Chapter 890 The Fire Dragon Burning the Port and the Grace of the Lake God
The good weather over the past few days has been sunny, and the warm southerly wind has quickly dried up the mud after melting snow.
It was a beautiful and sunny day, but the port of Vissingse Island was filled with combustibles.
The ships stationed on the shore were hit by a large number of rockets, and more flaming arrows were still falling.
It was already dusk, and Rurik insisted on continuing the attack with his eyes wide open. His men naturally implemented the king's decision, and the next actions became even more outrageous.
Although the Russian army had prepared a large number of arrows, they could not afford to waste them on lighting them.
"Jevlo, take some people ashore, set fire to their houses, and then see what can be seized."
In fact, the special battle situation is not conducive to the Russian army. The fishing villages on the shore are full of fire points. As long as it takes time to ferment, the flames are enough to engulf the entire village.
Jevro didn't want to take the brothers ashore to take risks. Since it was the king's decision, he would do it.
The big ships put down their small boats, and Jevlo personally took a hundred brothers and a dozen barrels of smelly fish oil, and paddled ashore wearing single clothes. They specifically looked for a place that was not affected by the flames for the time being. These Finnish soldiers carried wooden barrels of fish oil.
, with a dagger or hatchet hanging from his mouth, dripping onto the water.
Jevluo ordered again: "Put your things down first, and all of you get wet."
Some people are puzzled: "Sir, is it necessary?"
"Do it quickly. Don't let the flames burn you."
The fishing village of Vissingse encountered a literal war. The fishermen evacuated in panic. No one dared to stand on the burning shore to confront the attackers.
Because the warlord tyrant Carl "The Wild Bear" and his people had retreated to the fortress, people had never seen the overlord of this lake area in such a miserable state. Looking at the village with smoke billowing and flames rising into the sky under the setting sun, countless people knelt down and wailed.
, lamenting that he will die here.
Because almost all the islanders' ships were in that port, what was even more tragic was that Karl ordered the gates of the fortress to be closed, and all the troops and refugees were sealed in this safe zone.
If the fortress and the fishing village had not existed independently of each other, the flames would have attacked the fortress and burned everyone.
And this was also a conservative move taken by Carl out of survival instinct in his panic.
Thanks to the fortress being located south of the fishing village, the thick smoke caused by the fire in the fishing village could only be carried to the north by the wind.
Thick smoke and flames hid the landing of Jevlo's troops.
These Finns, who have rarely experienced hot summers, felt like the sun was setting at this moment. Many people simply took off their coats, scuttled fishing boats anchored near the shore in the rolling heat wave, poured fish oil into the boats pulled ashore and set them on fire.
There were even longships of good quality here, and they were so few in number that they were a welcome trophy, although only three were towed away.
The Finns held burning sticks and threw them hard at the huts in the distance. The roofs of the houses filled with haystacks ignited thick, choking smoke, and soon red flames shot into the sky.
Jevro didn't expect to get any loot. He tried to search for it, and what he found was some dried fish and a small amount of ale. The quality of the reserve was generally oats. It was more or less captured, so he ordered his subordinates to carry the loot back to deliver the goods.
His Finnish troops were ordered to make the flames and smoke of Vissingse even more outrageous, like a volcano erupting, and suddenly, a fiery dragon burst out of the earth.
The Russian troops on board were shocked!
"Dragon! That's a fire dragon!"
Rurik held his hands on the side of the ship. Beside him were the young Kelha and the equally young Reglaf. They hugged the king's waist and shivered.
"Children, there is nothing to be afraid of. You are nobles! Cheer up. This is the first war you have participated in. Show me this is war!"
Let two six- or seven-year-old boys witness this. Their fear of Rurik is understandable, but they cannot escape.
The times have given these two children special wealth and special responsibilities. They are nobles and even military nobles.
When he noticed that the two children were huddled behind him, Rurik simply squatted on the deck, holding the two children's young shoulders and pulling them to his side.
"Open your eyes!"
Reglaf shivered: "Dad, is that a fire dragon?"
"It's the fire dragon, the monster summoned by our army!"
"Your Majesty, will that fire dragon hurt us?" Kelha asked warily.
"Of course not. That's the monster we summoned. Look carefully, the fire dragon will help us destroy their village, and there will be a decisive battle tomorrow!"
When the flames are outrageous enough, the rising heat can create a fire tornado spectacle. Taking advantage of this physical property, Ross builds fire towers during Hanukkah every year, so that the flames can reach a height of 100 meters.
Although the Russian army was not surprised, it was still amazing to see the "Fire Dragon" in the enemy's village. It was actually a weapon.
As for the seven thousand islanders and armed men huddled in the fortress on the other side of the battlefield, they could only watch the fire tornado and tremble. The priests could not explain what it was, and many priests made defeatist remarks.
The alliance between the priests and the warlords collapsed. "Crazy Bear" Karl killed several priests, held up their bloody heads in public, and shouted to the nearly collapsed army and civilians: "That fire dragon monster will not harass us! I will not allow it.
