Rise of Rurik

It was another bright morning, and the warm wind swept across the dense forest, and the muddy ground was quickly being blown dry. Lan

The cavalry gathered in the open space outside Velikki City. Their fair faces faced south, and their deep blue eyes were powerful.

Most of the soldiers wore plate armor with iron plates riveted on the leather. It was just a top that could protect the torso. It was now neatly folded and hung on the right side of the saddle.

It is on the right side of the saddle that each warrior carries two quivers

The Kingdom of Rus has its own subdivision standards for arrow loss, and Rurik does not know the correct ratio between bow poundage and arrow weight grain.

As the most commonly used combat arrow instead of ordinary light arrows, it is generally classified as "one-tenth of a pound". When converted, an arrow is close to 40g. Setting such rules makes it very convenient for craftsmen to cast arrow clusters, make arrow shafts and glue feathers in batches. The weight of the final product is basically the same, thereby achieving the required tactical effect.

Objectively speaking, after testing the Turkic horn bows of the Pechenegs imported by Russia on a large scale, they always weighed around 50 Roman pounds. With the matching mass-produced light arrows, the grains of the bow and arrows were straight. It’s not optimal, and it’s not that bad either.

It is very easy for a strong Nordic man to draw such a bow. However, many cavalry warriors are too young and their bodies are still growing rapidly. It is currently difficult to draw their own bows, thus limiting their combat time. Everything is developing in a good direction. Their bodies are getting stronger and their arms are getting thicker and stiffer. However, when they are required to fight on horseback, their legs are also forced to develop into a slightly bow-legged state. Lan

One quiver contained thirty arrows, and the two filled quivers weighed seven Roman pounds in total.

Actual combat has long proven that too many arrows in a quiver are not conducive to drawing arrows, and too few arrows are not conducive to the continuation of the battle. The specification of thirty arrows is a balance found in actual combat, and now both Ross's standing cavalry and Ostara cavalry do this.

Although they are all cavalry, in terms of armament, the 1st Cavalry led by "Bald" Fisk is naturally the most elite.

There were feathers on the iron helmets, and the warriors each carried a recurve bow and a sword that was easy to stab. As for the Frankish lance, they were not equipped with it.

Archery and horse riding were their main method of combat, and the scimitar riding and slashing combat style of the prairie cavalry had not yet emerged in this era. Once the Ross cavalry reached the point where they had to ride their horses for close combat, they would draw their swords. They also found in actual combat that compared to When slashing, it is more lethal to hold the sword straight above the head and launch a thrust.

The 1st Cavalry has the most combat experience, while the Ostara Cavalry has less combat experience and worse weapons and equipment.

The worst thing was the one hundred cavalrymen recruited from the Great Lucki raid. These boys only knew how to ride horses. They were not qualified to fight on the battlefield unless they had to. These people were planned by Carlotta as the logistics force of the cavalry. One hundred cavalry had three hundred horses, and those horses that simply carried cargo carried heavy luggage. Lan

From this anyone can see that the Duchess was determined to conquer Polotsk completely.

The extremely powerful appearance of seven hundred cavalry and nearly a thousand horses makes this partial divisional advance look like a national-level strategic attack. ….

The warriors are young, and even the war horses are young. A large number of war horses began to be born in Rus in 837. Not only are the new generation of foals in service, but the second generation of foals produced by them are also in service. Ross's horse holdings are optimistically increasing in value exponentially.

As long as there is green grass, horses will not be hungry. They must exercise. Only in this way will they not suffer from gastrointestinal diseases.

Qualified horses have their hooves trimmed and refurbished shoes installed every spring. This is a normal health care behavior, and during wartime, this kind of maintenance immediately showed its powerful tactical advantages.

Due to the existence of horse iron, the shoes with special edges not only allow the war horse to walk on the ice without worrying about slipping, but also have advantages in moving in muddy riverside areas.

