"My Lord, what should we do now?"
The attendant's panicked voice came from beside the Moscow Prince; the scene before them was far too unexpected.
All around were people panicked by the fire, which undoubtedly deepened the level of chaos.
"Reorganize the troops. We must leave the city. We must control the troops outside the city. As long as those troops remain under control, everything is not a problem."
Just as the Rus' people were reorganizing, coincidentally, the Poles who had gone to help extinguish the fire also gathered under the command of their leader, Siczech, putting out the fire aside.
After all, it was clear to any discerning person that the situation was not right, and putting out fires had to take a back seat.
As for the Magyars, it seemed their captain had already been burned to death in the warehouse, so this group was leaderless, not knowing what to do, with some directly fleeing and others busy fighting the fire.
Siczech himself rode his horse to Rostislav.
"Lord Rostislav, I want to travel with you. Do you think it's possible? Something bad seems to have happened in this city."
"Of course, Lord Siczech. The more people now, the better."
It seemed the Poles thought the same as he did; the immediate priority was to control the army outside the city. As long as those troops were controlled, whatever happened next would not be a concern.
As for the palace, it had enough troops guarding it, and it was a fortress in itself, so there was no need to worry about it for a while. For them, controlling the troops was the first priority.
Moreover, Rostislav had a feeling that the people in the palace were probably trapped and unable to leave.
The Rus' people and the Poles thus moved through the streets of Fehérvár, and then they discovered that the entire street had fallen into chaos, with fire and crime everywhere.
Due to the previous warehouse incident, most of the city's soldiers had been drawn there, and now there was no one maintaining order on the streets, allowing some long-prepared individuals to start wreaking havoc.
Rostislav saw many robberies and even rapes along the way. Some people were even galloping on horseback through the streets, with unfortunate individuals dragged behind them by ropes. A few guards tried to maintain order, but they were mercilessly struck down and killed.
"This chaos spread too quickly."
Meshko couldn't help but be surprised. No matter what, the chaos spread too rapidly; the streets were filled with robbers and murderers almost the moment the fire ignited.
Rostislav merely exchanged glances with Siczech, and both saw the same meaning in each other's eyes, sensing something was amiss.
Coupled with the warehouse incident that drew them there, it all seemed like a large net that began to operate once they were in position.
Fortunately, these criminals only dared to prey on civilians. Upon seeing the mixed group of Rus' people and Poles, they fled quickly. These fellows dared not confront the fully armed warriors.
This was exactly what Rostislav wanted; he did not want to be held back by those scoundrels. Controlling the troops was the top priority at the moment.
As for the few clear-headed individuals, they would die under arrows, their bodies also deterring those who wished to commit mischief.
Soon, they arrived at the city gate, only to find it still under the control of guards. In front of the closed city gate was a row of chevaux de frise, and more soldiers were bringing in more.
Seeing this, Rostislav was not surprised. Controlling the city gate was an effective way to curb the chaos. However, it was probably even more chaotic outside the city, where there were far more pagans than inside.
The group, having traversed the chaotic city, was forced to stop in front of the fortifications, and Rostislav stepped forward and shouted, "I am Rostislav, the Moscow Prince! I order you to open the city gate immediately!"
But the Prince's words received no response. Instead, the Magyar soldiers nervously lowered their spears, which made Rostislav frown. These people's reaction was a bit strange; why were they so nervous?
Seeing their stance, the Rus' people and the Poles naturally became alert, drawing their swords, looking as if a battle could break out at any moment.
"My Lord, I am very sorry, but there is an order from above that no one is allowed to leave the city."
Just as the tension was high, a Magyar dressed as a captain stepped forward. Rostislav noticed that his clothes were ill-fitting and somewhat dirty.
However, the Prince was in a hurry to leave and couldn't bother with such details, but Siczech, beside Rostislav, narrowed his eyes.
"Whose order is this?"
Siczech spoke in a very authoritative tone. The Moscow Prince looked at him with some surprise, not understanding why he was doing this.
But he did not speak out; Siczech clearly had his reasons for doing so.
"It's Captain Iva's order. He said this order came from the palace."
The captain was clearly intimidated by the stern tone, so he hesitated for a moment before giving his answer.
Siczech, however, showed no hesitation, then asked a barrage of questions like a machine gun.
Only then did Rostislav understand what the Polish Noble was doing. It turned out he was verifying the authenticity of these guards' identities. It seemed he had doubts about their identities.
Rostislav also looked around, and this observation led him to discover something very interesting, something he hadn't noticed when he was anxious before.
That was, many guards were wearing bark boots or even straw sandals, whereas in Rostislav's impression, the Magyar soldiers of Fehérvár wore leather boots. How could soldiers of the Kingdom of Hungary wear such things, and even if they did, not so many would.
Meanwhile, on the other side, facing a series of questions, the captain became increasingly unable to answer, becoming hesitant and evasive.
Rostislav nodded to Siczech, then decisively drew his long sword, "They are the enemy! Attack!" Siczech shouted the same.
Hearing the command from their leaders, the Poles and the Rus' people immediately launched their attack, swinging their swords and charging forward.
The captain was the quickest to die, directly decapitated by Rostislav, and beside the Prince, his attendant leaped over the chevaux de frise, and using the momentum, stabbed and felled an unsuspecting soldier.
A volley of arrows followed, and the imposters fell one after another. More importantly, this severely shook the morale of these men; they had never expected to encounter such an intense battle, initially thinking they would just guard the city gate.
These disguised soldiers were beaten badly; they had never expected the side that was supposed to be deceived to actively launch an attack.
Moreover, they simply couldn't contend with the swords of the Rus' attendants and Polish Knights. These fellows were essentially still commoners and could not fight professional warriors.
Within that short period, these imposters were either killed, decapitated, or forced to flee.
The field was quickly filled with Rus' people and Poles, who patrolled among the corpses, executing any wounded they found, or searching for valuable spoils of war.
And soon, as the Rus' people pushed open the city gate, they also found the bodies of the original guards. These bodies were piled up in the tower, and the expressions on their faces were very normal, with not many signs of struggle. It seemed they had been killed by acquaintances.
Without time to think further, the Rus' people and Poles quickly left the city. No matter what, leaving the city was the top priority now.
However, before leaving, Rostislav left enough men to control the city gate. He would have to lead men back to kill later, so the city gate had to remain under control.
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