The army broke camp before the sun reached the forest. They moved north along the same road the Voronezh survivors had taken the previous night.
The signs of that retreat were easy to follow. Mud had been churned by hurried traffic, abandoned equipment lay scattered along the route. A saddlebag sat split open beside the road, near it a broken spear shaft still stood upright in the grass where someone had dropped it while fleeing.
North of Voronezh lay the lands of the Ryazan principality. Farms and villages sat behind the forest, spring fields remained unworked. Some farmsteads still had smoke rising from their hearths, but no people appeared in the yards or at the doors.
Everyone between Voronezh and the city had either fled or taken shelter behind whatever they could find. The survivors had carried the warning ahead of the army.
The Jochid force maintained its marching pace and did not stop to investigate any of it.
