Vadim, a self-proclaimed prince of Novgorod, his so-called notice of this lake area fell apart under the absolute military might of the Russian army after only ten days.
He became a bereaved dog in the real sense. He clutched his injured left arm and ran away in the nearby woods with more than a dozen of his last henchmen.
It wasn’t until night fell that the group’s escape was forced to a halt.
The woods gave them cover, and the night was perfect cover.
However, the vast forest area is not peaceful.
Vadim finally sat down with his back against a big cedar tree. He gasped desperately and subconsciously lifted up his linen shirt to check the wound.
The blood has stopped flowing, which is a blessing among misfortunes.
But he lost a lot of blood, and running for a long time also consumed a lot of physical strength, but now he has no food or water. He was so, and the brothers present were no better off.
Those ordinary and young cronies all dreamed of following the young prince Vadim to conquer the world, thereby gaining fame and tangible benefits.
Who would have thought that everyone’s just act of resisting the Ross invaders would usher in ultimate destruction.
Under night, this group of people finally began to study their own futures.
They moved closer to Vadim, who was covering his wounds, hoping that the leader could show them a clear path.
"Boss, what will we do in the future?"
"We have lost everything now. Should we go to other manors to see? If we continue to go deep into the woods, we can find those hidden "Someone suggested looking for "the hidden person", which was like a stone that stirred up a thousand waves, and really gave hope to the confused people.
They murmured one after another and fled to the free manor farther away, relying on the fact that they were young men and an excellent labor force, and they would definitely be accepted by them.
There are even people who fantasize that they can marry a local woman in the new manor. As long as they get through the current predicament, there is hope.
Following this "good idea", someone boldly provoked Vadim.
"Boss, let's go find those people. They have nothing to do with the Great Lakes. You are the most noble person of the Great Lakes, and you can also become the ruler of the new farm."
Vaj Mu couldn't listen at all, and he didn't scold the guys for their unrealistic plan.
He stood up reluctantly while holding on to the captured steel sword, forcing himself to remain tall. The moonlight shone through the branches into the people under the tree, and Vadim's face turned pale.
"It is useless to rely on those cowards who are hiding! They are not the daughters of the God of Lake Ilmen, and the Rus have never bullied them. It is crazy to expect them to unite to fight for me."
p>"But boss." Someone said, "Besides them, what else can we do? If we are defeated, the Russians will probably launch terrible revenge."
"That's even more impossible. Find the person who is hiding. Vadim firmly concluded that the Russians would indeed retaliate, "We are seeking death by staying here. They will look for my body and will not give up until they achieve their goal." We have to keep escaping. "
"Escape? Where to go? "
"Go to the South! Go south with all your might! "
Vadim's attitude is so determined that a term is ready to be spoken.
Many people said in unison: "Go to Smolensk? ”
“That’s it, to the territory of the Krivic people. ”
This term is really familiar and unfamiliar to everyone. Vadim has no clear understanding of Smolensk. It is just that in the past days, his manor had been connected with Smolensk through merchant trade. There are some financial contacts, at least they know each other.
There are even some conflicts between the two parties, but that is all in the past.
Vadim can't believe it. The so-called "hidden people" are essentially the people who live near Ilmen Lake. Just like the White Tree Manor, Vadim looks down on those people at all. There is no way to rely on the strength of those people to fight back against the Russians and regain their power.
The only force in this world that can defeat the Russians is probably the Smolensk people.
< p>Vadim boasted that he had made a very rational choice: "I...I am the prince of Novgorod, the ruler of Lake Ilmen, I am a noble person, as long as I arrive in Smolensk You will definitely be able to make a comeback. At that time, you people who follow me can still get glory. "Is there a glimmer of hope in despair? Everyone looked at each other. They couldn't make up their minds. Since the boss said so, the brothers agreed.
Still relying on the big tree , Vadim mustered up the courage to swear a poisonous oath: "I must take revenge. I will raise an army from the south to take back everything I lost!" "
He is really a hatred of his country and his family. His mind is occupied by revenge. Will the injury to his arm kill him?
Suddenly, this standing revenge man The man suddenly felt weak and sat down. He was really hungry.
Seeing this, the brothers also arranged a shack one after another. It was a pity that everyone fled in a hurry and didn't even bring the bow drill for drilling wood to make fire. , how to make a fire quickly?
No! Even if they have the ability to make a fire, they are afraid of being discovered and killed by the searching Russians.
They are too tired. Once my frightened body settled down, sleepiness inevitably hit me like a flood.
Everyone fell asleep, covered with fatal flaws.
No one stood guard for the group. They were like food in the open air. They did not attract the Russians who were searching for the fleeing enemies. They naturally attracted the roaming bears.
The brown bears smelled the smell of blood and the strange smell of salt.
Bears generally do not attack people unless there is something about the person that excites these ferocious beasts.of animality.
