Chapter 1,300 Rurik’s Forced March

The fire in Novopolotsk Fort continues to burn, but the current fortress is a fortress built by surprise. Even if it turns into ashes, there may be nothing to regret.

The calm warriors faced an extremely difficult problem - Polotsk people had died on a large scale.

The villagers who were once forced to operate burning wooden carts to destroy the fortress were killed by the Ross coalition forces stationed here even if they returned to the village.

kindness? No! Some things are just the same.

Whether they were coerced or not, they fought directly for the Smolensk people, attacking the fortress and causing a fire that resulted in the death of a large number of Danish armed merchants. All kinds of culpability were added together, and Earl Spout directly sentenced these people to death.

But Spyut was not a cruel person, and when his brother from Riga suggested brutal execution of the prisoners, he refused.

To those villagers who were lucky enough to survive, the Smolenskians were bandits, just as the Russians were.

While they were yelling and cursing, ropes were put around their necks and then hung up...

After all, the person who ordered the execution of the prisoners was Count Spuyut of Saaremaa Island, a nobleman from the old Rus. What he led his troops to save was Polotsk. As for the situation of the people living in this area, it is another matter.

He didn't need to consider Duchess Carlotta's feelings at all, not to mention his own reasons were very sufficient.

After all, he had moved his seat to the city of Riga. In the battle that just ended, Danish businessmen suffered extremely heavy losses. Do you want to continue operating the Amber Road trade route? certainly!

The Rus' power represented by Spuyt controls the starting point of the trade line, and he can collect taxes from it. The Danes who naturally do business feel that the ruler has sufficient legitimacy.

The two parties reached a tacit understanding that was almost a contract.

This is why Spyut decisively killed him after the war. His brutal actions really satisfied the Danish community fighters.

Polotsk eventually became a place name, and the tens of thousands of people who once lived here, except those who successfully escaped to the southern Doleb League (Drigovich, Derevlian), all had their families raised by marriage early on. Those who moved into the fort.

There is not a single real Polotsk villager left, and those who have survived the disaster dare not even think about what the future will be like.

But the fate of the kingdom has never been decided by this small group of surviving villagers, even if there is still their farmland here.

No! The property rights of the farmland no longer belong to them.

Danes, Rus, visitors from Sweden's Lake Mälaren, and Latvian tribes all settled here across the West Dvina River in the city of Riga. Even the Principality of Ostara can continue to attract Yilmen Slavs from the north to fill this living space.

The demographic structure has completely changed, the name is still Polotsk, and the flag of Russia is still flying.

The coalition forces from Riga stopped pursuing them. It was not because they were cowarded, but because the enemies were clearly spreading out and breaking out. There was really no need for the brothers to go into the forest like hunters to defeat the defeated soldiers.

"The cold in winter will kill them! Even if we don't get the merit of killing Vadim, that guy will probably freeze to death and be eaten by bears and wolves until no bones are left..."

Spyut publicized this, and then ordered the entire army to be stationed here. He specially erected the wooden pole of the Ross flag, the bull-headed flag of Ostara, and his own Burg flag (a white cloth, with the Ross flag in the upper right corner, and other positions. Drawing an abstract longship) with three flags flying simultaneously.

The fire in the fortress can burn for at least three days. The soldiers stationed in the village joked to each other: At least for the next few days, we will be like living by the fire.

The fire of the fortress never goes out all day long. During the day, people in the distance can see the thick smoke and dust rising from the skyline. At night, they can see the red-hot sky.

There is no road between the Vitebsk Fortress and the village of Polotsk, but in winter there is a road - the frozen West Dvina River.

On the occasion of the planned expedition, Ross's Union Cavalry was assembled on the ice in the early morning.

As early as when it was still dark, the Ross Army camp was already bustling with activity.

The air is filled with the strong fragrance of wheat. Soldiers and horses are cooking wheat together.

The cavalry has sufficient physical strength for future combat.

Each cavalryman prepared some dry food, mainly dry flour cakes and salted fish, and other supplementary food was inferior.

