Rise of Rurik

Every year, the Rus people import a large amount of flax straw from the south. The harvested flax straw has no added value. The Rus people buy them and process them by themselves.

The original flax rods are scattered and dredged to obtain a large number of coarse and thin lines of khaki and brown.

These tangled wads of thread could be woven on their own, but they were too crude, and seemed to have little new use beyond weaving into cloaks, sails, and sacks.

The women of Rus have inherited ancient craftsmanship, and they are not substantially different from the craftsmanship of the Franks, and the productivity of the two is also equal.

The coarse khaki linen thread is boiled in a pottery urn, and then a bit of natural thenardite dug up in the mountains is added. They don't know the principle of doing this, but the twine that has been boiled for a period of time has not only turned into the color of milk, but the woven fabric is extremely delicate.

The essence is the joint action of natural and easily available bleaching agent and boiling water, the natural pigments and gums stored in the linen threads are removed, so that the comfortable feeling can be obtained.

It's not a cumbersome technology, but it requires a lot of labor from the processor.

Gould imported virtually three linens. The khaki cloth is the roughest and cheapest, and it's not really much. The largest quantity is white cloth, which has a large output and a large annual sales volume.

Only the linen dyed in sky blue, they are precious.

Although white cloth is easy to get dirty, the Rus people are not very particular about it on weekdays. Now that the tribesmen have widely used soap, it is no longer a hassle to wash their linen cloth.

The linen poles bought last year, the women of Rose have spent the short daylight hours doing their best to weave through the boring winter months.

The Ross tribe was somewhat short of cloth, but the tribe has been the largest leather supplier to the southern allies for decades, and the tribe has never been short of leather. In recent years, trade with the South has become more and more frequent, and the scale has become unprecedented. Linen, which was once scarce, is now commonplace.

It is said that the Duke spent huge sums of money to buy a large number of finished linen, which was actually used to make uniform clothes for the soldiers on the expedition?

Shortly after Gould's fleet arrived, the women of the entire tribe, including the hundreds of girls under Rurik's command, gathered on the beach to receive orders from Rurik.

Soon, each piece of white cloth was torn into three halves, that is, three pieces of cloth about 4 meters long and 1.3 meters wide.

This kind of cloth can make a white robe for a strong warrior, and there is even a lot of surplus cloth, which requires women to use their imaginations to make some other textiles.

In all the cloth,

There are as many as 90 bales of pure white cloth, and theoretically, more than 1,300 robes will be made.

There were also thirty bales of rough khaki linen, which were also used to make robes, and these new robes had to be made quickly and then supplied to the new mercenaries from Meralen. Just taking into account the saving of materials, 30 packs of burlap can make 600 sets of coarse robes.

Only if Rurik is willing to spend a lot of money on the supply of his main equipment, and only when their morale is high, will victory really belong to Ross.

A vigorous clothing-making operation has begun! It's a women's war!

In essence, the women shouldered the logistics of the Rus army to a great extent. They spent their time cutting wood and cooking salt, and now they use the extremely long summer days to work with high endurance.

Although in Rurik’s view, the women of the tribe sat together, chatting and laughing, cutting cloth with knives, using bone needles, rough iron needles, and very few people using extremely precious steel needles (the origin is actually the Tang Empire). ) to sew uniform robes.

They can obviously employ more labor, but unfortunately they can't become the assembly line workers in Rurik's concept in this life.

Because they lack critical discipline education, and given their current living conditions, they do lack the motivation to work hard.

Ask yourself that Rurik doesn't blame them for dawdling. No matter how much they dawdled, they would be more efficient than the Mellarens, and the Gotlanders, who were also enemies, would not be able to prepare so quickly.

Every woman who received sackcloth must complete the production of robes within two days. In order to earn a sum of money, and also for their husbands and sons to be able to enjoy the scenery, they really completed the work seriously.

On July 15th, all the white robes with strikingly similar styles were handed in one after another, and Rurik also began to organize a new batch of workers to reprocess these white shirts.

A well-established Roth burly man wore chainmail, and then draped a sleeveless white cloth with cedar over his body.

This is exactly what Rurik wanted. With the cowhide belt tied around the strong man's waist, a neat and brave warrior came into being. Compared with his previous appearance, the onlookers praised him. This new look.

Just that is not enough!

Through the strong man, Rurik determined the exact location of the so-called sides and waist of the tunic.

