Rurik's prediction proved correct.
In order to protect their winter camp, the nomadic chief did not flee. Instead, he summoned the forces of his vassal tribes and waited quietly on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River.
With winter approaching, Rurik did not delay.
Once his army expanded to 6,000 men, he ordered the troops to cross the river by boat and march directly toward the Pecheneg camp.
The Battlefield
On the eastern bank, the grasslands had already turned yellow and lifeless.
Under the biting wind, the dry grass wailed like ghosts, as if the earth itself sensed the slaughter to come.
Thick clouds covered the sun, leaving only a dull iron-gray glow pressing down upon the endless steppe.
After half a day of marching, Rurik spotted the enemy.
About 3,000 warriors stood in the distance:
roughly 60% nomadic cavalry
over 1,000 slave soldiers equipped with round shields and wooden spears
"Look," Rurik said, pointing toward a banner in the distance.
"The Pecheneg chief is beneath that flag."
Around it were about 200 armored cavalry wearing lamellar armor.
"I understand," Nils replied. "I'll begin the attack immediately."
According to the battle plan, Nils led an 800-man battle group as the vanguard, advancing slowly toward the enemy's central banner.
The formation was organized carefully:
Front line: heavily armored spearmenFlanks: soldiers pushing light two-wheeled carts to block cavalry chargesOuter edges: a small number of elite archers
Nomadic Harassment
As the battle began, the nomads used their familiar harassment tactics.
Horse archers galloped forward, screaming wildly while firing arrows from dozens of paces away.
A chaotic rain of arrows struck the formation.
Most arrows clattered harmlessly against the iron armor of the spearmen, producing dull metallic thuds. Only a few unlucky soldiers were hit in the face and collapsed screaming.
Meanwhile, the elite archers on the outer lines returned fire.
They too wore armor.
Drawing their bows, they calmly targeted the nomads dressed in ragged sheepskin coats and quickly shot down more than a dozen riders.
Soon the loose archer formation drew the attention of the horse archers.
After a brief exchange of arrows, the nomads realized they had the disadvantage.
Some grew impatient, drawing curved sabers and charging.
The Spear Wall
When the cavalry reached twenty paces, the archers withdrew into the formation.
The spearmen halted.
The first two ranks crouched slightly, leveling their long spears upward in a classic anti-cavalry spear formation.
Nils ordered the archers to shoot down the reckless attackers and then commanded the formation to continue advancing.
The Nomad Charge
Time passed.
Suddenly the chief blew a horn.
In an instant, countless horses surged forward.
The ground trembled.
The riders screamed terrifying war cries, causing several young Vikings to turn pale.
"Hold your ground!" Nils shouted.
"Anyone who retreats will be executed!"
He remained calm.
From his perspective, most riders were merely untrained herdsmen.
Their charge formation was chaotic:
Some rode too close together, slowing each other down
Others were too far apart, leaving gaps everywhere
A small group of riders mounted on good horses surged ahead first.
They finally smashed a small opening in the Viking formation—but only a few made it through before being stabbed to death by spears.
Meanwhile, most of the cavalry on weaker horses lagged behind.
Seeing their bravest comrades fall, many herdsmen instinctively slowed down. They rode to the flanks, fired a quick volley of arrows, and then turned away.
In their minds, they had fulfilled their duty to Chief Hulus—and to the cheap wine he had given them.
The thunderous charge ended almost as quickly as it began.
Attack on the Rus
As the Viking army drew closer, the chief changed tactics.
He gathered the scattered riders and ordered them to attack the Rus troops in the rear.
The result was predictable.
When struck by heavy cavalry, the Rus forces collapsed almost immediately.
But neither Rurik nor Nils cared.
They had anticipated this outcome beforehand.
The Rus soldiers were expendable.
Instead of turning back, they continued advancing toward the enemy's central banner.
Collapse of the Center
When they were only one hundred paces from the chief's banner, Nils glanced behind him.
The yellow steppe was now filled with fleeing Rus soldiers and pursuing nomadic riders.
The nomads had become so absorbed in the slaughter that they had forgotten to protect their own chief.
Nils remained expressionless.
He had seen too many battles for this to disturb him.
"Loose arrows!"
Around the banner remained only:
the chief
about twenty guards
more than 1,000 poorly equipped slave soldiers
Under a barrage of arrows, the slave soldiers collapsed in panic.
Some fled.
Others gathered together and turned their spears toward the person they hated most in the world:
their own chief.
After personally cutting down two rebellious slaves, the chief fled with his guards.
Nomadic riders across the steppe began to retreat.
Aftermath
When the battle ended, over 600 slave soldiers surrendered.
Rurik accepted them.
He ordered them to elect their own squad and company leaders, forming them into auxiliary units.
Although Rurik's side suffered higher casualties, most losses came from the Rus troops, who had already fled.
Only 800 Rus warriors remained, but their presence had never been essential to the army's strength.
The Winter Camp
After resting for half an hour, the army continued marching.
Guided by the surrendered slaves, they reached a sheltered forest area by evening.
The next morning, a nomadic rider arrived to negotiate peace.
He offered a truce.
Chief Hulus promised never to harass Rurik's caravans again.
"Get lost," Rurik replied.
After finishing a large bowl of oat and horse-meat porridge, he ordered the army forward.
At 10 a.m., another envoy arrived.
Hulus offered compensation—and even promised to marry his sister to Rurik.
Rurik refused.
"Money is not important. Your chief's sister is not important."
"I care only about the trade route."
"I must destroy you—to warn the rest of the Pecheneg tribes."
The Burning Camp
At 2 p.m., the army arrived at the winter camp.
Around the camp stood a low barricade made from wagons and debris.
Inside were hundreds of thick felt tents.
Rurik slapped Nils on the shoulder.
"My old friend—finish them."
Nils gathered all the archers and advanced to one hundred paces under the protection of spearmen.
They began firing into the camp.
Volley after volley of arrows rained down on the tents.
Nils watched coldly.
Eventually the archers stopped.
"My lord," someone said.
"We've run out of arrows."
"All twenty thousand arrows?" Nils stared at their empty quivers for a moment before ordering the infantry to advance.
Final Destruction
The battle lasted about half an hour.
When large numbers of Viking soldiers flooded into the camp, the desperate chief Hulus set the camp on fire.
Flames spread quickly, causing casualties on both sides.
Nils had no choice but to withdraw temporarily until the fire burned out.
"What a ruthless savage," Rurik muttered angrily.
When the flames finally died, the entire camp was ruined:
furs destroyed
livestock burned
only a few melted gold and silver objects remained in the ashes
From a financial perspective, the campaign had been a loss.
"Withdraw," Rurik ordered.
He ignored the fleeing nomadic riders.
Instead, he allowed survivors to escape—so they could spread his reputation and intimidate the remaining Pecheneg tribes.
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