The orders to prepare for battle spread throughout the Vitebsk fortress, and no matter what they thought, they had to face a battle here.
Fisk did not expect much from the Kyiv team. The most useful thing for these people was to intimidate the enemy on horseback.
The ones who really dared to fight were the cavalry on the Ross side, and the Pecheneg horses of the alliance. A total of 600 cavalry had real fighting power.
Ross-Ostara's mixed cavalry did not make Fisk very reassured. The equipment of the team was uneven. The standing cavalry all had recurve bows and more than ten steel-armed crossbows (generally not used). Although the cavalry of the citizens of Ostara also learned to ride and shoot, the bows used are basically traditional short wooden bows, and they try to use loose glue to bond a layer of beef tendon to strengthen some pounds.
After all, the recurve bows trafficked by the prairie people will be completely bought by Ross. Whether the newly made bows are easy to use, the battle is an opportunity!
Pechenegger Guetzal also rejoiced that the real Rus immediately used the bows they had brought in, as long as they used them, there would be no reason to bargain or refuse to buy them afterwards.
In an instant, the Ostara citizen cavalry changed to the recurve bow, and they had a small amount of break-in time to practice it before the battle began.
With the successful and fast delivery of the news to the Lukiholm stronghold in the north, Duchess Carlotta realized this major crisis. She did not participate in the battle in person, but sent all her existing ordnance supplies to South Transportation.
She left only a few arrows missing to defend Lukiholm, and as many as 5,000 arrows were shipped in sacks, which were specially consigned by the Colts, who returned to the Vitebsk fortress as quickly as possible.
As a consumable item, 5,000 arrows are not many, and the quality of the arrows is also uneven, and some of them are bone clusters.
Something is better than nothing. Carlotta never thought that this year should be no war, but the adventurous actions of his subordinates still detonated unexpected wars. In any case, the new opponent is going to attack, and it is very likely to overturn the new stronghold. According to the rules set by Rurik, they will try their best to counterattack.
She wanted to mobilize the entire Lukiholm's armed forces to go south, because there were not enough horses to quickly transport the young boys as infantry, and it was not impossible to march on foot, so the high probability of missing the battle would be a pure waste Human and material resources.
She prayed silently in the rear. Currently, in order to support Vitebsk, Lukiholm's defenses have been extremely relaxed.
When the Colts finally arrived, they left the cover of the forest and made their debut with the Ross and Ostara flags high.
Fisker was overjoyed and could go out to meet him in person.
"How much military supplies have you brought? Are there a lot of food? A lot of arrows?"
The leader showed a hint of embarrassment: "Boss, the material capital of our Lukiholm stronghold is limited. The Duchess has reached the limit..."
"It seems that there are not enough supplies? How exactly?"
"Only five thousand arrows, and ten sacks of grain."
This is a veteran Fisk sent out to serve as a messenger a few days ago. The veterans didn't say much, and Fisk was just as reluctant to say much when looking at the horses.
"Okay, you unload the supplies and go to rest first, and I will check these supplies."
If Lambert, who was under house arrest, said it, the Polotsk tribal militia would appear in large numbers after he was detained for more than ten days. Now that Ross has received the last supply of supplies, Fisk has the absolute right to dispose of what happens next.
So, probably on the day of the war, Lambert, who had been under house arrest for many days, was finally released.
The bolt that was nailed to the door was released, and he was the only one allowed to walk out of the dark house. Suddenly, his eyes were almost blinded by the sun, and it took a while to recover.
All the Polotsk messengers who have been trapped in the house these days can only whisper to assess the situation of the Rus. One day they heard a loud noise outside, and they were almost instinctively certain that they were here. reinforcements. A small group of cavalry is not easy to deal with, if there is a large group, how to win?
Like a sharp sword constantly rubbing against the granite, and eventually the sharp edge is smoothed out.
Lambert, who was originally the main battle, had his hands tied and was led outside the fortress. In his eyes, there were cruising cavalry everywhere. This is not a deliberate act by Fisk, but simply because the fort could not hold a thousand cavalry and more horses. The cavalry who arrived later all camped outside the city. The terrain here is flat and fertile, and the geographical environment is very similar to Pechene. The estuary of the Volga River with the role of personality.
Vitebsk became a large cavalry camp, Lambert saw an unheard of sight, and suddenly he was terrified.
He circled outside and was pulled to Fisk's headquarters.
This time, Lambert saw more ruthless people, especially a few people with weird iron faces. It wasn't until the person took off the "iron face" that it showed its true appearance, but it was just as weirda large flat face with compact facial features and narrowed eyes.
