Rise of Rurik Chapter 1101

At the beginning of the period, Ludwig led his army across the Inner River, entered the south bank area and continued south, until the town of Lauten was occupied.

At that time, Ludwig declared his rule as soon as he arrived here, and went directly to the royal villa here.

Long before Charlemagne, Frankish rulers built their royal palaces here. With the palace as the center, a group of servants and craftsmen who served the nobles settled here, the church sent priests to work in the monastery here, and a small town was completed. Because the town originated from the emperor's residence, it also has the unofficial nickname of Kaiserslautern.

There are a number of Frankish villages scattered in the nearby area, and in peacetime, this place must be a thriving idyllic land.

Because it is located in a flat area west of the North Vosges Mountains, this place belongs to the narrow sense of the Palatinate of the Inland and the broad sense of the Saar region. It is very suitable for the development of agriculture, and the wealth of the nobles is almost based on the exploitation of farmers. Any ambitious Frankish nobles must compete for the Frankish population here.

But the civil war forced the people in the fiercely war zone to take sides. Many people poured into the north, which meant that the Eastern Kingdom was finally here. Another group went to the South. There are still a group of villagers who have not left and are living their daily lives in their own villages, because they think the civil war of the great nobles has nothing to do with the commoners.

Both Ludwig and Lothair were kings, and since King Ludwig came to Lauten in person, the residents who had no right to choose would naturally submit to him.

Ludwig lost his rule over Lauten in the summer battle of 840, however, as Lothair's standing army continued to flow from Sarabrugge to Saarbrücken across the River Saar via pontoon bridges.

The reason why King Lothair acted so quickly was precisely because the flat land had long been targeted by the Roman Empire. A Roman road passes through the entire Greater Saar region. Metz is a starting point. When passing through Sarabrugia, Rome built a solid stone bridge. After passing the Saar River, the road basically extends northward along the North Vosges Mountains. Until the Inner River blocked it. Then, at the confluence of the Main and Lein rivers, the town of Mainz in Roman times was built, and it was used as a strategic bridgehead to continue the invasion of northern Germania.

Rome had long since been destroyed, and some of her remains were inherited by the Franks. Those old infrastructures still play an extremely crucial role after a lapse of 400 years!

In the wild land, a Roman road was the necessary route for the army to move. On a macro level, if the Eastern Kingdom were to transfer troops from Bavaria to participate in the civil war, the geographical shortcut seems to be to cross the river at Wiesbaden, and then cross the North Vosges Mountains from the eastern foothills, thus completely controlling the Saar region.

But the army faced the mountains, and the move to forcibly climb the mountain will definitely consume the army alive.

The wars of the nobles depended heavily on the Roman avenues that existed since ancient times. If they were forced to, they would not risk letting the army go wild. And because of the extremely poor navigation skills, the Frankish army did not have the slightest advantage in water warfare, and the nobles with self-knowledge were more dependent on the tactical maneuvers of the Roman Avenue.

Sarabruggja is an ancient Germanic name, referring to "bridge".

After all, the stone bridges in Roman times were not as strong as the Roman Avenue, and the stone bridges disappeared in history, but Frank built an iron pontoon bridge on the Saar River to make the traffic still smooth.

This pontoon was the key to the rapid entry of the Middle Kingdom army into the Saar region, so in the spring of 841, the Middle Kingdom army of Lothair firmly controlled Lauten.

For his own safety, Lothair himself did not stay in Lao Teng's emperor's palace.

Adalbert, Count of Metz, entered Lauten with his own army. He did not dare to overstep, and for the convenience of fighting in the wilderness, he stationed with the King's Standing Army in the open field outside the town.

The earl was granted great power, and Lothair made an important promise: "If your army succeeds in taking Mainz, that city will become your new fief. The earl of Leingau refuses to pledge allegiance to me, and you have a chance. Become the new Earl of Leinga."

Is the promise true? If it is true, such a reward is too rich!

