Rise of Rurik Chapter 1636

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How many men entered the city again? There are a thousand.

With the naked eye, one could see that there were not even a thousand but eight hundred people gathered in the city square, standing densely around the banner of the King of Mercia.

They looked around and whispered to each other, constantly trying to inquire about the Earl of New Anjou's decision from the local soldiers stationed in Shannon.

They learned that the recruitment was absolutely true. As for the specific details, the soldiers stationed there were not aware of it for the time being.

However, the soldier revealed some details: Those who are skinny, those with short stature, and those with weak strength are not allowed.

In other words, anyone with strong body, especially strong arms, should be chosen as long as they are not too short.

Serving as a soldier in Anjou County seems to mean many benefits. Although doing so will temporarily leave your family and you may die in a battle, being a soldier will provide you with more abundant food than usual, which is of great benefit to many people. Appeal.

High remuneration can attract many ordinary people to join the king's army. If it is because of hatred or because there is a chance for revenge by joining the army, the enthusiasm for joining the army will be even greater.

Such people do not join the army for high treatment, they just want to follow a strong man for better revenge.

So Reglaf set two basic principles on the issue of conscription.

First, those who have a deep hatred for the old garrison in Tours can be recruited as long as their health is not too bad.

Secondly, among ordinary farmers who are willing to join the army, the physical fitness requirements for these people are relatively high, and they can be recruited if they meet the quota.

As for how many troops to recruit, the plan is to organize a new spear flag team from Anjou City, with a theoretical capacity of 500 people.

Of course, the specific amount of recruitment must be based on the actual situation. For example, for example, if you have been living in the woods near Anjou for ten years,

Lin's poachers, who are good at using bows and arrows, will be recruited as long as they are willing to join the army.

It is not easy to find these hiders in the forest. It is better to use the temptation of recruiting soldiers to become kings and ask them to come out as soldiers themselves.

Reglaf Monastery quietly observed the changes in the situation. He admired the enthusiasm of a large number of farmers to join the army.

At this moment, Abbot Raymond stood respectfully beside the young brave man. The old man had also been watching for a while. Although the old man was full of praise for the young man's virtues, he had just arrived in Anjou and the situation had just stabilized. I can't wait to recruit troops, is it...

Raymond would not say that this was a barbaric act. Besides, the old man had never seen such a scene in his entire life—ordinary farmers actively joining the army.

"It's amazing. Sir, you..."

"Papa, do you have something to say?" Reglaf turned around and asked calmly.

"How many troops do you plan to recruit? Although I already know that you will not attack Tour, but..."

"It seems that you still have a lot of concerns." Regrave let out a sigh of relief, "There are many weapons and some horses left behind by the old garrison. Well, to be honest, I really plan to expand the army in Anjou by a thousand troops."

"Huh? Such a huge army!"

"What is this?" Reglaf said with the arrogance and bloodiness of a young man: "I will have at least two thousand soldiers by then. I will kill the Burgundians until they howl like ghosts."

"Huh? In this way, you are indeed more powerful than the old nobles of Anjou."

"A compliment?"

"No," the abbot murmured meaningfully, "if he had such a large army, he would not be defeated."

"Maybe. I'm a Norman! To tell you the truth, if

If I cannot recruit enough troops, I will have to go to the mouth of the Rhine to recruit some more Danes. Oh, just more Norman. But...I think recruiting those guys again is asking for trouble. Some armies don't listen to me, and hiring them is just inviting the wolf into the house. Why don't I just recruit troops locally? I also heard that the Gauls were brave and good at fighting. Eight hundred years later, I believe that the descendants of those people are still good at fighting. As for the dull performance, it must be due to the lack of a real leader. Haha, I am their trustworthy leader. "Regraf talked a lot eloquently, but he held his head high and his chest high. His majestic appearance proved that he was extraordinary.

Reglaf is by no means pretentious. By now, he has indeed become a local figure.

A big force.

The King of Mercia's flag is flying in Anjou and Shannon, and there are densely populated areas along the Loire River and its tributary Avina River. Reglaf is not able to conduct a detailed census, but there are as many as eight men, women, and children under his direct control. Thousands of people.

If we add in the fief villages where Becon and other knights urgently need to restore their rule, the population of Anjou-Shannon County has reached 130,000 to 150,000 people.

