Chapter 431： Need more arrows

At dusk, a large number of tribesmen gathered in the place where the edict board was erected. Everyone saw the text on it, and the opinions were immediately divided.

In the crowd, an old guy with half his beard burnt out, after reading the paperwork on the wooden board, he hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd and walked back to his home quickly.

He was Clavasson, and when he returned to his home where he smelted all night to cast more iron farm tools (mainly digging shovels and axes) and cooking utensils (mainly iron bowls), he immediately called his blacksmith apprentices.

Before long, Kawei ran up with sweat, shirtless and upper body.

"Dad, are you coming back so soon? The command issued by the leader... We really want a total war against the Gotlanders."

Clavassen's face was ironic and did not immediately answer Kawei's words. Instead, he faced everyone present: "The leader has chosen war, and Reurik will do our best to fight. Now I have decided, no more Go and cast those farm tools, we will make weapons now."

"Ah? We..." Kawei asked hurriedly, "What are we making?"

"First..." Kravasson knew that his decision was quite arbitrary, but thinking of the terms on the board, he was sure that the blacksmiths would contribute a lot to this decisive war, and the child of Rurik would come to the blacksmith tomorrow. Shop to give orders.

"Make arrow clusters first, we will make a lot of carbon steel arrow clusters."

"This……"

Clavasson pointed at his son with a big hand, "Kawei, Liurik is our commander in the future war. It looks like we are going to assemble an army of three thousand people, and I am afraid that you and I will go out with you. Liuli Ke likes to shoot arrows in battle. He told us to step up to make arrow clusters. Now let's continue! Hearing my orders, the finished iron bowls were all broken."

"Ah? Dad, why?!" Kawei was inexplicable for a moment.

"Idiot! Put me in a small stove and stir-fry, and we will make carbon steel arrow clusters now."

Kawei was helpless, and the batch of iron bowls he had rushed out was planned to be taken to Novgorod this fall to exchange for local agricultural products. After all, the payment of tributes by the locals has nothing to do with the blacksmiths in essence. Although the blacksmith has to pay a tax to the leader, in addition to other income, that is the blacksmith's own.

He raised a huge hammer and repeatedly smashed the cast iron bowl until it became a thumb-sized piece. After being thrown into a small stove, he ordered the apprentice to wear leather gloves and wield an iron rod to keep stirring.

This is the steel speculation method. It can be said that Caviein discovered it by himself in an accidental event. Although it is accidental, it is also inevitable. After all, he himself already knows a lot of knowledge about the "Periodic Table", especially that the difference between iron and steel lies in the magical carbon content.

The method of mass production of low-carbon steel has appeared, but it may be more suitable for making small objects such as arrow clusters and spoons, or drawing iron wires.

According to Kawei's estimation, there will be a lot of fragments that remain the same size during rapid decarburization, and the final is the excellent arrow cluster blank. After beating and quenching, the arrow shaft can be glued.

Tired, he didn't have the energy to continue fighting, and the brief night was about to end at this moment.

Roseburg, at a high latitude, is still chilly in the early morning of summer.

This survivor was held in his arms by his mother. While satisfying the woman’s heart, he was lying on the soft leather bed, sleeping in the real sense of the last time. The ups and downs of the sea are really a headache for people to sleep.

The sun had already risen, and the awakened Rurik smelled the aroma of the barbecue and touched the hall at home.

The family sat together. There was only one boy, Rurik, and the rest of the girls were his future wives and concubines.

The britton maids who were in charge of the barbecue soon entered the hall with a steaming wooden board together and put a huge roasted deer leg on the table.

Look at this greasy barbecue!

Otto's stomach screamed so badly, he didn't say anything, even no matter the barbecue was too hot, he grabbed a knife and pierced it. As the Duke of Rose, he unceremoniously cut off the best meat and tasted it for himself. The blood basin tore arbitrarily, even the grease splashed on Rurik's face.

"Dad, you are like a hungry wolf." Rurik protested displeased and gently wiped the oil off his face.

Otto was busy chewing the meat, squeaking, and Rurik had to take the knife to cut the meat, but rather elegantly pinched the chopsticks and stuffed the cut meat into his mouth.

The girls followed suit one after another. Their chopstick handling ability was trained by Rurik, which was completely different from Otto's tiger wolf eating method. They were more elegant.

"It's weird. I thought there was oatmeal for breakfast." Rurik complained a little.

Niya shook his head: "Silly boy, the wheat has been eaten long ago. Now the situation is better than before. We still have venison to eat now."

"Deer? Really willing?" Rurik suddenly turned to look at the smiling Lumia, and asked jokingly: "My high priest, is this really good? Just kill a deer like this?"

