Gotland is a large island 130 kilometers from east to west, and its widest point is less than 50 kilometers.
Its geographical location is unique and it is surrounded by a huge fishing ground. The prosperous fishing industry once supported this island with a huge population of 20,000 people.
Fishermen and businessmen from all walks of life gather here, and the fish they produce are sold far away.
Gotland has a large population, and people from all over the world gather here. There is no strong tribe with common roots here, there are only more than a dozen large settled families, and more than a dozen small fishing villages.
Without war, life among Gotlanders would be relatively peaceful.
Over the years, only Gotland's fishermen have attacked outsiders who broke into the fishing grounds, and their attacks were often successful. However, in the conflict with the Russians ten years ago, they tasted defeat.
At that time, Otto was commanding the Ross fleet. Because the fleet was lost in the fog, it accidentally broke into the Gotlanders' fishing grounds.
The unruly fishermen took it for granted that they were fishing competitors from the north, or simply attackers.
At least ten years ago, Gotland announced its separation from the Svealand Union, and the elders of the major families voted to cooperate with the Danes. To be fair, Gotland is naturally doing business with Jutland.
Quickly, they broke their alliance for the greater benefit, and Liang Zi has made it.
Since the Gotlanders betrayed the alliance, the Russians, who were part of the alliance, were equivalent to having a privateering license. The remote Russians were well fed and went to attack the Gotlanders in large numbers, but the lost ship
The team was attacked and the leader's brother died.
After that, Otto opened up old scores, and the Russians suddenly became the most active in attacking Gotland.
The constant attacks by the Rus in recent years have caused the Gotlanders to vomit three liters of blood.
The islanders have gathered from all directions. If there is an insurmountable crisis, they will evacuate the island at worst.
However, not many big families are really willing to give up the business they have been running for more than ten or decades. Visby has become a city, and it really shouldn't be abandoned.
Many islanders have already chosen to evacuate. They cannot go fishing in the rich waters in the north of the island. Going south to the Øresund fishery will compete with Danish fishermen for fish, which is really a conflict.
Perhaps the carrying capacity of the island has reached its limit, and the tragic situation of the settlements in the south of the island being looted by the Russians has really put everyone in other settlements in danger.
There are currently two major settlements on the island, Visby on the west coast of the island, and Vitset in a fjord in the north of the island.
Visby, originally meaning "sacrificial hill", has the most densely populated population due to its special status.
Witset, originally means "white sand", because this fjord is full of white sand.
White Sands Port has been declining in the past three years, and a large number of people have migrated to Visby. At this point, Visby's population once expanded to nearly 10,000 people!
Serious population pressure forced a large number of locals to leave Gotland. No, some of them went to Kalmar, to the Danish territory, and even to Oslo and many other places in Scandinavia facing the Atlantic Ocean.
a bay.
Just as the Russians were launching an all-out war, Gotland was already appearing to be strong on the outside and incompetent on the inside. The major families inside were quietly suspicious of each other, and their attachment to the island was also decreasing.
Yes, on an island where huge wealth cannot be made, why should real businessmen continue to settle there for a long time?
The island's population has dropped sharply to less than 15,000 people. Many strong men have been lost, and the remaining people are even more scattered.
The setback forced people to stay away from the military threat of the Russians. People living offshore were worried that a fleet would suddenly arrive and launch an attack.
Their worries finally turned into reality!
Arik's longship army, like a pack of wolves, directly caught up with the four fishing boats that were desperately escaping.
He didn't waste any time. First, his soldiers used crossbows to kill accurately (they were veterans who had been focusing on sea shooting for more than two years), and then the ship connected with the ship to complete the final blow.
The First Flag Team of the Warriors had no intention of fighting and kept charging forward. Their unstoppable temperament had scared the fishermen on the shore into running away.
The man grabbed the hands of women and children and started running away without taking anything.
Some people also decided to pick up some tools for self-protection and household expenses.
However, Arik was too fast. His warriors wore uniform clothes. A kind of white-shirted warriors jumped off the boat, flashing their classic Russian blue stripes with the letter "X", holding bright white oiled steel swords and
Shield, trying to scare people silly and rush towards them.
The fishermen roared in horror: "It's the Russians! The damn Russians are coming!"
Then came the screams of men, women, and the howls of children.
"Damn it, you dare to call me worthy of death?" Arik heard the vigilant yells and he ordered without hesitation: "Brothers, kill me! Kill all those who dare to resist!"
This battle is unreasonable. The well-equipped Warrior Flag Team has more soldiers than the population of this fishing village!
Those who tried to resist were killed directly, including a group of soldiers who knelt down and begged for mercy, but were also killed and had their heads chopped off.
If Rurik had been present and witnessed such a tragedy, he would have ordered his subordinates to restrain their actions and stop the senseless killing of those who gave up resistance.
