Chapter 466 Whoever becomes the king will pay for this hatred
How many enemies were killed in this battle? It may be possible to get good statistics by cutting off the heads of the enemies and stacking them up.
Considering that cutting off the head is also a severe physical job, the Russian warriors who have been too weak to pursue the victory after the bloody battle are unable to do this.
Why should we bury the enemy's corpse?
In the afternoon, the setting sun is like blood.
The soldiers who had rested for a while got up and looked for their fallen soldiers among the corpses.
They executed the surviving enemies and occasionally gave their own seriously wounded a last-ditch hit.
Severe injuries will lead to death. If you continue to suffer the pain before death, it is better to let your companions do it for you and give you a happy life.
The fallen Russian soldiers were constantly carried away, and finally they lay quietly in the clean grass.
They are arranged in a matrix, with every ten people in a row.
As more and more soldiers collected the coffins, most of Duke Ross's excitement had dissipated.
He let the north wind blow, and held the hilt of the sword with both hands under the setting sun, staring deeply at his fallen brother.
They are all strong young men with childish faces.
The fallen Slavic warriors were also brought here, and all the dead awaited the final cremation.
They wore uniform clothes, and even though they were stained with blood and soil, they were still clearly visible on the battlefield where corpses were strewn. Only in this way could they be buried correctly and quickly.
The surviving warriors walked around the entire battlefield, picking up all the swords, axes, spearheads, arrows, and a large number of shields they found. Finally, the weapons were piled into one mountain, and the shields were piled into the second mountain.
The number of fallen warriors is clearly visible, and they lie quietly in four huge matrices!
After careful identification, it was found that as many as 300 local soldiers of the Ross tribe were killed! Most of them were elite and strong men. Many of them had experienced many wars. It was unexpected that in this decisive battle with the feudal enemy, they would sacrifice their own lives to
Odin.
"Three hundred brothers died, and we suffered a great loss." Harold Johnson came over and patted Otto on the shoulder.
"It's so tragic. They are all our young people. Maybe let Rurik arrange the tactics well before the war begins. With so many young people dead, our strength has been frustrated."
Hearing what the Duke said, Harold Johnson was very surprised, "My old friend, don't you think we have achieved a great victory? You see, we are still strong."
As he said that, Harold Zosen pointed to the earth: "Look, these are the Gotlanders, the Danes. They are dead! I'm afraid we killed three thousand of them! Visby and the entire island of Gotland have nothing left to lose."
Soldiers of War.”
"Maybe! I don't care about their life or death. Death for a group of enemies is not a pity. I just hope that the brothers will try not to suffer any casualties."
"But in war...how can there be no death?"
"Then prepare more spearmen!" Otto was suddenly furious. This anger was really unexpected.
"Old man, you..."
"Damn it!" Otto stamped his feet vigorously, "That kid Rurik is very smart. If I had known this, I should have ordered someone to bring a spear! There are also bows and crossbows, and a lot of equipment. Look,
Almost all of these soldiers died from hacking wounds! Look again, are there many Novgorodians among the dead?"
Under the soft light of the setting sun, Harozolson took a closer look. Were there actually only twenty Slavs killed in the area?
Otto continued, "This is a bloody lesson. Those cowardly farmers became spearmen and turned into a terrifying force. In the next war, every Russian warrior must hold a spear."
"What about the sword and shield? Those are the souls of warriors."
"I want them all! Every good Russian warrior must have a spear, a long sword, an axe, a short sword, and a shield. I also want a lot of crossbows and slingshots!"
Harold Zuosen took a breath of cold air: "In that case, we will be the kings of the entire human world." He pointed to the blue sky, "It seems that Odin also heard your prayer. Look, there are a thousand ravens here, Odin
Din is watching us."
"Okay! When the logging brothers come back, let the souls of the warriors go to Valhalla."
If Otto had been a reckless man, he would have been pulled from his position as leader long ago.
After this battle, Otto no longer cares about the rumored glory of a warrior. As long as he can kill enemies and execute a large number of opponents, this is the glory of a warrior.
He already hopes that the entire army will become a spear unit, coupled with a large number of bows and crossbows, so-called trying to kill the enemy before fighting at close range. This hope is exactly the same as Rurik's idea, or an ancient European infantry
Team, this arrangement of the army has the best combat effectiveness, Otto became enlightened.
It is true that the Ross tribe cannot bear the death of too many people, at least for now. The irrecoverable death of 300 people means that the strength of the Ross tribe has been greatly frustrated.
I am afraid that within a few years, continued large-scale operations like this will require careful consideration.
But Otto did not regret it, and neither did the Russian soldiers.
Completely different from Otto's deepness, it seemed that the soldiers were not sad for their dead tribesmen.
The brothers clearly defeated the enemy with a small number and successfully won a resounding victory.
