The frozen Lake Ladoga gives passers-by a desperate emptiness and loneliness.
The Arctic cold wind in the wilderness swept across the vast ice field, and a huge sled team ran wildly on the nearshore ice.
Through the somewhat rough glass factory, Rurik, who was sitting in the warm cabin of the sled, could clearly see everything outside.
Noren, Bayasil, Svetlana, the queen and concubines are all here.
Only the top scribe, Ella, continued to stay in the capital and continued to personally supervise the printing and sale of "Ross Saga". Conveniently, he also conducted an investigation on the current situation of the capital's trade market, and collected and recorded the data of several bulk goods.
It will then be submitted to the king for further review and judgment.
The people accompanying him were all wrapped up thickly, and even the horses of the cavalry guards were covered with an extra layer of wool blankets.
The journey with the harshest environment is the journey to Lake Ladoga. Although a new inland route has been opened, if you want to ensure the smooth movement of a large number of people, the old road is still the best solution.
It has snowed recently, and the north wind has blown away the icy boots. The snow has piled up in the nearby woodlands, and the frozen lakes and rivers have become perfect roads.
The reindeer that were converted to pull vehicles and sleds were nailed with special shoes, which have small spikes to prevent slipping on the ice.
The cavalry's horseshoes were also repaired on a large scale and the horses were trimmed.
With the support of new non-slip shoes, the entire team can travel at high speed.
Only a few winter fishermen set up tents and wooden shacks near the shore. Such people often start building camps in the autumn, and now they dig holes in the ice to fish and catch Ladoga seals.
The final journey on the ice of the Volkhov River went smoothly, and people on the return trip even felt a distinct push on their backs.
That's because the Arctic wind traverses this frozen road, which objectively makes the team going south faster.
In the end, the flags trembled and roared in the strong wind, and the chants of the people were also obscured by the sound of the wind.
The snow-covered farmland creates vast snowfields. The main city of Novgorod in the snow looks like a lake and is quiet. The tall gray-brown wooden walls are incompatible with the surrounding environment, making the city stand out.
Everyone is hiding?
Also, most people won't wander around outdoors in the extremely cold month of January because they don't want to accidentally freeze to death.
Unless, those are some ruthless people with ambitions.
The Second Standard Cavalry, led by captain Brody, has been responsible for protecting the royal family for half a year.
Young and meritorious, his status is like the captain of the bodyguard, and he has great responsibilities, which also makes him vigilant in human situations.
There is no need to be attacked by a bad person, but you should consider being attacked by a bear.
Now that everyone was just one step away from the capital, everyone couldn't help but relax their vigilance. Brody took off his sunglasses and squinted to carefully examine the shadows that were not very far away.
"Cavalry?! It's actually cavalry? Are they still training?"
After calming down, Brody casually summoned his subordinates to give them some tasks.
After a moment, the defeated subordinates left the group and galloped away following the figure of the horseman swaying in the distance...
The large army was still advancing, and Rurik, who was tired from the fatigue of the carriage and horses, simply curled up and fell asleep. Osborne and Velica, the siblings, also twisted to their father's side and fell asleep.
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Rurik wanted to return to Novgorod before the spring plowing. He knew that the people who arranged to go to the south and the "pioneers" in the east would definitely return. What they discovered must be reported truthfully. What was especially important was that Rurik needed to know who he was.
Whether the enemy in the south, the Smolensk forces have any adverse actions.
Speaking of the cavalry, Brody saw a gray-white shadow running toward him. He signaled to his men to light up their flags and maintain the pace of the march, waiting for the brothers who were obviously the First Cavalry to catch up.
Fisk never expected that he would take the First Cavalry, which had expanded to more than 400 men, for winter training, and unexpectedly meet the returning king. Thinking about it now, this was inevitable.
He took off his furry white hat with blue feathers, revealing his trademark big bald head.
The sweat on my head suddenly smoked violently due to the sudden cold, and then the whole head seemed to be on fire when the wind blew.
