Rise of Rurik

The news of the attack on Aachen spurred the troops to rush to Metz, a transportation hub, but Adalbert, Count of Metz, had already set off for the eastern battlefield.

As King Ludwig learned, the entire Earldom of Metz had almost reached the mobilization limit by the standards of this era.

Various knights and baronies took action. These lower-level nobles not only brought their own retinues, but also mobilized a group of elites from various villages.

Such a large-scale recruitment was clearly an overdraft of local people's power. After all, the mobilization in 842 was already Metz's second mobilization during the Civil War. Why mobilize? Those old people who are still alive can still remember the past of the crusade against the Avars. At that time, all villages mobilized their best men to participate in the war, and the young people who had not yet participated in the war were also prepared for losses.

But what is the purpose of today’s mobilization? civil war.

In the two battles of Kaiserslautern in 841, the Metz army suffered considerable losses.

But Lothair, the only "Roman Emperor", made a strong promise to Metz. The count himself was extremely excited. For the sake of more wealth and benefits, the lower-level nobles were also excited.

To what extent did Metz's mobilization reach?

The earl used force to restore the conscription system of Charlemagne's period, and the strong men from each village brought their own ancestral weapons to join the army.

If the attack is to be injected into a foreign place like the Avars, the Franks of Metz still have sufficient fighting will, but the enemy is also a member of their own tribe! What do disputes between nobles have to do with common people? The common people will eventually pay the price of blood for the struggle between the nobles.

Without the strongest labor force, this autumn's wheat harvest can only be carried out by the old and the weak. To make matters worse, the assembled army needed more food, so the people were ordered to pay the tithe of 843.

Of course, Adalbert knew that he was overstretching his strength, and in his opinion, it was all worth it.

"When our army helps the king win the war, the whole of Sal and the whole of Laiyinlan will be mine. Even the knights can get more territory. Those are the first-class farming areas. All of you will be richer. .”

His speech aroused the excitement of all the nobles, and the nobles of the entire Earl of Metz were fighting for the rich land they were about to get.

However, the public's awareness of opposition to the war was not strong, and the large number of peasant soldiers who were forcibly recruited were equally excited.

Although they are forced to join the army, as long as they win the war, ordinary people can enjoy the war dividends, which is a huge temptation for people who lack promotion channels.

It is said that if you kill a lot of people on the battlefield and are appreciated by your lord, and you can directly become a retinue soldier by virtue of your killing ability, you can directly leave the identity of a peasant. No matter how bad you are, you can still get property, even a pair of intact shoes, by pulling off the clothes of a dead person on a chaotic battlefield.

Besides, the civil war was a major regional reshuffle. The old nobility and old manors were eradicated, and the land would be reaffirmed for the nobility.

These new lands are in urgent need of cultivation. The agricultural immigrants from Metz are just the right ones to fill in the Lainland area where people's livelihood has been devastated by the war. Even if they cannot get real wealth and a jump in social class, it is good to get the right to cultivate the new land.

It can be said that the Metz Army is united from top to bottom, but they are betting on their own destiny from top to bottom, making them unable to accept failure, or in other words, once they fail, it will be a huge collapse.

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Adalbert had staked his fortune, his name and his family's future, and so had the lower nobles. But they were not the only ones who did this. Lothair, who was temporarily living in Strasbourg, and the main members of the family and several important courtiers of the late king without military power, also put everything on the line.

In Strasbourg, the most important former minister beside Lothair was Adalhart, the great steward in the late Charlemagne era.

The family of this great steward was an important noble in the court during the Merovingian dynasty, but in the new era, no member of the family became a local noble, but one person became Charlemagne's valued steward.

Adahat was given to Louis the Pious as a special political legacy, and then given to Lothair as his most important staff member.

Who is the leader of the "Imperial Faction" is this decayed veteran. His loyalty to royal orthodoxy was evident from God. Lothair valued him and was willing to follow the advice of this veteran minister on numerous matters.

Then the dispute between the royal family members eventually turned into a large-scale sword fight, and this veteran was responsible. But Lothair himself did not complain. This was his own choice. Only by eliminating his two brothers through war could Frank avoid the sad fate of division.

In fact, this old minister could see clearly that once Frank could not even guarantee apparent unity, the empire's surrounding factions would be ready to take action, and the empire might not be able to muster all its strength to resist outsiders, and even... it would be difficult to suppress the rebellion within the empire.

Lothair himself was supervising the battle on the front line, and the battle between him and his brother Ludwig for the vast land of Inland was evolving into a strategic decisive battle. But he never imagined that the scale of this civil war in the kingdom would evolve into a war across the country, and the intensity of the war would evolve into the chaos of the last years of Western Rome.

