Chapter 1,310 Smolensk in Chaos and Leader Vyadzic’s Choice

Together with the last few surviving prisoners of war who had spared their lives in the previous war, Rurik finally prepared fifteen messengers at the high altar.

Now that their lives were spared, they all changed into clothes that could keep out the cold and got on the sled prepared by the Russians.

Some people have experienced the war, and they know best what happened in Vitebsk and Polotsk. The soldiers they fought with Vadim knew very well that Vadim was still alive, and they knew even more about the exact identity of their opponent.

As for the ten released Gniezdovo prisoners of war, their hearts were more filled with fear, hoping that the Russians would let them go quickly and survive. As for his relatives and friends who were killed at the big altar. Revenge them? Then you have to live first. The instinct to survive trumps reason.

In the early morning, some severed heads were stuffed into burlap bags. All the heads had the same characteristics - they were all men whose faces were painted with chalk mud.

According to soldiers from the Gulf of Riga who have visited here, people dressed like this are local priests.

"It doesn't matter whether the high priest is found or not. There may be the head of the high priest in here. The king just needs to collect as much as possible, which will be enough to scare the people in Smolensk."

Rurik listened to this advice and even deliberately destroyed the corpses of enemy clergy as a means of showing force.

The fifteen couriers who were eager to leave ate a bowl of hot rice. They raised their heads and showed fear on their faces without smiling. Even if they used their peripheral vision to knock down the scurrying Russians, they did not dare.

A large bag of unknown objects was thrown onto the sled, and the soldier who handled the matter said proudly: "People of Smolensk, see if there is any head here that you recognize? Is there any high priest?"

After that, the soldier left with a smile.

They were startled and squirmed hurriedly to open their half-hidden pockets. When faced with the ferocious pale heads, they immediately jumped back in fear.

Because the head of the killed high priest of the high altar, that middle-aged and elderly man with a wrinkled face, was quietly piled here.

Rurik's men did their job very carefully. The clothing and makeup of the priests were very different from those of ordinary villagers. Although the corpses had already been destroyed in the looting, and a large number of corpses were piled together, it was relatively easy for the Beijing audience to find the white-faced corpses and then behead them.

There was still a bold person who endured the trembling all over and his eyes were as big as copper bells. He went back and tied the mouth of the sack tightly.

He turned his head and whispered in horror: "The messenger is dead, we...we are finished."

Everyone was stunned for a while before someone asked: "What... should we do?"

"Let's show it to those noble masters. Anyway... I'm going to run away."

"Run away? Where?"

"It's better to listen to the Rus people. We'll run back after we finish our work, and we'll do work for them."

"Stupid!" Someone retorted in a low voice: "The Russians are all villains, and you will be skinned and cramped by them when you come back. You might as well... run away."

With a burst of hooves, they shut up.

The visitor was none other than Fisk, who came with the cavalry to show off his power.

After receiving the order, Fisk was able to lead the 1st Cavalry under the leadership of the Riga Gulf brothers and drag all the released prisoners of war directly to Smolensk.

The cavalry team can have three hundred troops. They are dressed in fine clothes. The thick leather coats cover the plate armor waistcoats underneath.

They decided to travel lightly, so they had no plans to break into the opponent's settlement to clear grass and valleys.

The three hundred cavalry who were suddenly killed were enough to wreak havoc and arson in the villages of Smolensk. If the other cavalry could not be saved, they would really do this, and even euphemistically call it "further shocking them."

The extreme killing that Rurik wants has come to an end for the time being. He needs a legion of trusted followers to kill at the destination at high speed, show off their power before the eyes of the villagers, and then leave. I am afraid that only the 1st Cavalry can restrain their desire to kill and loot. .

[An app that has been running stably for many years, comparable to the old book-chasing tool, used by all old bookworms.

There are a large number of blue goose feathers stuck on the polar bear skin velvet cap, the recurve bow is stuffed into the leather bag, and the quiver is full of arrows with brown and yellow feathers.

