The power of the Russians is expanding towards the White Sea, especially with the Bear Festival Fortress north of Lake Ladoga as a stronghold. Bear hunters use heavy weapons such as sled-mounted torsion slingshots to directly launch javelins to accurately strike at wandering polar bears.
.
As long as bears are not allowed to get close, hunting bears is like dressing up for archery without the danger, and the hunter only gets fun from the killing.
For every bear skin sold to the prince, the worst one could get was ten silver coins, and usually twenty silver coins could be obtained.
As long as you kill a bear, you will get two hundred pounds of oats. This is a sure-fire deal.
Even with powerful weapons, bears are not animals that are as often seen as squirrels. Moreover, the use of a reindeer sled to shoot bears with a torque slingshot is very restricted by climate and geography.
There are freshwater seals in Lake Ladoga. Wandering polar bears will wander around the lakeside, looking for cracks caused by the mutual squeeze of the ice, and guard the caves waiting for the seals to capture them. They will even look for the caves of Arctic foxes and marten and actively capture them.
, wandering reindeer are found bravely hunting, and also looking for dormant hives. They eat everything, but always give priority to the approaching black shadows coming to the ice.
Then, he was hit by a javelin that suddenly flew from the sky, and after walking a few steps by the frozen lake, he suddenly fell to the ground.
The hunters from Bear Festival Town faced a vast unknown land, especially the large area of forest in the east, which did not look like the activity area of the defeated Karelia people.
There was a bear hunting team of more than 20 people, driving their own reindeer sleigh, and led by two registered deer herder guides, along the east coast of Lake Ladoga.
Their empty sleds began to contain gratifying goods, which were dismembered bear skins, severed bear heads and paws, and some huge pieces of meat that were frozen hard. They even cleverly removed the bloody bear meat.
Cut it into strips and string it up on branches on the spot. Even if the meat is as frozen as a stone, it will be cooked quickly by grilling it by the campfire.
In fact, they themselves wore heavy leather coats tanned by polar bear skins. The leather was even cut into hoods, and they used fox skins to make gloves. Their feet were wearing deerskin boots made with Slavic craftsmanship. They even wore uniforms.
Wearing wooden-framed sunglasses, they are really a group of "people in suits". It is this kind of dress that makes them extremely weird, absurd, and even terrifying.
Because they saw a larger human settlement!
"Where is that?" the leader asked.
Although the deer herders who led the way didn't know much about it, they racked their brains and came up with a possibility - the Ludi people's camp.
If this large army launches a direct attack, the settlement can be conquered in a short time.
However, there are only about twenty brothers, and what's worse is that they are generally older. But even the young and powerful boys in their twenties dare not launch an attack rashly, even if they are wearing iron armor.
Because the residents of the settlement who were suspected of being Ludi people fought back, using their absolute numerical superiority to beat them with wooden sticks, they were able to kill all the brothers.
However, if the brothers went with the purpose of trade, the situation might be different.
The Lydy people lived their own lives. In the past, they paid tribute to the powerful Karelia people every year, and even handed over some women as slaves. They existed as surrenderers, but now they have learned from the mouths of the fugitives.
He learned about the huge disaster in the north, the powerful Karelian tribal alliance fell apart, and the shackles around his neck seemed to be gone.
The Ludi people no longer had to pay tribute, and they also knew that the remaining forces of the Karelia Alliance moved eastward along a river, and a small number of people joined the Ludi tribe.
The Karelians who escaped were accepted, but the war stories they told were too fantastical.
Powerful, Karelia fell apart overnight. The invader named Rus was too powerful and his methods were too ruthless.
Such a description frightened the female leader of the Ludi people out of their wits. She hoped that these were all ridiculous. If this was the truth, where would the Ludi people go? Could they move again?
How can moving be so easy?
The whole tribe migrated here with their herds, one of the main reasons was to avoid fighting with the Perm Alliance to break away from the living space. Although the tribe was still conquered by the Karelia people, the geomantic treasure land is now stable.
The master died, and everyone gained absolute freedom.
They knew that a group of fleeing Karelians had fled to the west bank of Onegahu. Those people had lost their authority as masters, but the Lüdi people had no strength to turn against the guests. The two sides regained contact, and a road connected Onegahu
The overland trade route between Hu and Lake Ladoga was born.
Maybe today should be a normal cold winter day.
The priests of the tribe held a sun sacrifice a few days ago, and the days became longer and longer in the following days.
The Ludi people are basically the product of multiple clans and families living together. They herd reindeer in the snowy pastures near the settlements, and many people simply hide in thatched huts and wooden sheds and wait quietly for the arrival of spring.