Everyone chanted Rurik's name. The people around the campfire and the loggers who entered the forest were all talking about Rurik. Not only because this was Rurik's victory, but the most important thing was that he killed Goth with his own hands.
The king of the orchid people!
The Russian army returned to their camp, night fell on the world, and the stars were shining brightly in the sky.
The dark world is burning, and the air is filled with an extremely strong smell of burning.
The fallen Russian soldiers, including Russian Melalen mercenaries, Hjermalen mercenaries and Slavs, were lying on more than a hundred piles of pine wood and haystacks.
All the living warriors wore armor and picked up all the captured raven shields.
Beside the altar set up before the war, the extremely young female warriors of Rurik, wearing freshly picked chrysanthemums as flower crowns, gathered together and sang "Holy War".
Just like the lyrics sang, the army really defeated the main force of the Gotland Army, and the final victory was already one step away.
The holy fire in the altar reflected Rumia, who was wearing an antlered helmet. She opened her arms, and when the song was finished, she personally sang the sacrificial hymn passed down by the Ross tribe.
What is very eye-catching is that there is a wooden stick in the middle of the altar, and the head of King Hakon of Gotland is stuck on it.
What is a sacrifice? The King of Gotland is a sacrifice!
Suddenly, Rumia looked up at Tianyu and shouted in a clear voice, "The gods said they need new warriors! Let these brave people go to Valhalla! Light a fire!"
The campground, which was already lit with a large number of bonfires, gradually turned into an erupting volcano, or the entire ground was burning.
For the people who fled back to Visby, they were horrified to see that the battlefield east of the mound was burning, as if countless monsters emerged from the underworld, and it seemed as if the souls of the dead were still fighting against the terrifying Russian army.
The dead Russian soldiers were caught in the fire, and the fire continued until dawn.
Realistically speaking, it may take a day to burn the corpse in the firewood into pitch-black skeletons or ashes. The Russians can wait slowly, and of course they also need to make corrections.
However, for Rurik, he did not need to rush to the outside of Visby.
In that city without wall protection, armies can enter and leave at any time.
Rurik's idea was quite different, and his explanation made the tribesmen shut up.
"We don't need to rest for just one day. We have to wait, or even wait for two or three days. The guys who escape have no fighting ability. If they escape on the sea, they will be sunk by our army. They will fall into terror and become insane.
They will kill each other, and in the end not many people will be left alive. The last of them will send messengers to beg us for mercy. Of course I can spare the lives of many women and children, but in exchange, we will get everything except their lives."
Indeed, the Gotlanders now only have a large number of women, children and old men left. Among their young and middle-aged warriors and Danish mercenaries, ninety-nine out of every one hundred people have been killed!
No one believes that the Gotlanders are a threat anymore. They and their city of Visby are completely fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered. It depends on the butcher's mood when to use the knife.
Just as Rurik hoped, the atmosphere of terror surrounding the founding of Visby was brewing.
Six thousand soldiers of the Gotland Army went out to fight, but after only half a day of fighting, they came up short. How many people did they lose? I'm afraid even they themselves don't know.
Only a very small number of prime-age warriors escaped back. It can be said that these people are real cowards. The bravest men have been fighting against the Russians, and finally ended up with the tragic result of all death.
Most of the wealthy businessmen and small wealthy families collapsed after this war.
Visby's fishing industry, salt cooking industry and wool industry are the mainstay of the economy, and the foundation of the economy mainly relies on the work of prime men. Now, the entire Visby has 10 rooms and 9 empty rooms, and the old people left behind are shocked by the complete failure of their people.
, they tried to talk to the female soldiers who had escaped, but all they got was their crazy screams.
In this battle, the Gotland Army actually killed more than 4,000 people, and those who escaped alive were almost all female warriors and young warriors. These people were poorly equipped and inferior in physical strength, skills and tactics, and their existence value was more for show.
The key to defeating the enemy is not the gain or loss of a city or territory, but the annihilation of the enemy's effective strength.
Rurik deliberately acted in accordance with this strategic model summarized by Sun Wu in the East and Clausewitz in the West, and the result was so tragic.
If two major conflicts and one small conflict before the decisive battle are included, the Gotlanders lost a total of more than 6,000 troops, that is, 1,500 enemies were wiped out in the Battle of White Sands Port, and 1,500 enemies were wiped out in the Battle of Lukuluye Village.
Five hundred. In the ambush battle at the foot of the hill and the initial landing battle, more than 300 people were killed.
In addition, the Russian army has captured more than a thousand people and brought them all back to the rear.
The net loss of the Gotlanders was close to 8,000 men. This shows that in Visby, the huge settlement fell into a terrible depression, and some shantytowns were completely transformed into ghost towns, leaving only the anguish of young children and the experience of failure.
A woman wailing after the battle.
