Rise of Rurik

Frank's civil war seemed to have nothing to do with the city of Aachen. No matter how the nobles fought, the lives of the people in the city remained the same.

This sacred city located in a dense forest still enjoys her peace and tranquility. She was made great by Charlemagne, and Charlemagne was eventually buried here.

The former Roman Baths were significantly renovated, and a magnificent palace was built on its foundation.

This is the palace of Aachen, Charlemagne's favorite residence. Suffering from severe gout in his later years, he loved bathing, and it seemed that only the hot springs in Aachen could relieve his pain.

His era is over, and his descendants inherit this hot spring palace.

He hopes to use a set of aristocratic systems to regulate all nobles, so that the aristocratic fighting that happened to him will end forever. Perhaps enfeoffing the great nobles is the best way to resolve conflicts. As long as the sons are distributed to various places, they can enjoy eternal peace? Maybe it is.

This great emperor died, and his heavy coffin was placed in the Aachen Cathedral next to the palace, in the Paladin Hall!

At that time, the Pope of Rome consecrated him here, and he eventually became the glorious "Roman Emperor". Now, he lies here quietly enjoying eternal glory.

However, this European emperor never dreamed that although his sons did not start a civil war, the most terrifying civil war would happen to his grandson.

He also never imagined that the Saxons, who had been crushed by his own iron hoofs, would rebel, and that the Danes, who were forced to surrender by force, would actually dare to attack the "new city" he created less than thirty years after his death. Rome” Aachen!

This time, Bishop Heinbach of Aachen, as a court minister of Lothair, his biggest job was to keep vigil for Charlemagne.

Lothair owns the ownership of his grandfather's palace and is even more obliged to guard his grandfather's tomb.

However, Aachen is not a comprehensive big city. It has the name of "New Rome" but does not have the urban atmosphere of Rome at all.

She is a city of faith. Priests live a peaceful life in this city, and almost all residents inside and outside the city serve the priests.

The thick Roman-style city walls were further reinforced, and the five hundred palace guards in the city were the unshakable defenders of the city.

The task of these soldiers is to guard palaces and cathedrals. They are richly dressed and well-equipped. All soldiers are only loyal to the king himself.

Although they belong to a standing army, these warriors will not participate in any field battles. They even have only a small number of horses and usually appear as infantry.

For the real standing army, no one thinks that these "praetorian guards" are real soldiers, they are more like a guard of honor. Even Lothair himself does not think that this kind of army has strong combat effectiveness. As long as they show the magnificence and glory of the royal family in various activities, they have fulfilled their duties perfectly.

In addition to these ceremonial duties, their second duty is to maintain law and order in the city of Aachen.

This is New Rome. Those who can live in the city are either wealthy people or a large number of skilled craftsmen. The existence of criminals is only a theoretical existence.

The Guards put on gorgeous costumes as usual and patrolled the streets of the city every day. On festivals, whether the king was in the city or not, they participated in a series of festival activities arranged by the archbishop.

Time in the city seems to have stopped, and every day's life is exactly the same as the previous day. Just like Charlemagne resting in the Palatine Hall, Aachen has gained eternity.

However, several carriages roared along the Aachen Avenue towards the city.

The guardsmen guarding the gate have never seen such a guy rush into the city gate since they took office.

They hurriedly raised the drawbridge slightly to stop the carriage from falling into the water-filled ditch surrounding the city.

The charioteer's movements were too harsh, and the horse, which was whipped hard by the whip, came to a sudden stop, and the tight rein caused the horse to faint.

The already injured Liangyian Village Mine Manager was thrown out directly.

He gritted his teeth and endured the severe pain and got up. At this moment, the vigilant city gate guards were already yelling maliciously.

Just listen to the manager wailing in pain: "There is an enemy attack! Let us enter the city quickly, I want to see your captain!"

However, how could the distinguished captain of the Imperial Guard be visible to a group of people who intended to break into the city?

However, the incident at the city gate quickly reached the captain's ears.

Thinking that the holy city is usually peaceful, but suddenly there are armored soldiers riding carriages breaking into the city. If something goes wrong, something serious will happen.

With a group of soldiers, Sebastian, the captain of the Guards, personally appeared at the south gate of the city where the trouble had occurred, which was also the end of the Aachen Avenue.

