The newly promoted war horses are all nailed with iron horseshoes. Each horse has a simple saddle made of leather and stirrups made of rope.
Regular riding equipment is still being made in various handicraft workshops. They are mainly made of a mixture of leather and linen. Once they are ready, they will be immediately supplied to the troops.
The first task of the new cavalry is just to learn to ride a horse, which is a great challenge for extremely young boys.
They have to learn to build a close relationship with the horses they are assigned to, learn to sit on simple saddles and endure the discomfort of their buttocks, adapt to the bumps when the horses are moving, and even learn the Turkic vocabulary for horse riding.
Kagan and his Pecheneg most elite cavalry were excellent trainers, and Rurik himself, on horseback, served as the best supervisor.
After the first seven days of special training, the children frequently fell off their horses. Thanks to the soft snow they fell on, some suffered minor internal injuries, but that was all.
Most children aspire to be invincible cavalrymen and will try their best to get up even if they fall off their horses.
It is the first time for a child with good understanding to ride on a horse. He tightens the reins and puts his feet on the rope. The whole person seems to be growing on the horse's back.
People with poor understanding will have to practice more.
To be fair, the Pechenegs knew the purpose of the Russians buying horses from the beginning, and they knew they had to be kind to their distant friends, so that they could smoothly exchange for a batch of strategic materials urgently needed by the tribal alliance. Kagan led
For this national mission, when each tribe brought out its own horses, he carefully selected them and selected the young and docile ones.
Not a single bad horse was imported into Rus, or in other words, the Pecheneg people’s steppe Turkic horses are inherently docile.
The main bloodline of the horses exported by the Pechenegs is an older Mongolian horse, mixed with a small amount of the bloodline of the large-eating desert horse. The docile appearance has not changed, and the overall quality of the horses has been slightly improved. It is also true that
This kind of blood is cold-resistant and has amazing endurance, so it can continue to march for three months to reach Novgorod.
The consumption along the way made all the horses too thin. They traveled against the river and replenished their energy by eating dry grass on the riverside.
When they arrived at their destination, most of the horses were unable to ride. They were restrained in warm pens and fed large amounts of oats and carrots, allowing them to recover quickly.
To this day, the horses bought by the Russians are still provided with good food and drink.
In recent months, the horses and their new owners have been busy training, doing high-intensity cavalry training in the coldest months of late January and early February. At least Kagan has always found this ridiculous based on his knowledge. The weather is too cold, and the horses are messing around outdoors.
Running will make you lose weight like crazy.
Kagan has completely shut up in the face of the new situation, because the Russians have oats and wheat, and his Rurik brothers are really willing to invest in feed.
Each horse's long mane is styled into strange braids by their owner, just like their owner's own appearance.
All Viking people have a special obsession with their hair and beards. Even children will start to grow their beards when the golden hair grows on their chins. When it is long enough, they will tie it up, like tiny cables.
The long mane on the horse's neck is exactly the same. Richer children can also add drilled amber pieces, or simple drilled glass blocks, which are not only beautiful, but also serve as markers to prove that this is their mount.
The training of the young cavalry is extremely exciting!
Hundreds of riders were riding horses outside the city. Since it was still early for spring plowing, all the flat fields were covered with snow. Rurik had no scruples in letting his new cavalry run around the wider world. A large amount of horse manure directly
Left in the fields where the snow has not yet melted, they are a treasure.
The hot and humid horse manure was quickly frozen into ice lumps. Rurik sent people pulling sleds to collect them, and then threw them into a special huge wooden crate with constant temperature, humidity and no smell, right here.
Fermentation of various types of excrement. It is so disgusting that Viking settlers and Rus' people who love cleanliness avoid it, even though there are rumors that these things can fertilize the land.
Although the fertility of cow, sheep and horse manure is very limited, fermentation will make a difference.
More importantly, nitrifying bacteria will multiply wildly during this fermentation process, and part of the fermented feces will undergo more stinky processing such as cooking and precipitation, and finally get some whitish soil nitrate. The finished product is already a very good potash fertilizer.
However, the output is at the laboratory level. Rurik needs it for military purposes, as an auxiliary tool when making fire with a bow drill.
All human and animal excrement and urine can be collected as much as possible. Now the Viking immigrants and the Russians no longer have to search for natural earth salt under the roots of rotten trees to make "tinder". The self-made products have far exceeded the needs of the army during picnics.
As for transforming it into a more powerful weapon, it only depends on Rurik's own wishes.
The large amount of horse manure left after the cavalry training will be collected immediately, so that during every day of training, the cavalry will walk their horses in an overall tidy area.
All the young cavalrymen formed a dense column to run in a large circle in the morning, and in the afternoon organized small teams to run single vertically and short distances.
The one hundred recurve bows that were traded have not been equipped with the troops, but they have become a kind of reward designed by Rurik.
Rurik is planning a cavalry excursion in late winter. It has been ten days since the special training, and all the new soldiers have learned to ride horses.
They are equivalent to getting a driver's license. Of course, they still have a long time to improve their skills. During the internship period, they need a horseback riding excursion to quickly improve.
Look at the cavalry today! They have put on uniform uniforms. Although it is still very early for them to participate in combat, they are not even called cavalry. They ride horses in a dense formation, which is really quite majestic.
.
During the ten days, the entire Novgorod hand tailoring workshop never stopped working, especially when the entire workshop was moved from Mälaren to Novgorod Vodgen. This man largely laid the foundation for the Rus' principality's ready-made garment industry.
A set of standards. Those housewives who were mobilized to work and take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune, widely working as seasonal temporary workers in the "First Garment Factory of the Principality", must accept the standards of the garment factory.
The standard of tailoring was set by Fo Degen. For this elderly man, he was hired by the Prince of Rus as the director of the garment factory. With the high salary given by the prince, he could continue to run his own factory. He would continue to run his own factory for the rest of his life.
The desire to make a fortune steadily has been realized, and his children will naturally inherit his status.
Fo Degen is a real man of action. When the prince issues a national order, he will naturally order his slave workers to work overtime in order to get an extra bonus.
The female manager of the state-owned garment factory is Bloma, the mother of Rurik's young general Fisk. She became someone highly valued by the prince simply because of her tailoring work. She and her sisters were only responsible to the prince himself.
Based on a not-strict work schedule set by the prince, he was ordered to tailor garments. The finished products would be given priority to the army, and the rest of the products would be put into the market.
Fo Degen is the general consultant of product quality control and the person in charge of the garment factory, but his energy is more focused on his own workshop. Those slave workers are working as cattle and horses for Fo Degen, because most of the slave workers have already
Bought by Rurik and placed under the management of Broma, the number of Vodgen's own "cows and horses" is already quite small. Even so, in order to obtain more benefits, these slaves can only "work all day long"
.
In this unequal social environment, it would be a real honor for a slave to work as a horse for the Prince of Russia. This does not mean that Rurik is a good person. The fundamental reason for giving more benefits to private slaves is that the Prince controls the principality.
If you give a little of the most wealth to slaves at will, your living conditions will be completely new.
What he needed was the work of the tailors. Within ten days, a sufficient quantity of bearskin coats and hats had been produced.
The young cavalry all wear white "Wushanka hats", another name is the ** hat. The leather bear skin is cut and stitched, and the key parts are reinforced with rosin. It does not have much defensive capabilities, and is used as a hat to keep out the cold.
It couldn't be more appropriate. But the shape it has is entirely due to Rurik's preference.
Making a barrel-packed Caucasian Papaha hat was another option, but Rurik still chose the former. Otherwise, the Ushanka hat can cover the ears and the entire face, which is perfect for the extremely cold north.
Except for the hair, the young cavalrymen have a uniform white bear skin jacket. The leather vest is sewn with sleeves. The overall appearance is slimmer and more suitable for the movement of the arms on horseback.
The trousers are also uniform. This is a mixture of thick and fine linen stitching. Their overall style is larger. This is to adapt to the bodies of young cavalry who are still growing rapidly, making a pair of trousers usable for many years. As for the trouser legs being too long, it has never been a problem. Slavs than
All Viking tribes are good at making leather boots. The brown boots made of deerskin and wool felt are also very large, and the warrior's trouser legs are too long and can be easily stuffed into them.
The little soldier has short legs and small feet, so he wraps his feet with several layers of foot-wrapping cloth and stuffs his trouser legs into his boots.
They wore snow camouflage to a large extent, and an astonishing number of polar bears turned into their clothes. Some blue cloth strips were deliberately sewn on the white leather jackets, including their white fur, and the forehead protector on the front of the Ushanka hat.
Staggered blue stripes are sewn on, as if the Ross flag is placed on the forehead.
They did not yet have their own swords, but a combination of daggers and handaxes hung from their belts.
They all raised a spear about three meters in length. The polished carbon steel spearhead shone in the sun. Each spearhead was tied with blue and red cloth strips, adding to the might of the army with multiple colors.
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What's even more wonderful is that all the children are wearing wooden-framed sunglasses to protect their eyes from being burned by the glare of the snow.
The cavalry was assembled in such a posture. As the chief instructor, Kagan and his Pecheneg soldiers took a closer look and all took a breath.
More than ten days ago, the children who saw the assembled armored prairie cavalry for the first time felt fear and cowardice.
Now the Pecheneg army was shocked.
Kagan knew that these children had no fighting ability now, but it was only a matter of time before they became excellent cavalry.
The New Rus' cavalry and the Pecheneg cavalry assembled an army of 600 cavalry. If this was an elite force and rushed into the territory of the Frankish Kingdom, it would burn, kill, loot and be difficult to contain.
Wearing new clothes and holding spears, humble people have become members of the mighty army. The young warriors are very confident. Everyone only has the intention of the princes and princes to gather. For this reason, everyone has brought enough dry food and even saddles.
There were sacks hanging on them, and they contained oats for horse feeding.
Rurik held the reins, controlled the horses and made another speech on the snow: "Young cavalry! This time I want to inspect the entire Lake Ilmen before spring plowing. I want to inspect all the villages and all the subjects.
.You are the warriors I rely on and the most important military force of the principality. Now follow me to complete the great inspection and prove that you have mastered the horses..."
Speaking of excitement, Rurik suddenly pulled out his steel sword, pointing the sword straight into the sky.
Seeing this, all the young cavalrymen raised their spears high and yelled "Ula" as Rurik taught them.
Thousands of people admired the gathering of cavalry, including Otto, who put on his battle uniform again and admired his son's brilliant move with the support of his attendants.
Every young cavalryman wears a Ross badge on his forehead, and the interlaced blue patterns are the oars.
Old Otto watched all this with a calm face, relying on his willpower to suppress his tear ducts, so that he did not burst into tears due to excessive excitement. He never thought that Ross could still form a huge cavalry force, or a few years ago
They never thought that there could be a new unit called cavalry. Since other countries have cavalry, it would be foolish for Ross not to form his own cavalry.
At the sound of the bugle, the Russian cavalry and the Pecheneg cavalry began a counterclockwise armed parade around Lake Ilmen.
One after another, the cavalry spears pointed towards the sky, like a moving grove. The horse teams lined up in double columns, forming a team with a length of nearly one thousand meters.
The young cavalry were talking and laughing along the way. Most of them were born after the Russians, and they were born not too long ago. Everyone was ignorant. Because of their education, they learned that the vastness of the world was beyond ordinary people's understanding, but they
I did not measure the land in person, nor did I go around Lake Ilmen, especially when I was riding a horse.
The cavalry team deliberately circled the old Russian city of Mstisk to let the people have a good look at the Russian cavalry troops, and also to let the parents of some children know how majestic their sons are now as cavalrymen.
As for the arrival of the cavalry to resettle the "hidden people", dozens of villages were built along the lake like beads, and the use of military force as a powerful deterrent was an important purpose.
The people stood on both sides of the ice road and paid attention to salute the mighty cavalry. When they saw Prince Rus himself, they took off their hats and saluted. Most people just watched.
Rurik had no more demands and was too lazy to order these people to kneel and kowtow. He just wanted these people to take a good look at the style of the Russian cavalry, suggesting that they weigh their own worth.
The huge cavalry team successfully arrived at the rest stop of this patrol - New Ostara.
As the prince, Rurik also wanted to take a good look at what his woman had built into the important town in the south of the principality.
The first cavalry team was stationed south of the lake. The young cavalry hurriedly mounted their horses to meet their prince. Even Carlotta mounted his mount and had a horse-riding meeting with his man.
Her heart was beating in ecstasy, and Carlotta wanted to jump onto Rurik's saddle.
"This is your brand new cavalry? It's so powerful." Carlotta couldn't think of any more complimentary words, and her face was quite distorted because of the exaggerated smile.
Rurik smiled slightly and took a good look at the city, and saw Duke Svalgard of the Granland who came here to visit a few days ago. This man was also riding a horse, and his reserved appearance showed that this man
His riding skills are extremely poor.
"Carlotta, you run New Ostara very well."
"That's natural. How about? Come to my city and have a good rest?"
Rurik nodded: "That's what I meant. I also want to take a good look at my Karl and you." After that, he deliberately opened his arms, "I didn't bring any women with me this time, you know.
…”
Carlotta understood completely. She nodded with a knowing smile, and then ordered her subordinates to fully open the gate of the wall.
He added: "Although my city is small, it is still enough for this army. The accommodation conditions are certainly not as good as Novgorod."
"It's okay, I don't even need you to provide additional supplies. Let's go, I want to go to the city to rest."
It was at this time that Svalgard realized that he had an opportunity to interrupt, and he hurriedly called out to attract Rurik's attention.
"You? I just wanted to ask you, what was your experience in the south? My Carlotta is an old friend of yours. Does it remind you of the past a long time ago?"
Svalgard answered very simply: "Prince, I am even willing to remove the title of Duke. I plan to move all the Gran people here to guard the southern border of the Principality of Rus for you. There are too few of us Gran people at all.
You are the only one who has the qualifications to call yourself a principality."
What he said surprised Rurik, but what this man said was very self-aware.
"If you want to do this, just do it. The population on my southern border is too small. With hundreds of you Gran people, the pressure on my southern defense is also much less. I'm tired. My army and my allies need to
Go to the city to recuperate, Carlotta!”
"Um."
"I hope you have enough stables left to carry six hundred newly arrived horses."
"It doesn't matter. I will breed more horses for you in the future. I have already built many stables in advance."