The order to prepare for war spread throughout the Vitebsk Fortress. No matter what they thought, they had to face a battle here.
Fisk did not expect the team from Kiev to do much. The greatest use of these people was actually to ride in formation to intimidate the enemy.
Those who really dare to fight are the cavalry on the Ross side and the Pecheneg cavalry from the alliance. The total of 600 cavalry has real combat effectiveness.
The mixed cavalry of Ross-Ostara does not make Fisk very reassured. The equipment of the team is uneven. The standing cavalry all have recurve bows and more than a dozen steel-arm crossbows (generally not used). Aosta
Although the citizen soldiers and cavalrymen who pull are also learning mounted archery, the bows they use are basically traditional short wooden bows, with a layer of beef tendon bonded with pine glue as much as possible to increase the weight.
After all, the recurve bows trafficked by the prairie people will be completely bought by Ross. Whether the new bow is easy to use, fighting is an opportunity!
Pecheneg Getsal was also happy for the real Russians to immediately use the bows they delivered. As long as they used them, they would not have any reason to bargain or refuse to buy them.
In an instant, the citizen cavalry of Ostara changed into recurve bows. They had a small amount of running-in time, so they took the time to practice it before the battle started.
As the people who reported to the Lukiholm stronghold in the north successfully and quickly delivered the news, Duchess Carlotta realized this major crisis. She did not personally participate in the war, but sent all her existing ordnance supplies to
Southern Transportation.
She only left a small number of arrows to defend Lukiholm, and as many as five thousand arrows were packed into sacks and consigned by the pony team, who then returned to the Vitebsk fortress as quickly as possible.
As a consumable item, five thousand arrows is not much, and the quality of the arrows varies, and some of them are bone clusters.
Something is better than nothing. Carlotta never thought that this year was supposed to be a war-free year, but the adventurous actions of his subordinates still triggered an unexpected war. In any case, new opponents are about to attack, and there is a chance that the new stronghold will be overthrown.
According to the rules set by Rurik, in this situation, you must fight back with all your strength.
She actually wanted to mobilize the entire Lukiholm armed force to go south. Unfortunately, she did not have enough horses to transport the young boys as infantry quickly. Marching on foot was not impossible, so it would be a pure waste to miss the battle with a high probability.
Human and material resources.
She prayed silently at the rear. Currently, in order to support Vitebsk, the defenses of Lukiholm where she was stationed were extremely relaxed.
The Colts finally arrived, leaving the cover of the forest and making a grand entrance, holding high the flags of Ross and Ostara.
Fisk was overjoyed and went out to greet him in person.
"How much military supplies have you brought? Do you have a lot of food? A lot of arrows?"
The leader showed a hint of embarrassment: "Boss, the material resources of our Lukiholm stronghold are limited. The Duchess has already reached her limit..."
"It seems that there are not enough supplies? What are the details?"
"Only five thousand arrows and ten sacks of grain."
These were the veterans that Fisk had sent out to act as messengers a few days ago. The veterans didn't say much. Fisker looked at the horses and didn't want to say anything.
"Okay, you unload the supplies and go have a rest first, and I'll check the supplies."
If it is true what Lambart, who is under house arrest, said, the Polotsk tribal militia will appear in large numbers after he is detained for more than ten days. Now that Ross has received the last supply of supplies, what will happen next? Fisk has absolute certainty
Right of disposal.
So, probably on the day when the war was about to begin, Lambart, who had been under house arrest for many days, was finally released.
The nailed door bolts were loosened, and he was the only one allowed to walk out of the dark house. His eyes were almost blinded by the sudden sunshine, and it took him a while to regain his composure.
All the Polotsk envoys who had been trapped in the house for the past few days could only whisper and estimate the situation of the Russians. One day, they heard a huge noise outside and almost instinctively determined that they were here.
Reinforcements. A small group of cavalry is difficult to deal with. How to defeat a large group of cavalry?
Like a sharp sword rubbing against granite, the edge is eventually smoothed.
Lambart, who was supposed to be the main combatant, had his hands tied and was led outside the fortress. What he saw were roving cavalry everywhere. This was not Fiske's deliberate act, it was simply because the fortress could not hold it.
Thousands of cavalry and more horses, and the cavalry who arrived later camped outside the city. The terrain here is flat and the water is more abundant. The geographical environment is very similar to the Volga estuary area where the Pechenegs played a role.
Vitebsk became a large cavalry camp, and Lambert saw an unheard-of sight and suddenly became frightened.
He walked around outside and was pulled to Fisk's headquarters.
This time, Lambart saw more ruthless people, especially some of them with weird iron faces. It wasn't until the people took off their "iron faces" that their true appearance was revealed, but their true appearance was just as weird - flat and large.
