Chapter 1,402 Rurik in Latvia

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The water depth in most parts of the Gulf of Riga is about fifty meters. Even though it is shallow at the mouth of the Daugava River, there is no problem for Russia's largest Sea Monarch to anchor and anchor.

Here, the width of the Daugava River has expanded to 700 meters wide. It is now the flood season, and its water depth exceeds ten meters.

For safety reasons, Rurik would not let the flagship rush into the river. He had many considerations. After all, he only arranged for the people on the battleship to go ashore to rest. There was no need to carry the various materials ashore, so the battleship and the main ships were not needed. Just stay on the shore.

A group of longships approached the battleship, and the visitors were all under the banner of the Count of Saaremaa Island. If you ask where the Count is, Count Spyut himself is already on the shore with tens of thousands of waiting soldiers and civilians, enthusiastic and quiet. King Rus is coming.

The boat swayed with the waves, but the anchored warship was as stable as a boulder standing on the bed.

The rope net was thrown from the ship, and the sailors and soldiers climbed into the swaying boat lightly on these ropes.

Even though Rurik was a king, he was not immune to the custom of landing in a small boat at the port.

He held a slender elbow and said: "Beya Hill, be careful, it will be bad if you fall into the sea."

"Yes. I...I will be cautious."

Looking at the sea water, Beyathil took a deep breath. She comes from the southern steppes, and although she lives by the Volga River, she cannot swim. Although this is not her first time on a boat, it is her first experience on a giant ship, and it is her first time to get off a ship by climbing a rope net.

She was dressed elegantly and decently, with a long sword hanging around her waist, her leather boots stepping on the cable, and her hands not daring to wear gloves for fear of slipping.

, just feel the roughness of the rough rope with your much smaller palms.

Compared to her cautiousness, Rurik's movements were much more brutal. When he calmly jumped into the boat, the whole boat shook violently.

Rurik sat down again very skillfully and signaled to the rowers present: "Don't delay and act immediately, I will act with you now!"

Perhaps as a king he should no longer have to do the work of rowing, and he used it as a kind of fun to relieve the boredom of sea voyages.

He personally shouted the chant, and the entire longship moved in unison. Everything seemed to have returned to the past - an era when the Russians could only rely on the most traditional dragon-headed longships to conquer the north and south.

Rurik's clothes were thin and colorful, and his armor was extra for transportation. When he rowed the boat himself, he already wore a gold laurel wreath on his head, which made the boat extremely expensive.

In Rus, only the king can wear a laurel-style crown with a laurel shape, and the crown of King Otto is a solid gold helmet. In terms of gold, Old Otto's crown was the most valuable. Rurik deliberately elevated his father's status in Russia and used more gold as a symbol of Otto's authority. The old man sat behind Russia like a needle in the sea, so he gave it Rurik dared to challenge Frank's confidence.

He knew very well that while his old father was still alive, it was the window of time for Ross to go west to plunder resources.

This time window has become increasingly narrow, and perhaps this is the best historical opportunity.

The port of Riga is getting closer and closer. It seemed wild when we arrived here in winter. Now it is a lush scene, with densely packed ships and people showing its prosperity.

A large number of Russian flags were flying on the shore, arriving first

The soldiers put on Ross cloth robes and stood in formation to form a blue and white human wall, in sharp contrast to the gray and black people.

Little did they know, a pair of eyes were staring at the man wearing a golden crown on the boat.

Rurik's blond hair was already conspicuous under the scorching summer sun, and the strongly reflective crown was even more eye-catching.

Behind Rurik, more boats were heading towards the vacant dock. They were competing with each other, but Rurik came out on top.

Exquisite and well-made military leather boots stepped onto the newly built trestle in the Port of Riga. Rurik pulled Bejahir up again, and the two of them formally entered the loyal Riga one after the other.

Seeing this, Siput and Fisk had already won in advance.

Even the defeated Namsis, who had his heel cut off and was forcibly dragged like a dead dog.

"Your Majesty, you are finally here." Fisk's joy was beyond words. He straightened his body and beat his chest hard as a salute.

