Chapter 888： Wiesingerser's tyrant Karl "Crazy Bear" must die

Hundreds of drowning people were picked up, their bodies shivering and their lips turning blue from the cold lake water. They were sitting together on the decks of large boats with their hands tied, and simply frightened them into giving everything they knew.

Rurik knew the reason why the Gotalandites went to war, and he simply judged his cousin Arik's position through a simple trial.

"We should go north," he said to his subordinates.

The king's words were surprising, and someone asked, "Shouldn't we be chasing after victory?"

"It's a good question. However, the situation of the enemy is unknown, and our army is still exhausted. This king... I want a dignified victory. Let's fight the land troops first."

Based on this judgment, Rurik ordered the army to exercise restraint. Even though a large number of warriors resting by the lake had already entered the battlefield on the longboat and were still dangling in the waters full of sawdust, they hoped to pursue the victory and be contained by Rurik.

"The king is too conservative!" Many people judged this.

There were also nobles who muttered: "The king must have his deep meaning when he did this."

In the end, a victory was won early in the morning, and hundreds of Jotalan prisoners of war were captured, and the joy spread among the Rus army.

Suddenly, the whole army received a new military order.

Show the Ross flag! The fleet lined up in great pomp, sailed northward by the southerly wind, and made a turn with the land troops that arrived first.

The army is turning away from the region dominated by the Gotalans of Lake Wettern. They are not escaping the battlefield. According to the king's order, the glory of the decisive battle can not be enjoyed by the navy.

Rurik reckons it won't be long before he finds the land troops.

It was noon, and a cavalry figure appeared on the cliff by the lake.

Look! The dark green lakes and mountains appear white shadows, and if you look carefully, it is the decoration of war horses. Look good! The cavalry warriors held flags, flying the Rus King flag with blue stripes on a white background!

The meeting on the battlefield was exciting, and Rurik was overjoyed: "Guards! The ruling trumpeter blows the trumpet and tells the cavalry that we are here!"

The dense horn began to play, followed by the drumming.

The huge fleet showed its mighty lineup, and the soldiers shouted with all their might, not listening to the beating of their shields. How could these drum noises be covered up by the strong lake wind.

A guard suddenly pointed to the shore: "Your Majesty, the cavalry is moving."

"I see, they are going to lead us to the camp. Inform the semaphore soldiers and order the ships to maintain their formation. We are about to join forces with the land troops."

The cavalry sent by Aric to reconnaissance brought back good news, and the land army camp was a sensation!

The soldiers rushed to the edge of the camp, and even stood on the cliff. They wore uniforms and waved their flags and shouted, forming a white wall on the steep cliff.

They were very conspicuous, and the soldiers of the fleet, who were constantly marching north, responded with the same voice.

Since the land troops were not far to the north, why did they hide their shadows? Rurik finally saw their camp, a broken village. The village is in a small bay area, and it is a rare flat land in this area.

Compared with the 7,000-strong army of the Russ Army, the village area in front of them was too small, and the lake shoreline of the small bay simply could not allow all the long ships of the fleet to wash the beach.

After all, this is a rare campsite. Even if there is trouble, Rurik ordered the whole army to go ashore to rest.

The soothing beaches of the cove are crowded with half-grounded longboats, and so are below the cliffs. All the big boats dropped anchor near the shore, forming a dense formation on the lake.

The narrow area was crowded with people, and the army camp had to extend in depth, so that many people's camps had been pasted into the forest.

A dense crowd lit a dense bonfire, some of them extremely special - prisoners of war.

It was captured by Jotaland who was brought up from the lake, and Rurik ordered to spare him, and he would naturally be a slave in the future. He also noticed the masterpiece of his cousin Arik, killing and occupying the Gotaland village is actually an order, and there are a large number of women here, and trapping is one of the results of their battles these days.

The brothers are very happy to meet each other. The noble elites are meeting here, and they have endless words to talk to each other.

A bonfire was burning fiercely, and Rurik was sitting here surrounded by his two wives and concubines.

Looking at the appearance of my brother, Arik was lying when he said that he was not envious, but unfortunately his two wives were in a safe and prosperous distance.

The main generals of the Rus Kingdom are here, and they exchange information with each other.

Knowing that my brother had won a battle, and then hearing that the huge Gotaland fleet was intercepting him, my brother's victory was unexpectedly reasonable. Arik heard mixed flavors. He drank a glass of ale, unable to suppress his complicated emotions and muttered, "It should have been my credit that you robbed me."

"Oh? Are you going to let about a thousand people land and attack you?"

"Why not? The brothers are very bored with the attack on the village, and we are eager to fight their army head-on. As a result, it was easily eliminated by you."

Rurik shrugged and looked at the others: "You all think so?"

The soldiers returned with smiles and then expressed their opinions.

"Okay! Well..." Rurik patted his thigh and stood up. "Whether it's the navy or the army, everyone wants to have a decent fight with the Gottarans. Will they give us a chance? I don't know. I I hope they will have the consciousness of a decisive battle and let us have glory. Brothers, you have more food, I will hold a military meeting!"

After a while, under the light of the dense bonfire, as many as one hundred kingdom nobles and generals gathered together.

Rurik ordered them to sit in a large circle as much as possible, and urged the ordinary soldiers who had finished eating to go to bed quickly to avoid chattering.

He needs a relatively quiet scene so that he can face his elite and preach the next war plan.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes stared at the high-spirited young king, all listening intently to his decision to fight.

"Just this morning, I defeated a Gotaland army and learned a lot of information from the captives, so I found you. Now the navy and army have finally joined forces!"

"Some people said that if I pursued the victory this morning, I would be able to enter the lair of the Gottarans in Lake Wettern. Maybe I will win easily, but in this way, the glory of victory will be taken by me too early, and will be sitting on the table. All of you have missed the glory, and this king feels that this is inappropriate. Therefore, we are here to join forces, and we will join forces to attack their strongholds."

"I interrogated the prisoners and learned about two strongholds of the Gotaland people in the lake area! One was on the island, called Wiesingerser. The prisoners said that their leader was nicknamed Mad Bear, and he was unbeatable with a big axe! I I thought it was ridiculous."

This is a very serious content. When Rurik mentioned Karl, the leader of the region, the "Crazy Bear", everyone who was listening attentively couldn't hold back.

Arik straightened his back: "There are still such fierce people? What the women I captured are true? Does that guy dare to call himself a bear? Is he a berserker who looks down on us?"

"Exactly!" Rurik accepted his cousin's words with satisfaction: "Everyone! Only the berserkers of our Rus army can wear bear skins and helmets with bear heads, and the rest are arrogant. The leader of the Jotalandians Pretentious, he has to die."

At this moment, the captain of the bodyguard, Grund, is here, and he almost burst into laughter at the Jotarans mentioned when he heard the king's words. Just because he and his close comrades will be in the most severe and anxious battlefield, put on heavy armor and bear the head of a bear, dressed like a brown bear to fight. Let me ask the brothers in heavy armor, which one is not more powerful than "Crazy Bear" Carl?

All the elites have a very clear target to kill - the local warlord tyrant "Crazy Bear" Karl, confessed by the prisoners.

For many Ross generals, the name of this guy is not worth mentioning, and it is comforting to annihilate the army under his command and get the glory.

"That man may have a thousand mercenaries. I don't think they are very powerful, but we still have to make clear which are the enemies that must be killed and which are the fishermen who are suddenly mobilized."

Rurik continued, that is, the meaning of the words changed slightly.

The alert person heard the change in the king's attitude, and it seemed that King Rurik was about to adjust his strategy.

Who is the enemy, who is the slave, and who can be used, these must be figured out in advance.

The Gotaland people do not only live in one corner of Lake Wettern. There is only one large stronghold of Gotaland in the lake area, one is Weisingose ​​on the island, and the other is Jonkoping at the southernmost end of the lake.

The warlord tyrant Karl lives on the island, and the region's merchants, craftsmen, and most of the farmers and fishermen live in Jonkoping at the southern end.

"If these people just live by the lake, how can they interfere with the stability of Sweden? Our army wants to kill the local ruler and wipe out all his subordinates. I want the remaining Gotharans to submit to Rus and sign a contract with them. , demarcate the border between Sweden and Götaland, order them to pay compensation to our army and hand over slaves. What do you think?"

The king ordered so, even if some people questioned the king, it would be merciful, and the doubts were kept in their stomachs.

At least they all chose to support it on the surface. Rurik nodded. He felt that he had unified the thinking of the whole army, and the rest was to arrange the army.

As in the previous march mode, the new operation means a full-fledged all-out war.

The two Talan settlements in the Lake Wettern area, the Rus army will change their tactics and attack the fortress on the island of Wisingerser, the core area of ​​local rule, to kill the "mad bear" Karl and win the battle. Forced Jönköping to surrender.

It seems that this tactic is very good, but it sounds a bit far-fetched.

Rurik asked everyone to comment on his decision again, and "Bald" Fisk said twice.

"Fisk?"

"Ah! I have an opinion. If the people in Jönköping see our army coming and they run away, what will we get? I'm afraid they will run away."

"This is indeed worth thinking about." Rurik said lightly, as if he had predicted Fisk's prediction.

Fisk seems to understand what his monarch means, but he does have an opinion: "It's better for the king to order my cavalry to march independently. After all, it is impossible for cavalry to run wild on the lake. Since the city of Jonkoping is at the southernmost point of the lake, I will quickly attack. In the past, I even won this city for the king ahead of time, forming a double-team against that... oh, Wiesingerser, this will be a complete victory."

Fisk's rhetoric made some people in the army think of Arik more than ten years ago. It was 12 years ago when Arik, 19 years old, brought more than 400 brothers to storm the village of Gotland, winning more with less.

Twelve years ago, Fisk was a little bald head with a dead father, and now he is an arrogant riding "bald head".

Of course, his baldness is not unique. The Balmer flag fighters in the Rus army are all shaved bald and tattooed with blue patterns, which are very masculine according to the tradition of the port of Narvik.

"It seems that our little brother Fisk wants to take great credit!" The speaker was Aric, and his words were a little frivolous.

"Brother, can't I do it?" Fisk retorted.

"Of course you can. But you don't know the path, and your move is a risk."

"Any war is an adventure, and I'm sure I will make a contribution."

Arik's question was not sarcastic. He had also heard about the cities of Wiesingerser and Jonkoping from the group of female prisoners at hand. The two settlements had a population of several thousand. Some of the female prisoners resisted with force, and they fought back against the conquerors with stinky mouths, shouting that the soldiers of Gotaland in the south were huge.

Is there a huge army with today's Rus-Sweden-Finland, as well as a huge army of mixed tribes and strong armed forces?

It would be too risky for little brother Fisk to go deep alone. What's more, when the cavalry is on the horse, Bejahir, Princess Pecheneg, must also participate.

Things have become delicate. Arik can be very reckless, but he doesn't want his little brother to take huge risks.

Fisk was determined this time. The more Arik questioned, the more generals and nobles he absolutely had present were questioning him. The traditional aristocrats in the Swedish region are sitting here. They categorically do not believe in the achievements that a brat may create. Is there a second person at the same level as the dreamy King Rurik?

"I support you!" Rurik stood up, grabbed Fisk's right arm and held it up high: "I made a promise to let the cavalry move alone. Three hundred cavalry attack Jonkoping!"

Rurik let go of his hand again: "Fisk obeys!"