The men were full of food, the horses were full of oats, and the cavalry were restless.

Surrounded by these eyeing cavalry, the prisoners of war in the cracks were afraid that the Russians would suddenly change their minds and they would be killed by the cavalry.

But looking at them like this... if such a cavalry team is allowed to rush into the Smolensk village, there will be a brutal killing, right?

The cable caught the sled, and Fisk didn't want to dawdle any longer.

He cleared his throat and pulled hard on the reins, and the horse immediately walked towards the main channel of the Dnieper River. The cavalry behind them followed the boss's footsteps, dragging a sled of prisoners of war and the "gift" to the local nobles and left...

Let’s talk about the Gniezdovo Altar and the surrounding residential areas.

A river that the locals call Svenets flows through the forest here and empties into the broad channel of the Dnieper. Its name comes from "fire", and in the sense of the settlement's existence, it is called the "river of cremation". That's the original intention.

But visitors to the Gulf of Riga who have visited here long ago have a name for it - Pig Tooth Cape Bay.

After all, Gniezdovo is the location of the largest altar in the region. Those Danish merchants from the Gulf of Riga who traveled the long amber road for profit worshiped Frey, the god of wealth, and worshiped their gods here.

The golden wild boar is the mount of God Frey. Legend has it that if the pig touches its body, gold will fall from it.

In the past, the Danish community in the Gulf of Riga had no need to be hostile to the entire Smolensk community. They had no hatred for the locals, but they would not show favoritism. The past exchanges with each other were purely business transactions.

Even some Danes already lived in Smolensk and even bought women from locals to act as wives and give birth to children. In the heart, we never think that we are of the same race as them.

There are Danes, Swedes, Götalanders and Jutlanders, and the various northern merchants are called Varangians by the locals. The Danish community on the Gulf of Riga emerged as a trading point intertwined with maritime and inland rivers. There are a group of brothers living in the community, but there are still some people who speak Norse and row long boats and pursue isolation.

Now the cavalry was moving quickly up the frozen Dnieper River.

The accompanying Danish warriors from the Gulf of Riga were carefully selected by leader Stekander. They all knew how to ride horses and had been to Smolensk many times in the past. Naturally, these people were also older.

Perhaps these people could serve as real emissaries from the Rus' side, declaring the wishes of the Rus' conquerors to the local nobles.

However, everyone was worried that because they had gone too far at the big altar, the angry locals would kill the envoy in anger.

Because of these concerns, the accompanying Gulf of Riga soldiers were somewhat cautious.

On the other hand, Fiske and his guys were very relaxed, as if they were going to Smolensk for a winter trip.

"Brother, when we get to Smolensk, we must leave the prisoners and leave. You must not stay here for too long." The speaker had a beard and looked a generation older than the bald Fisk.

"You call me brother? You are obviously much older than me. Well, I don't want to linger for no reason. Unless... the locals attack us."

The man hurriedly explained: "This is what we are worried about. The army killed too much at their high altar, and many people escaped. I'm afraid our killings have been known to them, and the entire Smolensk village is on alert. Once we appear... …”

"Then there's nothing to say. My people will kill some of them and then leave." Fisk shook his head with disdain on his face.

Even so, the old man's words really reminded Fisk.

He didn't want to believe that a powerful force would be depleted of troops after a heavy-lost war. He learned from former prisoners of war that those who were mobilized to join the war were some peasants who had bitter hatred, followed by debt slaves of various noble families, and some groups of people who had committed theft and were unpopular in the villages.

Probably Smolensk still has huge war potential should they come under a strong existential threat

, I am afraid that men and women will act as militia even if they hold a wooden stick.

If you think about it from his perspective, if Ross encounters a similar crisis, it would be natural for a ten-year-old child to take up arms.

The old man suddenly mentioned the matter again angrily: "I still have some worries."

Fisk turned his face impatiently and scolded: "Uncle, your worries are unnecessary. If they dare to challenge, I will dare to kill at least five hundred of them before leaving."

