Rise of Rurik

The order to prepare for war spread throughout the Vitebsk Fortress. No matter what they thought, they had to face a battle here.

Fisk didn't expect the team from Kiev to do much. The biggest use of these people was actually to intimidate the enemy on horseback.

Those who really dare to fight are the cavalry on the Ross side and the Pecheneg cavalry of the alliance. The total of 600 cavalry has real combat effectiveness.

The mixed cavalry of Ross-Ostara does not make Fisk very reassured. The equipment of the team is uneven. The standing cavalry all have recurve bows and more than a dozen steel-arm crossbows (generally not used). Although the citizen cavalry of Ostara also learn mounted archery, the bows they use are basically traditional short wooden bows, and they try to use pine glue to bond a layer of beef tendon to increase the weight.

After all, the recurve bows sold by the prairie people will be completely bought by Ross. Whether the new bow is easy to use, fighting is an opportunity!

Pecheneg Gezhar was also happy for the real Russians to use the bows they delivered immediately. As long as they used them, they would not have any reason to bargain or refuse to buy them.

In an instant, the Ostara citizen cavalry changed into recurve bows. They had a small amount of running-in time and took the time to practice it before the battle started.

As the people who reported to the Lukiholm stronghold in the north successfully and quickly delivered the news, Duchess Carlotta realized this major crisis. She did not personally participate in the war, but sent all her existing ordnance supplies to South transportation.

She only left a small number of arrows to defend Lukiholm, and as many as 5,000 arrows were packed into sacks and consigned by the pony team, who then returned to the Vitebsk fortress as quickly as possible.

As a consumable item, five thousand arrows is not much, and the quality of the arrows varies, and some of them are bone clusters.

Something is better than nothing. Carlotta never thought that this year should be a war-free year, but the risky actions of his subordinates still triggered an unexpected war. No matter what, the new opponent is about to attack and threaten to overthrow the new stronghold. According to the rules set by Rurik, in this case, we must fight back with all our strength.

She actually wanted to mobilize the entire Lukiholm armed force to go south. Unfortunately, she did not have enough horses to transport the young boys as infantry quickly. Marching on foot was not impossible, so it would be a pure waste to miss the battle with a high probability. Manpower and material resources.

She prayed silently in the rear. Currently, in order to support Vitebsk, the defenses of Lukiholm where she was stationed were extremely relaxed.

The Colts finally arrived, emerging from the cover of the forest to make a grand entrance with both Ross and Ostara flags high.

Fisk was overjoyed and went out to greet him personally.

"How much military supplies have you brought? Do you have a lot of food? A lot of arrows?"

The leader showed a hint of embarrassment: "Boss, our Lukiholm stronghold has limited material resources. The Duchess has already reached her limit..."

"It seems that there are not enough supplies? What are the details?"

"Only five thousand arrows and ten sacks of grain."

These were the veterans that Fisk had sent out to act as messengers a few days ago. The veterans didn't say much. Fisk looked at the horses and didn't want to say anything.

"Okay, you guys can take a rest after unloading the supplies, and I'll check the supplies."

If Rambat, who was under house arrest, said it, the Polotsk tribal militia would appear in large numbers after he was detained for more than ten days. Now that Ross has received the last supply of supplies, Fisker has absolute discretion over what to do next.

So, probably on the day when the war was about to begin, Lambart, who had been under house arrest for many days, was finally released.

The nailed door bolts were loosened, and he was the only one allowed to walk out of the dark house. His eyes were almost blinded by the sudden sunlight, and it took him a while to regain his composure.

All the Polotsk envoys who were trapped in the house these days could only whisper and estimate the situation of the Russians. One day, they heard a huge noise outside and almost instinctively determined that they were here. Reinforcements. It is difficult to deal with a small group of cavalry. How to defeat a large group of cavalry?

It's like a sharp sword rubbing against granite until the edge is eventually smoothed.

Lambart, who was originally very focused on fighting, had his hands tied and was led outside the fortress. He saw roving cavalry everywhere. This is not a deliberate show by Fiske, it is simply because this fortress cannot hold a thousand cavalry and more horses. The cavalry who arrived later camped outside the city. The terrain here is flat and the water is more abundant. The geographical environment is very similar to Pechenye. The Volga estuary area where the Ge people played a role.

Vitebsk became a large cavalry camp, and Lambert saw an unheard-of sight and suddenly became frightened.

He walked around outside and was pulled to Fisk's headquarters.

This time, Lambart saw more ruthless people, especially some with strange iron faces. It wasn't until the person took off the "iron face" that his true appearance was revealed, but his true appearance was just as weird - a large flat face with compact facial features and narrowed eyes.

