The Land of the Ancient Vyrajian Gods. Book 4. The Beginning of the War

Excerpts from the book:
...With the advent of faith in Logos, raids only became more frequent. And now the Order of the Golden Cross decided to subjugate vast Slavic lands.
The raids forced the Slavs in ancient times to have at least a few loyal warriors who carried a military post at the outpost or sloboda.
Jaromir and his detachment, hiding, stood behind the trees. Suddenly, the sound of a war horn was heard — a kmet from the highest watch tower noticed the approach of the enemies and announced this to Bodrichi. The hearts of the warriors who stood on the suburban wall began to beat fast — the army of trained warriors in iron armor, which had once fought with the Byzantines themselves, was moving on them.
The other day Kolot ordered to take small children into the forest under the care of the priest. There is also to hide the harvest. Women and adolescents, armed, along with men prepared to fight back the enemies.
The iron army was slowly approaching the sloboda. Kolot peering into the distance, noticed some mechanisms. The blacksmith, famous for his skill and ingenuity in the sloboda, immediately guessed — the Saxons came with throwing mechanisms. The battle will be fierce and bloody.
And the blacksmith was not mistaken: before going on the assault, the Landmeister ordered to fire at the fortification from the catapults. And then, under the guise of siege towers, hastily built during the landing, take possession of the sloboda. The warriors of the sloboda had only two choices: either to die with honor, protecting their land, or to be captured.
Warriors vowed to fight to the death. They were joined by women and adolescents...
A big bird with silver plumage appeared over the city, singing sacred hymns in a human voice. Peering up, the inhabitants of the sloboda saw a beautiful female face in the bird.
“Sirin! Sacred bird Syrin! Gods are with us!” the unanimous cry of Bodrichi announced the sloboda.
Landmeister Hogerfest’s headquarters is located a mile away from the city. Marshal Kurt of Saxony was preparing assault squads. Meanwhile, the Landmeister and Grandmeister Voltingen planned further action.
The Grandmeister had high hopes for this campaign, for the treasury of the Order of the White Cloaks was noticeably exhausted. Grandmeister desires and love for luxury were immeasurable, as was his love for women. And the maintenance of a whole army of Voltingen's mistresses cost the treasury a considerable amount. Moreover, he intended to give a solid dowry for his daughter Eva.
The Landmeister unfolded on a camp table a map of Slavic lands.
“Now we are here!” with a confident gesture, he pointed to the map.
Voltingen intended to understand from the map: how long it would take to get to Velegosh, how the canopy of the camping tent was opened — an adjunct, a young Dane, entered.
He bowed respectfully to Hogerfest, recognizing him as the head of the allied group, and then directly to the Grandmeister.
“Speak,” said Voltingen.
The adjunct hesitated a little and looked down, said:
“A huge bird of silver color flies over the village of savages... She sings in a female voice. And advanced detachments report that that bird has a female face.”
Landmeister and Grandmeister looked at each other meaningfully.
“Where is my telescope?” cried Hogerfest, grabbed the device from the camping table and rushed away from the tent...