The Principality of Rus opened three horse farms, the area along the Neva River, the north shore of Lake Ilmen, and the south shore of Lake Ilmen.
The purpose of raising horses in each region is also different. Along the Neva River, pack horses and draft horses are mostly domesticated.
Many horses are domesticated on the north and south sides of Lake Ilmen, and two cavalry barracks have been formed to maintain a number of war horses that can be used at any time.
Now the first cavalry barracks in Russia is located in the city of Novoostara at the southernmost end of Lake Ilmen. The original cavalry troops were stationed here to guard the southern gate on land for the principality. With cavalry guarding, even if the Smolensk people
If they suddenly attack from the north, the cavalry's super mobility can beat them hard in the open area south of the lake, and at the same time, they can gallop on horseback to inform the enemy of the attack.
Rurik now has no illusions about Smolensk. The orders he issued and the agreements he made with the Pecheneg allies will definitely directly harm the interests of the Smolensk people. It is reasonable to attract retaliation from the other party, but if they take the initiative
, Ross seized the opportunity to become famous.
One cavalry barracks is not enough! Rus needs more cavalry!
The second camp was built in Novgorod, and the newly trained cavalry was used directly as a standing army.
Based on the current situation of the Principality of Rus, it is necessary to establish a standing army. If too many troops are formed, this gold-swallowing behemoth can deplete the national treasury.
How big should the standing army be? Given the current situation, the fully demobilized standing army should be limited to 1,000 men.
The rest of the men formed their own warriors. Just like the traditional customs of the Vikings, the young men and women of the tribe are obliged to serve as warriors. This tradition should be changed in a new area and a new era, and a large number of women will no longer have to commit the crime.
To be a female warrior, all men in the village, whether they are from a Viking tribe or a traditional Slavic farm, regardless of their ethnicity, are obliged to enlist in the army when necessary when they reach the age of twelve.
As a monarch, Rurik did not have the energy to meticulously manage the large number of Slavic farms, and he was not optimistic about the combat effectiveness of the peasant soldiers composed of simple farmers.
Only the new generation of Russians who have grown up in pain are huge in number, and their parents are almost all old Russians.
In the next few years, these young people will be organized into a new flag corps. After getting married, they will leave their current families and open up new settlements as a flag corps. They and their descendants will be the principal source of soldiers. And they
He is also a first-class citizen of the Principality.
But anyone with a discerning eye can see that those temporary mercenaries who were paid to do things in the past have become permanent.
Last year, we took the opportunity to attack the King of Denmark and won the victory, but the price paid was really high. The main force in Novgorod City, the strong men, lost a group of men. This was something they had never experienced before, and the people saw it through this.
The tragedy of the war in the distance.
The ones who suffered the most were the mercenaries, and no one felt sorry for a group of professional desperadoes with diverse backgrounds.
but!
Everyone has seen that the latest addition of new mercenaries are either descendants of the Russians, descendants of other Vikings, or even children of Slavs.
When the prince returned to his loyal home of Novgorod, another group of children with the potential to become strong men were selected.
Nearly 700 children were selected one after another. They were pure-blood Russians, mixed-blood Russians, and pure Slavs.
The youngest is only ten years old, and the oldest is only sixteen years old.
Those children whose parents donated money in exchange for quotas are destined to become standing cavalry. Together with the children who have been selected by Rurik before, the reserve cavalry has reached four hundred.
A large number of children are already students of the national school in Rurik. They have long been paid by the king and have lived in a collective life. The boys also know that they will serve the prince in the future. Now they can become cavalry who can show off their power, which is really the greatest thing in their lives.
of honor.
The origins of the other three hundred people are even more complicated, including almost all the immigrants who defected to Russia and the descendants of the conquered people. Naturally, the largest number are still the children of the old Russians.
The army has its soul, and the soul of the Ross standing army is the tribal soldiers of the Ross tribal era.
There are ten people in a "group", thirty people in a "ship", one hundred and twenty people in a "hundred team", and five hundred people in a "flag team".
This formation model was first born eleven years ago. The boys who received training at that time are now incorporated into the Sixth Flag Team. The best ones in the Sixth Flag Team are mostly integrated into the First Cavalry Team, while others
A handful of outstanding individuals also transformed themselves into officers of the standing army.
Eleven years ago, when Rurik started training his soldiers on the slope of the mountain behind Ross's hometown, there was the beginning of Ross's new army.
The time was not yet ripe then, but now it is enough!
Each team leader is one of those little boys who first received training. Time has passed, and the youngest boy is now sixteen years old. After so many years of eating and drinking, he has become a capable Viking strongman.
A veteran leads a group of new recruits, both of whom were born and grew up in the Principality of Ross.
Now, they are gathering in the open space of their school.
It's still early for spring plowing, and the whole world is still covered in ice and snow. People are always facing the threat of cold currents moving south, and no one dares to wear thin clothing lightly.
The residents in the city learned very clearly that the prince had gathered a group of young boys in a school that was closed seasonally to start school in advance. The prince had already announced the formation of a new cavalry and the establishment of a standing army.
The people commented on the chosen child, and a large number of people complained about why the prince did not favor his cub.
It is obvious that serving as a standing army for the prince has huge benefits. Not only does it provide food, drink, clothing and expenses for the prince, but also a monthly allowance for each person. More importantly, the standing army will naturally give priority to fighting, and thus has the right to give priority to robbery.
. As the saying goes, the war to destroy the country must involve the mobilization of all Russia, and small-scale conflicts require the standing army to attack first. How much risk is there in a small-scale expedition? The key is that your son gets the opportunity to plunder loot like crazy. One person serving as a soldier can bring benefits to the family.
Lots of surprise wealth.
And the glorious reputation that everyone desires.
Rurik spoke loudly in front of all the chosen ones. He mentioned what glory and greatness were, and also mentioned the significance of the standing army to the Principality of Rus.
The boys held their heads high and stared at the prince pacing on the wooden platform with squinted eyes, listening attentively to his preaching.
"You remember, you are from the Principality of Ross. You can only be loyal to me and my family, and secondly to the entire Principality of Ross. Your mission is to protect me and the Principality of Ross. You must ruthlessly attack the enemy and protect the people of our country."
"You must understand your identity. This is like the relationship between Odin and the warriors in the Hall of Valor. I am a hero blessed by Odin. As my most loyal warriors, you have entered the moment when you take the oath.
Qualifications for the Hall of Valor."
"Now, I ask you to make an oath to me. If there is a betrayer, the soul will fall into the abyss. If you die gloriously, your soul will directly enter the Hall of Valor to share endless glory."
Rurik said a lot, and they all swore a poisonous oath as requested.
Many people feel that the prince's request is quite unnecessary. Everyone has already eaten the free wheat and meat given by the prince and learned some wonderful wisdom. If anyone thinks of betraying the prince, it is as absurd as a person lying down to eat horse dung.
Incredible.
Everyone still gathered together to swear an oath, and the Viking war cry formed by the immature business still had great momentum.
Four hundred people will immediately be incorporated into the cavalry and learn to ride horses before spring arrives.
There are three hundred people organized into the Guards. They will be infantry, but they will receive quite strict combat training.
Including the existing army, the total number of cavalry will be 500, and the Guards will also have 400 people. The total standing army of 900 people has not yet reached the set expectation of 1,000 people, and these 900 people are just a bluff in terms of numbers.
, the current quality is a mess. Because almost all of the soldiers are boys who have just entered puberty. They are promising talents in the future. Now they are easily killed when they go into battle.
It is impossible for this kind of army to engage in high-intensity combat. They can only hide behind the army with bows and crossbows to assist. Even so, as long as they are given another three to four years, they can grow into adults, and these years of training will also
There has long been a group of professional warriors.
The coach of the Guards is Grund. It has been seven years since he was captured and surrendered. Maybe this man is just for money. If so, everything will be easier. Rurik cannot completely trust this guy who surrendered, but
He needs this person's ability. Rurik hired Grund as the coach of the Imperial Guard. He is quite old and has his family in Ross, so he is really being manipulated. When Grund gets old, the Imperial Guard
The young boys also reached the age of thirty, when they were in the prime of life. At that time, the leader of the Imperial Guard naturally changed.
Rurik even had a candidate in mind and would choose one of his sons. For example, Rumia’s son Oleg was his son after all, so he would never rebel against his father.
As for the cavalry instructor, there happens to be one of the best talents at present, a distinguished steppe nobleman - Prince Kagan of Pecheneg.
It was an ordinary day. The Pecheneg warriors living in Russia continued to hunt with the local Rus and Slavic hunters at the request of their boss Kagan.
The leather of the red squirrel is also very good, but the price of a piece of leather is too cheap, far less than that of ferrets and snow foxes. At first, Kagan didn't understand, but now he fully understands the reason. Among the so-called leather products in the North, squirrels are the most expensive due to their quantity.
The largest size makes leather naturally cheap. But this is not always the case, because Russian and Slavic hunters try their best to buy wooden-arm crossbows. This weapon is used in hunting, and catching squirrels becomes a simple aiming and shooting game. Hunters use simple and crude methods
To deal with the seemingly inexhaustible squirrel resources, the Pechenegs personally obtained a batch of squirrel skins.
Although this thing is not valuable in the north, it will be completely different when it is transported to the southern grasslands.
A large number of Pecheneg soldiers were Kagan's slave soldiers, so when Rurik formally brought out the Guards, Kagan had a strong sense of déjà vu.
Kagan is too lazy to go hunting in the forest himself. He is a great nobleman of the steppe, and the money he has can be enjoyed in Novgorod. Since Brother Rurik is invited today, let's reluctantly go and talk.
As a sworn brother, Kagan himself behaved quite easily, so Rurik had no intention of being formal.
The two of them were sitting in a small room in the prince's palace, surrounded by other people, and the two immediately started talking.
Kagan was in a good mood, and he took off his hat to show off his fancy braids. "You invited me to have a drink together, did you invite me to do something? Or did you target a new enemy?
Should I send troops?"
Suddenly, the short prairie man stretched out his head and asked Godly: "Hey, it's not you who made the decision? Let's organize an army to rob that thing? Oh, yes! Let's rob the Smolensk people."
"Attack them? Now is definitely not the time." Rurik shrugged speechlessly.
Kagan sat upright again: "What are your plans?"
"Brother, I do have a request."
"Speaking."
"Just like the first time, you can help me train the cavalry."
Rurik would say this, which did not surprise Kagan. He subconsciously pinched his mustache and said meaningfully: "I have been paying attention to your group of brats for a long time. Are they your slaves?"
"Slaves? How is that possible? They are all children of my people, and many of them even have some blood connection with me."
"To be honest, your actions reminded me a lot. Look at my warriors. Those people are slaves. They were trained when they were very young. It is natural for them to serve me now. I don't understand you Russians very well, but I
Understand your moves."
Hearing this, Rurik also laughed meaningfully.
Then he asked: "Now that you understand everything, what do you think? Help me train my soldiers. At least in the next month, I will train these brats to learn to ride horses."
"What's the difficulty? I'm willing to do it."
"Great." Rurik clapped his hands happily, "I will give you some reward."
"Remuneration? It's unnecessary. I am your brother, and helping you train soldiers is nothing."
Seeing Kagan's triumphant attitude, Rurik guessed that this guy was enjoying it. Also, Kagan has been doing nothing in Novgorod these days. He eats, drinks and takes baths every day. He is quite good at it.
The round face is now rounder, or Kagan has gained a lot of weight from eating. Maybe he himself feels that this kind of life should stop, but who is willing to give up the leisurely life? He needs a reason to force himself to take action.
Kagan was interested, so Rurik also deliberately owed this favor and said respectfully: "Then I'll help you."
At least Kagan was completely indifferent to his Rurik brothers and the entire Principality of Rus. There was obviously a small group of Rus' nobles who were wary of the Pechenegs, but Kagan didn't know and didn't care at all.
The distance between Ross and the prairie was three months' ride. It was far enough that at least Kagan felt that Ross was a pure ally.
Kagan even has a plot of gratitude.
He knew that the Russians could provide a large amount of salt and that the price of salt was ridiculously cheap.
Rurik had no idea about the price paid by the Pechenegs in trading salt with Roman profiteers in the past. From Kagan's point of view, he felt that he had obtained an incredible amount of salt in Rus at a very low price, and even felt that this
The Nerurik brothers deliberately gave in. In any case, a huge amount of salt was imported into Pecheneg, and the chronic problem of salt shortage was greatly alleviated.
Kagan is much older than Rurik, and he is proud of being an older brother, which is naturally reflected in his help to his younger brother.
After this small meeting, he quickly recalled his men who had dispersed for hunting, and then presented himself as a Pecheneg cavalry unit. The two hundred cavalrymen all wore iron plate armor that at first glance looked like riveted chain mail.
Each cavalryman wore an iron helmet and an iron mask that covered his entire face. They held short spears in their hands and gathered majestically into a group, attracting thousands of Novgorod people to watch.
Among them was the senile Otto, whose aging was concealed thanks to a warrior costume.
When Otto saw the assembled Pecheneg cavalry, their armor shimmering in the sun, the first thing he felt was fear. He didn't think it was wise for his son to allow such an army to be in the hinterland of Russia, but it was out of reason.
, this group of cavalry are all allies, and they will not make irresponsible remarks.
Otto's vigilance came from instinct, and it seemed that his son Rurik had similar thoughts.
A large number of Russian horses were brought out, plus the newly purchased and previously owned local horses. Although the quality of the horses varied, at least 400 horses were collected, which was enough for each rear cavalry to be equipped with its own mount.
On one side were two hundred prairie cavalry wearing armor and masks, and on the other side were four hundred children leading horses.
The children's hearts were greatly shocked and frightened, followed by pure envy and expectations for their glorious future.
Because the short man with black hair and a round face said very clearly in broken Slavic: "I will train you to be as strong as them (referring to the steppe cavalry)."