Chapter 446: Plundering From the East Coast to the West Coast

A group of blue-and-white warriors are walking in a dry and yellow world.

Autumn came to the whole of northern Europe, the grass and trees began to wither, and only the wheat began to head.

Gotland has a warmer climate than Lake Mälaren. However, the soil here is poor, and coupled with the rough planting method, the wheat here is too sparse.

The heavy rains that began in late June caused massive lodging of wheat in the offshore farmland of Gotland, with only minor damage to inland oats.

Arik and his brothers were dressed in gorgeous clothes. The brave he was eager to meet the enemy and have another fun battle.

They walked through the wilderness, climbed a mound nearly 100 meters high on the island, and then found a trickling stream on the way down.

They looked out from the top of the mound, the clear air was so transparent, Arik even looked out to the west coast of the island in the distance, as well as some obvious settlements. Even if those are low buildings, it is obvious in the withered world.

Is that Visby? or something else?

Arik didn't think much about it. He weighed his own strength. Of course he couldn't rush over, but he could obviously break into the village along the stream he found.

They did see a small village sheltered by the hills.

"Brothers, let's go, let's do a vote!"

The Ross warriors opened their mouths wide and laughed wantonly.

They descended the mountain like tigers and rushed into the village quickly. They did not dawdled, nor did they intend to negotiate with the local residents.

Affected by the sudden attack, many villagers do not know what happened. They are busy stocking fodder for the sheep and repairing farm tools, such as scythes and flails for husking oats, ready to harvest the wheat in the upcoming autumn harvest.

Working farmers looked at the blue-and-white people who came running. At first they thought they were very bright, but when they realized the danger, it was too late.

The sharp and ferocious crossbow arrow struck with precision, and some farmers fell to the ground crying.

The villagers started shouting in shock: "It's a pirate!" and then ran back home to get self-defense weapons.

The villagers' precautions were futile. They took out short swords for slaughtering sheep and chickens, short spears for guarding against wild animals, and short bows.

How could these weapons stand against Arik who came prepared.

The warrior's wildness was aroused, and Arik commanded loudly: "Don't reload after shooting! Throw down the crossbow,

Draw your sword and kill them! "

Only the Hebei fighters used the "unicorn arm" to forcibly wind the steel-armed crossbow after shooting. More fighters held swords or axes, put round shields in front of them, and rushed over with roars.

The battle was soon over.

Resisting farmers were killed one after another, women were pulled from their homes by their hair, and some who resisted were directly stabbed to death.

If Rurik was said to be principled, Arik had no intention of telling these people about principles.

"Kill me! Show no mercy!"

The soldiers understood it, and some of the soldiers who had finished adjusting their robes were ready to kill the tearful female prisoner with just this face.

The Rus had nothing to lose, but the robes were stained with the blood of the enemy.

There were corpses everywhere, and only two men who were almost sealed were left alive. The two were pretending to be dead and were caught out while the Rus were sweeping the battlefield.

It stands to reason that such a coward who dares not even resist should be smashed to pieces, and Arik intends to execute him.

"Boss, you have to leave a living room to ask about the situation here."

Arik patted his head and thought that it was indeed the case. After some interrogation, the Rus knew the name of the village, a very casual name - Heldenhorth (the house under the hill).

There are only a hundred inhabitants of the village, who are unaware of the Rus' landings, and have not recently done business in Slitomo, offshore, or Visby, farther away.

They just lived silently in the inland, and today they were devastated.

"It's really interesting, you can get to Visby along this stream?" Arik's eyes were aimed at the west, showing a greedy smile.

"Sir, please spare me! I... become a slave for you Rus people." The farmer lying on the ground begged bitterly.

"You? Forget it, get out of here, the two of you!" After saying that, Arik lifted his foot to drive away.

Seeing this, the two got up and ran away. When they fled frantically, Arik took the crossbow from his men.

"Boss, didn't you agree to let these two idiots report the letter? You must shoot them?"

Arik skillfully picked up his crossbow, aiming and shooting in one go. One of the fugitives was punched through the neck and fell to the ground on the spot, while the other ran faster and screamed.

"Leave a message." Aric put down the heavy crossbow. "My brother's invention of the weapon is really good. It's not particularly honorable, but it makes our fights so much easier. Go! Remove the corpse from it."

Arik was a savage predator, and when he realized that he could not take the captured cattle and sheep away immediately, he ordered them to be killed.

The Rus skinned the sheep, roasted the lamb and ate it.

They made some extra meat to fill the rations on the road.

What rare things could be in the villagers' homes, the soldiers unexpectedly found a lot of silver and copper coins.

Each warrior got more than a dozen silver coins, and even an amber necklace from the woman's neck. Unexpectedly, the farmer's family is so rich, and when he thinks of his past days, the Rusian warriors are full of hatred all their lives.

They simply do not understand that the Gotlanders and Danes who are against the water have been trading in furs and fish, always transporting the sheepskins produced on the island to the port of Hazelby in the southern part of Jutland, where they communicate with Danish merchants. , Frankish merchants doing business. It is for this reason that Gotland has been able to accumulate a large number of Frankish silver coins over the years.