Spuyut, his son, and even the Saaremaa warriors were all dressed in their best clothes. They were all wearing Ross's robes, their armed belts were firmly tied, they had swords and hand axes on their waists, and they had big bucklers on their backs. Why? They are all characters who can enter the battlefield at the king's command.

Rurik glanced around and saw a large number of infantry, as well as a huge cavalry group gathered behind the infantry.

While he was still rowing, he saw a large herd of deer moving around. They were the reindeer who had arrived first, but they were all located on the south bank of the Daugava River.

"The infantry and cavalry are all on the north bank. They must have done it deliberately to welcome me. In this way, I will have to spend some time transporting the cavalry to the south bank and then make the land route.

What's going on..."

Rurik still doesn't know that he is not here. In the past six months, the situation in Riga and Semigalia in the south has changed dramatically, and those things that are sadly called obstacles have disappeared without a trace.

"Your Majesty, welcome to Riga. I saw an invincible fleet stationed here. The Franks will eventually pay a heavy price for their past arrogance because Odin is angry. As Odin's son, you will punish them..." It came from the mouth of Spuyut, a guy who was no longer young. His words were very sophisticated, as if he had received guidance from an expert, which made Rurik feel a little embarrassed.

"Armada? This word... I always feel a little unlucky. Whatever!" Rurik looked at the old man's face sincerely: "It's been half a year since Riga has changed a lot. How about it? Are the Latvians here the ordnance supplies I need? it is done?"

"Everything is done! And... many things happened far beyond your expectations."

Looking at the excitement of this old guy, Rurik was also infected by this inexplicable joy: "Did something great happen?"

"Of course. Your Majesty, according to the custom, I should report major events to you at the Count's Palace in Riga or the Rusduma in the city. Now please allow me to offer you our great gift."

"Gift? Okay."

Rurik waited with interest, but as a gap opened in the human wall and something like a dead dog was dragged out, the smile on his face immediately turned into confusion, and even some mental discomfort.

"Is this what happened? This is...a person."

"He is your enemy." Now Fisk introduced with a fierce look on his face.

"Enemy? I'm in Riga

What other enemies are there? Could it be that the guy you showed is a rebel from some Latvian village? "

"This man has never surrendered to Ross." Fisk pointed to the south: "He is the leader of the Semigalians in the south, and he is the enemy of the king."

"Oh?" Rurik's eyes narrowed to a slit, and he glanced at the weak "animal" again. Having experienced hundreds of battles, he basically guessed the unauthorized actions of the troops stationed there: "You... are taking the initiative to attack Semiga Leah uses troops. Fisk!?"

Fisk was startled. He had long expected that the king would be censured once he learned of the matter.

He hurriedly made up for it: "Because something happened, we had to attack the enemy. Your Majesty, wars always happen at unexpected times, and we won."

Fisk did not directly admit that he was the elite of the Russian army stationed in Riga, and conspired with the local nobles to launch a fierce military operation. His words suddenly became clever, which made Rurik subconsciously feel that they had won a counterattack. Then he followed Rose's usual practice of quickly switching from defense to offense as soon as the counterattack started.

"Semigalia!" Rurik raised his head and muttered to himself sternly, and then asked around him: "What's going on? This man's hands are tied and his mouth is cut. Spuyut, this must be Your means."

"Hey, I'm just worried that this person will try to retaliate and frighten the king."

"Hey, do you think I'm easily frightened? I haven't seen anything dangerous before? As for this person... By the way." Rurik thought of something else: "Where's Stekander? Why didn't that guy come? see me

? He's so big but. "

"Allow me to report." Fisk said immediately: "Stekander and his Latvian militia are still at war. Your enemy is not only Semigalia, but also the Okshtet people. Stekander We are leading troops to expand our victory."

"Him?" Rurik couldn't believe it: "During the Winter War, didn't Stekander's Danish brothers suffer a lot of losses?"

