Rurik is going to start a war on the island of Bornholm. It is a war but not a war.
His request surprised everyone.
What does it mean to surrender without fighting? As long as the army is driven over, the local fishermen will surrender obediently? Is there such a good thing?
Arik, Spuyut, Medved and others all felt it was unreliable.
As a guest, Ragnar felt that this possibility existed, but when he landed on the island to negotiate with those people, the islanders quickly pulled out an army and prepared to fight.
He naturally informed Rurik of this news and asked Prince Rus to think about it carefully.
"Your warning is very important, so I must be prepared with both hands. It is best to use force to intimidate them into surrendering. If they choose war, then let's fight! I default that they are a whole and a strong army. Obviously they are not
So, I will respect their strength for now, and I will naturally show the strong strength of the Ross Navy."
Rurik ordered to assemble an army to launch an expedition. Now is the slack period of midsummer, so mobilizing an army of one thousand people is not a problem.
One thousand people is not too much, and it is not too small to say that it is small. However, such a scale cannot demonstrate the military power of Ross.
But Rurik planned to send out all the main ships of the Russian navy. First, the "Eighty-Eight Fleet" would be assembled brazenly, and twenty standard armed cargo ships (including fishing boats) would be assembled to accompany them.
If you just assemble the "Eighty-Eight Fleet" and rush over, you are probably just going to fight.
When he announced that there were twenty more cargo ships, some smart people had already guessed the prince's other intentions.
Because those so-called cargo ships are indeed cargo ships, but they also retain the mechanism of dropping the trawl net and manually winching the net.
Naturally, light and surprisingly tough materials such as nylon did not exist in this era, and fishing nets were all woven from flax. Such nets could be woven very huge, making trawling possible. Of course, its realization was based on the large acquisition of flax fibers, and today
After Ross opened up the flax planting area around Lake Ilmen, the flax resources that were rarely available in the past are now quite abundant. Large-scale production of cables and fishing nets is the money-making job of local Slavic women.
Although there is no high technology like sonar, even a large sailing ship dragging a large net cruising in the sea can still catch a lot of delicious herring.
Even though the fishing nets need to be repaired on a large scale after each voyage, the cost of repairing the nets is very small compared to the profit.
Because the dimension span of the Boros Sea is much higher than that of the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, the Mediterranean Sea has a unique Mediterranean climate, which makes the climate on the north and south sides of the sea similar. The temperature and nutrients of the sea water are also unified across a wide range of areas.
The conditions in the Baltic Sea are different, especially in summer. There is a big hydrological gap between the Gulf of Bothnia in the north and the Pan-Denmark Strait in the south.
If given a choice, herring schools prefer to head for warmer waters.
In midsummer, the sea water in the Gulf of Bothnia in the Russian homeland is only 10°C, the warmer Gulf of Finland waters rise to 15°C, and the waters of the Denmark Strait have exceeded 20°C. Such high hydrology is naturally due to the warm Atlantic currents and solar radiation.
Thanks to the Cape, a large amount of nutrients from the Atlantic Ocean flow directly into the Baltic Sea along the strait, creating a nutrient zone in the entire Denmark Strait.
Although the various Viking tribes don't quite understand the reason, they make a living by fishing, and through years of experience, they also know in that sea area and when is a good time to fish.
The Western Baltic Sea has the most abundant fishery resources in the entire sea. Giant herrings as long as a man's forearm can be caught there, and beluga whales, minke whales and a large number of seals can also be hunted.
The Danes living there revealed this information, which made the people of the Rus' Principality begin to imagine great possibilities.
Rurik's decision undoubtedly followed the idea of "expanding the fishery economic zone".
Bornholm Island happens to be within this rich fishery area. The Russians did not have the opportunity to plunder before, but now they have an opportunity.
The military meeting ended, Rurik gave some orders and led everyone to separate and prepare.
Arik's task is to assemble the first flag team. Although the soldiers have already dispersed to fish, they should try to gather 300 people now.
The Slavic flag force should also be mobilized, and at least 200 men who are extremely unlikely to get seasick must be selected to board the ship.
All the boys among the young men of the Sixth Banner stopped going to school and took up arms to join the action, thus adding nearly two hundred men.
One hundred men were selected from the prince's bodyguard to participate in the operation.
