Chapter 1,355 The Battle of Pskov Breaks Out

Latest website: Tomorrow is a big battle, but most of the Russian soldiers slept peacefully this night.

More than half a year ago, the recruits of the four flag corps were still busy training in Novgorod. Everyone dreamed of showing off their talents during the expedition to Frank, but they never thought that the war would suddenly break out...

They grew up listening to the "bragging" of their fathers, hearing about expeditions in the snow, long voyages and landing operations, as if the Russian army could launch attacks in various situations.

Now they really feel all this, just because they have experienced everything their fathers claimed to be.

From the moment the first snow falls, the recruits embark on their journey southward. Many people were timid at first, but now they have become brave and fierce people. They are a pack of wolves, relying on basic military discipline to restrain themselves within the framework of the flag corps.

Now Rope Village has completely become the rear of the Russian army. Considering the high speed of the cavalry and sleds, the army does not have to carry a large amount of baggage and march downstream. Besides, it's really confusing to enter the battlefield with bottles and cans.

Rurik ordered the entire army to advance lightly. In addition to bringing combat weapons, the most important thing was to bring ropes and linen bags. The former is to kill the enemy, the latter is to plunder the spoils.

If Gower was just a village chief, there would be nothing wrong with recruiting him. It just so happens that this weak force has become the boss of Pskov, and he should be eliminated if his moral character is not worthy of him.

However, Rurik has not yet thought about where Pskov will go after this force is really eliminated.

In principle, a governor-general should be established there. The problem lies in who should be appointed as the governor-general.

"It's easy to break it, but it's hard to rebuild it. The arrow has to be fired when it's on the string. I won't say anything until I hit it."

. "With this mentality, Rurik actually carried out the expedition in person.

Before dawn, Rope Village is filled with the fragrant smell of wheat porridge.

At nightfall, Rurik ordered a few reindeer to be slaughtered. The minced venison was boiled together with salted fish jerky. After being simmered overnight, a thick and oily miso soup was made, which naturally contained Lots of cuts of meat.

A hot bowl of cooked wheat topped with minced venison was a favorite winter battlefield meal of the Russian army.

Even those village warriors who were asked to go out to fight were given this breakfast that was high in oil, salt and carbohydrates without discrimination. For the villagers, this was almost the best meal they had ever eaten in their lives.

The war horses and the reindeer pulling the sled were also fed some cooked and digestible wheat. Rurik was willing to spend money for absolute victory in the battle.

The noble past wore an iron helmet with a crest formed by a large number of blue feathers.

According to their military status, the warriors of each aircraft also put decorative feathers on their helmets.

All the folded flags were raised again, and the Ross flags were tied to the wooden poles of each sled. Now there was no need to worry about which troop sled would get lost. The flag hunting was all to show the strength of the Ross military.

There was no need to dismantle the tent. Rurik left some people, such as those with stomachaches and frostbitten limbs, and even separated some who may have weaker combat capabilities to stay in the camp. Most of the personnel went into battle.

In each flag team, the soldiers wore full armor and sat on sleds to save energy. All kinds of weapons, especially long-range weapons, have been debugged. The ten torsion slingshots carried by the sled have been coated with new grease and can be used at any time.

Can launch an attack.

With a sword hanging from his waist and a round shield on his back, the warrior holding the crossbow held the weapon in his arms.

The mighty sleigh team marched in columns on the frozen Velikaya River in the form of a flag team, and in front of it was the majestic cavalry unit.

The warriors removed the cover of the recurve bows, and they were all strung. Now no one was worried that the bow arms would crack due to the low temperature. There are plenty of arrows in the quiver, either duck feathers or chicken feathers, and the arrow clusters are mostly conical armor-piercing arrows, which are only adjustments based on Olafen's intelligence.

Although the so-called Gower's thugs do not have the luxury of wearing iron armor on a large scale like the Russian army, they do not lack leather. Nowadays, the thugs wear tough cowhide clothing in large numbers, which can indeed resist most bow and arrow attacks.

Can it still block the powerful and heavy shots of the steel-armed crossbow?

Rurik thought of the most unethical combat mode, which was to rely on the advantage of Ross's long-range weapons to shoot continuously.

Thereupon the centurions, who were shot in each of the banners, were shot and sat on ten sledges. To a large extent, the existence of these people is a replica of ancient chariots. The snow environment provides great convenience for the mobility of the reindeer sled. The sleigh team can achieve tactical linkage with the cavalry unit, and the method of combat is shooting.

The Ross army kept marching at a high speed. To the right of the entire army was the golden sunrise. The frozen river provided a high-speed passage for the army. When the morning sun illuminated the world in a dazzling way, all the soldiers in the army took out their wooden-framed sunglasses. .

The world became relatively dark, and then the forest directly in front suddenly disappeared, replaced by a huge flat area with extremely dense

Frozen lakes with high reflective intensity, and the most critical point - the city of Pskov built in a pie-spreading pattern based on the river.

