Some villagers' houses have become tombs, and the inside is unbelievably full of dead bodies!

The dead bodies of all kinds of people were piled up one layer after another in a mess, which also explained why a large number of villagers disappeared. It turned out that the fate of many Polotsk hits was so miserable.

For the fighters who have fought for many years, especially the pirates who have been cruising the sea for not many years, they finally got rid of their status as "descendants of sinners" after being recruited, they still have a gangster spirit, even if they see a large number of frozen dead men and women Surprised.

Shock is not enough, the pirates under Spuyut have long been used to life and death.

They were just surprised, because the number of corpses obviously exceeded a thousand, and almost none of the deceased had any external injuries, so that an illusion was createdthe deceased died of natural causes.

Of course, Spueut did not believe that the dead were all natural deaths.

Until the prisoners who were deliberately spared their lives pointed out the reason, the so-called army led by Vadim had limited food, and there was no need for many villagers to live with them to fight for food. The villagers were deliberately imprisoned and starved to death. The hungrier the people, the harder it was to resist, so that the villagers died in large numbers.

Only the last few survivors with physical strength were coerced to participate in the fire attack. In the end, the survivors among the villagers basically died.

Carlota, who learned the truth further, was furious, but Vadim, the culprit, was put under stricter supervision, and it became impossible for anyone to choose an opportunity to avenge himself.

Kindness to Vadim?

No!

A big fat pig, of course, must be raised well before being sacrificed.

On a clear day, the burning Novopolotsk fortress finally left only a smoldering remnant.

The surrounding area has been dried by the heat, and the snow has disappeared, and the ground has been burned dry and cracked. The dark scene is in stark contrast to the snow-covered world.

Carlota ordered the chief mansion to be demolished and rebuilt. Because of the presence of King Rurik of Ross, even though it is very simple, it will undoubtedly become the king's palace.

Rurik would never stay in Polotsk any longer, and he had made up his mind to leave the day after tomorrow.

Now, all the elites of the whole army are gathered here, and another military meeting is held here, which is also the last military meeting in Polotsk.

The atmosphere here is serious, and everyone knows that a war is coming. They don't have any intuitively high spirits, nor do they have any depression. Everyone also knows how the war will proceed in the future, as if everything is just running a set of procedures, and there is no need for King Ross to repeat it in a high-profile manner.

That's what Rurik was going to say.

even

Today, he is not wearing armor, but a thick bearskin coat is bound by a cowhide arm belt. While it is enough to keep out the cold, his whole body looks relatively slim, which makes him very capable.

He clapped his hands to attract the attention of the guys who sat cross-legged on the ground: "Polotsk is now... only one place name left. This king will definitely rebuild it in the future! This place is very important to Ross, and this king cannot ignore it.

Now I'm going to say, Vadim the culprit! already dead! "

As soon as the voice fell, there was an uproar in an instant.

"Dead?!" Carlota propped her hands on the ground, completely ignoring her leg problems, and rose up in a twisted posture: "Didn't you agree? At least I made a blood eagle for Vadim , You didn't let me cut my hand, so you killed me casually?!

She is the king's wife, and if she offends the king, she can use her body to make amends.

The other brothers were pleased with the Duchess's outrage, which was to seek an explanation for them all.

"Sit down first." Rurik waved his clothes in a mysterious manner, and continued: "Vadim is indeed dead. It's just...maybe our understanding of death is different. You wait for now."

Rurik was indeed playing tricks, and as he went out in person in exchange for the prepared guards, he personally supervised the **** of a disheveled man with his arms tied behind his back to the house.

The man was pressed on his shoulders and knelt down in front of everyone. When the messy and curly brown hair was pulled away, everyone saw a hideous face.

"Vadim, wasn't he killed? This... this man is in your hands, like a dog." Carlotta gently covered her chest, and she just sat down and looked at Rurik again, with a puzzled expression on her face. Take a closer look at Vadim, who is in a state of embarrassment. There is no anger, only disgust like seeing feces, and he even said, "Why should your noble hand touch the head of this dirty dog."

