Rise of Rurik Chapter 361

Those long and hard ships carry too much cargo, and it seems that as long as a big wave hits, the ship will capsize.

In 830, the long voyage of Sorgon, which spanned the entire summer, finally ushered in the end of a bumper harvest.

The huge fleet rushed to the west, gradually disappearing from the sight of people on the shore.

Those immigrants who continue to operate Shilla Fort, they continue to build the near-finished wall, waiting for the arrival of winter.

Thinking of the past few days, Rurik sitting on the "leadership" carved with dragon heads, he couldn't help but think more.

The weak north wind is not so hurtful at present. He looks at the oarsmen behind him. He is sitting in a cramped seat. In order to ensure that the ship's center of gravity is stable, the sacks loaded with grain are placed in a line parallel to the keel in the center. . Many people have been shirtless, even if there is a cool breeze, the sun shines on their muscled arms, still showing their obvious sweat.

Shilla Fort is behind, and the wooden fence that has been erected has become an obvious landmark.

Everything is just the beginning. Rurik believes that Konuzon will act according to his own city plan. Perhaps it will be ten years later that a fortified city wall built of stone will rise on the Neva River. Those are relatively remote things, for example, he saw the fleet passing by a desert island. It is Kotlin Island, with some stones on it.

It has to be said that Rurik is in great need of solid granite that can be used in construction.

The granite on Kotlin Island is not excellent granite, but some soft sandstone, which has been weathered and eroded year by year, and has already covered the island with a layer of sand.

"Maybe I should name it Kronstadt from now on."

There is no fresh water on the island, and the fleet has no intention of docking here.

Because Arik and his brothers attacked a seaside village of a group of Estonian tribes, then the Rus won an absolute victory without death. Because of this incident, Otto had no idea about stopping at the south coast of the bay.

If you bring a large army to conquer him, you are fearless, but now the huge fleet is escorting 200,000 pounds of food and other supplies. A large group of non-combatants is a burden. Otto does not want to encounter any form of harassment. He needs to find a safe place to anchor.

There are especially some children from Novgorod and some young local women.

To put it bluntly, these Slavs were all sold to the Ross by their parents, and they already believed that their children who served as slaves to the Ross people seemed to be slaves, but they could actually lead a better life. In this way, when betraying their children, they can comfort themselves and not feel too distressed.

The fleet carries a large amount of food, which is a trophy for every soldier participating in Sorgon.

A group of children are servants that reward their sons. Both boys and girls must devote themselves to future training and labor within their power. Really expect a piece of mythology to win people's hearts, Otto doesn't think it is a panacea. He is pleased to see Rurik training his forces so that the family can truly and completely veto the tradition of men's duel election leader since ancient times.

Otto is also working as a "monthly old", and one of the ways to win people's hearts is to solve the marriage problem of the young men of the tribe. Although everyone's living standards have improved in the past two years, young couples will no longer take the initiative to deal with their newly born daughters, and the **** ratio of the tribe has begun to stabilize.

The young boys of the previous generation did not all marry, and even many powerful men are capable of marrying a second wife.

Isn't it a matter of course to introduce them to their wives and receive some money from them?

For these reasons, in order to avoid any accidents, the fleet cannot dock on the coast of the mainland.

So, is it that the most important fresh water for the long voyage is completely dependent on the Neva River and stored in the pottery urn and the personal gastric water bag of the soldier?

It doesn't have to be this way.

There are many islands in the long and narrow Gulf of Finland that stretches from east to west, and some of them are very large with fresh water.

Among the many islands, Mohine Island is quite unique.

Otto has long known that this island with two small bays is very suitable as an anchor for the sailing fleet and a place for people on board to rest. What's even more wonderful is that there is also an extremely rare huge freshwater lake on the island, which has become a holy place for supply.

If only to hurry, Otto has no intention of stopping here.

It is entirely that the personnel and materials transported this time have reached the most extreme situation in the countless voyages he has led. Of course, it is not possible to imagine that his son's first shot will be more extreme for the time being.

The long ship is not an excellent transport ship, it is only a cameo in this role.

Because of the wind direction, Otto found that he couldn't use the wind to make the long boat move quickly in this east-west bay. Only by entering the Gulf of Bothnia, which runs north-south, can you easily head against the wind.

