Rise of Rurik

Proclaw did not refuse to fight, but it was his request for everyone to calm down that made everyone lose sight of him. For this reason, he had to express his position by patting his chest: "Friends! I have never been a coward! I am willing to lead you to fight, but we cannot act recklessly! We must be on full alert and further explore the enemy's situation. I now have A proposition.”

He calmed down: "Since they have built a fortress, they must be preparing to live there for a long time. We should send envoys to negotiate with their leaders and ask them what they want."

"Is this necessary? Are they worth negotiating?"

"That's right! They must not be willing to negotiate with us. Any envoys sent there will only be beheaded by them."

"That's right! We should still organize the army. As long as we unite, we will definitely win."

Everyone seems to be determined to take the lead.

Proclaw gritted his teeth and held back a sentence for a long time: "In my opinion, you are just afraid of sending the envoy. Or, you are just worried that the envoy will be killed."

After that, he looked at everyone's eyes again. That was a lot of perseverance, maybe I had misjudged it.

"Bah!" A young man shook off his hat: "No one is afraid here. Messenger? Let me be the one!"

The speaker was none other than Lambart, with bulging veins on his face, and he was obviously responsible for his words.

After all, he is his nephew, and the big leader Proclaw does not want his relatives to die. However, he also proposed to send an envoy to negotiate.

"Child, do you know what your decision means?"

"I know!"

The big leader sighed deeply: "Actually, what they said is right. Those barbarians are likely to kill the envoy."

"Is this enough to make me afraid? Why should I be afraid?! I still have another idea, that is, I will harbor strange thoughts and take the opportunity to assassinate their leader when I meet them. Even if I die, the enemy leader will also die. The enemy is leaderless. , and then our army will rush over and win a complete victory."

He stood here like a fearless dead soldier, and the old village leaders were greatly moved.

An old man was very excited: "Lambart, you are still young. Is it all worth it?"

"It's worth it." Young Lambart looked at his people: "I hope to be a real leader, but we are facing a life and death crisis. If my sacrifice can bring survival to everyone, I will have no regrets in this life. Of course, I will try I will try to escape. I will see the opportunity to kill their leader, and at the same time, I will also explore their true and false identity. I will try my best to withdraw and tell you everything I know. We are sure to win the decisive battle after that."

The young man spoke softly and his words were deafening.

He continued to speak boldly: "Either don't send the envoy, or let me go. Someone has to do it, so leave the opportunity to me."

All the village leaders expressed their support. It was better to have the great leader's nephew as the envoy than to choose the villagers himself.

Seeing that he had made up his mind, the big leader Proclaw had nothing to refuse.

It can be said that Lambart is very aware of the risks involved, and he is also more aware of the benefits that will be brought when things are done well.

Until now, the people of Polotsk have very limited understanding of the concept of "Russ". Even the elites believe that as long as those horse bandits who have a high probability of belonging to Rus are eliminated, the crisis will be over.

The big leader has no idea of ​​Ross's true strength, and he doesn't even know that the so-called horse bandits are largely just the armed forces of the Principality of Ostara under Ross.

The big leader was indeed frightened by the outrageous battle-loss ratio in the previous small-scale battle. In the meeting, he did not dare to show any cowardice based on the situation, and he had to constantly emphasize his bravery.

The more he emphasizes bravery, the more he pretends to be brave.

My nephew Rambat is brave and even reckless. This kind of person is indeed a warrior on the battlefield, but he lacks the overall situation.

After the meeting, he would hold another small meeting for his brave nephew.

In the warm little room, the wooden roof dimmed the oil lamp, and the light in the room was dim and the flames kept beating, just like the complicated heart of the big leader.

"Sit down," he said.

Lambart sat on the leopard skin cushion, his attitude still resolute.

The big leader couldn't do it himself, so he paced in front of his nephew: "Your father has been dead for many years. If you are killed by the enemy this time, your mother will be heartbroken. Think about your wife again, Your young child.”

"Uncle, do you still want to persuade me? I advise you to stop being so anxious."

"You? Can I persuade you? You brat!" The big leader lowered his head and frowned: "You actually asked for the position of the big leader in public."

"What? You... think I'm not qualified. Or do you think this position should be given to my cousin (Proclaw's son)?"

"He? That kid doesn't have your courage. Maybe, you can. You really need a chance to show off, that is..."

"I have made up my mind. Now, if I withdraw, I will be called a coward. Rather than doing that, I would rather fight the enemy with all my life. I am responsible for my words, and I will not be a coward!"

"Okay! Okay..." The big leader paced for a long time with his head raised. He was thinking about something. He probably figured it out and suddenly stared at his footsteps: "Okay. It's just that your assassination plan is really outrageous. I order you. No assassination allowed."