The face has compact features and narrowed eyes.
This is Quetzal himself. As a middle-class Pecheneg noble, he is a little surprised compared to other relatives.
Pecheneg is a large tribal alliance, which originally means "brother" in Turkic language. The tribes recognize each other as brothers and form an alliance, but the origins of each tribe are very different. Most of them have Turkic ancestry, but they also integrate
There are Yuezhi people, Kangju people, Scythians and Caucasians. Quetzal's mother's family has some North Asian ancestry, and the gene accidentally passed on to him became dominant, giving him a big pie face.
Compared with the past years, the Pechenegs have become richer due to plunder and trade. People with financial resources have to build better weapons for themselves, and then better armor. Because of their usual riding and shooting tactics, they always
He likes to "ride the face to output". A precise shooter specializes in hitting the opponent's face, especially the weak eyes. This is the main reason for wearing a mask.
No matter how sinister the mask is, no matter whether the face behind the mask is ridicule or fear, the enemy will always see a ferocious face.
Fisk also borrowed the prairie man's mask with great interest from his friends. It was just tied to the head with a leather rope and did not affect Ross's iron helmet. Everyone could feel a bit of terror when they looked at each other. This is what wearing
Its purpose.
No, Lambart was quite frightened.
"I sent someone to take you to the camp, what do you think?" Fisk asked arrogantly.
"Look...I saw it." Lambart became obviously submissive, and his timid expression aroused dissatisfaction.
"What do you think? Do you... think your people still have a chance of winning?"
"I...I don't know. Maybe, we really can't win. There are too many of you, and they are so terrifying...If we really fight, we will lose miserably."
Before Fisk could speak, the man spoke Slavic, which immediately attracted Wladyslav Sakjevich's intense attention.
"Boy, do you know Kiev?" he asked.
"Kiev? I know." Lambart looked up quickly.
"It's a coincidence that I also know you Polotsk people. Look at my eyes! To the east of Kiev are the Derevlians, and you Polotsk are to the north of Derevlian. I thought you were just
Guys who live in peace and contentment can never imagine that they dare to wage war against Russia! If you dare to do this, you are going to war against Kiev. I am the son of the leader of Kiev, and this time I will fight against you together with Russia's allies." That's what Wladyslav said.
It was the first time he said such big words. He tried his best to pretend to be very strong, but fortunately he did not show any cowardice due to disobedience.
"Ah? Is that so?"
Lambart had no idea about this situation. Where did this go? When did the Russians recruit a group of fighters from Kiev?
"You are cowardly! You are a coward." Fisk shook his head and pointed with his big hand, "A few days ago you were as hard as a rock, but now you are as weak as a puddle of mud. You can't win."
Let everything go to hell at this point! After truly seeing the powerful strength of the enemy, Lambart was completely intimidated. He was not so intimidated that he was shaking all over, at least his mind was relatively clear.
He is a die-hard militant in the village alliance, and he hopes to be elected by the leaders as the next leader of the alliance. The premise is that this crisis must be resolved.
Leader? A joke. If this cavalry army destroys Polotsk, all ideas will become false.
It seems that the Russian leader in front of him is hinting at a decent ending.
He boldly said: "Give me a chance. I want to persuade my people to cease the war. Why don't we have a good talk? We can give you a lot of food and we can share this area. I heard that you have a grudge against Smolensk.
, we can cut off contact with those people."
The man's words were very constructive and seemed completely submissive. To be fair, Fisk was satisfied with such a clever statement.
"Haha, of course we want to negotiate peace with you. It is not in Ross's interest to eliminate you. However, you chose to attack in a large scale, so we can only respond."
"Let me go back. I'll convince my uncle to stop fighting and let's have a good negotiation." Lambart's attitude had turned into pleading.
Fisk pinched his beard and whispered to a few people around him. He turned his head and squinted his eyes with a look of contempt. Indeed, a few days ago, he was so crazy that he wanted to kill and cut up random people, but now he was sitting down and begging.
"I can let go of your followers and let them report the news. And you, continue to stay here! When the battle is over, we really need a negotiator. You are the chosen one! Or, in the future, you will
It’s of great use.”
"..." Lambart didn't dare to speak, he raised his head and waited for the verdict.
This small meeting was definitely not Fisk's whim. Before the meeting, he held a small meeting with all the elites to discuss how to deal with the Polotsk people after the battle. If it is too violent like previous wars, it will indeed be like this.
The old man Olaf (Old Harald) who led the way said that the Latvians and a large number of Danes in Riga would tremble and choose to fight resolutely.