However, who said that with the whistling of the north wind, the sailing boat can't go westward? Lurik looked at the all-faced sails of the fleet. It was not the kind of spinnaker that could be sailed as desired by wind in all directions, so he should not expect much. The best sailors can maneuver the existing sails to ride the waves in unfavorable wind conditions. The best sailors need long training. This kind of man Gould has nourished a group. This is not a high opinion of Gould, it is entirely a waste of money to hire a large number of oarsmen, and large cargo ships are not suitable for oarsing. It can be described as a pure sail, spawning professional sailors who make a living by sailing.

The Ross Warriors' arms, which are almost as strong as their legs, prove that they are masters of paddling. If they want to take care of looting, hunting and fishing, they can't work **** sailing.

However, the fleet is already overweight as never before. They are full of energy in the morning, and in the afternoon they endure the boring paddling entirely by endurance. Although some ships sang folk songs to try to relieve boredom, and even the accompanying Novgorod women sang local folk songs, all the singing could not reduce the fatigue of the arms.

Otto could see the fatigue of his men.

He stood on the bow, holding the wood carving of the horrible snake head on the bow, his bearded face was illuminated by the soft light of the setting sun, completely different from the tired appearance of others.

After all, no one would complain that the chief leader did not personally act as the oarsman.

"Brothers work harder! I'm going to stop at Tamsui Island. I know you are all tired. When we get to the shore, we will eat wheat and drink water! There are still a lot of perch in the lake. It's easy. It can be caught! Tonight we will drink oatmeal and eat grilled fish and take a good rest!"

The voyage can be regarded as hopeful. The leader's lead ship uttered an exciting roar. The following ship did not know what had happened. With the tacit understanding of the past, and the fact that it was getting late, it seemed that the fleet was about to dock and rest. .

Docked? Which shore is it?

The fleet had just passed a road with a huge sandy beach. At first, everyone thought it was a docking place, and never wanted to lead the ship to bypass it and move on.

Otto will not risk docking, especially the returning fleet has as many as 700 people. The presence of a large number of women, children and supplies made him have to find a reliable docking point.

A reliable island is just ahead.

The "freshwater island" as a destination is actually Mohine Island. There is a small island like a dagger to the east of the island. The two islands are like twins, they are easy to distinguish.

After a while, under the leadership of the leader ship, the fleet deliberately ran aground on the sandy southern beach of the island following the rising tide in the evening, and then the crew went ashore on a large scale.

Those who landed looked like a wild horse, and those who knew a little about the island rushed towards the center of the island with the water bag that they held back. A large number of unidentified people followed closely. They only walked less than three hundred meters in the woods and saw the dreamlike lake.

They paddled almost without rest throughout the day. They ate pre-made wheat cakes and dried meat and drank their own water, but almost no one went to the toilet. It's not indecent, but it's really out of stock.

Many people are thirsty. When they see the lake, they kneel down on the lake like a deer, and drink directly whether it is clean or not. Others have already picked up the hemp rope nets they carried with them and tried to fish in the lake.

Under the night, young warriors with aching backs and backs were sitting around the campfire, waiting for the wheat churning up and down in the pottery urn to be cooked.

Originally, the wheat that everyone controlled was shared proportionally, so it is only natural that everyone's wheat is now gluttonous.

Otto collected 200,000 pounds of Novgorod's shelled oats, so much wealth. Otto was also greedy. He asked for half of it as the wealth of the chief family, plus the collection from Shilla Fort Although the agricultural tax in the first year was only 10,000 pounds of wheat, it was a real wealth of one's own, and it was a very stable source of wealth with great development potential.

Absolute power brought about such a result. Although it was an extreme distribution method, Otto felt that his opponents had taken care of him very much.

Every young warrior can get at least one hundred and sixty pounds of wheat, so it seems that everyone doesn't get much.

In fact, what they have benefited from Sorgon is not simple wheat. Young people are happy to follow the leader to gain insights during the voyage, and more importantly, get a woman to be his wife. These wheat are all free income, they are pure income. To know the time that the entire Sorgon team stayed in the east, it mainly relied on local people to provide supplies. In the days of Fort Shilla, everyone estimated that they would go fishing in the sea and catch rabbits in the forest. In Novgorod, the army's food and drink expenses are of course entirely dependent on the locals, especially the retaliatory request that Pine Needle Manor provide most of the supplies.

