"I really can't believe that this city has returned to my hands like this... so easily, so easily. It's a shame that I took so long to prepare..."
Rostislav Vladimirovich Rurik sighed as he stood in front of his father's burial place in Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod.
The last time Rostislav stood here, he was still a young prince whose parents both died. Now, he is the prince of Moscow and is about to become the prince of Novgorod.
The former prince of Novgorod once expected that he would return to Novgorod in many forms and bring the city ruled by his father under his rule. He had fantasized about it many times.
But he never imagined that he could achieve this with just one assault of two thousand cavalry. It was so easy that it felt like a dream.
"Thirteen years, I have not returned to this palace for thirteen years. Father, now I have come back here so easily. This is really an unpredictable world. Destiny is really unpredictable..."
The Prince of Moscow then spoke to his father's tomb, and sat down on the chair he had pulled over, facing his father's tomb.
Then he recalled his experiences along the way and couldn't help but sigh that life is impermanent.
Initially, when Torzhok heard that the Polotsk army was marching towards Novgorod, Rostislav immediately mobilized all the forces in his hands that could be mobilized immediately, including janissaries, standing troops, municipal militia and even
There were Gulag jailers... who gathered 3,000 people and pulled away as many soldiers as they could along the way.
In fact, Rostislav had already prepared for this day. After all, he knew the direction of historical development, but he did not know the specific time of Vseslav's invasion.
Moreover, this era has changed so much because of his appearance. Will everything really develop according to history?
It can only be said that it is very difficult to say, so Rostislav did not make any advance arrangements. At most, he strengthened the combat readiness level of his troops, and then waited quietly.
On the march, Rostislav thought that he would be greeted by a hard battle in Novgorod. Historically, the wizarding prince successfully captured Novgorod and destroyed the city.
He was also not optimistic about the prospects of the Torzhok troops. In the vision of the Prince of Moscow, if they controlled part of Novgorod, they would be successful and be able to provide positions for his troops.
It is not surprising that the Prince of Moscow would be lenient to the enemy, because he knew that the march of the Prince of Witchcraft would be the beginning of the subsequent chaos in Rus.
After these few years, the political situation in Russia will undergo earth-shaking changes, so he attaches great importance to it and overestimates the enemy as much as possible. This is better than underestimating the enemy and facing defeat.
Moreover, in history, the wizarding prince could only be tamed by gathering all the strength of Russia. Nestor, the author of past chronicles and now the recorder of Rostislav, called this battle the most fierce battle in the whole of Russia.
The refugees encountered along the way also confirmed the prince's suspicion. The Polotsk people were very powerful, and Novgorod had many problems. These people seemed that the city could not be defended at all, so they did not escape from the beginning.
Instead of going to the city, he chose to flee eastward.
This made Rostislav even more nervous and worried about Sokal and Edward. Nothing could happen to them. One is an important vassal who manages the disobedient nomads, and the other is an important relative not far away.
People who came thousands of miles to join him were all important members of the Moscow court.
No matter which one was missing, it would create a lot of trouble for Rostislav, so the prince of Moscow was very nervous, and therefore he became eager to urge the troops.
Under the urging of the prince, naturally some people continued to fall behind, especially those strong men who were attracted by Rostislav. It didn't take long for this group of people to be unable to keep up with the team.
Only the troops in Moscow can keep up, but even so they are falling behind.
The forced march was very arduous. The Moscow soldiers could only eat cold cheese and dried meat while walking, and slept on blankets at night. The condition of the soldiers continued to decline.
Rostislav did not take care of the stragglers. He had no energy to take care of them. They all moved forward quickly! The Prince of Moscow drove his men forward like a slave owner wielding a whip.
Fortunately, the sacrifices of these laggards were worthwhile. The Moscow army quickly approached Novgorod, but as it got closer to Novgorod, the laggard rate became higher and higher.
When the army of the Prince of Moscow appeared on the outskirts of Novgorod, the prince saw that the city was quite peaceful.
At that time, he was in a very bad mood, thinking that the battle was over, the city was controlled by Vseslav, and Sokal and Edward were in danger.
Moreover, he was even more worried about what would happen if the Polotsk people came out. The Moscow army, which had experienced a rapid march, was in very poor condition. If it fought with the Polotsk people, it would definitely be doomed.
But what happened next was beyond Rostislav's expectation.
The city gate of Novgorod opened in front of Rostislav, and the entire city was displayed in front of Rostislav, and then the Novgorod welcome queue came out.
The people dressed in their most gorgeous clothes came to greet the prince. They welcomed Rostislav's arrival extremely. If the militiamen in the team had not blocked him, many people would have rushed directly to Rostislav.
It was a very grand scene. Men and women in the entire city came out to welcome the arrival of the Prince of Moscow. The sound of joyful music filled the air, and everything seemed so dreamy.
These were completely the etiquette used to welcome the Grand Duke of Kiev, and now they were used on Rostislav, and no one thought there was anything wrong with it.
And then Rostislav was confused. What was going on? Why couldn't he understand?
But then, as the prince saw Sokal and Edward among the welcoming crowd, Rostislav suddenly realized what was going on and accepted a fact that surprised him to the extreme.
That is, Sokal and Edward took Novgorod for the prince and defeated the Polotsk people.
The two men knelt in front of the prince of Moscow's war horse and told the prince that they had completed the task of saving Nov's brother Rod. Rostislav did not know this. His order was only to let them find opportunities to occupy the city, but there was no such thing.
Say so much.
But the prince remained calm. He knew when to say what he should say. It would be too stupid to try to undermine his subordinates now. Of course, Rostislav would do what they said.
The chief administrators of the city gathered in the presence of the Prince of Moscow and expressed their heartfelt thanks to Rostislav.
The next step is the highlight. They said that because the city's original prince Mstislav gave up Novgorod, Novgorod decided to make the prince of Moscow their prince and let Rostislav rule the country ruled by his father.
City.
Novgorod is the fiefdom of Rostislav's father. Even after so many years, there is still a powerful Rostislav faction there. They hope that the old prince's son will become the ruler of Novgorod instead of Kiev.
young people.
It's just that they couldn't do anything before because of Kiev's power, but now the opportunity is right in front of them.
With the rescue of the city by Rostislav's troops and the escape of the son of the Grand Prince of Kiev, this was done, and Novgorod now felt extremely disgusted with Kiev, because the prince from Kiev had abandoned them.
As for how they treated the prince, Novgorod naturally pretended not to know. This city has always been like this, and it was the same way with Yaroslav back then.
The whole Vitch agreed that Rostislav should take over the position of prince of Novgorod, and Rostislav regained his father's city.
This matter is completely reasonable and legal. Since the designated princes of Kiev have abandoned the city, it is natural for the city to choose a new ruler. No one can blame Novgorod for what it did.
Next, Rostislav felt light and airy all over his body, as if in a dream. In this way, he won Novgorod?