The Baltic Sea has always been a busy ocean. The various ethnic groups traveling on this ocean sometimes act as merchants and sometimes act as pirates, but their actions have promoted the prosperity of this sea area and made trade more and more prosperous.
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Prosperous trade will undoubtedly lead to war. For hundreds of years, kings and chiefs have been fighting for trade nodes and profit shares. Overlords continue to appear, but then disappear quickly. Overlords are easy to change, but the struggle will never change.
Now, another round of fighting has descended on this ocean, and this time the people who provoked the fight have stronger ambitions.
"Long live, we are victorious!"
The armed crew members bathed in blood cheered. Their feet were covered with blood and death, which showed that they had just experienced a fierce boarding battle.
"Tear off all the valuables from the corpse! Then throw all these things into the sea. Hurry up and move them quickly. Then a few more people will operate the boat!"
Prolev, who was wearing a round helmet, scolded everyone, but no one complained about his behavior, because Prolev had killed in front of everyone before, and he had enough power in this fierce and short boarding battle.
Three people were eliminated.
Following the captain's order, everyone skinned the corpses and threw them away. The prisoners were tied up and driven aside to await the next treatment.
"We won a complete victory in the first battle. This is a good sign. Tell our Grand Duke the news."
Prolev, who returned to the Kirk ship through the plank, grabbed a rag and wiped the blood on his helmet, then threw the thing to his Bulgar mate. The mate's face was full of excitement. He was still the first
Experienced a naval battle for the first time.
On the ocean behind it, there is another long ship burning and falling into the sea. Small boats belonging to the Ross fleet are salvaging survivors and tying them up.
As for the other longships, some were seriously damaged and were sunk, while others were captured and became part of the Ross fleet.
As one of the few trustworthy captains under Rostislav, Prolev also commanded fifteen longships. It was the small fleet he led that overwhelmingly destroyed the pirates with five longships.
Using the very crude flag command system of the Russian fleet, the news was quickly reported to Rostislav, but the Grand Duke of Kiev was not that excited. This was not a victory worth celebrating.
Moreover, Rostislav is in a very bad condition right now. The Grand Duke of Kiev never thought that he would get seasick!
However, for the sake of his own authority, Rostislav pretended that nothing happened to him in front of everyone, but in private he vomited happily.
Rostislav was in a true fleet of a hundred ships, all of which carried the trident of Rurik and the flag of St. George slaying the dragon.
In addition to the sailors responsible for operating the ships, the cabins of each ship were also filled with soldiers.
But compared to the sailors who moved freely, these soldiers either huddled there in a daze or vomited from time to time.
Those who are lucky enough not to have these two situations will just look at the sky in awe, not knowing how to pass the time.
Some soldiers were even more unlucky. They were crowded with horses and had to endure the stench of livestock while battling seasickness.
Rostislav walked out of the cabin. He was in an extremely large Kirk ship, which was a full circle larger than an ordinary Kirk ship. This was Rostislav's flagship and the largest ship in Russia, the Vladimir.
There are four scorpion crossbows placed in front of the ship, which can mow down all enemies in front, and there is a real ballista at the rear, and the stones and crossbow arrows projected are enough to penetrate everything.
Countless ships surrounded the Vladimir like a star. The closer ones were the Kirk ships. Their sides were higher, and the periphery was full of long ships. They all had Rurik tridents on their masts.
and St. George's flag of course.
"Roman, how long until we get to Gotland?"
Walking to the fleet commander who was studying the charts, Rostislav looked at the sea and asked.
"Come on, my Grand Duke. It is estimated that we can reach the island in a week at most. The expressions of those Gotlanders will be very exciting when they see us."
Roman put down the chart and came to his monarch. The fisherman's son walked on the sea as if he were walking on flat ground, and his steps were very steady.
"Yes, their fleets are now boarding us on the trade routes in the south. They must not have thought that our target is Gotland."
Roman's tone was full of approval, and Rostislav also smiled, because this was his idea.
Rostislav knew before that Ivangorod was always under surveillance. God knows how many eyes were watching this city, waiting for Rostislav's actions.
Therefore, he never announced the departure time of the fleet, and chose to announce it in a surprise manner, allowing the fleet to leave the port when no one expected it, so that no one knew where Rostislav wanted to go.
According to the thinking inertia of those people, they must have thought that the Ross fleet was definitely going to clean up the Gotland fleet that was blocking trade.
The Gotlanders are eager for this. They and the assembled fleet of allies are much better than the new recruits of Russia in naval battles. They can definitely defeat the Russians.
This is actually what Rostislav is most worried about. He is very clear about the strength of the opponent's fleet. There are still too many newcomers. If they really let them fight with the old seals, the outcome will be hard to say.
So he chose to attack the enemy's weakness. Instead of engaging in naval battles that he was not good at, why not just land on Gotland? They also took the northern route that few people took, which those guys definitely didn't think of.
And the fact is indeed the case. In the month since the Ross fleet set out, except for annihilating some pirates in Gotland who were serving as a warning, they have not encountered any enemies on the way.
"But we have to move forward quickly. The commander of the Gotland Fleet cannot be a fool. When he finds out that we are delayed, he will definitely realize the problem. If they catch up, our mobilization will be meaningless.
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Rostislav is still very serious about this. If the Gotland fleet catches up with them, it will be very unhappy. It is best to reach Gotland as soon as possible. Only in this way is it safe.
"Yes, I will urge the crew to move forward."
Roman is also an old sailor, so of course he understands what Rostislav means.
Now is not the time to celebrate in advance. Heading to Gotland as soon as possible and landing on that island will make you feel at ease.