Latest URL: Finally, Vadim, who was hungry, had bread, cheese, and even fresh meat. He led his elite men straight to the obviously better buildings in the village, and the first thing to do was to reach the village square, because there was a thick wooden fort with walls, and it was a coincidence that the fort still hung a small Ross flag.

Because the flag is white with blue stripes, the diagonally stitched blue strips really echo the blue sky, and the white background blends with the white snow. The hungry and crazy army really didn't pay attention to this.

The army has already rushed into the village anyway, since the fort is flying the Ross flag, there must be Ross guards here?

He led the army to easily break into the door. The warriors with swords and axes were ready to fight, but when they really entered it, they found it was empty.

After careful inspection, everyone can smell a very strong smell of turpentine. Vadim checked around with his sword, and couldn't help being puzzled: "It's strange, is this a new building? There are no furnishings, but their flag is hanging." Vadim and his buddies were leaving the empty wooden castle. , and immediately found other large buildings in the village.

The public granary in the village was occupied by him, and the only bakery in the village with a large clay oven also became his possession.

Bakery ovens don't go out easily, and with multiple loaves baking in smoldering kilns, it often takes a full day to bake through.

This oven of bread was only put into the oven early in the morning, and I never thought that a large army would arrive at noon. The woman in charge of baking bread curled up, just as Vadim's target wanted to make a move, but was stopped by Vadim.

"Kill this old woman, who will cook for us?" The question was very realistic, and the subordinates stopped.

The bread is only cooked on the outside, but the inside is still a mass of raw dough. Fortunately, the outer part is soft and crispy.

The hungry Vadim stuffed a stomach full of bread and quickly felt full of strength, and it was quite satisfying to search for other food.

The houses of the wealthy households in the village were looted, and the cattle and sheep in the stables were taken out. Soldiers slaughtered the cattle and sheep in the winding streets and alleys, and cut off the best beef legs and roasted them on the fire.

Vadim didn't think too much about it for the time being, so he took the **** leg of lamb handed over by his subordinates, peeled the skin at will, and then kept it in the charcoal basin for heating. It didn't matter that the surface layer of the lamb was roasted black, and the lamb was half-cooked and wrapped in a lot of carbon Ashes, he still ate happily, regardless of the fact that he was already full of bread.

The public granary in the village is full of wheat, so you don't have to worry about getting an army of them. Vadim was staying at the home of a rich family, whose entire family had run away.

Let them run! In this way, the army can freely plunder. For a while, Vadim didn't know the situation on the other side of the river, nor did he know how many villages there were along the river.

He ate to his heart's content, gathered in a house with more than twenty brothers, lay casually on the ground and stroked his swollen, hard belly, feeling drowsy.

At the same time, some soldiers gradually gathered by the river. Their appearance made the already terrified and helpless people start to take risks. Some people started to try winter swimming, which was almost suicide.

The unknown Smolensk soldiers had no intention of killing them. Now that the villagers are actually jumping into the glacier to commit suicide, it is right to watch a show... But what they cannot ignore is the A large fortress fortress.

Its existence instantly made these people who had just regained their spirits after eating think of the very painful memories that happened not long ago.

The fort has damned watchtowers, and Rus banners on the wooden walls. The existence of the flag is a provocation. Compared with the artificially dug irrigation trenches of the previous fort, the new fort simply has two natural rivers as barriers.

Of course, when the ice layer is thick enough, the army can attack by force, but the question is whether to attack by force? In other words, do the brothers really have to face a brand new fortress and fight with it?

All this completely exceeded everyone's expectations. At this moment, the only military fortress in the Polotsk region of the Principality of Ostara in the Kingdom of Ross, this Novoplotsk fortress is already a masterpiece of horns.

Soldiers wearing iron helmets stood on the city wall one after another, with crossbows, recurve bows, and even ordinary short wooden bows. The defenders kept these three long-range weapons on high alert.

As far as the level of defense and the equipment of the defenders are concerned, the general Vysund who guarded the Novopolotsk fortress did not dare to act rashly.