But there are some white shadows on the ice, which at first glance look like a group of white bears approaching.
Alert tribesmen began to gather, a move that undoubtedly prompted the Ross Bear Hunting Team to take military alert.
"Boss, is the slingshot charged?" someone asked.
"Charge your power! Install the javelin! Listen to my orders." After the leader said this, he immediately ordered the two registered deer herders who came to mind: "Are those Ludi people? You probably understand their language, let me check the wind.
."
Originally, the local deer herders did not want to deal with those tribesmen at all. Although the two of them had only known about the existence of the Ludi people before, they were the servants of the Karelian people. Even so, the two sides were naturally hostile.
At least the deer herders collectively reject Karelia and her servants.
The two men took off their bearskin hoods to reveal their black hair. They walked toward the village holding short spears like canes. They were messengers, and they were very afraid that the other party would use knives if they disagreed.
In fact, the village was already within the maximum throw range of the torsion slingshot. The north wind was howling miserably above the ice lake. The Rossel Bears who were parked on the ice took off their shields and held their swords to watch the fun.
Gradually, more than a hundred tribesmen gathered with sticks. This is their settlement, and they want to guard their homeland. When they saw the other party, they seemed to have sent a black-haired envoy, who looked similar to the "golden snow" described by the exiles.
It has nothing to do with the image of a "skinned giant", and the tense nerves can't help but relax.
The two walked cautiously into the village and were immediately surrounded by a group of armed tribesmen.
The negotiations between the tribesmen were polite at first, until the two of them explained their clear identities-Russians.
The peaceful atmosphere was immediately broken, and the two Ross envoys were directly held down. If there were not a large number of tribesmen, the Ross Bear Team watching from a distance would have discovered that the envoys they sent had been captured, which would be a signal of hostility.
The Ross hunters at least saw that the originally orderly tribesmen suddenly became chaotic.
"Are our envoys welcomed by them?" someone asked.
"Who knows?" The bear hunter leader shrugged: "We will find out later."
"I'm afraid that the envoy will be chopped down by them. If we encounter a village in the vast ice field, if there are many of us, we will kill it directly, but there are only twenty of us..." someone else bared his teeth and said.
"There is something in your words." the leader asked again.
"Now that we have fewer people, why don't they attack us?"
"How could they be so bold? Unless they wanted to die."
"Why not? No matter who they are, they are on the east side of the lake. We must report this to the prince. This is a great achievement. In my opinion, we continue to be on guard. If there is a battle, I...will not hesitate to fight.
war."
Even the ferocious bears are not afraid of war. This group of elderly bear hunters killed unparalleled bears when they were young, but they still refuse to accept their old age, so they bravely carry out winter bear hunting.
The bear hunting leader listened to this explanation. He ordered the tails of all reindeer sleds to face the village, and the onboard torsion slingshots were adjusted in direction and shooting angle.
The other brothers raised their wooden-arm crossbows and were ready to charge up at any time, especially the two steel-armed crossbows in the team that were on standby in case of any eventuality.
Looking at the two captured messengers, I learned that a group of despicable strangers appeared on the ice, and everyone who stayed in the tribe showed up.
The envoy was escorted to the leader's room and then underwent interrogation by many tribal elders, that is, the elders of each clan.
But are interrogations really meaningful?
At the interrogation venue, the representatives of the fleeing Karelia people were looking angrily. They demanded that these envoys be sentenced to death simply because they were servants of the Rus.
As for the small group of Russians on the ice, there is no reason to negotiate with them, so it is better to raise troops to kill them.
The envoy was shocked. He didn't expect that the people here were indeed Lüdi people, and even the remaining members of Karelia were still "making suggestions" for the Lüdi people?
Realizing that he was in deep danger, an envoy was furious. Even if he died, he would declare his interests to potential opponents: "Lydi people! Are you a bunch of fools? You can kill me, but the Russians will fight back with all their strength.
How many of you are there? They will kill you all and even burn your bones to ashes."
But he looked at the representative of the Karelian people, an old man with loose hair and a mustache: "Don't listen to this man's nonsense. The Russians are strong, and now we have a clear advantage. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and you must support it as before
us."
"Who do you think you are?" An elder of the Ludi clan was furious: "Your tribe is finished and is no longer our master. Whether to go to war with the Russians who hunt bears is our business."
Did they actually start a quarrel among themselves? Realizing the opportunity, the messenger hurriedly took out the "carrot" and at the same time scolded the Karelia people who were present.
The messenger simply roared at the top of his voice, losing control of his emotions: "Karelia is the destroyer, and they are despicable cowards. They have declined to the extreme, do you still want to surrender to them? The Russians are the most merciful conquerors.
