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 not willing 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.
The communication with each other was so limited that those people had murderous intentions without even knowing it.
It is difficult to open up farmland in the forest. After felling the trees, the tree 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 flowing 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 collecting mushrooms. It is precisely 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 must be careful, because the Krivici people in another forest may compete with them for living space, and it is not impossible for embarrassing encounters and fierce battles to occur.
They must be more careful about roaming brown bears, because in this forest, bears preparing to hibernate and hunting wildly will attack any living creature and will prioritize humans as food.
But this time, the village of the Ladmic people faced a crazy attack beyond their own understanding.
At first, 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 walked in the forest, their horses' 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, and only seemingly young women and children were left alive.
The horse's rope was tied to the man, 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 ate some cheese at night without lighting 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 when the forest fog is rising, the golden sunlight shines through the gaps in the dead leaves like a curtain, and the dormant army comes 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 expected 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 their opponents were a group of "forest prey", the next battle was not risky.
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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.
in the national organization, but not now.
In today's era, there are only villages that have grown up in enclosures. One village was targeted by outsiders on horseback.
In the dense forest, a small flat land appeared next to the stream, 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 it was a bear 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 not a fool. He saw the large fences in the farmland and couldn't help but become nervous.
"Sakhi." 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 this."
"But we Kievers also set up walls in our settlements to prevent bears from escaping 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 speak kindly to you and promote our three-party alliance."
He didn't need to say any more, Sakhi completely understood what he meant.
"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, and he was severely beaten by his army. He subjectively did not want to attack blindly, and now there was no room for compromise. So he summoned the army and used looting as a promise 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 led the men at hand to attack as infantry.
Kagan quickly understood the answer: Kiev’s horses were too valuable.
Led by Sakhi, the Kiev people rushed in with a large number of bows and arrows. Sakye came up with a plan and approached the village wall. He threw a rope and caught a corner of the wooden wall. Everyone worked together to pull it down, and the army swarmed forward.
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The battle broke out suddenly, and the Kiev people all emerged from the mist and charged forward with howls. No one was willing to engage in any verbal negotiations with the Mickey people who were pulling. They just met and started fighting immediately.
The sudden attack was shocking. Even though the villagers closed their gates 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 high and shot arrows at the attackers. Other than that, they did nothing.
A 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 people 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 make a fortune! Follow me and rush!"
One or two of Sacchi's old friends went 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 fighters from Kiev participated in Russia's crusade against the Karelia people in the far north a few years ago. Although only a small number of them were forcibly recruited as mercenaries by the Duke of Russia at that time, they also participated in the war symbolically.
.The Kiev people did not get any treasure. If there is any benefit, it is to see the tactics and tactics of the Russians or Varyag's large army.
They imitated the fighting of the Russians in a poor way, especially the imitation of the huge round shields stacked on top of each other to form a wall, which collided with the "short spear wall" of the Mickey villagers.
Someone was stabbed to death with 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. 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 orders from their boss.
Kagan has been waiting for a sure opportunity, and seeing that his allies have already invaded the village, the opportunity has 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 Lamic's men, 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 some enemies must be treated ruthlessly even if they surrender. In principle, a large number of people must be left alive as slaves to be sold to make money, but the strong resistance of the villagers of Mickey is not enough.
His attitude made him wary.
Any man taller than the wheelbarrow wheels was deliberately killed by the Pechenegs. According to Kagan, this was the tradition of the steppes. As for the women who were still alive, they were left behind, tied with ropes and placed on horses.
Beyathil saw all this. The wailing of those women could not make her, a Turkic woman, emotional, and she was equally 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 a flooded river destroying a village, the Pechenegs are more ferocious than the flood.
More than forty women of various ages were captured, the oldest was no more than thirty years old, and the youngest was a child. All those women who could bear children were taken away by the Pechenegs, and the rest were thrown to Kiev allies.
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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 Kiev people 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 linen cloth captured by the brothers who died in the battle was
The packages 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 this disaster.
They can make some decisions, but the wheels of history have rolled over, and the peaceful life in the forest in the past will definitely be gone.
Just because all the Lamic people exist near the Dnieper River trade route, their pastoral era is over!
Similarly, the pastoral era of the Smolensk people has actually ended. As for the fact that outsiders have not launched a fierce attack, it is just because Rurik, the king of the north, has not yet taken action.
The returning cavalry unloaded a large amount of food and killed several brothers, but the Kiev people still won the victory.
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?"
On this matter, many prominent figures still remained silent, or perhaps they still had concerns about Sakhi, a horse dealer. They made hints, ostensibly asking Sakhi to make greater achievements, but in fact
It is the chiefs who need more money and slaves. As long as the bribes are in place, Sakhi's position as chief will be truly convincing.
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, but 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 Krivych Slavs in 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 road gave the cavalry a suitable passage.
They were traveling on a special road. 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, and there are still things in it.
The villages of the Ladmic people are 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. He was originally very disdainful, but Sakhi's repeated demands to be vigilant made people's ears go numb, forcing Kagan's super self-confidence to weaken.
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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 on the grassland with the Khazar Khanate, because they really cannot afford to lose, so they use sneak attacks and plundering without martial ethics as an important battle.
This way, the people of Pecheneg are at peace.
The steppe cavalry took advantage of the lazy time in the early morning to catch the targeted Smolensk village by surprise.
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 forcefully captured more than sixty people alive, all of whom were young women he had carefully 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 him. But Kagan, a hero of the steppe, seemed to have a deep hatred for the Smolensk people.
It's like killing for the sake of killing.
The coalition forces kidnapped nearly a hundred women one after another, and then left the territory of the Smolensk people in a big way. 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 some of them were extremely nervous. They were frightened and did not know who the murderer was.
One of the nobles in the reinforcements has a very special identity. 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 told his nobles in Smolensk this.
The nobles also had calluses on their ears. After all, the nobles in many villages in Smolensk were not very enthusiastic about organizing a large army to conquer the north. Most of the nobles had seen the Varyags, but they didn’t know much about the Varyags.
Since the Russians among them are so fierce, 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 though Vadim promised to expel the Rus, the dominance of Lake Ilmen belongs to Smolensk. As a down-and-out nobleman, he only wants revenge and nothing else.
Faced with the bloody killings, everyone was still intimidated.
The big leader suppressed 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 was still wide, and it was not easy to cross the river smoothly. Therefore, the cavalry from the south was further south.
The Dnieper River passes through the ferry ford. This special geographical structure is unknown to the people of Smolensk.
The people of Smolensk are accumulating anger. The greed for Lake Ilmen in the north has gradually turned into anger against the Rus. This is what Vadim is eager to see, and he even secretly hopes to attack more.
This time, the indecisive local nobles could be united by the anger in their hearts and organize a large army to launch the so-called just Northern Expedition.