Not long after the fort was built, there was not a single twisted slingshot that was used both offensively and defensively, nor any heavy weapons, and even the number of bows and crossbows was too small.

Vesund stood on the wooden wall, watching the situation on the other side of the Polota River vigilantly.

"Boss, there are a lot of people there. Are they jumping into the river to commit suicide?"

"Bah! Kid." He slammed the unresponsive little soldier hard: "You are too young, can't you see that they are running for their lives?"

"Diving into icy water for your life? Either you're brave or you're stupid."

"I'm in a panic. Oh... how pitiful."

"What shall we do?" Another little soldier asked nervously.

"What else can we do? Continue to observe. It seems that the Smolensk army is really killing us suddenly. I am afraid that our eastern fortress has collapsed, and we have to do our best to protect ourselves." After talking to himself, Vesund Turning around, he shouted at the eager Danish fighters gathered in the empty field inside the fortress: "Don't even think about fighting! Close the gate tightly, don't let anyone go out, and don't let anyone in!"

"Nonsense! We just want to fight the enemy who cut off our trade routes!" A strong Danish man with a long-handled battle ax roared like a giant bear, and his weapon was raised above his head.

A female soldier with a tattoo on her left cheek also yelled in her sharp voice: "Just open the door, we will cross the river and kill them." The armed Danish merchants shouted loudly for a while, and it happened that they were so enthusiastic about fighting. The villagers of Polotsk, who had entered the fortress for several months, quickly settled down from panic and panic.

Wisund's mind was in a mess, and he held back for a while and continued to growl: "My boss in this city. Danish guys, calm down first, it's not too late to fight after we figure out the situation. Now the gate must be closed." As soon as he finished speaking, he was booed.

All the gates of the fortress were held by wooden poles against the latches, and a large number of archers were gathered on the gates to defend them. Wisund just wanted to wait for work to figure out the reality.

After all, the fleeing businessman claimed that the enemy had 5,000 people, and his true strength is not yet known, so it is good to think that this number is true.

It was just watching the villagers who forcibly crossed the Polota River gradually disappear after jumping down the river and splashing about. Although it hurts, I can only watch.

Of course, there are also people who are physically strong enough to swim across the river, regardless of the water on their exposed backs that quickly freezes in the cold wind, and stagger towards the fortress, because they are too cold to speak. He simply ran to the bottom of the wooden wall and cast a beseeching look at the people in the city.

"What a brave man. Quickly let down the rope and drag him up." Wisund ordered. It was only the stronger male villagers who managed to cross the river, who did not fight the invaders, and now even abandoned their wives and children to climb the city wall holding the rope handed by the Rus conqueror.

There is such a person, he curled up and cried bitterly when he entered the empty field of the fortress, and he was willing to tell others what happened after he put on a blanket and handed him a bowl of hot water to recover a little bit of energy.

It turned out that this person and his family forcibly crossed the river to escape. People who were afraid of being humiliated and abused by the intruder jumped into the glacier in panic. This person's wife and children disappeared without a trace, and they probably froze to death silently at the bottom of the river.

He was still huddled in a ball, and Wisunde basically understood his description, and suddenly became furious, raised his foot and kicked over: "Coward! You are a man, and you can obviously fight. Now your women and children are dead, but you run away!" We have arrived at our safe fort." The man was still curled up, clutching his heart and howling.

"Tell me, who attacked you?" This is the most critical question, and another successful escapee finally gave an answer that everyone guessedthe Smolensk army.

At this moment, there are Danish warriors carrying round shields and wearing chain mail everywhere. They are majestic and seem invulnerable.

On the other hand, those who successfully crossed the river with less than ten people looked cowardly like prisoners waiting to be executed. No northern warrior takes kindly to a coward who fails without a fight.

Wisunde pointed at them with a sword: "Since it's really those guys. You...have you found a leader named Vadim?" The fugitives looked at each other, but couldn't answer why.