.You all listen up, anyone who surrenders to Ross will receive rewards and security. Ross has discovered you. If you resist, you will all be killed unless you all flee. Listen, the Ross people are your real masters.
"
This description came from a black-haired deer herder, causing the elderly female leader to scream in confusion.
"You obviously speak the same language as us, why do you want to speak to those Russians? Are you a Russian?"
Through these words, the two envoys saw the changing eyes of the female leader, and realized that she was wavering, and now was the time to pursue victory.
"Because we surrendered to the Rus and became the New Rus. All the people got a good life. We paid some live deer every year in exchange for salt and iron. We can freely enter and leave the settlements of Rus without any restrictions.
harm."
"This is really not true. Do the Russians only want some live deer as tribute?"
"Of course!" The messenger directly gave another example: "Do you know, Vips? They have surrendered to Russia. They no longer need to give women and deer to the Karelia people as tribute. The Rus do not need these at all. Vips
The people of Russia have already lived a good life because of their act of surrender, why don't you do the same? You are just a small tribe, is it more painful to surrender to Rus than to surrender to Karelia? Let me tell you a secret, the high priest of the Rus is our deer herder woman
, the Rus will regard the converts as friends and family. Chief! Look at the Karelia people around you, they exploit you too much like reindeer, and the next step is to replace you and conquer your entire tribe."
When the messenger was threatened with death, he suddenly became possessed by a negotiator. He was really arguing his interests with the female leader of Lüdy, deliberately trying to sow discord between the Lüdy people and the Karelian exiles.
Suddenly, the Karelia representative who was blushing was furious. He picked up a small saber for cutting meat and rushed towards the eloquent Russian envoy who was tied up and sitting on the ground. He pointed it directly at his neck and stabbed him.
He stabbed him several times and killed him. When he was about to kill another person, he was held down by the surprised Ludi people.
The old lady, the leader of Ludi, screamed while holding her old head, but she saw the guy who was being held down bared his teeth and yelled angrily: "Now, you must listen to the opinions of us Karelians and go to war with them!"
The exiles hijacked the entire Ludi tribe in this violent way.
Some things cannot be completely changed overnight. For example, the survivors of the Karelian people who were almost destroyed by a fatal blow still feel that they are powerful kings, while the Lydian people who have been servants for a long time still have not really adjusted their position.
The Lydians at least know what the Karelians are, and what the Rus are?
It is true that the Russians are crazy killing monsters, and they are also very kind to their subjects, which is really questionable.
Fortunately, everyone no longer has any doubts. Anyway, one of Ross's envoys has died, leaving the other one alive. It's time to gather the men with weapons to defeat the invading Ross hunter team.
From the position of the female leader, she did not want to start a war at all, or in other words, the Ludi people as a whole rejected war. However, it would be impossible not to fight now. At least if we fight, we can seize a lot of iron tools and valuables from the corpses of the Russians.
of salt.
The clan leaders have never seen a real Rus warrior, and they are very optimistic precisely because they have never seen one. Those stories such as "terrible giants" are just legends in the end, and no one except a group of frightened Karelian exiles has seen them.
Pass?
Optimism spread in the settlements, and the people also heard that the Ross Bear Hunting Team had a lot of iron tools and other good things, and they attacked them to rob them based on their ability. All clans were competing to be the first on this issue.
The men of the tribal people mobilized. They wore deerskin clothes that were generally brown and gray. The warriors generally carried spears with sharp deer bones and wooden shields covered with deerskin. They also had short wooden bows of rather average quality, and their bone-clustered arrows
It's so clumsy that the bow appears to be even worse.
At least they have the advantage in numbers, right?
The entire tribe quickly assembled a "robbery army" of more than 300 people. They did not need a particularly high-sounding reason for starting the war. Anyway, they had beaten the bear hunting team to get iron weapons. This was the most sufficient reason.
The Ludi people blew the antlers, and the men rallied for it. Faced with this situation, the female leader could only delegate power to the clans. At least she arranged for the manpower to guard the last messenger as a backup.
.
There is no doubt that the act of blowing the trumpet is a signal of war.
The Ross hunters, who had been waiting for a while, became increasingly bored, and when they heard the sound of the horn, their lethargy naturally disappeared.
"Damn it! It seems that I guessed it right. They must be looking at our small number and want to annihilate us!"
"Thanks to you, brother!" The bear hunting leader immediately summoned his men: "It seems that the messenger was chopped down by them. We could have evacuated now, but we will not be cowards. Let's kill a hundred of them and offer sacrifices to Odin."
!”
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone banged their shields in unison and let out a viking war cry.
It's a pity that the roar was blown away by the lake breeze...