The arrows pierced the air, and the sound of whooshing was endless.
The Gotlanders had only two ships, one of which had completely lost its ability to sail under the constant firing of the Russians.
Seeing this, the boat behind them could no longer care so much. They turned around urgently and tried to escape.
There were thrown arrows falling from the sky, and projectiles fired from the torsion slingshot, causing terrible splashes around the ship.
"They are going to escape! Sailors, control the sails, we will catch up with them!" Rurik gave the order while holding on to the side railings with both hands.
The triangular shape of the Avora suddenly adjusted its wind-receiving surface. The entire ship turned sideways and suddenly turned at a low radius. Compared with the Gotland's rowing long ship, her turn was more elegant and faster.
The Avora showed her due super maneuverability. With just one exciting turn, she passed by the enemy ship that was dying from the attack, broke a bunch of wooden oars with its bulbous bow, and rushed to the first place.
The sides of two ships.
The distance between the two sides was less than ten meters. Such a terrifying close range, the Russians did not hesitate to launch a new round of shooting from above.
Look! It was a torsion slingshot coming from the side. The mercenary lifted its rear end hard, and the slingshot came with a solid blast!
With two dull sounds, two of the three projectiles successfully hit the longship's inner ribs and penetrated it directly!
Even if the hull is made of oak, its weakest point will always be the sides.
In an instant, two jets of water surged up from the Gotland ship. The strong water pressure made it difficult to block the ship, and the ship was leaking rapidly.
However, the Russian attacks continued.
The attack of arrows left the Gotlanders with nowhere to hide. They wanted to fight back, but the tools in their hands were like firewood sticks in autumn, which were useless. They raised their shields to resist in vain, because the shields were also blocked by the steel arms.
Crossbow chiseled.
The battle was completely one-sided. With the continuous firing of torsion slingshots and the support of slingshots from neighboring ships, the last Gotland longship had been riddled with holes and was sinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Soon, the ship sank completely, and the dead immediately sank to the bottom to feed the fish. The blood of the injured stained the sea area red. At this moment, there were still more than ten living Gotlanders, scrambling to hold the floating wooden sticks in the sea waves.
It went up and down, and from time to time it had to dive to avoid arrows shot by the Russians.
They became the perfect prey. The Russians on the boat stretched out their fingers and laughed wildly, speaking dirty words on their lips, showing their disdain and contempt vividly.
Is the battle over like this?! He leaned over and looked at the handful of living people floating on the sea. Before the battle, Otto knew that he would win, but he never thought that winning would be so simple and easy.
He still remained calm and said to Rurik: "That's it. We don't need to worry about them. Let these enemies float on the sea and die naturally."
Admit it, no matter how low the salinity of the Baltic Sea is, it is still salt water. These enemies will soon die of dehydration if they float on the sea.
The Russians can ignore them, or show mercy and kill them now.
Rurik also leaned over and looked at them. Although they were enemies, the eyes of these guys holding the broken wood were begging for mercy.
Begging for mercy? What a joke! Who would forgive a pirate?
Yes, Rurik now defines these people as pirates. When dealing with pirates, Rurik has no mercy at all, and his treatment methods are more brutal. In addition to avoiding them, the tribesmen are eager to see the pirates tortured to death.
But these enemies were defeated after all. They must be Gotlanders. So what is the current situation on Gotland?
"I think these people are still useful." Rurik replied solemnly.
"Huh? You...you actually want to be merciful to these filths?!"
"How is that possible? At least we can kill them all after asking them about their situation. We need information about Gotland so much."
Otto nodded and motioned to his men to throw down the rope ladder.
The Aurora temporarily furled its sails and put down the rope ladder. The panicked floaters felt that they had a chance to survive. Even if they were slaves, it would be better than being fish feed!
They climbed up the rope ladder one after another, and in shock boarded the big ship they had seen for the first and last time in their lives. It was also the first time they boarded the ship of the hateful and terrible Russians.
As soon as they landed, they were beaten down with a punch by the prepared Ross warriors. They were then tied up with prepared hemp ropes and thrown into a corner, and were closely guarded by sword and shield men.
Eight people successfully boarded the ship and were successfully captured. The ninth and last person was shot through the neck by a steel-armed crossbow at close range while climbing just because the ropes used to bind them were exhausted.
