Chapter 581 You actually pushed us to fight the Varangians
The prisoners were pushed and escorted ashore. They sat vigilantly, not knowing their fate.
However, one thing they already knew very well was that the so-called invaders were here, and they were actually Varyags.
Trying to fight them was the stupidest decision. Looking at the situation now, I didn't even have the possibility of escaping.
Rurik was busy eating, and Yevlo entered his house with his cronies in a complicated mood.
"Sir, I'm back." Jevro asked through the leather curtain.
"Why don't you come in? When did I stop you from being cautious?"
"Yes, I'll come in right now."
Jevlo was indeed in a complicated mood. They walked into the house to meet their master, and his face really made Rurik suspicious.
"What's wrong with you? You can't tell me that you lost?"
"No. The brothers easily solved them, but..."
"What happened?"
"Because those enemies..."
"You are hesitating." Rurik stood up.
Jevro sat down quietly and lowered his head. This behavior was indeed very unusual. "They are Suomi people, my own race."
"Really Finn? Carlotta, you are really right."
Carlotta sat aside and giggled. Rurik motioned to Jevro to stand up and change into his leather clothes: "Let's go and see what's going on with your Suomi people."
But Jevro did not get up, "Sir, I have something to ask of you."
"Please say."
"Please spare them. If they are willing to surrender, spare them. It seems that this is just a vanguard, and there will be many more behind them."
Rurik paused. He really didn't expect that Yevlo, who was so decisive in killing, would actually...
"You mean, our army has defeated their main force, so there is no need to kill them all? Then, if their identity calls, will they also be merciful?"
"This...maybe not."
Suddenly, Rurik also hesitated. After these years of fighting, his heart has gradually turned into steel, and his methods have become vicious, so that the Russians can survive. But back to the beginning, how could he want to be a massacre?
Rurik thought for a while and then said: "Whether they are merciful or not depends on whether they are respectful. You explain to the attackers because you are a Suomi. That's fine. You can control them for the time being. If something goes wrong,
You are responsible."
Yevlos felt relieved and followed Rurik to meet the prisoners.
Another group of fools who gave away their lives! The Russian warriors wielded swords and axes and showed off their power to the frightened captives. They laughed when they saw the captives trembling in fear.
"Everyone, get out of the way!" Rurik came fiercely and dispersed the crowd of onlookers.
He saw the captives who had been detained all over the place, and he saw that almost all of these people had black hair, and they all had a rather strong Asian appearance, but they also had some European colors. But they were all small, and unlike this kind of people
In close combat, the Russians naturally took advantage.
Rurik then conducted an interrogation on the spot in a language that the Suomi people could understand. It was also the most commonly used language. It was said that as long as the truth was told, one's life would be spared.
In order to survive, the prisoners did not hesitate to tell the truth about the following large forces.
This piece of news alone was enough to make Rurik's scalp tense.
Even if the enemy is a group of chickens and dogs, it is still an army of 3,000 people. Even if it is 3,000 wild boars, it is quite difficult to destroy them in one day.
The cooperative attitude of these Suomi people is really gratifying. At the critical moment, Yevro was ordered to reveal his true identity.
Let’s look at the performance of this group of Suomi people!
As if grasping a life-saving straw, they lay on the ground one after another, saying playfully that they were useful because they respected the Yevlu brother as their elder brother, accepted his command, and were willing to serve as servants of the Varyags.
In this way, we can gain a large group of servants? If all the Suomi people are so submissive and flexible, then there will be no need to start a war again.
In itself, Rurik knew about the existence of the Suomi people and used troops to conquer them, at least not this year.
But the opportunity is fleeting. The Suomi army came uninvited. The Ross army is here. It would be stupid to give up the historical opportunity.
How long will it take for the enemy to arrive? Maybe only one day or two days.
Rurik urgently called all the centurions and banner captains to convene a military meeting in the parliament of the occupied Tavastians.
At a gathering of people, the Russians were really chatting and laughing with each other. They all knew that a group of Suomi people were coming, but they were only talking about having fun with their new women.
They laughed wildly, complimenting each other that they were real men, and then said that their new women were docile lambs, or some had strong tempers, and they would just pinch their necks and they would be submissive...
"Don't laugh." Rurik appeared with a serious face and shouted.
The scene calmed down, and Arik said casually: "Brother, I heard that another group of people are coming to die? My swords have not drank blood for too long."
"But the third sword under you has already drank blood." Rurik said casually with a sullen face, which made everyone burst into laughter.
Arik was not embarrassed at all, but instead puffed up his chest, and the laughter of his brothers was a compliment to him.
Because Arik picked a pair of good-looking sisters from the prisoners, and then...
Arik thinks this way, his family needs some servants. The so-called servants can also give him some children, so that they can become a branch of the family.
