Rise of Rurik

If there is an effective means of combating competitors, the Salmon Lord tribe will certainly use it without hesitation.

This method is to use the army of the Rus.

So when this tribe was conquered by the Rus within a few hours, their leader Kaihas changed from staunch resistance to active cooperation.

Kaihas told the truth about the rivalry of the Grey Squirrel Horde, and out of emotion, he described the enemy as a formidable enemy.

"There are at least a thousand people in that tribe, and their strength is very strong. The bows and arrows shot by their warriors can accurately penetrate the gaps in the leaves and hit the most hidden squirrels. Their people can also hunt wild boars and white bears. And completely wipe out the Timberwolves.”

Kaihas tried his best to prove the truth with his horrified expression.

However, when Otto knew the order of magnitude of the enemy's population provided by this person, he couldn't help laughing.

"A thousand people? A thousand people are worth calling themselves powerful?"

Kaihas was a little surprised. In fact, how could the population of the Grey Squirrel Tribe be so large? At best, there were no more than five hundred people.

Kaihas immediately changed his words: "Yes, compared to your tribe, our humble Kewen people are really... too weak. It is our greatest honor to be your hound."

This nasty flattery said that Otto was very satisfied, even a little overwhelmed.

Rurik could hear it differently. The so-called face of submissive servants, the master must show his strength, the so-called face of a king.

According to Kaihas' description, the territory of the gray squirrel tribe is in the south, as long as you continue upstream along the frozen river, there is a small lake, and the real gray squirrel tribe is established on the southern shore of the lake.

The location of the gray squirrel tribe does not exist in any sense of mound, the land there is relatively flat, and it is covered with vegetation mainly composed of pine and oak. It is entirely because of the cold local climate that the locals have only reclaimed very little land and planted some cold-resistant vegetables.

All Kowen people are fishing and hunting people, and concentrated in the Oulu river basin.

The Salmon Lord Tribe lives near the mouth of the sea. When a large number of salmon swim upstream in autumn, they go straight to Oulu Lake to spawn. Salmon, and become winter food.

Their upstream tribes lost their best fishing spots,

If they can't get the best fish, they can only think of other development directions.

Catching squirrels in large numbers, skinning them, and selling them to the South for food seems like a good idea, not to mention that squirrel meat itself is a food to eat. They were already exploring the north, looking for overland routes for trade with the Norwegians.

The root cause of the dispute is that, under the limited ability to obtain resources, everyone tried their best to expand the scope of land control to make more profits for the tribe.

So, Kaihas specifically mentions a long wall built by the Grey Squirrel tribe in the forest.

"It was a low wall, made of stone and wood. There were also some tripwires for trapping animals, and some traps around the low wall. That wall was the boundary they built."

Listen, Rurik first thought of the concept of the Great Wall.

In the end Otto couldn't understand the use of a long, low wall. He showed his disdain, "How about that? We jump over the wall and chop off their heads."

"My lord, maybe we need some precautions."

Otto didn't care about this suggestion at all, because he didn't look down on this group of Cowen people at all.

Twenty of the tribal warriors died, and he attributed such casualties to the damned stonewall fort. Had a successful experience today. Otto has thought of some strategies against the mountain fort and the bow.

The Grey Squirrel tribe also has so-called mountain forts, and their settlements have been surrounded by walls because of the need for defense.

"Especially the boring stone wall, the future will not be easily broken by our army." Otto said disdainfully.

"Master, their walls are different from ours..."

"What? Is it possible to cultivate higher?"

"Yes! There are even some special wooden frames on which someone can shoot arrows."

"Just like that?" Otto's attitude was still dismissive.

Rurik had heard a lot of ways, but with only these limited confidence, Rurik felt that the gray squirrel tribe might have used the materials at hand to build a "city" in the style of Japan's Warring States period. To put it bluntly, it is a simple fence made of stone and wood to wrap the village. This is a primitive but more effective fortification.

To understand why that tribe is building such a big project, the reason is very simple, that is, it was forced by the Salmon Lord tribe.

In this regard, there are no real villains on both sides, and some are simply conflicting interests.

"Are those people, like you, good at shooting arrows?" Rurik asked suddenly.

"Yes! My master, there are excellent archers among them, who can shoot more accurate arrows. It's just that there are not many people."

Rurik nodded: "Such enemies are the most dangerous. I understand, I will take some measures. By the way, are they many iron arrows?"

"No! We are seriously short of iron, my master, when we see the iron helmets you wear in large numbers, we know that you are the mighty Varangians."

He was still uttering compliments, and Rurik was not moved at all.

He shrugged and sat up straight: "In that case, we can make some big shields. As for the enemy's higher walls, it's better to make some ladders."