A hungry brown bear took the initiative to attack, and everyone woke up from their sleep. They were shocked to find a terrifying black shadow tearing apart an unlucky companion. When everyone tried to save him, they realized it was a bear!
Someone's neck was suddenly broken by his brother. Although some people stabbed the bear's skin with an iron sword, it only inspired the beast to become even more crazy and cruel.
Without advanced weapons, such as a steel-armed crossbow that can easily shoot through wooden boards, how can a group of young people who are exhausted from defeat hunt bears? Even if the Russians hunt bears, there are very few madmen who are mad enough to fight bears at close range.
Vadim was trembling with shock. He was suddenly no longer hungry, and thoughts of escape occupied his entire mind.
He ran away again, this time out of his heart.
How can a vengeful person become a delicious meal for a mad bear? !
He ignored his brothers, succumbed to his survival instinct, and ran all the way in a certain direction, ignoring his brothers.
He ran so wildly that the hemp rope at the seams of his leather boots broke. He still ran wildly, even if he fell down in the middle, he still ran.
Until I was exhausted, my vision went dark and I fell onto the soft understory humus.
......
"What happened to me? What on earth..." Vadim slowly woke up from an extreme headache, and everything in front of him felt like a dream.
Is this actually a camp for some people by the lake?
He gradually realized that he was lying flat on the grass, and the air was filled with the aroma of barbecue.
The hungry body sat up almost without thinking. Vadim saw what seemed to be a roast rabbit on the rack? But those people who were wandering around were actually...
Strong fear invaded his mind. He huddled up quickly and tried to stand up and escape. However, he suddenly fell down as soon as he stood up.
This move finally attracted the attention of everyone in the camp.
A strong man with blond hair came over aggressively, carrying a small pottery jar filled with lake water, and poured the water completely on Vadim's face. Vadim woke up again after being shocked by the cold water.
"You...Varyags. Don't! Don't kill me."
He subconsciously covered his face with his arms, but it made the strong man laugh.
After a while, another strong man came over. This man sat down and stared into Vadim's eyes with a dull face: "Boy, do you still know me?"
"You? Are you Harold?! Damn it, you are actually here and you are escaping..."
"Escape is the smart thing to do. Look, you are fighting with them. The whole army was wiped out and the manor was destroyed by them."
This was a great shame. Vadim turned away frustrated and didn't know what to say.
"Look at me!" Harold reached out and grabbed Vadim's chin, and continued to describe what happened after the battle without politeness.
“We saw the RussianAs a result, they killed everyone, and countless bodies burned into a tower of fire. Even young children died, and even the blind and congenitally disabled suffered death. This is what you hope for, risking everything on your estate to fight the Russians, and the result is that even the poultry you raise will be killed by the Russians. They didn't even want to grill chicken or beef, they just wanted to kill and burn everything on Pine Needle Estate to ashes. ”
Vadim trembled when he heard this, and he didn’t even doubt it.
Harold looked at this kid’s cowardice and laughed wildly with a group of brothers.
“I lied to you. Fool, how do I know what the Russians did next? If I had dared to take my brothers to have a look, their heads would have been chopped off long ago. "
"You! You entertain me! You coward! "Vadim cursed loudly.
"Do you dare to call me a coward again? ! Harold pouted, stood up, and deliberately stepped on Vadim's injured left arm. He also deliberately twisted his boot to make it more painful, making the man scream in pain.
"Your wound Enough to be fatal. Anyway, let me tell you, I really don’t know what the Russians did, but they are a group of villains. On a remote island called Gotland, the locals were all Varangians. They organized an army of thousands of people and were defeated by the Rus. In the end, 10,000 people died! Even in our homeland of Denmark, our... our prince was killed by the Rus. Vadim, you are brave for fighting the most ferocious man in the world. "
"Are you... are you complimenting me? "
"No. You are still a reckless fool, and your father knows this to be a docile sheep. Now you choose to fight, and this is the result. As for us, my brothers and I are just armed merchants who can live here, and we have no war with the Rus. Now all your people are dead, and your injuries are fatal. Boy, we went into the woods to hunt and found a dying person. That was you! "
"You actually saved me.
"No. You are about to die." Harold said patiently, "Your arm injury is actually very fatal. Considering that you have provided many slaves, I can give you painless treatment." Death."
"No, you can't kill me."
"Are you afraid of death?"
"I want revenge!"
p>Indeed, there was no fear of death on Vadim's face, and his face was full of unwillingness to fail.
"Revenge? It's ridiculous. How can you take revenge as a lost dog? This is your fate. Don't worry, our brothers will remember you and tell others that there is a man named Vadim who led his people to resist the Russians. The failure resulted in the killing of ten thousand people!"
This statement was still an insult. Vadim burst into tears with grief and anger. He gritted his teeth and said: "I want revenge! I want to go to Smo! Lensk, I am the Prince of Novgorod, and I want to form an alliance with Smolensk."
