A team of horses marched in the slightly desolate forest. They had more than fifty people and more than one hundred and sixty horses.
They came from further east, from the Volga River Basin, and even from Volgograd to Astrakhan today.
The leader is a young man with a beautiful black mustache. He is short in height and does not look good at first glance. However, he wears iron armor and has a gem-encrusted scimitar hanging from his waist. He cannot be said to be expensive, but he can also be said to be rich. Ji Wufu alone.
The Turkic horses they ride have strong endurance and good assault capabilities. Each rider has a luggage bag hanging on the saddle, which contains dry food and sleeping bags. The saddle also has a leather pocket, which holds a compound recurve bow with a loose string, and another leather pocket holds fifty wild goose feather arrows.
They were a gust of wind coming from the Central Asian grasslands. Due to the attack from the Tang Empire, the entire tribal alliance was forced to migrate westward on a large scale.
Some personnel and subjects completed the historic separation, and bypassed the northern shore of the Caspian Sea and entered the Inner Caucasus on a smooth road with no danger to defend and no strong local forces to block it.
They finally encountered a formidable enemy - the Khazar Khanate.
The two sides fought fiercely in the Donbas Basin, and the fight ended in a draw. In this way, the Khazar Khanate had to admit a new trouble from the east after the Eastern Rome.
The entire Crimea and the Odessa area were under the firm control of the Romans and the Roman fleet. The five-oared battleship may have lagged behind the times. For Rome, this kind of ship was used to transport infantry or cavalry. It's an excellent platform.
Two nomadic groups appeared in the north and fought fiercely. This is what the Eastern Romans were very happy to see. Especially if the Khazar Khanate suffered a heavy setback, the strategic pressure on the empire's northeastern border (Greek Thrace) would plummet. . But Rome was not stupid enough to sponsor a new group of nomads.
The newcomers are none other than the Pechenegs. They broke away from the Western Turks and the Oghuz Alliance. They are the fierce westward presence among the entire huge ethnic group.
They have no strategic purpose, they just instinctively drive their cattle and sheep to find the most suitable pasture. If the rich pasture is occupied by others, they will kill the local people to replace it.
However, they are not simply reckless people, and they fully understand the importance of seeking help from outside forces.
Trading with the Slavs in the forest area was beneficial. Horses, dairy products, and leather were exchanged for the Slavs' large quantities of cloth and storable wheat.
Just in 836, a Slavic caravan came again uninvited! They passed through the forests of the Chernihiv region and entered the steppe area, where they met Pecheneg herders. They came with precious salt and a large amount of cloth. To the surprise of the leader of the Pecheneg Alliance, this time it was the Slavs' turn to sell salt.
The leader of the Slavic caravan was none other than Kiev Maksaky, who had overwintered in Russia. He took the guys back to his hometown in Kiev and explained to his hometown elders the successful development of the Varyangros trade, and then rested for a while. After a while, we were heading east.
A land trade route from the Kiev section of the Dnieper River to the Volga River has long existed. There are a large number of grassland areas in it, which is actually a smooth trade route. In the gap between the Bulgar Khanate and the Khazar Khanate, the Pecheneg Khanate used its fast horse scimitar to create a trade corridor and successfully contacted Krivicheslav in the forest.
Maksakye returned to the Pecheneg camp not far north of present-day Volgograd. In the Khan tent, they described to the Khan the location of a wonderful Rus principality.
"The Russians have good iron, big ships, fine wine, gems, and a lot of crystal vessels. But the Russians need a lot of horses. Only you can provide them, and the Russians are willing to pay a lot of money to buy them."
It's good to develop a distant trading partner in exchange for goodies, but does it do him any good to have a Forest Slav speak for the Rus' of the Northern Varangians?
At least for Sakhi and his men, there was indeed a huge reward for doing the job of buying horses for the Prince of Rus. Under the heavy reward, this group of adventurers would rather live like Cossacks in Eastern Europe.
Why do Slavic merchants have salt? It turns out that these were made by the Russians.
It is shameful to say that the Pecheneg Khanate, which clearly occupies the mouth of the Volga River (Caspian Sea), does not know how to separate salt from the bitter brine of the Caspian Sea. They obviously have no shortage of salt, but they have to fight with Eastern Roman merchants traded. Those treacherous Roman merchants could not do business with conscience. The Pechenegs had to exchange more horses for salt, and there were even purchase restrictions here.
The Roman merchants also had their own explanation: "What we are doing is a beheading business. If the governor of Crimea discovers, our whole family will be killed. You have no right to complain."
The Khan was moved, and a young man was entrusted with an important task.
"Kagan, you are not young anymore. If you want to inherit my throne, you must demonstrate a series of achievements to prove yourself to other tribes. As the Khan, you will go to Rus and take our horses to exchange them as much as possible. Baby!" Khan ordered his son. Although the young prince Kagan was a little skeptical, after all, this was a meritorious deed. If he brought back a lot of salt from this trip, wouldn't he become a great hero of the entire alliance?
