Chapter 878 Rurik's Novgorod Army

Those Boyar nobles were in a good mood when they got the beauty, and now sit down again, just in time to talk about the major matters related to the war.

For those who have lived in the forest for generations, the distant world outside the forest certainly has a vast space, which is really unfamiliar to everyone.

As a result, a large sheet of rough paper is spread out, on which a unique picture is drawn with rough charcoal lines.

Ironically, the nobles who admired it could not see that the picture was chill.

The paper was hung on the wall, and Rurik stood in front of it with his hands on his waist: "Do you recognize this picture?"

The Boyars looked at each other.

"It seems that you really don't understand? Indeed! You need to understand the vastness of this world before you are willing to hand over your sons and your clansmen to fight for me." After speaking, Rurik stood aside and suddenly pulled out the His own sword, the buzzing sound of the blade made everyone tremble.

He roughly outlines the geographical structure of the Circum-Baltic Sea, the overall outline of the ocean is clearly marked, and the land, important islands and lakes are also marked with lines. Some black lines are the most distinctive, which is the meaning of the river.

Rurik pointed his sword at a circle: "Here, this is our Lake Ilmen! Look at this black line, this is the Volkhov River!"

His blade pointed to Novgorod, Novgorod and Novosibirsk in turn, until the target of the war, the Gotaland region at the southeastern tip of Scandinavia.

"You all take a serious look, this place is Gotaland, the area we must conquer this year."

The nobles reluctantly made an abstract understanding. Just looking at the map, this military operation was indeed an expedition.

Then a noble asked weakly: "My son has made a cavalry for you, Your Majesty. When he goes, how long will it take to reach the battlefield."

"If the sea is thawed, it will take ten days for the fastest ship to travel both day and night."

Rurik's words were understated, but they deeply shocked everyone. It takes ten days to take the fastest boat, and it also shows from the side that the depth of the current Rus Kingdom is huge.

Boyar nobles felt that this battle was very risky, and what they feared most was the terrifying distance of the expedition.

Rurik had no idea that there was an element of adventure here. Are you afraid of war because you have to take risks? Any war is a risk, at least the Rus army can anticipate many problems in advance and make preparations sooner or later.

The cinnabar mixed with the seal grease to form a bright red paste, which Rurik pounded with a wooden stick and placed a bright red mark on the target of the war.

That is the fjord, the hometown of the old Ostara tribe, and this special mark also explains one thing to the local nobles - the Varangians who have settled in the south, near their eyelids, in New Ostara Where did it come from.

"Any war has a reason." Rurik explained: "It is a distant place for you. Now, whether it is in the west or the east, the people who live there are the servants of the king. When an area of the kingdom is attacked by the enemy, All regions of the kingdom will have to send troops to fight. The western region of the kingdom has always been eroded by the Jotalans, and this time we will fight them and completely defeat them to solve the problem."

He made the war very grand, and then again, what does this have to do with a group of Slavic tribes who have always lived in the forests of Eastern Europe, it seems that this is the war of the Varangians against another Varangians.

The Slavs accepted the rule of King Rurik, which did not mean that all the Slav nobles were willing to send troops all the way to fight the king.

There is always a sense of resistance in their hearts, and this emotion is shown through their eyes.

Rurika lowered his face: "I see your doubts. However, you should also consider your own future. This king is really just starting a war against the west. Soon, when this king solves the problem in the west, the sword will Point to the south. People of Smolensk! How about the beauties that this king gave you? They are all beauties of Smolensk. Now there is sufficient information to prove that Vadim, who led the rebellion at Pine Needle Manor, did not die, but ran to Smolensk has drawn an army of perhaps 10,000 troops, ready to go north for revenge at any time."

Many Boyars have never thought about this kind of thing. Now the nobles are all here, and their reactions are varied.

Some people think that the Varyag army of Rus is invincible and need not be wary of Smolensk.

Such people are in the minority.

More nobles were full of worries, and the king made it very clear that there were 10,000 soldiers in the south who were eyeing them. The enemy's strength may have moisture, but no one denied that Vadim's determination. Back then, the brothers chose to stand by and watch the rebellion and watch the Ross Army and its allies slaughter the traitors. It was a slaughter that defined "catastrophe"!

If Vadim chooses hatred, this son must hate everyone who is sitting.

The nobles began to repeatedly ask about the authenticity of the information. Seeing that the plan was successful, Rurik patted his chest: "I swear by honor that the information obtained is true. Back then, our army failed to kill Vadim and left a disaster. Now, you guys Don't want your good days to be destroyed by the avengers and looters in the south! Now you don't have to worry, since you are part of the kingdom, you are now sending your sons and brothers to follow this king to the west, and later this king will lead the western tile The Liangge army is here, and we will join forces to attack Smolensk."

This is like a transaction, the transaction is mutual, and when one side has frequent transactions, the more mutual trust.

Rurik gained their approval and ordered them to start a general mobilization on his farm.

