An army musters in the snowflakes. The soldiers all wore thick leather clothing, fox fur and squirrel fur hats on their heads, and their feet were wrapped in various leather cloths.

They looked very bloated. After standing in the snow for a while, a thin layer of snow fell on each of them, and their hats turned white.

The gray-black tones and gray-white world became a special camouflage. Their faces were livid and silent, as if they had forgotten their smiles due to the cold.

Calloused hands gripped the shaft of a spear, or simply a sharpened pine branch. They were ordered to assemble at the occupied lumber field, where more than 3,000 people carried a series of self-made

"Siege equipment", facing the leader Vadim on horseback, waiting for the order of the general attack. This is the Smolensk army. They have been lingering in the continuous snowfall for many days until now.

When does the snow stop? ! have no idea. It has been the seventh day since the first snowstorm, and there is no serious snowstorm at all, and even now the ground is basically windless.

The world was gray, and tiny ice crystals fell from the sky and covered the earth with a thin snow blanket. Bitter snowstorms in the West Dvina River Basin are generally rare, and the local water vapor is always sufficient, so occasionally an arctic cold current hits, which will cause continuous snowfall for a long time, and people living in houses have to Light a fire to keep warm, otherwise it is very easy to face a bad cold environment, which is more uncomfortable than simple cold.

The Smolensk fighters were tortured badly. They had had enough of living like marmots in the huts.

It's useless to be inexplicably frozen to death due to poor digging, so it's better to fight the Ross gangsters. The soldiers generally complained about their chiefs, and the army was in danger of constant internal friction!

Consuming troublesome things will end a paragraph, and the decisive battle is today. Vadim has already negotiated with the junior officers he appointed. This operation is actually a general attack. The purpose is to break through the fortress of Ross, kill the enemy and plunder the wealth. Finally, the whole army will spend the winter comfortably in the enemy's fortress.

He even sketched out a wonderful blueprint for the future.

"Soldiers!" In the snow, Vadim gripped the reins tightly and rode his horse to review his army.

"I have seen an army of great men, and through your eyes I have seen fury. It is my honor! Vadim Pereyaslavich to lead you to victory. Today, we will Destroy the fortress of the Ross gangsters, all long-cherished wishes can end today, the gangsters must pay the price in blood. Attention! There is no mercy! Everyone, follow your little leader, protect yourself, and protect your siege weapons. Today I will fight with you. Now! Let's go." After talking eloquently, Vadim emphasized his father's name, the so-called

"Peleaslavich". If you talk about his biological father, the father's name of the name has to be called

"Borudnievich", and this particular father's name comes from his father-in-law. He doesn't have a lot of obsession with his name, but he has a passion for power.

He is emphasizing the direct descendants of his old Smolensk chief, although he is the son-in-law of the Lord of the Eater.

However, the other sons of the old chief

"Accidental death", even the death of the old chief was inexplicable, and finally the power fell to this man from Lake Ilmen

In the hands of the "Prince in Exile". Ordinary farmers don't pay attention to the power struggles of those nobles, they pay attention to their own wealth.

The other leaders didn't dare to fart in the face of the attack of the Ross bandits, but this Vadim finally organized an army and launched a counterattack.

The preaching finally boosted morale, and Vadim gathered his cavalry again, and continued to order: "Blow the horn and beat the drum. Let the enemy know that we are attacking." Of course, the fluffy snow can absorb a lot of sound, Vadim Deliberately making a big noise, now he has nothing to do with hiding, he just wants to launch an attack openly.

In fact, he is expressing his opinion to his own people. Marching to the sound of drums, the soldiers kept shouting, making a big noise to embolden themselves and further boost their morale, even though it would surely make the defenders of Fort Rose aware.

On the other hand, the Vitebsk fortress was no slouch. During the continuous snowfall period, the temperature was below freezing point throughout the day. The rotten body of Jellinger that the defenders were worried about was not a problem at all. The body of the hero was frozen into ice sculptures. The wooden walls and roof of the fortress were also covered with a layer of snow. Also covered with a thin layer of ice.

All the gates are the weak points of the fortress defense, especially the east gate of the outer city. The West Dvina River is not easy to freeze, even if the artificially dug ditch has been flowing water, it only forms a thin ice near the shore.

It has not yet reached the coldest period of the year, but the great river has already begun to freeze, and it will take time until the end of November in the Julian calendar for it to be frozen enough to leave.

The West Dvina River has a freezing period of up to three months. Generally, there will be a dangerous flow process in March every year. At present, the big river is flowing quietly, and the river water is cold enough to cause the drowning person to die of hypothermia in a short time .

The defenders were few and abundant in supplies, and Ai Wende certainly had some innovative combat methods at his young age, but with a hundred brothers, he couldn't use any ideas.

Everyone stays the same and responds to all kinds of changes. The daily work is to take turns to guard and be ready for defensive battles at any time.

Soldiers in bearskins stood guard at the scaffolding at the east gate, and there was always a sentinel with good eyes sitting in the watchtower of the inner city.

