Rise of Rurik

The people of Mellaren witnessed the entry of a huge army, and at the same time refreshed their understanding of the concept of a "big army".

The main force of the Russian army suddenly came across the ice sea in a large number of reindeer sleighs, and their magic soldiers descended from the sky. If the king suddenly became angry and this army swung their swords at the Melalen tribe, could Melalen protect itself?

Fortunately, King Rurik had no reason to use force against his loyal Melalen.

Stockholm is still frozen, although ice fishermen have noticed that the ice is thinning rapidly, and spring has not yet arrived.

Spring is almost here and it may still be two weeks before Lake Mälaren thaws.

Once the lake and sea thawed, Ross's ships immediately pulled anchor and set sail, and assembled on a large scale at the entrance of Lake Malaren. At that moment, all the reindeer sleighs were put aside temporarily, and the soldiers and horses all boarded the ship.

Rurik has about two weeks to complete the deployment of military forces in Sweden, and he has already started taking action.

A new city is rising on an island near Stockholm. The main force of the Russian army camped here collectively, and people used local materials to build temporary sheds. Thousands of people started working at the same time, and the camp was quickly built.

The unbridled sleigh-pulling reindeer were driven into temporary enclosures on the spot. They were temporarily fed with oats and started to eat dry grass under the snow. When the ice and snow melted and grass sprouted, the deer herds were simply driven to eat everywhere. Grass will do, just like their ancestors wandering around Lake Mälaren to save food.

Future reindeer expeditions are basically useless, and there is no problem in reducing or terminating food feeding.

However, personnel and war horses must maintain high standards of treatment to recharge their batteries.

They set up a large number of iron pots to cook oats. Each flag team had more than ten pots. Together, hundreds of large pots were fired every day, so that the charming aroma of wheat would not dissipate for a long time.

Thousands of people gathered together to wait for the signal to go out. Other than that, life seemed to consist of limited training and a lot of time for leisure every day. Energetic warriors often fight shirtless, competing to see who is the real man amid the cheers of their comrades. More than twenty of them gathered together, playing primitive rugby with a sack filled with dead grass as their target.

If such an energetic army is allowed to enter present-day Stockholm, or enter the living area of ​​the Mellaren tribe, some trouble will inevitably occur.

Rurik ordered the troops not to leave the currently designated living areas. Anyone who violated the rules would be expelled from the team and lose the opportunity to obtain war honors.

Lose your chance at glory? Is this considered punishment?

This was exactly the right medicine, and those who longed for honor had no choice but to obey the king's orders.

Although Rurik could restrain his subordinates, he could not restrain the Melalen people who sensed business opportunities. Local merchants from Mälaren came uninvited, selling amulets and useful daily necessities. There were even some prostitutes who came here to open businesses together. Although Rurik didn't like these guys, he didn't use force to drive them away.

The military camps were densely populated with Ross flags, which were extremely eye-catching and strongly declared their existence to the local nobles of Mellaren.

Another huge flag has been beautiful for half a year. This is the flagpole at the gate of the Governor's Palace. Every sunny day, the huge Ross flag will flutter in the wind.

Baihu Yijie met Fatty Bai and welcomed back his king as the governor.

On this day, Rurik and his cronies simply rode across the ice on horseback. The horseback riding team was gorgeously dressed and very ostentatious, and arrived at the entrance of Ross Shop in Stockholm, which serves as the office of the Governor's Palace.

The big fat white fox smiled from ear to ear, because in front of him was the king, his old friends, and his younger brother Blue Fox.

"Your Majesty, you are finally here. I saw a huge army from a high place. Obviously, our army will easily win the war in the future..."

After some polite greetings, everyone entered the warm house.

After some more small talk, Rurik, who was sitting comfortably, went straight to the topic without further details: "How are the local nobles doing? Are they already gathering troops?"

The white fox was indeed prepared for this. He nodded: "Yes. Although the cold in winter forces people to hide in their homes, all the free mercenaries in Melalen have their masters."

"Master? Are you afraid that they were all recruited by that guy Bjorn?"

"You can also say that. The local land nobles jointly spent money to put together a mercenary team of perhaps four hundred people."

Rurik frowned and thought for a moment: "Four hundred people? Is this the attitude of the Melalen people?"

White Fox noticed the king's dissatisfaction and hurriedly answered: "They can obviously recruit more troops, but..."

"how?"

"According to my observation, since the major defeat that year, the people of Mellaren have always been war-weary. If the king wants to talk to those nobles, he can force them to send more troops."

"It's a means." Rurik sighed: "It's just to force a group of guys who don't want to fight to fight. How can such an army talk about combat effectiveness? But we still need to talk."