"You want to go to Smolensk?" Harold came immediately.Feeling interested, he looked at the brothers present and said: "We brothers are all planning to go to Smolensk."
"Take me there!"
"Why? Oh no , Why!”
Vadim’s eyes looked at the blue sky, and he said seriously: “I want revenge, and I can only complete it with the power of the Smolensk people. I am a noble, a local. The leader will reuse me, and!”
“Say quickly”
“The Smolensk people hope to get the fertile farmland of Lake Ilmen, as long as they use this as a bargaining chip. The Smolensk people will definitely gather their troops and go to the north. I can promise them that they can get the farmland if they send troops, and I can still become the prince of Novgorod by transferring some benefits.”
I just think it's ridiculous. Doesn't this kid's plan lead to another invasion?
The well-informed man immediately questioned: "I have known for a long time that you people living in Lake Ilmen have some conflicts with the people in the south. Is it all because of this reason? You let them come, if they Are you satisfied if you win? You will obviously lose a lot."
"At least the Smolensk people speak the same language as us and believe in fire. If you say that the Russians kill people everywhere. We will definitely attack Smolensk, and then the territories of other Krivich people. I...I want you to take me to Smolensk."
"Are you ordering me? ?" Harold laughed.
"No. This is a request."
"You are just begging me? It doesn't matter, what kind of reward will you pay for having nothing?" Harold shrugged, looking at this It is true that young people have nothing, but they also have personal value.
He continued: "I am fair. If you give us many women, the brothers will be happy all the way, and they will also turn into a lot of silver coins. If you are an ordinary person, I will not hesitate to give you You sell it. But you are a noble. If you successfully regain your power, give me... at least a pound of gold."
Suddenly, Vadim saw it. hope. "Don't say one pound of gold coins, ten pounds of gold coins will do!"
"That's ten pounds! Even if you can't get ten pounds of gold coins, it's okay to use the equivalent, such as leather, to deliver it."
"That's it, it's a deal."
Harold personally helped Vadim up, and then asked his brothers to cut off some roasted rabbit meat and give it to the unlucky man.
The next step for this group of Viking armed traders from Pskov on Lake Chud in the west is to take their existing slaves to Smolensk in the south. Harold and his group are very aware of some of the customs of southerners. As long as they don't take the initiative to offend the locals, they will be persecuted. Even as long as they do business honestly, they are actually very popular in the Krichivitch strongholds.
In such an era of limited information, foreign businessmen will of course be taken seriously.
Since Harold and his gang are businessmen, their business thinking allows everyone to see business opportunities. Vadim himself is oneIf he dies, the brothers will make less money.
Escorting a noble from the north and information about the crazy killings of the Russians to Smolensk. It’s not like the brothers have never done business there, so they handed over the terrible news and this unlucky guy to the local people. Maharaja, brothers will definitely get a bounty. As for the ten pounds of gold that Vadim threatened, who would believe it? He better succeed.
The twenty young women in the camp have all become slaves. In order not to starve to death, they are forced to have obedient relations with the Varyags. This is what Harold calls "a happy journey." But they saw Vadim, the young prince, and fully learned of the destruction of Pine Needle Manor.
One of their original thoughts was to find an opportunity to escape back to their hometown, but now that their hometown and the people in their hometown are dead, soon this lake area will be slaughtered by the Varangros.
They don’t know their future, and Vadim has some doubts about whether they can go to Smolensk smoothly.
He ate some meat and recovered somewhat, but before his eyes he saw Harold, a crazy Varangian, coming with a red-hot axe.
A group of people held down Vadim and pressed him on the grass. His injured left arm was deliberately exposed.
"What are you going to do?!"
Suddenly, a ball of hemp rope was stuffed into Vadim's mouth, and then it hurt so much that he almost bit off the hemp ball, and the air There was also a weird burning smell.
Harold was "welding" Vadim's wound, and the superficial flesh and blood that had begun to rot were reduced to powder by the red-hot axe.
Without anesthesia, Vadim simply got over the pain. However, the penetrating injury on his arm has now been treated. That's not all. Harold's men took some plant ash from the embers of the campfire, sprinkled it on Vadim's wound, and wrapped it with a rag of linen.
When Vadim woke up again, he was already sitting on the Varyag's long boat. He touched his waist and was surprised to realize that the sword was gone. When he looked again, he saw that the Ross steel sword he had captured actually belonged to that guy Harold. He has some atmosphere, but he can only admit that he is unlucky to be in such a miserable state.
He sat in the middle and front part of the boat, followed by a group of women with dull expressions and their hands and feet bound. Both sides of the ship were filled with Varangians, their bucklers hung on the side of the ship, and everyone was rowing hard. It was obvious that the ship was sailing on a river, and looking at the position of the sun, the ship was heading south.
This is the road to Smolensk.