Each farm must at least build some walls and build basic defense facilities to protect themselves in case of unexpected events.

When they sense the danger, their life-saving instinct will prevail, and at the same time, they will also have a huge demand for weapons and equipment. As for weapons, Rurik was very willing to sell a large number of weapons mainly based on cheap casting spearheads at a low price, and if he earned a fortune, he would also arm the masses of militiamen.

Any Slavic farming tribes came from the Vistula Valley, and they established settlements west, east and south as armed settlers. Rurik doesn't need to emphasize the meaning of "self-protection" at all, because no one knows the meaning of self-protection better than these guys. They are not short of manpower now, what is lacking is a large number of iron weapons.

This meeting with the Boyars eventually turned into a mobilization rally.

Twelve Boyars who surrendered to the farm made a statement, so that the other as many as 30 village chiefs of "pioneering villages" had to respond quickly even after receiving the king's order and seeing the active actions of the nobles of the same family.

Prepare for the war, prepare for the war, and prepare for the war since the late autumn of last year. No one could have imagined that Novgorod in the rear would face a military threat from the Smolensk people.

Rurik saw that all the men on the farms had taken up arms, even if it was just a sharpened stick.

The cast iron spearhead is not suitable for use as a weapon at all, but it is suitable for mixed casting to make iron with a spearhead to smash, and pieced together as a security fence. Rurik's so-called cast iron spearhead is this kind of object, which can be combined with a wooden stick to form a short spear, a long spear or even a simple spear.

A clay-fired mold is made with grooves, and twenty can be cast at a time. This amount of product is distributed to men over the age of twelve. According to the bottom line standard that one spear and one shield is one soldier, this material Molensk blasting 10,000 troops is not a problem at all.

But the Slavic warriors who really went into the expedition were another piece of equipment.

Now, the Viking army, including the old Rus, is the first to gather.

The veterans and back-up soldiers of the First Flag Team have returned to the full 500-man state. The so-called four hundred troops and one flag team headquarters. In principle, Arik is still the flag captain of the First Flag Team, but now, it is The general will also take command of the sixth flag team.

The Sixth Banner team was all young old Roths. They were extremely young, and their members were generally two or three years younger than Rurik himself. The captain of the flag was originally "Bald" Fisk, who was a close comrade-in-arms of Rurik and became the current cavalry commander. valley

According to the plan, this is a national-level campaign. The first, second and sixth flag teams are all legions composed of the blood descendants of the old Ross tribe and his niece. The total strength is exactly 1,500 people, and this army also supports Formed the infantry base for the Rus Kingdom rule.

However, their essential identity is citizen soldiers, and Rurik will also bring his own guard infantry and cavalry in this battle. These standing armies must achieve major victories.

The 300 standing cavalry was commanded by Fisk, the trusted minister, and the 300 infantry guards were commanded by the mercenary leader Grund.

In Novgorod alone, 2,110 combat soldiers were assembled, and this was still only a part of the army.

They have a uniform attire, and they are all wearing armor, whether they are wearing high-grade chain mail or cheap leather and iron riveted armor, and they are all covered with a layer of plain linen tunic, and stitched on the chest part. Colored cloth strips.

Their leather helmet styles are very uniform based on tradition, the difference is that the helmets of some elite warriors are decorated with white bear leather. According to the old rules, the commanders of the ten captains (class), "boat" captains (platoon ranks), centurions (leveling) and flag captains (battalion ranks) have the same number and color of feathers on their helmets.

This move was originally done by Rurik imitating the Roman legions, and the actual combat proved that these moves are very easy to command.

It was a fine morning in late February, and there was a flurry of snowflakes some time ago, and the climate did not improve in any way as it entered February.

Rurik's army assembled in Novgorod, and they stood on the wasteland outside the city with their horses walking. The soldiers lined up according to the flags they belonged to.

The walls of the city were packed with people, and there were thousands of onlookers outside the city.

The news of the army gathering attracted Kagan and Sakyi. It is fair to say that after they made a deal with Rurik, they went to the south to loot. With their own strength, they could not say that there were ten people in the sea of Smolensk. into grasp. It was also the first time that Kagan saw the large gathering of the Rus army. He opened his eyes and uttered the most wonderful admiration in the world: "If it is the Roman army. It's nothing more than that!"

Kagan refers to the Eastern Roman army. Although I have never seen a large gathering of the Roman army in my life, through various aspects of intelligence, such as the bragging of Roman businessmen in Crimea, I have some understanding of hearsay.

He had never seen the Roman army, but today he saw the Rus army.

And this is only part of the troops that Rus has assembled in Novgorod. Not only was a surprising number of native Slavic men mobilized but not assembled, but Kagan noticed that there were no "short men" in these troops.

His Rurik brothers recruited adults, and they were all tall.

According to the law of the steppe, a boy should join the war on a horse when he is ten years old. The blond, white-skinned 10-year-old Russ boys were still running around where they could see, and they weren't fighting.

