king of ros

Chapter 208 Betrayal Night Battle
For marching on such a strange land, whether it is Rostislav's personal entourage or the personal soldiers of his uncles, they are very adaptable.

They are professional soldiers in the first place, and they have long been accustomed to seeing all kinds of scenery in various places, so they don't have any worries because of unfamiliarity.

The military servants are also quite used to all this, they walk leisurely on this land, as if the surrounding environment is still their hometown.

These military servants have gone out with the army quite a few times. After a long military career, even amateur farmers have become experienced and skilled soldiers.

But those businessmen are not very good, they have been worried about possible enemies, after all, this is an area full of Pecheneg horse bandits.

Even the Pecheneg herdsmen who occasionally ran past could scare them into a panic. If the soldiers and princes hadn't behaved differently, as if they were walking on the land of their hometown, this group of people would have been in chaos.

The movements of the army are very regular every day. During the day, they advance on this land under strict control and formation. In the evening, they set up a complete camp and set up sufficient fortifications to deal with the attack. Protected through the night.

When camping in the evening, Rostislav and his second uncle Svyatoslav would lead their troops to cruise around the camp to check for potential ambush.

Naturally, this is also the case today. As the sun set, Rostislav rode his horse across the land that gave him a sense of gloom. The prince was wearing long-sleeved chain mail, and behind him were groups of heavily armed follow.

Looking around at the scenery that he had seen countless times in the past few days, Rostislav couldn't help yawning boredly. The novelty always comes and goes quickly. He is really tired of seeing these scenery now. .

However, the appearance of a team gave Rostislav an instant shock, because the leader of that team was none other than his second uncle, Sviatoslav Yaroslavich.

There is no doubt that the second uncle is a heroic Ross warrior, with a tall and mighty figure and a firm and powerful face. He not only has the military strength of his ancestor with the same name, but also the cultural level of his grandfather. He is an extremely outstanding man. man of.

But it was also because of this that Rostislav was very reluctant to see him. He and his second uncle knew each other well about some comparisons, and knew that sooner or later they would go on the road of hostility.

But now, the two sides still have to make false claims.

Behind the second uncle is his heavy armored cavalry team. Those cavalrymen are obviously very skilled in riding skills, and from the movements of riding horses, it can be seen that they are obviously a group of people who are proficient in riding and fighting.

Rostislav controlled his expression, nodded to the second uncle, and the second uncle responded in the same way.

But then neither side said a word, and the atmosphere seemed rather awkward.

At this moment, many thoughts were popping up in the minds of both of them, but they both kept their mouths tightly shut.

The entourage all sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere, but all of them remained silent. They should not interfere with the prince's affairs.

They are just swords in the hands of princes. Swords do not need to have the ability to think, but only need to have the ability to perform tasks.

As they advanced, the Ross camp soon appeared in front of them. Since they had just climbed over the low hillside, they could clearly see the whole camp from their current position.

At this time, the sun was about to set and night was approaching. Countless flames had been lit in the camp for illumination, and the perimeter of the camp was filled with pickets.

These wooden stakes were made by the Ross people after they came to this land, and they can be pulled up and transported away for reuse after the camp is pulled out.

Although the protection fee has been paid, the necessary vigilance must still be there. After all, who knows whether the Pechenegs will break their promises, and how many people dare to believe in the reputation of the nomads.

Behind the sharp wooden piles, there are carriages full of supplies lying there, forming a large protective wall.

Arrow-proof baffles were also installed on these carriages, and there were archers guarding them all the time. This was Rostislav's opinion.

The most likely enemies they encountered during their trip to Wallachia were the Pecheneg nomads, and the people of the yurts are well known for their proficiency in bows and arrows. Shooting around the camp is a basic skill, then It is natural to be prepared for arrow defense.

And behind this are the livestock that were driven together and the neat camp. Rows of tents are neatly arranged, which is pleasing to the eye.

The essence of Ross is gathered here, and it is not difficult to maintain strict discipline.

Those merchants were also put under control, and they naturally cooperated fully with the prince's control. After all, they were in charge of honor now, so they naturally had to obey their orders.

The sun was getting lower and lower as Rostislav's party drew closer to the camp.

Finally, the sun went down directly, but fortunately, Rostislav's subordinates did not have any night blindness problem. They were all princes and fathers who ate wine and meat every day, so how could they not have enough nutrition.

The moon in the sky is so big and round, how could it be impossible to see it?And because the fire in the camp also provided them with guidance.

The closer he got to the camp, the more relaxed Rostislav's spirit became. The tense inspection was finally over, and he could take a good rest when he went back.

