Rise of Rurik

Five canoes carried 20 people. They paddled hard on the West Dvina River with bows, arrows, spears and three days of dry food. Their destination was the upstream village of Duka, where the tragedy was reported.

In fact, it doesn’t take too long to sail. After rounding some corners, people with a discerning eye can see green smoke in the distance, and everyone immediately becomes vigilant.

After rounding the last big bend, what appeared in front of us was indeed the terrifying charred ruins.

"Oh my God! This has never happened before!" People exclaimed in astonishment, their paddling hands trembling.

They landed cautiously, trying to find survivors, although no one offered any hope. To their surprise, no human corpses were found in the ruins, but burnt corpses of cattle and sheep could be seen everywhere.

"These villains are so cruel?! They are not just plundering, but malicious killings? They don't even spare cattle and sheep?!"

This has never happened before, even if it is a robber, he will not deliberately destroy it. They killed every living thing they saw and burned the cattle sheds and sheepfolds.

People arriving at the scene had to reflect on what kind of person they had provoked to seek such vicious revenge.

No! We didn't mess with anyone. There's a gang of thugs attacking everywhere!

They unified their ideas and looked for more clues near the village. They are all hunters and are very good at spotting prey.

"Come here quickly." A squatting bow-wielding man called to his companions.

After a while, many people gathered.

"What is this? Feces?"

"It's definitely horse manure. It's dry on the outside but still wet on the inside. The attacker didn't run far. You all look for horse hoof marks again, and we can at least determine a direction."

As a result, everyone began a large-scale search. They found the former camp of the Ross Cavalry and found more horse dung, traces of smelly sheep blood and a large number of bone fragments. There were traces of undigested oats in the newly found horse manure, which was very unusual.

"Apparently the bandits took the village's surplus grain to feed the horses, and now we can determine where they are going."

The most critical horseshoe marks can be seen everywhere, and they made important judgments based on these marks. People's heads are buzzing as they realize the complexity of the situation. "Let's go back! Damn it, these villains are actually going to continue to attack us!"

The canoe was evacuated overnight, and the explorer dragged his tired body back to the starting point with bloodshot eyes. They woke up the sleeping leader and actively reported their findings.

The big leader, who was already angry at getting out of bed, gave him a carp kick, and his mind suddenly cleared up. After listening to the report, not only did his back feel cold, but his spine felt cold.

"Twenty horse-riding bandits at most? The hoof prints of each horse are large and deep. They are still moving towards our village. Are they still advancing upstream of the Bolota River? It seems that we need to adjust our defense center."

Could it be that just twenty horse bandits were enough to make the entire Polotsk community in turmoil? The big leader Proslaw is by no means a fool. He knows that cavalry on big horses can create many crises.

Even though the Polotsk people did not have qualified cavalry, it was only half a century since the Avars galloped around the Vistula River. The Polotsk people who settled in the east knew more or less what had happened to their relatives, the Vistula Poles.

Those horseback riders are always elusive and run away after grabbing things. It is not easy to pursue and take revenge.

The big leader increasingly felt that the new horse bandits were very similar to those guys, and maybe they were the same thing. Based on those legends, he didn't quite believe that his farmers and hunters' infantry could accomplish revenge, or at least drive them away.

However, if the enemy attacks in the direction of the Bolota River, there may be an opportunity to intercept it.

The big leader gave the order, and the village leaders took action. The Orion farmers they gathered collectively moved to the north of the settlement, and then organized ten small teams, each with about fifty people.

Another five hundred people were armed and ready to attack immediately if discovered. They are young men with good legs and feet. Although they are all clothed in civilian clothes and have no armor, they can run very fast with simple weapons. The so-called relying on the numerical advantage to find and intercept as many people as possible, even if someone will die in battle, is far better than having horse bandits wandering around and making it impossible for everyone to produce agricultural products. Because oats and rye are about to head, the harvest day is not far away, and the trouble must be solved before the autumn harvest.

