For the people of Kiev, this defeat came too suddenly.
They are all still at home waiting for their children to return with news of victory, and thinking about how to celebrate these young people. No one thinks that they may fail, and they only look forward to their early return.
As a result, they came back, but they came back in the form of a great defeat.
The first to escape were the personal troops of the Grand Duke of Kiev. They carried the Grand Duke into the Vladimir Palace, and then began to impose martial law on the city.
At that time, the citizens of Kiev were quite confused. What was going on? Why did the Grand Duke come back in such a hurry?
Then the defeated soldiers arrived one after another. They abandoned their helmets and armor and were in a miserable state. No one was injured, but most of their equipment was gone. Many people did not return to Kiev at all, but fled into the countryside.
The defeat made the people of Kiev very surprised. How could a large army suddenly be defeated? And it was even more difficult to understand when they learned that the armies of the three princes were destroyed together.
The people of Kiev really didn't understand this, but fortunately for them, although there was an unexpected rout, most of them ran back smoothly.
Although the scene was chaotic on that chaotic night, not many people died. Most of them were trampled to death in the chaos. In addition to various non-combat losses along the way, there were only a few hundred people killed.
That's all.
Moreover, the Polovets did not attack and just allowed the Kiev people to escape back to the city. After all, there were supplies everywhere in the camp. Who was going to chase people? Controlling these supplies was more important.
Those who returned, especially the young people, regarded the command of Kiev Grand Prince Izyaslav as the root cause of the defeat, all because he was too harsh on the army.
After all, they couldn't say that they were frightened and collapsed. They had to find something to say in front of their family members, and it was undoubtedly the most appropriate thing to throw all the blame on the Grand Duke. No one would speak for the Grand Duke.
They exaggerated all the actions of the Grand Duke of Kiev and placed all the responsibilities on the Grand Duke, which aroused people's dissatisfaction. The news that the army suddenly collapsed before they saw the enemy made them feel shameless and their sanity was lost.
Therefore, a lot of it was evaporated.
In normal times, these citizens with more or less military experience would definitely be able to see the problems in those remarks. But now, everyone needs to vent their anger, so everyone pretends to be stupid.
However, this anger was temporarily interrupted by an incident, which was the arrival of the Porovets army.
After packing up the loot, the Polovets army marched towards Kiev. No force could stop their progress along the way, so they looted all the villages and gathering places along the way, and finally headed towards Kiev.
The people of Kiev couldn't care less about their anger at this time and busily joined in the defense of the city.
However, the Polovets only made a few tentative attacks, and then acted as if they wanted to stay here forever, and did not show any desire to fight.
Robbery of the coalition camp had already made them a fortune, so who would continue to take risks? Many people even planned to return to the grassland instead of continuing to take risks here.
But Salu Khan's will is very firm. It has always been this Khan's dream to capture Kiev. It is difficult for everyone to reject Khan. He just led them to make a fortune, and as a result, the current situation has emerged.
After occupying the outside of Kiev, they could not do nothing, and then the Polovets began to loot the surrounding areas of Kiev.
The Porovets wore the armor abandoned by the Russians and ate the food of the Russians and showed off their power under the city, but they did not launch an attack. Under such circumstances, the city's anger began to ignite again.
Those nomads were so weak and their defeat was so ridiculous. This is really infuriating!
The citizens of Kiev became restless, demanding an attack and defeating the nomads outside the city.
They want the Grand Duke to give them weapons and let them fight, then the nomads will definitely fail in front of them!
Especially in several small-scale battles, the Polovets were almost defeated at the first touch, which strengthened people's confidence.
But Ijaslav refused without hesitation, and his refusal only added fuel to the fire. People still remember the ridiculous defeat and put all the blame on him!
Dissatisfaction began to accumulate, and this emotion was keenly captured by interested people and began to take advantage of it. Rumors spread among the crowd at a rapid speed.
And many people also remembered a series of the Grand Duke's shortcomings, such as being too stingy, such as increasing their taxes. Now is the time to settle the general ledger, and these things should also be revealed.
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As the son of the Grand Duke of Kiev, Yaropolk rode his horse through the streets of Kiev, inspecting things here and observing the status of the people and soldiers.
Yaropolk was actually quite depressed during this period. He did not expect that his father would fail like that, and then the Polovets army came to the city and surrounded them.
As for the city, the scene he saw was not good either. Although there was no shortage of food in Kiev, people's dissatisfaction was very strong due to the previous war.
Among the Kiev militia, many people even openly vented their dissatisfaction against the Grand Duke.
The situation must be straightened out...
Such words came to Yaropolk's mind. Even though he was not interested in politics, he knew that if this situation was allowed to continue, the consequences would be very bad.
The Prince of Kiev planned to give advice to his father when he returned to Vladimir Palace. Speaking of his father, he was quite dissatisfied.
That humiliating defeat seemed to have hit my father hard. He now became timid and refused to make any decisions that required decisiveness except necessary defense.
Just as the Prince of Kiev was pondering the situation, suddenly, he heard a roar coming from in front of him.
"Look! Look! Citizens of Kiev! Look at your miserable situation now! And you deserve all this! You let that cowardly prince become your ruler, and now? Now he
Hiding in the castle of Kiev, watching you deal with the Polovtsians. Is such a coward worthy of being a Grand Duke? Is he worthy? Is he still a man?"
The old lunatic who once stopped everyone when the army was marching out was yelling hysterically in front of everyone. His clothes were still in tatters and he exuded a strong stench, which was certainly disgusting.
But people regarded him as a prophet, and the old madman's insults on the day of the army's expedition undoubtedly proved that he was a capable man and not a show-off madman.
Under the current situation in Kiev, he has naturally become the speech leader of Kiev. Many of the remarks about dissatisfaction with the Grand Duke and encouraging Kiev citizens to go out to fight in the city came from him.
The Grand Duke's people did not dare to touch him. After all, such a figure has such strong popularity among the people of Kiev. If you attack that person rashly, something will definitely happen. This requires the Grand Duke's decision, but the Grand Duke has been dragging his feet.
The old madman's words made Yaropolk's hands feel cold. This was openly inciting rebellion!
Out of the responsibility of a son, Yaropolk subconsciously wanted to capture and kill the old madman to prevent him from continuing to confuse the public with his lies.
But looking at the heavily armed crowd cheering for the old madman, Yaropolk knew that he couldn't do this, and he would be the first to die.
"Let us throw the Grand Duke off his throne! He does not deserve to be our Prince!"
"Yes, yes, that's how it should be. I've had enough of that coward!"
"Isn't there another Prince Rurik in the dungeon? Let's free him. Whoever becomes the Grand Duke will be better than the idiot we are now!"
"This should have been done a long time ago! That stingy bastard should get off his throne in Kiev!"
Yaropolk felt that the situation was getting worse and worse. This was openly inciting rebellion! He even felt that many eyes were looking at him with hostility, making him feel that he could not stay here for long.
If a fight breaks out, the few troops he has will definitely be wiped out immediately!
The Prince of Kiev turned his horse around and headed for the Vladimir Palace. He had to tell his father the news immediately.
Yaropolk galloped on the streets of Kiev, knocking down several people along the way and making the people curse, but this also allowed him to reach the Vladimir Palace quickly.
In front of the Grand Duke's palace in Kiev, Yaropolk pushed past the guards and came to his father's room. As soon as he opened the door, he heard such a conversation.
"No, it's absolutely impossible. We can't kill my relatives. I can't be a parricide beast!"
"Grand Duke, I beg you, please make this decision quickly. As long as Vseslav is dead, no one can shake your position. The mob in Kiev will have no other choice. No matter how bold they are, they will not dare to stay without Lili."
Defeat the prince’s leadership.”
"Kosniyachik, let me say it again, this is absolutely impossible! This is not what I should do!"
The Grand Duke and the Steward were arguing. The well-informed Steward urged the Grand Duke to persuade the unstable factor in the dungeon, but the Grand Duke was obviously unwilling.
As the long-term manager of Kiev, the General Manager was much more sensitive to the city's trends than the Grand Duke. It was precisely because he saw those trends that he put forward these suggestions, but the Grand Duke was obviously unwilling to accept it and was unwilling to make that decision.
It wasn't until the prince opened the room that their quarrel stopped and they both looked at the visitor.
"Father, there is a rebellion! They are openly inciting rebellion in the streets!"
As soon as Yaropolk finished speaking, a burst of shouting and fighting came from outside the room. When they heard this sound, the faces of the prince and the steward in the room were very ugly.
The Grand Duke's face was full of disbelief at first, but then he could only accept this fact, and his face became ugly.