With such a population strength, it is close to the population of the traditional territory of the Kingdom of Mercia in the old era.

The large population means that Reglaf can recruit more soldiers. Based on his experience, he does not like the "noble army" at all. He has his own Ross-style combat method, that is, the monarch must have an overwhelming scale against the nobles. of the directly-administered army.

A knight relied on plundering the wealth of the fiefs and villages to purchase high-end weapons and equipment to arm himself, and then armed more than a dozen armed followers.

. A wealthy and powerful knight may be able to organize fifty cavalry, but a poor knight may only be able to bring one or two retinues into battle.

Becon and other guys had promised Reglaf that they would be able to organize their own armies soon after crossing the Loire River and entering southern Anjou, even if many spear militiamen would join.

They promised that in the first week of April, the coalition of knights in southern Anjou would directly enter the barony of Erotus, and then take the Roman road directly into a military stronghold such as the Bridge Castle to join the main force of Reglaf's army.

When will Beikong and others cross the river? They decided to wait until Reglaf had recruited enough troops in Anjou before crossing the river.

Beikong and others will not wait any longer. Their waiting is not only to help the monarch, but also to take away all the captured horses afterwards.

Military horses are different from farm horses. Of course, the latter can also be ridden, but it is almost impossible to make the farm horses perform half-turn tactics and impact tactics based on map recognition.

Only senior cavalrymen could quickly train more cavalrymen, and Reglaf generously delegated power. Finally, he hoped that when Becon and others came back, at least 200 cavalrymen would join the army.

Because there were many military horses in the captured stables, as well as more plow horses and cattle.

There are still 200 horses that can be used as war horses. This is not a malicious search by the old defenders, or that the territory of Gaul can be used to raise a large number of horses. It is not unusual for a hundred defenders to be equipped with 300 horses, and it is not impossible to have 400 horses. It was precisely because there were so many horses in stock in Anjou that the old defenders had the confidence to carry the so-called people's fat and anointing collected from Anjou to Tours in a large-scale mule and horse transport team.

Now, the old defenders have become great villains,

It is impossible for Reglaf to completely return these people's sacrifices and sacrifices. He needs these materials to be converted into his own combat effectiveness.

I am also convinced that the new soldiers will be very happy if the supplies looted by the old army are given to the new soldiers, even if the wealth belongs to the Angevin people.

What Reglaf didn't know was that he had sized up the situation and recruited troops on the spot, rather than recruiting troops from the mouth of the Rhine as he had imagined in the past. This was an extremely wise decision.

Either due to fatigue or extreme inconvenience, King Ragnar of Denmark withdrew his thousand brothers to the large Danish immigrant community at the mouth of the Rhine.

If he must recruit mercenaries, out of emotion, Reglaf would definitely look for the Russians and Swedes living there first, and then the Danes.

However, with the King of Denmark present, once Ragnar learns that there is such a good thing, the Danish army will definitely cross the Brittany Peninsula and go straight into the Loire River to launch plunder.

Then the Norwegian pirate leader Hastinger, leading his troops to carry out the brutal Loire River robbery, must have happened in advance.

Because Ragnar has never signed any peace treaty with the Frankish southern nobles, and the absence of a relevant treaty means that they can plunder freely.

At present, Reglaf does not know that a large number of Danes are gathering at the mouth of the Rhine for repairs. The local Ross garrison and allies are transporting supplies to the hinterland of the Rhine on time.

He didn't even know that the Ross coalition army commanded by his father was happily spending the winter in Trier, guarding a large amount of food and Trier's unique hot springs.

The nobles of the Frankish south were busy with their own affairs, and the lack of information made them unaware of the great changes taking place in the north and northeast. headed by charlie

, they began to have their own

According to his own opinion, Reglaf is just a contestant in this winter's army expansion competition.

In terms of the speed of military expansion, Reglaf's troops are astonishingly fast, and the quality is also very good.

Regraf deliberately hid in the dark and let time ferment. When the men got impatient with waiting, he would appear with his entourage.

Yesterday, everyone had a clear look at the new Earl's childish yet mature face.

They turned their heads when they heard the low and melodious sound of horns, and saw the earl's shining blond hair kneeling on the ground.