"My lord, look over there."

While Rostislav was thinking about how comfortable his camp bed covered with soft furs was, Vasily's voice suddenly reached his ears.

The voice was full of anxiety, which made Rostislav immediately look in the direction.

Then he saw torches appear on the hillside he had walked before, first one, then two, three, four...

In the end, it even developed to thousands, and seeing this scene, no matter how dull people are, they can understand what this means.

So many people were dispatched in the middle of the night, and it could only be for that matter.

"Enemy attack!"

Rostislav, who had reacted, roared. He had already seen the figures under the torches. They were nomads wrapped in fur, and the identities of these enemies were self-evident.

Svyatoslav also noticed the enemy's appearance, his panic lasted only for a moment, and then he also roared to inform the enemy of the attack.

"The Pechenegs have betrayed us!"

Rostislav ordered his subordinates to speed up, and Sviatoslav also ordered his subordinates to speed up. They were not far from the camp, and they could reach the camp with a little acceleration.

Now that the enemy situation is unknown, it is safest to return to the camp, where there are so many complete fortifications.

And those Pechenegs watched the Ross cavalry speeding away and just looked at it that way. They knew that they could not catch up with the Ross, and it was better to maintain their horsepower and prepare for the next battle than to chase them.

Seeing the two princes leading the team, the soldiers on duty in the camp did not panic. They were all battle-tested people. They consciously moved the horses at the gate and let the princes' team enter.

Then they sealed the gate with the fastest speed, and the whole process was smooth and smooth, which was a style developed in countless battles.

The panic of the military servants only lasted for a moment, and then they started to work under the shouts of the captain or personal soldiers around them, and piled up various supplies on the carriage.

As the work gets on track, the panic completely disappears. After all, they are already eating this bowl of rice, and they just need time to adapt.

As for those businessmen, it was very bad. They were bewildered and panicked.

However, the princes of Ross all expected that this group of guys would pull over, and had already arranged for their own soldiers to rectify this group of guys.

And then there was no need for the prince to shout, more soldiers climbed out of the tent one after another. These soldiers even slept wearing armor and holding weapons in their hands, just to prepare for the enemies they might encounter.

The soldiers with bows and arrows consciously boarded their posts, while those who did not know how to bow and arrows lined up neatly and raised their shields, ready to meet the enemy's shooting and impact.

After the subordinates of Rostislav and Svyatoslav put their horses in place, they naturally dismounted from their horses and joined them. Immediately afterwards, the uncle and the third uncle also came out in armor and joined the brothers. Nephews stand together.

The Pecheneg cavalry who came by night did not have any gorgeous equipment, almost no one wore armor, and most of them wrapped their bodies in furs. Ordinary herdsmen do not make any difference.

The most valuable part of them is the compound bow in their hands and various weapons on the saddle, and the mounts are also very ordinary, typical nomadic cannon fodder.

There were also some nomads carrying javelins, but even under the dim light, Rostislav could see clearly that they were just rough-made goods, but such goods could kill people.

Only a few nobles rode good horses, held shiny scimitars, and wore armor, but the armor was very messy.

Rostislav saw at least several styles, and there were even styles from a hundred years ago, but in this era, weapons from a hundred years ago did not affect killing.

This group of people is very undisciplined, and the entire formation is extremely chaotic. The formation of the Polotsk people is much stronger than this.

There is no doubt that this is a mob with mixed strength and good and bad combat power in various aspects. This is also the reason why these cavalry did not forcefully charge into the formation. They do not have that ability and cannot do it.

However, Rostislav noticed that there were still a large number of torches on the hillside, and there were many cavalry standing there, and there was no lack of armor shining under the firelight. It seemed that the elite Pecheneg forces were watching the changes.

These cavalry stopped in front of the formation for more than ten seconds. In this weird peace, they quickly spread out to half surround the Ross people, and even yelled and cursed a few times in the barbarian's language.

However, the Ross people did not attack because the enemy's situation was unknown. Instead, they chose to stick to the camp and could only hold back the enemy's provocations. Provocations were part of the tactics of the nomads.

After confirming that the Ross people did not dare to leave the car fort, they immediately showed their weapons, and the exclamation of those merchants who were finally stabilized was then covered by another sound, which was countless arrows falling from the sky and piercing the wood, the ground, and the tents. , different sounds in armor and flesh.

In just a few minutes, the Pechenegs shot arrows and javelins at the camp from all directions. Thousands of bows, arrows and javelins fell into the camp like rain, and everyone seemed to be bathed in arrows. Among the rain and javelins.

