Chapter 246: The beginning of the Ross Arrow

The crossbow arrows fired by the crossbow successfully pierced the oak plank a little thicker than the wooden shield, and the man who operated the crossbow was only a seven-year-old child.

Both Gould and Jeflo were aware of the powerful combat strength it possessed, but they had no clear meaning on how to use it well.

The crossbow test was successful, and all the crossbow arrows fired afterwards were also collected.

It was late at night, and the cold wind was blowing outside, and the cold of early winter had come to Roseburg.

Most of the residents have extinguished their own oil lamps, and the family gathered to rest.

In the blacksmith's shop, the wind-shielding wooden boards were temporarily erected, and the blacksmith's shop appeared brighter under the shining of a few oil lamps.

Cravason sat on the ground, setting aside the crossbow with the bowstring unloaded, and placing a linen bag full of arrows casually beside him.

Five crossbow arrows were randomly placed on the sandy ground, and their condition was obviously a bit bad.

"Rurik, our weapon is too powerful, and these arrows are all bent. You see, this one has broken even the shaft."

Rurik, who was sitting cross-legged, was not surprised. He bowed, using the light of the oil lamp's flame, to observe the bent arrow clusters and the cross section of the arrow shaft.

"Can it only be used once? Maybe this is also a good thing."

"Good thing?!" Cravason asked puzzledly: "The five arrows you let me make are all destroyed. Hunters holding bows will reclaim their arrows. You can do it well and destroy them all."

The dissatisfaction in Kravasson's words is understandable. He explained patiently: "Look, the arrow is either bent or broken, so that the enemy cannot use it again."

"That's it? Do you think the enemy will have a chance to have our weapons?!"

"Is that impossible?!"

Kravasson immediately smiled disdainfully: "How is it possible?! In this world, it is clear that only us Rus have mastered this weapon, and you are its inventor. In the years to come, we will only use the crossbow to deprive the enemy of their lives. child."

It is not very surprising that he can say such a thing, and it is not surprising that there will be many people with limited vision, who feel that after he has a big killer, he can always control the power of the strong.

For example, build a strong armored fleet, look at its terrible caliber, who can doubt that it is not strong enough? So it is the strongest, the owner of the fleet did not expect or disdain to understand the progress and ambition of the opponent.

Rurik never felt that the steel-armed crossbow he had made was eternal, and he did not expect to be able to persuade Clavasson to treat it dialectically.

After all, the problem now is that there is only one crossbow, and only when it has a sufficient number can it truly show its power. The so-called quantitative change makes qualitative change.

Rurik talked eloquently: "We can't think of the enemy as stupid. It's always right to be careful. I think it's also an advantage to use the arrow only once. After all, we need the arrow to complete the shot, as long as we can To accomplish this goal, we can obviously use weird things to make arrows. For example, rocks."

"Stone?" Klava heard fresh.

"Yes. For example, use glass."

"Glass? Can it be used as an arrow? Could I stretch it into the shape of a whole arrow?" With that, Kravassen's brain made up a magical picture. The so-called crossbow fired would be the same. Transparent cylinder.

Rurik explained: "Use glass as an arrow, tie it with sticks and twine, and finally glue two feathers."

"But can an arrow like this go through wood?"

"This...probably not. However, it can still penetrate the fur of the deer. The arrow will surely shatter the body of the deer, so the deer will definitely die. If we shoot at the enemy, the enemy in the arrow will never survive. Possible."

"But the iron-headed arrow can clearly penetrate the board." Cravason said regretfully.

"Don't you think the cost of using iron arrows is too high? Compared to smelting iron, we only make glassware faster. You know, many hunters use obsidian only for arrows. What is obsidian? It is a kind of glass. . In this way, do you think glass arrows are bad?"

Clavasson shrugged: "Who knows? In my opinion, the best arrow must be steel made after smoldering." Then, he played with the bent arrow: "I just made it with the most common iron. They, at your request, the arrows are beaten very long. I like the glassware made into cups, and I should use iron to make the arrows. Bronze may also work..."

"I want them all!" Rurik said decisively.

"You want it all?"

"Yes!" Rurik's attitude was extremely firm: "Listen, Klavasson! I am not a hunter, and I don't want to be a hunter. I don't need to reuse arrows, because these arrows themselves are a consumable. The only thing here The crossbow that can be reused is the crossbow. No matter what the arrow is made, its beauty is limited to the moment it shoots the enemy. It cannot shoot the enemy, it is the worst arrow."

"Oh? What do you think?"