They should each prepare a sack filled with oats. It was concentrated feed for war horses, and soldiers had to bring more.

All the war horses were brought along, and the few horses that were not involved in the battle were now used as pack mules, carrying only oats.

Considering the weak strength of the enemy and the tactics that the Ross cavalry would adopt, it was even more important to consider the limits of the horses.

The standing army, which was supposed to be heavily armored, dispensed with chainmail. The armor is just a plate armor for the upper body, and the protection of the thighs and lower legs is entirely left to the buckler placed on the saddle.

While ensuring basic defense, the entire army should reduce weight as much as possible to ensure that the war horses are lighter.

There was no pre-battle training, and Rurik did not put on his military uniform and raise his sword to appear.

King Rus was dressed more simply today. The thing that showed his majesty among the army was not the crown, but a military flag.

Of all the Russian flags, the one belonging to the king is the most noble.

At this moment, the flags were hunting, and the golden light of the morning sun was extremely dazzling on the frozen river. Most of the soldiers put on their wooden-framed sunglasses. They tightened their reins and stared at their own team flags and the movement of the Wang flag.

"let's go!"

Rurik gave a clear signal to the 1st Cavalry, and the royal flag began to move. All units of the army lined up in columns according to their organization, and moved quickly on the frozen river.

The first cavalry is equivalent to the king's personal guard. The rest of the standing army cavalry must keep up with it. Although the cavalry of the allies has no system to force them to keep up, no one wants to lose their honor, especially those allies who are proud of themselves. The prairie people who are best at cavalry combat.

"Hurry up! Hurry up! Let's march forcefully!" Rurik ignored the cold wind coming towards him, and also ignored the mist of the war horse's violent breathing.

The king took the lead, and when Fisk saw this, he could only force his own people to follow closely.

Since even the allies had to follow the Roman customs in Rus, they had to replace their war horses with wide horseshoes with nails. This new horseshoe made the war horses extremely suitable for running in the ice and snow, and no one was worried that the war horses would fall on the ice.

Wouldn't it be a grave sin to fail to keep up with the king?

Rurik forced his mount to move quickly at a speed of about 12 kilometers per hour. It seemed that this speed was not very fast, but he would force the horse to maintain this speed for a long time, and use a few more whips when necessary, so that The speed suddenly doubled.

From the forced march from morning to noon, due to Rurik's force, the cavalry inevitably became out of touch.

"Your Majesty!" Suddenly, Fisk came to report: "The messenger from the rear team sent a message that we are running too fast."

"Too fast?!" Rurik suddenly turned his head and faced his general with a smile: "I still think it's too slow! Who is saying that we are fast?"

"It's Brother Prairie."

"Absurd. No one knows how to fight on horseback better than them, so why do you think we Ross cavalry are so fast? No! I have to speed up!"

After saying that, Rurik whipped his mount again, clamped his legs on the horse's belly again, and the horse began to accelerate again.

"Too fast! Your Majesty, wait for us..."

Fisk did not dare to complain, so he ordered the entire First Cavalry to speed up and catch up with the king.

From the perspective of the Pecheneg allies, the Russians were a bit too brave and radical.

The entire army uses almost all Turkic horses, but there are a few new horses in the Russian army that are half Frankish horse blood, which maintains strong endurance while also enhancing their assault capabilities.

But the whole thing is a Turkic horse.

The Pechenegs and the Russians have different methods of handling the same horse breed. The former almost only feed ordinary pasture, while the Russians mainly feed oats during combat.

How much energy does grass have? How much energy does oats have? What's more, the Russians are willing to give salt to their war horses.

By eating higher-grade feed, the Russians can make the Turkic horse reach its combat limit.

Of course, the feeling of galloping on horseback makes me feel

Rick was extremely excited.

He did have a reason to run—to rush into the battlefield and strangle the enemy as quickly as possible.

Due to his previous combat experience, Rurik learned that with a normal cavalry march, the cavalry could reach Polotsk from Vitebsk in three days, or a leisurely march of four days.