The people are excited. If a single village is faced with the ghost-like entanglement of horse bandits, they will be very afraid. They will become brave when they see the strength of their united companions.

According to the clues discovered by their own hunters, the entire Polotsk people's defense focus was adjusted to the northeast.

Now each village has summarized the news in recent days, and people suddenly became enlightened!

There are areas of dense forest near the settlements, as well as flat areas interspersed with clumps of woodland. Some families live in remote areas, and the problem of missing persons that has occurred in recent times has become apparent.

Maybe some woodcutters were killed by bears in the forest, or they lost their way in the woods and died, or they died of drowning. Before the horse bandit incident, people speculated that these were ordinary accidents in daily life. Now all missing persons incidents are considered to be horse bandit attacks.

In fact, this is the reason why old Harold and his group have three female prisoners in their hands. They attacked the Polotsk people in a sneak attack and were sufficiently concealed in their methods.

But he said that Ureko's ten-man cavalry group was too arrogant and overbearing in their methods. In other words, they completely carried out the expedition in accordance with the war mode, always replicating their glorious deeds of plundering Cologne and surrounding areas last year.

Just so, they already have a lot of spoils but they are still not satisfied.

Because even though many innocent people were killed, they failed to collect silver coins in the "war". The regret drove the young veterans to continue military adventures.

They are also cunning, considering that if they continue to move along the river, they will inevitably encounter more villages. Only ten brothers collided with the Polot people, but they were no match for the three punches and four legs. The next action had to be sinister, so they chose a forest route away from the river.

After getting a bit of valuable information from the prisoners' mouths, they began to use the cover of the dense forest to operate.

However, they ignored the horse dung and hoof prints. Because, even though the Polotsk people owned many ponies, they were not so luxurious as to feed their horses precious grains, and there would never be grain remains in the horse manure.

It seemed that everything was in the hands of the adventuring Ross Cavalry.

As the brothers got closer to the Bolota River, they set up a temporary camp on the edge of the forest, lit bonfires arrogantly, reheated the mutton they had plundered, and then gathered together to discuss what to do next.

The flames crackled, and looking at the beating flames, Ureko could hear the discussions of the soldiers in his ears. He felt that he was almost done as a captain. The young Ross people were taller than him, and they all claimed to be more powerful than their fathers and grandfathers. They were not so arrogant as to deny the credit of the Pecheneg instructors, but Ureko could only listen to their opinions for the next move.

He still wanted to insist on his right to make suggestions: "At least, I am still your captain. We only have ten cavalry, and it is too risky to forcefully break into their main settlement. What do you want?"

"Gold coins!" Everyone raised their heads and almost said in unison.

"Gold coins? Okay...gold coins. Do you think these poor farmers really have gold coins?"

"Can you at least get some gems? There is always a chance to get something good." Someone said this, which immediately attracted others to follow him.

Some people said fairly: "We have already reached here. Even if we can't get the treasure, at least we have to see the settlement of the Polotsk people with our own eyes, and then report it to the king so that our army can send troops to conquer it in the future."

This is indeed a very convincing reason. Ross's expansion is consistent. The king only stipulates that there has been no large-scale military expansion in recent years, which is not giving up, but conquest quickly after accumulating strength. Our expedition is to find new targets that need to be conquered urgently for the king. Even if there is no gold or silver in this expedition, if we bring the information to the king, we will always get some monetary rewards.

"At the very least, let's explore the number of their villages and estimate their population."

After everyone discussed it, they set task goals for themselves and will continue to implement them tomorrow.

Little did they know, they were heading towards the upper reaches of the Bolota River, and it was only a matter of time before they collided with a large number of villages.

No one could learn the specific path distance from the captives. After all, the captives lacked this concept, but they had already arrived at the current location. All the captured women became more and more cooperative. That was the only possibility of escaping from the horse bandits. They firmly believed that the brave tribesmen would attack the bandits once they discovered them.