However, instead of going on a killing spree in the name of avenging his father, Arik is more likely to have witnessed blood, and the bestiality erupting deep in his soul has gone out of control.
The Russians have lost control and the battle has become one-sided.
Oh, this can no longer be regarded as a battle, it is completely a classic Viking-style raid.
Those who could escape immediately took their families and ran towards the north like crazy. They threw away all kinds of unnecessary objects, just to escape faster. They only had one belief, and ran to the nearest Baisha Port.
Meet with the locals and report the news of the Russians' landing, and then everyone gets armed to fight the invaders and drive them out.
As for those who were slow to escape, they were all caught up by the Russians and then massacred.
The blood dripping from the sword and ax can only make the beast's eyes scarleter!
As expected, the white gowns of the soldiers were stained with the enemy's blood, with a strong bright red added to the blue and white tones.
They dragged the captured women by their hair and acted in broad daylight. No one criticized this at all. On the contrary, they were victors and conquerors. They boasted that they could do whatever they wanted to the losers!
Those women have lost their husbands and children, their eyes are empty and they endure the insult, and their souls are dead.
There were also women who fought back, but unfortunately their axes were so weak that they were killed immediately by the violent warriors.
A fishing village of less than 400 people was conquered in an instant, more than 100 people successfully escaped, and most of the remaining people were killed.
When the Ross army began to land one after another using this as a landing point, Rurik covered his mouth and saw that what his army did was no different from what the Malaren people did more than a month ago.
There is no law to restrain these warriors. Apart from not using force against their own people, they regard others as their enemies, and they will kill them with the most brutal means and then humiliate them.
Seeing that everyone including the Duke and his brother had landed ashore, Aric, dressed in blood, came over with a pair of blood-stained swords and a crazy smile.
"Duke, you see, I have won a great victory."
"I've seen it all." Otto's deep eyes stared at the mess on the ground. His emotions seemed to have no fluctuations, but he was a little dissatisfied inside.
"What do you think I did?"
"Well done to you for winning the first battle!"
Otto still had a dull face, and his behavior really surprised Arik. He turned around and beat his chest and asked about his brother: "Rurik, look at me! I am a real warrior! This battle was won easily."
.What do you think? How does it compare to those Mellarens?"
"Why did you kill those women? Look at the good deeds you did."
For a moment, Arik was stunned, and then said: "Oh, this kind of thing will inevitably happen in battle."
"What about those?" Rurik's ears were filled with the evil laughter of men and the wails of women. He pointed at a miserable woman.
"That's it." Arik turned around indifferently: "The brothers are depressed on the island. They will not be attacked by their own people, but they can't reunite with their wives. Anyway, these guys are enemies, let the brothers feel comfortable
Wouldn’t it be nice for a while?”
"Stop! Let them stop." Rurik said righteously.
Arik suddenly changed his face: "Why? We are conquerors, we can do whatever we want."
"Listen to my orders!"
Rurik put his hands behind his back, and Otto stood behind him with a determined look on his face, obviously supporting him.
It was not easy for Arik to contradict the Duke, so he grabbed the hilt of his sword and hurriedly stopped his men.
Only about forty women and twenty children were still alive. This was supposed to be a normal morning, but the fishing village suffered a terrible blow.
These people, dressed in rags, gathered together and cried in fear. Facing the crowd of white-robed Russian soldiers who came around, many of them fainted.
Arik wiped his face and leaned close to his brother: "I don't understand. You want to be merciful to these enemies? I advise you not to do this. Being merciful to them is harming your brothers."
"No! I understand this, but you have gone too far! I also want to capture a group of prisoners and take them back, so it would be better for you to tacitly accept that everyone is an enemy."
"Isn't it?" Arik asked deliberately.
"I want to conquer them, but I cannot allow you to kill them all. I am the commander, and you must support my decision. Otherwise, I will let you and your people rest now."
"You! You can't..." Arik suddenly got angry. Looking at his cute brother now, he is already a little unlovable. Is this what is called growth?
"I can. This is the power given to me by the Duke. If you don't obey my command again and let the soldiers do whatever they want, I will let you stay at the landing site to rest."
"Alright alright……"
Rurik rewarded the women whose clothes were torn with some rags to cover their shame. He also sent people to seize a few women who seemed to be emotionally stable, and asked them about the reality of this settlement.
Those who were still alive were promised that as long as they cooperated, their lives would be guaranteed and they would be protected by the Russians after the battle. In fact, it was announced that they would soon have a Russian husband, and their surviving children would also be given
Continue to raise.
It was just the hypocrisy of the conquerors, but they had no choice but to cooperate while kneeling under the bloody ax of the Russians.