This is Quetzal himself. As a middle noble of the Pecheneg people, he is a little surprised compared to other relatives.
Pecheneg is a confederation of tribes, which means "brother" in Turkic. The tribes recognized each other as brothers and thus formed an alliance, but the origin of each tribe was very different. Most are of Turkic ancestry, but are also mixed with Yuezhi, Kangju, Scythians and Caucasians. Quetzal's mother family has some North Asian blood, and he inherited his genes unexpectedly to become dominant, so he has a big face.
Compared with the past years, the Pecheneg people have become a little richer due to looting and trade. Those with financial resources must build better weapons and then better armor for themselves. Because of their usual riding and shooting tactics, they always like to "ride face output", and precise shooters specialize in hitting the opponent's face, especially the weak eyes, which is the main reason for wearing masks.
The mask is deliberately made to be ferocious again, no matter whether the face behind the mask is ridicule or fear, the enemy will always see a hideous face.
This time, Fisk also borrowed the prairie man's mask with great interest from the guys. It is just a leather rope tied to his head and does not affect Ross's tin helmet. Everyone can feel a little horror when they look at each other. This is wearing its purpose.
No, Lambert was very frightened.
"I sent you to take a look at the camp, what do you think?" Fisk asked arrogantly.
"Look... I see." Lambert became obviously submissive, and his cowardly expression was dissatisfying.
"What do you think? Do you... think your clan has a chance of winning?"
"I... I don't know. Maybe, we really can't win. You have too many people, and it's so scary... If we do fight, we will lose badly."
Fisk hadn't spoken yet, because the man spoke Slavic, which immediately attracted the attention of Wladyslav Sakjevich.
"Boy, do you know Kyiv?" he asked.
"Kyiv? I know." Lambert raised his head hurriedly.
"By coincidence, I know you Polotsks too. Look me in the eyes! To the east of our Kyiv are the Derevlyans, and you Polotsks are north of Derevlyans. I thought you were just The guy who lives in peace, never imagined that he would dare to fight against Rus! If you dare to do this, you will fight against Kyiv. I am the son of the leader of Kyiv, and this time I am with Rus allies to crusade against you." It was the first time he said such a big thing, he tried his best to pretend to be very strong, but fortunately he didn't show his cowardice because of the violation.
"Ah? Is that so?"
Lambert doesn't know this situation at all. Where is this going? When did the Rus recruit a group of fighters from Kyiv?
"You're cowardly! You're a coward." Fisk shook his head and pointed at him. "You were as hard as a rock a few days ago, and now you're as weak as a pile of mud. You can't win."
Go to **** with your face now! After truly seeing the powerful strength of the enemy, Lambert was completely cowardly. He wasn't so cowardly that he trembled, at least his mind was relatively clear.
He is a **** main fighting faction in the village alliance, and he has put down Haikou's hope that he will be elected as the next leader of the alliance by the leaders, provided that the crisis must be resolved.
Allies? joke. If this cavalry army annihilated Polotsk, any idea would be illusory.
It seemed that the Rus leader in front of him was alluding to a decent ending.
He boldly said: "Give me a chance, I want to convince my people to stop the war. Why don't we have a good talk? We can give you a lot of food, we can share this area. I heard that you have a grudge against Smolensk. , we can disconnect those people."
The man's words were constructive and completely soft. It's fair to say that Fisk was pleased with such a clever statement.
"Hehe, of course we want to negotiate with you. It is not in Ross's interest to eliminate you. However, it is you who chose to attack aggressively, and we can only fight."
"Let me go back, I persuade my uncle to stop fighting, and we have a good negotiation." Lambert's attitude has turned into a pleading.
Fisk pinched his beard and whispered to the people around him, turning his head and squinting with contempt. Indeed, the guy who was so mad a few days ago that he wanted to kill or slash casually, is now sitting down and begging.
"I can let your followers go and let them report. And you, stay here! When the battle is over, we do need a negotiator. You are the chosen one! Or, in the future, you will Useful."
"..." Lambert dared not speak, and hung his head to wait for the ruling.
This small meeting was by no means a whim of Fisk. Before the meeting, he and the elite held a small meeting to discuss how to deal with the Polotsks after the battle. If it is too violent like the previous wars, it will indeed be as the leader Olaf (Old Harald) said, the Latvians and a large number of Danes in Riga will shiver and choose to fight resolutely.
