Chapter 1311 The Varyags of Smolensk

Starting early in the morning, the entire Smolensk settlement began to fall into a general panic.

The Vyadzic people took the lead in starting to evacuate, and even more clearly, they coerced some fearful people to leave.

The leaders of other alliance towns also evacuated with their own people. Since the leaders came to Smolensk with a small number of cronies for a meeting, these people came with light equipment and retreated very quickly.

Who will save the huge Smolensk?

The nobles who still don't know the specific situation will definitely not give up the family business that they rely on for a living, nor can they abandon their glory. They temporarily sealed off their manor and ordered all kinds of people in the manor to evacuate into their mansion.

As a result, a group of noble manors became fortresses surrounded by low walls in one morning.

Those nobles who claimed to have Roman ancestry decisively ordered all to be armed.

"All men and women, whether old or young, who can afford a stick must come forward. I will not raise idlers, I want to see an army! Even if it is to protect your own lives, you must take it Take up arms to protect yourself.”

The local nobles all propagandized in this way and confirmed their claims. Everything was completely different from their previous attitude towards Vadim's expedition. Although I don’t know what the reason is, it seems that a powerful enemy has killed them. It is entirely out of the need to protect themselves that the nobles decided to risk their lives!

When those panic-stricken people saw the tough attitude of those arrogant nobles, their panic ended immediately.

Manors surrounded by low wooden walls became barracks. The people wanted the protection of these nobles, and the nobles also needed armed peasants to protect them.

A large number of wooden fortresses suddenly appeared in Smolensk. They were not dense enough but not scattered enough.

The manors kept their distance. Fortunately, the forest in this area had been cleared long ago, and the tree roots were pulled out and opened up into a large area of ​​flat farmland.

The manors can only see each other's existence, so if one party is attacked, the other manors can learn about it immediately and wait for opportunities to implement some countermeasures.

But it all happened in a noble manor.

The Smolensk community has a larger free farm, which is a union of farmers who help each other. There is no noble leader in the entire farm. There is only one male from each household and a boss in each room regularly. Human beings are actually a kind of classical democracy.

Free collective farms had public fields, public granaries, public farm tools, and even a large number of houses.

"Are we really going to fight those bandits on horseback? We can't defeat them at all!"

"Yes. Vadim abandoned us, and only the ghosts and gods know where he took his four thousand troops?"

"No! In my opinion, Vadim was defeated. Those Ross gangsters invaded our place in large numbers. Let's run away while there is still a chance."

"Escape? Escape to where?"

Pairs of eyes stared at the speaker they recommended. This man who plays the role of village chief is also the leader of the army. Whether to fight or flee, his attitude is very important.

Just look at the faces of everyone who are so anxious that they are about to cry. The village said categorically: "The Vyadichs have run away! We are running with them, but we cannot settle in their territory. We will follow their footsteps first, and then go to Rzov Ka (Rzhev)."

Now that they had a road map to escape, the villagers just ran away.

Such villages are not isolated. Even when some collective farms began to flee collectively, it spread throughout Smolensk like an infectious disease.

Those nobles had not ensured that the villages in the west were protected from bandit attacks in the past few years. Regardless of the results of Vadim's expedition, now that the bandit army had even destroyed the big altar, how could they still stay in their homes and be slaughtered? ? !

During the half-year-long winter, it is absolutely impossible for villages to plant crops on their own farmland. The seeds of oats and rye won't be sown again until next year when the soil plowing period is over.

Although the ordinary collective farms were free, they faced a life of poverty like no other. The poorer you are, the more you have to have children. Children have a high mortality rate. Only

Massive fertility hedges against death. When young children can afford wooden tools, they must participate in collective labor. This is the case for the entire farm, which relies on extremely limited metal tools and a large number of wooden tools to do agricultural production with difficulty.

It is difficult for these people to get a share of the trade with the Varangians, and they have always lived in poverty, but this also makes them a group of people who are barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes. If you don’t have many assets, the silent cost of abandoning them is not serious.

At worst, everyone could just drag their sleds and escape along the frozen river with tools, food, and limited livestock. Everyone retreated to Lezovka to cut down trees again and reclaim new land, and life could go on. As for being in poverty for a while? Everyone is already very poor.