If they could live a good life, the Pecheneg people would not be willing to roam the grasslands to fight for their living space. However, the grasslands are big if they are big, and small if they are small. At least there are four forces competing for the huge South Russia-Necaucasus grassland. Pechenegs If Ge showed weakness, the outcome would be annihilation of the clan.
Kagan, who had a mustache, took his personal guards and commercial horses, and followed the guidance of Slavic merchants to reach Kiev for the first time, where forests and rivers intertwined.
It was the summer solstice when Kagan and his party arrived, and the people of Kiev were at their big riverside altar, each wearing a beautiful flower crown, dancing and circling around the altar's sacred tree matrix. The Slavs worshiped their gods of the sun and agriculture in the hope that crops would grow vigorously and achieve a good harvest.
Kagan and his party were all spectators. He respected the beliefs of this group of Slavs, and all he could think about was heading north as soon as possible.
Prince Pecheneg arrived in Kiev in person, and a small portion of the cowhide, sheepskin and wool carried by the horse team were sold on the spot in exchange for a batch of wheat to feed the people and horses heading north.
They stayed in Kiev until late July in the Julian calendar, and the long overland journey northward officially began.
Compared with last year's Sakye expedition, the scale of this Pecheneg horse team was too large, and it was impossible to take convenient water routes.
A terrible natural chasm lies in front of us - the Pripyat Swamp.
It is a huge Zeguo, and it is said to be the residence of the Chaos God Cherniberg. Anyone who enters rashly must leave quickly, otherwise they may die of a sudden illness.
It is impossible for the horse team to move forward in the thick mud. People can tolerate the rotten smell there. If a large number of horses die from inhaling the foul smell, it will lose a lot of capital for the Russian trade, right?
If you can't break through forcefully, take a detour. The mixed caravan rode horses along the border between the forest and the grassland. They walked northeastward while groping, spending a lot of time making a large circle, and plunged into the forest in today's Bryansk area. , and successfully found the upper reaches of the Dnieper River.
Compared to the disgusting and terrifying Pripet Swamp, the Valde Zee is much gentler.
Unfortunately, an autumn rain brought a lot of trouble to the cavalry team.
However, Kagan and his cronies are a true nomadic army, and even if the horses enter the forest, the cavalry can still exert a certain degree of strength.
A small forest village appeared in front of him. Kagan ignored Thackeray's warning to "don't attack" and rushed over with his men. He easily eliminated the entire unsuspecting village and slaughtered the villagers. When Sakhi arrived at the scene, all he saw were the dead bodies and the women being toyed with by the nomads.
"Don't you want to be happy?" Kagan on horseback pointed to his happy subordinates and the village women struggling to survive without hesitation.
"Thankfully you still understand our language. You are attacking the Smolensk village. Once we expose our traces, they will take revenge on us!"
"Then let's fight. These people are obviously weak, and I have no fear."
Sakhi didn't want to say any more and gave a blunt warning: "Let the attack end here. We must not leave any survivors alive, and we must not expose our traces. I warn you, when you get to Rus, you are not allowed to kill any Rus, otherwise you will offend the people of the north." Powerful team.”
"This? You don't need to tell me. I still know the news about the Varangians. I will not foolishly attack a group of strong men like us."
Indeed, the Rus are part of the Varangians, and armed traders from Northern Europe have long appeared in the Dnieper and Volga rivers, but their traces are too mysterious. Because most of the time, Varyag armed traders from Denmark and Sweden like to enter the hinterland of Europe from the West Dvina River. From the perspective of the people of Kiev, these Varyag people mostly come from the north, and they bring They not only produced trade products, but also left behind legends of kidnapping and kidnapping. In short, they were a very entangled existence for the local Slavs.
At least the Russians among the Varangians have never done anything malicious to the people of Kiev. They must be a powerful force with their own principles.
Kagan held up a short spear and stabbed the woman in front of his subordinates who were busy doing business.
"Boss, what are you doing?!"
"Idiot! Get out! Move all the bodies away. We will stay in this village until the weather clears. Go and search and find all the food and cloth." Kagan ordered.
For the entire horse team, a long forest march was very tiring, not to mention the lack of high-quality pasture in the forest area. They arrived just in time. All the wheat in the so-called Smolensk area had been harvested, and the warehouses of the villages plundered by Kagan's group were also full of wheat.
The nomadic warriors wanted to take away all the wheat, and they really tried their best, so much so that they took advantage of the rainy weather to make sacks of linen and hang the oats on the backs of a large number of horses.
All the horses also got a chance to eat to their heart's content. After a few days of rest, nearly 200 horses, including Sakhi's group, munched on the delicious oats. The huge appetites of both men and horses quickly depleted the small village's food stocks. Compared with European rushes as a representative pasture, the caloric value of oatmeal is naturally much higher.
Oats are actually the most cost-effective horse feed in Europe. Feeding horses with oats seems to Kagan to be an extreme luxury, but it can also help him reach Ross smoothly.
During the break, Sakhi was so idle that he even felt that Kagan had executed the peasant women prematurely.
They are all Slavs, doesn’t Sakhi have empathy for the dead?
Indeed he didn't.
