The rising sun is in the east, and the fleet continues to move due south.
Bright days are the best for war, and the long days of summer also allow ships to sail for long periods of time.
Sailing against the wind will inevitably waste a lot of time, but a brand new goal stands in the distance!
Otto, Rurik and others who were staying in the captain's lounge were called by the soldiers on the deck.
Jevro's report made Otto, who was dozing, very depressed: "So fast? I thought I would only meet the enemy tomorrow, but how come I discovered the enemy settlement again?!"
"Duke, it's absolutely true! The eyes of brothers are like eagles, and the enemy's eyes appear on the hills in the distance..."
"What is it?"
"Seems like a fortress."
Here Javlo spoke the word "hill fortress" in ancient Finnish, and Otto could no longer languish.
A hibernating bear breaks out!
Otto stood up suddenly: "That's great! After so many days, we have a decent enemy for us to attack. Let's go on the deck and see who they are."
A moment later, Rurik stood beside his father. He had a better look than Otto. He squinted his eyes, and through the clear air, he saw that the so-called "hill castle" did indeed appear on the hills in the distance.
Rurik estimated that Gevro was referring to "all buildings protected by wooden walls" as hillforts in general, and this time Gevro's statement was obviously correct.
"Dad, I've seen it all."
"I saw it a bit vaguely. It looked a bit like the wooden walls of New Roseburg. I couldn't imagine anyone else doing this besides us."
"What should we do?" Rurik asked cautiously.
"You? You actually asked me?" Otto was actually undecided. Based on the intuition of an old soldier, he looked at the Malaren army in front of him who was still advancing at a rapid pace, and felt that the coalition forces must have a tough nut to crack in this battle.
"At least I gave you the authority to command the Russian army."
Rurik sighed slightly, then pointed directly at King Origen's ship: "We will see the reaction of the Melalen people, and we will support them if they attack. But..."
"What's wrong? Could it be possible that..." Otto suddenly became excited.
"Yes! Although we can abide by the contract and remain spectators, the battlefield environment is complicated. If our allies are in trouble, we have to join the war."
"Wuhu! Is this a fight? You are not yet twelve years old, and you want to go to the battlefield again?" Otto happily grabbed his son's golden ponytail. Although Rurik was still a child, he had the soul of a warrior.
Awakening is rare.
"If necessary, we will join the war." Rurik looked at his father with a serious face: "No matter how the war happens, we will stay and watch. If Olegin orders us to join the war, our troops will land. But none of us will participate in the fighting.
The most we can do is support with bows and crossbows. Dad, I don’t want any of my brothers to get hurt, and I don’t want to get involved too deeply.”
Without the excitement of a close-quarters fight with blood and flesh flying everywhere, Otto wouldn't be really excited about such a battle, and the same must be true for other brothers.
"Okay." Otto's deep eyes continued to look at the approaching enemy settlement ahead, "I can ignore everything else, at least we have to get some food. If the battle continues, we will not have enough food.
.”
The target is just ahead, and unlike the Russians who are cautious and restrained, the Mellaren people are completely excited.
With the victory in the previous two battles, they were already proud that the Gotlanders and Danes were nothing more than this. Although everyone was tired and time was not good for the entire coalition, everyone rushed forward in one go and destroyed the enemy's stronghold.
Make a fortune!
Isn't it? The enemy even built wooden walls. They must be protecting something by doing so.
What can they protect? It must be wheat, meat and countless silver and copper coins.
There is still a rational and restrained person in the entire Mellaren Army, and that is Olegin.
Karl was so excited that his heart almost exploded. He pointed his sword straight ahead: "Let me lead a group of brothers as the vanguard. Give me your most elite warriors. Victory belongs to Melalen. I will make a decisive victory in this battle."
great merit."
At this moment, Olegin, who was holding the bow of the ship, was in a really complicated mood. He hesitated for a while and made the decision to refuse.
"Why?!" Karl exclaimed in confusion. In grief and anger, he pointed his sword at the chasing friendly forces in the rear. "Do you still want to give them the glory of attacking the enemy's gathering point?"
"Well……"
"It's me! Invincible Karl! Are you afraid that if I die in battle, the power of the family will fall? Bah!" Karl turned his head and looked at the sun that was beginning to set in the west. He was also pointing his sword directly at it. He shouted: "Odin
!Grant me this honor, I am the King of the Holy Land (referring to Sweden itself), give me victory!”
So did God give him any response? It seemed that the south wind was getting stronger.
Karl didn't care so much. He put away his sword and told his father bluntly: "Now God orders us to attack. We cannot go against God's will and give opportunities to others."
Olegin felt that these remarks were all nonsense made up by Karl himself, but this boy's words caused the soldiers of the flagship to cheer.
