Rise of Rurik

The atmosphere in the room was not solemn and even a little joyful. Not only were Ross's coalition not worried about the Polotsk people's attack, they were even eager for them to come quickly.

There was only one person in the room who was a little upset. Old Harald changed his name to Olaf, and he became a mercenary of Ross. He also stood with Ross, but he still did not want Polotsk to be eliminated.

Fisk deliberately took the lead in asking him what he thought: "So what is the enemy's strength? Our scouts estimate that the enemy's strength is at most a thousand. This is even different from your estimate of three thousand."

"Perhaps... this is the force they can mobilize quickly. What are you... planning to do? Kill them all? If you must do this, you may suffer great losses."

"I don't think it's possible. Unless it's a bloody battle with the Franks, I may suffer heavy losses." Fisk looked around again, and everyone laughed arrogantly.

Old Harald was very embarrassed and simply stopped mentioning it: "So you really want to take action?"

"Yes." Fisk nodded, "Originally I wanted to give them a chance to fight us openly, but they sent out these people because they were either too weak or looked down on me. The main body of my plan remains unchanged. I plan to send out these people. A surprise force will defeat these guys. What do you think? How much do you know about their army?"

Svalgard hurriedly answered: "Our boss is asking you how their weapons and equipment are."

"Weapons?" When mentioning this, Old Harald looked contemptuous: "You might as well interrogate that Lambart again on this issue. Isn't this person a relative of the enemy leader?"

"I'm afraid he's lying, either making Polotsk look too weak, or bragging."

"Am I telling the truth?" Old Harald asked deliberately.

Fisk looked into his eyes sincerely again: "We are all Odin's warriors. You won't lie to the gods. We are in the same team now."

What Harald Sr. needed was trust, and Fisk gave it to him. He began to describe his detailed understanding of the Polotsk people. Although he mentioned their poor military strength, it also explained an issue that had been ignored in the past.

It is said that if they act on a large scale, when all the people go into battle, they will definitely use all kinds of farm tools as weapons. Overall, Polotsk is seriously short of iron armor, but there is no shortage of iron tools. There are many spears for hunting wild animals, and there are also a large number of scythes. Otherwise there are plenty of pitchforks. The various fighting methods are generally a group of people holding short spear weapons and moving together, just like a mobile hedgehog.

In principle, the formation of spearmen restrained cavalry attacks. The Ross-Saxon coalition relied on this move to defeat the East Frankish army in the Battle of the Elbe. Whether the Polotsk people also have this tactic, Fisk is not willing to use cavalry charging into the battle as a magic weapon for victory. He does not want to suffer unnecessary losses after falling into chaos.

The enemy has very few iron armors, which is also important information. But the enemy is not a fool, they will use a large number of wooden shields to defend themselves. After all, putting himself in his shoes, Fisk also thought of making a large number of wooden shields for defense, and even covering the shields with a layer of deerskin.

The recurve bows of the steppe people are extremely powerful when shooting close to the face. In the old days, the Parthian cavalry frequently used recurve bows to shoot directly through the shield to kill Crassus's Roman soldiers. Of course, this was limited to close range. Shooting in the face from distance. Once the distance is increased, the problem of the cavalry's recurved bows, which are good at shooting light arrows, and the rapid loss of kinetic energy becomes too obvious.

Fisk had received a more advanced education from Rurik and had some understanding of physics. He knew the basic principles of ballistics, the concept of kinetic energy, air resistance and the gravity of the earth. Although he had a general understanding, this knowledge was very practical for actual combat.

The experiences described by the elder Harald all come from the descriptions of Riga merchants who sailed on the West Dvina River over the years. They always encountered exploitation by Polotsk, and conflicts occasionally broke out.

He still firmly believed that his judgment was good. If it was really a nationwide battle, it would be reasonable for Polotsk to send an army of 3,000 people, even if there were many female soldiers among them.

Fisk has already thought of a countermeasure: "Brothers Quetzal."

"exist."

"Give me fifty cavalry archers who are good at fighting. I will organize one hundred and fifty warriors to challenge first. I will personally take action to defeat their spirit. It would be better if I can catch their leader."

