king of ros

With the arrival of the troops from both sides, the total strength of the two sides reached a full 5 people.

This is extremely rare in the entire Christian world. There have been no such battles in the Christian world for many years, and it naturally attracted countless people.

And there were three Christian kings and a pagan khan involved, and all the neighboring countries poured into Rus, who hadn't been so conspicuous for a long time.

Even the imperial capital had heard about it, but it was limited to the impression that "the savages in the north are fighting again, I heard it's a bit big this time", at most some military aristocrats who were interested in state affairs were concerned.

Ambitious fighters and mercenaries from the Christian world have come here one after another, wanting to perform in this war that the Christian world will not have in the next few decades, and want to win his prestige.

There are even more poets who come here, and they can't wait to sing the praises of the martial arts and glory of the victors, and let themselves gain fame and wealth by the way.

Regardless of the outcome of this battle, the situation in the whole of Eastern Europe in the next few decades will be determined by it.

The atmosphere of the war became more and more tense, and both the northern and southern armies knew that this battle that would determine the fate of the whole of Russia might start at any time.

But no one knows when that moment will start, and everyone's heart is full of anxiety.

In this uneasy atmosphere, finally, the Grand Duke of Kyiv sent a letter to the Prince of Moscow, a letter about the place of the engagement.

After exchanging letters with each other several times, Rostislav finally agreed and agreed on the battlefield three days later, where countless soldiers will fight.

Although the hammer finally fell to the ground, this did not reduce the intensity of those small-scale battles, but continued to rise. Both sides wanted to control the vantage points on the battlefield and establish an advantage for future battles.

The battlefield chosen by the northern and southern armies is exactly where the Smolensk water and land transport system is located. They chose an open land in this system.

Large and small stones, bushes and gray bushes are randomly distributed on the land. If these places are cleared and developed, it will be a good farmland, but it is a pity that there is a lack of manpower.

There are slight undulations on the north and south sides, and there are several hills in the east-west direction, some of which have been specially leveled to facilitate the handling of ships.

This place is called Bush, which means wilderness, and in the middle of this open land there is a monastery, but this monastery is not called Bush Abbey.

The monastery is called the St. George Monastery and was built to worship St. George, but it is actually part of the Smolensk defense system under the rule of Veshata.

The main body of the monastery is made of bricks and tiles, using red bricks specially transported from Novgorod. The red monastery tower is very conspicuous. It overlooks the land, and the bells in it will ring accurately every day to remind the nearby residents.

From the location of this monastery, it can be seen that it is enough to control this open land. If a team of archers is placed on the high tower, then all around will be under its firepower, and no activity can escape the eyes of the upper side.

After the war started, the monks left here, and the Smolensk militia moved in, firmly controlling the land.

...

When this place was an alternate battlefield, the competition for the monastery was fierce. Everyone understood the importance of this place. After all, the tower standing on the plain was too conspicuous.

Both the Southern Army and the Northern Army once controlled this place, which also shows the fierce fighting here and the many times it changed hands.

It was here that Veshatta defeated the Kyiv militia, and here Sviatoslavich massacred the Smolensk people.

This palace built for those who practice Taoism has now been stained with countless blood.

During the fierce battle, the monastery was greatly damaged. Both sides used siege equipment such as ballistas and trebuchets when attacking. Although one or two battles could not cause much damage, this place is constantly changing hands. .

Moreover, the conquest of the monastery will inevitably involve operations such as breaking the walls and digging holes in the monastery, so the damage here will naturally increase.

The outer wall had been destroyed in various battles and turned into ruins on the ground. As for the main body of the monastery, it had also become very shabby. Several walls had been broken and pulled down, like a broken doll.

However, the main body of the monastery is still largely intact, and even though it is scarred, the tower of the monastery still stands, overlooking the land.

No matter which side occupies the monastery, it will immediately deploy archers on the roof of the high tower monk, and these archers can cause a lot of trouble for the attacking side every time.