Total unrest is happening in Frank! The situation that Adahat didn't want to see still evolved like fate.

Just like the disaster when Western Rome fell, the "New Rome" Aachen created by Frank was just like the city of Rome that was sacked.

Count Jülich's messenger, who first conveyed the crisis, reported that "Normans attacked Maastricht".

Norman? They're just a bunch of bandits.

The messenger arrived at the empty-guarded city of Metz, and then Metz's messenger rushed towards Strasbourg.

Lothair had received the news a long time ago. He was very surprised at first. However, the veteran Adahat justified it with his own knowledge: "The Norman pirates were just sneaking around. They had no way to attack the Holy City. As for the news that the pirates had succeeded, it was all about profit." Count Xi is exaggerating. Besides, General Tristan’s heavy cavalry can defeat this group of bandits.”

Adahat is currently very optimistic. Although the defense in the area where Aachen is located has become weak, it is also relatively weak.

Is there any villain in this world who can withstand the impact of Frank's heavy cavalry? As soon as the Normans left their ships, they were meat under the horseshoe!

Indeed, Lothair sent a heavy force to guard Brussels after all, and there was also a tactical reserve at Count Jülichgau, who was closest to Aachen. It was the rebellious Flanders that he had to watch out for, and the Normans were no trouble to consider.

He believed what the old minister said, but for himself, he could not believe that the Normans could still plunder the Meuse River.

Nothing is more important than the current war, and Lothair certainly knows that the so-called Normans are generally those Danes. A group of northern guys who were easily defeated by Grandfather Emperor, no matter how rampant they were, they would only harass the northern region.

The main reason why he ignored the Normans so much was that there was no conclusive news that they had made large-scale raids on his territory.

(Since the Rus' army was operating either under the banner of Saxony or Nassau, concealing their identity did confuse Lothair.)

He subconsciously concluded that attacks such as Maastricht were at most caused by Norman stragglers. Maybe there was also a sneak attack by a Flemish man called Jo Zhuang by the Normans.

He was willing to believe the opinions of important ministers. Putting aside the bad news about the West for the time being, there was a big worrying problem ahead - the collapse of the Sarabrücken Bridge and the burning of local towns. Who did it? According to the information provided by the existing escapees, it was a group of troops dressed a little strangely. The exact identity is unknown. The escapees remembered the ships and large shields. It seemed that they were the legendary Normans, but they found a large number of "crosses" mark".

Such intelligence seemed to indicate that the attackers were Danish mercenaries loyal to Ludwig. Because that guy not only has Danish mercenaries, but also Slavic mercenaries (referring to Sorbians).

This incident directly resulted in the failure of the last and strongest reinforcements from the princes personally led by Count Metz, as well as a large amount of supplies, to be transported to Kaiserslautern on time and in quantity.

The garrison in Kaiserslautern has now expanded to 6,000 people! Due to war issues, local spring plowing was not carried out at all this year. The nearby villages were completely in ruins, with wild dogs roaming freely in the villages and weeds growing wildly in the farmland.

To maintain a large number of troops stationed, we must rely on the stable transportation of grain and fodder.

Regarding the deliberate destruction of the Sarabrücken Bridge, the principle is that whoever benefits the most is the murderer. Do you still want to think about it? The murderer was Ludwig, who was stationed in Mainz, his own brother, and the one who must be killed.

Metz's army could not just stare at the Saar River and the burned towns when it encountered delays. Count Adalbert also had to ensure that all his troops had sufficient combat effectiveness when launching an attack after the autumn harvest.

The Metz Army received Lothair's emergency authorization, and Adalbert took his troops and horses to continue to the upper reaches of the Saar River, planning to use local small towns from Schwabrücken (Twin Bridge Town) in the Brisgau area. Bridges were built across rivers to support the battlefield.

He was not entirely like this. A part of the army stayed behind and tried to find a way to use local materials at the broken bridge. They used the deliberately damaged bridge sections to lay logs and forcibly built a bridge that could barely be walked on. This took a lot of time, Metz. The main force of the army simply cannot afford to wait.

Too much time was spent on the Metz army. When Adalbert was furious and hurried on, the second wave of messengers also hurriedly crossed the Luxembourg Fortress and passed the city of Metz, and then went straight to St. Petersburg along the Roman Avenue. Trasbourg.

The news was so new that the local messenger in Metz did not have the guts to tell the king the news.

In the end, it was Count Jülichgau's envoy who had originally delivered the news, who risked being told the terrible news to Lothair himself.