As soon as the first farm moved stored wheat on a large scale, took away the cattle and sheep from the pens, and left openly, the second and third followed suit.

There were more and more people fleeing. This situation was unexpected by the nobles who were determined not to evacuate.

Is this all a disaster?

"You just ran away like this? The crisis will definitely end. We can endure it until the gangsters leave on their own. We only need one more snowstorm to defeat them. You will freeze to death on the way to escape, and your mansion and farmland will be the last Let me take it over." Some nobles thought so, and even used the topic to cheer up the armed peasants under their command.

To get farmers, especially those who are in debt or particularly poor families, to work hard, they really need to be given some tangible benefits.

Then some nobles made a high-profile propaganda: "Those people abandoned their farmland and ran away. Their fields are ownerless lands! We won the battle, and you people went to seize the fields. Don't worry about the fleeing guys coming back to rob them. I'm here for you." You prove it. Those lands are the rewards I give you!"

Kang's generosity was really a ploy, but the nobles had no time to be complacent, because a large number of people began to run away. They staggered across the snow, seemingly without their belongings, as if an army of bandits had arrived.

Some farmers have abandoned everything and are on their way to flee, while others are packing up their belongings.

Because of the lack of information, those farmers living in the forest did not know that the high altar had been brutally attacked, nor did they know that the main settlement in Smolensk had been turned into a mess.

There are many forest farms like this. The woods are like a barrier. They live like frogs in a well, showing little concern for things outside the forest and knowing nothing about the approaching dangers. But there is a good thing. If the conqueror wants to show mercy, the whole village of such a forest farm will be submissive.

As if they were unparalleled, they were willing to accept the rule of the riverside nobles. They regularly provided the big leader with a small amount of cowhide and rosin from the sticky lake (they could only provide such high-value property) as tribute.

As for the Varangians who were visiting, they... decided to defend their wealth and intended to launch a "blood sacrifice" to the intruding enemies.

The Ross cavalry, with blue feathers on their heads and fluttering flags on their saddles, followed the guidance of the old man in Calais and ran to the miniature community of the Varyag people.

It is said to be a community, but in fact there are only twenty or thirty households. Compared with the entire Smolensk Krivi community, it is really insignificant.

After all, it is the winter of 842, and the Amber Road has not yet opened an eastern branch.

Even these gem sellers have not yet figured out that the so-called source lake of the Kaspriya River, a tributary of the West Dvina River upstream, can be directly reached by walking a certain distance from there to some small streams. Turned into a small river, the river flows directly into the Dnieper River next to Smolensk. Even though some people have tried it, it's not popular enough.

After all, the Amber Road is not prosperous now.

Although there were always Danish merchants selling gems, the only place they could reach was Kherson (Savastopol) under the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire. Gems could be sold secretly, and slaves could even be sold secretly, but if caught, they would all be executed by the Roman army. As for selling goods through official channels, these northern Varyag merchants must pay heavy taxes. One of the main reasons is that they do not believe in the Lord.

Because not believing in the Lord is the reason for being heavily taxed, but even if you throw away this heavy tax businessman

You can still make some money. Naturally, if you collude with local Roman merchants through smuggling, you can naturally sell the amber and slaves at a lower price. If both parties keep the matter secret, everyone will get more benefits, and the one who will suffer the big loss will be Governor Kherson.

But the elite cavalry led by Fisk stood proudly on the ice.

Just seeing the phantoms of those cavalrymen and the intertwined blue and white flags was enough to order a large number of local villagers to flee - it was the flag of the horse bandits who attacked the village and robbed the population, and it was also the flag of the so-called Rus.

The Varyag people living here have certainly heard about Rus and also learned that the Danish world has changed.

But what does all this have to do with us?

When they saw the cavalry appearing, they took out the bucklers and battle axes from home without thinking, and organized their children, even their own local prostitutes.

Men and women went into battle together, wearing thick cowhide clothing, and the middle-aged men all wore rusty leather helmets with a strong Nordic style.

There are paintings on the round shields, mostly domineering words written in rune characters, or some runes drawn in a radial pattern.