"The First Clan"

"Why?!" Lambart, who had already planned more than a dozen plans to assassinate the enemy leader, suddenly raised his head with a puzzled look on his face: "I have already made a plan."

"It's better to give up your unrealistic plan."

"I……"

"Shut up first! Listen to me." As he said that, the big leader's old face was already close to him: "I want you to tell those gangsters to compensate us for our losses, and we must compensate them in silver coins! Ask them to hand over the murderer and evacuate them Build a fortress and leave our territory. Otherwise, Polotsk declares war on the Rus! Oh, if they are indeed called Rus."

"Ah? Just because of that, am I not just the messenger?!"

"You are indeed just a messenger. My child, don't add any extraneous details. Pass on my request. I don't think those gangsters will make it difficult for a messenger, right? This is your only chance to come back."

"I'm not afraid of death!" Lambart still cast a determined look.

A big hand slapped him hard on the face, and Proclaw was speechless for his "brave" nephew.

"Yes. We all know that you are not afraid of death, but that doesn't mean you can commit suicide casually. You are a warrior, and I want you to come back. You must kill enemies in future battles and lead others to fight." To be honest, I don’t believe that those gangsters will evacuate obediently. We must at least know what their plans are. Besides, you can delay as much time as possible by talking to them. We will take advantage of this time to actively prepare for war. I will give you ten days. , if you don’t come back after ten days, you will be considered dead. I will lead an army to conquer the enemy."

"Sure enough, you are still willing to fight. You are worthy of being my uncle." A smile finally appeared on the young man's face.

The chief then untied his leopard skin shawl and put it on his nephew himself.

"this……"

"Accept him, this is the special authority I give you. You go find a few like-minded brothers, and I will prepare leopard print shawls for them. My child, you really need to make meritorious deeds. When you have enough merit, you can get this forever. Leopard print shawl." The implication of the big leader's words was that he acquiesced to Lambart's future seizure of power, provided that this boy had achieved enough merit to convince the public.

Lambart understood.

It sounded like my uncle had thought it through. He really couldn't think of a better idea, and the leopard print shawl was so wonderful, so he simply agreed.

So, he had one more task to delay. From the standpoint of the people in Polotsk, they still have to fight, so they need a longer preparation time to ensure that they have an advantage after fighting.

As for the big leader Proclaw, he wanted to comply with public opinion and join the war, and he was also ready for peace talks. It would be great if those gangsters were willing to negotiate.

Now there is no market for the entire Polotsk political ideology. The Polotsk community has never had the tragedy of "the village was wiped out". Even if you break your teeth, you still have to bite, even if you smash your finger bones, you still have to fight. fist.

The general public was filled with anger. Since the big leader publicly expressed his agreement to the war, it was a military alliance of all the allied villages. It is a Slavic tradition for young men and women to go to war. As early as the Roman Republic, Roman legions fought against older Slavic tribes, and there are records of a surprising number of female warriors in their tribal armies. Even in the Imperial Age, the records of the Legion's battles with it will still record the existence of a large number of female warriors.

No one thought it was inappropriate for all the people to participate in the war. Even the girls had their hair tied up, put on slim-fitting clothes for combat, attached sharp objects to the wooden sticks, and joined the manor's armed forces as spearmen.

The entire Polota River was bustling with activity, and locals still blocked the channel of the West Dvina River, forcing some Latvian and Danish businessmen from Riga to stay. The locals did not force these people to join the army. The battle clouds in Polotsk were thick. The stranded businessmen no longer expected to go directly south to the Derevlian territory to do business. Instead, they went directly back home to report the war happening upstream to the Gulf of Riga. .

Because even Polotsk children were holding wooden sticks and shouting "Kill the Ross gangsters" in the intricate streets.

Their enemies are actually the Russians?

The Danish businessmen who understood the new situation of the sea had no obligation to tell the local chief nobles what the Kingdom of Rus was. They floated to the starting point in a boat, silently cursing the Polotsk people who had detained their property for provoking a powerful force that should not be offended. It's just asking for death. "If you are looking for death, please don't lead us to die unjustly. You can take care of yourself and retreat, brothers." All businessmen have this attitude.

The merchants were no longer too lazy to ask for their detained supplies. They all ran away empty-handed. Such an abnormal behavior did not attract the attention of the elites.

The people of Polotsk are still sharpening their swords at home, and no one cares about what will happen if they lose the war. All they care about is revenge.

The young men of each farm have the obligation to defend their homes, and the elites among them need to fight to prove that they are real men.

The brave Lambart went to the horse bandit camp as an envoy in person, which is really admirable. There are always people who want to fight side by side with the heroes. He easily recruited five more companions to form a six-person envoy team.

