After several days of sailing, Ella finally landed ashore. After a few more days of traveling, a small castle appeared in front of them. A messenger rushed to them on a fast horse, stopped the horse, dismounted, and then knelt down to put a box
He raised it 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 and there is no need to rush. 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 very large pearl, which seemed to be of great value.
"It only takes less than a day to get to Duke Otto's capital from here with fast horses." 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 away the box. But she began to feel something was wrong in her heart - 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 was quite spacious and had all kinds of items. There were three maids to take care of Ella's daily life, and four chefs were in charge of Ella's daily life.
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 restricted to a certain extent. Every time she goes out of the city, she will be followed by a few guards. She can wander around in the mountains and forests at will, and can also go to the market in the city, but whenever she wants to
When talking to other people, the guards would always replace her or drive those people away - this made it impossible for Ella to find out what happened to the Alemanni 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 it was the local defenders conducting routine training outside the castle.
"The King of Sweden can go and visit if you are interested," the guard said.
"Can I watch?" Ella suddenly became interested. The opportunity to watch other countries' military training does not 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. Among them, the number of cavalry was about a hundred, and they followed a military flag at the front.
Behind them, while keeping the formation neat, let the sitting horses walk slowly.
"Disperse the formation!" the cavalry commander ordered. So the cavalry 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
He made a circle around the training ground and then walked towards the city wall where Ella was.
"Move forward!" the commander ordered again. So the cavalry gradually moved closer as they advanced, 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 the formation needs to be dispersed. And when charging, if the formation is too dispersed, the cavalry will be
There is no effect. So it is very necessary to practice quick transformation between these two formations."
"That's right..." Ella nodded in understanding. She had never commanded a cavalry before.
The guard noticed that Ella was a little unmotivated and said quickly: "Don't worry, they are 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 shields to protect their heads and horses' necks. At the same time, they raised their lances to the height of their shoulders. In this posture, the horses under their crotches began to gradually
Accelerate, and before long, the entire training ground is echoing with the thunderous sound of horse hooves!
"Oh oh oh oh! Such a fast charge, but the formation is not disordered 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 they 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 a panic, "Didn't they see there is a 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 scared that she closed her eyes. If she hadn't known that the city wall would never be damaged by the cavalry's 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 to the right. They turned without losing any speed.
The innermost row of cavalry of the two teams on the left and right 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 directions.
"Oh oh oh oh! So awesome!" Ella clapped.
"This..." Ella's reaction made the guard not know what to say for a moment. He had just said in panic that these troops were not the defenders of some place, but Duke Otto's personal guards. Especially these cavalry, even more
The best of the best!
Duke Otto specially selected the most elite soldiers under his command and pretended to be a local garrison to conduct exercises here. The purpose was to shock the world-famous "triumpher" in front of him.
But Ella's reaction was more like watching a circus performance than being shocked...