"Is there such a good thing?" Quetzal agreed without thinking. He shouted impatiently: "Just in time, there will be fifty warriors assigned to the princess (Baya Hill). They should be with you Ross. People fight side by side.”

"Very good." Fisk looked at the other two people again: "Svalgard, Wladyslav, you two soldiers continue to guard the Vitebsk fortress. The cavalry is on standby outside. Leave some brothers to guard the fortress to ensure our supplies. Five mistakes."

Regarding the battle, Wladyslav secretly rejoiced that he did not participate. He led the Kiev cavalry to declare participation in the war. It would be better not to fight directly unless necessary. Svalgard felt a little regretful, but the boss asked him to agree.

It was still early, and since the cavalry was always in a state of combat readiness, ordering them to assemble and go into battle could be completed almost instantly.

The cavalry is all about mobility. Fisk and Quetzal cooperated in a friendly manner, and a highly elite cavalry archer unit was immediately formed.

One hundred and fifty cavalry go into battle!

The iron hoofs kicked up countless mud clods, and the well-equipped cavalry attacked along the right bank of the West Dvina River based on intelligence. All soldiers participating in the operation were told that this operation would encounter a large enemy force, and all those who were eager to kill the enemy would be given the opportunity. Fisk also explained some basic principles, which is to follow his wisdom in all actions and not to kill again when ordered to stop.

He emphasized one more point: "It is better to capture them than to kill them. Capture more people to force them all to give up resistance."

kindness? Some brothers feel that the boss has suddenly become merciful.

On the surface, Fisker does want to be merciful, but in fact it is still based on realistic considerations. He does intend to be merciful, just for the sake of a better outcome in the future.

The cavalry were all mounted archers. The elite standing cavalry belonging to Ross were truly prepared. They replaced the iron mail mail, which used a large number of holes in the traditional chain mail to fix a large amount of iron with hemp rope or wool thread. piece. The key parts of the torso and thighs are covered in armor, while the rest of the body is covered in leather armor.

The fifty cavalry led by Quetzal were much weaker in armor. They all wore leather armor, but abstract iron masks were tied under the cone-shaped leather helmets, making the cavalry even more ferocious.

Fiske specially brought ten steel-armed crossbows. Even though the winding process of this weapon is extremely troublesome, it is indeed an armor-breaking weapon at medium and short range. Even if the cavalry can only use it to shoot at close range, it will kill with one shot. A critical hit is enough

There was no problem for the cavalry to hunt a group of bears like this. They lined up in a dense formation and walked slowly along the reedy river bank in small steps. It was only a matter of time before they met the advancing Polotsk people.

…

But speaking of the Polotsk Army, when the leader Proclaw realized that his position was too close, he deliberately slowed down. His first echelon gradually merged with the dilly-dallying second echelon, and he had no intention of complaining. As the two echelons merged together, the advancing force finally reached a thousand men.

Originally, the Ross scouts saw only 500 people in the first echelon of the Polotsk Army during their early reconnaissance. Due to misjudgment, they estimated that there would be at most 1,000 soldiers. Now, their estimate has become a reality.

Even though the situation left Proclaw speechless, he realized that even complaining would be of no use. Many of the village leaders who shouted fiercely behaved exactly the opposite of what they boasted about during actual battles and marches.

The first and second echelons that could be gathered already included a large proportion of the elite fighting force of this community. He comforted himself that even if the subsequent echelons were merged together, the effect of many soldiers waving flags and shouting to increase the number of people would be greater than their fighting. With the elite in hand, these thousand people already have the ability to storm the enemy's fortress.

Proclaw still understood that even self-persuasion could not negate the difficulty of winning with the existing troops. He still needed follow-up troops to join, so camping in the forest area outside the target area was an option.

The forest can eliminate the cavalry advantage of the Russian horse bandits and can also hide their own strength. As long as he could have some time to breathe, he firmly believed that the follow-up troops would arrive no matter how long they delayed, and the rest would be a group charge-style decisive battle.

Wishful thinking is done well, and the initiative on the battlefield seems to be always in one's own hands.

Although the marchers were exhausted, their morale was generally good. People chatted and entertained themselves during the march, dreaming about how much loot they would get after victory. Because of their bad luck, they did not mention the possibility of death in battle at all. Their optimism enveloped the entire army, and they also ignored the possibility of being attacked at any time.

It was under this strange cloud condition that a gray-white shadow appeared in the distance upstream of the river.

The leading Polotsk warriors are all former Orions, and they are extremely sensitive to moving objects in the wilderness.

Those are definitely not a moving group of bears, they are enemies!

"Horse bandit! It's a horse bandit!"

They screamed in shock and grabbed the handles of short wooden bows and prepared to shoot.

The entire march was in chaos for an instant. Proclaw thought about what to do if he encountered an enemy sneak attack. No matter what he thought, the Russian cavalry really appeared. At this moment, he could already see it with the naked eye.

"Brothers, fight!" He yelled several times in succession, and hurriedly summoned several village leaders among the generals, and ordered: "Hurry up and organize your people to fight! Tell them not to run away. The spearmen are gathered together, and the archers are placed among them. We will defend with all our strength. !”

In fact, Proclaw has already figured out how to deal with cavalry attacks based on previous small-scale battles. A tried-and-true trick is to form a formation of spearmen and mix in long-range units to wait for opportunities to output. Although it is silly to set up a formation like this, it is indeed difficult for the cavalry to break through the hedgehog formation.

Unless, the Russian army that rushed over was a kind of armored cavalry with both men and horses wearing heavy armor like that of Eastern Rome, just like a four-legged, one-ton dump truck hitting them.

A thousand people in Polotsk were moving in a chaotic manner. It was the first time for many of them to see the Russian horse bandits, and hatred and curiosity arose. They formed a formation as quickly as possible, pointed their spearheads outside the formation, and formed a hedgehog formation with the riverside area.

The wooden shield covered at least half of the surrounding warriors. The simple wooden shield was tied to the left arm so that the soldier could hold the spear with both hands. In this way, the warriors all hunched their backs to face the impending impact.

At the same time, the Ross cavalry discovered the enemy on the march, and their leisurely march came to an end.

"Cavalry! Move in dense formation! Check your bows and arrows. Crossbowmen! Start charging now!" Fisk ordered loudly in Norse, and then repeated it in a brief Pecheneg Turkic dialect.

Thus, Quetzal saw for the first time the preparations of the Russians for battle. These taller men, mostly with blond hair, looked like prairie people. Their left hand holding the reins was holding the handle of the bow. Experts even hold a few more arrows in their left hand, and some simply hold an arrow in their mouth. Quetzal knew that all this was done in order to fire more arrows in a shorter time. Prairie warfare meant that light bows could miss quickly. The Russians seemed to be faster than the prairie people.

"This is the behavior of veterans who have fought bloody battles." He sighed silently, and was surprised to see ten Ross cavalry lying flat on their horses, their hands constantly "stirring" a utensil. In the end, it seemed It was to wind up their magic weapons.

Ross's crossbow was exported to the grassland on a small scale before this year. Kagan, the current Khan, was full of confidence that this thing could turn weaklings into sharpshooters, but the actual performance was not satisfactory. There is no shortage of marksmen in the grasslands, and the empty valley plains of the lower Volga River offer countless opportunities to practice archery.

He had long known that the Russians used iron as bow arms in an incredible way. Is it possible to make a bow out of iron? Only actual combat can prove it.

Quetzal held the reins and rode up to Fisk, and said bluntly: "This is the first time we are fighting side by side. I see that the enemy is actually forming a formation on the ground. It is better for us to attack separately from the left and right wings."

"That's what I meant." Fisk answered without thinking, and added something more: "But before we attack, we launch into the air to create chaos first."

"Okay. It's up to you to decide when to attack."

Quetzal knew very well that in the future he would stay in the north for a long time under the orders of the Khan, and he knew his future status very well. Now he should do his job as a "partial general" as soon as possible so that he could have a good relationship with other Russian nobles. For example, this young bald Fisk is a high-ranking Rus nobleman. The Khan claims that this man is qualified to be called a brother to Rurik, the "Russ Khan".

