Vikings: Nordic women

Chapter 73: Pirated Russian Cossack Cavalry

Margaret did not choose to continue driving on the beach, but drove the carriage to the nearby plains. This is because when horses walk on soft sand, the softer the sand under their feet, the greater the resistance, which will not only reduce the horses' movement efficiency, but also increase their physical consumption.

Although the plains were a bit bumpy, Margaret covered the carriage with thick linen and a layer of fur, which made the carriage very shockproof and she did not feel unbearable discomfort. The vehicle was also very well balanced. When people sat in the car, the lever was lifted under the action of the lever principle, and the weight of the horses would be reduced, allowing them to run more easily.

Cold-blooded horses are larger, gentler, and have greater endurance, making them suitable for tasks such as agriculture, transportation, and pulling heavy objects. They react more slowly and take longer to train, but are adaptable and calm. Hot-blooded horses, on the other hand, are smaller, more agile, and faster, making them suitable for activities such as horse racing and endurance events. They are lively, sensitive, and sometimes nervous, and react quickly to changes in their environment.

In the car, Margaret had already loaded the ammunition for the two muskets and handed the ammunition bag to Rosaline. She believed that someone must be chasing them at this moment.

Margaret knew that this might be the last chance for revenge for those highway robbers. If they missed it, she and her companions would flee far away, and when they appeared again, they would probably return with a large force.

"Miss, there is a group of people following us. I will go and hold them back, and you can take care of my wife!" Piast shouted anxiously to Margaret who was driving the carriage.

Margaret clung to the edge of the carriage and looked back. She smiled. It was really a narrow road for enemies to cross. What she had imagined actually happened.

"You'd better take care of your wife yourself. Keep running and don't go over. I will deal with them when they get close!" Margaret immediately scolded Piast.

"But if we are caught up, we are too few in number and may face siege!" Piast looked anxious and puzzled.

"Just keep running if I tell you to. Don't talk nonsense!" Margaret didn't want to explain. She hated it most when someone kept nagging after she gave an order, even though she herself was not absolutely sure about the situation.

Gradually, the bandits were getting closer and closer. They were traveling light and much faster than Margaret's caravan.

"I'll send you to see Hela, the daughter of the evil god!" Margaret took the musket handed over by Rosaline without looking back.

She closed one eye and calmly aimed at the fastest bandit leader, predicting his position and adjusting the aiming point in advance. Facing the face that was laughing happily, Margaret was focused. With a deafening "bang", she was shocked by the recoil of the musket. Fortunately, with the help of the recoil device, the musket did not fall out of her hand.

A bandit next to the bandit leader screamed and fell off his horse, becoming the first person in the world to be killed by a fire weapon other than "Greek fire". He was trampled heavily by the horse behind him, and his life or death was uncertain.

This sudden incident shocked everyone, especially Piast, who looked at Margaret in amazement as she switched to another musket.

Margaret adjusted her aiming position again, and with another "bang", this time she did not miss. The leader of the highwaymen's head made a "pop" sound, one of his eyes was knocked out, and he fell off his horse.

The highwaymen were really frightened this time and gradually slowed down their horses to check their fallen leader.

Margaret grabbed the reins, and seeing this, Piast also reined in his horse and looked at her in astonishment. Only Piast's wife was still driving the carriage forward, probably because she didn't notice what was happening.

"Give me the bag!" Margaret took the bag from Rosalin and came to Piast, "Get off the horse and get in the car. Protect Rosalin!"

"What are you going to do?" Piast asked doubtfully.

"Stop talking nonsense, get off the horse, and change people! Stay ahead and wait for me!" Margaret ordered.

She switched places with Piast, who saw Margaret riding her horse flexibly, reloading her musket while chasing the direction where the bandits were staying. He gritted his teeth, shook the reins suddenly, and drove the carriage forward.

"Come, let me show you how a Cossack cavalry of only one hundred people can kill thousands of Mongolian cavalry!" There was cruelty and madness flashing in Margaret's eyes.

In the battle of Tashkent, only 49 Cossacks pursued 5000 Kokand cavalry, causing heavy casualties, many of whom drowned while fleeing.

Similarly, during the reign of Catherine II, in order to punish the Torghut tribe for its eastward migration, the Russian Empire sent Cossack cavalry to hunt them down. The 100-man team caught up with the outermost Torghut migrating team at an astonishing speed and ruthlessly massacred more than a thousand Mongolian Torghut cavalry and civilians, demonstrating the brutality and strength of the Cossack cavalry.

The Torghut tribe, once known as the "Ker" during the Yuan Dynasty, was an important force in the Mongolian cavalry as it participated in battles as part of the Mongolian cavalry. This is why firearms became the terminator of the romance of knights, and the Cossack cavalry of the Tsarist Russia was the pinnacle of light cavalry.

Margaret clamped her legs tightly around the horse's belly, reined in the horse from a distance, and aimed her gun at the thieves who were blocking the road.

"Boom..." With the recoil and the rising of gunpowder smoke, the ammunition flew out and hit the chest of a horse in the crowd. The horse was frightened and threw the rider off its back.

"Witchcraft! This is evil witchcraft!" The highwaymen screamed in panic and began to flee in all directions.

Margaret chased after him on horseback and fired again. A thief in front of her was shot in the back and fell to the ground.

The highwayman who had been thrown off his horse fled in terror. Margaret quickly loaded her musket, moved closer to him, and aimed at the back of his head from a distance of two meters.

With a loud "boom", the highwayman's head exploded like a watermelon, and brains splattered all over Margaret's face. Her chest was covered with brains that she had actively rushed towards.

Margaret chased after the thieves who were running away while reloading her rifle. Due to her small size and light weight, the horse she rode was faster than them.

As two intermittent gunshots rang out, a horse among the fleeing bandits in front was hit in the hind leg and fell out together with the rider due to inertia.

The highwayman who fell down hit his head on the ground, breaking his neck and dying.

The highwaymen were terrified after losing half of their members. They began to flee in all directions, but Margaret was relentless and chose some of them, chasing them for five kilometers before she killed two of them.

She gathered up the uninjured horse and slowly returned, thinking in her mind how to kill the remaining bandits who had already escaped.

She returned to the spot where the bandit leader had died and found Piast there, examining the body in amazement.

Margaret handed the two horses she brought back to the other party. She searched the leader's arms and found a bag with some gold and silver in it. She searched another corpse, but unfortunately there was only a silver bar.

There was a corpse with a smashed head in front of her, but she was not interested in touching it.

"I have the money. Robbery is the fastest way to make money!" She handed the bag to Rosalin for safekeeping and told Piast, "You go to the front and ambush. Those bandits will definitely come back soon!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Piast looked at Margaret in awe, staring at her musket with curiosity.

She did not explain. Piast could only see as much as he could. She would never take the initiative to explain. And if the other party wanted to leave, he could only leave with his corpse.

She stopped at the woods and sat on the ground, staring at the direction of the bandit leader's body. Now, she could only take a gamble and see if the fleeing bandits would turn back out of curiosity. After all, curiosity kills the cat, but no cat can suppress its curiosity.

Margaret stayed there until midnight, when she found Rosaline and asked for some bread and water.

"Miss, it's getting dark. It looks like they won't be back. Shall we go?" Rosalin asked softly.

"No, it's because it's dark that they are more likely to come back. Be patient, patient hunters will always be rewarded!" Margaret replied firmly.

At this moment, she saw something moving in the moonlight ahead, and her face suddenly lit up with joy.

"Piast, get on the horse and kill them all, don't let any of them go!" Margaret turned over and climbed onto the hot-blooded horse, instructed Piast who was holding a spear, and ran towards the target.

(End of this chapter)