Rise of Rurik Chapter 944

The messenger finally reached Ludwig's barracks in Worms.

The bad news from the north made the prince overwhelmed. Faced with the new situation, he had to hold a military meeting to discuss the unexpected situation with several generals.

If it is just a messenger Express Malay, he will also consider the authenticity of the matter.

Now, even the messenger of the Bishop of Cologne has also sent special information, the so-called death of the northern saint Esquil, which proves that the war broke out in the Danish world.

Even Eskil was dead, so Ludov, Count of Westphalia, must have died.

Could it be that all this is the conspiracy of the leader of the Danish locality, Horrick?

When the civil war entered a state of anxiety, Ludwig had not assembled enough troops to defeat his elder brother Lothair. Now that the weather is turning cold, the army is bound to spend the winter at the southernmost tip of its territory.

Ludwig's main forces were placed in the southern regions such as Worms and Mainz. He wanted to take Strasbourg and asked all the local Franks to be loyal to him, thus completing the strategic victory over his elder brother. suppress.

In the northwest, the Earl of Westphalia was forcibly sent to the northern Danish world by himself, which was a kind of disposition similar to exile.

The head of the count family was Ludov, the descendant of the rebel Widukind. With the passage of time, it seems that this family has no reason to rebel again.

The point is that even if the Westphalia Count swears allegiance to himself, Ludwig cannot trust Ludov because of the political situation.

Aachen, the capital of the Frankish kingdom, is not far to the north of Westphalia. Aachen and Cologne are indeed the core areas of Frankish monarchy, and they are also firmly controlled by the real king Lothair in de jure.

So far, could it be that his strategic deployment has been completely broken by the sudden outbreak of war in Denmark?

A late summer rain caused the temperature to plummet, and the hazy weather made the East Frankish soldiers stationed in Worms in a bad mood.

They suffered a loss in the battle at Lao Teng, the current front line was deadlocked, and the soldiers thought that this year's battle was over.

A large number of farmers of Frankish ethnicity were ordered to serve, and they were eager to return to their hometowns to reunite with their families for the winter.

Those Saxon peasants who were forced into the army knew that they wanted to go back to their hometown and had no way out. They were unwilling to risk their lives for the civil war between the great Frankish nobles. Now that the battle was at a stalemate, their attitude immediately became extremely negative.

On the negative side, those Sorbians (part of the West Slavs) who were forcibly packed into the army were forced to work as slave laborers, and when necessary, they were given an axe, and they only thought of Lothair's Frankish army attacking with only a single coat. , the predicament of the ninth death makes their loyalty a joke.

Things have been bad for Ludwig, and the current situation is a disaster.

It was a bleak night after the rain, and Charlemagne's winter palace in Worms was now Ludwig's residence and command center. This city and the granary in the nearby city of Mainz are the foundation for maintaining the stability of the army. In order to boost the sluggish morale, this year's harvest season, based on the sufficient rations of his subordinates, can ensure that the army can remain stationed.

Two noble generals were secretly summoned by him in the stone castle in the city.

They were Robert, Count of Rheingau, and Harald Clark, the former leader of Denmark.

To be summoned by the prince alone, there must be a major event, but recently a news spread like wildfire, the so-called uncontrolled war broke out in Denmark and spread to Saxony, which made the two people in the meeting nervous.

Ludwig gave the two of them roast meat, bread, and ale for a treat, and finally mentioned something that everyone was concerned about.

The prince's face was gloomy, and his beard couldn't hide his sorrow.

"Maybe you have already heard some news." He sat at the wooden table, resting his chin in his hands. "The news that has been circulating in the military recently is half-truth, but some things are true."

"Is it about the outbreak of war in Denmark?" the elderly Harald Clark asked cautiously.

"Indeed, it's your native Denmark. Your disloyal nephew, Horrick, is likely to rebel again. Damn, does that man want to be beaten again by me?"

There is a threat in Ludwig's words, but also helplessness.

Harald Clark wouldn't make up for his nephew, after all, the two had become strangers for so many years. He hurriedly expressed his loyalty: "Although my subordinates and I are Danes, our loyalty to the king is true, and I swear to God."

