Chapter 1,354 This Time It’s 2,000 Vs. 1,000. I Have the Advantage.

,!

In the past, Gower was not ignorant of Ross.

For one reason or another, he took root in the relatively isolated Pskov, a land infiltrated by two rivers. By continuously collecting tribute from local villagers, the family's life became better and better, and the entire community also developed greatly.

As for whether these Krivi villagers are angry or willing to submit?

It doesn't matter how big a splash a group of poor farmers can make.

Like many northern chiefs, Gower built himself a large longhouse. There is no full-body floor here, only a layer of wooden boards and some cowhide are laid on the place where he sleeps. Strictly speaking, Gower and his concubines are not lingering on the dirt floor.

Compared with a few years ago, Gower's power has further increased.

The principal wife is old and beautiful, but she has not given birth to a son. Can her daughter still inherit her status? The son-in-law can be regarded as his son, but if there is an opportunity before he is old, he should get a male heir as soon as possible.

He thus found a reason to take concubines, but he also alienated his wife.

But what does this have to do with the majority of people of Danish descent? As long as there is no trouble, the boss can rule Pskov for another ten years. This time is long enough. The hundreds of thugs who have reached a community of interests with him need Gower as the backbone, so that they can unite to attack the local villagers.

Those who were dissatisfied with Gower were pushed out. Those who could still stay in the larger community did not even say so, but just stayed in the community to support Gower and the system he built. Everyone likes this system that allows them to make a small fortune stably without risk by relying on the strong, and they don't want any major changes in it.

However……

Compared with the capital of the Russians, Pskov seems too old-fashioned, in other words, it is simple and shabby.

After entering the chief's longhouse, Carlotta and Swade sat cross-legged on the leather cushions given to them.

I saw Gower dispersing all the maids. He was sitting cross-legged on a high place with an iron sword in his arms.

The two also noticed that the set of glass tableware given by King Ross must be regarded as a treasure by the boss, otherwise it would not be placed within his reach.

Gower's face was livid. He didn't want King Ross, whom he had never met, to use force against him for no reason. After calming down a little, he still felt that there might be some misunderstanding.

"Tell me! You two, please tell me what's going on?" he asked.

"Yes." Swader spoke first, and then recounted everything he heard from Olafine.

As it related to war issues, Swade did not even realize that he was adding more fuel to his description, so that the intelligence became distorted.

"Inexplicable!" Gal burst into tears: "I have never provoked him! Why?! The Russians want to kill me and destroy our community. And what's going on with you? That guy Olafen has become a Guests of King Ross? Why should he? You..." Gao Er realized something was wrong, narrowed his eyes and asked fiercely: "Could it be that you two are causing trouble? Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"

"What good will it do you to kill us?" Swade retorted: "If we wanted glory and wealth, we would follow Orafin and Pom and join the Russians. How could we tell you about the war? Of course you can just ignore it. If it happens, the Ross army will arrive tomorrow anyway. Gore, if you don’t take any measures, then you will die in a very useless way. Brother, I think you are a leader and I am telling you this. You can do it as you like."

These two were extremely bold and were so arrogant that they called them by their first names. If it had been the case before, Gower would have been furious.

Some sobering advice!

"So...where are they stationed? How many troops do they have? Are they really planning to loot our Pskov?"

Swade was ready to risk his life, and he reported truthfully: "Russian troops have more than 2,000 soldiers. I heard that they just carried out large-scale killings in Smolensk, and miraculously escaped to Riga, and then to our Pskov . King Rurik of Rus came prepared, he just wants to kill you."

"All this...could it be true? I know that the Smolensk people are very powerful, and they are not the bunch of wimps in our nearby villages. Smolensk was defeated?"

"Yes." Carrot boldly looked into Gower's eyes: "Even their leader had his head chopped off and was strung on a wooden pole to be admired. The Russians killed too many people in the south, and no one I hope this will happen to our territory, and please make plans in advance.”

