Chapter 1,360 Rurik Stands on Luga Heights and Lake Radilovskoye

Latest website: Rurik’s plan was beyond everyone’s expectation, but when I thought about it, it made sense since the order came from the king.

Because the king even produced a "route map plan" for the entire operation, it seemed so perfect, the only flaw was that no explorer on the route had yet established its existence.

As long as there is one success, there will be Russians who will take this route again.

Rurik was willing to be such a heroic pathfinder, so the captains of each banner had no choice but to follow the king.

After the meeting, each flag captain returned to his camp, and then all the junior officers in the team gathered together, and then the flag captain recited the meeting minutes and the spirit of the meeting.

The order was finally conveyed to every soldier, and any debate about the way home became meaningless.

Just because I chose a brand new road after fighting, a frozen river in front of me - I didn't expect that this river I knew for the first time could actually be connected to Novgorod.

The soldiers were still discussing, but now all they could talk about was a series of things they should pay attention to during the journey.

Exploring and advancing in unknown areas, this Russian army composed of too young warriors has been fully trained in the past six months, and everyone knows exactly what to pay attention to.

The entire army immediately began the final preparations before departure.

It would be difficult to light a bonfire in a snow-covered forest unless the army had ready supplies of flammable dry wood or briquettes. Getting dry firewood is as easy as tearing down some old wooden houses in Pskov. The wood that has been freeze-dried and shade-dried is very hard and will instantly break into pieces when struck by the steel axe. Even the thatch used as the roof is dry

, it can be used as a good tinder when taken off.

They seized the time to prepare some food, and then slaughtered all the seized cattle and sheep, and roasted all the uneaten pieces of meat as hand meat for easy consumption.

The city of Pskov is bordered by a large river and a large lake. The waters already contain the most prosperous freshwater fish family in Northeast Europe - seabass.

Although there are many seabass bones, they are concentrated in special parts. As long as you are careful when eating them, you will be fine. The larger the freshwater fish, the fewer bones there are, so everyone is more inclined to fish for the bigger ones.

Ice fishing relies heavily on technical means. Some soldiers took a "crank drill" to dig holes in the frozen Velikaya River to fish. Everything was as expected by the soldiers. The hypoxic environment under the ice forced the fish to sense any sign of cracks in the ice and rush towards the cracks. It was not necessary to lay out bait, as long as a hemp rope net was buried to catch them. At the right time, you can catch a group of fish that want to breathe.

The soldiers gained a lot, and this skill of cutting ice to catch fish stunned the Krivici villagers.

The fish is scaled and gutted, the head and tail are pinched off, and the fastidious person specially cuts the back of the fish to remove the damn spines, and the resulting fish fillets are spread out, baked and dried by the campfire, and even contaminated with a large amount of carbon powder.

In addition, making wheat cakes is an old tradition of the Russian army.

Since wheat is no longer rare in Russia, the new generation of Russia has grown up eating wheat. They were luckier than their parents because after Ross completed the sneak attack on the British Kingdom of Northumbria in 832, he received a large amount of wheat in kind. In the following years, Northumbria also provided tribute in the following years. . That's what I'm used to

A variety from colder regions, it is more cold-resistant and can grow normally in the frost-free period of the Novgorod region.

The wheat stored by the soldiers is only for their own use, and they will not eat this high-end product brought from their hometown unless necessary.

Since this is the last leg of the winter expedition, looking at the wheat left on hand, is there any reason not to eat it?

The final wheat was ground and pounded into coarse flour. In order to make more wheat cakes, they poured some rye and oats into it, and added water to finally create a sticky mixed dough.

The brown dough made from the three wheats was kneaded into cakes, pasted on the inner wall of the captured pottery urn and baked by fire. Finally, a large number of wheat cakes that quickly became hard were obtained.

It is really hard, and the only advantage is that it is extremely durable. When paired with prepared dried meat and fish, it is really a very chewy field dry food.