"Well, your toughness is obvious to all our Riga community. I mean, there are some of our brothers over there in Smolensk..."

"Our brothers? What do you mean?"

"It's the Varangians who left the community, spoke Norse, and are essentially us Danes. All are free, and they chose to be stationed in Smolensk without forming a community. I'm worried that they will He picked up weapons and fought with us without knowing why. After all...that Vadim asked the local Danes to train his troops. We suffered a big loss for this."

"Is that so?" Fisk thought for a moment and it was really like this. "If they choose to fight, then kill them. They are all Odin's warriors. The moment they pick up weapons, they should have the consciousness to be killed. .”

"Of course it is. Young man, you are too extreme! I hope there is some way to get those people to join our camp. After all, they are all friends who sell gems. Besides, the King of Denmark and the King of Rus are brothers, and all northerners can be friends. . Especially them, there is no need to die for the Smolensk people."

Fisk wanted to say that the old man was stupid. When the words reached his throat, he choked back and said, "Since you said it, why don't you go to your Danish brothers in person and appeal to them to follow us?"

"This..." The old guy hesitated.

"If I respect you, I'll call you an uncle. If I don't respect you, I'll call you a fool. They train soldiers for Vadim, but it makes you and me miserable."

But the old man has self-esteem, and it is really uncomfortable for a young man to yell in front of him. Everyone ages. This Fisk is in the prime of life, but he is already old.

When you get old, your heart never gets old.

The old man gritted his teeth.

"Fisk." He simply called him by his first name, "You can call him by this name. Boy, do you dare to take a risk? We will go directly through their village and enter a place where there are many Danes. I won't fight you and the locals. Stop you, but I hope those Danish brothers who are visiting can leave. If they are guilty of training Vadim's soldiers, they can let the King of Rus make the decision. For the sake of us all speaking Norse, I don't want them Caught in war."

"Is it really necessary?" Fisk continued to ask impatiently.

"Yes! They are just as capable as us. If they leave, Smolensk will lack strength, and it will be easier for us to win if there is a real fight in the future."

This was not at all part of Rurik's plans, but Fisk had an army at his disposal and had been given the authority to carry out some military operations on a case-by-case basis. Because they were distant relatives by blood, Rurik trusted this general who grew up eating meat and drinking together, so he gave him this set of privileges.

Rurik was also more relieved that Fisk's whole family was working in Novgorod. With the hostage in the king's hands, Fisk really didn't dare to do anything inappropriate.

Originally, Fisker thought that doing more would be better than doing less. After thinking about it after the Danish old man reminded him, he decided to give it a try.

After all, they are cavalry, and all the horses are equipped with horseshoes for winter visits to China, so they can run fast even on the ice. In this way, the cavalry can rush in and escape quickly. It is probably a matter of turning a corner to rush to the Smolensk Varang settlement.

Fisk didn't know how many Varangians there were in the area. No matter how many there were, cutting them off from the local nobles would be a good thing to weaken their strength.

"Do you know where they live?" he asked.

The old man immediately returned: "I have been there, so I naturally know."

"Do we have to go through many villages?"

"No, they all live in the riverside area."

"That's easy to handle." Fisk nodded: "We'll take the risk

once. At that time, you can talk to them nicely and if you can call them to follow us, King Rus will definitely reward you. "

On the other hand, the city of Smolensk in the early morning has fallen into a general panic!

Thousands of Gniezdovo refugees walked through the snow to escape overnight. Even though they arrived in Smolensk with only half a breath left, their belief in survival made them walk ten kilometers of ice and snow overnight.

It is really strange that a large number of refugees are fleeing in. Whether they are local nobles or ordinary farmers, they cannot turn a blind eye to the refugees who are getting hot meals in their mouths.

Even the Varangian merchants, who banded together into microcommunities and took in a handful of refugees, heard the complaints.

All the refugees' accounts were highly consistent: an army of unknown origins rushed into the high altar, with many people riding horses and sleds, and they killed everyone they saw without mercy.

These accounts point the finger at a group of people - the Ross gangsters on horseback.