They ate the cooked wheat, and the women accompanying them were also asked to grind some wheat with a stone grinder brought from their hometown and make some wheat cakes with coarse flour for later use.

The scent of wheat and grilled fish permeated the beach, and the warriors' stomachs clapped like stones. They were already tired and slept around the campfire because of low blood sugar after gluttony of carbon water.

Together with the old father Otto, they all rushed to sleep wrapped in a blanket.

"Damn it, I thought you guys wanted to have a bonfire party. I was really worried."

Rurik didn't want to go to bed so early. He only ate a small bowl of cereal and sat on the dry gravel by the sea, listening to the waves and watching the moonlight and stars, and the rows of ships.

"What do you think." Arik came with a wooden bowl and sat next to his brother.

"This is too lack of vigilance."

"Ok?"

"I mean father and them. If there is a surprise attack by the enemy, we sleepy fellows will be in danger."

Arik was speechless for a while, and laughed, "You are too naive, is there a force in this sea that knows better navigation than us? Who are you worried about? The Finns? Or the Estonians you are talking about? You see, this This island is already our territory. I never knew that there is a lake here. It seems that we should stop here for our sailing in the future."

"It's better to be more vigilant." Rurik shrugged, as if he was worried.

Arik swallowed his third bowl of porridge in two mouthfuls, and said casually, "Damn it, who would have thought that the ship would become bulky? Look at my brothers. Is it normal for them to sleep after dinner? "

"What's the matter?" Rurik twisted his head back again. "They won't catch cold when they are wrapped in leather."

"They are so tired, maybe we have to take a good rest on this island."

"Huh?" Rurik was taken aback. "The leader has no plans to do this."

Arik looked helpless: "Unless there is a southerly wind tomorrow. I think everyone should rest their arms."

south wind? How easy is it? It is simply impossible.

Rurik knows the basic geography of Northern Europe too well. There is no mountain range in it, so the north wind can blow endlessly in autumn and winter.

Otto did not tell himself about the future sailing plan, maybe he told Arik?

"Brother, you said our next voyage..."

"Of course, be prepared. We have to go straight to the west. Maybe we won't go to the second stop before we reach Tombstone Island."

"Huh?!" For a moment, Rurik felt that this was not reliable.

"Don't be in a daze." Arik pointed at a group of children who were curled up to sleep by a huge bonfire. "You know the Novgorod language very well. You can talk to your new servants. Haha, seeing that girl has potential, you can cultivate it. You know the attitude of the leader..."

Rurik gritted his teeth. He didn't feel any embarrassment at all. He also felt that once he was in control of the highest power, he would have no ethics and comfort. He really wanted to marry as many as his own will. He doesn't care about men and women for the time being. Now, there is nothing more urgent than letting the Ross tribe's comprehensive strength take off.

Everything is just like Arik's prediction. When everyone stops exercising, the overdrawn body starts to feed back danger signals to the mind.

Early in the morning, a large number of young warriors complained to the leader of their sore arms.

"Absurd! You are actually afraid of paddling?! You never complained when you went to Shilla Fort! Could the enemy stop attacking because of your poor health!"

Otto didn't care about the exhaustion of the tribe~www.mtlnovel.com~ He forced everyone to board the boat, even if it was physically weak, he still had to continue the voyage.

Here Otto ignores the navigation on the Volkhov, Lake Ladoga and the Neva River, which is completely different from the navigation at sea. In the previous voyages, you almost didn't need to paddle, and only rely on the river water to push the full-loaded ships forward, especially in the Neva River, even in the dry season, it can make the ships move quickly.

Once in the ocean, to drive the overloaded long ship forward, the mortal Ruth must be overstretched.

Forced will naturally not produce good results. The team was dragged when boarding the ship, and everyone was grieving. When it came time to paddle, everyone's embarrassed expression made Otto realize his mistake.

During the day, the fleet only advanced thirty nautical miles, and before evening, everyone was forced to dock on a larger island.

She is the largest island in the Gulf of Finland, Gogran Island.

Chapter end