As we got closer and closer to Yuriyev, the traces of war also increased.

For example, in the village you pass by now, the entire village was destroyed by flames, leaving only a charred black. In the original village square, a tall man was pierced by three or four spears and put in the air. There were dozens of skeletons inserted on the spears nearby, and the remains of the same dead bones were left below.

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

But the soldiers did not respond. The demand for maintaining the authority of the commander made Rostislav forcefully swallow the urge to vomit, and could only sigh at the barbarity of the times in his heart.

"It should be the Estonian tribes offering sacrifices to their gods."

Guvalan came to the prince, and the captain of his personal soldiers looked like he was familiar with it and explained the bloody scenery to him.

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

"This is really barbaric..."

Rostislav couldn't help but whisper, but some soldiers heard it. They immediately looked at the commander with a strange look, and the number of people looking at the commander with such look was increasing, and the atmosphere suddenly became strange.

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

Gwalan's face looked a little ugly. After he finished talking to the prince who made a mistake, he immediately glared at the person who had cast strange eyes. The fierce eyes of the captain of the personal soldiers successfully made those people wince. Wherever his eyes swept, people lowered their heads.

"Ah, I'm wronged."

Rostislav, who had reacted, couldn't help but slam his head. He had forgotten such an important thing so much. The main body of the army under his command was the farmers and tribal people outside the city. This was a big taboo.

As for why he committed a big taboo, this is because in today's land of Roth, Christianity only has the advantage in the cities, and the countryside is still the world of believers of Peren and Veres (the main god of Slavic polytheism). Various barbaric pagan sacrifices still exist in this land.

Even in the city, many Christians are actually people of double faith. They are not pious about the faith in the Lord and still secretly worship pagan gods.

For these pagans, the Liurik regime could only abide by their existence, and then promote the spread of Christianity, build majestic churches everywhere, as well as monasteries that train priests, and pastors who go deep into the countryside. All of this was to promote the development of Christianity.

It’s not that the Liurik regime does not want to use blood and fire to promote conversion, but doing so is an enemy of the entire society, and the cost is too high.

This situation is more serious in the north, even the city of Nog, which is the center of northern Christian civilization. After all, the conversions of the Lürik Grand Duke were completed with fire and swords, and the sword was placed on the necks of the people of Nog City to force them to convert.

Although it is winter now and snow is covered with snow, Rostislav, who had figured it out, turned red with irresistible light on his face, as if flames were burning. It was so embarrassing that he had made such a bad mistake.

"I will ask my personal soldiers to finish your work. Your Highness, please don't do this next time."

Garland shook his head, and this kind of thing was really helpless, and the prince could only respond silently and accept criticism.

———————

After the small episode passed, the army, after three hours of advancing, stopped in a spruce forest under the order of Vishata.

Rostislav, who had dismounted, walked forward with Vishata's footsteps and saw the city towering in the black smoke in the distance. The city was built along the river, and further away was the vast Lake Chude.

Beneath the city's wooden wall is a messy campground, with countless figures moving between tents and bonfires.

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

When Vishata was trying to observe the situation under the city wall, the prince couldn't help but sigh that he had been touching the road, and he didn't even have a scout fight, which means that the Chude people have not discovered them yet.

"I still feel something is wrong."

Vishata's tone, which had been tested for war, was filled with suspicion. His war experience told him that the situation was wrong along the way, but then he changed his mind.

"But it's useless to think about it. Now there is no other choice. I have sent someone to inform the Grand Duke later. The main force will come soon. Let's take a rest."

Vishata's personal soldiers pulled two dead trees, Vishata chose one and sat down. Seeing this, Rostislav naturally sat opposite him.

The main force has a while to arrive, so it’s better to chat and pass the time.

"How do you think that child Yang?"

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

"Yang, he has the passion of a young man, but sometimes it is too passionate."

Rostislav subconsciously expressed his comments on Jan, but suddenly saw Uncle Vishata's smile, as if he was holding his smile, Rostislav immediately realized the funny thing.

He is still a teenager, and Yang is only a few years younger than him, but he talks about the passion of young people here, which seems a bit funny.

The Prince of Nuocheng also laughed. It seemed to outsiders that he was indeed making a joke. Of course, he knew very well in his heart that he was qualified to say this for two lifetimes, but this was something that could not be said.

"Yang is indeed a little immature, so I still want to ask you to discipline me well."

After laughing, Vishata said seriously that his words were from the heart. He saw the wisdom of the child Rostislav since childhood. He had thoughts and wisdom far beyond his peers.

Therefore, Vishata never doubted that this child would achieve great achievements in the future, and might even surpass his father.

"Of course I will, Uncle Vishata."

Rostislav responded seriously, with a very upright attitude. Uncle Vishata is his most important ally and has always been helping himself with his best efforts. Then he must treat him with the most serious attitude.

"When it comes to Uncle Vishata, do you think we can easily win this war?"

After a while of family matters, the topic still returned to war. No matter what, they are now in a state of war.

"As far as they are doing now, they can easily crush them."

Vishata's eyes were filled with contempt when he looked at the messy siege camp, and his words were full of confidence. This old soldier had seen many powerful troops in the world, and these barbarians in front of him were really not enough to see.

"The entire camp was very messy, and the investigation was done poorly. We all touched it but didn't react at all. We didn't know what the Chude commander was doing."

Just as Rostislav was about to say something to respond, behind them, an army with the Rurik Trident appeared.

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

———————

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!