Chapter 1069： The Polotsk Army Attacks

In Polotsk, many people felt that Lambert and the others, who were the messengers in person, were bound to be miserable. The savage horse bandits would kill them and then refuse any negotiation, the horse bandits are such villains, and negotiating with them is superfluous.

A large number of people feel that Lambert is brave and reckless, and the big leader Plotslaw is not wise on this issue. The people are most concerned about their immediate interests. Those survivors of Duka Village told their experiences everywhere, causing fear and anger among the people. The mainstream public opinion may not have any idea of ​​any peace. Fighting is inevitable, and the top priority is still to strengthen military equipment.

The peasants tried their best to arm themselves, but because they had few iron tools, they made a large number of short spears with limited sharp tools. About three meters of wooden poles, trapped daggers, bone spurs, or just sharpened wooden poles. Pitchforks, scythes, and threshing flails are all weapons.

The previous skirmishes have proved that the horse bandits are very sharp at shooting arrows. How to deal with this? It would be nice to have iron chain armor like the big boss and his personal soldiers, but unfortunately, ordinary farm farmers can't do it.

They made a large number of wooden boards and transformed them into square and round wooden shields.

Wrapping the body in hard animal skin is a means of defense. Conditional hunters simply put on the approval of wild boars, and those who are poor simply hang two wooden boards on the front and rear of the body. This is just to hope that his vital points will not be missed by the arrows of the horse bandits.

All farms are actively preparing, even if this year's wheat harvest is not far away.

It is fair to say that the chiefs of the farms were reluctant to fight because the enemy was pressing too hard. The Rosma bandits arranged for the soldiers to stare at them. It had been many days since the messenger set off. It stands to reason that the scouts who were arranged in the ruins of Duka Village should meet the Lambert gang who were on their way back.

"Should they really be killed? Forget it, there is no longer any extravagant hope..." The big leader adjusted his mentality. He is indeed not a coward, and now he has become a complete master of the battle.

The whole Polotsk was excited, and the Riga merchants who were stranded here went home one after another. Businessmen who know Ross better are not obliged to tell these guys that Ross can't mess with them. They run away, and they must tell Riga to take measures.

Some farm leaders were impatient, and in the follow-up small meeting, no one asked to start the war in advance.

"We don't have to wait any longer! Lambert has been killed, and the enemy has declared war."

"Now we still have the upper hand, and we rushed over immediately. We relied on the advantage of numbers to win quickly without delaying this year's wheat harvest."

They kept saying this, and the heart of the big chief Proclaw was shaken violently. Reason still prevailed, and he ordered: "Continue according to the original plan. And we need a grand sacrifice, let the sacrifice do a divination."

The chiefs counted each other, and each brought an ox from their own farms, and sacrificed a total of up to thirty oxen at the wooden stake ring altar in the large settlement. Such a grand sacrifice can be described as unprecedented in scale, and the sacrificers made the altar stained with ox blood.

They prayed to the sun god, river god, forest god, and wind **** to give them strength. Facing the kneeling people, the priests declared in a high-profile manner that the victory of the Polotsks would be a great victory.

Who would dare to say defeat in this situation? Polotsk did not have the ability to assemble 5,000 people and organize a large number of women, and there was no problem in reaching an armed force of 4,000 people.

They never knew that they could have such a large army. The spears soaring into the sky were like forests. The spear-holders tied their foreheads with white hemp ropes, and their loose hair was tied into simple braids at the back of their heads. They identify themselves in this attire and on the battlefield, and the uniformity on the bright side further enhances morale.

The big leader insisted on waiting until the appointed day, and before Lambert all started.

Exactly two days before the appointed day, on the afternoon of the second day after the completion of the sacrifice, the scouts who were placed in Duka Village hurriedly returned in a canoe.

The messenger's return immediately caused a sensation, and what the people who had already sharpened their knives most wanted to hear was the disdain for peace by those Rosma bandits, so that everyone could justifiably kill them off. Rumors immediately went viral, the returned messengers were subjected to special corporal punishment, and the leader Lambert did not return.

why is that? right! Lambert must be martyred! Brothers will avenge him!

As many village chiefs as possible poured into the fortress of Proclaw, and the victims were sitting on the ground and being questioned.

They were asked to tell about their experiences with the enemy, and they all wept bitterly about their suffering, pointed out the strength of the enemy, and most importantly, pointed out the crazy attempts of the enemy.

The head of the big leader, Proclaw, felt his scalp go numb when he heard this, and some village leaders who were listening in could not stand the excitement and criticized the situation: "I told you that it was time to send troops early, and now that the Rus people have taken precautions, we have already had the chance to raid. not much."

