Chapter 395: Changing the flag at the head of the city
Chapter 395 Changing the Flag at the City Head
In April 1069, the former Kiev Grand Duke Ijaslav Yaroslavich Rurik crossed the border. He had 800 soldiers under his command, most of whom came from the Chervin cities, and a small number came from southwestern Rus.
Slav's eldest son Yaropolk led them.
The cities of Cherven were the most important border between Rus and Poland. War broke out between the two countries, and this area also changed hands between them.
However, in the past 50 years, it has been the territory of Russia. However, due to the disconnected connection with Poland, the cities chose to fully support Izyaslav. After all, the Polish army would have to march to their city.
As for Southwestern Rus, it is the center of Izyaslav's rule anyway. The locals are still very supportive of the prince, so some people turned a blind eye and went to the prince's army.
.
In addition to these people, there were five hundred soldiers following the former Grand Duke. These five hundred came from the Principality of Polotsk and were led by Svyatopolk, the third son of Izyaslav.
Originally, the new Prince of Polotsk could bring more people, but it is a pity that due to the unstable situation in Polotsk, the 500 people he can bring are already the limit.
Although there are only 1,300 people, this force is impossible to defeat Vseslav, and it is not even enough to surround Kiev. However, following these Russians, there are 6,000 Polish troops.
Despite having such a large army, Ijaslav's mood was still very low.
Svyatopolk wanted to talk to his father many times, but in the end he was held down by Yaropolk. Their father was now in a very bad mood.
To be more precise, he has not been in a good mood since the coup in Kiev. The coup in Kiev dealt a huge blow to the prince. He originally thought that he should have the support of the people of Kiev, but it turned out that Kiev
People betrayed him without hesitation.
Izyaslav is very frustrated now. Whatever ambitions he still has, he has forgotten them now. At present, he just wants to return to Kiev and become the ruler of this city again.
After returning to Kiev, he didn't have the energy to do anything to settle the matter. The most he could do was hang those who took the lead in causing trouble. As for government affairs, he planned to delegate power to Ross.
"This is Ross. This is my first time here. This is really magical."
Walking on the land of Rus, Boleslaw couldn't help but feel a little strange. About half a century ago, his grandfather Boleslaw I also walked on this road to attack Kiev.
At that time, Yaroslav was directly beaten away and his son-in-law, the famous "villain", sat on the throne of Kiev. Unfortunately, the "villain" failed to sit firmly in Kiev after all, and Yaroslav still became Rus.
Grand Duke.
Now, the Polish army entered the Rus again, and the Polish King Boleslaw led the Polish elite into the Rus to help his uncle restore his rule over Kiev.
Of course, Boleslaw did not come for nothing. His uncle directly gave him his savings and promised to give him more rewards after taking Kiev. Boleslaw immediately agreed after receiving the money.
He obeyed Ijaslav's request and led his army into Rus after the war ended.
The Polish army is obviously very new to this land. These people are Polish elites and have followed Boleslaw on many battlefields, but this is the first time they have come to Russia.
Due to Ijaslav's request, the Polish army showed restraint along the way, not like locusts plundering everything on the road, but marching honestly.
Seeing the former Grand Duke coming with a large army, and the towns along the way were surrendering to this army, Ijaslav accepted them graciously. His biggest request was to provide food and fodder for the army.
This undoubtedly sends a friendly signal to Kiev, that is, Izyaslav will not do anything to them. Most people think so. Everyone does not want to be affected by the war, and at this time, everyone suddenly thinks of Iraq.
Peace under Jaslav.
In fact, many people have strong opinions on letting a wizard prince serve as the grand duke. All the princes of Russia participated in the war with Vseslav. Now that Vseslav is sitting on the throne of Kiev, these Russian princes will have to do it sooner or later.
Come with your troops.
Since such remarks have always existed, public opinion about peace negotiations quickly became mainstream, and the conspirators were unable to prevent the spread of such public opinion, and some militiamen even began to become restless.
Several small-scale riots broke out in Kiev. Their biggest achievement was the killing of Polotsk nobleman Ivar, but that was all. As someone who relied on street politics to gain political power, many people under Vseslav were very concerned about these things.
Sensitive, so the witchcraft princes suppressed them quickly.
After suppressing the riot, Vseslav suddenly realized how weak his power was, and he suddenly woke up from the dream of ruling Kiev.
