After entering this area, the smell of war hit us. The Principality of Polotsk encouraged a large number of Baltic tribes to enter Siros to burn, kill and loot. Lithuanians, Latgals, Samogitians... these barbarians
Ethnic groups moved out and came to Rus to plunder as if they were migrating.
Although Polotsk usually oppressed these Baltic tribes, when the prince of Polotsk opened the way to the east for them and encouraged them to go to Rus to plunder, they all stepped forward for the king.
Compared with these Baltic tribes, Rus is indeed a wealthy area, so these invaders are like locusts sweeping away things on the land.
The local Rus people were not easy to deal with. Their barbaric customs also gave them great courage. The tribes and communes affected by the war bravely fought against the invaders and received support from tribes and communes further east.
With the support of Smolensk troops, the space for activities of the invaders was squeezed.
All this time, it was the Smolensk militia that acted as a brake on the Baltic invaders, preventing them from advancing further east and endangering the truly wealthy areas of Rus'.
Veshata's ability is undoubtedly demonstrated here. The mayor of Smolensk, a powerful person in all of Russia, personally went to those wilderness and forests and visited villages, communes, and tribes.
The leader drinks and pools resources.
As a result of the battle, Rostislav saw countless villages reduced to ruins, as well as corpses thrown in the open areas of the road, but the entire Russian coalition saw this very plainly, as everyone was used to seeing bloody scenes.
The locals joined the coalition one after another. This time they suddenly fought against so many locusts. Everyone suffered a lot. They had to get something back from the Polotsk people.
The Smolensk militia also joined the army, and Rostislav also met his uncle Vishata again. His uncle is now old, and his hair and beard are turning white, but he is still strong, and this
The first battle against the looters instigated by Polotsk also proved that his sword is immortal.
As the army arrived, the Baltic people naturally encountered constant head-on attacks.
The Baltic people also began to retreat one after another. They either retreated to Minsk and Vseslav to gather their armies, or they returned directly to their land with the proceeds of plunder.
But for the prince of Moscow, this journey was really boring. He couldn't participate in a battle involving dozens or hundreds of people, so he could only march silently.
After all, I have nothing in common with my uncles, and I can't tell what the uncles are thinking on the surface, nor can I get any information. I just know that the second uncle and the third uncle have been very close recently, and they always talk together.
, I don’t know when the relationship between these two people got better.
Now Rostislav could not chat with his third uncle, who was also a cultural person. After all, he had always been uncomfortable with his second uncle Rostislav and always kept a distance from him subconsciously.
As for the uncle, because of the Novgorod incident, the relationship between them is still quite awkward. The two of them still have to meet each other, not to mention that Rostislav also feels that the uncle's sons are somewhat hostile to him, so he
It’s better not to get into trouble by going there.
However, it was difficult for Rostislav to meet his uncle. Izyaslav met with powerful people in different places every day, chatted and drank with them, and negotiated terms.
Not to mention that he has the jurisdiction of an entire army. He has to deal with countless trivial matters every day. Rostislav has commanded tens of thousands of people. At that time, he was so busy that he almost fainted. But now the uncle is facing
Thirty thousand people.
In order to pass the time, the Prince of Moscow began to stroll around the military camp. He chatted with Russian soldiers from all over the world, learning about their hometowns and experiences, as well as their views on this war.
And as time went by, Rostislav realized why he didn't write it all down.
In the previous life of the Prince of Moscow, he had always regretted that there were no books left in Kievan Rus that described grassroots soldiers, but now he could not leave such things to future generations, and this was also to provide material for his novels.
Although the structure is already in place, Rostislav wrote several times and was still not satisfied. The final conclusion was that he had too little experience, so he wanted to strengthen this aspect.
Just as he said, Rostislav picked up his notepad and got into the ranks. He drank wine with the city lord and soldiers, treated them to meat, and listened to them bragging about their respective cities and villages.
Over time, the soldiers' senses about Rostislav improved. Everyone now knew that Rostislav not only knew how to fight, but he was also gentle with others. Such a big man was willing to talk to small soldiers like them.
And Rostislav collected a large amount of first-hand information, which allowed Rostislav to see the lives of people in various parts of Russia. The prince of Moscow carefully recorded all this, and also selected some soldiers with representative backgrounds and experiences.
Their life experiences are recorded.
Rostislav soon devoted all his free time to this matter, because as the information continued to accumulate, the prince of Moscow realized what a huge treasure house these 30,000 people were to mine.
And the scope of his research is still expanding. At first he only talked with nobles and janissaries, then he talked with militiamen and civilians, and finally he talked with merchants and prostitutes. Rostislav talked with them in every profession in the entire army.
Yes, Prince Rurik recorded all of this.
People were happy to tell Rostislav this information, after all, the Prince of Moscow was generous and generous, and he would at best treat anyone who provided information with a big meal.
And some people realized that this was the only chance for their stories to be known to future generations, so they were happy to say that some people even took the initiative to find the prince and tell their stories.
At one point Rostislav ran out of paper and had to immediately ask the logistics fleet to buy it. This shows that the prince has devoted all his energy to this matter and left all military affairs to his subordinates.
It was during this experience that Rostislav followed the coalition forces to the location of Vseslav, the newly emerged city of Polotsk, Minsk.
“Is this Minsk?”
Riding on a red war horse, Rostislav looked at the city in front of him and couldn't help but say.
Minsk is a city that has risen in recent decades, but one thing that is different from other normally formed cities is that this city was built according to militarized ideas.
