Chapter 1,069 Polotsk Army Attacks

In Polotsk, many people felt that Lambart and his group, who were personally serving as envoys, would be in trouble. The savage horse bandits will kill them and refuse any negotiation. The horse bandits are such villains that negotiation with them is really unnecessary.

A large number of people felt that Rambart was brave but also very reckless, while the big leader Plotzlaw behaved unwisely on this issue. The people care most about their own immediate interests. The survivors of Duka Village told their stories everywhere, which aroused fear and anger among the people. Mainstream public opinion may not have any thoughts about any peace. War is inevitable, and the top priority is still to strengthen military preparedness.

Farmers tried to arm themselves as much as possible. Since they did not have many iron tools, they used their limited sharp tools to make a large number of short spears. The wooden pole, which is about three meters long, can be used to stab daggers, bone spurs, or just polish the wooden pole to a sharp point. Pitchforks, scythes, and threshing flails are all weapons.

The previous skirmishes proved that those horse bandits were very sharp in archery. How should we deal with this? It would be great if they had iron chainmail protection like the big leader and his soldiers, but it's a pity that ordinary farmers can't do that.

They made a large number of wooden boards and transformed them into square and round wooden shields. If possible, they would cover the shield with a layer of animal skin.

Wrapping the body in hard animal skins is a means of defense. Hunters who have the means simply wear wild boar pelts, while poorer ones simply hang two wooden boards on the front and back of the body. He did this just in the hope that his vitals would not be missed by the horse bandits' arrows.

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

To be fair, the farm leaders were unwilling to fight because the enemy was pressing too hard. The Rossmar bandits arranged for soldiers to keep an eye on the envoy. It had been many days since the messenger had set out. It stands to reason that the scouts arranged at the ruins of Duka Village should encounter Lambart's group on their return.

"Will they really be killed? Forget it, we can no longer have extravagant hopes..." The big leader adjusted his mentality. He was indeed not a coward, and now he became the outright main fighter.

The whole Polotsk crowd was excited, and the Riga merchants who were stranded here were so frightened that they returned home one after another. Some businessmen who knew Ross well had no obligation to tell these guys that Ross was untouchable. They ran away and immediately told Riga to take countermeasures.

Some farm leaders were impatient, and in the subsequent small meeting, no one asked for an early start of war.

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

"Now we still have the upper hand and rush over immediately. We rely on our numerical advantage to win quickly and not delay this year's wheat harvest."

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

The chiefs calculated among themselves, and each took an ox from his own farm, and sacrificed as many as thirty oxen in total on the wooden stake ring altar of the large settlement. Such a grand sacrifice was unprecedented in scale, and the priests made the altar soaked with cow blood.

They prayed to the sun god, river god, forest god, and wind god to give them strength. The priests faced the kneeling tribesmen and announced in a loud voice that the Polotsk people would win a great victory.

Who dares to say defeat in this situation? Polotsk did not have the ability to gather 5,000 men, but if he organized a large number of women, it would be no problem to reach an armed force of 4,000 men.

They never knew they could have such a large army. The spears soaring into the sky were like a forest. The spear holders tied their foreheads with white hemp ropes, and tied their scattered hair into simple braids on the back of their heads. They use this attire to identify themselves with the battlefield, and their apparent uniformity further enhances morale.

The big leader insisted on waiting until the appointed day, and set off en masse before Lambart could wait.

Just two days before the appointed day, on the afternoon of the second day after the sacrifice was completed, the scouts stationed in Duka Village hurriedly returned in a canoe.

The return of the envoy immediately caused a sensation. What the people who had already sharpened their knives wanted to hear most was the disdain for peace from the Russian bandits, so that everyone could justifiably kill them all. Rumors immediately spread wildly, and the returning envoys were all subjected to special corporal punishments, and the leader, Lambart, did not return.

why is that? right! Lambart must be martyred! Brothers want revenge for him!

As many village leaders as possible rushed into the city of Proclaw, and the victims sat on the ground and accepted questions.

They were asked to tell about their encounters with the enemy, and each one of them cried bitterly and told their sufferings, pointing out the enemy's strength, and most importantly, pointed out the enemy's crazy intentions.

Proclaw, the great leader, felt his scalp numb when he heard that. The village leader who was watching could not bear the stimulation and criticized the situation very seriously: "I told you long ago that you should send troops early. Now the Russians are on guard, and our chance of surprise attack is gone." not much."

