Chapter 1,243 The Hafen Expedition and the Unexpected Drift

"Brothers, push hard! As long as you get out of this mud, everything will be fine."

A middle-aged Ross man named Hafen was leading his friends to push the longship forward with difficulty in the mud.

Everyone exerted all their strength, pushed or pulled the cable, and even used the oars as crowbars to get the long ship out of trouble as soon as possible.

They are all residents living in the old Russian colonial city of Mstisk, and this time they followed "Two Swords" Arik to explore Lake Valdai.

The purpose of the expedition was to capture the strange little animals in the eastern forests and plunder their fine leathers in exchange for money.

They all also knew the oracle issued by King Rurik, which said that there is a big river called the Volga River. As long as people continue to explore eastward, they will surely find its river course. After that, Rus can join forces with the Pecheneg allies in the distant steppes. Direct waterway contact.

The gray-bearded Hafen was also a veteran of the Second Flag. He and his teammates were too old, and they could only retire after several battles. Although they are getting old, it does not mean that their physical strength is suddenly lost. They are unwilling to accept old age. Many people long to participate in a war again in their twilight years, and finally die in battle to gain the final glory.

Otto, the former old chief, became the Supreme King, and even though he had countless honors, he couldn't let the years pass by.

What's more, Hafen and his men, their sons have inherited the glory of their fathers, some have become glorious cavalry, and some young ones are now organized into the Seventh Banner for the expedition to Frank. Those who stayed in their hometown took their older wives, older daughters, and even toddlers with them. They were embarking on a huge adventure because they did not want to stay at home in a daze after the busy farming season.

Of course, there are many other exploring families like Hafen and his group. Thousands of people followed Arik to explore Lake Valdai and the surrounding lakes and forests. Among them were even scribes who were directly loyal to King Rurik himself.

However, the Valdai Highlands is indeed a highland, with the altitude of many areas reaching 200 meters.

Is a mere 200 meters high enough to be called a highland?

But the average altitude of the area around Yin Ermen Lake where Novgorod is located is only twenty meters.

There are small lakes in the highland area, and large and small lakes are usually connected by streams. In the "Five Hundred Men's Expedition" in 841, individual teams also launched a successful exploration southward like Hafen's team. The difference was that one team found the right stream. Although the stream was too shallow for long ships to rush directly, However, the ship can be towed forward quickly by manpower pulling the cable.

Halfen failed. He failed to find the correct stream, so he had no choice but to resort to the stupid method of the Russians - to rely on brute force to sail on dry land.

It is not purely dry land. The oak keel is slowly advancing through the mud soaked by the lake water. Countless grasses are crushed into the mud, leaving a deep mark behind the boat that is quickly filled with seeping water. Along with the waves on both sides, They are deep water-soaked footprints made by turned leather shoes.

"This place is very humid. If your Majesty can organize people to dig a water channel here, we won't have to work so hard."

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"Forget it! Only God knows where this place is." Hafen panted, but he did not forget to turn around and shout with great dissatisfaction to the accompanying young man: "Hey! Boy, what about you, don't hold your paper Keep writing and help your uncles push the boat."

But the young man didn't appreciate it and kept writing and drawing with his head raised and his quill pen.

"Forget it. He is the king's man." Someone advised impatiently.

"But he is also a Russian. He is sailing south in our boat. How can he stay out of the crossing when he is using his strength?"

Halfen was furious, so he left the team and urged the young man to stop everything he was doing and push the boat.

"Hey, don't push me. What I write has to be presented directly to the king." The young man was dragged to the side of the boat before he could put away his pen.

Hafen continued to scold: "You can tell the king directly about anything! Boy, you have to live up to your bloodline."

The young man's name is Gorm, a very common Nordic name. He was the scribe directly responsible to Rurik. Like many of his colleagues, after receiving a more advanced cultural education, this time he was ordered to follow the Eastern team to conduct geographical surveys.

Gom's biggest task is to find the correct waterway of the Volga River, but the endless area east of Lake Yin Ermen is extremely unfamiliar to the Russians and even the local Slavs.

It is best to find the Volga River, and the exploration discoveries along the way should be recorded as much as possible to provide the most basic geography, hydrology, and vegetation records for future pioneering.

"I'm not a warrior, why should I act like a warrior?" He was very reluctant. Now his leather shoes were full of water, and with the foot wraps, it felt like he was stepping into mud.