"Attention, all troops! Slow down and maintain formation!" Rurik was calm and collected. He stretched out his right hand and clenched his fist to order the cavalry team to slow down, and then forced the following sled team to slow down.

Logically speaking, Rurik could lead his cavalry to directly launch a surprise attack. After disrupting the large city of Pskov, the entire army could enter the undefended city to fish in troubled waters.

He saw a large number of swaying figures there. With the appearance of the blue and white army of the Ross Army, those black figures quickly took action, and they were all defensive.

Gao Er slept a little soundly this night. He was shouted by the guards who broke into the house: "Boss, the Ross army! It's really here."

The guard's voice was trembling as he spoke. Gao Er, who had regained consciousness, suddenly opened his eyes like bells, and glared at the soldier who reported the news like a hungry wolf.

Gore simply slept with his armor on. Without any further nonsense, he suddenly drew his sword and ordered: "Finally, the fight has started. Brothers, follow me and kill them all."

In the past night, the big city of Pskov turned into a large military camp. Gore tried his best to gather all the fighting forces. Even if time passes, he may not be able to summon more soldiers.

It's just that the Pskov army didn't sleep well all night, especially the large number of villagers who were forced to go to the battlefield and the large number of so-called peasant soldiers who didn't sleep all night. Their accommodation conditions were very poor, and many of them endured the shivering in the early morning. They could only nibble on bread cubes brought from home that were as dry and as hard as wood, and eat snow on the spot to replenish water.

Gore just let the big

As long as the villagers are fighting for themselves, they have no obligation to ensure the logistics of this group of people. Gower would not prepare breakfast for the soldiers of his large Danish community, even if a war was imminent. All the soldiers, high and low, would rely on some dry food to satisfy their hunger.

Even so, the morale of the Danish community fighters was still relatively high, but as the Ross army gradually left the main river and spread out its own formation, the situation took a turn for the worse.

The uniformity of the military uniforms brings an indescribable sense of oppression. Ross's army blue and white cloth robe is worn on top of the plate armor, and the iron helmet is also covered with a layer of white velvet leather camouflage (incidentally to enhance the cold resistance), and then It's the huge blue feathered helmet crown.

Gall had never heard of the Ross army dressing like this. It was as if these soldiers were all brothers of the same country. Otherwise, how could they be so similar? This went beyond Gower's understanding of the army, and it was also true that he was still worried that he might be defeated when facing the army he was rapidly gathering.

"Blow the trumpet! Assemble!" Gore continued to order, and the melodious sound of the trumpet floated in the big city of Pskov.

This sound reached the ears of the Russian army on the other side of the battlefield.

"Are they blowing the attack horn?" Brody, who gritted his teeth, looked disdainfully at the black, ant-like crowd, and suggested: "Why don't I take my brothers to challenge, and my cavalry archers will test it first? Check out their capabilities."

"There is no rush." ​​Rurik stretched out his hand to signal: "Our army is coming quickly to fight a battle of annihilation. Let Gower's soldiers gather before we take action. We will try to kill most of them today to avoid future troubles."

"Okay, Your Majesty, it seems you are not even willing to send an envoy to have a pre-battle talk with them?"

"I don't think it's necessary. I have no intention of talking to the dead." Rurik said casually, tilting his head.

The Russian army began to make more precise movements, and the flag captains shouted at the top of their lungs, just for the infantry soldiers to get off the sleds faster and form an attack matrix.

Only the archers continued to sit on their sleds waiting for the king's orders.

Ten sleighs were deliberately placed side by side, and the reindeer bridles were removed, making them a torsion slingshot position on the snow.

At two hundred meters, a tall and strong man was just a small black dot to the naked eye, not to mention that the distance between the Ross Army Formation and the opponent might be almost three hundred meters.

Such a distance is beyond the reach of most bows and arrows. From Gower's perspective, he believed that his army was at an extremely safe distance, but little did he know...

Rurik ordered calmly: "Hurry up and load the slingshots. Our army uses javelins. Maximum range! Charge up immediately!"

The soldiers immediately installed the handle of the wooden winch and began the rotating operation.

Because Olafin and Manchico each brought their own people to help in the battle, they were spectators at best. Participating in the battle was regarded as gilding and they also witnessed the power of the Russian army. They were amazed by the operation of the torsion slingshot. They did not know that this was inserted in the slide. What a big javelin can do.

On the other side of the battlefield, the Pskov army gathered more and more, and those with an absolute numerical advantage were the forcibly recruited Krivi villagers. These militiamen wore clothes made of coarse cloth and leather, and their boots were made of whole leather. Everyone looked bloated, but the vast majority of them were thin.

The militiamen made extensive use of weapons equivalent to short spears, and one even used a

Sharpened wooden poles were used as spears.

Tools made of hardwood were widely used, and hammers made of stone were treasures for the villagers, and now they have become weapons.

The militiamen all held small shields made of messy wooden boards. Some even cut holes in the wooden boards overnight and strung them with ropes, hanging them on their chests and backs to strengthen their defense.

