Chapter 278： Conquer the sea of ​​ice

Are you happy when the army returns victorious?

Do not! The soldiers who have completed the crusade are like arrows. The long north hunter kills the hearts of the soldiers. If there is a battle, they can still hold their tomahawks and swords to fight fiercely. Now the opponents are all surrendered. Everyone just wants to return to Roseburg. .

Just outside, the Ross soldiers were chatting around the campfire about their way home.

People are discussing the rationality of directly crossing the ice sea, because this plan was proposed by Rurik. The kid's strange trick at the mouth of the river made everyone inexplicable. After the trick, the kid claimed to be home all the way to the west.

If it is summer, everyone rowing is not opposed to trying this route. But across the sea of ​​ice, the Ross people have never had such an experience!

Moreover, the Ross people have never set foot in the center of the ocean where the summer waves never stop in winter, where it is completely strange and terrifying to everyone.

In fact, what everyone is most worried about is the sudden thinning of sea ice, falling into an ice cave on the vast frozen ocean, and then being frozen to death.

Some people think that this is an unreliable adventure, while others are purely home-bound, and think that since Rurik said yes, it is okay.

In Kejas’s house, when Otto stated that he, as the leader, fully agreed with his son’s plan to return home, first of all, the Ross people present did not have any objections. Although they were nervous in their hearts, they would not think "Odin The "Blesser" Rurik will make fun of himself and the lives of his people.

But this feeling immediately caused Mezzasta's panic, and Lumia's panic.

Perhaps compared to the Russ, the deer breeders and the Kovins, they lack some courage to "dead".

Mezzasta boldly said: "Great Ross, we are willing to serve you, but we don't want to take risks. The sea is too dangerous! The frozen sea is even more dangerous."

Jeflo was still translating the man’s words, but Rurik couldn’t listen anymore. He suddenly got up from the sitting animal skin cushion and said loudly, "I understand what you are saying. This is my decision. I am Your master, you unconditionally obey my orders."

"You!" Mezzasta noticed the sharp eyes of Chief Rose from the corner of his eyes. He doubted Rurik's determination, but did not dare to question it anymore.

Unexpectedly, Lumia put on an embarrassed face and persuaded: "Rurik, crossing the ice sea is really dangerous. Many people are afraid. Maybe we can..."

"What do you want?" Rurik rolled his face suddenly.

Lu Mia was startled: "We can...return the same way."

"That's a waste of time! We could have gone home in three days and four days. Do you think we have the time to spend ten days?"

Rurik's words were completely beyond the expectations of everyone present, and the key point was the time required for the return journey.

Otto asked anxiously: "Four days? So short?"

"Maybe it only takes three days, as long as the reindeer are still strong. Dad, we just have to go all the way west. You are until our Roseburg, near our home, but there are only hills near Roseburg!"

Rurik's words deeply stimulated Otto, and this time, Otto's supportive attitude was strengthened even more. Because of the hills near the fjord where Roseburg is located, the merchant ships that come and go every year use the hill that contains iron ore to judge the location of Roseburg. Every time, no businessman got lost.

Mechasta was shocked by the determination of the Ross people, Lumia worried about the danger of the road, and Kaihas, he was indifferent, after all, it was not his own people who were forced to cross the ice sea.

Rurik continued: "The ice sea will thaw. After all, we still have to row a boat to the river and communicate with the Corvins. Since boating can come, we ride on a sledge to drive on the ice sea. How big is this with boating? the difference?"

This remark undoubtedly strengthened Alto's belief.

There was no need to discuss the next thing, Otto made up his mind in the half-crypt wooden house where the bonfire was lit: "We cross the ice sea! Let's set off tomorrow morning!"

The mobility of the Rus was another factor that shocked other ethnic groups.

The next morning, the return journey officially began.

The Ross people who have been ordered to cross the ice sea must accept complaints. Yesterday's bonfire discussion let it pass, and then everyone has to follow the leader's arrangements.

The small sleigh carried by each Ross soldier is all tied to the back of the Corvin sleigh with twine, and it is piled with a large amount of fur belonging to personal trophies, and even some food.

The Salmon Lord tribe provided another batch of smoked salmon, and the team received such a key food supplement.

The huge sled team became heavier, each sled weighing more than one ton. The Corvins and the deer breeders can estimate the terrifying weight of the sled. They not only doubt whether the team can cross the unknown sea of ​​ice to the west, but also worry that the sled will crush the sea ice.

