Rise of Rurik

The so-called Ostara Cavalry has a very mixed personnel. It is composed of the remnants of the old Ostara, Viking immigrants who joined later, and a large number of Slavs who joined.

To be fair, compared to the purchased and bred Turkic or Mongolian horses, it always seems awkward for a tall and strong Nordic warrior to ride it, but it is quite suitable for a shorter Slav to ride it.

Duchess Carlotta was not picky. She selected a group of cavalry, and together with Prince Pecheneg and his men, they robbed the villages of Smolensk.

They raided villages, killed those who resisted, and took as many prisoners as they could to the north.

Throughout 840, this mixed cavalry team jointly kidnapped nearly a thousand people, both men and women. After being kidnapped, they could not escape the fate of slaves.

The Ermen Slavs often call themselves Slavinje, while the Smolensk people and the locals in Kiev both belong to the large Krivi group in principle. Even if the two sides have similar languages, they do not currently consider each other to be friends.

The United Cavalry is elusive, accurate in archery and good at using cables. They were all wearing armor and could perfectly withstand Smolensk's arrows and counterattacks.

After all, Smolensk did not immediately unite as a whole, and the various tribes quarreled endlessly. Many leaders believe that this is a conspiracy by the northern guys, but the top priority is to deal with the cavalry, which is more terrifying than the forest bear.

Villages close to large settlements were often attacked, and some that were unbearable or fearful were simply abandoned. A large number of people gathered in the city of Smolensk, and the population of this settlement along the Dnieper River was expanding rapidly.

So a strongman from the north saw his opportunity.

Vadim, the son of the leader of Pine Needle Manor who escaped by chance, is destined to devote his life to revenge. He is a noble from the north, the son-in-law of Smolensk, and has become the largest militant faction in the area.

He had always planned to recruit an army of thousands or even tens of thousands of people. The army would rush to the Valdez and then go all the way north, defeating the Russians at Lake Yilmen and regaining its power. He promised the nobles of Smolensk that after this was accomplished, many ethnic groups would merge into one Slavic emirate.

It is obvious that if this adopted son-in-law wins the war, who dares to ignore his military exploits? Who is the chief of an emirate? It’s not Vadim who is responsible.

Amid constant discussions, Smolensk ushered in the 840th year of spring plowing. However, while the people were busy plowing the fields, a group of cavalry came over with unprecedented destructive power.

There is no need to discuss conscription for the Northern Expedition. First, all tribes are facing major crises.

Vadim's plans are on hold for at least this year, but he sees himself standing in the city of Smolensk, a settlement that is increasingly populated. After the refugees regained their energy, their eyes were on fire. They were eager for revenge!

This is an opportunity!

At a meeting in the summer, Vadim faced a group of leaders with erratic eyes, and simply shouted at everyone: "Are you all cowards? Organize an army to fight those cavalry! In my opinion, you are giving up power, now Just elect me as the leader, I am the only one who has the ability to defeat those bandits and then go on the northern expedition."

Such long carnival talk made the leaders furious, followed by endless abuse.

They called Vadim a defeated person, a scumbag, and a shameless tyrant.

Is Vadim a trespasser? He is, and not entirely.

The Lord of Smolensk, the largest local nobleman, admired this "prince" in trouble, and was even more concerned about this boy's promises.

After recruiting a son-in-law, Smolensk can openly launch the Northern Expedition and annex the entire Yin'ermen Lake.

This is the dream, but the old leader is old after all. He probably suffered a serious illness from a poisonous mushroom. Now he often looks livid, as if he has been cursed by an evil spirit. In fact, the poisonous mushroom had severely damaged his kidneys and liver. Seeing that the old man was about to die, Vadim did not stop and used a private army composed of local people to force him to give up his power.

At the same time, all the adult sons of the old leader died inexplicably, and it was claimed that they died in a sneak attack by horse bandits from the north and bandits from Kiev. These arguments are quite convincing. Ordinary people have no interest in this. They are frightened and secretly expect a ruthless person to lead them back to peace.

The old leader's youngest son is still alive, but his wife knows that everything is actually her husband's conspiracy. But the deal was done, the woman gave birth to a son, and this crying boy could naturally inherit the position of Lord of Smolensk. It's impossible for her to be selfish. It would be a good thing if her son inherited the position of leader.

What else can the terminally ill old leader do? He felt that recruiting Vadim as his son-in-law was a foolish move, but now, at least his grandson could inherit his status. Although Vadim is a sinister man, considering the troubles faced by the entire Smolensk, such a ruthless person is also beneficial to the entire ethnic group.

Because there are not many leaders of the main war faction with extremely determined attitudes.

