Chapter 881： The target of the 10,000 army

Chapter 881 The attack target of the 10,000 army

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

The main force of the Russ army suddenly came across the ice sea in a large number of reindeer sleighs, and their magic weapon fell from the sky. If the king suddenly became angry, this army waved the sword at the Melalen tribe. Can Melalen protect itself?

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

Stockholm is still frozen in ice, although ice fishermen are aware of the rapid thinning of the ice, and spring has yet to come.

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

Once the lake and sea thawed, the Ross ship pulled anchor and set sail for the first time, and assembled at the mouth of Lake Mälaren on a large scale. At that moment, all the reindeer sleighs were temporarily put on hold, and all the soldiers and horses boarded the boat.

Rurik has about two weeks to complete the deployment of troops in the Swedish area, and he has already begun to move.

A new city has sprung up, on an island near Stockholm. The main group of the Ross army camped here. People used local materials to build temporary shacks. Thousands of people started working at the same time, and the camp was quickly built.

Those sleigh-pulling reindeer who had taken off their bridles were herded into temporary pens on the spot, temporarily fed them with oats, and began to drive them to eat the dead grass under the snow on the spot, and then wait until the ice and snow melted and all the grasses sprouted, as long as the deer herds were driven to nibble everywhere. Grass will do, as their ancestors roam the shores of Lake Mälaren to save food.

The future expedition reindeer is basically useless, and there is no problem with reducing or ending food feeding.

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

They set up a large number of iron pots to boil oatmeal. Each flag team has more than ten pots. Together, hundreds of large pots are fired every day, so that the charming aroma of wheat will not dissipate for a long time.

Thousands of people gathered and waited for the signal to set off, and beyond that, life seemed to consist of limited daily training and plenty of leisure. Energetic warriors often fight shirtless, competing for the real man amid the booing of their comrades. More than 20 of them also gathered together, aiming for a burlap sack full of hay, and played primitive football.

If such a vigorous army is allowed to enter what is now Stockholm, or into the living quarters of the Melalen tribe, it is bound to cause some trouble.

Rurik ordered the army not to leave the currently demarcated living quarters, and anyone who violated it would be expelled from the ranks and lost the opportunity to gain war honors.

Lost the chance to get honor? Is this also a punishment?

Precisely this is the right medicine, and those who yearn for honor have to obediently implement the king's life.

However, Rurik could restrain his subordinates, and he could not restrain the Melarens who smelled business opportunities. Uninvited local Merlaren merchants sell amulets, useful gadgets. Even some of the girls who were prostitutes came here to open, although Rurik didn't like these guys and didn't use force to drive them away.

The barracks are densely fluttered with Ross flags, which are extremely conspicuous, and strongly swear their existence to the native nobility of Melalen.

The other 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, a big white fat man, welcomed back his king as the governor.

On this day, Rurik and his cronies simply rode across the ice on horseback. The riding team was gorgeously dressed and very ostentatious.

The big white fat white fox couldn't stop laughing, because he didn't know it was the king, his old friends, and his younger brother Lanhu.

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

After some polite greetings, everyone entered the warm room.

After another chat, Rurik, who was sitting steadily, stopped talking and went straight to the topic: "What are the local nobles doing? Are they already gathering troops?"

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

"Master? Aren't they all recruited by that guy Bjorn?"

"The same can be said. It was the local land nobles who paid together to put together a mercenary team of maybe 400 people."

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

Baihu sensed Wang's dissatisfaction and hurriedly answered: "They can obviously recruit more troops, but..."

"how?"

"According to my observation, since the major defeat that year, there has always been war weariness among the Melalen people. If the king intends to chat with those nobles, he can force them to send more troops."

"It's a means." Rurik sighed: "It's just forcing a group of guys who don't want to fight to fight. How can this kind of army talk about combat power. But it's still talking about."

Taking advantage of the topic, Rurik decided to convene a meeting of nobles immediately. He expected to allocate his manpower to convene the meeting of the chiefs of large and small tribes in the region as quickly as possible. The situation was much better than he thought.

The chiefs of those great clans are already in Stockholm.

A group of messenger sledges galloped across the thinning ice, and the couriers moved so fast that they arrived at the sub-clan and pulled their leader straight back.

Therefore, even if it declines, Melalen still has its own pride. King Bjorn, who abdicated the throne, has become a king anyway, even if the throne has no power, it legally means that Melalen has always held the hegemony. The nobles of Melalen knew that the king was coming, so they did not move. This time, after the king gave a clear order, Bjorn, who was demoted to a duke, brought some big land nobles along with the other dukes to gather in the big city in Stockholm city. Chamber.

A wooden house that was leaking everywhere was reinforced, a large number of embossed wooden boards were placed on the plane, and the interior furnishings were also rectified. It is a longhouse with a Viking flavor, and it is different from the traditional longhouse in that it has a wooden floor.

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

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

He looked at the left and right to get straight to the point: "The main nobles have arrived, and it seems that there are still some small clan leaders who have not yet arrived. We don't have to wait for them. Now this king goes straight to the subject! This king just wants to know how many troops you plan to send."

Rurik's eyes stared at Bjorn first, only to hear him introduce him without haste.

"As for the strength of our Melarens, our internal consultation results in 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, and you also sent thousands of troops back then, but now you prevaricate me with 500 people?"

"But we Melalen already lacked enough men. No one knows this better than you." Bjorn's eyes glared into eagles.

"It's too few! You don't have to stare at me like this to protest against me. Bjorn, you are also a man who has been a king. Do you only have so much appeal?"

"…"

"Are you keeping silent? Or are you keeping it on purpose? I know you and other land nobles still have a group of slaves, and you have a large number of tenant farmers. Now implement this king's order! Remember this is an order! You must be in Assemble a thousand people for me within ten days! You must also remember that the provisions for these troops are prepared by you."

A large number of Melalen land nobles licked their faces to participate in this meeting of the great nobles, which is equivalent to not giving Duke Bjorn face. Rurik has always been aware that Bjorn is weak, and since that's the case, he can make plans and make other land nobles do more.

They had to first dispatch free mercenaries recruited by their partners, then take out their own private soldiers, and finally organize a group of tenant farmers to join the army, so that they could make up an army of a thousand people.

Rurik reckoned that they were incapable of forcing the yeoman to go into battle, especially at the time of spring ploughing. Of course, they could delusionally force the yeoman farmers to go out into battle by forceful means, but Rurik was very stuck in time. It was said that when the spring ploughing began, the army was about to be launched.

As long as they thought carefully, some landed nobles in Melalen realized the king's intentions. The strength of many landed aristocrats was built not only on the abundance of private farmland, but also on the military strength of the private army at hand. Forcing the private army to fight is to weaken the strength of the nobles and test their obedience. The nobles had no choice, and the king's order could not be violated. Although it was not known how strong the king's main army was, the densely fluttering banners had proved that the scale was astonishingly large. It was rumored that the news of the king's 10,000 people not only went away, but also more and more convinced 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 soldiers, and even the sustenance needed by the army was collected by the Melarens themselves.

Whose soldiers are responsible is just right. These Swedish nobles, big and small, are essentially landed nobles, and they still hold a lot of fields and sufficient stocks of granaries. If the nobles wanted to accumulate wealth, they would either go to war and plunder, or exploit them internally, especially exploiting their debt slaves and tenant farmers, making these people work hard every year without starving to death.

The attitude of the Melalen people is not positive, nor is it negative. Although the nobles feel pain, they can still bear it when they grit their teeth.

Bjorn also appealed loudly in public: "We Melalen will meet the king's order, and we will mobilize all five large ships, as well as a large number of long ships, and join the Rus fleet to run to the Old Ostara Fjord to Gotaland. When people go to war, we will definitely be able to capture a lot of wealth and supreme glory. Please cooperate with the king!"

This high-profile remark is to inspire his own spirit, and also to remind and comfort the other nobles of Melalen.

Not all the other nobles were as ambiguous as the Mellarens, on the contrary, the other great nobles were all supportive.