This scene made the archers who were waiting to counterattack couldn't help but hide their heads behind the baffle or shield. The firepower was too dense, and if they exposed their bodies rashly, they would be shot into a sieve, even if they were wearing armor.

However, the casualties caused by these arrows were not too great. After all, the soldiers and servants shrank obediently behind the shields, and they all had armor on their bodies.

Those merchants died the most. Faced with all kinds of projectiles, they started to run wildly in fear, and then they were shot down one after another. Nomads like fools running around like this the most, and shooting them down is also the best Create panic.

It's just that most of the people present are skilled in battle, so how could they be frightened by this scene.

But then the behavior of the Pechenegs added a little trouble, that is, they ignited the arrows and released rockets.

Arrows with flames are naturally more obvious and more intimidating than those invisible projectiles in the dark, and they can also set tents on fire to create more chaos.

It's a pity that what they encountered was the essence of the whole of Russia. Under the shouts and orders of the officers, the soldiers desperately extinguished every possible source of fire. Many battle-tested warriors flinched.

As for those small fires, they didn't have much effect, but instead illuminated the battlefield.

The casualties of the Rus were not large, obviously not as good as the Pechenegs expected. They uttered annoyed cries, and their rockets were basically used up, but then they began to throw arrows more vigorously, throwing more arrows. Arrows shot into the camp.

Like most nomads, these Pechenegs are skilled horse archers and can shoot arrows from their mounts effortlessly, but most horse archers stop there.

Their tactics do not pursue precise shooting, but shoot their bows and arrows at an extremely fast speed, and shoot the arrows into the camp in front of them as much as possible. This is obviously a tactic formed during the battles where these nomads fought each other.

However, the Ross people would not just sit there and be beaten. Following Ijaslav's orders, the personal archers stood up and shot without hesitation.

With a twitch of the bowstring, a group of Pechenegs fell down unexpectedly. Facing the longbow and crossbow in the hands of Ross's personal soldiers, the fur protection was meaningless.

And besides the archers, there is also a group of crossbowmen outputting. These are Rostislav's subordinates. He brought these soldiers as military servants. The crossbows in their hands can shoot through even armor without hindrance. .

The most important thing is that both archers and crossbowmen are all wearing iron armor and wearing iron helmets. It is difficult for nomads' arrows to penetrate the iron armor. Many people continue to fight vigorously with dozens of arrows hanging on their bodies.

The Pechenegs were shot down one by one by the archers. They fell down like wheat, and some horses were shot to death. The whole person fell down with the horses, and then they were trampled to death by their comrades. Or on the contrary, turn the war horse on its own back.

Under such circumstances, the Pechenegs were shaken, and they hadn't encountered such a counterattack for a long time.

Even if they plundered Hungary or the Eastern Empire, they quickly entered and exited quickly. They did not encounter any wars at all, and their plundering was small in scale, and the plundered did not organize a large army to fight.

"Damn it, this group of people is too difficult to chew, Tatus, I shouldn't have believed your nonsense and meddled in this crap."

On the hillside where the Pechenegs poured out, the Pecheneg chiefs who led the attack watched the increasingly unfavorable battle situation, and their complaints became stronger and stronger.

They were not complaining about the death of their clansmen, but only about the loss of property—in the eyes of these chiefs, the clansmen were their property.

The target being besieged by them is really too strong, and the nomadic riders who outnumber them can't use the siege shots against the team below. Down, and there's nothing they can do with those shooters.

"We shouldn't have done this. Those people have already paid the toll, so they should be let in. The Wallachians simply didn't come to participate in this attack. This has a great impact on our reputation and loses credibility for future business. How else do you do it?"

An old man wearing a typical shepherd's pointed hat said that his expression was full of dissatisfaction with attacking the Ross people. He opposed it from the beginning. Is the head of the Ross prince so easy to take?

And as an old man, he is very clear about the fighting power of the Pechenegs today, and he knows that attacking the Ross people is not good.

But those juniors who were caught in their hearts by greed didn't care so much and insisted on launching an attack, so he had no choice but to accompany this group of people to die.

"Tsk, Tatus, we came here to take the heads of those Ross people, you said that now..."

"Yeah, Tatus, these enemies are too strong, we really can't beat them, so don't let the boys go to die..."

"Let's retreat, it doesn't look good..."

The old man seemed to be very authoritative among these people. Following his words, the others also began to waver. The Ross people in the camp seemed too strong, and they were completely frustrated.

The Pecheneg tribes came here to make a fortune, for business, not to fight with people, and another part of the reason was the power of the person in front of them.

Standing on horseback in front of the Pecheneg chiefs is Tatus. At a glance, we can see a young man who is no more than thirty years old.

