Several mature Russian soldiers were chatting and laughing around the campfire, grilling fish, and then the messenger who had received Rurik's message came quickly.
"Brother, do you want to catch a fish when you come to our fire?" one person joked happily.
The messenger hurriedly sat down, the firelight shining on his cautious and serious face.
"Brothers, the enemy is in the mountains and forests. The sentries placed in the forests have sent back the news. Lord Rurik tells you that even if you are sleeping, your shield must be hung on your arm, and your right hand must be holding a sword or axe."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was surprised and speechless.
Someone asked: "Is the news reliable?"
"Very reliable." The messenger was impatient again: "Your Excellency predicts that they will launch an attack tomorrow, and requires us brothers to guard the camp and let them die. Anyway, if we attack that fortress, the decisive battle will only take one or two days.
Things. You... all be prepared. I will tell the other brothers right away."
After the messenger finished speaking, he ran to another bonfire. Looking at the people at this bonfire, they smelled the smell of grilled fish, but it suddenly wasn't so fragrant.
By arranging messengers, Rurik notified everyone of the news that "the enemy was close at hand".
On the surface, the Russian army is surrounded by enemies?
This is indeed the case.
In spring, too much melted ice and snow water was injected into Lake Oulu, and the Oulu River, its runoff into the sea, also entered the flood season.
The river became very fast, and the force was enough to push the large rocks away. It was already a thankless task to rely on manpower to paddle upstream. Based on this situation, Rurik could only travel by land.
To carry out the crusade, the Russians were forced to lose a certain amount of mobility.
All Viking forces have a common advantage - mobility that exceeds that of ordinary enemies.
This mobility comes from the fast ships. Although there are no ships on hand now, the Russian defense can greatly make up for this loss.
The Russian camp was backed by the flooded Oulu River. Under Rurik's adjustments, the camp formed a semicircle on a macro scale.
The shield-bearers of the Rus and Balmoks were all densely deployed on the periphery. Once the enemy launched a sudden attack, the warriors quickly stood up and stacked their shields on top of each other to build a shield wall.
When commanding an army with a huge force, the commander's too-fine operations often turn into superfluous micro-operations.
Rurik didn't think he could come up with surprises and complex arrangements, and his men could do everything.
When it comes to building shield walls, the Rus, Balmoks, and Lake Mälaren people at hand are all good at it.
Ross was much wealthier than he had been many years ago, especially due to the large-scale smelting of iron tools and the seizures from previous wars. Rurik's army numbered more than 800 men wearing chainmail.
They were sleeping in their armor, and when they heard the commotion, they would get up and fight with their swords.
A group of archers and crossbowmen were placed among them, but more archers were summoned to Rurik's side.
In cold weapon warfare, only when crossbowmen are used intensively can they exert great tactical effectiveness. The archers arranged in the front line create chaos for the enemy, while the archers in the rear are arranged in a matrix, and the quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes, and their power is extremely amazing.
Even the children brought by Rurik, and even the girl warriors of the "Valkyrie Legion" under the command of Carlotta, this was not their first time participating in the battle.
There are no cowards in the entire team, only a large group of veteran soldiers who can remain calm in the face of piles of dead bodies.
Many people were even very arrogant, believing that the enemy would die early if they dared to charge into the camp. Such people slept peacefully, but most of the Russians took a nap at most this night.
There are a group of enemies watching eagerly outside the bed. How many people can really sleep carelessly?
A tense atmosphere permeated the camp, and even though many people did not get much rest, thanks to this atmosphere, the nervous and vigilant soldiers ignored their fatigue for a while.
The Ross military formation was deployed overnight, and lying under the bonfire was an armored warrior who could get up at any time and fight fiercely.
On the other hand, the Tavastians still felt that they had grasped the initiative in the war and had superior military strength.
The soldiers lying in ambush in the forest were sleeping against the big trees, waiting for the morning fog to rise after dawn, so that they could launch an offensive with their weapons.
Listen!
The endless river is the sound of the flood! Even the gods are helping the heroic Tavastia. The brothers rush up and drive the Rus into the river, and the gods will help the warriors to annihilate these enemies.
Although Vatyala was a little nervous, when he suddenly had a doubt, he used this set of ideas to convince himself.
Over and over again, he felt that he was certain to win, and was just waiting for the early morning birdsong to break the calm.
However, the birds have long had an insight into a human war, and the wandering birds have long since run away, and even the nearby squirrels have hid.
Morning mist filled the entire forest, and Vatyala woke up with a wet feeling.
The fog was not that thick, it was daylight, and the visibility in the dark blue world was not high.
"Haha, God is helping me!"
There was no time to eat, so he led the cleaning to wake up all the sleeping warriors.
Young, old, and even young, the warriors of Tavastia stood against the big tree with mixed emotions.
There were no pre-battle lectures, no impassioned speeches, and even the commander Vatyala didn't say a few words.
it is more than words!