"Of course." As he said, Rurik rushed to Clavasson and looked at the old guy's eyes: "Listen, I need more crossbows, maybe a hundred. I have to organize one. A team that mainly uses crossbows, organize them, shoot arrows at the same time, and shoot enemies on a large scale. What I want is the maximum shooting, but not the maximum reuse of arrows. You understand me Do you mean it?"

Clavasson understood a little bit, he hurriedly asked: "Rurik, how many crossbows do you need in the next step?"

Rurik glanced at the crossbow that was set aside, and then said, "At least ten, let's start making it now."

"Where is the arrow?"

"I want you to make a glass arrow. Since you insist on using iron, do it."

Clavasson nodded: "Well, maybe we should talk about the price now. You know, the bow arm we use should have been a steel sword."

"Sixty silver coins for a crossbow, one price!" Rurik said decisively.

"Deal!"

"One iron-headed sword and one silver coin!"

"Deal!"

"Then you continue to do it! I limit you to ten days to make them all." Ruriek said excitedly.

Cravason, who was very happy, immediately panicked: "My master, are you really embarrassed for it? The first crossbow, we obviously..."

"Shut up! You already have successful experience, is it very slow to make the second club. Maybe your Blacksmith League should have a meeting, maybe you can share the money with your guys."

"Bah!" Kravasson stopped on the spot: "My agreement with them does not include the crossbow. I will postpone other people's orders for steel swords. Ric, I will do your business!"

"That's right." Rurik smiled and comforted: "I will come every afternoon in the future, and I will arrange some friends to help you. Oh, no! It should be to help ourselves."

In this way, Rurik placed a huge order of nearly eight pounds of silver coins. The order included nine winch steel arm crossbows and two hundred crossbow arrows.

The price of the crossbow body has also been clarified. Since its arm is to be made into a steel sword, the basic price is equivalent to that of a steel sword, that is, sixty silver coins.

Counting on Clavasson to make a batch of crossbow arrows while building the crossbow, he only has one pair of hands and can't complete everything in a short time.

Rurik only requires that fifty iron-headed crossbow arrows must be made, and these arrows must be smoldered carburized and quenched and surface hardened. The purpose of this is to allow the arrow shaft to be broken at will and the arrow to remain intact. Because as long as there is an iron arrow with a sleeve and a piece of wood is inserted, it is another crossbow arrow.

As for the absence of tail feathers? It doesn't matter. Anyway, at a shooting distance of 30 to 40 meters, the arrow's tail feathers have little effect.

In the afternoon of the next day, Rurik took the guys as promised and ran to the blacksmith's shop in Clavasson.

Boys and girls all know the powerful power of the crossbow, and they never thought that they would have the opportunity to participate in its production. The people who were selected, let alone how happy they are!

Fisk, Kanuf, Carlota, Ella, in addition to nearly twenty boys and girls.

A large number of children, under the leadership of Rurik, suddenly appeared in the blacksmith's shop in Clavasson. This scene was more than abrupt?

In any case, children are also a kind of labor.

Seeing Rurik's attention and cooperation, Clavason, who had felt a lot of pressure, was in a much better mood.

For Rurik, the total number of children receiving military and sports training on hand has exceeded 300. Even if they are children, multiplying the number by three hundred is a terrifying appetite.

More than a month passed, including the little Mellaren girls who were begging, and now they have better physical fitness than their peers from other tribes. Boys and girls eat oatmeal and fish, they have to pay a certain amount of labor to make up for their food consumption.

A batch of longhouses exclusively for servants are being built quickly, and more leather and linen clothes are also being sewn. On the surface, Rick has to pay for these things. In fact, the real payers are the servants.

Rurik has begun ordering some children to pick up dead branches in the woods and prepare firewood for winter heating.

There are also children holding an axe, carefully cutting down some small trees, and then cutting down the fallen trees into sections. The children work very hard, because they know that these firewood are the key to keeping themselves and their sisters from freezing to death in winter.

Rurik selected the most trusted partners and servants to participate in the production of the crossbow. For these people, he is 10,000 rest assured!

Even if Rurik believes that the Rus can not rely on a weapon to maintain military superiority, if a weapon can bring a huge advantage to the tribe, then the secret weapon information, the enemy or even the allies, it is best to wait a long time later. To understanding. In other words, when the tribe has something better, the old weapons that have been eliminated are sold to allies at a high price, which is also excellent.

What is the father's fleet doing?

Is it because they have to deal with a large number of things and delayed the return date? They won't be returning until November, will they? At that time, the sea had already begun to freeze on a large scale.