According to past experience, if the horse is constantly urged forward at the expense of harming the horse, the cavalry can rush from Velikiy Luki to Vitebsk in only two days. Lan

There is no war now. Although Carlotta is marching south, Carlotta has no intention of forcing the cavalry to run wildly, but he does not

Will be dilly-dallying.

She issued clear marching instructions to the entire army: "It is the most beautiful summer now, and the daylight hours are extremely long. We will use three days to march, and on the evening of the third day, we will camp in Vitebsk to rest."

The Duchess has already completed discussions with Ross General Fisk. She has set up a road map for the entire army. Centurions, thirty-man captains, and squad captains. The news is distributed layer by layer and quickly spreads throughout the army. Every soldier understands who he is. position in future operations.

The staggered blue stripes sewn on the white cloth are the Ross oar flag, which was also interpreted by the Franks as the "St. Andrew's Cross Flag".

Black cloth strips are sewn onto white cloth to create an abstract bull-head pattern, which is the bull-head flag of Ostara. However, a small Rus' oar flag is sewn into the upper left corner of the bull's head flag, indicating that Ostara is a vassal of the Rus' Kingdom.

The two flags clearly indicated the nature of the huge cavalry. They used the Centurion as a combat unit, and eventually divided into seven units, forming a column on the banks of the Lovati River and advancing towards the lake at the source of the river.

The whole journey was filled with the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers. The soldiers took off their helmets and hung them on the buckles of their saddles. Lan

Riding horses for a long time makes people's buttocks and legs sore, and gradually the pleasant sunshine and beautiful scenery are no longer attractive.

The army cannot suspend its advance! No rest midway!

In order to conserve horsepower, the war horses were deliberately kept at a slow walking speed, which was a little faster than a human walking.

Horses at such a slow speed can travel for a long time without feeling tired. The only one who suffers is the rider.

The soldiers looked forward to evening, so that they would not have to go to the toilet in an indecent manner on horseback, but could lie on the grass to stretch their sore strides, and put down the tin cans and earthenware urns to cook some wheat mixed with butter. Enjoy a delicious hot meal.

The Rus-Ostara cavalry, which was like a Mongolian cavalry, rushed to Lake Lovadi, a river source lake about fifty kilometers away from the starting point of Velikiy Luki in just one day.

They spent the night comfortably by the lake. The next morning, the soldiers added new firewood to the smoldering bonfire. After eating another hot meal, they did not forget to feed their horses some warm water sprinkled with salt, and then continued to be boring. Regardless of the march. Lan….

In the vast land, only the cavalry team was advancing mightily. Some soldiers saw the phantoms of large animals in the forest. Due to the requirements of the march, no one dared to leave the team and start hunting.

They kept walking through the gaps in the forest, and soon after bypassing a huge landmark swamp, the wide surface of the West Dvina River finally appeared in front of everyone.

Then they successfully found the ford area where the horses could wade directly through the water, and a wooden fortress stood on the riverside as expected.

Seeing the fortress and the Ross flag flying on the mast set up on the wooden wall, Carlotta's anxious heart finally calmed down.

Fisk held the reins and quickly entered the front of the team from a relatively rear position, and spoke to Carlotta: "It seems that our brothers staying here are all well, you can rest assured."

"That's right. The Smolensk people I'm most worried about are really a bunch of idiots, and I actually think highly of them..."

Carlotta's tone was full of disdain, and so was Fisk's attitude. He deliberately asked: "Actually, do you really want those guys to attack you?" Lan

"I hope, and I hope not."

"Inconsistency."

"Alas." Carlotta paused and glanced at Fisk's young and bearded face: "Only fighting a battle can make my cavalry grow. But I don't intend to attack them and mess up my plan. It would be best if we can play a defensive counterattack."

"You? Do you really want a group of Smolensk weaklings to die on your territory?" Fisk smiled and shook his head: "I don't think they are so stupid."