However, Rurik never imagined that the concept of "ladder" was relatively new to the salmon master tribe. First of all, this group of tribesmen have seen the ladder, but really only do it, they lack the technology.

In other words, the local people are very lack of the ability to process the wood tenon and tenon structure. Not so with the Rus, who had to use tenon-and-mortise structures to piece together the core frame of their ships.

In this way, Rurik thought of three kinds of equipment needed for a siege.

First, the anti-arrow wooden shield. That is to say, some small pine trees are cut down, and a large number of thin trunks are pieced together and tied with hemp ropes, and finally a large wooden shield with a width of two stika (nearly two meters) is formed. Since the felling is wet pine, the water in the trunk freezes quickly after the felling, unexpectedly increasing its strength. The selected materials are all loose, and the large shield as a whole must be something that a strong Roth can easily carry forward. What Rurik could be sure of was that even if the opponent fired an iron-headed arrow, due to his poor short wooden bow, it would at most pierce the large shield, revealing an arrow that might only be a few millimeters. As for bone arrows, the wooden shield will complete all interceptions.

second. Build ladders. Or cut down two pine trees with similar growth years. Its trunk should be as thick as a strong man's thigh, and some defects should be cut out on it to hold the thick branches arranged horizontally. Finally, it is further tied and fixed with hemp rope. Since Rurik didn't know the height of the opponent's "city wall", he defaulted to the "city wall" height of at least three meters, so the ladder needed to be four meters long.

Third, the battering ram. Only this weapon proposed by Rurik attracted a positive response from several young Rus soldiers present. Because, the Rus people have plenty of success stories. The so-called battering ram, in Rurik's vision, is to select a large pine tree and cut it down after reaching the destination, and then bundle a large amount of hemp rope around the trunk of the tree, and the hemp rope is wrapped around a batch of thin trunks. A group of warriors carried thin tree trunks, and finally carried a large pine tree, directly attacking the enemy's wall or gate.

All the opinions came from a little boy, and Kaihas was shocked and realized what a powerful enemy he had fought against before.

Fighting is inevitable, and fighting will continue.

The siege weapon to attack Grey Squirrel Hill, it is easy to build, Otto is very satisfied with his son's whimsy, but he still can't believe that with the help of these objects, his tribe can achieve zero casualties .

Otto didn't get carried away with arrogance. In the midst of the melee, he saw the courage of the natives to defend their homeland. So does the surrender of such a person last long? If one day the Rus were weak, they would declare themselves free.

To use them to fight for the Rus people, to inspire their fighting spirit.

Otto thought of a coup.

He said to Kaihas solemnly: "Now, I ask you to provide an army to fight for us, and you are very aware of this."

"Yes! Master!"

"Now I give you a chance to show your loyalty, and when the battle is won, you will also benefit. I know that you have given us a lot of fur and food, and you have actually lost a lot. What you lost, you can totally Take it back from the Grey Squirrel Tribe. I promise you will take half of the spoils after the battle."

Hearing Yevro's careful translation, Kaihas rubbed his ears hard and didn't speak, and also asked Yevro if there was a problem with his words when translating. Ah, he really couldn't believe that the Varangians were merciful.

Otto said again: "I can give you half of the spoils, provided your people cooperate actively. Say, how many people can you provide?"

"This..." Kaihas immediately thought that this was the temptation of the Rus people.

In the hesitation, he realized that there was something deep inside. It is a foregone conclusion to send people to participate in the war. Participating in the war is an act of throwing names to the master, that is, once a fight occurs, his clansmen are afraid that there will be a lot of casualties.

Kaihas also believed that if it was announced that they would fight against the Grey Squirrel Tribe, with the support of the powerful Rus people behind them, the men of the tribe would be absolutely indignant.

Kaihas thought for a while, "One hundred people, it should be... OK."

"No! It's too few. You provide at least two hundred people."

Kaihas looked embarrassed: "But! The men of our tribe, those very brave men, were all beheaded by the powerful you. Master, do you ask me to organize some ten-year-old boys to join the army?"

Some ten year old boys? Otto did know that when the old guy resisted, he did organize a large number of little boys to throw stones to cause trouble. Those children are simply burdensome, and fighting is a matter of strong men.

Maybe this guy's words didn't have much deceit, Otto thought, the corpses of those buried enemies were almost all adult men.

Otto thought of a compromise: "You must provide me with a hundred and fifty men. I don't want a boy of ten, the youngest must be twelve. I want a man, and it seems to me that a boy is ten years old. At two years old, you can do what a man is supposed to do."

Kaihas is still very embarrassed.

"Don't you understand?" Otto suddenly shouted, causing Rurik to be startled. "I will release one hundred and fifty excellent men, and they will fight for us! Victory, your tribe will receive preferential treatment. If they do not fight well, the rest of your tribe will all die!"