Falling into the sea with a sound...
They thought they could survive, but what they waited for was a brutal interrogation by the Russians.
In order to prevent them from being dishonest, Otto ordered his men to punch and kick them. Although this behavior was too violent, Rurik stood on the bow deck and watched, because they were bound to be executed, so he should think of a way to execute them.
The method is at least not too violent.
The eight captured people were beaten with wooden sticks and whipped with hemp ropes. Their heads were bleeding and their begging for mercy was hesitant.
Otto was so arrogant that he didn't have the trouble to interrogate these guys himself.
Jevlo took on the task of interrogation. In order to survive, these prisoners rushed to tell themselves everything they knew.
The information they recounted forced Rurik, who was sitting down, to stand up and quickly walk to the prisoners.
"What did you say? Your fishing port Visby has already taken action? You have already guessed that we are going to attack you!" In the current context, Rurik was sure that the Gotlanders were worried that the Svealand Alliance would launch a large-scale invasion of the island.
, the Russians are naturally highly wary of them because of their alliance.
The prisoners were shocked and rushed to claim that what they said was true. They even discussed terms.
Negotiate terms? Some pirates who are about to be beaten to death are also willing to negotiate terms?
Otto had already drawn his sword, and in front of Rurik, he assassinated a guy who asked for conditions, so that others did not dare to make any more demands.
An enemy's blood splashed on Rurik's face. He wiped off the blood and asked with wide eyes: "Tell me your strength. How many men have you gathered? What weapons do you have?!"
The frightened people were trembling with color. They rushed to reveal their secrets in order to survive.
Some people suggested that Visby had at least one thousand troops, and one person claimed two thousand, and even threatened that if the power of the entire island gathered in Visby, Gotland would be able to organize a "military force" of five thousand.
"Behemoth". At least in their perception, an army of one thousand people is already invincible, and a team of five thousand people is even stronger, and is an existence that any opponent is afraid of.
It's a pity that the so-called "five thousand army" is just the fantasy of the Gotlanders. They inadvertently revealed that in addition to the huge settlement of Visby on the island, a large number of fishermen live scattered in various offshore villages. In other words,
There were originally three large settlements on Gotland. The one in the southern bay of the island was destroyed by the Russians, and the remaining two were in the north. They could not be defeated quickly by five hundred elite Russian warriors.
Visby Port, there are probably 2,000 armed men gathered here. If some young people and old people are organized together, or mercenaries are recruited from the surrounding fishing villages, the residents of Visby Port can assemble an army of 3,000 people.
A large army, Rurik reckons this is feasible.
There are many of them, so the quality must be poor, and the weapons and equipment are also terrible.
Yes! Their weapons must be terrible. Look at what scrap metal these captured Gotlanders are holding. They have no power to fight back against the arrows of the Russian army.
"It looks like the enemy has at least two thousand people." Rurik looked at his father. "We have to gather two thousand people to attack. Dad, I don't want to win a battle with less. This time we must gather more."
"Then three thousand people." Otto bared his teeth and stabbed another pirate in public with a bloody sword, which attracted continuous applause from the Russian soldiers present.
Because the situation has become very clear, because these Gotlanders and the Ross fleet are all cargo ships, and they are all easy targets to bully. Just imagine, if the Aurora is indeed a pure cargo ship without defense, these pirates
Wouldn't it be a direct success, then wouldn't everyone on the ship be killed?
Otto knew that those who dared to plunder should be killed. Otto did not want to show mercy and made great plans to assassinate them one by one.
The enemy's blood stained the deck of the ship red. Rurik felt that something was obviously wrong, so he grabbed his father.
"Huh? How dare you stop me from executing the pirates?"
"No! I have a better way."
"What is it?!"
"Tell them to go back to the sea and feed the fish!"
Although this is the Baltic Sea, the pirate ethos is not at all as relaxed as that of the Caribbean Sea.
To say that this sea area has never been peaceful, even in this era, when the Hanseatic League competed for maritime power, Denmark, the Netherlands and the Hanseatic League, each other's merchant ships were also warships, and the encounter between the hostile parties was a fierce battle.
, pirates of all kinds are frequently active in the sea area of the main film.
