Chapter 351 They don't even want to take up arms to defend the village why should I respect them
The roads in the villages along the river are messy, and there are many weeds growing near the simple wooden houses.
Jevro swallowed his saliva and approached the first wooden house with gentle steps.
"Brothers, be careful." He ordered in a low voice.
Behind them were a group of Russian troops who were ready for battle. Before the scouts confirmed that it was safe, Arik did not want everyone to take risks.
The ajar wooden door was opened, revealing that this was actually a wooden house that was half underground.
The light inside the house was dim, and as the wooden door opened, Yevro could clearly see the structure inside.
"It's weird, it looks like someone just left?" The space inside is so big, is there any danger?
He walked in and used his steel sword to stir up the dark place that was obviously a bonfire, even though it was covered with soil.
There was a hint of anxiety in the room. He dug up the soil and saw some charcoal blocks burning slowly at the bottom. The dark red charcoal proved everything.
Suddenly, his hair stood up, and he ran out of the house with a steel sword in hand, shouting to the guys who were still searching: "Brothers, they just left. Be careful, this village is not abandoned."
Without him speaking at all, all the mercenaries discovered traces of human activities.
We found no clear footprints yet, but we found a large number of roughly hidden fires and even several broken black pottery urns.
Some even found scattered wheat grains.
Everyone became bolder, and they kicked open one house after another, hoping to find something good. Sure enough, someone actually found the sack with the mouth locked. They stabbed it with a sword, and saw that there was something along the steel.
What came out of the sword's bleeding tank was actually brown oatmeal.
Is there anything more joyful than discovering fresh wheat in the wilderness?
Seeing that no one was around, the mercenaries took care of their small linen bags and filled them with some wheat as their trophies. Mercenaries were different from Russian soldiers, but this kind of private plundering of trophies, Rurik
If you don't blame it, that's okay.
The village is not big, so Jevlo and his guys inspected almost every wooden house and came to a very clear conclusion.
He took his people back to report, and faced Arik who was on guard.
Arik was already impatient: "Did you find anything abnormal?"
"There are some."
"Ah? What is it?"
"There are people living here, and they escaped. I think it was probably the escaped fishing boat. The fisherman told his tribe that we were coming."
"Are they Gotlanders?"
Jevlo directly denied: "If they were those people, we should be fighting now. Maybe they are Polo people."
"Damn! A bunch of stupid Baltic people?" Arik stomped his feet angrily: "If I had known this, I should have rowed hard, but now we are late. By the way, have you found any treasures?"
"Baby?" Jevro thought about it and decided to tell the truth: "There is some wheat, not much. I guess they couldn't run far when they escaped. There are still some footprints on the soil, some of people and some of sheep. As for the silver coins
Or copper coins, none found."
Arik was convinced of Jevlo's words: "So, the villagers ran away with a lot of things? They must not have gone far, they are in this forest."
"Ah? Do you want to pursue me?"
Arik flatly denied: "No! We came to this ghost place on a temporary basis. Since we can find some wheat and inexhaustible fresh water, it would be best for us to replenish our supplies here."
After that, he turned around, pointed his sword at the village, and shouted at the eager brothers: "Brothers, a group of cowards abandoned their wealth and ran away. Now, you are the masters of this village! Rush in.
, take everything you find according to your ability. Remember, don’t fight among brothers, we all have a share. Only I don’t want a single copper coin!”
After talking, the crowd was enthusiastic!
Arik is such a person. He realizes that he already has a lot of personal wealth, and he and his family have no worries about food and clothing. His biological parents are dead, and Arik has no more worries. He has a strong revenge and anger in his heart. In the battle of revenge,
, his continued growing popularity allowed him to find the meaning of life and personal value.
He is a "war chief" who was fought in iron and blood. In order to maintain his power, he must serve his supporters well. Arik has realized many things, such as the importance of not being greedy for merit.
If you plunder according to your ability, whoever robs will own whatever you plunder.
The Ross warriors, who were already full, burst out with wildness like tigers and wolves. They held their swords and axes high and rushed to one wooden house after another, looking for anything useful.
Throughout the robbery, only the mercenaries were ordered to restrain themselves by their masters.
Jevro was a little unwilling: "Sir, are you just going to watch your cousin's people plunder?"
"Yes, just watching."
"Don't you want to get something?"