Brody couldn't help but cover her mouth, and her strange eyes hinted that she was happy.
"Are you in a good mood? Brody, you seem to have gained a lot of weight in the north."
"Haha. Boss. You are the flag captain, and I am also the flag captain. Thanks to the king's love, I live a good life. You can't say that I am fat, I am full of strength now." That's all, Brody asked casually: "Are you here?
What are you doing here?"
"What to do?" Fisk said casually: "I'll wait for you. Where is the king? He must be here."
"The sleigh is resting."
"That's right! A lot of things have happened here recently, and I intend to report to him. In that case... Come on, our two flag teams will escort the king."
Soon, the sleigh team was guarded by cavalry on both sides, and its strength reached 700 cavalry, making it a real behemoth.
Rurik, who was sleeping, knew nothing about this.
The core soldiers of the Second Flag Team were born out of a small number of veterans and emerging meritorious service members of the First Flag Team. Compared with the current First Flag Team, the Second Flag Team has a large number of new recruits and is not as strong.
Brody's Second Flag Force has not only increased its troops, but Fisk's side has greatly expanded its troops.
Fisk has the power in this regard. The cavalry standard corps has a maximum number of personnel. Before reaching the limit, officers can recruit troops independently, thus reducing some worries for the king.
To increase troops, leaders need to be added. Recruiting some useless snacks will drag down the entire team.
Most of the latest soldiers to join the First Flag Team are from White Tree Manor. Fisk's own son is still too young, but it is inevitable that the brat will be recruited into the cavalry in three to four years.
Frequent archery training improved the archery skills. After Hanukkah, the focus of training fell on equestrianism. Among the new Pecheneg horses purchased, the ones with the best quality became the mounts of the newly recruited cavalry. Everyone must fight with the war horses.
Taking time to get used to it, the cavalry should also practice their ability to fight in harsh environments in preparation for the future expedition south.
This was Fisk's reason for training his troops in the cold, and what he wanted to report to the king was his so-called strategic plan to proactively use troops against Smolensk.
The sled team stopped, and when Rurik regained consciousness he was already standing at the Ice Peak Pier in Novgorod.
There was already a crowd of people watching happily, and a large number of cavalrymen raised their lances high and defended majestically.
Blue Fox and Red Fox were ordered to follow Wang Jia to Novgorod, an important industrial and agricultural town. The two brothers had noticed that a new cavalry had suddenly joined in the middle of the journey. The fat-headed Blue Fox opened the leather curtain and asked casually.
Bald Fisk is here.
"Look, this is the second capital of Ross. This is how Otto spends his old age."
Blue Fox pinched his waist in the wind and introduced the situation here to his younger brother, although he rarely came here.
"So this is Novgorod. The king asked our family not to develop here. Does he want to hide a lot of things? Well, a huge community."
"You can't say that. You and I have our own destiny. You are responsible for the affairs at the mouth of the Inn River. I have other affairs. Our family cannot allocate people to develop in the east."
"Maybe now we have a chance." Red Fox said casually.
"Forget it. Remember our mission, we will have big operations in Frank next year. Listen, there are Russians everywhere here, don't talk too much, just follow me."
If you want to get together with a group of ruthless people to drink and eat meat, you must have admirable skills. Blue Fox can talk and laugh with those ruthless people, but his younger brother Red Fox cannot. Even if this kid has an extremely good deal with the Count of Flanders
A trade agreement that benefits Russia is not a war achievement after all.
The Russians still worshiped force, and Red Fox had to kill several enemies before he could be respected by those warriors.
It's a pity that this kid is just a fat seal, inheriting the fat genes of the Gould family.
After getting off the sled, Rurik was blown away by the north wind, and his sluggish spirit immediately became alert.
Only then did he notice that the guy who was half-kneeling and saluting was actually his old friend Bald Fisk.
"Get up! I don't know when you joined the guard. Oh!" Rurik looked around again, "There are cavalry everywhere, which is good."
