Rostislav's anger was simple: as someone with memories of the future, he knew better than anyone that unbridled plunder and slaughter would lead to widespread resistance.
And once resistance began, they would be embroiled in a troublesome counter-insurgency war, which would require countless resources, trapping him in this place.
The Moscow Prince did not want to see such a sight, and he had been guarding against such killings all along the way, strictly restraining his troops.
But he never expected that at the moment of his great victory, such chaos would erupt, and he had even actively given these people reasons to plunder and kill. At this moment, the Prince was very annoyed that these guys were using his name to rob and kill. Damn, a bunch of damned bastards.
Rubbing his head, Rostislav's mind was filled with thoughts, feeling genuinely tired. He couldn't relax for a second; if he did, these bastards would cause trouble. It was truly exhausting.
Meanwhile, those around the Prince who were trembling in anger looked at him in confusion. Wasn't it just plundering? This was a common occurrence, so why was the Prince so furious?
Although everyone had such questions in their hearts, no one dared to ask, because the Prince was clearly in a fit of rage and was deep in thought. No one dared to disturb the Prince at this time.
What the Moscow Prince was thinking about was nothing else but how to deal with the current situation. He sent people to requisition grain, but these guys used it to rob. This problem had to be solved; they couldn't continue to give those bandits opportunities to rob.
"Where is the Scribe? Call the Scribe over."
Amidst a flurry of commands being relayed, the Scribe came before Rostislav. He was a young man, and facing the Moscow Prince made him somewhat flustered.
"Record my new orders: From tomorrow onwards, the local grain supply in Bulgar will be handled by the local Bulgar people. The Winter Army will no longer participate in grain collection, and all acts of wrongdoing are forbidden. This is the first order."
"And the second order, in the name of the Moscow Prince, demands that Moscow increase its grain supply. The Winter Army needs grain, a lot of grain."
The young man busily wrote, finally managing to record everything just as Rostislav finished speaking.
Rostislav then took the two orders, looked at them, and then, satisfied, stamped them with his seal. The Prince's seal had always been hung around his neck; he could take it off when needed. The design on the seal was Saint George on a galloping horse, thrusting.
However, these orders puzzled the others. It was understandable to transfer the grain requisition work to the Bulgar people, but why also order Moscow to send more grain? They could clearly procure it locally from the Bulgar people.
Rostislav was well aware of this, because his army would eventually consume everything around them, so he had to have Moscow send grain to avoid being forced to requisition it later.
Additionally, Rostislav also planned to bring Anwar over. This Persian would surely have some unique insights into the situation in Bulgar, and Rostislav needed his opinion.
And as a Persian Orthodox Christian, he would surely have some methods to promote the conversion of those of islam.
After completing all this, Rostislav's face, which had been filled with anger, slowly relaxed. Then he looked at the flames and black smoke again, only hoping that this would not cause too severe an impact. Beyond that, he expected nothing.
But things always go against one's wishes. In this short night, the Winter Army's "grain requisition teams" caused too much slaughter and death.
There is a saying: "With a sword in hand, savagery erupts." When these Slavic people entered Bulgar villages with swords and knives, looking at those trembling before their blades, how much mercy could they still have?
Those who only sought wealth and did not kill were ultimately a minority, and often after they left, new "grain requisition teams" would soon arrive, demanding more supplies from villagers who had already had everything taken. And naturally, villagers who could not produce more would then face only slaughter.
Furthermore, there were many poor people in the Winter Army. After the slaughter, they almost emptied the entire village, like a swarm of locusts.
Some units even entered Bulgar towns, where they extorted heavily, raped women, and took all portable wealth they could, committing all sorts of evil deeds.
However, they did not dare to commit too much murder and arson in the towns, because these towns still had Adam's Bulgar garrisons, whose presence restrained the Slavic people's actions.
The only beneficiaries of this large-scale plunder in these Bulgar villages and towns were the slaves. No matter how deranged the plunderers were, they would, in accordance with Rostislav's orders and demands, free the local slaves and distribute some of the masters' wealth among them.
On the one hand, this was because freeing slaves was Christian political correctness, and on the other hand, they could also use these freed slaves as a shield if they had to face accountability from Rostislav.
However, what they didn't expect was that this time, Rostislav didn't care about any explanations; anyone who committed evil had to die.
On that night, the Moscow Prince obtained fifteen heads. Most of them were village elders and chiefs, people who had once led their subordinates in joyful slaughter. These men were hanged like those they had killed, and then their heads were cut off.
Bulgar towns also came with their accusations, and after identification by the victims, the Bodyguard Unit also brought Rostislav a full bucket of bloody, root-like organs—according to the Moscow Prince's order, rapists had to be castrated.
During this process, Gvaran earned a nickname, "Bloody Hand," because he personally carried out these beheadings and castrations, staining his hands with blood.
Behind this nickname was the hatred and hostility of those who were dissatisfied. Rostislav knew those people were unhappy, but they dared not make trouble for him, the Prince; they could only show hostility towards the Captain of the Guard.
Towards the Prince, they dared not have many thoughts, only trembling under his authority. Even those who did not understand the Prince's authority, after witnessing the victory at the sandbank, knew what awe was and could only show hostility towards the Captain of the Guard who carried out these actions.
The Captain of the Guard was indifferent to this hostility. As Rostislav's core bodyguard, his core purpose was always to serve Rostislav and carry out the Prince's orders. As for other matters, they had nothing to do with him.
Rostislav did not expect these bloody actions to win back much of the Bulgar people's hearts. He only hoped that through these cruel acts, he could prevent further potential killings and plundering. In a cruel era, only cruel methods could achieve deterrence.
However, when he learned from the Captain of the Guard that many troops were still scattered outside and had not returned, Rostislav felt a heavy blow to his heart. These guys would carry their evil deeds further, further ruining the reputation of the Winter Army and the Adam regime.
Roughly estimated, the number of these people was over a thousand, which was a very large figure.
Rostislav was basically powerless against these. He couldn't possibly order these troops to be attacked, could he? If he did, many people in his army would probably rebel.
Moreover, his intuition told the Prince that if those guys knew what had happened here, they wouldn't return to the camp.
The Moscow Prince could only hope they would go straight home, rather than continue to cause trouble in this land and disrupt his plans.
And after seeing the heads and limbs of those people, Rostislav's anger finally subsided. It was at this moment that Rostislav received a letter from Adam.
This letter came from Bulgar City—yes, that Bulgar City. Adam had successfully entered that city, while Akad had still not appeared; his whereabouts were completely unknown.
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