Rurik signaled everyone to be quiet again, and added: "It seems that you all know what happened! Those captured claimed that they were just the vanguard, and there were 3,000 people in the rear. The enemy came in rowing boats, obviously intending to start a fight with us.
war."
When the phrase "water war" is mentioned, everyone becomes eager to try it again.
Rurik raised his hands again: "They dare to start a water battle with us. This is asking for death. Brothers, we should be prepared to annihilate them in one fight. Odin bless us, and the gods will give us a chance.
, this year we will conquer the entire eastern land!"
The whole eastern land? People's blood boiled with excitement.
This is indeed the case. The so-called Eastern Land probably refers to present-day Finland. However, this vast area has been encroached on by the Russians in a few years. At the beginning, the Russians and even all the people living in the Svealand Plain
The Swedes only understand the concept of "Eastern Land" but lack understanding of the specific geographical conditions.
Rurik had already come up with the geographical outline of the real world, and the Russians knew what the East was before anyone else.
The Corvins and Lapps (deer herders) have become reliable servants. Tavastia declined in the first battle, and they will soon surrender to Rus.
As for the Karelians, they are no longer considered people living in the "Eastern Land", but are residents of far-off Northeastern Europe.
As long as they conquer Suomi, the Rus can be said to have conquered the entire eastern land and the entire Finland.
Then, the lake war that will inevitably occur in the future will determine the direction of all history.
Standing at a critical juncture of the historical trend, Rurik became more and more excited the more he thought about it. Looking at his brothers, everyone was filled with enthusiasm.
Rurik immediately deployed tactics. Since the wind on the lake was not as strong as the sea, the Russian rowing long boats happened to have strong maneuverability.
The Mercury has a human-powered propeller, which is an auxiliary power, and it really relies on the wind. She is still the flagship of the fleet, and may not be able to show too much combat power in lake water battles.
According to those prisoners, the Suomi tactics were to use the canoe to approach and then the archers on the boat to fire arrows, relying on their numerical superiority to win.
They seem to think that war is just a hunt with many people, but...
The advantage of the Ross Army is that the leading warship has the dual advantages of maneuverability and defense. What's more, the Ross Army also has these heavy weapons. Whether it is a bull trebuchet or a torsion slingshot, they can be immediately transported to the long ship and become a special weapon.
Shipborne weapons.
Since it was a water battle, the Suomi people felt that archery could solve most of the battles, so Rurik simply asked his subordinates to equip more bows and arrows.
A short wooden bow is at least a good thing for hunting. It takes a lot of effort to process wood, rattan, and animal sinews into a short wooden bow. After a fierce battle with the main force of the Tavastians, the Russian bow and arrow equipment was captured.
Volume has increased significantly.
To put it bluntly, every warrior now has his own long-range weapon. Even if many people only know how to draw a bow and shoot arrows based on luck, once they are used on a large scale to create "barrages", there will always be arrows to kill the enemy.
Twenty dragon-headed warships became the main force of the battle, each equipped with a torsion slingshot or trebuchet, and the remaining oarsmen were all equipped with a set of bows and arrows.
The leading warship was filled with forty people, and eight hundred warriors formed a mobile fleet capable of rampaging.
This is not over yet. The remaining longships are closely following the sail destroyer Mercury. Although this force is no longer a mobile fleet, the fleet will still have a thousand people, becoming an existence that may move slowly but is indestructible.
The tactics have been laid out, and the Russian army is determined to wait for work, holding Tavastalu and waiting for the enemy's main force to appear.
The main force of the Suomi people only appeared on the lake at noon the next day.
Uko, the chief of Suomi, could see a large number of ships floating on the lake in the distance with his eyes, and his instinct told him that there was something fishy about these enemies.
However, a group of village leaders who were eager to win had recklessly led their men to rush forward at all costs.
"Hey! You guys want to be heroes? The enemy has something fishy!"
"Come back quickly, let's move forward together!"
Uko yelled, but was met with taunts from several villages: "Brother, why are you lingering? Come on and rush with us. If it's too late, the spoils will be ours."
Uko gritted his teeth. He actually wanted to rush, but he felt more and more that this was too weird. He simply gritted his teeth and stamped his feet. Even if someone scolded him for being a coward, let him scold him.
Most of the Suomi canoes are waiting for the leader's intention. If Uko's flagship canoe does not charge, it is better for the brothers not to charge.
Another twenty canoes went to challenge. The village leaders who were in high spirits saw how the brothers behind them all turned into cowards. The people who were scolding now calmed down.
"What's going on? We agreed to attack together, but why did our brothers become the leaders?"
Someone asked cautiously: "Boss, haven't we become scouts now?"
"Keep paddling and see what's going on with the people in the distance. You all should be on guard and shoot as soon as the distance is reached."