"He's dead, isn't he." Rurik did stroke Vadim's dirty head like a dog.

People are the first to think that this man will struggle furiously because of the strong humiliation, but unexpectedly he obediently remains motionless.

"You... have tamed this man? It's like taming a fierce horse?" Carlotta was taken aback.

"Not really, it's just that this idiot has something in my hands."

"what is that?"

"Hey..." Rurik smiled and said nothing, then changed the subject: "That's why I said Vadim is dead. Look, isn't he already dead?"

Everyone looked at each other and exchanged eyes to reach a consensus.

"The spirits that once dared to fight against us have dissipated, and what remains here is only a living Airbus, which will be a good sacrifice. For the Smolensk people, their leader Vadim is already Dead, the living body is worthless. This means that Smolensk currently does not have a leader who can organize and unite all the villages and strongholds, which means that it may be difficult for them to clench all their fingers into fists to beat us. Brothers, we The opportunity has come.

The king is determined! Tomorrow will be the last day of rest, and the day after tomorrow will be fully launched. "

At this point, Rurik lifted his boots again and lifted Vadim, who was tied up, without much effort. He stepped on his back with his right foot, pretending to raise his arms high, and posed like a boxer. modeling.

The brothers really didn't understand why the king put on this set of performance art. Everyone was so happy to see it, so they laughed together.

Only Vadim, who was trampled under his feet, endured the humiliation with his eyes closed, and he did not dare to resist.

What kind of hold does a high-ranking prisoner who lost all his troops have in Rurik's hands?

It turned out that when a simple threat "I will castrate you if you don't obey", it turned out to be Vadim's fate. He wanted to maintain his last masculine dignity, so he gave up his dignity as a great leader, and also gave up his oath to the gods at the Gnezdovo altar in the Katyn Forest.

Why bother to sing praises to the gods? Vulcan, Thor, Chaos God... The Slavic gods played tricks on the Smolensk Expeditionary Army, and the unprecedentedly organized army has been wiped out.

And these gods seem to stand on the side of the Ross army...

Because Vadim learned from the group of people who cursed him that there are already a large number of Slavic fighters in the Ross army, many of whom are descendants of native nobles. These people came from the hometown of Inlmen Lake, the sons of the leaders of the small farms that had been suppressed, and turned into the upstarts of Ross.

Perhaps the Slavic gods have turned their backs on their stronger counterparts.

Vadim was disheartened. He once boasted that if you don't succeed, you will succeed. But when he really planned to commit suicide, he repeatedly gave up because of fear and the instinct of survival. The death of the self is inevitable, and since suicide fails, one can only face the endless humiliation of the conquered.

Vadim chose humiliation, and those thousands of villagers who were deliberately starved to death by him, what about their decency?

Rurik ordered to collect the corpses of all the dead, and even if it was not easy to dig a pit in the freezing weather, a large pit should be dug to bury them and set up a huge tomb.

After burning an area scorched by the Novopolotsk fortress, the soil there was baked relatively soft, and the giant mound was set here.

One after another, the frozen corpses were transported on the sled in an extremely twisted posture, and transported across the frozen Polota River like cargo.

At this moment, there are already a group of soldiers digging trenches with shovels in the area where the battlefield was once on the other side of the river.

The corpses were put in immediately, and finally turned into layers upon layers.

No one complained, after all, the corpse had to be cleaned up, otherwise it would be a very bad situation to clean up the corpse once the weather warmed up.

But there are exceptions, those Smolensk army corpses that merged with the ice of the West Dvina River

bodies, let them lay on the ice! The destination of these corpses is the sea, and the drifting in the spring of next year will tear up all the corpses and push them to the Bay of Riga to feed fish in pieces.

The dead Polotsk villagers got a decent result.

