Rise of Rurik

The Russian cavalry has already set foot in the Latvian territory.

As long as you continue to move forward, you will encounter villages along the river, which are like lambs and can be freely plundered by the Rus. That's true in theory, but Fisker issued a ban on it.

Especially when he got here, he had to emphasize the order again: "You are not allowed to rob the village, and you are not allowed to attack the villagers you encounter, otherwise you will be punished!"

He also explained the fundamental reason for such an order: "Russ should not fight with the people in the Gulf of Riga for no reason. If this potential friend is lost, whose stupidity led to this result, the king will punish him."

Rather than fully obeying Fisk's orders, everyone was more afraid of the king's anger. For the Pechenegs in the alliance, Gecha, the leader, considered that doing something wrong would arouse the anger of Ross Khan, so he had to restrain his men and also gave a warning: "Listen, don't go and rob." , or hang!"

Most of those prairie cavalry have the status of riding slaves, but the daily life of such "combat slaves" is not painful. They are loyal to a certain master and obey him. They are more like followers than slaves. It is this kind of close personal dependence that makes these slaves obedient to the noble quetzal.

Forget it, Quetzal assured Fisk again: "We will not take action freely unless you have new orders."

"That's good. Let's line up, hold our chests high, and walk down the river in a swagger. If the local fighters confront us, negotiate with them first. Unless... they attack us first, then fight back indiscriminately. ." Fisk added.

Indeed, this time Ross decided to go against the norm and decided to implement the "never shoot the first arrow" principle, so that even if there was an incident, it would be easier to explain later.

The army adheres to the principle of not striking first, but smoke from birds and chimneys is floating not far ahead. It is time to verify whether the army is really restrained.

The old Harold on horseback pointed straight ahead, realizing that this was a critical moment, and emphasized: "You must not take action. It is just an ordinary village, but all Latvians are very united. Once you take action, the people in this area will be destroyed." Everyone will know quickly and all your plans will be in vain.”

Fisk nodded hurriedly and cautiously: "I understand. I will pass through the village, and the army will not take anything when passing through."

"I hope so! I hope so..."

"Oh? It seems you don't believe it? Actually, I don't believe it either. My people are very ferocious. If I can't restrain the army well and end up fighting, I will have to retreat this year."

Old Harold was a little confused when he heard this: "A sudden fight is of course the worst result. But you shouldn't retreat directly because of this."

"What else can I do? Once a conflict arises, at least I can't settle it. I can only let the king settle it himself later. All I can do at this time is to evacuate as soon as possible to prevent the situation from getting so big that even future negotiations are impossible."

It did sound reasonable, and Harold felt that this bald boy was quite commanding. Of course he also admitted that this guy's army was too brutal, but fortunately he was self-aware.

This is a trial! To verify whether the Russian army can restrain its desire to plunder and continue to penetrate deep into the Latvian territory.

Horse hooves trampled the fields with only wheat stubble, and the cavalry marched toward the village in a majestic manner. In fact, when they appeared, the villagers who felt threatened had already fled downstream with their families and their families, taking valuables and valuables within a limited time. Whether on foot, by boat, or even by bullock carts and pony carts, villagers are evacuating in their own way.

At first, only a few people ran away, and then panic spread. Those with poor eyesight only saw a group of moving shadows appearing in the upper reaches of the river and became suspicious. Since the villagers were fleeing, they fled as well.

There was no time to move a considerable amount of materials, especially food. Some elderly people felt that given their age, it was better to stay in the village than to flee.

There were also skeptics in the village, speculating that it was not a group of threats.

The Seron people do not have this kind of strength. The Semigalians on the other side of the river will not cross the river to move to the other side if they have nothing to do. All parties will not casually break the balance that has been maintained for a long time.

Because the various tribes in this area did not form a tribal alliance at all, they lived their own lives, forming ten large tribes and a group of free villages with a small population. There are indeed many Latvian tribes in this region, but they can only have influence locally.

More than twenty villages, large and small, and the largest settlement, Riga, constitute this tribal group.

In a sense, the Latvian tribe's peaceful life is due to the high degree of cooperation between local people and Danish immigrants. The Semigalians, originally meaning "Northerners" in Baltic, can only truly unify the Latvians who live north of the West Dvina River. They cannot complete it with the Latvians. Integration, firstly, the river is a natural chasm, and secondly, the local Danish immigrant community has become a climate and is not willing to share the wealth of Riga Port with outsiders.