The six people preferred to travel on foot rather than paddle in a canoe.

At this moment, the bodies of the three horse bandits killed in the previous battle were put to use. There was sufficient intelligence to show that the flags hung by the horse bandits who built the fort upstream were exactly the same as the marks on the clothes of the three killed, and the damaged clothes became a kind of token.

Lambart and his five followers were deliberately dressed up. They wore leopard skins on their shoulders and red feathers dyed with cinnabar on their heads.

Everything he does is just to make himself more visible.

They walked along the river for three full days. Although their legs and feet were a little sore, in order to ensure their mission, they finally saw the fortress on the morning of the fourth day.

From the tributary of the Polota River where Polotsk is located to Vitebsk, where the river makes an S-shaped bend, it is enough to walk a hundred kilometers along the river.

Lambart has good physical fitness, and so do the followers he recruits. The team as a whole walked backwards along the river and tried their best to take shortcuts, and finally completed the road in three days.

The further they advanced, the more uneasy they became. When the fortress finally appeared in front of them, they all faced a choice.

Lambert composed himself: "Let's go, guys. We have reached this point, there is nothing to hesitate about."

Everyone looked at each other and bravely emerged from the bushes where they were hiding.

The surrounding environment is dark green, and suddenly something mixed with yellow and black, and a touch of bright red emerges from the grass. How could this not attract the attention of the sentry?

At this moment, Vitebsk is still a big construction site. After several days of hesitation, no one was around. At first, everyone was so worried about being attacked that they even slept with weapons in their arms at night. Later, I realized that my worries were unfounded, and everyone began to relax their vigilance.

For this reason, Fisk also became lazy, and Svalgard was too lazy to supervise the work. The most critical construction has come to an end, and all that remains is to strengthen all the buildings to withstand the autumn rains and severe winter cold. Currently, they are building a crude bridge to get across the shoal more quickly.

It was an ordinary day. The idle sentry standing at the wooden wall only glanced at the corner of his eye. He was surprised by a touch of red in the corner of his eye. When he looked straight at it, he realized that someone was approaching.

Suddenly, the trumpet sounded loudly on the city wall, and the sound shocked all the working people.

Fisk, who had been sleeping late, suddenly woke up: "What's going on?! Someone is coming! What happened."

No one responded for the time being, so he ignored the wrapping around his feet and rushed out of the house with his leather boots on, a thin gown and a sword.

After all, they were cavalry warriors, and their relaxed attitude suddenly tightened. Many of them armed themselves, mounted their horses and cruised quickly outside the fortress.

At the same time, realizing that he was indeed being focused on, Lambart was stunned at first, then calmed down and resolutely ordered: "Brothers, keep walking."

At this moment, Fisk, who quickly climbed up to the heights, followed the direction of the sentry's finger and easily saw several people in strange clothes who were approaching.

"What is that? Our enemy?" Fisk, who squinted, felt that the world was absurd.

"Maybe an envoy? Maybe a traveler. It doesn't look like an enemy." The sentry said cautiously.

"The more enemies I see, the more clearly I see how much just six people can do."

Fisk held the two edges of the long ladder and slid it down in an instant, while Svalgard negotiated with the soldiers.

That's all, a small team received the news and took the lead in attacking with Gongshu.

Faced with the sudden attack of the horse bandits, Lambart decisively drew out his sword and axe. It seemed that they, covered in leopard skins, were about to fight to the death with the Ross cavalry. But all Lambart asked for was defense.

The cavalry came close and did not launch a strong attack. The horses wandered among the six people in the siege circle. The cavalry had their bows ready to fire at any time.

Suddenly, a cavalryman asked arrogantly in Slavic: "You fools who are not afraid of death, who are you? What do you want to do?"

Although the accent was strange, Lambart could understand the core meaning completely, which also matched the descriptions of the rescued women - the horse bandits could speak Slavic.

The more arrogant the other party became, the more stubborn Lambat became. He held his head high and looked unruly: "Who are you? Bandits? Are you the horse bandits who attacked our village a few days ago?"

"Horse bandit? Boy, you are insulting a great warrior. It seems that it is better to shoot you directly. Oh, your clothes are very beautiful." Indeed, Ross's control area is in the north, far away from the distribution area of ​​European leopards.

When some of his companions showed fear, Lambart was still as hard as a rock. He deliberately provoked: "Then shoot an arrow! So what if I get hit by an arrow? I can kill your big horse in this short distance."

The Ross cavalry responsible for "receiving" were all veterans of the standing army. If the boss had not ordered peaceful negotiations, he would have shot their heads directly with "Three consecutive shots from the prairie".