From the beginning, Minsk was a fortress built by the Principality of Polotsk, and this fortress faced the direction of Kiev, so it was obvious who to release.
Because it was built according to military ideas, although the city wall of Minsk is also a wooden wall, it is still at the same level as Kiev, and there are now tens of thousands of people crammed into this fortress.
Such a city is undoubtedly extremely difficult to capture, so the coalition forces did not launch an attack immediately after arriving, but slowly surrounded the city, and then camped by the Ptich River.
"Anton's hometown..."
The Prince of Moscow looked at the city and said something that only he knew, and a smile appeared on his face.
But the current Minsk has nothing to do with that at all. The current Minsk is a powerful fortress and the target he wants to conquer.
Speaking of conquest, just when the prince was looking at the city, there was a sound of fighting in the distance. It was a coalition force that was robbing the stronghold outside the city.
Rostislav did not even look at the fighting, because he had already seen so much that it was a bit boring, and such fighting could no longer arouse the interest of the prince.
Rostislav turned his horse around and led the guards back to the military camp. Behind him, the attack on the stronghold also came to an end. A group of Polotsk men from another stronghold defeated the besieging force.
However, new coalition forces are arriving, and scenes like this are happening everywhere around Minsk.
The defense of Minsk is not limited to the city of Minsk. The city is surrounded by various small strongholds. The defenders in these strongholds range from hundreds to dozens. However, if you want to launch an attack on the city, you must
Take these strongholds.
The Polotsk people also used these strongholds as support, and under cover fought with the coalition forces on the battlefield with dozens or hundreds of people.
It's not enough if these strongholds are not taken out. For example, if you are attacking a city, it would be fun if the troops in one of the strongholds come behind you.
And the setting of these strongholds is also very interesting. It is easier to attack the outermost strongholds, and the enemies will run away quickly. But as you go deeper, the resistance can also be strong, and the strongholds become more and more difficult to defeat, and the defenders are losing ground.
Or when retreating, strongholds will be burned so that the coalition forces cannot use them.
After interrogating the prisoners, we found out that Minsk was the planned battlefield of the Principality of Polotsk from where it was built. After all, if you want to go to Polotsk from the south, you must first capture Minsk.
Only then did the coalition forces realize that they were facing a fortification zone. The Principality of Polotsk had built Minsk and its suburbs into a fortification zone.
Therefore, since the coalition forces came to Minsk, there have been various fierce and short conflicts. Small-scale battles have occurred everywhere, and casualties have continued to occur on both sides.
The bloodshed caused by the battle awakened the will of the soldiers, and everyone suddenly woke up and found that this battle was not the relaxing outing they expected, but a bloody fight.
Looking at the wounded people wailing in the military camp, wailing in pain and wanting to die, nothing can serve as a warning to everyone more than this.
But after all, the situation was good for the coalition forces who had the advantage in strength. Although the Polotsk people in the stronghold were determined to fight, and Minsk had been sending small groups of troops to interfere with the coalition's actions, the coalition forces suffered many casualties.
They still advanced their mission and continued to advance the siege towards the city.
It was for this reason that Rostislav was tired of seeing such small-scale battles.
The coalition forces did not expect that the battle would be so bloody and that the Polotsk people would fight so hard. In just one week, the coalition forces suffered 500 casualties. After the bloody battle, morale was inevitably affected.
In contrast, the casualties of the Polotsk people were almost the same.
Although most of the dead were cannon fodder without money and good equipment, the army is made up of such cannon fodder.
However, the large number of troops accompanying the coalition forces allowed morale to be restored. Among other things, after finding a prostitute for a night, many people felt that they were good again, and then added a few bottles of wine. In short, it was a minor problem.
In short, although the start was not smooth, which made the Yaroslavichs feel a little overturned, the situation is still developing towards their plan.
Rostislav, who returned to the military camp, went to his tent, where the Prince of Moscow changed into a set of simple clothes, then put on a cloak, took paper and pen, and then walked towards the palace under the escort of several similarly dressed guards.
The side where the soldiers retreated from the battlefield.
And he went there still for the purpose of recording.
Even when he came to the city of Minsk, Rostislav was very bored. The military subordinates below could handle it, and he had no tasks such as coordinating logistics. He had been experiencing bottlenecks in writing novels recently, and he had no idea what to do.
And then, the prince soon knew what he should do, and he picked up the pen again and started recording.
Rostislav talked with the janissaries, talked with the militiamen, and learned about everything they went through on the battlefield, how their enemies fought, and how the various casualties were produced.
He listened to their complaints, understood what they were thinking, as well as the frontline soldiers' suggestions on tactics and strategies, and even the desperate whispers before his death. Prince Moss wrote all of them down meticulously.
During this process, Rostislav heard many interesting battle experiences and learned about many swords and swords on the battlefield. He recorded them all, and they will definitely be used in his future creations.
Rostislav liked this feeling and recorded everything. He felt great pride at the thought of being able to leave a message for future generations.
In the eyes of outsiders, Rostislav is really a little strange. He is such a prince on horseback. What is he recording here without preparing for battle? Just like what his second uncle and third uncle did. Are the things of these people worth it?
Record it?
But no matter what they said, Rostislav enjoyed it.
While Rostislav was writing, his uncle was busy with the war. In recent times, his uncle had led the siege of the entire city. They had directed those small-scale battles, so he looked sad every day.
But recently, the uncle's mood has improved, because the siege has been getting closer and closer to the Minsk city wall, and the craftsmen in the camp have built the required trebuchets. With this thing, those strongholds will not be any problem.