Rise of Rurik

Two natural rivers form the southwestern border of modern Latvia and Lithuania, and their river courses have also become important transportation routes from Cherbourg on the west coast to Mezotne and Riga in the interior.

In the broad Courland Peninsula, the Semigalian tribe was the local protagonist in this era. There are few large rivers in the vast area, and there are many streams that are barely navigable for small boats.

Larger rivers can fully carry traditional Nordic long boats. If travelers bring small barges, they can move forward and retreat more freely in such an environment.

Ostein placed special emphasis on the large settlement within Mezot, and he also listed settlements that could or might be encountered on his travels.

After all, Zante is to the north of the river. West Coast travelers will not cross there unless necessary, unless the locals are willing to spend more money to buy sea salt.

Ezere is a village on the preferred path for travelers. The local area is full of peaceful residents. Although it is a branch of Semigalia, due to the relatively remote living area, the locals will not devote much energy to participating in the tribe. Alliance internal affairs.

Once upon a time, the Semigalians built a military fortress named Dunas (now Daugmale Mound, Dunas is the ancient name) on the bank of the Daugava River. This large military camp is very close to Riga. Its existence not only points the sword at Riga, but also cuts off the shipping of the Daugava River (Western Dvina River) on the "Amber Road".

The big leader is stationed here, planning to cross the river and march straight to Riga, and then conquer Latvia in the north. If the amber inland river trade is controlled, he can fight with the Varyags.

Discuss a new business model, such as collecting tolls, so as to obtain a steady stream of tributes.

But the Latvian village chiefs and the local businessmen in Riga do not want the guys on the other side of the river to ride on their shoulders and dominate, because in the past they lived together with the Danish Varangians. They were familiar with these neighbors and had confidence in their armed strength, so they transferred a series of powers and purchased the force of the Varyag people in the city.

Then the Varyag army, which was mainly of Danish and Gotland origin, and community leaders led the Latvian peasant soldiers across the river smoothly and launched an attack on Dunas City. Varyag's usual surprise tactics were very effective. He then relied on the shield wall to push forward with constant pressure. In the subsequent battles, he defeated Semigalia, and then burned and destroyed the city of Dunas on the mound. After that, it was covered with small trees. battlefield.

Only that area of ​​the forest had a large number of young trees, which became special evidence of the past.

And this is the past of Spuyut, who has now become the Earl of Latvia, when he was young, and the truth about the war more than ten years ago.

The army gathered in Riga again, and some old guys in the army still remembered the battle that year. This time, a larger army launched an attack, so that some militiamen were optimistic that the current attack would completely defeat Semigalia. And one's own side can still reap the benefits with almost no loss.

There are a large number of waterways near the city of Riga, as well as some lakes. Such a low-lying environment benefits from the barrier function of the Gulf of Riga and the island of Saaremaa at the mouth, which makes the erosion of urban areas by sea tides very weak.

It's early summer now

The water and grass are plentiful, and Fisk, who has cavalry in hand, is not worried about the problem of food for his horses. Green grass was everywhere, and the horses had plenty of time to nibble on the new shoots.

The situation of the personnel may be worse. The soldiers had to bring a large amount of dried fish to satisfy their hunger.

Nine hundred Russian standing cavalry, two hundred Saaremaa army, one hundred Danes and three thousand Latvian Latvian army.

Ross assembled a behemoth with more than 4,000 troops.

The military rations are mainly oats and fish jerky, supplemented by various animal jerky and cheese. Because it faces the sea, even if the salt content of the seawater in the Gulf of Riga is very low, if you use more firewood, which is the most abundant in the area, when boiling salt, you can still get more abundant salt.

Salt is the special advantage of this army, allowing warriors of all colors to have stronger endurance and strength.

Because the entire Gulf of Riga is like a giant haven, it has become an important anchorage for the county of Saaremaa.

