The selected people rode on their own horses. At first, the training they experienced was just sitting on the horses, and a group of people formed a team of horses and wandered seemingly aimlessly on the snow.
Rurik even mixed in, and Arik, Medved and others were also beginners.
Under the escort of real Pecheneg cavalry, everyone learned how to control horses and honed their skills for a long time.
When the riders basically learned how to walk on a horse during the three-day special training and began to try to gallop on the horse, many young boys felt that they were born with this material, and the questions they were asked the most were unparalleled. , the so-called when can we ride and fight.
Fight on horseback? Just like the skill of mounted archery, it can be practiced at any time. The rider can even pick up a short wooden bow and explore the secrets of mounted archery on his own.
While training, the second winter snow came unexpectedly.
It is not as gentle as the first snow. It comes with the storm and is as harsh as the wrath of the gods.
The walls of each settlement serve as excellent windbreaks. People are hiding in the city, horses are hiding in stables, and domesticated animals and poultry are all in pens.
All living creatures hide in warm places to resist the ice and snow. Perhaps only the cold-resistant reindeer can withstand the cold with their thick fur.
After this snowstorm, the world was completely frozen.
Lake Ilmen is covered with thick ice, and the snow in Novgorod is enough to cover the entire city. The snow on the roofs of all the houses is also frighteningly thick.
After the snowstorm ended, people across the city first swept the snow in front of their doors, and then tried their best to clear the snow on their roofs.
A large amount of snow accumulated on public roads and was gradually transported outside the city by animal-drawn sleds.
The ponies and a large number of reindeer acquired early took on this work. Although they were all horses, the local ponies were only suitable for the work of pack horses and were trafficked by the Pechenegs. Turkic barbarian horses are born for fighting.
There is no shortage of labor in Rick for the time being. Ragnar's three hundred warriors were mobilized, and they were paid to clear the snow. Everyone was happy at first, but as soon as the two consecutive days of work came to an end, many people fainted from exhaustion, and some were panting heavily and feeling cold all over. Although there was too much bread to eat and greasy grilled fish afterwards, Ragnar's men needed to take a good rest. Almost at the cost of their lives, this group of Danes built a pyramid made of snow outside the city. For a while, the innocent children had a big toy that served as a slide.
There is a very high commanding point on the top of the snow-covered pyramid. Some children stood at certain sections, staring at the horseback riders not far away with their round eyes, commenting on those people, and even expressing some greatness. dream.
Rurik himself became more sophisticated in horsemanship. Clamping the horse's belly with both feet was to brake, lightly kicking the horse's belly with both feet at the same time was to move forward, holding the reins with both hands, and pulling to the left was to pull left and right. To the right. In addition to not knowing how to "reverse" the mount, overall it is reallyA good horse that is obedient and understanding.
He is wearing a fur hat and a velvet hat, with his dagger hanging from the belt around his waist. Coupled with his golden moustache, he looks quite a bit like a classic Cossack.
His young cavalry subordinates were given a uniform of clothing - white bear skin coats.
The helmets of the elite mercenary guards are decorated with bear heads. The more elite the warriors are, the more they wear bearskin coats.
As the new military force of the principality, the cavalry must combine magnificence with combat effectiveness.
The young people like their new coat very much. It has excellent ability to keep out the cold. The thick white fur on the outside is soft and comfortable to the touch. When they think of it as bear skin, they feel proud.
Even the ten Pecheneg "coaches" under Rurik's command, they also have new bearskin clothes, and even their own pointed iron helmets are stamped with bear heads decisively, which is hideous and terrifying. The bear's upper jaw, full of tusks, serves as a base for the sun visor. What is quite strange is that all ten of them wear sunglasses.
In other words, the horse riders who gathered together wore wooden-framed sunglasses on a large scale, so that the blinding white snow was no longer blinding.
Kagan is the real instructor, and his current forty subordinates are the real assistant instructors. More than 40 of them formed a small cavalry combat unit, and Rurik deliberately asked his people to imitate it in all aspects.
So on the first training day after the snow, it is time to put an end to the boring slow march of the horse, and it should be the beginning of cavalry combat training.
Some bowl-thick pine poles were placed on the snow. The poles were wrapped in deerskin and tied firmly with cables.
They are all targets. The smart young rider can guess what kind of training will be carried out today just by holding the hilt of his steel sword tightly.
Rurik rode his horse and stood in front of the many cavalry. With his tall posture, he simply stood up directly on the saddle, so that his eyes were overlooking his men and Kagan's from a height of about three meters. Pecheneg allies.
"Brothers! Isn't it too boring for you to roam on horseback all day? It seems to me that you have learned how to ride a horse. From today on, you will learn to fight!"
"I have discussed it with Brother Kagan. First we will learn to chop on horseback, then learn to stab with a spear, and finally we will learn to shoot on horseback."
"I heard that fighting on horseback is more difficult than fighting on foot. Heavy, as long as you learn it, you will be the strongest soldier."
"Now, even I, like you, have to learn from the Pechenegs. I will train with you..."
p>There is no big reason. Even though Rurik knows that he is standing at a historical watershed, from today onwards, the Principality of Ross will officially learn cavalry tactics, and it can be said that he has truly become a cavalry. He felt this was a historic moment. How did the young fighters feel? Everyone simply hopes to become an excellent cavalry as soon as possible, and in future battles, they will make meritorious service to the principality and earn themselves huge amounts of money and trophies.
The purpose of Rurik seizing the opportunity to create the cavalry was not to protect the country. If the principality had not expanded wildly in the past few years, it would have taken some time to digest the prey. The suspension of expansion is for better expansion and rapid internal development of comprehensive strength. The creation of the cavalry is a direct manifestation of this strategy.
As it continues to expand its strength southward, the principality’s naval advantage is almost useless, and the cavalry will become the new “Imperial Battle Ax.”
After Rurik finished his speech, Kagan received the order and immediately led his own people to demonstrate what it meant to kill on horseback.
The Pechenegs hold a slightly curved saber that resembles a Tang Hengdao. It is indeed a knife. Although it has a sharp tip, one side is edged and the other side is deliberately thickened. The slight curvature of the back of the blade is even more deliberate, just to adapt to horseback riding. It weighs five pounds and is indeed a heavy enemy-killing weapon.
In comparison, Rurik's cavalry is still equipped with a standard infantry combat steel sword, which is flexible and double-edged, and weighs a little more than four pounds. The Rus, who were good at rowing, and other Vikings from all walks of life developed overly strong arms while rowing. The four-pound sword was still quite heavy, but it didn't matter. The huge muscles were attached to the bones, and the hand holding the sword did not feel tired.
The two weapons have one thing in common, they are both straight handles.
Seeing the Pecheneg people's saber, Rurik intuitively felt that it was too similar to Tang Hengdao.
When you consider that these guys are essentially Turks who were driven away by the Eastern Empire, it is normal for them to absorb Eastern military technology for their own use. Of course, what Rurik thought of was to redesign a saber for his men—a Cossack saber with a larger bend.
Not only new sabers, but also a batch of riding spears are also planned.
As for what kind of spear to use, Rurik knew what kind of spear to use. He decided to imitate the easy-breaking spear of the Polish hussars. This spear is a one-time weapon and will break when it hits the enemy, so that the rider will not be inertia. The horse was pulled off with force, and the enemy used the spear again. In this way, there is no need to pay too much attention to the production of the spear head. The only thing that needs to be paid attention to is the selection of lance wood, which must be easy to break.
Kagan led the team to put on a good show in front of everyone. They held their Turkic sabers high and galloped like lightning. They slashed deeply at the wooden pole wrapped in deerskin, and then walked away. go.
The entire cavalry team was dispatched continuously. Some soldiers roared for the rest of their lives, and then their sabers were chopped down.
At first, the many deer hides did not show much damage, but in the end, more than forty riders came and chopped them in two rounds. The completely damaged deer hides were hanging casually, exposing the cracked wooden stakes inside.
There is even a wooden pile that has been chopped to the point of crumbling.
Kagan rode up with pride and faced Rurik: "You have seen it. If they were enemies, we would have seen them bloody. Remember, on the grassland In cavalry combat, you almost only have one chance to survive, so you must use your full strength in this attack.force. I have heard a rumor that some strong warriors can cut an enemy in half in half with one sword! "
Rurik also shuddered when he heard the following description, and his men had already seen the messy wooden piles and were dumbfounded. They couldn't help but be surprised. How could those prairie men mount a horse and hack at them when they were obviously not tall? Chopping wood piles has so much power. If they were given an ax, wouldn't a big tree be chopped down in the blink of an eye?
Finally, the young Ross cavalry were divided into ten teams, each in their own way. Under the leadership of his own Pecheneg captain, he rode on horseback and chopped.
Since the prince was willing to use deer skin as a target, the young warriors obeyed. After understanding Kagan's warning, he swung the steel sword with maximum strength.
However, such chops always came to nothing. It was just a matter of grasping the correct chop while galloping. If they had the opportunity, they had to train hard. Even if they were lucky enough to chop the wooden stake, the force was mutual, and the reaction force would be the same as the rider's chop.
