Rise of Rurik

The long route of the Rhine River is winding, and its central channel suddenly runs north-south. Until it reaches Mainz, the river extends all the way west until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

The central river channel infiltrates a large area of ​​mountainous land, forming a large-scale river valley plain.

The long and narrow valley is bounded by the Vosges Mountains to the west and the Württemberg Mountains to the east. Legally, Württemberg now belongs to Greater Bavaria, and it is Ludwig's fiefdom. However, the endless virgin forest makes it unable to provide any effective resources, and it is also an inaccessible place where wild beasts roam.

The west part of the river is the real valley plain. The terrain here is extremely flat and has always been suitable for people to settle. The valley plain extends southward to the city of Basel at the foot of the Alps. This plain area spans 150 kilometers from north to south and has a maximum width of 50 kilometers. It is really a wonderful place for agricultural development. The local core city is Strasbourg, with more than one million Frankish people living in this narrow area.

The priests were the masters of this area, and the Archbishop of Strasbourg governed the land with doctrine. Therefore, it is generally a demilitarized area, with only militia groups in each settlement defending themselves. Also because during the same period of the Frankish Kingdom, as the central area, there was virtually no possibility of being invaded by foreign enemies.

However, the civil war has turned the valley plain where Strasbourg is located into a place of right and wrong, and it has also become an important source of troops for King Lothair.

After the death of his father, Lothair, who legally succeeded to the Frankish throne, began his active actions.

The treaty of three parts of the world was to avoid civil war among the royal family, but if the treaty was actually implemented in accordance with the father's will, then the Franks he owned would be severely reduced. In his opinion, the land allocated to his two younger brothers did not provide strong military strength. It was Lothair's idea to use force to reduce the titles of his younger brothers.

At first, he did not intend to make the truth clear. Ludwig, the third child, would only be the Duke of Bavaria, and Charles, the fourth child, would only be the Duke of Aquitaine. They would hand over all the standing troops at hand. Wouldn't it be nice to become wealthy Dukes with peace of mind? ?

His idea was to break the arms of any enterprising nobles, and even to "abandon the standing army" was mainly aimed at Ludwig.

The princes in the east and north of the kingdom have been opening up territory for the kingdom for hundreds of years. The Frankish army in the wilderness often has to exchange opinions fiercely with the Danes and various Slavic tribes. They are completely bound to the interests of the Ludwig family who were granted this place. The nobles have to think, if Ludwig loses his power, Lothair will really treat us nobles well.

The situation in the Western Kingdom is more complicated. The large and small nobles in the Aquitaine Plains and the Pyrenees are more or less of Gallic origin, and their language is a mixture of Romanized Gallic and Frankish. A lost prince longs to recover. Honor, many southern nobles are willing to help, as long as this new Western King will think about them.

But in terms of geographical territory, the Middle Kingdom owned by Lothair did have an overwhelming advantage.

He wanted to make full use of the human resources in the Strasbourg area and use recruitment and coercion to force farmers to serve as soldiers.

What should I do if I owe land rent? Join the army, get paid, and pay off debts.

The reason why Lothair has been asking Count Metz to take the lead at this stage is because he is busy training new recruits in Strasbourg. After all, he knew very well that his younger brother Ludwig held an iron army that had been fighting in Bavaria for hundreds of years. This army used to follow his grandfather to attack the Avars who invaded, and later was stationed in the east. Now it is Ludwig. Hope's trump card.

My brother is obviously unwilling to compromise, so he has no choice but to fight!

Although there was news that there was a fire in Ludwig's backyard, the counter-rebellion army suffered heavy losses. Is this believable? This should be a fact. I'm afraid the real situation is definitely not as outrageous as the rumors say.

Lothair is most aware of his current situation. His actual control area is huge and powerful, but there are forces opposing him in three directions. Lothair did not have the strength to defeat enemies one by one and win quickly. The army had to deploy defenses at various key points, and then assemble and train heavy troops in Strasbourg on the basis of ensuring that the rear was worry-free.

He also looked forward to the autumn harvest of 841, which would bring him huge amounts of wealth to fill his military needs and pay for new soldiers.

How many recruits are there? That's a mighty 20,000 people!

"Me! I can be as powerful as my grandfather! I am the real King of the Franks."

He had no financial resources to support the 20,000 new recruits who were completely out of work, whether they were free farmers or debt-croppers, or even prisoners who were judged guilty by the church, all kinds of people gathered together. During the slack time, they train, and during the busy time, they all go back to harvest wheat.

These 20,000 people were divided into two parts. 8,000 of them were Frankish farmers with quite clean backgrounds, and were organized into ten infantry standard corps. Lothair personally spent money to buy weapons for these people, but he did not have to pay for the armor because of his limited financial resources.

The remaining 12,000 people were organized into fifteen flag brigades. Their personnel were more responsible. According to the plan, they existed first as baggage and logistics troops, and their training had to be neglected. Under normal circumstances, these people will not line up on the battlefield. They will only fully participate in the war when the frontline battle situation is tight, or when Mainz and Frankfurt really open up the situation and pursue victory.

Lothair had made a good plan, and he felt that he had enough time to spend. As long as time continues to delay, his strength will become stronger and stronger. When his muscles are strong enough, it will not be a dream to completely unify Frank in one year.

But Count Adalbert of Metz came in person.

Across the fields, the count saw a large amount of wheat stubble, as well as many women and children picking up missing wheat ears in the fields. He led the guards on horseback through some villages and saw farmers holding flails threshing grains collectively.

The entire Frankish world is busy with this year's autumn harvest. If a military operation is launched at this time, both sides will definitely be conflicted.

Although Count Metz suffered heavy losses and the defenses at Lautern and Sala Perugia ferries were strengthened, he was very confident in his defenses, but important information must be informed to his king.

Lothair was greatly surprised by the sudden return of the earl, and urgently summoned this hard-working nobleman to his palace.

"Now, how is the situation in the north? I hope you can tell me that Mainz has been captured by you." King Lothair, who was sitting in a gold-plated seat, wore a shining golden crown, and his right hand was slightly removed, looking casual. .

Count Metz had no joy at all, and his sullen face looked as ugly as if he had lost several bags of gold.

"No. I didn't take Mainz, but..."

"Did something big happen? Are you trying to tell me that you lost the fight?!"

"We didn't lose or win. It was the Duke of Bavaria, who personally led the main force southward!"

"ah!?"

Lothair, who was once at ease, suddenly became angry. The hair on his body trembled, and his big hand pointed directly at the earl's neck: "You! You mean, my brother's iron army went south?! It is incredible that he actually launched a war during the wheat harvest season. Really! Crazy! Crazy!”

Count Metz deliberately did not finish his words. Seeing the not-so-young king pacing left and right like a lion, roaring filial piety, he felt a little happy in his heart.

"Tell me! What's going on?" Lothair calmed down and continued to question.

"But!" the Count raised his chest, "I spent countless blood to block the Duke of Bavaria's attack for Your Majesty. I am your loyal servant. I killed at least four thousand people and finally repelled their offensive. "

"They didn't come?! Oh, thank God. No! I'm thanking you. That's not right..." Lothair suddenly thought and felt even more terrible: "So, you killed four thousand people? I leave it to you. Two thousand regular troops, shouldn’t they also..."

"How dare I let the elite of the army be lost? Although some died in battle, the damage was not serious. It was just that the peasant soldiers I brought suffered great losses. Of course, when I cleaned the battlefield, I found five thousand enemy corpses. "

"Five thousand corpses?!" Reason told Lothair that there must be water in it, which was extremely encouraging news.

"Yes. Although there were also a large number of corpses of peasant soldiers. They were all buried... It was really a cruel battle."

Speech is an art. The war data given by Count Metz in this special report are a bit weird. It seems that he did not subsidize himself or exaggerate the losses. Listing such data just shows that Adalbert is a great hero with hard work and merit.

He immediately received Lothair's verbal praise, followed naturally by some practical promises.

"You ensured the tranquility of Strasbourg! I will make you Baron Basar, and the land at the foot of the Alps will belong to you. But the previous promise remains the same."

In fact, what Earl Metz wanted most was the whole of Strasbourg, the land that Lothair stepped on. Because the early border of the Merovingian Dynasty was the north-south Rhine River under the Vosges Mountains, which was the territory of the old Duke of Metz. If you get this area, you will get extremely huge human resources. By then, although the Earl of Metz will be called a count, his actual level will be equivalent to or even stronger than the Duke of Burgundy.

This idea is obviously unrealistic, but Adalbert is still happy to get Basar, because it also belongs to his ancestors' fiefdom.

"I am Count Metz, I will also be Count Saar-Mainz, and even Baron Basel. If I add some fiefdoms, I will be like my ancestors." The civil war has given many nobles opportunities, and Count Metz is looking forward to a better future. He would indeed suffer heavy losses in the future, but he was full of confidence when he actually saw King Lothair's recruits in Strasbourg and saw the great harvest in the valley plains.

Now Lothair could be sure that his brother, his most powerful and most belligerent enemy, was in Mainz. The Eastern Iron Army lived up to its reputation, and they fought against each other using the same tactics they used to attack the Avar barbarians. Lothair admired this army, but it was a pity that they were not loyal to him. Lothair really couldn't believe it now that his brother had suffered a defeat in the north. Both sides suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Lauten. The dead were almost all poor peasant soldiers. The elite of the Eastern Kingdom survived, proving that Ludwig still had great strength.

Soon it will be autumn, and there will be more rain. When the land becomes muddy, it will be inconvenient for the heavy cavalry that the Franks are proud of to attack. The autumn rain season is followed by winter, which is even less suitable for fighting.

In Lothair's view, there would be no more wars in 841, and the end of the civil war was no longer far away. He felt that a decisive battle would break out in the Saar-Rhineland region where Mainz was located. He currently had an advantage, and if he continued to use up this advantage, it would become an overwhelming advantage.

Lothair did not send secret talks, and neither did Ludwig. This kind of thing should be done immediately, but both parties did not do it because they had no awareness of this aspect.

The information received by the two supreme commanders in the war was still very limited. The way to resolve the war was to send official messengers and agree on a time and place. The two armies would square off and fight in an upright manner. This was noble dignity.

Just like the original meaning of Assassin is "a lowly and dirty low-class person", it can be extended to the meaning of assassins and spies precisely because the nobles feel that this kind of behavior is very bad. Assassin has existed since the eleventh century. In Europe now in 841, the noble Lothair does not want to be a despicable person. So even though his younger brother's sneak attack on the camp of Count Metz's army was extremely disgraceful, he did not intend to retaliate in kind.

However, the war situation fermented in a direction that King Lothair did not expect.

Lothair, the true heir to the title of King of the Franks and Emperor of Rome, with two heavyweight titles in one, was restrained by him. He could not do despicable things.

However, Ludwig couldn't care too much anymore. Since they were allied with the Normans with weird beliefs, what's the harm in continuing to break the law? If being mean and shameless can guarantee your power, then do evil! "Let me be judged by God after my death! It will never be you who judges me! Lothair!"

The wheat harvest in Nassau is also in progress. Now with the support of new wheat from Coblenz, the "Fox Brothers" who actually control the power in Nassau are now greatly strengthened.

The blue fox is the earl from afar, and the black fox exercises the real power of the baron of Nassau. The two nobles are eating cakes made of new wheat in one hand, and drinking wine from the wine glass in the other hand.

Because of the secret agreement with Ludwig in Mainz, Trier was the next powerful target of the Ross army under the name of Nassau.

Fred was forced to act, and he was reluctant at first. However, after arriving in Nassau Village, he immediately received a solid monetary reward from Blue Fox, and his attitude quickly changed.

"You care about them, and they care about you? If you are sent to Coblenz, you will be attacked. Take the money and help us finish this job. Ludwig will definitely reward you for your merits in the future. . At least we brothers will definitely need you after we get rich. Or you can follow me! I am the Count of Gothenburg in the north. I can give you a piece of land and make you a baron, but you have to change your beliefs and become a warrior of Odin."

Fred did indeed intend to do something after receiving the money, but he was still very conflicted and did not know the tricks of this Norman nobleman who made a heavy promise.

But soon, he understood what blasphemy was.

Blue Fox assembled all the existing troops in Nassau Village. They set up wooden stakes in the open space of the village and specially brought a sheep.

The brothers were almost all Odin's warriors before their conversion. Convert? Does that mean we have to let go of the past? Pooh! It's all just a ruse.

After all, Ludwig said: "Just act the way the Normans do. I have nothing against you."

The smart blue fox understood that the guy was implying that when the army really demolished the city of Trier, it must have nothing to do with Ludwig. The attack must be an accident and a sneak attack by the Normans. That’s all. But in terms of the result, it was indeed a stab in the back of King Lothair.

Sheep were sacrificed in blood, and the Rus warriors with their faces smeared with indigo fuel were chanting Odin's name again.

Father Conrad and Bachbert were shocked and angry, and even joined forces to argue with the blue fox.

However, the Norman nobleman whose Christian name was Joseph directly took out a series of pendants that he had covered up. "Pious! Of course I am pious! I am pious to many gods. You two said that I am blasphemous, which is a fallacy. Listen, Odin is God, and I understand Latin."

Such a statement can only add fuel to the fire. He said again: "It will be good if we collectively repent after the war." But such a statement is extremely arrogant.

Blue Fox has his own set of sophistical logic. Since he understands Latin, the two priests weighed it up for themselves. Priests who pay attention to civilization and profoundness must not argue in Latin. In addition, the other party really has a large army, so they had to silently curse this heretic in their hearts. The angel dropped thunder and killed him.

Was there really a thunderstorm? There was no bolt from the blue. Even if it appears, the blue fox can immediately interpret it as "Look, it's the god Thor who protects us."

As long as you regain your identity as Odin's warrior, any robbery can be regarded as a great achievement. The brothers had been holding back for half a year. The attack on Coblenz did not cause substantial damage due to the need to be notified later. The brothers did not enjoy the attack on the fortress and did not make a fortune. The next autumn attack on Trier did not result in any substantial damage. How can you escape this opportunity to make a fortune due to the constraints of regulations?

They collectively put on the costumes of the Russian army, held the flag of Russia, and the ships they used were all traditional longships. They will start the operation on the first day of September. All the supplies needed for marching upstream of the Moselle River have been stored. The soldiers will reorganize their weapons and adjust their mentality before attacking in the best condition.