After all, once he is detained by the Smolensk people, he will inevitably be beaten or even executed. The reason here is very simple. Anyone who tries to do business with the Ilmenslavs will be regarded as an enemy by the Smolensk people. This is like the Pechenegs and Khazars speaking almost the same language, but still fighting each other.
Taking advantage of the leisurely opportunity, Sakhi pointed out the follow-up path to Kagan.
"We will go directly through the swamp area (Valde Zede), which will perfectly avoid the attention of the Smolensk people. We will find the channel of the second large river, which is called the Lovadi River, and we will continue to go north along the river bank. As long as we see a strong castle, we will enter the territory of the Principality of Rus through there. The Prince of Rus has a high status. Thinking of your Khan, I have a very good relationship with the Prince. When he learned that you wanted to sell a hundred horses at one go , you will become the most distinguished guest! You will also enjoy a pleasure that you have never had in your life."
What is "enjoyment"? Sakhi said that it is beyond the pleasure of men and women.
For example, the whole body is soaked in a large warm wooden barrel until the whole body becomes weak, surrounded by materials full of warm white mist, lying on a wooden board and having the dirt on the body rubbed with linen cloth, and washing the hair and body with strange-smelling soap. All over the body, the smell of sweat and mutton disappears. On the grassland, it is not easy to take a pleasant bath, and taking a bath hastily can easily catch wind and cold. So the people of Pecheneg adhere to the habits of their hometown in Central Asia. Although they are keen on cleaning themselves, they subjectively reject bathing.
The Russians have a kind of flaming wine. If you drink it, you will feel a fire igniting in your belly. If you drink it, a person who is shivering from cold will regain his firepower.
The Russians have barbecue and big bread. The barbecue is heavy on salt because they have no shortage of salt, and the bread is big and soft because they have wheat.
…
Kagan was fascinated by all this and wanted to enjoy it immediately.
The nomadic cavalry continued northward, leaving behind them burning villages and corpses that gradually turned into ashes...
The autumn wind on the Lovaj River was bleak, and the sky was hazy and it seemed like it was going to rain again. Not far from New Ostara, the southern border city of the Principality of Ross, Kagan and Sakhi almost saw the end of their journey, but the snowfall event began.
They would rather move forward in the snowfall. Fortunately, everyone was well prepared, and these Turkic horses have physiologically changed into long manes. The South Russian grasslands are not much milder than the winter in Novgorod. These naturally cold-resistant Turkic horses are not afraid of this place. The cold wind and snow meant that a large number of horses did not have iron horseshoes, so they could not be expected to move forward quickly in the snow.
Success is just ahead. The wind and snow have just stopped, and a wooden castle stands across the mouth of the Lovati River into Lake Ilmen!
The hunters of the Ostara people have noticed a group of foreigners on horseback, but the female leader Carlotta is recuperating in Novgorod north of the lake with her young son.
People spontaneously came forward. Many people suspected that the visitor was last year's horse rider, but just in case, they still took self-defense!
As the saying goes, if there are dates but no dates, you can hit three poles. New Ostara has become a fortress. The crossbowmen on the wooden walls shoot arrows in a deterrent manner, and the fixed-position torque slingshots also fire javelins to intimidate them.
The sudden attack took Kagan by surprise and even the horses were in a commotion.
Kagan was really impressed. He was not an idiot. He knew full well that the Russian defenders deliberately missed the javelin. As the saying goes, if they wanted to, they would be shot dead, including their own men and horses.
Sure enough, someone from the city wall people asked loudly: "Who are you? Enemies! Or merchants!? Put down your arms and accept our interrogation!"
Kagan couldn't understand Norse until he was yelled again in Slavonic with a strange accent.
At this time, Maksakye hurriedly dismounted and spread his arms to show that he had no intention of fighting. He stood within the precise shooting range of the torsion slingshot, greeted the people at the top of the city and revealed his identity.
He gave a reason for adoption that the people of Ostara could not refuse.
The so-called Kiev Horseman Sakye, on the order of the Prince of Rus, came again with horses, and a large number of horses were to be sold to the Prince.
As for a group of black-haired exotic knights, they are the best horse breeders, they are the Pechenegs from the East, and they request to see the prince as envoys.
The Ostara people let go of the border, but the Ostara army also moved out. They were guarding Nanguan and were not careless enough to let anyone go. Since it was a large delegation, they should be escorted by soldiers. It's said to be an escort, but actually it's surveillance.
A larger team began to go north along the land route along Lake Ilmen. It was also because there were too many people and horses. The plan that could have taken the water route was meaningless. At least Kagan saw a large number of Ross ships. Although this is just a city in the south gate of the Ross Principality, the strength of the navy is evident. Without him, the Pecheneg Khanate only has a few small boats, and it clearly controls the lower reaches of the Volga River. If the entire clan does not know how to build a ship, it is as tragic as guarding a golden mountain but not knowing how to mine and smelt.
However, there was a boat heading north quickly ahead of the rest of the army. They had to report good news to the prince - the horse riders had returned, or there might be hundreds of good horses for sale.