Fisk took off his hat again and said, "Your Majesty has arrived in time. Brothers, we have a lot of good news to inform you. Just wait a moment, a brand new flag team will come to see you soon."
"A brand new flag corps? Are you...what new tricks are you doing? Where is the Governor?"
"Medved, he's coming."
Although Rurik was a little unhappy because Fisk was deliberately showing off, he took his family and stamped their feet on the snow that had collapsed very solidly, and waited in the cold wind.
Listen! That's the marching cry.
"Left! Right! Left! Right!"
The centurions shouted trumpets, and the drummers of the centurion set the rhythm of the whole team.
The soldiers all carried round shields on their backs, marched in unison to the rhythm, and wore thick clothing, making these young brats look extremely burly.
The leader is none other than Askard.
His father Arik was very satisfied with the current situation of the recruits. After a month of continuous high-intensity training, the boys were not only transformed, but also several times stronger than at the beginning of the term.
One of the most striking features is that they are in the same step, dressed in the same way, and armed with the same weapons. Anyone who looks at them will think that they are strong troops.
They are not the only ones visiting.
A mixed cavalry team deliberately kept a distance from it. Wladyslav from Kiev and his horsemen, and Pecheneg Gochar and his brothers, both wanted to bring their own people to take advantage of this golden opportunity.
The real King of Rus. As the saying goes, the impression given by the first person often determines the future. They intend to show their martial prowess, and when they saw the King of Rus, they all dismounted and half-knelt down to salute to show their submission.
This is not shabby. On the one hand, it is for the sake of continuous wealth in the future, and on the other hand, it is really intended to be loyal to the King of Rus.
The sound of drums and trumpets came, and Rurik's face numbed by the wind slowly showed a smile.
"Brand new flag corps? Are you recruiting?" he asked Fisk.
"They are already here, you can inspect them. Haha, they are all our tribesmen."
The last casual words said everything. Rurik quickly met the new recruits and knew their identities without even asking.
The faces of his cousin Aric and his eldest nephew Askard were very clear to Rick, especially that boy. When his sister-in-law gave birth to her, he was by his side to give her spiritual encouragement.
Although most of the young warriors live in Mstisk, they still have too few opportunities to see the king. This time they saw the king's true face!
Many people have heard their fathers or grandfathers say that when they grow up, Rurik looks like the old King Otto.
He also said that Queen Mother Niya was a very beautiful girl in the Rus tribe, so much so that she became a bargaining chip.
At that time, the big leader passed away, and all the men in the tribe held a "competition" under the organization of the high priest. It was an extremely violent special competition. The winner would get the position of chief and marry the most beautiful woman.
Otto was the victor, and at the beginning some people were envious and jealous. When Otto lost his two sons, the jealous people secretly enjoyed themselves secretly.
Finally, the dream boy was born...
Otto, Rurik and his son created a new situation, and everyone got unprecedented development opportunities.
The education they received also understood that their births came from the strategies of two generations of kings, and they also knew that they actually had a certain blood connection with the king. They were naturally close to the king, and more importantly, King Rurik would give young people
More opportunities for people.
They obeyed the order and looked at Rurik, half-kneeling and saluting, holding the hilt of the sword with one hand and covering their heart with the other.
He and Arik looked at each other, and they basically understood the situation with one look.
"Get up! Ross boys! Let me have a good look at you!"
At this moment, Rurik was excited inside, just like the smile he returned to his brother.
The Rus tribe and the Slavs mixed blood on a large scale and deliberately reproduced on a large scale. The original intention was to increase the population as much as possible to establish a solid source of troops for expansion.
The source of troops is something that doesn't come easily.
Looking at the boy in front of me, it fully proves that the affairs that were planned fourteen years ago are now showing their power.
In the excitement, there were some things that Rurik and Novgorod's cronies and powerful people should have had a good chat about, especially the issue of proof.
I really didn’t expect that my eldest brother had already helped me complete the construction of the new flag team.
