Rise of Rurik

The special writing materials made Liudov strange. He didn't understand Latin at all. When he saw Rurik writing Latin documents fluently with a quill, the inferiority complex of being an illiterate came to his heart for the first time.

When Rome collapsed, the Latin language mastered by the Western Romans was quickly forgotten, and eventually only the clergy continued to master it and regarded it as the "sacred language to communicate with the gods."

The Eastern Rome had already completed its Hellenistic transformation, and Latin had no market at all. Even the scriptures mastered by the priests were written in Greek.

Every one of the great Frankish nobles was a military nobleman who came from the tribal era.

All kinds of small nobles must have their origins in the leaders of small tribes.

Rather than learning knowledge, they believe in the power of swords and axes. Solving all problems through violence is considered the truth. Unless swords and axes really cannot solve the problem, they will think of negotiation.

On the contrary, the priests are all pacifists. They prohibit force and rely on missionaries to spread their faith everywhere. They rely on their mouths to persuade barbarians to convert to the sacred faith. It was because they retained the use of Latin that they objectively formed a cultural barrier with the nobility.

Now, they believed that the priests' use of force was a betrayal of their faith, and they were even persuading the Frankish nobles to ban force.

But what's the use? Even the Pope could not prevent the civil war between the three great Frankish nobles. The Pope could only call on a few cities and fiefs fully controlled by the priests to adopt a neutral attitude and not intervene in the civil war, and to try their best to recruit refugees. For example, Cologne and Dusseldorf, a large number of Frankish immigrants who escaped from Saxony are migrating to these two places. Just because people were sure they would get shelter and food relief, and they did.

However, the straight-line distance between Cologne and Utrecht is only 170 kilometers.

Utrecht belongs to the county of Flanders and is one of the important towns. Flanders borders Westphalia and Saxony to the north.

Liudolf is still the de jure Count of Westphalia. In principle, he can mobilize all the nobles in the south to continue to listen to him, even if he has raised his flag to restore the Principality of Saxony. If the emerging Principality of Saxony also includes Westphalia, then this huge country will physically tear apart the entire East Francia, and the entire Flanders loyal to East Francia is already an enclave.

They have all become enclaves. It is theoretically possible to conquer Flanders and annex it, or to force the Earl of Flanders to rebel too.

Because the Earl of Flanders appears to be a Frank, but in reality? There is some Frisian blood in the family lineage.

After all, Flanders and Saxony experienced exactly the same thing. Both were defeated and surrendered during the Frankish Conquest.

Liudov wrote his own letters, and he wanted to write more than just one letter.

Faced with a completely new situation, Rurik wanted to write a letter, but he wrote it as a human being and not as a letter.

There was only one letter that King Ragnar of Denmark asked to write.

All letters are like this.

The "Letter to Ludwig, King of the East Franks" written by Rurik was a letter of war.

Core content: 1. Be sure to lead the army north and negotiate with the King of Rus. If you are unwilling to negotiate, go to war directly. 2. The Kingdom of Rus, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Principality of Saxony, and the County of Nassau must be recognized. 3. If we do not come this year, all the 2,000 Frankish civilian prisoners and 300 prisoners of war will be taken as slaves. 4. If they do not come, the Russian army will continue the war and kill and plunder Frankish civilians. 5. Ross does not intend war. As long as East Frankia meets the conditions, a peace treaty can be signed.

The "Book to the Viking Kingdom of York" written by Rurik is essentially an invitation letter. The core content is to invite the brothers Biyoni and Floki, who are kings, to come to Hamburg to see the achievements of the kingdom of brothers. Let’s take a look at what’s going on with their biological sister Nolen.

There is also a letter of credence called the "Letter to Northumbria", which is called an invitation to the King of Northumbria to come to Hamburg, asking him to make a statement on the restored Principality of Saxony, and asking him to recognize the legitimacy of the Principality of Saxony. At the same time, I also came to Hamburg to take a good look at Reglaf, who has grown up a lot. Now we can get to know each other well. When he inherits the Kingdom of Mercia in the future, we will not be strangers to each other.

Liudov wrote two documents, one was the "Declaration of the Restoration of the Principality of Saxony", which was essentially a declaration of war against East Frankia. Even though Liudov did not want to expand the war, he knew that the war was inevitable.

The core content is as follows: 1. East Frankia must recognize the restoration of the Principality of Saxony. 2. Westphalia was incorporated into the Principality of Saxony, but did not include church towns such as Cologne and Dusseldorf. 3. Part of Flanders was merged into the Principality of Saxony and became part of the County of Nassau. 4. Recognize the upgrade of the Baron of Nassau to the Baron of Nassau loyal to Saxony, and the Barony of Nassau on the banks of the Lang River belongs to the enclave of the County of Nassau. 5. The Principality of Saxony will not betray its faith and will not go to war with East Frankia after meeting all territorial requirements.

