Surrounded by the guards, Rostislav walked to the rear. Along the way, he saw many confused soldiers. These people didn't even know what happened. To them, the battle suddenly started.
Then the battle broke through and ended again.
What Rostislav saw next was an extremely chaotic scene. Several people fell to the ground not knowing whether they were alive or dead, and more people were sitting or lying covering their wounds, moaning from their mouths.
Looking at their attire, the best protection is just some iron plates on their clothes. It can be seen that these are just servants, not combatants of the army.
There were still a few bloody attacker weapons on the ground. Rostislav picked one up and looked at it. Well, judging by the degree of rust, it was a standard tetanus blade. It would be bad to be hit.
However, on the other hand, all the weapons of these people were missing. They must have been picked up. Those attackers were really quick to steal.
Thinking of this, Rostislav looked at the wounded with pity. When he encountered this tetanus blade, even if his doctors came to save him...
However, the Prince of Moscow still ordered that all these people be taken into custody. In any case, let's do our best first.
All the carriages filled with grain were staggering, and some carriages were even overturned. The grain was scattered all over the floor, but more grain disappeared directly. As for the horses, they were all taken away, leaving nothing behind.
Call it a perfect robbery.
"The horn sounded before, and our people immediately went to help, leaving only a small number of guards, but... then you can see like this, those barbarians came too fast, and then they disappeared at a very fast speed."
The soldier drooped his head, feeling very depressed. He could return to his hometown soon, but he was attacked here. Many of his comrades could not be saved.
Rostislav looked very unhappy. Although he only lost a few servants, such a thing as the logistics being robbed was so embarrassing. It was a slap in Rostislav's face.
And this happened so close to Novgorod. What is going on? Is there no royal law?
"Lord Rostislav, this is the method used by the tribes in the Novgorod area. Many people have suffered such attacks. First, they will draw away the fighting power in the team, and then they will take away the troops who are not protected by many people.
Goods. But I really didn’t expect that they would be so bold as to attack your team..."
Gavrila explained everything in front of Rostislav, saying the words he wanted to say before but was interrupted, and the Prince of Moscow found it quite incredible.
"When my father ruled Novgorod, although these tribes did petty theft and robbery, they never dared to attack the prince's team. How could the situation develop like this?"
Gavrila was silent for a while, and then he spoke, "Mr. Rostislav, that was your father's era, and it has been more than ten years since that era. And now Novgorod is in a time when the city is facing danger.
Mstislav, who fled at that time - oh, may God bless his soul - rules, and you see how he rules."
Although his words were full of disdain, Gavrila still made the sign of the cross with respect when mentioning Mstislav.
Gavrila is a person who values rules. No matter how irresponsible this person is, he will not be rude to the former prince and nobleman of Rurik.
"Yeah...I know."
Rostislav replied feebly that in fact he knew what Gavrila said, but as a son, he would still be sad to see his father's construction achievements disappear.
"And now there are not only these tribes outside Novgorod, but also various pagans. They also take this opportunity to expand and try to squeeze the Christians. During Mstislav's rule, the order outside the city walls
It has completely collapsed. I have repeatedly called on everyone to maintain order outside the city walls, but no one paid any attention to me. After all, as long as these tribes cannot enter the city walls or block trade routes, they will not care."
Then there was a period of silence. Rostislav could understand the emotion in Gavrila's tone, which was indeed too weak.
"Lord Rostislav, the losses have been calculated."
The silence was broken by Domhnall, the Gaels counted their losses, but Rostislav called a halt.
"Forget it, don't worry about it. This loss doesn't matter. Anyway, we are almost to Novgorod. We will continue to move forward and get to the city as soon as possible."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The Gael was stunned for a moment, then immediately said that there was no doubt that he had learned many things from Gwalan, the most important of which was obedience.
After sorting out the team a little, Rostislav's team continued on the road. However, because of the news of the robbery, the originally joyful atmosphere was now cast into a haze.
However, this atmosphere did not last long. Soon, Rostislav arrived in Novgorod. Instead of enjoying the citizens' welcome to the victorious team, he came to Novgorod Castle.
Originally, the Prince of Moscow planned to stay here temporarily for a while and then return to Moscow, but now it seems that he must stay in Novgorod for a long time.
The return of the Moscow militia and the resettlement of the immigrants had to be left to other people. Of course the Red City Army had to stay with the prince, and their service had to be extended, but this was also their own job.
Soon, Rostislav made arrangements for the administration of Novgorod, which he had never managed. The most important of them was that Gavrila became the mayor of Novgorod, fully responsible for various things in the city, and the most important thing.
Coordinating with City Vecher.
In addition, the Moscow bureaucrats who have arrived in Novgorod have been placed in various positions in the city. The bureaucrats are very motivated. Originally they were working in the villages of Northeast Russia, but now they have built the second largest city in Russia in one fell swoop.
Rostislav was also helpless about this. After such a wave, his officials could only guarantee influence on the city, but this must be done. The influence of the princes must be achieved through the bureaucracy. As for the countryside, it is better to let the
Let the nobles and peasants quarrel. It is enough to maintain the safety of the roads.
Among the many things currently happening in Novgorod, the most important is the cleanup of the situation around Novgorod.
Gavrila was also very motivated, and soon he began to take action. He summoned the militia of Novgorod and his subordinate cities. The Moscow bureaucrats played a huge role in the organization, and then began to attack the tribes in the wilderness.
Fight against the heretics.
Rostislav also mobilized many forces from Moscow, such as the Chud Battalion, which is good at fighting in the forest, and the Sokal Cavalry, which can move at high speed. Both of these teams can play a big role in such a destructive battle.
.
This actually declares a public security war. In such a war, there are no flags covering the sky, no trumpets playing continuously like a concert, and no shouts of many soldiers. There are only voices in the woods and
Fighting in the countryside.
The action gained the support of Novgorod farmers, especially Christian farmers. In the previous years, they had been suppressed by the pagans in various ways, but now they can finally stand up.
But even with locals leading the way, unfortunately the battle is still dominated by various raids. In that vast wilderness, it is too difficult to fight a battle of annihilation.
Rostislav was like a giant, wielding a giant hammer to smash the flies that kept flying around. Although it was very slow to do so, it had to be done.
He must let these tribes in the countryside know that he, Rostislav, is not Mstislav, and that he will not be soft on these things in the countryside at all!
As for Novgorod itself, it didn't react much to this. After all, Gavrila only mobilized a small part of the city's militia. As for these fightings, this is how it is in the north, and everyone has long been used to it.
In addition to the massacre, Rostislav was still doing one of his important tasks, which was to build a port in the bay facing the Gulf of Finland.
The place he chose was the location of Narva in later generations, and the name he chose was also the name of the fortress that would later confront Narva.
It can influence not only the Gulf of Finland, but also Yuriev in the south and the north, controlling the entire Chud Lake, strengthening Rus' influence on the Estonian region.
Speaking of Estonia, although the governance of Novgorod has continued to deteriorate over the years, because it is related to their own interests, the powerful are still very concerned about controlling this land, so the results of Yaroslav's campaign have been achieved.
With good preservation, the Russians also expanded a lot to the west, which also made it convenient for Rostislav to start construction here.
Now that he has Novgorod, he has to start planning for the Baltic Sea. Rostislav does not want Russia to be able to only act as a passive recipient in the Baltic Sea trade as it has historically been.
Regarding this ocean, the Prince of Moscow has a lot of ideas, and there are a lot of things he can do.
However, before implementing these things, Novgorod must first have a fleet, instead of continuing to passively serve as a port. To do those things, it must be prepared as soon as possible.
And there is also the technology he wants to activate. He has already entrusted his soldiers to handle it before the war started. Next, he should go to the acceptance inspection. The prince of Moscow is very confident about this technology, and after the formal acceptance is successful,