Chapter 662 The Situation Is Changing

An army was assembling, the soldiers of Arik's First Banner.

This troop had almost no casualties in the battle a few days ago, the wounded were temporarily settled, and the rest of the sturdy soldiers were still more than 470 people.

They received an important task - armed reconnaissance.

It is said to be reconnaissance, if they suddenly launch an attack, they can also achieve great results.

Rurik reminded his brother: "If there are few enemies, you will attack them. If there are many of them, don't rashly land and fight them."

How to understand this? Arik understands himself.

There is no need for the huge Rus fleet to stay in the Volkhov River. Except for the Slavs who stayed in Novgorod and continued to build, the real Rus army should return to the original plan and return to the mouth of the Neva to assemble.

Rurik was about to leave, but Arik's first flag team was the first to leave.

However, a summer rain came unexpectedly!

The slightly hot air suddenly dissipated, and it rained heavily amid the thunder.

The public welcomes such heavy rain in summer, and experience tells them that the wheat seedlings that have not yet headed will grow better when they are nourished by the heavy rain.

The torrential rain came and went quickly, and the next day there was only a drizzle. It was obvious that it was not far from the sky.

After a delay of two days, the first flag team boarded the ship in the clear morning.

This is an armed reconnaissance to discover and sneak attack on the Karelians, and it is obviously inappropriate to use a large ship.

The only sailing destroyer powered by human propellers, the Mercury, became the flagship of the squadron, followed by the Venus Mona.

As many as ten traditional dragon-head longboats follow.

From any point of view, the combat effectiveness of this fleet cannot be underestimated. If the Karelians also have a fleet, the enemy's rash attack would be self-defeating.

Rurik didn't think that the Karelians who tamed reindeer were very smart at all, but he was afraid that their military capabilities were half the size of the Tavastians who were annihilated.

How can the Karelians make the Rus pay attention to the Suomis?

Squadron furling,

Drift along the river all the way north.

The soldiers sang and laughed and ran to the huge Lake Ladoga, where they planned to set up a camp where the lake entered the mouth of the Neva River, and then moved on.

Arik and his entourage traveled very smoothly. They landed on the gravel beach and drank the cool water like animals on the lakeside.

Some people even jumped in to take a shower, or took out soap to wash sackcloth clothes.

The bonfires were lit one after another, and someone caught a fatty burdock, and the largest one was immediately dedicated to Arik.

How not to accept gifts from brothers?

Arik held the thornless fish in both hands and feasted, while someone chatted: "I heard that the old duke also wants to build a town in this place, so that the supplies brought from Novgorod can stop here first. I don't know where to stay. Will Lord Rick execute it?"

"Do you think it's feasible?" Arik said casually.

"Why not?" the man explained: "The lake area here is like the sea, and we haven't even explored its northern end. There are so many fish here that we can easily kill and catch them."

"Yeah, there are a lot of fish. Brothers!" Arik increased his voice: "This time we will look at the end of the northern part of the Great Lakes. There must be Karelians there, and they attacked immediately."

"Ah? But my lord, the duke asked us to be cautious."

"Careful? It's not that the hands and feet are tied with ropes. Many of you followed me to attack Gotland for the first time, and there were more than 400 people at that time. Were you afraid at that time? Now the flagpole is hesitant?"

Everyone who said this was speechless.

Arik re-emphasized: "My brother's words are only for reference, brothers, if we wipe out the Karelian people, the biggest credit will be yours! Listen to me, I will act according to the opportunity."

They left an obvious trace, and the sand and stone lake also left the rut marks of the long ship's keel after eating.

The fleet passed through the mouth of the Neva River and entered here. The thirty Kewen longbowmen who accompanied the army were not like the Rus, and they all began to feel inexplicable worries.

Will the army suffer disaster?

No, they are simply entering completely unknown territory, feeling pure fear.

On Novgorod's side, a great and famous city is under construction.

The Slavic men were sweating with open arms, they would sweat a lot, but a lot of salt was sprinkled into the oatmeal, and no one was worried about the loss of salt.

Even this day of eating salt every day is unprecedented for the entire White Tree Manor.

On a clear evening, the soft light of the setting sun swept across the lake and forest, and people who worked for a day became lazy, but only the Varyag people remained high-spirited.

Just because Rurik has given an order, the army will return to Novo Rosesburg to assemble.

Rigus' home, a warm and dry place.

Svetlana is looking forward to the birth of a new life, although the possibility is relatively low. Premature sex is always fruitless, it was given to her by her mother.

But after the wedding was officially completed, she had to leave the White Tree Manor and had to follow her husband Rurik closely.

even in the war.

war? She is not afraid.

