Chapter 1,339 Theron People

,!

A group of leather-clad savages gathered on the frozen banks of the Daugava River.

The appearance of these people was really unexpected. After all, when the reinforcements from the Gulf of Riga rushed to rescue the attacked Polotsk more than a month ago, the sled army did not encounter anyone else.

Who is coming? Stekander, who should know the area well, was also undecided.

Maybe a Theron, maybe a Semigalian. As for General Fisk, who was ordered to capture these savages, he was not very interested in these two terms with similar meanings, nor was he very interested in the real capture.

He was more willing to believe in the reports of the cavalry brothers who were temporarily acting as scouts, and the actual measures to be taken had to be made on a case-by-case basis.

A cavalry team maintained a high degree of tactical alert and broke away from the large army to attack the lower reaches of the river.

The soldiers were ready for battle, even though they were ordered not to fire an arrow without the command of the flag captain.

The horse's hooves splashed countless ice chips, which undoubtedly caused great vibrations on the ice. However, all abnormal noises were covered up by the sound of the wind. People in the distance could only feel the approaching anomaly by placing their ears against the ice.

"Are they all soldiers?" Fisk, who was on the run, couldn't help asking his brother who had obtained the information.

"Boss, we don't know."

"I don't know? That's ridiculous." Fisk suddenly frowned: "Since you don't know, how dare you tell the king that there are enemies?"

"But there are really many of them. At least they are definitely not surrendered Latvians. Besides, boss, haven't you been here before? Brothers... all think you should know something about it."

"Hey! I forgot a long time ago!" Fisk gritted his teeth and asked again: "They

Really a lot? "

"Many. They even set up camps by the river. Those people seemed to have come well prepared, just... just to block our road. They even deployed people on the ice, maybe trying to break through their blockade. Our army really Have a fight with them."

"Are they really Semigalians?" Fisk only knew that this strange name was a group that had always been feared by the Latvians. They lived on the left side of the Daugava River, in the so-called forest area on the southwest bank of the current direction of the river.

Fisk, who has experienced many battles, will not completely believe the intelligence he guessed just because of the scout's overlook. He has a hunch that maybe those people are not armed men, but some civilians? You can only find out by entering it.

He thought for a while, then suddenly raised his right fist and emphasized again to the rear team: "Don't kill indiscriminately without my order! Take care of your horses and drive them away first."

The Ross cavalry were all camouflaged for combat needs. In other words, since the founding of the army, Rurik took into account the geographical location of Ross and made a set of decent uniforms for the elite cavalry.

The uniforms of the cavalry were very similar to the Cossack cavalry he knew. The soldiers' iron helmets were hung on the saddles. To keep out the cold, everyone wore Ushanka-style fur hats made of polar bear skin, which even protected their cheeks.

They all wore wooden-framed sunglasses to protect their eyes, a plate armor on their upper body, a thick bearskin coat on their outer body, and a layer of white cloth over their clothes to create snow camouflage.

The cavalry warriors are chasing the overall white color, but the war horses are still dark brown.

The cavalry in regular combat must have some colorful decorations, but the official

The cavalry ordered to serve as scouts must have disguised themselves well to blend in with the environment.

As far as the eye can see, there is an endless pine forest. They are white on top and black on the bottom, which is very similar to the style of the cavalry.

Just like this, when the scouts saw a large number of people active on the ice and riverside areas, the latter did not notice at all that there was a small group of keen eyes on the helmet.

The savages are still doing their own thing.

In this way, there was no warning for the appearance of the wild Ross cavalry. When they discovered that an army suddenly appeared and approached quickly, everything was too late.

But what is very strange is that these savages did not show too much fear.

From Fisk's point of view, he really saw a large number of people gathered on the bank of the frozen river. He expected that they would disperse when they saw the army flying the Ross flag, but this did not happen.

"It's so strange. Aren't they afraid?" Fisk asked loudly, hoping that the previous scout would give an explanation.

But how could the scout explain it?

"Forget it. Our troops are divided. If they don't resist, we won't kill them." Fisk raised his right fist high, looked at the brothers around him and made a gesture, so all three centurions launched a pincer offensive against the weirdos.

The cavalry rushed into the savage camp with lightning speed. The Ross army was too fast. The savages were overtaken by the cavalry as soon as they started to react. Those who tried to escape were driven back to the camp under pressure from the cavalry, and those who remained on the ice were driven back into the camp.

There were screams and shouts everywhere, and men and women with disheveled hair or simple leather clothes gathered together spontaneously carrying weapons, mainly short spears.

neatly dressed

From the perspective of the orderly Ross cavalry, the people who had been surrounded were indeed savages.

Who is a soldier, who is a civilian, and most importantly, who has the will to fight? Fisk, who has experienced many battles, could tell at a glance that he could not see any fighting spirit in the eyes of these people.