A big southern leader was beheaded in public? Gao Er didn't understand how this kid could talk so well without being a person who had experienced it. He felt this was a threat, saying, "If I lose the battle, my head will be beheaded by King Rus and displayed to the public."

"Damn it, where are they stationed?"

Gore bared his teeth like a hungry wolf hungry for fresh meat. Seeing that the boss's anger was aroused, the two of them were relieved a little in surprise.

"They are really stationed in Rope Village. If the boss can organize some brothers to launch a long-distance sneak attack, it may be miraculous, but..."

"But it's very difficult. In our brother's humble opinion, it is better for the boss to stick to the city of Pskov, gather all the men and women who can be summoned, and then organize the nearby villagers. There are two thousand Russians, and they left After a long journey to reach us, we must be physically and mentally exhausted and our morale is low. On the other hand, we have always been the masters of the local area. We are defending our homeland, and our brothers will be morale-filled because of their anger, and we can defeat them."

The two of them sang together and seemed to have become the right and left prime ministers around Gore in an instant.

Gall thought about it carefully. If everything was really like this, following the suggestions of these two men would be Pskov's last chance to turn the crisis around.

But think about it for a moment, is there a possibility that some of these are all nonsense?

After all, if Karlot and Svard really cared about Pskov so much, why did the two families move out of the larger community? The city has been quiet so far, except for these two guys who came in and declared that war was imminent.

Gore was not a scheming person, nor was he someone who could be angered by a few words.

He suddenly pulled out his Frank-style broad-bladed sword and looked down at the two people sitting coldly: "You seem to have brought your family here. Are you seeking my asylum?"

"Exactly." The two said in unison.

"So, your family members are also my hostages now. If what you said is false, you and your family members will be guilty of death. Even if I plan to pardon you, the mobilized brothers will be angry at you for lying about military information. And vent your anger!"

Like an arrow that cannot turn back, these two men patted their chests and made another oath - they were willing to be punished if they dared to lie.

"Okay! I had a good impression of King Rurik of Rus, and I planned to choose the right opportunity to visit in person. It seems that there is no need, since he wants to kill me, and Rus wants to rob me! Then, I will arm myself Kill him, make him a blood eagle, and cut off his head to make a bone bowl." After saying these cruel words, Gower couldn't help but look sideways at the glassware given by King Rus, and for a moment These babies have an extra sense of disgust.

In a moment of rage, he slashed with his sword, suddenly breaking a glass, and then he stopped because of heartache.

He suddenly tried to make amends for himself, put away his sword and said fiercely: "Just like this. I smashed this cup, and in the future it will be Rurik's head that will replace him! You two go down first, I'm going to call the brothers!"

Although they convinced Gower, Carrot and Swade still didn't think Gower could defeat Ross after organizing an army. The two men made it clear that the strength of the Rus made the infantry move on four-deer sleighs, and they even had special horses that were not afraid of the cold. It made sense that the Rus army could travel long distances.

Peaceful Pskov suddenly fell into a violent rage.

Gower unprecedentedly gathered as many trumpeters as possible to blow the horns, and all the leather drums originally used for festivals were beating hard.

He first issued a war warning to his own bodyguards, and then used these good brothers to rule from house to house in the large community.

This was unprecedented, as Pskov had not had any mass mobilization before.

Gall strived for complete mobilization, and he planned to organize those boys who seemed capable of handling weapons.

It has already entered the end of winter, and every household is still dormant. Men and women have nothing to do. The biggest pleasure is basically busy giving birth to the next generation, so that many women become pregnant every pound.

A family knows how to control the time of childbearing. Since pregnancy occurs in September, couples basically have sex after the first snowfall, so the child is often born between the summer solstice and the autumn harvest.

It is the warmest period of the year, and it is also the food harvest period. Children born during this period can survive the most difficult moments after birth before winter, so the child's mortality rate can be much lower.

Gore wanted to mobilize all women to become female warriors, but he had no choice but to end up with a group of big-bellied women.