The Ross army had to pay so much attention to logistical preparations that Orafin, who was accompanying him to lead the way, did not understand at first. But when he really enjoyed the service with abundant logistics, he had to admire the foresight of King Ross.

For others in the small Danish community, they had already been taught a lesson in the Russian army before they actually arrived in Novgorod to see the world.

Those Thron children and all the children in the small Danish community, under Rurik's orders, these young children received the best care. After all, children are suffering when participating in winter expeditions. It is necessary to ensure that the children have the best food and the warmest clothing, and to ensure that no children are left behind at any time.

When traveling far away, no one will think that carrying too much material is a burden. On the contrary, as long as the transportation capacity allows,

The Russian army will be filled with supplies as much as possible.

No, this was originally hay stored by local people to feed cattle and sheep, and it became food for the reindeer and war horses of the Russian army. The bulk hay was handed over to the Krivic villagers for processing, and the army also purchased the hay stored by these villagers. For this, Ross paid them some rewards, such as a batch of scrap iron arrow clusters.

Only one collar-mounted arrow cluster is left. After installing the arrow shaft and fletching, it becomes a good hunting arrow. Such a re-equipped arrow is not rare for Ross, and it is really a treasure for the local Krivi people.

Because they really got paid for doing things for King Rus, the local villagers who felt that the new Varyag people were good people became more and more daring to go to the changed Pskov, bringing with them their own limited surplus agricultural products, even men and women. They wanted to help out with the work, but also wanted to earn some benefits before the Ross army left - they focused on the complex metal products of the Ross army's equipment.

Objectively speaking, Rurik does not need to care too much about his own logistics. The Krivic people who know how to adapt are acting as civilian servants for the army.

In the final preparations, all the sleighs were so packed that some chauffeurs simply sat on the sleighs on the haystacks piled high to better control the reindeer.

All our own sleds were used, and the sled vehicles captured from the local area were also towed by cables in series.

The ropes provided by Manchico’s Rope Village certainly came in handy. "It would be better if you could provide more rope."

As a result, the victorious Russian army changed slightly. They no longer looked like an expeditionary army, but more like a huge material transport team.

stand

From the perspective of ordinary soldiers, everyone felt that the king was too prepared to charge for the final journey. For this reason, even the newly surrendered local villagers were mobilized to work.

Does all this mean that the journey ahead will be extremely difficult?

have no idea. Anyway, no matter how difficult the journey is, everyone has experienced it. The future is just another trip into the forest. No matter how we go, as long as we head eastward, we will have peace of mind.

As for worrying about getting lost in the forest? This is the last thing the army has to worry about.

Each centurion has a small wooden box with three wonderful little holes placed in it: a tiny circular wooden barrel with directional graduations, an extremely thin oak piece, and a finely ground steel needle. This is the water float compass of the Ross Army. Since the army already knows its principle, and now Ross hunters also widely use this trick, the army is more particular about it.

Once, getting lost in the winter forest almost meant certain death, but today's military has lost this concept.

No one feels at risk of getting lost, we have the compass, the technological means the gods gave to Rus.

This is why Rurik commanded the army to charge into the forests of Eastern Europe more than once, and the majority of soldiers did not question the major reason for concern. Of course, they noticed that the Russian army performed this magical trick in public, and the clever Olafine, Pom and others learned it on the spot.

It was considered that "our army is blessed by the gods", so Olafin and his group were full of confidence when they rushed to the Pskova River.

On the appointed day, the trumpets were blown and the war drums were beaten. The Ross army assembled in the open space outside the city was organized into a flag team, and the sleigh army was arranged in order with the flags.

Every sleigh flies the Russian flag, the warriors no longer wear

A, however, all wore the Ross jersey with white background and blue stripes. More than that? Any colorful objects were brought out and hung in prominent places on the sled.

After all, there are only two colors in the dense forest: the white of snow, and the dark green of pine forest.

