"Granval, have you ever experienced a great battle like this?"
Rostislav, unable to sleep, sat by the campfire and asked the Captain of the Guard.
The Captain of the Guard was sharpening his Dane axe with a whetstone, paused briefly when he heard the Prince's question, then continued sharpening, while his mouth began to answer his master's question.
"I've experienced many battles, but a battle like today's is my first. The largest battle I participated in was during the suppression of the Poland Great Uprising. I still remember countless Polish farmers charging at us like a collapsing mountain, only to crash head-on into our shield wall."
Rostislav couldn't help but become interested. Since coming to this era, he had heard many people mention the Poland Great Uprising. The entire Kingdom of Poland was overthrown by this uprising, and members of the Piast family (the Polish royal family) had to flee their kingdom in disarray.
Near the campfire, many others were also awake, chatting idly or sharpening their weapons, passing the time in this manner, waiting for the battle to come.
The temporary Outpost was full of sentries, who vigilantly watched the enemy camp, their hands on their bugle horns, alert for any possible attack.
Further away was the soldiers' camp where most chose to sleep, after all, tomorrow would be a fierce battle. For many, this might be their last peaceful night, as the dead don't need to sleep; they simply rest eternally in this land that has witnessed countless campaigns.
"Granval, it's still a long time until dawn. Tell me about this uprising. Since childhood, I've heard my father recount his military exploits in this war, but I've never known the cause of it all."
"You didn't know? I suppose that's right; you were young back then, and Bishop Luka has always been uninterested in secular matters outside of Rus', so he wouldn't have actively told you these things."
Granval was initially surprised that Rostislav didn't know about the Poland Great Uprising, but he quickly understood. He didn't lament anything but directly explained this highly influential uprising to his master.
"Do you know how the Piast family became the King of Poland and established the Kingdom of Poland? What we're going to talk about starts from there."
Rostislav shook his head. How could he know about the founding of the Kingdom of Poland? Even in his previous life, few people cared about ancient Poland.
"The Piast family's method of establishing the Kingdom of Poland was simple: constant warfare. They fought against Slavic tribes, against the German Empire, and against us. Over a hundred years, several Polish monarchs changed, but the wars never ceased. The characteristic of these monarchs was their mastery of battle formations and their constant presence on the battlefield."
The Captain of the Guard's words reminded the Prince of how his grandfather had been driven out of Kiev by the Poles more than forty years ago. Fortunately, the Villain enthroned by the Poles died not long after; otherwise, with his grandfather's poor military skills, it would have been difficult to contend with Poland's warmongers.
"Long-term warfare exhausted everyone. The Polish royal family could only appease the people with spoils of war and slaves, and then continue fighting, like a snowball rolling bigger and bigger. However, public dissatisfaction always existed; war merely suppressed these grievances temporarily."
"Around 1034, the then King of Poland died mysteriously, which led to subsequent unrest throughout Poland. This became the fuse for the uprising. Slaves, farmers, and subjugated tribes all rebelled. They killed nobles and officials and attacked the sacred church."
Rostislav was very interested in what Gvaran said; this was the first time he had heard such detailed information about this uprising.
However, he was not surprised at all by the direction the Kingdom of Poland took. As described, the Kingdom of Poland was purely a state driven by war, so if the war stopped or encountered problems, an explosion was inevitable.
"The current King of Poland, Kazimierz, fled Poland in disarray, and seeing the massive uprising behind him, both we and the German Empire chose to end the war with Poland and help Poland suppress the uprising. However, at that time, all we wanted was to contain the chaos at the border, and after achieving success, we also stopped the fighting, letting Poland remain in chaos."
"Everyone's opinion on peasant rebellions is truly unified," Rostislav said with a hint of sarcasm, looking at the campfire in front of him. Feudal rulers are like that. Then he paused, realizing, 'Am I not a feudal ruler myself?' This was truly mocking himself.
He shook his head and chuckled at himself, and Gvaran, seeing this, said nothing but continued his topic.
"Everything changed after the exiled King of Poland and we formed a marriage alliance. Kazimierz married the Grand Prince's sister, and in return, your great-uncle married Kazimierz's sister."
"My great-uncle's wife is the King of Poland's sister?"
This greatly surprised Rostislav, and he instinctively moved his feet by the campfire. He hadn't expected his great-uncle to have this connection with Poland, but thinking about it, this could explain the Polish Knight in his retinue.
"Yes. But let me continue recounting the war in Poland. After the marriage was settled, the Grand Prince led his army into Poland to suppress the rebels, and King Kazimierz also led the exiles and knights granted by the German Emperor into Poland. I followed your father in that military operation. I only remember that we marched and fought endlessly; enemies were everywhere. Fortunately, we ultimately achieved victory, and everyone even made a fortune. King Kazimierz promised that we could capture all traitors as slaves. The slaves we brought to Kiev at that time caused the slave market prices to drop three times a day."
Gvaran's face was full of pride and satisfaction when he spoke of how they captured and sold slaves, while Rostislav's eyes merely flashed with a complex expression before he controlled it, showing no abnormality.
After the war in Estonia, Rostislav had adjusted his mindset. After all, this era was just like this, and no one thought there was any problem with it, so he might as well go with the flow. All he could do was be himself.
"It seems this war was quite easy overall."
Rostislav said. Gvaran hadn't mentioned any terms like 'hard-fought battle,' so it seemed to have gone very smoothly.
"Yes, most of the traitors had no power to resist our great army. Only the Mazovians were troublesome; they were the earliest and most stubborn resistance force..."
Thus, Rostislav and Gvaran chatted by the campfire about past battles. They talked engrossed, both very interested in these topics, and time passed little by little in their lively conversation. Finally, the sun appeared on the horizon, announcing that the battle was about to begin.
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