"Indeed, you mercenaries are indeed loyal. Therefore, I recruited you to give you a major task." So Ludwig's eyes were more aimed at Robert, Earl of Rheingau: "My dear friend Gather your cavalry, immediately go to West**, and bring Ludov's family here. You have to continue north and go to Hamburg to help Robert stabilize the situation."

"This... Your Majesty, are all those news true?" Robert asked nervously.

"Mostly true. Horrick is likely to rebel again. What a shameful person. I can't bear such a vicious backstab while I'm still weak in crusade north! I have sufficient information to prove that Liu Duo, Earl of West** The husband was killed by him, as was Esquier, the saint of the north. Those Danish troops will attack Hamburg, and they may cause the Saxon nobles to rebel. I will send you a cavalry to the north to control the situation! Listen, I can't stand the chaos in the north at this moment."

Obviously this was a risky chore, and of course Robert didn't want to leave his fief to venture north, but he had no choice.

"It's just my own cavalry...I lack confidence." Robert told the truth: "I heard that Ludov went to Denmark with five hundred cavalry. Couldn't so many cavalry suppress the Danes' rebellion? I am now You can also gather 500 cavalry, but..."

"Give you a thousand more!" Ludwig said with a sullen face.

"Your Majesty. The trip north is very risky."

"Then I'll give you two thousand rides! This is my last bottom line." Ludwig got up in anger, and could not help but stand by the window of the stone room, and told his two subordinates with his back: "There is still a lot of unclear information, which cannot be tolerated. The argument is that there is a war going on in our north. Now the Holy See is very concerned about the life and death of the saints in the north, and the safety of the believers in the north. Lothair's army will not attack us in winter, Robert!"

"exist!"

"I entrust you with the prerogative. The two thousand cavalry I brought from Regensburg are under your command. You must gather two thousand five hundred cavalry, and then gather some infantry from your own fief to go north."

"As ordered."

"And you." Ludwig added: "Harald Clark, that Horrick is your nephew, but unfortunately he is a vicious traitor. Take your mercenaries and go north and prove yourself with your actual actions. loyalty."

Times have changed, and Harald Clark has grayed out his beard. As Ludwig's loyal dog, he must prove his loyalty at all times in order to survive. Now he not only wants to find a way out for himself, but also for his brothers.

In the late summer world, Ludwig's army began to divide.

His army in Worms and Mainz remained at 30,000 men, many of them elite from Regensburg.

After all, Lothair has a legitimate past. He has a strong appeal, so he placed 20,000 troops in Strasbourg. Major national towns such as Reims and Aachen house heavy troops, and even Cologne has a small garrison.

Unlike Ludwig, who concentrated his main forces in one place, Lothair's domain stretched from Flanders-on-the-Sea (Netherlands) all the way to southern Italy. Place troops in the eastern region, and then divide the troops in the west. For example, the army was placed on the Isle of Frank to control the entire Paris, and the suppression of the younger brother Charlie was completed strategically. He did take advantage of the macro, but the too long and narrow territory leaked everywhere. Even if he had the most troops in the country, he had to divide his troops.

The two brothers were betting that Ludwig would not attack in the winter. Lothair bet that the second brother would not attack in winter.

Ludwig completely concealed the crisis in his northern Saxony territory. He began to block the news in the army, and several crow-mouthed soldiers and civilians were hanged in public on the charge of bewitching the public. Thunder suppressed bad public opinion.

As a result, no one dared to discuss why Robert, Earl of Rheingau, had the right to lead the king's elite cavalry away.

From the 30,000 combat troops, 3,000 people were divided, and most of them were still elites. Ludwig's move instantly caused his army's strength to plummet. After all, there were only 6,000 cavalry capable of fighting.

Robert, Count of Rheingau, was ordered to lead the cavalry to the north at the highest speed possible. As for the infantry, he didn't bring them at all.

In the same way, the Danish mercenaries who had been Frankish all learned to ride horses under the leadership of Harald Clark. Three thousand of them, on inferior horses, followed Robert's footsteps as mounted infantry.

This is the 3,000 cavalry, and they are greeted by a journey equivalent to more than 250 kilometers.