Fisk could understand what these runes represented by squinting. He took off his wooden-framed sunglasses and took a closer look. He stretched out his right hand and ordered the team: "No one is allowed to attack without my order. Violators will be fined."

The Ross cavalry lined up against a thick wall. The horses had thick brown-black manes. The cavalry warriors were all blue and white in color. Everyone wore wooden-framed sunglasses to protect their eyes, and polar bear skin hats even covered their cheeks.

The cold wind swept across the frozen river, the warriors' feathers on their heads shook violently, and the flags also buzzed.

Fisk and his warriors are here, and it looks like they are about to launch a surprise attack in the next second.

They just stood here, using silence as a serious deterrent, forcing the resident Varyags to mobilize in full force.

Not far away, the aristocratic farms protected by low walls began to be viewed from a distance.

The armed militiamen stood on the battlements, nervously observing the movements.

The nobles wearing chain mail were all ready for a defensive battle. When they saw the ghostly Ross gangster cavalry, they ordered their own people to hold on. They also hoped in their hearts that the Varangians who had been staying as guests could fight with those. The Russians started fighting.

The two sides have a common source, and it is normal for them to fight over different interests.

There have been constant disputes in the Baltic Sea for thousands of years, and these Varyags acquiesced that the horsemen in front of them were their enemies.

The shield wall was arranged tightly, with the strong men in front, and the weaker ones and women carrying spears behind to support them.

The Varangians were also determined to hold on, because they had heard the legend about the Roman armored cavalry and were very aware of the strength of the Russian horse bandits, so they knew that infantry had a natural disadvantage when fighting cavalry.

Then the two sides suddenly froze, and the soldiers remained silent. Only the wind whistled in their ears.

Fisk was quiet for a while and motioned for the old man to come over. He tilted his head slightly and asked, "Uncle, you said there aren't many Varangians here. Is that all there are?"

"What do you think? I've been saying that there are very few Danes living here."

"It's too few." Fisk tsked. "If there really is a fight, my soldiers can destroy them with a single volley."

"But you don't have to do that," the old man said hastily.

"That's natural. How about it? Uncle, go and persuade me to surrender?"

"Okay. But maybe you should come with me."

"Just go." Fisk smiled and took off his hat, exposing his bald head to the cold wind. He probably shivered from the cold the moment he took off his hat.

He put the soldiers on high alert, and he dismounted and decided to talk to them in a peaceful manner.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Smolenskvarang people who formed a formation to protect themselves, the big bald head standing in the wind was particularly unique. This man is tall, carrying a round shield and a sword hanging from his waist, and also has an iconic Nordic hooked ax hanging on his belt.

Although the overall appearance is a bit strange, this bald man still has a strong Nordic style.

The more this happens, the more everyone must be on guard - the real Nordic strong men are always brave and fierce.

Could this man be planning a duel?

Fisk, an old man from Najiawan, was the first to take the lead. He opened his arms and ran staggeringly close to the highly guarded shield wall, shouting out of breath: "Don't fight! We don't want to fight! We are all brothers, we are not enemies." "

Those Varangians who were so nervous that they almost had cardiac arrest suddenly heard "We are friends". It was really weird, but the words were indeed spoken in a very standard Norse Danish dialect of Zealand, so everyone had to take it seriously. Go and listen.

The old man continued to shout with open arms: "Brothers, don't be nervous, I am Sven, I come from Riga, and our boss is Sterkander. Brothers, think about it carefully, Sterkander is our Danish community The boss. Even if you leave Riga and settle here, we are still brothers!"

To put it bluntly, everyone is here for profit. Heroes from all walks of life gather in Riga to form a Danish community. Its essence is a huge material distribution center.

Everyone lives together for profit rather than brotherly loyalty and tribal glory. In other words, the people living in Riga have long since betrayed their old tribes.

People who gather together because of wealth can also disperse because of wealth. These people settled in Smolensk just because of wealth.

After some explanation, the old man named Swain kept emphasizing the name "Sterkander".

Every one of the Varangians who built the shield wall here knew that there was indeed a warrior named Stekander. As for this man actually becoming the boss of the Danish community in Riga, it still surprised many people.