As for the remaining three hundred men, the problem can be better solved by recruiting warriors from the surrendered tribes, such as the Vips and Ludi people. These two families have a greater chance of making up the number, but Rurik has thought about it.
, a group of fresh troops gathered from the Suomi people.
What Rurik calls a thousand people is just a thousand people from the Principality of Rus. Ragnar will naturally bring his brothers to join in as allies. That is their own business. How many troops they send is also Ragnar's.
own meaning.
Expedition mobilization orders began to be issued and the troops began to assemble!
The information about who the war is against, the purpose of the war, and how the war is conducted are all issued in the form of paper documents.
The villagers around Lake Ilmen all knew about the war, but the war had nothing to do with them. If anyone began to worry, it was none other than the estate owners. They sent their youngest sons to serve as cavalry in the Kingdom of Rus.
, it is not a big problem for the winter cavalry to attack the rugged remnants of Karelia, but the new war is clearly a battle between the principality and another group of Varyags. This is clearly a civil war among the Varyags! It is a duel between the strong.
!If your son joins in the fun, wouldn’t it be like seeking death?
Can cavalry still run on the sea? Aren't those war horses taking off their saddles to breed foals?
The conscription order issued by Rurik indeed involves the young sons of the manor owners who have become cavalry. All cavalry will participate in the battle as infantry, including ten Pechenegs. Even if the precious cavalry dismounts to fight, it will be extremely difficult.
Precious, they should all be regarded as archers to provide real support.
The prince also ordered that the army should complete its strategic assembly on Tombstone Island, and the assembly must be completed within the first three days of July.
The order came suddenly, and the courier sailed as fast as possible to his hometown of Roseburg, but could not bring the northern troops over at the agreed time. The essence of the principality has been moved to the east for several years, and Rurik mobilized all the troops from the east.
the power of.
According to his assumptions, the Russian army and the Danish Allied Forces, together with the professional sailors who operate the ships, will total 1,400 people, and they will be divided into as many as 36 large ships, evenly distributed to each ship.
Seems like a waste of space.
In fact, this is not the case. Each of the twenty standard armed cargo ships carries a huge trawl net, and the people on board are also a group of fishermen. Rurik signed fishing agreements with some tribesmen in his early years, and they rented the prince's boats to catch fish.
Special tenants, now the broken fishing boats have been replaced by standard cargo ships/fishing boats. There are twenty broken boats, and there are still twenty new boats. They have replaced their guns with cannons. Now they must fulfill their contract and go to the southern seas to fish for fish under the escort of warships. One fishing boat consists of one
Family control, as long as some soldiers are added, it will be a good combat unit.
Most of the soldiers had to stay on the sixteen battleships, and some of them stayed on the armed cargo ships with bows and arrows.
The large ships stationed at Lake Ilmen entered Lake Ladoga one after another along the rushing Volkhov River, and then entered the Neva River, first gathering at the estuary at the mouth of the sea.
The date of the expedition was quite close to that of the summer priests, so Rurik decided to set the departure date on June 28th, which was the summer festival.
But a strange situation happened that left him speechless!
A majestic big shark cruises the ocean, often accompanied by a group of seal fish to join in the fun and take advantage.
The fact that the expedition to Bornholm Island was actually a threat of force to force them to surrender has been posted on the bulletin board of Harvest Square with a public document. The people of New Roseburg are aware of the prince's determination. There are many smart people in this city.
, an opportunity to go fishing in the southwest waters is presented to you, how can you not take advantage of it?
In Viking society, fish and wheat were staple foods. Most of the coastal tribes did not have the ability to produce wheat, and their lives were basically tied to fishing. New Roseburg attracted people from all walks of life to trade here, and the population
Expansion has also spawned a variety of industries.
Not only the official large-scale shipyards, because there are more orders only in densely populated areas, the shipbuilders from Mälaren and Old Ross are not idle, although their skills are still limited to building traditional rowing long boats.
We get orders all the same, because it’s not just locals who place orders, but also Finnish Suomi people.
Today, fishing boats across the Gulf of Finland fly the flag of Russia. The Finns, who were once incompetent and cautious, now fish openly in the ocean.
A group of wealthy Finnish people began to upgrade their boats. The canoes were replaced by Viking longships, which also triggered their crazier fishing ambitions. Naturally, Javlo, the canonized ruler of Finland, was also able to organize a group of people.
