Chapter 564: Spreading Terror in the Forest Sea and Snowfield
The Russians wear white robes and can blend into the forest and snowy fields as long as they suddenly lie down.
This snow camouflage can indeed only be owned by the Russians who have mastered a large amount of white linen. The uniform dress is quite demanding, and only the Russians in the entire Nordic world can do it.
Many people were dragging a small sled during the operation, with personal belongings placed on it. As expected, the sled was also wrapped in white cloth.
After many days of marching and killing, Arik and his men were getting closer and closer to the lair where the invaders might be entrenched.
Along the way, they ate the dry food they brought with them, ate the captured food, and hunted decisively during the journey.
Even the cunning and alert white fox has difficulty realizing that the white pile of snow not far away is the hunter's disguise.
The swishing sound of arrows pierced the tranquility of the snowfield in early spring, and the fox died amidst the howling sound.
The fox skin was an unexpected gain, and the meat was shared among the brothers.
It was a tortuous journey to the old Gray Squirrel Hill Castle, and they kept searching along the frozen Oulu River.
Everyone has their crossbows on their shoulders. Look at their appearance. It's not like they are holding crossbows, but more like they are holding shotguns!
Rurik's crossbow imitated a rifle from the beginning, and the wooden stock was designed for ergonomics. Based on this, any warrior who uses it will naturally figure out how to use it better.
It is not good to let the bow arm accumulate power for a long time. In order to avoid being in a hurry when encountering a battle, one arrow is pressed in the arrow trough of the wooden arm crossbow and stuck in the end shrapnel. When shooting, it can be wound with bare hands. The only thing is
There are heavier and more powerful steel-armed crossbows that are temporarily placed on sleds and pulled along.
The Russian team seemed to be loose, but in fact it was deliberately done by Arik in order to highlight his superiority in military equipment.
He was looking forward to an encounter, and now the opportunity has come!
A group of chaotic figures appeared on the frozen river ahead!
The Russians who were walking along the snowy field along the riverside spontaneously lay down one after another, or squatted down with their backs against the big gray-black trees.
Someone rushed to Arik and said with a smile full of expectation: "Boss, I guess these people are here for revenge."
"Revenge? For what happened two days ago?"
"It must be so. There are no friends here anymore, and all those who come are damned enemies. Brothers all long for glory."
"Then fight!" Arik patted the man on the shoulder, and then asked all his men to come to him.
Many soldiers have been to Gotland and fought fierce battles. Even if they are small, they are determined to win against new enemies.
Aric took a good look at his left and right sides and glanced at the corner of his mouth: "Look at you guys, do you want to kill them all and then go back to report that our brothers have eliminated all the intruders?"
After that, everyone laughed.
"That's enough. We don't need to fight openly with these invaders. Follow my orders and ambush them. Use arrows to kill them as much as possible without exposing any traces. Just lie down in the snow and rush out to chop them.
Kill the enemy and be careful not to be shot by other brothers."
They started to take action, and they were all scattered and lurking on the right bank of the river. The average distance between them was only about one meter, essentially forming a rather dense ambush position.
Both crossbows were fully loaded, and due to the limited length of the position, everyone could clearly see Arik's movements.
Whether to attack or not depends entirely on Arik's order. Now the commander decided to let the prey step into the ambush circle with confidence.
At the same time, the Tavastians, who were heading to the mountain fortress of the Old Salmon Lord to inquire about the situation, led these two hundred people, coveting the smooth path of the glacier and deliberately marching on the ice. It was a boring march.
Coupled with the overwhelming number of people, ordinary soldiers gradually ignored the threat. Little did they know that they were walking into the Russian ambush without knowing it.
Without saying anything, Arik lay on the ground with a sullen face, his stubble-covered cheek pressed against the wooden butt of the crossbow, the crosshairs aimed at an enemy at random, and he gently pulled the trigger.
The crossbow arrow weighing nearly 200 grams flew away. The tremor and recoil shook his tiger body. The arrow hit an enemy in the face in a low and flat parabola with a soft whooshing sound.
This arrow alone pierced the enemy's entire mandible, causing him to fall down. Although he did not die immediately, in the crazy spurt of blood, all the Tavastians around him were confused by this inexplicable attack.
measures.
Arik's shooting was just a signal, and upon seeing this, other soldiers started shooting one after another.
A volley of arrows pierced the air softly, hitting the enemy group quite densely.
After the blow, more than ten people fell to the ground on the spot, many of them were wailing, and the ice surface was quickly stained red with blood. Of course, there were also strong people who, despite being hit by arrows, still stood holding on to their short spears and endured the pain.
The Tavastians began to exclaim, and Vateyala did not understand the situation at all, only knowing that he was being attacked.
"Raise your shield! Does anyone know the direction of the enemy?!"
"Don't worry about it yet, brother! Arrange an arrow! Counterattack!"
