The next movement of the army secretly brought both anticipation and irritation to the Great Khan Batu. The other day he had already met 20 Russians who had held out against his nearly 10,000 soldiers for a very long time. It had been one of the most incredible battles in his life. Of course, they had buried these warriors with all the honors as a sign of respect, so now, in fact, they were riding after the funeral.

They had managed to take another Russian village more easily, where many had simply taken their own lives immediately, but had not been captured. And so he sat, silently watching the burnt houses, already rubble in the snow.