Hundreds of people retreated to the camp on the top of the stone hill. Of course, they could run to the forest on the island to hide, but fear acted on their bodies, and running back was not a good idea. In the current situation, it seemed that the only option was to huddle together for warmth.
Some of those who tried to escape on rafts withdrew, but not without success.
Someone took some precious fresh water from the spring. As for finding anything to eat, except for a few edible wild vegetables, there was really nothing left.
Can a little fresh water guarantee the survival of thousands of people?
There are trees and stones on the top of the stone hill, and a small amount of food warehouses belong to those big families. Now some big families left forcefully and were ruthlessly sunk offshore by the Ross fleet. They took away most of the stored supplies.
And fed the fish. The remaining few supplies were all firmly occupied by other big families who were watching.
The first day's attempt to leave ended in a disastrous defeat for the islanders. After nightfall, the surviving people did not lament that they were smart enough to wait and see to avoid death. What they faced was not only hunger and thirst, but also fear itself.
The fear of domination.
The forced escape of the islanders surprised Rurik. He had expected this and did not expect that his opponents could flee in large numbers.
He even reflected that maybe he should not have issued the order to kill all the fugitives.
"Most of you don't have to die. As long as you surrender to me, wouldn't it be fine? I still want to recruit you..."
Rurik put aside his fantasies for the time being. Even if the situation was like this, it still seemed too hasty to surrender them.
The speaker, Swinder, was in a hurry. While Rurik was quietly looking at the grilled fish, the guy stumbled over and begged.
"Sir, please let them go. You plan to ask me to persuade them to surrender. I will go now. This can't happen anymore! They will be slowly tortured to death by you."
Swinde's actions were too impulsive, and before he could finish his words, he was dragged away by the guards and put under control.
"Let him go." Rurik signaled.
"Sir, please think about it! I will go there overnight to persuade you."
"No need. If they dare to escape once, they dare to escape a second time. I want to kill them. I also know who is so courageous. They don't dare to fight with me but they have the courage to escape? It's really ridiculous."
"It must be those big families, that is... people like me." Swinde explained hurriedly.
"you?"
"Sir, my family must have followed the others and fled to the hills. My home is in this big fishing village. There is not a single body there. My wife and children have all been evacuated. I am just worried..."
"Are you worried about their lives? I understand you, but..." Rurik shook his head, "This is war. If your family members are smart enough and surrender obediently, I can let them be guests instead of slaves.
"
"Then let me convince them. Why don't I hold the torch and speak for myself!"
Swind, who was trying to leave, was still controlled by the soldiers. Ryuri had made up his mind and would not let this guy make his own decisions.
"You and I will continue to wait! Soon I will send people to clean up the forest, and my fleet will still patrol the sea for three days! We will wait for three days, and then we will go and check the situation."
"Three days?! Even if they don't starve to death, they will die of thirst!"
Rurik listened tirelessly and ordered his subordinates to pull him away, while he ate the fish himself.
No one in the Rus army was willing to say a good word for Swinder, and even Ragnar from the alliance was too lazy to talk to this unfortunate guy.
Even if Ragnar opposes King Horik of Denmark, it does not mean that he must unite the people of Bornholm Island. The islanders here are all strongheads. Their origins are varied. Now they seem to run away when they encounter disaster.
He despised it extremely. Although his Stonewall tribe also escaped, they only succeeded in breaking out after paying extremely huge sacrifices, and they were always thinking about revenge. What did the actions of the people of this archipelago count?
The Ross army still lit bonfires everywhere to create suspicious formations.
What started as a ploy has now become extremely pragmatic.
The Ross fleet, which used trawling technology to catch fish, encountered the resource-rich South Baltic Sea. The Ross people trawled for fish during the day and lit lamps to fish for fish at night. A large number of fish were caught ashore, and the river beaches were only "fish processing workshops" that spontaneously formed.
The big fish is cut into pieces, the small fish is spread out, and after being smeared with salt, it is gradually turned into dry and hard salted fish by roasting on the bonfire, and then transported to the boat.
The smell of grilled fish permeates this small island, especially when it drifts along the south wind to the top of the stone hills and into the noses of anxious people. This makes the already restless and fearful people even more angry, and objectively it becomes a problem.
The Russian army's psychological offensive.
Not all the islanders have fled to the top of the hill. The entire island is surrounded by the Ross Navy. The triangular sails of the cruising ships are like the dorsal fins of sharks. Each ship cruises with eager eyes, and any raft that tries to leave will be destroyed.
As the sun rises, a new day begins, and the situation is a recipe for disaster for the islanders.
The prince's order only prohibited the destruction of large fishing villages. As for other island micro-villages, it didn't matter even if they were about to be burned down.
The warships couldn't find their hunting targets, so they simply attacked the tiny fishing villages they found. Most of the fishermen had already fled, and they were already poor and it was impossible to leave any treasure in the village.
