Rise of Rurik

Late at night, the cool early autumn breeze blows through the stone windows, making the stone chamber high up in the fortress feel chilly.

Liu Doufu's mood was complicated because he made a special judgment on the situation based on the available information. It is completely wrong to say that he has a persecution delusion, because compared to Prince Ludwig, Liudov, or the Count of Westphalia, is now acting like a complete traitor.

As a traitor, his behavior must have been spurned by Ludwig, and because he could not get the support of the "Northern Saint" Eskil, he could only form an alliance with the heretical Normans.

As a traitor and an isolated person, it was inevitable that he would be attacked by the Frankish nobles with concentrated firepower.

So, this time I made a big mistake. However, there is no way out!

The King of Rus and the King of Denmark arrived, and through their faces, Liudov could not tell that the two heroes had any fear or worry.

Aren't they afraid of the huge army of the East Frankish king?

There are wooden tables in the stone room high up, the ventilation stone windows are covered with wooden boards, and a large number of oil lamps are lit in the room. The light in the house is relatively dim, and the flames are beating constantly, just like Liu Doufu's complicated heart.

Seeing that the two heroes were already seated, he didn't say anything, and went straight to the point and stated his worries: "Now everything is clear, it's Ludwig! His army has already marched to Bremen! He is going to kill my whole family! He will definitely kill my whole family!" I also want to kill all the Saxons here! Just like...just like Charlemagne’s killing spree. You two must save me."

"Of course I have to save you. Are you really afraid of those Frank troops?" Rurik didn't panic at all.

"Why are you afraid? If Ludwig comes, he will bring at least 20,000 troops, or even 30,000 troops. He may dispatch at least 5,000 cavalry!"

"Wait?! What did you say?!" Rurik's confident face suddenly became serious.

"I will be attacked by him with all his strength because I betrayed him. He will bring 30,000 people, or even 40,000, or 50,000 people. In this way, the Saxon nobles who have sworn to surrender to me will rebel, and Ludwig will Hope will gather a larger army. I am in danger!"

Liudov's beard couldn't hide the twitching on his entire face. He was really trembling.

Rurik found it strange that this guy was fighting to the end when he was defending Aleb Fortress. He had never been so scared at that time. Could it be that Ludwig is even more terrifying?

Ragna felt this was too ridiculous and retorted with disdain: "Thirty thousand, forty thousand, and fifty thousand. How many people were there in the end? One hundred thousand? Liudov, are you a good liar? Now? No one has detected the strength of the Frank army, why are you so sure? Did you see it or hear it? Or is it your imagination."

Ragnar's questioning also made Rurik wake up: "Yes. How do you judge their military strength?"

Liu Doufu was indeed just imagining it, and he had an explanation for his judgment. "Ludwig's army has been in the south, and he has at least 30,000 troops on hand. Now that it is autumn, King Lothair's army will not launch an attack in the winter, and Ludwig can have a truce in the south, freeing up his hands. Come to the north and fight me."

"Thirty thousand troops?" Rurik asked again.

"Exactly."

"What did you just say? There are still five thousand cavalry?"

"Yes. At least Regensburg has five thousand elite cavalry, and Ludwig has been taking them to battle. The current situation is that this cavalry has arrived in Bremen, and they will cross the river to attack us."

Subjectively, Rurik felt that these descriptions were conjectures.

When Blue Fox returned to Ross, he wrote a "Travel Notes" about his experiences, which greatly enriched Rurik's understanding of the current situation in Frankfurt, especially East Francia.

Rurik was convinced that Ludwig had a strong army, but would he really transfer the main force to the north in a short time? Not to mention whether he can provide an army of more than 30,000 people, but will the food and grass for these soldiers be enough? You must know that there must be a large number of infantry here. They have to walk from the south to the north on one leg, but marching will consume a lot of food. Unlike the Russian army and the Danish army, which relied on sea routes and inland rivers to move quickly, and deliberately stored a large amount of food in case of emergencies.

In terms of general rationality, Rurik did not believe that Ludwig would suddenly go north with all his strength.

It is naturally necessary to take precautions in advance.

Seeing Liudov's fear, Rurik simply stopped worrying about the enemy's strength.

"We seem to be immersed in mist. We can only see the scene in front of us. We can only guess what is in the distance." Rurik told a riddle.

"What... do you mean?" Liu Doufu asked.