But even so, these ambitious Danish descendants still have the will to fight in order to defend their homeland. Not everyone wants to learn to be a Valkyrie, but Pskov is the home where everyone depends for their livelihood. Even if it is the legendary rich and powerful King Rus, they will still kill him when they come.

In an instant, Gower proved his powerful prestige!

More than three hundred male armed men with blond hair and various weapons quickly gathered near his mansion.

Look at these people! Some of them were wearing rusty chain mail, and many were just wearing thick leather clothes. Although they are clothes, these leather coats, which are mainly made of cowhide, are very tough. In addition, it is very cold now and everyone wears thick clothes, so that ordinary axes and swords have weakened into blunt weapons.

At least most of them wore their ancestral iron helmets, whose huge iron nose bars became a prominent feature. This outfit was fully characteristic of the Jutland Peninsula, thus proving everyone's origins.

Everyone gathered together, and Gower stood on a platform where many wooden boxes were piled up. He held an iron sword in his hand and gave another lecture to the assembled brothers.

"King Rurik of Rus is a liar! The Rus army has arrived at the city. They want to loot us! Fight for your children, your wives, and your wealth! Kill them, seize their things, and chop off all their heads. , tell them we are not easy to mess with!”

Gall continued to repeat several key sentences. He kept emphasizing that King Rus was a liar. The soldiers were quickly infected by the warm atmosphere and fell into collective anger.

This was a powerful aura that Gao Er had never seen before. When he took his brothers to claim tribute half a year ago, no one had such high morale.

Being exposed to the "scene of a volcanic eruption" for the first time, Gall was also infected by this anger.

Brothers share the same hatred, and the greater Pskov community has never been more united than it is today.

It was not just the Danish descendants of the Greater Community who had to be gathered, but all the Klevich men who lived close to the Greater Community, whether they were willing or not, were on the list of being forcibly conscripted into the army.

It would not be difficult to force these Slavic-speaking brown-haired men, for the great city of Pskov was also their home.

Although living here requires regular tribute to the powerful Danish community, they have indeed gained a better life. After all, Danish immigrants have higher productivity, and important commodities shipped from far away are first sold in the large community. for sale. They who live here can buy salt immediately, which is a geographical advantage that other villages do not have.

After receiving benefits, you must fulfill your obligations at critical moments. After all, if Pskov is destroyed, these Krivich families will also collapse on the spot.

Men used various farm tools as weapons, and even scythes used to cut wheat and grass were installed at different angles to resemble a simple knife.

As for the villages further away, some tough methods had to be used to force Gal from them.

The situation in the big city of Pskov has stabilized since the initial commotion. Although those who have figured out the situation are still a little skeptical, since everyone claims that "the liar Russians will kill tomorrow", there is no room for disbelief. Each family had no choice but to wait and polish their weapons and prepare to wait and fight a defensive war.

However, Gower has never fought a decent battle in his life, and bullying the villagers of Krivich will almost never lead to a civil uprising. If he sends out at least fifty thugs, he can force the villagers to be honest.

Those women who were pregnant and capable of fighting, and young boys who could lift an axe, were organized to gather together with the young and middle-aged men of the larger community. Gall gathered a "golden army" of more than 500 people.

Five hundred people! This was already a huge thing in Gore's eyes.

Of course, a Viking army of this size could indeed do harm to one side if it suddenly reached the British coast. If five hundred armed men were in the hands of a high-ranking Frankish noble, it would be enough to support the noble's face.

Because five hundred soldiers who are organized to fight in groups are not easy to defeat in ordinary ways. In a sense, the Ross tribe more than 20 years ago could dispatch such soldiers, but... times have changed.

Gall made further arrangements. He sent scouts to explore the Rope Village on reindeer sleighs. He did not ask the scouts to see Rurik himself directly. It was enough to see that there were excessive bonfires and that there was indeed a large army stationed there. To be on the safe side, Scouts must risk their lives under the cover of darkness.

