik thought thoughtfully: "I sent mercenaries to you. You must have commanded them to shoot the enemy with crossbows."
"You are right, but you still don't understand battles at sea. My brother, I commanded a fleet to fight at sea last year. I have sufficient experience! Your crossbow is indeed an excellent weapon, but a large number of
If an arrow falls into the sea, you can never get it back. Your mercenaries shot down almost all the arrows, and in the end not much was left."
"It doesn't matter, arrows are all consumables. If we lose them, we can make new ones. They are not expensive anyway."
Isn’t it expensive? Arik knows that his brother is naturally good at business, and he has accumulated a lot of wealth for himself through business alone. There is a new difference between him and his brother. He does not care about wasting iron, but he does!
Arik shrugged: "You will always learn about sea battles in the future! Compared with those fishing boats that usually only have five or six people, my warship can be rowed by thirty people at the same time. The warship is very fast, and the bow is
Very strong. Rurik, you are me, how can you command the battle?"
"Ah!" Rurik suddenly realized: "You just command the brothers to run directly into it?!"
"You guessed it right! That's why I didn't take all the boats! Many fishing boats were directly hit and sunk by me."
"Where are the fishermen who fell into the water?" Rurik asked next.
"Those people? Kill all the men, pick up the women and transport them all to Tombstone Island. You know, the brothers stationed there need women very much."
Arik described his cruel past in arrogant words, but now Rurik no longer thinks there is anything cruel about it.
Such is the nature of war. Those so-called Gotland fishermen, of course they are fishermen, but they can become warriors in an instant. In the Nordic world of this era, there really are no civilians. Men of every tribe are from birth.
From the moment you come down, you have the obligation to protect your tribe.
The calm fjord was immersed in the bustle, and the ordinary life soon became a source of enjoyable conversation.
People living in the fjords are forced to live in isolation, especially the large number of female relatives. Their daily labor of tailoring, fetching water, and cooking all kinds of work hones their interest. Even such a life is always boring.
.
Women happily hand over their young children to Rurik for training. The underlying logic is that Rurik takes care of the food and thus saves their own expenses. The second is to focus on whether their children can become better.
Those young warriors came back, and they told their sisters, wives and even mothers about their illustrious achievements in the crusade against the Gotlanders. They couldn't help but describe how brave they were, how resourceful the war chief Arik was, and how brave they were.
He even praised Rurik's mercenaries and their weapons.
Women listened to the returning soldiers telling these interesting things, especially after seeing the trophies they brought back, and suddenly ignored the possibility of death caused by the war. In other words, although they were not very willing in principle, they faced
Their own supplies are running out, and they urgently need their men to make a living.
The reality is that Fort Ross is overcrowded, and the trees on the nearby hills that can be used to build large ships have been cut down. There are generally small trees in the nearby woods, and the small beasts in the woods are also hunted by hunters.
The land in the fjords is barren and the frost-free period in the climate is short. Neither men nor women can be self-sufficient through effective cultivation. Fishing and northern hunting in winter are the economic basis of the tribe, and these very arduous tasks must be done by men.
It must be said that people's eyes are sharp. Under the command of the great leader Otto and the leadership of Otto's two children, the tribe quickly became strong.
Some small families have enjoyed the dividends of war, and some small families have enjoyed the dividends of industrial development.
The dividends have actually benefited all tribal families, including those who have had difficulty living due to the death of their men in battle, accidental deaths, and even aging men and women. Two years have passed, and in modern times, all registered Ross tribesmen, young and old,
, all have truly received development dividends.
The returning soldiers not only brought home a batch of captured trophies, such as a large amount of fishing equipment, but also cut canvas from enemy ships and even shabby clothes.
They brought back a lot of things. In fact, Arik deliberately delayed their return until the sea water froze.
Of course, there is nothing better than organizing thousands of soldiers to directly land on the island, kill the Gotland army, and then directly plunder the wealth stored by the islanders. In this way, everyone will make a fortune. To this day, Arik still believes that
The enemy was inferior, and he always felt that his uncle Otto's prohibition on him from mobilizing the main force of the Ross tribe to fight the enemy was a matter of opportunity.
Because the local fishermen's raids were running from one victory to another, it reinforced the fact that the enemy was ruthless.
However, what is very bad is that their actions went too far, forcing Gotland fishermen to dare not fish in the rich northern waters (because it is located at the mouth of Lake Malaren, this sea area is rich in nutrients). It seems that the fishing ground has been
The fishermen in the north are actually occupied by the fishermen of the Melalen tribe who only focus on catching freshwater fish in the lake. They are not aware of the wars taking place on the sea, and due to their inherent knowledge, they do not dare to risk going south.
For a time, the fishing industry in the vast sea area became depressed, and the Russian warships were like cruising sharks, searching for and biting enemies they encountered.
As time went by, Arik caught nothing for many days and fished on the spot. The days of fishing made everyone feel bored. In this case, it was better to go back with the loot as soon as possible.
The captured tools enriched the families of the soldiers. On the still short night of the first day after their return, Arik led a few people and summoned all those who participated in the battle to gather at the door of his home, and then divided and sold them in public.
Money from loot ships.
Everyone held high torches soaked in rosin, and stared at the open suitcase with wide eyes, looking at the silver coins reflecting inside.
During the long day, Rurik had a long family talk with his cousin at his home.
My cousin told me a lot about the details of the events in the southern sea. Rurik listened to the description of the mercenary captain Yevlo by the way, so he had an intuitive understanding of the naval battle and analyzed the tactics.
wait.
As the saying goes, the best strategy is to collide with the bow of the ship, the middle strategy is to shoot with arrows, and the worst strategy is to jump into gangs and fight.
The two brothers completed the delivery of the ownership of the ship in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.
Arik had eaten at the leader's house, and even though it was already evening, he still brought the money box to distribute the money.
"Attention everyone! Twenty silver coins for each person! Including me, it's also twenty silver coins!"
"We are all brothers. We have been floating at sea for two months and everyone must be paid!"
"Attention! Leave after taking the money. Each person can only take it once. You are not allowed to take your brother's money privately. Violators will be punished."
…
Arik was actually afraid that someone would pretend to claim it. Rurik and his family were also watching, and they couldn't help but feel very regretful when they saw the young warriors of the tribe rushing about in a chaotic manner.
"Alas! There may be some people trying to fish in troubled waters like this! Fortunately, my people have been forced to train to know how to queue up."
After all, they were madmen who followed Arik to fight. Rurik just watched from the side. How Arik distributed the money was his business and had nothing to do with him.
There was only one thing that caught Rurik's keen attention, and that was Arik's so-called generosity.
As a commander, you really want to share the four thousand silver coins from the fishing boat?
Of course, the mercenaries are Rurik's people, and they can only get rewards from their masters. As for rewarding Loyevro and others, Rurik has already given out all the bonuses. The so-called bonus is actually twenty silver coins to match
The salary for two months of overseas combat, plus a food subsidy of five silver coins.
Arik really only took twenty silver coins, and within a short time, the heavy box became empty. Rurik actually worried too much. These soldiers fought side by side for a long time, and everyone was originally angry at coveting the trophies of their comrades.
The great evil man, now that he has commanded Arik to set an example of seeking justice, no one will have greedy thoughts.
So, is Arik really generous?
Of course, he is generous.
Rurik naturally saw the underlying situation: rather than getting actual silver or gold coins, his cousin now cares more about his personal prestige.
"Do you long for glory? Of course, I do too. Now we are on different paths. I'm afraid I will always be the winner."