Due to the characteristics of the confrontation between the North and the South, two words naturally appeared in Ross, the Southern Army and the Northern Army.
Rostislav's Northern Rus' side was naturally called the Northern Army, while Sviatoslav's side was naturally called the Southern Army. All the lords had to stand between the Southern and Northern armies, and the confrontation across Russia had begun.
There is no room for neutrality here, because the great lords of Ross have already taken sides, and the following lords do not have the strength to be neutral. Under such circumstances, if they are neutral, they will undoubtedly be targeted by both the north and the south at the same time, even in name.
The standing in line must also be carried out.
The war season has arrived, and everyone can feel that the coming war may be the largest war in Russia in decades.
The two Ruriks in the north and south were also actively communicating with foreigners. Svyatoslav sent letters to Polovets Khan and the King of Poland and gained their support.
After recovering from his injuries, Salu launched several raids on Rus this year, but they all failed in front of Sviatoslav, which greatly affected the Khan's prestige.
This made Salu very afraid of Svyatoslav, and this fear was exploited by Svyatoslav. The Grand Duke of Kiev knew about the hatred between the khan and Rostislav, so he wrote this letter.
As Svyatoslav expected, Saru now prefers to be his friend rather than his enemy.
After knowing that he was going to face Rostislav, the enemy who killed his father, Salu immediately agreed to the invitation of the Grand Duke of Kiev, and the Polovtsian army would come to support that day.
However, Pereyaslav will not trust the Polovts, and the Polovts will not trust Pereyaslav either. This means that the two parties will not gather too many troops.
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As for King Boleslaw of Poland, whether because of his relationship with Svyatoslav or his own love for war, he will participate in this war.
The King of Poland has long wanted to fight Rostislav, and now that the opportunity is in front of him, he will never give up.
In contrast, Rostislav also invited two foreign allies. One was Adam, whom he promoted to the throne. It was time for Bulgar Khan to return Rostislav's favor.
Now that Bulgar has been stabilized under Adam's rule, the "Sword of Justice" who degenerated into bandits has now completely lost its organization. These unconnected bandits can no longer pose a threat to Adam.
Within Bulgaria, as the winery owners who relied on the wine trade with Russia became more powerful, they became an important pillar of the Adam regime.
The Bulgar cities also succumbed to the Khan's forced relocation and iron-blooded blows. Adam is now a well-deserved Bulgar Khan.
Adam said that he would bring all the power he could bring. This was a battle involving the choice of the master of all Russia, and Bulgar was undoubtedly unable to fight against all Russia. Back then, Rostislav defeated Bulgar by relying on Northeastern Russia.
, if facing all of Russia, then Bulgar can only fail, so it is better to let a pro-Bulgar Russian sit on the throne of Kiev.
The other foreign monarch invited by the Prince of Moscow—to be precise, he brought it together himself—was Harald of Norway.
For the King of Norway to join, the Prince of Moscow was nothing but an accident, because for Harald, whether it was Rostislav or Svyatoslav, they were all his relatives, and the palms and backs of his hands would be full of flesh.
Now it seems that Harald obviously prefers Rostislav's side, so he chooses to join them. The Norwegian King expressed that he would lead only an elite, or a real elite.
However, Rostislav seemed to think that Harald was a little strange from his letter. The Norwegian king actually openly mentioned Odin and the Hall of Valor in the letter.
Such behavior would undoubtedly arouse a lot of rebuke, but the King of Norway looked completely indifferent, and according to rumors, anyone who talked about matters of faith in front of the king ended up having his head chopped off.
The prince of Moscow just felt strange about this. Rostislav would not attack his allies because of such a thing. The prince's attitude towards faith was very flexible.
While contacting foreign monarchs, the two sides were also bribed within Russia. Many tribes on the borders of north and south Russia suddenly found that no one cared about them, and now people suddenly came to send money to their doorsteps.
As for the competition for powerful lords and cities in various places, it was even more serious. For a while, spies and donors from all over Russia were coming and going to win support for their masters.
And secret battles are indispensable. The result of the fight between gods is that the kid is injured. In a series of confrontations between the north and the south, the gang problems in many cities have been eliminated.
Rostislav focused most of his energy on internal defense. The prince of Moscow knew that he had no foundation in the south. Even his third uncle, who had a better attitude towards him, could not stand on his side instead of spending money in vain.
Instead of seeking support, it is better to defend yourself.
Under this policy, Novgorod did arrest several people who provided intelligence to the south.
These people are all people who have not been able to catch the fast lane of development in Novgorod in the past few years since Rostislav took control.
They were very dissatisfied with the current situation in Novgorod, so they colluded with the south, hoping to change their destiny through collusion.
It's a pity that in Novgorod, a city that is quite resistant to the south, especially Kiev, such behavior cannot be hidden at all.
Their heads were then hung on the city walls as a deterrent to anyone who tried to sell the information, and their wealth and inheritance belonged to the loyal ones.
Generally speaking, Northern Rus is loyal. The city of Moscow was built by Rostislav. It is impossible for Svyatoslav to penetrate his power here. As for Novgorod, this city is very important to Kiev.
Very conflicted.
It is already October 1070, and the smoke of the war is too strong, even more obvious than that in the Principality of Polotsk. It is obvious that everyone abroad knows about the Russian war.
The surrounding countries are all concerned about the war in Russia, because if nothing unexpected happens, Russia is likely to have the largest war in recent years.
However, despite the prospect of war, trade has become more prosperous, especially food trade and equipment trade. Food is needed for large armies to gather, and weapons and equipment are necessary to save lives. No one will be stingy with money.
With the completion of the autumn harvest and the arrival of winter, both the north and the south were tacitly recruiting troops. This mobilization was obviously larger than the one to conquer Polotsk. The envoys of the two rulers went to wherever they could find manpower.
Summon any soldiers you can.
Soldiers in remote and rural areas are gathering in an orderly manner and arriving at the assembly point in advance. While the mobilization in major towns has not yet begun, everyone has already begun preparations.
The center of the war is undoubtedly Smolensk. The main forces of the southern and northern armies are gathered here. This is the trade center of the entire Rus, and only here can the army be deployed, and there is good logistics for both sides.
condition.
Only by capturing this place, no matter which side it is, can continue the war, so this is the core of the war and the key to the entire war.
As the news of the war spread, those who are always indispensable came to see that the dogs of war would not let go of any battle. Soon, all kinds of mercenaries and desperadoes began to pour into Ross, based on routes and judgments
Join the Southern Army or the Northern Army respectively.
The Southern and Northern armies even started to recruit mercenaries. They recruited mercenaries directly from abroad to increase their manpower as much as possible.
There is no doubt that we are now in a state of readiness for war, and the conflicts on the front lines have also intensified. Everyone can see that a war will happen in the next few months.
People didn't panic too much. War is a part of life, but at this time, no one realized how big the scale of the war would be.