Public opinion cannot be violated. All Olegin feels is the excitement of the soldiers. If he refuses his will, he will definitely get the hatred of his tribe.
He gritted his teeth and looked back again. Today, the Russians are still like a "puppy that follows its master", and the other allies are struggling to keep up with Fela.
"Then let's do it! Let's take a gamble!" Origen, baring his teeth, pulled out his beautiful steel sword and suddenly thrust it into Karl's hand.
The meaning of this move is self-evident!
Carl held his father's sword and immediately raised it: "Everyone, paddle as fast as you can! All ships follow!"
The speed of the Malaren Army increased. The soldiers did not care about the disadvantages caused by physical fatigue in future battles. They rushed towards the target. This move shocked the Russians and responded positively.
Otto felt more and more that the matter was because he saw a small sandbank not far away and enemy fishing boats further away. If it were normal, the Malaren army would definitely send out ships to attack the enemy fishing boats. Now they only attack the enemy fishing boats.
Enemy ports are interested.
At this moment, the Avora and the rest of the Russian ships were in a state of preparation for war. Although a naval battle did not seem to be happening, just in case, the warriors holding crossbows were fully prepared.
The sails were fully stretched, and the Avora reached her fastest speed, which caused her to rush into the formation of the Malaren army. This unintentional move was like spurs urging the horses to gallop, forcing them to change.
The Malaren army commanded by Karl further accelerated.
This is actually the first wave of attacks by the coalition forces, and it is probably the most powerful wave. There is still less than five kilometers of port road left in the landing battle.
…
A huge fleet rushed towards the port, and the residents of Voskas Port (Oskar Port) could not believe their eyes.
Who are they? Why are there so many long ships? Why are there unknown patterns printed on the sails?
Ouch! Could it be that I was dazzled? That huge sail is actually a ship?
For a moment, many residents did not realize that they were enemies. They stood at the docks and on the edge of the hills, watching the rapidly approaching fleet, and whispering to each other about the origins of these guys.
There are people in Dangre who are instinctively aware of the threat.
That's a Dane, specifically a Danish businessman.
There are boys sent by merchants walking through the streets and in the complicated residential areas composed of thatched houses and wooden houses at the port, spreading the word: "Don't look at it, those are not Danes! Unknown people are enemies!"
Shouting and shouting, this group of messengers simply yelled "enemy attack". Just one phrase made a large number of onlookers who did not know the truth realize that something was wrong.
People began to evacuate, followed by panic.
They began to rush towards an important refuge, which was a city built by Danish businessmen - Voskasburg.
The name of this settlement is Voskas, which means "winding hills". The name is appropriate. The inland of the arc-shaped bay of this port is a large number of hills with an altitude of less than 30 meters. This place is not suitable for planting.
land, but it is perfect as a fishing port.
The essence of Voscarburg is that Danish merchants spent money to build a square wooden wall to protect their mansion and rights. During this period, there were many longhouses and storage cellars. The wood used was the most common local pine. As for the
The huge red pine trees had long been cut down, and the fortresses they built were mostly tree trunks as thick as a man's thigh. The wooden walls were about two hundred meters long and wide, and the enclosed area was indeed quite large.
Wooden walls can help Danish merchants and the mercenaries they support avoid strong winds, and are also the first level of protection for wealth.
Of course it also has military significance. After all, Danes are not monolithic. Danish merchants doing business far away from the Jutland Peninsula must maintain friendly relations with the local Gotlanders and Götalanders while also protecting themselves.
In Voskas, the Danes have formed a de facto alliance with the local fishermen. Since this group of fishermen only spontaneously gathered into villages, they did not come from the same clan tribe, so they did not have a leader.
If anyone is the leader, the five Danish families living here are the leaders, but there is still no supreme leader.
The population of this place exceeds two thousand, and the number of men who can bear arms reaches a thousand.
The Mellaren Army was completely unaware of this situation, and they continued to advance like a rainbow pig.
Not everyone heeded the Danes' warning to evacuate. Many people simply rushed to the beach, took the main boat with them and their families and fled southward. There were not a few people who did this. There were at least thirty boats that heard the news.
escape.
If they are unprepared and encounter a strong enemy attack, perhaps the best way is to retreat tactically. The Danish businessmen's first thought is to escape, but they still have a large amount of sheepskins, cowhide, and prepared cheese to transport away
, Dandan evacuated with the silver coin box and left the other goods behind, but his house was burned down by the enemy. It was like a lifetime of hard work was wiped out in an instant.
In order to protect their property, they risked their lives!
