Rise of Rurik

,!

The cavalry lined up along a wall. They wore uniform uniforms and uniform helmets with identical goose feathers. The Ross flag was flying in each flag team.

Although the warriors could launch attacks with mounted bows, they were ordered by Fisk to remain calm, while he himself just watched the enemy's movements.

Suddenly rushed to the edge of the enemy's huge camp. Although Fisk had predicted it, he couldn't help but be very anxious when he saw the enemy's huge force.

He was not afraid of these cavalrymen who could be seen at a glance. It was like they had a big piece of meat in front of them. It was hard to tell where to cut the knife.

The vanguard of a thousand refugees had been dispersed by the Ross cavalry. The cavalry shot and killed many people. Fisk personally led the main force to kill the Semigalian coalition camp, and only a few people were cleaning the battlefield from behind. .

The significance of pursuit is greater than total annihilation. Some enemies who were not killed fled in all directions, and some people dragged their injured bodies and ran all the way to the northeast, just to hide in the forest.

The last Mezotene army collapsed. The guerrilla cavalry swept the battlefield, recovered the arrows fired by the large troops, and replenished the enemy's wounded soldiers. They also happily captured some war horses.

The last time a war horse was captured on the battlefield was three years ago when they first entered the Frankish war. Frank's Roman-blooded war horses were taller and stronger than Ross's Turkic horses. The only shortcoming was probably their poor endurance. As long as the war horses are not forced to move for several months, the Frank horse has an overall advantage.

But Russia needs high-endurance Turkic horses more. What makes the soldiers happy is that although the Semigalian war horses now captured are so shabby that they don’t even have horseshoes, all aspects of the horse’s shape indicate that

They probably have steppe ancestry.

What surprised the soldiers was that these horses had no belly...?

They are actually a group of gelded horses!

The mounts of the Ross Cavalry are mainly female horses. Although everyone knows that male horses are more powerful, their tempers are always very bad. Especially during the breeding season, male horses will always become wild and untamable.

Ross has not yet mastered excellent gelding skills. In order to pursue comprehensive stability in long-distance operations, the overall weak mare has become the core of the operation. This further forced the Ross cavalry to be unwilling to rush into the enemy's position on horseback, but to actively choose a roundabout strategy of shooting arrows. All of this really took into account the strength of the mare.

It's better to catch some geldings than stallions, and the fact that they don't have shoes is never a problem.

The Ross Expedition must bring some craftsmen and replacement parts for heavy weapons.

As a necessary accessory, it is natural to carry some horseshoes. When the king and his troops arrive, these captured horses will have brand new carbon steel shoes.

At this time, the battlefield was still in a ghostly embarrassment.

The Semigalian coalition militiamen were startled. They shouted, whistled, and made various noises to ask the brothers and sisters to stand up with weapons.

The great leader Namsis looked very embarrassed as he hurriedly withdrew. He could no longer think about the outcome of the assembly of a thousand refugees. Now that the Varyag cavalry were so fierce that they were in front of them, the top priority was to fight back!

Only when he returned to the camp did Namesis get a breather. He finally turned his horse's head and finally glared at the eager enemies with a straight face.

"Everyone! Pick up your spears and point them at them."

Namsis

He didn't order an all-out counterattack. After all, this was the man who trained the cavalry. He knew that when the infantry rushed up screaming, those damn cavalry ran away in a flash.

At first glance, it seems that the Varyag cavalry are just lining up on the wall and delaying the attack, or they are looking for their own weaknesses to launch an attack.

Perhaps the best way now is to form a huge hedgehog station, with the spearheads facing the outside at the same time, making the enemy cavalry unable to attack at all.

Namsis hurriedly rode his horse to find his son and son-in-law in the messy camp, and then found Streva, the leader of Okshtate without stopping.

Fear, nervousness, noise, crying...