It attacks me! Anyone who dares to speak out again is like these heads!"
The people were frightened, and they were indifferent when the priest was killed by Karl. They hoped with eyes that the fire dragon would not burn the fortress, but everyone felt the heat wave that was hotter than the summer sun.
The thick smoke drifted all the way north, and the main force of the Ross army standing at the landing site saw the burning village and the thick smoke drifting over.
Soon, the burning smell filled the Ross camp.
No one felt mentally unwell. On the contrary, this was a clear proof of the success of the king's fire attack. The morale of the army was unprecedentedly high. They believed that they would win. Many of them even felt that when the army began to march, they would eventually find a large number of burnt corpses without any bloodshed.
.As a result, the brothers can only think about going to Jönköping, the next target, to get loot.
The Russian army sang songs and roasted the cattle and sheep they had captured before, and then watched the fire raging in the enemy's villages. The brothers were so happy.
The people believed in victory, and now they could conclude that the enemy was already entrenched and had no chance of escaping.
Isn't this a replica of Visby, the core of Gotland's rule, which was besieged by the Russian army about ten years ago?!
There is no doubt that Arik noticed this situation, and he preached in the army: "Don't forget our past glory! If we want to capture Visby, we must capture the damn Weisinger in the south!"
Only the veterans of the First Banner Corps and some grown-up soldiers of the Sixth Banner Corps participated in that war.
The Battle of Gotland ten years ago was the founding battle for Ross to be upgraded to a principality. The war was a bet on the fate of the country, and Ross became famous in one battle!
It was that great victory, the undoubted victory that made Ross establish its military prestige in the Swedish world. Now, the Principality of Ross has been upgraded to a kingdom, and all Swedish nobles are under Ross's command.
That war was the glory of the Russian army. The soldiers were in high spirits and prepared for tomorrow's war in their own way.
A young craftsman, under the guidance of his father, handles huge carbon steel wrenches. He is ten-year-old Kuzneslav, and his father is the legendary blacksmith Kavey.
Just like ten years ago, Kawei was working with the army. He formally brought his own team of blacksmiths and managed it as an engineer to repair the army's heavy weapons.
Kuzneslav, whose nickname is Kuja, is the first-generation mixed-race son of Rus. He grew up in a privileged environment. At a young age, he not only worked beside the blast furnace and forged a brutal body in the workshop, but also actively learned advanced knowledge.
He will be the strong man of tomorrow and a new generation of great craftsmen with arms thicker than his legs. Kawei has no doubt about this.
The father and son worked together to operate the flat head wrench to replace a new torque unit on a torque slingshot.
As metal smelting and forging technologies become more mature, things that were unthinkable in the past can now be done.
The torsion slingshot is made of hard oak as the frame, and the edges are mostly reinforced with metal skin. The projectile slide of some equipment is inlaid with polished carbon steel skin, and is often oiled to prevent rust.
The biggest weak points of the slingshot are the torsion unit, hemp rope, whale baleen and deer sinew. It requires frequent maintenance, and the materials must be replaced frequently and frequently immersed in oil. The hemp rope is greatly consumed.
A batch of commonly used field torsion slingshots have been packaged in wooden boxes and placed in the cabin for transportation purposes.
There is no difference between them and slingshots used in naval battles, except that Ross already has enough financial and material resources to avoid dismantling ship-borne weapons and using them as land battle items in times of war. Moreover, due to the need for safekeeping, precision slingshots must be in the best condition before war.
, it is best packaged in parts.
What Kawei and his craftsmen are currently doing is to pry open as many as fifty wooden boxes that have been shipped ashore and take out all the torsion slingshots inside.
While other soldiers were busy setting up camp, lighting campfires and feasting on barbecue, the craftsmen took off their shirts and sweatily took various tools, assembled the slingshots and placed them on the carts that also needed to be assembled.
The modular design makes the assembly itself not a big problem. The biggest problem is pre-charging the torque unit.
The huge wrench turns the ratchet, and the hemp rope set of the torsion unit lightly accumulates force, which tightens the bow arm made of thin forged steel bars.
This is a fifty-seat land battle torsion slingshot, and there are twenty bull trebuchets. It also uses torque power. The assembly work is similar to the former, except that it requires four soldiers to carry the four corner handles with bare hands to transport it to the battlefield.
If you can attack from a distance, why do you need to attack with swords at close range? Even with a huge military advantage, the Russian army still needs to use superb and mature long-range offensives to ensure victory as much as possible.
These scenes surprised all the Swedish allied troops. The nobles generally knew that the Russian bows were ferocious, and this was the first time they had assembled a torsion slingshot.
Duke Bjorn of Malaren ordered his thousand troops to have a good rest in the camp, and he went to the heavy weapons assembly site with a group of cronies and stood by. He was a group of simple spectators, but he lamented that he wanted to buy, Rurik
Definitely not buying it. But it doesn’t matter. If you can learn one by watching it, you might be able to try to imitate it.
As for the saying that killing an enemy with an arrow is not considered bravery, forget it!