Spyut took a step forward: "I sent some troops to support him. Your Majesty, you would never have imagined that we organized a coalition and probably annihilated a total of 10,000 enemy soldiers on the battlefield called the inner city of Mezot. Semigali I'm afraid Asia has no soldiers to fight, and the remaining old, weak, women and children should be our slaves! Moreover, two thousand prisoners of war have been transported to Riga. To be honest, I have transported 400 very good slaves to my island. superior."

Spuyut's move was a sincere report, and it also had a hint of showing off.

The two generals were talking very relaxedly, and standing next to Spuyut was his son. He was as confident as a young man, and he was afraid that this boy would be involved in the war again.

Ask the adults, maybe the adults will deliberately hide something, but what about the young teenagers? This little Eric is supposed to be sincere.

No, Erik Spjutsson didn't feel any discomfort when facing the superior King Rose.

The boy held his chin up with a proud look on his face: "Your Majesty, from now on I will replace my father as the best warrior under your command. I fought fiercely with the enemy in this battle, and I killed many enemies."

"You will. Have you...really seen the onslaught of countless enemies?"

The boy was unruly and deliberately did not answer Rurik's question directly.

Asked, "Not only was it a fierce attack, my shield wall was also broken down by their cavalry. I almost died! Fortunately, the gods blessed me. I got up and organized the shield wall again to continue fighting them."

The boy mentioned a very crucial detail. Rurik was keenly aware of this and immediately looked at Spyut: "The enemy still has cavalry?"

"Exactly." Spuyut mentioned the grunting "dead dog": "This person has been investigated clearly. His name is Namsis, and he is the leader of Semigalia of this generation. He He had two hundred cavalry, and he was also a horseman. He was unwilling to surrender to the king, but always had Riga's idea. If the king wanted to take the land route through the Courland Peninsula, he would definitely fight with this man. His army was killed and captured. His cavalry also collapsed."

"Oh? So, did you capture some horses?!" Rurik couldn't help but increase his tone.

"There are a hundred horses. They are all gelded stallions. They have been nailed with new horseshoes. Please take the time to inspect them. At least I think those horses are very good." Fisk told the truth.

"You want to see it, of course you want to see it. You are very satisfied with them, which means they are all good horses. How wonderful! I have a large number of reindeer as pack mules, and you brought me another hundred horses. Wait a minute!" Rurik said Suddenly an idea flashed: "Your military operation did not involve the king and his elites, so there must be a lot of losses, right? There are 900 knights of the king, as well as soldiers from the Rus community and the Danish community, who are left in Riga. Can you There may not be many troops dispatched. Fisk, tell me truthfully, how much of our cavalry has been lost?"

Rurik was already mentally prepared when he said this.

Be prepared, gathering local people in Ross to go on a horseback expedition is a big gamble, and losing a lot of horses may be a fate. Of course, Rurik hoped that the horses would not be damaged. It would not be a problem for the Russian cavalry to lose dozens of horses in the sudden war, and they could make up for it by replacing them with captured war horses.

Unexpectedly, Fisk vowed to beat his chest: "I didn't have any injuries! There were only some minor injuries on some horses. After I came back, I used herbal water to clean the wounds. I felt that they could still continue to fight. I pursue the aversion to non-contact combat and simply rely on Keep shooting arrows to make the enemy collapse! Haha, the arrows were supposed to be sold directly to the king by the Latvians, but now they are all used to kill the enemy, and most of the arrows can still be used after recycling."

"Is there such a good thing?" After listening to a series of descriptions and looking at the "dead dog" on the ground, Rurik suddenly felt that his men were too harsh on the defeated man.

"What a good gift. With this gift, I finally know what you have done in the past six months! Well done! However, Fisk, you still did it without permission. This is not good, but fortunately you won. It won't happen again. .”

"Okay. I won't do it next time." Fisk smiled naively. If the king doesn't pursue his unauthorized actions, he won't be able to quibble, and he won't be foolish enough to take credit.

"So what are you going to do with this person?" Rurik asked.

"Of course it will be execution. However, this matter still needs to be decided by the king." Spuyut's hint was already obvious. Rurik glanced at the old man, suddenly pulled out his sword and pointed it at Namisi, who was beaten half to death. Si's heart was stabbed, quickly killing him.

