As the Moscow Prince returned to his loyal capital amidst the people's cheers, in the wilderness of Northeast Rus, Yan Vishatich, who had been holding the fort during this period, was leading his army, preparing to besiege the Veles Gang's headquarters—Veles Valley.
As the headquarters of the traitors, taking this place was undoubtedly of great significance, and everyone believed that there must be heavily armed pagans here. If they could be eliminated, the possibility of future chaos would be greatly reduced. Therefore, Yan gathered all the forces he could.
By now, Yan had assembled 1,500 men under his command. Apart from his own troops from Suzdal, the rest were forces provided by various chieftains and cities.
It was relying on this force that Yan was able to maintain the overall situation in Northeast Rus during the past period, preventing the situation from collapsing and preserving the stability of the cities and their surrounding areas.
As for the countryside, he was truly powerless and could only hope to rescue them incidentally.
And now, with Rostislav's return, the overall situation has changed. Northeast Rus is pacified by the Prince's return, and a large number of looters and bandits who took advantage of the chaos have chosen to retreat while they were ahead, beginning to wrap things up, thus sharply reducing the number of enemies.
As for those who rebelled, they mostly ceased their activities, and villages fearing retaliation began to relocate, effectively no longer willing to cause trouble.
Of course, there were still criminals who hadn't recognized the situation and fools who were determined to remain rebels. These were the main enemies the Moscow regime now faced.
For Yan, this meant he could free up troops that were originally pinned down near towns and use them for targeted encirclement and suppression of the bandit gangs.
For example, now, after receiving news about the Veles Gang's headquarters, Yan immediately mobilized all available troops and arrived outside Veles Valley.
Yan remembered that he almost went to this place back then, and now he still wants to go, wanting to fulfill that unfulfilled wish.
Upon learning that they were going straight to the heart of these pagans, the soldiers' morale was high. Everyone believed that there must be the core strength of the pagans there, and as long as they took them down, this damned long war could end.
And more importantly, there must be a lot of wealth in the pagan center.
And now, Yan's subordinates had found the hidden entrance to Veles Valley; the vines that originally covered the cave entrance had been cleared.
The cave had clearly experienced a bloody battle. When Yan walked in, he happened to encounter two soldiers moving corpses. As for inside, it was covered in blood and bodies.
Although Yan's army arrived quite suddenly, the pagans recovered from their initial shock and fought to the last man against Yan's subordinates.
And deeper in the cave, the sounds of fighting and screams continued to echo. The fierce battle was still ongoing, and there were still many pagans. They retreated along the passage while fighting, until they reached a point where they felt they could not retreat further.
At the same time, this place was also a death trap set by the defenders for the attackers, designed to inflict maximum casualties on the attackers.
"My Lord, we have found a path forward, but these paths are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are enemy firing points everywhere. It is very difficult for our men to break through."
The commanding chieftain saw Yan arrive and immediately knelt before him to report the known battle situation, reflecting their difficulties. Yan's answer was cold, cold and correct.
"I will give you more troops. Do not begrudge death. This path must be opened, the pagans must die."
As he finished speaking, a team of iron-armored warriors came from behind and lined up behind Yan.
"Yes, I will definitely complete the mission."
Now that he had received manpower support, the chieftain could naturally complete the mission better.
At his command, these newly arrived soldiers were immediately thrown into the meat grinder at the front.
However, even after increasing the forces, it was still not enough. The enemy's side was truly too easy to defend and difficult to attack. Their numerical advantage simply could not be utilized, and they could only fight one or two abreast, with cold arrows or spears occasionally piercing them.
To fill this machine, they could only continuously invest manpower, and Yan indeed ruthlessly kept sending in troop after troop.
Because he knew that it was better for people to die now than to die in the future; this valley had to be taken.
However, Yan was originally prepared to wait for a while, as the battle ahead seemed so fierce, but then, all of a sudden, a blood-soaked soldier rushed over and knelt before Yan.
"My Lord, we have taken the passage!"
Yan was somewhat surprised, but this emotion quickly dissipated. Were the pagans weaker than he thought, or did they lack manpower?
Yan didn't dwell on it for long. He then ordered the troops to advance. Since the situation had opened up, they naturally had to expand quickly.
Then, the Mayor of Suzdal and his subordinates walked through the passage where both sides had been ground. They saw layers upon layers of corpses, making every soldier thankful that he had not become a part of this meat grinder.
The killing holes were even more terrifying, making everyone who saw them thankful they didn't have to face these things. Now these holes were safe, because the enemies behind them had been dealt with.
And through the passage, the view ahead suddenly opened up. They saw the landscape of Veles Valley, witnessing this vibrant land, villages, lakes, forests, farmlands... everything coexisting harmoniously.
"These pagans really know how to find good places."
Looking at the beauty of the place, Yan said instinctively. He could see the potential of this land, and as a great landowner, he almost subconsciously developed a greedy desire for it.
And then, he saw the veles statue. The statue made Yan frown. Yan was a very devout Christian, and the worship of pagan idols naturally made him very uncomfortable.
It must be torn down after this place is taken.
Yan internally sentenced this wonder of East Slavic polytheism to death. This thing had to be destroyed to demonstrate the authority of the Lord.
"Keep advancing! Execute all the pagans here, don't leave a single one alive!"
Without hesitation, Yan issued an order for slaughter. The pagans in Veles Valley had to die.
The presence of these fellows in this place meant they were devoted pagans, so they had to die, not a single one could live, for if one lived, it would cause endless trouble.
The soldiers immediately dispersed to act, many with greed on their faces. Such a fertile land, the villages here must have a lot to plunder.
For some time now, Yan's army had been fighting various rebel forces in the wilderness. Compared to the enemies who had made a fortune at the beginning of the rebellion, they were now fighting the poorest of the poor, which also made their desire for combat increasingly low.
Since this place was the headquarters of the pagans, there must be many things here, and they must be able to get rich this time, with such thoughts, they rushed towards the village with wild roars.
However, to their great disappointment, in this valley, they found little money, little food, and no women or children to rape and plunder.
The soldiers only found some lingering wounded soldiers and hidden believers who attacked them. Because of the presence of these people, many of their own men were ambushed and killed, causing many to curse their bad luck.
They had planned to make a fortune, but all they encountered were stubborn and unpleasant pagans, and many of their own men died.
Yan was quite surprised upon learning this news, and then he thought of some things, things that felt very distant to him, yet still existed.
Yan remembered the pagan sorcerer who had discussed the Prince's power with him back then, now the leader of the Veles Gang. That resolute face appeared before his eyes.
"Lev, you wouldn't be planning... Really, why do I always encounter such reckless fellows?"
Yan muttered, but there was a hint of admiration in his tone, and then he shouted without any emotion.
"Search, go search, there must be something else undiscovered, you must find it!"
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