Chapter 889 Rurik's Assault on the Port of Visingo
The Russian army was assembled and their swords were sharpened. The fleet was in full order and officially marched southward with flags flying.
Karl, the Yotalan warlord tyrant in the lake area, almost didn't know about this, but he met another group of people who had escaped on the morning before the main operation of the Ross army. Karl learned that his general Garg
defeat, and the horrific ending of more than a hundred of his close subordinates sinking to the bottom of the lake.
This incident was so shocking that he panicked and soon noticed that the entire Vicingse was in chaos.
Although he couldn't figure out the situation at all, he could conclude that the unknown enemy was very powerful and that the next target of attack would be himself.
Backing down? No! If the brothers give up on Wizinger, where will they be able to stand?!
"This is my island! This is my lake! The Danish monarch cannot kill me! No one can kill me!"
Karl put on a bearskin and picked up the double-edged battle ax again. His close subordinates decided to follow their master and accept his orders to prepare for war.
The entire Weisinger Island was blockaded, and any man on the island, including a ten-year-old boy, was captured. Although it was very hasty, "Crazy Bear" Carl mobilized more than two thousand armed fishermen in one day, and then
Together with his cronies, they gathered together and became known as the "Three Thousand Army".
He also sent people to row a boat to Jönköping in the south and asked the local people to send troops to support him. He would not count on the guys in Jönköping. The merchants and landlords there maintained private soldiers. Although they usually paid tribute on time, he would not count on them.
They used their own manpower to fight for Vissingse Island. Karl didn't believe it. He had already squeezed all the debt slaves in Jönköping before, but unfortunately most of these guys never came back.
At least the news must be known that if an unknown villain attacks Jönköping, the locals will at least make some preparations.
"Crazy Bear" Carl made the right move based on his battlefield sense, but unfortunately, he was given too little time!
The people living on Weisinger Island have complicated emotions. They are just fishermen and live a normal fishing life. How come they are faced with an attack from enemies who suddenly come from the north?
The current situation does not allow these people to hesitate.
The fishermen who went north for an armed expedition a few days ago returned unsuccessfully. They added a lot of fantasy elements to the battle in the morning mist.
"Strange ships emerged from the lake and the fog, and they mercilessly hit us."
"There were monsters standing on those strange boats, and they were shooting arrows at us."
"Even Karl's men were defeated. We are very lucky to have escaped. Look! The arrows the enemy left on us are made of fine iron. The enemy is extraordinary!"
Very subtly, the fishermen spread rumors among themselves without linking the enemy to the Swedes further north.
The brothers of the Hjelmalen tribe among the Swedes have had a lot of unpleasant interactions with them. That is, a group of overlords killed all the excellent pastures, and even with a small population, they dared to call themselves the masters of a vast area.
The Yelmalon people are no different from the Jotalan brothers that everyone has seen. Their weapons and equipment are average, and it is incredible that they can use a large number of fine iron arrow clusters.
Then someone seemed to have gone crazy and shouted: "Actually, those are the army of the Lake God. We have angered the God because of excessive fishing!"
This and this kind of remarks made some people stunned. It was the priests of the island who stood up and proved that those guys were human beings. They were most likely another group of people from afar, just like the Danes who once went deep into the Götaland region to hunt slaves.
People are more willing to trust the words of priests, and the priests and the warlord tyrant Karl "The Wild Bear" are an absolute community of interests.
Now that the port has been blocked, Karl's men patrolled the small island in boats, catching anyone who tried to leave, and seizing all the ships they found.
Weisinger Island lost some people in the previous expedition, but now there are still 8,000 men, women, old and children gathered together. Karl tried his best to mobilize nearly 3,000 people.
Mobilization can continue, and there are still a large number of women who can participate in the battle.
But continuing to recruit soldiers faced two problems. There were no enough weapons. To order some Viking women from Götaland to fight, they could only pick up harpoons or simply sharpened wooden poles as spears, and use a broken wooden board as a spear.
shield.
Karl is not a king, the fishermen have no absolute reason to sacrifice their lives for him, and more women don't even want to fight.
Even so, he still gathered nearly 3,000 people, and these people maintained his confidence.
Until the early morning of a new day, just north of the long and narrow Weisinger Island, the man standing guard here saw a figure hidden in the morning mist.