In the end, all the plots were defeated

Those who see through.

Namsis, who wanted to take advantage of the humiliating display of trophies to suddenly rise up and launch a counter-attack, had not thought that the soldiers of Saaremaa Island who were pirates would, under the instruction of their leader, kill him for fun. Beat him up.

Spuyut deliberately indulged his subordinates, and prisoners and slaves in their hands were inevitably beaten. This completely cut off the opportunity for Namsis to assassinate.

At least, before being killed, Namsis saw clearly the face of his real enemy, King Rurik of Rus. It was a young face, with deep eyes and finely trimmed beard, and his head seemed to be golden. Covered, existing like the sun under the sun.

But in the eyes of Namsis, this was so terrifying. For a moment, he fell into the void...

"Throw the unlucky things into the sea." Rurik shook off the blood stains on his sword.

Si Puyut understood. Although he hoped that Namsis would have a dignified death, it was indeed a bit hasty to be executed by King Rus himself in public. It was nothing more than a kind of dignity for the dead.

The dead bodies were thrown directly into the river and pushed quietly from the Daugava River into the sea in the Gulf of Riga.

In any case, the Ross army stationed in Riga conspired with the local nobles to launch a new war. This war was very beneficial to Ross, but because it was done without authorization, Rurik had reason to prohibit the reward.

This is what he thought, but when prominent figures in the city of Riga gathered in the city's Rus Duma, and then the generals of the Rus' army who landed gathered here, everyone held a key military meeting under the chairmanship of Rurik, about Rus-Semi The course of the Gallian War was completely clear.

acting without permission

The merits and demerits of the army were balanced, and Fisk was very sensible and shut up. After all, this battle really tempered the army, turning a group of too young warriors into fierce veterans, and brutally defeated them with the Semigalians as their training. It was a unique moment of military training before the war against Frank.

The County of Saaremaa Island in Spuyut has been responsible for its own profits and losses since its establishment. Rurik trusted Spuyut, an old guy with a certain blood relationship, and deliberately delegated power to him to develop freely. In this way, the count supervised the maritime trade security of the South Baltic Sea. The development and growth of Spuyut's power really benefited Ross's finances. save money.

Perhaps, the presence of princes a hundred years later will be detrimental to the core of Rus.

But now, Rus needs these princes very much to maintain the security of Rus' peripheral areas.

As for Stekander and the thousands of Latvians he gathered, they are not only responsible for their own profits and losses, but are now clearly engaged in a military adventure. Since their boss Stekander was not even a Rusian, Rurik was surprised that the Latvians had become very capable of fighting and could even endure terrible war losses. Perhaps this was hidden.

During discussions in the Rosduma, Rurik heard such a name - Neman River.

The name of the Neman River means "peace" in the Latvian tribal dialect. A long river flowing quietly, it is the Neman River.

Of course this famous river Rurik is known, and its destination at Klaipeda or Memel is also known.

In essence, the Latvians and the Semigalians are related tribes. They fight for the living space. In this regard, no one can be said to be absolute.

justice.

Stekander led the Latvians and marched towards the Nieman River with courage and courage. Rurik really couldn't see that the old Danish guy was so vicious.

However, that is all his own business. Even if his own Latvian county suffers a lot due to the current military adventure, Rurik can accept the result. A weaker unrelated county will be beneficial to Russia as a whole. In this way, the direct forces of Russia can better control Riga.

But some people need rewards, and those are some guests from the Courland coast in the west. Although they were guests, they not only served as guides, but also directly participated in the war and sacrificed several lives for it.

Coming from Ostin in Cherbourg, this old fellow was well versed in the river route across Courland.

He and his family and friends were excellent guides, and Rurik knew they were gifts from the gods and had to be exploited, so he took a keen interest in these people.

An idea even came up: "Cherbourg? A small settlement on the Courland coast? Give this guy a title, such as earl, and it will be included in my kingdom system. If there is such a person, I will take it I'm afraid the entire Courland does not need military conquest. With these obedient people taking action, the local people will seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, so they must be happy to join me..."