They died on a large scale until they became extinct. Carlotta did not feel very sorry for this result. Of course, she had empathy, and shed a few tears. Those villagers were their own sources of taxation, so they were actually killed, which was a major blow to the southern expansion of the Principality of Austala and the Kingdom of Ross.

It is also impossible for the future reconstruction work to be dominated by the Principality of Aostara.

Because, Carlotta has a dual identity, she is the wife of the king, and she is also a great southern nobleman under the rule of Rose. As a great nobleman, even if she is a woman, her identity determines that she must lead the people to expand. This is to ensure the stability of her power for the benefit of the people, and it is also for her son who will grow up in a few years and can handle government affairs. paving.

She was also a little thankful that her son did not see the tragedy in Polotsk.

Although as the son of Rurik, little Karl will grow up to be a real man who is brave and ruthless sooner or later. Perhaps, the scene where he sees the corpses strewn all over the field is too irritating, and the matter has to be unfolded step by step, so that Karl can finally face the war calmly.

War is the main tone of this era.

Even war is considered a shortcut to development.

Carlotta must be compensated for his huge loss in Polotsk. Who pays? Vadim trained as a dog by her husband? No! Smolensk people want compensation! They wanted to pay for food, slaves, and especially a group of young women.

Even though Carlota is a woman herself, she must first consider the demands of the male soldiers under her command.

Especially in Vitebsk, the strongest southern stronghold at present, the defenders are almost all young Ostara fighters.

They need a wife, even if this wife role is just a slave in their eyes, it is better than nothing. As long as there are women, they can make these women bear children. When they have women and children, the hearts of soldiers are completely bound to Vitebsk.

They will be deeply rooted in it and defend it forever.

She knew that the Russian army would not dawdle any longer. When the cavalry army temporarily stationed in Polotsk departed, and then met with a large number of infantry stationed in Vitebsk, it would go straight to Smolensk. There will be no more changes during the period. . Perhaps even the blizzard was not a reason to hinder the Russian army's expedition.

Some buried the bodies, others emptied the Polotsk granaries.

The cavalry swept all ten villages, and everywhere they went they saw depression and dilapidation. Where are they villages? The stern cold wind blows in the ear, the cavalry are in the empty village, the men and the horses are breathing thick fog, and they all feel the horror here.

It wasn't that they were worried about an enemy ambushing, but that it was too cold and quiet here, and the soldiers thought of a word - grave.

They didn't search deeply, and left in a hurry without finding anything useful, and they didn't feel ashamed to return without success.

A batch of temporary sleds were rushed to manufacture. They were tied with wooden poles and hemp ropes, and they didn't look like very strong things.

Why force them? As long as the captured grain can be transported to Vitebsk as much as possible.

In Polotsk, the Russian Cavalry and the Allied Forces in the Gulf of Riga, everyone used their brains to transport wheat in various containers, especially collecting coarse cloth and leather everywhere, and used them as pockets to hold the wheat for their own use.

Almost every cavalry soldier's vacant sackcloth pockets, which were used to carry the spoils, were now filled with wheat.

More wheat needs to be transported by sleds. Finally, when the army is about to leave, a large number of soldiers are destined to sit on the grain, drive the reindeer, and pony pull the sleds forward.

The day of planning, the time of departure.

"Now, there is nothing to miss in Polotsk? All the buildings can be demolished and rebuilt, even, I ordered the construction of... your palace." Carlotta accompanied Rurik on a horse, There is some sadness in the mood.

"Don't worry, I will build Polotsk better. Don't worry about it."

"Oh, that's not what I'm worried about." Carlota shook her head and continued, "There's really nothing to miss here. Let's go. You will issue the order."

Rurik nodded, motioning for the 1st Cavalry to issue a clear signal to the entire army.

For a moment, the trumpet blared loudly, and the small leather drum made a rapid and crisp sound.

The Ross King's Banner with complex decorations took the lead in waving, and then the First Cavalry took the lead, leading the whole army to march towards the upper reaches of the West Dvina River.