Old Harold explained some of this local geopolitical situation to Fisk, but too many terms were poured into his mind, so that most of the content went in one ear and out the other.

Fisk didn't care how many tribes there were, and he didn't want to be the governor of the place.

He called on his cavalry and raised his right fist: "Let's go! Pass through the village and don't do anything!"

So, the cavalry continued to line up in meticulous columns and walked slowly towards the village of disorderly thatched houses.

In fact, for the cavalry soldiers who came from Old Ross, they almost looked down upon these thatched houses when they saw them. It is said that my father's generation also lived in this kind of adobe thatched house in their hometown of Roseburg. Now, even the long houses with adobe walls in their hometown have been replaced with wood carvings with interlayers.

The villagers looked poor. There were some stooped old men and women standing outside the low wooden door. They were looking up at their faces that looked like cracks in the earth. They opened their eyes that were starting to become cloudy and stared at the passing cavalry and horseback riders. Young warrior.

After all, the weather has turned cold, the cold iron helmets have been removed, and the soldiers have put on their respective leather hats. Even the Ostara cavalry wore hats sewn with brown bear leather, while the Russian standing cavalry all wore so-called Cossack-style "Caucasian hats" made of white bear. The hat of the prairie people is even more special. It is a hood sewn from sheepskin. When wearing it, you cannot wear an iron mask.

The cavalrymen all removed their metal helmets that were highly reflective in the sun. They were all dressed up in fur to keep out the cold, which made them less powerful and made the viewers less alert.

They did not take action against the old man, but instead looked at each other with the old men in the village. Then the column passed directly through this small village and continued downstream, while the old men still watched the cavalry leave calmly.

"The Beauty of the Sun and the Moon"

All the troops had left the village, and Fisk could finally let go of his nervousness.

Svalgard could not suppress what he was saying: "Old man, have you seen those old men and old women? They just looked at us, with no fear in their eyes."

"See it. No fear, no hostility."

"They also look very poor, I... have some doubts." After saying that, Svalgard sighed.

"What do you suspect?"

"Riga. If Latvians are not rich, what can we get in Riga?"

"Who knows?" Fisk shrugged, "Keep walking, we will see the results soon."

The Ross cavalry passed as many as three villages in the riverside area in a peaceful manner. Of course, they all had their own names. Fisk had no intention of listening, just because of the current situation. Although the army did not harm anyone or take away any livestock, All three villages were deserted except for a handful of elderly people.

Fisk was completely puzzled and decided to recruit Harold.

But it was said that this old guy whose pseudonym was Olaf, his legs and buttocks ached while riding, and he miraculously learned how to rest by hooking his feet on the saddle and lying flat on the horse's back.

"Young hero, do you have any new questions?"

"Old Olaf, have you noticed the new problem?" Fisk frowned as he asked.

"What could be the problem? You guys did a great job, there really wasn't any damage."

"But they still ran away! There were clear ruts on the ground. I didn't dare to scare them anymore, so I ordered the cavalry to walk slowly, you see." Fisk then pointed to the sun in the west: "It's already evening. , it’s time for us to set up camp. I really don’t know how many villages we will encounter later, I’m afraid we will still leave empty villages. So why did they run?”

"Perhaps they are afraid of you. After all... before you Russians set foot here, news about the raging bandits on horseback in the East has spread. Maybe they feel that disaster is coming."

"Isn't that true?!"

"That's what I think." Old Harold pursed his lips.

"But I didn't destroy or set fire, or even robbed anything. Why do they think we are evil people?"

"Who saw it? Did any witnesses notice you coming peacefully and reported it to the locals in Riga? At this point, maybe you can retreat immediately."

"No. I won't withdraw."

"Then be prepared, maybe you will have to fight them once. I hope you can still stay sane."

It can be said that Old Harold's statement is inconsistent. You can get the friendly attitude of the Latvians without looting the village. Now he describes it as no matter what the Russians do, the presence of the cavalry here is enough to trigger a battle.

In line with the principle of come what comes, Fisk has promised his subordinates to go to the seaside to dig for amber and make a fortune. He has been enveloped in the fiery morale he has fanned and must move forward no matter what happens.

But now it's time to rest.

At night, they set up an open-air camp in the wilderness by the river. They lit bonfires lavishly, considering the possibility of being attacked by nervous locals, so they followed the clever trick Rurik had invented ten years ago, which was to light double the bonfires to make potential wary scouts think that the intruders were not easy to deal with.

