Rise of Rurik

The latest website: The Varisi Sandbar at the mouth of the river divides the Neva River into two. It forcibly divides the river. The Wa River is relieved by its blockage.

Now, there are densely packed ships moored around the Varissi sandbar, and the soldiers and civilians of Ross are about to embark on a journey.

The grand sacrificial ceremony was over, and the deer blood that flowed into the ocean was finally washed away by the sea waves, and only a large number of cleaning traces could be seen at the altar.

As for the sacrificial deer, it was consumed by the people within a day.

In the early morning, all the piers in the capital simply set up open-air porridge sheds. The soldiers who were eager to go out had their weapons and equipment loaded on the ships in advance, and the rest was to board the ships with their own establishments.

They bring their own tableware and queue up to serve a bowl of wheat porridge at the porridge shed. This is their last meal in their hometown.

It will be the time of triumph when we eat hometown food again.

At the same time, when it was still daylight, Rurik had already approached the Monarch of the Seas in a small boat, and then boarded the deck along the climbing rope net.

It is fair to say that this way of boarding the ship is somewhat disgraceful for a king, and Rurik himself does not care.

Right on the soaring aft deck, he welcomed the sunrise.

The summer sun illuminated the world with golden light, and Rurik couldn't help but half-covered his face to face it, and then watched the bustling capital city under the golden light.

Viewing the above-mentioned capital in this way, and this naval flagship floating in the berth, being in it is really like standing on a hill.

"My lord, what do you think?" Admiral Goldlund asked emotionally.

"Very well. All sea trials have been successfully concluded, and this expedition

This is her maiden voyage. We will be very successful. "

Goldlund was already in high spirits, and this time he slammed his chest to show his ambition: "The maiden voyage is safe."

After taking a good look at the general, Rurik, standing on a high place, glanced at the still busy sailors.

"Ah! What a wonderful Galen." Rurik said with emotion.

"What did you say, Your Majesty?"

"Did you hear that? I mean, what a nice ship."

"Of course. This ship belongs to you." Goldlund didn't know what the king was feeling, so he praised it casually.

In Rurik's eyes, the Sea Monarch is a standard Galen. He knows that the keel of the ship is nearly fifty meters long, the bottom of the ship is deliberately made thick, and bilge keels are installed on both sides underwater, making the ship The ship has excellent stability—as long as the bottom of the ship is loaded with enough cargo, its center of gravity will be below the water surface. Even if the mainmast is as tall as a spruce tree, it is still a tumbler at sea.

It is precisely because of this feature that she was built with four decks for the first time, and the **** was also built higher to make it an excellent observation platform.

Under the **** is where the steering gear is located. A not-so-responsible gear system allows a helmsman to turn the steering wheel frantically in a closed room to adjust the course of the huge rudder plate at the stern.

The biggest difference between this giant ship and other ships is that her main mast is too long, and it is inappropriate to install a single jib according to the old tradition. Instead, four beams are installed to hang three huge soft scales. sails, so that the mainmast, while no longer capable of catching the wind in any direction and performing fancy movements, is able to

Sail with maximum efficiency against a wind in one direction.

The mainmast is to the whole ship what a heavy-duty diesel engine is to a heavy-duty truck. Only when it exists in this way can the battleship maintain a fast enough speed with the highest efficiency after being fully loaded.

Because Godlund submitted a large number of seaworthiness reports, the large ship traveled freely in the Gulf of Finland, especially training a fast frontal advance using the south and north winds, and thus obtained a key data-compared with the previous battleship Aurora class. Battleships go even faster.

The decommissioned Aurora has always existed as a naval training ship, and her scarred body is no longer suitable for tossing and turning in the open ocean.

The Aurora stopped quietly at the berth as a veteran, quietly watching the huge fleet leave the home port today.

"As long as the Sovereign of the Seas' speed is completely under the wind, it may sail at a high speed of one hour, which does not mean that it must be delayed. She and they are completely driven by the wind. Whether they run fast depends greatly on the wind. use…"

Thinking of these points, Rurik couldn't help but look up at the mast made of a whole spruce.

It took a lot of effort to install a big tree on the pre-set base like the main mast, especially when a large scaffold was built on the ground next to the dry dock, and there was also a ratchet crane device, and with the help of a large number of people to complete the installation.

Then, it is to further strengthen the main mast, so that the base of the main mast becomes the center of mass of the whole ship.

This large sailing ship has no mast, and the foremast protrudes straight ahead like a sharp sword. Its only beam is now tied with sails, and the three auxiliary masts outside the main mast are all

Ross standard spinnaker.

All the sails are temporarily tied up, and the sailors are currently busy climbing around like monkeys, and even riding on the beam to untie the ropes of the sails.

This is true for large ships, and it is also true for other warships.

When all the warships released their sails, the boarding operation of the expeditionary force also quietly began under the rising sun.

A young warrior, even if he is only fourteen years old, weighs 170 Roman pounds, equivalent to nearly seventy kilograms. As for the adult and strong warrior, the weight is always around 200 Roman pounds.

This weight is much heavier than those peasant soldiers in Frank. Based on the information provided by Blue Fox, the continuous civil war in Frank made a large number of peasants bring their own weapons to join the noble army. As for the fact that the nobles had to enlist large numbers of soldiers to make up for the shortage of individual soldiers by relying on their superior numbers.

Ross is not the case, although there are a large number of young soldiers in the army. Young people are different from each other! The twelve-year-old peasant boys of the Franks are all "chicks", and the twelve-year-old boys and girls of the Rus people have the posture of adults at first glance.

Even if the young fighters are young, they are about fourteen years old. They have good snacks and drinks, and they are close to the Nordic strongmen in all aspects.

The Sea Monarch is positioned as the flagship of the navy and the largest transport ship. Except for naval personnel, she no longer undertakes troop transport tasks.

It didn't matter, the twenty armed cargo ships seemed to be standard troop carriers. They originally existed for comprehensive transportation, and now a ship transports a fully armed centurion, its space utilization rate

It is most enough, but the total load is less than 20 tons, which is far less than the maximum capacity of 50 tons when it was designed (it is risky to transport ore, and 100 tons can be transported by force).

As a result, these armed cargo ships were moored densely at the port trestle, and soldiers with huge backpacks lined up on the seesaw board to enter the cabin.

The intentionally slender armed cargo ship allows the soldiers to sit on both sides. They stay in the cabin. The cramped environment is certainly uncomfortable, considering that this long-distance voyage is not about staying in a stuffy tank for a month without showing their heads. Besides, if you feel that the cabin is uncomfortable, you can stand on the deck to breathe.

The warships that have made great achievements in previous battles have become the safest transport ships, while the armed cargo ships born for transportation have become troop carriers. It seems that this is a bit black and humorous, and it is actually Rurik's consideration based on the current situation of the navy.

He must consider that the army can disembark quickly after arriving at the destination, especially the characteristics of the Gulf of Riga, which makes a large number of smaller ships, and the easiest way for soldiers to land is actually to ground the ships intentionally.

Wouldn't grounding a battleship mean self-destructing a ship? If the big ships are fully loaded with ordnance and supplies, they will have no reason to dock. ,

The standard armed cargo ship is based on the extended version of the traditional cargo Kirk ship. Even if it is used to forcibly flush the beach, the soldiers can directly land on the beach of Riga for a big rest on the beach with the tide receding.

This is the case with the personnel, and the boarding standards for horses and reindeer have changed again.

Once, war horses experienced a long voyage from the mouth of the Elbe River back to New Roseburg on the Neva River. After three weeks of voyage, these extremely durable Turkic horses certainly

Even if they endured it, they were indeed depressed and in need of recuperation after disembarking, and the large amount of horse manure left on the ship also caused people a headache for cleaning the armed cargo ships at that time.

This time, all the war horses and reindeer were placed on the traditional dragon-headed longboat.

Because the keels of those larger long ships are also astonishingly 30 meters long. This type of long ship is called "Busse", which means a homologous word with business. The ship is as the name suggests, and this long ship emphasizes its transportation capacity. .

It can transport people as well as horses and deer, and the mode of transporting four horses in one ship has been proved to be effective and safe.

Fishermen and merchants stopped the business with a deposit. Maybe their own boat was small, so they tied it to the longboat of the army, and led the men to jump on the longboat of the navy, and controlled the boat with the greatest energy. Then take care of the horses and stags that are housed in the longship.

Those war horses that took off all their saddles, they knelt in the boat and kept quiet. The trained horses are very aware of their current situation, and they are very docile and obedient to human arrangements. In order to ensure their safety, a large number of newly cut reeds are laid in these long boats, so that the horses can lie on their sides and sleep in the most comfortable position. They can lie on their sides and sleep as if they are still in a stable, with those reeds next to their mouths, and they can take a few bites leisurely.

For these horses and reindeer, Rurik gave them a luxurious nautical meal-oats were served open.

Vahavanin and his deer-breeding relatives, who have no chance or need to deal with sailing, are always near Lake Ladoga.

Close to grazing, facing the vast lake, they did not learn from the Ross people to go boating on the lake to catch fish.

One clan after another of the deer breeders enjoyed the leisurely days of grazing by the lake, as if life should be like this.

This time, he was ordered to join the Ross Army, and then sailed to another world by sea, which was beyond the imagination of these polar herdsmen. It was like a dream but it was indeed real.

They had to be involved, or there would be no one to soothe the restless spirit of the reindeer herd.

After all, it was the first time for the Bucks to take a boat, the first time they felt all the shaking on the longboat, and the instinctive fear made things go wrong when they first boarded the boat.

Some deer may have stepped into the water due to fear, and after being pulled ashore, the wet deer was frightened but had to stay on the long boat. Of course, most of the deer breeders are on a boat for the first time. As humans, they are very adaptable. They comfort the deer and make them all lie on their sides and curl up in a ball, so that they all lie on the boat and start to sprout antlers quickly. The head was attached to the bottom of the boat.

After all, Rurik gathered 6,000 stags, and only the fishermen and businessmen in the capital would cooperate so that such an "animal army" could reach Riga in one voyage.

Today, all the governor's mansion and the capital garrison were dispatched to maintain order at the pier, and the soldiers who were urgently waiting to go out also boarded the ship step by step.

No need for opportunities and rhetoric anymore, Rurik stood on a high place and watched the large fleet not far away complete the boarding and assembly in the small berth covered by the Vasily Sandbank, and then entered the real Kronstadt along the two waterways Large build-up at the berth.

How far can a person's roar travel?

What is blowing now is the warm southeast, combined with the Gulf of Finland

The geography is really suitable for the entire fleet to sail with the wind.

This time point is very important for the fleet, because in July of the Julian calendar, there will be more rainfall in the capital area. Although it will not face continuous torrential rain, it may often face continuous rain for up to two weeks. It is not a problem for fishermen, but the worsening sea conditions are a challenge related to dispatch and command for large fleets with many people.

In this era without radio communication, the Russian Army has a special communication method unique to Europe.

The semaphore, because it is extremely easy to use, has become a set of subjects that must be learned for sailing. After learning the semaphore, the cargo ships running on Ross's traditional ore transportation line can talk to each other by relying on the "dancing" of the semaphore soldiers standing on the bow, and even joke and swear.

The farewell to the family is over, and Rurik's stalwart has always stood tall on the Monarch of the Seas.

He is accompanied by two girls, his daughter Verika and his adopted daughter Blackbird.

The priests accompanying the army also stayed in the flagship. They changed into casual clothes suitable for sailing, and each of them distributed a felt hat that must have a large brim and can be folded into a three-cornered hat. The task of the priestesses is to stay quietly in the cabin and guard the sacrificial artifacts that travel with the army.

Rurik was their father, and now their commander.

But Rurik will land in Riga, and then the cavalry will advance by land, and the command of the sea army will be completely transferred to Admiral Godlund. At that time, the two girls will also be temporarily separated from their father.

Now, under Rurik's behest, the flagship's semaphore soldiers have begun to perform

During the performance, the flagship also pulled up the colorful flags. The small flags of different colors and patterns either represented a phrase or a letter. They replaced the king's shout to convey orders to the ships.

As expected, the battleships were ordered, and they all moved closer to the flagship.

In this way, the warships gradually formed a marching array with the flagship as the head.

The great warship Sea Sovereign, her huge figure stands out from the crowd, all sails are released, as long as the winch system lowers it and the anchor buried in the bottom of the sea is retracted, no matter how thick she is, she will be unstoppable against the southeast wind and stepping on the waves due west OK.

She is undoubtedly at the head of the fleet, showing the majesty and glory of Ross. King Ross himself and the admiral are here. The reason why the flagship is the flagship is because the center of her entire fleet. Ships can use her as a reference to correct their course without worrying about yaw and getting lost.

The four Aurora-class sail cruisers followed closely behind in a line.

In the past, Spellosville, the flagship of the first wave of expeditionary forces, now she can only play a supporting role.

Blue Fox still sits on this ship, brings his guys back from the battlefield, and plans to turn into his Gothenburg fiefdom along the way when the large fleet passes through the Denmark Strait, and go to the settlement at the mouth of the Jota River. Guys pull in as many guys as possible.

The more heroes in the north, the better. After all, those fighters who bring their own food and weapons belong to the Gothenburg Army in identity, but they are actually the subordinate army of King Ross. in fulfillment of vassal duties

.

Blue Fox was making calculations in his heart, hoping to use the power of the Yotalan people under his command on the battlefield to express his absolute loyalty to the king.

In this way, the Ross Expeditionary Army is only 2,000 cavalry, 2,000 infantry, and 1,000 navy?

With the addition of all kinds of affiliated armies and early expeditionary forces, and even the local so-called Frankish allies in Nassau-Koblenz who could completely obey the Ross King's dispatch, the Ross Expeditionary Force eventually became a behemoth with a scale of 10,000 people.

Seeing that the fleet was basically assembled, standing on the stern tower Rurik could overlook the twelve naval warships except the flagship.

Twenty armed cargo ships have also assembled, followed by densely packed long ships!

For a while, the Kronstadt berth was full of boats, and today the boats that should have been scattered throughout the bay to fish everywhere gathered together in a short time, and there were also a group of boats from the Counties of Finland.

Evlo himself will not send troops to the war if he does not fight. The greatest help he can do for Rurik now is to mobilize the Finns living in the capital to contribute to the expeditionary force. All the ships were fully committed to transporting supplies, people and reindeer for the king.

"I think the assembly is complete. Majesty, let's make a decision." Goldlund said finally.

"Okay!" Rurik took a deep breath, and he drew his sword sharply to the sky.

Seeing this, Goldlund roared: "Signposter, announce sailing to all ships! Trumpeter, blow the horn! Sailors! Lower the sails and draw up the anchor! Let's go!"

A colossal creature moved, and the tens of thousands of onlookers on the shore could only think of one word—Jormungandr.

It lives up to its name, and the Ross Army is accompanied by fishermen,

Merchants, there are now nearly ten thousand people operating at sea at the same time.

At this moment, only the lonely Aurora is still anchored deeply in the seabed.

The retired veterans watched silently as the younger generation headed towards the western world.