He didn't want to wait, which pleased Carlotta immensely. She urged her Ostara cavalry to follow the Rus' standing army with all their strength. She was like this, the prairie princess Beyahil and her guys, everyone had to persevere.

After all, for these steppe warriors from Pecheneg, it was the first time in their lives to ride horses on the glacier, so it was understandable that everyone should be cautious.

As for the Russian army, they have to take the frozen Volkhov and Neva rivers to the capital every year. It is never unusual to run wildly on the ice. Especially for the two newly formed cavalry teams, the young soldiers remembered that soon after, they witnessed horses and reindeer running on the ice every winter. They envied the heroic image of those cavalry, and now they finally became cavalry.

The current Rurik does not have the luxury of one man and five horses, but the current speed and marching method are very similar to the Mongolian Western Expedition of Subotai and Batu who took the frozen Volga River to expedition to the Ryazan Principality.

He subjectively has no intention of imitating anything. In other words, the current marching method is an optimal solution.

He was extremely optimistic about his speed, but the cost... was immediately apparent when he camped in the evening.

Even if everyone believes that high-quality snow horseshoes can protect against falls, horses still slip and break their leg bones. The war horse was stabbed in the vital part and "euthanized". The cavalry who lost the war horse easily mounted the pack mule and used the horse to follow the team.

The Ross Union Cavalry lost some horses, and the overall impact was negligible.

They camped on the bank of a frozen river, backed by a dense virgin pine forest.

The Russian army, which has high-end living tools and combustion accelerants, uses highly distilled alcohol and earth fire saltpeter to make the bow drill extremely efficient in making fire. The bonfires were lit one after another. The soldiers ate dry food around the flames, and then placed their own small pottery urns. Take it out and cook the snow on the spot for drinking.

As for the war horses.

The soldiers did not hesitate to think about the oats, and the horses who had been tired for a day also gnawed like crazy. The soldiers simply opened the sacks full of oats and let the horses eat them, and kept stroking the manes of their mounts. Mao spoke words of comfort.

Now even all the Pecheneg cavalry feed their horses with oats in an extremely luxurious manner. After all, the grain is paid for by the king, and no one feels bad. On the contrary, if he keeps some oats for his own consumption in the future, the king will certainly Will be angry.

After eating a lot of oats and salt, the Turkic horses with thick manes gathered together to rest.

Instead of digging snow pits, the soldiers wrapped themselves in fur blankets and slept around a campfire.

After bumping in the saddle all day, everyone felt extremely tired even though the daylight hours were limited.

Unlike King Rurik, he is a king after all and is different from ordinary people in every aspect, and his energy and energy are pretty good now.

The captains of each banner gathered together, and Carlotta and Bayasil, as high-ranking female nobles who commanded a team, also joined in the ferocious conversations of the men around the campfire.

No one shied away from the fact that they were women. Sitting here were Odin’s warriors, Valkyries, and Children of the Grassland. They were all ruthless characters, and they were talking about how cruel punishments should be used to torture Vadim. .

Blood Eagle? Filling your mouth with lead water? Cannon-burning? Dismembered by five horses? Eye gouging?

Even a wild boar will not be tortured to a state of disgrace by hunters. In their eyes, damn Vadim was worse than a prey.

Vadim is no wild boar, and to the damned rebellious remnants of Rus' and to the Smolensk people, this man is still a usurper.

Rurik still hopes to capture him alive. Perhaps he can make him into a human pig, sacrifice him alive, and burn him to ashes just like he did to the old Danish King Horik...

"So, whether this person is alive or dead, this person's body will be our best sacrifice to the gods during Hanukkah this year?" Fisk asked with interest.

"Wonderful!" Rurik slapped his thigh, his eyes full of ferocity: "We also need to add a batch of Smolens.

Gram aristocrats. As for the location of the sacrifice, maybe it can be held locally..."

Rurik thought of a possibility. Because of the uncertainty of the war and the inevitable delay, he might not be able to go to the capital in person this year.

Ross has a strong army in his own hands, and it is also feasible to take advantage of the situation to expedition to Smolensk and celebrate Hanukkah there.

