Rise of Rurik - Chapter 702

[Chapter 703 The Western Sea Wolves Are in Action]

The division of the great Franks was doomed, and Charlemagne made a will, dividing the kingdom among his three sons.

However, the two sons died before him, and the only surviving direct son, Louis the Pious, inherited the throne.

Louis had three sons, Lothar, Pepin, and Ludwig.

The division of the kingdom has major internal factors. Charlemagne’s crazy expansion during his lifetime has made it difficult for the royal city of Aachen to command the entire huge kingdom.

At this time, dividing the kingdom into several pieces and distributing them to the sons must be the best choice, so that they all get benefits, and presumably the conflicts between the brothers will be eliminated, and based on the bond of blood, they can also fight against foreign enemies together.

Charlemagne had already drawn up a blueprint for splitting the kingdom, and Louis, who succeeded him, had to continue to implement it at the request of his three sons.

The eldest son Lothair’s largest territory is the successor King of Frank and King of Italy.

The second son, Pepin, led Aquitaine and was king of the southern part of the kingdom.

The third son Ludwig led the west and north of the kingdom and was the king of Bavaria and Saxony.

Louis the Pious made a plan to split the kingdom early on. The sons have already lived their own lives in their respective territories, and the fighting among them has subsided a lot.

If this has been the case, Louis can also live the rest of his life peacefully as a virtual overlord.

until the birth of that child.

The youngest son, Charlie, was born. It is a great blessing to have a son in old age.

At the beginning, the three brothers didn’t think that their fourth brother was special, until the king’s father decided on a whim to add the fourth child, and part of the territory originally allocated to the other sons would be given to Charlie.

The balance of power among the three sons was broken, and the father personally tore up the blueprint he had set for the division, and the power of the brothers was weakened. Who can guarantee that the old father will not continue to cut land on a whim?

Could it be that the little brother can still become the biggest threat to everyone?

The civil war resumed, the three sons imprisoned their father and younger brother Charlie, and the war between the armies continued.

In order to gain more victories on the battlefield, they are all looking for external reinforcements because they have confidence at the negotiating table.

But the civil war in the Kingdom of Franks, what does this have to do with the Baltic world in the north?

The relationship is too big.

In other words, if you win over the Danes to join your own forces to increase your military strength, no matter how bad it is, you can also attack the strength of other brothers.

This is what Ludwig did. He is the king of Bavaria and Saxony, and he has both civil and military skills to win over Denmark.

Eskil did voluntarily go to Denmark and further afield to spread the faith, but doing so requires a lot of financial support, otherwise how would he have the money to build a monastery in Hedeby and raise and educate those slave children?

The benefactor behind him is Prince Ludwig who has not yet become king.

If he conquered all the Danes by faith, and became the lord of the whole of Denmark in a sudden transformation, it would not be impossible to recruit a brave army here to sweep his brothers and become the king of the whole Franks.

In fact, Ludwig knew very well that the Danes were beasts that were difficult to tame, but as long as they were tamed, they would be excellent mercenaries in war.

This is a set of “literary” strategies, and you can’t rush for quick success.

Based on the letter sent back by Eskil, Ludwig learned of the existence of the “Duchy of Ross”.

“A rapidly rising dukedom, a very young duke, a large army that the Danes can’t do anything about. The young Duke Ross killed the Danish king himself, causing great chaos in Denmark…”

The content described in the letter was too bizarre, and Ludwig felt that Eskill was bragging. He also claimed that the work of spreading the faith in the extreme north was quite smooth, and so on, claiming that he was only one step away from influencing the young Duke of Ross.

“Bah! It’s a lack of money.”

Ludwig was quite generous in giving Eskil funds, and he learned that Denmark is indeed without a leader, which made things that were difficult to handle easier, such as Hedeby’s monastery, everything went well, and many Danish natives have been baptized.

However, it is still too slow to win by simply relying on the “text” strategy.

At this time, Harald Clark, the former Danish leader under his command, volunteered.

“Give me an army, and I will take my brothers back to my hometown. You make me the Duke of Denmark, and I honor you as king. I will baptize the whole of Denmark and fight for you.”

But Harald Clark was old, and after he lost power, he just brought dozens of cronies as mercenaries.

Ludwig didn’t want to use this person, because he had a bad reputation in Denmark, even if he was released, it would be equivalent to Frank’s war behavior in the eyes of the Danes.

Ludwig’s refusal was very decisive: “You are already old, but your nephew Horik Clarsson is in Flanders. Compared with you, he is more suitable to be the leader of Denmark, and he has such strength and This kind of willingness. Most importantly, I don’t need to spend an extra silver coin, I only need to ask the earls in the north to provide all support except help.”

Indeed, Harald Clark is already old, a great lord reduced to a mercenary, is he going to die silently in his sad old age?

He had already worn the cross, so he no longer cared about the way a soldier died, and his master Ludwig also gave him the bottom line, that is, if he couldn’t lift an axe, he would go to the monastery for the elderly.

But Horik is young and strong, and his old subordinates are also brave.

He was conferred the title of Earl of Friesland by Ludwig. Of course, this was only a nominal canonization, and no one except Ludwig really took this title seriously.

It is true that Horik is not a real enfeoffment noble, and the authentic family of the Earl of Friesland exists safely.

The “Earl of Friesland” of Horik occupied the city of Durist, a small seaside town that was once normal, but now it is being run as a Viking city, a den of pirates, which is naturally the way to go. What Derwig wanted to see.

Because Horik, the “royal pirate”, mostly robbed the territory of his brother Lothair, and part of the looted property and military supplies would be supplied to the master.

This round-faced, stocky young man was far more sensible than his uncle.

But the irony is that this person is also a religious Christian.

It has not been a day or two since Horik longed to bring his brothers back to his hometown in Denmark!

“I was destined to be the king of Denmark, but I have fallen to this point.”

To be a figurehead earl for Prince Ludwig of the Franks, where would you like to be the king of Denmark?

Besides, why should Denmark accept Frankish rule?

Having such thoughts is not because of his rebellious character, but because Charlemagne was about to annex Denmark when he expanded to the north 30 years ago.

Memories of horror persisted. The Danes could not recognize a man who had surrendered to the Franks as a leader. The Danes were eager for revenge, and realistically speaking, eager to rob the Franks of their wealth.

Horik has been conscientiously helping Ludwig fight his brother Lothair. As for his true inner thoughts, Ludwig does not know.

The news that Horik is about to return to Denmark has been circulating for a long time, but there is no news of any action in two years?

Could it be nothing more than a boring intimidation?

He is waiting, waiting for the promise of his master Ludwig. He is sure that his master will not let the leaderless Denmark go, and if he wants to intervene, he will definitely participate.

He didn’t dare to act rashly, for he was afraid that if he led his brothers northward, his wealth and personnel in Durist would be accepted by Ludwig’s army in the blink of an eye.

The next parchment document was delivered to the coastal port of Durrist in a hurry. The round Horik spread out the document himself, glanced at it, and then happily rolled it up.

Because Ludwig made a promise that he would restrain the army and subordinate lords and not interfere with his dream of counterattacking Denmark.

Everything is ready!

What Horick lacked was this promise from the prince.

A group of pirates who had been entrenched for a long time decided to leave. The local Flanders noticed the strangeness of the Normans and were already secretly celebrating.

The Frankish nobles knew Denmark and some other tribes in the north, but the general public had no knowledge of the outside world, which was a day’s walk from the village.

The Flanders in the north of the kingdom have long been ruled by the expanding Franks, and they have all converted. Although their culture, customs and language are very similar to those of their neighbors, the Saxons, their obedience is also visible to the Frankish king.

Now, Flanders (the Netherlands in a broad sense) is the domain of Prince Ludwig.

Imprisoned, Louis the Pious could not exercise any power.

Ludwig was the uncrowned king of the kingdom’s northern and eastern frontiers.

A group of hungry wolves that have been fed for a long time are finally about to start a new activity. Horik’s Viking army is already starting their longships and heading north directly along the warm south.

When Ludwig’s order was passed to Horick, the real Earls of Flanders, Hamburg, and Bremen, the great northern lords, got the news and accepted a very wonderful order.

The nobles were ordered to stand still, and Horik, who was sure to act, led his troops back to Denmark to fight for power.

Regardless of whether this is a trick or a clever trick, it is an arrow that leaves the string. Prince Ludwig issued a decree. He can only pray to God that this nominally very devout believer, the Danish Horik who has been in exile for many years, won the Council of Powers. Continue to be a hound who is true to himself.

A big drama is going on in Durist Port. The so-called pious Horik actually wants to sacrifice the blood of slaves to Odin according to the Danish etiquette.

This round-faced and stocky leader has five hundred pirates under his command. They are all blood-licking people. The main targets of their attacks are merchant ships from the fiefdoms of Prince Lothair and Prince Pepin. This kind of thing is naturally Ludwig The prince strongly supported it.

Due to geographical advantages, the raids on the Kingdom of Wessex in Britain have become more frequent in recent years. They captured many peasant women from the British Isle and became a kind of toy.

Five hundred Viking warriors who frequently carry out raids are a formidable Nordic force in today’s era. Naturally, Horik is not the only one with this family background, and he does not hesitate to use local resources.

Some Flanders, Saxons, and Franks joined him.

Especially the Saxons, who had realized that the Horik chief was only a false conversion, that he had not really become a Frankish dog.

A considerable number of Saxons are eager to get rid of the control of the Frankish nobles, and they cannot forget Charlemagne’s intentional killing of his people.

Open defiance had failed, and large numbers of Saxons had escaped the Schleswig Wall into Denmark.

Some Saxons learned that Horik, an exiled Danish nobleman, had taken possession of Flanders, so they dragged their families to surrender.