There are a group of ordinary long boats gathered here. In addition, the Latvian natives are also building small boats. Shipbuilding technology from Northern Europe has long been circulated. In the past, there was no large-scale shipbuilding due to lack of need for use. Now Riga and the entire northern area of ​​the Daugava River under the rule of Rus are included in the economic circle of the Kingdom of Rus. The huge population has huge demand , Latvian people are poor, but they are definitely not stupid. They don’t want to lose the opportunity to do business and make money, which greatly stimulates the shipbuilding industry in Riga.

Some shipbuilders were building ships according to Nordic craftsmanship in their winter houses. Although they could not build a long boat that could be rowed by thirty people, there was nothing wrong with building a small barge.

However, even so, the coalition forces did not gather

Get enough ships.

A huge army was assembled at the dock and was heading to the other side of the river via barges.

According to the newly formulated plan, after the cavalry crossed the river by boat, they could launch a sneak attack on Mezzotene through high-speed maneuvers.

As for the subsequent infantry group, the brothers who spoke Norse could row boats and maneuver side by side with the cavalry. The largest number of Latvians, based on practical considerations, it was better for them to advance on one pair of legs.

The sun was shining brightly today, and what appeared in front of Fisk and others was a slightly messy scene of crossing the river.

"It's such a mess. Can these Latvians know how to swim? A large group of them crowded into a long boat to cross the river, for fear that someone would be squeezed in and drowned." Fisk had to worry about these inferior allies.

Stekander deeply agrees with this, but these locals are nominally bound to their own interests, and now they are embarrassed to say that they are not.

"Most of these people have learned how to swim, and their fighting ability...I have some confidence."

"You really think highly of them." Fisk grimaced and shook his head: "Two years ago, this group of people hired you to face me, and even my Uncle Spuyut. Thanks to us being all friends, Thank goodness it was a misunderstanding.”

"Ha! Boy, why did you mention me?" Spuyut couldn't help but think of a lot, and he sighed: "If I hadn't been old, I wouldn't have completely given up the command to you. Fisk, you have to pay attention. Got it!"

"What should I pay attention to?"

"Only Rurik and Old Otto commanded such a large army in the past. Now the gods have given you the opportunity to command an army of more than four thousand people."

"is that so

? But what kind of army does the king command? What am I commanding? "The young and energetic Fisk was somewhat self-deprecating. He stretched out his big hand and pointed at the people crossing the river casually: "They are not a strong team, they are just auxiliary personnel. I don't expect them to really fight, as long as they can give me a strong momentum. Besides, we didn't even need this group of people to arrive at the battlefield, and we had already captured Mezotne. "

Standing here, Fisk couldn't help but remind Stekander of his youth. He couldn't help but glance at the young "big bald man" next to him, and casually sighed: "You are right, these Latvians are It’s like this. It was like this in the past and it will still be like this in the future.”

"How?" Fisk asked.

"Look over there." Stekander pointed to the southeast, toward the upper reaches of the Daugava River.

Near Riga, a lake suddenly appeared because the terrain was too flat and low-lying.

"If King Rus had gone there to explore, he would have found traces of settlements in the sparse woods, and even seen many graves."

"That is how the matter?"

"That's the truth more than ten years ago. Back then, the Latvians hired Danes like us to attack the Semigalians who were approaching the city. That was the closest Riga came to destruction! I was a participant in the war at the time. Only after making meritorious deeds in the battle did he qualify to be elected as the leader of the community later. The enemy's city of Dunas was destroyed by us. At that time, haha..."

"why are you laughing?"

"I'm laughing at these Latvians." As he said this, Stekander glanced at Fiske: "It was the right time at that moment.

At this moment, I am sure that even if the Latvians arrive on the battlefield, we will still be the ones carrying the line. It doesn't matter if they do this. Whoever makes great achievements on the battlefield will get power later. This is fair. "

It sounded like this, but Fisk thought more. He shook his head slightly: "The Latvians are very cunning. Just imagine, if all the Varyag armies suffered heavy losses and won the victory with a tragic victory, they would still gain huge power. ?”