"We only know now that a strong cavalry has arrived in Bremen. Even if my eldest brother destroys the bridge, it won't take a lot of time for them to rebuild it. We shouldn't pay too much attention to whether Ludwig's main force is coming. How long will it come? If this huge cavalry enters the border of Hamburg and launches a strong attack on us, their cavalry can sweep across our infantry array. Therefore, I deployed the fleet across the Elbe River and guarded the bridge with heavy troops. Could their cavalry Can you still rush over from the river?"

"Of course it's impossible. But... they can attack me in a detour. And go to remote areas to ask the local nobles to be hostile to me."

Rurik shook his head: "If you don't care about commanding nobles who are too far away, don't expect them to send troops to help you. The only one who can help you now is me! King Rurik of Rus! And you want to be the Duke of Saxony safely, the problem is It’s not up to Ludwig, it’s up to me. I decided to help you get rid of your enemies.”

What Liudov wanted was this kind of promise, and he needed Rurik to speak clearly.

But the situation was too complicated. Liu Doufu asked again: "What if they really come with 30,000 people or more? What should you do?"

"Fight! We must fight. At least I will try to kill their lives as much as possible. We must make full use of the Elbe River. The wide waterway is a big obstacle to the enemy." As he said, Rurik scratched his face: "Just like this, your army's Leave the command to me. Let me command your Saxon army, so that our combined forces must total ten thousand people. You have never had experience commanding such a large army before, and I have rich experience. We, the Russian Army and the Danish Army No one knows his strength better than you."

Liudov was still hesitant to hand over command of the army.

Rurik immediately added: "Don't worry, if I invade your country, I will have to face the Frankish Kingdom. This is not my wish. When your crisis is resolved, your army will still be your army. You are now mine A general of the army, you obey my command, and you go and persuade all the Saxons to obey my arrangements, this will ensure your victory."

Liudov had no choice but to agree.

The annexation of the Principality of Saxony was a foolish move for both Ross and Denmark. According to Rurik and Ragnar's plan, first of all, Ross and Denmark were brotherly countries. Although the Principality of Saxony, which borders the Kingdom of Denmark, is not a brotherly country, they at least recognize each other's non-aggression. Saxony is a buffer country that straddles Northern Europe and the Franks. The country must maintain enough independence to ensure that the Frankish countries will not easily go north to attack the Viking world in the future.

For the current situation in Northern Europe and for the huge Kingdom of Rus, a sufficiently independent Principality of Saxony is very important.

It’s a pity that the military strength of this country is really low. The Saxon army that Rurik saw, except for those Saxons from the north of the Schleswig Great Wall, have retained a strong fighting spirit after Vikingization. Liudov Most of the men recruited in Hamburg and surrounding areas are honest farmers. They have a certain degree of ferocity, but unfortunately their physical fitness is too poor.

After all, the good farmland was occupied by the immigrant Franks, and the tamed Saxons even lacked decent farm tools, and even so they had to pay tithe. They can only eat sour rye and oatmeal porridge on weekdays, almost relying on these whole grains to survive. They are generally one head shorter than their Saxon counterparts outside the Great Wall, which is better than their larger population.

Liudov has an astonishing number of farmers under his command. Their relatively short stature is not a problem, but their poor physical fitness is a big problem. Big problems are easy to solve, just eat a lot of fish and oats for a month and add some physical training to get strong.

It's a pity that Liudov didn't have time.

According to statistics, the large number of Saxon peasant soldiers was as large as 4,000. They were all men between the ages of fifteen and thirty.

They lack weapons, and most use sharpened sticks as short spears, wear coarse cloth clothes, and use shields made of wooden boards as their only protection.

Even so, they arrested a large number of Franks and killed many in retaliation. They could kill the unprepared Frankish immigrants. When they heard that they were going to have a decisive battle with the powerful Frankish cavalry, they were all scared.

Now Liudov entrusted military power to Rurik, and this sacred power must be used in a good way.

Many Saxon peasant soldiers were full of fear of the future battle. They did not even think that thousands of Norman warriors were stationed in Hamburg.

It was entirely because of the bad influence of Charlemagne's massacre that the Frank army really killed people indiscriminately! Moreover, the Saxon soldiers who were caught were killed with brutal methods.

Therefore, after Rurik gained power, he arranged for his Rus army to go to the forest to capture the fleeing Saxon warriors.

Nearly a hundred people were arrested overnight.

So on a new day, all the Saxon peasant soldiers were assembled, as well as almost all the Russian and Danish troops.