The short spears kept moving forward, nervousness, fear, and excitement all became meaningless.
The warriors of Tavastia, under the personal leadership of their commander Vateala, 1,200 people advanced in the morning mist forest, officially launching a war with more than 1,000 troops that had not been seen in the tribal alliance in ten years.
Armed advance!
Everyone, young and old, knows very well that the opportunity for the Tavastians is short-lived. When the sun shines on the earth, the morning mist will quickly engage in battle. If the army delays time, the advantage of the surprise attack will be gone. Of course, it is a decisive battle in formation (
Even a group fight), the madmen of Tavastia are also confident, but the surprise tactic can at least win quickly.
Soldiers covered in animal skins were advancing in the morning mist. They tried not to whisper to each other. The sound of crushing dry pine branches was still unavoidable. The sound of one person crushing a branch can be ignored, but it is the same for a thousand people, unless the Russians are
Only those who are deaf or know nothing about hunting can ignore this strange sound.
When it comes to hunting, the skills of the Rus are just as good as those of the Tavastians!
The soldiers who were assigned to keep watch by Rurik became vigilant when they noticed that the sky turned blue. When they noticed that in addition to the sound of water flowing there was also a strange buzzing sound (too many people stepping on tree branches), they began to frantically move around.
They rushed around the extinguished bonfires, roughly waking up the resting warriors.
Rurik managed to sleep in the linen tent. He slept very lightly.
Jevro suddenly broke in and stamped his feet vigorously in front of Rurik.
"Has it started yet?" Rurik sat upright suddenly with his heart beating wildly.
"Sir, they are here. Everything is as you expected. The decisive battle has begun."
Rurik covered his heart and frowned: "It's finally begun. Help me up and fight!"
This morning mist was far from reaching the point where you couldn't see your fingers, but the Ross army, which had the main color of white, coincidentally also had camouflage in the mist.
The Russians, Balmoks, and warriors held their shields against their chests, their steel swords, and their spearheads in unison, forming a shield wall.
They fought against the odds and built an arc-shaped array with the baggage trolley as the core.
They spontaneously formed a shield wall composed of three layers of people. Most of the crossbowmen were arranged in a matrix behind, and the trebuchets were also ready to launch.
However, the torsion slingshots and a few lying crossbowmen placed on the shield wall were ready to take advantage of the chaos to harvest lives.
Soon, the Tavastians walked out of the forest and stepped on the flat land of the river. Any hiding was meaningless.
"Brothers! Roar! Frighten the enemy!"
Watyala roared, causing all the charging people to roar.
This roar did give the Russians a sense of fear. After all, the fog still hid the enemy's strength to a great extent. No one knew how many enemies were rushing over.
Rurik believed that the enemy's strength was only a thousand men, and the Russian army had an advantage in this regard.
He was guarded by many armored and bloodthirsty veterans, and was at the safest rear of the array.
It is here that a crossbow is pointed forward at an angle of approximately 30°.
Boys and girls, elite mercenaries, and Kovin longbowmen suddenly launched a volley at Rurik's command!
This was no ordinary salvo, it was a salvo of nearly four hundred arrows!
Light conventional bows and arrows, heavy crossbows, they crossed a low parabola, were covered by the fog, and plunged into the relatively dense Tavastia array of the attacking team.
People couldn't see the arrows, only the dense swishing sound made them aware of the fear.
Countless Tavastians fell to the ground after being hit by arrows. The running warriors realized that their opponents seemed to be prepared, and the bow holders fired arrows in confusion.
Arrows fell in the Russian array, and the skin of three unlucky warriors was scratched. Fortunately, the well-prepared chain armor blocked further damage to the body from the enemy's clumsy arrow clusters.
Rurik didn't care about this at all, or he had no time to care about it.
"Trebuchet! Now!"
He roared at the top of his lungs again, deliberately charging a mere third of the ten bull trebuchets, and threw the pebbles he had obtained on the spot.
As for the damage caused, no one could see clearly under the fog.
But Ross, the sword and shield bearer of Balmok, who was on the front line, had vaguely seen the black shadow suddenly emerging from the fog in front of him.
Someone shouted in Norse that the enemy was coming. All of them were half-bowed with their shields pressed in front of them, and the hands holding their swords clenched tighter.
It was at this critical moment that the crossbowmen and torsion slingshots placed in the front row fired at the same time.
The Tavastians, before they could clearly see the face of their enemy, were hit head-on again.
The charging man was shot straight through the chest by the torsion slingshot projectile, and his head was beheaded. The crossbow's accuracy was immediate, forcing the person hit by the arrow to fall to the ground.
The crossbowmen hurriedly crawled back to the array. At this moment, a contact battle between the two armies broke out.
The Tavastians finally saw the faces of the Rus after suffering some casualties. They were actually dressed in white, standing like a snowman!
Many people felt that this was a powerful enemy, and some wanted to calm down, but the torrent of war urged them to hit it.
