Catch them alive? Everyone still hopes for a hearty battle, otherwise it will be very boring.
More than a hundred people were divided into two parts, and the number of each other was very even.
Everyone's task is to form a human wall of heavily armed people from two directions, like two combs, combing through the forest where the deer herders are hiding.
After everyone had finished eating the dried meat, when Aurora was at its most dazzling, people started taking action.
Otto personally led a group of people, and his old buddy Harozov led another group. The two dark groups, like sneaky wolves, entered the forest and cautiously moved towards the target.
They are professional hunters themselves, and they are not stupid enough to show off on the snowy fields brightly illuminated by the aurora and the moon. They are sneaky just to take precautions and alert the deer herders to escape with their deer.
The boots made of animal skins stepped on the snow under the forest. The snow covered the sound well, and the animal skins wrapped in everyone also kept warm.
Night hunting is a challenging task in any era, not to mention that the hunting ground is already in the Arctic Circle, where the cold forces the temperature to approach minus 20 degrees.
The severe cold is not a severe challenge, because in comparison, Otto and others do not even know what their "enemy" looks like or what their military strength is.
They were extremely confident. As long as they saw the deer running around in the snowy fields, they would fantasize about delicious barbecue and comfortable leather clothes.
The battle ax and sword glowed coldly in the moonlight that filtered through the gaps in the pine forest.
All the Ross warriors were as furry as a pack of bears. They basically had life-saving chainmail under their clothes, which helped them overcome their fear of injury to a great extent.
They shuttled through the woods, and it took them the equivalent of two hours before they finally found the forest where their target was hiding.
If there were high-tech communication methods in this era, the two teams could launch attacks at the same time.
Thinking about it, all the warriors involved can only continue to rely on the tacit understanding and bravery of their fellow tribesmen.
Otto finally called the more than 60 people he brought to one place. They squatted down in a snow nest covered by the wind, their eyes full of desire for victory.
"Brothers, we are about to launch an operation. Remember my words, if you want to catch the deer alive, whether it is a deer or a deer farmer, you must catch it alive."
Everyone nodded, but Otto still felt that once his gang of ruthless people entered a battle, they would be happy to bathe in blood as before.
He simply issued harsh words: "I still have to warn you, you must be arrested alive. Otherwise, you are disobeying me, and the tribal meeting will expel such people."
Otto, to a large extent, is equivalent to the de facto monarch of the Ross tribe, and his words are military orders.
Over the years, Otto has accumulated a lot of personal reputation. Likewise, Otto is also a smart and ruthless person when dealing with outsiders.
At least when he was alive, only those who planned to leave the tribe would deliberately oppose him.
The action on Otto's side officially started, while the action on Harozov's side was slightly slower.
It's still the same routine as before, except that each unit of the human wall is closer to each other, and the length of the human wall is also much shorter.
Genes were discovered more than a thousand years later. People at that time were surprised to find that only orangutans and humans had "war genes."
The Ross tribe learned to fight in battle, and they have learned some experience.
For example, they understand the tactical significance of sending scouts.
Five people were appointed as "pathfinders."
These five people are what Otto considers to be the best hunters. They can track beasts in the wilderness for several days using only their footprints, and finally hunt them down.
This kind of person is very good at hiding his or her presence when being tracked, such as not making a sound, and making himself look very similar to his surroundings.
A white hood is probably the cheapest snow camouflage, but in the ninth century, it was not difficult to dye linen into pure white. The problem was that for the Ross tribe, linen itself was not easy to obtain.
The fur coats of all five scouts are very unique. They are the fur of white bears. The white down gives them good protection and cover.
The scouts' search was not about finding a needle in a haystack. They and the crowd behind them were all determined to find it.
Because discovering deer farmers and deer herds is an inevitable event.
They have found the target...
Not far away, despite being separated by a large number of trees, the shrewd scouts had already discovered signs of damage to the woods.
Many trees as thick as a bowl had been cut down, and there were a lot of marks on the ground where the trunks had been knocked.
Just a little further away, there are traces of human activities.
The scout subconsciously lay on the ground, kept quiet with his eyes wide open, just to feel the subtle changes in the environment with his heart.
They heard a lot of low purring noises, which undoubtedly came from deer.
As we calm down and observe deeply, the scene in the distance becomes clearer.
"Bihas, go back quickly and tell the leader that the deer herders have been found. They are not powerful people, so we can take action immediately." One person said eagerly.
Someone hurried back to report the news, while the other four either clenched the ax handle or prepared short spears.
They soon saw more details. It turned out that the deer herders cut down the trees and built a fence. Apparently, this was the so-called deer pen.
Although the image was very blurry, they were able to determine which houses were the deer herders' houses.
I'm afraid it's not a real house. Experienced scouts think it's more like a tent made of animal skins, which is similar to many buildings in Fort Ross.
After a while, the excited Otto rushed over. He listened to the report of his subordinates with his eyes wide open.
"Very good, so you didn't see anyone touching?" Otto asked.
"Yes chief, I think they have gone to bed. The deer are purring and the deer are sleeping. Shall we act now?"
"Of course! Well, this way we can capture them all easily. Remember, we have to capture them alive. We also need deer herders to drive the deer back home."
Otto did not intend to save the life of the deer herder out of any pity. If he was really a kind-hearted person, he would not have led his men all the way here to kill him, let alone serve as the leader.
On the surface, he needs the deer herder to drive the deer back.
What happens when the deer herder completes this task?
Otto did not inform his subordinates of his deeper thoughts. He was also a greedy man and wanted to make the captured deer herder his servant.
The attack has officially begun.
More than sixty people took the lead in taking action. Each of them had a round shield tied to their left arm, and their right hand had either a sharp sword, an axe, or a short spear that could be thrown.
Otto had no time to wait for another group of his subordinates. He ordered the more than sixty people under his command to form an encirclement, and then slowly began to approach the deer herder's settlement.
They moved forward silently, and as the distance got closer, the deer herder also completely revealed his identity.
Those people are indeed not powerful characters.
"Damn it, I thought they were very strong people, but why are there only a few tents? Are they the ones herding the cloud-like herds of deer? There are too few people."
Otto saw clearly the tents that were obviously occupied by people, and also saw the huge deer enclosure surrounded by fences.
A large number of reindeer were there, and some deer were woken up. They didn't know what happened, but they watched a group of furry guys swaying in front of them.
Because there was no special order from the leader in this operation, no one dared to take the lead in grabbing the loot. Everyone was surrounding the animal skin tent.
Specifically, all the deer herders live in four small tents.