There is another copy, the so-called "Letter to the Count of Flanders". If his credentials against Ludwig were too outrageous and unacceptable, for Count Baudouin of Flanders, it was hooliganism.

Liudolf persuaded Baudouin to cede part of the territory to the new Principality of Saxony and betray Frank with the remaining territory.

He estimated that this kind of letter "Give you a knife and ask to commit suicide" was meaningless, and it would even be difficult to deliver it to Baudouin, but he wrote the letter down just in case it could be used later. After all, the Russians and Danes are about to embark on an expedition.

expedition? With the speed of the Russians, they could reach Utrecht in just two days. With their superb navigation skills, they could do whatever they wanted. Liudov was very envious of this super maneuverability.

Ragnar has only one letter, written by Rurik. His request was quite simple. He just asked the Frankish country to recognize him as the king of Denmark, and that Frankishness prohibited northern invasion. As for the promise that "Frank will not be robbed if he fulfills his promise," he did not mention it at all.

The autumn rain fell for three whole days, and the earth was completely soaked. When the sky cleared up, the warm temperature could no longer return.

The north wind was still relatively strong, and the waves of the sea were also a bit fierce, but it did not affect the rapid progress of Ross's ship at all.

This autumn rain is just a prelude. Autumn rain in the Hamburg area is concentrated in October, and there are not many rainy days overall. In winter, snowfall becomes more frequent.

As long as the sea is not stormy, the Ross fleet can advance safely, or because the southward attack on Utrecht is advancing along the coastline. The so-called "West Flanders Islands" in the Dutch waters have a geographical structure like a pearl necklace, which is simply a natural breakwater. , greatly weakening the power of the waves, the fleet will advance close to this special archipelago.

Until you find the deepest bay and see the only river with a wide mouth, the so-called Aemestelle River.

All this information was specified by Liudov. In order to ensure the smooth military operations of the Russian-Danish allies, he even sent a guide.

The words were too familiar. Rurik thought about it and came to a sudden conclusion. A city could rise near this river, namely Amsterdam.

As for the target of the attack, Utrecht, it was just upstream of the river, where long boats could rush in directly. Even without a long boat, the Ross ship anchored at the mouth of the river, and the army could land directly and reach Utrecht on the same day on foot.

As a result, the Russian army began to gather in Hamburg.

Is it necessary to lead a personal expedition? Rurik thought about it.

Last time, the eldest brother Arik performed the task of transporting personnel and encountered the Frank army in the ruins of Bremen. His handling method was poor, which caused the Russian army to actually escape in embarrassment.

This time, Rurik wanted to bring elite soldiers, not a large number, just a thousand. The so-called standing army will all come, and then from the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, each will organize a full hundred-man team (one hundred and twenty people), plus some armed sailors. In fact, most of them It was the pirates of Saaremaa, who gathered just over a thousand people to carry out this task.

The other Russian troops do not have to sit idle, because we don't know how Ludwig will react, but the army will return when the weather is too cold. Rurik made preparations. If Ludwig was a coward, or if the messenger lost the letter and the other party did not make a statement, the Russian army withdrew to Bornholm Island and Gothenburg to rest and recuperate. A small number of people Retreat as far as Tombstone Island.

The war is not easily suspended now. Rurik originally wanted to return to his hometown in the winter. Now it seems that because the war has spread to Frankland, the scale has far exceeded expectations. Standing in this position, he can no longer Close hand.

Of course, if we can create a "huge western trade security and stability" situation for Ross in one package, today's hard work will be worthwhile.

The main force of the Russian army will move to the mouth of the Elbe River, where it plans to boil salt and plunder fish resources. Considering that there is a high probability that the troops will not be able to return to their hometowns in winter, this is a historic first time. Even if the soldiers have complaints, they have nothing to do. Lu Manman simply didn't want to think about it anymore. It was better to follow the king's arrangements and actively produce and store supplies for the winter on site, such as boiling salt and pickling salted fish. Even boiling more salt can make it very smooth to get wheat from the local Saxons.

Because the victory of the war directly attracted a considerable number of local Saxon nobles who were watching the situation to truly surrender to Liudov. They either themselves or sent representatives to bring the unpaid grain and deliver it to Liudov.

They also saw the huge Norman army and the traces of the battlefield, as well as a large number of captured people and mountains of captured weapons.

The main force of the Russian army had not yet strategically moved to the mouth of the Elbe River, so it was such a large ship that set off first.

The royal pirate Spyut, who once served as the commander of the Russian squadron, has now returned to his old profession - escorting tribute from Northumbria.

Different from the past, his task this year was to send the requested tribute directly to Hamburg and use it immediately to meet military needs. He is also responsible for delivering letters and urging the recipient to come.