The militiamen were mostly forced to go to the battlefield. After all, it was the Mezot tribe that was attacked, not the Pasvalis where they were. Although everyone has formed a huge tribal alliance, it does not mean that if something big happens to one side, the other side must risk their lives to help them. What's more, this time in the tribal alliance, only Paswalis's side has the power of the alliance leader. Order to fight.

These Pasvalis people are like this. For the Okshtet people further south who are not legally members of the alliance, "Wooden Stick" Streva can find some reasons to decline the Namsis leader's request to send troops.

The Okshtet people had never thought that their enemy existed like this, and they urgently needed an idea from their leader Stevarre.

"Friend. Why did you come back? Did you lead the Varangians to the big camp? You...could it be that the front line was frustrated?" Streva had restrained enough. He did not ask whether Namsis was the first battle. Defeated.

"Don't mock me!" Namesis, the leader on horseback, leaned over and yelled.

: "Hurry up and organize your people with all your strength. We are going to fight them decisively."

"Decisive battle?!" Streva was suddenly startled: "Is there a large number of infantry behind the cavalry?!"

"Maybe so, at least they have a lot of cavalry."

"Huh? Your cavalry can't destroy them?"

Namsis bared his teeth fiercely and glanced helplessly at the Varangian cavalry who were still eyeing them: "I'm afraid even the powerful cavalry of the Utvin (Lithuania) people can't destroy them. Damn it, Mezotne's cavalry The militia was completely wiped out.”

"Huh?!" As if his whole body was electrified, the shocked Streva straightened up like a pine tree. Because the information was so overwhelming, he relaxed and sat down in fear.

When he stood up again, he could feel his boots soaked with cold sweat.

Originally, Namsis shouldn't have said these words, but when he realized that he had let it slip, it was hard to argue: "The enemy is stronger than I thought. That's the fact. At least we can try to eliminate them on the territory of the Mezot clan. , even if we pay a high price, it is better than our homes being attacked. At least our farmland, our houses and our ships will not be destroyed."

Streva lowered his face and looked up at the big leader: "What are you going to do?"

"I..." In fact, Namsis had not made up his mind. He thought about it for a moment: "Until now, I don't know the enemy's purpose, and I don't even know the enemy's specific identity."

"Hey, aren't they the Varangians? Why do you care so much? Anyway, they are the villains who want to kill us all."

“It’s much more dangerous than it was ten years ago.

Many, they came prepared. "Namisis thought again: "Maybe I should boldly go out and talk to their commander. "

Streva couldn't help laughing when he heard this, and asked with contempt: "Look at yourself! You are the only one who is the most well-dressed, and your armor is stronger than the armor of your subordinates. The Varangians are cunning than foxes. , they will not hesitate to think that you are the big leader, and they will go all out to kill you and plunge your army into chaos."

"It shouldn't be like this." Although Namsis had risk considerations in this regard, he felt that his top priority was to figure out the current situation of the coalition forces.

after all! The coalition's plan is not to have a decisive battle with the bandit army composed of the Varyag-Latvian army today!

"You will die if you go! Your people have collapsed, and I will take my people to withdraw." Streva said harshly, and then suggested: "If you insist on going, it is better to send someone you trust. Let’s find out. Anyway, your power will be inherited by your son. Isn’t that kid in the army? Give your son a chance to make meritorious deeds.”

These words deeply reminded Namsis.

At this moment, the huge hedgehog formation of the Semigalian coalition forces has been set up, and the spearheads are facing the outside world. Eight thousand people gathered in the flat area by the river to form an indestructible behemoth.

Faced with such an infantry array, what can Fisk, who has experienced hundreds of battles, say?

"A bunch of cowards, you don't know how to fight in formation! It's just for self-protection, just like people hiding in a house in winter, just hugging each other for warmth. Don't you...you still expect my cavalry to attack, stupid collision Falling for you?" Fisk cursed inwardly.

Ichiban.