There are nearly 3,000 people in a mighty team. It seems that the number is not very large, because they are lined up in a single column. If you have a bird's-eye view, you can see "a black snake" advancing at a relatively fast speed on the frozen river.

What Carlotta said is true, all the villages in Polotsk have been abandoned, even those villagers who moved into the fortress because of their married daughters and their families, and stayed with the defenders until the reinforcements arrived. Uprooted.

In other words, for these last villagers, their identities changed to Aostara tribe with their married daughters. The women followed their young husbands, and the old guys followed their young son-in-law, joining the mighty army and rushing to the east. At least they were promised that they would settle down in Vitebsk.

Vitebsk was not foreign to the last villagers either, it was a love-hate place for Polotsk people, who would have guessed that it would be the home of the last survivors.

But he said that in order to protect his masculine symbol, Vadim, who would humiliate him for a while even if he was doomed to die, Rurik built a dog cage for him.

Wood and ropes were tied into a large wooden box, and some leather was covered on the surface to keep warm. Vadim was still bound hands and feet, with a cloth stuffed in his mouth, tied with a rope, and tied in a knot at the back of his head. He was poured into darkness, and his spirit fell into a trance.

There were also several Smolensk prisoners of war who could have been executed after being beaten.

Considering that it is still useful to keep the prisoners, Rurik made a promise to them: be obedient, and when we arrive in Smolensk, we will let you go back and report.

Based on Rurik's new strategy, the huge Ross army in the future does not mean that it will really kill the local area. It is necessary to let a few prisoners of war act as messengers. Instead of asking these people to say a few words for Ross, it is enough to just inform them that Ross's army is approaching the city, and then release an opportunity to send someone to negotiate.

"Of course you can refuse all negotiations, so I have a reason to destroy you. At any time, I retain the power and ability to kill." Rurik thought so, but did not publicize it publicly.

Those prisoners of war were really obedient, so they were given some leather clothes to keep out the cold, and they were given hot meals, which made them even more obedient.

When the cavalry army came, they ran like crazy, and there was no need to speed up when they returned.

They had to adapt to the slow speed of the sledges pulling food, so when it was almost dark on the third day after the expedition, black shadows of artificial buildings appeared in the open space in the distance, and the array of bonfires as bright as stars completely exposed it. The name Vitebsk.

This time, there was no point in using the bonfire deception technique. A bonfire meant that at most ten people would share it.

The bonfires are still densely packed, which really proves the hugeness of the Ross army stationed here.

For the reinforcements in the Gulf of Riga, especially those fighters from the Danish community in the Gulf of Riga who entered the upper reaches of the West Dvina River on a large scale for the first time, they sat on the sleds with their heads up, commenting on the "stars" on the ground.

As for the cavalry, the soldiers could finally breathe a sigh of relief when they saw the camp of the army.

But when the army has completed its general assembly, there will be no more delays. It is estimated that the whole army will arrive at the camp tonight, and King Ross will bestow on the soldiers to make the final preparations before the battle tomorrow.

Even King Ross didn't want to wait at all! After all, the army stationed in Vitebsk has been preparing for war in the past days.

"Hey~www.mtlnovel.com~ Maybe the king will make our cavalry suffer again."

"It doesn't matter, this is the price of nobility. After all, we are cavalry, or the first cavalry."

The most elite fighters joked with each other and quickly adjusted their mentality.

That's it, end Poirot

Tsk unexpectedly fought and completely annihilated Rurik of the Smolensk Expeditionary Army. He returned to the camp with cavalry and Western reinforcements.

As estimated by the most elite fighters, Rurik noticed the unconcealed fighting spirit and eager attitude of the resident fighters, and he knew that these people didn't want to wait any longer.

Why wait?

As soon as he returned to Vitebsk, Rurik immediately revealed the news: At noon tomorrow, our army will set off!

So that night, the whole camp inevitably became noisy, and the soldiers had already packed their bags overnight, just so that they wouldn't have to be too busy tomorrow morning.