As we get closer to Yuriev, there are more and more traces of the war.
For example, in the village we are passing by now, the entire village has been destroyed by flames, leaving only a scorched black area. In the original village square, a tall man was impaled by three or four spears and held up in the air, surrounded by dozens of others.
The skeleton is stuck on the spear, and underneath are the remains of the same withered bones.
This scene made Rostislav feel his stomach churning. He could kill people mercilessly on the battlefield, but it was still difficult to accept such a scene.
But the soldiers did not respond. The requirement to maintain the authority of the commander made Rostislav swallow the urge to vomit, and could only sigh in his heart at the barbarity of the times.
"It should be the Estonian tribes making sacrifices to their gods."
Gevalan came to the prince's side, and the captain of the soldiers explained the bloody scene to him as if he was not surprised by it.
"This is the first time Your Highness has seen such a scene. This is actually not that rare outside Novgorod. Whenever a war breaks out, the barbarians will sacrifice to their gods like this to pray for victory in the war."
"This is really barbaric..."
Rostislav could not help but whisper, but some soldiers still heard him. They immediately looked at the commander with a strange look. More and more people looked at the commander with such eyes, and the atmosphere suddenly became strange.
"Your Highness, I must warn you that many of your subjects are barbarians who would do such things. More importantly, there are many such barbarians in this army."
Gevalan's face was a little ugly. After he finished talking to the erring prince, he immediately glared at the people who looked at him strangely. The fierce eyes of the captain of the personal soldiers successfully made those people flinch. Wherever his sight swept, people started to
Lower your head.
"Ah, I made a mistake."
After reacting, Rostislav couldn't help but slap his head. He actually forgot such an important thing. The main body of his army was farmers and tribesmen outside the city. This was really a taboo.
As for why this is a big taboo, this is because in today's Rus' land, Christianity only occupies the upper hand in the cities, and the countryside is still dominated by the believers of Perun and Veles (the main god of Slavic polytheism), and all kinds of barbaric aliens
Sacrifice still exists in this land.
Even in cities, many Christians are actually people of dual faith. They are not devout in their faith in the Lord, and they still secretly worship pagan gods.
For these pagans, the Rurik regime could only acquiesce to their existence, and then promote the spread of Christianity, building majestic churches everywhere, as well as monasteries that train priests, and pastors who go deep into the countryside, all for the purpose of promoting
The development of Christianity.
It's not that the Rurik regime doesn't want to use blood and fire to promote conversion, but doing so is an enemy of the entire society, and the cost is too high.
The situation becomes more serious the further north you go, even in the city of Novo, which is the center of northern Christian civilization. After all, the conversions back then were accomplished by Archduke Rurik with fire and sword. He put the sword on the necks of the citizens of Novo to force them to do so.
converted.
Although it is winter now and everything is covered with snow, Rostislav's face turned red uncontrollably after he thought about it, as if he was burning with fire. He actually made such a despicable mistake. It was really embarrassing.
"I will let the soldiers do the finishing work for you. Your Highness, please don't do this next time."
Gevalan shook his head. This kind of thing was really helpless, and the prince could only respond silently and accept the criticism.
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After the small interlude, the army advanced for three hours, and they stopped in a spruce forest under the order of Vishatar.
Rostislav, who dismounted, followed the footsteps of Visatta and walked forward. He saw the city standing in the black smoke in the distance. The city was built along the river, and further away was the vast Lake Chud.
Under the wooden walls of the city is a chaotic camp, with countless figures moving among tents and bonfires.
“I really didn’t expect to touch this place so easily.”
While Veshatar was trying hard to observe the situation under the city wall, the prince couldn't help but sigh at how easy it was to go through this journey. There was not even a scout battle, which meant that the Chude people had not discovered them until now.
"I still feel like something's wrong."
The battle-tested Visatar's tone was full of doubts. His war experience told him that something was not right along the way, but then he changed his subject.
"But it's useless to think about it. There is no other choice now. I have sent people to the back to inform the Grand Duke. The main force will arrive soon. Let's rest for a while."
Veshata's soldiers pulled over two pieces of dead wood, and Veshata chose one to sit on. Seeing this, Rostislav naturally sat opposite him.
It will be some time before the main force arrives, so it would be a good idea to chat and pass the time.
"What do you think about that kid?"
As soon as Rostislav sat down, Veshata mentioned Jan Veshadych, whom he had sent to the prince's side.
"Yang, he has the passion of a young man, but sometimes his passion is too much."
Rostislav subconsciously said his evaluation of Yang, but suddenly saw the half-smiling expression of Uncle Veshata in front of him, as if he was holding back a smile, and Rostislav immediately realized what was funny about it.
He is still a teenager, and Yang is only a few years younger than him, but here he talks about the passion of young people. This seems a bit funny.
Prince Nuocheng also laughed. From the outside, it seemed to him that he was indeed making a joke. Of course, he knew in his heart that he was qualified to say this as a man of two generations, but it was something that he could not say out loud.
"Yang is indeed a little immature, I still have to ask you to discipline him properly."
After laughing, Veshata said seriously. His words came from the heart. He had seen Rostislav's intelligence since he was a child. He had thinking and wisdom far beyond that of his peers.
For this reason, Vishata never doubted that this child would achieve great achievements in the future, and might even surpass his father.
"Of course I will, Uncle Visatta."
Rostislav responded sternly, with a very correct attitude. Uncle Veshata is his most important ally and has always tried his best to help him, so he must treat him with the most serious attitude.
"Speaking of Uncle Vishatta, do you think we can win this war easily?"
After chatting for a while, the topic returned to the war. In any case, they were now on the verge of war.
"With their current performance, we can easily crush them."
Visatta's eyes were full of contempt when he looked at the chaotic siege camp, and his words were full of confidence. This old warrior had seen many powerful armies in the world, but these barbarians in front of him were really not enough.
"The whole camp is in chaos, and the investigation work is also poor. We all touched this place but there was no reaction at all. We don't know what the leader of the Chude people is doing."
Just when Rostislav was about to say something in response, behind them, a group of troops with Rurik's trident appeared.
Seeing this, Rostislav and Visata both stood up. They knew very well that the main force had arrived and the battle was about to begin.