Someone made a correction: "It takes time for the army to gather, and the rusted sickle needs to be polished. Now my village is ready to attack."

"Then go quickly! I don't want to wait any longer..."

The village chiefs completely believed what the released messengers said, and the messengers repeated what Fisk sent them to tell them. It's not that these Polotsk elites lack wisdom, it's just that the emissary's words from the Rus are unbelievable.

Proclaw blushed, and he also asked one more question: "Did you really see Lambert killed?"

One person hurriedly replied, "but those gangsters will use Lambert as a sacrifice to sacrifice to their god. Lambert must have been martyred."

"So you didn't see Lambert's death..."

"Is there anything else to doubt? We demand to fight immediately!" A village leader urged ruthlessly, fearing that Proclaw would waste more time.

"Forget it. Let's go to war then! It seems that any illusions I have about the enemy are false! Brothers, you should prepare immediately. We will gather tomorrow, bring all the supplies, and we will march upstream!"

Proclaw made the most difficult decision in his life. The returned messenger was humiliated and got some important information that was very unfavorable to Polotsk-the Rus people were increasing their troops.

The battle situation has become confusing, and it is certain that if Polotsk does not act again, when the Russian army has more troops, his chances of winning will not be much.

They still don't know how many troops the Rus can mobilize, and Polotsk in the "fog of war" has few options. The whole people are mobilized, and the rest is just to give it a go, even if it may usher in destruction. But the general public did not have the slightest pessimism. They were swayed by anger. Goodbye, they had to gather together an unprecedented army of their own people. When the army gathered at the largest settlement, their confidence reached its peak.

The grand sacrificial ceremony has ended. Today is not the day of expedition. Proclaw complied with public opinion and announced the expedition today, which greatly satisfied the people's desire to fight.

Next, is the march to the upstream...

It was very lively when the army assembled. The identity of the armed farmers first belonged to the farm where they were located, and their village leaders led the farm Jianyong to form a combat group. There are twenty battle groups, large and small, the largest of which is the part from the largest settlement, led by Proclaw.

Polotsk has assembled 4,000 men and women armed peasants, and it can be said that they have exhausted their military potential.

The old and the weak were placed at home, and all young men and women set out.

The armies of the various farms gathered together, carrying dry rations and weapons, mainly short spears, and set off on foot.

They could use canoes, but no one did. No one was the first bird. All the leaders believed that the only way to win is to fight together. Any act of fighting first is just giving the Rosma bandits a chance to defeat each other.

Losing the ability of the canoes to move troops quickly, all the Polotsk militia could only walk together. . It is not surprising that the marching army formed a long snake formation. The key point is that the formations of these militias are not coherent with each other.

The team was stunned and gradually delayed for up to five kilometers! The head of the natural army of the largest settlement led by Proclaw himself, they have a higher arrogance and naturally go faster.

Followed by several farms in the second echelon, followed by the third echelon, the fourth echelon, and the fifth echelon, which seemed to be deliberately dawdling.

In a sense, this march was similar to a marathon. Those with weak legs were forced to fulfill their obligations to defend their homes. The disadvantage of their weak physical ability was clearly demonstrated, and even those with weak feet were left behind.

They were in high spirits in the settlement, and after two days of marching, the morale of many people was severely demoralized.

Proclaw's own situation was also a bit bad. He personally led a team of 500 people, which was actually the largest group in the entire army. Grain was piled on the wooden carts transported by the pony horses, and the marchers also carried dry rations. He is very aware of the situation in which he is directly in command of the army. The army has limited food, and it is not a problem to rely on the river to drink water.

My own team could not support the long march, and the situation in other allied villages could only be worse.

On the surface, he is indeed the chief leader of the entire Polotsk, but in essence he is still the person elected by the villages. He does not have the power to control the affairs of the villages of the alliances. Instead, he was completely kidnapped by the raging public opinion of the alliances in this war.

As soon as the war started, it was like an arrow that could not be retracted. It continued to operate for two days. Now, camping by the riverside, a large number of bonfires were lit, and the villagers were armed to camp and rest on the spot. He found that his team was already in a lot of misery. The men were rubbing their calves, panting for a while, and hurriedly eating the porridge after it was cooked. The situation of female fighters in the army is even worse. They are peasant women. Because of the basic principle of all-people warfare, they are also fulfilling the duty of defending their homeland. This is taken for granted by them, but in the current environment, they have become a burden.

Women are often frail, and if they rest well, there is no problem in fighting. Since they have passed through the ruins of Duka Village, and the swamp occupied by the enemy is not far away, these female warriors have clearly shown their legs and feet, and the speed of keeping them in the entire army will be greatly reduced.

Should I persuade them to go back?