Any unusual coloration is conspicuous so as to avoid the possibility of anyone being left behind.

Today, the nearby Krivic people spontaneously gathered in Pskov. The leaders who were named boyars enjoyed hereditary power in principle. They won peace and even de jure Russian military protection for their respective villages. He became the hero of the village, and no one opposed this hereditary inheritance at this stage.

Regarding them, Rurik did not deliberately adopt a virtuous policy. In fact, he understood that he only needed to be kinder than Gall. He really had no time to deal with Pskov, so he allowed the locals to govern themselves.

This is exactly a kind of virtuous policy. The villagers rushed to search for unnecessary surplus materials at home at the last moment. They even took out the honey and cheese cubes that were extremely precious to themselves, and handed them all to the army that was eager to set off. Finally, In exchange for a wave of junk.

Now, Rurik had put on his golden laurel crown and specially took his cronies to show off on a horse in front of the local villagers.

At this moment, horns were flying with flags, and the soldiers of the Russian army gathered in various sleds together with the men and women who had followed them.

For the locals, they know that the days of the Danes are over, that the remnants of the larger community are now shared among the various villages, and that the smaller communities are being emptied out. But the Russian flag is already flying in Pskov itself, isn’t it?

Every village is there

Strips of blue cloth were dyed in a short time and sewn to white cloth, thus declaring the village's allegiance to Rus. Flags were flying everywhere in the entire Pskov area in a short period of time. Although the villagers knew very little about Rus, they all had a clear self-understanding: We are controlled by the Rus Kingdom, and we must not act rashly for the sake of safety.

They all have a high sense of self-management, or have been tamed long ago under the influence of the large Danish community in the past, especially under the "tyranny" of Gower.

Now, with the special rhythmic trumpet blowing, the Russian army sets off!

The entire army formed a long and narrow column and advanced towards the Pskova River, the eastern branch of the Velikaya River, with the flag team as a unit.

The long and narrow team eventually stretched up to three kilometers. Although all this was within Rurik's estimation, he did not expect that the team could be stretched so long and still deteriorate. In the end, the entire army became a slender, grinding four kilometers long. Teams of sleds are connected to each other and maintain a safe distance, but the delay of one of them will always be transmitted to the next one, and it is not uncommon for a "ghost traffic jam" to suddenly occur.

"It's really unlucky. You should tell me that the river becomes narrower as you go upstream?" Rurik was dissatisfied with Olafin, but unfortunately he had already given the order, and the army clung to the narrow gap in the forest, hoping to move the rear team to the front. The team's withdrawal from here will inevitably cause a catastrophe in the march, and then the entire army will be blocked in the gaps in the forest.

Orafin's happy face gradually revealed a bitter smile. He knew that the king was scolding him harshly, and he had no choice but to do so now.

As a hero leading the way, he had the honor to sit in the king's box-style sleigh.

Inside, there is a small built-in iron stove that makes the interior quite warm.

Oraphon was able to stay with the king and the princess countess as a guest, which was a great honor.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. The road is a bit narrow. I will not defend myself. I was wrong. However, I guarantee with my life and honor that I will lead the army to the lake. As for..."

"Your oath is enough. As for what happens after we get to the lake, that is what I should worry about."

The rest of the journey is just to advance on the frozen river. The army does not really have to walk on the ice all the time. The narrow riverside areas on both sides of the river and the hardened snow are also good passages.

Each night the troops stopped and set up camp, lighting their reserves of firewood and then igniting the freshly cut pine logs.

At this time, if an eagle takes a bird's-eye view, a fire dragon will suddenly appear in the forest and snowfield in the evening. It is particularly obvious after dark.

Adequate logistical supply reserves have kept personnel, war horses, and reindeer in good condition. Now everyone should also consider whether they will encounter a late winter snowfall. However, the sky is full of stars and the moonlight illuminates the world quite brightly. What do you think? It doesn't look like it will snow.