With Lanna really involved in the battle, she felt that Sperosvillea, the Rus' Valkyrie, had given her strength, and that the heavy steel-armed crossbow would make a new contribution.

The girl's mentality is changing rapidly, becoming a Varyag female warrior. She even looked forward to taking part in the New Crusade herself, fighting alongside Carlotta.

Rurik was not in his wife's boudoir, and the men sat together and gathered together on the eve of the expedition.

Old Otto drank half a glass of strong wine, and he was dazedly convinced that he had spit out the truth after drinking.

"I won't leave this time! Rurik, according to your arrangement, go to your hometown to bring your women over to do important things. Bring your mother and daughter, I just want to retire here."

Old Rigus was very supportive of Otto's decision, and now it seems that this aging veteran has no fear of him, and his words are even amiable.

Otto sits in town, which means that the imposing manner of the Rus people is in the White Tree Manor, and the manor has a respectable imposing manner to be intimidated by it.

They talked a lot, especially since the ten maids would go back to their hometowns to count the acres of land, something that Ligus had never heard of.

The old guy was surprised and puzzled: "They... can they do it? They are just women."

"They were trained by me, not ordinary servants at all. Rigus, they are my scribes."

The Duke's expression was determined, and Rigus did not dare to say anything. He still doesn't believe that those women can do great things, but their parents will be shocked when they come back in a beautiful manner.

The next day, departure day.

The Rus army is gathering at the riverside, except for some old guys who plan to spend the whole summer in Novgorod with old Otto (actually plan to immigrate and settle), the rest of the Varangians will be temporarily evacuated.

Only the ship Sperosville was moored in the river to demonstrate strictness, and the soldiers of the other ships boarded one after another.

This time, instead of Sorgon, the fleet unloaded a batch of rewards. However, the army gained a lot of wealth through the war at Lake Ilmen, and it was impossible to fight with the spoils of war, so the army acted lightly.

Rurik took his wife's hand and climbed onto the Avrora, watching his daughter leave again, Rigus, who looked up, was really full of thoughts.

A few years ago, the Ross ship was not so huge, and the eldest daughter boarded the ship and left. Wait a minute, are the eldest daughter and grandson in New Roseburg now? The eldest son-in-law Kawi and the eldest daughter Lilia should also come back to visit relatives.

The younger daughter now looks exactly like her elder sister, and her status has become a queen. Noble status is just worthy of this big ship.

The heavy iron anchors were put away, and the Avlora slowly descended downstream.

The people on the shore were cheering, and Otto stayed in the crowd. He saw and heard. These Slavs cheered and said goodbye from the heart.

The Slavs had no fear, only goodwill, and finally, the Rus became the masters of this lake area.

The huge fleet successfully arrived at the mouth of the Neva River on Lake Ladoga, and there were obvious traces of fire on the shore. A little investigation showed that this was what Arik was doing.

Rurik has long been interested in the strategic value of this place. When a permanent fishing village is built here, she should be the town of Ladoga or another name.

This will be inevitable, as long as the Karelians are conquered, the entire Lake Ladoga is completely safe, and the bloated population of the Duchy of Rus will spawn multiple settlements along the lake.

They didn't stay here much longer, and the sailing accelerated as the fleet entered the Neva, where the currents had become somewhat turbulent.

They arrived, and when Rurik landed, they were surprised to find the strangeness of Novo Rosberg!

Rabbit Island is still overgrown with grass, and opposite the island is the large fence and the wharf trestle of the main city of New Roseburg.

The entire fleet was docked here, and the grand situation attracted the residents of the city to go out to watch, and even the city walls were full of people.

A group of black-haired dwarves greeted them, and the leader was not Yevluo himself?

"Who is that? It's strange." Svetlana asked curiously.

"This is the Finnish army I've called up. So we're big and we're going to win."

Svetlana said no more, she didn't believe that these black-haired men were very strong in combat, looking at their low reality, they were far weaker than Ross's strong men.

Rurik disembarked, not talking to Governor Konusson, but immediately to Yevlo.

As for Conuson, his son has happily reported his involvement in the counterinsurgency war.

"How many troops have you brought?" asked Rurik.

Yevro said proudly: "There are more than 400 people at present."

"Ah? That's all? Not bad, I just asked you to organize a flag team."

"Listen to my explanation, my lord. I'm on one boat to transport warriors from Helminki all the time. You can't expect their canoes to sail the seas."

Rurik nodded, "What is the attitude of the local leader?"

"My father-in-law? They... lords. We can discuss this in the Chamber."

"Alright. I'm tired, let's discuss things first, then I'll take a good bath..."

The conference hall of New Roseburg is now also hung with the "RUSDUMA" sign.

Rurik was here with the council of ministers, and he had no intention of lingering, but insisted on asking about Yevro's experience.

