Rise of Rurik

The Polotsk people had never really fought against the Ross cavalry. The last skirmish was nothing, and now they finally realized that they had encountered an incredibly powerful enemy.

Why fight? Proclaw thought that the battle was a fight between warriors, but the enemy was so arrogant that he only shot arrows.

His head was buzzing, and there was an arrow stuck in the wooden shield tied to his left arm. This arrow is exactly the same as the one captured before, which proves that the enemy is the previous horse bandit.

Now, the horse bandits are coming again.

"The spearmen responded to the challenge and stabbed their horses!" He shouted with all his strength, but was long ago covered up by the horrified shouts of the soldiers.

The soldiers of Polotsk were defending instinctively. They spontaneously gathered together and used shields as walls to defend themselves. They could only protect themselves and had no time to care about their injured companions. The wailing of the injured only exacerbated the chaos on the battlefield.

The Ross cavalry came from both wings again. The horses galloped, and the riders shot arrows sideways. They shot three companies in one raid, and then withdrew to their original position.

Especially the warriors holding crossbows, who fired heavy arrows at close range. The short and thick arrows completely penetrated the shield, killing the warriors behind who were deeply hit by the arrows and fell to death.

In just two rounds, the Polotsk Army, who didn't know what to do, could only continue to "superimpose". They kept shrinking, and the people in front squeezed the people inside out of fear, and the people inside were actually pressed so hard that they couldn't breathe. A stampede is taking place as soldiers scramble to avoid being on the periphery and be shot.

After a short rest, the third round of cavalry attacks came again. The same Parthian tactics, the same helpless gathering of Polotsk people.

The arrows hit the wooden shield like many rye ears growing out of it, and the chicken feather armor-piercing arrows were pierced everywhere. The arrow cut through the wooden shield and hit the soldier's side. It penetrated his eyes and neck through the gap. Red spray paint sprayed out ferociously. Seeing the miserable condition of his companions, the Polotsk soldiers could only go one step further and use their shields to help each other's torso and face. That's it. They even lost the opportunity to resist.

Of course, even for the Russian cavalry, frequent use of Parthian tactics consumes a huge amount of horsepower. Based on experience in past wars, you should take a good rest after doing this six times. Then do it six times!

So, the fourth round of attacks came again!

Although it is a small-scale conflict, the battlefield is like a small group of lions running freely in the African grasslands and wildebeest herds. At least the wildebeest will put up a strong resistance, and the beaten Polotsk army has been gathering helplessly.

"They are too weak." Quetzal was very speechless and suggested to Fisk: "I saw that you sent a large number of soldiers to wear armor. Do you still want to stick to your desperate strategy? Why not let your men rush in to solve the battle."

"No need." Fisk stared with an iron face, "Do it again and make them collapse and run away."

"So you will fight back and flee from the enemy later?"

"Then chase him. I changed my mind!"

This is often the case. Once the battle begins, it is almost impossible to progress as the initiator expected. Even if Fisk wants to be merciful, he and his brothers have long been red-eyed, and their thoughts as warriors have been fully awakened.

The last round of cavalry shooting began, and the cavalry quickly passed by after causing some casualties.

At this moment, the war horse was already holding its head high and panting heavily, and its horsepower was greatly consumed by the constant turning back and charging, so the seventh round was completely suspended.

"Stop everyone!" Fisk yelled and ordered again: "Remove the bow! Draw the sword!"

All the cavalrymen turned their horses, knowing that this was the final pursuit. Upon seeing this, the Pechenegs also drew their swords or picked up battle axes.

Fisk was not in a hurry to attack immediately. He checked his army and noticed that there should be no losses on his side. It is true that the enemy is not given a chance to counterattack, and of course there are no casualties on our side.

The battle turned out like this, which surprised both sides. Fisk really didn't expect that the enemy was so weak, and Proclaw didn't know what to do because he was stunned.

The obviously tired cavalry still firmly controlled the initiative on the battlefield, while the Polotsk people were also suffering from fear while being equally tired. They longed for a chance to escape, and their eyes were observing the movements of the Russians through wooden shields filled with arrows.