But the world returned to silence, with only the fallen man wailing while holding his bleeding wound. The nervous warrior carefully looked at the forest under the snow, feeling more and more the horror there.
They gathered on the ice, forming a large gray-black mass that was incompatible with the entire gray world and became the target of the stupidest public criticism.
Some people guessed the direction where the attackers were hiding, and they shot arrows there, but no one dared to leave the shelter of the large army.
The arrows flew over the heads of Arik and everyone, either flying too high or hitting the trunk of a tree.
Arik didn't say anything. He lay down and used his strong thighs and arms to forcefully wind the steel-armed crossbow with all his muscle strength.
The brothers sitting on the wooden crossbows have all finished winding up, waiting for their boss to launch a new round of shooting.
Arik led the brothers to fire another round of volleys. This time the Tavastians saw the general direction of the arrows, and more than ten people were hit by arrows at the cost.
The wooden shield did block a few arrows, but some of the wooden shields were smashed open, and the arrow clusters smashed through the arm of the shield holder!
In this very unfavorable situation for the Tavastians, just being injured could mean fatal.
The sudden situation confused Vateyala's mind. He was attacked by three arrows in a row. Although he could see the direction in which the arrows were coming, where were the traces of the enemy?
He had never encountered such an enemy before. Forty brothers were already lying on the ground, and the glacier turned red.
"Brothers! Charge over there! The enemies are hiding, let me hack them to death!"
"Hey! What are you doing standing still? Are you all cowards?!"
"Don't get together in a group, you're sitting there waiting to be killed!"
However, the fourth round of arrows came again.
Although the average power of wooden crossbows has a higher firing frequency, their power is really average. Against armored enemies and shield bearers, defensive measures can block the arrows. The weapons of the Tavastians are still too weak.
, faced with the various Vikings that were chopped off in the Nordic world, they could only be ravaged! They could only gain advantage by bullying the weaker Corvins and the equally incompetent Karelians.
The Tavastians, these proud men who dared to work together to hunt bears, finally realized that leaving their homeland of ice and lakes would face a powerful enemy that was difficult to match.
This is just an armed reconnaissance team of the Russians.
Seeing that his warriors had turned into a bunch of cowards, Vateyala, who had fought such a useless battle for the first time, was furious.
He summoned more than a dozen trustworthy men, who held wooden shields wrapped in wolf skins in front of them, holding battle axes and short spears in their right hands, and organized an assault team to rush towards Arik without hesitation.
"You actually want to charge at me?! You idiot!"
Now Arik is no longer pretending.
A snowman rises from the ground. No! That's an enemy.
Holding the crossbow that was strung up with a winch, Arik suddenly revealed his body, leaning against a tree, and fired an arrow at a charging guy.
The shield wrapped in wolf skin was of some use. The arrow did not penetrate the shield, but it ricocheted and cracked a lot of the man's teeth. He fell down with his mouth full of blood.
These ten people became the target of public criticism in a real sense. The chargers killed six of them immediately, fell to the ground, howled and retreated one after another.
It wasn't until now that Vatyala actually saw his first enemy.
Arik was already covered with a white cloth cloak, and even his head was covered by white cloth. He heard arrows flying by his ears but was unmoved. Liang Ming glared at the furious enemy from behind, and hid behind a big tree.
.
"Asshole! Come out here! The Russians! Fight with us!" Vatyala yelled in his own language, but the Russians refused to come out.
Even though he couldn't understand, Arik could understand the hostility in his opponent's words through the atmosphere of his words. That man was asking his brothers to come out and kill with them!
If it had been in the past, he would have definitely jumped out and slashed in all directions, but he was beaten violently by the enemy who counterattacked on Gotland and fled in panic. The lessons of that failed battle were left on his left arm with terrible scars. He is
If he doesn't show up, he still requires his soldiers to continue shooting arrows. As for the arrows they carry, the captured arrows are getting less and less, which doesn't matter. If they can't fight the ambush, the brothers just retreat. After all, the brothers are just a team.
Scout troop.
It was indeed only when Arik was about to run out of arrows that he realized that he was just serving as a scout.
Vatyala was forced to flee, with as many as five arrows stuck in his wooden shield, and his brothers suffered heavy losses. Many simply fled to the forest on the opposite side, while others hurriedly fled towards the fortress from which they came.
.
But the Russian arrows were still flying, and what shocked the Tavastians was that the enemies seemed to be all sharpshooters.
Someone among the rebels climbed up to Vatyala and said: "Let's go quickly. The Russian army is in the forest. We can still hold on to the mountain fortress if we go back. Now if we stay here, everyone will die!"
It is said that Vatyala is not willing to retreat, but considering the reality, it is impossible not to leave.
I originally thought about having a decisive battle with the main force of the Rus' people, and after making great achievements in battle, I would go to the tribal alliance to gain reputation for a great cause, but now it seems that saving my life is the most important thing.