Undoubtedly this was the ultimate threat, and to be honest Rurik didn't like Otto's intimidation. Do not! It's not a threat, it's a real possibility.

After all, his father was also the big chief. Although Rurik announced his ownership of these conquered people, he became their master, but if his father did not admit it, it would be really useless.

So at this moment, Rurik was completely on his father's side.

"Kaihas, I urge you to accept our demands. Listen, we can help you enter new prosperity, provided you cooperate unconditionally. If you are in any act of laziness and betrayal, your family will suffer!"

Rurik said such deterrent words with a cold expression, and Kaihas was afraid. He was not afraid of Rurik as a child, but was afraid of the powerful forces behind it.

Kaihas hooked his head and knelt on the ground, thus swearing that he fully agreed with all the orders of the Rus.

"You're smart." Otto's expression softened, then stood up and said, "Come on! Go outside and gather your men. We'll form a combined army against our common enemy."

Originally, even in the warm season, Kaihas also intended to organize tribesmen to harass the gray squirrel tribe. Both sides were competing for animal resources in forests and rivers. The hunters from both sides met, and the probability of fighting was very high.

The Salmon Lord tribe did not reject war, Kaihas just wondered whether winter warfare was appropriate.

In this way, a large number of men were released. Escorted by heavily armed Ross warriors, they poured into a relatively flat area in the village.

After Otto's instruction, Kaihas stood on a haystack, and after his clansmen flinched and gathered in one place, in the cold wind, he shouted out the good result of his negotiation with the Rus.

"We're going to attack the Grey Squirrel Horde! We're going to end this with the help of the Rus!"

"Everything we lost can be regained in the hands of the Grey Squirrel Tribe!"

"The Rus are reasonable! As long as we surrender and fight for them, we can benefit."

"As long as we fight for them, when we are attacked, if the Tavastians attack us, the Rus will organize an army to help us!"

"We could have avoided fighting with the Rus. The Grey Squirrel Tribe caused all this, and it was their sowing discord that sparked this battle! The Grey Squirrel Tribe is the root of all evil!"

...

After these remarks, the dejected men were discussing that the Rus would execute all men in public, but they did not expect it to be a huge opportunity for reward.

When Kaihas's words were all over the place, the men's emotions were turned up.

Both Rurik and Otto were very surprised, and the Kovins burst out with amazing roars. It is clear that they have a high level of enthusiasm for attacking the Grey Squirrel tribe.

Rurik didn't think they were very wise, because a wiser person could understand that the Russ wanted to use new wars to expand the spoils and at the same time consume the men of the conquered tribes. After all, the bravest warriors are often on the front line, and naturally they will encounter the enemy's key blows.

Therefore, there are often only two types of people who survive, the war mad with good luck and strength, and the cowardly.

If the battle madman is promoted, Rurik believes that such people will serve as loyal supporters in order to keep the reward of the new master.

As for the cowardly, they basically can't turn over any waves, but they pay taxes steadily.

Rurik didn't actually dislike the Grey Squirrel tribe, it was just a new tribe that would sometimes be conquered by the Rus. As for their conflict with the Salmon Lord tribe, Rurik was equally uninterested.

What Rurik was most concerned about was whether the children of the conquered tribes agreed with the rule of the Rus after this enlarged "Northern Hunt" operation.

After all, the master of the new era is Rurik! Those children will be the warriors of the future, and they are the fighting forces that they need to control. And the guy who is in his prime now is afraid that he will be old when he grows up.

Among the righteous indignation of the men of the Salmon Lord tribe, one hundred and fifty were singled out.

Otto and Rurik oversaw the process, and those selected ranged from forty to fifteen.

Disarmed they were rearmed, and the Kovins took up bows and spears again. Of course, these so-called weapons are really not very good in the eyes of the Rus.

At the scene lit by the bonfire, Otto appointed the tribal leader Kaihas as the commander of the tribal soldiers. This man's job is to be on the front lines of the army when the battle begins. Regarding this, Kaihas has already had sufficient psychological preparation.

Otto also selected an elite team, the total strength is actually only 200 people. He left behind a group of warriors who continued to control the village and the natives who remained.

Otto's threat was by no means a simple threat, he was controlling the families of those men and forcing them to fight bravely.

Under the night, a coalition army of up to 350 people was born.

The Rus cheered that the fight could be further expanded, and generally felt disdain, or even apprehension, about a group of losers joining their ranks. Since the big leader is such an order, the warriors have to agree.

After a battle, the team needs to make corrections.

The team did need to be fixed, too, because the Rus had been on their way for the past few days, and it was time to grab a house in the village of Cowen and settle down for a few days to recharge.

At the same time, it is also necessary to build a batch of equipment necessary for siege on the spot, and take them on the glacier to the target.