This is Quetzal himself. As a middle-class Pecheneg noble, he is a little surprised compared to other relatives.

Pecheneg is a large tribal alliance, and its original meaning is "brothers" in Turkic language. The tribes recognized each other as brothers and formed an alliance, but the origins of each tribe were very different. Most have Turkic ancestry, but there are also Yuezhi, Kangju, Scythians and Caucasians. Quetzal's mother's family has some North Asian ancestry, and the gene accidentally passed on to him became dominant, giving him a big pie face.

Compared with the past years, the Pecheneg people have become richer due to plunder and trade. People with financial resources need to build better weapons for themselves, and then better armor. Because of their usual riding and shooting tactics, they always like to "ride the face to output". Precise shooters specialize in hitting the opponent's face, especially the weak eyes. This is the main reason for wearing masks.

No matter how sinister the mask is, no matter whether the face behind the mask is ridiculing or fearful, the enemy will always see a ferocious face.

Fisk also borrowed the Prairie Man's mask with great interest from his friends. It was just a leather rope tied around his head, and it did not affect Ross's iron helmet. Everyone could feel a bit of terror when they looked at each other. This is what wearing Its purpose.

No, Lambart was very frightened.

"I sent someone to take you to the camp. What do you think?" Fisk asked arrogantly.

"Look...I saw it." Lambart became obviously submissive, and his timid expression aroused dissatisfaction.

"What do you think? Do you... think your people still have a chance of winning?"

"I...I don't know. Maybe, we really can't win. There are too many of you, and they are so terrifying...If we really fight, we will lose miserably."

Fisk had not yet spoken, but because the man spoke Slavic, Wladyslav Sakjevich immediately attracted strong attention.

"Boy, do you know Kiev?" he asked.

"Kiev? I know." Lambart looked up quickly.

"It just so happens that I also know you Polotsk people. Look into my eyes! To the east of our Kiev are the Derevlians, and you Polotsk are to the north of the Derevlians. I thought you were just Guys who live in peace and contentment can never imagine that they dare to go to war with Russia! If you dare to do this, you are going to war with Kiev. I am the son of the leader of Kiev, and I will fight against you with the allies of Russia this time." That's what Wladyslav said. It was the first time he said such big words. He tried his best to pretend to be very strong, but fortunately he did not show any cowardice due to disobedience.

"Huh? Is that so?"

Lambart didn't know this situation at all. Where was this going? When did the Russians recruit a group of fighters from Kiev?

"You are cowardly! You are a coward." Fisk shook his head and pointed with his big hand, "A few days ago you were as hard as a rock, but now you are as weak as a puddle of mud. You can't win."

Let's go to hell with all face and everything now that things have come to this! After truly seeing the enemy's powerful strength, Lambart was completely cowed. He wasn't so frightened that he was shaking all over, at least his mind was relatively clear.

He is a die-hard militant in the village alliance, and he hopes to be elected by the leaders as the next leader of the alliance, provided that this crisis must be resolved.

Leader? joke. If this cavalry army destroyed Polotsk, any idea would become false.

It seemed that the Russian leader in front of him was hinting at a decent ending.

He said boldly: "Give me a chance, I want to persuade my people to cease the war. Why don't we have a good talk? We can give you a lot of food, and we can share this area. I heard that you have a grudge against Smolensk , we can cut off contact with those people."

This person's words were very constructive and he seemed completely submissive. It's fair to say that Fisker was satisfied with such a clever statement.

"Haha, of course we want to negotiate peace with you. It is not in Ross's interest to eliminate you. However, you chose to attack in a large scale, so we can only respond."

"Let me go back. I'll convince my uncle to stop fighting and let's negotiate." Lambart's attitude had turned into pleading.

Fisk pinched his beard and whispered to a few people around him, then turned his head and narrowed his eyes with a look of contempt. Indeed, the guy who was so crazy a few days ago that he wanted to kill or cut into pieces is now sitting down and begging.

"I can let go of your followers and let them report the news. And you, continue to stay here! When the battle is over, we really need a negotiator. You are the chosen one! Or, in the future, you will It’s of great use.”

"..." Lambart didn't dare to speak, he raised his head and waited for the verdict.

This small meeting was definitely not Fisk's whim. Before the meeting, he held a small meeting with all the elites to discuss how to deal with the Polotsk people after the battle. If the war is too violent like in the past, as the leader Olaf (Old Harald) said, the Latvians and a large number of Danes in Riga will tremble and choose to fight resolutely.