After all, this fishing village is also a gathering of people from different origins. They usually help each other. Now that a disaster is approaching, why not run away separately?
The woman gave the name of this fishing village, which is Slithomn. Although the pronunciation is a bit strange, its original meaning is "the lowland in the cracks".
Yes, this fishing village is indeed sandwiched between two mounds.
In addition, Rurik obtained two extremely critical pieces of information!
Follow the cracks between the mounds all the way north, and you will soon reach White Sands Port. If you walk south along the slope, go to the end of the slope and keep heading west, you will reach Visby.
In order to survive, the women decisively explained everything they knew. They were not of the same race as the people in White Sands Port and Visby. Originally, the large-scale offensive of the Russians was also related to the actions of the big local businessmen.
They were unable to effectively resist the extremely powerful Russians. They saw that the small bay was full of Russian ships (they knew the signs of the Russians), especially some of the huge ships, which were really shocking, and the beast-like behavior of these Russians just now.
Furious. They realized that even if they gathered all the men on the island, they might not be able to defeat the Ross army.
They turned their anger on the businessmen who had "started the war", especially the fat guys in Visby.
They put forward some small conditions for cooperation.
Life is guaranteed, no longer insulted, and the dead are buried at sea.
These were just small requests, and Rurik didn't even think about complying with them.
The Russians suffered no losses in the battle of Slitomo, but hundreds of fishermen were killed. Their bodies were piled on some fishing boats, a large amount of firewood was placed on them, sprinkled with some captured fish oil, and then pushed into the sea and set on fire and allowed to burn.
The large-scale landing of the Russian army began, but fortunately Arik's men only had time to vent their anger and did not have enough time to burn down the fishermen's residences.
Now many of the soldiers who landed did not need to build their own shacks.
The Slavic bannermen carried spears and landed in long boats.
The Malaren banner landed peacefully with a variety of weapons. For them, landing on the island of the Gotlanders was of great significance.
The members of the shooting flag team were the most numerous. A group of boys and girls carrying crossbows and carrying quivers full of arrows landed on the ground. The battlefield was so terrifying that many people naturally retreated. Those who were afraid were pushed forward by their companions.
Just because now they don't have any right to be cowardly.
A large amount of food began to be transported, including the twenty reindeer and all the deer herders, who all landed in a rare long boat.
Ten torsion slingshots mounted on two-wheeled trolleys completed the landing, accompanied by a large number of special arrows and projectiles.
The arrows required for various bows and crossbows were carried in bundles, and now they fell on the beach like a wall.
It wasn't until the sun set that the Russians actually finished transporting the supplies. Various ships occupied the entire beach of the small bay. Those cargo ships, especially the Aurora, lowered their anchors and were nailed to the sea.
Slitomo is really lively now, but it's a pity that this human brain has nothing to do with the locals.
More than 3,000 people gathered here densely. The fishermen's houses could only be used by elite soldiers and war commanders. Most people still had to build their own tents, shacks, or sleep directly on boats.
Rurik performed a play for the captives. Before the deceased was loaded onto the burning ship, Rumia first put on an antlered helmet and prayed for the soul of the deceased. What qualifications does the loser have to enjoy the sacrifice? Rumia
What he did was just to accept Rurik's order, so to speak, to show the captives that the Russians also had humanistic concerns, although Rurik also felt that it was a bit hypocritical and redundant.
It's already a total war anyway, so hypocrisy is meaningless.
It is true that the captured women were not violated again, but Rurik had to consider the feelings of his soldiers, especially the elite troops. He gave the women a free choice: "Find a husband on the spot now, so that you will be there in the future."
Wherever my eyes can't see, I can still be protected by men. We Russians will not hurt our brothers' women."
Can Rurik's words be trusted when he looks like a young man? Of course he is! All his decisions are endorsed by this old guy Otto.
The women made compromises without hesitation, and their new men declared sovereignty over them that night, causing a crowd of Russian warriors watching the show to make sarcastic remarks.
After a long voyage, everyone finally landed on the island. Although they knew the way to Visby, the captured woman was willing to lead the way. The troops were not on a stable footing and a rash attack might have bad results. The troops needed two or three days of rest and recovery.
To reorganize, the Russians also need to give the enemy enough time to assemble an army for a decisive battle.
Rurik seemed to be delaying the fighter plane, but in fact it was not the case. An impromptu attack target was located in the north of the island.
The Port of White Sands, this settlement must be captured!
However, maybe they will declare surrender after seeing the military power of the Ross people? It would be a good thing to kill less strong men and bring them to New Rossburg to open up new farmland for themselves, and then pay taxes for generations. At least it would be a good thing.
The incident of Arik allowing his men to kill should not happen again. This is not a matter of mercy, but because it is detrimental to the future interests of the Russian people.