However, they also have a beautiful fantasy, that is, the people who are rushing are not the real enemy, but a huge fleet from Gotland. After all, there are often giant monsters churning on the sea (actually sperm whales splashing in the water), and the strange fleet is
Not surprising at first sight.
Not all settled port residents want to flee. How can most people abandon the cattle, sheep and houses they depend on for a living?
Look! The brave Danish warriors stood up! They were generally covered in chain mail, and even their heads were covered in chain mail. Their shields were painted with gorgeous patterns, and their battle axes were powerful.
There are as many as 200 pure Danes from Jutland. In fact, these guys were forced to go out to live as mercenaries because of the large population and lack of land in their hometown. In fact, these mercenaries have been left for local fishermen.
There are many kinds of things, but as for whether the child can find his real father, that is not what the mercenary should care about.
The Voskas people sold their agricultural products, handicrafts, and textiles to Danish merchants nearby, and the merchants sold them back to Jutland, and then shipped back ironware, linen threads, etc. from Jutland. This formed a trade
line.
The residents of Port Voskas themselves have commercial transactions with Borgholm and Kalmar in the south. Although they must also be wary of sneak attacks by these so-called "old friends", now that their hometown is facing disaster, they have gone south.
It is very necessary to evacuate and send warnings at the same time.
The Danish mercenaries are the core of the combat power of the Port of Voskas. All the male fishermen who are not running away and can handle weapons are also clustered around the Danes, but the weapons and equipment are really bad. Generally speaking, the Voskas people
Wearing linen and animal skins, some hardened cowhide armor is high-end goods. Their most equipped equipment is short spears, harpoons and axes. Of course, basically everyone has a round shield.
They were equipped with some bows, but with their own bow-making technology, the performance of short wooden bows was terrible. If the enemy was wearing mail armor, the bone arrow clusters would really get stuck in the gaps.
They didn't have much time to prepare. In a hurry, 700 people took up arms, and this was basically all the troops that could be assembled in the current situation.
Of course, if they recruit boys between the ages of twelve and fifteen as warriors, their strength can barely increase by another hundred, but no one believes that children can become masters in fighting.
The women and all the old and weak, with their limited resources and a few cows and sheep, slowly moved into Voskaburg.
The Danish mercenaries led almost all the combat forces and began to move toward the port in a chaotic manner.
They haven't even reached the seaside yet, the landing of the Mellarens has already begun!
Swedish longships washed up on the beach one after another, even squeezing a large number of local fishing boats. Only by experiencing the battlefield in person did the Mälaren soldiers really realize that this was the enemy's "huge settlement". Many of them had limited knowledge.
People directly concluded that this was the legendary Kalma, which was the final target of the attack.
Karl took the lead as a sword-and-shielder: "Brothers! Charge with me!"
The Merlaren warriors felt that they were about to make a fortune, and their attack was completely unorganized.
However, the enemy forces suddenly appeared from behind the longhouse group and suppressed the attack momentum of the Malaren army.
Karl made a prompt decision. He opened his arms to restrain his men, and then shouted: "Shield wall! Line up! Get ready to fight!"
The "black warriors" in the Mellaren army were well trained. Their inked black shields were stacked on top of each other, coupled with their black armor and black battle axes. Now it was the enemy's turn to be surprised.
Olegin also played a key role at the critical moment. He was at the back end of the landing field and left to arrange the formation of the Mälaren peasant soldiers.
The situation suddenly became very delicate. Both sides were obviously hostile, but even if they encountered each other, they would not dare to act rashly.
At this moment, the five Russian ships were parked very close to the coast. This distance was definitely within the firepower range of longbows and steel-armed crossbows, and the torque slingshots could hit them at will.
Otto stared at the cooled battlefield. The setting sun in the west was like blood. The two armies were facing each other on the beach?
"Rurik, it looks like a battle may break out at any time. Do you want to intervene?"
"At least we are prepared." Rurik said cautiously, holding on to the railing.
Jevlo, who was pulling the firing rope at this moment, hurriedly expressed his position: "In my opinion, it is more important to support the friendly forces. Now that the slingshot is loaded with cast-iron bullets, it is easier for this thing to hit the enemy's shield wall than to penetrate the enemy ship."
"Don't act rashly!" Rurik ordered, "This is a war for the Melalen people. Don't steal that Karl's limelight."
In fact, Rurik was fully confident of delivering a fierce blow to the unknown enemy. Maybe the first round of six projectiles would poke six holes in the enemy's line, followed by another batch of arrow feathers falling from the sky. He did not believe in the enemy's knowledge.
After such a blow, morale may suddenly collapse.
If he did this, Karl would be furious!
Rurik has seen that Karl has obviously taken over the command from his father, so when will they start the war?