While the coalition soldiers were still gathering out of the camp, and only part of the troops had completed their formation, they launched the attack.
Barbarians from various Baltic tribes formed the first step of the attack. These barbarians were in ragged clothes, wearing stolen helmets and patchwork armor. You can even see styles from hundreds of years ago on their bodies.
These items are the least wanted part of the Polotsk armory. They are basically too old and outdated, but they are still suitable for the barbarians. They used to wear furs and wooden armor.
The barbarian battle group advances in tribal units, and the impact formation presents an impactful triangle.
On the coalition side, the first to go out to organize defense were the troops with the Smolensk militia as the core and auxiliary militias from small towns and rural areas.
The Smolensk people were defending a shallow creek. This creek was so shallow that it barely submerged their calves. Normally, neither side paid much attention to this creek, but the coalition forces often came here to get water.
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But now, this place will become a battlefield of fighting.
The barbarians crashed into the Smolensk shield wall without hesitation. The soldiers who had just woken up from their sleep were immediately caught off guard. Veshatar continued to boost morale and let people stand firm, and his
Calmness also really boosts morale.
However, Veshata was not as calm as he looked on the surface. He got up in the first second out of the habit of an old soldier, and then organized the Smolensk militia.
Of the Polotsk army, he really played some drums.
The Baltic people used various crude weapons to slash at the Russians, and each blow could achieve the effect of a tetanus blade. However, it was not easy to cut through the shields and armor under the shield wall.
Arrows fell mercilessly among the crowd. These came from the archers of Polotsk. Many coalition soldiers fell under the merciless artillery fire, but many Baltic barbarians also fell.
Many people did not die, but were just wailing in the bloody water, and some people were drowned by the water that barely covered their calves.
Vseslav showed no mercy to these barbarians, and even applauded the coalition forces when they killed them.
These barbarian beasts were obtained by him in exchange for prestige and gold and silver. Once they left the Polotsk army, they would naturally continue to be enemies of Polotsk, so killing these guys today is equivalent to killing them.
Tomorrow's rebels, the coalition forces are actually helping him.
From this point of view, this is also the reason why the wizarding prince summoned so many Balo tribes.
Regardless of victory or defeat in this battle, the Polotsk Principality will be greatly weakened. It is better to consume as much as possible against future enemies.
However, the Baltic people were not angry at the arrows coming from behind, because more Russians fell and their attack went more smoothly.
Death is a normal condition in the forest, and they have long been used to it.
These barbarians all wanted to be the first to break through the Russian defense line. Before the war started, the chiefs drew a bunch of big cakes for them and deceived them so much that they all wanted to be the first warriors.
Under the desperate attack of the barbarians, the shield wall of the Smolensk and various miscellaneous troops was quickly broken, and then the battle turned into a melee that the Russian militia disliked the most.
In the melee, the Smolensk guard captain was beheaded by the Baltic people, which severely damaged the morale of the Smolensk militia and began to retreat unconsciously.
All of this was so sudden. These people were not prepared for the battle, and they were faced with such a violent surprise attack. It was normal for such a situation to occur.
The Smolenskians threw down their weapons and withdrew from the creek, leaving corpses everywhere. The only thing Vishata could do was to command the troops to fight and retreat to prevent this place from turning into a pure collapse.
The barbarians cheered and continued to attack. They were excited about the sweetness they had gained now. They believed that as long as they continued to attack, the Russians would definitely be finished.
But at this moment, more militiamen arrived at the front line. They made way for the retreating troops in an orderly manner. Since they had lost morale, they went to the back to recover.
Looking at the equipment of these people, they are militiamen from Kiev. The neighbors stand firmly together, advance under the command of the chief executive of their respective neighborhoods, and enter the battlefield with the pride of Kiev.
"Onward! Onward! For the glory of Kiev! Let the Polotsk bastards die!"
Yaropolk rode his horse and shouted among the militia, and his brother Mstislav followed behind him as the standard bearer. His chainmail mail glowed silver under the torches and the slightly rising sun.
The son of the Grand Duke standing in front of the battle line undoubtedly boosted morale. The Kiev militiamen advanced more quickly and resolutely. They all wanted to gain glory for their respective neighborhoods, so they rushed faster than anyone else.
Although some of the princes of Rurik were not good at politics, none of them was good at fighting, because in Rus, without the skills of war, it was almost equivalent to giving up power.
There is no doubt that the Kiev militia quickly contained the Baltic attack. These barbarians relied only on suddenness. As long as this was resolved, the attack would soon be disintegrated.
The arrows in the sky were not easy to use at this moment, because the Kiev people had perfect protection and formation, and the arrows were either stuck in their shields or bounced off their armor and helmets.
The Baltic people fell many people under this round of arrows. Seeing this, the Polotsk archers immediately stopped firing arrows, adjusted the shooting trajectory, and focused on tilting the ammunition towards the rear of the Kiev militia instead of
Where the two armies clashed.
The vast front line is full of fighting, and occasionally intrusive teams launch assaults on local front lines. After all, the battlefield is so large that the commanders below have to do their own thing. These local battles can occasionally yield results, and occasionally they can be exploited by the enemy, but
In most cases, it is still a stalemate between shields and each other.
Neither side has ever fought a battle of this scale, so everyone is following old experience. Each unit continues to do its own thing and cooperates with neighboring units to find any breakthroughs.
And if there are problems with coordination, resulting in uneven front lines, the enemy will often take advantage of them and seize these loopholes to launch an assault. However, both sides have more than one front line, and the troops in the rear will block the enemy's advance.
As the battle line stabilized, the barbarians were naturally at a disadvantage. They could not compare with the Kiev militia in terms of equipment and organization, and their coordination was even worse, making it difficult to break through the Russian shield wall.
The attack was just a matter of reckless bravery, and with the Grand Duke of Kiev investing his own troops, the Baltic's defeat became a matter of time.
However, the Baltic people are just a bait thrown out by Polotsk.
"Assault on Yaroslavich's left flank! Scatter their formation!"
Stepan roared, and he led the North vassals and mercenaries to launch an attack on the left wing of the coalition.
The left wing is defended by the Chernigov militia, but due to the slow assembly of the Chernigov militia, only a small number of the Chernigov militia has reached the established position and stood firm.
Naturally, this small number of militiamen was quickly overwhelmed by Stepan's troops, and was unable to even stop the enemy's advance.
Seeing this scene, Izyaslav couldn't help but feel extremely anxious. What was Sviatoslav doing! Wasn't he always good at fighting?
No matter how much Izyaslav complained, the Chernigov militia still failed to reach the position in large numbers. If this continues, the Polotsk people will attack the flanks of the Kiev people!
But at this moment, a group of infantry marched quickly and stopped the attack of the North army. This group was Rostislav's Moscow militia and Novgorod militia.
After a fierce shield push, the battle turned into a shield wall fight. Swords, axes and spears clashed with each other on shields and armor. The Polotsk people organized several armored elite attacks, but they were all defeated by the militiamen.
Their shield wall dissipated the kinetic energy and blocked it.
"Citizens of Novgorod, let others see our martial ethics! We must not embarrass our hometown!"
Gavrila commanded the militia. He fought bravely on the front line and served as a benchmark to inspire people to fight.
The Novgorod militia also suffered the strongest impact, because they were the first batch of blocking troops, and they became the first batch because the Novgorod people wanted to show their combat effectiveness to their new prince.
, but unexpectedly, he was the first to be hit.
The Norse vassals desperately charged at Novgorod's shield wall. They hooked the shield with their long axes, then violently pulled the shield down, followed by a burst of chops.
But the Novgorod people withstood it. These thousand people were the elite of Novgorod, and their ability to resist damage was not ordinary.
In the previous deployment of the army, Rostislav's team belonged to the general reserve team, but now that the prince of Moscow saw that the right wing (for the Polotsk people, the left wing) was in danger of being breached, he naturally simply threw in soldiers.
Although the attack by Stepan's troops was fierce, the Novgorod militia was not weak, and the Moscow militia also arrived immediately. No militia in the big city of Rus was weak.
They firmly set up their shields to block this violent Nordic-style offensive. Even if their shields were hacked and splinters flew everywhere, and even if their comrades continued to fall, they still firmly defended their position and defused one attack after another.
Then the Chernigov militia finally arrived, they entered the battlefield in an orderly manner, and then immediately began to surround Stepan's troops.
It's a pity that Stepan's troops are not easily defeated even when facing superior enemy forces. The Polotsknos vassal group represented by Stepan has always been extremely powerful. This is why they
The foundation of a stable life, so the battle turned into a stalemate for a while, just like the battle of the Chinese army.