king of ros

Chapter 279 The Winter Army
The winter sun is very mild, but for the soldiers who have gone through a long march, no matter how mild the sun is, it is so vicious and terrible.

Only the oncoming cool breeze can give them a little bit of comfort and relaxation.

A soldier raised his leather water bladder and drank heavily, his throat so dry that he wanted to drink every drop of water in the water bladder.

After taking a few sips, he licked his lips and handed the water bag to the fellow countrymen behind him.

But the countryman in chain mail just shook his head, concentrating on moving forward, and he had no choice but to tie the water bladder back to his waist.

The soldier looked back at the long queue behind him. Countless sharp spears were shining in the sun, and countless heads in steel helmets were marching under the banner of the cross. This army of "faith" is heading to Bulgar to fight against those degenerates in the name of God. man of.

The soldier wiped his mouth, then picked up his spear and moved on, continuing the difficult journey.

If there were still roads available for the Yaroslavl immigrants to rest, now there are no roads where they are marching, and the soldiers are walking directly on the field.

The shoes of many soldiers have been severely worn out during the march in the past few days. Fortunately, Rostislav has already considered this situation and brought several carts of shoes for the soldiers as spares. Moreover, there are several shoemakers with the army who can repair the shoes. Mend as much as you can, and also bring a bunch of straw sandals.

But even so, shoes are still in short supply. In the black market when camping every day, a good pair of shoes is always the most sought-after thing, because it can protect your legs, and your legs are directly related to your combat effectiveness.

However, this does not mean that Rostislav's behavior is useless, because his operation, at least now no one is marching with bare feet.

If you march barefoot, it will seriously cause non-combat attrition. This is the experience summed up by Rostislav.

This road has been very difficult to walk, and many times they have to cut trees in forests and build bridges in water to repair these routes.

The difficult road will inevitably lead to deserters. After all, there are too many "volunteers" here. As their passion for the beautiful fantasy of war dissipates, their fear of hardships and hardships surges up.

And for many people, this strange land is very unfriendly. It is the dense forest that makes them feel scared. As for the faint wind blowing by at night and the howling of wild animals, many people think of listening to Horror stories to come.

But at this point, how could Rostislav let them flee? The prince's nomadic cavalry directly arrested these guys.

Then these deserters were hanged at the forefront of the line, so that everyone could see what happened to the deserters.

Such behavior has greatly boosted morale and discipline, and everyone can understand that all this is not a joke.

Today, this huge army has advanced for almost four hours, without any rest during the period, and some troops have become disorganized.

Fortunately, the prince did not deliberately urge the marching speed, otherwise many people would have to fall behind.

After resting in Yaroslavl for a period of time and reuniting with the armies stationed in Yaroslavl, the Winter Army started its journey again.

The winter army first crossed the Volga River, and on the other side of the river they received troops and guides from the Sherikhov family, who would lead the army for the rest of the journey.

Rostislav divided his army into three steps, beginning with a forward of his various standing troops and trusted soldiers, usually from Moscow and its environ- ments , totaling 3000 men.

The second is the troops conscripted by the dignitaries and city masters from all over the country. These troops are also trusted troops.

At least they won't mess around, and among these troops are stragglers and mercenaries from all walks of life.

This is the method Rostislav summed up after summarizing what he had experienced on the march some time ago.

Since they're easy to haul, wrap these guys up with dependable troops.

Numbering as many as 7000, this part was the main component of Rostislav's army and the part most likely to have problems.

Finally, there are 2000 troops escorting the huge logistics team.

Although it is said that the soldiers all carry food on their bodies, these things brought from home will eventually be used up.

And when that moment came, Rostislav had to use his own supplies to support these soldiers, and he couldn't let them go hungry.

Adam's troops also belonged to these 2000 people. Of course, Adam himself and his guards were at the forefront of the team.

As for why this arrangement was made, it was because Rostislav hoped that the Bulgar troops would arrive intact, and these people would be more useful than their value as leading soldiers.

In addition to Adam's team, there is also a special unit here, which is the Moscow engineer battalion.

This engineer battalion was developed during the construction of Moscow over the years. At first they were just a temporary construction team for building the city.

With Robert, the chief engineer of Moscow, selecting many experts from among them, the Moscow Engineer Battalion was established.

Engineers have good abilities in building fortifications and siege equipment, and many of them have carpenter or blacksmith skills, which allow them to deal with various consumption on the road, such as repairing horseshoes and so on of.

These soldiers escorted countless carts full of crates of salted fish, dried meat, cheese, and black bread so hard that they could grind teeth.

Fresh vegetables are the most sought-after items, but only nobles in the team can enjoy them. As for ordinary soldiers, they can pick wild fruits and vegetables from the roadside.

Most of these jerky come from the constant hunting in the Northeast Ross over the years, which can obtain a large number of prey.

And these prey will not be eaten directly, and people can't eat so much.

After being skinned, their meat is mostly salted and stored until the day it is ready to be used.

In addition, according to the suggestion of the Sherikhov family, Rostislav modified all the carts into sleds, or directly made a lot of sleds, which indeed played a great role in the march.

As for those foods, although they don't taste very good, the quality can still be guaranteed, at least it's okay to eat.

There are also a series of camping equipment such as tents on some carts, as well as ballistas in parts.

However, the logistics of the Winter Army did not rely entirely on the rear guard, but more on the ships on the Volga River.

These ships are all from Yaroslavl and White Lake City, but most of them are small boats, but they are still enough to replenish supplies for the army every day.

Although it is said that the logistics has been guaranteed, Rostislav deliberately left the military depot as a logistics connection point along the way.

These military depots can store food and ensure the connection between the winter army and the rear, and only need to leave a small garrison of dozens or hundreds.

In addition, in some suitable places, Rostislav directly used the strength of the army to build the city wall, as a stronghold for actually controlling this "land of no man" between Rus and Bulgar in the future.

Rostislav intended to directly bring these lands under control, and Adam naturally "represented" Bulgar and expressed his approval, agreeing to Ross's possession of this land.

Regarding the construction of these walled cities, Rostislav mainly followed the advice of the Sherikhov family. This family has experienced many years in this land and is extremely proficient in these things.

In addition, the three Serikhov brothers also reported to Rostislav that the internal problems were resolved, and the Moscow prince was very satisfied with this—after all, he also had a similar experience—and so did old Ivan’s expectations.

In return, Rostislav solved the problem for Vasily, the only one of the three Serikhov brothers who had not yet found his future.

He built an important city at a node on the Volga River, and the name of the city was named Nizhny Novgorod by the prince.

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(End of this chapter)