It was an ordinary night, and the Russians lit bonfires and ate barbecue as usual. They also distributed some sizzling and oily mutton to the prisoners, and were delighted to find that the prisoners started to eat it without saying a word.

They cooperated so well that the soldiers also became interested. What's surprising is that even if they have sex again, their faces no longer show fear, rejection, or numbness, although they can't talk about enjoyment at all.

Their attitude became very strange, and what was even more alarming was that when everyone started to sleep around the campfire, they were the only ones staring, even if they seemed to be sleeping, they were just looking good.

It is best to be extremely vigilant when camping on the grassland. If you are traveling together, be sure to send a brother to stand guard. The first thing is not to worry about a sneak attack, but to be wary of the prairie wolf taking away the traveler's dry food (usually dried meat) and then biting the war horse.

Even if Ureko suddenly turned into a new Rusian loyal to King Rus', the habits he developed in the grassland could not be changed. Especially now, the prisoners are clearly on guard. What are they afraid of? Or what are they waiting for?

"Everyone should be vigilant. Evil bears who are not afraid of fire may appear in this area. Everyone sleeps with their bows and bows, and they must be able to join the battle immediately!"

At least in terms of combat, everyone will definitely listen to captain Ureko's request. The brothers are very grateful to this low prairie man for teaching him the riding and shooting skills. It's just that the brothers are of real Russian descent. Even if they have to sleep vigilantly, they still have to sleep with bucklers on their backs, so that they can get up instantly in case of sudden enemy attacks and carry a "big turtle shell" on their backs to ensure defense.

Ureko slept and woke up, always paying attention to the reactions of the prisoners. He held a bow and arrows in both hands, and a horn hung on his chest.

Even if the soldiers are arrogant, he regards these Ross boys as brothers, and now he will serve as a night sentry for them.

Summer nights in high latitudes are quite short, and now that we are far away from the autumnal equinox, the temperature at night is brighter, and the grass will be stained with dew as dawn approaches. The morning mist will evaporate when the sun is about to break, and the water vapor in the forest is most vigorous. When the sun rises, countless golden curtains will fall in the forest, creating a holy feeling like a sanctuary.

Look! The mist rose, the sun shone in the forest, and there were golden curtains everywhere.

"It's so beautiful."

Ureko lamented the unimaginable beauty of the early morning in this grassland, and an exaggerated yawn proved that he had not rested well. "Ah, at worst, I will lie on the horse's back and sleep for a while during the day."

The war horses that were sleeping on their knees had already woken up. Seeing this, Ureko stood up and walked into the horses whose reins were tied to the trees. He had no intention of disturbing the brothers who continued to sleep, and had no intention of kicking the captives who had to sleep. He at least looked at the four brown-haired women: "Why do you bother? Staying up all night in case of a bear attack? You're not asleep yet."

He would untie the linen sacks and feed the captured oats to the horses. There was too much dew on the grass early in the morning, and the horses would suffer from diarrhea if they ate too much. In fact, some of the horses along the way did suffer from gastrointestinal problems. He cherished his horsepower and preferred to feed dry wheat. (This is why horse manure contains undigested wheat grains.)

He untied a horse, held grains of wheat in one hand and put them into the horse's mouth.

Suddenly, the ears of all the war horses twitched alertly.

The vigilant Ureko suddenly trembled all over because he noticed a strange noise in the morning mist.

"Who is it? Are you awake? When you wake up, add some firewood and let us have breakfast."

Some soldiers were too lazy to yell a few words. He turned his head and saw his subordinates getting up one after another. Because most of them were lying on the ground and carrying bucklers behind their backs, they looked like turtles.

It seemed that he was worrying too much, so Ureko didn't care anymore.

But suddenly, there was a loud roar in the morning mist, and in a moment, some shaggy-headed "savages" came charging in with wooden clubs and short spears.

Immediately, a soldier was hit by a thrown short spear. Because everyone did not wear armor for the convenience of movement, the soldier who was hit by the spear was penetrated.

The conflict broke out so suddenly that many of the confused warriors were knocked down, and then the "savages" stabbed them randomly with their broken blades.

Do you still care about war horses now?

Ureko could no longer care too much and immediately went into battle with the other brothers.

"Shield wall!"

Someone shouted, and the six men with intact shields on their left arms gathered together with swords, and immediately struggled with at least twenty people.

The sword pierced the attacker's throat and cut his leg.

The attacker's ax hit the buckler hard and he was forced to carry it, followed by a counterattack with Ross's steel sword.

The Russians watched helplessly as their downed brother was attacked by multiple wolves and stabbed randomly with short spears by the enemy.

Some warriors were eager to avenge their brothers who died suddenly in battle. They rushed over with huge round shields and knocked down no less than five people with brute force. Then one person with a sword fought many people.

The exhausted Ureko was no longer sleepy. He held a bow and fired freely, actively cooperating with his comrades. However, in this chaotic battle in the morning mist, the bow was not of great use.

The Ross cavalry are all transformed into infantry. Like their fathers, they fight the enemy with pure sword and shield hands.

The battle turned into the most familiar look for the Vikings. Young warriors who were always unarmored faced enemies with only civilian clothes and crude weapons and resolutely launched a counterattack after stabilizing the battle situation.

They had already lost three people. When the brothers saw that their backstabbing comrade was lying in a pool of blood, it was obvious that they were hopeless. At least they died with weapons in hand, and their souls should have gone to the Hall of Valor.

Someone shouted: "Kill the attackers! Blood sacrifice to Odin!"

The momentum was building, and now it was the attacker's turn to retreat.

Even though there were a larger number of attackers, they could not defeat the entire Ross team in the raid. Once they fell into a chaotic battle, with their rich combat experience and stronger physique, the smaller Ross people began to have an advantage.

There were more than a dozen attackers lying on the ground. Some were dead and others were wailing. More attackers escaped into the dissipating morning mist.

The Ross warriors vigilantly observed the surrounding situation. They leaned on each other, their blood-stained bucklers formed an arc of defense, their steel swords in their hands were trembling, and their eyes were staring at the surroundings.

This is an opportunity! Ureko hurriedly untied the reins of all the horses, and then called on the vigilant men: "Don't forget that you are cavalry! Get on the horse quickly! Take away the injured brother."

A wounded brother? ! No! Three brothers are dead, and one even has his head missing.

"Snorri! Gudrid! Eric! They are dead!"

"Take their bodies away too!"

"No! We can't take them away!"

"At least take away their swords! Their souls have gone to the Hall of Valor, take away their nameplates."

…

The attackers were brewing the next round of attacks in the fog, and the Russians who had suffered a huge loss had no time to complain. They all mounted their horses one after another, and the horses were not injured in the chaos.

But just before they rode, the second round of the "savage's" attack had already begun.

Once mounted, cavalry has a tenfold advantage over infantry. The situation was critical, some of the loot could no longer be taken away, the prisoners could not be taken care of, and even the soldiers could not replenish the wounded soldiers in the first round of the battle. They took away the metal nameplates of the brothers who died in the battle so that they could give an explanation to the king later.

At this moment, Ureko finally understood the reason why the prisoners insisted on not sleeping at night. "So is this what you were waiting for? The ones who attacked us were indeed your tribe?"

Although there was a premonition that a direct military conflict would break out with the Polotsk people, I never thought that just like the Russians attacking the village, now the other side would launch a sneak attack.

So what about a sneak attack? Now the fog has dispersed a lot, and the surviving brothers have already mounted their horses.

"Charge head on! Kill some more enemies and we'll retreat!" After that, Ureko launched a head-on breakout with the others.

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