The next morning, when it was snowing heavily, Mavi had breakfast, put on his coat, and took Yunia to the Kremlin next door.

The palace was warm as spring, very different from the ice and snow outside, but it was only warm for a while, and Katerina, dressed in a black jacket, took Mavi to the courtyard.

The snow was up to his knees, the guards had cleared a trail, and in the middle of the courtyard, Bodlinov, dressed in a green military uniform and wearing a velvet cap, was lecturing a group of shirtless soldiers.

"You are soldiers of the Empire! The enemy's bullets are even colder than in winter! If you can't hold on, get back to me! ”

The skin was red, the soldiers put their hands behind their backs, looked ahead, let the snowflakes wet their bodies, and did not say a word, all of them were tigers and bears, as strong as wild bulls.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Bodlinov glanced back and shouted: "Stand upright!" ”

"They're the Olympians I picked out from the military."

Katerina circled the soldiers: "A hundred people selected from a million soldiers are one out of ten thousand, whether it is physical fitness or loyalty, there is no doubt. ”

"Isn't the Romanov Kingdom going to conduct auditions?"

"There will also be auditions, and I will form an Olympic team from among the winners from the civilian sector, and compete fairly with the soldiers I have selected from the army, and select the top three athletes in each event."

Katerina exhaled a white breath: "This Stockholm Olympics, the Romanov Kingdom will definitely shock the world." ”

As if to show the strength of the soldier in front of Mavi, Katerina glanced at Bodlinov, who immediately gave the order:

"All right! Run forward! ”

The soldiers moved in unison, with steady steps, and when they moved, they were like a hundred horses, well trained.

"All right, Father, let's go to the carriage."

As the soldiers ran out of the courtyard, a king's carriage arrived, and Katerina said, "The destination is the army camp outside the city." ”

"They're running? It's a few dozen miles outside the city. ”

"Just warm up." Katerina disagreed, "If they didn't even have this stamina, they wouldn't have been chosen." ”

It's cold outside, but it's warm like spring on the carriage, and there is a red-hot charcoal stove under the car, which has a very special structure, only the heat can be transferred into the car and harmful gases are emitted outside, and the coachman will continue to fill coal to ensure the temperature.

There are two pull ropes in the carriage, one red and one black, pull the red to represent the heating of the coal, pull the red twice to represent the stop, and the black rope is the opposite.

The most extravagant thing is that Katerina actually prepared snacks for Yunia, and there was a teapot on the car to drink hot tea, as Katerina's special king's carriage, the craftsmen used their skill.

There is a faint aroma on the tip of the nose, which is the smell of Katerina's special perfume, the fragrance is faint, like a gardenia blooming, smelling cool and silky, and mint should be added.

It smells much better than Dino's rose pepper cinnamon essential oil.

"Father, try this."

Katerina picked up a piece of hazelnut cookie and handed it to Mavi, who took it and took a bite, and before she could chew it twice, she heard her ask, "Is it delicious?" ”

"You did it?"

"If so, would you say it's delicious?"

"Why not." Ma Wei smiled: "It tastes good, but it's a little burnt." ”

"If you like it."

The smile on Katerina's face faded away: "When I woke up this morning, I found that all the cats in the Kremlin were gone, Father, is this your order?" ”

Ma Wei didn't expect Katerina to say this directly, which should have been tacitly understood by everyone.

"Now that Mosk is safe, St. Basil's Cathedral is right next to it, you can transfer the cats that protect the palace to other places." Ma Wei said euphemistically.

The colder the weather, the fewer cats there are on the streets, and the cat army will also face the trouble of manpower shortage.

"Is it the same with Buckingham Palace?"

"No, there are a lot of cats in London, and there is no need to draw them from the palace."

Katerina nodded: "It seems that Father you are also aware." ”

"Realize what?"

"Arthur is not safe around." Katerina said: "His ability is not inferior to mine, but he is in a different situation than mine, there are too many dissidents gathered around him, and I control the government by relying on the shadow left by my father, Bodlinov, they are loyal to the Romanov royal family, but Arthur's people are loyal to themselves." ”

During Mavi's reflections, Katerina added: "If you think I'm speaking ill of Arthur, then I don't have anything to explain, but I'm sure you, Father, are aware of it. ”

Arthur's forces are indeed different from Katerina's.