A very traditional Viking fleet, just like the most traditional Vikings living on the sea. If there is a group of people, their ship looks like a Viking longship, they dress like a Viking, and their weapons look like a Viking
If people can speak Norse, then they are Vikings. Now Gevro can organize such a team, they are a group of "short black-haired" Vikings.
Even if the salinity of the seawater in the Gulf of Finland is low, the cost of making salt is indeed high. Naturally, trying to make money by selling salt cannot compete with the Balmok people in Narvik Port who wantonly transport good salt. If the salt is only made for personal use, the situation will be different.
It's completely different.
Salt is a necessity, not only because people need to eat it, but also because it is the most cost-effective medium for preserving meat.
People have reached a consensus that the southwest Baltic Sea has the best fishery resources in the entire sea area. It is rumored that the total amount of herring there is ten to twenty times that of the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia, and several times stronger than the waters of Gotland.
It seems that as long as you rush to the Danish waters to catch fish, there will be a bumper harvest. So the biggest problem is how to get the fish back!
It is now the end of June. Although the temperature is pleasant, winter is not far away. Snow will fall as early as October in the Julian calendar. As long as there is the first snow, the remaining days will become colder day by day. It is midsummer.
After the great sacrifice, smart families have to make salted fish meat to prepare for the winter. Although the principality now has abundant food supplies, it is foolish to rely entirely on eating wheat!
Smart people must be prepared with both hands, because a large number of people do not have land in their hands, and it is unreliable to buy food with money. The only way to catch fish is to firmly grasp it in their own hands.
Rurik was in New Roseburg, looking at the construction of the third floor of the palace, and he felt extremely comfortable.
Since a large number of people are ready to bring their own dry food, weapons, and ships to accompany the army, or to follow the army's unnecessary raids on Danish fisheries, why bother to do anything to hinder it? On the contrary, this is a good thing, as Prince Rurik publicly announced.
Strong support.
All the salt in the New Roseburg market has been bought, and Rurik himself is the big buyer.
While the Balmoks who transported salt made a fortune, the locals who boiled salt at extremely high costs also expanded their production, which in turn also boosted the business of charcoal-burning kilns and clay maniacs in the region.
However, Rurik did not bring much food with him on this trip, making this expedition uncharacteristic of the norm.
He had already made up his mind. Since the expedition to force the islanders of Bornholm to surrender through force was actually developed into a "herring plundering campaign" by the people of the principality, the army should follow the will of the people and mainly rely on abundant fish catches.
For food.
The head and tail of a herring are cut off, and the internal organs are cut out. It doesn't matter whether the herring is thin or small. Both men and women can stuff it into their mouths, chew it and swallow it. This is also the most traditional and pure way of eating herring by the Vikings.
What should I do if there is not enough salt to marinate fish?
Just process the fresh fish and dry it directly in the sea breeze, or bake it into dried meat by a campfire. As long as the dried fish becomes dry and hard and survives the remaining three months into winter, everything will be fine.
.
Rurik personally participated in the summer solstice sacrifices, and the fleet set sail on the same day.
Most of the main force of the Principality's fleet was assembled at the anchorage at the mouth of the Neva River. It was called the Kronstadt anchorage by Rurik. It was because there was a Kotlin Island lying across the depths of the bay, so that the high and low tides had a negative impact on New Roseburg.
The impact is much smaller. Rurik does not have the ability. If he could, he would build a long and narrow breakwater along the trend of the sandbar, turning the anchorage into relatively still water. However, this project was not completed until 2019 in another dimension.
Any seaside city will face the problem of tide erosion. Fortunately, Novovarosburg is located a short distance from the mouth of the Neva River and is protected by a number of sandbanks.
A large number of boats finished their fishing work for the day and deliberately ran aground on the Neva River channel area, thus perfectly avoiding the erosion of the tide. The fishermen then dried and mended their nets on the shore and repaired their boats at the same time.
Every day there are always boats out fishing, and there are always a number of boats repairing.
Now, the once bustling river beach is suddenly deserted, and instead the berth where large ships are parked is bustling with activity.
People from all walks of life are determined to join in the fun, and businessmen from all walks of life have their own agendas.