The letter was delivered to the Royal Palace in Strasbourg, now the first Frankish capital.

This city not only gathered Lothair's army, but also most of the important officials of the previous dynasty gathered here.

Holding the autographed letters from Count Jülichgau and the Bishop of Liège, Lothair completely denied all the information in the letter based on instinct, frowned and widened his eyes. After being stunned for a while, he smiled bitterly in front of everyone, and then made a big gaffe. laugh.

The king's gaffe aroused doubts among his loyal ministers. He also realized the gaffe and realized that the strange things were not groundless.

There is absolutely no need to discuss it with important ministers, and this matter must not be known to more people.

Lothair specially summoned Adahat, and it seemed that only the loyal minister could give the most pertinent answers and suggestions.

He personally handed the two parchment documents to the distinguished old man, his expression of surprise did not change, and he muttered: "Absurd, absurd! The noble Hatgar actually deceived me?! My Aachen can still be attacked by the Normans Destruction? What do you think? I can’t believe it.”

The well-informed Adahat has served the royal family all his life. Among the many royal advisers, he has a better understanding of the Normans.

Even so, after examining the document in his hand carefully and recalling what he knew about the Normans, it was fair to say that he did not want to believe it.

"How? What do you think?"

"I...I find it very strange. The Bishop of Liege has never lied in his life. He is a very pious person...very pious."

"So?" Lothair frowned, "Do you think it's true? Liege, Maastricht, and my own Aachen were all brutally attacked by the Normans?"

"Maybe it's... true."

"Absurd! Impossible!" This was the answer Lothair didn't want to hear the most. He stamped his feet in anger, and then completely denied it.

As the eldest son of the family, he is also very old. Looking back on his childhood memories, he still remembers many old friends from Charlemagne's time. For example, the Saxon chief Widukind, who was sent to be a monk, and the Danish chief Godfrey, who was respectfully surrendered, were all defeated by his grandfather.

Especially the Danes, do they really want to believe that this group of defeated scum can still succeed in a sneak attack on Aachen?

He continued to repeat his grandfather's great achievements, repeating the myth that Frank was invincible and wiped out the barbarians.

Adahat's ears were filled with calluses after listening to these glorious nonsense. The so-called other consultants did not dare or were unwilling to reprimand Lothair in person, but this old guy who was over seventy years old had no worries.

The old man tightened his old face full of white beard and said seriously: "Your Majesty, don't regard a moment as an eternity. Don't forget that just two years ago your brother Ludwig suffered a huge defeat in the north. Do you think How did he lose?"

"I know. So what? It's just that the Saxons rebelled again. Damn Ludwig is incapable of suppressing those rebellions! He is a waste. Even some traitors cannot be defeated. He brings shame to the royal family! When I defeat him, I will understand Put down the rebellious Saxons."

"You think this is the truth?"

"Is there any other statement?" "No, this is not true." Adahat shook his head, "Could it be that the Saxons can easily win? Your brother's army has been fighting in the east for many years, how can it be easily defeated? The Saxons can't do it Up to this point. You have been deceived by those sycophants who only say good things. I have long told you that you should be wary of the Normans, but you have been wary of your two younger brothers. And... the late king of Lao Hutu."

Lothair narrowed his eyes: "Presumptuous. Old man, you are too old."

"I don't dare." Adahat lowered his white brows and still had a serious old face: "I will always be loyal to Charlemagne. If the Normans really invade Aachen and destroy the Holy Sepulchre, I will be guilty. , I will be buried with him.”

"It's all nonsense." Lothair hesitated, and his words could not improve his sorrow at all. He asked again: "What do you think? Tell me! You are not guilty."

"Russian."

"What?"

Adahat cleared his throat: "Many nobles have misunderstandings about the Normans, and ordinary people know nothing about them. Even you! Charlemagne knows the Normans quite well. Remember! Even the Normans It’s not just the Danes either. There are many more Normans in the north of Denmark.”

He kept talking about Charlemagne, and it seemed that apart from his own grandfather, there was no other Frankish monarch who could compare with him.

Lothair did not try his best to fight with the old man, but what this guy said was not a fallacy. He did know very little about the Normans: "Then what?"

"A Norman force named Rus has risen! They are very aggressive. Together with the rebellious Saxons, they defeated your brother's army. This explains how the Saxons suddenly became strong. After all, they are predatory Normans. Man! At least some Danish nobles have converted to the righteous way, and the Russians are all villains with heretical beliefs. They regard indiscriminate killing and robbery as glory. If they are eyeing our Aachen..."

"You mean, this Russian did it?" Lothair strode towards his important minister.