Some people made corrections: "It takes time to gather the army, and the rusty sickle needs to be polished. Now our village is ready to launch an attack."

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

The village leaders completely believed everything the released messenger said, and the messenger repeated what Fisk's messenger told them. It’s not that these Polotsk elites lack wisdom, it’s that the messenger’s words from the Russians cannot be tolerated by people.

Proclaw suppressed his blush and asked one more question: "Did you really see Lambart killed?"

One person answered hurriedly, regardless of the pain in his ears: "But those gangsters want to use Lambart as a sacrifice to worship their god. Lambart must have been martyred."

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

"Is there anything left to doubt? We demand immediate combat!" A village leader urged ruthlessly, fearing that Proclaw would waste time by nagging.

"Forget it. Let's start the war! It seems that all the 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 returning envoy suffered humiliation but still got some important information that was very unfavorable to Polotsk - the Russians were increasing their troops.

The battle situation has become complicated and confusing. What is certain is that if Polotsk fails to take action and the Russians have more troops, their chances of winning will be slim.

They still don't know how many troops the Russians can mobilize, and Polotsk, in the "fog of war", doesn't have many options. The whole people were mobilized, and all that was left was to give it a try, even if it might lead to destruction. But the majority of the people did not have the slightest pessimism. They were swayed by anger and saw the unprecedentedly large army composed of their own tribe gathered together. When the army gathered in the largest settlement, their self-confidence reached its peak.

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

Next, is the march straight upstream...

Although it was very lively when the army gathered, the identity of the armed farmers was first attached to the farm where they were located, and their village leaders led the farmers to form a combat group. There were twenty combat groups, large and small, in total, the largest of which was the section from the largest settlement, led by Proclaw himself.

The number of men and women armed peasants gathered in Polotsk reached 4,000 people. It can be said that they have drained their military potential.

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

The troops from each farm gathered together and marched on foot carrying dry food and weapons mainly short spears.

They could have used canoes, but no one did so. No one made the first move. All the leaders believed that victory could only be achieved by working together. Any advance in fighting would only give the Ross Horse bandits a chance to defeat them one by one.

Losing the ability of canoes to transport troops quickly, all the Polotsk militiamen could only walk together. The strength of each farm was uneven. Their march along the right bank of the West Dvina River gradually turned into a long snake due to the delay of all parties. . It is not surprising that the marchers formed a long snake formation. The key is that the formations of these militiamen are not coherent with each other.

The team was stunned and gradually delayed for five kilometers! The army of the largest settlement was led by Proclaw himself. They had higher arrogance and naturally moved faster.

Several farms in the second echelon followed, followed by the third echelon, the fourth echelon, and the fifth echelon that seemed to be deliberately dilly-dallying.

In a sense, this march is similar to a marathon. Those who are not good at foot strength are forced to fulfill their obligation to defend their homeland. Their weak physical disadvantages are clearly shown, and there are even people with sprained feet who are left behind.

When they arrived at the settlement, the crowds were excited and their morale was high. After two days of continuous march, the morale of many people was severely depleted.

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. The wooden carts carried by the ponies were piled with food, and the marching people also carried dry food on their backs. He was very aware of the situation in which he directly commanded the army. The army carried limited food, so relying on rivers to bring drinking water to the army was not a problem.

His own team cannot support a long march, and the situation of other allied villages can only be worse.

On the surface, he is indeed the big leader of the entire Polotsk, but in essence he is still the talker elected by each village. He did not have the power to influence the affairs of each alliance village. In this war, he was completely kidnapped by the fierce public opinion of each alliance.

As soon as the war started, it was like an arrow that could not be recovered. The operation lasted for two days. Now they are camping next to the river. A large number of bonfires are lit, and the villagers are armed and camping on the spot to rest. He found that his team was already moaning and groaning. The men were all rubbing their calves and panting for a while while waiting for the wheat porridge to be cooked and eating it in a hurry. The situation of female soldiers in the army is even worse. They are originally peasant women. Due to the basic principle of national warfare, they are also fulfilling their obligation to defend their homeland. This is natural to them, but in the current environment, they have become a burden.