He was wearing a long robe embroidered with patterns, with a pointed leather hat on his head, decorated with gold and silver chains, and a luxurious silver-encrusted scimitar on his waist.

Tatus is the most powerful Pecheneg ruler in the land of Wallachia, but his power is a big problem in the eyes of the surrounding rulers, after all, he also makes other chiefs bow their heads That's all, mobilizing so many chiefs is the result of spending all the favors in his hands.

But no matter how much he coerced and lured, the Wallachians did not join the attack, and the reason was very simple, they were unwilling to break the rules.

They think that attacking the powerful team is not good, and the most important thing is that these nomads facing the Wallachians are no longer as cowardly as they used to be. They have the courage and confidence to reject Pecheneg people.

Tatus listened to the weak words of the chiefs, and his expression became more and more ugly. This group of guys wanted to eat meat, but they didn't even dare to take any risks. However, they lost some cannon fodder herdsmen and they became weak like this.

Without paying a price, how can you get such a rich result like taking off the head of Grand Duke Ross.

If it weren't for their cowardice and incompetence over the past few decades, how could the power of their Pechenegs continue to shrink.

This group of people is full of motivation when they fight among themselves, but they shrink back when they do something for the entire group. They are the leaders of the Pecheneg tribes, but they are so selfish and narrow-minded.

If it weren't for their internal fighting, how could the situation have developed so that the Wallachians dared to say no to them, and the entire Pecheneg group was constantly deteriorating in these low-intensity, even village-scale battles , the current reputation is still supported by the prestige of decades ago.

And this battle is the most important to him, because if the head of Grand Duke Ross is taken off, then his dream can be fulfilled and the ministries can be unified.

His dream is very simple, that is, to become the Khan of the Pechenegs, leading this nation to once again become an iron cavalry spreading fear in all directions, and to regain its former glory.

They obviously still have a large number of elites in their hands, but this group of bastards are unwilling to go to the battlefield. Damn it, it is enough to gather a large number of troops to charge, as long as they pry open the tortoise shell of the Ross people, everything will be easy to catch.

The man who tried to claim sweat cursed in his heart, he really hates him, he has been preparing for this day for so long, and he has almost spent all his favors and sent so many gifts to summon these people, but in the end, this group of guys treated him like this he?
In fact, everyone present could see Tatus' anger, but they all chose to play dumb by coincidence.

His gifts and favors have not been able to make this group of people come forward to fight for him, and some people just sneaked away, planning to leave with their troops and horses, away from this place.

Really, who would use the elite of the tribe to live and work as cannon fodder for this guy, thinking that they can be sent to death if they are defeated in a strong war?Who does this guy think he is?
Some people cursed Tatus in their hearts. Damn it, they didn't even look at how much they weighed, and they still wanted to be a Khan. It was really ridiculous.

What is terrible for Tatus is that he needs the combat power of these chiefs very much now. If they are not willing to put their elites into the battlefield, then he will not be able to do anything to the Ross people below.

Tatus feels like everything is falling apart, everything is not going well, everything is not going according to plan, and the Ross people are unexpectedly strong.

However, his subordinates and the friends he had summoned were unexpectedly weak, and all this hit him too hard for him to accept.

And just when Tatus was thinking about what to do next like an ant on a hot pot, he suddenly saw a scene that surprised him.

Those Ross people actually took the initiative to open the gate blocked by them, and then groups of fully armed Ross cavalry ran out of it, rushing towards the nomadic cavalry who were shooting arrows.

And looking at the flags and armor, it was actually the two princes of Ross who rushed out on their own initiative.

"Everyone, the opportunity is right in front of you. Are you going to miss it? Those are the two princes of Ross. Whether they are captured or killed, they can bring glory and money!"

Seeing this scene, Tatus felt that the Celestial God really cared for him, and the Ross people actually took the initiative to attack, and it looked like they were still planning to challenge them in the riding battle. Isn't this just giving him a gift?
Tatus' words made everyone who wanted to run away immediately excited. As Tatus said, this is an opportunity. If the heads of the two princes of Ross can be removed, the future will be great!

Gradually, one chief after another joined Tatus' side, which indicated that they were willing to join the attack, and as these people led, others followed immediately.

It's just that there are still some people who are determined not to participate, such as the old chief who always said that the attack is not good, and now he sighs when he looks at those people, he is really a ghost who can't be persuaded by good words.

So he quietly took the chiefs who were willing to follow him away. He was not so optimistic, knowing that these people would have no good end, and he planned to take them away when he planned to return to the tribe, and his intuition told him that the Ross people would not let it go. .

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(End of this chapter)