If Polotsk was ruled directly after the war, those who lost the war would slowly become resentful because many of their relatives were killed on the battlefield. The owner of the Principality of Ross in the Kingdom of Ross cannot directly control it at this stage, and will need the Principality of Ostara to manage it on his behalf.

Rice Ball Exploration

What is the strength of the Principality of Ostara? Although it has a very noble name, its overall strength is not strong. The expansion of two strongholds in Lukiholm and Vitebsk has greatly diluted its strength. It is completely unrealistic to divide the troops to rule Polotsk. .

The best way in this situation is to support an obedient agent. Since the captured Lambart has the idea of ​​becoming the leader of Polotsk, it is better to choose him. Of course, you also need to check whether the person is willing to cooperate.

After a conversation, Fisk felt that this guy was very valuable. He even realized that Polotsk had no chance of winning and took the initiative to sue for peace.

This is the opportunity!

"Now I'll give you a chance! Lambart, I can conclude that the battle is inevitable. You don't want to admit defeat without fighting. That would be too unmanly. You will definitely fail and have no chance of winning. The key is that after the war, I can promise not to You who are defeated are grateful to kill you, and even if your army collapses and flees on the battlefield, I promise not to pursue you."

"Mercy?" Lambart felt a little strange.

"Let's call it mercy. After the war, we decided to arrange for you to be the leader of Polotsk, and you will lead all the tribesmen to be loyal to Ross."

"this……"

"As for you killing three of our soldiers and destroying the corpses, this is enough for us to send troops to kill you. I will give you a chance to forgive your sins, pay a sum of grain as compensation after the war, and provide a grain tribute every year after being loyal to Rus. . In this way, you will receive military protection from Russia. Any force that attacks you in the future will be equivalent to attacking Russia, and Russia will automatically send troops to attack it. Similarly, when Russia attacks other forces, you will also have to send troops to fight, and you will have the right to plunder the spoils. "

Such heavy remarks were like a dream, and Lambart felt that the terms in them were too good to be true.

His hesitation really disgusted Fisk.

"You! Decide quickly. Now it's up to you to decide the fate of Polotsk. Do you have the consciousness to become the leader? It depends on your determination now."

For the first time, the survival of the Village Alliance was in his own hands. For the first time, Lambart felt the pressure of becoming the leader. The current atmosphere almost suffocated him.

He composed himself, and after a brief weighing, he realized that Polotsk actually had no choice at all. glory? unyielding? No! Everyone needs to survive. What's more, the conditions given by the Russians are already extremely favorable, and refusing them is seeking death.

"I agree! Just like a hunter raising a loyal dog, if doing so can help us survive, on behalf of the entire Polotsk, I am willing to recognize Ross's rule! Accept... your rule."

What is very paradoxical is that Lambart still believes that Fisk is Ross's supreme commander.

He was very loose in his wording, so Fisk explained it carefully: "The great King of Rus is still in the north, and he is the master of the entire north. And I am just an old warrior under his command. What you are facing is just It is a small part of the army owned by Ross, but it is easy to defeat you. You are the new leader of Polotsk recognized by our Ross, but you cannot be free yet."

Lambart is qualified to be an agent because of his noble status. As for the other five followers, they are lucky and unlucky.

These five people were deliberately let go, considering that they did not suffer any physical pain. They even ate wheat every day during their imprisonment, so that they became a little fat after being raised as pigs.

So how could the people of Polotsk believe in their so-called captivity experience when they were deported? Bao Buqi would think that these five guys quietly killed the leader Lambart and then hid them. They relied on hunting to hide until they returned at a suitable time, and then made up a story to describe it to Chief Proclaw.

Fisk and the guys worked together to give this man some physical punishment!

So amid the extreme screams, the earlobes of the left and right ears of these five people were collectively cut off. Such an operation requires delicate work and a sharp knife, so the extremely straight wounds were definitely not caused by the rough axes brought by these five people. This can prove that they have indeed experienced being imprisoned by Ross, and what they said can only be said by Polotz. Chief Gram believes.

For these five guys, cutting off only their earlobes did not hinder their hearing, which basically deprived them of the right to wear earrings.

They were exiled and driven by the cavalry. They took a little dried fish and ran downstream along the river. Their arms ignored the pain in their ears and just wanted to run away with all their strength.

They ran with anger, which was completely different from the news that Lambart received. These five people were induced to act as de facto Ross envoys to the leader of Polotsk. According to Fisk's idea, they had better put their all in Use all the rhetoric and rhetoric to ensure that a large-scale battle has a chance to start. Only in this way can the coalition led by Ross defeat them in one battle for subsequent operations.