At a glance, I could see soldiers carrying weapons and armor everywhere. Their march was raising clouds of dust, and the scale looked so huge.
Countless flags are flying in the sky, ranging from the trident of the Rurik family to the personal battle flags of various princes, but the most eye-catching ones are the portraits of the Virgin. Pious priests and believers carry these portraits forward, which can make the army move forward.
Think that you are being protected by Our Lady.
A soldier in armor raised a leather water bag and took a swig. There was a chainmail and luggage bag hanging on the spear. His throat was so dry that he wanted to drink every drop of water in the water bag.
After the soldier took a few sips, he licked his lips and handed the water bag to his companion behind him. The companion naturally picked it up and took a sip, then gave it back to the soldier. He took the water bag and tied it back to his waist.
Beside them, 22,000 pairs of powerful boots made heavy footsteps on the road. Any soldiers in the queue turned around, only to see the huge team winding along the road.
The queue of infantry advanced continuously, and the queue seemed to have no end.
These soldiers were city dwellers, craftsmen, gangsters, and farmers before they responded to the call. When princes and lords issued orders to call, they came, either for wealth or glory.
This is a large army that brings together soldiers from all over Russia. Various accents gather under one sky, and these soldiers from all over Russia also gather under Rurik's trident.
Any businessman will be extremely surprised when he sees such an army. Rus has not seen such a grand scene for a long time. Such a magnificent scene was rare even in the Yaroslav era.
The power of the Yaroslavichs was thus displayed in front of people, and people saw that the descendants of the grand dukes who ruled the country of many city-states never flinched in the face of challenges.
After the banquet in Kiev, the Russian army set off towards Polotsk, but they did not go directly to Polotsk, but went north along the Dnieper River.
On the day of departure, a grand farewell ceremony was held in Kiev. The people of Kiev sent blessings to their families who left for the war, the metropolitan blessed the army, and Prince Rurik also said goodbye to their families.
Rostislav still remembered that little Rurik was quite reluctant to leave when the army left, because the two friends he finally made were to put on armor and go out with the army, but he could not go and could only stay in Kiev and wait.
After referring to the example of Rostislav, the Yaroslavichs unanimously decided that the Princes of Rurik should not plan to go into battle until they are 14 years old. This age is still too young.
Rostislav also paid attention to the military uniforms of Monomakh and Oleg. These two boys who had countless entanglements in history did look good in armor, and they looked like good warriors.
Rostislav took this opportunity to look at his uncles' sons. Well, all of them looked like standard warriors. There was no doubt that their performance in battle would not be bad.
Especially the second uncle, his bunch of boys are almost carved out of the same mold as him, they are all overly strong warriors.
Then the army marched along the Dnieper River. The biggest advantage of marching along the river was that it could quickly obtain food from the rear. At the same time, it could also quickly collect food along the route. Just relying on the cavalry collection was completely insufficient.
If they escape from this big river, this army with a total strength of 22,000 people and the nearly 10,000 service personnel who come with them will soon be finished. They will quickly eat all the food along the line, and then destroy it.
The local farmers were driven to death and then disintegrated.
Originally Rostislav was very opposed to bringing so many irrelevant people with the army, but the three uncles insisted on letting these people accompany them. In their view, this was very important.
Later Rostislav learned that the main purpose of this expedition was to demonstrate Kiev's authority, so it had to be as loud as possible and witnessed by as many people as possible.
Rostislav had nothing to say about this, and his uncles were indeed right. This war was indeed more important than the performance, but he always felt that such a grand scene was not what the army should have...
In contrast to this grand scene, the entire army was full of strong self-confidence. No one thought they would fail, but in their eyes, facing the entire Russian army, it was absolutely impossible for the enemy to succeed.
After all, who wouldn't have confidence in such a large army? How many years has it been since Ross assembled such an army? When this powerful army goes out to fight, they will definitely win.
After reaching the Pripya River, a tributary of the Dnieper River in the north, the army will continue to advance along this river. Entering here is also considered to have entered Silos.
The next step is to advance towards the Principality of Polotsk, and then just enter the Putich River, a tributary of this river.
This was Rostislav's first time entering this area, which made him very curious about it. He knew that this area belonged to the area that was later ruled by the country of Rurik.
At first, what they saw was the familiar scene of Russia, but as they went deeper into Moscow, they saw a lot of exotic scenes, such as the forest with no end in sight.
Southern Rus is much more barbaric, and there is even a strong influence of polygamy among them.
Many militiamen even saw young men and women wearing flower crowns kissing naked on the roadside like this, which made them feel a subtle feeling in their hearts, as if they were walking on a foreign land, not Ross.
However, although these tribes and communes were barbaric, they recognized the authority of the Grand Duke of Kiev. In many places, roads were even prepared in advance to facilitate the passage of the entire Russian coalition.
When Rostislav asked, he learned that it was Veshata who was responsible for the defense of this area. He asked these tribes to prepare roads and supplies to prepare for the army.
Tribal chiefs and commune elders invited the princes of Rurik in groups. They were all proud to entertain a prince of Rurik, so all the princes, including Rostislav, had to endure the meager food in the countryside.
, but to be honest, this has little impact. After all, the first responsibility of princes is to be soldiers, and then to be rulers.
After passing through this hospitable area, they were very close to the end of the Putich River, which was also Minsk in the Principality of Polotsk, where Vseslav's army was gathering.