Rise of Rurik

The first snow fell in Smolensk, earlier than in previous years.

The dense Katyn forest was covered with a thin layer of snow, and the temperature dropped sharply. This was not a problem for people who were prepared for it.

The first snow dissipated as quickly as it came. The continuous gray and cold weather was finally blown away by the howling north wind. As soon as the sun returned, the whole world began to melt snow.

It is early winter now, and the weather is not yet cold enough to freeze the earth to a solid state.

Because of the melting snow, all snow-covered areas have become wet. Coupled with fallen leaves and withered yellow reeds, people can't help but feel solemn and melancholy when looking at it. And when your feet step on such a land, your leather shoes will soon become wet. Coupled with the cold weather, people's feet seemed to be soaked in ice water all the time, making the whole body uncomfortable.

No smart person would want to be out here in this weather until the ground becomes dry again.

But it takes the world, and no one knows how long the next snow will fall and last.

For Vadim, the ruler of Smolensk, he felt that there was not much time left for him.

It was when the earth was a little wet that he issued the order for a full gathering.

Tonight was different from usual. People took out their home-brewed rye kvass, which was as cloudy as soy sauce, and vowed to have a good meal before setting off for the expedition.

Unlike other kvass, the one being shared tonight was deliberately brewed for a longer period of time, giving it the alcohol content of a low-alcohol ale.

Small holes were cut out of the tightly hooped barrel, and a large amount of turbid foam spurted out. The fragrant gas dissipated, and Vadim, who held the chisel in his own hands, finally opened it.

Pairs of eyes were staring at the barrel, and each young man kept

No drooling.

"It has been brewing for some time. I have taken over all the positions of my father in Smolensk, and I am about to take you on a crusade against the most abominable bandits. Look at this barrel of kvass. I have been waiting for it all summer, just with Share this moment with all of you who are brave!”

Vadim deliberately used Kvass as a token to talk freely. He glared hard at each young man in the eyes, and then said: "Are you all warriors? I think so. Only true warriors have the right to fight with me. Share the brew, drink it, and together we fight.”

It is said that each village will use part of their grain to brew kvass, a local alcoholic drink. It is equivalent to the mead of Northern Europe, the ale of Saxony, and the wine of the Frankish world. Drinking wine from a cup.

There was no joy tonight, the atmosphere in the house was serious.

The people invited to this room by Vadim were all promising young people from the city of Smolensk. Most of them were nephews of village leaders, and a few young people who were considered by their fellow villagers to be very strong and dare to hunt bears. Talented.

Everything is just like what happened at the Pine Needle Manor on the shores of Lake Ilmen more than ten years ago. The big leader has his own base and controls each village as much as possible. There is no harmonious situation. Each village wants to be the leader of the largest village. The leader demands things to be done. A group of villages jointly built Pine Needle Manor, which once became the giant of Lake Ilmen. With its powerful size, it controlled the large and small manors in the distance, and squeezed out and expelled those who disobeyed.

…

As a result, there were a large number of "hiding people", and the White Tree Manor

The presence.

Vadim tried his best to replicate this ruling model in Smolensk. He has been in power for two years. Relying on the foundation left by his father-in-law, he led the largest family in Smolensk to basically complete control of all villages in the city. The centripetal force of villages of the same ethnic group has become stronger with the help of military deterrence.

He was wooing these young nobles from Smolensk, making this room look like a large-scale dockside scene.

The big leader is toasting, who dares not to drink? But if you drink it, you must follow the big leader to fight for your life.

However, how many people really want to launch a large-scale offensive? Even if many people decide based on this, is it really good to launch an attack in autumn and winter?

Rather than fearing the horse bandits, they were more afraid of the sudden coming of the blizzard.

As the saying goes, the scars are healed and the pain is forgotten. This year, the horse bandits seemed to have mysteriously disappeared. Since no villages were attacked, the Smolensk people worshiped the gods at the altar in the Katyn Forest and planned an attack. The enemy who was supposed to be the first to cause trouble seemed Learn well.

"Perhaps, this year is not an accident. Maybe the horse bandits gave up their sneak attacks on the village forever because they felt that what they grabbed was too little?" Someone thought so, considering that this kind of spineless thought made the leader furious, I simply didn't dare to mention it.

The oil lamps in the house were dim.

"You guys, take out the glasses. Now I'll pour the wine for you myself."

The young people sitting cross-legged all have their own sterling silver cups in front of them. This cup alone proves the noble status of the owner.

Naturally, there are also those who use ordinary oak cups. Such people are actually "bear hunting warriors" promoted by Vadim himself. They have risen from being able-bodied among civilians to become trusted by the leader.

The military commander, now having the big leader pour him wine himself, was moved to tears and at the same time dared to show allegiance to the leader Vadim with a crying face.

"Does an ordinary person deserve to sit with us?"

"Has he really killed a bear? If he has, I admire him as a warrior."

"Who knows? Those rumors are simply not reliable."

The nephews of local nobles are very taboo about ordinary villagers being with them. After all, many people have serious Roman ancestry in their ancestors. Even by their generation, their understanding of Rome has shrunk to the point where they only know the word "roma".

At least they are not self-confident, their nobility does not come from the illusion of Rome, this is a gimmick, their noble capital comes from family wealth. Their fathers were big landowners, the patriarchs of a huge family. For the young people who are participating in this grand event, if they achieve success in the conquest war, they will stand out among their family brothers.

They murmured silently, and when Vadim turned around to stop the boring discussion, they all shut up.

"I seem to have heard some doubts." Vadim, who was still holding the barrel, said deliberately: "I don't want to pursue it. A true warrior must rely on his own ability. The best way to prove his nobility is to lead everyone to defeat the bandits. I He is the noblest, so I lead an army composed of Smolensk people to go out. We will set off tomorrow, and you and the young men of this village are not allowed to slack off. "

…

The young people looked at each other and said yes.

They drank the Tonggas because

It is deeply fermented. After one cup, everyone will soon feel dizzy and comfortable.

They sang songs together again and vowed in front of Vadim that they would never back down, even if there was a snowstorm during the battle...

The next day, the army gathered at Gniezdovo, the great altar in the forest.

Ten cows were led out by the male and female priests, and then led to the high platform of the rammed altar.

A small area of ​​​​the dense forest was cleared of trees, and the artificial clearing was used long ago as the great altar of the Smolensk community. Today, more than 30,000 people of all kinds gathered here!

Vadim, who was riding a horse, looked around and saw a large number of local residents walking on foot. He could not estimate how many people came. He could only see that the dark forest was full of people wearing different clothes.

Women mostly wear patterned cloths and often hold children in their arms.

There were also elderly people holding rattan baskets and stuffing some things into the hands of the young warriors.

The people were using their last time to give the young people who were about to go on the expedition the last bit of dry food, and every tribal warrior carried a large *** cloth bag filled with dry and hard bread that had been smashed into small pieces by an axe. Even this year of new wheat.

Stalls made of leather or cloth were rolled up and tied with pockets in various ways.

Almost every soldier was armed with a spear nearly twice as long as an adult man. It is not only a spear, but also a marching pole and a wooden stick for carrying luggage.

Ordinary tribal warriors wore a variety of clothing, and most of them were forced to obey the demands of village leaders to go into battle. They were given the best possible weapons, equipment, and armor. To be honest, these weapons and armor could only support low-intensity tribal melees.

Thick leather is available in a variety of

Sewn with a mixture of leather, it is a cold-proof coat that also serves as armor for ordinary warriors. The most important piece of armor is a round shield, with different patterns painted on it depending on the soldier's personality.

They wrap linen cloth from their toes all the way to their knees, and then put on special leather boots. After tightening the hemp rope shoelaces, they often remove the meat-cutting daggers and wooden spoons for convenience and safety. After all, Ordinary people use strips of cloth to make belts, which are unreliable.

There are as many as three thousand tribal warriors, with different clothes and uneven weapons and equipment. Only the use of spears has been unified due to forced orders.

This time Vadim tried his best to pay attention to the use of bows and arrows. He knew that this was his shortcoming and he was afraid that he would never be able to defeat his opponent in this aspect.

Then strengthen the javelin, so-called making some large arrows, and launch them with a wooden spear thrower. Although the accuracy is limited, it is better than having no long-range weapons.

One is a spear thrower that fires a javelin, and the other is a sling that throws broken pottery fragments.

Hunters who are good at archery have also been gathered. Due to the poor bow-making skills of the locals, the hunters can still use short wooden bows to kill squirrels. Is it really also useful to participate in the battle against the armored Ross gangsters?

Something is better than nothing.

Each village had to prove its loyalty to the big leader Vadim, and they sent as many troops as possible. However, no one "pawned their pants" for this expedition, and no village leader personally participated. They basically just selected one of their many sons and sent them to him. A limited number of people in the village who are in debt can be pulled out. If there are not enough people, the gods will draw lots and let the gods choose who will do this narrow escape.

…

After all, the Ross gangster's butcher knife has only been used to chop

Some villages, most of the villagers living in the east, did not have the disaster happen to them, so they naturally lacked some fighting spirit to counterattack, not to mention that the first counterattack unexpectedly happened during the autumn and winter gatherings.

Young people may not be afraid of anything because they are strong, but the old guys all think that Vadim took such a risky move because his brain was beaten with a stick.

But this Vadim dares to take responsibility for his actions. This man does what he says!

Even...this is an opportunity.

Some big things cannot be left on the table.

After all, Vadim simply "stealed" the position of the great leader through dishonorable means. In the past, the nobles even criticized him verbally. Since this guy now has a thousand elite warriors in his hands, the nobles of each village who know the current affairs are regarded as heroes. , arrived at the sacrifice site one after another today, apparently expressing their support for the "Winter Offensive" led by Vadim himself.

In fact, some well-dressed local nobles thought this way: "If you die in battle, your army will be wiped out by the Russians, or this army will be lost in a sudden snowstorm. All of you will die, even if you are lucky enough to come back , do you still have the face to be the leader? We... will naturally choose a new one and plan for the future."

The Smolenskians actually had no elite entry or exit.

Therefore, when the ten cows on the altar were stabbed one by one, the blood of the cows soaked the entire altar.

Although Vadim witnessed all this on horseback, what he didn't know was that when tens of thousands of people gathered here, he, Vadim, became a living sacrifice like a killed cow.

Vadim has already made a deal with the god of fire they believe in as a bet with his life.

Fate cannot tolerate him

Failure means he has no chance to fight again.

He vaguely thought that if he lost the battle, it would end badly.

But he was not qualified to think about failure at all. It was precisely because he was sure of victory that he had assembled an army of four thousand here.

In the end, he simply rode up to the altar!

The horse's hooves trampled on the altar soaked in cow's blood. This move shocked the priests and caused an uproar among the onlookers. They were surprised, exclaimed, and booed, and all the sounds turned into a low roar.

"Chief, this is the altar! Never...no one else has ever stood here. You...can't be disrespectful to God." The wrinkled high priest begged with his hands on his chest.

Vadim actually didn't think much about it. He just wanted to find a commanding height and deliberately show off his majestic image.

"Can't I stand here? Do you think I am an ordinary person?" He looked at the high priest with a cold eyebrow, and there was uncontrollable killing intent in his eyes.

"But. You are like this..." Suddenly, the high priest knelt down, and his clothes were soaked in cow blood. The lower priests also did the same.

The priests of Smolensk are the defenders of traditional Slavic beliefs. They have their own set of etiquette standards. They revere God so much that the priests talk about it, thus cutting themselves off from the secular world. Therefore, in the eyes of ordinary people, These priests are all "men of heaven". The less they come into contact with ordinary people, the more they need to be respected.

The rammed altar was a sacred place where the high priest stood and was believed to be able to communicate directly with Peron, the god of fire. Indeed, a circular clearing suddenly appeared in the dense forest, with an altar with a pyramid-shaped rammed earth platform standing abruptly in the center, and the sunlight could fully illuminate it.

…

Shoot here to reach the sky.

The priests all knelt down, and people who believed deeply in their faith also knelt down one after another. More people were confused about the situation. They saw people in front of them kneeling one after another, and they themselves also knelt down blindly, thinking that maybe this was part of the sacrificial activity.

The thousands of warriors loyal to Vadim himself also held their spears and knelt down in the posture taught by the Varyag mercenaries.

Everything had a chain reaction. When Vadim was surprised and at a loss, he saw tens of thousands of people actually like falling wheat, as if a mysterious force forced them to kneel down.

"They... what are they doing? Why are they so obedient and saluting me today?"

The high priest had no intention of replying to what he heard.

"Could it be God's will?" Vadim asked again

The high priest, who was also at a loss, had an idea, raised his head, his wrinkled face was like the dry earth, and said decisively: "Chief! Are you standing here to sacrifice yourself to God? It seems that God has already Decide that you are not an ordinary person. Look at these people, they have indeed received God's will. They are kneeling down to you, and you have been given by God to be extraordinary."

"Sure enough! It seems that God responded to my prayer in this way. So..."

Vadim was overjoyed. After thinking about it for a while, he suddenly raised his neck and looked at the sun.

This is the only area in the Katyn Forest that is free of annoying dense branches and can be bathed in the sun's rays.

"God Peron! Do you want me to sacrifice myself?! Can't ten cows satisfy you?!"

Suddenly, Vadim pulled out the iron sword. He hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and made a just-right cut in the palm of his left hand, then clenched his fist and let his blood flow.

Enter the altar.

"God! This is my blood sacrifice!"

This move was deliberately made to be seen by the high priest, so he deliberately raised his left arm.

"You have seen it," he said, "my blood flows into the altar."

Suddenly, a gust of north wind rustled the woods, and countless branches fell as the pine trees trembled violently. The countless sounds eventually turned into roars.

"It's an oracle." The high priest was shocked and responded while trembling all over: "God has answered you."

"What did God say?" Vadim asked.

"God... God said. You will win. However, your behavior of riding a horse and rushing to the altar is also blasphemy. God also wants you to make further sacrifices."

"What will I do? You can't cut off my left hand."

"Catch a few enemy prisoners and execute them at this altar with your own hands." the high priest continued.

"That's it, I understand."

That's it, Vadim left the altar on horseback.

What he didn't know was that the last words of the high priest were mixed with the priest's petty emotions, and he did something in the name of God, especially Vadim, to deliberately torment him. Because it is simply impossible to capture the unruly Varyag Rus as slaves.

But the strange environment just now really scared all the priests, and the high priest really believed that God Peron had an oracle.

From Vadim's point of view, the high priest's words suddenly gave the expedition a new legitimacy - to capture prisoners of war and sacrifice them to the God of Fire on the altar.

The forest roared violently due to the wind, which was God's order.

Why can't it be done? Attacking the Russian stronghold on the West Dvina River suddenly had the most tenable rationality for the operation.

So, Vadim, realizing this was an opportunity, immediately ordered everyone to

The priest announced in front of everyone: The gods need this expedition.