This is indeed the case. Every time I lift my feet, a lot of mud is brought out, and my hands are still pushing the boat. It is really a difficult experience.

"Boy, stop complaining. You are doing the job you are doing because of your weakness. In the past, people like you would have been the trash of the tribe."

"You? You scolded me."

"I'm doing you a favor by scolding you!" Hafen was worried that he had nowhere to vent his anger. He continued shouting: "If you were my son, you would be whipped by me for being so cowardly."

"But I have an important mission. When I find the Volga River in the prophecy, I will be a hero. You have to be polite to me." Young Gorm curled his lips with disdain.

"Hero...are you worthy? If you were left here without everyone's protection, bears and wolves would tear you to pieces."

Gorm was really worried about this and had to keep his mouth shut.

There are indeed bears in this area. The hungry forest brown bear can hunt any living creature as food, but the bear is smart enough not to attack a group of boat pushers.

After an arduous journey, the longship, which deliberately removed its sail mast, finally arrived at a brand new lake.

"Ah! A brand new lake, it looks trivial yet huge." Hafen finally stopped and sighed as he looked at the sparkling lake under the setting sun.

Someone laughed and shouted: "Is this the big lake that other brothers discovered last year?"

"Maybe. Where is the source of the Volga River predicted by the king? I really hope it is here." Hafen continued to sigh.

"But you have no evidence." Gorm, who was so tired that he could barely stand, retorted angrily.

"Boy." Hafen turned his head slightly: "Just continue to explore the lake. Don't insist on finding the Volga River. Other rivers are equally worthy of exploration. How do you feel now? The uncles can train you to become an excellent warrior."

"Forget it. I..." Gom sat down directly, took off his linen bag and lay on the spot among the reeds. "Are you going to camp here for the night? Forgive me, I'm too tired."

In a moment, the thirteen-year-old boy fell asleep with such a slovenly appearance.

They pushed the boat all day long, thanks to the earth being muddy enough to make it possible.

The huge and extremely trivial Lake Villiers officially appeared in front of them. This is the second largest lake in the area after Lake Yin Ermen, and it is not as prosperous as the former.

The dense forest on the lakeside covers each bay. In fact, there are many streams and waterways that can easily enter the lake from the north. After all, it is too trivial. Multiple expedition teams set out at the same time. Even if they arrive at the same time, it is difficult to quickly find each other.

In the vast world, Hafen's expedition team seems to be the only existence in the world. They can shout in the face of the sunset, and the only response is the sound of the lake wind and water splashing against the muddy lake shore.

They lit a bonfire, and this was the only light in the silent world. In order to prevent the tired people from being attacked by bears at night, Hafen deliberately lit more flames. Under the night, a small village seemed to appear in the north of Lake Villiers. .

In fact, there were only twenty people sleeping around the campfire.

They inserted their swords and harpoons directly into the soil without removing the hand axes from their waists. Even the crossbows, even though they were unstrung, had their arrows inserted into the slots for immediate use.

They were on guard against bear attacks, but luckily the night was uneventful. Except in the early morning, some people who suppressed their sleepiness and took turns to watch the night claimed to have seen green light spots - the eyes of wolves.

They rested beautifully all day, just to relieve the extreme fatigue caused by pushing the boat.

On the third day, Hafen's expedition continued its journey.

Exploring the correct waterway of the Volga River is everyone's task, but this cannot be forced. If it is a big river, it must start as a small river. If a large number of rivers flow into Lake Valdai, more rivers will inevitably flow into the unnamed great lake in front of us.

Lakes and rivers are often named by their discoverers or based on their environmental characteristics.

Valdai means "a lot of water." As the longship drifted farther and farther south, Hafen and his men couldn't help but collectively sighed: "Sure enough, the new lakeside is bigger than Valdai."

"What can we call it?" Halfen, who was very excited, couldn't stop holding the paddle with both hands, so he kicked Gorm who was busy writing: "Boy, what is the name of this lake? Is it the big lake discovered last year?"

"Don't kick me! Maybe..." Gorm looked left and right: "I don't know the general environment here. Maybe it is."

"What is your name?"

"Villiers."

"What's that? Weird name."

"The name given by the Slavs is More Water."

"It's inexplicable." Hafen thought it would be named after a certain god, but it turned out that the naming was so simple and crude that he didn't waste any time.

The lonely longboat has been drifting southward along the western shore of the lake. The south wind is blowing constantly at this moment. Although the oarsmen feel very comfortable, they have personally removed the mast and sail that are in the way. Now they suddenly feel that they are too stupid. .

