Chapter 374: The Frozen Sea Comes to the World

Fort Eron Orava, the settlement of the Rus, was built in the area of ​​the later city of Kemi, Finland, or closer to the village of Kantola near Kemi.

The site itself is not of particular significance, but the only chromium mining site on the European continent, a mere five kilometers east of the settlement.

It has to be said that the Ross people did not build towns at the mouth of the river, but settled down deep into the river. The reason for this choice is that those who are good at sailing must consider the factors of sea tides. Building a pier on the coastline may not be suitable for the current state of the ships. If you build a pier in the river, there will be no problem.

They have to take into account the severe erosion effect of tidal fluctuations on piers and embankments. It is also the tide, even if the entire Gulf of Bothnia is frozen, the tidal action is still pushing the sea to bulge. What did it bring about? Sea ice breaks up slightly due to tidal forces, and the cracks and cracks freeze quickly. Also because the ice itself expands, the tides exacerbate this expansion. After coming and going, the sea ice in some areas became thicker and thicker, and finally formed ice lumps several meters high and stretching for a long distance.

The blizzard lasted for more than ten days, and even in the next few days, the blizzard basically stopped. The howling north wind was like the whisper of the devil, warning the people nested in the thick wooden house that going out would kill them.

No valiant hunter could boast of his invulnerability to the blizzard. Of course, there are people like this. In the end, they get lost in the wind and snow, and when the snow melts, they become food for the hungry brown bears that have ended their hibernation.

Gradually, it seems that the strong wind has become less harsh?

Rurik, who had nothing to do in the first place, was nestled in the mansion of the chief these days, so he had to give to Mechasta, Saiporava, and even Evro, regardless of their age or interest, Rurik said to They imparted knowledge that seemed unfathomable and incomprehensible.

He was just telling stories to pass the boredom, but it really refreshed the three of them's understanding of the world.

Saying that the world is a big ball is nothing more than saying that there is no sea at the end of the world. A sturdy ship is launched into the northern seas, and it has only to drift westward to discover a new world. what's there There are huge golden grains, there are huge plant roots, there are small red fruits that are more exciting than onions, there are strong bison, and there are...

So, what is that new world called? Wouldn't it be called Asgard?

"It's the land of miracles. Only when we actually set foot there will miracles become reality."

After Rurik explained it this way, Mechasta, who only had a very small understanding of the scope of the world, couldn't help asking: "Can the Ross people's ships really pass through the endless sea?"

"Of course not."

"So,

How can we get there? "

"I am sending people to build a big ship. Only it has the ability to go to the land of miracles. And you, Mechasta, you will make important contributions to the great ideals of our Ross people."

Mechasta was a little puzzled, but he soon came to his senses. Rurik did give himself a task, which was logging.

Logging is not random logging. Red pine or spruce with extremely straight trunks and just the right thickness should be selected. The tools for logging are not just axes, a new tool will be crafted as soon as the snowstorm is over.

Heading to America? The original meaning of America is "a miracle", and this word is pronounced "att mirakker" in the current Norse dialect.

The Norwegians and Danes, their longships have the ability to follow the currents of the North Atlantic, first drifting to Iceland, and then to Green Island. Starting from Green Island, you can easily drift to Hudson Bay, and it is very likely that you will come into contact with the natives who speak the Algonquian language. In fact, they did.

If these things come true, it would be too dreamy.

Rurik wants to be more pragmatic. If the tribe continues to develop northward, it will not only visit the so-called "Sea at the End of the World" Arctic Ocean, but also Murmansk, which will never freeze. It would be best if the Russians can form an alliance with the Norwegian residents of Narvik Port. Even if they cannot form an alliance, the northernmost port of the Russians should be established in Murmansk.

This port is really nice.

As long as this port is developed, the Ross people will have the ability to kill Britain, and it is almost a theoretically feasible starting point for going to the Western New World.

The wind and snow finally stopped.

The outdoor world was silent, as if the whole of Eron Orava had been frozen.

The thick wooden door was gently opened, and the cold air was overwhelming, Yefro hastily closed the door again.

"Master, please change your clothes."

"Are you worried that I'm afraid of the cold? It's ridiculous." Rurik put the ferret hat on his head as he spoke.

His whole body is covered in white fur, plus his already fair face, as long as he doesn't deliberately expose his blond hair and hides in the snow, he will blend into the silver-white world.