Hearing that, the young cavalry general immediately got down on one knee.

"This king has ordered you to attack Jonkoping. Your task is to conquer it and avoid unprovoked killings. You have to kill those who resist and slaughter all the cronies of the mad bear Karl. Those who are willing to surrender must save their lives. . But! If the local people are determined to resist all, don't charge recklessly, hold them back as much as possible, and try to prevent them from supporting me in attacking the island of Visingose. Besides, you decide for yourself!"

"Yes!" Fisk nodded deeply.

There is still only one main direction of attack, the island named Wisingerser, especially the fortress on the island.

The entire army has established the final strategy for attacking Lake Wettern, and will rest for another day tomorrow. On the third day, the entire army will head south.

But the cavalry had to move in advance tomorrow, in order to make a time difference against Jonkoping City.

According to statistics, there are more than 300 prisoners who were taken out of the water. They can lead the way. Rurik doesn't trust them, at least he doesn't believe that 300 people can be transformed into mercenaries of the Ross Army.

Almost all of them are from Wiesingösser, and a few are from Jönköping.

Rurik selected a few men with good legs, who were said to be debt slaves who were forced to fight. Such men were promised to regain their freedom after victory, and then promised to lead the way and reward them with a sum of money.

These people were never the family members of the ruler "Crazy Bear" Karl. More than a dozen people swore that they would be good leaders, begging to save their lives and the lives of their wife and children in Wiesingerser during the war.

How dare a group of prisoners of war bargain? How did the Rus army guarantee the wives and children of prisoners in the war?

There is a corresponding promise, and they have to be given a thought.

The entire Ross army reorganized its armaments and rested for a whole day. The third day was the day Rurik established the march.

Attack on the Isle of Wisingase! Destroy the fortress on the island! Kill the ruler "Crazy Bear" Karl and all his thousand minions! Conquer the entire Lake Wettern! Extend the war with the glory of victory!

The slogans of the army were shouted loudly, and the soldiers of the army were full of fighting spirit.

It was this momentum that made those male and female prisoners look like a flock of lambs to be slaughtered.

There were 600 prisoners together, and the prisoners were very surprised. The conquerors of Sweden and Rus didn't want to kill people for fun, and even gave them cooked oats even if the amount was not large.

Food reserves were made before the expedition. Some of Rurik’s armed cargo ships were full of food. Considering that the entire Gotaland will be conquered this year, the military food reserves are enough for 10,000 people to eat for five to six months. This era of European logistical support reached the pinnacle. Of course, because of the extremely cost-effective material vehicles such as large ships, the army has marched along the river waterways, and the transportation cost of military rations is extremely low, otherwise Rurik would not be able to achieve this level of logistical support.

If the logistics are done well, the soldiers can be full and full of energy to go into the battle for the island of Visingose.

The three hundred cavalry had already moved in advance yesterday, and the remaining nearly seven thousand troops had boarded the ship.

The army also stuffed all the prisoners into their clothes. The male and female prisoners of war were deliberately fed a small amount of oatmeal. They starved to death and did not have the strength to escape.

The huge fleet is floating on the lake, the whole army has not yet moved, they are all waiting for a special ceremony.

A group of soldiers are still standing in the broken village in the small bay at this moment, holding burning torches, waiting for the king's order.

"Ignition!" Rurik on the flagship gave an order, and the horn that served as a signal sounded.

The soldiers on the shore got the order, and immediately began to light the haystack roofs of the wooden sheds of the longhouse one by one.

The conquered villages are destined to be left with nothing, and the burning of the village chief's raging fire in the black and gray smoke is a farewell for the Rus army.

On the flagship, a torsion slingshot, facing south, struggled to fire a javelin and fell into the lake as thousands watched.

This is another symbol. In the direction where the javelin flew, the ships of the fleet lowered their sails and pulled anchors, twisting their hulls against the south, and rushing towards the decisive battle target due south.