Five large merchant families managed to escape back to Visby, dragging their almost broken bodies with them to gather in the council chambers on the evening of the decisive battle day.
The priests looked sad, and the big businessmen were full of pain.
Harald sat cross-legged dejectedly, muttering depressedly: "It's time to come up with a countermeasure."
"Countermeasures? What other countermeasures?!" A businessman suddenly stood up, then sat down slowly and became frustrated: "Haken is finished. I saw him captured with my own eyes. I just can't figure out how the Russians could be like this.
Their strength? They actually defeated us on land. Now I only have a dozen mercenaries and more than twenty slaves left in my hands. If they die again, I can only kill the enemy myself."
"You still want to kill the enemy? Stop dreaming, we must escape." Another businessman seemed to have put forward a feasible suggestion.
"Escape? Escape to where?"
"We forced ourselves out to sea and left at night with the gold and silver."
"I'm afraid that's all we can do. Now the guys from Klitheim are evacuating again. They want to walk back to their port by land. Maybe we can work with them to get Gotland smoothly."
…
The two businessmen who had escaped talked to each other and discussed their escape plan. The guy who was originally the main fighter now wanted to leave this place of right and wrong as quickly as possible.
Naturally, there are also well-intentioned efforts to win over Harald: "Friend, you should withdraw quickly! I really envy you, you have a beautiful daughter. If you give Asraqi to the business leader of Hedebi, that guy will help
You quickly revive the family business. When that time comes, don't forget to support us."
Is this a good intention? It’s obviously...
Harald couldn't say anything for a while. He knew his daughter, so he said: "Asraqi has listened to too many heroic stories told by the priests. She just wants to marry a hero. The man named Hedebe
What? A fat walrus? Forget it."
"It doesn't matter." The businessman shrugged: "You'd better prepare early, we will forcefully pass through the Russian naval blockade, and everything will be fine."
Harald is now extremely conflicted about escaping. He does not believe that the Russians were so kind as to leave a gap in the blockade for people to escape. As for following the last few refugees from Klitheim to go overland to the southern port, then
It's a long trek through the woods, and there's a lack of water and food, and everything is fraught with danger.
An idea appeared in his mind, and he raised his head and asked his businessmen friends: "Could it be that the Russians are absolutely ruthless and want to kill everyone?"
The businessmen immediately heard what he meant, and then they all stretched out their hands to criticize.
If they could surrender, the brothers would have surrendered long ago, but what everyone saw was clearly the crazy killing of the Russian army, as if the earth opened a gap, and the monsters from the underworld overflowed, attaching themselves to the Russian people and turning them into monsters.
Someone even said it extremely viciously. This person stood up, pointed at Harald's nose and cursed: "You are the one who takes the lead! Magnold (a big businessman who was killed) wanted to retreat, but you killed him yourself.
!Now, brothers, maybe it’s time to kill you because you want to surrender!”
Being threatened, Harald suddenly drew his sword, and the four merchants pulled out their protective daggers one after another.
Harald did not show weakness: "Come on then, I was a warrior before I became a businessman. I can kill you easily."
What he said was true. Businessmen who were good at counting silver coins did not dare to test it rashly.
"Then there's no need to talk. Why do we have to chat in the meeting hall?" A businessman looked up at the ceiling and sighed: "This place will eventually be occupied by the Rus, and the brothers have to evacuate. I hope Lord Frey can forgive Harken for destroying
For his sacrifice, we will be rewarded to live and continue to make money. And you, Harald, stay here. Since your daughter likes strong warriors, give Asraqi to the leader of the Rus!
For the sake of beauty, the Russians may save your family."
The conversation in the council broke up unhappily, and the merchants left angrily. Only Harald sat blankly, looking at each other with the bitter-faced priests.
The High Priest of Gotland, an old man with a bald head and a face covered with chalk mud, moved his decayed body and sat cross-legged in front of Harald: "Hakon is dead. He betrayed Frey and was not recognized by Odin.
.Now, we support you as the new king."
"Shall I be the king?" Harald was startled, "Why? Being a king carries the curse of death."
"But the people in Visby want to live. Maybe those Russians will really care about the fairies and not go too far."
"Really! It's so ridiculous!"
To be fair, Harald can even withdraw money to preserve his family's wealth. He really doesn't want to be the king, because he knows that the Russians obviously hate the Gotlanders. Whoever becomes the king will have to pay for this.
Hatred pays.
He rushed out of the door without wanting to say more, and did not leave a clear answer.
He hurriedly fled home with his waiting entourage. As soon as he returned, he ordered all the servants to be armed.
The so-called armed forces do not really mean street fighting with the Russians. Harald is very clear that his enemy now is not the Russian army, but the guys around him. Those seemingly ordinary people are fatal threats under special circumstances.
As for his future plans, his mind was extremely confused, so he would just take it one step at a time.