Fisk also had a plan in mind. Although his actions in forming the team in front of the enemy were relatively conservative and cautious, seeing that the enemies gathered together and turned into giant motionless hedgehogs, they had better resolutely maintain a dense formation, so that when the time comes, Ross The cavalry can also throw a hail of arrows and cause them great losses.

Fisker is still waiting for the perfect moment.

Calm waiting is actually a crucial rest for the galloping war horses. Just after frequently pulling their bows, the Ross warriors also had to rest their arms and fingers.

Just when Fisk felt that his fighting spirit had been greatly restored, good news came from behind.

The subordinates who were ordered to clean up the battlefield returned with some captured war horses, and also brought back some reusable arrows.

"Very good, you return to the team immediately and stay calm. Let us try to rain down arrows on the enemy's large camp."

As long as the enemy's position is dense enough, Fisk intends to let the warriors shoot a base number of arrows.

There were about 900 cavalry present. Theoretically, firing a base number would expose the enemy to about 26,000 arrows. The old rule is to deal with these militiamen who are obviously obsessed with civilians, giving priority to using inferior arrows made by Riga people, and then using Ross's iron cluster arrows.

Suddenly, the enemy who had formed a formation to defend themselves suddenly opened a gap, and three cavalrymen who were obviously armored came out of it.

Are you going to fight one on one? No! It's more like they're here to negotiate.

"Boss, is this a messenger? Are we..." the subordinate holding the horn asked subconsciously.

"Are they worthy of negotiating with us?" Fisk tilted his head and gave an order to the 1st Thirty Men of the 1st Cavalry: "Jarhant (a Pecheneg

Warrior), your men shoot them with bows! "

The subordinates took the order, and when the three horsemen were close enough, the thirty warriors suddenly fired their arrows.

The warriors nocked their arrows to the right, and used three fingers to pull the bow string to the extreme in the Mediterranean style that was not usually used.

These three people are indeed messengers, and one of them is the eldest son of Namsis.

The Semigalian Tribal Alliance is spontaneously evolving into a feudal kingdom. There are no forces in the alliance that can threaten the Namsis family. Unless there are special circumstances, the eldest son of Namsis will succeed his father as the chief leader when he is old. As for whether the tribes oppose it... Who dares to oppose it in front of the powerful Paswalis tribe? What's more, the family is related by marriage to the northern chief of Okshtet in the south.

But now the huge alliance is facing unprecedented changes.

For this reason, Namsis had to gamble with his son, and the young man was willing to gamble.

Everyone knows the risks, it’s just…

Suddenly there was a whooshing sound in the air. The most elite of the Ross cavalry shot the three people on horseback with precise shots. The chainmail they wore was of limited significance. What was shocking was that the horses were unharmed.

The frightened war horse turned around and ran away, directly throwing off the three people who had been hit by arrows.

"No! My son!"

Amidst a burst of ferocious sighs, Namsis, as an old father, saw his son hit by an arrow and fell from his horse, and subconsciously covered his head and exclaimed.

At this moment, Fisk got the result he wanted. The so-called arrogance is nothing more than this. Ross has the initiative, and Ross does not need to make peace now.

The enemy became a little confused due to shock. Maybe the three people who were shot were some of the enemies.

Quantity of people? It doesn't matter anymore.

Fisk shrugged and ordered the trumpeter with a straight face: "Blow the trumpet and order the entire army to fire a base number."

There was a breeze today, and although the range of arrows thrown by the Ross army was somewhat limited due to the position of the Ross army, thanks to the special advantage of the big saw's recurve bow in throwing light arrows, the Ross cavalry began to replicate the victory experience in Mezotne.

The distance of the light arrow is more than 200 meters. Even if all its damage comes from the kinetic energy of gravity acceleration when falling, it is still far inferior to a "directly aimed shot in the face" at close range.

For enemies wearing armor, shooting from a mounted bow can only be said to be a joy, but facing an enemy without armor is a different story.