The terminally ill old leader sobbed and stood up for Vadim at the conference. He solemnly announced that after his death, Vadim would be the Lord of Smolensk, and whimpered that it would be okay if other leaders did not support him. Vadim will definitely organize a large army to march north to end the current turmoil.

The implication of this statement is also obvious. If Vadim really has a large army, which leader would dare to oppose it?

The quarrel was only a waste of words and did not help solve the problem. Vadim claimed to lead a team to find and intercept the group of horse bandits. The local leaders don't like this guy, but they are more afraid of horse bandits wreaking havoc on this year's autumn harvest. They simply hope that Vadim can agree to one or two defensive counterattacks to solve the current problem.

As he promised, Vadim did launch a counterattack with hundreds of warriors. Facing the elusive horse bandits, they decided to wait and see. However, the cunning Pecheneg-Ostara joint cavalry encountered a difficult defense. Avoid strong villages. The brothers are here to rob and capture prisoners, and they have no time to confront the prepared enemy head-on.

The Pecheneg people's "steppe fox tactics" bully the weak and avoid the strong, which is contrary to the Viking warrior creed, but it is effective in making money.

For a whole year, from the sowing season to the harvest season, Vadim and his cronies did not fight a single battle, and their rebellious attitude became more and more like an act. Then some local nobles made a fuss about this fact, criticizing Vadim for being a boastful person.

But he also has his own reasons! He retorted loudly: "You should organize all the men to gather together! We will defeat them in the expedition to Novgorod, and any problem of horse bandits will be solved."

This time no one said anything...

Whether Vadim really wanted to fight or was simply practicing, his attitude of fighting was noticed by the refugees. At least this boy is more enterprising than other nobles, and there is at least some hope in following him.

Even without fighting a single battle, Vadim's prestige in Smolensk continued to grow.

Such was the political change that occurred in Smolensk and most of the upper reaches of the Dnieper River in 840. The so-called Ross's defensive attacks and plundering gained a lot of benefits, disrupted the opponent's plan, and greatly accelerated the opponent's centralization of power. process.

The plundering cavalry sent by Carlotta did not know anything about the local nobles in Smolensk and the small number of Varyag people who were taking another waterway.

In the past three years, Prince Kagan of the Pecheneg Khanate first formed an alliance with Rus in the far north, and then established a key salt and iron trade route. People in the grasslands are good at land transportation, so he, the prince, personally organizes horse teams every year to transport leather goods, dairy products, and horses from the grasslands to Rus, in exchange for important salt, iron, cloth and other various commodities. The export of horses to Russia to buy necessities such as salt and iron would slowly lead to negotiations with the Khanate over time. Such trade was extremely unfair to Pecheneg, who lacked suitable goods to sell to Russia.

Finally they found the best commodity, population.

Kagan personally became the leader of the horse bandits. In the past two years, he has focused on robbing people and selling them to Ross, and even arranged for his subordinates to supervise the trading of horse teams.

A large amount of strategic materials were transported grandly and continuously through large cavalry to the Khanate's camp area in the Volga River estuary area.

Kagan is smart. Since Russia has the ability to produce iron arrow clusters, it should import more of this good thing, which is not expensive in Russia.

The cast iron arrow clusters are cast into shape at one time, and up to thirty arrows can be cast in a single clay mold. After that, the steel is carburized, then polished on a manual grinding wheel, heated and quenched twice for surface hardening, and then the arrows are finished. The arrow clusters specially provided to allies do not need to be exquisitely made, and they do not require many hours of work.

Kagan got a benefit, tens of thousands of arrow clusters arrived in Pecheneg, and the locals immediately began to replace the bone clusters with steel clusters. Not good at melee combat with cavalry, but good at riding and shooting, their combat effectiveness has been greatly increased. The visible strength is really due to Kagan.

Even if the prince has been staying in the far north this year and will not come.

Only now there is a special situation!

After the expedition, the Ross standing cavalry became guests of New Ostara City. This city already had a second camp for the standing cavalry. The small area was blessed with a grassland-like environment that was very suitable for cavalry training.

There is a reserve force of standing cavalry in the local area. They are all very young boys. They missed the expedition because they were too young. The reserve troops also did not participate in the plunder. They were stationed here to prepare for any eventuality. Now this group of brats was eager to listen to the descriptions of the guys who had returned from the expedition.

In the fortress in the inner city, Duchess Carlotta hosted a banquet to invite her old comrade and cavalry captain Fisk, and she also explained the information she learned from Smolensk.

The former children have grown up and become the master of one party. The two exchanged their war experiences and chatted happily.

While they were drinking wine, Prince Kagan of Pecheneg arrived at the castle happily and entered the drinking scene in high spirits.

