On the day of the game, the Cossacks were in high spirits, dressed up like a festival, and showed off like proud peacocks to the War Ministers sitting in the stands.

Cossack attire: a shiny Cherkes costume (a kind of corseted collarless robe or gown of the Cossack tribe), Gazhili (a tubular pouch sewn with tweed on the chest clothes, originally used to hold bullets, but later became an ornament), fur hat (a tall fur hat is used to play cool on hot days), and a mighty dagger (an ornament attached to the Circassian outfit) in addition to a saber.

Compared with the glamour of the Cossacks, the handful of foreigners who also came to join in the fun were poor.

Each of them wore only a saber on them, and most of their horses were thin horses, and some of them had ribs out of their bodies, which were not very good-looking.

In fact, there are also rich outsiders, but they often can't play, what are they going to do on the battlefield? It's not easy to get ahead, and if you haven't enjoyed it enough, you'll die on the battlefield!

Some of the strangers wore tattered military civilian clothes, some wore faded silk-screen cloth shirts, or coarse cloth shirts, etc., these were their best clothes, and they may even be borrowed, and many of them simply went naked in the summer, which was regarded as giving face to the Minister of War.

Budyonny was dressed like the stranger, but the gray horse under his crotch looked fierce, impatiently crawling the ground with his hooves, ready to charge!

The horse belonged to Yatskin, and he lent the horse to Budyonny, who was the first in the race against the other towns!

After the whistle blew for the game, everyone rushed out in a swarm and rushed to the scarecrow in front.

The rule is that there are six scarecrows in front, and the first six scarecrows will enter the next round ---- chop branches.

The elimination rate is brutal, with only six people making it to the next round.

"Vasily, rush!"

"Konstantin, you can do it!"

……

In the cheers of the people, it was Budyonny who ran ahead of everyone!

I saw him bent down, bouncing up and down with the horse's running, and the man and the horse cooperated with each other tacitly!

He was the first to rush to the scarecrow planted in the ground, and swung his knife without even looking at it or stopping for a moment.

The horse departed like an arrow from a string, and the scarecrow did not move at first, because of his speed, everyone thought he had missed, and some people were a little disappointed, while many others laughed loudly.

A few seconds later, perhaps with a shock from the rider behind him, the scarecrow split in two, the top half of which fell to the ground.

The Secretary of War A. A. Murphy, who was sitting on the stage, was the Minister of H. Kuropatkin has also seen the world, and when he saw this, he couldn't help but clap his hands and say: "What a fast knife!" ”

Did Budyonny practice swordsmanship?

Practiced! The saber he held was still his father's knife, and his father had worked swordsmanship and had a certain amount of force, otherwise, why do you think those Cossacks would give him face?!

There is a dragon and a crouching tiger in the fighting nation, even if it is an ordinary person, his sword skills are still sharp!

It's a pity that he can't apply what he has learned, and he doesn't dare to join the army because of his family, so as not to have no one to support his wife and children after hanging up.

His father, Mikhail Ivanovich, taught Budyonny how to swords, and some Cossacks in the village also taught Budyonny some swordsmanship.

With his infinite focus and brain, even if he doesn't have a lot of time to practice, Budyonny's knife skills are impressive.

He easily grabbed a spot and rushed to the next stage of the goal, where the road was lined with trees, and whoever could cut more branches would win.

There is no need to even stimulate, Budyonny's horse is running faster and faster, and others will still eat dust behind it even if they use a whip and spurs, but what Budyonny needs is to reach out and hold the excited horse hard, so as not to let it run too fast, so as not to lose control!

His Excellency the Minister of War, who saw this scene, laughed and said, "Sure enough, it's a gray animal! ”

Someone quipped: "What does Your Excellency say? ”

"Our soldiers (grey cattle) charged, and the only thing the commander feared was that they were rushing too fast! Just like now! "So says the minister!

So everyone laughed, and watched as the gray horse flew past the trees by the roadside, and even passed five trees, and with five swings of the sword, the branches fell one after another.

Needless to say, he was the first, the fastest, and cut the most branches!

Friends and relatives congratulated him, and Kuropatkin, surrounded by officials, came over, and in full view, the Minister of War said gracefully: "Well done, Cossacks!" ”

"I'm not a Cossack, my father is from out of town!" Budyonny said honestly.

"I really didn't expect ......," Kuropatkin said dissatisfiedly, "so you're a hired man?" ”

"Yes!"

"Okay!" Kuropatkin lost interest in the conversation and threw him a silver ruble and said: "This is a reward for your riding skills and saber chopping!" ”

The high Minister of War had no contact with Budyonny, and if he had known that Budyonny would later become the gravedigger of the Emperor, he would have treated Budyonny well or killed him early, and Budyonny was as insignificant as dust.

It's a pity that there are no regrets in the world!

……

After the inspection by the Minister of War, life went on as usual, and there was no other benefit except a silver ruble, perhaps because Budyonny was a foreigner.

Budyonny was diligent in his domestic work, blacksmithing, horse grazing, and harvesting, but his family was as poor as ever.

Time flew by, and three years later, in September 1903, the relatives were ready to send Budyonny to join the army.

When the merchant Yatskin arrived, he came to fulfill his promise by sending Budyonny horses, saddles, uniforms and weapons (sabers and daggers), much to the surprise of Budyonny's family!

This means that Budyonny does not have to be an infantryman, the infantry is a veritable "gray cattle", cannon fodder in cannon fodder, the lowest class in the army!

Infantry equipment is a national package, but their status is very low.

The Cossacks were a little better, they were a little higher than the gray animals, of course.

To join the army for military service, each Cossack had to prepare equipment and horses for his sons (if you don't prepare horses, you can be infantry, but how can a Cossack be an infantryman, no matter how poor the Cossack family is, you have to grit your teeth and make up the cavalry), if three or four sons join the army, this is a lot of money, enough to bankrupt the family.

Now Yatzkine has come to solve a big problem for Budyonny.

The horse was not a very good winning horse, but an ordinary horse, and Yatskin said thoughtfully: "Give you a good horse, and you will not be able to keep it!" ”

The saddles, uniforms, and weapons were all common goods, but the cost of this outfit was not something that the Budyonny family could afford, and they were grateful to Yatskin.

On September 15, Budyonny enlisted in the Tsarist army in the Pyryuch district of Voronezh province, the commune where his grandfather was born and issued an identity card!