Regarding the load and ice, Rurik didn't think about it at all, because during the winter icy period in the Gulf of Bothnia, sea ice is no longer described as "very thick".

The Ross people dropped the unburned bonfire and jumped on their sleigh happily. The rescued deer breeders have turned into sleigh riders.

The deer breeders and the literati of the gray squirrel tribe are worried and have no choice.

The ice sea is like a nightmare. The territory of the Ross people is full of infinite unknowns.

They really don't know the whole picture of the world, even the geographic structure of the Nordic world. All scholars believe that the Western Sea is an endless sea, and only the Varangans who can ride the waves can cross the sea. Setting foot in the frozen sea is obviously what the Varangans can do.

They didn't even know that, in fact, the straight-line distance from the mouth of the Oulu River to the fjord of Roseburg was only 140 kilometers.

In fact, Rurik didn't know the exact distance parameters. He just believed in science and knew that the earth is a ball. He determined the very precise dimensional parameters of the two places by measuring the shadow of the sun, and he could get home by going west.

It also lies in the full picture of the world he naturally knows. Even if it was in the ninth century, the Gulf of Bothnia was a very narrow bay.

It was Otto again, the brave leader of Rose, standing on the sleigh, facing the golden glow of the sun, shouting: "Great God! Your servant will cross the sea of ​​ice! It is your beloved one. Rurik made such a great decision! Bless us! Let us go home safely!"

The sun is one of Odin's incarnations, and the Rus believe it.

The female shaman of the gray squirrel tribe, she was bathed in the sacred golden light of the rising sun, dancing and praying to the sun **** believed by the Corvin people.

Even the deer breeders are silently reciting the name of their gods.

Lumia is even better!

After all, she is the priest of the Ross tribe and the future high priest.

The girl stood at the forefront of the team that was about to run to the west, facing the east, and she recited to the morning sun aloud a prayer that could only be chanted by soldiers.

Some knowledgeable Ross warriors instantly realized that the girl was doing a sacrificial ceremony.

When Otto saw this, he was overjoyed. He hurriedly lifted the somewhat dull Liuli Kla, and bathed his son's face with golden light.

Prayer and sacrifice, to put it bluntly, is to give everyone peace of mind.

After all, for everyone, crossing the ice and sea is an unprecedented crazy feat. If it weren't for the support of Leurik and the leader, who would do it?

If it is not profitable, how can the Rus go on an adventure? Everyone comforts themselves, this is to use special means to explore a route.

And now, the mysterious East in the mouth of the ancestors of Ross is no longer mysterious. The Ross people have already occupied it. The legendary "land of the east", people in this area have also become slaves of the Ross people.

"Go ahead!" Otto gave an order, and the real return journey began.

The reindeer were fed with hay, and they drove the sled to start a drag racing.

Once the Rus forced a large number of captured reindeer to run away, and a large number of them died in the middle of the journey. In fact, there is a reason for that. The biggest factor is that those reindeer are only meat that can be slaughtered by deer breeders, rather than trained professional servants.

These reindeer trained for pulling sleds, they show great endurance and mobility.

The huge Ross sled army arrived at the mouth of the Oulu River only in the evening.

They camped here, and when the sky was dark, everyone was facing the vast white sea of ​​ice, and they couldn't help expressing unexplainable emotions.

A pair of big hands covered Rurik's nervous shoulders.

"Rurik, the next step is to verify your theory. Are you confident?" Otto asked.

"I have got!"

"Are you hesitant?"

"No!" Rurik strengthened his conviction. He can actually retreat. After all, as long as the team walks northward along the coastline and takes a big turn, they can go home, because this is the Gulf of Bothnia, and this route was also measured by the Ross people with their feet.

"Then go!"

Otto didn't talk too much, and began to organize a team to enter the ice sea.

Just before leaving, Lumia built a small altar with snow on the coast based on what she had learned. To show sincerity, but also for peace of mind. A stag was slaughtered as a sacrifice, and the person responsible for cutting the throat was Rurik himself.

Regarding the execution of a reindeer, Lumia was somewhat reluctant. She was only happy that the reindeer herd had returned, and she could help Rurik build a huge herd. Seeing a large number of deer, this is the most reassuring moment for Lumia, as if it were her old deer herd.

Of course, everything has changed, and he has a brand new identity and has become a priest.

Lumia held the steel sword of Rurik and cut through the deer's belly, took out the liver and cut it open again, announcing a good omen in public!

Would anyone question the priest's divination? nobody!

Because God has given revelation!