He shouted excitedly in broken Norse: "Let me see who is coming! Yo! It's Khan's general Fisk!"

"It's the noble Kagan." The slightly drunk Fisk turned his head and waved his hand very casually, "I want to share the wine with my brothers, let's enjoy it together."

To this day Kagan is still willing to call Rurik Khan, and he also calls Carlotta Khan. He still didn't know the difference between the names of kings and princes, so he followed the grassland custom and called the supreme ruler Khan.

He had a very good personal relationship with Carlotta. Kagan and Rurik are blood brothers and relatives by marriage. Carlotta is Rurik's wife, and they are also legally sworn siblings. The relationship between them is complicated, why does Kagan openly call Carlotta his sister, but what really determines their personal relationship is the close economic exchanges.

Any supplies coming from the south must first be inspected by the Principality of Ostara, the southern gate of Rus. In particular, a large number of prisoners of war must be transported here first, and the subsequent sale of slaves is also handled by the Principality of Ostara. As an ally, Kagan can station an army in the territory of Ostara. They help Carlotta train new cavalry, and they also serve as a base for training and wait for opportunities to set out to plunder Smolensk villages in rotation.

In the castle, the three parties happily explained their experiences. It was really one victory after another. But overall, the victory achieved by the Ross Expeditionary Force was greater, which really made Kagan ashamed.

"Oh! It's because I can't get away. If you give me another chance, I also want to go to the west with the Rurik brothers. Fisk, if we organize a cavalry expedition, the results will definitely be greater. Just let me My sister has enjoyed the glory, and she finally gave birth to the child." The drunk Kagan was still eloquent, but his spirit began to feel a little trance.

My sister gave birth to a son, and he became an uncle. In this way, the father Khan's plan was greatly successful. The nephew was a nail in the khanate's embedment in Rus, and the relationship between the two countries would become closer.

"What's the child's name?" he asked.

Fisk thought for a while: "It seems to be called Hazare."

"Is that so? It's very interesting." Kagan muttered slightly, and the smile on his face showed his satisfaction.

"What does the child's name mean?" Fisk couldn't help but ask.

"There is no restraint, just like a horseman galloping on the vast grassland."

They ate and drank, and Fisk did not forget her mission. While Kagan was still very clear-headed, she finally brought up the business: "I am here on the king's orders to invite Duke Ostara and you... noble Kagan. Gan. You two must leave for Novgorod quickly, because the king’s fleet is about to arrive.”

"So my sister and my nephew are coming back too? That's great. My brother Rurik, I also have some big things to tell him personally!"

Kagan is not being polite this time, and the "big things" he calls should be real.

The drunk Fisk didn't think much and asked, "I dare you to ask, what's the big deal?"

"Of course it's a big deal for me to succeed Khan! Haha."

If Fisk had a clear mind, he would be surprised. He is calm now. Anyway, this guy will be Pecheneg Khan sooner or later. It is just the difference between today and tomorrow.

"Then I wish the noble Kagan to become the king of Pecheneg." He said.

"No. It's the Khan. Okay, it means the same thing." Finally, the prince succeeded to the throne of Khan. This matter is absolutely true. It is actually because the old Khan pressed hard to give up the position to his son to ensure the stability of power before he died. Handover. After all, Kagan has been in a distant place for the past two years, which makes Jianyong, who covets the position of Khan within the Khanate, ready to make a move. In order to avoid unnecessary complications, Kagan must act in advance.

This is a secret message delivered by a close confidant. Although it is a bit abnormal, it will be relieved after looking at the situation of the Russians.

Kagan is qualified to call old Otto "Father Khan". In principle, Otto is the old Khan of Russia and Rurik is the new Khan. The succession of Rurik's power does not have to wait until the death of his old father. This situation of early handover of power is reflected in a peaceful handover, and the internal affairs of Rus seem to be quite stable.

The news that Kagan was about to return was known to all the Novgorod nobles. He had been ready to return home and succeed to the throne, but now his plan has been slightly postponed.

The postponement was a good thing. He could have a good chat with the victorious Rurik brothers and tell the tribesmen in his hometown a lot of first-hand news about the north. It was expected that he could also get a batch of cheap trophies from the west.

I should take this opportunity to have a good chat with my sister Beyashir, and take a good look at my eldest nephew Hazal, to confirm that this child really exists and is healthy, so as to tell the tribal leaders in my hometown about this fact.

In this way, Kagan and Carlota will no longer linger in New Ostara. A large cavalry team of mixed parties will march north along the lakeside road with a very gorgeous guard of honor, and will show off the Pecheneg and Austrian troops in a high-profile manner. Stara's flag comes to Novgorod where King Rus's palace is...