"Who knows? But Vitebsk needs to be strengthened. Look." She pointed casually: "The terrain in this area is flat, and the water plants are too rich. It may not be suitable for growing wheat. The kind of Frankish... peas should be suitable."

"There are also carrots in the Netherlands. The environment there is also too humid. I hope the gods have mercy on these vegetables.

Can survive in our territory. Fisk added.

"Okay, let's wait and see." Lan

An old man named Jellinger Eriksson, who was from the Gran tribe, was ordered by Carlotta to eventually lead some brothers to guard Vitebsk.

The old guy did his own thing conscientiously, and during the long and boring winter, he earnestly warned the brothers staying there not to panic. Now that spring has returned, like brown bears, they have ended their hibernation and begun to actively transform the Vitebsk Fortress.

They even paddled a raft deliberately towards the Polotsk village in the lower reaches of the West Dvina River. The people who landed in the village openly used the banner of Ross. Therefore, due to the shadow of the defeat a year ago, facing the lone conqueror, The local nobles of Polotsk had no choice but to entertain the envoys with a smile and give some key supplies to support the Vitebsk Fortress.

In any case, the peace faction in Polotsk has a complete advantage in the war. Since even the Latvians and local Danish immigrants who occupy the most comfortable position in the Gulf of Riga have penetrated Russia, Polotsk, caught in the gap, obviously has no third party. Two options.

The war faction has disappeared. Based on last year's treaty, the Polotsk people can no longer block the river and make "ill-gotten gains" one after another by collecting tolls. ….

Although this does not mean that they can't make some money, the people who want to pass on the West Dvina River are almost adventurous traveling traders.

This river is a key transportation line on the "Amber Road". When the blockade ended, residents welcomed the new order under Ross's rule, and the suppressed trade began to recover. Lan

Because the Polotsk people were originally Polish immigrants who left the Vistula River, their ancient name has never been abandoned. Just like its name, being busy cultivating wasteland is an important feature that distinguishes them from other tribes in the region. .

The native Latvian nobles of Riga and Stekander, the leader of the Danish community who returned by boat in the spring, happily resumed trade under the new situation without hesitation.

The transportation of pickled herring, crude sea salt and the most precious amber and beeswax rough stones from the Gulf of Riga has resumed. The image of hundreds of competing merchants on the West Dvina River did not appear. Instead, Viking longships began to dock at the Polotsk people's small dock.

Salt and pickled herring were extremely important to these farmers. All they could get away with was the grain stocks, and small-scale trade between the two sides resumed.

Polotsk is only the first stop for businessmen. Past frictions have made these Danish immigrants lack trust in them, but the emerging Vitebsk further upstream is more approachable.

I would like to ask who in the Baltic Sea today does not know the reputation of King Rurik of Rus?

The King of Rus also served as the King of Sweden. He became a sworn brother with the new King of Denmark, and also had relationships with many Norwegian nobles. Lan

Muqiang's Danish community in the Gulf of Riga found a powerful and powerful backer. For the entire community, the boss Stekander made a great contribution to everyone by going to the capital of Rus.

There was a small number of Russians stationed in Vitebsk, and it became a favorite anchorage and residence for merchants from the Gulf of Riga, even though the fortress had only been lost for a year.

So as the Rus-Ostara cavalry continued to advance, the strange true appearance of the Vitebsk Fortress finally emerged.

Carlotta was surprised by the sight before her: "That's weird. We still have ships floating directly here?"

Fisk was equally surprised: "It was too far away just now and I couldn't see clearly. There is a longship here. Maybe... it's the trick of that old uncle from Spuyut."

"Spuiut? The greatest explorer of Ross?" Carlotta opened her mouth.