The dead didn't need money and jewelry, and Arik had no intention of burying them, so the bodies were thrown into one house.

The Russ stayed in the village for one night, and the next day they set the village on fire, and the corpse would eventually be turned into ashes.

Some people questioned that Arik's decision was a waste of resources. After all, many sheep cannot be killed, so it would be better to bring them back to other brothers to eat. Now the dead sheep will eventually stink and rot on the ground.

"What do you know? This is my revenge! Brothers, don't be merciful. Except for the people who landed on this island, everyone else is an enemy, and they all deserve to die!"

It's hard to say anything about the accompanying Ross warriors, the boss is so fierce, everyone has awe from the heart, and also worships this merciless ruthless man. Oh, the best thing about Arik is that he is not greedy for money. For example, in this robbery, he didn't even want a single copper coin. The coins he grabbed were all his brothers.

With one successful raid, they long for a second or third.

Learning from the experience of attacking Holdenhouse, Arik decided to keep a low profile.

The very flamboyant blue-and-white robes with the Rus' emblem were gathered up, and the fifty fighters turned grey and black again. Many disguised themselves with burqas seized from farmers and concealed their crossbows, and swaggered in search of new targets.

They were like fishermen from the east coast, who brought their cargo into the inner islands, or who went to Vis to sell their catch.

Almost all the inland villages were unaware of the fact that the Rus had entered the pirates. Now, they suffered a great loss due to the temporary block of news.

The villagers welcome people from other villages to trade. In the end, it is the people who live on an island. Although everyone has some unavoidable grudges on weekdays, no one is on guard when it comes to trade.

Arik left Heldenhorth with his troops and continued to advance in the direction of the stream flowing into the sea. Like a mudslide, another village named Lukuluye was laid down on the same day. Still the same move, Arik came, and brought death, burning and destruction.

Speaking of which, people in this village should know the news of the Rus attack. Arik interrogated the person who had been bypassed by Xiaoming, and only then did he learn that the guy who ran from the north was indeed preaching that "the murderer from the sea destroyed the village". As a result, the man went wild and spread the terrible news, threatening that the next victim would be the village of Lukuluye. The angry villagers didn't believe it at all, so they gave the fugitive a bit of cheese and kicked him in the ass with his boots to drive him away.

The sea breeze dissipated the smoke from the burning village, and the residents of Lukuluye missed the opportunity to escape without seeing the danger signs.

After Arik released the villager who spared his life again, he led his brothers to live in a quiet village. The next day, Lukuluye ignited a huge fire, killing all the cattle and sheep, and even the oats that were about to ripen, he instructed someone to set the fire on purpose.

The ground is full of corpses of humans and animals, and the continuous tragic scenes even made many executioners feel uncomfortable.

Some people suffered from excessive slaughter and had some mental state, and they roared at the sky and showed their claws.

Others want to get out of this uncomfortable area quickly, because, this is not the fight they want, and it is not honorable to kill the unprepared.

Arik decided to continue the looting, and some warriors advised: "Boss, we are really coming to Visby. The duke is looking forward to a decisive battle with them, we..."

Arik, who was leading the march with high momentum, was really impatient: "What? Do you want to be a coward? Or do you plan to follow me to meet the idiots of Visby?"

Listening to this, Arik is going to take a mere fifty light soldiers to do meat detection.

Meat detective, that's not a good job.

Isn't it okay? The job of testing the enemy's army is to be handed over to the hundreds of tool men of Melalen's mercenaries.

How could the most elite Ross warriors do this worthless job?

"Boss, the Duke said that the army will be launched in five days. We are already on the fourth day. The brothers have gone too far, we should have gone back sooner."

Hearing that, Arik stopped suddenly, he turned around and stared at the people with sharp eagle eyes, and stared at everyone aggressively: "What? Are you afraid? I took you to beat the Gotland people at sea, and now I boarded their damned Dao, you guys are actually timid now?"

At this moment, no one spoke, only Arik's criticism and rumors were in everyone's ears.

"Shut up now! As I said, don't be merciful. We have to fear the enemy, and now attack the next village with me. Remember, show no mercy."

The so-called ruthlessness means that even the laying hens raised by the villagers are not spared.

Arik's actions have surpassed that of ordinary pirates. He came to kill and destroy, and there was only a piece of scorched earth where he passed.

On this day, he led his troops to capture the village named Qiao Village. It was also this village that made the Ross raiders attacking along the stream to see a small wooden bridge, hence the name of the village.

But this fight was a complete surprise.

The team seemed to have entered an uninhabited village, but the village was by no means abandoned.

The alert Arik walked into a private house, put his sword on the ground, and half-knelt down to examine the burning carbon residue. He was shocked to find that the deep carbon residue was still burning slowly.

The warrior with a crossbow on guard said casually: "Boss, it seems that the enemy has just escaped. Your intimidation plan seems to have succeeded."

After thinking about it, Arik stood up and commanded with a sword: "Burn this village down as usual."

