The so-called Ostara Cavalry has a very mixed personnel. It is composed of the remnants of the old Ostara, Viking immigrants who joined later, and a large number of Slavs who joined.
To be fair, compared to the purchased and bred Turkic or Mongolian horses, it always seems awkward for a tall and strong Nordic warrior to ride it, but it is quite suitable for a shorter Slavic man to ride it.
Duchess Carlotta was not picky, she selected a group of cavalry, and together with Prince Pecheneg and his men, they robbed the villages of Smolensk.
They raided villages, killed those who dared to resist, and took as many prisoners of war as they could to the north.
Throughout 840, this mixed cavalry team jointly kidnapped nearly a thousand people, both men and women. After being kidnapped, they could not escape the fate of slaves.
The Ermen Slavs often call themselves Slavinje, while the Smolensk people and the locals in Kiev belong to the large Krivi group in principle. Even though the two sides have similar languages, they do not currently consider each other to be friends.
The United Cavalry are elusive, accurate in archery and good at using cables. They all wear armor and can perfectly withstand Smolensk's arrow counterattacks.
After all, Smolensk did not immediately unite as a whole, and the various tribes quarreled endlessly. Many leaders believed that this was a conspiracy by the northern guys, but the top priority was to deal with the cavalry, which was more terrifying than the forest bear.
Villages close to large settlements were often attacked, and some unbearable or fearful villages were simply abandoned. A large number of people gathered in the city of Smolensk, and the population of this settlement along the Dnieper River was rapidly expanding.
Then, a strongman from the north saw his opportunity.
Vadim, the son of the leader of the Pine Needle Manor who escaped by chance, is destined to devote his life to revenge. He is a northern nobleman, the son-in-law of Smolensk, and has become the largest militant faction in the local area.
He had been planning to recruit an army of thousands or even tens of thousands of people. The army would rush to the Valdezvous and then go north, defeating the Rus on Lake Yilmen and regaining its power. He asked the nobles of Smolensk
It was promised that after the event was completed, the large ethnic groups would merge into the same Slavic emirate.
It is obvious that if this son-in-law wins the war, who dares to ignore his military achievements? Who is the chief of an emirate? It is not Vadim who is responsible.
In the midst of constant discussions, Smolensk ushered in the spring plowing of 840. However, when the people were busy plowing the fields, a group of cavalry came over with unprecedented destructive power.
There is no need to discuss conscription for the Northern Expedition anymore. First, all tribes are facing major crises.
Vadim's plans were abandoned for at least this year, but he saw that he was standing in the city of Smolensk, a settlement that was becoming more and more populated. The refugees regained their energy and their eyes were on fire. They were thirsty for revenge!
This is an opportunity!
At a meeting in the summer, Vadim faced a group of leaders with erratic eyes and simply yelled at everyone: "Are you all cowards? Organize an army to fight those cavalry! In my opinion, you are giving up power, now
Just elect me as the leader, I am the only one who has the ability to defeat those bandits and start the Northern Expedition."
Such long carnival talk made the leaders furious, followed by endless abuse.
They called Vadim a defeated person, a scumbag, and a shameless tyrant.
Is Vadim a transgressor? He is, but not entirely.
The lord of the capital of Smolensk, the largest local noble, admired this "prince" in trouble, and was even more concerned about this boy's promises.
After recruiting a son-in-law, Smolensk can openly launch the Northern Expedition and annex the entire Yin Ermen Lake.
This is the dream, but the old leader is getting old after all. He probably got seriously ill after eating the poisonous mushroom. Now he often looks livid as if he was cursed by an evil spirit. In fact, the poisonous mushroom seriously damaged his kidneys and liver. Seeing that
This old guy was about to die, and Vadim kept doing nothing, using a private army composed of local people to force him to give up power.
At the same time, all the adult sons of the old leader died inexplicably. It was claimed that they were killed by horse bandits from the north and a sneak attack by bandits from Kiev. These claims are quite convincing. Ordinary people have no intention to care about this. They are panicked in their hearts.
Looking forward to a ruthless person leading them to regain peace.
The old leader's youngest son is still alive, but his wife knows that everything is actually her husband's conspiracy. But the deal is done, the woman gave birth to a son, and this crying boy can naturally inherit the position of Lord of Smolensk. She has no selfish intentions.
Maybe, it would be a good thing if his son inherited the position of leader.
What can the terminally ill old leader do? He thinks it is foolish to recruit Vadim as his son-in-law, but now, at least his grandson can inherit his position. Vadim is certainly a sinister man, considering the dire situation facing the entire Smolensk.
Worrying about it, such ruthless people are also beneficial to the entire ethnic group.
Because there are not many leaders of the war faction with extremely determined attitudes.