Pirate culture has existed since ancient times. In this regard, Rurik and Otto called the enemies in front of them dirty pirates. However, Arik of Rus had relied on pirate plunder to attack Gotland with advanced crossbows.
Fishermen, so far the waters to the north of the island have become a restricted area for the Gotlanders.
Since we are dealing with pirates, let’s use “more ornamental” criminal laws to make them feed the fish!
At least Rurik didn't have even the slightest bit of psychological discomfort when dealing with pirates. He just hoped for a bloodless method.
A wooden plank placed inside the cabin for use in repairing damage to the ship was moved to the deck. A section of it extended out of the side railing, and the tied people were forced to walk on the seesaw one by one.
Such a good show was actually done by Rurik?! The Russian soldiers and mercenaries laughed, and even the Covins present were amazed at the weird methods of this group of Varyags.
The prisoners' arms were tied, and they knew that if they jumped they would drown, but there were shining swords threatening them behind them.
A guy who didn't want to die stood nervously at the end of the board, with the sea underneath him.
Suddenly the ship trembled, and the man fell off and was swallowed by the waves in an instant.
Then, another person was forcefully pulled over and kept being driven and fell into the sea.
The Russians laughed wildly, and the captives' panic before death became the best joke, which also quickly alleviated the hostility of the Russian soldiers.
Otto stretched his neck and saw the last executed person sinking into the sea. He turned around again and lightly punched Rurik in the chest.
"You are a ruthless warrior. I like it very much. If you catch an enemy in the future, you will execute him in this way. By the way, what is this punishment called? Give it a name."
"It's called a Caribbean execution."
"What a strange name, okay..."
Otto was smiling when he spoke, but Rurik could not smile at all: "Dad, let's think about practical issues. Those guys have clearly stated the possible strength of the enemy, and we must go back as soon as possible to start preparing accordingly."
"Oh, I'm not worried about this at all."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because." Otto smiled again and gave Rurik a light punch: "You are a military commander. How you want to fight depends on your attitude."
"Okay, this is my war."
Rurik lowered his head slightly, and at this moment his face finally showed joy.
The encounter with the Gotland patrol ship was expected, and a quick victory was even more expected.
The Avora turned around and approached the last half-dead longship, lowered the Ross warriors on the rope ladder, and used the dying ones to finish off the damage, then threw the bodies directly into the sea.
There was a long ship with a small number of axes, swords and other weapons. No one can say that the Russians gained nothing from the battle going south.
The Aurora relied on the cable to pull the loot, and the entire fleet returned to its column. No enemies were seen in the future, and no other ships were even seen on the sea.
The fleet moved as close to the coastline of Scandinavia as possible. Finally, when they were confused by the long-day sailing, a series of trumpet-shaped harbors finally appeared in the distance, and the water here almost lost the salty smell.
This must be the entrance to Lake Mälaren, and the fleet has entered our own control area.
Will the fleet enter the Great Lakes?
No! The fleet had no intention of resting. After another night voyage, everyone finally discovered the vagueness of the northern world in the light sea fog in the early morning, and even some strange bright spots.
The sleepy Rurik was woken up by his panicked subordinates, and Otto, who was still asleep, also got up.
"Jevro, can't you be calmer?"
"But your lord, there are flames ahead! It looks like a fishing boat."
"I'm afraid it's an ally's fishing boat. If I give my order, if they don't attack, we won't attack either."
No one was sleeping soundly now. Although Rurik felt a bit cold, he climbed onto the bow deck and saw the lights and the lush greenery in the north.
At this moment, the boat was full of people, and they were ready for battle with crossbows in their hands.
"Haha! Don't be nervous anymore." Otto, who was standing high up, raised his arms and shouted, "Brothers, you are in great pain after being on the ship for so many days! We are about to land on Tombstone Island, we need to have a good rest!"
The soldiers cheered and Otto laughed heartily.
The next route was no longer in doubt. Ross fishermen had been fishing all night long with oil lamps. They had caught many cods and were waiting until daybreak to rush back to Tombstone Island with their catch to supply the huge garrison on the island.
Unexpectedly, a miracle happened! The fishermen never expected that their leader and the huge boat would arrive at Tombstone Island again.
Fishermen are also fortunate enough to become pilots.