This is really an opportunity given to the army by the gods. With this clear and good weather, it seems that the army can reach the mud lake just by following the Pskova River.

But things didn't go so smoothly.

If you just walk along the Pskova River, you will eventually reach a swamp in the north. That area is closer to the Luga River and also quite close to the huge Pskov Lake (already Lake Chud).

right path

Yes, when this river seems to be an east-west river, and the main channel suddenly extends northward, it turns into the narrower eastern branch and continues to march towards the east. This is right.

No, under the joint guidance of Orafin and Bohm, the Ross Army began the final sprint that was said to be absolutely correct.

It can be said that in a sense the Russian army is climbing over the mountain!

The nameless river is more appropriately called a stream. The forest here is still dense, but the geographical structure is quietly undergoing changes visible to the naked eye. Because Rurik was leading the army to attack the watershed of the Luga Highlands.

Although there are no mountains in this area, the land is actually undergoing orogeny.

The Luga Plateau is a long and narrow raised area with an average altitude of only a hundred meters higher than Pskov.

In fact, in terms of altitude, Pskov is higher than Novgorod on Lake Ilmen, so the latter, as a large area of ​​depression, is really a treasure land that forms great lakes and rivers.

Everyone didn't feel that they were about to attack a highland of only more than 100 meters. It was only because the army marched rapidly for four consecutive days before quietly raising the height of 100 meters. It happened that Rurik had passed Fengshui Ridge unknowingly.

They stood on the top of the Luga Plateau, surrounded by a pine forest covered with snow.

They were still heading east, and the water float compass was extremely useful. Coupled with the continued guidance of Olafen and others, it seemed that they were just around the corner from the mud lake.

Until they discovered an unnamed river. By digging through the ice to observe the underlying water flow, the soldiers unexpectedly discovered that the water flow was eastward.

Rurik found it novel, but Olafen and others decided that this was the answer.

case.

"Your Majesty, we have arrived at our destination! As long as we walk along this river, we will eventually reach the mud lake."

Olafen's enthusiastic face was full of confidence, and Rurik had no reason to refuse. Besides, everyone had been in the dense forest for two days in a row. The directors are responsible at all levels, and the management is accurate down to every sled and every person. Although there are challenges, no one is left behind.

The main reason for worrying about falling behind was that the roads were too narrow and the dense forests forced the entire army to become extremely slender.

Now that they entered the Unnamed River, the road gradually became wider, and finally... it suddenly became clear.

A miracle happened! An open, flat area lay close at hand, the nearest forest far away. Just check the ice beneath your feet and you'll see endless silt beneath the surface.

After seeing the open world, the tension of the past week was completely relieved. Orafin and Pom, and even the explorers of the small Danish community who had visited this mud lake felt relieved after so many years.

And all the people walking nervously in the forest realized one after another that the feeling at that moment was like childbirth, and people felt reborn.

"Is this Mud Lake?" Rurik asked casually, feeling very good while breathing the cold air.

The smiling Orafin hurriedly replied: "Yes. There is no change from my memory. Look at this environment, no one has settled there. It's just... it's the dry season now, and it will be a huge body of water in the summer. I don't know What will you encounter if you continue eastward, maybe..."

"No need to be confused." Rurik looked at him with fighting spirit.

Dongfang, Xing Lianzai suddenly drew his sword. Behind him is the setting sun, and the sword points directly to the east: "I can guess where the water of this lake will eventually flow into! Eventually, we will arrive at Lake Ilmen!"

Everyone was very pleased with the king's ambitious words.

And this lake is Lake Radilovskoye, which is part of the upper reaches of the Ilmen Lake system. It is a lake with extremely variable water area. The river at its eastern mouth will quickly flow into the Sherren River, followed by the huge Lake Ilmen.

Of course, what awaits Rurik is still a hundred kilometers of expedition!

However, what the Ross army faced was a wide ice-covered road, and the whole army could finally sled.