The tall and burly man took off his velvet hat, revealing his well-trimmed golden beard, letting his golden horse tail flow in the wind, and then put on a golden laurel crown, in front of many descendants of old Rus, speaking in pure Norse language Rus.
Speaking in tongues...
What do they need? Of course, they want to kill the enemy and make meritorious service, plunder and make a fortune. It is best to take advantage of the war opportunity to kidnap a girl of the same age from the hostile forces, and then marriage and childbirth.
They feel that the experience of their parents' generation can be described as a model of success, and they must inherit and do better.
Listen to what the king has to say!
"I see a powerful army standing in front of me! Some people may say that you are too young. No! It is precisely because you are young that you have unlimited possibilities. You are eager to fight! You are eager to make a fortune! You are eager to catch slaves! You are eager to catch slaves!
Use the blood of your enemies to prove your respect for the gods! Only by killing the enemy and performing meritorious deeds is the true blood sacrifice to Odin. If you are eager for war, I will give you a chance! This chance will be just after the spring plowing..."
Rurik's words not only shocked the young warriors to ecstasy, but Arik's eyes widened. He heard from his brother's mouth a very clear time for the war to begin.
Obviously, the one-year truce is over, who should we fight next?
"You...should support the immediate use of troops against Smolensk. Everyone is looking forward to it." He muttered in his heart. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw the blue fox with a fat face and another fat man accompanying him, and he couldn't help but feel more
Think about it: "Eh? Do you still want to use large-scale troops against the Franks? These brats I have newly trained...you...my brother, do you really think these brats can fight against the Franks at a young age?"
?”
Arik had some doubts, but he was relieved after thinking about it carefully. No matter who he attacks, the new warrior with the blood of the old Ross must prove that he is worthy of his ancestors. Sooner or later he will face a strong enemy, so it is better to take advantage of the fact that the newborn calves are not afraid of tigers.
Let them see the world.
My brother is training new recruits for himself, and Governor Medved who came here also proves this.
Future military operations should be carefully discussed at a meeting later, and there is sufficient time for this.
Rurik noticed more horsemen. They were definitely not Russian cavalry. There were actually soldiers holding bull-headed flags among them.
Duchess Carlotta of Ostara and her son Karl came with their cavalry to pay homage.
The steppe cavalry was present together with the Kiev horse riders, but the newcomers were indeed new faces.
These foreign equestrians dismounted their horses and half-knelt down to salute. Their respectful gestures seemed to prove: We are your soldiers.
Wladyslav and Quetzal, their respectful attitude was satisfying.
"I know there will be new people replacing the old ones. You came just in time. It seems that our cooperation will go further."
After Rurik finished speaking, the two of them flattered each other with smiles.
Conversations that enhance feelings should be kept at the venue. It is best to hold a banquet where everyone can enhance friendship while eating and drinking.
Unexpectedly, Quetzal was extremely bold and went a step further: "Honorable King Rus, I am a brother of the Khan clan, and the fifty elites I have at hand are gifts from the Khan to the princess."
"Beyashir?" Rurik replied in Turkic dialect. After thinking about it, he couldn't help but smile: "Fifty elites. My brother Kagan is such a good person."
With Rurik's authorization, Quetzal immediately called to his fifty grassland warriors, and they dismounted and went straight to Beyasher, who was slightly confused.
She just wanted to rush to the warm palace to pick up her son. If Rurik hadn't insisted on staying here, she would have wanted to move.
Naturally, she recognized her family member Quetzal. Her elder brother chose him to be in charge of business in Rus. Whether he was promoted or demoted was not a female noble's business. Now there were as many as fifty cavalry half-kneeling in front of her, all announcing their opinions in their native dialect.
Princess's allegiance.
Fifty slaves can be added instantly? And they can be used as Ross’s military weapons immediately?!
She is young and not stupid. Wouldn't the existence of fifty-year-old warriors immediately improve her status in the Ross court?
She accepted the man, then raised her head to look at King Rurik, and publicly declared with a smile: "Congratulations to the king, you have obtained fifty elite cavalry."