Rise of Rurik

Because the Frankish Kingdom was a huge land power, they had no navy, let alone a river fleet.

Located in Italy, the kingdom has always maintained a certain number of warships. The trireme warships inherited from the Greek and Roman era are still the absolute main force, but they have not encountered any actual opponents.

In other words, even if the strength is seriously declining, most of the large Christian ships cruising in the Mediterranean belong to the Eastern Roman Empire.

The significance of Frank's maritime warships is to protect their southern ports.

Although inland shipping is important, it is always difficult to function on ordinary days.

Only the river people in some areas were allowed to fish as a profession. This was largely due to the tolerant policies of the priests and lords who controlled the local areas.

All the wealth of the nobles comes from taxes on their territories and land, and various means are used to force them to farm the land with peace of mind. This is the basis for the nobles to stabilize their financial resources and tax base.

People who are restricted from fishing naturally have no need to build boats. Even if they face a large river, there are very few fishing boats, and some are only small barges crossing the river.

The nobles would rather spend more money building pontoons than building ships.

This is the dilemma that now faces the knight Quentin Westerlad, the flag-captain who was ordered to regain the lost territory.

In front of you is the wide Moselle River!

Wearing heavy armor, he stood by the river on a tall and strong Frankish horse. Facing the surging river in summer, he looked at the water with furrowed brows and sighed.

"If I have enough ships, even if the ship can only transport five people. My army can reach Koblenz quickly!"

He was complaining, and the attendant soldiers around him took advantage of the opportunity to say something nice to the captain.

"Stop talking!" He signaled everyone to shut up: "Continue walking along the riverside road and cross the bridge when you reach Trier! I hope God bless us that there is indeed a bridge there."

The Middle Kingdom has always maintained a garrison in the area near Aachen. Although Aachen is the capital and has the reputation of New Rome, the city was built late and has not yet expanded into a large city.

To the south of Aachen is the almost uninhabited Ardennes region. There are many kinds of wild animals here. Unarmed people entering the forest can easily become prey of bears, wolves, etc.

Passing through the mountainous woodland here is the Luxembourg Military Camp.

This place is also the residence of Quentin, the flag captain who went on an expedition.

He and his men were not stationed here for a long time. Last year, the city of Trier was looted, and a group of refugees fled to Luxembourg to request military protection. After the disaster, Lothair ordered new troops to go to Luxembourg to strengthen the defense, and even assigned some troops to station in Trier to clean up the mess.

The armored stomachs were mounted on carriages, and Count Metz's men operated these logistics carriages to ensure the light advancement of the army.

Many Frank infantrymen now only wear cloth clothes of similar colors, iron helmets of similar styles on their heads, and their shoes are all low-cut leather shoes, tied firmly with hemp rope laces.

Each of them wears a broad-bladed iron sword, and also carries a throwable hand ax at his waist. Each person carries his own small buckler, which is much smaller than the Norman shield, but covered with iron. The emphasis is on blocking flexibly during combat and even taking the opportunity to stun the opponent.

But such infantrymen seemed too ordinary. There were many of them, all they held were swords and axes, and there were very few archers in the army.

Including more than 200 people sent by Count Metz, who was in charge of logistics, a total of nearly 700 infantrymen. The scene was indeed majestic. How was the combat effectiveness?

At least flag captain Quentin is confident.

His confidence and even pride not only come from the fact that as a standing army officer with a knighthood, he can command more than 800 people in battle. The king attaches so much importance to it. Maybe if he does a good job and successfully captures Coblenz for the king, then he will no longer be A knight.

Just like his surname, or the name of his hometown village, Westerlad, Quentin is the lord of this agricultural village located on the edge of the Ardennes region! The civil war gave a large number of standing army soldiers opportunities. Those officers themselves were also lower-level nobles. In this era when it was quite difficult to jump up the ranks, serving the king with military merit was a great opportunity for a knight to be given the title of baron, even if the fiefdom might not be available. Increase.

Names and titles are more important than gold and silver, and they are worth fighting for by junior officers!

King Lothair will fulfill all his promises, and the vast number of soldiers in the standing army are also willing to perform meritorious service on the battlefield.

For Quentin, his other confidence comes from the cavalry centurion led by himself! Frankish heavy cavalry, invincible in the world!

The army of more than 800 people has a great sense of justice. The soldiers are inspired by the slogan: "Revenge for Trier! Expel the Norman pirates who occupied Coblenz!"

There are many things that are difficult to hide even if some people want to. Who attacked the city of Trier? Definitely a Norman pirate. How the pirates got all the way to Trier, because Ludwig had made a dastardly deal with the Normans. Lothair did not have enough evidence, and he was not a fool. The mastermind behind the attack on Trier could figure it out with his toes.

As for Coblenz, there is ample evidence of its occupation by the Normans, especially from clergy letters. Even if the Normans convert to God, is this a reason why they cannot be attacked? Ludwig has been raising a group of Norman mercenaries who believe in God. Their strength is greater than that of a standard army, and their strength is extraordinary. They can also do some hard and dirty work that is not suitable for pious people to do.

Regarding these, King Lothair still firmly believed that the so-called "Harald Clark Mercenary Team" had never disappeared. This Norman mercenary group had done all the bad things, and it was this group of Normans who occupied Coblenz.

In this way, the marching Quentin flag team marched with a series of information obtained.

For the king! For God! Destroy the nobles who are colluding with the Norman devil! Save the people oppressed by pirates!

The soldiers' emotions were high, and when they arrived at the city of Trier, which was severely damaged and repaired too slowly, their emotions immediately turned into anger.

Standing at Nicholas Gate, the northern gate that was burnt black but still standing, Quentin felt as angry as if his own home had been burned down.

When the people who fled back saw the newly arrived Frankish army, they all gathered together and cried about their miserable experiences.

Even ordinary soldiers are regarded as saviors by civilians, and everyone is given high hopes.

It was no secret that the Normans controlled Coblenz, and it was now known to these Trier refugees.

The army rested briefly in the city to fully absorb the anger of the locals.

It is a right thing to kill the enemy, and it is also a right thing to punish those traitors who defected to the Normans. Anyone who does anything for the Normans must be killed! All villages in Koblenz will undergo the "Doomsday Judgment on Earth", and anyone who has served the Normans will be hanged!

Standing on the ruins of Trier, Quentin angrily preached his ideas of venting anger to the soldiers, and his cry attracted hundreds of responses. The suffering people howled heartbreakingly.

Passing the Trier pontoon bridge, the army took a shortcut along the mountain road and rushed to Koblenz as quickly as possible.

Their anger and eagerness to achieve success suppressed their physical fatigue, and they moved forward as quickly as possible on their feet.

Even so, Quentin was neither deaf nor blind, and he learned some legends about the north. It was said that the Normans were not only a group of despicable pirates, but also good at land warfare. A group of weaklings who were beaten by Charlemagne in legend, are now strong? probably. There were colleagues stationed in Coblenz and even a stone fortress. How come it was quickly captured by the Normans?

Could it be explained simply by the fact that there are too few local troops? Based on Quentin's knowledge, this is probably the whole reason.

The road was once again close to the Moselle River, which was very close to Coblenz. After completing the final rest, the entire army began the final sprint.

Flag Captain Quentin kept wandering around the bonfire at night, constantly emphasizing discipline: "Polish your swords! Pack your shoes! We are about to enter our destination. We will first surround the first village, judge the local nobles, and uncover All villagers who have cooperated with the Normans will be hanged on the spot! However, you are not allowed to attack local women or rob wantonly! Violators will be beaten with twenty military sticks!"

The Frankish regular army had basic military discipline. In principle, it was a serious crime to attack civilians and priests!

Unless those people are evil people who have betrayed morality.

Quentin was ordered to cleanse all Norman forces in Coblenz and cleanse all traitors. The soldiers recognized their mission this time, and the entire army began a well-trained advance the next day.

Then, the first village was suddenly surrounded by a large army.

Upon seeing this, the village knights, riding thin horses and accompanied by their slightly depressed retinues, cautiously greeted the Frankish army flying cross flags and lion flags. They are definitely not Ludwig's army. The only ones that can come from the upper reaches of the Moselle River are the armies of the Middle Kingdom.

Unable to greet the knight, the heavy cavalry surrounded him and immediately disarmed them.

"Why?! What are you doing?!" The knight's neck was also pressed, his whole body was pressed to the ground, and his face was pressed hard into the mud crushed by the horse's hoofs.

Quentin took off his helmet, rode proudly on his horse, and stared straight down with contemptuous eyes: "I don't need to know who you are, I only know that you are a traitor. You were originally the subjects of King Lothair, and now you are betraying Kill the king! You deserve to die!"

"Why? Allow me to explain? I have never..."

"Come here! This person actually dares to quibble! Beat me!"

After a violent beating, the village knight lost his intuition. When he regained consciousness, he found that a rope had been tied around his neck.

He opened his eyes hard and suddenly found that his whole family had been arrested. Several sons, attendants at home, and even the stable boy responsible for taking care of the horses would also be sentenced to death.

Everyone's mouths were stuffed with cloth balls, and their hands and feet were tied tightly.

The whole village, old and young, was driven to one place by this group of warriors. The sun was setting in the west now, and the afterglow of the setting sun made the warriors wearing chain mail shine brightly. What they gave to everyone was not the slightest glory, but the fear that invaded the bone marrow.

Without any excuse, the whole family of the village knight was arrested, the men were hanged, and the women were imprisoned. In principle, they were sent to a female convent in the south to spend the rest of their lives.

Although Quentin, the flag captain, is a knight, he is really extraordinary. He has more than 800 combat troops and is directly responsible to King Lothair. Now he is also implementing the king's orders.

He came prepared and executed the prisoners not indiscriminately.

He took out a parchment scroll, and Lothair's imperial edict was written on it.

He read in public that the so-called army was ordered to execute all the nobles of Coblenz who betrayed the king and joined the Normans. The execution had nothing to do with the civilians, but all those who had cooperated with the Normans would also be punished.

The death sentence had been pronounced, the ropes were pulled up, and all the prisoners were hung on the trees, struggling desperately and gradually losing their breath.

Quentin squinted his eyes and quietly watched the deaths of those people, and then stared at the trembling villagers who were hugging each other with devilish eyes.

"Say! Who else has worked for the Normans?!"

No one answered for a while.

He asked three times in a row, but all the people responded to was trembling.

"It seems you won't tell me!"

If the Normans were like demons when they were killing and robbing, the current Quentin Westerlad is also half as good.

He ordered his subordinates to dig out all the honest male farmers, and then issued a "11-day killing order."

For a moment, the women cried and the men howled, and the unlucky ones who were selected were frightened and fainted on the spot. Even so, they were still twisted, put on ropes, and hanged alive on the tree.

Although the priest in the village denounced this atrocity like the apostle of Satan, what he got in return was the indifference of Quentin and his gang.

He would never attack a priest, but he did threaten him.

Frightened for a moment, the priest shut up. Quentin gave the priest a task to solve the aftermath of the punishment.

The army would not stay in the first village for long. The next day, this killing force continued to focus on the second village after looting the property and food of the knights in the slain village.

It's the same killing, but this time because the village is close to the river, those with quick legs feel in danger, so they don't care about taking the soft goods in their homes, and run away with their wives and children, sitting down the river in a small boat...

When the first wave of refugees appeared, the third village that heard the news immediately began to flee. The refugees claimed that the knights in their villages had been arrested and hanged. The troops who claimed to be loyal to King Lothair claimed that all the killings were under orders, and that all the nobles would be killed just for betraying Lothair.

Facing a powerful enemy, the village knights felt that they had no ability to resist at all. The only thing they could rely on now was the Norman army.

The top priority is to escape!

No, the most real news of the killings came to the village of Nassau with the extremely fast rowing dragon-headed warships of the Normans. This was the command of Eric who was stationed in the Coblenz Fortress with witnesses and trembling soldiers. The village knight came in person, and the information given by multiple witnesses living in different places was very different. It was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue.

How many enemies are there? Maybe another thousand people. What is the enemy's purpose? It just seems like killing people everywhere.

The Frank army suddenly arrived without warning, and Black Fox was annoyed by his carelessness. But things have already happened. The purpose of the crusade is to recapture Coblenz. How can they succeed in this kind of thing? !

Of course, Black Fox does not feel that the local civilians must be saved. The key lies in the strategic location of Koblenz. Ross's strategic fulcrum in the middle and upper reaches of the Rhine River is in the Lahn Valley of Nassau, and Koblenz is the gateway. Lose it and Rose's layout is broken.

What can he do? !

Black Fox mobilized decisively. He was young and energetic and wanted to establish a career on his own. However, out of self-confidence, he was unwilling to ask for support from his friends who came to the mouth of the Inn River.

Just relying on the northern heroes, Utrecht immigrants and local villagers on hand, it is possible to piece together an army of 700 to 900 people.

The best role of those so-called soldiers who only hold simple weapons and do not wear armor is to wave the flag and shout. After a quick inventory of his troops, Black Fox estimated that he could mobilize up to five hundred reliable soldiers.

that's enough.

However, it may not be necessary to rely solely on these people and the huge army that suddenly comes to fight to the end.

At this moment, the cunning nature of a businessman made his fat head work rapidly.

"Of course we can't lose Coblenz, and I'm not at the point where I have to fight them to the last drop of blood."

It was at this critical moment that Father Conrad could not ignore the armed action in this settlement. He walked into the baron's mansion, where he faced an unexpected situation. Black Fox, Robert and the two newly loyal knights, the four of them... Faced with emergencies, there is no end to talking.

When Father Conrad came, everyone was silent.

"I beg you!" The priest said with a tearful voice, and ended up bursting into tears: "Since those armies are demons! I beg you to save the people first! Let them have no one to kill! Go save the innocent lambs! Use your ships to They were transported to the other side of the river, and you, too, are Christians, and your righteousness will be praised forever.”

When the priest said this, Black Fox remembered that there was indeed a sterling silver cross hanging on his chest.

At first, Black Fox was hesitant about evacuating the people in the Koblenz Riverside area. He can save it. Although there are not many ships at hand, their carrying capacity is very strong. In addition, those riverside residents have many small boats, which can also help transport people.

Black Fox can hesitate, his fiancée Sophia has been persuaded by Conrad. The education this little girl received made her realize that she should save people from disaster. After all, she was also the ruler of Coblenz. She ruled not only the land, but also the residents above.

Now faced with his wife's determination, the hesitant Black Fox no longer hesitated.

At this moment, Robert, who was waiting for the ship, raised a new possibility: "Why risk your life now? It's not like your brothers won't come. I'm afraid they are already on the way at this moment. I don't have many people now, but I can help you. I also I can’t stand those guys killing indiscriminately in Lothair’s name, which is why I have never been loyal to Lothair.”

Black Fox then thought that as long as the war was delayed a little, he could wait for his second brother Blue Fox's ship. By then, the Robert family will have to leave by boat.

"Then let's not fight for now. Let's stall for time! Evacuate as many people as possible first! Fight with them for time! Gather all the ships and rush to make rafts. We won't stop at night! Evacuate all the villagers under the Coblenz Fortress!"