The sun has not yet risen, the morning fog is gradually rising, and dense shadows appear in the north. Be confident to see those shadows approaching the island!
The night watchmen who had been nervous for a long time suddenly no longer felt sleepy. They immediately jumped on the prepared boat and rowed desperately towards the fortress and fishing village in the south.
Weisinger Island is nearly ten kilometers deep from north to south, but only two kilometers wide at its maximum. It is shaped like a cucumber.
After all, it is a very long and deep island. Most of the island is extremely flat, except for the southern fortress, which is a low mound.
The island has been extensively developed for a long time, and there are only a very few trees on the island. The large area of grassland and a small amount of farmland here form a special landscape.
Rurik learned about the structure of the island from the prisoners who led the way. Since it is not a big island, how could Ross not use his absolute military advantage to fight a war of annihilation?
Now that the fog was conducive to the movement of the Russian army, Rurik himself vaguely saw the shoreline of the island and simply ordered the horn to be blown.
There is no need for any cover-up, the Russian army has long exposed itself, and the army is facing the decisive battle!
It's just that the army has been drifting slowly on the lake for two full days, and no one was mentally prepared before this. The lake is extremely long, and thanks to being in the middle of the lake, there are no bumps on the sea at all. Even so, the army still has to land to carry out necessary operations.
Rest.
After all, this is an ancient army. Even though it has a military organization system such as the "Flag Corps", the backward communication technology forces him to go ashore to rectify his own army, and even coordinate the various alliance armies.
Just as the weapons were gradually dispersing, long boats rushed to the beach bravely, and soldiers who were ready for battle rushed to the beach. They were eagerly looking forward to landing, but the massacre and killing did not happen.
"What a pity! Boss, please don't let the Jotalans run away!" A soldier from the First Flag Team joked, then laughed wantonly.
Arik despised those enemies, and he kindly reminded: "Stabilize your mentality, the decisive battle will require your meritorious service! Remember! Brothers! Don't get hurt."
More and more Ross troops landed, and a landing site in the north of the island was perfectly opened. The low and flat wasteland here gave the Ross troops a perfect assembly camp.
As for the traces of the enemy, when the fog clears and the sun shines, some are no longer secrets.
A large number of soldiers were young and had good eyesight. Through the clear air, everyone could see the black shadow standing on the flat ground in the south.
Just as the soldiers were landing one after another, Rurik, who was still on the boat, was keenly aware of the scene in the south.
He stood on the bow deck of the ship with a bright gaze.
"Notify the flag carrier and contact the battleship commander to meet at the flagship!"
Large ships began to approach the flagship one after another, either setting up planks and walking directly, or taking small boats. The commanders of each ship gathered on the flagship Guldot.
The people in front of me do not belong to any flag corps. They are "professional sailors" and most of them have experience working for the Gould family in the past.
"Professional sailors" actually serve as professional navy positions, and Rurik has placed children from various sources. They are of different ages, some are already twenty years old, and some are only twelve years old. In principle, they
They will not be involved in any form of land battle, so in the next special operation, these people will launch a special offensive.
The commanders of the ships were all listening, and were greatly surprised to hear that the king was going to personally lead a naval attack.
"You all go down and get ready! Remember to prepare the ropes and bring the whale oil and seal oil with you. This time we are going to attack with fire!"
Attack with fire? Everyone heard it was novel.
Rurik's thoughts were very pure. He was eager to have a decisive battle with the local warlord leader and establish the conquest of Lake Vetern with an absolute victory.
For this strategic purpose, what he is most worried about is the enemy's escape. It is unrealistic to simply believe that Viking warriors will fight to the last breath and shed the last drop of blood for honor. Maybe those Jotalans don't want to be dignified, so they will be burned.
Their docks force them to be decent!
Finally, Rurik landed in a small boat with a small group of cronies.
The king arrived late, which displeased Aric, who had been waiting for a while.
More generals and nobles are indifferent. According to the previous plan, it is almost impossible for the army to fight the enemy immediately after landing on the island. The army must build camps to reorganize its troops and recharge their batteries before going to the decisive battle. They must also land after landing.
Stay alert. No one can be sure that the enemy will sit back and watch the Russian army swaggeringly prepare and build a camp. The enemy is very likely to gather and launch a night attack.