That night, the sky in the west was still red.

The tired soldiers discussed it for a while, and everyone believed that the fortress was still holding on. Maybe the expansion of the war would cause the Polotsk villages to burn down.

The red sky in the west is proof, as if it were the taunt of the enemy: We are here and we can do whatever we want.

There is no need to say harsh words anymore. At dawn the next day, the Ross United Army set off again.

Rurik believed that his forced march could reach Polotsk in two days. If nothing unexpected happened, the battle would break out this afternoon.

He did not give any instructions when he set off for the expedition, but now the whole army was assembled, and each unit of two thousand cavalry stood together in a dense formation.

The warriors saw King Rus holding his steel sword high. He was not wearing a helmet, and his flowing blond hair like a ponytail was flying in the wind. He was tall, but the horse under his crotch seemed a bit small.

In other words, the Russians themselves are really great, and such a masculine and brave man is really worthy of following.

"Soldiers! We will use two days to complete the attack. The battle will be this afternoon! I order you to be on high alert and ensure that you can enter the battle immediately! Be alert to all surprises! Be alert to all encounters..."

There was no slogan propaganda, what Rurik said was only about combat arrangements, and what stood out was pragmatism.

Originally, many people were adhering to old experience, and one of them had to fight tomorrow at the earliest.

They greatly misjudged the speed and course of yesterday's forced march.

The cavalry took advantage of the short daylight to run nearly 80 kilometers on the ice! This was a stress test for all Turkic horses, and once again the horses proved to have exaggerated endurance.

Why was Rurik so sure that the cavalry was so fast?

Just because the whole army passed a key turning point, there was a flat area and the ruins of villages and docks at this turning point. This is where the Rus' forces first came into contact with the Polotsk people. The contact began with a looting, and now the village has been reduced to ruins without any further construction. It has become the most prominent landmark, which actually means that the Ross cavalry after passing here can definitely reach Polotsk at normal marching speed, even in the limited daylight in winter.

The whole army is united in thinking, and the soldiers are eager to try. Heroes from all ethnic groups and forces are all allies and brothers of each other. They all hope to prove their bravery in battle, and hope that this action of fighting side by side will deepen their alliance and friendship.

Even if they are women!

This time, it was Beyathil’s first battle since giving birth. The little princess of Pecheneg is by no means a beauty. She is as fierce and ferocious as a man when fighting on horseback. And because she has practiced archery since she was a child, she is already a highly qualified cavalry archer. Now that she has a good bow and arrows, she is even more powerful. .

And she also has a formal title - Countess Demyansk. In Ross's context, it is "the commander-in-chief of a region." If this concept is placed on the grassland, there is also a person who can call himself "Khan".

She knew this very well, and in order to repay the king for being canonized, she would fight bravely with her fifty prairie guards to repay the favor.

and……

Opportunities for combat always come unexpectedly.

A group of dark people moved along the snow-covered river. They looked less like soldiers and more like a team of refugees.

At first, Rurik thought it might be Polotsk peasants who had fled. However, when this group of people saw the sudden appearance of the cavalry army, they began to stagger towards the forest.

They must not be fools! The cavalry flew a large number of Russian flags and wore blue feathers on their helmets. Now that the Polotsk people have surrendered, do they think the Russian cavalry are enemies?

There is something wrong with them!

No, they are not Polotsk people!

Rurik didn't think much, the other party was obviously running away.

Chase it yourself! In this barbaric world, in order to ensure your own safety, I simply hit him first.

"They are enemies!" Rurik decisively took out his recurve bow and raised it high: "Cavalry! Follow me! Catch them!"

Then the trumpet sounded loudly, and this tune represented "Charge to Battle"! ?

The soldiers in the rear team were shocked. Unexpectedly, the battle broke out at noon? They quickly adjusted their mentality. Seeing Wang Qi moving at high speed, they decisively joined the battle, even though they did not see the enemy because they were in the rear.

Now, everyone only needs to follow the king's flag and the flag team's flag to charge.