Horik easily recruited as many as 900 Saxon warriors, because he publicly promised that his Saxon people could start a new life in Denmark after the great work was completed.

As for the small group of Franks in the ranks, they are pure villains, criminals of the kingdom, and simple robbers.

With the protection of Prince Ludwig, Horik has always been the royal pirate, and it is normal for him to have another group of bandits under his command.

A group of people entrenched in Durist, so that the nearby Flanders villages not only had to pay tithes to the orthodox earl, but also paid higher tribute to Horik.

The former will imprison those who do not pay taxes, while the latter’s method for villages that do not pay or default on tribute is to arrest people as slaves.

No, an altar was set up on the pier.

Even though the sea breeze was mild, five Flemish farmers were shivering and were blindfolded and ordered to kneel down.

Armed men stood around the altar. A large number of them wore iron helmets that covered their entire faces, and a few of them also had neck guards made of iron rings.

A large number of soldiers wear Frankish-style armor, which is based on locally available cowhide, leatherized and placed with iron plates, and fixed with rivets.

The defensive power of this kind of iron sheet leather armor is passable, and the advantage is that its production cost is not expensive. The regular infantry of the Frankish Kingdom is widely equipped, and the pirate army is even more so.

After living in this place for many years, a group of Danish rogues have also begun to Frankenize.

Likewise, what they called “Normans” began to spread to the surrounding areas, especially the Flemish people, who thought of pirates and forest robbers when they thought of Normans.

Armed with spears, longswords, throwable hatchets, and bows, Horik’s Viking brethren are useful mercenaries.

It’s just that the Saxons with more numbers are much worse equipped, and even they are more like classic Vikings.

Most of them wear burqas, a few of them wear cowhide to make do with armor, and most of them have no armor.

They are a group of light infantry, and if there is a reliable number of people in a big battle, they will take advantage.

The Frankish and Flanders bandits with the fewest numbers have all kinds of equipment. One of their advantages is that they have no wives and children, and they only want to make themselves happy.

No, when Horik decided to sacrifice Odin with five poor men, the executioners were pure Frankish bandits.

After all, there was still a sterling silver cross hanging on his chest, and Horick was a little afraid, not daring to do anything here.

But this time, they will land in Denmark and go straight to the Robard tribe, the overlord of the strait, to control and conquer the whole of Denmark, and even exert power over Norway.

There is Odin’s territory, and actions must be permitted by God Odin!

The round-faced Horik held his iron sword high and walked aggressively around the temporary altar.

He shouted directly in his native Danish: “Enough is enough! Now all the conditions are ripe, warriors of Odin, raise the Raven Flag, I will take you back to Denmark, and we will all become rich… …”

The people were shouting and cheering, beating their bucklers, and stomping furiously.

Amidst the extreme noise, Horik signaled to the Frankish bandits who were about to do something: “God Odin needs blood! Let’s do it!”

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The big ax suddenly fell, and the human head rolled to the ground cleanly.

Blood-licking madmen love this frightening bright red the most, and their cheers are at their peak!

Horik assembled 1,700 adult warriors, including many veteran pirates.

There were more than two hundred teenagers, and what they heard and saw was the deeds of pirates going to sea to make a fortune. There were no Christian monks preaching here in Durist, and the teenagers felt that Lord Horik, who was outside, was trustworthy.

All they saw were pirates who made a lot of money and were happy with their grievances. If this group of people lived a happy life, they could follow suit.

Finally, a team of up to 2,000 men gathered in the bay on more than 100 longboats.

A banner of abstract ravens stitched in white cloth flew from Horik’s flagship.

Many old and young women and children remained in Durist, and all the strong men came out.

Horik had already figured out that this group of mainly Saxon women and children would also be taken to Denmark after the event was completed. After all, these people were already the basic base of his future rule.

As for the loss of Durist Port because of this, it doesn’t matter if you lose it, the port doesn’t matter until you evacuate the personnel and materials afterwards.

This port has been in decline, and everything will be better when he restores his rule over Hedeby.

Overnight, the Norman pirate problem that plagued the true Earl of Flanders ended?

Maybe so.

The earl will abide by Prince Ludwig’s orders, and the earl’s army will guard the territory and stand still.

He wished that the great pirate Horik would be killed in Denmark, but the priest hoped that Horik would succeed, thus making it possible to Christianize Denmark.

The forces of all parties have ulterior motives, and they all feel that they can use each other to achieve their own wishes and obtain huge benefits.

A group of western sea wolves went straight to Denmark, Horik was aggressive, and the terrifying fleet continued to go north.

The merchant ships entering and leaving the fjords and entering the inland city of Hamburg all hid. The Earl of Hamburg ordered the merchant ships to enter the port to take refuge.

The Earl did nothing else.

The Earl couldn’t guarantee whether Horik, the pirate with a large army in his hand, would suddenly become a bad dog that bit his master. As a military nobleman, defense was necessary.

The Earl watched the fleet rush towards the northernmost point of the Jutland Peninsula, and he took a deep breath…

[End of this Chapter]