Needless to say, the Unglath tribe, old Ungriff had his own concerns, he was afraid that if his son died in battle, no one would inherit the power.

The old man noticed that Blue Fox Gouldsson was here, and suddenly shouted in a high-pitched voice: "We Onkras intend to send 300 troops! Although the troops are very small, this is what we can do as best we can without delaying the farming season. The army that can be brought out. Poor my son is not a real hero, and I am old myself. I hope that the blue fox Gouldsson will command the army of Unkrath."

The words were deafening, and Lanhu never thought that he could get this honor.

The nobles exclaimed incredulousness, and Rurik’s eyes were sharp and his mouth was fast. From Klaas, you are a merchant and a warrior yourself, and they will definitely obey you."

Rurik's speed left old Ungriff speechless, and the blue fox could only laugh with embarrassment.

After all, the current Lanhu is not a greedy guy. He has experienced **** battles and commanded the army. Now that he can command 300 people, isn't he living as a captain of Yijieqi? Isn't that the commander-in-chief of Unkrath's army? even…

Although he couldn't even think about it before, the blue fox now feels that he can replace the Ungriff family one day, and the Goodell family eventually became the Duke of Uncles.

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

Longstall never imagined that the king would really mobilize the army to stand up for himself, but the fact is not as simple as "coming ahead".

For any monarch, is the purpose of mobilizing a huge army to go on a spring outing? When there is a strong military force, it is natural to lay down a large territory.

This year's war has completely overturned last year's conception. The king did not want to conquer a few Gotaland villages and stop those people from encroaching on the north.

At the end of the round, Longstall spoke. He did not mention his 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 Gotaland. A very large area will be enveloped in your control."

He really put an open secret on the table, and Rurik smiled and didn't want to hide it: "Yes! If I punish the Gotaland people, I will send hundreds of warriors. This time I want to conquer the entire southern Scandinavia. In Navia, the Gottarans 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, they also speak Norse after all, We believe in Odin. We could have united with them, but the fundamental contradiction lies in how to demarcate the pastures for cattle and fish ponds for fishing, and we can sign a treaty 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, but his tribe was farming, livestock, and farming and growing wheat. This kind of production and lifestyle requires a stable life. The atmosphere, as long as the Yottarans don't cross the old world, 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 500 troops. And my people will serve as guides. I will inform Your Majesty all the information about the Gotaland people that may be possible."

"That's great. Your tribe's male population is not very large, so I'm very pleased to cooperate with this king."

Because he had a secret meeting with Ronstall himself last year, Rurik knew a lot about the Gotaland people, especially the southern part of Lake Wettern was the main living area of ​​the Gotaland people, which was also named after the Gotaland people. The main settlements are Jonkoping and the island of Vyczynso in the lake. There is another large settlement that has not yet been identified called Gothenburg, and Vaxjo in the forest.

Gothenburg? Longstall mentioned the place last year, and Rurik concluded its existence.

Based on this information, why did the kingdom just clean up the Gotaland settlements on the north side of Lake Wittern? Since there is a waterway that can go straight to Lake Wittern, which is extremely long and narrow in the north and south, the kingdom's army should rush in directly with the fleet to wipe out their main forces. settlements.

Large clans expressed that they would send troops vigorously. Although small clans had problems in various aspects, even symbolic troops should be involved.

If the forces from all sides are put together again, the Swedish part of the kingdom can still pull out an army with a size of 2,000 people. Although this is not the full strength of Sweden, it is the largest force that can be brought out without harming the agricultural season this year.

As a result, Rurik publicly announced that he had revised the strategic objectives of this year's war.

"The opportunity is in front of this king. I will strive to conquer the entire Gotaland within a year. We have assembled an unprecedented army of 10,000 people and will surely win."

Rurik did not specify the true strength of his main force, but generally described the total strength of the troops involved in the war as 10,000, and the nobles believed it to be true. Why really have 10,000 people? An army of 5,000 people is already very impressive.

All parties reorganized their troops immediately after the meeting. Everyone was waiting for the ice and snow to melt. It would not be a long wait to take the initiative.