king of ros

Chapter 42 The Swamp in the Woods
Almost two hours after Prince Ross's army left, a group of menacing Polovite cavalry came here and came to this former battlefield.

At this time, the sun had already risen, shining on the dilapidated camp and the piled up corpses stripped of their armor. A gust of wind blew by, and a few remaining pieces of cloth fluttered along with it, revealing the desolation of the battlefield.

The leader of the Polovets is tall and strong, with a chain mail on his body and a piece of armor. There are armors on his hands and feet. The whole person is like a steel puppet, with the face of Qincha on his head Helmet, but his helmet is inlaid with silver, showing the difference as a nobleman.

On the cold-blooded iron face, only the eye slits for observing the outside are exposed, and the cold eyes see through the eye slits.

There was a scimitar at his waist, a bow on his saddle, and a whip in his hand. Tugel was playing with the whip, but he didn't know what he was thinking.

The black war horse under it knew it was not a good thing at a glance. Its eyes shone fiercely, and it roared from time to time, as if it was suppressing its aggressive will.

This person was the notorious Tugel, surrounded by a circle of heavily armed Polovts chiefs and warriors, each wearing iron armor, and many of them had ruthless silver iron masks on their faces.

They are prostrate guards and Tugel's elite. After receiving the news of the attack on the horse camp, he brought all the forces he could muster in a short time.

Behind the elite are the noble children of the Kipchak people. These children of chieftains and warriors wear solid armor and carry the arrogance of young nobles. They are like proud roosters competing for beauty.

Most of the young people are fighting for the first time. This is the generation that grew up after the Polovets gained the hegemony of the grassland. Although they participated in a lot of looting, in their eyes, massacring villages and towns is not considered a martial arts glory at all. Everyone expects to use the head of a Ross warrior to show his martial name.

Behind them are ordinary Polovts herdsmen wearing fur clothes. Many of them stepped on the horse with one foot, or watched all this with interest, or chatted with others.

The Polovez camp was in a mess, all the tents were pulled down, all the torches and torches were extinguished, and various items were scattered on the ground, which showed how eager the attackers were to leave.

In the eyes of the grassland people, this mess is not surprising at all. It is commonplace for them. Such scenes on the grassland have never been rare. The plunder and invasion among the tribes have always caused a lot of damage. The spirit of the people is extremely tough and cruel.

"Gu, it's here, it looks like they haven't been walking for long."

The scout got off his horse and observed the traces on the ground. After confirming the information, he said to his leader.

"They're heading northeast!"

"Then follow them."

Turger, who was "famous" in Ross, said his tone was nasty, anger was brewing in it, and he flicked his horsewhip into the air a few times.

"Dare to steal my horse, I will make these people pay the price!"

"Yes! Prostrate!"

The prairie wolf behind him responded neatly, and then the prairie wolf began to gallop, heading in the direction where the Ross people left.
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"Valin, there is no problem."

At this time, Prince Ross was standing in front of a vast swamp that could not be seen. In addition to the boundless swamp, he could also see dense reeds and scattered forests.

And the Valin he called was a middle-aged man who joined the Rostislav army in Kyiv. He was born in this swamp, and he has stayed here all his life, and he is very familiar with the terrain here.

The reason why he joined the army was to earn some money. He felt that he was already middle-aged, but he hadn’t started a family yet, so he planned to make a fortune through the war so that he could set up a family business in the prosperous Kyiv.

This is also the thinking of many soldiers, plain and simple, most people participate in the war just to earn a better future.

"Perun... By God, my lord, don't worry, I'm the most familiar with this place, and I've lived here all my life."

Valin almost said Perun's holy name by mistake, and Rostislav, who could only smile in embarrassment, rolled up his sleeves very skillfully, and changed the subject to resolve the embarrassment and gaffe at the moment.

"I know the safe way, and it is enough for the army to pass, please follow me, my lord."

Of course, Prince Ross would not care about his slip of the tongue. There are many pagans in Kiev. Of course, don’t mention it outside of Kyiv. .

And Varin reacted like this simply because he was afraid that Rostislav would hate the heretics. Now it seems that he was worrying too much, and Rostislav had no intention of caring so much about the beliefs of his subordinates.

"Follow Valin, let's go!"

Rostislav was the first to keep up with Valin. Behind him, the Ross people led the horses they had obtained, and then walked into the swamp that they would not even get close to on weekdays.

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"Are you sure they got in?"

Not long after Rostislav entered the swamp, the Polovets' brigade also arrived here. Looking at the endless forest, Tugel asked.

"The traces disappeared after reaching the swamp. I'm pretty sure they entered the swamp. These Ross cowards still don't have the guts to face us. As usual, they would rather dive into the swamp than confront us head-on."

The scout's answer was sonorous and powerful, and he believed in Ye Ye's conclusion very much. These words also caused a burst of laughter from everyone present. Laughing at the Ross people was their favorite thing to do.

But the ridicule is also to cover up the fear in the heart. In the stories of the tribe, being close to the swamp has never ended well...

"This is troublesome, if we rush in, something will happen, these bastards..."

But Tugel's tone is full of suppressed anger. Although he is a reckless and irritable person, he knows the truth that he cannot enter unknown areas. Places like swamps cannot be easily entered. It would be bad if he got stuck. Now, maybe the whole army will be thrown into the sea, and it will never return.

"Go around! Anyway, they will come out sooner or later, we just go and wait."

Tugel won't give up so easily. Since he can't cross the swamp, he can go around it. The Ross people walked into the swamp to avoid being caught up, and their goal is still Kyiv after all. Then go to that direction to block it. Can.

"Hurry up, everyone, we have to go around quickly!"

Following Tugel's order, the steppe cavalry began to gallop, followed by a large amount of dust, and the light yellow flag fluttered in the wind.

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(End of this chapter)