After the ceremony, the venison was quickly decomposed, and Lumia did not forget to cut the deer liver, and put the fresh deer liver directly into her mouth. Her deer breeders also behaved exactly the same way.

People were relieved that their sleigh was finally about to enter the white sea of ​​ice.

Everyone relies on the position of the sun and starlight to navigate, especially at night, those key stars moving around the north celestial pole are the best navigation.

Either doubt, or excitement, or blind obedience, or thinking about nothing.

The husband beat the reindeer with a twine whip, the first sleigh turned its back to the morning sun, and the Rus and their servants marched towards the pale ice field.

If someone can see from a bird's-eye view of God, they can see a large mass of black and crushed matter, prominently moving quickly across the ice sheet. They look like a seal group, and they are not seals at all.

They seem to be bloated, but they are not slow at all, and they leave obvious marks on the sea ice.

The north wind blew Rurik's little face, blew his nervous newness. As the son of the leader, he was naturally on the leading sled, and all the sleds followed his steps.

The surrounding environment is absolutely flat, and this is exactly what all native Russ have never experienced.

Even though many owners go to the sea ice to dig holes to trap seals, no one dares to go deep into the sea ice.

Everyone's eyes widened, and they admired the boundless and absolutely flat ice field in extreme anxiety. A pair of eyes aimed at the pale ice again, staring at the scene of the wide sled sliding over the drift snow.

If Rurik is not nervous, it is impossible.

He was speechless all the way, and Otto, who was in the same sleigh, also remained silent.

The long journey finally brought people boring. After a long journey, the people on the sled saw that there was no danger of worry. Didn’t the sled still move smoothly? It must be the same in the future.

Many people were affected by the slight vibration of the sled, which made people drowsy, so many people wrapped in animal skins and cuddled with each other for a nap.

Only the reindeer, who are full of hay, continue to run wildly.

As night fell, the tired reindeer were able to breathe. The Ross people rewarded the envoys with a lot of fodder, but the problem also came. When Otto saw the deer eating frantically, he couldn't help but worry that they would starve to death on the ice before the army returned to Roseburg.

Once Otto wanted to drive all the captured reindeer back to his hometown, but most of the deer died.

The Ross people used the prepared firewood to light ten bonfires on the ice.

The ice sheet reflects the moonlight and stars, and Tianyu still has a very dim aurora. Even if night falls, the visibility of the entire world is not low due to the ice and snow. If the army forcefully sets off, they can still travel at night.

But everyone was tired of the boats and cars, everyone only had to talk about the future while eating dry food. Ross was lying in the prepared and unfolded deerskin, constantly twisting his body so that his whole body was wrapped in meat dumplings. , Deerskin has become an excellent sleeping bag.

As for all the Kowen tribesmen, they can only rely on the warmth of the bonfire, wrapped in their own burlap clothes.

The greasy pine branches were cracked and crackled, and Rurik was a little surprised that the campfire seemed to have no effect on the ice.

Many people have fallen asleep, Otto surrounded the bonfire and poured himself a bottle of strong wine. Now is the time to drink.

Otto dragged his dizzy body to Rurik, who was in a daze looking at the flames, and suddenly said, "Soon, we will be able to go back?"

"Dad, you're drinking." Rurik asked, turning his head.

Otto reluctantly squeezed out a smile: "The last bottle, back to Roseburg, you want to make more for me. You said, what has God revealed to you? How long will we stay on the ice?"

"This... maybe two days. If it's fast, there will be one day."

"So soon? Are you sure." Otto was overjoyed. Without any doubt, he patted Rurik on the shoulder again: "Go to bed early, and we will leave soon tomorrow morning."

In fact, Rurik’s estimate is somewhat conservative. In fact, the Ross army ran for seventy kilometers in just the first day! If they set off earlier, they could go farther.

This is really an amazing journey, even for the reindeer trained in service, 80 kilometers a day is basically the limit of the female deer, but the stag can run a little farther.

The Ross people are actually in the center of the bay!

Although it is at the center, the ice layer is nearly two meters thick. In many places, the ice layer is 10 meters thick. There are even more exaggerated existences. It is also because it freezes slowly. Such low-salinity sea ice is hard like stone. An overly thick ice layer breaks is a dangerous iceberg in the future

However, the natural ductility of sea ice makes the frozen sea surface and the ice in some areas become abnormal. The abnormality has never been seen before by the Ross, deer breeders, and Kovins.

The next day, before dawn, the Russians embarked on a new journey.