"Forget it, you are a bunch of terrified rabbits. Do you still deserve to live if you abandon your family and run for your own life?" A Danish soldier interrupted viciously: "Brother, there is too much nonsense with cowards, they stay in the fort for nothing Wasting our food. It's better to kill it." heard

The word "kill" made the fugitive tremble violently again.

"No need." Wisund shook his head,

"I will give them a spear to make them commit crimes and meritorious deeds." After that, he looked at these people again and threatened: "We will fight back, and you must take the lead. Your family is dead, what right do you have to live? Those enemies are tyrannical in your village, and when our Ross army came, we didn't kill everywhere in your village, but we had to help you out of the crisis. Do you understand what I mean?" Whether you understand it or not now Just nod your head first.

Wisund scolded again: "Listen, there are no cowards here. You fight in the front, and we supervise the battle in the back. If you don't fight hard, we will kill you." The Polota River is not wide enough to endure Only some young and middle-aged men successfully swam to the other side in the extreme cold.

Frozen and drowned corpses will be pushed by the river to the main channel of the West Dvina River, where the river surface is finally covered by a thin layer of ice and is rapidly thickening. Can't see the hall of fame.

On the other side of the river, the Smolensk army ravaged and looted villages. Vadim, who had just fallen asleep, was awakened by the intruding soldiers.

"Oh, boss, you are here!" The soldier half-kneeled beside him in a panic. Waking up suddenly, Vadim subconsciously pulled out the dagger, seeing that it was his own person who let go again.

"Be careful in the future, I almost killed you." The soldier didn't care too much, and said, "Boss, go to the riverside and have a look. The Ross people...the **** Ross people actually have a fortress on the other side of the river!"

"Ah?!" Vadim burst into flames, and his embarrassment disappeared instantly. He instantly thought of the new house in the village that was uninhabited but hung the Ross flag, and felt that something was strange for a while, was the real Ross people on the other side of the river?

He didn't want things to turn out like this, especially when his comprehensive strength was weak and he fought against a strong enemy.

Holding his sword, he organized some strong warriors to arrive at the riverside area, and slammed his forehead and shouted carelessly. He sent troops to stop the chaotic escape of the villagers, and the farce of suicide by jumping into the river finally came to an end. At this moment, the largest village has lost a large number of people, which is undoubtedly a catastrophe.

Vadim had no intention of declaring war on the Polotsk people. If the situation continues, it will be a formal declaration of war!

He intends to make long-term plans for the future, saying that he has gone too far in Polotsk, and the news will definitely reach the ears of the two big tribes in the south.

Vadim had heard that the Drevlians and the Drigovichs had made an alliance at one of their altars, Doleb.

Those guys must know what the Varyags, including the Rus, are doing. The Varyags are extremely warlike. It would be bad if they thought that the Smolensk people were also warlike.

Vadim didn't want those guys to have an extremely bad initial understanding of their power, especially of themselves.

"Russians. You are a group of shrinking turtles, hiding in the fortress and not daring to take the initiative to attack, and relying on the protection of the glaciers. For the time being... I really can't deal with you." Vadim muttered to himself viciously, and glanced at the not-too-distant place The fortress said cruelly: "It's a good thing you are here. When the big river freezes and my army can cross the river smoothly, I will find a way to burn you all!" Because Vadim thought of a trick that he had wanted to try for a long time. Combat fire.

The so-called arranging a large amount of oil-rich pine around the Ross people's fortress, after being ignited in advance, the soldiers risked their lives to pile up on the enemy's city wall.

Vadim saw the possibility of implementing this tactic. The so-called weather is getting colder and the enemy's clear water is easy to freeze, so don't expect it to fight the fire.

Thinking that I already have a manpower advantage, and now that I have basically completed the occupation of Polotsk, it is possible to mobilize the local people to fight, right?

The largest village in the Union of Villages has completely become a large barracks for the Smolensk army. Soldiers live in civilian houses, and those villagers who are afraid of the cold have to go home and stay with the invaders due to the pressure of survival.