The big leader Vadim forcibly launched the winter offensive to attack the Russian gangsters. What happened? Can those gangsters still break into the high altar?

No one has yet estimated whether Vadim will be defeated. After all, in the past few years, bandits on horseback have raided the village. Under the banner of Ross, those guys have been robbing families without mercy.

All of the gangsters have the appearance of riding a horse, and another feature is a distinct blue and white color scheme.

Ostara cavalry, steppe merchants and Kiev horsemen, since the King of Rus allows everyone to hold the flag of Rus and attack Smolensk, all the looted goods and slaves are willing to be purchased by Rus when they are transported to the north. There will be profits and in the end Rus Responsibility, such good things naturally have subjective reasons.

Nature also brought continuous disasters to the Smolensk people.

These farmers have also learned a lot.

The local nobles installed wooden walls on their homes and trained a group of young men to be servants. The able-bodied servants were used for self-protection, and they were absolutely not allowed to be left to Vadim, who was obviously very mentally retarded, on a winter expedition, so he arranged for a group of poor people to go fight.

There are many villages that are self-governing by the people, and the speakers they elect are not nobles (but there is a tendency to become hereditary landed nobles). Everyone helped each other and formed a stronghold to protect themselves. They voted for the sneaky people in the village and sent them to Vadim for the expedition. The other villagers also took minimum precautions against the bandits' sneak attacks, such as making a large number of wooden poles that were dried in the shade and sharpened. They had no choice but to use iron tools.

The summer and autumn period were supposed to be the time when bandit activities were rampant. At that time, the villagers were on high alert. They thought they were safe after a long period of snowfall. Who would have thought that the bandits would launch an attack with large troops?

The people of Smolensk have never seen such a formation! What's more, the whereabouts of the big leader and the expeditionary force are unknown. The entire Smolensk is leaderless. There are no heroes to immediately organize everyone to unite to protect themselves. For the time being, each village and manor can only be on high alert after gathering the refugees.

Out of fear, many people had started packing up their belongings and dragging sleds from early in the morning to prepare for their escape.

As the sun rose, some villagers actually began to flee with their families!

These people fled in the same direction - westward.

Because Vyadzic leader Heda has been staying in Smolensk since the meeting with Vadim. His Vyadzic tribe is just neighbors and friends with the Krivich people of Smolensk. If Vadim wants to go to war, Vyadzic has no obligation to support him with all his money.

He accepted the invitation and came just to know Vadim's attitude, and expressed his spiritual support for the expedition, and promised that the Vyadzic people would send troops to help if necessary. However, due to time constraints, it was impossible to organize a large army to follow Vadim's winter expedition.

Heda wanted to buy some goods in Smolensk and wait until spring before returning home. This was the surface.

In fact, he could have left a long time ago, but he just wanted to know the results of Vadim's expedition as soon as possible, so he continued to stay here.

Heda had the talent to govern a tribe, but it was impossible for him to assemble Smolensk's civilian armed forces who were busy protecting themselves into a strong military force in times of crisis.

He doesn't have the ability, let alone the qualifications.

He is just a friend, not a relative.

In such a crisis, Heda raised his arms and shouted: "Brother

Brothers! Evacuate quickly with our goods, let's go home! "

All the resident Vyadich people, led by the big leader, collectively ran eastward toward the rising sun. They will continue upstream along the Dnieper River and then turn into the Vyazma River to return home.

Their decisive move immediately attracted many Smolensk people with their families. These people dragged sleds and carried a batch of grain and production tools to follow Hedoda's footsteps.

Of course Heda was happy about this. A group of people joining his camp would enhance the strength of the tribe. Of course, he cannot praise this poaching of Smolensk.

Besides, he couldn't be happy.

This man knows very well that if Smolensk collapses, his Vyadzic will also suffer. But is he really capable of defeating the Ross gangsters and saving the chaotic Smolensk?

The top priority is to mobilize the whole people after returning to their hometown to prepare for any eventuality.