The soldiers who disembarked from the ship had nothing to search for, so they set fire to the house just to vent their anger, and then moved away all the available bottles and cans. Especially the fishermen's boats. Boats that were too small were scuttled directly, and large rowing boats were tied up with ropes.
Hold on, be led away.
The Russian army's torment on the second day caused thick smoke to billow in various small fishing villages, and one after another people fled with their families and took refuge on the stone hill in the center of the island.
The new escapees brought even crueler news - the villages had been burned down, and every escaping ship was gone.
The entire island has become a prison, and although there is dense forest under the stone hills, it has become a hunting ground for Ross invaders.
Because there was news again that the Russians with bows and arrows seemed to be sharpshooters. They shot people as if they were hunting, and some were captured and their lives were uncertain.
The people who fled to Shiqiu could only bring bad news one after another. They thought they had temporarily escaped the invaders, but unexpectedly the supplies they carried became must-have items for other islanders.
What Rurik didn't know was that the islanders trapped on the stone hill were actually killing each other.
Those big families and the exiled Danes were more organized than others. They held sharp weapons in their hands to plunder the remaining supplies and poured precious water into their stomachs.
What else could the people who had been deprived of supplies do? They were hungry and thirsty, so they had no choice but to sit on rocks and pray for rain.
Of course, some people took the risk and went down the mountain to get water from the spring. More than a hundred people went there with great hope, but they were ambushed by the Russian army.
The ambush was extremely short and did not even cause many casualties. The ambushing Russian army shot some arrows and stunned the water fetchers. The brothers swarmed in and captured them.
The captured islanders thought that their heads would be dislocated immediately, but instead they were escorted to the main camp of the Russian army.
There were both men and women captives, among whom the woman holding her child was the most eye-catching.
Seeing such a mother, how could Rurik not feel compassion?
This was the largest number of prisoners taken by the Russian army since the battle began. More than eighty people sat on the sand and gravel by the sea. They all got enough grilled fish and fresh water. After eating and drinking, their fear was eliminated.
Most of it.
After they obtained the security promise, they expressed their willingness to cooperate.
They began to explain the situation on the stone hill, especially how the powerful people there robbed ordinary fishermen of their supplies, and described the size of the powerful families and the size of the ordinary fishermen.
Swinder came in a hurry and interrupted the prisoners' accusations. The prisoners were shocked when they saw such an acquaintance.
Immediately, someone became furious, stood up, pointed and cursed: "Swinder! Is it you who led the Russians to attack our island? You are a traitor!"
Hearing this, Swinde was speechless.
But the next second, the man who spoke was hit in the chest by a crossbow. He fell to the ground with the arrow in his chest, twitched a few times and then stopped moving.
The sudden death frightened all the prisoners into screaming, and Rurik shouted loudly: "This is the consequences of disobedience! You must remain submissive until you regain your freedom."
The body was dragged away and thrown directly into the sea to drift on the waves...
For this reason, Rurik had to reiterate his policy, and then began to classify this wave of prisoners into three, six, and nine grades.
Swind got what he wanted and learned about the condition of his wife and children. Although they were alive, many servants at home were killed or injured. Even so, they were trapped on the rocky hill, where there was a lack of food and water, and the situation was getting worse. He wished he could
Now if I take Shuishui up the mountain, I can at least bring my family back.
Swinde had learned his lesson, and his reason prevented him from doing so.
What has he done to the Russian people to this day? The army has penetrated into the forest on the island, the small island has been searched, the small fishing village is blazing, and except for the huge refugee camp on the top of the hill, there is no one hiding anywhere else.
It seems that the Prince of Ross will not take back his orders. The Prince will deliberately ignore the islanders for three days, and the real persuasion to surrender will be postponed until the fourth day.
What else can Swinder do? He can only hope that his family can survive until that day.
On the third day, in the large fishing village occupied by the Russian army, Rurik selected a large house and held a combat meeting here before the capitulation operation.
However, rather than trying to persuade them to surrender, the eyeing army generals would rather swarm them and annihilate them to gain glory.
There are many people who can be recruited by Rurik, and the "ship" captains in the army, that is, platoon-level commanders, are all involved. The Ross Army's flag force is a well-organized combat group, and each "ship" has a number of personnel.
Thirty people can independently carry out combat missions.
Rurik had already learned from the captives about the composition of the islanders on the top of the stone hill. There were a large number of women and children there, but the fighting men had suffered a large loss due to failed escapes. Now even if these men were well fed and drunk, due to their numerical disadvantage
They were no match for the Russian army. What's more, they had not received effective supplies for three days, or to be specific, four days. Even if they did not die of thirst and starvation, they would definitely be dying.
The venue was very noisy at first, but when Rurik decided to announce his policy, there was an instant silence.
"I know you want to chop off their heads! But you all must remember that they are a group of cowards! They are a group of hungry and thirsty cowards, and there are a large number of women and children! If you kill them, especially on the stone hill,
Kill them on the high ground. Odin is watching you from high in the sky. Even the gods will not think this behavior is honorable. So the captain you are doing must restrain your own people. You convey my words to yourself.
Brothers, do not try to kill indiscriminately, and do not launch an attack without my order. If the situation becomes very urgent, if they do not resist, they will be tied up. If you dare to disobey my orders, I will use
Hit your butts with a stick!"
The punishment for disobeying the order is to have your butt kicked? Everyone couldn't help but laugh wildly.
Someone laughed and said, "Don't worry, Prince, but we don't want to do anything that will bring shame on our honor."
Rurik knew very well that the Ross army was not a well-disciplined army, but a tribal army. The Principality of Ross was a mixture of various tribes. A brand new nation was being formed, and a unified Odin faith was also being implemented.
In order to maintain the morale of the army, Rurik had to allow them to loot freely, and condoning violence was also eating away at his heart.
It is not that Rurik has never thought of killing everyone. So what if he ordered the killing of the entire island? He would not be punished by others at all, and would only make others more frightened.
Continuously killing people through customs to maintain the authority of rule is the real barbarian behavior. The biggest contradiction in the principality is still the serious shortage of labor force. The Bornholm Islanders should be captured as much as possible and thrown into the mining areas in the north to dig iron ore.
Stone is obviously a very good labor force.
What Rurik focused on was still the issue of persuading surrender. Now that he had a clear understanding of the situation, he had to explain clearly how to persuade them to surrender.
According to his plan, the stone hill will be surrounded by the Ross army, and some large trees will be quickly felled and sawed down, just to create an open space so that the Ross army can raise flags and shout openly to scare the islanders.
The army then unloaded some torsion slingshots and trebuchets and set them up. The soldiers prepared their crossbows and were on guard against the islanders' final attack.
After sufficient military preparations have been made, a plan to attack the enemy's heart is indispensable.
Rurik was very proud of this tactic in particular.
He proudly declared: "After we formed the formation, we still lit some bonfires. We threw the big cod fish we caught directly into the fire and let the fire burn them to ashes."
"What does this mean?" Arik asked in shock, "Are you willing to burn the fat fish?"
"Why don't you want to give up? I just want the fish to be burnt with a strong fire. The alluring aroma will drift to the nearby stone hills. People who are about to starve to death will use their last strength to come down after smelling the smell. In my opinion, when it comes to that
By that time, their consciousness can no longer control their bodies."
Ragnar expressed deep doubts: "Rurik, is this also part of your plan?"
"Yes."
"We've done this before, so why didn't they come down? Oh, someone did come down to get water."
"They are not hungry enough." Rurik shrugged, "My purpose is not to really kill them, I have to leave them some hope of survival. Those prisoners are of great use, let them stand in a conspicuous place tomorrow
, to declare that we did not kill. The aroma of grilled fish is a ploy. I also want to publicly demonstrate that our army has sufficient fresh water."
Ragnar thought for a while, slapping his thigh and lamenting that Prince Rurik was so cruel at such a young age. He also lamented that he and he were currently in an alliance. If they were enemies, he would be completely defeated in any war or strategy.
Everyone is sure that Rurik's plan is quite clever. If they don't surrender after this, those guys will really be beyond description in words.
So what should be done after they surrender? Rurik has already made three different opinions on the fate of ordinary fishermen's families, the exiled Danes and the powerful families on the island.
"Those ordinary fishermen are dependent on the strong, and some sell themselves into slavery. Now that I am the strong, they will serve me and become my servants like deer herders. Only I can punish them, you
Don’t kill indiscriminately!”
"The exiled Danes are not our opponents. The battle is a misunderstanding! Ragnar, I hope you can convince them. At least I have no intention of fighting them. Fighting each other is meaningless. Instead, I should join forces with them to deal with King Horri of Denmark.
Grams. I hope you can mediate this situation properly, but don’t create any more misunderstandings.”
"As for those big families who provoked the war, do they still need to survive? I can spare their lives for the time being, but they must be obedient. The war can be avoided completely, and the peace talks have obviously been successful, but they refuse to recognize the peace talks, even if they
If you choose to surrender, you still have to pay some... monetary price."
With this announcement, Ragnar and Swinder received their respective tasks.
Things have gone drastically different from the original plan. The peaceful incorporation of Bornholm Island is no longer possible. At least theoretically, there are still 3,000 people who can be captured by the Principality of Rus. They are all Vikings and speak Norse.
Respecting gods such as Odin, Freya and Thor, Rurik is most interested in ordinary fishermen and slaves. They are a large group of people who lack care and can be exploited the most. As long as they are bound to economic ties, they
In order to make a living, the association must coexist and prosper with Ross. This is "incorporation".
As for those big families? Forget it.
Rurik once had murderous intentions, but this murderous intention was only temporarily suppressed. It also depends on whether the big families are smart.