Men and women were holding weapons that were clearly harpoons, and a few were holding shields. The right hand holding the ax was clearly shaking.

There are a lot of children here, too young to go to the battlefield no matter how hard it seems, and all the children are surrounded by adults behind each other.

However, on the side of the Russian army, the soldiers carried out the boss's orders and made it so that without Fisk's orders, no one would do any archery or hacking or assassination.

So no one was injured in the so-called battle so far. At Fisk's request, both sides fell into deliberate embarrassment.

What are the savages doing? Fiske only had to look at these simple shacks that suddenly appeared, the wooden frames that were propped up and the large number of frozen fish hanging on them, and the answer was already obvious - these were a group of fishermen who suddenly appeared.

The scene fell into a deliberate silence, and the Russian soldiers kept silent. This weird silence made the people surrounded gradually calm down from their initial panic.

Fisk knew that he didn't have to wait any longer. The king's main force was not far behind and they would arrive soon.

Seeing that the time had come, he asked loudly in Enochian: "Who are you? What are you doing here?! Don't worry, Ross has no intention of harming you."

He guessed that these savages didn't understand, so he said it three times in a row. If these people really didn't understand...

, at worst, repeat it yourself in Slavic. If you still don't understand, then continue to spend time here. When the Latvian soldiers from the rear army arrive, the truth will be revealed.

Fisker was soon in for a surprise.

It was that sentence, "Ross had no intention of harming you," that was like a tranquilizer for all the savages.

Because there are indeed people among the savages who understand the Norse language. After all, even those who hold axes, the style is the highly recognizable Nordic hook axe, which proves that some savages must be related to the Varangians or the Danes in the Gulf of Riga. Businessmen have had contact.

"Theron! We are Theron people."

A short man stood up. Fisk condescended to this short man who looked particularly bloated in leather clothes: "Theron people, are you the legendary Theron people?"

"Yes. You...are you...Rose?"

"Oh? You understand what we are saying, and you actually know our identities?" Fisk's tense face rarely showed a smile: "Who are you? Could you be a northerner who lives here?"

"No. My name is Ilbert

et, meaning turtle dove), is the leader of these people. I have interacted with you Varangians, and I also... know that you Rus became the masters of Riga and Latvia. Sir, you..."

"Ha! That's how it is." Fisk still raised his head: "You want to ask us what we want? Okay, I'll tell you soon."

Forget it, Fisk gave the brothers another hand signal, and he dismounted first, so the whole army dismounted one after another. Such a performance fully proves one thing, that is, the Russian army has put down its vigilance.

Prepare.

In fact, in terms of numbers, the current cavalry strength is basically equivalent to this group of fishermen confirmed to be Seron people. Even if the latter has a larger number, since there are many village children who can be seen as servants and a large number of women who lack fighting ability, the Ross army will definitely crush them in a real fight.

So, just before Rurik arrived at the scene with his army, Fisk already knew everything from the leader of the Seron people who called himself Ilbert.

The Seron people, the name means highlands and hills in the Baltic context, which is exactly what the environment and landforms here are like.

The area where the Ross Army is currently located is the eastern border area of ​​present-day Latvia, which has the only hilly and mountainous area in the area. It is said to be a mountainous area, but in fact it is a large number of gently sloping mounds covered with pine trees. Only in the present-day Daugavpils area do there really exist large mounds that can be called "mountains".

In this era, Latvia had an extremely vast forest no-man's land, and the population in the entire environment was very small. It was the limited population facing a relatively harsh environment that made it impossible for free small farmers to survive. They could only form villages to live in groups, and several villages Villages form alliances to help each other.

The Latvian tribal alliance and Danish immigrants reached an alliance mainly composed of commercial alliances, thus jointly creating the city of Riga.

The Seron people live in the upper reaches of the Daugava River. They have to face a worse natural environment when they live in hilly areas. The villages live relatively scattered, and the total population is less than 10,000 people.

Ilbert took all the villagers and their families to the banks of the frozen Daugava River. If they had not faced the severe test of spring famine, how could they have chosen to take the risk?

What about winter fishing?

Each village has formed its own alliance, but the population is too small to become a strong force. In addition, being in a remote area, the opportunities for communication with the outside world were very limited, and they had even fewer surplus products to sell. It was difficult to buy enough daily necessities from the trading city - especially salt and ironware.

Each village of the Seron people has its own living area. Since this area is relatively barren, in order to be harmonious with each other, when a village encounters a food crisis, the first thing it cannot do is go to the territory of a relative village to steal other people's resources.

Ilbert's village did not dare to steal supplies from neighboring villages, including entering their territory to steal birds and animals, and stealing fish from the lake.

He also lacked the ability to travel to Riga and make deals with his close relatives, the Latvian tribal confederacy.

As for crossing the Daugava River and stealing from Semigalian territory, that would be a disaster that could lead to death.

