Under the leadership of Varin, the Ross people quickly walked through the swamp and headed towards the other end of it.
Valin is very familiar with this forest. Looking at the way he is familiar with the road, you can tell that he has walked here countless times and fully understands every plant and tree here.
He led the team to perfectly avoid every trap that looked beautiful, such as the water surface full of green duckweeds. At first glance, it looked no different from a lush lawn, but if you step on it, you will immediately fall into the water.
The dense reeds that make it difficult for people to walk up can be walked smoothly after cutting off the reeds.
If it weren't for his existence, the Russians would have to spend a lot of time exploring the path, and would have to pay a heavy price for it.
But even with a guide who is so familiar with the local area, problems still arise from time to time. For example, the horse suddenly breaks away from the rider, goes to eat vegetation and then falls into a swamp. Basically, if such a situation occurs, it cannot be saved and can only be killed.
The horses took some horse meat to supplement the army's rations.
The horse meat will be cut into three to five centimeter thick steaks, tied under the saddle of the weight-bearing horse, and then turned over after two or three hours, soaking the steaks with the horse's sweat, and finally waiting for another two or three hours.
Hours later, it is ready to eat. This is the method used by nomads to process horse meat during wartime. It is very crude but fortunately simple.
Rostislav led the red war horse and walked through the swamp. Occasionally he could see the remains of some wooden huts, which should be things left by ancient hermits or residents of the swamp.
Valin is a very talkative person. As he led the team forward, he kept talking about everything about the swamp:
He mentioned the ancient pagan sorcerers who were the overlords in the wilderness, and also mentioned the "villain" Svyatopolk remnant soldiers that his fathers had seen who were defeated here, and even Pechene who accidentally entered this place and died here.
Invaders.
Rostislav listened quietly to the farmer's words and understood the thoughts of the swamp residents from his mouth. He listened very carefully, which helped him understand the people of Rus. Sooner or later, he would become a lord.
It is very important to understand the sentiments of the people.
When night falls, the Russians can only sleep on the ground in the open space in the swamp under the stars, and before sleeping, they must dry their water-logged boots or braided straw sandals by the fire.
This is Rostislav's order. Marching in the swamp will cause great wear and tear on the shoes, and if the shoes are no longer good, the feet will soon be no longer good. Problems with the feet will mean losing combat effectiveness. Rostislav does not want to
Because of this reason, his soldiers lost their combat effectiveness.
So he asked the soldiers to take good care of their shoes, and also asked them to make straw sandals for later use.
At night, for recruits, listening to the howling of wolves in the distance and the roar of unknown creatures under the cover of night will remind them of the legendary ghouls and various otherworldly creatures from their childhood, which will make them toss and turn.
But even so, I still had to wake up early the next day, stuff my mouth with dry food and continue the journey.
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"Sir, I thought about it. With Tugel's character, he will definitely choose to bypass the swamp and intercept us."
Gvalan walked to Rostislav's side, and at the same time he kept using his hands to drive away the mosquitoes that came around. These things were really annoying. There were even a few unlucky guys in the team who got sick from mosquito bites, and the doctor could only
We can do our best to treat them.
For this reason, Russian soldiers tried their best to cover their exposed skin to prevent all possible bites.
"That's what I thought too."
Rostislav held the horse with one hand, stuffed cheese into his mouth with the other and devoured it.
"The vengeful Boroway scoundrel will not spare us. We will probably have to fight when we go out."
"But that guy won't place many men at the edge of the swamp, because that way his troops won't be enough. Instead, he will place some scouts everywhere. If he finds us, he will blow the trumpet immediately. With the speed of the cavalry, we can come here very quickly."
Gevalan looked a little ugly. Even if they got out of this swamp, they would probably have to fight and there would be no way they could escape.
"If that's the case, then we'll take advantage of it."
Rostislav thought of a way to deal with it.
"If we want to fight, we must fight on the battlefield we have preset."
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After the arrow leaves the string, it shoots towards the selected target at an extremely fast speed.
Before the Borovian man sitting by the fire could do anything, an arrow shot through his neck, and he fell to the ground like a tattered rag doll.
The guy who just now was complaining about why this unfortunate thing happened can finally sleep in peace.
The nomad opposite the deceased immediately pulled out his scimitar and took out a horn with the other hand to blow, but then another arrow shot through his head.
As the two Porovets fell, the Russians lurking in the surrounding reeds jumped up. Their division of labor was clear. Two of them controlled the deceased's horse, two confirmed the death of the deceased, and one was responsible for extinguishing the fire.
fire.
After doing all this, they took the corpses and horses and left in an orderly manner, leaving nothing behind except the blood on the ground and the extinguished fire, as if there was no brief fight here.
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"We met two more scouts with horns like this on their bodies. It seems that Tugel's team is indeed ahead of us."
Gvalan handed the two captured horns to Rostislav. Rostislav looked at them and found that there was no difference between the horns and those captured before.
"Dozens of scouts have been eliminated tonight. That guy will definitely determine where we are tomorrow morning. Valin, have you found the battlefield?"
"Sir, please rest assured. I have already found a battlefield. This will become a death hell for horse riders. I swear in the name of God."
As a guide, Valin showed a chilling smile. It seemed that this man had indeed found a dangerous place.
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"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu——"
At dawn, when the sun reveals his face in heaven and earth, the sound of the trumpet fills heaven and earth.
"Quick! Get up! The horn is sounding!"
"Team up! Team up!"
"Found those damn Rus!"
As the horn blew, the originally silent Polovets camp immediately became busy.
Tugel's team arrived at this side of the swamp this evening. In order to ensure speed, the conditions of the people and horses were not good, so after hastily setting up camp and deploying a large number of scouts, they rested in the camp.
As a result, after only one night, the trumpet sounded deafeningly, and everyone had to get on their horses, pick up their weapons, and prepare to go into the battlefield.
The cavalrymen mounted their horses under the urging of the leader or warrior. As for the elite Polovets, they were already equipped and ready to set off at any time.
As they completed the entire team, Tugel waved his hand, and two thousand cavalry rushed towards the direction where the horn sounded.