"This...I didn't think much about it."

"Uncle, you don't have to think too much." Fisk shrugged: "Ross is invincible. My cavalry is the most elite force in the kingdom. Only our army has always ravaged others. Even Frank will be defeated by Ross's cavalry again. beat."

The young man is not arrogant. In the Gniezdovo and Smolensk raids in the past half year, the Russian cavalry did kill the enemy unilaterally. They were unstoppable.

The largest and most chaotic Latvian army, this group of troublesome guys took the lead in crossing the river in a long boat and gathered on the shore to wait.

Ross used as many ships as possible to transport it across, and then mobilized all the longships to carefully transport the war horses to the other side.

Although it was just crossing the river, the number of ships was still limited. The coalition forces all reached the left bank of the Daugava River within one day, not the right bank of the Yelupe River.

The location directly south of the coalition forces is an overly dense forest. If personnel enter it if they are not experienced enough, they will definitely get lost. There are a large number of mud ponds scattered in the forest, and they are full of rotten wood. If it were autumn, such an environment would be too chilling.

It is early summer now and the climate is extremely suitable. Due to the spring melt,

The snow season has passed, the muddy land has returned to dryness, and the banks of the Lielupe River have become natural meadow roads again.

There is no need for the army to gather and line up anymore. From Fisk's point of view, he does not think that the Latvians, who have the largest number of troops in the coalition, can form a perfect matrix formation.

He rode his horse and took his entourage around the gathering place of the coalition forces, had some exchanges with the commanders sent from each village, and then issued the marching order in a hurry.

He raised his fist toward the upper reaches of the Lielupe River: "Cavalry! Let's go!"

As a result, three cavalry teams that had been recuperating for several months were fully armed and specially wore clean Ross jerseys. In fact, even Stekander's Danes have also changed their clothes. Taking advantage of Riga's textile printing and dyeing capabilities, the soldiers put on plain white cloth robes outside their armor, and then sewed blue cloth strips on the chest. A giant X drawing.

The coalition forces prepared a large number of flags, so that everyone in Fisk's cavalry displayed a flag.

A light pole made of Nordic aspen wood was inserted into the saddle, and a batch of lances were made from broken spearheads captured in Smolensk. Although this kind of lance is so inferior that if you use it to poke an enemy while riding a horse, the tip of the lance will almost break off. However, the smart Fisk realizes its advantage - the tip of the lance breaks on one touch, saving the lance from killing my cavalry. Get off your horse.

Lancer assault was not the preferred tactic of the Ross cavalry, and Fisk deliberately did it just to build momentum.

Each cavalryman's lance was hung with a small Ross flag, which rustled in the wind, and the wild goose feathers specially inserted on the helmets of the cavalrymen swayed in the wind.

Not cooked

Textile raw materials such as linen and linden bark treated with boiling and decolorization, the cloth woven by it is always brown and black, giving the Latvian warriors an inferior texture.

On the other hand, the Ross Cavalry, as well as the Saaremaa Island Army and the Danish Community Army floating on the river, all wore blue and white clothes, which looked particularly eye-catching in a world dominated by dark green forests.

And this was also the first time that Ostein and his party saw the assembly of the Ross army.

They are only a small part of the Rus people, but it feels like such an army is about to destroy the world.

Osten has seen horses and equestrians, but he has never seen the actions of a large-scale cavalry regiment.

A forest of spears moved together with the war horses. Each of these cavalrymen had a bow, and the left and right quivers of the saddle were fully stuffed.

What surprised him even more was that all cavalrymen were equipped with stirrups. Was such an advanced tool nothing at all in Ross?

Although they were floating on the river with the long boats of the Russian army, Ostein and his party kept their eyes fixed on the cavalry on the shore, thinking: "Fortunately, I am not an enemy of such a strong man."