The terminally ill old leader sobbed and stood up for Vadim at the conference, solemnly announcing that after his death, Vadim would be the Lord of Smolensk, and whining that it would be okay if other leaders did not support him. Vadim
We will definitely organize a large army for the Northern Expedition to end the current turmoil.
The implication of this statement is also obvious. If Vadim really has a large army, which leader would dare to oppose it?
The quarrel was only a waste of words and did not help solve the problem. Vadim claimed to lead a team to find and intercept the group of horse bandits. The local leaders did not like this guy, but they were more afraid of the horse bandits wreaking havoc and destroying this year's autumn harvest. They were simple
We have to hope that Vadim can agree to one or two defensive counterattacks to solve the current problem.
As promised, Vadim did launch a counterattack with hundreds of warriors. Facing the elusive horse bandits, they decided to wait and see. However, the cunning Pecheneg-Ostara joint cavalry encountered a difficult defense.
Avoid the stronger villages. The brothers are here to rob and capture prisoners, and they have no time to confront the prepared enemies head-on.
The Pecheneg people's "steppe fox warfare method" is to bully the weak and avoid the strong, which is contrary to the Viking warrior creed, but it is effective in making money.
For a whole year, from the sowing season to the harvest season, Vadim and his cronies did not fight a single battle, and their rebellious attitude became more and more like an act. Then some local nobles made a fuss about this fact and criticized Vadim.
Jim is a talker.
But he also had difficulties! He retorted loudly: "You should organize all the men to gather together! We will defeat them in the expedition to Novgorod, and any problem of horse bandits will be solved."
This time no one said anything...
Regardless of whether Vadim really wanted to fight or was simply practicing, his fighting attitude was noticed by the refugees. At least this boy was more enterprising than other nobles, and there was at least some hope in following him.
Even though no battle was fought, Vadim's prestige in Smolensk continued to grow.
Such was the political change that occurred in Smolensk and most of the upper reaches of the Dnieper River in 840. The so-called Ross's defensive attacks and plundering gained a lot of benefits, disrupted the opponent's plan, and greatly accelerated the opponent's centralization of power.
process.
The plundering cavalry sent by Carlotta did not know anything about the affairs of the local nobles in Smolensk and the small number of Varyag people who were passing through another waterway.
In the past three years, Prince Kagan of the Pecheneg Khanate first formed an alliance with Rus in the far north, and then built a key salt and iron trade route. The grassland people are good at land transportation, so he, the prince, personally organizes horse teams every year
, transporting leather goods, dairy products, and horses from the grasslands to Rus', in exchange for important salt, iron, cloth and other various commodities. Export horses to Rus' to buy salt, iron and other necessities. In the long run, the Khanate slowly began to negotiate this kind of trade.
It is extremely unfair to Pecheneg, they lack suitable products to sell to Ross.
Finally they found the best commodity, which was population.
Kagan personally became the leader of the horse bandits. In the past two years, he has focused on robbing people and selling them to Ross, and even arranged for his subordinates to supervise the trading of horse teams.
A large amount of strategic materials were transported grandly and continuously through large horse teams to the Khanate's camp area at the mouth of the Volga River.
Kagan is smart. Since Russia has the ability to produce iron arrow clusters, he should import more of this good thing, which is not expensive in Russia.
The cast iron arrow clusters are cast into shape at one time, and up to thirty arrows can be cast in a single clay mold. After that, the steel is carburized, then polished on a manual grinding wheel, heated and quenched twice for surface hardening, and it's done. Special
The arrow clusters provided to allies do not need to be exquisitely made, and they do not require many hours of work.
Kagan benefited from this. Tens of thousands of arrow clusters arrived in Pecheneg, and the locals immediately began to replace the bone clusters with steel clusters. Their combat effectiveness was greatly increased because they were not good at melee combat with cavalry and were best at riding and archery. They became stronger visible to the naked eye.
Thanks to Kagan.
Even if the prince has been staying in the far north this year and will not come.
Only now there is a special situation!
After the expedition, the Ross standing cavalry became guests of New Ostara City. This city already had a second camp for the standing cavalry. The small area was blessed with a grassland-like environment that was very suitable for cavalry training.
There is a reserve force of standing cavalry in the local area. They are all very young boys. They missed out on the expedition because they were too young. The reserve troops also did not participate in the plunder. They stayed here to prepare for any unexpected events. Now these boys are impatient.
We have to listen to the descriptions of the guys who came back from the expedition.
In the fortress in the inner city, Duchess Carlotta held a banquet to invite her old comrade-in-arms, cavalry captain Fisk, and she also explained the information she had learned from Smolensk.
The former children have grown up and become the master of one party. The two exchanged their war experiences and chatted happily.
While they were drinking wine, Prince Kagan of Pecheneg arrived at the castle happily and entered the drinking scene in high spirits.