The wooden door was completely opened, and the heat accumulated in the room dissipated instantly. The outdoor sunlight gave great visual stimulation to people living in caves in the century, and Rurik boldly stepped out of the outdoors, squinting his eyes "under the scorching sun" in winter.

The sunlight is not soft at all, but the light is too dazzling. He can't wait to wear sunglasses. Of course, the people of Ross already have the ability to make sunglasses - add some ore to molten glass.

No one can happily complete pure hibernation in their own home. When the wind and snow stopped, some people began to let their suffocated hearts go outdoors.

Of course, they also have special practical needs. Chickens carry axes to chop wood and split it into firewood to cope with the coldest days.

In fact, a heavy snowstorm caused the lowest nighttime temperature in Allenburg to approach minus 20 degrees.

This is really an unexpected situation, and no one thought that a heavy snowstorm could last for half a month. If someone hadn't been carving wood to record the time, people would have forgotten the date of the Julian calendar.

After the snowstorm, the temperature began to slowly warm up, but it was impossible to return to the days before the snowstorm.

Winter comes in this way, and winter life begins immediately.

Those Kewen people and Ross settlers had to obey the command of Rurik, the most noble man in essence. They obeyed his orders and accepted their respective jobs.

Some people are responsible for cleaning up the sundries in the fence, some are responsible for climbing the roof to push down the snow, some are responsible for rolling the snow on the ground, and some are responsible for cooking for the laborers.

In a very short day, more than 300 people cleared the most threatening snow on the roof. The children of the tribe also held hands, and Rurik asked him to step as neatly as possible to smooth the snow on the ground, and he was the leader of the team.

Rurik was putting on a show, his figure was not outstanding among a group of children from the Iron Squirrel Tribe, when he was warmed up, he took off his hat and had two beautiful golden ponytails. He walked in circles within the wall, and all the laborers came to him.

At night, people who have worked for a day desperately gnaw on the fish reserves. In order to get more energy, they have to gnaw fish crazily. However, fish meat is fish meat, and its calorific value is only one-third of that of oatmeal of the same weight. It is a mentally problematic behavior to expect to be able to perform high-intensity labor after eating fish.

Rurik reckoned that the most exhausted guys, who worked so hard to keep their houses from collapsing, probably consumed 4,000 calories today. To make up for this loss, four kilograms of pure salmon would have to be eaten.

"It looks like I'm going to bring over seventy thousand pounds of wheat, and maybe I'm not bringing enough."

They spent a day sorting out the internal affairs. The next day, the thick wooden door was pulled open by strong Ross fishermen and mercenaries, pulling a hemp rope as thick as a forearm.

Due to design factors, all the wooden doors of Allen Castle open inward. It was originally designed as a last resort, but it has played a key advantage in the moment.

why?

A huge wooden door was pulled open, and Rurik and the others saw that it was actually a wall of snow as tall as a person!

"Ah?! What's going on here? Could it be that there's really a snow disaster."

"Master, it seems that it's not easy for us to go out, we can't even walk in the snow." Yefro said worriedly.

Rurik gritted his teeth: "I don't care, bring me brothers, carry a shovel or something else, and make a way for me in the snow."

"This……"

"Go."

Originally, Yevro was reluctant. Considering his status as a mercenary, even if it was for the sake of professionalism, he had to work hard.

They tried to dig a passage in the snow wall. Evro thought it was a difficult job, but unexpectedly the road was dug quickly.

Because of overwork, he and his fellows were already sweating profusely. They took off their warm leather jackets and held long-handled soil shovels in their hands. Walking the snowy road, all they saw was knee-deep snow. It is the wall behind that has become a bit shocking. The large number of snowflakes carried by the north wind have already created a snow-covered slope around the wooden fence.

"It's not bad, you can still leave."

Yefro was panting heavily, and was called by his partner: "Look at the south! The sea! And the river! It's all ice!"

After he lifted it, he followed the direction of the buddy's finger, "Ah! There should be...the sea."

"The sea is completely frozen, we have to tell the master."

"Let's go back first." Yefro walked back to the wooden wall with a flick of his neck.

Soon, everything became clear, and Rurik thoroughly understood his situation.

There is a saying that freezing three feet is not a one-day cold, what if it is extremely cold for two consecutive weeks? It is not uncommon for the sea, which is already showing signs of freezing, to have a one-meter-thick layer of ice.

If it wasn't for keeping records, Rurik wouldn't know that today is November 15th of the Julian calendar.

