king of ros

Chapter 9 The Pagan Army
As it got closer and closer to Yuriev, there were more traces of war.

For example, in the village I passed by now, the entire village was destroyed by flames, leaving only a piece of scorched black.In the original village square, a tall man was pierced by three or four spears and held in the air, surrounded by dozens of skeletons stuck on the spears, and underneath were the remains of the same dry bones.

This scene made Rostislav feel his stomach churning. He could kill people ruthlessly on the battlefield, but it was still difficult to accept such a scene.

But the soldiers didn't respond. The requirement to maintain the authority of the commander made Rostislav forcefully swallow the urge to vomit, and he could only lament the barbarity of the times in his heart.

"Supposed to be Estonian tribes making sacrifices to their gods."

Gevalan came to the prince's side, and the captain of the bodyguard explained the bloody scene to him with a look of no surprise.

"This is the first time Your Highness has seen such a scene. This is actually not uncommon outside the city of Novgorod. Whenever a war breaks out, the barbarians will sacrifice their gods in this way to pray for victory in the war."

"This is really barbaric..."

Rostislav couldn't help whispering, but it was still heard by some soldiers. They immediately looked at the commander with a strange look, and more and more people looked at the commander with this look, and the atmosphere suddenly became strange.

"Your Highness, I must warn you that many of your subjects are barbarians who would do such a thing, and more importantly, there are many such barbarians in this army."

Gevalan's face was a little ugly. He glared at the people who cast strange eyes immediately after he finished talking to the erring prince. The captain's fierce eyes successfully made those people cringe. Wherever his eyes swept, people flocked bow your head.

"Ah, I made a slip of the tongue."

After reacting, Rostislav couldn't help but slapped his head. He actually forgot such an important thing. The main body of his army is farmers and tribal people outside the city. This is really a big taboo.

As for why it is a big taboo, it is because in the land of Ross today, Christianity only has an advantage in the cities, and the countryside is still dominated by believers in Perun and Veles (the main god of Slavic polytheism). The religious sacrifices still exist in this land.

And even in the cities, many Christians are actually people of dual faith. They are not devout to the Lord, and they still secretly worship pagan gods.

For these heretics, the Rurik regime can only acquiesce in their existence, and then promote the spread of Christianity, build majestic churches everywhere, as well as those monasteries that train priests, and priests who go deep into the countryside, all of which are to promote Development of Christianity.

It's not that the Rurik regime doesn't want to use blood and fire to promote conversion, but doing so is making enemies of the entire society, and the cost is too high.

The situation is more serious the farther north you go, even in Nuocheng, which is the center of Christian civilization in the north. After all, the conversion back then was done by Grand Duke Rurik with fire and sword. He put the sword on the necks of the citizens of Nuocheng to force them converted.

Although it is winter now and the surroundings are covered with snow, Rostislav's face blushed uncontrollably after thinking about it, as if a flame was burning. It's really shameful that he made such a poor mistake.

"I will let the guards do the finishing work for you, Your Highness, please don't do this next time."

Gevalan shook his head, this kind of thing is really helpless, and the prince can only deal with it in silence and accept criticism.

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After the little episode, the army advanced for three hours, and they stopped in a spruce forest under the order of Veshata.

Rostislav, who got off his horse, followed Veshata's footsteps to the front, and saw the city rising from the black smoke in the distance. The city was built along the river, and farther away was the vast Lake Chud.

Under the wooden wall of the city is a messy camp, with countless figures moving between tents and bonfires.

"I really didn't expect to touch this place so easily."

When Veshatta was trying to observe the situation under the city wall, the prince couldn't help but lamented how easy it was to touch the road, and there was no scouting battle, which means that the Chude people have not found them until now.

"I still feel something is wrong."

The tone of the war-tested Vishata was full of doubts. His war experience told him that the situation along the way was not right, but then he changed the subject.

"But it's useless to think about it. There is no other choice now. I have sent someone to inform the Grand Duke. The main force will come soon. Let's rest for a while."

Veshata's soldiers pulled over two dead logs, and Veshata chose one to sit on. Seeing this, Rostislav naturally sat opposite him.

There is still some time before the main force arrives, so it's good to chat to pass the time.

"What do you think of that kid, Jan?"

As soon as Rostislav sat down, Vishata mentioned Jan Vishadych, whom he had sent to the prince.

"Jan, he has the passion of a young man, but sometimes the passion is too much."

Rostislav subconsciously expressed his evaluation of Jan, but when he suddenly saw Uncle Veshata's half-smile, as if he was suppressing a smile, Rostislav immediately realized that it was funny.

He was still a teenager, and Jan was only a few years younger than him, and it seemed ridiculous to talk about young passions or something here.

Prince Nuocheng also laughed, it seemed to outsiders that he was making a joke.Of course, he knew very well in his heart that he was qualified to say that as a human being in two lifetimes, but it was something that could not be said.

"Yang is indeed a little immature, I still have to ask you to discipline him well."

After laughing, Veshata said earnestly, his words came from the heart, Rostislav was smart from childhood, and he had a thinking and wisdom far beyond those of his peers.

Because of this, Veshatta never doubted that this child would make great achievements in the future, and maybe even surpass his father.

"Of course I will, Uncle Vishata."

Rostislav responded sternly, with a very correct attitude. Uncle Veshata is his most important ally, and he has always tried his best to help him, so he has to treat him with the most serious attitude.

"Speaking of which, Uncle Veshata, do you think we can easily win this war?"

After chatting about homework for a while, the topic returned to the war. Anyway, they are now in a state of war.

"Based on their current performance, they can easily be crushed to death."

Veshatta looked at the chaotic siege camp with contempt in his eyes, and confidence in his words. This veteran soldier has seen many powerful troops in the world, and the barbarians in front of him are really not enough.

"The whole camp is in chaos, and the investigation work is also poor. We all touched here but didn't respond at all, and we don't know what the leader of the Chude people is doing."

Just when Rostislav was about to say something in response, an army armed with Rurik's trident appeared behind them.

Seeing this, both Rostislav and Veshata stood up. They knew very well that the main force had arrived, and the battle would come soon.

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(End of this chapter)