If Polotsk is directly ruled after the war, those who lost the war will gradually become resentful because many of their relatives were killed on the battlefield. The principal of the Rus' Principality of the Rus' Kingdom cannot directly control there at this stage, and will need the Principality of Ostara to take over on his behalf.
manage.
What is the strength of the Principality of Ostara? Although it has a very noble name, its overall strength is not strong. The mere expansion of two strongholds in Lukiholm and Vitebsk has greatly diluted its strength.
It is completely unrealistic to divide the troops to rule Polotsk again.
The best way in this situation is to support an obedient agent. Since the captured Lambart has the idea of becoming the leader of Polotsk, it is better to choose him. Of course, it is also necessary to check whether this person is willing to cooperate.
After a conversation, Fisk felt that this guy was very valuable. He even realized that Polotsk had no chance of winning and took the initiative to sue for peace.
This is the opportunity!
"Now I'll give you a chance! Lambart, I can conclude that the battle is inevitable. You don't want to admit defeat without fighting. That would be too unmanly. You will definitely fail and have no chance of winning. The key is after the war. I can promise not to
You who are defeated are grateful to kill you, and even if your army collapses and flees on the battlefield, I promise not to pursue you."
"Mercy?" Lambart felt a little strange.
"Let's call it mercy. After the war, we decided to arrange for you to be the leader of Polotsk, and you will lead all the tribesmen to be loyal to Ross."
"this……"
"As for you killing three of our soldiers and destroying the corpses, this kind of thing is enough for us to send troops to kill you. I will give you a chance to forgive your sins, pay a sum of grain as compensation after the war, and provide a grain tribute every year after being loyal to Rus.
.In this way, you will receive military protection from Russia. If any force attacks you in the future, it will be equivalent to attacking Russia, and Russia will automatically send troops to attack it. Similarly, when Russia attacks other forces, you will also send troops to join the war, and you will have the right to plunder the spoils of war.
"
Such heavy remarks were like a dream, and Lambart felt that the terms in them were so good that they were almost unreal.
His hesitation really disgusted Fisk.
"You! Decide quickly. Now it's up to you to decide the fate of Polotsk. Do you have the consciousness to become the leader? It depends on your determination now."
For the first time, the survival of the Village Alliance was in his own hands. For the first time, Lambart felt the pressure of becoming the leader. The current atmosphere was so overwhelming that he was almost suffocated.
He composed himself, and after a brief weighing, he realized that Polotsk actually had no choice at all. Glorious? Unyielding? No! Everyone must survive. Moreover, the conditions given by the Russians were already extremely favorable, and refusing would be seeking death.
"I agree! Just like a hunter raising a loyal dog, if doing so can help us survive, on behalf of the entire Polotsk, I am willing to recognize the rule of Rus! Accept... your rule."
What is very paradoxical is that Lambart still believes that Fisk is the supreme commander of Ross.
He was very loose in his wording, so Fisk explained it carefully: "The great King of Rus is still in the north, and he is the master of the entire north. And I am just an old warrior under his command. What you are facing is just
It’s a very small part of the army owned by Ross, but it’s easy to defeat you. You are the new leader of Polotsk recognized by our Ross, but you can’t be free yet.”
Lambart was qualified to be an agent because of his noble status. As for the other five followers, they were both lucky and unlucky.
These five people were deliberately let go, considering that they did not suffer any physical hardship. They even ate wheat every day during their imprisonment, so that they became a little fat after being raised as pigs.
If they were exiled in this way, how could the people of Polotsk believe in the so-called captivity experience? Bao Buqi would think that these five guys secretly killed the leader Lambart and then hid them, and then hunted and hid until they returned at the right time.
Make up a narrative to describe Chief Proclaw.
Fisk and the guys worked together to give this man some physical punishment!
So in the midst of extreme screams, the five people were collectively cut off the earlobes of their left and right ears. This operation required delicate work and a sharp knife, so the extremely straight wounds were definitely not caused by the rough axes that the five people brought with them.
, which can prove that they have indeed experienced being imprisoned by Rus, and what they said can be believed by the leader of Polotsk.
For these five guys, cutting off only their earlobes basically did not hinder their hearing, which basically deprived them of the right to wear earrings.
They were exiled and driven by cavalry. They took a little dried fish and ran downstream along the river. Their arms ignored the pain in their ears and just wanted to run away with all their strength.
They ran with anger, which was completely different from the news Lambart received. These five people were induced to act as de facto envoys of Ross to issue a gauntlet to the leader of Polotsk. According to Fisk's idea, they had better turn their information to the leader of Polotsk.
Use all the rhetoric to ensure that a large-scale battle has a chance to start. Only in this way can the coalition led by Ross defeat them in one battle for subsequent operations.