Most of Katerina's supporters are veterans left over from the period of Peter the Great, and other nobles and high-ranking officials were killed by Mavi, and the new batch of people who took office also showed their loyalty to Katerina, and at the same time, she was also single-handed, very reliable.

On the other hand, the Knights of the Round Table formed by Arthur, except for Gulhana, codenamed Lancelot, which of Gawain is not from a noble background?

The Knights of the Round Table were able to come together not because of simple and pure faith, but because of profit.

In Arthur's last days, the Knights of the Round Table were able to provide him with great help, but now that Arthur is a king, he no longer needs the assistance of the Knights of the Round Table, and it is time to start fulfilling his promise.

This relationship is untenable, as Arthur is no longer on the same side of interest as the Knights of the Round Table, but becomes an antagonist.

Arthur can be trusted but the people around him.

"You should trust me more than Arthur, Father."

Katerina sat down beside Mavi, put her fair and slender hand on the back of Mavi's hand, and her red lips exhaled like an orchid: "As long as I am one day, the Romanov Kingdom will always support the Church of Truth, and the secret police I set up is also to prevent my own people from rebelling, in this materialistic era, there are always few like-minded friends, aren't they?" ”

My law?

Mavi's eyelids jumped, seeing that Katerina's eyes were a little strange, and quietly moved to the side: "You're right, I really should remind Arthur of this question and let him be careful of the people around him." ”

Katerina withdrew her hand, looked out the window, and whispered, "It's here." ”

While speaking, the carriage had already arrived at the outskirts camp, where the 1st Mosk Front had been stationed for a long time, located next to the Mosk River, and near noon, the soldiers had already begun to practice, and did not hide in warm houses because of the winter.

Bodlinov also led the soldiers to the camp, and after a long run, the soldiers' skin was as deep red as blood, and the snowflakes turned into water droplets as soon as they were touched, and their whole bodies exuded heat, like freshly boiled hot water.

Ma Wei was about to get out of the car, but was stopped by Katerina: "You don't need to go down, you can just watch it in the car." ”

Bodlinov took the soldiers to the frozen river, took the tools in his hands, made a hole in the ice, stuffed a stick of explosives and ignited it, only to hear a 'bang', and a large hole was blown out of the ice.

As concocted, Bodelinov blew up a total of ten holes in the ice, not for fishing, but

Scuba diving.

Mawi has never tried winter swimming, but he knows what it means to swim in minus ten degrees Celsius, let alone snorkel.

It seems that Bodlinov was planning to let the 100 soldiers swim for a thousand meters in a row, using only ten ice holes dug out for air.

It's not a matter of physical fitness, it's a matter of playing with life!

But Bodlinov did not hesitate, and after the soldiers were familiar with the temperature of the water, he immediately ordered them to jump into the water and swim on the dim ice, the cramped darkness pressed from all sides, only the ice was glowing, but you could not break free from it, fear and pressure accelerated the consumption of oxygen, and the biting cold was paralyzing your limbs and taking away your remaining body temperature

Wow!

A soldier's head poked out of the ice cave a hundred meters away, exhaled the turbid air in his lungs, took a deep breath, and then plunged headlong under the ice and swam towards the next exit.

At this time, Ma Wei suddenly found that this training was even more cruel than he imagined.

Every 100 meters, there is only one ice cave for ventilation, which means that latecomers have to wait, how long can a normal human hold his breath in ice water?

A few minutes is already the limit.

Only by making yourself fast, faster than others, can you snatch oxygen!

Looking at the desperately ventilated soldiers, Katerina did not have a trace of pity, she knew her own soldiers, and she who had led the soldiers even more understood the reason why she was not in charge of the soldiers.

Gentleness, politeness, and pity do not exist in the army, the so-called army, only patience, perseverance and obedience!

The first to reach the finish line was a small man - a small man compared to the others, who was actually taller and stronger than ordinary people, with muscles as straight as the fins of a fish.

"Aquinov."

Katerina nodded with satisfaction: "He is a child who lives by the sea, and he is a good swimmer." ”

Cold is synonymous with the Romanov Kingdom, relying on the cold, the Romanov Kingdom shattered Napoleon's hopes for the Northern Expedition and shattered his empire, and the people who lived here have long been accustomed to the cold.

"Well done, Corporal Aquinov!"

Bodelinov kicked the wooden box next to him, which jingled and filled it with vodka: "Come and claim your reward!" ”

Akinov picked up a bottle of vodka, unscrewed the lid, threw it up, and drank half of it in three or two sips, looking like a beast.

"You were in the Royal Navy, Priest." Katerina looked at Akinov and asked: "It should be understood how powerful such a soldier is." ”

"It's rare."

Ma Wei exclaimed, he didn't mean to compare the Royal Navy with the Romanov Kingdom Army, he did serve in the Royal Navy, but that was before, now he is the Pope, or the co-pope of the Kingdom of Windsor and the Kingdom of Romanov, the judgment must be fair and just, and he cannot favor the Kingdom of Windsor just because he was the Royal Navy.

One after another, the soldiers came out of the ice holes, and twenty or thirty of them, who failed in the challenge, came out of the ice holes in the back, they were not qualified to drink, and they were even scolded by Bodlinov.

Most of the soldiers who fail to challenge have one thing in common - they are burly.

If you are too strong, it is not good to swim underwater, especially in winter swimming, where ice water will stiffen your muscles, and too many muscles will become cumbersome.

This is also the reason why swimmers tend to be slimmer than weightlifters.

Without much rest, Bodlinov began a second training session, and he led the soldiers to an open field, surrounded only by a few black-clothed cages, from which the roaring could be heard

There should be a few black bears inside.

"Come here and get the weapon! Stupid! ”

Bodlinov shouted, gave each soldier a dagger the length of his forearm, and said: "All scattered!" ”

Now Ma Wei understands why swimming should be put first.

The first to come out on top is most likely the slender soldiers, who tend to be terrified when they see black bears, and in order to train their guts, drinking is a good way to do so.

That case of vodka was meant to be used for them to strengthen their courage.

There were twenty cages for the bears, which meant that Bodlinov had brought in twenty black bears, and the bears should be hibernating in such cold weather, but from their roars, it was obvious that they were extremely angry to be woken up.

The black cloth was lifted, and the cage was indeed filled with adult black bears, if they stood up, each one was two or three meters tall, and one paw was bigger than a human head, and they were furious.

On Bodlynov's orders, twenty cages were opened at the same time, and the black bear crashed open the cage door, surrounded by a hundred soldiers with only daggers.

Hundreds of eyes looked at each other, and I don't know who roared first, and then a hundred soldiers and black bears roared at the same time, striding towards each other.

Ma Wei had never seen such a scene, a hundred elites selected from the army, only relying on daggers dared to fight with twenty adult black bears, it was not enough to describe them as fearless of death, this is simply crazy!

The black bear is infinitely powerful, but the soldiers are not vegetarians, they are also as strong as oxen, a soldier was pressed under the black bear, directly blocked the opponent's blood basin mouth with his left arm, the bone was instantly bitten, but his dagger was also inserted into the black bear's abdomen.

Just as the black bear attacked the soldier, the others swarmed up, either stabbing the neck or the buttocks, all of which were the most vulnerable parts of the black bear.

"Whew!!"

The black bear roared and became more violent, but what awaited it was the soldiers around him who had gone crazy.

Blood splattered, a bear paw was cut off, the injured black bear screamed, whimpered and turned to flee, the previous rage was gone, and the voice was full of fear.

As the first black bears fled, more broke away, and the neighing of their companions awakened their most primitive instincts, and some of the black bears had their bellies cut open and their intestines scattered all over the ground, but they still fled across the frozen river into the mountains without looking back, if they could survive

I'm afraid I'm going to run around when I see a human.

Defeating the black bear, the soldiers who were still standing let out a beastly roar, and as for those who were wounded, Bodlinov did not give up and called the military priest.

(End of chapter)