Soon, the cavalry and the fleet left the Latvian infantry behind. As the course of the Lielupe River gradually became tortuous, the soldiers gradually submerged in the forest.

Taking advantage of the last daylight time of the day, the quickly rushing coalition forces had already rushed far away.

When they set up camp at night, the vanguard cavalry and fleet had already distanced themselves from the rear infantry.

The coalition forces found suitable campsites one after another on the flat river bank. When the sky downstream was illuminated red, Fisk, who was in the vanguard position, could clearly see the basic positions of those people.

"They are indeed a bunch of slow guys." People gathered around the campground

Looking back by the fire, things still made sense, and Fisk was still disdainful of them.

"It's up to us now," Stekander said.

"That's enough. Hey." Fisk kicked Ostein, who had the right to sit by the campfire and have dinner with the big shots. "Is this the way you walked when you came here?"

"Of course." The clever Ostan quickly raised his chest: "Don't worry, I will make sure to take you to your destination."

"What I want is your words. Look at yourself, now you have put on our clothes. Including your two sons, you are all descendants of Denmark who speak Norse. You cannot be vague about future battles. You must act as a warrior."

"I understand. Can't get things done."

Osten and his party didn't want to fight, but now they can't do it without fighting. They were forced to put on Ross's plate armor and waistcoats, and put on new cloth robes. If the pattern on the bucklers they brought was different from the ones used by Ross, they would look like Ross citizen soldiers at first glance.

That night, the soldiers sang songs of their hometown, continued to polish their axes around the campfire, and wiped their sharp steel swords with their own grease.

Many people are also checking their own bows and bending them hard to feel the power of the recurve bow. They even checked all the bow strings and took out the spare ones and stretched them vigorously to ensure that there were no flaws.

All this comes from the clear statement of Osten that as long as you pass through Mezotne and float smoothly on the Lielupe River for two days, you can reach Riga.

Is it really that fast? However, the wide river has obviously smooth water flow, so no one rowing in the opposite direction will feel much resistance.

So

It can only be understood that the settlement of Mezotne is really close to Riga.

Not only that, but based on Ostein's statement, the so-called coalition vanguard force can reach the village in the low-lying area by day tomorrow if it maintains its current speed.

The village chief was simply named Jelgava, which refers to the low-lying land.

"Are you going to annihilate that village? Are you going to kill people everywhere?" Ostein couldn't help but ask in his soul when facing Fisk.

"It depends."

"What if they resist?" Osten asked again.

"Then we have to kill them all." Fisk said lightly, describing the killing with a relaxed attitude.

This made Ostein unable to help but be alert: "Just like what you did to Gotland ten years ago? Bloodbathed the entire island."

"Oh? You still know about this?"

"Of course, everyone in the entire sea area does not know Ross's reputation. I think that if my hometown did not accept Ross's rule, it would also suffer such a disaster."

"Of course." Fisk opened his mouth. He looked at the old guy. The bonfire illuminated the man's face in a strange way, and there was still a terrifying feeling in it. "Could it be that...there are still some of your old friends on Gotland who died in the war?"

"No, but there are some people in Cherbourg who have lived on the island. Your legend has long been circulated in my hometown. It seems... you will destroy the fishing village, and then completely destroy Mezotenay."

"Who told those people to be unwilling to surrender to Ross and block the way of our army?" Fisk looked straight at Ostan with steel knives hidden in his eyes: "It makes me very embarrassed to be unwilling to surrender and block the way. Now. I am the general of King Rus, and I am taking care of the king's worries. Kill

Killing was not my intention. If those guys could abandon the city and escape, I wouldn't bother to pursue them. As long as those guys left a lot of property behind, especially a batch of food. "

"Then what?"

"I plan to station in Mezot. Since it is the place you claim the inland trade route must pass through, I will wait there for the arrival of King Rus's follow-up troops. As for the village I plan to attack tomorrow, I will do it at lightning speed Take it down.”

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