After all, this island is enemy territory and anything is possible.
Rurik was very pleased. He saw that his Finnish Counts' servants and the Swedish Dukes' allies were actively building their own camps.
The most thoughtful ones were naturally the Russian army. The torsion slingshots placed on carts were placed outside the camp by each flag team. Some javelins were poked into the soil backwards, so that they could be loaded and fired if the enemy made a surprise attack.
Each unit built a fan-shaped position around the landing site in its own organization, and a large amount of living supplies were unloaded near the shore.
Rurik finally landed on the island and immediately attracted the nobles and generals.
A military meeting was immediately held on the enemy's island, even under your nose!
Everyone was sharpening their knives, and the eyes of those gathered together were fierce.
"I know you all want to gather your troops immediately and move towards the black shadow in the south! The enemy is obviously there, but we can't do that today."
The king's words were like a basin of water dousing a bonfire.
Arik stood up suddenly: "Why bother? We are already in front of the enemy. In my opinion, we rushed over and killed them all. We won the battle at Lake Wettern. We shouldn't have stayed here for a long time. After fighting here
, let’s conquer Lake Vänern next door, and Gothenburg.”
"Wait a minute." Rurik waved his hand for his cousin to sit down, and scolded him softly with an unhappy look: "You are my brother, and only you can be so arrogant to me. Remember, I am the king, you don't want to teach me anything.
I fight."
"That's...okay." Arik had nothing to say.
My cousin actually rose up for other military nobles. It would not be appropriate to completely suppress their momentum today.
Rurik announced: "Arik, the Sixth Flag is now under my special command. And you! Jevlo, all your Finnish shooters are coming with me."
What does this mean? As the explanation continued, everyone agreed that the king was quite conservative, and it sounded like a temporary strategy to ensure absolute victory.
What is meant by "Half the plan is ruined when the cannon goes off"? Similar proverbs often apply to various battles.
An opportunity was presented to Rurik. He had to adjust his tactics to eliminate the enemy's possible escape route, without even having to wait for the cavalry units on the shore to move.
The fleet raided the port of Vissingse Island, which ruined the enemy's possibility of escape, and also ruined the support of the Götalans from Jöntöping to the island. Third, it used force to deter and weaken the enemy's momentum.
It is a pity that Arik cannot participate in such a good thing, nor can other Swedish nobles, especially Bjorn, Duke of Mälaren, who is bound to win.
"I will launch a surprise attack today, Arik. You will temporarily serve as the commander-in-chief of the army landing on the island. If you are not allowed to fight today, you will lead the remaining brothers to guard our landing site. Unless the enemy gathers a large army to attack you."
The first battle on the island belonged to the king. Arik sighed and had no choice but to agree.
As for others, they happily boarded the ship a second time!
The Sixth Banner, together with the servant armies of the Counties of Finland, Vipsarava and the Ludi people, totaled up to a thousand people.
Rurik did not know the exact strength of his enemy, and he cautiously believed that he dispatched more than a thousand men to make a surprise attack by waterway, which did not meet the conditions for a decisive battle. Since the plan was a surprise attack, he could not make any other assumptions.
Several prisoners who led the way were carried onto the ship again. They were eager to reunite with their wives and children, and they also learned that the Ross fleet was going to attack the port and fishing village. Their attitude immediately became panicked. They were cooperative and suddenly became uncooperative.
If you don’t cooperate? Then kill them.
One person was chopped and thrown into the lake, and the rest of the leaders could only point out the direction of march.
As for the safety of their wives and children, Rurik replied coldly: "Whether they live or die, everything depends on God's will."
Afterwards, six Aurora-class sail cruisers and all eight Planet-class sail destroyers began to march forward carrying arson materials.
After all, the island is only ten kilometers deep. The island fortress and attached fishing village are built in an arc in the south-south center of the island. Surrounding the bay area, dense wooden longhouses and adobe houses were built aggressively. Due to the "Crazy Bear" Carl
Following the order, all fishermen stopped leaving. Their boats were either lined up densely around the simple trestle, or they were directly fixed on the beach.
There are only a few armed longships patrolling the bay area. Now, they not only saw the landing enemies, but also the strange fleet rushing towards the fishing villages in the bay area.
