After several days of sailing, Ella finally landed. After driving for a few days, a small castle appeared in front of us. A messenger rode up to them on a fast horse, reined in the horse, dismounted, then knelt and lifted a box in front of Ella.
"Duke Otto has learned about the return of the King of Sweden, and asked me to send a gift. Duke Otto also asked me to say: The King of Sweden is tired from the journey, so there is no need to rush, and he can rest here for a few days. He Waiting in the capital for the arrival of the King of Sweden."
Ella rushed forward and took the box from the messenger. Inside the box was a large pearl, which seemed to be of great value.
"From here to Duke Otto's capital, it will only take less than a day if you use fast horses to drive hard." The leader of the cavalry team pointed to the front and said to Ella, "But since Duke Otto said so, the King of Sweden is here Let’s rest in this castle for a few days.”
"But I have been away from the territory for too long, and I have to go back early." Ella said with some embarrassment, "I'm not very tired, can't you let me see Duke Otto earlier?"
"Of course you are not tired from riding a horse, but we are panting and walking behind you!" Habiba interjected from behind, "And you are too ignorant of the style. Duke Otto wants to entertain you well, so you must not give Can Duke Otto give you some time to prepare for the banquet? What's the rush?"
"Gu...okay."
Ella put the box away. But in my heart, I began to feel that something was wrong - Duke Otto sent out such a large force to find her for no reason. He was about to see her but delayed the meeting. What on earth did he want to do?
"Did something happen to the Alemanni Federation?"
She asked the cavalry around her, but those cavalry immediately turned their heads and avoided Ella's question.
Ella had no choice but to follow Duke Otto's arrangement and live in the castle here. The castle is quite spacious and has all kinds of items. There are three maids who take care of Ella's daily life, and four chefs are responsible for Ella's diet.
Duke Otto also sent people to deliver luxurious spices to Ella, and even Habiba and Gottfried had a share.
The only problem is that Ella's activities are somewhat restricted. Every time she goes out of the city, she will be followed by several guards. She could roam freely in the mountains and forests, or go to the market in the city, but whenever she wanted to talk to other people, the guards would always replace her or drive those people away - which made Ella unable to find out. What happened to the Alemannic Federation.
Two days passed in a flash. In the early morning of the third day, Ella was suddenly awakened by a commotion. The guards sent out to inquire about the situation came back and reported to her that this was a routine training exercise by the local garrison outside the castle.
"If the King of Sweden is interested, you can go and visit." The guard said.
"Can I watch it?" Ella suddenly became interested. The opportunity to watch another country's military training doesn't come often.
She followed the guards to the city wall. There were about a thousand soldiers gathered under the city wall, divided into cavalry and infantry, each training in a corner. There were about a hundred cavalry among them. They followed closely behind the military flag at the front. While maintaining a neat formation, they let the sitting horses walk slowly.
"Disperse the formation!" the cavalry commander ordered. So the cavalry team began to evacuate outward from both sides until the distance between them allowed any soldier to turn his horse's head and turn to the rear. They kept this distance and circled the training ground, then walked towards the city wall where Ella was.
"Move forward!" the commander ordered again. As a result, the group of cavalry gradually moved closer and closer, and finally formed a dense front.
Ella looked a little bored and couldn't help but ask: "What are you doing?"
"Training formation." The guard next to him replied. "If you march too close together, the cavalry will be exhausted before engaging the enemy, so you need to disperse the formation. And when charging, if the formation is too dispersed, you will There is no effect. So it is very necessary to practice quick transitions between these two formations."
"That's it..." Ella nodded in understanding. She had never commanded cavalry.
The guard noticed that Ella was a little uninterested and said quickly: "Don't worry.
They were about to launch a charge. "
As soon as he finished speaking, the cavalry commander suddenly raised the lance in his hand, and the ribbon on the lance glanced majestically. At the same time, the order to "charge" was issued.
The cavalrymen all leaned forward slightly, using their shields to protect their heads and their horses' necks. At the same time, raise the rifle to your own shoulder height. In this posture, the horses under their crotches began to gradually accelerate, and before long, the entire training ground echoed with the thunderous sound of horse hooves!
"Oh oh oh oh! Such a fast charge, but the formation is not messed up at all?" Ella leaned out in surprise, "Are these really just local defenders?"
"It's just a matter of regular practice. It's not difficult," the guard said lightly.
As he spoke, the cavalry team got closer to the city wall where Ella was. But instead of slowing down, they went faster and faster.
"Wait a minute...why are they still accelerating?" Ella shouted in panic, "Didn't they see the city wall in front of them? They will hit it!"
"Isn't there still a long way to go?" the guard replied nonchalantly.
"But this is a horse! It can't stop!"
Seeing that the cavalry was still accelerating, Ella was so frightened that she closed her eyes. If she hadn't known that the city wall would never be damaged by a cavalry charge, she would have fled long ago.
However, the expected collision never happened.
Ella opened her eyes and saw that the cavalry team had been divided into two teams: left and right. Each team had five rows of cavalry. The left team turned to the left and the right team turned to the right. They actually turned without losing any speed. The innermost row of cavalry on the left and right teams had almost reached the city wall when they turned. If it had been a moment later, or if the other four rows of cavalry had moved a little further inward, they would have been beaten to death on the city wall. !
The left team turned half a circle in the counterclockwise direction, and the right team turned half a circle in the instantaneous direction. When the left and right teams came together again, the entire cavalry team completely changed direction.
"Oh oh oh oh! So awesome!" Ella clapped.
"This..." Ella's reaction made the guard not know what to say. He had just panicked and said that these troops were not the defenders of some place, but Duke Otto's personal guards. Especially these cavalry, they are the elite among the elite!
Duke Otto specially selected the most elite soldiers under his command and pretended that the local garrison in the city was conducting exercises here. The purpose was to shock the world-famous "triumpher" in front of him.
But Ella's reaction was not so much that she was shocked... but more like she was watching a circus performance.
Barcelona's Restoration Diary