"Maybe. The name Rurik gave the old guy is now the Count of Saaremaa. Haha, all his men are pirates. According to last year's treaty, those guys in the Gulf of Riga are now You have to listen to him." Fisk said, also faintly revealing his disdain for the old guy. Lan

Fisk has his own proud capital. His family has always been loyal to the chief family of Ross. His personal loyalty and his repeated achievements on the battlefield have allowed him to be reused by Rurik. The First Cavalry led by him even fought alone in the Frankish hinterland and even captured the Lord of the Eastern Kingdom, Duke Ludwig of Bavaria.

Why is he not the number one player in Ross with his glorious record?

There are now two "famous ruthless men" in the Kingdom of Rus, one is "Double Swords" Arik, and the other is "Baldhead" Fisk.

After all, the two were from the same tribe, Arik was a close relative of the king, and Fisk was a distant relative of the king. ….

The explorer Spyut is also a distant relative of everyone, but this old guy who is no longer young does not have any great achievements. It is such a person who actually governs the densely populated Riga on behalf of the king based on the treaty recognized by Rurik. Bay.

Both of them thought that the ship sent by their own people had drifted to Vitebsk. If so, wouldn't it provide a very positive signal?

Carlotta's mood became more and more cheerful: "If this is the case, it means that the Polotsk people have no intention of rebelling anymore. Our people are already operating safely in their territory!"

Fisk rolled his eyes at the old girl: "Carlotta, you have to understand what the king allows you to do. In the end, Karl will completely rule Polotsk, don't let that old guy Spyut take advantage. "Lan

"Thank you for the reminder." She nodded, shook her son Carl, who was groggy from riding a horse for too long, and then raised her right fist high and ordered to the team: "Speed ​​up! The trumpeter blows the trumpet! The flag bearer immediately Run to the river!"

With some orders, the city of Vitebsk was awakened.

At this moment, the old man Jellinger who is stationed in this city is busy making friends with the Danish merchants who drifted over from the Gulf of Riga. The two longships placed here are also Danish.

Suddenly a guard reported to his boss Jeringer. Because the cavalry that suddenly appeared had the most familiar attire, he walked out of the wooden house and stood outdoors listening to the melodious Ross tune horn sound. The old man's wrinkled old face gradually became filled with joy. A comfortable smile.

"Let's go." He greeted the fifty Danish passers-by in a hoarse voice: "They are our cavalry. They are coming to this fortress again this year as agreed."

On one side, seven hundred cavalry and nearly a thousand horses gathered on the flat right bank of the West Dvina River after leaving the forest area.

On one side, more than a hundred people walked out of Vitebsk, a city with thick wooden walls. Lan

The two severely damaged long boats were towed directly to the muddy shore. The reason for this was not a strange performance art, but because it was too uncomfortable to wade through the shoals and wet clothes and pants. The pontoons built have been standing on the river for a year. , which facilitates north-south transportation, but interferes with inland navigation.

Since the shipping demand on the West Dvina River is still too weak at this stage, it is not a problem for long boats to be towed around the pontoon. This year, the Danish traveling businessman understood the whole story and said nothing.

After all, every year there are mighty land caravans from Kiev and Pecheneg traveling between the north and the south. They are huge in scale, and traveling by land from Vitebsk has become more and more important.

The Danish merchants and the southern commercial cavalry had to take the same route at this location - the LSA River waterway leading to the south.

When arriving at the source of the Lsa River, you only need to push the long boat along a dirt road to reach the source of the Orshacha River.

Continuing downstream from the Orshacha River, you can reach the wide main channel of the Dnieper River.

This is the crystallization of the Amber Road from the West Dvina River to the Dnieper River. The road does not pass through the city of Smolensk, at least not yet in this era. Of course, Vitebsk, which is qualified to become a transportation hub, has been born and has begun to demonstrate its superior potential for land and river transportation. Lan

Orsha City, an important trade and transportation center, has not yet been born, but as the Amber Road has restored traffic safety under Ross's rule, the birth of Orsha City is imminent in the foreseeable future. .

Reborn Star Fruit