Finished, that is, on the front and back of the gown, there are two blue cloth strips as wide as three fingers of a man, sewn to it in a cross pattern.

This is the exclusive "paddle coat of arms" of the Rus, and it is also the actual symbol of Rus.

There were twenty bales of blue sackcloth, which Rurik had never planned to use as clothing from the start, they had to be a mix of fabrics.

Speaking of which, the "cross oar" coat of arms chosen by the Rus since ancient times is simple, and the blue cloth has enough reserves. The Ross logo floats.

Only those clothes made of burlap are given to the newly recruited mercenaries who are taking their lives in exchange for the future. It is good to have new clothes to wear. They have self-knowledge and know that they have no right to pick and choose.

So the six hundred people from the Melalen tribe put on new clothes the next day, a simple belt made of hemp rope, and a pair of simple leather shoes.

They soon learned their real job - joining the Rus army and attacking Gotland.

Some young people are excited about it, and some old people are deeply confused about the way forward.

Young people just hope to express themselves in battle, and then take the opportunity to get the spoils. Older people think more about possible death, and the sorrow of not being able to fight for the Mellaren.

They immediately accepted the status quo, seeing that the entire Ross tribe, including the young children, were preparing for the war.

After all, the Rus people are also part of the new kingdom of Sweden, and I am afraid that the next war was also ordered by King Olegin.

They consoled themselves that they were finally involved in this great war, but in a very strange way.

Six hundred Melalons were a new force, and their weakness at the beginning was largely due to the torment of labor in boats and cars. After they changed into new clothes and ate enough fish to fill their stomachs, they began to accept the order of the gold master, the Duke of Ross, to help the Ross people cut wood.

They also learned about their weapons and equipment in the future battles, and it was indeed simple to say that it was a logging handaxe issued by the Rus people, and a short spear about the same height as their own. The key shield? The Russ did not issue them themselves, but fortunately, some Mellarens carried their own shields and even small axes with them. The rest made their own round shields by cutting wood.

Ross' elite troops have been practicing traditional battles in recent days.

Soldiers who are good at archery, including a kind of children, Rurik asked them to focus on practicing "all arrows" and alternate shooting arrow formations.

With a total of 150 Kewen people, it can be said that they are the veterans who survived the war. Of course, they all had some luck in their survival, but it was undeniable that they survived after all, which represented their strength. They are an elite warrior who, once battered by the crossbow, now have the right to touch the steel-armed crossbow of the Rus.

Of course, the Kowens were also the users of all longbows, and they essentially became the core of the shooting force.

All sorts of people were training, and Rurik even forced Gould to hand over the use of all his current mercenaries, servants, and domestic sailors. This is a full-scale war. Although many members of the Gould family are non-combatants, now that the rise and fall of the Principality is fighting again, they naturally joined Ross and must fulfill their obligations.

Sailors and Gould's mercenaries had a very special training, that is, to bring the Torsion Slingshot ashore, put it on a two-wheeled cart, and shoot at a wooden handle.

The torsion slingshot also took the opportunity to carry out important repairs. Considering the previous battle damage, the torsion hemp rope of the slingshot has suffered a large number of small breaks. Of course, it can still be used, but it will lose pounds faster and faster in the future. All of the slingshots were lost, which was one of the reasons it was difficult to sink the Gotland patrol ship at close range.

All the torsion slingshots were quickly repaired, and the twine on each side was raised from twelve to fourteen strands, and its torque was also improved a little, which received extremely positive feedback during training.

The soldiers wore the same clothes and appeared on the battlefield in a neat line, and the military might must have scared the enemy to shudder.

Of course that alone is not enough!

Fisk's mother, Bromma, who was instructed to supervise the women's work, had been indebted to Rurik, and now had to make a new contribution.

Rurik found her on purpose and ordered her organization to sew some flags by hand.

sewing flags? Sew Rus' oar flags? Like the pattern printed on the original sail of the leader's flagship?

One side of the white cloth is nearly one meter wide and one and a half meters long. Broma cuts blue cloth strips and sews them on the cloth himself.

If only that was the case, everything was normal until Rurik asked for blue cloth strips to be sewn in the Norse language in the rune alphabet under the flag in the area of ​​six hundred deliberately.

There are five flags that require text annotation, namely:

KRIGARE ET (Warrior One), KRIGARE TVA (Warrior Two), HIUTARE (Shooter), (Slavs), (Merlaren).

Ross's army has become the recognized behemoth of the day, and to command such an army, they must be grouped.

