king of ros

Chapter 41 The Road to Escape
Tugel, this name is notorious to the extreme in Ross, especially in Kyiv, people even use his name to scare children.

This Polovite leader has always been known for his daring and cruelty. He once led two thousand cavalry across the city of Pei, came directly to the city of Kyiv to plunder, and captured a large number of prisoners. These people were sent to the east and south sold into slavery.

As for the useless old, young, sick, and disabled, they were all beheaded by him under the city walls of Kyiv. This scene made his bloody reputation spread in the land of Ross.

And along with his bloody reputation, there is also his reputation for revenge.

There was once a caravan sailing along the Dnieper River that escaped from the polovtsian looting team and laughed at them on board, but no one thought that Tugel remembered this incident, and since then He waited patiently around the Seven Falls, and he also waited for the caravan to return.

When the Ross people cautiously passed through the dangerous shoal, the Polovian cavalry army came to them. Naturally, the caravan was powerless to resist, and most of them were captured. In the end, only one escaped because it had not yet entered the dangerous shoal.

And the people on the last boat were forced to watch how Tugel treated their friends. The Kipchak man let his subordinates torture the captured people in various ways, and finally cut them into five horses, making the scene look like As hell.

After finishing all this, the anger in Polovitz's heart also disappeared, and he also needed someone to spread the news in Ross, so he stopped entangled with the last Lodaya ship and let them go.

In order to emphasize that he came for revenge, Tugel didn't even touch the trophies, just put them there.

And these people who escaped with their lives retreated hastily after the nomad army withdrew, and then continued to move forward.They did, too, bring the bloody news to Kyiv, making Tugel's reputation all the more terrifying.

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"For today's plan, we must leave early. Too many nomads have fled. Tugel will receive the news tomorrow at the latest, and then he will lead his army. We have also completed the task of the Grand Duke , this Polovtsian is enough to take a job."

Gevalan did not forget to glance at the leader of the Polovites who was knocked out, emphasizing the significance of his existence in order to persuade Prince Ross to leave early.

"Let's not be in a hurry, Gevalan, we still have at least a few hours."

Rostislav stroked his chest, calmed down his tense mood, forced his mind to calm down, and signaled his soldiers to pull over a table in a tent. As for the exquisite candlesticks and decorations on it, he swept them to the ground, and the prince from his waist He took out a roll of maps and put them on the table.

This map is made of parchment and looks to be of some age, and mainly depicts the topography and cities of the Kyiv region.

This map dates back to the time of Vladimir and is a military map made by the grand duke while fighting against the Pechenegs.After drawing the map, Vladimir ordered many copies to be made, distributed to his men, and stored some.

The prince found this map in the armory of the Grand Duke of Kyiv, and he paid the armorer a large sum of money for it.

"Although we said that we have captured enough war horses, the marching speed cannot be compared with the nomads after all. As long as they want to chase, they can easily catch up. We must plan carefully how we should go."

"Then what are your plans?"

The captain of the bodyguard looked at Rostislav who was forcing himself to calm down and asked.

"I remember there should be some swamps nearby... Ah, I found it."

Rostislav looked for what he needed on the map, but fortunately, God blessed him, he found it quickly.

"We're leading the Polovets to the swamp."

"Swamp, are you sure?"

Gevalan's tone was full of doubts.

"It's true that the Polovites can't enter the swamp, but neither can we."

"You don't have to worry about that."

Rostislav looked confident.

"The chats I've had with soldiers these days are not for nothing. Some of my soldiers are from that country, and they can serve as guides."

"In that case, I won't say anything, please make up your mind."

The captain of the personal army did not object. It is true that walking in the swamp is very dangerous, but the only possibility of walking on the grassland is to be caught up by Polovts chasing soldiers.

When encountering superior nomadic cavalry on the grassland, even if they form a chariot formation, they will be exhausted to death by the nomadic army sooner or later, not to mention that other Polovites may come.

There was a loud noise from outside the tent, mixed with the neighing of war horses, and he understood that it was the logistics personnel who had come in.

"Gevalan, since the servants are here, let everyone get to work immediately, arrange the supplies as quickly as possible, and then we will go."

"Yes, my lord."

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Under Rostislav's order, the entire barracks became busy. People were busy confiscating all kinds of supplies and loading them into vehicles in a hurry. The valuable prisoners were also put into the carriage, and the worthless ones were released on the spot. Anyway, these ignorant people The herdsmen can't see anything, and they need to keep an eye on it all the time.

The most important thing is that they didn't come here to catch slaves this time. It is meaningless to bring these dispensable prisoners of war. Instead of throwing away materials from the carriage to make room for resettlement, it is better to release them directly. The materials are comparable to these few people It was too precious before, and it is related to the next round and march.

The Chude people are distributing horses to everyone to ensure that everyone has horses to ride. Although the Ross people are not used to fighting on horseback, it is still no problem to simply march on horseback.

Looking at such a scene, Rostislav was filled with emotion. Just now he was happily confiscating the enemy's assets, but now he has to pack up his things and run away in embarrassment.

Rostislav glanced around, but saw an unexpected figure sitting in front of the bonfire and writing something in honor of its light. It was Nestor, the young monk from the cave monastery.

"What are you doing, my friend."

Rostislav went up to his clerk and patted him on the shoulder.

Nestor was like a awakened rabbit, almost throwing down what he was writing, looked at Rostislav with frightened eyes, and then bowed to the prince belatedly.

"Ah, Your Highness, I didn't know you were here, I'm recording everything here."

"Record everything here? Why?"

Rostislav said with interest, and then took the parchment. He was very interested in what the future author of "Chronicle of Past Years" planned to write.

I saw that it was densely filled with small characters. This is Church Slavic. The characters are very small and difficult to read. Fortunately, it was not a problem for Prince Ross. Then he discovered that this was a record of their trip.

"I plan to record this battle. I have read the history books of Constantinople, and I want to write something like this."

Nestor's eyes shone with the aura called Dream. This young man has great ambitions that belong to him.

"That would be great, Nestor, and I support you in doing so."

Rostislav happily patted the young monk on the shoulder, expressing his encouragement to him. Prince Ross was not surprised by his purpose, because he was the author of "A Chronicle of Past Years".

"If you have any questions, just ask me or others. We will respond to your requests. Is there enough parchment? I found a large pile of parchment in the tent of the Polovets, but it looks like it is placed there randomly. Grassland Barbarians probably don't know the value of this thing."

"Thank you very much, my lord."

Nestor was very grateful to hear that Rostislav supported him in this way. It is impossible for such a powerless little person like him to create without the support of big people. Otherwise, the cost of parchment alone would be enough to make him bankrupt. Something like bark is enough, but it is difficult to preserve, and it is difficult to make a book.

Rostislav was more than happy to support Ros's "Great Historian" in writing his works, and he could also communicate with him. After all, isn't he busy compiling the "Biography of Yaroslav"?
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(End of this chapter)