The strength of the coalition forces has swelled to 11,000 men, but the only ones who can really fight are the Ross-Danish coalition forces of 7,000 of them.

The gathering of such a huge army was deliberate by Rurik.

Look! The Ross army and the Danish army were dressed majesticly, especially the Ross cavalry, which consisted of 300 cavalry, paraded openly in front of the army in full dress.

The Ross Army, in particular, was uniformly dressed and stood in squares on the grass outside the city in a flag formation.

On the other hand, the Saxon Peasant Army was large in number. At first glance, they looked like a group of dark onlookers with blond hair and gray-black cloth robes. They stood in a disorderly manner without the heroic spirit of warriors, and their faces were solemn, because they were all watching a terrible punishment.

This is indeed a terrible punishment!

The newly cut pine wood was pieced together into three rows of wooden frames, with nooses attached to them. This was a simple gallows.

A total of ninety fleeing Saxon warriors who betrayed their oath of allegiance to the duke were captured last night and publicly executed today.

glutinous rice

Liudov, who was riding a horse, took his eldest son Bruno, and followed Rurik, who was riding a horse, to watch the grand scene.

Ninety deserters were pinned down on the grass with their hands tied. The majestic Rus' Guards, wearing bear heads, were ready to carry out the punishment, waiting for Rurik's order.

Liudov now saw the huge gathering of Russian and Danish troops. The majestic scene directly reminded him of Ludwig's army. No! More majestic than Ludwig!

"What a great army! It's so powerful that I immediately gained confidence," he complimented.

Rurik shouted proudly: "Did you know? In Rus, each woman can give birth to eight children, and each child can live to grow up. I have a steady stream of reserve soldiers, and they are loyal to me! Look at you The Ross army in front of me will be several times larger in a few years. Do you still have to worry about Ludwig's army? Forget it. By then, not only will my army be more numerous than his, but I will also be better at fighting than him. Just It’s just that our strength is weak now.”

"That...is such a wonderful future."

Liu Dou took a breath, pointed at the people kneeling on the ground and asked coldly: "Do they really deserve to die?"

"What? Are you dissatisfied with my decision?"

"No. I was supposed to protect them, not kill them."

"kindness?"

"Shouldn't we be merciful? According to our beliefs, we should be merciful to them."

After saying this, Rurik suddenly remembered himself more than ten years ago. But so many years of rule and battle have made him sober in the world.

"You think they are pitiful, but they are deserters. If they escape successfully, other soldiers will see them and run away. At that time, the army in your hands will only have family members and followers! If you want to maintain your status, We must kill these deserters who are causing chaos. Listen. You still have four thousand troops. If you don’t kill these ninety people, you won’t be able to keep the four thousand!"

"Then...just do it!"

"I still need your speech. After all, I am a Norman." Rurik said deliberately, "Only you can give orders on this matter."

Like a huge boulder pressing down on his shoulders, Liu Doufu made a determined decision to "kill" his own people.

He stood on horseback in front of his Saxon army and shouted: "Look at those kneeling people! They betrayed me! They betrayed you! We are going to fight the Franks here and defeat Ludwig to defend our Saxony. ! But some people want to escape! Now we have no way to retreat, and behind us is Hamburg. Without Hamburg, all of you can only run around like wild beasts. Listen, the King of Denmark refuses for you to escape from Denmark, Frank If the army captures you, you will be skinned and cramped. Flee to the east to Pomerania and Oberlidit, and the locals will make you slaves! Now you can only follow me closely and our Norman allies Together, we will defeat the Frankish army. So these traitors must die!"

Liudov was a decent man after all, and he talked a lot about the farmer.

He cleverly kept emphasizing the concept that all so-called prisoners are traitors, and traitors must die.

It was at this time that Eskil, despite his leg injury, ran frantically to the scene of confusion, accompanied by many young priests. He was limping with a silver-plated cross and a specially made temporary bishop's hat, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.

The Saxon warriors were shocked as they did not expect the "Saint of the North" to suddenly arrive.

However, Eskil was immediately captured by Rurik's men, and many minor priests were expelled.

He was brought before Rurik.

"Stupid old guy, what do you want to do?!"

Eskil roared with anger: "Can't kill! You can't kill them."

"Can't we kill traitors?"

"They are all devout lambs, you must not kill them. This is unjust! You..."

Rurik was not angry and just lightly kicked the wound on his thigh, causing Eskil to scream in pain.

"In the way. The soldiers dragged him away."