After a brief interrogation, and after confirming the identity of the other party, Sebaste ordered the door to be lowered with a suspicious attitude.

A strange army attacks Bright Lead Village's mine? Those soldiers were wearing white robes on a large scale, and there were obvious blue lines on the robes? Those soldiers killed everyone on sight, made extensive use of huge bucklers, and were extremely good at archery?

Speaking of missing arrows, the mine manager, who was injured by an arrow, turned in the arrow that stabbed him.

After all, Sebaste, an honor guard-style flag captain, is also a warrior at heart. Many people think that their brothers are just showing off, but he doesn't think so because of his arrogance.

He observed the arrow. The arrow cluster was like an iron needle but extremely hard. The brown arrow feathers felt like they were from poultry. The iron arrow clusters of the Frankish army were all broad-bladed and barbed, and the needle-shaped arrows were not equipped.

What army attacked the bright lead villages and towns? Could it be that he is from Flanders?

But those armies had a lot of round shields, which was not the case with the Flanders.

The so-called time difference exists because when the Ross army was only about fifteen kilometers away from Aachen, the ordinary people who fled from Maastricht and Liège thought that they would be safe after crossing the river and entering the forest area. The large and small Frankish villages in the forest can provide these refugees with a certain level of living care, but once they start to settle down, their eager escape comes to an abrupt end. They become extremely lazy, causing disasters that should have been reported to Aachen. It was impossible to go faster than the Russians.

At this time, the Bishop of Liège, who wanted to turn the tide, was still running wildly. He didn't think those Normans would be extremely fast at all. Besides, based on his knowledge of Norman pirates, those guys didn't have the guts to attack Aachen. He was afraid that these pirates would still be entrenched in the Meuse River to digest the results of the war. .

The city of Aachen is like a fat sheep lying down, its soft belly facing the butcher's knife.

On the other hand, the advancing Blue Fox felt that they had wasted too much time and would encounter many obstacles if they continued to attack Aachen along the main road.

The bright lead villages and towns in the intelligence were easily crushed, the coalition forces looted certain good things, and most importantly, the army correctly discovered the Geul River.

Just as the intelligence said, based on observing the flow of the river, Blue Fox believed that it would indeed flow into the Maas River. Looking at the width and depth of the river, theoretically the army could use this river for navigation, but the problem is that it is too narrow and can at most accommodate a long boat.

Geul easily provided sufficient supplies of fresh water for the Ross coalition. The soldiers replenished their drinking water and used the resources at their fingertips to eat another hot meal overnight. The cooking utensils used to provide food for the slaves in the mines were used by the Ross army on the spot, and the local small grain depots were looted. It can be said that the coalition forces had sufficient physical strength reserved for the final battle the next day.

and a crucial siege vehicle.

The rescued old Dane Eric did not have a domineering nickname, because he had no time to take care of it, so the length of his white beard was exaggerated enough.

The shackles and handcuffs were lifted, and the old man put on a pair of leather boots and the captured clothes. He was in pretty good health, so he tied his beard with a rope and put on an iron helmet. He was given a spare round shield and a Nordic hook ax, as if the Danish pirate of thirty years had been resurrected.

At this moment, "Whitebeard" Eric got a new life, and he was loyal to the "Boneless One" Yin Var, who had a weak leg, even though this kid was only twelve years old.

The more useful a person is, the more courtesy he must be given. Blue Fox doesn't care about Eric's identity at all. This person has provided some information that no one could have imagined before the war. His value is no less than a pound of gold!

Because Blue Fox has never heard that Aachen has a circular moat, and because the moat draws water from natural rivers, it even has to receive wastewater from hot springs in the city, so that the water in the moat is completely running water, and some of it is The water will eventually flow into the Geul River. It was because of this that Eric went to Aachen as a slave and discovered the characteristics of this city.

This brought major obstacles to the Ross Army's projects, but attacking urban armies with trenches was not unheard of.

Having had successful experience, Blue Fox knows how to break the situation.

"If I attack hard, will the tragic battle of Aleb Fortress be repeated? If the bullets of the torsion slingshot directly break the iron chains, the suspension bridge will fall down. Wait, if those chains are very thick, the cast iron bullets will probably hit If I don’t wear them, I can either cut down some pine trees and build a bridge directly over the trench, and let the soldiers run over and smash the suspension bridge with a big axe.”

After some thinking, Lan Hu still felt that the bridge plan was more reliable.

