Eagle Byzantium

"You all know that I am a descendant of the most famous brave family from Upland." Farov put his hands on his hips and showed off in a rough voice.

Immediately there was a sigh of "Here we go again". One of the one-eyed veterans yelled at the commander of the unit, "Today's recruit is only Gawain. Can you stop being so f**king?"

"Okay, okay." Farov held his thick belly with his hands again, but Gawain was only carefully holding the brand-new two-handed moth-headed battle ax distributed to him from the palace armory warehouse, "Since Since our people went to sea, the Danes have gone west, the Swedes have gone east, and the Norwegians have not gone anywhere. They only rob on the coast of cliffs lined with pine trees.”

"Fart, fart!" A group of flaming-haired Norwegian warriors in the team began to yell.

"Although I am from Uppland, Sweden, my family took the lead in arriving in Ireland two hundred years ago with their bravery and skillful navigation skills. However, other Viking families have already settled in Ireland and become kings, so We can only continue to Iceland. At that time, you must know that Iceland is full of fire-breathing poisonous dragons and monks living in caves. , and the giants who killed passers-by in the ocean, but my ancestors overcame them all, killed the poisonous dragon, and defeated the giants. Of course, after the monks were robbed by us, they sat naked on the ship and drove out of Iceland— "May the Lord bless them all to be alive now." Farov stroked his belly, feeling extremely proud, "In addition, everyone knows, The Varangians, no, this rule is popular among the entire Viking tribe, that is, the person on a warship, whose limb first touches the newly discovered land, will be the king of this land, and the rest will be the king of the land. Everyone must become his servant! At that time, when the bow of the ship is already facing the waves, the huge, huge, triangular waves in the ocean, no one can stand there. They survived the waves and washed up on the coast of Iceland. Many brave and clever warriors were already preparing to jump off and compete to become the king of Iceland. My ancestor was even smarter - he raised his ax and whittled it off in one fell swoop. He took his left hand and threw it onto the shore, thus becoming the first king of Iceland."

"Bragging, yesterday you were bragging that you had been to the Tree of Yggdrasil, and that you had crawled along the roots of the tree to a hell full of fire!" The soldiers below didn't buy it and started to make trouble.

But Farov narrowed his eyes and remained unmoved. He continued, "So in order to commemorate my ancestors and the noble and great blood of the Farov family, our family has used the red hand as its flag for generations. I His shield is also smeared with this kind of totem!" Then he raised his oak-iron shield and showed it to Gawain, but Gawain didn't move at all, "This silly boy was definitely stunned by me. ”

"Oh oh oh oh!" Soon, the Varangian Shield Guards on the school grounds were divided into two groups, one carrying large shields and spears, and the other using two-handed battle axes, conducting intense and realistic offensive and defensive simulation drills. Some of the more junior ones were trained on queue changes and marching on the road to the camp - these drills were more of the tradition of Byzantium and Rome, and you had to follow the Roman customs when entering the country.

As a new recruit who has just joined the army, Gawain's task is very simple - stand under the team flag and practice the most basic military postures. In addition, Farov is also obliged to tell him some simple combat doctrine.

"You don't need to join other teams, just be my personal soldier." In fact, Farov still recognized and valued Gawain in his heart, "It's too late to change your original weird swordsmanship now, just I’ll give you the simplest ones, because His Majesty has sent the order, and our team must go to Jukuntina Palace to receive the review in five days.”

After speaking, Farov asked Gawain to hold his left hand at the end of the tomahawk handle. This is a slightly curved wooden handle, which is easier to hold and will not be easy to lose in the fierce and chaotic close combat; hold his right hand at the " "Three-seven" is the place "three" from the end and "seven" from the ax blade; "Look straight at your right hand and directly in front of you, not the blade of the axe, otherwise you won't be able to cut down any enemies!"

The ax blade was slightly sideways on his right shoulder, and he tried to hold it flat with both hands. "This is the guard's fighting gesture, and it is also a necessary etiquette posture when accepting the emperor's instructions."

Then, Farolf raised a huge round shield, hung the shoulder strap on Gawain's shoulders, and hung the shield on Gawain's back like this. In hand?"

"Silly boy, this battle ax requires both hands to swing, so you don't have a free arm to hold a shield." Farov explained.

"Then why don't you bear the shield? This can reduce the weight. With this chain armor and this shield, it is difficult to move freely." Gawain complained and questioned.

"You have to use the weight of the double-headed ax to kill people, rather than blindly trying to swing it. In this way, you may be exhausted before killing a person! Remember, when moving a moth-headed ax, you must be steady, fierce, and Patience. Also, this shield is not just for defense against enemy attacks, it is for defense against our bows and arrows.”

Now, the question mark in Gawain's heart is even bigger.

Farov explained that the Roman emperor preferred lightly-armed archers to attack the enemy at the beginning of the war, but he also issued combat orders requiring the Varangian Guards to serve as front-line defense. As a result, in the Battle of Durazzo, when the enemy's cavalry attacked, we had to close the battle line to block the Norman bandits' cavalry and protect the vulnerable shooters; while the enemy's infantry advanced forward and backward, we had to make way for the emperor to The archers stepped forward to shoot arrows. As a result, after two or three rounds, more guardsmen were accidentally injured by their own bows and arrows than those who were injured in fighting with the enemy, so the emperor later issued this compensatory order - when the war started, the soldiers of the Varangian Guards A large round shield is hung behind the back to resist the bows and arrows of both the enemy and ourselves.

Soon, Farov's training had immediate results: Gawain, standing under the banner of the Red Hands, held the battle ax skillfully and solemnly, standing upright, and then he could bend his waist, tilt the battle ax forward, and make A very standard chopping posture.

"I need the long kite shield used by the Normans." As a result, at the end of the training, Gawain suddenly made this request. "This Greek round shield cannot effectively protect the arrows hitting the leg."

His request started a discussion in the entire military camp. Both veterans and young soldiers found it incredible. For decades, the Varangian Guards have used this kind of shield, and the royal ordnance workshop also issued this kind of shield. , the Romans have always been proud of their weapons, and the guard soldiers also believed that this large shield covered with iron or copper was much better than the small wooden round shield they originally used at home - so, how could this recruit come up with such a ridiculous idea? requirements?