All the snow on the scaffolding has been dynamically cleared, and the soldiers have also replaced the snow shoe holders with wooden strips and nails. They have been preparing, and all the crossbows, recurve bows, and torsion slingshots have been adjusted to the best condition , All the arrows and javelins were sorted, waiting for the enemy to come and die.

Everything came suddenly, and everything came inevitably. The continuous days of silence inevitably made the young defenders paralyzed. Ai Wende, who was taking a nap, was woken up by the muffled sound of drums and horns together with the other brothers.

He woke up suddenly: "What's going on?! Who is playing the drums?" The soldiers in the dormitory got up from the bunks one after another and looked at each other, feeling ominous.

"Could it be... finally started?" A soldier looked at his boss with piercing eyes.

"Maybe. Hurry up and get up, and go find out first." Ai Wende jumped out of bed with a carp, not even wearing foot wraps for the time being, and put on a woolen sweater, intending to find out first.

Suddenly the heavy door was pushed open, and a gust of cool air rushed into the dormitory. A young soldier gasped: "Boss! The enemy! The Smolensk people are coming."

"Attacked?!" Immediately, Ai Wende felt thunderous.

"Attacked. There are enemies everywhere!" The brother who sent the message was panting, and pointed his right hand in the direction of the east gate: "They still want to attack the old place. Boss, what should we do?"

"What should I do?" Ai Wende slapped himself twice and regained consciousness. He looked around at his brothers and shouted, "This is the end of the comfortable time. Everyone wears armor and **** with them."

"Roar!" There was a Viking war cry, and the roof of the warm longhouse seemed to be toppled. All of them have received military training. Although they are very young, their physical fitness and fighting will are much stronger than the Smolensk people who marched.

However, the battlefield was quiet for many days due to the snowfall, and the soldiers who fought before were fully rested, and Ai Wende, who was about to die from exhaustion, consciously recovered completely.

What about the latter? ! Is it really the so-called glory of Smolensk? In fact, a behemoth condensed by hatred, launched its self-proclaimed Armageddon under the leadership of the greatest avenger Vadim.

How would the down-and-out prince feel if he realized that Fort Rose had only a hundred defenders?

Vadim felt that there were many enemies in the fortress, so he explained that their arrows were sharp and their firing efficiency was high in the previous battles.

He would never admit or believe that even a mere hundred people would cost him his troops. This is not the first time the defenders have defended the Vitebsk fortress. If they fight again, it will be the third defense battle since the city was built.

The foot wraps are quickly wrapped, and the feet are stepped into the leather boots. The linen lining lasted in sleep, so the plate armor was quickly put on after the woolen coat.

Finally, take their respective helmets, put on their weapons and prepare to block. Ai Wende gathered some brothers at the east gate, and another group of people stayed behind in the inner city.

At this moment, the Ross flag was still flying in the snow, and its very existence was a constant provocation to the enemy.

He led more than 30 brothers and held the crossbow tightly to observe the overwhelming land during the march. The difference from before is that there are more things like giant shields in the marching team, and there are obviously many people carrying logs and tree trunks.

"Boss, what are they trying to do? Could it be that they plan to break through our wooden wall?!" A soldier asked in shock.

"It must be so. Brothers, our east gate may...be lost."

"Then what should we do?!" Ai Wende, who was immediately anxious, no longer wanted to go out of the city to fight with them, he felt that the enemy had already fought.

"Brothers." He looked around cautiously, and couldn't help showing a fearless smile: "Maybe, we will all die in battle today."

"How is it possible? Our fortress is impregnable."

"The people of Smolensk are clearly going to fight for their lives. We may not be able to wait for reinforcements because of our small number of hits. But...we are also honored to die in the **** battle." Ai Wende collected his mind and waved his fingers intentionally Ross flag: "We are fighting for the king after all! Fighting for Rurik, life and death will be honored."

"You." A brother couldn't help knocking on the plate armor to pretend to be mocking: "Knowing that you want to boost morale, is it possible that one of the brothers is afraid? Why are you talking nonsense like Uncle Jellinger?"

"He..." Ai Wende came up with a little sadness: "Then get ready. Let's hide ourselves first, and the first round of shooting will catch them by surprise." Ai Wende wanted to cover up, so the whole fortress seemed to be guarding Soldiers evaporate.

From the standpoint of the advancing Smolensk Army, they saw an overly quiet fortress in the gray world.

The army marched in the posture of a shield wall, and the closer they got to the battlefield, the slower their pace. Finally, they have noticed those abrupt snowdrifts.

Only when the soldiers came closer to observe, did they suddenly see that it was the dead in the previous battle. The corpse had turned gray and white, and what was shocking was that the head of the corpse had disappeared.

Where did the heads go? Could it be... there! The heads stuck on the wooden sticks became abrupt bushes in the snow. The soldiers who marched were shocked, and their morale suddenly became unstable, and they didn't dare to move for a while.