Spyut went out to sea with a mission. In fact, all he had to do was head west to Britain. Then he plunged into Hunter's Bay, which was equivalent to hitting the territory of the Viking Kingdom of York. He estimated that Biyongni would never miss this opportunity. He hadn't seen him for many years. He must be too lazy to listen to his description of King Ross and wanted to come over to see how his brother Rurik was doing. .

At the dock, Rurik took off his hat to see off this important subordinate who shouldered the mission.

He pointed at the Gray Squirrel heading downstream. "Spuyut! We must convince Biyongni to come!"

Similarly, Nolen, who was hiding her pregnancy in a heavy leather jacket, no longer pretended at this moment: "Spuyut! Tell my brother that he must come, I will give birth, and he will be an uncle. Let him be sure To come!"

This long-distance ship was not simply a tribute, it had great political significance.

Liudolf wished that the king of Northumbria would come in person, even if he sent an envoy. He needs more countries that believe in God to recognize the Principality of Saxony. Even if Northumbria is a weak country, it is good to have its recognition. You can even take this opportunity to get in touch with Wessex to win the other party's recognition. The more countries that recognize the Principality of Saxony, the better. Liudov is not picky about this, he just hopes that he is not isolated.

The next day, another group of people wanted to leave.

In other words, exile.

Robert's wounds continued to improve, but his attitude wavered. It was obvious that this was either a miracle or the Russian medical skills saved his life. Ironically, I was killed and saved by them while they were shooting at me. The huge army was toyed with and applauded by them, and then the whole army was annihilated.

Robert didn't want to die, and he had no reason to die now. He carried a leather bag with many letters stuffed inside. He knew that as long as one of these letters was handed into Ludwig's hands, he would become furious.

But if they refuse to deliver or the letter is lost, the Russians will continue to fight and kill the Franks. This is very unreasonable. It is obviously the rudeness of the nobles, why should they vent their anger on the people?

If Ludwig didn't give an explanation, a large number of Franks would be killed for no apparent reason.

The threats from the Russians are not false, they are really cruel and dare to do it.

Liudov gave Robert horses and released ten people at the same time, including Robert's retinue and Frank's elite cavalry. Having so many followers ensured that Robert would not be too embarrassed, and also ensured that there would be someone to take care of him along the way to ensure that anything unexpected happened to him who was still injured. Even if there was an accident, others were still obliged to deliver the letter. Even if it didn't work, they had to tell Ludwig that the Ross army had killed three thousand of his cavalry on the banks of the Elbe River.

Count Robert of the Rheingau left, galloping on the pontoon on the poor horse that had been sent away, disappearing into the forest as fast as possible.

This is so sad. A month ago he took 3,000 cavalry to the north, but now there are only 11 people including himself.

He knew that he would be punished when he returned, and he was willing to accept the punishment for the sake of greater morality. As a noble, he must also accept punishment. After all, King Ludwig was innocent.

Finally, there was Rurik and Ragnar's crusade against Utre.

The large ship towed the vacant longship, and half of the main force of the Ross fleet was dispatched.

Five sail destroyers, five sail cruisers, twenty standard cargo ships, and ten long boats towing.

It carried 1,500 people, the so-called Russian army of more than 1,000 people and the Danish army of more than 400 people.

An army of this size is enough to fight a large-scale European war, and it is also qualified to fight a decisive battle with the Count of Flanders. After all, it is rumored that this guy is really stretched.

Those rumors may be correct. Rurik still assembled an army of such a size. The composition of his own team was deliberately complicated. Except for the first banner unit, which suffered too many casualties and was the unit with the most loot, the other five banner groups Need a chance to expand your loot. The five flag corps have all dispatched centurions. Brothers are fighting for public opinion. No one can criticize the other in the future.

There was nothing left to save. From Liudov's point of view, he wished that his allies would win the victory as soon as possible, so that he would not have to worry about Ludwig's army suddenly arriving and lacking troops to resist. Find bookstore www.zhaoshuyuan.com

A new march has begun. The fleet moves down the river, raises its triangular sails, and rushes quickly along the coastline in the north wind.

Immediately afterwards, almost all the Russian and Danish troops moved to the mouth of the Elbe River. They quickly expanded their coastal camps to fish and cook salt on a large scale. In a short period of time, the Norman influence in Liudolf's Hamburg almost disappeared.

He knew that the Normans would leave sooner or later, but now he felt empty in his heart.

He knew exactly what he regretted—the lack of military protection.

It is better to ask for help than to ask for yourself, and the Normans are never good people. The young man Rurik is also ruthless in nature. Today's alliance with Saxony is just because they, Ross, need a buffer zone.

As a buffer country, no one knows its meaning better than Liudov. Because, since Ludwig's army, he said he was attacking himself, but in reality he was also eyeing the Norman world. He began to expand his militia to maintain morale in the name of "defending Saxony." It is unknown whether he can really strengthen himself.

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