Today's people really can't expect them to have a high level of discipline. Good discipline requires enough time to train. Rurik certainly has the ability to make the entire Rus' army implement basic orders and prohibitions, but it takes time, and he lacks it. is time.

Rurik had planned, and did, tried it three years ago. That is, a group of 30 people from a long ship will choose a "captain" commander. Then 120 people from the four ships can complete a hollow infantry phalanx, and also have the ability to make complex formations. In this way, a "centurion" is selected. This kind of weaving probably also has the meaning of a centurion.

Then when the strength reaches 500, it is time to set up a "flag team".

The flag team is a large-scale weave of feudal armies that existed widely from Western Europe to Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. Its positioning is like the positioning of an infantry division in a huge war with tens of millions of people fighting fiercely.

The infantry flag team and the infantry battalion have similarities in terms of strength. In fact, the strength of a flag team often reaches 800 or 1,000 people. A similar system was used by the Romanians and Germans in World War II a thousand years later.

Rurik planned to set up five flag teams for the war, each with a strength of between five and seven hundred men.

In his plan, the future Rus army, especially the army, should also have such a basic organization.

He couldn't help but imagine that the so-called Six Divisions of the Son of Heaven, one division was equivalent to an army of 10,000. In the Eastern world, an army of 10,000 troops is not a lot, but in the current Western world, it is really a behemoth.

To really organize an army of 10,000 people who have been in a neat line, this is a test of the commander's organizational ability. In this era of poor military order transmission mode, Rurik temporarily lacks the experience and confidence in this area.

"Three infantry flag teams are matched with a shooter flag team. If we can arrange the official logistics flag team, plus some auxiliary personnel, it will form a regiment of nearly 3,000 people? Then three regiments constitute a division, like this That's fine. The Son of Heaven has six divisions, and I have to have them too."

There is a limit to dreaming, and Rurik knew that he was gathering people everywhere in order to put together an "army" with a strength of nearly 3,000.

Among them, there are probably only a thousand native warriors of the Ross tribe who are qualified backbones, that is, two "Warrior Flag Teams". As for the other flag teams, they are mainly used for auxiliary and transportation.

Soon, the flags of the five flag teams were sewn, and they were all hung on special flagpoles.

The flagpole is like the mast of a ship, and the beams interlaced with the flagpole are erected to hang the flag, like a small sail. On the top of the flagpole is a ferocious dragon head wood carving, which is like the eagle emblem of the Roman legionnaire's flag. This dragon head flag is the symbol of the flag team and must also represent the honor of the entire flag team.

If the flag falls during the war, it represents the shame of the entire flag team! It will also cause the supreme commander to be unable to see the movements of his soldiers, which is a disaster for the progress of the war.

After the flag was completed, it was distributed to the army of Rosberg, and the flag teams were born one after another, and Rurik also appointed the captain of the flag team.

The Warriors' First Flag Team, Captain Arik, and the 500 elite soldiers are currently stationed on Tombstone Island.

The Warriors' Second Flag Team, with a strength of 600 people, captain Haruo Zuosen, this old guy must shoulder a heavy responsibility in this decisive battle.

The archer flag team, with a strength of 700 people, the archery master Fraser as the captain, is responsible for leading the young and child archers (up to 300 men and women), 150 Kewen archers, 150 senior Ross Steel-armed crossbowmen composed of people, sailors and mercenaries who planned to operate ten torsional slingshots, and a hundred other people.

The Melalen mercenary flag team has a strength of 600 people. An old man named Heliger is the flag captain because he was a "leader of private soldiers" for a period of time when he was young. They have got uniform new clothes, and they have seemingly reliable weapons. During this period of time, they have no worries about food and clothing. Goodbye to the real people of Deros. Then they are no longer in conflict with the expedition to Gotland. of hope. For example, after the war is over, they will simply stay and be a Russ. The war he participated in was a sign of membership.

The Slavic flag team currently has 500 troops, and the destined brother-in-law Medveter will fight for the flag team. Rurik estimated that when the assembly was completed, the force would climb to seven hundred or more. Because people have been sent to Novgorod to continue the recruitment, although the local tribes do not deal with each other on weekdays, the core of the conflict lies in the local manor owners. The lives of ordinary people are generally poor, and fighting is the way out of poverty. , Rurik felt that he could really recruit a large number of people who worked for him.

In this way, the Ross army has reached 3,110 people, and the final strength can be a little more.