The foreign enemy finally revealed his identity, and some people saw clearly that those flags were completely consistent with the Ross flags they had heard about.
Are the attackers really Russians? Are they the Russians who massacred Gotland and killed the old king of Denmark in the legend?
Now he no longer cares about who is coming. Karl just wants to gather his troops immediately and then set up a posture in the wilderness to fight the invaders.
Karl naturally made two preparations. Although his cronies were afraid of being beheaded by their opponents as messengers, Karl still hoped to negotiate with them to at least find out the truth and reality of his opponents. He even relied on messengers to deliberately waste time during negotiations to delay the other party, so that he could
Be more prepared.
However, those dark shadows are exactly in the port area.
"Brothers! They are about to land on the beach! Follow me and fight!"
No matter how good the calculation was by "Crazy Bear" Karl, he never thought that the enemy would stage a storm attack on the port. Their landing force was just a feint attack, so this approaching fleet was the main attack?
He led seven to eight hundred people into the fishing villages in the Bay Area in an aggressive manner. The heavily armed soldiers drove away the fishermen who fled frantically towards the fortress.
Almost all the fishermen's boats are in this bay area. Without the boats here, it is naturally possible for the fishermen to swim away from Weisinger Island, but only the truly brave can do it.
The fishermen dragged their families and flocked to the fortress protected by the wooden wall. Karl, in a rare moment of enlightenment, allowed the people to pour into the fortress even though it would cause serious crowding.
If the sheep dies, how will the wool be cut in the future? This is his mentality.
Looking at the appearance of the ships whose dark shadows became clear, Karl was stunned by those beautiful ships. He was shocked that the ships could all move against the wind.
But what happened next made him just want to escape.
On the other side of the battlefield, Rurik ordered that armed personnel must be stationed on the decks of the fourteen battleships, and the army would wreak havoc with long-range weapons.
Now everyone can clearly see what the fishing village looks like. All the scenes remind people of the demolished old fishing village of the Melalen tribe.
It was rare for Jevlo to serve the king again, and now he officially gave the king a chance to show off his skills.
"Your Majesty, I saw many armed men on the shore. Is this part of your plan?"
"That's right." Rurik looked at Yevro's face again: "I have grown up, and you have reached middle age. Your subordinates are all longbowmen, prove to me what you once boasted!"
"I obey. I hope the God of Fire will grant our army endless strength."
When the ships were sailing, the grease that was used to lubricate the cables and slingshot slides was carried to the deck in buckets. Whale oil and seal oil were high-end products, and more were fishy and smelly cod oil that had been stored for a long time.
.But the latter is a special kind of grease, which is extremely easy to burn!
The arrows are tied with rag strips or wrapped around a circle of broken hemp rope, then soaked in fish oil and set on fire.
The servant army of the Count of Finland fired rockets at the port area and fishing village in front of them. From the standpoint of "Crazy Bear" Karl, it was like countless meteors falling from the sky. Even though it was still afternoon, a large number of burning objects were heading towards the barges in their harbor.
Fall down.
Accompanying the rockets are a large number of impact weapons.
The torsion slingshot launches a javelin and strikes directly at the exposed target.
Karl the "Crazy Bear" didn't even bother to put out the fire. Many of his elite men were pierced by javelins, and their chainmails were of no help. Those rockets landed densely on trestles, boats, and even the haystacks of distant fishing villages.
People on the shore realized that the fire was raging, and some of Carl's cronies tried to put out the fire. Then they saw that some brothers were shot and killed for no apparent reason, so they simply gave up their work.
Why sit still and wait for death?!
Karl held his battle ax high and cursed loudly. His image was too eye-catching and his curses were very unpleasant.
Rurik only vaguely heard the curses, and the soldiers targeted the target one after another.
The lucky Karl saw more than a dozen javelins suddenly falling around him, and the heads of his close followers were smashed through, while the arms of his subordinates were injured.
"Damn it! How could this happen?! It's actually like this!" His furious and red face turned pale. He had never seen this kind of fighting method. The thought of escaping occupied his mind, so he led his troops to escape from the fishing village, without even having time to escape.
The injured men were dragged away.
As for the increasingly raging fires in port areas and fishing villages, to hell with everything!