The Rus are unreasonable in archery, and we, the Mellarens, naturally have to imitate them. "It's a pity that I have too few archers," Bjorn lamented.
Everyone in the port of Vicingse continued to burn, night had fallen, and the sky-high fire dragon stayed in the port. Rurik was watching in the lake not far away, and the ships were also watching.
"If this fire can burn down that fortress and cremate all the enemies, I will complete the victory without spending a single soldier."
Rurik had a wonderful idea, but no miracle happened on the battlefield in favor of Ross, and even something strange happened later.
Flames engulfed the port, and the property that local fishermen had no time to move was burned to the ground. People prayed to the God of Fire to spare their lives.
On the other hand, the fire lit up the night, and the wooden walls of the island's fortress were clearly visible.
What kind of city is that? At best, it's a village surrounded by wooden walls! I don't even have to use a battering ram, and I really don't have that heavy weapon with me, but it doesn't matter, I can just find a big tree and chop it down if necessary.
Rurik pinched his beard and thought about tactics. He decided to launch a decisive battle tomorrow and try to destroy the city in one day.
The people who had been ordered to set the fire came back, and Rurik noticed that even Jevlo was burnt to ashes, with his face covered in charcoal black, which made his smile look extremely ferocious.
"Thank you for your hard work." Rurik patted his shoulder.
"It's nothing. If I weren't worried about being roasted into a whole deer by the flames, I would continue to fight. I brought my brothers back. In addition to finding some salted fish and some copper coins, they are really poor."
"Very poor?" Rurik was puzzled: "Aren't those guys the tyrants of one party? I thought we could carry away several boxes of silver coins in one battle."
"You will be disappointed, they are really too poor."
"Okay." Rurik shrugged, knowing that Yevlov would never lie.
The fire dragon gradually weakened, and it seemed that the fire in the entire port area was also stable. It did not dissipate, but entered a stable burning. For this kind of fire, I am afraid that it will not be extinguished until it naturally runs out of fuel.
Rurik stamped his feet, the firelight shone on his face, showing a victorious smile.
There is no need for the fleet to stay here anymore, and sailing at night is not a problem. It just needs to take advantage of the east wind to rush to the north of the island, heading towards the overwhelming bonfires.
That night, Rurik returned to his military camp.
The army welcomed their king with roast meat and cooked wheat porridge.
The nobles gathered together again, with their heads high and low as they listened to the king's detailed explanation of the situation of setting fire to the harbor. When they heard this, they all clapped their thighs and cheered.
The night was dark. The weather was fine in the afternoon, but at night the moon gradually disappeared.
The weather has become strange. It doesn't matter. In Sweden, it often rains lightly and then clears up quickly.
The array of bonfires illuminated the night, and the burning fishing villages in the south illuminated the dark clouds red.
But no one expected that just as the nobles and generals were discussing the march tomorrow, and everyone went to their respective battalion commanders to rest, a heavy rain came unexpectedly.
The heavy rain was unusual. It came so quickly that it extinguished the bonfire and woke Rurik up from his deep sleep.
The heavy rain came out of nowhere, and the Ross Army Camp was in chaos for a while. The rain itself was not terrible. Everyone who went out to fight had long been mentally prepared for the sudden rain, but everyone was disgusted by the sudden rain.
The direct consequence of a heavy rain was that the fire in the port was extinguished. The steam spread to the fortress not far away, and the soldiers and civilians of Jotalan who were sleeping soundly woke up suddenly.
People who were on the verge of psychological collapse reveled in the heavy rain at night because they saw that the fire of sin was quickly extinguished.
Although "Crazy Bear" Karl couldn't figure out the cause of the sudden heavy rain, the priest helped him figure out the problem: the lake god was trying to save us.
"It was the gods who extinguished the fire! God is helping us! Let the attackers come! Maybe tomorrow, the gods will raise a big wave and push them all into the lake and drown them!"
Karl promoted this to the people, and he specifically promoted the phrase "the favor of the Lake God". The desperate people believed it, and their morale, which had fallen to the bottom, rose again.
The heavy rain extinguished the fire, but could it extinguish the Russian army's confidence in victory?!
The rain is just a small trouble that can be overcome quickly. The Ross Army has already made preparations. Tomorrow, regardless of whether the ground is muddy or not, an army of 7,000 people will advance through waterways and sweep across the entire Wizinger Island.
As for the sudden rain, Rurik, after calming down, roughly guessed the cause.
The matter is really darkly humorous. He has knowledge and knows that any rainfall requires condensation nuclei. It is in this lake area that there are two large lakes, Wetern and Wenern. However, it is a quiet and pleasant area with strong water vapor but extremely clear air. The burning village
A large amount of carbon ink was carried to high altitudes by heat waves, especially fire tornadoes. When abundant water vapor encounters dense condensation nuclei, it makes sense that a heavy rain suddenly fell.
"After all, this is war." Rurik smiled awkwardly when he realized the reason.
If I had known this, it would have been better to simply seal off the port area during the day and not set fire to it, and now it would have added some trouble to my decisive battle...