That being said, this group of Suomi people's canoes were running wildly on the calm lake, but they had no idea about the situation of their opponents. The only thing they could judge was that as the distance approached, the blurred outlines of the enemy ships were already emotional enough.
The sight in front of them immediately shocked everyone.
Just because they are reckless doesn't mean they are fools, because those ships are clearly...
"It's the Varangians!" The reckless village leader was immediately trembling with fright, and all his courage was frightened away.
"Silly children, turn the boat around! Let's run!"
With a command, all the canoes turned around.
However, the twenty mobile warships of the Russian army were pursuing. As many as thirty oarsmen were manning the large concave oars of the Russians, which had already allowed the long boats to reach a charging speed of ten knots. Because they were physically strong, but
It can maintain this rapid attack for more than half an hour!
Su Oumi's recklessness has already taken hold.
Although Jevro hoped that his people would disarm wisely, the battle was still inevitable. The Russian army had already been mobilized, and only a group of lightly injured people were left on the shore to control the camp. The Russian army was also full of expectations for this decisive battle.
Respect.
First, rocks flew over and splashed water near the canoe. Then, the clay-fired cone-shaped bullets of the torsion slingshot flew with a low whistling sound.
The dragon-headed warship ran wildly against the south wind. As the distance approached, the heavy weapon fire became more and more accurate, and the crossbowmen on the ship also began to exert force.
The Suomi people, paddling frantically in an attempt to escape, thought they would be safe if they blended in with the larger group, and therefore they could not fight back.
They became living targets one after another. Some people began to be hit by arrows and fell into the water, and some canoes were hit by high-grade cast iron projectiles that suddenly flew in, causing sawdust to fly everywhere.
There was no suspense in the battle so far. The Ross longship, which had the advantage in the water battle, caught up with Suomi's canoe, and the merciless killing began immediately.
The Russians suffered no casualties, so they used torque slingshots to easily drill holes in the enemy ships, and then used crossbows to accurately shoot the people on board. They also stabbed and hacked those who fell into the water with long-handled halberds.
The killing simply happened in front of the main force of the Suomi people. Uko could not be relieved that he did not lead the main force in a mad charge, but saw those dragon-headed warships wreaking havoc like hungry wolves preying on them, and he immediately lost his position.
The surrendered Nuori was in Uko's canoe, and the messenger immediately became the target of his venting.
Uko punched the boy, causing his mouth to bleed immediately.
"You lied to me! These raiders crossing the sea are Varyags! You actually incited us to fight against the Varyags!"
Nuori was also very surprised: "They are Russians!"
"No! Idiots, they are Varangians. I am so crazy that I want to fight them, and Suomi will perish for it!"
But then again, the Varyags obviously cruised in the southern seas. In the past, they repeatedly attacked Suomi offshore villages and robbed wealth and people. Uko was not mentally retarded, he could see that those "sea wolves" were
A long ship decorated with the heads of sea serpents, customary to the Varangians.
Seeing his own people being annihilated, Uko thought of escaping, but he was too weak to escape. The Suomi people came out in full force, and when they saw the incredible Varyag army appearing in the lakes, everyone felt very complicated.
The situation was more serious than it seemed at first glance. Uko saw those raging Varyag warships and clearly saw the Suomi army swarming on the lake with a large group of canoes showing no tendency to attack further. This was by no means cowardly. I'm afraid it was
Waiting for the large army behind it?!
Uko squinted his eyes and took a closer look. He counted twenty dragon-headed warships in front of him. Not far away, there was a very huge ship approaching with more warships!
"Don't panic!" he yelled.
The roar calmed down the nervous people, and stabilized the restless morale of the Suomi army. The canoes instinctively moved closer, and no one deserted at all.
Do the two sides have to fight, and do they have to fight to the death with the Varyags? If the Varyags wanted to kill, the Suomi people would have faced annihilation many years ago.
Perhaps this war can be avoided through some special means?
However, as the big ship approached closer, the huge crossed blue stripes on the triangular sail made many Suomi people in the military formation clearly realize that they were encountering that group of Varyags.
"It's actually...it's them!" Wu Ke was so shocked that his whole body trembled and his words were trembling.
Nuori wiped the corners of his mouth and asked, "Do you know them?"
"Why don't you know them? Their large fleets wander in the bay every year and always encounter our ocean fishermen, but they have never attacked us Suomi people. How..." Suddenly, Uko thought
A bold and dangerous idea, but this idea is indeed in line with the characteristics of the Suomi people who pay more attention to trade.
Since they have met each other many times at least, no conflicts have broken out before.
If the war crisis can be handled through negotiation, wouldn't it be the safest thing to do?
Someone has to be the messenger! Uko has the right to be the messenger, but he also has to take Nuori along with him.
Nowadays, even betraying old friends is something that has to be done, and besides, most of the Suomi people do not regard the Tavastians as allies. So, this Nuori is a bargaining chip in exchange for a truce.