"Uh...Although I'm a little bit reluctant, it's the leader after all...No, it's the Duke who triumphed. This meal should be a bit richer."

Sounds reasonable, Rurik nodded, and then the venison asked the most important thing: "I remember that there is nothing wrong. There will be no night between tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. When the sun stops at sea level, it is ours. Great sacrifice. How are you preparing for the sacrifice?"

Rurik, who returned yesterday, quickly fell asleep, and Lumia was called by Otto to explain a major event, so she now fully understands the major events of the Ross tribe's all-out war on Gotland. No one is joking about this, Lumia knows very little about the Gotland people, but she has fully understood that this battle is not a continuation of the previous Southern War launched by the Alliance, but a full-scale revenge for the Ruths.

Thinking of the outcome of this battle being either victory or destruction, she squatted: "There are... plans to have five deer as sacrifices."

"That's it? Too few!" Rurik pointed at the deer leg, "There are more sacrifices to the gods. Ten deer! You choose ten from the herd."

"Huh?! So many."

"You can't bear it again? High priest! Follow my orders!"

"Yes." Lumia hooked her head helplessly, she really didn't want to spend too much money.

Rurik looked at the table again: "Lu Mia, look up. This sacrifice is of great significance, you, you must get things done."

"Yes! I will."

"If you have enough food, you can continue to discuss with the priests. As for me, I still have some big things."

This morning's meal was not a pleasant one. He even bluntly said that he didn't want to get tired of his mother anymore, but devoted himself to war preparations.

Even if the real general mobilization has not been officially announced, the notice board has been hung up, and some important members of the tribe have begun to act. He knows that he must race against time, especially the production and maintenance of equipment.

To put it bluntly, considering the lifestyle of the Rus people, it is true that soldiers and horses do not move food and grass first, because the army will also control a large area of ​​the sea. The so-called soldier, his job is a fisherman, and he spends some time netting and fishing in the vast sea. , Not to mention eating to support the belly, there is no problem with the fish belly. Because the herring caught in an off-net fishing by the Ross fleet more than ten days ago did meet the food needs of 300 people that day.

The most important thing for the Ross people is to solve the weapon and equipment issue.

Perhaps the number of weapons in the Russ is sufficient to deal with a full-scale war, but Rurik really sees the major weakness of his tribe-unable to bear the loss of too many soldiers.

The agreed date of expedition was in August, and now there is still a full month before August! Even if the final assembly time of the parties is counted, let alone ten days, then the time for preparations based on the Russian armament is three weeks.

Three weeks may not seem long, but in fact it is not short.

As long as a group of people are mobilized to help, the Ross blacksmith will surely create miracles.

After the meal, Rurik called a dozen mercenaries and rushed to Clavason's house.

Otto was not idle on this day either. He estimated that the standing sign had already aroused enthusiasm among the people. As the chief leader, the Duke of Ross, he had to shoulder the conscription. With his confidants, he began to call on the remaining men to take up arms on the complex roads of the tribe. However, more strong men are still holding fishing ropes at sea and fighting with the hooked cod.

Where the blacksmiths gather, the smoke and dust will never go away, and the air is filled with a faint smell of burnt.

Rurik’s visit was completely expected by the Kravassen family. To Rurik’s surprise, he remembered that Kawi took his wife and children to Novgorod to visit his mother-in-law, and now...

This sturdy young man was already sweating, holding a tongs in one hand and a small hammer in the other, making some gadgets on the blacksmith's table.

After a while, Rurik could see clearly, "Ah! Are you actually making an arrow cluster?!"

"Already done a lot." Arik wiped the sweat from his face with his arm, and pointed his hammer at the small iron wrist under his feet.

"All arrow clusters, so many?!"

Clavasson smiled and joined in to agree: "I already know the news, and finally... I'm going to work with the Gotlanders."

"What do you think? This is my decision."

"Okay! That's great!" In fact, Klavasen felt a little anxious about his decision. He has no right to question the current situation, so he continued to echo: "It is no regrets in this life to watch those guys completely defeated in the rest of his life."

"Okay, I remember you said something similar when your grandson was born. Huh? Where's Kamni?" Rurik looked around and asked, "Where is Lilia?"

"Lilia is still in Novgorod. I asked her to take the children and come back in the fall. You know, I am a blacksmith, and our family now has some influence in Novgorod. Lilia is a very good one. Woman, she is helping my family expand its influence."

"Oh, so where is Kamni? I see, why are you a little deserted here now, where are the large group of apprentices?"

"They have all gone to the mountains to dig." Cravason stroked his beard and relished: "The blast furnace can't be stopped. I asked some old guys to help look after the furnace. But for mining, this kid Kamni really is. Smart, he has been able to look for ore on his own. Those apprentices are only young, their physical strength and endurance are very good, and they don’t look tired when they come back with the ore on their backs..."