Two hundred meters is far enough. This is the absolute safe zone considered by the Semigalians, especially since the single bows held by their own hunters cannot shoot at such an exaggerated distance.

Following a whooshing sound, the militiamen screamed and howled.

Being shot in the face, neck, arms... Wearing civilian clothes, they were equivalent to facing the falling arrows with their bodies.

After three rounds of cluster shooting, the well-trained Ross cavalry began to fire freely.

Now Namsis finally experienced the horrors of the battle that the Mezotene people had suffered.

But this coalition is not the Mezotene Army fighting alone!

The son who could have inherited the power left with an attitude of negotiation, but because he still had some illusions about the enemy, he was stupid enough to risk his son's life.

"I hurt you! I hurt you!" Namsis had no intention of hiding in the rain of arrows. He roared at the Ross cavalry who fired arrows wildly: "Varyags! I will kill you all!"

he

He will not sit still and wait for death, and Streva, the leader of Oakshtet, is not willing to be confused.

The armor-less militiamen were hiding everywhere but found nowhere to hide. They could only rely on the flexible wooden shields to protect their heads and torsos. Since the enemy's arrows always fell straight from the sky, the wooden shields were moved by their left hands. Raised above the head, many people's left arms were pierced by arrows.

Under the strong and tense mood, the militiamen were bursting with adrenaline. Some of them were so blank that they broke arrows and allowed their wounds to spurt blood...

For a while, they felt no pain from minor injuries. However, the current leader did not directly order something to be done, so the militiamen had no choice but to persist.

Finally, Namsis no longer hesitated.

Furious, his mind was swayed, and all the Semigalian cavalry was seen gathering for Namisis in the rain of arrows, and then all the cavalry bravely began to charge.

"Charge! Mezotne! Brave people, fight the Varyags decisively!"

A pair of eyes saw the big leader attacking at lightning speed, and the leader's actual actions pointed out the direction for the soldiers in chaos!

Although the weapons and equipment of the Semigalians are poor, their fighting will is not bad. Even though the Mezotene Army was annihilated, they actually fought to the end.

Now, the Semigalian-Okshtet coalition forces launched a general attack against the dense arrows of the Ross cavalry!

The cavalry was in front, and the infantry armed with spears formed an extremely dense formation to launch an attack.

This was not within Fisker's estimates.

"Damn it, do they think they can catch up with me with infantry?" Fisk responded calmly, the trumpeter passed the boss's order, and the three cavalry teams instantly started with their horses heads turned backwards.

Retreat.

As the Russians moved toward the Mezotenne mound behind them, Fisk felt that now was the opportunity for a decisive battle, and he could not let it go when the opportunity came. There are more than 4,000 soldiers in the rear waiting for work. What the cavalry has to do now is to lure the enemy deeper.

The Ross cavalry kept turning their heads and throwing arrows backwards, planning to use "kite flying tactics" to ensure that the enemy followed.

Fisk did notice the enemy's relentless pursuit, and was delighted with his success in luring the enemy deeper.

Actually? From the standpoint of the Semigalians, the great leader Namisis has pointed out a way for everyone. The so-called chance of winning this war is only one. The whole army will go all out to attack Mezotne and no longer pay attention to the cavalry. No matter the cost, invade large settlements and fight the enemy decisively. After all, they came here to regain Mezotne. Now the morale of the coalition forces is high. The soldiers have a strong desire for revenge due to grief and anger. This momentum can hardly be incited a second time. The leader of Namisis estimates that he has already mastered it. The only chance of victory.

However, Namisis' war attitude now has the purest purpose - to avenge his murdered son.

"Leader of Varyag! When I catch you, I will use your head and blood to pay tribute to my son!"

However, Fisk kept his cavalry at a suitable distance from the enemy, just like a fisherman fishing for fish. Slowly, the Semigalian coalition forces were lured to the city of Mezotne.

Here Ross's flag was fluttering, and the rear infantry waiting for work under the command of Stekander was ready for the decisive battle.