Count Metz thought that if he succeeded, he would be able to lead both the Counts of Thrall and Reingau in the future. The area of ​​the fief has more than doubled. Is this the benefit of allegiance to Lothair? What a delight.

However, Adalbert, as a great noble in the central region, was not a mere reckless man. Now there are many rumors that Ludwig of the so-called Eastern Kingdom suffered a defeat in the north, so that other places were empty of troops.

Are they really empty?

Why did King Lothair himself take the main force to Strasbourg? Although the king left himself a group of standing troops to command, after all, the main force was the soldiers who came to Metz.

The current news is very complicated. Charlemagne rests in Aachen, but there are either Norman pirates cruising near Aachen, or the Counties of Flanders who are loyal to the Eastern Kingdom, and even the West Kingdom army that is about to move around Paris.

Adalbert was not worried about being backstabbed in his inherent fief, because behind him were the Burgundians.

One of the biggest reasons why the duchies of Burgundy and Provence firmly supported Lothair was that Lothair's nephew, Pepin, led troops to guard Provence and northern Italy. A strong army guarded the south and forced him to be in a semi-free state. Burgundy must insist on standing in the Middle Kingdom.

But Count Adalbert's army was not large. He brought five thousand men into the battle, most of them infantry, and was also responsible for the baggage. Lothair arranged for him a thousand cavalry and a thousand infantry.

In theory, Adalbert could command 7,000 people to participate in the war. Because of the unavoidable state of wounded soldiers, and even the will of the sergeants being consumed by the long-term civil war, Count Metz's army did not have a strong will to fight.

The king has an order and must take the initiative to attack.

In the beginning, Count Metz had been dragging on the grain in the spring and summer due to the lack of food supply, but now at the end of the summer, he really couldn't drag it any longer.

Because the harvest season is not far away, the best way to solve the army's supply is to supply it on the spot, which is to directly rob the village. Considering that all the villages in this place are likely to be their own territory in the future, if they are really looting and looting, it will not be conducive to their future rule. What's more, robbing a village is a disgrace, and the big nobles are not gangsters.

Maybe take Mainz before the wheat is heading, so that you can get the local tax on the wheat. He concluded that the Eastern Kingdom's army would not launch a counterattack immediately, and the other party must finish the wheat harvest in the autumn, otherwise their winter supply and the next spring's sustenance would become a big problem.

Count Metz had a good abacus, and under the constant urging of King Lothair, he brazenly launched a summer offensive against Mainz!

However, not long after the army set off, the Eastern Kingdom's army encountered a confrontation.

But it is said that Ludwig, who was defeated in 840, signed a peace treaty with the Rus and other victors at the beginning of 841, and returned to the original place in the ship of the Rus.

Robert, Earl of Leingol, was released, and his men fled to the north of the Taunus Mountains to live in seclusion. This person is considered interesting, so Ludwig completely controls all the government affairs of the Layingau area except for the Baron of Nassau.

So, how do you hide your weakness?

When the weak cat feels threatened, it will arch its body, the fur all over its body bursts and expands, and its body doubles in an instant to scare off the threat.

The same is true for Ludwig.

He was fortunate that he had left a group of elites from the standing army in Mainz, and he had long expected that his elder brother Lothair would still be on the offensive.

"If I were captured or died, or even evacuated from Frankfurt, I would be willing to be a little duke of Bavaria. That would be defeat. Not even the duke's title would be preserved."

He believes that his elder brother will definitely kill him, even if he is a member of the royal family.

Or because he was a member of the royal family, there was a reason why the whole family was killed. This is the case with the Frankish aristocracy. The nobles kill each other. Sons kill their fathers, uncles kill their nephews, and nephews kill their aunts. The young Charlemagne survived by chance and is one of the few survivors of the entire royal family. Childhood disasters forced Charlemagne to formulate a system of nobility divisions, and the first three divisions of the world started by him were to avoid this self-destructive royal civil war.

Charlemagne is dead, and Louis the Pious is dead.