If Polotsk were to be ruled directly after the war, those who were defeated would slowly become resentful because many of their relatives were killed on the battlefield. The Rus Principality of the Rus Kingdom cannot directly control it in the embodiment stage, and the Principality of Ostara will be required to manage it.
rice ball exploration book
What is the strength of the Principality of Ostara? Although it has a very noble name, its overall strength is not strong. The expansion of Lukiholm and Vitebsk has greatly diluted its strength, and it is completely unrealistic to divide troops to rule Polotsk. .
The best way in this situation is to support an obedient agent. Since the captured Lambert has the idea of becoming the leader of Polotsk, it is better to choose him. Of course, it still needs to be checked whether the person is willing to cooperate.
After some dialogue, Fisk felt that this guy was very useful. He even realized that Polotsk had no chance of winning and took the initiative to pray.
This is the chance!
"Now give you a chance! Lambert, I can conclude that the battle is inevitable, and you don't want to admit defeat if you don't fight, that's not a man. You must fail and have no chance of winning. The key is after the war. I can promise not to. Those of you who are defeated are grateful to kill you, and even if your army collapses and flees on the battlefield, I may promise not to hunt down."
"Benevolence?" Lambert felt a little weird.
"Even if it is kindness. After the war, we decided to arrange for you to be the leader of Polotsk, and you will lead all your tribesmen to give loyalty to Ross."
"This"
"About you killing three of our soldiers and destroying the corpses, this kind of thing is enough for us to send troops to kill your clan. I will give you a chance to forgive your sins, pay a grain of food as indemnity after the war, and provide a grain tribute every year after allegiance to Ross. In this way, you will be protected by Rus's military. Any forces attacking you in the future is equivalent to attacking Rus, and Rus will send troops to crusade. Similarly, when Russ crusades other forces, you will also send troops to participate in the war, and you can get the right to loot the spoils. "
Such heavy remarks are like a dream, and Lambert really thinks that the terms here are so good that they don't seem to be true.
His indecision really disgusted Fisk.
"You! Make a quick decision. Now it's up to you to decide the fate of Polotsk. Do you have the will to become the leader? It depends on your decision now."
For the first time, the survival of the Village Alliance was in his own hands. For the first time, Lambert felt the pressure of becoming a leader, and the current atmosphere was pressing him to almost suffocate.
He made up his mind, and after a brief balance realized that Polotsk had no choice at all. glory? unyielding? Do not! Everyone has to survive. What's more, the conditions given by the Rus people are already very good, and refusing is seeking death.
"I agree! Just like a hunter would keep a loyal dog, if doing so can save our lives, I represent the whole of Polotsk willing to recognize the rule of Rus! Accept... your rule."
It's very paradoxical that Lambert still believes that Fisk is Ross's supreme commander.
He was very imprecise in his wording, and Fisk explained it well: "The great King Rus is still in the north, and he is the master of the entire north. And I, just an old soldier under his command. You are only facing It's a small part of the army that Ross has~www.mtlnovel.com~ but it's easy to get rid of you. You are the new leader of Polotsk recognized by our Ross, but you can't be free now."
Lambart is only qualified to be an agent because of his noble status. As for the other five followers, they are lucky and unfortunate.
These five people were deliberately let go, considering that they did not suffer from any flesh and blood, and even ate wheat every day in captivity, so that they were all raised as pigs and gained a little weight.
So how could the Polotsks believe in the experience of so-called captivity when they were banished? Bao Buqi would feel that these five guys quietly killed the leader Lambert and then hid, relying on hunting to hide at the right time to return, and making up a paragraph to describe the chief Proclaw.
Fisk and the guys summed it up, and still have to give this no one a corpse!
So in the extreme screams, the five people were collectively cut off the earlobes of their left and right ears. This operation requires meticulous work and requires sharp knives to handle, so the extremely straight wounds cannot be caused by the rough axe brought by these five people, which can prove that they have indeed experienced being imprisoned by Ross, and what they said can be caused by Polots. Chief K believes.
As for these five guys, only the earlobes were cut off without hindering their hearing, which basically deprived them of the right to wear earrings.
They were banished, driven by cavalry, and ran downstream along the river with some dried fish and meat, their arms not caring about the pain in their ears, and they just wanted to run with all their strength.
They ran with anger, which was completely different from the news Lambert got. These five people were induced to serve as the de facto messengers of Ross to give the Polotsk leader a gauntlet. According to Fisk's idea, they had better put all their money on the table. To add fuel to the rhetoric, to ensure that large-scale battles have a chance to be fought. Only in this way, the coalition forces led by Ross can defeat them in one battle for subsequent operations.