Following the shouts and orders, Visby's long-closed door slowly opened, and Visby Mayor Haakon rode out with a North Guards.
Rostislav had been waiting for a long time. As the Norse appeared, he immediately drove forward on horseback, followed by a heavily armed and mighty-looking personal entourage behind him.
Compared with Ross's personal entourage, although the North cavalry has bright armor, their riding skills are much poorer. They are obviously just a group of mounted infantry. It seems that the meaning of their existence is just for show.
The two teams stopped less than fifty meters apart. Compared to the Russians, these Northmen were obviously much more embarrassed, but at least they didn't make a joke.
Then the leaders of the two teams, Rostislav and Haakon, rode to meet.
"I wish you health, Lord Haakon, and may God bless you."
Rostislav greeted the mayor of Visby leisurely. Haakon's face twitched, but he suppressed these expressions immediately.
"And God bless you, Lord Rostislav."
It can be clearly heard that Haakon's tone is full of suppressed anger, but now he must be patient and negotiate with the Archduke of Rus.
"Lord Haakon, please explain your purpose of coming. If it is about unconditional peace talks and restoration of the original status quo, it goes without saying. But I believe you are not that stupid. You are a smart person, so I am here to listen to your opinion.
."
Rostislav's actions and words fully illustrate what a winner's surplus is. He behaved impatiently and frivolously in front of Haakon.
Haakon wanted to yell at the Russian, but the current situation did not allow it. The mayor sighed and forced himself to ignore those damn emotions.
"Lord Rostislav, I have brought you good intentions. I hope you will stop the war and return to your Ivangorod. This will be good for both of us."
Haakon's tone was very gentle, but the meaning in it was very sharp, which made Rostislav raise his eyebrows.
"So what can I get? Lord Haakon? What can you give me? What leverage do you have to satisfy me and my army? Don't forget that my cavalry now controls almost the entire island of Gotland."
The Grand Duke of Kiev's words were full of arrogance. During the time when the alliance was formed, he exchanged letters with the mayor of Visby frequently, and he was fed up with this guy's foul language.
Now watching this guy suppress his emotions under his power, there is nothing more satisfying than this.
Moreover, Rostislav's palm was still playing with the hilt of the sword, and the meaning expressed was very obvious.
"I, Visby and all of Gotland will surrender to you and become your vassal, providing you with soldiers and taxes."
Haakon said neither humble nor arrogantly, but all he got was Rostislav's sneer.
"I take back what I said about you being smart." Rostislav's face was serious. "You are a fool. I clearly have a better choice at this time. Why should I accept your vassalship? What do I need? I can attack the city."
Just go and get it, or do you think the town where your main force is not here can stop us? Don't expect reinforcements, your fleet will come only after God knows when. So, you have only one choice, and that is to surrender, unconditionally.
"
Haakon was silent, because what Rostislav said was completely correct, but surrender was unacceptable to him personally and to Visby.
"Then let's meet on the battlefield. You son of a bitch. I really don't know why I have the illusion that you can listen to people's words. Let's just meet and bleed in front of our city wall.
You savage of Rus!”
Haakon finally cursed, and a playful smile appeared on Rostislav's face, because the lust and jealousy in it were so obvious, he was like an incompetent and furious wild boar.
"I am also stupid to meet you, so let's do it. Let's meet on the battlefield."
After Rostislav finished speaking, he turned the horse's head and raised a cloud of dust. Haakon didn't say anything more and just returned to his team.
At this moment Rostislav said, "God bless."
This was a farewell word. Haakon was stunned for a moment, and then said with a little helplessness, "May God bless you."
Then the two teams returned to their camps, Haakon led the guards back to the city, the heavy gate fell down, and Rostislav rushed to the military formation.
"My Grand Duke, how was the conversation?"
When the Archduke of Ross returned to his own army, his captain Domhnall asked loudly.
"Prepare to fight, my friends, let us take this city with fire and sword, long live, long live!"
Rostislav's tone was full of unquestionable belief in victory, which boosted the morale of the people, and everyone returned to their commander-in-chief with great momentum.
"Long live!"
The soldiers' cries seemed to be earth-shattering. No one had any doubts about winning. In their eyes, this was natural and right, and victory must belong to them!
The shouts of the Russians were so loud that even the guards in Visby were shaken by those shouts. Most of them were either too young or too old, and had experienced too little or too much. Facing such power, they couldn't help but feel frightened.
.
But they didn't have to be bothered by this emotion next, because the Russians had already shot stones and huge crossbows at them.
Many of them hit the field, but some still hit the city wall, causing the solid wooden wall to tremble.
"Archers come forward!"
Then the Russians launched an attack, and the peasants they brought pushed the cart to the city wall, and the Russian archers followed closely and shot at the city wall.
The reaction of the city guards was obviously slow. When many of them fell under the arrows, others reacted, relying on the battlements and shooting holes to fight with the enemy.
There was another blast of trumpets, and the Russian shock troops began to move.
A large number of soldiers wearing light armor and carrying long ladders rushed towards the city wall as fast as possible, and there were several siege engines between them.
Each of these towers mounted on huge wooden wheels was pushed hard by more than a dozen soldiers. The solid wooden wheels made wide ruts on the ground. Their key parts were covered with iron, which greatly increased their weight.
, but also enhanced protection.
Much of the siege was spent on building these siege engines, and the battlefield intimidation their presence brought did mean it was worth it.
The first to speak were the archers hiding under the bunker. As the horn blew, they stood up from the bunker as if they were dying, pulled the bow strings and crossbow strings as fast as they could, and threw them towards the city wall.
Catching an arrow.
Just as the arrows were suppressing the city wall, the impact troops could attack more calmly. Soon, they came under the city wall through the pre-reserved passages.