Taking advantage of the topic, Rurik decided to convene a meeting of nobles immediately. He expected to allocate manpower to convene the leaders of the various tribes (all with duke titles) in the region as quickly as possible. The situation was much better than imagined.

The leaders of the big tribes are already in Stockholm.

A group of messenger sleds ran wildly on the gradually thinning ice. The messengers moved very quickly. When they arrived at the small tribe, they took their leader and came back directly.

Therefore, even if it declines, Melalen still has its own pride. The abdicated king Bjorn was king after all. Even though the throne had no power, it legally meant that Mellaren always maintained hegemony. The Malaren nobles knew that the king was coming, so they stood still. After the king gave a clear order, Bjorn, who was demoted to a duke, brought some big land nobles and other dukes to the large palace in Stockholm. Chamber of Commerce.

A wooden house that was originally leaky was reinforced, a large number of wooden boards with reliefs were placed on the plane, and the internal furnishings were also tidied up. It is a longhouse with a strong Viking flavor. It is different from the traditional longhouse in that it has a wooden floor.

A meeting of nobles from the Swedish part of the Rus Kingdom was held in this longhouse.

Here, Rurik showed the majesty of the top nobles just by his clothes. The nobles sat cross-legged on the floor, and the king himself opened the meeting.

He looked left and right and got straight to the point: "The main nobles have arrived. It seems that there are still some leaders of small tribes who have not arrived. We don't have to wait for them. Now I will go straight to the topic! I just want to know how many troops you plan to send."

Rurik's eyes were the first to stare at Bjorn, and he only listened to his unhurried introduction.

"As for the strength of our Mellaren people, the result of our internal discussion is five hundred."

"That's it?" Although he knew the answer in advance, Rurik's dissatisfaction was etched on his face. "You are a large tribe with tens of thousands of people. You also sent thousands of troops back then, but now you are trying to deal with me with 500 people?"

"But we in Mellaren already lack enough men. No one knows this better than you." Bjorn's eyes widened.

"Too little! You don't have to glare at me like this to demonstrate. Bjorn, you are also a man who has been a king. Is this the only extent of your appeal?"

"..."

"Are you silent? Or are you deliberately withholding it? I know that you and other land nobles have a group of slaves, and you also have a large number of tenant farmers. Now implement the king's order! Remember this is an order! You must be there Within ten days, gather a thousand men for me! You must also remember that you must prepare the supplies for these armies yourself."

A large number of Mellaren's land nobles licked their faces to attend this meeting of the great nobles, which was tantamount to not giving Duke Bjorn face. Rurik has always known that Bjorn is weak. In this case, he can use his tactics to make other land nobles contribute more.

They had to first mobilize the free mercenaries recruited by their partners, then use the private soldiers they raised, and finally organize a group of tenant farmers to join the army. Only in this way could they form an army of a thousand people.

Rurik estimated that they would not be able to force the peasants to fight, especially during the upcoming spring plowing season. Of course they could try to force the peasants to go out with force, but Rurik was stuck in time. It was said that the army was about to leave when spring plowing began.

As long as they thought carefully, some of the land nobles in Melalen realized the king's intentions. The strength of many landed aristocrats is based not only on abundant private farmland, but also on the military power they have to support private armies. Forcing private armies to fight is to weaken the strength of each noble, and it is also a test of their obedience. The nobles had no choice but to disobey the king's order. Although it is not yet known what the strength of the king's main army is, the densely fluttering flags have proved that the scale is astonishing. The rumor that the king has ten thousand people not only spreads, but also becomes more and more convincing to the nobles. .

Although Bjorn hesitated, in order to ensure that he was still favored and supported by the king, he agreed. He promised to recruit a thousand men, and the Malaren people themselves raised the supplies needed for the army.

It is only natural that whose soldiers are responsible for whom. These Swedish aristocrats, large and small, are essentially land aristocrats. They still hold a large number of acres of land and sufficient stocks of granaries. If the nobles want to accumulate wealth, they must either raise troops to fight and plunder, or exploit internally, especially their debt slaves and tenant farmers, so that these people can work hard year after year without starving to death.

The attitude of the Mellaren people was not positive, nor was it negative. Although the nobles felt the pain, they could still endure it through gritted teeth.

Bjorn also called out loudly in public: "We Mellaren people will fight according to the king's order. We will mobilize all five large ships and a large number of longships, merge into the Ross fleet and rush to the Old Ostara Fjord towards Götaland. If we start a war, we will surely capture a lot of wealth and supreme glory. Please cooperate with me, my king!"

This high-profile speech is not only a spiritual encouragement for himself, but also a reminder and comfort to other nobles of Melalen.

It is not that other nobles are as ambiguous as the Malaren people. On the contrary, other great nobles are supportive.

Needless to say about the Angkras tribe, Old Angreev had his own concerns. He was afraid that if his son died in battle, no one would inherit his power.

The old man noticed that Blue Fox Gouldson was here, and suddenly shouted loudly: "We in Anglas are planning to send 300 troops! Although the number of troops is very small, we are doing our best without delaying the farming season. The army that can be brought out. Unfortunately, my son is not really a brave man, and I myself am old. I hope that the army of Onkras will be commanded by Blue Fox Gouldson."

The words were so inspiring that Lan Hu never thought that he could still receive this honor.

The nobles shouted in disbelief, and Rurik was quick-eyed and quick-tongued: "Is this what you said? Old Angreev, you mean what you say. Okay! Blue Fox, you will be the commander-in-chief of the Angklas people this year. Anyway, you are Angreev." Born in Kras, you are both a businessman and a warrior, so they will definitely obey you."

Rurik's speed left Old Ungreev speechless, and Blue Fox could only laugh along with him.

After all, the current Blue Fox is not a glutton. He has experienced bloody battles and commanded armies. Now that he can command three hundred people, doesn't he become a banner captain? Couldn't he be the commander-in-chief of Onkras's army? even……

Although it was unthinkable in the past, the current Blue Fox feels that one day he can replace the Ungreave family, and the Goodale family eventually became the Duke of Unclas.

Among the many nobles, Duke Longstall of Hjärmalen was the most active.

Longstall never imagined that the king would actually mobilize an army to stand up for himself, but the truth was not as simple as "standing out".

For any monarch, is the purpose of mobilizing a huge army just to go on a grand spring outing? When you have a strong military force, you will naturally have to conquer a large territory.

This year's war has completely overturned last year's idea. The king is not just going to conquer a few Jotalan villages and stop those people from encroaching on the north.

It was finally Longstall's turn to speak. He did not mention his own plan to send troops, but pointed out the core of the problem: "Your Majesty, what is the purpose of our war this year? In my opinion, your army is going to conquer the entire Jotaland. !A very huge area will be under your control."

He really put the open secret on the table. Rurik smiled and had no intention of hiding it: "That's right! If I want to punish the Jotalans, I will just send a few hundred warriors. This time I want to conquer the entire southern Scandinavian In Navia, the Jotalans have two choices, surrender to the kingdom or die. I hope to conquer them through this war. I don't want to really kill them all. After all, they also speak Norse. We believe in Odin. We could have united with them, but the fundamental contradiction lies in how to demarcate the pastures for grazing cattle and fish ponds for fishing. This matter can be signed with them after the war. "

"It would be great if that's the case." Longstall was very satisfied. He didn't really intend to exterminate those guys. It's just that his tribe was engaged in farming, animal husbandry, and growing wheat. Such a production and lifestyle requires a stable life. As long as the Jotalans don't cross the old border, he can't hate those guys.

Rurik asked again: "So, how many troops are you willing to send?"

"Then, without delaying the farming season, I will send five hundred troops. And my people will serve as guides, and I will inform your majesty of all possible information about the Jotalans."

"That's great. Your tribe doesn't have many males, so I'm very pleased to cooperate with you."

Because he had a secret meeting with Longstall himself last year, Rurik knew a lot about the affairs of the Götalanders, especially the southern part of Lake Wettern, which is the main living area of ​​the Götalanders. The main settlements are Jönköping and the island of Vicinso in the lake. There is also a large yet unidentified settlement called Gothenburg, and Växjö in the forest.

Gothenburg? Last year Longstall mentioned this place name, and Rurik concluded that it existed.

Based on this information, why does the kingdom only clean up the Götaland settlements north of Lake Wetern? Since there is a waterway that can go straight to Lake Wetern, which is extremely long and narrow from north to south, the Kingdom's army should be looking for Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com The fleet rushed in and wiped out their main settlements.

The big tribes expressed their intention to send troops vigorously. Although the small tribes had various problems, they still wanted to join in even if they sent troops symbolically.

If various forces are put together, the Swedish part of the kingdom can still pull out an army of two thousand people. Although this is not Sweden's full strength, it is the largest force that can be produced without harming this year's farming season.

As a result, Rurik announced in public that he had revised his strategic goals for this year's war.

"The opportunity is before me. I will strive to conquer the entire Jotaland within a year. We have assembled an unprecedented army of ten thousand people and will surely win."

Rurik did not specify the true strength of his main force, but generally described the total number of troops participating in the battle as 10,000, which the nobles believed to be true. Why really have 10,000 people? An army of five thousand people is already very impressive.

All parties immediately reorganized their armies after the meeting. Everyone is waiting for the ice and snow to melt. It will not be a long wait.

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