The Tavastians charged into the battle like wild bulls, crashing into the Russian shield wall. Unfortunately, they were not bulls.
At the moment of contact, swords and spears stabbed randomly, and axes and halberds (even if the spear was equipped with an axe) bravely chopped.
The Russians' round shields were stacked on top of each other, and the Balmoks also used exactly the same tactics. The Russians were almost using the Romans' tortoise-shell formation. It seemed like this was retro? To be fair, Rurik knew that this formation was placed on
Many years later, dealing with chaotic armed gangsters is still a very cost-effective tactic.
Even if they worshiped Odin, a group of bare-chested berserkers would emerge during the battle. Even if most Vikings were so poor that they didn't even have reliable clothes, they still needed a shield that could protect most of their torso.
The Tavastians were frantically hacking at the Rus' shields, and the effect was really bad. As the weapon fighting progressed for a while, they became increasingly tired.
In terms of body shape and strength, the Rus and Balmoks, as "northern Germanic groups", have stronger bodies than the Franks and Saxons, while the Tavastians, immigrants from North Asia, are naturally shorter (
During this era, Finnish direct ancestors had almost no Slavic or Germanic ancestry).
Shouts of killing came and went, and there was the sound of metal clashing everywhere.
It is impossible for the Russians to have no casualties, but with the protection of shields and armor, the injured were almost all internal injuries, especially bruises on their arms and shoulders.
The battle continued, and when Vateyala realized that his surprise attack could not break through the enemy's line, his plan to drive the enemy to the flood river and drown them had been ruined, and the sun shone on the battlefield by the river!
The chance of belonging to Tavastia is almost gone!
Wounded soldiers were pulled to the rear, but Rurik still had no time to take care of these wounded soldiers. He continued to order his long-range shooters to continue causing chaos to the enemy.
Because the enemies were throwing javelins, Rurik could tell at a glance that these guys were also throwing Roman-style javelins.
An unlucky Russian warrior suddenly died under such a javelin, and Rurik had to fight back with a bow and arrow.
"Damn morning fog! Dissipate quickly! It makes me lose the advantage of weapons, damn it!"
Of course, casualties in war are unavoidable. No matter how strong the Russians are, they are still made of flesh and blood. Every soldier is important. Rurik does not want to kill any of his subordinates in battle. The reality is that the Russians are suffering inevitable casualties.
Looking at the front line again, when the sun suddenly appeared, the Russians started a defensive counterattack.
Biyoni, Arik and Heligel, with their respective men, pushed back against the enemy.
The energy of the Tavastians was almost exhausted, and after paying the horrific price of about two hundred dead bodies, all the remaining people kept a certain distance from the Rus.
There was also a person with red eyes who temporarily broke through the Russian shield wall with an axe, and was stabbed to death by random swords.
They were originally Russians with blue stripes and white robes. Almost all the soldiers in the first row were stained with blood. It was the enemy's blood, and even the wood of the shield was soaked with the enemy's blood.
It seemed that the collapse only occurred in one moment. The Tavastians did not want to be cowards. Everyone knew that not only did the raid fail, but the possibility of defeating the enemy in one fell swoop was also low.
The world becomes clearer and clearer, and golden light shines on this river beach.
It takes a person or a measure to break the enemy's psychology.
Rurik couldn't care less. The fog was dissipating at an extremely fast speed. The man standing on the cart operating the trebuchet could already accurately see the position of the enemy's line and estimate their distance.
Taking this opportunity, more than 300 crossbowmen at the rear were gathered together again.
"150 stikas! Noise an arrow!"
"get ready!"
"hjutraaaa!"
Long arrows, short arrows and stones fell from the sky, and together they formed a striking surface approximately fifty meters wide and forty meters long.
At a distance of about 150 meters, the Russians suddenly launched a concentrated attack within such a range. Especially the surprise attack when the enemy seemed to be tired, which unexpectedly destroyed the morale of the Tavastians.
With this blow, more than thirty people fell to the ground and did not get up. Many people were so panicked that they did not pull out the arrows stuck in their bodies, threw their axes and ran away.
Watyala was not dead, but his face was cut open by an arrow cluster, and his whole body was bloody and bloody.
As the commander-in-chief, she knew that if she stayed here any longer, she would be courting death, so she could still hold on relying on the fortress at the rear.
"Brothers, we retreat! If you don't leave, you will die!"
However, his shouts were drowned in the Viking war cries of the Rus and Balmoks.
Why?
Led by their flag captains and commanders, the Rus' and Balmoks' rock-solid shield walls suddenly dispersed, and the defensive counterattack began now!
Countless polar bears covered in plasma rushed over, first slashing wildly at the injured, and then began a fatal pursuit!
There's an avalanche! The attacking Russians are like the avalanche itself. Once they are submerged, they will surely die!
The Tavastians could no longer care about each other. They fled without their armor and fled back to the fortress to make further plans.