The villagers, who were neither deaf nor blind, knew that two months ago there was a large army from the Gulf of Riga heading upstream. Some of the sleds were flashing Russian flags. They must have been the Russian army carrying out military operations.

If the existing food can ensure that there will be no spring famine, the villagers will not dare to rush to the frozen river in the harsh winter to suffer the cold.

Ilbert really had no choice. If he didn't bring the villagers to fish, many people would starve to death.

Because for the Seron people, they still adhere to the way of life of their ancestors, with fishing and hunting as the mainstay and farming as a supplement.

Planting oats is an important supplement to life. Of course they know the importance of food and actively cultivate land in barren hilly areas. However, what they get after clearing pine trees is podzol, which is acidic.

Too strong, it is a kind of destruction to the delicate oat seeds.

The Seron villages are not fools either. They discovered that the cultivated land was stuffed with plant ash. At first, they burned the overgrown weeds and then deliberately spread the ash. Experience has proved that farmland treated in this way can ensure that the oat harvest will not fail.

There are so many factors that determine wheat yield.

The output of wheat is not much. Compared with the plain areas, the farmland here is more dependent on the weather. The autumn harvest in 842 was not in good condition, and the entire Seron tribe fell into a certain degree of food stress.

Fortunately, Ilbert's village is close to the Daugava River, so he can afford to take risks.

So far, the fishing operation mobilized by the whole village has been very effective. They are digging through the ice to fish. Due to the favorable location, a large number of perch caught are hung up and turned into brick-like frozen fish.

The full thaw in Latvia will occur at the end of March and early April. The method of ice fishing in winter makes the cost of fishing very low. As long as the danger of extreme cold is overcome, the riverside villages can take advantage of the geographical advantages to maintain their lives until the big rivers rise in spring. Expect.

The Latvian villages downstream approaching the mouth of the sea are doing this, and some Seron villages upstream are also doing this. There is nothing special about it.

If there was a huge difference, it was that the Thron people did not formally submit themselves to Ross.

But hostility is impossible.

A small ethnic group that was never hostile to Latvia and maintained peaceful relations with the Danish merchants of Riga.

They live mysteriously in remote hilly areas. They do not provoke others, and others do not enter the hilly areas to try to annex them.

It's just that the strong appearance of Ross's army has already aroused alarm within the villages. Due to the discovery of Ross's

Latvia under the rule is all about drinking and dancing. Maybe joining Russia is a good thing - at least it is better than being greeted by their army. After all, the initiative is in your own hands.

That's why Ilbert, the village leader, maintains a respectful attitude.

Now that the matter has arisen, other Seron villages must have no reason to discuss it further.

An opportunity appeared in front of him, and Ilbert realized the opportunity.

Of course, this man's request also satisfied Fisk. For any weak tribe that surrenders voluntarily, the Ross nobles have a huge psychological sense of superiority as the strong ones, and this is exactly the case with Fisk now.

When he heard that the supreme ruler of Rus had triumphed with the victory over the Smolensk people in the distance, Ilbert felt that he could become a hero for the entire Theron people.

Soon the main force of the Russian army appeared.

The army is hunting with flags, and everything as far as the eye can see is blue and white. The mighty army covers the frozen Daugava River. They line up neatly and gradually arrive at the fishing site.

Fisk has sent a messenger to quickly inform Rurik of the magical discovery.

From Rurik's point of view, it was basically a group of mountain savages kneeling by the river and surrendering to the noble King Rus.

In fact, when Rurik arrived at the fishing scene, what he saw was indeed a dark sea of ​​kneeling people.

Ilbert led all his villagers to kneel by the river. Behind the crowd was their fishing camp, and beside them were the Russian First Cavalry in formation. This was Fisk's arrangement. Even if the Seron people wanted to surrender, they would all kneel down like reindeer, including children, to meet King Rus.

Ilbert doesn’t think so

This is some kind of humiliation, after all, they have always considered themselves weak.

The weak have their own ways of living. If they show weakness and submit to the strongest player in the region, they may get huge benefits in the future, or at least they won't live a bad life.

Besides, he raised his head slightly and was extremely shocked by the army he saw. Its military power surpassed his understanding of armies and soldiers - is the Ross Army the Army of God? !

Then it seemed to Rurik that his general Fisk had captured a large group of slaves.

As far as the eye can see, there is no trace of fighting here. "Conquering the enemy without fighting? It seems that the Seron people from this small country are very smart. I am very satisfied with the way you... kneel down and worship."

Rurik muttered something. He had a very good first impression of the Seron people he met for the first time, just like the puppy he met for the first time did not bark, but rushed to him, wagging his tail and turning over his belly to show "You are Wolf King".

He personally led the cavalry and walked slowly past the kneeling crowd. He looked down at these weaklings and had some thoughts in his mind.