Vadim noticed something strange, and after listening to what the messenger said, he flew into a rage.

"What are you afraid of?! You should be angry. They deserve to die for destroying the corpse." That's all, he ordered his cavalry to act as messengers,

"Go and inform the soldiers that the full-scale attack is now." Soon, those who aimed to intimidate

The "skull bushes" were completely destroyed by the attackers. Although I feel sorry for the dead, in order to ensure that the battlefield is sufficiently flat, the heads outside the east gate were suddenly frozen like ice hockey pucks, literally rolling heads.

Finally, the strongest drum sounded from here, and the Smolensk Army blew its own horn, which finally turned into a horn drum completely different from the Nordic style, and the purpose was the samea signal for the general attack.

The Smolensk soldiers suddenly shouted collectively, and the sound of shouting and killing shook the defenders violently. If many people had experience in killing the enemy, they would really cry because of this momentum.

Ai Wende was ready to counterattack, but saw that the enemy took out a large number of

"Arrow Shield". That is the plank woven and bundled with pine branches. The moisture in it has been frozen into ice, and it is also resilient. It can indeed greatly offset the chiseling of Ross's armor-piercing arrows, but the price is that it has no mobility.

How can we talk about mobility when it is already a siege battle? Under the arrangement of Vadim, the attackers gathered warriors with spear throwers, slings, and bows.

On the front, there is a line of resistance from brothers holding large shields together, covering the soldiers carrying logs to build bridges in the trenches. These long-range soldiers must fearlessly suppress the enemy's arrows.

The Smolensk people learned war in the war, they are only poorly armed, and their brains are no more stupid than the defenders.

All the actions made Ai Wende and other defenders realize that the battle situation was wrong, and shooting those wooden shields was meaningless. After all, the Russian army knew this trick when they attacked the city in the past. He really believed that the Smolensk army was afraid There is an expert pointing out.

The charge begins. The thick wooden walls seem to be unguarded, but in fact the defenders are all cats and their bodies are covered by battlements, as well as their wound crossbows.

The attacking fighters carrying the logs calmly erected the extremely long and straight pine logs at the trench, but were not in a hurry to attack from the broken bridge.

"They actually did this?!" Through the observation window on the wooden wall, Ai Wende finally understood the enemy's tricks.

He showed up with his brothers, holding a crossbow and shouting: "Shoot those bridge builders." Sharp arrows condescended and shot precisely, and a group of attacking soldiers fell to the ground with arrows.

The attacking side's fire suppression immediately began. Arrows and javelins were thrown at the east gate of the fort just as they happened, and even pottery fragments were thrown with slings.

Those arrows meant little to the defenders. It was a coincidence that some soldiers were hit by the flying pottery shards on their helmets, and the soldiers fell directly to the scaffolding as if they were killed in battle.

"Brother? Is he dead?!" Ai Wende asked casually in surprise.

"I'm fine. It's a good thing that the stone didn't hit my face, otherwise no woman would like me." The buzzing soldier staggered to his feet and still kept complaining optimistically. He helped himself tilt his helmet again, and stepped on the crossbow on the spot. , carrying it and climbing back down the wooden ladder to continue shooting.

It's no longer the small fights before, the Smolensk army is in a full-scale attack. Because the east gate of the outer wall began to encounter real impact.

There are attacking fighters with large shields against arrows, and they work together to build

The "simple shed" is actually a cover for the trunk of a big tree that keeps knocking on the door inside. The original battering ram faced the hastily built wooden wall. Even if the wooden door of the outer wall had been reinforced, debris and soil were piled up behind the door, but the enemy's strength was too many.

There were constant casualties of attacking soldiers under crossbow attacks, but they showed no sign of retreating.

"Hey! Ha!"

"Hey! Ha!"...The wooden wall was constantly being hit, and Vadim, who was riding a horse not far away, squinted and stood in the endless light snow to observe everything seriously.

He is very satisfied with the current battle situation, UU Reading www. uukanshu. Com confidently told his cronies on horseback: "Today must be a day of shame, we will wait here! Wait for the gate to collapse." In his opinion, as long as the gate is broken, everything will be over.

However, the reality is not as smooth as he and the army imagined.

"Big boss." A soldier muttered: "The gate of the fortress has been smashed for a while, and the enemy's counterattack has become more and more intense. When will the gate... be broken?"

"Don't worry. It's like logging. A big tree needs to be chopped with an ax a hundred times. The Ross bandits used a big tree as a wall, so we have to hit it many times. Wait, we will break the door today." It's not going well. , The morale of the army is still strong.

The battle started in the morning, and the army had a full meal before departure, even though his rations were indeed running low.

The soldiers are full of energy and have a lot of time today. Could it be that there will be no progress after hitting the door all morning? Vadim decided to step up the game.

He thought for a while, and ordered the messenger on horseback to come to the front of the formation again: "Let the warrior with the cable climb. Then put some long logs on the enemy's wall and start climbing."