"Alright, it seems that I am worried about unnecessary actions."

Rurik looked at the situation again and bluntly said that Kawei had suspended his work.

Clavasson brought three leather cushions and laid them on the sandy ground of the blacksmith's shop. He knew that there must be something big for Rurik's visit, just as he used to.

Sure enough, Rurik said surprisingly.

"It seems that you understand my thoughts very well. The sign that I asked to erect has some effect. You are making arrow clusters, and it seems that they are still the best carbon steel arrow clusters. It is really great! Kawei, you are my respect. the man!"

"It is an honor for me to serve you."

Kawei's flattery Rurik was very happy. Since they were so cooperative, his next plan would be easy to implement, although it was a challenge for them.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Rurik briefly explained his experience of fighting south in the past twenty days. Although there are too many thrilling details in this, Kawei and Cravason have a lot of energy to ask why.

Rurik didn't have the time to talk about the great achievements of the Russian army.

He emphasized one point in particular: "In this battle, the enemy suffered a huge loss, but the Mälaren Army suffered a lot of elite losses, and all allies have suffered a lot. Only us, not even a single wounded person. Why is this happening? Because We have been shooting with bows, and when the enemy rushed in front of us, we were all shot. It can be seen that we use bows, crossbows, and torsion slingshots on a large scale, it's really great!"

Kawei held his head high, and his sitting body was also shaking with excitement: "You mean to encourage me to make arrow clusters desperately before our war comes?"

"Yes! The best steel arm crossbow and the ordinary oak crossbow, your father and son are master craftsmen, you are indeed the best blacksmiths in Ross, and you will certainly train a large number of small blacksmiths. Of course you have to make a large number of arrow clusters. , We have to fight against very strong enemies, so naturally we have to prepare a large number of quenched carbon steel arrow clusters. You are only responsible for making arrow clusters, arrow shafts and glued tail feathers. I will send someone to take care of it."

"Let your girls? Oh no, it's the children of the Valkyrie Corps." Cravason laughed.

"Of course, the arrows they made for the final assembly have proven to be useful in actual combat."

"Then this is a good thing." Kravasson originally thought those girls were really unreliable, and since their master Lurik trusted them, he always shut up.

Unexpectedly, Rurik was shocking again.

"This time I plan to assemble an army of 3,000 people, but I think about it, our tribe doesn’t talk about babies, and there are not 3,000 men who can stand up and walk. I must make up enough 3,000 people for this battle. The promise I gave to everyone is also... a promise to God. So my Valkyrie army, those girls, they have to go to the battlefield." In fact, Rurik just didn’t want to break his promise, he deliberately acted and believed in his words. , Anyway, it is planning to gather three thousand troops, gather together cats and dogs, or even gather a group of "cheerleaders", and gather three thousand people even if they have not broken their promises.

Besides, too many people can scare the enemy in senses, isn't it?

"Huh? You...really..."

"Clavason, you want to say this is ridiculous?"

"I..." Clavasson denied it, but his eyes made it clear.

Rurik shrugged: "If they don't go to the battlefield, what is the point of training them? I never hope that those children can go to battle and kill the enemy, and they will never become female fighters fighting in close combat in the future. They shoot with crossbows. Just fine, my Valkyrie Corps does this."

This was Rurik’s decision. Clavasson was very self-aware. He immediately changed the subject: "So, in the previous battle, you mobilized a lot of people to make arrows, plus the inventory made in advance, the total number is 20,000. Presumably, they were consumed a lot in the war, my lord, you need us to hurry up and do less."

"You asked about the ideaRurrik thought for a while. Considering that there is only three weeks for full-scale production in the approaching battle, I really can’t expect how terrifying the blacksmith’s power can burst. Efficiency. "Just so, make a thousand large clusters of hardened carbon steel arrows. They are used in steel-armed crossbows. I will use them to shoot enemy elites. I also need a lot of traditional arrows fired by ordinary crossbows and wooden bows, and the arrow clusters are made of cast iron. You know my planned expedition time, you still have three weeks to complete 10,000 pieces! "

"Ah?! So many?" Kawei lost his attitude for a while, and asked, "Ruriek, do you think we can do it?"

"This is an order." Rurik's face was sullen, as if he didn't take a step back.

"This……"

"Kawei, you have no right to hesitate. Remember, this is a bet on all of our Ross tribe. For this victory, we have to make weapons in order to reduce the number of dead people. Even if you don't sleep or hire labor, you have to Create these ten thousand arrow clusters. Even the bronze arrow clusters are okay. I only need weapons now, and..."

"Huh? What else?!"

At this time, Rurik's gaze was directed at the somewhat embarrassed Klavasen...