In principle, everyone has no good opinion of the Danes, and now they should not miss this opportunity to plunder the fish. Many people simply do not intend to actually fish. Since there are pirates for the prince, why can't other brothers personally do it?
Do you want to be free pirates? Invade Danish waters and plunder ships that do not fly the Russian flag. Even if the Danes offer protection, your brothers will still have the Principality's fleet to protect them, right?
The flagship Aurora has been repaired several times. She has been to the warm Atlantic waters, so barnacles were found attached to the bottom of the ship. The barnacles were cleaned out, and the wooden planks of the hull were partially replaced. She is already a hard-working veteran warrior, and she is still
It is intended to be a flagship, but it is no longer the most combat-effective ship.
Rurik sat on the flagship, seemingly bidding farewell to his hometown elders, but a group of "eldermen" followed him closely.
How many rowing boats followed? Probably a hundred!
He stood on the stern deck, made a visual inspection and took a few counts, and sighed that the number should exceed 100!
The fact is that as many as 1,500 people brought their own boats to join the gang, whether they brought fishing nets or simple fishing rods, they just wanted to go deep into the Danish waters to plunder. These long rowing boats were all replaced with triangular sails, becoming different from the The most distinctive feature of a Danish ship, and the white flag of Ross with blue stripes flying on the mast is a straightforward proof of identity.
On the surface, Rurik will lead an expedition with an army of 1,400 people, but in fact there is a reserve army of 1,500 people behind him.
Is this all?
When the fleet entered the port of Helminki and Javlo learned about the expedition, the new force from Finland was not only the 200 men led by Javlo himself, but also the following thirty longships. More than a hundred Finnish fishermen.
But when this mixed fleet entered Tombstone Island for supplies, they simply attracted a group of Swedes to join them.
It was already the last day stipulated by Rurik. The arrival of the mighty army shocked the merchants and they didn't know what was going on. When they learned that the Prince of Rus was moving to use force in the Danish waters, things became even more subtle.
The merchants were no longer interested in doing business, so they might as well control their ships and follow the Ross fleet to try their luck in the southern seas.
Therefore, standing in the position of Swinder, the messenger and speaker, his whole person collapsed. Maybe this is fate! The Russians organized a huge fleet that he had never seen before, perhaps five thousand The crowd rushed to Bornholm.
The islanders have no power to resist at all, and the number of people on the entire island is probably not as large as this fleet. If the Prince of Rus is willing, he can obviously go to Denmark and chop off the head of the Danish King.
But Prince Rurik seemed to have no intention of doing so.
The huge fleet has already headed south, and its next destination is Saaremaa Island.
Now that things have turned out like this, Rurik felt that the old pirates on Saaremaa Island were also idle and ordered them to push their longships into the sea. Of course, it would not be too much for any of them, and it would not be too much for one of them. Just join this opportunity as soon as possible.
…
A large fleet suddenly appeared on the Rus' Tombstone Island, and the Rus' Principality almost sent out all its troops to rush into Danish waters. Is this provoking a war against Denmark?
When the news reached the ears of King Bjorn of Sweden, the information was seriously distorted.
He was a little annoyed that he was not the commander of this army. He wanted to send troops to show that they were still allies. Since they had gone south, forget it.
Tombstone Island has become more and more prosperous in recent years, and the Ross people's self-contained trade routes have eclipsed their own Birka Port. Although the trade economy of Lake Mälaren is centered on the Birka Port, the market size cannot be compared with Ross.
Envy breeds jealousy, and jealousy breeds hatred. An evil thought flashed through his mind and was immediately rejected: "Maybe I can make a sneak attack while they are empty? Oh! No! If I do this, other tribes will not help me. Come on, The Mellarens are no match for the Russians' post-mortem settlement."
He had no choice but to give up angrily and continue to live his peaceful life. But the Russians had to be on guard because he could not guarantee that the increasingly powerful Ross would not have a strong interest in controlling Sweden.
This problem is inherently difficult. The Russians have always owned taverns in Birka and openly sold ironware and other supplies. Every year they also use silver coins to buy supplies. Every year, you can hear rumors of some people leaving the lake and immigrating to Ross.
However, Bjorn, the king, acted like a leader. His power came from usurping the throne, and he only received the nominal recognition from other tribes.
It seems that he can only watch the huge Lake Mälaren being sucked away from the wealth and population by the Principality of Ross.