Rurik has a slight worry about his father Otto, but he also has a hunch that the latest is the end of October, such as around the 25th of October in the Julian calendar, the Ross fleet will definitely return in the cold wind.

But the gods are not beautiful. In mid-October, a blizzard raided Roseburg!

The blizzard was a disaster. The cold wind even blew away the thatch on some family long houses and knocked down some pine trees. Thanks to the protection of the hills on both sides of the fjord, the wind in the fjord is actually not very strong, and the sea is really rough.

At the same time as the waves, there are still dense snowflakes like a knife.

The two-day blizzard ended, and the appearance of the whole world changed drastically.

Some elderly people were frozen to death in their homes in the sudden cold, while more people hid in their parents' houses to start the winter of Gou'an ahead of schedule.

Of course, there are also a group of hunters eager to try. Because of the great success of hunting last winter, this group of hunters began to sharpen their blades, eager to go to the north, to the end of the human world, and then find the deer breeders to rob.

It was because of this blizzard that it really brought some trouble to Clavasson.

Rurik and the great merchant Gould made an agreement that as the price of losing the bet, Gould would do more for Rurik. Rurik didn't make any excessive demands. It was nothing more than to speed up the construction of the servants' longhouse, and the most important thing was to send people to carry, excavate and transport iron ore.

Rurik did ask Gould to send someone to help him make more crossbows, so the blacksmith didn't need to spend time digging the blacksmith stone himself. Someone would help him do it. The blacksmith saved time, which Rurik hoped. Best to help.

The snow stopped, and the temperature obviously won't return to the past.

The fishermen who went out to the sea began to report a bad thing, that is, the sea began to produce ice floes.

It's all this time, why hasn't the leader's Sorgon fleet come back? The left-behind people can no longer remain optimistic, and worry about each other one by one.

Rurik's worries were also increasing day by day, but the ten crossbows were all completed in just seven days.

In the smithy, all crossbows are arranged in a matrix on the ground.

The cocoons on Clavasson's hands are terrifying, as well as his unkempt beard, and his damaged cowhide apron, making this blacksmith very punk.

Opposite this deep old fellow were the excited gazes of more than twenty children.

"Is it going to be a test next?" Kravasson asked Rurik.

"Yes! This time, we must play a new trick."

After that, Rurik yelled: "Fisk, Kanuf, take the brothers and pick up the crossbow. Um... and Carlotta, Ella, come too."

"Me?" Carlotta asked excitedly and cautiously: "Ruriek, I am a woman, can I also manipulate it?"

"Don't you think you are unworthy? You are the commander of the Valkyrie Corps." Rurik put on a cold face, obviously criticizing Carlotta's words.

"Okay. Ella, let's come too." Carlotta squinted and picked up a heavy steel-armed crossbow.

A crowd of children wearing leather clothes and hats stood in the snow. The thick clothes they put on could almost perfectly withstand the low temperature of minus 20 degrees.

Compared to some children in the tribe, the people of Rurik also pursue the best warmth in terms of wearing clothes. Therefore, Lurik had to pay for the purchase and customization of clothes in advance, and he decisively paid the money.

Buying clothes is a very correct investment!

In a blizzard, more than 30 people died, most of whom were born infirm. And the guys and servants of Rurik are all healthy.

A wooden target stood up on the snow again. Twenty children stood in the snow and rehearsed the so-called "Ross Arrow Formation" at Rurik's request.

The ten children holding crossbows had firm eyes. About thirty meters in front of them, they stood upright, equivalent to the wooden targets of three strong men fighting in a row.

Rurik drew his short sword, accompanied by the fog of speech, holding the sword and shouting: "Brothers! The best way to use the crossbow is to gather together! Imagine that we are an army, and we are the Rus army before fighting head-on. The power of attack."

As he said, his sword pointed at the target: "Think about it, it's not a plank, but the approaching Danish army! That is the most hated enemy, brothers, shoot them with your weapons!"

One remark inspired everyone's fighting spirit.

For example, Fisk, for example Carlotta.

Rurik was the chosen crossbow experimenter, and all of the twenty people present had relatives and friends who died in the hands of the Danish army. Especially Carlotta and Ella, Rurik knew they were desperate for revenge.

Poor Carlotta, she is so weak. Rurik hopes that the weapon he has developed will let this girl, and even all the Ostras, know that even if only the weak women of the tribe are left, they can use specific weapons to avenge them.

"Everyone! Half kneeling!"

"Left elbow against left knee!"

"Aim the sight at the target! Hold your body steady!"