Are high-ranking nobles ruthless in killing enemies? Quetzal was delighted to see that the opportunity to kill his enemy was today.

The cavalry's movement speed is much faster than that of the continuous marching team. They cherish their horse power and pay attention to how to use it. The Turkic horses have strong endurance but not strong attack speed. The horse team first lined up and rode on the wall. It looked very intimidating, but in fact it was full of murderous intent.

To highlight the maximum attack effectiveness of long-range units, there is no way to adopt a line formation. The cavalry has entered a state of fast walking, which is a prelude to a sprint.

At this moment, Fisk was riding a horse in front of the formation. He raised his right fist and turned to warn the soldiers: "Three arrows! Shoot quickly! Prepare immediately!"

All the soldiers stared at the clenched fist of his raised right arm.

"Get ready! Projectile! Now!"

There is no problem in projecting a grassland recurve bow to hit a target 200 meters away. It's just that it takes too much luck to shoot accurately. After all, projectile is a collective behavior of the archers, and it only hits the enemies in formation.

Two hundred meters away, the distance between the actual figure and the figure seemed a bit small, which was the stage where Ross performed.

When the Polotsk infantry archers gritted their teeth in the spearmen array and waited for the enemy to burst in, a whooshing sound suddenly came from the sky.

That's a flying arrow!

By the time the bow-wielding hunter realized it, it was already too late.

Standard armor-piercing arrows are Ross's mass-produced weapons. The cast iron arrow clusters are cast by the fried steel method to remove excess carbon and become low-carbon steel, which is then quenched for performance hardening. It is a slender chisel that renders any ordinary chain armor meaningless. Its terrifying penetrating power against unarmored enemies can cause fatally deep wounds to the enemy's torso.

Arrows fell from the sky, and the unarmored warrior was hit in all kinds of strange body parts. The person who was hit by the arrow immediately began to wail, and the intact person subconsciously raised his shield. He watched the arrow cluster penetrate the wooden shield and get stuck in front of everyone...

Even the little pony pulling the baggage was hit by an arrow and struggled in extreme pain. The originally formed army began to become chaotic under the continuous rain of arrows.

They also took a counterattack. The hunters with bows shot arrows at the cavalry. However, even if they were thrown, the arrows missed and could not hit the cavalry at all.

The distance was already close, and Fisk could clearly hear the screams and painful roars of the chaotic crowd.

The Ross cavalry was still advancing, and the soldiers clamped their legs on the horse's belly. After being ordered to complete the three strikes, they all took out new three strikes from their quivers, either holding them in their hands or holding them in their mouths.

Fisk looked left and right again. The time was ripe. He waved his fist: "Russians, follow me to the left! Pechenegs, follow Quetzal to the right! Shoot through the enemy's face at close range! Let's go. !”

Also one hundred and fifty from left and right, the Ross army, which was obviously inferior in numbers, launched a strong attack on the enemy infantry that was several times their own.

They adopted the classic tried-and-tested steppe cavalry tactics, which were actually a Parthian tactic.

From the perspective of Polotsk leader Proclaw, the Russian horse bandits were really going to charge forward with all their strength and have a head-on collision.

In desperation, he mobilized some sane spearmen to form a formation at the front, aiming their spearheads at the direction of the cavalry's attack.

It wouldn't be considered Parthia if we really bumped into it.

Not far in front of the formation, the cavalry that entered the galloping state suddenly split into two. The two cavalry teams galloped past the two wings of the infantry formation, and fired arrows without hesitation. The whole process was smooth, and then they rushed to the front of the infantry formation. rear. The cavalry looked back, their horses stood still, and they stood on the saddle and continued to perform more accurate pile-driving archery.

During this period, the steel-armed crossbow that had just completed a critical hit at close range was slowly being charged again, and the enemy hit by it was left with irreparable fatal injuries and there was no way to save it.

The horse needs a rest after a sprint, and Fisker just accommodates the horsepower.

When he felt that his horse had taken a breather, he started the second round of action...

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :