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 spent a long time honing their skills.
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. The question they were asked the most was the so-called when can we ride a horse? fighting.
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.
Just as I was training, the second winter snow came unexpectedly.
Unlike the gentleness of the first snow, it comes with the storm, 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 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 storm, the world froze completely.
Lake Ilmen is covered with thick ice, and the snow in Novgorod city is enough to cover the upper body. 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.
Large amounts of snow accumulated on public roads and were gradually transported outside the city by animal-drawn sleds.
Those 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, while the Turkic horses trafficked by the Pechenegs were used for fighting. born.
For the time being, there is no shortage of labor in Riku. 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 great dreams.
Rurik himself became more sophisticated in horsemanship. He clamped the horse's belly with both feet to brake, lightly kicked the horse's belly with both feet at the same time to move forward, held the reins with both hands, and pulled left to left and right to pull right. Apart from the fact that the horse doesn't know how to "reverse", overall it is a really obedient and understanding horse.
He is dressed in a fur 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 men were given a uniform of clothing - white bearskin 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.
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 that this is bear skin, they feel proud.
Even the ten Pecheneg "coaches" under Rurik's command have new bearskin clothes, and even their own pointed iron helmets are stamped with bear heads, and the hideous bear's upper jaw is full of fangs. Be where the sun hat is. 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 assistants. More than 40 of them formed a small cavalry combat unit, and Rurik deliberately asked his people to imitate it in all aspects.
Therefore, 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.
Rurik rode his horse and stood in front of 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 Pecheneg allies from a height of about three meters.
"Brothers! Isn't it too boring for you to roam around 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 already made an agreement with Brother Kagan. First we will learn to chop on horseback, then learn to stab with a spear, and finally we will learn to ride and shoot."
"I heard that fighting on horseback is more difficult than fighting on foot. Once you learn how to do it, you will be the strongest soldier."
"Now even I, like you, have to learn from the Pechenegs. I will train with you..."
There is no big reason, even though Rurik knows that he is standing at a historical watershed. From today on, the Principality of Ross will officially learn cavalry tactics, and then it can be said that it can really 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 can 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.
Because it continues to expand its strength southward, the advantages of the Principality's navy are 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 means 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 horse riding and chopping. 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, 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 think about the fact 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. This way, the rider will not be pulled off the horse by the inertial force, and he will not be able to ride in the same way. The spear was used twice by the enemy. 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 and 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.
The entire cavalry team was dispatched continuously. Some warriors roared for life, and then slashed their sabers.
At first, the many deer hides did not show much damage, but then 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 was even a wooden pile that had been chopped to the point of crumbling.
Kagan rode up with arrogance and faced Rurik: "You have seen it. If they were enemies, they would have been bloody to us. Remember, in cavalry fighting on the grassland, you almost only have one chance." Opportunity. If you seize the opportunity, you will survive, so this blow must be done with all your strength. I have heard a rumor that some strong warriors can cut the enemy in two at the waist with one sword!"
Rurik also shuddered when he heard the following description, and his men were dumbfounded when they saw the messy wooden piles. They couldn't help but be surprised that those grassland men were obviously not tall, but how could they have such great power when they mounted horses and chopped wood piles. If they were given an axe, wouldn't a big tree be chopped down in the blink of an eye?
Finally, the young Ross cavalry was divided into ten teams, each under the leadership of its own Pecheneg captain, riding horses and hacking.
Since the prince was willing to use deer skin as a target, the brothers obeyed.
The young warriors all understood Kagan's warning, and they all swung their steel swords with maximum strength.
However, such chops always come to nothing. Just seizing the right chop opportunity while galloping requires them to train hard. Even if he managed to chop down a wooden stake by luck, because the force is mutual, the reaction force will be the same as the rider's cutting force, which will make people's hands numb for a while.
Some people were even so shocked that they dropped their steel swords, causing great embarrassment.
Otherwise, Kagan deliberately made a point about this matter, saying that when a cavalryman loses his weapon during battle, it is no different from committing suicide.
"Those who let go of the saber! You should be lucky that you are on the training ground. If it were on the battlefield, you would be dead!"
Is it just a few stern warnings and that's it?
Since the soldiers were trained according to the rules of the grassland, and Kagan was hired as a coach and had a lot of freedom in training, then in this matter, the culprits would be punished completely in accordance with the rules of the grassland.
Five of the eighty young cavalrymen lost their swords, including even the son of the manor owner.
When these five people learned that they would be whipped, they immediately screamed and begged for mercy.
Even Medvet and Arik, who were riding horses, were paying attention to Rurik's reaction to this matter. According to the attitudes of the two nobles, it was understandable that a group of "newly bearded" brats had too weak arms and took off their swords.
Rurik's face was as solid as iron, and the people's cries for mercy were as annoying as flies flying around.
He shouted loudly: "Just follow the laws of the grassland! If you make any mistakes, you will be punished! Listen, I would rather you sweat and tire your muscles and bones during training, and bleed at most, than be killed on the battlefield! Your whip is to 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 what the Rurik brothers said.
With a whip in hand, Kagan, as the chief instructor, declared in advance: "What your prince 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 mercy." "
Look at the five people who were all tied to independent wooden stakes. Their thick coats were peeled off, and even their inner shirts were gone. Only their white backs merged with the snow that could be seen everywhere.
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 whips, don't be too harsh, try to cause a small amount of bleeding. I chop the wooden stake so hard, I don't want you to whip someone to death." "
"I have my own sense of proportion."
Each of the five people received three whips, and three clearly visible blood stains quickly appeared on their fair backs.
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 has now become a strong and ruthless man. He requires his brothers to be ruthless towards the cavalrymen 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 step up your training, wrong If you do well, you will be punished, but if you do well, you will be rewarded.”
So in the subsequent slashing training, the young riders showed mercy to the wooden stakes and were careful not to lose their swords. 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, strong liquor was used to roughly debridement and sterilization, and finally a layer of honey was applied along the path of the wounds.
Kagan was indeed merciful, and the so-called injuries were just a little more severe scratches.
Because the local Slavic farms expanded their traditional skills of tree hole beekeeping in the past warm season, they harvested more honey. They sold the honey to the prince of Russia in large quantities, so Rurik received far more honey than 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 is the greatest test of a prairie cavalry’s tactical ability. 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 the foundation of the prairie cavalry.