"I'm not sure, but we can't underestimate the Normans. They have strong navigation capabilities, and their ships can transport many people. Hundreds of villains who take pleasure in killing people can suddenly appear in a small river, just like the earth suddenly opens and a crack breaks out. How can our army defend ourselves against a group of devils and monsters?"

Lothair still didn't want to believe Adahat's speculation, or he didn't dare or couldn't believe it, especially at this critical moment.

However, if one speculates according to this theory, the testimony of the fugitive Bishop Hutto of Trier is not the old man's nonsense.

It was the Normans who had penetrated the Rhine and attacked Trier, not the so-called Nassau troops loyal to Ludwig.

Henry, Baron of Nassau, Lothair knew this man. Since he was not loyal to him, this man was no longer worthy of attention.

Now think about it carefully, can a baron destroy Koblenz, Trier, and Salgau? Based on Adahart's account, it is likely that the local nobles were in cahoots with the Normans.

"It's horrifying to think about it! Could it be that the Normans are already encroaching on my territory, and I don't know anything about it?!" Lothair covered his head and stomped his feet angrily.

Adahat wanted to say that Lothair was "really smart", but he felt very sorry to see his incompetent and furious look. He remained calm and continued to suggest: "The top priority now is not to find out the situation in Aachen. There is intelligence that your brother is preparing to take action! Will our army take action in advance? You have to make a decisive choice. As far as I know, once Avar When people invaded the border and launched plunder, your grandfather gathered 10,000 cavalry in a very short time and won a quick victory through surprise."

"No rush! I will send people to find out the truth about Aachen. As for the attack... I have to wait until the wheat harvest is over. With sufficient food as a guarantee, I will end the civil war this year."

"Okay! Are you sure?! Okay..."

"Do you have any other suggestions? I hope you can say more." Lothair did not want to be corrupted anymore, so he continued to ask perfunctorily.

Looking at the king's face, Adahat wanted to say something. Considering that the king was headstrong and not decisive enough, there was no need for him to say it. During this time of peace, I still thought that the Crown Prince could be the Holy Master, but now it seems I’d better forget it! Perhaps there will be a future for Lothair's sons.

Who knows? Lothair's two sons are quite different in age. Their father is fighting bloody battles with his uncles. Even if his father wins, what will happen in the future? Maybe these brothers can cause a farce of dividing the world.

In fact, in this old man's view, if Ludwig had been the eldest son, not only would the civil war have not broken out, Frank would still be strong.

Lothair's methods are still too weak, and he is sluggish in fighting. He even wants to let a prince like Count Metz take the lead. How can he establish a strong prestige in this way?

Unlike Ludwig, the Duke of Bavaria often fought with the main force of his own soldiers. He may not be as strategic as Charlemagne, but his attitude towards war is comparable to him.

The veteran Adahat is a wise man but not omnipotent. He has the highest vision among the courtiers and nobles. Even so, his vision is still limited. If he had seen a large number of letters from Northern Bishop Eskil and Reims Archbishop Sinquemar, he would have been able to basically get an overview of the expansion of Northern Ross over the years.

He even realized an even more bizarre fact - Ludwig not only made peace with all the Norman forces, but also signed a sacrilegious covenant, and they were already fighting together.

However, how could the letters between priests be seen by the former chief steward of the kingdom?

The church also needs to be dignified, and its internal letters should be hidden carefully, even if it is unlucky like Archbishop Hutto of Trier. This person knew some inside information because he was beaten passively, and the key information was that he did not tell the royal family, nobles and important ministers.

No one knows what happened in the direction of Aachen, and Strasbourg has no time to take care of it at the moment.

Lothair dictated with caution and asked his penman to write the letter all night long.

He showed unparalleled promptness in this regard, so the next day the courier took the king's letter and went straight to Jlichgau, straight to Maastricht...

He ordered Count Jülichgau to guard the safety of Aachen, and also ordered Tristan, the general of the personal soldiers stationed in Brussels, to organize elite troops to return to defend Aachen. The premise is that the letter can be delivered safely and the nobles who receive the order can do the work immediately.

Of course, some messengers had to pass through Aachen and were ordered to prove with a pair of eyes that Aachen was actually safe. If Aachen was really attacked, the messenger must report what he saw and heard without concealment.

The messengers rushed quickly along the road to Metz, and then to the west...

That was the only quick reaction he could make.

but!

Ludwig would not give his elder brother any more time. The army stationed in Mainz began to move south during the busy wheat harvest period. The first target: Kaiserslautern!

Once the battle begins, it will be the "Third Battle of Kaiserslautern", and this time Ludwig will be on the front line in person to take command. He is determined to win!