The initial chaos was over, and Vadim established a new system. He found out from the mouths of some elders among the villagers why there were Russian forces in Polotsk. It turned out that the Russians were the real invaders.

Vadim gathered the leading figures in the village and told these old guys who had no ability to escape: "I am Vadim, the leader of Smolensk, and I am here to rescue you. Our army is attacking the Rus with all its strength. What happened in your village Everything is a misunderstanding. I want you to support me, provide food to ensure the life of our army, and organize men to join the army to fight for me. You must support me to attack the Rus, otherwise, you will be the enemy." Polotsk quickly came and Smo Lensk has no grievances and no enmity, because it was ruled by Ross before, so there is enmity.

In the eyes of the elders in this village, the Smolensk people are much worse than those Russian conquerors, and they are the real invaders!

A huge army poured in. Since the villagers had already paid tribute to the conqueror of Rus, although the remaining food was enough for everyone to eat until next year's autumn harvest, is there still enough food to feed the new 3,000 people?

Under pressure from Smolensk, they could only do so. The largest village is in hand, and the rest are too small to easily force them to surrender.

After spending an extremely difficult sleepless night, the defenders of Novopolotsk Fort, who were busy preparing for battle, noticed a large number of bonfires rising across the river. At first, they were really worried about the large number of enemy troops. Considering that the enemy might also use campfire suspicion tactics, they comforted themselves. many.

Vadim is not simply a reckless man, he will definitely come to a conclusion after suffering a loss. He was indeed using the bonfire suspect tactics, and the tricks did come from the Ross army, but the apprentice couldn't fool the master.

Because of the cold weather, holding a large number of houses and unable to live, what kind of fool would spend the night outdoors in the cold?

Unless they want to attack at night. This night, the defenders of the fortress took turns to keep an eye on them. The Danes and Ross's Ostara warriors, all in armor, huddled together in the house and slept together.

Nothing happened that night, and it seemed that there was no intention of going to war the next day. The Polota River is a real natural barrier until the ice is thick enough to leave safely. Wisund is not worried about their storming for the time being.

As for when the river will have a thick enough ice layer, it will probably be five days later, provided that the weather can continue to be cold.

Vadim on the other side of the river was not idle. He learned that the husbands of many female villagers had died in the previous battle against the Ross people. It happened that many of his subordinates had blood feuds with Ross. As a man who is still unmarried, it is better to have a direct relationship. Wouldn't it be good for everyone if the relationship was solid?

Although they all have a grudge against Ross, it doesn't mean that the female villagers have to commit themselves to another group of invaders. Besides, the Ross people may not be so bad, at least not as bad as the Smolensk people.

Vadim's move was really counterproductive, and he enjoyed it. All the villages sent people to the largest village, and Vadim naturally sat in the building in the village where the Ross flag once hung.

It is said that this is a residence built by a senior female nobleman of Ross, and it is also one of the symbols of Ross's conquest of this place.

Vadim was overjoyed: "Then it is my residence now. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com" Vadim took possession of it, and here he was worshiped by the envoys.

What else can I do? The Polotsk people suffered heavy losses in the war a year ago, and their spines have been broken, and now they have suffered a military catastrophe and lost a lot of people again.

"Will you treat us well? Just like treating your own people?" An old man asked cautiously.

"Of course. As long as you submit to me, you are my people. From then on, you Polotsk will be incorporated into my Smolensk community. In exchange, you are also obliged to fight for me. I think it over. When the river is completely Freeze, I want to pull out the fortress in front of me, kill all the Rus people inside, and help you Polotsk to avenge you." The words are polite, but how do you think that the villagers will have to fight desperately with weapons, so what if they win, Polotsk Many people will die by then.

And once King Ross learns that the entire Polotsk clan rebelled, he is afraid that they will come again next time... The villagers in the gap feel that no matter what choice they make, it is wrong.

But if you don't support Vadim now, I'm afraid the whole community will be killed by his army! The elders of the villages gathered had no choice but to recognize Vadim as the leader to avoid a greater catastrophe.