Women are often weak, so if they are well rested before jumping into the fight, there is no problem. Since they have passed through the ruins of Duka Village and are not far from the enemy-occupied swamp, these female warriors have clearly shown signs of fatigue. If they are left behind, the speed of 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 and rear to investigate the advancing farm army. Some news reached his ears, and the information was very regrettable.

"Damn it, you guys are taking too long! Do you want me, the five hundred people, to fight against the enemy?"

He cursed and summoned his cronies, then gathered all the strong men in the army, and lectured 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 alliance soldiers are too lazy. Are we going to gain glory with our small strength? Unless the armies unite Only by fighting can we have a chance of victory, otherwise we will be seeking death! We cannot take risks. I order you to slow down and cheer up. We are entering an area where enemy activities are rampant..."

His words were as tactful as possible, and the listeners all realized that their allies were delaying. The original plan was for the army to launch a collective charge and destroy the enemy's fortress in one fell swoop. Now it seems that the fighter planes are very immature and are deteriorating.

It's not that Proclaw wants to mess up, he just doesn't want to die by adding fuel to the fire.

The next day, he deliberately slowed down while holding his head, which was very friendly to the first echelon of the march. The five hundred people in the vanguard adopted a wedge-like formation, with the strong men in front, the small carriage with baggage in the middle, and the female warriors behind. Since they were operating against the right bank of the river, they now had the river on their right, so this position did not need to be defended, so they placed defensive forces on their left in case an enemy suddenly came out of the forest.

A few days ago, Lambart's team of envoys, because he himself was quite agile, the people he summoned were also of high physical fitness. This small group could move quickly and make the four-day rush to Vitebsk just on foot.

The army led by Proclaw himself had to accommodate the slower people in the army, and now it had to move to the alliance villages where the situation was even worse.

It was already the fourth day, and they still had not seen the so-called Vitebsk Fortress, and the river near the camping area was still far away from turning into a swamp.

How many more days of walking are needed? The sluggish march was quickly eroding the morale of the soldiers. Proclaw had not expected the war to be like this. He thought that if the march was so sloppy, some village leaders might think that taking the initiative to attack 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 cost of silence they have invested in the war has been extremely huge.

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

In this way, if Ross sends cavalry scouts for reconnaissance, they can easily detect the traces of the Polotsk army.

Scouting cavalry were always deployed, and they had no trouble noticing the undisguised enemy troops. They even took advantage of the moonlight in the night to find a way back, and returned to the camp early in the morning when the morning fog had just begun to steam, dragging their tired bodies and bloodshot eyes.

Fisk sharpened his sword like all the soldiers. Fighting the enemy openly was considered by ordinary soldiers as a waste of the advantage of the cavalry. They all obeyed Fisk alone. Since the boss asked so, the brothers and the brothers who joined later had no choice but to agree.

Many scouts returned in a hurry at the wrong time, each reporting news of the enemy's sudden appearance.

Fisk, who was sleeping soundly, was disturbed by the noise outside and woke up. He patted his face and yelled to instantly get rid of his anger.

"What's going on?!"

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 who was a veteran broke in without any regard for etiquette, and said loudly and cordially: "Brother! That Lambart was right, their army has appeared."

Fisk stood up immediately, his mind was stimulated and he suddenly woke up: "Is the news reliable?"

"It's absolutely true, just..."

"How? Speak slowly."

"yes."

So all the returned scouts entered the house. There were some discrepancies in what they said about the enemy. The greatest common denominator of their comments all pointed out one situation. Based on the number of bonfires lit by the enemy, it can be roughly estimated that their number is between five hundred and one thousand.

Is this the entire strength of the enemy? Taking the maximum estimated number of one thousand men, which is considered a behemoth, just like challenging the cavalry, then the Polotsk people are asking for trouble.

Fisk believed in the investigation reports of his old subordinates. He did not believe Lambart's description of the "five thousand troops" at all. He rather agreed with the "three thousand troops" estimated by the leader, Old Olaf.

Even taking into account the latter, the strength displayed by the Polotsk people now can be regarded as a vanguard force.

What is this?

A question posed before Fisker: Either take the initiative to attack this team and demoralize it, or sit back and watch them approach the city before attacking.

After all, they must attack. Considering that the enemy is moving very slowly on foot, the Ross coalition still has time to discuss whether to take the initiative to attack.

"Okay. Send me an order to notify Quetzal, Wladyslav, Svalgard and old Olaf (Old Harald) for a meeting." He ordered.