He got good news.

"Haha, I really didn't expect that old guy to cooperate so well!"

"After all, the Karelians were annihilated, the Suomis...the Finns. The Finns have no worries." Yevlo continued to explain.

"So have they started an active attack?"

"That's true. All the men of Suomi have invaded the inherent territory of the Karelian people and began to harass the strongholds they established. It's just adults, you must not think that the Suomi people are very combative. If it wasn't for the adults, you would lead a large army to crusade. , they did not dare to fight and attack by themselves."

Rurik nodded. The Finns he now defined almost only refer to the Suomis, whose population is at most 30,000, and all the men who can fight are assembled, with a military force of at most 10,000 uneven.

They only had a canoe navy and no navy, so they had to rely on Ross sea ships to gather them at Fort New Rose.

With Yevro's guarantee, Rurik believed that those people were fighting as a clan, but he did not believe that the Suomis could win alone.

These guys are an atmosphere group if they are not trained!

"Yavlo, are the people you brought in training?"

"Yes, I train them to shoot arrows. My lord, they are not tall, maybe they are suitable for being organized as spearmen. But they are all good at archery, and if they put on a good crossbow, they will have good combat effectiveness."

"Crossbow? Forget it. Just let them shoot arrows with traditional bows, and I'll reward them with some iron cluster arrows."

Yevro understood, and he realized that the Duke could not fully trust the Suomis.

This is very normal. How can you be trusted without the experience of fighting side by side? It is for this reason that Yevlo successfully persuaded the Suomis to join the war collectively.

On a macro level, the "Finnish Army" has assembled an army of 20,000 people! This number was said by Yevlo, which caused everyone to burst into laughter.

At most 5,000 people who actually have a little fighting power, and most of the rest are just shouting and cheering.

Nonetheless, Yevlo explained his ambitions.

"I plan to bring a thousand people and form two Suomi flag teams. I will train them to shoot arrows, shoot arrows on large ships, and form archery arrays on land. They will definitely be able to effectively support other brothers."

The words sounded uplifting, but Rurik immediately became worried: "So many people? What about the food? I'm not obliged to give food to the servants."

"Don't worry about this, I dragged some canoes here. They fish and hunt rabbits on the shore of the bay. Your lord, they have paid more than 1,000 rabbit skins!" support.

A group of servants who bring their own dry food and can fish by themselves are here. Their strength can reach 1,000? This is not a claimed number, but a real thousand people.

Yeflo provided the most critical intelligence.

"My lord, I learned about the core of the Karelian people at Suomi's hometown."

Rurik shivered: "Where?"

"It's really north of the lake. I know that the Karelians have a number of allied tribes. The biggest one probably stands by the lake. They are good at catching bears."

"They dare to claim to be good at catching bears? Well, their core is called Bear City?"

"I don't know about this."

Yevlo also said a lot, and his intelligence and recruitment work were very gratifying.

Rurik was very satisfied that this person's heir should be a hereditary count of Finland.

The fog of the Karelians gradually dissipated, and their shadows became clearer.

Rurik now fully believes that the Karelians are indeed large Tavastians, and they will be very courageous, but they are on the edge of human civilization and do not know that there are powerful enemies outside the Great Lakes.

Rurik was taking a comfortable bath in Novo Rosberg, all he wanted was to drown his head in the hot water by himself and get a soft steam in the sauna.

This big city has a clear plan. Nevsky Prospekt runs through the whole city, Harvest Square is in the middle, and the rest are mostly residential buildings neatly arranged along the street. The most valuable thing is that the city has excavated some gullies for drainage systems, and most of the residents are Viking immigrants who care about hygiene. Every household has a dry toilet, and people dare not dump fecal waste on the road out of face.

Paving with stone is a huge project, and laying cement roads is theoretically feasible, but the cost is too high.

New Rose Fort needs to further expand farmland to reclaim wasteland, and then solve the enemy's problems before further urban construction.

Here Rurik assembled his army.

At this time, the Ross fleet began a new operation.

The explorer Speuter took the big ship Grey Squirrel, and then led the two ships Ubit and Maas, and the three ships went straight to Britain, asking for food tribute from King Ernred, and bringing the sincerity of the Duchy of Ross to the Viking York Kingdom. greeting.

The Salmon Chief sailed directly back to the hometown of Rosburg, where Ella and the ten maids would all arrive, and they would be sent directly to Novgorod, to the hometown of those maids.

Many matters are under Rurik's careful control.

Only the hapless Karelians, who only recently sensed the border crisis, began to mobilize men to fight back against the rare invasion of the Suomis.

Unexpectedly, a deadly attack is about to cross Lake Ladoga, which is bigger than the sea...