Fox of France

However, in the following itinerary, Victor still chose to take a horse-drawn carriage, because riding a horse for tens of minutes can make people feel physically and mentally happy, and riding for a few hours will make people exhausted. Ten days, man, that was exhausting. Along the way, the escorting cavalry, as well as the riders holding the torch, would rotate at regular intervals. But Victor has to accompany the fire and the torch all over half of Europe.

"If I hadn't come to Russia, I really wouldn't have known how big the world would be." Later, when Victor talked about his trip to his friends, he once sighed like this, "You know what? One day, I was in We have been in the carriage for eight full hours, except for changing horses at some small strongholds, we hardly stopped halfway.

So I asked a Russian cavalryman who was following the carriage: 'Hey, my friend, how far are we from our destination today? ’ The cavalryman answered me in a cheerful tone: ‘Ah, it’s not far, it’s almost there, it’s only a hundred versts away. ’ I didn’t realize it at the time, and it took me a while to realize that the lengths of versts and kilometers are very similar, that is to say, there are still more than one hundred kilometers.

But what is even more absurd is that it didn't take long for me to become familiar with and accept this concept of distance. Well, 1,000 kilometers is a little distance, but 500 kilometers is relatively close, 100 kilometers? Ah, that's right around the corner. So much so that after I came back to Europe, I was not used to the concept of distance here..."

However, apart from the long distance, Victor's trip was generally quite smooth. The first important Russian city to which the flame reached was Kyiv. People in the whole city here expressed a warm welcome to Victor and his arrival. The mayor of Kyiv awarded Victor the title of honorary citizen, while the residents of the city held an all-night torch parade. To celebrate the arrival of the torch.

Victor and the holy flame rested in Kyiv for two or three days. After all, even a strong Viktor was exhausted after traveling all the way. During these three days, he lived in the home of the local nobleman Lebezovsky. The owner, Lebezovsky, also studied in France, studying painting and literature. He told Victor that he had a son who was also in Paris now, but he was studying mathematics in Paris.

"Actually, he had hoped to study physics or engineering. But I'm afraid that if he learns those things, he won't want to come back and look after our family's land in the future. But mathematics is much better, at least mathematics does not need a laboratory. He completely I can study these in my study and not have to worry that what I learned in France will not find use in Russia. Like the son of a cousin of mine who studied construction engineering in France and returned to Russia. After arriving in Moscow, he found that there was neither cement nor steel bars... At last he couldn't bear it, and went back to France. He was not short of money, but he had learned all the skills, but there was no place to display them... I Knowing it's not good, it's like..."

"It's like having a hammer in your hand and not being able to find a nail to hammer in," Victor added with a laugh.

"Ah, my friend, that's it, that's it. It's a perfect metaphor." Lebezovsky laughed. However, he then sighed and said: "Russia is still too backward, our system and many of our things are too backward, and the Russian people are too old-fashioned, all of these must be changed, we think , It is a good idea to join the Olympic Games and organize the Olympic Committee. Through sports, we can let more people accept new ideas. Well, I read the "Science Pravda" and I really appreciate the sentence on it: 'Civilization Its spirit, brutality its body'. That's a really good line."

Lebezov's attitude actually represented the opinion of a considerable section of the Russian aristocracy. This is one of the reasons why Victor was able to receive such warm hospitality along the way. Perhaps because distance creates beauty, Russian nobles generally have a better view of the French who overthrew the aristocratic rule than Italian and Austrian nobles.

After three days in Kyiv, Viktor turned to Moscow.

Moscow is the old capital of Russia. Since Peter the Great, the capital of Russia has been moved to Petersburg, but Moscow is still one of the most important cities in Russia and the second capital of Russia. Many people say that Petersburg is just a face deliberately put on by Russia, while Moscow is the real Russia.

From Kyiv to Moscow, the straight-line distance is probably less than 800 kilometers. However, considering the curving roads and various terrain obstacles, the real distance is more than a thousand kilometers, which is really a long way.

The distance of more than a thousand kilometers is far away, but Victor has not run such a long distance before. But for more than a thousand kilometers, there are almost all wilderness scenes, and this is the first time Victor has seen it.

And the roads in Russia also opened Viktor's eyes, because the land will be frozen in winter and melt again in spring and summer. When the land freezes, the water in the land freezes and expands, loosening the originally compacted land, and then once the ice melts, the road becomes a quagmire. This makes Russian roads very difficult to maintain and extremely vulnerable to damage.

When Victor took this road, it was the time of the year when this road was relatively easy to walk—early summer. At this time, the melted ice and snow in winter have dried up, and the road is no longer completely muddy like it was in spring. However, the road became rough in the spring thaw, which also made the speed of the carriage much slower. And such a road is also extremely easy to damage the suspension and even the wheels. It has almost become a routine to stop on the road to repair the carriage.

Victor calculated in his mind as he walked, and finally came to the conclusion that any European country, under the current situation, if it wanted to invade Russia, would be easily overwhelmed by this damn road and the resulting The logistics of coming are crushing.

"Especially our French army. These years the French army has become stronger than ever before, but on the other hand, the French army is also more dependent on logistics than ever before." Victor thought this way, serving in Ireland After serving as a military advisor for a period of time, he was clearly aware of this problem.

"What's more, the vast land and complex terrain, this is really an ideal environment for guerrilla warfare. Throwing a million troops in here is just like sprinkling a small packet of pepper powder into a big pond. Besides wasting Nothing but good things.

As for the Russians, it is true that they are conservative and backward, but they have a unique culture, and, unlike many countries, all the Russians I have come into contact with have a heart to become a big country. In addition, their environment is so harsh, which makes their characters relatively tough-they are naturally suitable for guerrilla warfare, even more suitable for this than the Irish. "

Thinking of this, the carriage suddenly bumped again, and then Victor once again heard the roar of the driver Marklov: "Damn it, it's broken again!"

On the other side, the Olympic torch has been introduced to Rome, and the idle Roman citizens have fully demonstrated the Italians' nature of watching the excitement. Almost all citizens flocked to the streets, making the whole city look like a carnival.

It must be said that those Italians really regarded the passing of the torch as a carnival. From all directions, crowds of masked people rushed over, some ran out of the door, and some ran down from the window. From every street and every corner, horse-drawn carriages rushed over. The carriage was full of clowns in white clothes and trousers and white masks, clowns in floral dresses and wooden knives in hand, men and women wearing half masks, dressed as marquises, Lesbians, knights and peasants. Everyone was screaming together and throwing flour packets or eggshells at each other. Some people sprinkle tomato juice on their bodies, pretending to be blood, to play zombies or something. If Polina were here, seeing all this, she would be overjoyed.

But the priests were not so happy when they saw all this. Especially when they saw that there were so many guys on a float.

Bishop Leonardo, who had just soothed a helpless girl, left the house he had graciously given to a girl of age who might be his granddaughter, with a gesture of sagehood, and went to I got into the carriage and went to my church, planning to explain to some seminary students how to bring myself closer to God. But as soon as the carriage came out of the alley, it encountered a carnival crowd, and was sucked into the carnival. Then he saw such a scene on a float.

One was wearing a paper priest hat, and it was obvious from the style of the hat that it was the appearance of the Pope. The "pope" was half-kneeling on the float, holding a crown made of gold foil in his hand, and handing it to a man in a French military uniform sitting on a high chair.

"Profanity! This is blasphemy!" Bishop Leonardo was so angry that he almost jumped off the carriage and rushed to the float to see who it was who dared to attack His Majesty the Pope so viciously.

But Bishop Leonardo did not take action, because he remembered some information that the Holy See had informed them before: "The Austrians are very dissatisfied with losing the crown of Rome, and they will definitely lose their temper and do something. Small gestures. But ignore them, let them vent, in short, after this matter is over, we still have to reconcile with His Majesty Franz."