Here Rurik inspected his army on horseback, raising his sword to the roar of the sky.

Rurik has already arranged the follow-up matters, regarding a large number of men rushing to freeze the rivers and lakes in horse-drawn carriages to New Rose Fort, the real assembly place, and the army will leave soon after this small-scale assembly.

The departure of the men does not mean that the spring ploughing will be abandoned. The task of spring ploughing is handed over to Governor Medvet, who will bring his own people to sow the king's direct farmland. As for the old Rus settlements such as Mstisk and Youth City, the wives and children of the warriors are still stranded here. The solution is quite simple, that is, every family pays a sum of money to hire local people to broadcast the land for themselves.

In this battle, Rurik was on a personal expedition, and he was about to leave his loyal Novgorod temporarily.

The banquet before leaving was very luxurious. Considering the mental state of the expedition, Rurik was not greedy for drinks.

Instead, Governor Medved got drunk, or wept bitterly because he was too excited.

The Slavic flag team was expanded to two, and the single flag team was adjusted to 500 people. The core idea of the battle was to form a spear formation to attack the enemy. Soldier training and follow-up command work are all in charge of Medvedt, and he will also leave his hometown to go to war in the far west, which is after the spring ploughing.

At first glance, a power vacuum appeared in the Novgorod region for a while, but it was not. The Slavs from Novgorod, the largest city, grew up early and are now integrated with the old Rus. Twelve native farm boyars were appeased, thus stabilizing the other Slavs.

In Novgorod, just south of Novgorod, in Novgorod, the Duchess Carlota holds a powerful army with super mobility. When necessary, all her clansmen mount their horses, and suddenly there are more than 500 cavalrymen, no problem. .

The question now is who will take over the responsibility of the Governor.

Is there anyone more fitting than Queen Svetlana? While Rurik wanted the acting governor to be a reliable male, he really had no better choice right now.

A woman becomes the acting governor of Novgorod, the commander-in-chief of the various local Varangians and Slavs. Although she will be the acting governor for a period of time, there is really nothing for Svetlana to make a decision. The parliamentary system of the Ross Duma is accepted by both the Varangians and the Slavs. I really have to encounter general problems and have a head and face. The characters can be discussed at a meeting, and only matters such as war are decided by the governor.

Svetlana doesn't even have to win the war. Her sister Carlota, Duchess of Ostara, will be in charge of the entire Novgorod region after Medvedt leads troops to reinforce the King of the Western Expedition. defense. Carlotta is also a woman. She is a female general. The cavalry under her command are all male. No one can despise the strength of these cavalry.

A large number of wives and concubines remained in Novgorod, and they had to do their share of work.

This time Rurik brought two special wives and concubines.

Noren, who is good at music, how can this country be without her? Although the flag team composed purely of men from the Norwegian Balmerk tribe from Narvik Port will join the Rus Army under the leadership of Hellafide, they belong to Narvik to a large extent in terms of authority. Earl's Army.

Who is the Earl of Narvik? It is Noren, one of his beloved wives. With her, the Balmers will fight to the death. But Noren can't kill the enemy herself. She brought the entire band she trained to act as a guard of honor for the army of the kingdom, and increase the spiritual strength of the army with drum music. Yes, Ross has the world's first institutionalized military band.

Rurik's new wife Pecheneg Princess Bejahir will naturally also participate~www.mtlnovel.com~ She will directly participate in the battle as a cavalry and meet her own destiny.

And in this battle, Rurik even brought one of his own sons. Regraf, the legitimate heir to the kingdom of Mercia, the de facto eldest son of Rurik. This kid revealed a stubborn temperament, indicating that his energy was too strong, his son was old enough, and it was time to see the world on the battlefield.

The army gathered on the frozen Volkhov River, and a large number of reindeer dragged sleighs waiting for passengers.

Every soldier is dressed in heroic and gorgeous, and their weapons and equipment are exquisite and numerous.

Soldiers carry backpacks with straps that are almost stuffed with raw oatmeal. Curly leather blankets were tied to the sides of the pack, and a large round shield hung from the bag like a tortoiseshell, often with a short-handled shovel hanging from the side. All around their waists hung steel swords, daggers and hand axes. The most heavy armor was removed, and they tried their best to be light.

Other soldiers were more heavily equipped. They carried wooden-arm crossbows and heavier steel-arm crossbows. Thanks to the fact that all kinds of arrows were packaged in boxes, they did not need to carry them around, which saved the soldiers from exhaustion.

Even so, the weight of the army's personal equipment is already staggering. Fortunately, everyone will be sitting on the sled, and sufficient logistical supplies have given everyone confidence in the expedition.

Even according to His Majesty's crazy decision, the army must always run wildly on the ice, especially across the frozen Gulf of Bothnia. Reindeer and horses replace the fleet and rush to Stockholm, Sweden.

It was a crazy plan, and Ross also sent the largest army ever.

With the sound of the horn, the troops from the Novgorod side of the Rus Army with a huge crowd of deer set off!