In the past, when these civilians happened to see the old Count of Anjou patrolling, they would kneel down to show respect. In fact, they did not dare not to kneel. The price of disrespect was to be captured by the guards. Their families paid what was called a fine but actually a ransom, and then the guards released them.

Reglaf glanced around and saw perhaps a thousand people kneeling collectively under the banner of the King of Mercia.

"You all stand up! Look at your king head on!" Here Reglaf resolutely calls himself the King of Mercia.

People stood up slowly, and out of subconscious fear, they raised their heads and did not dare to look directly at it.

Regraf once again made a public inspection. He scanned the basic conditions of these people and made some estimates in his heart.

Some farmers are in better condition, and having a pair of reliable single leather shoes proves a lot.

Because more farmers actually use pieces of leather, rags and hemp ropes to wrap around their feet to make something that closely resembles a shoe.

The vast majority of farmers are not tall and overall are thin. Maybe it was the influence of man-made famine in the past few months, but Reglaf believed that they were also this unlucky on weekdays.

When it comes to conscription, the vast majority of these people do not

Qualified, unless the peasants eat and drink heavily for three or four months, and then it is most appropriate to recruit the army when the body becomes strong.

"We can't expect them to go into battle to kill the enemy now. We should first give them food to make them strong, and then talk about the rest." Reglaf thought.

Although the physical fitness of the vast majority of people is poor, since the decision to recruit soldiers needs to specify a lower limit standard.

After a round of inspection, he withdrew to one side. After a while, old Eric stood up on behalf of the monarch.

This old Norman warrior with a braided beard announced the king's new resolution in Frankish with a strange accent. As soon as he finished speaking, the farmers were in an uproar, and then they started chatting lively again.

Soon, one big stone after another was placed in place.

For such a stone, the main thing is that someone can move it to a designated place. All other disadvantages will be ignored. If you pass the physical test alone, you will be qualified to serve as a soldier.

Thus, a unique stone-moving contest began...

Some people seem to move easily and complete the test at a trot. Such people will be invited to the place where the King of Mercia's flag is planted when they reach the finish line. They will be intensively trained to serve as the backbone of the flag team.

Those holding the stones, panting and swaying, walked to the end and were sent to the flag. They gathered in groups and sat down. Of course they will also be recruited, but they can only serve as ordinary soldiers in the flag team.

As for those who climb continuously and the stone barely reaches the end, in principle, such people do not need to be included. However, if the recruitment is less than 500, they can also join on the standby list.

Forget about those who cannot move a stone, or who have a stone fall after walking for a while.

Reglaf felt that his measures were very smart.

I think the local farmers' physical fitness can handle half of it.

Unfortunately, he overestimated. From the busy morning to the evening, the number of people who came to carry the stone was close to a thousand. In the end, including those who barely succeeded in carrying the stone, Reglaf only had more than 300 people.

He fulfills his promise, and those who are barely qualified are considered fully qualified.

At night, the unqualified guys were dismissed and they left the city dejectedly.

Reglaf and his men stayed in the barracks of the old garrison. The people ate as usual, and the large number of captured horses were also fed with oats. The three hundred men who were successfully recruited do not need to go home. They are having a feast in the city now and will go home tomorrow to announce the good news.

In the temporary palace of Reglaf, the brothers struggled to pull thick boiled oats in wooden bowls in front of the flickering oil lamps.

Regraf was half full and couldn't help but mention what happened during the day: "Three hundred people out of a thousand are qualified, which is too few!"

"You think there are too few." Bruno laughed and teased: "Do you really care about those ordinary farmers? How about you lower your standards and make up five hundred people."

"That won't work." Regraf shook his head, "If we recruit some weaklings, these people will be a burden on the battlefield."

"In my opinion, the people you recruit during the day are not very good." Bruno's words were impolite.

"They can still be saved, but we have been very successful in Shannon."

"But Shannon didn't go through a brutal raid."

This was where Regrave struggled. He sighed: "Anjou is so big, can I only recruit three hundred troops?"

"How about we really try to go to the Rhine Estuary?"

"No need. I can't trust those people now, they will still be with us

Our old buddy takes the credit. "While speaking, Reglaf glanced at Old Eric. "Hey, let's just say three hundred. Next, I hope Beikon and the others can bring back an army."

Bekon and others are not here. Although the knights are all loyal to Reglaf, it does not mean that they are really brothers with the blond Norman.

Based on habit, once the army rests, Reglaf will definitely get together with his veterans. Everyone speaks in Norse, and is completely different from the Frankish nobles in many habits.

Beikong and others live in the city, and the captured horseherds will follow the small nobles going south in the future. The horseman himself can ride a horse, and the opportunity to become a cavalryman and potentially become a landed knight through military exploits is presented to him. Of course, the horseman is willing to fight.

There are still quite a few technicians in Anjou. After enjoying the benefits, they are certainly no longer wary of Reglaf. He wants to recruit troops, especially blacksmiths and carpenters, and they must join.

The fact is that Reglaf has already recruited them, but technical personnel cannot be selected first, especially blacksmiths. Repairing weapons for the army is the first priority. Blacksmiths cannot be stationed on the front line of the battlefield except in times of crisis.

The three hundred Angevin peasants were selected to eat and drink in the city and rarely have a full meal.

The monarch they were loyal to had immediately proved their promise during the day with practical actions.

On the second day, after they had eaten well and slept well, no one handed out a token—a strip of yellow cloth with a hole burned with a pair of tongs.

It seems like this is just some kind of performance art by Reglaf. In fact, this is not the case. The hot holes will be used to string the hemp rope in the future. This and the cloth strips will also be tied to the spear head in the end.

As a tassel, it is one of the proofs of the King of Mercia's power.

Of course, the chosen ones would go back with such a token to announce the good news. They would display the token when they returned, and the hole made by the iron would also act as an anti-counterfeiting mark.

Regrave's conscription has not ended. If more people who consider themselves brave and physically capable are willing to serve as soldiers, the three gates of Anjou City will be opened for them.

The fact is that some people have been watching the development of the situation, and they will not think that Reglaf is a great new lord just because he suddenly implements benevolent policies.

There are conspiracy theories, maybe the new guys started the fire.

At first, the losers who left the city regretted that they failed in recruiting troops. The next day, the winners brought the good news.

Failure brings regret and envy. The successful person showed off again in his village, and some wary people came over to ask questions.

Especially poachers who are good at hiding in the forest. These people who wield bows and are good at making animal traps are driven by hunger to become forest hunters and outlaws, but no one likes this way of life like wild beasts, separated from villages and monasteries.

If the lord continues to search excessively, it will be natural for the hunters to become gangsters who gather in the mountains and forests.

In this way, the village of Fontaine in Sologne gradually escaped from the control of the Count of Orleans, and finally the entire village became a "forest bandit". They don't want to really be gangsters.

After arriving at the Ming Dynasty, they all surrendered collectively.

There are some men and women hiding in the forest near Anjou. If they were weak, they would not survive now. Now, the harsh living conditions have forced them to become strong and wild.

Whatever survives

Those who come are all elites, and these people are also the soldiers that Reglaf needs.

All figured out! The new Earl of Anjou does have a group of blond Normans under his command. Since even Norman pirates can sneak around openly, why should the brothers keep away from the new Earl.

They already had close contact with the village residents. Especially when the old garrison was frantically searching for people's wealth and wealth, the hunters hiding in the forest did not have the ability and dare not kill the garrison on horseback. Eatable food is delivered to the village, and the reputation of these forest people among the people is getting better and better.

In the past, people hiding in the forest would also steal villagers' property, but now they suddenly have the reputation of being thieves.

They don't want to be real thieves, and they also want to wash away the crimes of theft they have committed against villagers in the past.

All kinds of news were sent into the forest by some brave villagers, and some hunters disguised themselves and sneaked into the city.

In particular, they learned that there were some strange archers in the so-called Saxon army, even though these people were now stationed in Shannon, not far from Anjou.

The situation of those guys is almost exactly the same as mine. Now, the forest hero has been recruited as a soldier by the eldest son of the Duke of Saxony, and maybe he can become a minor nobleman in the future.

So, just as Reglaf was angry about the lack of recruitment, he didn't know that the situation was quietly changing.

A group of people who had been hiding in the forests of eastern Anjou for a long time appeared in the winter sunshine with their families in tow.

They seemed to have appeared out of thin air, staring at these guys covered in animal skins with pairs of eyes, almost thinking that they were standing brown bears.

The people watched silently as these "bears" walked toward the east gate of Anjou.

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Chapter end