However, it was impossible for him to admit defeat. Vseslav then simply summoned the Kiev militia, assembled a full 6,000 people to prepare for the battle, and asked his subordinates and allies to strengthen control of the city.
The gathering of the army undoubtedly put an end to the increasingly dangerous rhetoric. Many nobles who cooperated with Vseslav also began to exert their efforts to control the situation and speech in Kiev. Finally, with their efforts, the environment in Kiev became more positive.
It's getting better and better.
Vseslav's army also went out to fight. In fact, defending the city is undoubtedly the best option now, but the wizard prince needs to show strength. If he cannot show strength, he will be overthrown sooner or later.
But as soon as he left the city, Vseslav regretted it.
Almost at the moment when I came out of the city, there were rumors about how powerful the Polish army was and how good Boleslaw was at fighting. In fact, these rumors also showed the power of the Polish king to a certain extent, but they were too exaggerated.
But people just believed such exaggerated words, and these rumors spread among people to a certain extent, greatly shaking the morale of the military.
Originally many people did not want to fight, but under the influence of these rumors, deserters immediately appeared.
At first, the number of deserters was not large and they only appeared sporadically. However, as they got closer and closer to the Polish-Russian coalition forces, deserters appeared in groups, and there were even cases where an entire battalion fled in one night.
Vseslav adopted various iron-blooded measures to maintain military discipline and reduce deserters, but the results were very limited. Whether he hung deserters in front of everyone or beat them until they were bloody, deserters still came in an endless stream.
Moreover, there were more and more news about the surrender of the towns ahead, which led to more and more deserters. The people of Kiev were unwilling to fight for this foreign prince and were unwilling to die for him.
Vseseslav finally panicked. Based on the situation at hand, it was estimated that when he arrived in front of Izyaslav, he had a thousand people in his hands, and these one thousand people would definitely collapse when facing the enemy.
When he arrived in Belgorod, Vseslav made a decision in his heart that the situation could not continue like this. If he stayed here any longer, he would die.
The Prince of Witchcraft summoned his cronies and those who had boarded the boat and could not get off, and asked them for their opinions on the matter. Everyone was very determined that they could not go on any further and had to make other plans.
Vseslav first ordered the troops to rest temporarily in Belgorod for a period of time to reduce the rate of collapse of the troops.
Then he sent an envoy to Kiev with the news to his cronies, telling them to anoint their feet with oil and prepare to leave Kiev.
As for where, the Prince of Polotsk appointed by the Yaroslavichs has left his fiefdom, and now is the time to make a comeback.
As for what to do after the comeback, we can only tell when the time comes.
After making a series of preparations, on an ordinary night, Vseslav Brachislavich Rurik took about a hundred of his cronies and secretly left Belgorod without anyone.
It was discovered that the leader of this army had fled.
It wasn't until the next day that the nobles who asked for the prince's orders came in and found that the prince and his court had disappeared, and they had no idea where they were going.
The entire military camp exploded at this moment, and nothing had a greater impact on people than the commander's escape. The entire camp immediately fell into chaos, and then everyone began to flee in all directions, and the army collapsed like this.
After these people returned to Kiev, they suddenly discovered that the cronies of the witchcraft princes were also missing. After communicating with the citizens, they learned that they had left in a hurry.
Now the whole of Kiev knows that the Grand Duke of Kiev Vseslav whom they elected has completely abandoned them!
Next, the group supporting Izyaslav naturally took control of the situation. After receiving the news, the Polish-Russian coalition forces also moved towards Kiev with all their strength. At this time, Kiev Wycher began to prepare to welcome the return of the Grand Duke.
Izyaslav's depressed mood finally recovered, but what he didn't know was that the foreign aid he invited, the King of Poland, received a letter from Chernigov.
As for those who used to be the most influential people in Vicher and played a large role in the overthrow of Izyaslav, they have now been abandoned by the general public in Vicher, and they are also in panic all day long, because Izyaslav will definitely take action against them after his return.
But it was at this time that a Mrs. Chernigo visited these former Wyche darlings and speculators. After this person's visit, these people who had to be dealt with even by Izyaslav's gentle temper immediately united.
Getting up, they began to organize manpower and prepare weapons.
They wanted to give the Grand Duke a gift, a gift that he could not refuse. At the same time, this was also their final blow.