"Ah?" The soldier was taken aback, "The brothers are very tired after a day of fighting, and now..."

"No! Listen to my orders, burn quickly. The enemy didn't run far, we chased after them and killed them."

No one could resist Arik's temper. The house in Qiao Village was set on fire, and the fire was even more terrifying in the setting sun.

Just to the west of Qiao Village is another mound with an altitude of 60 meters. From the geographical view of Qiao Village, it is only 30 meters above sea level.

Arik and the tired warriors also forcibly climbed in the dim light, and finally when the stars were shining brightly, the warriors spent the night on the hill.

The tired soldier soon saw a terrifying sight, which shocked the tired Arik like he had drank several buckets of coffee and looked at the dense firelight not far away. He really couldn't sleep.

Standing here, there is a faint salty smell in the air. The sky is full of stars, and the fire below the ground is like a star.

The sleepy warriors leaned against the pine trees, their bodies trembling.

A soldier approached Arik: "This is Visby? We couldn't see clearly from the last mound, but we didn't expect Visby to be like this."

"Boss, look at their bonfires as dense as stars. Their troops are really large. The decisive battle in the future is really a bit tricky."

The rebellious Arik was terrified for a moment, he gritted his teeth hard, and blamed himself for having such a stupid idea.

Thinking of the southern battle deeds told by my brother Rurik again, in order to confuse and deter the enemies of Borgholm, the Swedish army deliberately lit a large number of bonfires.

"This is the enemy's conspiracy." Arik said solemnly: "How can there be so many of them? They are deceiving us, making our army think that Visby has more troops and is scared to leave the island. Haha, we can't be fooled. "

This is a reasonable explanation, and the brothers believe it.

In short, there should be no more looting at night. After several days of marching and fighting, each warrior killed ten enemies. Oh, if the screaming woman is considered a "dangerous warrior". Killing so many people is simply to accompany Arik to take revenge. So far, only five people from the Rus have suffered minor injuries. The result is that the so-called enemy is not a warrior at all.

Standing on this low mound, the Rus people under the night could vaguely see the dark sea in the distance. They traveled for four days and nights and finally penetrated the entire island.

The Russ didn't light the fire. After they ate some cooked lamb, they wrapped their cloaks and curled up on the hay to sleep soundly.

Arik embraced his two swords and rested against the pine tree with his eyes closed.

The world on the west side of the mound is a little red and shiny, that is the burning bridge village!

This special spectacle, like a warning horn, slapped everyone in and around the port of Visby - it was the Rus! Here comes the damn Russ!

From the place where Arik rested to the sea, the straight-line distance was only seven kilometers. He took the massive bonfires as evidence that the enemy soldiers were camping out, how could that be.

He and most of the soldiers subconsciously believed that the decisive battle between the two armies was inevitable. Now that the Rus came prepared, the main force of Gotland should also be assembled.

He subconsciously thought that the Gotland army would be assembled quickly, and there must be a circle of soldiers around the dense firelight.

However, sitting by the bonfire were all villagers, or refugees, who were confused about the future.

They were all from the north of the island.

Just a few days ago, Baisha Port was destroyed by a powerful Rus army, and all those who did not escape in time must all die.

The early escapees, who were called cowards, informed a nearby village by land, which set off a chain reaction. In all five villages in the northern part of the island, the villagers dragged their families, drove cattle and sheep, and even put the chickens that lay eggs into wooden cages. .

However, in villages such as Qiao Village, the villagers not only encountered refugees who escaped from Lukuluye, but also saw a strong smoke from the village.

The villagers took their cattle and sheep over the mound and rushed to Visby at the fastest speed to avoid disaster. As for the outcome of the oats they planted, they really don't care.

A large number of refugees appeared around Visby, with a total number of nearly 2,000. Because not only people from the north of the island, but also some people from the villages in the south of the island, learned the terrible news of the invasion of the Russ army from the tribesmen who went to Visby to sell sheepskins.

A fishing port called Clintholm has as many as 2,000 people, and all the residents are actively heading north either by boat or by land.

The brothers Rurik and Arik have both accomplished the purpose of creating fear on the island.

Most of the residents of the settlements on the island are gathering in Visby, and a few people leave the island by boat to avoid disaster.

The population of Visby has soared to 11,000 people, which has exceeded the carrying limit of this settlement. As a last resort, a large number of refugees have to use the original village as a unit to be stationed in the outer area. The leader of the village hurried to Visby. The Thing listens to the discussions of the twelve large merchant families who have not suffered any losses.

Just as a group of noble people were arguing over the issue of Ross's entry into the bandit and whether it was a war, the east covered by the mounds to the east of Visby actually lit up with a faint red light.

The quarrel in the chamber has come to an end, whether it is the main war faction (willing to continue to join the Danish forces) or the main peace faction (suddenly jumped back and returned to the arms of the Swaya Tribal Alliance), they are recruiting mercenaries spontaneously and encouraging men When taking up arms, I also decided to send someone to see it early in the morning.

Of course, they didn't know that Ross' scouts were on the mound.

As they stared into the abyss, the abyss stared at them...