Almost two hours after Prince Rus's army left, a group of menacing Bolovets cavalry arrived here, arriving at this former battlefield.
By this time, the sun had risen high, shining on the dilapidated camp and the piled corpses stripped of their armor. A breeze blew by, and a few remaining pieces of cloth fluttered, revealing the desolation of the battlefield.
The leader of the Polovets was a tall man with a tall and strong body. He also wore a piece of armor on top of his chain mail. He had armor on his hands and feet. He looked like a steel puppet, with a Kipchak mask on his head.
He wears a helmet, but his helmet is inlaid with silver, showing the difference of being a nobleman.
On that cold-blooded iron face, only the eye slits for observing the outside were exposed, and the cold gaze penetrated through the eye slits.
He had a scimitar on his waist, a riding bow on his saddle, and a riding whip in his hand. Tugel was playing with the riding whip and didn't know what he was thinking about.
The black war horse beneath him was obviously not a good thing at a glance. It had a fierce light in its eyes and roared from time to time, as if it was suppressing its aggressive will.
This man was the infamous Tugel, and he was surrounded by a circle of heavily armed Porowe sub-chiefs and warriors, all wearing iron armor, and many of them had ruthless silver iron masks on their faces.
They were Ku's guards and the elite of Tugel. After receiving the news of the attack on the horse herding camp, he brought all the forces he could muster in a short time.
Behind the elite are the noble children of the Kipchaks. These children of chiefs and warriors wear strong armor and carry the arrogance of young nobles. Many of them have flamboyant feathers on their helmets, and each of them has a different look in their eyes.
They are like proud cocks competing for glory.
Most of the young people went into battle for the first time. They were the generation that grew up after the Polovets gained hegemony over the grasslands. Although they participated in a lot of plundering, in their eyes, massacring villages and towns was not considered a martial arts glory at all. Many
Everyone hopes to use the heads of Russian warriors to show their military fame.
Further behind were the ordinary Polovets herdsmen wearing fur clothes. Many of them had one foot on their horses, watching all this with interest, or chatting with others.
The Polovets camp was in a mess, all the tents had been knocked down, the torches and torches had been extinguished, and various items were scattered on the ground, which showed how eager the attackers were to leave.
This mess is not surprising in the eyes of the people on the grassland. It is commonplace for them. Scenes like this have never been rare on the grassland. The plunder and invasion between various tribes have always caused a lot of damage, which has also caused great damage to the people on the grassland.
The spirit of the people is extremely tough and cruel.
"Hey, it's right here. It looks like they haven't gone very long."
The scout dismounted and looked at the traces on the ground. After confirming the information, he said to his leader.
"They're going northeast!"
"Then follow them."
Turg, who was "famous" in Rus, said, his tone was very unkind, anger was brewing in it, and he waved his riding crop several times in the air.
"If you dare to steal my horse, I will make these people pay the price!"
"Yes! Go!"
He responded neatly to the prairie wolf behind him, and then the prairie wolf rider began to gallop towards the direction where the Ross people left.
——
"Valin, there's no problem."
At this time, Prince Ross stood in front of a vast endless swamp. In addition to the endless swamp, dense reeds and scattered woods could also be seen.
The Varin he called was a middle-aged man who joined the Rostislav army in Kiev. He was born in this swamp. He has stayed here all his life and is very familiar with the terrain here.
The reason why he joined the army was to make some money. He felt that he was already middle-aged but had not yet started a family, so he planned to earn some money through the war so that he could buy a family business in the prosperous Kiev.
This is also the thought of many soldiers. They are simple and innocent. Most people participate in the war just to earn a better future.
"Perun... By God, sir, don't worry, I am most familiar with this place and have lived here all my life."
Valin almost said Perun's holy name by mistake, but Rostislav could only smile in embarrassment, rolled up his sleeves very skillfully, and changed the subject to resolve the embarrassment and gaffe at this moment.
"I know a safe way, and it is enough for the army to pass. Please come with me, my lord."
Of course Prince Rus wouldn't care about his gaffe. There are many pagans in Kiev, let alone those outside Kiev. If all of these are pursued, it will be difficult to survive. There are pagans everywhere inside and outside Kiev.
.
And Varin reacted like this simply because he was afraid that Rostislav would hate pagans. Now it seems that he was overly worried. Rostislav had no intention of caring so much about his subordinates' beliefs.
"Follow Valin, let's go!"
Rostislav was the first to follow Valin. Behind him, the Russians led the horses they obtained and walked into the swamp that they would not even approach on weekdays.
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"Are you sure they got in?"
Shortly after Rostislav entered the swamp, the Polovtsian brigade also arrived here. Looking at the endless forest, Tugel asked.
"The traces disappeared after arriving in the swamp. Damn, I'm very sure that they entered the swamp. These Ross cowards still don't have the courage to face us. Just like usual, they would rather go into the swamp than have the courage to confront us head-on."
The scout's answer was sonorous and powerful, and he was extremely convinced of Ye's conclusion. These words also caused everyone present to burst into laughter, laughing at the Russians was their favorite thing to do.
But ridicule is also to cover up the inner fear. In the tribal stories, being close to the swamp never ends well...
"This is troublesome. If we go in rashly, something will happen. These bastards..."
But Tugel's tone was full of suppressed anger. Although he was a reckless and irritable person, he knew well that he could not enter unknown areas, and he couldn't enter a place like a swamp easily. It would be bad if he fell into it.
Otherwise, the entire army might be thrown into the sea, never to return.
"Go around! They will come out sooner or later anyway, we just go and wait."
Tugel would not give up so easily. Since he could not cross the swamp, he would just go around it. The Russians walked into the swamp so as not to be overtaken, and their goal was Kiev after all. So go in that direction and block it.
Can.
"Hold on tight, we have to get around it quickly!"
Following Tugel's order, the prairie cavalry began to gallop, kicking up a lot of dust and causing the light yellow flags to flutter in the wind.