They did their best to reach Dormont, where the mansion of the Earl of West** was located.

The huge Frankish army suddenly arrived, but Robert just arrived here when he found the empty village. He didn't care at first until he arrived at the earl's mansion.

He had intended to inform the family of the Count of Westphalia that the life and death of Count Ludov was unknown. Although this is cruel, he is doing things according to the order.

The town of Dormont, and even the local monastery, was as empty as a dead city.

What the **** is going on here? Was it of course afraid of an attack from Lothair's army? impossible! How could Lothair desecrate the monastery?

After a simple inspection, more fantastic things were discovered by him.

In the cemetery of the monastery, a great man rests here.

Robert and Harald Clark stood with the army on purpose, facing an empty tomb, and damaged inscriptions. The stone carvings indicate that this is the tomb of Widukind, and the stele was also carved by Charlemagne. Now the stone carvings have been destroyed, the tombs have been dug, and the coffins have disappeared.

Things are too weird!

"I have ordered the relocation of Ludov's family to Mainz. If Ludov really dies in Denmark, his wife will be taken care of and King Ludwig will be the godfather of his son. How do I do business now?! "

Hearing, Harald Clark said disturbedly: "Perhaps, it was Lothair's actions. The Count of Westphalia is a Saxony, he refuses to be loyal to Lothair, and his territory is still near Aachen, isn't it? Kill yourself."

"Maybe. If Lothair did attack the monastery, then he really doesn't deserve to be king. Maybe he really should, so that our king has a chance to be the new Frankish king. Come on, there's no reason to stay here any longer. ."

Robert felt that things were very strange, and it was obvious to the naked eye that the sparsely populated Westphalia region was even more withered.

The cavalry rested here and continued their journey north. In order to ensure their whereabouts were sufficiently secretive, they did not pass through neutral towns such as Cologne and Düsseldorf, which were completely managed by priests, and followed the road that the traveler took to head towards Brei. May's direction dashed, and the journey to Hamburg was drawing to a close.

As a result, on the way north, they suddenly met a group of fleeing villagers.

That is how the matter? These villagers drove ox carts and dragged carts, and they went all the way north with their softness? Don't they know that Bremen, which has been ravaged by the Normans, is desolate? Could it be that they are going to Bremen to pioneer?

Things are so abnormal! When Robert's Frankish cavalry advancing rapidly with the cross flag high, it immediately caused panic among the villagers.

It is natural for the villagers to be afraid of the army, but now it is still necessary to control them and ask what is going on.

The huge cavalry team easily forced the villagers to settle down, and Robert was shocked to see the figure of the priest inside. A bald, middle-aged priest waved a cross tied with wooden branches, calling on the cavalry not to kill people.

kill? Do not. Robert just wanted to figure out the situation.

Just hearing the news from some villagers, the information completely subverted his cognition.

He was shocked and trembling all over!

"What's going on? It wasn't Horlick who rebelled, but Ludov? That Ludov actually led all the Saxons to rebel against King Ludwig?"

"These fleeing villagers are all inhabitants of the Saxon villages of Westphalia? They have recently received news that they are starting to move their families?"

"All Liudov's family has been evacuated? All those who dug up Widukind's grave are his blood descendants, Liudov himself?!"

In an instant, these evacuated villagers became enemies. They did not renounce their faith in God, and by moving northward they were betraying Ludwig.

Robert, who knew a lot about the inside story, rode on his horse and sighed, saying to himself: "Your Majesty, you are worried that the counts of Westphalia will defect to Lothair. Now they have not defected to Lothair, nor are they loyal to you. The Saxons are actually there During this period, the whole family rebelled. Am I going to Hamburg to stabilize the situation, or to quell the rebellion?”

Robert was in a dilemma. Only one thing was true of what he had heard and what had been conveyed to Worms and Mainz - there was war in the north, and the submissive rebels.

The difference is that the rebels were not Horlick of Denmark, but Ludov and all the Saxons.

The information was seriously distorted and wrong in the process of transmission, and when he went north, he was hitting a stone wall with his head. But what can be done.