Until now, Fisk has not issued new orders to the entire army, and all soldiers will still act according to the original plan tomorrow. The soldiers will remain in a relaxed state to welcome the new and final journey, and everyone will definitely be looking forward to Riga, which is indeed a military adventure.

Fisk only summoned Svalgard and Quetzal, and the three gathered together for a small meeting in whispers.

"Based on my past experience, a large number of villagers must have fled to Riga like crazy. Various people will tell all kinds of news and describe us as unspeakable monsters. In the end, the locals will get armed and try to drive us away." He explain.

"We clearly didn't kill or rob. In that case..." Quetzal clenched his fists, "Then let's take a preemptive strike. We can attack them proactively!"

"Wait a minute." Svalgard signaled: "They are not actively attacking us."

"Not bad." Fisk looked at the two of them. "I know this is very risky. The whole army will continue to move forward according to the original plan. Don't tell your own people about this situation, but tell them that they must wear iron helmets and plug in The beautiful feathers on the leather hats are inserted back into the helmets. Bows and arrows are ready, and everyone holds their chests high. We will arrive in Riga tomorrow. No matter what we encounter, we must show the most gorgeous and brave appearance to the locals."

The two agreed immediately at first, but then they realized that it was not simple. The soldiers who accepted this order would not be mentally prepared for war, but would instead imagine that their gorgeous image would attract the envy of the local Latvians. In fact, once there is a change, these warriors can change themselves and enter the fighting state. Although the change of mentality may not be fast, they can at least shoot arrows to fight back immediately.

So, what is the attitude of the Latvians in Riga?

But he said that the villages that Ross's cavalry passed through and the villages that needed to pass through had specific names.

After passing the mountain fortress built by the Seron people, they passed through a total of six villages to reach the port city of Riga at the mouth of the sea and the river.

Villagers in canoes were the first to arrive in Riga and explain to their fellow locals the situation upstream of the river. As more and more villagers arrived in Riga, so much so that most of the population of the six villages moved into Riga.

Unfavorable news spread like wildfire all of a sudden! Because the first villagers did not see the appearance of the cavalry clearly, and out of memories of past battles, they instinctively felt that it was a threat and began to flee. Latvians all have memories of the war, so when the news reached the sixth village, the mainstream theory of the escapees had become "the Semigalians crossed the river and launched a large-scale sneak attack". There was also an even more outrageous theory, the so-called "Northland They formed an alliance with the Highlanders," who mistook the advancing Ross cavalry for the Theron and Semigalian expeditionary force.

In fact, before this, some businessmen who returned from the upper reaches were full of curses on the Polotsk people. The so-called capture guys actually blocked the river for the first time because of the threat of horse bandits. It was just a blockade of the river. Those guys also forced to purchase goods, so that most Riga merchants and Danish merchants lost money.

The port city of Riga does not have a real city owner. The total population of the Latvian tribes is even 20,000. Riga is a market where villages have agreed to trade fish. In addition, Danes gradually moved in to form communities, and a rather free port city was born. . There is no city owner in the city. The city belongs to all Latvians. If there is a crisis in the tribe, each village will elect a hero to lead the people through the crisis. When the crisis is over, the hero's power will be deprived of him.

If anyone in Riga has great power, it is the boss of this generation that has emerged from the Danish immigrant community, a man named Stekander.

However, very subtly, five longships and a large sailing ship recently arrived in the port of Riga by force. Powerful Latvian people in Riga rushed to the dock with private soldiers, shouting that "the pirates must be driven out."

Stekander naturally took his Danish heroes and mixed descendants to organize a fierce Viking militia to fight the pirates together with the locals. But Stekander at least learned about the Ross people through the news, especially the Ross people who would definitely be able to display their coat of arms. Standing at the dock, he saw clearly the flags flying on the masts of the ships that were obviously not in a hurry to dock. , realizing that it was the Russian ship.

At least the Rus also spoke Norse and believed in Odin. Even though they had settled in Riga, the Danes who immigrated here did not give up their god.

Stekander boldly organized his brothers to row a boat to negotiate with the Russians who accidentally broke in, and determined that they came from Saaremaa, a broken island where criminals were exiled. At this moment, the island was firmly controlled by Ross, and an old Ross noble became the owner of the island.

This nobleman is none other than Spyut, the great explorer and navigation expert of the Russians, although he is now close to fifty years old.

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :