Rise of Rurik

The men of Nassau Village are gathering. They care more about fighting for a fortune than their belief in faith.

Of course, the reason for entering the war cannot be so barbaric. All the troops will use the banner of Baron Nassau to get Coblenz in the name of justice.

The barony is expanding, and Blue Fox claims that this is authorized by King Ludwig of the Eastern Kingdom. Regardless of whether there are documents or witnesses to prove this high-sounding reason, the Nassau army gathering to fight is part of the kingdom's civil war.

Who is righteous? The Nassau side will claim that Ludwig of the Eastern Kingdom is righteous.

For the first time, ordinary villagers like the green grass by the river were taken seriously. In name, everyone was actually fighting for King Ludwig.

In fact, everyone also understands the simple meaning of the battle. Even if they just follow the real Norman army and wave the flag, they will get benefits afterwards.

There were doubters among the villagers. As Father Conrad publicly announced that the monastery also supported the baron's actions, all doubts quickly dissipated like rising smoke.

The assembled Russian army was a mixed bag. Everyone communicated with each other in Norse and tried their best to be uniform in clothing.

The brothers sharpened and unloaded the swords, and the six torsion slingshots on the armed cargo ship were all unloaded from their fixed positions.

In principle, the task assigned to the villagers was to wave the flag and shout. Considering the practical needs, all bow-wielding hunters in the village were gathered, even those who brought their own short wooden bows and knew how to shoot.

In addition to its own archers, Blue Fox gathered a hundred crossbowmen, but their weapons were uneven.

In close combat, the sword and shield bearer builds a shield wall, and the back row is supported by the halberdier with spears and axes. There were six torsion slingshots mounted on two-wheeled farm carts, and a hundred crossbowmen.

A low-end version of the traditional Rus' army is in the hands of Blue Fox.

This is not the first time Blue Fox has commanded a battle, but the first time he has commanded an army of nearly 800 men to act independently as an independent commander!

Only he himself knew about the pressure, but seeing his younger brother Heihu, this kid had no idea about the mental challenges his second brother was facing, and his mind was filled with illusions about his achievements. Yes, this black fox just wants to see blood flowing like a river.

What would King Rus do if he faced a big war?

It must be that after completing the pre-war material preparations, the army was given a lecture in an open field. If the number of soldiers is extremely large, the subordinate commanders will be gathered together for pre-war mobilization, and then these elites will be entrusted to convey the king's will to every soldier.

No chief had done this in the past, and Blue Fox himself was not sure whether it was extremely necessary to make a speech. He heard and thought that since the king frequently did this, it must be reasonable, so he sat in the wasteland beside the river in Nassau Village. Give a lecture.

He was wearing chain mail, and an obviously compact iron helmet was placed on his face, making his cheeks a little bulging. The viewers all noticed that the blue fox boss was not wearing his own helmet. The large iron helmet was worn on the head of the little fat man next to him.

After all, it was a war. My younger brother had never experienced a real bloody battle, so he imagined that he would be able to survive alone in the battlefield. This is stupid! Out of love for his younger brother, the blue fox's favorite armor was placed on his fat brother.

The blue fox's own image is somewhat funny, which is why it is so unexpectedly eye-catching.

In Norse, he reiterated the conditions that must be paid attention to during the battle, including not killing indiscriminately, trying to capture prisoners first, not persecuting the women of Coblenz, and capturing the fortress first.

He is not sure that he has absolute control to ensure that the army is absolutely obedient. What he can believe is that the "old folks" in the army are absolutely obedient.

In this case, Father Conrad stood up in a high-profile manner.

"Remember! You must be merciful and do not go against the will of the Lord. Those ordinary people are the same as you, do not harm them! Your enemies are just the garrison of Coblenz. If they surrender, you put down your killing sword. This way , you are not adding to your sins in vain.”

Conrad spoke in Latin, and Blue Fox translated it, causing the entire Russian army to boo. He also preached these words in the local Nassau dialect and it was very suitable for the villagers to arm themselves.

Twenty longships and an armed cargo ship were now gathered at the docks of Nassau Village.

Soldiers from Northern Europe boarded the longship one after another. They had put on the necessary weapons. This equipment allowed the soldiers to sink to the bottom and drown if they fell into the water. In order to complete the landing quickly, the brothers also risked their lives.

The people who landed first sat quietly in the long boat next to the trestle. As the people took their places one after another, the people on the shore began to untie the cables tied to the wooden piles.

The armed cargo ship was filled with Nassau village militiamen, who were sitting on the deck carrying spears and flagpoles. The person holding the horn stood at a high place on the stern deck of the ship. After seeing the signal sent by the blue fox, the low and melodious sound of the horn seemed to herald the appearance of the northern beast in the forest. People gathered in the Nassau Village of Lanhe River. The Russian army is dispatched in full force!

In the past, Henry Nassau could only provide fifty well-trained cavalry. If the Earl of Ingo urged him in a hurry, he could at most provide two hundred more peasants.

Of course, compared to the kingdom's standing army, the peasants' armed forces are simply useless! However, the 150,000 regular troops at the peak of the entire kingdom during the Charlemagne period were no longer in glory. The strong warriors had long since aged, and the conscription system established by the great emperor was disintegrating at a free fall rate. Due to the fact that the royal family has been engaged in internal fighting for nearly half a century, the power of the princes in various places has grown stronger and stronger. They have eaten into the old conscription system, and in the end the army has become increasingly aristocratic.

Lothair of the Middle Kingdom inherited the title of King of the Franks according to the old rules, which were divided into three parts of the kingdom. He was assigned to the area with the largest proportion of Franks and also received the largest number of standing troops. He realized the consequences of the division of the kingdom, so he armed himself to cut down the feudal vassals, and a full-scale civil war broke out.

The civil war consumed the small standing armies of the three top princes. Their vassals used the war to expand their private armies, occupying the soldiers who should be directly loyal to the king. The vassals, large and small, certainly have their reasons. If you ask me to send troops to fight, you must give me more power so that I can bring more troops to fight for you.

The three princes had so much wealth to support a large army, so they had no choice but to delegate power.

In the Middle Kingdom, this was directly reflected in the rapid expansion of military strength of Count Adalbert of Metz. The current situation determined that King Lothair had to rely on Count Metz to guard the central area of ​​his narrow territory. Without the persistence of this great vassal, Lothair would not have been able to drop his main force near Strasbourg. He fought hard with his third brother Ludwig, who was most against him.

The situation in the Eastern Kingdom was more complicated. After the great defeat in 840, Ludwig could only firmly control his hometown of Bavaria. Thanks to the brand-new Principality of Saxony, the Principality of Thuringia, the huge Diocese of Cologne, the Diocese of Worms, and the nominal allegiance of some small vassals, the Eastern Kingdom still maintains its framework.

The Barony of Nassau did not have direct legal allegiance to Ludwig, at least within the framework of the Eastern Kingdom.

An army of eight hundred men! Without Ludwig's knowledge at all, under his banner, he emerged from the cave where he was hiding like a brown bear.

A fleet that was clearly in Nordic attire rushed out of the Lan River and appeared in the main channel of the Lain River with a high profile.

All the masts are hung with the "Black Cross Flag" with black lines on a white background, and then a real Charlemagne battle flag, which is sewn with three lions with slightly abstract lines. This flag was originally a trophy of the Russian army half a year ago. The flag is now in the hands of Blue Fox just to facilitate subsequent actions. The so-called acting under the banner of Ludwig is obviously raising the Three Lions flag.

The flag is here, and even if the action is primarily to make a fortune, it has a great reason.

The long boats guarded the big ship, each long boat retracted its long oars, and the fleet floated freely on the wide river.

The Rhine River is not wide, but for the Franks, whose shipbuilding skills were regrettable, they did not have the ability to cross the river on a large scale in a short time. A small sampan cannot transport several people at a time. Of course, they can use a large amount of pine wood that is easy to float to assemble rafts or even make pontoons, which requires a lot of manpower and material resources.

The Rhine River has therefore become a de facto chasm in the lower and middle reaches, and now only Nordic-style longships can ignore it.

The defenders of the Middle Kingdom in Koblenz were neither deaf nor blind. During these days, the defenders witnessed many strange large ships floating majestically. The large ship was actually pulled upstream by the sharp Nordic longships at both ends? Actually using Ludwig's banner in a high-profile manner?

"These are the Norman mercenaries under Ludwig."

Ludwig inherited his grandfather Charlemagne's policy toward the Norman world. It was an open secret that he had Danish mercenaries under his command and was directly involved in the civil war. On the battlefield, the Middle Kingdom army had several conflicts with the Norman mercenaries who collectively held round shields. The latter always did not follow the rules of battle and had no aristocratic dignity, which caused the Middle Kingdom to suffer a small loss.

At first, the Nordic longships floating in the main river of the Inn made the defenders of Koblenz nervous, as if they were about to land and rob.

This has happened many times in the past year. Even a large fleet passing by did not appear to attack Coblenz, but just drifted by quietly.

The standard-bearer of the garrison was named Fred Edmond. He did not have a fief, only the title of knight. He was an officer in the standing army, commanding two centuries, all of whom were directly loyal to Lord Lothair himself.

At this transitional stage between old and new eras, the situation is quite unfavorable to Fred and his men. The army is stationed in Koblenz, and the flag captain exercises all the powers of a feudal lord. He can act according to his own will, but he cannot let his descendants be hereditary.

Ordinary soldiers will receive a pension when they get old, and Fred will go to a small distant village to become a knight lord when he gets old. Lothair's promise to his standing army was indeed implemented in this way, but is it really fair?

South of the city of Koblenz is a hill that is part of the Black Forest. In principle, after passing this mountain, it is the territory of the huge Count Metz. If Count Metz wants to "personally guard" Coblenz and obtain the king's approval, the brothers will have to make room for it.

Koblenz has changed hands many times, and knowing the history of this place, the defenders did not consider this place to be their home, so it should not be a burial place.

The fleet, thought to be the Danish mercenaries of the Eastern Kingdom, jumped repeatedly on the main river. Even if the flag captain claimed at first that "the wolf is coming," every warning ended without incident. This time, the people were larger. , it seems that it is just drifting safely southward.

The nearby villagers have been indifferent. Although they have basically no communication with the people on the other side because they come to the Inn River, they have no idea what these passing fleets can bring to them.

While the military and civilians were very relaxed, the landing quietly began.

The Blue Fox and the Black Fox were on the same long boat. His old attendant, Mrs. Oberlidy Tesla, Vardy, led a group of brothers and promoted a man named Eric, nicknamed "Big Teeth" among the Jotalans in the army. "The people led a wave of brothers. Father Conrad naturally commanded the farmers' armed forces in Nassau Village.

The huge army was divided into subdivisions, so there were plans for landing on the beach.

"This mountain seems to divide Coblenz, and the fortress is on the mound." Black Fox couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the low hill.

"It's not in the way." Blue Fox pointed to the village settlement under the hill with his big finger: "There is not even a wall there! We will land from the village and capture all the locals."

"I'm just afraid they'll run away."

"So cut off their escape route!"

Blue Fox directed the entire fleet to attack, and the longship deliberately launched a beach attack at the connection between the hill fort and the village.

Based on Father Conrad's intelligence, Blue Fox knew the situation on the other side of the river. There is also some silt in the riverside area there. Forcibly washing the beach will not damage the keel, so the soldiers can get off the boat and take action immediately.

Perhaps, as they had done on several occasions in the past, the large ships paid no attention to Coblenz and drifted away. The residents who live a boring life regard watching the crossing as fun. It is already the wheat harvest season. The villagers closest to the Koblenz Fortress are waiting for the harvest and are busy gathering grass and firewood to prepare for the coming winter.

As a result, they watched as an astonishing number of men with bucklers jumped from the half-stranded ship...

The iron helmets reflected fiercely in the sun, and the Russian troops, all dressed in white, began to walk quickly after landing ashore.

Realizing the danger, the first villagers who witnessed the incident started running wildly with their farm tools.

Blue Fox was keenly aware of this. He took another look at the stone fortress on the southern hill. When he saw that some of his own people were actually charging towards the southern fortress, he shouted sternly: "Idiots, don't attack the fortress yet! We have surrounded the village." ! Capture them all!"

This roar had an effect. Those who rushed south the fastest found that their companions behind them were rushing north collectively, and had no choice but to keep up with the large army.

The "German Corner" does not exist in today's era. Although Koblenz is a very old Germanic settlement, in the midsummer of 841, it is a military stronghold built on the site of the Roman military camp.

There were villages in the area that was originally the "German Corner". The villagers cultivated crops and grazed cattle while the men sat fishing near the shore. The tithe paid by them continuously supplied the monastery and the military camp on the hill.

The villagers lived in a peninsula-shaped area. The Rhine and Moselle rivers formed this narrow area. It was natural for the landing Russian army to divide it.

At this moment, the horns of the fortress on the hill were blowing loudly, the flag captain was panicked, and the sergeants didn't know what to do.

Perhaps the only thing that can be done at this moment is to seal the fortress gate.

Flag captain Fred stood on a high place and raised his head, leaning his upper body and almost falling. He shouted to his subordinates: "Archers on the city wall! Seal all the gates immediately! Kick all the people who are sleeping in to wake up! Try to pull the nearest person Enter the fortress!"

He was no longer able to accept the people from the nearest village, because those guys must be mercenaries from the Eastern Kingdom (he was very sure), and he had never liked these guys. He was worried that these ruthless people would kill the villagers wantonly, and even destroy the monastery. It's like hearing rumors about the Normans.

It was a grave sin for Ludwig to keep such mercenaries, and Lothair declared this to his own soldiers as a crime of blasphemy, demanding that his subordinates not leave alive any war against the mercenary group.

Do you just expect the two hundred defenders to walk out of the fortress and fight the Normans? The opponent obviously has a large number of people! The Koblenz Fortress can no longer defend itself!

For the Blue Fox and the Black Fox, their armies rushed to the Moselle River at another landing point in a short time.

After all, this area is cramped as a whole, and the Kill Penetration landing site is only two kilometers long. Every soldier in the flat land can see the so-called Moselle River not far away from the Rhine River landing site.

Of course, the villagers knew that they could get protection from the defenders by escaping to the fortress in the south, and they could even take advantage of the mountainous area to escape further. However, the escape route has been cut off, and there are still a large number of villagers staying at home with no time to escape. People who stayed outside the village have returned to the village one after another. Many people flocked to the monastery in fear. Perhaps they could only pray to the Lord to protect them in critical moments.

At this critical moment, a middle-aged man stepped forward.

Father Bachbert of the Koblenz Abbey held a cross in his right hand and called on everyone to calm down. He also suppressed the panic in his heart. Seeing how calm the priest was, the frightened villagers also knelt down and crossed themselves repeatedly.

Although some people took the risk and evacuated by boat, most of the villagers had no chance to escape.

Maybe a miracle has happened! The armed men had clearly arrived at the outskirts of the village and were stationed collectively outside the village, as if there was divine power preventing them from moving forward.

Father Bachbert felt more and more strange that maybe those people were holding cross flags and even had huge black crosses painted on their shields.

"Maybe they don't want to kill? But they have ulterior motives? At least you can have a chat with them." So the priest led the lower-level priests, deliberately carrying large wooden crosses temporarily tied with wood, and showed up to confront the densely packed troops outside the village. See.

It didn't matter. The priest saw more flags, all of which were cross flags, and the soldiers standing on the ground obviously stood up when they saw him appearing.

This was a deliberate move by Blue Fox, since the surrounded village would not be able to escape anyway. With a businessman's mentality, the first thing he thought about was not to rob without hesitation, but gave the other party time to calm down. Then he listened to the advice of Father Conrad, who accompanied the army and completed the landing. He really waited for his friend, who was probably that person. Looks like a stooped middle-aged priest, right? A priest named Bachbert.

No, Conrad and his priest showed up carrying a cross.

"My friend! It's me! Conrad!" He appeared openly with open arms.

I actually met a friend, even though this friend only exchanged a few letters with each other, and only had many detailed conversations while attending mass in Worms Cathedral. Although Bachbert couldn't figure out the situation, at least Father Conrad's presence showed that the situation was not critical.

Father Bachbert's inner fear weakened a lot. He knew that a large number of villagers were sticking their heads out to pay attention to the changes in the situation, so he took the initiative to walk towards the army, intending to ask what was going on.

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Chapter 1097: The Russian Army Lands at the German Corner Read for free.