It was a brand new day, and the thick morning fog from the lowlands filled the entire world. The soldiers who were camping found that their clothes had become wet again.

The trumpets and drums sounded loudly, and the sleeping people woke up one after another.

At this moment, the people who woke up early were already cooking a large amount of wheat with the captured cooking utensils and their own iron pots. The soldiers brought their own wooden bowls and dug out a large bowl at their respective camps, and then sprinkled some dried salted fish crumbs to cool down a little. Now you can have a great meal.

This was the last meal before the war. No, Blue Fox himself began to lead the team to walk around the elite camp of Ross, shouting as he walked: "Eat quickly! After the meal, gather and set off! We will be in Aachen tonight Spend the night here.”

The last words were very powerful, and the morale of the soldiers was greatly boosted.

Soon the army began to assemble, and the two flag teams of the Ross Army were the first to finish their meals. The soldiers devoured their bowls, licked them clean, threw them into their backpacks, and started to line up.

It was already the final march, and the main force of the Ross Army, which quickly formed its team, took the lead. This forced the rear troops, especially the large number of Götaland and Danish warriors, to finish their meal in a hurry, without even bothering to organize the team, and followed the main force of the Russian army in a chaotic manner, for fear that they would be delayed in the action of grabbing gold. Take one step slower.

They walked about nine Roman miles. This was important information from Eric "Whitebeard". Blue Fox walked on a very flat road. According to his own experience, it was obvious that the coalition forces could reach Aachen before noon.

It is said that the city is large but lacks an outer city. There are many villages outside the city and they are mostly scattered in the forest. However, there are no military camp facilities near the city.

It was obviously the capital of New Rome, which the Franks claimed to be, but there wasn't a large standing army stationed there? This is something that Blue Fox feels is extremely ridiculous.

The capital of the Kingdom of Ross is New Rossburg. The main force of the Kingdom's naval fleet is stationed in the capital, and a large number of standing troops and citizen soldiers are stationed. Especially its naval power, the Kingdom of Rus is proud of this. The new and most powerful battleship Sea Monarch defends the capital.

The king should have such an attitude towards the capital. Isn't it natural to defend the capital with strong military strength? The Franks will pay the price for their stupidity or arrogance.

Therefore, in the final battle, the Ross coalition seemed to have entered a no-man's land.

There was no enemy obstruction at all. There were indeed villages near the Aachen Avenue, but those villages were relatively far away from the road. You can plunder them but there is no need. As they get closer to the end of the heartbeat, the soldiers prepare to don their armor.

Until, the army saw the obvious city wall in the distance.

Suddenly the morale of the army was boosted, and the excited soldiers shouted collectively. Now it was not Blue Fox himself who gave the order. The soldiers grabbed the armors placed on the carts and put them on as quickly as possible while helping each other.

The Blue Fox was very pleased with their decisiveness, and hurriedly called the veteran Grund and the young Askard.

"The main attack belongs to us Russians! Grund! Your heavily armored army is responsible for the attack. They carry the wood to build a wooden bridge and rush up to destroy the suspension bridge. Askard! Your people are waiting to attack with Grund. You All the crossbowmen in hand help suppress the enemy!"

Both of them clapped their chests and said yes, with determined eyes saying they would win again.

After a moment, Blue Fox called Kelha over again: "Bring your Finnish archers and those who transport the torsion slingshots. Your mission is to cover the siege and suppress the enemy's counterattack on the city wall."

For the first time, Kelha was assigned a task like a veteran warrior. He resolutely said yes. The young man had the opportunity to fight in person for the first time in his life. He was no longer a follower of a big shot, but took over his father Yevlo's position in the traditional Russian military formation.

At this moment, the blue fox also realized that he was like Rurik himself.

All the powers for this military operation were given by Rurik himself. "If I don't do well, if I fail, maybe I will be deprived of all power and even die to apologize. If I win a big victory, it will be an even greater glory."

After calming down, he put on his helmet and flicked the gorgeous dyed wild goose feathers on the top of the helmet.

He decided to personally supervise the battle and attacked together with the heavily armored berserkers of the First Standard Corps of the Standing Army.

"Brothers! Let's go!"

He took the lead and walked quickly, and the whole army simply abandoned all the temporarily useless handcarts on the road, and could only push the special engineering truck forward with all its strength.

At the same time, Aachen, which had spent the whole night completely skeptical about the attack on the bright lead villages and towns, on this perhaps ordinary morning, the soldiers standing on the city wall on daily patrol saw a large number of people suddenly appearing on the road from a distance. And that strange flag flying.

It can be said that the account of the village mine superintendent who reported the attack was entirely doubted by the Bishop of Aachen.

After all, this steward is essentially a slave overseer. According to faith, devout bishops are full of deep contempt for such people. Even if they are a group of criminals, why use extreme methods to deal with them? In the opinion of the bishop, there is no need to shackle the miners, as long as they are reformed, these guilty miners can work with peace of mind to atone for their sins.

The bishop believed that this man was lying, and he was afraid that the cruel treatment in daily life had led to the death of many slave workers, so he fabricated a so-called attack incident to explain that the planned production of lead ingots could not be completed.

Yes, Aachen has been peaceful for so many years. Even if there was a civil war among the nobles, Aachen was not affected at all.

Sebaste, the captain of the Royal Guards, was more willing to believe what the bishop said. After all, he was the king's adviser, and his status was still low-key. If he had his own opinions and mobilized the army to do something without authorization, he would be blamed by the king for going alone in the future. Maybe I will be punished as a slave to mine ore.

So in the past night, nothing happened in Aachen.

Until the morning of a new day, a strange armed group appears.

The uninformed guards thought that the army of a certain noble noble was passing through. Anyway, it was normal for armies to use the crossing in recent years. In the spring, a large number of cavalry passed through.

The guards were not alert, but the troops were approaching quickly, which made people instinctively nervous.

Sebaste was woken up from his sleep, and his sudden anger to get up was extinguished by his subordinate's report.

"Is this true? A strange army appears?! Is what that guy said true?!"

His subordinates clapped their chests in approval. Realizing that something serious had happened, he hurriedly changed his clothes.

Just as he had just put on his armor, put on his armed belt and carried his broad-bladed sword out of his dormitory, he heard unusual noises. It was the sound of shouts, trumpets, and drums.

"It's the south gate! What's going on at the south gate?!"

"Maybe? Siege?!" The guard was already trembling when he said this.

Indeed, the blue fox who rushed to the city of Aachen decisively led his troops to attack the city.

The city of Aachen is roughly circular, with a diameter of nearly one Roman mile, or about 1,500 meters. Such a scale is neither too large nor too small in Europe at this time and space.

There are usually more than 3,000 residents in the city. In addition to the garrison and priests, they are a group of personnel serving the first two. There are very few wealthy nobles living in the city. Aachen has no business atmosphere, the people are focused on their own work, and the craftsmen in the city will not leave the city casually if they have nothing to do. Even the first group of people who warned the city of Aachen do not exist at least today.

The guards at the city gates never imagined that Norman pirates would attack the city, and they had never even seen the Normans.

For Blue Fox, maybe he can also use some words to directly coax the gate guards into saying "we are all Frankish troops".

He didn't, and he thought from the beginning that the other party recognized the Norman army. He was just pleasantly surprised that this city must have a lot of wealth despite its size, and he was also shocked that the defenders were better than nothing.

The heavy infantry of the Russian Army immediately launched an attack. The crossbowmen first accurately hit the door guards and occupied the drawbridge before the other party could react.

"It went so smoothly. If I had known, why would I bother building a wooden bridge?" Blue Fox secretly rejoiced. He himself had already passed the suspension bridge with the heavy infantry.

Their speed was so fast that when the gate guards who survived tried to close the heavy wooden door, they were slammed into the door by as many as fifty heavy infantry who were the first to cross the suspension bridge, while hundreds of troops were still swarming after them. Cross the bridge.

On one side, there were hundreds of strong Nordic men in heavy armor shouting slogans and pushing open the door. On the other side, there were only a dozen defenders blocking the door.

Soon, the last effort of the defenders failed. Grund's heavy infantry had already rushed through the south gate of Aachen. The movement was faster than anyone imagined, and it was as simple as swallowing a herring in one bite.

Blue Fox could not imagine how quickly the city was destroyed. He even had a vague feeling that maybe this was not the capital of the Franks.

But following the army into the city, he easily saw the spire of the cathedral and a large group of buildings in the city. There are no such luxurious buildings in ordinary cities! This is correct from Aachen.