This monastery is still of great strategic value. Although many places have been turned into ruins, it can still be regarded as a solid position, enough to be used as a solid support.

So in these three days, the competition became fierce immediately, and it was even more cruel and bloody than before.

In the past, one side would retreat after discovering that the situation was unfavorable, but now the defenders were ordered to fight to the end.

The fighting in St. George's Monastery lasted for three days and three nights. This time, neither side was in the mood to clean up the corpses, and even piled up the corpses on the spot as materials for fortifications, even if they were smelly, they were still there.

However, neither the North nor the South armies increased their input of troops because of the progress of the battle here, and at most replaced them with new elite troops to compete.

Because the main forces of both sides have to prepare for the big battle in these three days, instead of going to the battlefield too early, that is irresponsible to the army.

Even on the day when the battle begins, the fighting here is still going on fiercely.

Inspired by the horn, the last group of Ugric barbarians bravely rushed up, jumped over the ground covered with gravel and blood, and climbed over the pitiful remnants of the stone wall.

They carried large wooden shields, which were already filled with arrows, but people still fell from time to time.

Arrows "swish" across the sky, more barbarians hid behind cover and fired, javelins and arrows kept flying.

The defenders under St. George's banner were so crushed that they couldn't lift their heads, but the crossbowmen on the tower still fought back. Several barbarians were shot by crossbow arrows and fell to the ground wailing.

Valin stood up and slashed down, but the Nafen seemed to be facing the sword and sent his head under the sword.

...

"These savages won't last long! My brothers, push them down!"

The Walled Lord jumped into the enemy group without hesitation, catching the Finns by surprise. They never expected that someone would jump out from behind the solid fortifications.

The sword sliced ​​into the unprotected neck of a Finn, ripping skin and muscle with ease, and blood spattered. Valin drew his sword and stepped over the body, and the Finn warrior fell with his throat cut.

At the same time, Valin backhanded the second man's mouth, which was open in shock, and blood sprayed his face.

A few spears stabbed in a hurry, but they all brushed against the chain link. The person who was stabbed swung his sword away, and blood splashed all over him this time.

"Kill!"

The soldiers shouted, and under the encouragement of the commander, the Ross people bravely jumped into the battle.

And the Fen people, who were already at the end of their strength, were obviously no longer able to fight. They retreated in embarrassment, and their retreat immediately turned into a rout.

The crossbow arrows fell from the sky and landed among the rout soldiers, which caused another howl of ghosts and wolves, and made the barbarians run faster.

The soldiers of the northern army cheered, but they were quickly reprimanded by Valin to retreat into the position. Some people chased the enemy and rushed out, but they were intercepted and killed by nomadic cavalry. Most of them died on the way back, and began to use what they had Reinforcement of everything that can be found.

"This should be the last wave. It's going to be a big battle soon. It's really nerve-wracking."

Valin walked into the riddled monastery and sat directly where the crucifix was originally, chanting words.

"Yeah, the sun has come out, it's time to go to war, and then there will be even more difficult times."

Yegor continued to look at the map, but his tension could be seen from his clenched hands. Can he withstand this difficult situation?

"Then it's time for your Moscow battalion to perform. Master Moscow, my men have been beaten for the past few days and can't move."

Valin groped around, then found a bottle of kvass from the table with faded blood, opened it and poured it into his mouth, and sighed comfortably after drinking it, nothing is better than having a refreshing glass of kvass after a hard fight up.

"Of course, this is my task, and I will never disappoint Lord Rostislav."

Yegor Invanovich Sherikhov was also muttering words, while there was a snoring sound from Valin's side. The city lord had been fighting continuously for a day and a night, and his body was exhausted to the extreme, so he fell asleep .

The commander of the Moscow Battalion took a look at him. The Walled Master and his subordinates were pretty good, and then continued to look at the map.

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