The fact that the sea is frozen is still new to the inhabitants of the Iron Squirrel Tribe. They were only forced to cross the ice sea last year, and now they have completely become coastal residents. They are actually more used to living in the woods, and the men are also good at hunting in winter.

As long as they don't venture too far, men are not afraid of snow. They will log and hunt in the snow, and the women and children will stay in the warmth of their homes.

But Rurik had to implement his plan.

It's a new day, short and very important.

Rurik was a small man standing on a small reindeer sleigh, facing all the grown men who had been summoned.

There are steel squirrel tribesmen, Ross settlers fishermen, and his own mercenaries.

All the men in Fort Eron are here, waiting for the order from the leader.

Humans are not truly social animals, but they can form the habit of obeying orders, which reflects a strong organizational nature. In essence, this is a measure of mutual benefit, especially in extremely harsh circumstances, everyone should follow a smart person to keep warm.

After rectifying the internal affairs of Allen Castle, everyone believes that the Rurik children will not mess around.

Rurik spoke. He didn't want to stand here like a sculpture in the cold weather, and he said concisely: "Blacksmiths, clean the furnace, raise the fire, and continue smelting. Charcoal burners, continue burning charcoal, Meet the needs of smelting. Woodworkers, I need a large number of large sledges that can seat twenty men, build me immediately, and I will pay for it. Ross woodcutters, carry your axes and show your skills, I If the big tree collapses, it will be pulled to the coast."

Everyone was a little surprised, and Rurik didn't want to explain too much: "Do it now. Soon, a large number of people will go to Elronburg. They will drive the deer and carry a large amount of oats. Don't have any doubts." , complete my request, and I will reward you with the oats you won."

As long as you have tasted oatmeal with salt, you can understand that it can bring graceful warmth to people in extreme cold.

They fought for the oats, and just today the earth began to shake and there was a loud rumbling in the woods.

Rurik originally planned to wait for the saw blade to be made before organizing the manpower to cut logs efficiently.

Who would have thought that a ruthless snowstorm would take half a month? Rurik felt his precious time was shamefully wasted.

Fortunately, Ross fishermen, they all know a little bit of carpentry. They lack the ability to finish wood, but logging requires almost nothing more than brute force. Those small pine trees that are only as thick as thighs are only suitable for firewood and raw materials for making charcoal, and they can also be chopped down by a strong man with a Nordic forest ax in two or three strokes.

There are also many extremely large trees here, with a diameter of one meter or more. It was a towering spruce that had grown for more than a hundred years, and it was a terrifying existence that could smash people into flesh when it collapsed.

No, Mechasta originally took his own people to cut wood with a small chrome iron hand ax in order to collect materials for making charcoal. They want to cut down some big trees, and they can move them with existing materials, but it takes too much time.

The so-called big tree he understands is an existence equivalent to a diameter of about 30 cm, which is also a small tree in the eyes of the lumberjacks of the Ross people.

For the first time in their lives, they were lucky enough to see Ross Carpenter perform a magical logging technique.

I saw a big spruce that couldn't be hugged by hands at all. Its bottom trunk has been seen by the Ross people as a huge depression, and the Ross loggers are already talking and laughing and chopping on the other side?

That's how they plan to cut down the tree? It seems that there is no problem, but the big tree collapses, and whoever hits it will undoubtedly die.

As a result, a lumberjack inserted a piece of wood into the small gap he had deliberately cut. He beat the wood frantically, and finally the giant tree collapsed in a direction without hurting anyone.

It was the first time that Mechasta had seen Viking-style logging techniques, and those settled fishermen were actually a group of excellent loggers! They are not only tall and powerful, but also intelligent.

When the big tree fell, the ground trembled violently, causing Mechasta to sit directly in the snow. In a large area, the snow accumulated on the branches of pine and fir trees fell instantly, covering Mechasta's body, but he was too lazy to shake off the snow when he saw the collapsed body of the giant tree. Looking at the ground and giggling.

Mechasta has seen fallen giant trees in his life. Those are dead trees. After falling in the forest, he found them after the autumn rain. There are a bunch of mushrooms growing on the trees. Collecting edible mushrooms is also a job of tribal women. But what makes him regret is that although there is an astonishing salmon tide here in Eronburg, it is a pity that there are too few mushrooms.

In fact, with the leading technology, Rurik can quickly produce mushroom farming. He didn't think of this, just because it was completely unnecessary. The purpose of growing mushrooms is to obtain valuable protein. However, the Ross people, who actually control more than half of the fishery resources in the Gulf of Bothnia, lack carbohydrates, not protein.