For an instant, Rurik had a strong illusion, as if his men were not holding a crossbow at all, but a rifle.

what! Perhaps at a distance of 30 meters, the iron-headed heavy arrow fired by the crossbow is as powerful as a small-caliber bullet. Do not! There is even a bit more fierce.

Seeing that they were basically ready, Rurik shouted in a hurry: "Launch!"

Because of the recoil brought by the heavy arrows, the very light children who were shooting in a kneeling position with more effort, almost fell to the ground.

But the result of shooting is amazing and wonderful!

In a volley, all ten crossbow arrows hit the target, or they had already penetrated and penetrated the wooden target.

Three holes appeared in the target, and it was obvious that the crossbow arrow had penetrated it. The other seven are crookedly embedded.

"Good job, brothers, sisters. Keep on winding, and launch again when you're ready."

A weak girl who almost died from a leg injury, now relying on the weapon in her hand, can already kill the enemy easily. Carlota looked at her younger sister's petite appearance. Even such a weaker child could manipulate this weapon.

In fact, Ella used all her strength to barely level the crossbow. Fortunately, because of the ratchet winch, when she was only seven years old, she still wound the crossbow.

I have to say that the winding process is really a daunting process, but the second round of the volley was a powerful damage to the wooden target. Everyone felt that their efforts were worthwhile.

What's even crazier is that after five rounds of volleys, the target has been completely broken into pieces, and its remaining value is nothing more than throwing it into a bonfire as fuel.

Children with a little common sense already realize what this means. Because the plank of the wooden target itself can be used for shipbuilding, the volley of ten children completely destroyed the plank. If the target enemy ship, wouldn't the enemy ship be destroyed?

If the target is a deer, after a volley, the deer must die on the spot.

The children realized that their shooting was very accurate. They boasted that they couldn't hit a wooden target with a normal bow at such a distance, but they were so accurate when using a crossbow.

In fact, most steel-armed crossbows can accurately shoot at a distance of about 50 meters. Only the short and thick crossbow arrows within this distance can fly steadily and have the ability to smash wooden boards, that is, to smash the enemy wooden shield straight.

As for exceeding this distance, let's use projectile carpentry to throw light arrows.

Originally, the Rus and other Viking tribes did not like to use bows and arrows in war so much in this era. The reason is that the bone arrow and the inferior oak monomer bow can not cause serious damage to the armored enemy. The Vikings in this time and space do not know how to make bows and arrows, but because they have not yet mastered the technique of making powerful bows and arrows.

However, there will be longbows, and so will cavalry. The descendants of the Danes who immigrated to Brittany in France were not only good at archery but also built heavy cavalry. It was this group of people who went to the Holy Land to bring the Eastern crossbow technology back to Europe, and developed the steel arm crossbow into the war.

If all of this is destined to be a historical inevitability, the Ross people, under the leadership of Rurik, brought the technology and use of the crossbow into Europe five hundred years in advance.

Its method of use, or the "Ross Arrow Array" for which Rurik named it, is a linear array. But this kind of routine was often used by Orientals as early as a thousand years ago.

After that, Rurik organized his men to try three-stage, four-stage, and even five-stage routines.

He even tried the so-called group of five people, one archer shooting full-time, and the other four people's job is to wind up the arrows, the so-called round shooting tactics.

In the snow, Rurik began to practice his own "Ross Arrow Formation" endlessly, and his men also had a great time. In the snow, boys and girls continued their daily military physical training, boys continued to fight, and girls continued to shoot arrows.

Finally, Rurik took the crossbow to the hillside of the training ground.

Here he finally began to train his boys and girls, the so-called infantry phalanx of the Ross tribe.

His thoughts are very simple, the so-called future war, the infantry tactics of the Ross tribe must have two axes.

First, the archer takes the lead in throwing arrows, then crossbows to shoot the heavy arrows straight.

Second, the crossbowmen retreated, and the Ross swordsmen and shields formed a dense formation, advancing towards the enemy who had passed the arrow.

Rurik's training program surprised coaches Gevlo and Frazer. Although the initial training attempts, the cooperation between archers and swordsmen was very bad, and after some running-in, the situation was getting better.

Especially the so-called arrow formation!

"Ruriek, the girls should step back. You'd better have men all under you. Ah, in my opinion, you don't have to think too much about the enemy rushing in front of your army, because your crossbow has already been shot. Most of the enemies of the charge." Yevlo suppressed his inner excitement, and Rurik once again showed his great ambition. As a loyal servant, Yevlo felt that the only thing he could repay was to train the boys desperately for Ross. Swordsmanship, especially instructing Rurik, became an excellent warrior before he grew up.