"What else can there be? You just harvested a little wheat secretly, and I know that. There is only a little wheat in this place, and I don't pay much attention to it. Listen, let's just rest here and let them wreak havoc."
What followed was a complete feast for the Russians, not to mention, they actually discovered the entrances to some cellars.
The so-called cellar is just a dark hole. The cold cellar could freeze if you put water in it. Some soldiers bravely got into it, and not to mention, they actually brought out some cold sacks. When they untied the hemp rope, they saw that it was full of
wheat.
Many people were eager to get some leather and linen, and they did find some useless rags. The villagers raised sheep and chickens because there was livestock excrement on the ground, but they were all gone.
A batch of wheat was moved to the ground. Compared to a hundred Rus warriors, their size was actually not much.
While Arik was excited, he held his chin and muttered: "It's strange, they only expect this little wheat to survive the whole year? It's obvious that they have just finished the autumn harvest."
Rurik stepped forward: "Maybe they have other granaries. It must not be here. Oh, maybe they were carrying wheat when they escaped."
"Forget it, they may have a second granary or a larger village. We are too few. The next time I come with four hundred or five hundred people and a large number of empty ships, I must
Return with a full load." Arik was not just talking, he really had plans in this regard.
An empty village serves as a resting point for everyone tonight.
A large amount of wheat was seized, and everyone could eat as much as they wanted and drink the sweet river water. After all, these wheat were thrown on the boat and taken away, the long boat was seriously overloaded.
The load limit of a larger long ship can reach four tons, which is even comparable to some cargo ships. With such a load, it can basically not withstand any wind and waves. As long as the waves are slightly larger, the ship will be seriously flooded.
With a height of two meters, the overloaded long ship capsized directly.
Since you can't take them all away, let's eat as much as we can! At least everyone has to eat until their stomachs are strong.
The Russian soldiers used the stone grinding rods they found to process the fresh oats into coarse flour on the grinding disc. They had to spend some experience to deeply process the wheat grains, so that everyone could store some dry food for a long time during the next journey.
Could it be that the invention of cookies was really made by survivors of a shipwreck using flour soaked in seawater and stones heated by campfires?
Rurik thought these were nonsense. In his opinion, the inventors of biscuits were the Vikings, and the so-called whole-wheat biscuits were one of their staple foods.
It takes some time to cook the oats thoroughly. While the wheat grains in the pottery urn were rolling up and down on the boiling water, some river pebbles were pulled out and they became a platform for baking oatmeal cakes.
Rurik was a little strange. He saw that this world was obviously lush and green, and the surrounding terrain was very flat. The ground his feet stepped on was obviously black soil (which proved to be fertile). The slow river should be full of silt, so how could there be anything there?
Some large pebbles? All he could guess was that this river also had summer floods. Whenever the floods occurred, some stones from the upper reaches would be pushed here.
But the problem came again. Rurik never remembered that there were any mountains in Estonia. This country was obviously very low and flat.
"Could it be that I was wrong? This place is not Estonia? Did we veer off course?"
Rurik slapped his face hard, and he felt that the situation was actually very good. Look at his own people, they were already celebrating their harvest in other people's villages.
There were still some strange things that made Rurik calm down. He held a piece of crispy baked wheat cake and chewed it beautifully. Although there was no sugar, it really became more and more delicious the more he chewed it.
Taking advantage of the joyful atmosphere, Arik stretched out his face, which was flushed and warm by the bonfire, and muttered to his brother: "We will spend the night here. We will leave tomorrow morning."
"Very good, the village is not ours after all. We still don't even know who those people are."
Rurik's words seemed to reveal caution, and Arik was certainly fearless: "I don't care who they are, they are seeking death when they show up. Get out of here, we will leave with the remaining food tomorrow. Oh, by the way, in
Before leaving, this village must be burned."
Rurik's heart has only been slightly touched by what happened now. His character has not become violent, but he has really become rational.
Yes, no matter what the unknown villagers were, they just set the fire deliberately to make Rurik feel that this move was unnecessary.
"It's better to save some effort and continue sailing with the food. Burning the house is a waste of time."
"That won't work." Arik insisted, "The house must be burned! They are not even willing to take up arms to protect their home, why should I respect them. Remember, if the enemy is a coward or despises you, you have to give back double your
anger."
"Okay, you have a point, I won't say it anymore."
Rurik continued to eat, and even gnawed on a bass fished from the river. He skillfully spit out the bones of the grilled fish, and ate two pieces of wheat cake in a row. Rurik was completely full.