Proclaw did not do this. He arranged for his scouts to go to the front to investigate and also to the rear to investigate the army behind the farm. Some news came to his ears, and the information was very regrettable.

"Damn, you are too dawdling! Do you hope that five hundred of me and the enemy will fight recklessly?"

He scolded and summoned his cronies, then gathered all the strong men in the army, and lectured on them based on the current situation.

The bonfire shone on the slightly tired faces of these young people. He pointed directly upstream of the river and said loudly: "The enemy is there! It's a pity that our allied soldiers are too slow. Is it possible to use our strength to gain glory? Unless the army is united Only by fighting can we have a chance of victory, otherwise we will find ourselves dead! We cannot take risks, I order you to slow down, everyone cheer up, we are entering the rampant enemy activity area..."

His words were as euphemistic as possible, and the listeners realized that their allies were procrastinating. The original plan was to launch a collective charge of the army to wipe out the enemy's fortress in one fell swoop. Now it seems that the fighters are very immature and decaying.

It's not that Proclaw is going to be ruined, he just doesn't want to kill him with fueling tactics.

The next day, he deliberately slowed down his head, which was very friendly to the first echelon of the march. The five hundred people at the front took a wedge-like formation, with strong men in front, a small carriage in the middle, and female warriors in the back. Since they were operating against the right bank of the river, their right-hand side was the river, and there was no need to defend this position, so they placed a defensive force on the left-hand side in case an enemy suddenly burst out of the woods.

A few days ago, Lambert's messenger team, because his legs and feet were quite neat, the people he called were also of high physical fitness. This small group of people can move fast and can rush to Vitebsk in four days on foot alone.

Proclaw's own army had to accommodate the slow-moving people in the army, and now it had to move to the worse allied villages.

It was the fourth day, and they still had not seen the so-called Vitebsk fortress, and the nearby river channel of the camping area was far from turning into a swamp.

How many more days of walking will it take? The tedious march was quickly depleting the morale of the soldiers. It was not what Proclaw thought that the war had become like this. He pondered that the march was so rotten, there should be some village chiefs who felt that taking the initiative was a reckless mistake.

What is very bad is that now the possibility of the army company turning around and returning is completely lost, and the silent cost they have invested in the war has been enormous.

This was the fourth night after the expedition, and geographically they were already very close to the Vitebsk fortress.

In this way, if Ross sends cavalry scouts to scout, he can easily detect the traces of the Polotsk army.

The scout cavalry was always in place, and they had no trouble noticing the undisguised enemy. They even took advantage of the moonlight in the night to find a way to forcibly return, and then dragged their tired bodies and bloodshot eyes back to the camp in the early morning when the morning fog was just beginning to evaporate.

Fisk sharpened his knives like all the soldiers, and fighting with the enemy in an upright manner was considered by ordinary soldiers to be a waste of the advantages of cavalry. They all obeyed Fisk alone. Since the boss asked so, the brothers and the brothers who joined later had to agree.

Several scouts rushed back at the wrong time, each explaining the news of the enemy's sudden appearance.

Fisk, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by the noise of the outdoors. He patted his face and shouted to instantly dissipate his air from getting up.

"What's the matter?!"

The soldier outside the door hurriedly said: "It's the scout we sent out! There is important news to report."

"It's the enemy!" The scout soldier with the status of a veteran broke into the door without any regard for etiquette, and then said in a loud voice: "Big brother! I really made that Lambert right, their army has already appeared."

Fisk stood up immediately, his mind was stimulated and instantly sobered up: "Is the news reliable?"

"It's true, it's..."

"How? You speak slowly."

"Yes."

So all the returning scouts entered the house. They had some discrepancies in what they said about the enemy. The greatest common divisor of their remarks all pointed out a situation Based on the number of bonfires the enemy has lit, it can be roughly estimated that their troops are not many, and the land Between five hundred and a thousand people.

Is this the entire force of the enemy? Take the maximum estimated number of a thousand people, such a force is a behemoth, and just like this is like challenging the cavalry, then the Polotsks are asking for themselves.

Fisk believed in the investigation reports of his old subordinates. He didn't believe Lambert's description of the so-called "5,000-strong army", but rather agreed with the "3,000-strong army" estimated by the leader Olaf.

Even with reference to the latter, the strength of the Polotsks is now a vanguard.

What is this?

A problem was placed in front of Fisk: Either take the initiative to attack the team and frustrate its spirit, or sit back and watch them approach the city before attacking.

After all, it must be attacked. Considering that the enemy is very slow to move on foot, the coalition forces on the Ross side still have time to discuss whether to take the initiative to attack.

"Okay. Take my order to inform Quetzal, Wladyslav, Svalgard, and Old Man Olaf (Old Harald) for a meeting," he ordered.