Rise of Rurik

The great leader of Polotsk has announced his surrender in exchange for the survival of his entire clan. This can be called his personal behavior. Even if he feels that this is a helpless decision, everything is still unknown to the troops who are still marching.

As for the war, he had already surrendered and could no longer make any reservations. He explained the entire strength of Polotsk's troops - four thousand men.

After learning this number, Fisk took a breath of cold air, but he soon understood that the other party had used all their troops for this war. They were making a huge gamble with the mentality of annihilation if they failed.

What exactly is this for?

The answer was very straightforward. Proclaw explained this: "The scouts we sent estimated that you have very few troops, but each of your soldiers is very strong. We held a meeting to discuss that only by gathering as many troops as possible can we defeat you and put this city behind us." Fortress pulled out.”

This explanation is very logical, and Fisk is too lazy to mock him from the position of winner. He and Svalgard immediately realized that the Vitebsk Fortress did have great strategic value. It was really guarding a strategic location, like a nail in the flesh. The Polotsk people were so angry that they did not hesitate to conquest the whole family in an attempt to extract it. Drop it.

How can such a fortress be destroyed by others? On the contrary, it must be a powerful deterrent to all ethnic groups in the surrounding areas, and it must continue to be developed.

Proclaw officially mentioned that it was the vanguard of the army that was defeated, but it was also the strongest part.

Subsequently, there were still troops who continued their retrograde expedition along the riverside area. These people were so weak that they only marched at a disappointing speed.

"So, do you think that if your army completes its assembly and faces a decisive battle with our army? Do you... feel that you are sure of victory?"

When the bald general heard the news, the defeated Proclaw could only say: "Not sure."

"Really not sure? There are four thousand of you."

"But there are a thousand of you too!"

"What if we only have the first three hundred people? I want your true thoughts."

"Dare!" At this moment, Proclaw answered simply.

"So, how are you going to fight?"

"Naturally, I will organize all the troops to rush forward, rely on absolute numerical superiority to defeat you, and uproot this fortress."

Fisk nodded: "In this way, do you think you have won?"

"if not?"

"Listen, even if you destroy this fortress, we will not be buried with it. We can ride on horseback and disappear without a trace, and we can suddenly appear and kill you when you let down your guard. Even because you show up in large numbers, Your rear must be very empty, so...do you think your rear is completely empty?"

Originally, Proclaw thought that this was a general news after his surrender, but he did not expect that the bald general, this guy named Fisk, had already straightforwardly and arrogantly explained the Russians' next tactical plan.

In fact, the last rhetorical question was the moment Fisk suddenly had an idea.

What does the Vitebsk Fortress mean to Rus? Naturally it has huge strategic significance. But what is really significant is not the wooden walls and the large number of newly built houses here, but this superior geographical location. It is a natural ford that can be wade through, a flat area that is easy to cultivate, and a natural stop on the north-south transportation line. .

If you really can't withstand the military pressure, abandon the fortress, or at worst, it will come back and rebuild in the future.

"We have no intention of fighting with your follow-up troops. I will lead the elite troops to rush into your homeland as quickly as possible. I am not worried about getting lost. Ambitions will serve as excellent guides. With such merits, we will fully support This man became the new chief of Polotsk.”

Fisk even applauded his strategy, and his so-called leader was the real careerist Lambart. Of course, Fisk despises a guy who is willing to betray his people in order to gain power. To be fair, it is this kind of person who is more likely to become a lapdog.

In fact, the leader was not alone. The Ureko team's previous expedition not only destroyed the village of Duka in Polotsk, but also found the "forest road" leading to the main settlement in Polotsk through the mouths of the captives. Marching, being attacked, and escaping, Ureco's subsequent robbery failed miserably, and his escape was embarrassing. And wasn't the escape route going in the opposite direction the same as the march route?

Duka Village means "huge bend in the river" in the local language. It is indeed a big bend and has become a geographical landmark. Arriving from Vitebsk to the village of Duka is not the only way to go along the riverside area. Smart hunters risk taking the forest road directly just to take a shortcut. Fisk is happy to take this shortcut.

The conversation was like a military chess game. In Proclaw's opinion, the bald general would definitely keep his word. Even if the two sides really fought with a disparity of four thousand to three hundred troops, that kind of close-quarters fighting would not happen. The Lotsk tactics were wrong from the beginning. What was shown in the real battle was even more outrageous, with one hundred and fifty elite cavalry defeating the strongest one thousand.

Proclaw was convinced of his defeat, and he could do nothing about the Russians' next actions. He could only pray: "I hope you keep your promise and don't kill anyone indiscriminately."

…

As a result, the Russians began to actively prepare for their next move, and they also wanted to guard against those who were not afraid of death and continued to march towards Vitebsk.

So will the subsequent three thousand Polotsk Army really have to launch a massive attack?

This is indeed true from the performance. Even if their retirement is delayed for a long time, the overall momentum of advancement has not diminished.

Ten village leaders led their village Jianyong to continue marching. They all lost contact with the big leader and could only continue to move forward according to the original plan. Some people gave up. The boring march for several days was a kind of psychological torture. Some people's leather shoes were worn out. Walking barefoot also abraded the soles of their feet. It was real torture.

Someone started to make a noise, and the village leaders had no control over the issue of deserters. In fact, those at the end all wanted to evacuate.

Most of the personnel were still marching, which meant that the overall speed was still decreasing. Whether it was out of their own intentions or out of necessity, they were so out of touch with the vanguard that they were completely unaware that a fierce battle was taking place ahead.

Until these "armies" that gradually gathered together arrived at the horrific battlefield.

They saw wolves tearing limbs from the dead, brown bears gnawing at them, and even foxes taking a bite of the meat.

"What evil person did all this?!"

People sighed and lamented, then rushed forward with weapons to drive away the wild beasts, and then examined the dead bodies and found that they were all members of their own tribe.

A terrifying answer couldn't be more obvious - this is the forward troops who are completely out of touch at the front.

Where is the big leader? Already dead? Are there any living people nearby?

Seeing the tragedy of corpses strewn across the fields, what little fighting spirit they had left was instantly lost. The hearts of the people were broken, and continuing to fight was simply a recipe for death. Fear acted on people's bodies, and all village leaders gathered together urgently to discuss what to do next. There is no longer any need for normality, and even if the troops are asked to withdraw, no one will accuse this of being a cowardly act. In other words, everyone is willing to be a coward. They just want to escape back to the village. As for what will happen next, no one dares to think about it.

The village seemed to be the only safe place, but some work still had to be done before evacuating.

The tribesmen are already dead. If their corpses are left here to be torn apart by wild beasts, no one will take it for granted.

At least save your last dignity before evacuating! At least let everyone bury the clan members who died in the battle on the spot.

This was the conscience of the Polotsk people. They dug long and narrow trenches in the riverside battlefield area, and then threw the limp and blackened corpses into the trenches one after another. During this process, they discovered that the weapons of the deceased had completely disappeared, there was not a single small carriage that was supposed to be a baggage, and there were not even horse corpses in the battlefield ruins. The attentive hunters in the team checked the traces on the ground. They noticed a few beast footprints, but surprisingly found an astonishing number of U-shaped traces.

This trace was quite special, very similar to the traces found on the battlefield after a small-scale battle with the Ross horse bandits. At that time, it was determined that these were horseshoes installed by the bandits on the horses.

Horseshoes are something only a few people in Polotsk know about. They domesticated some ponies for pulling carts but could not ride them, so the ponies did not need to use high-value horseshoes to protect their four hooves.

The horseshoe marks on the battlefield are outrageous. They are extremely dense, showing the staggering number of enemy cavalry. Looking more closely, a large number of hoof prints continue to the upper reaches of the river, and there are even rut marks.

Although the smart hunter could not estimate the situation of the battle at that time, at least he had sufficient evidence to prove that the victor had gone north.

But the number of corpses was not outrageous. After careful calculation, it was only two hundred. You must know that the big leader's headquarters alone has 500 troops. How can he suffer such a loss?

Either many of them were captured or fled into the forest. The former must have a miserable fate of slavery, while the latter may become food for wild beasts.

The work of digging big pits to bury the bodies will continue, and people will take a short break to withdraw their troops.

For the follow-up troops, this expedition was really fruitless. It consumed too much manpower and material resources. What it really gained was greater fear of the Russians.

The last of the Polotsk troops finally began to turn back, having wasted too much time. At least their dry food reserves were pretty good, and they still had enough reserves to return the same way.

They didn't know that the Ross Cavalry was moving at lightning speed!

After all, the area where Vitebsk is located is a swamp, and the West Dvina River is so gentle that there are shoals that can be waded through. Polotsk hunters occasionally reach the other side from here and hunt, while Latvian and Danish immigrant merchants in Riga must choose to go south from here if they want to reach Smolensk.

Merchants took the water route, and hunters naturally focused on the forest for hunting. It was the hunters who found a direct route in the forest. Lambart knew this road but was not proficient in it. However, among the prisoners of war who were captured and released, there were experienced hunters. I am just a small figure in the community. The big leaders have surrendered and are willing to cooperate. How can I not cooperate?

The Ross army saw this scene, and more than one person was willing to lead the way.

Are these sudden collaborators credible? Fisk and everyone else remained suspicious and gave him a chance to make meritorious deeds.

As Fisk told the surrendered Proclaw, the fortress was just named Vitebsk, and it could be destroyed and a new one built.

Fisk did some division of labor, and the Kiev cavalry continued northward, but the Pechenegs' goods were nominally all purchased by Ross. Wladyslav from Kiev led his own team and took the Pecheneg baggage cavalry with him. The initial goal was to reach Lukiholm in the north to meet with the Duchess of Ostara and station there. This move northward was led by Ostara Cavalry Guide.

Polotsk was about to be conquered, and the Rus-Ostara cavalry, together with the Pecheneg cavalry, escorted the released prisoners "home."

As for the Vitebsk Fortress, it was originally supposed to be stationed by a small number of Ostara people. This time, only thirty people stayed here. Not surprisingly, these people were the original defenders. Although this kind of garrison behavior is risky, they were also instructed by Fisk: "If those backward guys attack you, you should go north and report the news."

The army took a short rest after the victory and then split up.

Changing houses was a clever move, Fisk prepared for the worst, the so-called enemy got the empty Vitebsk fortress, and himself occupied the entire Polotsk area of ​​​​the Polota River.

The enemy may not be able to capture the fortress, but the cavalry can definitely capture Polotsk. Among the army were the surrender leaders, old Harald, a veteran traveler, and Ureko, who had walked the "Forest Road".

A small number of cavalry escorted the unarmed prisoners forward, while the main army was galloping.

Both Proclaw and Lambart were riding horses for the first time. Both uncles and nephews were tied to the saddles with ropes, and the horses they were riding were led by soldiers. They were told: "If you move around, be careful not to fall and be trampled to death by the horses' hooves." .”

The cavalry was marching in fast walking mode, and the soldiers all brought a bag of oats. It was not eaten by themselves, but fed to their mounts in order to maintain the speed of the attack for a longer period of time.

When you know the right path, it doesn't take long to reach your goal.

In the early morning of the third day after departure, when the morning fog had just dispersed and the sun was rising, a moving shadow suddenly burst into the dark green forest.

"This is a wheat field! Be careful not to trample on the wheat field, this is our trophy!" Fisk gave an urgent order.

Indeed, Fisk felt that it was a great mercy to plunder the losers' bodies instead of cutting off their heads. It is a fact that the Polotsk people are not rich. The most important wealth they have is food and human resources.

According to past war patterns, it was only natural to rob the defeated and make them slaves. Fisk did not want to do this because of the agreement. He even persuaded the Pecheneg Gotzal to let the Polotsk people redeem their captured tribesmen with grain.

The Russians wanted to retain Polotsk and bring it under their rule. Any further demands for slaves would be a breach of friendship, so Quetzal had no choice but to accept the compensation terms.

Proclaw surrendered, and such a surrender was conditional.

Ross will not ask for slaves, but will ask for food as a substitute. In the future, Polotsk will also continue to pay tribute to food.

There is a lot to say here. Polotsk is surrendering to the Kingdom of Rus, not the nearest Principality of Ostara, but the tribute grain must pass through Ostara. The Leostara cavalry contributed a lot in the war of conquest. After all, Fisk was the standing army general of the Kingdom of Rus. He was granted full power and naturally had the right to make all decisions. Therefore, this is actually unfair to the people of Ostara. Fortunately, they have no intention of getting into trouble.

The cavalry deliberately crossed the field, marched quickly on the small wasteland, and rushed to the narrow Polota River in one fell swoop.

Oats and rye are heading now, and the autumn harvest is not far away.

The villages lined up like a string of pearls are left with only the old and the weak. It is not an exaggeration to call the rear empty.

All tactics have changed, which is probably the current situation. The difference is that the Russians have prepared for the worst, and they can afford to lose the Vitebsk fortress.

Hundreds of cavalry suddenly arrived. The old man who was washing clothes screamed and fainted, and the running children fled back home.

There was no resistance in the villages they first encountered. There were only some old men and their children hiding as much as possible. If they couldn't hide, they could only beg the barbaric horse bandits not to kill anyone.

However, what shocked them was that the big leader Proclaw appeared, and everyone recognized that face.

The cavalry seemed to be inspecting their own village. They formed a long snake formation in the riverside area and ran at a slow speed towards the largest settlement, which could be called "Polotsk".

Any departure from formation was prohibited, and even the Pechenegs were not allowed to rob. Fisk restrained his men and ordered Quetzal to fulfill his orders.

The cavalry did fulfill their agreement and did not kill anyone. The villagers, who were also completely defenseless, only dared to watch these cavalry from a distance, just like watching the big brown bear that broke into the settlement. They saw Proclaw and Lambart, and even noticed that some of their own tribe were present. These people were shouting things like "Don't be afraid" and "They don't kill" in their hometown dialect.

The old and weak people left behind didn't know what was going on with the big leader, and some elderly people took the risk to find out what was going on with their crutches. Other secret observers saw that the old man was actually not killed, and more people began to show up. The naughty children didn't know the heights of the world, and there were actually children holding wooden sticks in front of the cavalry, as if they wanted to fight.

The children were driven away, and the most solemn experience was when the cavalry shot an arrow and lost it at the feet of the naughty boy, but the cavalry still did not kill anyone. Such an action is totally different from horse bandits, even though Proclaw knew that the last attacker was in this army, and even knew that the Ross commander who destroyed the village of Duka was named Ureko.

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