Their positions were in a mess, and only the central army, composed of descendants of Danish immigrants, directly formed a shield wall under the leadership of Gower.

Both wings are armed with Krivich militiamen. Rather than obeying Gower's orders, the militiamen are more willing to listen to the arrangements of the villagers. It is helpless to stand here and fight for Gower. Now they have seen the legendary Russian army. His image was like a god descending to earth, and for a while everyone was muttering about their situation.

The image of the Russian army is too glamorous, can they still rob the poor themselves?

No one fled spontaneously, or a considerable number of militiamen were at a loss. They had always followed blindly and remained restrained and stayed put.

"Send someone to negotiate with the Russians?" Gower then asked the two messengers who were forced to join the battle. The implication was that he hoped Swade and Carrot would be the messengers.

But they saw that these two people were already scared. Considering that they had betrayed the hospitality of King Ross, they were afraid that they would kill them on the spot when they walked to the other side.

Swader was excited because he saw a horseman on the opposite side who deliberately took off his helmet to reveal his blond hair.

"Boss." He pointed and said, "That man is Rurik himself, King of Rus."

"A blond man? Is that him?"

Gower's eyesight had deteriorated with age. He squinted and had to look carefully.

I admire the majesty of King Rus. Because it is obvious that because King Ross is too tall, his mount appears to be too small.

"Really, why do we have to fight? I obviously have good intentions towards you." Gower said to himself and shook his head. He estimated that these two guys were unwilling to be messengers.

Now how to do? attack?

No! The Pskov Army's only chance of winning is to continue to maintain this united situation. As long as the Russian Army is willing to rush in and get into a melee, it will have a chance. Gall decided to stand still, and it seemed to everyone that his side had fallen into complete passivity.

Rurik deliberately waited for a while, since he would never send an envoy anyway. He hoped that Goul would come to negotiate in person or send someone to negotiate, and then inform them of the ultimatum-battle is inevitable.

Since there was no response after waiting for a while, Rurik's patience was exhausted.

"Okay, let's launch." His words were calm.

The ten torsion slingshots had been charging for a while, and the warriors with high morale pulled out the latches almost at the same time. The ten javelins swirled and flew forward in a large parabola with a buzzing sound.

Just after the launch was completed, the soldiers started reloading in full swing.

Just because Rurik did not arrange "three rapid fires", there were plenty of javelins anyway, and the Russian army was in an absolutely safe position to cover the extremely dense enemy with firepower, so it should be natural for them to kill unilaterally.

The strong warriors double-operate the winch, another warrior is responsible for loading the javelin, and the third is only responsible for pulling out the latch. The three people can cooperate so well that the javelin shooting efficiency can be as fast as one shot every fifteen seconds.

it

They have entered a state of free shooting, and the whole body is throwing deadly javelins towards the Pskov military formation like splashing water.

At first, people didn't know what the buzzing meant, until a group of black shadows came over. The warrior took it for granted that it was an arrow, and subconsciously raised the round shield to cover his face and torso. However, he never thought that the powerful and heavy javelin would directly penetrate the wooden shield. The quenched cone head had extremely strong penetration. Power, it was originally designed to deal with heavily armored units, but now it is overkill for light armored and unarmored militiamen.

Even if he was wearing two layers of cowhide clothing, he could not withstand the attack of the javelin, which could be used as a short spear. The soldier who was hit was not only punched through the body, but the powerful kinetic energy also brought the soldier down directly.

The soldier who was hit had a terrifying wooden pole inserted into his body. He fell into the crowd and didn't understand what happened. He kept vomiting blood, his mind went blank, and he gradually died of excessive blood loss.

But on the side of the Russian army, the soldiers collectively let out a rhythmic Viking war cry, and the ten javelins formed an ancient version of the "Gatling gun".

Faced with this bizarre blow, the Danish immigrant warriors in Pskov were still able to resist with their sense of honor. However, the Krivic militiamen, who were already weak in fighting will, never thought that death could come so hastily. Friends and relatives were pierced and killed by strange flying spears right next to them, and this attack seemed to have no focus.

The buzzing sound became the roar of death, and the militiamen began to commotion, shouting, crying, wailing... The chaotic movements completely suppressed Gower's shouts, and all his efforts to control the situation were in vain.

Because, Creevey

The total collapse of the strange militia began under the "joint splashing" of just ten torsion slingshots.

At the beginning of the period, they were avoiding javelin attacks and dispersed, and then the village talker led the villagers to escape. When a group of people started to flee, more people followed, and it turned into a large-scale rout.

All of this, Gower could only watch the situation worsen, and he himself was not having a good time. Those damn javelins were fair to everyone, and there was a chance of being hit again as long as he stood here. But he felt that he should not retreat, otherwise even his own central army would retreat and become a rout, and the battle would have ended before the official fight.

Gore refused to retreat and insisted on gritting his teeth.