After all, many people have some thoughts about leaving Riga. Their Slavic female slaves have given birth to many children, and those children who can afford weapons are already standing here fighting alongside their fathers.

The old man Sven was still persuading, but Fisk finally did not want to linger any longer. He cleared his throat, opened his arms, and faced the crowd with a smile: "Friends, join us! Smolensk is not worthy of your allegiance! We are Russians. , especially the Swedes. Now that the entire north is at peace, there is no need for both of us to fight.

Now, the Stekander you may know is at the Gniezdovo Altar, where our King of Rus is also.

Ross is a coalition! Vadim of Smolensk has been defeated and captured, and now Rus unites with the Danish brothers in Riga to take revenge on Smolensk.

Join us! Smolensk will be defeated, but you still have to live and do business, right? You will make a fortune under King Rus. Now take your families and your belongings and join us.

I'm Fisk! Bald Fisk! I am a close friend of King Rus, and I am also a friend of the Stekander you know.

My army will not attack you. Join us! "

Fisk said a lot, but the Varyag people who organized the shield wall would not listen easily.

A hole was opened in the shield wall, and a middle-aged man with a gray braided beard walked out.

This man was not tall and obviously had a hot personality. He raised his hooked ax and pointed it directly at Fisk's face: "Why should we believe you?"

If this is the case, the Varangians are really tempted. After all, we are all businessmen. Since we all speak Norse, it would be better not to fight each other.

"The Russians are worthy of trust." The old man Sven hurriedly intervened.

Fisk smiled and shook his head. He raised his hand to ask Sven to step back temporarily. He was so bold that he continued to walk forward with a posture that was full of flaws.

"Why are you so vigilant? King Ross has six thousand troops. If we really fight, you will definitely lose." As he said that, Fisk had almost put his chest directly in front of the opponent. Indeed, Fisk was quite tall: "Friend, I have no idea. No hostility. I'm just pity that you are so brave, why do you want to fight for the Smolensk people who are about to be defeated? They don't believe in Odin, they don't believe in Thor, and they don't even believe in the god Frey."

"You? Why do you think we are fighting for Smolensk?" The short man spoke with disdain, and his vigilance posture was indeed relaxed.

Fisk reiterated his order and introduced himself to those

The intimacy of a noble task.

He even emphasized: "Vadim has been captured, and his four thousand army was completely wiped out. Many Danish brothers in the Gulf of Riga were killed by Vadim's people, and Stekander was extremely angry about this."

"But what does this have to do with us?"

"Maybe it doesn't matter." Fisk shrugged: "But the trade lines will be fully opened, and the door to the entire north will be opened for you. For the sake of making money, you will not sacrifice your life for them."

"You are so arrogant! When did we work for the Smolensk people? Do they deserve it? We are just businessmen living here."

"I dare to ask my friend, do you have a famous name?"

The little man opened his mouth and said, "No name. I am Hagen, that's all."

"Well, Hagen, my friend...in that case, join us and follow us with your warriors. You will be rewarded by King Rus."

"I can't believe...you..."

Fisk looked at the situation again. He didn't want to waste time here anymore, so he cleared his throat: "You are free. But I hope you can choose the right camp. You don't have to fight for anyone, but you are here It is dangerous. It will not be good if the Ross army comes and accidentally injures you. You should think about it! We will leave soon. If you must join Ross to reunite with your friends in the Gulf of Riga, think about it. Take Xinrui and walk towards the high altar."

Speaking, Fisk ordered his subordinates to deliver a flag: "Hagen, friend. With this flag, you should understand..."

Hagen did understand. He put away the flag and looked at Fisk again. Everything was unspoken and everything was answered.

Fisk no longer hesitated. He intended to lead the cavalry in a quick and showy circle around the villages of Smolensk, then quickly mounted the horse. The cavalry abandoned all the prisoners of war and left.

And when those prisoners of war got the chance to escape, they took the "gifts" and ran away like crazy.

In the end, the shield wall of the resident Varangians was thrown down, as well as the middle-aged Hagen, who was holding the Rus' flag and it was messy in the wind.

Looking at this finely made muslin flag, he already had a choice.

In the final analysis, they still have to go to the Gulf of Riga to purchase goods, and they will never betray their own interests.