Robert of the Rheingau had a devout faith, these Saxon villagers converted to God, and if a butcher knife was raised against them, they would go to hell. Times have changed, Charlemagne can still take **** revenge on the Saxons who maintain their barbaric beliefs, and he has no reason to do any violence to them after conversion. He even restrained his army from contacting these villagers, but accelerated the horseshoe northward.

After all, this is 3,000 cavalry, and it seems that Liudov will rebel with a high probability, so will he immediately admit to the strong cavalry?

The Earl of Rheingau of Robert and the Earl of Westphalia of Ludov are geographically adjacent to each other. Both sides are the rulers of the large area, and even Robert has a deep memory of Liudov's eldest son Poluno, and he has begun to marry his youngest daughter, or try to arrange his youngest son to go to Liudov's little boy in the camp. daughter.

This is a marriage between nobles. Robert has never been malicious to Ludov. He is very willing to have a good talk with him and hear about why he rebelled, and even persuade him to rein in his horse, but he can't face the road during the kingdom's civil war. Dewish stabbed the knife in the back.

Listening to what the villagers said, Ludov assembled the Saxon army in Hamburg, and called himself the Duke of Saxony, to prove to Ludwig his determination to restore his country with more and more armed forces.

How many real words can ordinary villagers have?

He should have sent a messenger galloping back to Worms to meet his king, considering that an error in the transmission of information could lead to an untimely and irreversible war.

Robert decided to go straight to Hamburg to confront Ludov in public, but subjectively would not take the initiative.

Then, Bremen, which theoretically turned into a wasteland, encountered a strange army stationed here, some ships moored on the Weser River, and even people who seemed to be waiting to board.

Obviously, those weird people also noticed their existence. The horn sounded loudly for a while, like a signal to prepare for battle.

Take a good look at the strange ships, and Harald Clark is taken aback: "That's our longship!"

"Longship?!"

"That's what you call the Norman ships! That's our Danish longship! Ah! And the flags of the big ships in it."

Robert narrowed his eyes to see clearly: "It's like an X coat of arms."

"Oh god, they're Rus!"

"Ross?"

"They're not from Liudov!" Harald Clark said fiercely, "they were the ones who burned down Bremen! I informed Denmark, and I know very well."

"How? Fight?" Robert asked.

"Fight! The Bremen Hunter family was killed by them, and this group of savages must pay the price. Before their ships can leave, we will catch them by surprise."

"Then do it!"

As a result, this huge Frankish cavalry blew the horns in unison, and the 100-strong team led the order. Suddenly, the cavalry array began to line up and advance...

At the same time, Rurik, who had completed the settlement of the north and led the main force of the fleet to reach the Elbe River, had made an appointment with Liudov. The Rus army sent a squadron to the Weser River and picked up allegiance at the ruins of Bremen. Saxons from the South in Ludov.

In those days, Arik and Ragnar partnered to burn Bremen. This time, it is true that Arik led the sea team to act as a good man on the former site of Bremen.

Is he really a good man? On the contrary, standing on the ruins of Bremen, the remnants of the first flag team and the young cubs of the second flag team collectively praised Arik as "the famous ruthless man of Ross". For Arik, he felt that this was the devastated weeds, and it was the proof of his heroic battle. The place is here to help the defeated Duke Ludov of Saxony, commanding the Saxon army, and quickly transporting the Saxon refugees who are very tired on foot by sea ~www.mtlnovel.com~ is also a benevolent act of selling to Ludov.

Of course, none of this is free.

Under the arrangement of King Rurik, Arik acted as a "smuggler", and in exchange, Ludov had to pay the Russian army labor fees. There is no other expense, that is, the newly harvested wheat this year and the existing cattle and sheep.

Liudoff's family took the sea route in Bremen, changed their previous dawdling, and arrived in Hamburg by boat in just one day.

The Russ army used such actions to prove the friendship between Russ and Saxony, and Rurik had won the trust of Ludov.

So looking at the son and young daughter of the Duke of Saxony, considering that he is also carrying his de facto eldest son, Regraf, the real Crown Prince of Mercia.

Rurik moved some thoughts...

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Chapter end