He took his brothers and evacuated quickly. This was not too shameful, because many people had already run away...
The Russians seemed to have won, and that was the victory. The brothers just smiled, and no one had the joy of winning a bloody battle.
Another person rushed to Arik: "They are so weak! Boss, we recovered the arrows and captured their camp along their retreat route. In my opinion, with just thirty of us, we can really kill three hundred of them."
Brain.”
Arik sat down and twisted his arm: "Clean the battlefield first. None of you understand the language of the enemies anyway."
Now someone else came over: "I understand!"
"you?"
"It is said that the Corvins are related to the Tavastians. I fished here and dealt with the Corvins. Maybe I can understand the language of these enemies."
"Then give it a try. I'd like to know how they are doing."
The Russians picked up the arrows and also collected the corpses of their dead enemies.
This is definitely not their good intention, it is completely Arik's intention to further humiliate the enemy.
Two enemies with minor arrow wounds were escorted to Arik's side. As expected, the languages of the Tavastians and the Corvins had great similarities, and some key information was learned by the Ross scouts.
Arik never imagined that this was not an accidental invasion by the invaders, but a deliberate and permanent occupation. The nature of this behavior was as bad as the Danes' expedition to the north to occupy the Lake Mälaren area.
In order to survive, the prisoners tried their best to demonstrate their strength, claiming that 500 men had occupied an old fortress.
Are all five hundred people warriors? Arik was convinced of this due to errors in translation. The approximately seventy corpses collected so far (the wounded were hacked to death) were only one-seventh of the enemy's strength?
After learning this news, the brothers who were clamoring to annihilate the invaders with just thirty scouts now shut up.
Arik guessed that the so-called fortress must be the old Gray Squirrel Hill Fort. The Russians also paid some casualties when they conquered this fortress, and the fortress did require some heavy weapons to defeat. He thought of a new tactic, even though
The brothers could not annihilate the invaders, but they were very happy and confident in disturbing the enemy and living in fear all day long.
The prisoners were not killed, and the two men were released and fled back to the mountain fortress occupied by the Tavastians with some very crucial and concise information.
The two men later returned as fugitives and told Vatyala what the Russians had told them.
They only relayed the strange-sounding words of the Kovan language passed down by the Rus: "Snow melts, Rus, ships, many people, war."
Vatrava, who had suffered a useless defeat, was furious. The defeated warriors were frightened and the Russians quickly attacked the mountain fort. Together with all the women and children of the Tavas immigrants, they were already strengthening their defenses and preparing to fight.
The preparations for the battle to defend the city were the same as those for the battle against the Karelians in their hometown.
Now Vateyala has basically figured out one thing. The main force of the Russians has not come yet, and it is only a small force.
But isn’t this even scarier?!
It’s just a small army! He lost seventy or eighty of his more than three hundred brothers in one battle! Those who were alive were trembling with fear from the strange arrows, and were even full of fear of going out to hunt.
Hunters are not afraid of bears and wolves at all. They are afraid of being suddenly hit in the neck by a flying arrow while walking. After all, the terrifying arrow cannot be easily blocked by a wooden shield.
It is impossible to abandon this area. By controlling the resources of this area, Tavastia will become more powerful.
Watyala did not think of running away. If he really ran away, he would not have the face to meet the people in his hometown.
He began to send messengers to the rear to ask for help. He learned that the expeditionary force fought with the mysterious Rus and suffered losses. It was reasonable for Tavastia leader Vatkad to be furious, and all the villages in the alliance requested that troops must be sent to protect everyone.
fruits of victory.
As for the number of troops to be sent, this is a matter of particular importance and requires a meeting.
It was precisely when they were busy discussing that the arrival of reinforcements was actually delayed.
On a macro level, the temperature was gradually warming, and Arik also noticed that the sea ice was rapidly thinning. Just when the world was about to return to warmth, he ordered the soldiers to create an atmosphere of terror.
Ross's scouts were also hunting, but the list of prey included Tavastians.
Fortunately now, the Tavastians prefer to hide in mountain fortresses, and their activities are limited to fishing by the river. Many people are in a state of semi-starvation because those who ventured into the distant forests to hunt have not been heard from.
Obtaining meat has become extremely dangerous, so you have to starve and wait for reinforcements.
But Rosberg had already received Arik's investigation report. Although the messenger rushed back in a reindeer sleigh with oral news, there was a certain distortion in the information. Rurik understood two basic pieces of information exactly: First, the enemy occupied the entire
The river basin does not want to leave unless they are all killed by war; secondly, the enemy's combat effectiveness is weak, but the size of its troops does require the attention of the Russians.
How should Rurik judge?
Isn't this a deliberate provocation by the Tavastian invaders, who are eager for a decisive battle from the beginning? This is what Ross needs! It is just a good time to use a weak enemy like Tavastia to train troops and prepare for the next expedition to Britain.