Just as Rostislav expected, as November approached, more and more troops gathered outside Moscow, occupying fields that should have been covered with snow.
Finally, with the arrival of November, a huge army appeared outside Moscow.
A large number of men from the entire Northeastern Rus' are gathered here. They come from Suzdal, from Vladimir, from Rostov, and from all corners of Northeastern Rus'. All kinds of flags are flying in the air.
In order to clarify his identity on the battlefield, Rostislav ordered all the soldiers to find a way to draw a cross on their bodies. Most of them drew a cross on their shields. Some people were worried and also made a cross on their bodies.
Speaking of which, this idea came from Mieszko. This Polish man said that when their kingdom faced pagan enemies, they would draw a cross to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy. It was indeed a very convenient and quick way.
It just so happens that Rostislav is also on a crusade against heretics, so he should use this method.
The total strength of this army exceeded ten thousand, which was exactly the figure Rostislav desired.
At first, after learning the news, Rostislav was very excited.
After so many years, he was finally able to recruit tens of thousands of troops. Whenever he saw the sea of tents outside the city wall, Rostislav felt a sense of satisfaction.
Among the people, this army is called the Winter Army, because this army gathered in winter and headed east.
Joining the Winter Army has become a fashion, and even now there are still people coming to join this army.
As for Rostislav, after the initial joy, pressure also came like a tide.
Facing such a huge army, the management pressure is extremely huge, such as how this army should travel and how it should be managed. When faced with these problems, Rostislav discovered that he really had no experience at all.
Rostislav's method of controlling the army has always been to rely on the forces that he can rely on, such as personal soldiers, personal followers and Viche citizens as nodes to achieve jurisdiction over the levied soldiers and vassal armies.
In the past, Rostislav's troops were not large, and the number of troops never exceeded 5,000 at any time, and most of them were soldiers who recognized the authority of the prince. By this method, Rostislav could firmly control the army.
But it's different now. There are tens of thousands of troops, and almost more than half of them are here purely for wealth. If he still controls the army according to the old method, he will have to allocate too many soldiers.
Facing tens of thousands of soldiers, it would be absolutely impossible to use the original method.
It is impossible for him to allocate part of the main force under his command, which will affect its combat effectiveness.
Then there is only one choice, and that is to let each department do its own thing, and the original control node becomes a simple contact node.
Rostislav was helpless about this, but the only choice before him was this.
But in this era, everyone is like this, so it doesn’t matter.
After arranging the troops under his command, it was almost time to send out troops, and naturally Rostislav started his journey with such a large army.
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Before leaving, Rostislav left the affairs of Moscow to his wife, just as he had done when he left for Hungary.
In addition, he also left many personal soldiers and personal followers, who will ensure the safety of Moscow, and the Rostov Battalion will also stay here. Rostislav is unwilling to send this army filled with too many new recruits to the battlefield.
At the same time, these professional soldiers will also integrate the soldiers who are late, and then join the road to the East.
In fact, Rostislav, the citizens of Moscow and its surrounding areas, did not fully mobilize. He had to ensure that there were always some rotating troops, because after the war in Bulgaria he would definitely leave some troops behind.
Moreover, Rostislav has always been wary of heretics in his heart. After everything he experienced in Hungary, it is impossible for him to relax his vigilance in this regard.
In addition, speaking of pagans, Rostislav was very sorry that Jan did not participate in the expedition. He was determined to go to the countryside of Northeast Rus to explore everything about the pagans and look for possible enemies.
Rostislav didn't say anything about this. He could understand it, but it was a pity that Young was not around after all.
On the day they left, the entire Moscow crowd came out to see them off.
Rostislav still remembers the scene that day, when his ears were dominated by the words of ignored praise and cheerful music sounded in the crowd.
Under his feet were flowers scattered by the people, and behind him was a huge army. Walking on such a road, he felt extremely satisfied.
St. George slaying the dragon and the fire-breathing dragon's flag flew together, but in the eyes of many people, this was a bit ironic. After all, St. George slaying the dragon represented Russia's eternal suppression of Bulgar.
Of course, the person involved definitely didn't mean that. It was just an ordinary flag waving, but it didn't stop the people below from thinking so.
At that time, Rostislav was leading an army, and he seemed to be surrounded by a halo. Everything was so glorious and powerful, so intoxicating.
But that was already in the past, and now Rostislav only felt a headache.
The road Rostislav walked was one that his ancestors had walked. Svyatoslav walked here, Vladimir walked here, and they all walked here to conquer Bulgar. It is a pity that there are almost no relevant records.
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What's even more troublesome is that all kinds of things in this army of ten thousand people have come to him. He has to deal with all kinds of things almost every day, which makes him understand that it is not easy to lead an army.
For example, if a team is lost on the road due to being too slow, Rostislav must send troops to find them back, lest the team disperses directly.
For example, if two teams conflicted, Rostislav would have to personally mediate the situation to prevent these people from fighting.
For example, if there was a conflict over the distribution of supplies, he would have to rush over immediately to coordinate the conflict, and he would get into trouble every time.
There were even some teams who felt that the journey was too tiring and simply went on strike. In response, Rostislav directly resorted to military law. Damn it, he has come this far and is still making trouble, so he is no longer gentle.
As for arranging scouts in person, that is a basic operation, which is really overwhelming. Sometimes you really don't understand why those people can't complete such work.
After being tortured like this for a period of time, Rostislav finally discovered that his target, Yaroslavl, was not far ahead.
There the army could rest for a while, and it was also there that the army would cross the Russian border and head to Bulgar.