A child's body is easy to fill up, but this is not the case for other strong men.
The Russian warriors, or the professional fishermen of the Rus. Whether it was fighting, fishing, or long-term oar voyages, they were forced to develop a huge appetite. Now they can get a lot of wheat without paying any price.
, they started eating like crazy. It was normal for a strong man to eat two pounds of oats tonight.
That night, they had been tortured by traveling and traveling, and because they ate too many carbohydrates, they inevitably felt a little unsatisfied after the meal. To put it bluntly, their body's insulin secretion suddenly became strong in response to stress, causing a large-scale commotion.
Postprandial hypoglycemia leading to listlessness.
Rurik could tentatively guess this. He saw that his tribesmen gradually lost their former vigor and showed signs of wilting by the campfire. Many people simply curled up and snored indifferently.
Of course, they can live directly in wooden houses in the village because of the protection from the wind. They really can't get used to living in a house that is half underground, because it makes people feel like they are rats burrowing in the ground, which is a symbol of cowardice, and even more so.
Reminds me of tombs.
They slept curled up in leather and linen beside the campfire, and only those who went to the toilet ran to the village houses.
Since the semi-crypt house is regarded as a symbol of a tomb, the Russians with abdominal pain naturally regard it as a place to hide filth and evil. After all, whether in Rossburg or in Mälaren, the toilets of all tribes are like this. There will be one
The big pit carries all kinds of filth.
Even when the tribesmen were sleeping, their swords and shields never left their hands.
Does this count as a precaution? Rurik really couldn't stand that his cousin didn't even set up sentries, but actually camped in the enemy's house.
He tried to tell his cousin, who was so tired that he could hardly raise his eyelids: "Brother! I'm afraid that the villagers will take back their village at night. It's really too dangerous for us to spend the night in the village."
"Forget it." As he said that, Arik yawned deeply: "They are cowards during the day, and they dare not come at night."
Hearing this, Rurik secretly cursed his brother for being a reckless man. He does have some wisdom. Is it because after eating and drinking tonight, his intelligence has declined and turned into an ape?
Rurik stamped his feet: "Just sleep, and remember to sleep with your sword. Don't worry, I will send mercenaries as sentries. If the enemy attacks, you can get up and fight immediately."
Arik waved his hand, this perfunctory look clearly showing disdain for Rurik's advice.
So what should we do? Rurik had no choice but to arrange for his men to do the work.
The mercenaries were divided into two groups, and they were ordered to use Russian bows and arrows. They spread out and hid behind some big trees on the outskirts of the village, alert to any disturbance.
One group was on alert while the other rested. They judged the time for the handover based on the stars, especially the Big Dipper, which the Russians called the "Seven Valkyries".
Rurik, under the personal protection of Jevro, was wrapped in thick leather and slept leaning against a bonfire.
It seems that the Russians have completely fallen into silence?
Actually, that's not the case. Those figures sitting under the dark trees are always on guard.
The quiet time passed by minute by minute, as if nothing dangerous would happen this night.
So, is this really the case?
Is it really safe that in the morning, the Russians will finish their breakfast, burn the village to the ground, and then drive away?
Rurik had long expected that the situation should not and could not be so simple. He did not believe that there were really villagers who had opened up fields, and would be so scared that they would run away and never show up again just because they saw a few boats and uninvited guests.
When it started to get brighter that day, something finally happened.
A sentry noticed the strange footsteps. This sentry was already on his third round of duty. He was in good spirits. When he heard the strange noise, he raised his bow and suddenly shot it. The scene in front of him shocked him greatly.
In the dim forest, those tree trunks blocked people's vision, and some dark shadows were moving cautiously.
Is it a monster? Or something scary?
No! It’s the enemy!
The sentry drew his bow and fired an arrow, and soon there was heard the painful wail of a man.
"Oops, they are really enemies."
The sentry suddenly drew his bow and shot another arrow, then ran away.
He was running wildly, and the shadows were also pursuing him. Fortunately, all the mercenaries had undergone rigorous physical training at Rurik's request. Their endurance and explosive power were excellent, and their running speed was astonishing.
One sentry sounds the alarm, and gradually the rest respond. It's not that the sentries communicate with each other, it's just that all the sentries are aware of the danger!
Now, before running back to the camp, the sentry had begun to use various means to try to wake up his sleeping companions.