What's very bad is that because some people didn't do a good job of keeping out the cold, there were as many as ten women and children from the Salmon Lord tribe. When they were tried to awaken, they were found to have been integrated with the ice sheet.

No one is overly sad, more is people's regret.

Because everyone knows that this is a challenge to a whole new unknown. As long as you step into this ice sea, no wonder or tragedy is unimaginable anymore.

However, not counting the distorted earth, finally made everyone vigilant.

"What's that?!" Lurik asked with a little finger at the bulge in front of him.

Otto squinted his eyes blinded by the sunlight reflected on the ice, "Maybe it's just pure ice."

"Huh? Can ice still form a wall?!"

In fact, everyone gradually felt that the sleigh's movement had become a little slower, and the reindeer's breathing had become heavier.

The blacksmith Kawei had experience, he urgently produced a tone that determined the verticality, and was shocked to realize that the whole team was actually climbing, and everyone was on an uphill.

Uphill of the ice sea?

This is the fact.

The swelling sea ice caused it to bulge into a huge bar-shaped bulge on the sea surface. It stretched for more than 50 kilometers, and its height reached an unprecedented 20 meters!

Because of the slow upward slope, the Ross people didn't notice it for a while, let alone experienced this situation.

Until the forefront of the team, because the internal stress of the ice layer was too strong, the ice layer was broken, and an iceberg with a height of up to 30 meters in total appeared in front of everyone.

"Dad, it looks like we are going to move on." Rurik encouraged.

Otto's heart was beating wildly. He couldn't understand what he saw before his eyes. Obviously, Odin must be able to create such a miracle-freezing the seashore and creating a big iceberg.

"Let's go! Let's conquer it!"

The sled at the head of the team went all out, and the reindeer panted terribly, dragging the sled to climb one step at a time.

When Rurik finally stood on the top of the iceberg, what was so simple made him shudder.

Otto was also too excited to speak, because the distance is the earth!

Even if it is covered by snow, it is the land! Through the perfectly clear air, the land of Scandinavia appeared in Otto, Rurik and his sons, and even the accompanying children like Lumia, Lumi, Telavis and Sepolava.

No one observes the earth from such a perspective. Otto keenly noticed the presence of a small peculiar bulge on the northwestern part of the earth, and he couldn't help but tremble further.

"Rurik! There!" Otto stretched out his trembling fingers to the bump over there: "Could it be that there is..."

Rurik looked at the existence of the seemingly abrupt hills and said calmly with a smile: "You guessed it right, it's Roseburg! It's our home! On this coastline, there is only a mountain beside our Roseburg. mound."

Otto sighed up to the sky as if he had relieved his burden, and then knelt on the ground excitedly. He raised his hands up to the sun and praised: "Great Odin, thank you for your gift, we are home!"

He quickly stood up again, and drew out his sword facing all the clansmen and servants under the "Ice Hill", the sword pointed directly at the world covered by the ice mound.

Otto screamed: "Brothers! The front is Roseburg! Let's go home! Go home!"

More and more people realized what was going on, and the sled where the leader was suddenly disappeared (has already ran to the other side of the ice mound), and the rest of the sled squeezed.

Finally, everyone can see the earth clearly. The next journey does not require the stars and the sun to navigate. The raised hills of the frozen coastline are like lighthouses, attracting these children who have been on official holidays for nearly two months. Back Roseburg.

And the last way home is the last twenty kilometers.

Before the sun set, a huge team entered the fjord of Roseburg.

People noticed a large number of moving shadows from unimaginable directions The Ross people instinctively kept alert. All the men with weapons gathered on the frozen beach, including the children under Rurik. They also held weapons to deal with possible sneak attacks.

Because the visitor was obviously from the East, everyone took it for granted that it was an "Oriental" or that the Finns crossed the ice and attacked.

However, when people with good eyesight saw the warriors with their beards flying in the wind on the sled holding their swords high, they were just ready to fight and fight back against the invaders. This time they wept with joy.

Niya pulled the two girls. She stood in the crowd, looking at her husband and son, and couldn't help crying. Looking at the huge reindeer sleigh team again, she cried more fiercely.

"Mom, what's the matter with you?" Carlotta asked, "is it because they came back?"

"Yes! It's Rurik, and the big boss..."

"Why are you crying? You should be happy."

Wiping a tear, Niya gently squeezed Carlotta's smiling face: "You still don't understand. When you marry Rurik, when you have a child, you can experience my feelings."