Some people were so shocked that they dropped their steel swords, causing great embarrassment.
But Kagan deliberately made a point about this matter, saying that a cavalryman dropping his weapon during a battle is no different from committing suicide. .
“O man who has thrown away his saber! You should be glad that you are on the training ground. If you were on the battlefield, you would be dead! ”
Is it just a few stern warnings?
Since the soldiers are trained according to the rules of the grassland, Kagan was hired as a coach and got a lot of freedom in training. Degree, then the culprits will be punished in accordance with the laws of the grassland.
Five of the eighty young cavalry lost their swords, including the manor owner's son.
When these five people learned that they would be whipped, they immediately screamed for mercy.
Even Medved and Arik on horseback were paying attention to Rurik's reaction to this matter. According to the two nobles. The attitude of a group of "newly bearded" brats is too weak to take off their swords.
It's understandable that Rurik's face is as steely, and those people's pleas for mercy are like flies flying around. < /p>
He shouted loudly: "Just follow the laws of the grassland! If you make a mistake, you should be punished! Listen, I would rather you sweat and tire out your muscles and bones during daily training and bleed at most, than be killed on the battlefield! The whipping will make you remember! Remember this pain! When you are injured again on the battlefield, you will be able to endure it perfectly. "
Kagan listened very much and appreciated the words of Brother Rurik.
With a whip in hand, Kagan, as the chief instructor, declared in advance: "Your prince What you said is absolutely correct. If you endure the pain now, you will not be afraid of fighting in the future. A whip for everyone, this is my greatest kindness. ”
Look at the five people who were tied to independent wooden stakes. Their thick coats were peeled off, and even their inner shirts were gone. Only their white backs and melted snow could be seen everywhere. as one.
Kagan was about to take action when Rurik asked fiercely: "Only one whip? What is your real law?"
"It's...three whips."
"Then three lashes. Kagan, come here first..."
After all, Rurik didn't want Kagan to kill him in pain. He only emphasized in a low voice: "Just three lashes, don't be too harsh." Be ruthless and try to cause as little blood as possible. I am so ruthless in chopping the stakes, but I don’t want you to whip someone to death.”
“I have my own sense of proportion.”
Each of the five. After receiving three whips, three clearly visible blood stains quickly appeared on his white back.
Many pairs of eyes looked at this punishment, and the young cavalry staggered with his mouth uneasy.
Rurik on horseback is as resolute as a sculpture. He has long since faded away from his immaturity, and now he has become a strong and ruthless man. He requires his brothers to be ruthless towards the cavalry who have high hopes for him.
"You all saw it!" Rurik pointed directly with his sword: "This is the rule! They lost their weapons and were punished according to the rules! I am fair, and I will never punish you for no reason. From now on You must train harder at the beginning. If you make a mistake, you will be punished. If you do well, you will be rewarded.”
So in the subsequent slashing training, the young riders showed mercy to the wooden stakes and guarded themselves. The sword was released. Even so, when night fell, a total of ten people had been rewarded with whips.
The cavalry complained in the unified dormitory, but the ten people were independently arranged to a new dormitory.
The fireplace warmed the dormitory, and the ten unlucky ones who had been whipped lay on the soft beds. The wounds on their backs were cleaned, first with rough debridement and sterilization with spirits, and finally along the wounds. Go towards the paste with a layer of honey.
Kagan was indeed merciful, and the so-called injuries were just a little more severe scratches.
Because the local Slavic farms expanded their traditional tree hole beekeeping skills in the past warm season, they harvested more honey, and they sold it to the Russian princes in large quantities, so Rurik Got more honey than ever before. Honey is not only edible, but also a medicinal material. Since a sucrose cube attached to the affected area of oral ulcers can accelerate wound healing, it means that all kinds of sugar cubes can promote the healing of body surface wounds.
What’s more, honey is a mixture of fructose and glucose, as well as a large amount of vitamins. Its viscous form can also form a protective layer outside the wound.
Some people were punished and whipped, and the rest of the staff worked together internally and quickly developed a method to prevent the sword from falling out of hands - tying the right hand to the handle of the sword with a strip of cloth.
This behavior was tacitly approved by Rurik, and Kagan did not stop him when he saw it.
Compared with mounted shooting, mounted slashing and killing tests the tactical ability of a prairie cavalry the most. After all, mounted shooting is just harassment, a tactic of slowly cutting flesh with a knife, with the purpose of forcing serious flaws in the enemy's array. The decisive tactic was when the cavalry group rushed in to break the formation, and finally turned into sabers ruthlessly slashing the fleeing enemies. Therefore, cutting and killing requires a lot of time to train. This is grass.The foundation of the original cavalry.