Rise of Rurik

The Sozh River flows quietly in autumn. It is one of many rivers that merge into the Dnieper River.

More streams merge into the Sori River like leaf veins, and relying on these streams, another group of people in the forest are nurtured.

The Lamic people are also one of the many people who came to Eastern Europe from the far west on the eve of the Vistula River. They have a small population and are unwilling to have too much contact with outsiders. They live their own days of farming, fishing and hunting in the forest. They seem to be so peaceful. Life can last forever.

Their understanding of the outside world is quite limited, and they know that there is a larger forest outside the forest, where people who speak a similar language to themselves live.

Communication with each other was so limited that those people had murderous intentions without even knowing it.

Creating farmland in the forest is difficult. After logging, the roots are thrown away and the land is leveled. The fertility of such fields is very low, so the Ladmi people use mud and rotten reeds from streams as fertilizer to improve the soil quality.

They did their best to produce food to meet their own needs, but the extremely low yield meant that growing oats alone was not enough to ensure that everyone would not starve to death.

Hunting, fishing, and even looking for honey and gathering mushrooms. It is the current autumn. The villages of the Lamic people are vigilantly sweeping away the Agaricus bisporus in the forest with the attitude of the whole village.

They have to be careful, because the Krivich people in another forest may compete with them for living space, and it is not impossible for an awkward encounter to lead to a fierce battle.

They have to be more careful about roaming brown bears, because in this forest, bears preparing to hibernate and hunting wildly will attack any living creature and prioritize people as food.

But this time, the village of the Ladmic people faced a crazy attack that exceeded their own understanding.

Initially, it was the mushroom pickers who were attacked.

The cavalry of the Pecheneg-Kiev coalition went deep into the forest. With Sakhi as a dedicated guide, the team's raid went very smoothly.

The cavalrymen were seen walking in the forest, their horse hooves rustling on the fallen leaves.

The mushroom pickers heard a strange noise and thought it was a bear, but they were hit by arrows.

The husband was shot and fell dead in front of his wife and children.

Then some black shadows rushed out of the cover of the trees, and Pecheneg warriors wearing iron masks surrounded the mushroom pickers.

Those who tried to resist were killed again, leaving only seemingly young women and children alive.

The horse's rope was tied to the man's body, and the mushroom picker was captured.

Five people were captured in an assault. Sakhi could not sympathize with these people, so he used some tricks to make all the prisoners submit.

The prisoners explained the location of the village, and finally they could not imagine what would happen in the future.

"A village of maybe two hundred people is like a piece of barbecue dripping with grease." Kagan was very interested, so he ordered his men to camp in secret, and they would eat some cheese at night and never light a fire.

The same order also applies to the Kiev people, because Sakhi is the coordinator, and the main force of the normal raid is the steppe people.

There was no bonfire in the dark night forest. The soldiers slept huddled together. After the war horses ate a batch of oats given by the Kiev people, they also gathered together and knelt on the soft fallen leaves to sleep.

Just as the forest fog was rising, the golden sunlight shone through the gaps in the dead leaves like a curtain and illuminated the earth. The dormant army came to life!

"Get on your horses! Show them how powerful we are! Remember, try to catch as many people alive as we hope to capture more women and make a fortune!" Kagan, who was on horseback, called his men in Turkic dialect.

Sakhi couldn't understand what this guy was talking about, but he noticed the current situation and today was the moment to make a contribution.

Pecheneg warriors took off their iron masks one after another, holding crossbows or recurve bows, and formed a wide queue to explore forward in the forest.

Kagan couldn't trust his Kiev allies, so he ordered them all to follow him and get a piece of the pie when the chaos started.

Naturally, the "first right to plunder" in this raid must be firmly controlled by the leader of the Pecheneg army. After all, the brothers still hope to make a fortune.

The cavalry moved forward slowly in clusters. The Pecheneg army on the grasslands in the past was not willing to advance with this rather risky tactic. Considering that his opponents are a group of "bush game", the next battle is not an adventure.

Many Lamic villages are scattered in this forest. In the future, Slavic cities like Chernihiv and Sumy will be born in this woodland, and the Lamic people will also be integrated into a larger scale. of national organizations, but not now.

In today's era, there are only villages that have enclosed their own land. One village was targeted by outsiders on horseback.

A small flat land next to a stream appeared in the dense forest, and a large amount of harvested farmland completely surrounded a small walled village.

The people herding cattle and sheep vaguely saw a large number of squirming black shadows appearing in the mist. The shepherd subconsciously thought they were bears running out. After paying attention for a while, he realized something was wrong.

From the perspective of the cavalry, the situation is another matter.

The proud Kagan was no fool. He saw the large fences in the farmland and couldn't help but become nervous.

"Sakye." He asked: "The Mickey people you said are weak, why do they still have a wall?"

"Ah? My friend, are you...are you afraid of the wall?" Sakhi had to ask timidly.

"No. It's just that you never said that."

"But we Kievers also set up walls in our settlements to prevent bears from coming in and eating our livestock and poultry. This is nothing to worry about."

Looking into Saki's eyes, Kagan shook his head: "I don't believe it, at least not completely."

"What do you want?"

Kagan looked forward through the mist, sighed softly, and asked: "You Kiev people are really willing to be our allies? You should know that it will be very difficult to be allies with us Pechenegs and then formally form an alliance with the Russians." Good luck! I! The next Pecheneg Khan will give you a good word. I will help facilitate our three-party alliance."

He didn't need to say more, Sakhi understood the meaning completely.

"I understand! Let me take someone to find out their truth."

"Exactly, take your people and charge once. If you win, your people will plunder first. Prove your attitude and charge for me."

Sakhi deeply lamented Kagan's cunning. He was beaten so hard that he subjectively did not want to attack blindly. There was no room for compromise now. The army was summoned, and the promise of plunder was used to boost the morale of the soldiers.

However, to the surprise of the Pechenegs, they saw that most of their Kiev allies dismounted their horses, so they took the guys at hand to attack as infantry.

Kagan quickly understood the answer. The so-called Kiev horses were too valuable.

The Kiev people, led by Sakhi, rushed forward with a large number of bows and arrows. Sakye came up with a plan and approached the village wall, threw a rope around a corner of the wooden wall, and everyone worked together to pull it down, and the army swarmed up.

The battle suddenly broke out, and the Kiev people all emerged from the mist, charging forward with howls. No one is willing to engage in any verbal negotiation with the Mickey people, and they will start a war immediately after a face-to-face meeting.

The sudden attack was shocking. Even though the villagers closed their doors and all the men and women in the village went into battle, there were still too few people who could fight. They relied on their own walls as cover, climbed up high and shot arrows at the attackers. Other than that, they did nothing. Better way.

Iron clusters are much easier to use than bone clusters. Although the Kiev people's wooden bows are of poor quality, shooting imported Russian iron cluster arrows still brings great tactical advantages.

Some held shields and threw ropes, while others shot arrows to cover. One hundred people attacked one point with all their strength. Not long after the battle began, a wooden wall was forcibly pulled down.

"Brothers, it's time to get rich! Follow me and rush!"

One or two of Sacchi's old guys have been to Ross, and they used the profits from selling horses to make a fortune for themselves.

There was no iron armor, and the thick bearskin was used as simple leather armor. They carried Ross steel swords and steel axes, held their shields in front of themselves, and rushed towards the large number of Mickey villagers holding short spears.

Because a small number of warriors from Kiev participated in Russia's battle against the Karelia people in the far north a few years ago. Although only a small number of them were forcibly recruited by the Duke of Russia as mercenaries at that time, they also participated in the war symbolically. . The Kiev people didn't get any treasure. If there was any benefit, it was to see the tactics and tactics of the Russians or the large Varyag army.

They parodied the fighting of the Russians, especially the huge bucklers they imitated, stacked on top of each other to form a wall, and slammed into the "short spear wall" of the Mickey villagers.

Someone was stabbed to death by a short spear. Even though the spearhead was actually made of an ox's horn, it was easy to stab and kill the Kiev invaders.

Seeing the death of their companions, the Kiev people launched an even crazier offensive in rage.

The Mickey people pulled by the village were unable to block the gap at all. Their front collapsed, and they were immediately killed indiscriminately.

The battle finally evolved into a "classical Slavic" appearance, with male and female armed men fighting together.

Not far away, Kagan and the prairie cavalry were just watching with squinted eyes. The cavalry were waiting for the order from their boss.

Kagan had been waiting for a sure opportunity, and seeing that his allies had already invaded the village, the opportunity finally arrived.

He held a crossbow high: "Brothers, follow me! Detour behind the village wall and intercept and kill the escapees!"

Kagan anticipated the actions of the Lamic people, and the Pecheneg cavalry suddenly appeared and completed the interception brilliantly.

The arrows mercilessly killed the fugitives, and the remaining people were stunned.

The battle is now completely over, and all that is left is that two groups of invaders will drive away the prisoners like cattle and sheep.

Only a truly decisive person can become a khan on the grassland, and he must treat some enemies ruthlessly even if they surrender. In principle, a large number of people should be left alive to be sold as slaves to make money, but the strong resistance of the villagers in Mickey made him wary.

Any man taller than a cart wheel was deliberately killed by the Pechenegs, as was the steppe tradition, according to Kagan. As for the women who were still alive, they were left behind, tied with ropes and placed on horses.

Beyahil saw all this. The wailing of those women could not make her, a Turkic woman, emotional, and she remained indifferent to the dead bodies lying on the ground.

She is not a hard-hearted person, but as a grassland woman and a female warrior today, even if her body and mind are deeply shaken, she cannot show it on the bright side.

Just like the villages destroyed by the overflowing river, the Pechenegs are more ferocious than the flood.

There were more than forty women of various ages captured, the oldest was only thirty years old, and the youngest was completely a child. All the fertile women were taken away by the Pechenegs, and the rest were thrown to the Kiev allies.

The Kiev people in Sakye were not at a loss either. They didn't get many valuable prisoners in this battle, but the village's granary was taken away by the brothers!

Several people in Kiev died. These losses were too small compared to the results of the plunder. It can be said that this battle was a rare initiative of the Slavic community in Kiev. The brothers tasted the sweetness of victory! The captured sackcloth parcels of the brothers who died in the battle were tied with ropes and placed on horseback. The deceased would be transported to the cemetery next to the big altar called "Kiev" by the Kiev people, and they would be buried as heroes.

The cavalry drove away with prisoners, a large amount of food, and a small amount of cattle and sheep, leaving behind piles of corpses for jackals and brown bears to eat.

The once prosperous village fell into silence, and soon the rest of Ladmichi would be affected by the devastation.

They can make some decisions, but the wheels of history have rolled over, and the peaceful life in the forest of the past will be lost.

Just because all the Lamic people as a whole exist near the Dnieper River Commercial Road, their pastoral era is over!

Similarly, the pastoral era of the Smolensk people was actually over. As for the fact that outsiders did not launch a fierce attack, it was just that Rurik, the king of the north, had not yet taken action.

The returning cavalry unloaded a large amount of food and several brothers died, but the Kiev people still won.

Regardless of how much effort the steppe cavalry contributed in this short "expedition", it is a fact that the Kievians sent troops and achieved a great victory.

The people's self-confidence was so high that they actually buried their fallen brothers with hero's courtesy and gave a large sum of loot and food to the families of the fallen.

Now, Sakye could lick his face and ask the leaders of each village: "I have achieved military success, now you can elect me to be the chief, right?"

Many prominent figures still remain silent on this matter, or in other words, everyone still has concerns about Sakhi, a horse dealer. They made hints. On the surface, they asked Sakye to perform greater achievements. In fact, the leaders needed more money and slaves. As long as the bribes were in place, Sakye's chieftainship would be the real command. People are convinced.

In this case, it is even more necessary to attack the Smolensk village in the north.

Pecheneg and Kiev teamed up to form an armed caravan, carrying horses carrying local products and as many as thirty female prisoners, and once again headed north along the Dnieper River.

Sometimes Kagan felt that the trip during this period was really unnecessary. There was nothing wrong with the booty gained from the sneak attack on the Miki village in La. The army had to run to the northeast first and then return to Kiev, so why not just go northeast?

The huge Pripet Swamp is the natural dividing line between Belarusian-speaking Ukraine, and today it is also the natural barrier between the Drevlian Slavs and the Krivi Slavs of the Kiev region.

It is not a problem to communicate by drifting the ship, but it is a torment by land.

This was not the first time for the cavalry to come. They were advancing along the east bank of the Dnieper River, which was the eastern edge of the Pripet Swamp. The harder forest roads gave the cavalry a suitable passage.

They travel on a special path. Legend has it that the swamp to the west is inhabited by monsters and evil gods from Slavic legends. Anyone who enters rashly will be swallowed by the swamp. The forest area to the east of the cavalry is no longer mysterious. There are still villages of Lamic people in it, just like a group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Whether the armed merchants from the grassland launch an attack depends entirely on the commander's wishes.

The people who really attracted a little attention from Kagan were the Smolensk people in the north. Originally, he was very disdainful. Sakhi's continuous demands to be vigilant made people's ears go numb, forcing Kagan's super self-confidence to weaken. .

Selling a mere thirty female prisoners to the Rurik brothers would be too damaging to the strength of the Pecheneg Khanate.

A Smolensk village must be destroyed, and the coalition forces have taken action!

Of course, they walked along the Dnieper River for a while and encountered a larger village. Seeing that the village was more defensive, Kagan resolutely launched a sneak attack with his prairie army.

Just like on the grassland, the current Pechenegs are still unwilling to engage in a cavalry decisive battle with the Khazar Khanate on the grassland, because they really cannot afford to lose, so they use sneak attacks and plundering without martial ethics as an important battle. way, Pecheneg people feel at ease.

The steppe cavalry took advantage of the lazy time in the early morning to catch the targeted Smolensk village off guard.

The village was obviously built with a wall, but the quality of the wall was not up to par, yet it was still pulled down by the intruders, and brutal killings followed...

Kagan kidnapped more than sixty people alive, all of whom were young women he had screened. As for the remaining people, those who escaped into the forest did not need to be chased, and the others who were captured were killed directly.

From Sakhi's perspective, the Kiev people and the Smolensk people have a common ancestor, so he was really afraid of killing them. But Kagan, a hero of the steppes, seems to have a deep grudge against the Smolensk people, and behaves as if he kills for the sake of killing.

The coalition forces kidnapped nearly a hundred women one after another, and then swaggered away from the territory of the Smolensk people. They entered the Valdai swamp area. As long as they continued north, they could find the channel of the Lovati River. The remaining It's just a simple march along the river.

The coalition cavalry continued to pass through the Valdai Swamp quickly. It was at this time that Smolensk reinforcements finally arrived at the scene of the attack.

The militiamen cursed in anger, and quite a few people were extremely nervous. They were frightened and had no idea who the murderer was.

One of the nobles in the reinforcements has a very special status. He is Vadim, who escaped from the Pine Needle Manor in the Novgorod region.

After so many years, Vadim is already twenty-one years old. He is a son-in-law, and he and the Smolensk chief are like father and son, at least on the surface.

"What else should we worry about? All this was done by the Russians in the north! The village that was attacked was on the north bank of the Dnieper River (this section of the river runs east-west), which means that the attackers must have come from the north. I know those Russians very well , they are ruthless. We are right to guard against them, but some people are still slacking off..." Vadim warned his nobles in Smolensk.

The nobles also felt calluses on their ears. In the final analysis, the nobles in many villages in Smolensk were not very enthusiastic about organizing a large army to crusade against the north. Most nobles have seen the Varangians, but they don’t know much about the Rus among the Varangians. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoｓhuyuａ. com Since they are so vicious, if they really go north to conquer their brothers, they have to carefully consider their own strength and the price they have to pay.

Even after Vadim promised to expel the Russians, the dominance of Lake Ilmen belonged to Smolensk. As a down-and-out noble, he only wanted revenge and nothing else.

Faced with the bloody killing, everyone was still intimidated.

The big leader pressed his son-in-law, and the nobles decided to still adopt a conservative strategy.

But Vadim's analysis was all wrong. The attack site was indeed on the north bank of the river. It seemed that the attackers came from the north. The upper reaches of the Dnieper River are still wide, and it is not easy to cross the river smoothly. Therefore, the cavalry from the south passed the Dnieper River at the ferry ford further south. This special geographical structure was unknown to the people of Smolensk.

The Smolensk people are accumulating anger. Their once greed for Lake Ilmen in the north has gradually turned into anger against the Rus' people. This is what Vadim longs to see. He even secretly hopes that there will be more attacks. Only then can the indecisive local nobles be united by the anger in their hearts and organize a large army to launch the so-called just Northern Expedition.

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