From Ludwig's standpoint, since the eldest brother refused to recognize the "three-point plan" that Grandpa had already formulated, it meant that the eldest brother must kill his entire family without leaving a single baby. There is no intermediate state at all.

Based on this understanding, Ludwig, who had suffered a defeat in the north, must regain his face on the battlefield of the civil war in the south, boost morale through a victory, and explain to himself.

As soon as he returned, he rectified his armaments, first rectifying all the cavalry, and then attacking the peasants.

He increased taxes to scavenge peasants' surplus grain, and further scavenged labor from the Ingau region, forcing more peasants into the army. The peasants and soldiers were naturally extremely reluctant, but Ludwig personally promised them: "We will take back Lauten! As long as we win, you are free to loot! What you rob is yours, even if it is a piece of The fist-sized gold is yours too!"

Not to mention, the words learned from the Rus are really useful. He saw a group of war-weary peasant fathers whose eyes were about to breathe fire, even if this group was a group of armed peasants, there were enough of them.

Ludwig could not provide enough weapons and equipment for this group of new sergeants, and thinking about the reason for his defeat in the north, he made some adjustments to his army as soon as he returned.

Poor people can only fight poor battles. The main weapon held by a large number of unarmored peasant soldiers must be a spear with the length of three men. As for the secondary weapon in hand, it is the farm tool for personal work, most of which are hand axes.

Mainz, which came to the south bank of the Inn River, has always been Ludwig's defensive center. Since its return, small boats have been transporting new recruits to the other side. In desperation, he abandoned the defenses in other directions and transported all his main force to the other side of the river, including the last thousand heavy cavalry.

The rafts pieced together a giant raft similar to a pontoon, which was towed to the opposite bank by a small boat.

Ludwig changed the logic of the war in the past, and it can be said that he still learned something in the war in the north. Especially the significance of the great nobles coming to the front line.

Maybe the Rus army arrived in Mainz and could be a good friend. Those guys are for wealth, so well controlled. A Rus army is in Nassau, and its strength is comparable to that of the Danish mercenaries in the past, and its combat effectiveness is stronger.

Let the Rus who live in Nassau come? As soon as he thought of the previous defeat, he ignored it for the sake of face.

"I must take Lauten back by my own power! If only I could tear down that damned bridge of Sarabruggia! What am I, Loternay?"

There are only a handful of great nobles in the Eastern Kingdom in this matter, and their attitude towards Ludwig himself is very ambiguous.

Just like you can't count on Ross' mercenaries, trying to borrow troops from Flanders, Netherlands and Saxony right now, can't even think about it! As for borrowing manpower from Cologne, the local priests suffered a great loss and would never be able to provide manpower and money.

As for the Bishop of Worms, it would be great for them to still declare that they stand in the Eastern Kingdom! The diocese provided crucial money, and as for recruiting soldiers from the diocese, Ludwig had already done this.

It takes time to transfer troops from his old home Bavaria, and the Marquis of Thuringia in the north made up a bunch of reasons not to send troops.

It seems that all the nobles are watching Ludwig's personal performance.

He must have stood on the edge of the cliff, and the only one who can save himself is himself.

He abruptly gathered 8,000 people! Of course, this is just a figure on the books.

There are only 2,000 soldiers in the real standing army, and there are nearly 1,000 farmers and soldiers who are probably capable of fighting. Whether the remaining 5,000 are considered soldiers is a question.

Since the settlements of the Earl of Laiying are highly concentrated in the Main River basin from Frankfurt to Mainz, as long as a string of villages along the river are forcibly levied, it is not a problem to squeeze out thousands of peasants and soldiers.

The 8,000-strong army, the 3,000 people who dare to fight, and the 5,000 people who make up the numbers are the main force. The former is the main battle force, and the latter is mainly escorting supplies.

Come to the Yin River is not very lively, as long as it is not rainy, the river is a steady stream of boats and rafts that transport people and supplies.

Ludwig envied Ross's large ships, even if it was just some long ships, it was enough to change his poor capacity. Even if he could reasonably borrow the power of the Rus from Nassau in accordance with the treaty, he would never do so.

Hundreds of people cross the river every day, and follow-up people arrive at Mainz on the other side of the river one after another. In a short time, Mainz became a city with a huge population.

At the end of June, Ludwig personally led the army to the south, and just like the tactical plan of winning Laoten, he moved along the old road.

The 8,000-strong army of the Eastern Kingdom's army went straight to the North Vosges Mountains along the old Roman road in the Upper Laine plain.

At the same time, the army of the Middle Kingdom, led by Count Metz himself, was ordered to leave Lauten in the Collar Plain and to advance along the old Roman road.

Both parties deliberately chose this point in time. The so-called action was taken a whole month before the wheat harvest, but they did not know the existence of the other party.

Count Metz's army was cramped through the mountain pass, and the army inherited the strip as if entering a pasta machine. He had to rest in the horn-shaped area after breaking through the mountain pass. There is a small town of Winneville, where the army rested and assembled, and the planners and materials were basically due before continuing to march.

And Ludwig also assembled in the village of Arce on the plain. After all, the quality of a large number of troops under his command was not good, but after two days of marching, many people fell behind, and thanks to this being a plain, the infantry who fell behind could find a large army based on the clouds that were roasted red by the bonfire at night.

However, it was the roasted red cloud that shocked Count Metz.

Since most of his subordinates were his own soldiers, the counts and lords in this expedition were once again as strong as possible. Count Metz could not tolerate defeat, he did not dare to gamble or launch a surprise attack. He at least knew that there were inconceivable signs of large-scale personnel activities ahead, and concluded that it was definitely not a peaceful situation.

So when Count Metz saw the red cloud over there, wouldn't it be the same for his own army?

Ludwig also discovered the unusual scene in the south, and concluded that Lothair's people had appeared.

"Could there be a traitor leaking secrets?" He felt that his actions were very secret, and he didn't even bother to catch the inner ghost. He was eager for a battle to wash away the shame, and this time he finally got the chance.

How?

Continuing day-to-day operations on schedule and preparing for a decisive battle?

"No! I have nothing to lose!"

It can be said that this is the Ross who has become his teacher again! As the saying goes, the army on the march last year was attacked by the Rus cavalry, UU read www.uukanshu. Ludwig, who was caught by surprise, didn't realize until after the battle that fighting could be like this.

Launching a sneak attack was considered extremely immoral and contrary to the character of the Frankish nobility.

Thinking that if the eldest brother wins, he will definitely not give his whole family a chance to survive. "Since you are so vicious, I don't talk about etiquette."

Since 200 Rus cavalry can loot and wreak havoc along the way, and now that he counts bad horses and reluctant riders, he can make up 1,500 cavalry, so why not make a savage gamble!

So, before dawn, Ludwig summoned the captains of the four cavalry flags under his command and ordered: "I will lead the charge! All of you must follow me without fear of death! The Lord will grant us victory! The shame of blood in the north. , once again the shame that we lost Lao Teng last year. We killed the enemy by surprise! Remember, there will be no mercy. After the war, you looted wantonly, and I will give you all a raise!"

The captain of the flags thought that the king was crazy! But there is the style of Charlemagne when he was young.

At dawn, the dark blue sky is gradually becoming sky blue.

The huge cavalry is advancing on the Yin Plain Group.

Almost all the heavy cavalry of the Eastern Kingdom in the Mainz area were here. Ludwig didn't want to know what the enemy's strength was.

Finally, the village ahead appeared in the early morning mist, and a large number of white tents were extremely conspicuous.

"Attack! Either win! Or die!" Ludwig held the Ross steel sword high, shining extremely in the rising sun.

The earth was shaking, and the cavalry of the Eastern Kingdom rushed into the bell mouth area formed by the Palatinate Heights and the North Vosges Mountains, and rushed to the lazy army of Count Metz, who was stationed here to rest...

Chapter end