He shouted excitedly in broken Norse: "Let me see who is coming! Yo! It's Fisk, the general under the Khan!"
"It's the noble Kagan." The slightly drunk Fisk turned his head and waved his hand very casually, "I want to share the wine with my brothers, let's enjoy it together."
To this day, Kagan is still willing to call Rurik Khan, and he also calls Carlotta Khan. He still doesn't know the difference between the names of kings and princes, so he calls the supreme ruler Khan according to the custom of the grassland.
.
He has a very good personal relationship with Carlotta. Kagan and Rurik are blood brothers and relatives by marriage. Carlotta is Rurik's wife, and they are also legally sworn siblings. Their relationship is complicated, so how can Kagan act openly?
She calls Carlotta her sister, but what really determines their personal relationship is their close economic ties.
Any supplies from the south must first be inspected by the Principality of Ostara, the southern gate of Russia. In particular, a large number of prisoners of war must be transported here first, and the subsequent sale of slaves is also handled by the Principality of Ostara. As an ally, Ka
Gan can station an army in the territory of Ostara. They help Carlotta train new cavalry. They also serve as a base for training and wait for opportunities to set out to plunder Smolensk villages in rotation.
In the castle, the three parties happily explained their experiences, one victory after another. But overall, the victory achieved by the Ross Expeditionary Force was greater, which really made Kagan ashamed.
"Oh! It's because I can't get away. If I'm given another chance, I also want to go to the west with the Rurik brothers. Fisk, if we organize a cavalry expedition, the results will definitely be greater. Let me
My sister has enjoyed the glory, and she finally gave birth to the child." The drunk Kagan was still eloquent, but his spirit began to feel a little blurry.
The younger sister gave birth to a son, and he became an uncle. In this way, the father Khan's plan was greatly successful. The nephew was a nail in the khanate's embedment in Russia, and the relationship between the two countries would become even closer.
"What's the child's name?" he asked.
Fisk thought for a while: "It seems to be called Hazare."
"Is that so? It's very interesting." Kagan muttered slightly, and the smile on his face showed his satisfaction.
"Then what does the child's name mean?" Fisk couldn't help but ask.
"There is no restraint, just like a horseman galloping on the vast grassland."
They ate and drank, and Fisk did not forget her mission. While Kagan was still very clear-headed, she finally brought up the business: "I am here on the king's orders to invite Duke Ostara and you... noble Kagan.
Gan, you two must leave for Novgorod quickly, because the king’s fleet is about to arrive.”
"So my sister and my nephew are coming back too? That's great. My brother Rurik, I also have some big things to tell him personally!"
Kagan didn't seem to be being polite this time. The "big event" he called must be real.
The drunk Fisk didn't think much and asked, "May I ask, what's the big deal?"
"Of course it's a major event for me to succeed as Khan! Haha."
If Fisk had a clear mind, he would be surprised. He is calm now. Anyway, this guy will be Pecheneg Khan sooner or later. It is just the difference between today and tomorrow.
"Then I wish the noble Kagan to become the kanog of Pecheneg." He said.
"No. It's khan. Well, it means the same thing." Finally, the prince succeeded to the throne of Khan. This was absolutely true. The old khan was really pressing hard to give up the position to his son before he died.
Ensure a stable transfer of power. After all, Kagan has been in a distant place for the past two years, which makes Jianyong, who covets the position of Khan within the Khanate, ready to move. In order to avoid unnecessary complications, Kagan must act in advance.
This is a secret message delivered by a close confidant. Although it is a bit abnormal, it will be relieved after looking at the situation of the Russians.
Kagan is qualified to call old Otto "Father Khan". In principle, Otto is the old khan of Russia, and Rurik is the new khan. The succession of Rurik's power does not have to wait until the death of his old father. This kind of early handover of power
The situation is reflected in a peaceful handover, and Russia's internal affairs appear to be quite stable.
The news that Kagan was about to return was known to all the Novgorod nobles. He had already prepared to return home and succeed to the throne, but now his plan has been slightly postponed.
The postponement is a good thing. You can have a good chat with the victorious Rurik brothers and tell the tribesmen in your hometown a lot of first-hand news from the north. You may also get a batch of cheap trophies from the west.
I should take this opportunity to have a good chat with my sister Beyathil, and take a good look at my eldest nephew Hazal, to confirm that this child really exists and is healthy, so as to tell the tribal leaders in my hometown about this fact.
In this way, Kagan and Carlota will no longer linger in New Ostara. A large team of cavalry from all parties will march north along the lakeside road with a very gorgeous guard of honor, and will show off the Pecheneg and Austrian troops in a high-profile manner.
Stara's flag, visit Novgorod where King Rus's palace is...