Eskil was pulled away with his arms folded, and a soldier did not forget to pick up the wooden cross he had dropped. Eskil endured the pain and kept shouting: "You can't kill! If you kill, you will go to hell! Liudov, you will be cursed. You will be Satan!"

However, Liu Doufu, who already understood the power, was determined to kill him.

The deserters had simple linen bags put over their heads and ropes around their necks, and the wooden footings were removed without any delay.

They twitched under the rope, like twisted salted fish, and gradually lost their lives while being watched by an actual crowd of 20,000 people...

Even the Saxon women could see clearly that Liudov was really determined to fight the Franks. They also saw the majesty of the Norman army after it was assembled.

The women all had the confidence to win, and the Saxon warriors not only had confidence, but also fully understood that cowardice would result in either death at the hands of the enemy or execution by their own duke.

In a sense, Rurik was helping Liudov kill people and establish his authority. He helped Liudov do what the latter did not dare to do.

In this way, the next military deployment will be tense but orderly.

Rurik no longer worried about the Saxon army disobeying his orders. As the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, he began to provide the Saxon army with ample food.

Their food treatment is only half that of the Russian army. Even so, many men eat wheat porridge openly after a long time, especially wheat porridge with a lot of salt. This is simply happiness.

Of course, these people were not grateful to the Normans who provided food and salt, and regarded this as a reward from Lord Liudolf.

No great nobleman had ever been so kind to ordinary farmers. It seems that the former King Vidukind had such a righteous act. By coincidence, Vidukind's coffin was moved to Hamburg, and Liudolf was his descendant.

They are willing to fight tooth and nail to defend their hard-won restoration. As for cooperating with the Normans who had heretical beliefs to fight against the Franks, this was not a problem for ordinary farmers.

Everyone's first priority is to survive.

It is not difficult to survive. As long as the main force of the Franks is defeated and the war forces peace, Ludwig is forced to recognize the independent status of the Principality of Saxony, and the two countries sign a peace treaty.

Therefore, the coalition soldiers began to build fortifications aggressively. Rurik ordered the soldiers to cut down trees and dig holes. Completely relying on the number of people, a small river channel was completed in three days! Even if the newly dug river channel is very shallow and not very wide, it can block the enemy's attacks from behind.

So protected by the Elbe and the newly dug waterways, the city of Hamburg has become a huge island in the river. The area of ​​this island is not too small. It has become a giant camp with as many as 30,000 soldiers and civilians.

The Elbe River runs across the main force of the Ross fleet. A large number of wooden piles have been placed on the banks of the newly dug small channel, and the wall surrounding the huge island area is also under construction.

The coalition forces were by no means trapped in a cocoon, but relied on the river water to build natural defenses. External traffic was via a wooden bridge with stone piers and an astonishing number of rowing long boats. Thanks to the newly dug waterway behind Hamburg, Ross's longboat could easily bypass the bridge and reach the upper reaches of the Elbe.

All this was completed in a short time, and Rurik also spent a lot of manpower and material resources on this spectacular civil engineering project.

This move not only opened Liudov's eyes, but also surprised Ragnar. They never thought that the war could still go on like this.

What they didn't know was that the ancient Roman legions who had fought all the way to Saxony were best at civil engineering, and Rurik was just replicating this military quality.

However, there was no shortage of food now, and a large group of captured Frank men also worked as slave labor to dig pits. Regarding this, the Saxon people were in an extremely happy mood.

Rurik was busy here, waiting for the enemy to appear.

He had been waiting for many days, and finally the sentry stationed south of the Elbe River urgently withdrew to report that he had seen the enemy's mounted scouts. Find Shuyuan www. zhaoshuyuan.com

Rurik did not have to wait any longer. Shortly after the sentry reported, the Frankish cavalry suddenly appeared with their cross flags and Charlemagne's three lion flags high.

Their military strength is indeed huge, but...

Rurik stood on a high ground. Even though the whole of Hamburg was now on combat readiness, facing the enemy in front of him, it would be too ridiculous for him to believe that this was the so-called main force of Ludwig.

He hurriedly heard the news and Liu Dofu, who was standing next to him, asked jokingly: "Is this the army you are talking about...?"

"Indeed... it should be... right."

"That's it? Ridiculous. I thought they really came with thirty thousand people."

"There should be follow-up troops. Even so, this cavalry is too terrifying."

Rurik shook his head: "Maybe so. Let's see what happens next."

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :