"Green" tourists are often at a loss: what things it is desirable to take, and what it is better not to even think about; where you can get by with ordinary clothes and shoes, and where you need special hiking equipment, etc. The answers to these questions are simple, and they should be sought in the experience already accumulated before.

Hiking backpack

It is with backpacks that it is recommended to start preparing for a hike. A shoulder bag must meet five requirements: comfort, capacity, lightness, strength and protection from water. All of them are equally important. For example, a comfortable backpack that does not contain all the necessary things; capacious, but uncomfortable; durable, but permeable to moisture - equally defective. Still, convenience is key. A long hike with an incorrectly selected backpack means inevitable back pain, muscle pain, and a constant feeling of heaviness. Where will it be before the aesthetic enjoyment of nature ...

But now the backpack is selected, bought: it's time to fill it. The same rule applies here as when loading sea ​​vessels: heavy and voluminous are placed down and closer to the back, light and small - up and into the outer pockets. Be sure to consider the fragility of some things and how they will interact with each other. You can increase the protection against moisture if you put a large plastic bag inside the backpack.

Immediately after packing your things, try how the loaded backpack will hold on your shoulders. Jump in place, making sure that it does not make extraneous sounds while doing so. Walk around the room, bend over, try to take off and put on again, get things from the outer pockets of a dressed backpack, go up and down the stairs at least a couple of floors - in general, check your luggage in the closest hiking situations.

Clothes and shoes for the trip

On the territory of Russia, even in summer, night time is cool, especially at the beginning and end of the tourist season. Therefore, you should always have warm clothes on a hike. Hats will help to avoid sunstroke and not react to light rain. Two or three cotton T-shirts (they are better than shirts, as there is no risk of tearing off the buttons), shorts for hot hours, tight non-staining trousers in case of cold weather and overcoming grassy areas - this is the “ceremonial set” of a real tourist.

Hiking shoes are tailored to fit as closely as possible. A balance should be struck between the strength of the sole and the lightness of the shoe itself. In unstable weather, when visiting places inhabited by poisonous snakes, high boots are extremely important; rubber boots will come in handy for moving through wetlands, across a territory abounding in rivers and lakes. In order not to take an umbrella with you, which restricts the freedom of the traveler, it is necessary to replace it with a waterproof cape.

Food for the hike

Even if the entire trip does not exceed five to seven hours, you should consider catering in advance. There are two main variables that affect it: the planned transition time and the number of participants. Discuss in advance personal food preferences and dislikes, allergic disorders. It is better to entrust the purchase of products and the creation of their stock, distribution during the trip to one person. Otherwise, the situation at the camping pot will begin to resemble “confusion and vacillation”: it seems that everyone took something, but there is very little sense. The heaviest types of provisions should be distributed equally among all participants in the campaign.

• Store products that are prone to dampness in plastic containers with hermetically sealed lids (for example, it is very good to use bottles for cereals).
• In the absence of cooler bags, you can’t take anything perishable!
• Stock up on spices, salt, sugar, tea, coffee, chocolate and nuts.

Equally important is the availability of drinking water. Sometimes travelers are lucky, and they go through an area abounding in springs. But this is very rare, and water transfer should be considered. Have each hiker carry a small plastic bottle for this purpose. Products should be distributed, among other things, in such a way that suddenly those left alone have them with them for a day, and if they can do it, even more.

Cooking on a camping trip means using heat-resistant utensils with handles that won't burn you. Disposable plates and reusable plastic containers work great. Wear a bowler hat in a burlap case: it’s useless to wash it anyway, it instantly becomes covered with soot. Place cutlery in a tightly wrapped strong cloth.

What else is left? Of course, overnight. Tents will help to carry it out comfortably and safely. Take those that will accommodate all the participants, and at the same time are suitable for weather conditions. Sleeping bags, travel mats are also essential. Instead of a pillow, you should use outerwear twisted into a roll.

Among other things necessary in the campaign, it should be mentioned:

• chewing gum (saves space, allows you to use less water than brush and paste);
• liquid soap (also uses less water);
• wet wipes (good to wipe sweat and dirt);
• in summer - sunscreen;
• flashlight;
• knife, axe, compass, repellents;
• matches or lighter;
• a set of medicines for first aid and drugs needed by individuals;
• Trash bags.

With a long enough trip, it makes sense to take a walkie-talkie, signal rockets. In any case, notify someone about the route of movement, about the destination and the deadlines for arriving there. It is advisable to start hiking in the mountains only after registering with the lifeguards.

Byzantine Empire
Cilician Armenia

Commanders

Guglielm Embryako Gottfried of Bouillon Raymond IV of Toulouse Etienne II de Blois Baldwin of Boulogne Eustachius III Robert II of Flanders Ademar Monteilsky Hugo the Great Robert of Normandy Bohemond of Tarentum Tancred of Tarentum Alexei I Komnenos Tatikiy Constantine I

Side forces

Background to the conflict One of the reasons for the crusade was the call for help from the Byzantine emperor Alexei I Comnenus to the Pope. This call was due to several factors. In 1071, the army of Emperor Roman IV Diogenes was defeated by the Sultan of the Seljuk Turks Alp-Arslan at the Battle of Manzikert. This battle and the subsequent overthrow of Roman IV Diogenes led to the outbreak of a civil war in Byzantium, which did not subside until 1081, when Alexei I Komnenos ascended the throne. By this time, various leaders of the Seljuk Turks had managed to take advantage of the fruits of civil strife in Constantinople and captured a significant part of the territory of the Anatolian plateau. In the first years of his reign, Alexei Komnenos was forced to wage a constant struggle on two fronts - against the Normans of Sicily, who were advancing in the west and against the Seljuk Turks in the east. The Balkan possessions of the Byzantine Empire were also subjected to devastating raids by the Polovtsians. In this situation, Alexei quite often used the help of mercenaries from Western Europe, whom the Byzantines called Franks or Celts. The commanders of the empire highly valued the fighting qualities of the European cavalry and used mercenaries as shock units. Their corps needed constant replenishment. In 1093 or 1094, Alexei, apparently, sent a request to the Pope for help in hiring another corps. It is possible that this request served as the basis for the call to the Crusade. Rumors about atrocities that were happening in Palestine could serve as another reason. At this point, the Middle East found itself on the front line between the Great Seljuk Sultanate (which occupied a significant part of the territory of modern Iran and Syria) and the Fatimid state of Egypt. The Seljuks were supported mainly by Sunni Muslims, the Fatimids were supported mainly by Shia Muslims. There was no one to protect the Christian minorities in Palestine and Syria, and during the hostilities, representatives of some of them were subjected to robberies. This could give rise to rumors about the terrible atrocities committed by Muslims in Palestine. In addition, Christianity was born in the Middle East: the first Christian communities existed in this territory and most of the Christian shrines were located. On November 26, 1095, a cathedral was held in the French city of Clermont, at which, in the face of the nobility and clergy, Pope Urban II delivered an impassioned speech, urging the audience to go to the East and liberate Jerusalem from Muslim rule. This call fell on fertile ground, since the ideas of the Crusade were already popular among the people of Western European states, and the campaign could be organized at any moment. The pope's speech only indicated the aspirations of a large group of Western European Catholics. Byzantium Byzantine Empire had many enemies on its borders. So, in 1090-1091, she was threatened by the Pechenegs, but their onslaught was repulsed with the help of the Polovtsians and Slavs. At the same time, the Turkish pirate Chaka, dominating the Black Sea and the Bosporus, disturbed the coast near Constantinople with his raids. Considering that by this time most of Anatolia had been captured by the Seljuk Turks, and the Byzantine army suffered a serious defeat from them in 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert, then the Byzantine Empire was in a crisis state, and there was a threat of its complete destruction. The peak of the crisis came in the winter of 1090/1091, when the pressure of the Pechenegs on the one hand and the related Seljuks on the other threatened to cut off Constantinople from the outside world. In this situation, Emperor Alexei Komnenos carried on diplomatic correspondence with the rulers of Western European countries (the most famous correspondence was with Robert of Flanders), calling on them for help and showing the plight of the empire. A number of steps have also been outlined to bring the Orthodox and Catholic churches closer together. These circumstances aroused interest in the West. By the time the Crusade began, however, Byzantium had already overcome a deep political and military crisis and had been in a period of relative stability since about 1092. The Pecheneg horde was defeated, the Seljuks did not conduct active campaigns against the Byzantines, and on the contrary, the emperor often resorted to the help of mercenary detachments, consisting of Turks and Pechenegs, to pacify his enemies. But in Europe they believed that the state of the empire was disastrous, counting on the humiliating position of the emperor. This calculation turned out to be incorrect, which subsequently led to many contradictions in Byzantine-Western European relations. Muslim world Most of Anatolia on the eve of the Crusade was in the hands of the nomadic tribes of the Seljuk Turks and the Seljuk Sultan Rum, who adhered to the Sunni trend in Islam. Some tribes in many cases did not recognize even the nominal authority of the Sultan over themselves, or enjoyed wide autonomy. By the end of the 11th century, the Seljuks pushed Byzantium within its borders, occupying almost all of Anatolia after defeating the Byzantines in the decisive battle of Manzikert in 1071. However, the Turks were more concerned with solving internal problems than with the war with the Christians. The constantly renewed conflict with the Shiites and the civil war that broke out over the rights of succession to the sultan's title attracted much more attention of the Seljuk rulers. On the territory of Syria and Lebanon, a relatively independent policy from the empires was conducted by Muslim semi-autonomous city-states, guided primarily by their regional rather than general Muslim interests. Egypt and most of Palestine were controlled by the Shiites of the Fatimid dynasty. A significant part of their empire was lost after the arrival of the Seljuks, and therefore Alexei Komnenos advised the crusaders to conclude an alliance with the Fatimids against a common enemy. In 1076, under Caliph al-Mustali, the Seljuks captured Jerusalem, but in 1098, when the crusaders had already advanced to the East, the Fatimids retook the city. The Fatimids hoped to see in the face of the crusaders a force that would influence the course of policy in the Middle East against the interests of the Seljuks, the eternal enemy of the Shiites, and from the very beginning of the campaign they played a subtle diplomatic game. In general, however, Muslim countries experienced a period of deep political vacuum after the death of almost all the leading leaders around the same time. In 1092, the Seljuk vazir Nizam al-Mulk and Sultan Melik-shah I died, then in 1094 the Abbasid caliph al-Muktadi and the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir. Both in the east and in Egypt, a fierce struggle for power began. Civil War among the Seljuks led to the complete decentralization of Syria and the formation of small, warring city-states there. The Fatimid Empire also had internal problems. . Christians of the East Crusade of the nobility After the defeat of the army of the poor and the massacre of Jews in August 1096, the chivalry finally advanced under the leadership of powerful nobles from different regions of Europe. Count Raymond of Toulouse, together with the papal legate Adémar of Monteuil, Bishop of Le Puy, led the knights of Provence. The Normans of Southern Italy were led by Prince Bohemond of Tarentum and his nephew Tancred. The brothers Gottfried of Boulogne, Eustache of Boulogne and Baldwin of Boulogne were commanders of the Lorraine, and the soldiers of Northern France were led by Count Robert of Flanders, Robert of Normandy (the eldest son of William the Conqueror and brother of William the Red, King of England), Count Stefan of Blois and Hugh of Vermandois (son of Anna Yaroslavna and younger brother of Philip I, King of France). Road to Jerusalem The crusaders' guide through Asia Minor was the Armenian prince Bagrat, the brother of Vasil Gokh, the ruler of the largest Armenian principality in the Euphrates region. Mateos Urhaetsi reports that with the departure of the crusader army from Nicaea, letters with a notice of this were sent to the ruler of Mountainous Cilicia, Constantine Rubenides, and the ruler of Edessa, Thoros. Crossing Asia in the height of summer, the soldiers suffered from heat, lack of water and provisions. Some, unable to withstand the hardships of the campaign, died, many horses fell. From time to time, the crusaders received help in money and food from brothers in faith - both from local Christians and from those who remained in Europe - but for the most part they had to earn their own food, devastating the lands through which their path ran. The warlords of the crusade continued to challenge each other for supremacy, but none of them had sufficient authority to assume the role of a full leader. The spiritual leader of the campaign was, of course, Ademar Monteilsky, Bishop of Le Pyu. When the Crusaders passed the Cilician Gates, Baldwin of Boulogne left the army. With a small detachment of warriors, he set out on his own route through Cilicia and arrived in Edessa at the beginning of 1098, where he won the confidence of the local ruler Toros and was appointed his successor. In the same year, Thoros of Edessa was killed as a result of Baldwin's conspiracy. Thus, the ruler of a Christian state became the first victim of the crusaders, although the crusade participants proclaimed the fight against the “infidels” and the liberation of the “Holy Sepulcher” as the goal of the crusade. After the assassination of Thoros, the county of Edessa was formed - the first crusader state in the Middle East. Siege of Nicaea In 1097, the Crusaders, having defeated the army of the Turkish Sultan [ ], began the siege of Nicaea. The Byzantine emperor, Alexei I Komnenos, suspected that the crusaders, having taken the city, would not give it to him (according to the vassal oath of the crusaders (1097), the crusaders had to give the captured cities and territories to him, Alexius). And, after it became clear that Nicaea would fall sooner or later, Emperor Alexy sent ambassadors to the city demanding to surrender to him. The townspeople were forced to agree, and on June 19, when the crusaders prepared to storm the city, they were chagrined to find that they were greatly “helped” by the Byzantine army. After that, the crusaders moved further along the Anatolian plateau to the main goal of the campaign - Jerusalem. Siege of Antioch In autumn, the crusader army reached Antioch, which stood halfway between Constantinople and Jerusalem, and laid siege to the city on October 21, 1097. After eight months of siege, in the early morning of June 3, 1098, the crusaders broke into the city. The betrayal of the gunsmith Firuz helped them open the gate. In the city, the crusaders staged a bloody massacre: "all the squares of the city were filled with the bodies of the dead, so that no one could be there because of the strong stench." Emir Yagi-Sian, accompanied by 30 soldiers, fled the city, leaving his family and children, but then the escorts abandoned him and he was killed and beheaded by local residents. By evening, the crusaders had captured the entire city, with the exception of the citadel in the south of the city. Four days later, on June 7, Kerboga's army approached and, after an unsuccessful assault, laid siege to it. The battle went on all day, but the city held out. When night fell, both sides remained awake - the Muslims were afraid that a new attack would follow, and the Christians feared that the besieged would somehow manage to set fire to the siege weapons. On the morning of July 15, when the ditch was filled up, the crusaders were finally able to bring the towers to the fortress walls without hindrance and set fire to the bags protecting them. This was a turning point in the attack - the crusaders threw wooden footbridges onto the walls and rushed into the city. The first to break through was the knight Letold, followed by Gottfried of Bouillon and Tancred of Tarentum. Raymond of Toulouse, whose army stormed the city from the other side, learned about the breakthrough and also rushed to Jerusalem through the southern gate. Seeing that the city had fallen, the emir of the Tower of David garrison surrendered and opened the Jaffa Gate. Consequences Crusader states in 1102 (in red) States founded by crusaders after the First Crusade: Crusader states in the East in 1140 At the end of the 1st Crusade, four Christian states were founded in the Levant. Edessa county- the first state founded by the crusaders in the East. It was founded in 1098 by Baldwin I of Boulogne. It existed until 1146. Its capital was the city of Edessa. Principality of Antioch- was founded by Bohemond I of Tarentum in 1098 after the capture of Antioch. The principality lasted until 1268. Kingdom of Jerusalem, lasted until the fall of Acre in 1291. The kingdom had several vassal lords under its control, including the four largest ones: Lordship (principality) of Transjordan- Seigneury of Krak, Montreal and St. Abraham County of Tripoli- the last of the states founded during the First Crusade. It was founded in 1105 by Count Raymond IV of Toulouse. The county lasted until 1289.

Sea of ​​Azov

Uralsky District, Ural

• Middle Ural
• Southern Urals

Volga region

Black Sea region

Caucasus region

• Central Caucasus

Obsko-Altaisky district

• Altai
  • Mountain Altai

Main attractions - highest point Altai mountain Belukha, Akkem, Kucherla valleys, Kucherlinsky and Multinsky lakes

Main attractions Shavlinsky lakes, Aktru valley (mountain)

• Western Siberia
  • Kuznetsk Alatau
    • Celestial Teeth (Tigirtysh Ridge)
  • Lower Pritomye (Right Bank)

The main sights are Tomskaya Pisanitsa, Itkarinsky waterfall, Kolarovsky tract, Blue Cliff, Talovsky bowls and silver keys - Dyzvezdny, Kapitonovka.

• • Chulym region: Upper, Middle, Tomsk

The main attractions are the southern taiga, the centers of historical colonization of the Tutalo-Chulym region of Siberia - Tsentropolygon, Teguldet, Asinlag, a hot well mineral water"Omega"

The main attractions are the Tomsk Federal State Reserve, the Everest of the Ob-Tomsk interfluve, the Taiga Triangle and other swamp-taiga routes of the Siberian adventure project in the style of the Last Hero, old Russian and Siberian villages on the border of taiga and swamps (Kireevsk, Kunchuruk), the pearl of the district is Lake Kirekskoe with deposits of natural healing silt sapropel

Yeniseisky district

• Krasnoyarsk pillars

The main attractions are the resort on Lake Shira, the Iyussky Natural Park, which includes two areas of the caves of Khakassia - Syysky and Efremkinsky

• Western Sayans

Baikal region

• Baikal region

Far East

Russian North (Asia)

Russian North (Europe)

middle Asia

• Tien Shan
  • Western Tien Shan
    • Chimgan (Chimgan Mountains)
      • Alyam ring
  • Pamir-Alai

The depth of division (crushing) into taxonometric units is justified by the attendance of areas, the availability and accessibility of tourist information, the willingness of local authorities to promote development active tourism in the region. Projects such as the Seven Wonders of Russia contest, travel festivals, hiking championships ( tourist routes).

Route classification

The classification of tourist routes in hiking can be according to various criteria:

1. Way of transportation (pedestrian, skiing, mountain, cycling, equestrian, sailing, water, speleo).
2. Duration (multi-day or weekend trips: one, two, three days).
3. Difficulty (categorical hikes (category 1-6), power hikes (grade 1-3) and health-improving, for the TRP sign, "Young Tourist of Russia" and "Tourist of Russia", as well as walking "mattress"

Types of tourism and characteristics of hiking	Hiking difficulty categories
	I	II	III	IV	V	VI
Duration of trips in days (at least)	6	8	10	13	16	20
Route length in kilometers (at least)
pedestrian	100	120	140	170	210	250
ski	100	140	180	210	240	270
mountain	100	120	140	150	160	160
water	150	160	170	180	190	190
cycling	300	400	500	600	700	800
motorcycle	1000	1500	2000	2500	3000	-
automotive	1500	2000	2500	3000	3500	-
sailing	150	250	300	400	500	700
Number of caves for caving	4	3	3	1	1	1

Classification of the maximum categories of complexity for all types of tourism in the main regions of Russia

Districts	Types of tourism
	pedestrian	ski	mountain	water
Kola Peninsula	III	V		V
Arkhangelsk region, Komi ASSR	III	V		IV
Karelia, Leningrad and Vologda region	III	III		IV
The middle flat part of the European territory of the USSR	II	II		II
Southern flat part of the European territory of the USSR	I	I		II with el. III	Caucasus Western	IV		V	III with el. VI
Caucasus Central			VI	III with el. VI
Caucasus East	IV		V	IV with el. VI
Transcaucasia	III	V	III	III with el. V
Ural Polar	IV	VI		IV
Ural Subpolar	V	VI		IV
Ural North	III	V		III
Ural Middle and South	III	III		II
West Siberian. lowland	III	IV		III
Desert and semi-desert regions of Central Asia	III			II
Pamir-Alai			VI	VI
Pamir			VI	VI
Tien Shan Western	IV		IV	VI
Tien Shan Central			VI	VI
Tien Shan North			V	VI
Altai	V	VI	VI	VI
Dzungarian Alatau Kuznetsk Alatau	IV	V	IV
Sayan Western	V	V		V
Sayan East	V	VI	II	VI
Taimyr and the Putorana Plateau	V	VI		V
Krasnoyarsk Territory (other regions)	V	V		V
Baikal region, Transbaikalia	V	VI	III	VI
Khabarovsk region, Primorye	V	V		V
Yakutia, Magadan region, Chukotka	VI	VI		V
Kamchatka	VI	VI
Sakhalin region, Kuril Islands	IV

Districts	Type of tourism
	cycling	automoto	caving
the Baltics	II	II
Carpathians	IV	V	III
Caucasus	V	V	V
Central Asia and Kazakhstan	V	V	V
Ukraine (other regions), Belarus, Moldova	III	III	IV
RSFSR: European North	V	V	III
central Russia	III	III
European South East	V	III
Ural	V	V	III
Altai	V	V	III
Western Siberia	IV	V	III (Sayans), II (Kuznetsk Alatau and Mountain Shoria)
Eastern Siberia and the Far East	V	V	I

Weekend hikes

Weekend trips (PVD) are distinguished by duration from one to three days. Allocate modes of movement in campaigns: recreational and sports (according to the speed of movement). The organizers of weekend trips are amateur tourists, tourist clubs, sections, and often institutions of general education and additional education (for tourist and local lore purposes).

Weekend hiking routes are chosen spontaneously, under the influence of sources of tourist information (booklets, guides, clubs, including electronic Internet guides). The saturation of routes with sights often determines the educational content of hikes. Increasing the tourist informativeness of the territory (the availability and accessibility of tourist information) leads to an increase in the number of trips made, to an increase in the number of developed and replicated routes.

To encourage active participants in the PHA in Russia, the Tourist and Sports Union of Russia (TSSR) has developed and issued mass award badges "Tourist of Russia" by the primary tourist teams in the country. To fulfill the standards of the tourist badge, it is necessary to make at least 5 weekend trips (PVD), issued by the itinerary sheet, total length at least 75 km on foot or 200 km by bicycle…

see also

Write a review on the article "Hiking"

Links

• - site about hiking trips, with reports on past trips.

Notes

An excerpt characterizing a hiking trip

- E! Vasya! - Nesvitsky answered joyfully. - Yes, what are you?
“You can’t leave the Eskadg“ he pg ”shouted Vaska Denisov, angrily opening his white teeth, spurring his beautiful black, blooded Bedouin, who, blinking his ears from the bayonets he bumped into, snorting, splashing around him with foam from the mouthpiece, ringing, he beat with his hooves on the boards of the bridge and seemed ready to jump over the railing of the bridge if the rider allowed him. - What is this? like a bug "any! exactly like a bug" ana! Pg "ouch ... give the dog" ogu! ... Stay there! you are a wagon, chog "t! I'll kill you with a saber fromg"! he shouted, really drawing his saber and starting to wave it.
Soldiers with frightened faces pressed against each other, and Denisov joined Nesvitsky.
Why aren't you drunk today? - Nesvitsky said to Denisov when he drove up to him.
- And they won’t let you get drunk! - answered Vaska Denisov. - All day long the regiment is being dragged here and there.
- What a dandy you are today! - looking around at his new mentic and saddle cloth, said Nesvitsky.
Denisov smiled, took a handkerchief from the tashka, which diffused the smell of perfume, and thrust it into Nesvitsky's nose.
- I can't, I'm going to work! got out, cleaned his teeth and perfumed himself.
The imposing figure of Nesvitsky, accompanied by a Cossack, and the decisiveness of Denisov, who waved his saber and shouted desperately, acted so that they squeezed through to the other side of the bridge and stopped the infantry. Nesvitsky found a colonel at the exit, to whom he had to convey the order, and, having fulfilled his order, went back.
Having cleared the road, Denisov stopped at the entrance to the bridge. Carelessly holding back the stallion, which was rushing towards his own and kicking, he looked at the squadron moving towards him.
Transparent sounds of hooves were heard on the boards of the bridge, as if several horses were galloping, and the squadron, with officers in front, four people in a row, stretched out along the bridge and began to go out to the other side.
The stopped infantry soldiers, crowding in the mud trampled by the bridge, looked at the clean, dapper hussars, harmoniously passing by them, with that special unfriendly feeling of alienation and mockery with which various branches of the army usually meet.
- Nice guys! If only to Podnovinskoye!
- What good are they! Only for show and drive! another said.
– Infantry, not dust! - the hussar joked, under which the horse, playing, splashed mud at the infantryman.
“I would have driven you away with a knapsack for two transitions, the laces would have been worn out,” the infantryman said, wiping the dirt from his face with his sleeve; - otherwise it’s not a person, but a bird is sitting!
“It would be better to put you on a horse, Zikin, if you were dexterous,” the corporal joked at the thin soldier, twisted from the weight of the knapsack.
“Take a baton between your legs, here’s a horse for you,” the hussar replied.

The rest of the infantry hurried across the bridge, vortexing at the entrance. Finally the wagons all passed, the crush became less, and the last battalion entered the bridge. Some hussars of Denisov's squadron remained on the other side of the bridge against the enemy. The enemy, visible in the distance from the opposite mountain, from below, from the bridge, was not yet visible, since from the hollow along which the river flowed, the horizon ended with the opposite elevation no further than half a verst. Ahead was a desert, along which in some places groups of our traveling Cossacks were moving. Suddenly, on the opposite elevation of the road, troops in blue hoods and artillery appeared. These were the French. The Cossacks' troop moved off downhill at a trot. All the officers and people of Denisov's squadron, although they tried to talk about strangers and look around, did not stop thinking only about what was there, on the mountain, and incessantly peered into the spots that appeared on the horizon, which they recognized as enemy troops. The weather cleared up again in the afternoon, the sun set brightly over the Danube and the dark mountains surrounding it. It was quiet, and from that mountain occasionally came the sounds of horns and cries of the enemy. There was no one between the squadron and the enemy, except for small sidings. An empty space, three hundred fathoms, separated them from him. The enemy stopped firing, and that strict, formidable, impregnable and elusive feature that separates the two enemy troops was felt all the more clearly.
“One step beyond this line, reminiscent of the line separating the living from the dead, and - the unknown of suffering and death. And what's there? who's there? there, behind this field, and a tree, and a roof lit by the sun? Nobody knows, and one wants to know; and it’s scary to cross this line, and I want to cross it; and you know that sooner or later you will have to cross it and find out what is there, on the other side of the line, just as it is inevitable to find out what is there, on the other side of death. And he himself is strong, healthy, cheerful and irritable, and surrounded by such healthy and irritably lively people. So if he does not think, then every person who is in sight of the enemy feels, and this feeling gives a special brilliance and joyful sharpness of impressions to everything that happens at these moments.
The smoke of a shot appeared on a hillock near the enemy, and the ball, whistling, flew over the heads of the hussar squadron. The officers who had been standing together dispersed to their places. The hussars diligently began to straighten the horses. Everything in the squadron went silent. Everyone looked ahead at the enemy and at the squadron commander, waiting for the command. Another, third core flew by. It is obvious that they fired at the hussars; but the cannonball, whistling evenly quickly, flew over the heads of the hussars and hit somewhere behind. The hussars did not look back, but at every sound of a flying cannonball, as if on command, the entire squadron, with its uniformly varied faces, holding its breath while the cannonball was flying, rose in the stirrups and fell again. The soldiers, without turning their heads, squinted at each other, curiously looking for the impression of a comrade. On every face, from Denisov to the bugler, near the lips and chin, one common feature of struggle, irritation and excitement appeared. The sergeant-major frowned, looking at the soldiers, as if threatening punishment. Junker Mironov stooped down with each passage of the core. Rostov, standing on the left flank on his touched but visible Grachik, had the happy look of a student called before a large audience for an exam, in which he was sure that he would excel. He looked around clearly and brightly at everyone, as if asking them to pay attention to how he calmly stands under the cannonballs. But in his face, too, the same feature of something new and strict, against his will, was shown near the mouth.
- Who bows there? Yunkeg "Mig" ons! Hexog "oh, look at me" ite! - shouted Denisov, who could not stand still and who was spinning on a horse in front of the squadron.
The snub-nosed and black-haired face of Vaska Denisov and his whole little downed figure with his sinewy (with short fingers covered with hair) hand, in which he held the hilt of a drawn saber, was exactly the same as always, especially in the evening, after drinking two bottles. He was only redder than usual, and, throwing his shaggy head up like birds when they drink, ruthlessly pressing his spurs into the sides of the good Bedouin with his small feet, he, as if falling back, galloped to the other flank of the squadron and in a hoarse voice shouted to inspect pistols. He drove up to Kirsten. The staff captain, on a broad and sedate mare, rode towards Denisov at a pace. The captain's staff, with his long mustaches, was as serious as ever, only his eyes shone more than usual.
– Yes what? - he said to Denisov, - it will not come to a fight. You'll see, let's go back.
- Chog "does not know what they are doing," grumbled Denisov. "Ah! G" skeleton! he shouted to the cadet, noticing his cheerful face. - Well, I waited.
And he smiled approvingly, apparently rejoicing at the junker.
Rostov felt completely happy. At this time, the chief appeared on the bridge. Denisov galloped up to him.
- Your pg "elevation! Let me attack! I'll throw them at them."
“What kind of attacks are there,” the chief said in a dull voice, wincing as if from an annoying fly. "And why are you standing here?" See, the flankers are retreating. Lead the squadron back.
The squadron crossed the bridge and got out from under the shots without losing a single person. Following him, the second squadron, which was in the chain, also crossed, and the last Cossacks cleared that side.
Two squadrons of Pavlograd residents, having crossed the bridge, one after the other, went back to the mountain. Regimental commander Karl Bogdanovich Schubert drove up to Denisov's squadron and rode at a pace not far from Rostov, not paying any attention to him, despite the fact that after the former clash over Telyanin, they now saw each other for the first time. Rostov, feeling at the front in the power of a man to whom he now considered himself guilty, did not take his eyes off the athletic back, blond nape and red neck of the regimental commander. It seemed to Rostov that Bogdanich was only pretending to be inattentive, and that his whole goal now was to test the courage of the cadet, and he straightened up and looked around merrily; then it seemed to him that Bogdanich was deliberately riding close to show Rostov his courage. Then he thought that his enemy would now deliberately send a squadron into a desperate attack in order to punish him, Rostov. It was thought that after the attack he would come up to him and generously extend to him, the wounded man, the hand of reconciliation.
The figure of Zherkov, familiar to the people of Pavlograd, with high shoulders (he had recently retired from their regiment), drove up to the regimental commander. Zherkov, after his expulsion from the main headquarters, did not remain in the regiment, saying that he was not a fool in the front to pull the strap when he was at the headquarters, doing nothing, would receive more awards, and knew how to settle down as an orderly to Prince Bagration. He came to his former chief with an order from the chief of the rear guard.
“Colonel,” he said with his gloomy seriousness, turning to Rostov’s enemy and looking around at his comrades, “it’s ordered to stop, to light the bridge.”
- Who ordered? the Colonel asked sullenly.
“I don’t even know, colonel, who was ordered,” the cornet answered seriously, “but only the prince ordered me: “Go and tell the colonel that the hussars return soon and light the bridge.”