He also sent his men to nearby villages to recruit troops.

Pskov is a big place but also a small place. The vast majority of the population is concentrated in the impact plain area formed by the mouth of two rivers. The most fertile agricultural reclamation area is here. He can quickly recruit Krivich peasant soldiers. It's here.

Of course, men can also be forcibly recruited from remote villages, but considering the actual needs, this is unnecessary.

Because according to intelligence, the war will break out tomorrow day, and Pskov will almost be attacked by a sneak attack, giving everyone a very short time to prepare.

However, it seems that Pskov is a prosperous place. With the current poor agricultural conditions, poor climate, and poor sanitation, the death rate of children is too high for both the Krivic people and Danish immigrants. Although a child can live to be fifty when he grows up, as long as there is no major accident, but if a family has ten children, five of them can live safely until they consider twelve years of adulthood (including the imaginary age). It was already blessed by the goddess Freya.

The nearby Krivich men reluctantly left the house, and when they learned that war was about to begin, they had to take their farm tools and part with their wives and children. What is war? It's probably just a group fight.

Each village is doing well under the control of Boss Gower. Each village must pay tribute to the boss every year, and the boss's army exists as mediators and arbiters. The inherent contradictions in each village quickly turn into conflicts. Antipathy to tribute. They dare not claim that they are against paying tribute. Haven't they been sending wheat, cloth, and grain to Pskov all these years?

The conflicts between the villages over providing water for farmland were replaced by new conflicts. The men were not willing to go to war with the unheard-of Rus for Boss Gore. As for the "they will kill you all when they come" talk in detail, No matter whether the Russians win or the Gore boss wins, don't everyone still have to pay tribute? Who doesn’t come to pay tribute?

This reluctance was naturally something that Gall could realize. Anyway, these villagers gathered in the big city of Pskov one after another, lying on the snow and dragging their personal belongings on sleds. From then on, under the leadership of the village talker It proves the village's loyalty to the boss.

How dare you be disloyal? If you don't come after being notified, you will definitely be punished by the boss afterwards.

Galben did not expect this group of people to fight resolutely for him. The greatest significance of their existence was to increase the momentum of his Danish immigrant army.

He still had a glimmer of fantasy. It was said that when the Russian army that reached Pskov saw that Pskov had assembled a large army, the Russian king would weigh the cost of fighting, and maybe he would stop fighting and call a truce.

Gore knew that in this world, being weak was the original sin. Maybe King Rus thought that Pskov was weak and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to do something evil. If he realized that it was a misjudgment, maybe everyone could form an alliance again.

In any case, the gathering had achieved significant results. Pskov was brightly lit that night and there were bonfires everywhere, but it was not bright enough to light up the clouds in the sky.

Also this time, in order to avoid alerting the enemy, Rurik also ordered the entire army not to use the "campfire suspicion" tactic. He even deliberately reduced the number of bonfires in the camp.

And this has had some unexpected effects.

But he said that when the scouts sent by Gower returned overnight, he would not get lost, because there was no way he would get lost while racing on the frozen Velikaya River.

The scout hurriedly visited Gower, who was unable to sleep. When he saw the boss, he immediately reported with a smile: "Boss, maybe the Russians are not as big as the legend says!"

Gao Er stood up suddenly, "Speak carefully!"

"Yes. They have more bonfires, but they are nowhere near as many as ours. Maybe they only have a few hundred people, or at most a thousand. Although a thousand people are very powerful, we have far more people than them."

The more troops there are, the better the victory will be secured. On the one hand, Pskov is engaged in defensive warfare. The soldiers can have enough food to garrison and fight, which really gives them every advantage.

Gore was overjoyed and clapped his thighs happily, his smile gradually turning ferocious: "Haha, it seems you are really here! Arrogant liar Rurik, you think a thousand people can attack my Pskov. This time it’s two thousand versus one thousand, the advantage is mine! I will definitely win!”