Countless people were worried. They wanted to run away but were worried that once they broke away from the cover of the large army, they would become prey to be shot and killed by the Ross Horse bandits. They became extremely conservative and stayed where they were as if they were frightened. They could only helplessly point their spearheads outward.

The Russian cavalry was completely uniform in uniform, and the Pecheneg cavalry all wore iron masks. The final slashing is about to begin, although this does not meet the requirements of grassland tactics.

"It's time to go! Russians! Form a wall! Follow me slowly! Pechenegs behind!"

As a result, the larger number of Russians lined up on the wall. They formed a thin line array. This array was extremely wide but thin. The attackers naturally knew their own strength, but in the eyes of the victim and enemy, it was like a wall that was unstoppable. The ground slowly pressed towards him.

There was still a whooshing sound in the sky, and it was the Pechenegs who were rearguard in the depths and were still firing arrows into the air. Quetzal gave what he thought was appropriate cooperation, feeling that it would be untimely to launch a deadly surprise attack now and that arrows would be fired to further demoralize the enemy.

A wall was coming from the front. If the Polotsk people wanted to resist the wall, they also had to be prepared for arrows falling from the sky.

Those who were still resisting were surrounded by many wounded, the wounded were wailing, and the dead were completely limp. It was clear that they were numerically superior, and they had been passively beaten against this battle with no counterattack. Proclaw's mind was a little clearer, and he called on his brothers to actively defend against the enemy. Unexpectedly, the morale of his frightened compatriots was on the verge of collapse.

Collapse is only a matter of time. All it takes is one trigger and the entire military formation will completely collapse.

The trigger is inevitable.

At first, it was just a soldier who couldn't stand the miserable situation, dropped his broken shield with an arrow stuck in it, and ran towards the woodland area north of the river with an ax in his hand.

Like an avalanche, it starts with just a few snowflakes falling, and then the chain reaction quickly turns into a massive collapse.

The second person, the third person... now there are more than ten people, more than twenty people...

"Boss! They finally fled! Chase them!" a Ross soldier shouted anxiously.

This was the opportunity Fisk had been waiting for, and he finally succeeded in inducing the enemy to disintegrate itself. He straightened his arm and twirled the steel sword in his hand, shining brightly: "The whole army! Attack! Kill wantonly."

The charge begins!

The Ross cavalry, which is generally armored, can be regarded as a low-end version of heavy cavalry. Led by Fisk himself, the wall gradually turned into a chisel, and it crashed into the fully fled enemy.

Those enemies who were running towards the forest were let go because they wasted time in pursuit. The cavalry was obsessed with dividing and surrounding the enemies, just like cutting through pieces of fresh meat with a dagger, enjoying part of it and giving up part of it.

The war horses knocked away the fleeing people, and the cavalryman holding the sword raised the steel sword over his head in a very elegant way, stabbing the enemy with nothing but strength. After all, this is not a broad-bladed saber. The slender Ross steel sword is different from all Viking swords. The design focuses on assassination rather than slashing. Objectively, it is also very suitable for cavalry to kill unarmored targets.

The sword stabbed an enemy, and coupled with the speed of the war horse, the stabbing caused a very deep wound, and the person who was struck by the sword was almost certain to die.

They were ruthless killing machines, as the Pecheneg cavalry at the rear could see clearly.

This was the seventh round of the battle. The Ross cavalry tore the Polotsk army apart. Those who had fled into the forest or were running away were not pursued. The cavalry, which had lost its momentum, fought against the enemy in front of them.

The cavalry finally turned into a state of fighting independently, and Fisk no longer worried that his cavalry would be killed by enemies who actively resisted in the chaos. On the contrary, the enemies in front of them almost all lost their fighting spirit. They threw away their weapons one by one and huddled together to await their fate of death.

Killing a guy who threw away his weapon is not considered bravery. Most of these people will not be killed. This is not because the Ross cavalry suddenly became merciful, but because the brothers intend to capture slaves.

The Russian cavalry wanted to capture slaves, and the Polotsk cavalry even more so. What's more, there are obviously female warriors here. Like other members of their race, they have almost given up resistance and are being captured one by one.

"Capture the prisoners quickly! Then sell them to the Russians to make money!" Quetzal called on his men to get down to business in the language of the grasslands, so some black-haired grassland warriors still dismounted and tied up the frightened enemies with the ready-made cables. Stop.

The people of the steppes are very particular about their choice of female warriors from Polotsk, but now it is more appropriate to describe them as "peasant women who have lost their fighting spirit". According to the past trade, if slaves were captured and sold to the north, the Rus would pay a generous sum to buy the captives. This time, Quetzal went north to the north and gained nothing because he was in a hurry and did not attack the Smolensk villages. Now is the time to capture the captives to make extra money. good opportunity.

The act of capturing prisoners is exacerbating the chaos, and the Ross cavalry who are caught in the chaos have no time to take care of their comrades.

Fisk's sword was dripping with blood. He looked left and right and noticed that there were still some brave warriors relying on their carriages to resist.

carriage? Those ponies looked so naive.

The Ross cavalry were circling around the group of enemies. The enemies kept poking at them with their spears. The orphans were poking into the air, just to scare the cavalry who kept wandering back.

The sword-wielding cavalry nailed it firmly, and some people kept holding back their arrows, and fired arrows close to their faces, constantly consuming the enemy's strength.

At this moment, Proclaw, the leader of Polotsk, was among them. He had a chance to take advantage of the chaos to escape, but he decided to stick here because he couldn't afford the shame. He was mentally prepared to die in battle, and once planned to shout to attract the attention of the cavalry. He thought about killing an enemy before dying, but the Russians did not give him a chance to fight alone.

The soldiers guarding him were all wearing chain mail, and by coincidence they were all wearing leopard skins.

It is true that adversity shows loyalty. Those soldiers who were supported in daily life are now resisting desperately. The clothes of these people were completely different from those of the peasant soldiers. Fisk realized that he had probably caught a big fish. Of course, it was unrealistic to expect the enemy to surrender in a chaotic battle. Even if the enemy's military commander is discovered and killed, there will be no mercy, because an agent has already arranged it.

The pointed cone armor-piercing arrows made the Polotsk people's limited chain armor still meaningless. The soldiers were shot and killed. Proclaw watched his cronies continue to die, and he had no way to do anything.

He knew that he had been defeated. There didn't seem to be many cavalry running around in front of him. The Polotsk army, which was clearly outnumbered, collapsed without any decent resistance.

He saw with his own eyes that a village leader was killed. The deceased was a member of the main fighting faction. Such a death was a well-deserved death.

Proclaw has always been entangled in this war. The situation before him was not his original intention. However, he was coerced by public opinion and could only lead the people to the battlefield. If the war is defeated, the people will be responsible for their own choices. Proclaw can argue that this is the fault of his own people, but what's the point? A destroyed village alliance, what qualifications does a surviving leader have to survive?

Continuing to sit and wait for death was like a wild boar tied up waiting to be bled, although the warriors covered in wild boar hides were killed in large numbers in the cavalry attacks.

Proclaw risked his life: "Brothers! Fight with them! If you want to die, fight to the death!" After that, he simply squeezed out of the human wall that protected him, raised his Viking sword and was about to fight the cavalry.

The broad-bladed Viking sword is a derivative of the Roman sword. Its broad-bladed shape is very sensitive to the Russian cavalry, not to mention that Proclaw himself is dressed like a serious Viking.

He is certainly not a Viking, but rather he is imitating the Danish settlers from the Gulf of Riga.

Fisk saw it so clearly that he really thought he might be fighting a group of Danish mercenaries.

"Are you Danes? Stop! I don't have to kill you!" At this moment, Fisk persuaded him to surrender in Norse language, but the other party was really a Dane and was probably not willing to surrender in humiliation.

These words were actually answered in Slavic. The speaker's words were very vague, and his tone was probably swearing.

Open your mouth and then curse back? No need to.

Looking at the battlefield, all the enemies with good legs and feet had escaped. The battlefield by the river was littered with corpses. The cavalry were still cruising around to replenish their wounds. The prairie people with black hair and masks were actively capturing prisoners. Fisk mobilized more than a dozen brothers to launch the final attack. More than a dozen people who resisted were knocked down directly. Then the Ross warriors circling in circles dismounted their horses and transformed into sword and shield hands. They used their shields to stun the enemies covered in leopard skins and kill them. Those who struggle with all their strength will tie up those who are unconscious and those who are submissive.

With only one hundred and fifty cavalry, the enemy with superior strength was defeated and defeated. The battlefield was littered with corpses, and a large number of prisoners with their hands tied were constantly gathered into a pile. They hugged each other and were angrily pointed at by steel-armed crossbows. . They were trembling, because those who tried to escape in the chaos were brutally shot. The prisoners saw it so clearly that they did not dare to escape again.

The cavalry captured the little pony. The Pechenegs thought these miniature horses were too strange, and their curiosity led them to pet them constantly. The supplies transported by the pony carriages were completely captured, and the food contained was a great morale booster.

Quetzal was busy sweeping the battlefield. He hoped to find valuable things from the dead bodies everywhere, and it would be best to collect some silver coins. A group of farmers had a lot of silver coins, but the prairie people found a lot of hand axes and scythes. They didn't know how to use the scythe. Based on its shape, they estimated that it was used to kill the enemy's cavalry. Fortunately, the cavalry did not suffer any losses. Hand axes are all accepted with a smile. Such valuable things are collected by Quetzal with concentration.

As for the Ross cavalry, they were all veterans of many battles and had no idea what trophies they could find. The enemy was too poor and was not even qualified to be plundered by the wealthy Ross veterans.

Only those guys wearing leopard skins.

The Russians also moved south this time, and they only realized that there was something called a leopard in the world when they detained the messenger Lambart. Lambart, whose name comes from the leopard. This naming method is something that Fisker is not qualified to accuse of being strange. After all, Fisker’s original intention is big fish.

The fur of the European leopard is relatively fine, large in area, and has mottled patterns all over its body.

Tribes belonging to the West Slavic ethnic group often encounter European bison, European leopards, and wild boars in their living environment. This is different from the East Slavic ethnic groups who often encounter brown bears and white bears. It is quite natural to worship ferocious beasts. The Polotsk people are ancient Polish immigrants from the Vistula River, and leopards are also active in their living area. It is appropriate for Proclaw to decorate himself with leopard skins.

Of course, the Polotsk chief was not dead, or it could be said that it was because he had a Viking-style iron helmet on his head, a leopard skin on his shoulders, and a Viking sword in his hand. After all, this guy was a high-ranking official. Killing him hastily was not in line with the Ross cavalry. For their own interests, Fisker also wanted these guys to provide some more meaningful information.

Proclaw was knocked unconscious and captured alive. Also captured were as many as ten "leopard skin guards" with similar equipment.

Even though Fiske couldn't tell whether these unusually dressed people were mercenaries or senior personnel of the Polotsk Army, it was certain that they were not ordinary people.

He gave a special order: "You stare at these guys, you are not allowed to take off your clothes, wait until they wake up and tell me!"

"Obey." More than a dozen soldiers responsible for holding on took the order.

Afterwards, Fisk rode his mount to patrol the messy battlefield. Maybe the war with the Polotsk people ended inexplicably in this way. If so, Polotsk has no defense. Wouldn't it be natural to conquer them?

A bold idea came into being - quickly conquer Polotsk, support agent Lambart, and report merit to the king.

Based on this idea, Fisk hurriedly issued a merciful order, that is, ordering soldiers not to kill prisoners. All prisoners were gathered together, and those who were slightly injured were taken away together. Only those who were fatally injured and bleeding could not be treated with additional wounds. End its suffering. There were a large number of female soldiers in the defeated Polotsk army. He additionally ordered the young and energetic soldiers not to be rude to them, just like driving cattle and sheep, and drove them to one place and stopped doing anything.

The end of the persecution after the war was all for the convenience of controlling Polotsk in the future. Fisk was just imitating the methods of King Rurik of Rus.

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