"Damn it, if we can lower the jib, why do we need to strain our arms by rowing? By sailing against the wind, we can easily reach the southernmost point of the great lake."

At first everyone thought they would reach the southern end of the lake if they continued south, but in fact they chose the wrong direction.

The trivial lakes suddenly tightened in the central area, and everyone suddenly faced the choice of three routes.

It seems that there are three lakes and bays that can be accessed. Which one is more valuable to explore?

People need Hafen to make up his mind. After all, he is the boss of the operation and the boat is his family's property. Hafen, who was also undecided, simply maintained the established route. He chose to remain unchanged in the face of changes.

This is what Hafen thought. He continued on his established course and headed south along the lake shoreline. As a result, they inevitably entered a large bay.

"There seems to be a river ahead!" Some people with sharp eyes simply stood up and pointed directly with their hands.

Halfen narrowed his eyes and looked around, then asked young Gorm: "Boy, do you know anything about this place?"

"I don't understand. It seems to be a new place. I should draw a picture of the environment here and present it to the king."

A satisfactory answer was not the answer that Halfen longed for.

"Forget it, let's go and take a look. I hope the gods will give us something different."

The long boat has already plunged deeply into the twisted river bend. It is like a nine-turn fat intestine. People who enter this place can easily lose their way.

The twisted environment is not a problem for Hafen, because now Rose has mastered the "compass" technology.

He halted the longboat, and the ship barely swayed on the lake. The whole world is very quiet, with only the sounds of companions chatting and the slight rustling of the forest not far away.

A small wooden bowl scooped out a bowl of water and placed a delicate leaf on it. A thin steel needle was rubbed vigorously on the magnet and then placed on the leaf. This followed the direction of the needle's slow rotation.

"Understood." Hafen patted his thigh and pointed to the obvious mouth of the river not far away: "The mouth of the river is in the west, and we are already drifting southwest."

Natural magnetite is not uncommon, and it has long been used for water-floating compasses. With the popularization of Rurik, it became the first compass for the Russian people. The usage is a bit cumbersome and rough, but it is suitable for all Russian expeditions floating in forest rivers. is extremely important.

"We'll camp at the mouth of the river?" Gorm said anxiously, "You have to give me some time to draw."

"That's fine. Brothers, it's time to take a rest."

But Halfen, who spoke, did not yet know what his decision meant, because the bayou was not ordinary.

As the longships gradually entered the estuary area, the situation changed dramatically. At first, everyone believed that countless rivers filled the winding lake in front of them. This was true, but it was not absolute.

The large lake certainly has a water outlet, and perhaps it can be linked to the main channel of the legendary Volga River.

As a result, this river mouth was basically a leak. People were shocked to find that no one needed to paddle at all, and the boat slowly drifted there.

"What's going on? We're going to float into the river. Gorm! Do you know this river?" The surprised Hafen was a little panicked. He looked left and right, and the boat completely entered the unnamed river and was obviously heading towards the right direction. Drift away to the west.

"I don't know! Uncle Hafen, where are we drifting to?"

"Damn it, I'm obviously the one asking you!"

The water flow at the river mouth is relatively fast, and there are large and small stones on the bottom of the river visible to the naked eye.

Although the ship in such an environment would not be dangerously drifting in the rapids, the speed of the ship's impact to the west felt like it could catch up with a horse.

"Now we can't dock at all." The well-informed Hafen had no choice but to order everyone: "Everyone put away their oars and let us drift freely."

The bottom of the river is all stone. Fortunately, the longship has a very shallow draft, and its keel and bottom ribs are all made of oak. It is also equipped with a small bilge keel to prevent the left and right shaking.

Gorm couldn't write anything for the time being, so he had to use his eyes to see everything he encountered as clearly as possible.

They were still forced to drift under the setting sun. Fortunately, the water flow finally slowed down and the river became wider.

The most reassuring thing for everyone is that all the boulders at the bottom of the river have disappeared and it has been completely replaced by silt.

They finally got safety and built a campsite in no man's land. For safety reasons, Hafen asked everyone to light more bonfires.

What to do next? Where did everyone drift to? Where does this river end?

Hafen is the boss of the operation. No one likes such a fantasy drift, but everyone can only follow his arrangements when they end up in this world.

By the campfire, by floatation he was able to determine that the river was still flowing westward.

The river has indeed become wider. If you continue to think about it, some wonderful possibilities will come to mind.

Hafen called all the men, women, and children to him, including that brat Gorm.

"Don't worry, any river will eventually flow into the sea. No matter what kind of trouble we encounter, the worst we can do is enter the ocean, and it will be easy to find our people. Now the river extends to the west, I have some doubts..." said He paused and looked at Gorm.

"What do you think I'm doing? I know nothing about this place."

"Maybe we can float all the way like Yin'ermen Lake."

This idea immediately aroused everyone's excitement. Of course, it is just a beautiful idea.

After a night's rest, they did not get a good rest, considering that they would not need to paddle for a long time in the future, so they pushed the boat into the Weiming River again early the next morning.

The river at least had to have a name, and as the leader of the operation, Hafen had the right to name it.

He leaned on the bow of the ship and looked around leisurely. At this moment, only two people were fine-tuning the course with paddles.

Seeing Gorm busy writing, he thought of something. "Boy!" he shouted.

"What are you doing? Leave me alone, I'm busy."

"Still writing documents? That's fine. Just write it like this. The brothers discovered this strange river under the leadership of me, Hafen. If we can go back, tell the king that the name of the river is Hafen!"

"Well, I also want to record the Gom River."

Hafen could see that this was the boy's rebelliousness, and he continued shouting: "You brat, you are just a follower. Mark my words, this is the Hafen River."

"Okay! Spell your name however you like..."

So Gom recorded the name of the river "hjavoen" on birch bark paper.

But the soothing rafting was only temporary. That afternoon they encountered rocky rapids again, and the river here had become extremely dangerous.

"Pay attention! Avoid collision with rocks! Pay attention to avoid!" All Hafen could do was to constantly organize everyone to adjust the position of the boat, and he had to move around among the rocks.

After experiencing a thrilling voyage, when they tried to dock again to rest, they suddenly found that the longship's oak keel had been knocked into holes.

"What's wrong, don't break the boat!"

"Hafen, what should we do next?"

What else can Hafen do? He also knows that the risks in the future will become greater and greater. Faced with the worries of the guys, he can only grit his teeth and persevere. "We are all here. We turned back and said we were seeking death. Listen to me and we will continue sailing! If the ship is destroyed, we will build rafts and continue drifting."

The next day, the long ship, whose keel was obviously severely damaged, continued to sail. People were uneasy, fearing that the ship would be damaged by encountering rocky beaches again. For this reason, everyone stared wide-eyed.

Yesterday's dangerous river had a clear name. It was named damen, which means a rocky river in the Norse dialect of Rus, and also extended to a dam.

The "dam area" almost killed everyone, but the dangerous river section that everyone was most worried about never appeared again, because as many rivers flowed into this river, the river surface became wider and the surrounding environment became obviously lower.

Maybe it would turn into a big river, but it would merge with another big river, and everyone was shocked to see that the wide river began to stretch northwest. As a result, that wonderful enjoyment no longer seems to be enjoyment.

Because they have entered the river, the so-called "Swamp River", this river does not directly flow into Yin Ermen, but it is the last large tributary of the Lovaj River.

The world became completely soothing, and the ship seemed to really be drifting toward the sea.

Suddenly, people sunbathing together were attracted by the white flowers in the narrow meadow area on the shore.

Is it actually a flock of sheep? Where is this place?

Until someone with too keen eyesight saw a shepherd riding a horse. That shepherd actually had the head of a cow?

No! It's clearly a strange decoration.

"Gods bless us, could we have drifted into the territory of the Ostara people? Only their herdsmen like to stand on the horns of their cattle."

Soon, the speculation became reality, the city of Ostara had appeared, and more shepherds and cattlemen were running around.

A huge body of water did appear in the distance, and the floating boats on the lake were genuine dragon-headed longships.

No one paid any attention to this drifting mastless longboat, which is common in Ostara. They were regarded as ordinary fishermen.

"It's really the city of Ostara. The gods guided us to discover a new channel!" Hafen felt that his experience was guided by the gods, but the most important thing was to enter the port here to rest and immediately start repairing the ship. Find the local noble and report the expedition's discovery to him first.

As a result, this seemingly ordinary long boat sailed into the Ostara Principality's dock on the Lovaj River without anyone paying special attention.

What they didn't know was that Rurik was in the city.

Apparently Rurik knew nothing about the fantastic visitors either.

Until a soldier suddenly reported that a scribe named Gom suddenly appeared and claimed to be seeking a meeting with important Eastern intelligence.