Rise of Rurik - Chapter 991

[Chapter 993]

At the beginning, Ludwig was quite skeptical about the enemy capturing a group of Frankish civilians, but now that he saw hundreds of people being rescued, that skepticism did not disappear, but turned into another kind of doubt in an instant.

Why?

!

Why did the Normans and the traitors free the captives?

Don’t they even plan to ask for a ransom?

still is……

Ludwig suspected that there was a spy in it, and he ordered the army to check these people.

The soldiers were defeated and encountered heavy snowstorms. Although they persisted until now, the morale of the army was not high, but they did not have a serious sense of failure.

After all, the battle situation is like this, whether it is marching or retreating, everyone has to face endless snow.

Even if a lot of military rations are lost, the remaining rations of the entire army can last for a period of time, so you don’t have to worry too much until the rations are exhausted.

Soldiers rudely ordered the rescued people to explain what they had experienced with the enemy. Many soldiers accused them of being traitors and even betraying their faith.

The rescued people shouted their wishes one after another, and they all swore not to betray their faith. At the same time, they also begged for the same thing: there are still a large number of people in the hands of the enemy.

Soldiers always crush people in the snow, push them to the ground and force them to confess but betrayal.

There were even some soldiers who made a fuss about those women.

It is unrealistic for the Frankish army to easily believe that they have not betrayed. The army also took the opportunity to vent their grievances with rough “questions” to the released people.

Things were messed up, and Ludwig stayed in the warm safe house, and looked indifferent to the actions of his subordinates.

In the end, the Archbishop of Cologne really couldn’t stand it anymore.

The priests carrying the black wooden cross ordered the soldiers to spare all those who were rescued. Those people saw that the Archbishop of Cologne was here in disbelief, and all came together to plead for the archbishop’s salvation.

“You… are all lost lambs, you are guilty. However, you can confess to me, and God will redeem your souls.”

Ludwig had no time to pay attention to the rescued captives for the time being. The snowfall had stopped, the Elbe River was completely frozen, and a favorable opportunity for war loomed in front of him.

He invited his generals and leading nobles to his safe house, and was busy planning the next battle.

Everything was guessed by Rurik, Liudov and others. Ludwig still had a huge army. It was not easy for him to gather troops, and it was even more difficult to find a chance for a decisive battle.

Although Ludwig has not yet paid attention to the demands of the released persons, the “war book” has already been held by him.

The Normans and traitors desire a decisive battle, so fight!

Although it is strange to launch a decisive battle in a snowy world, despite the excitement of the generals, a very real problem is in front of everyone-the time for military rations to support is not much.

Ludwig looked into the eyes of all the generals and said seriously: “We must resolve this war before Christmas. We have suffered many setbacks in the past because the enemy has an advantage in ships. Now that the river is frozen, our war horses can Galloping freely, cavalry and infantry can pass directly through the Elbe River. We were worried that the river would not freeze this winter. Now, God is helping us! Just like Moses prayed and God parted the Red Sea, God is now freezing the river for us. God is on our side One side! The whole army must hurry up and prepare, and you will be given three days, and we will launch a general offensive in three days.”

The rolling waves of the Red Sea and the torrential Elbe River are fatal obstacles on the way.

The generals and nobles didn’t know what the scene of “parting the Red Sea” described in the scriptures was. Their understanding of the “Red Sea” was literal, and it was all a miracle of God.

Now, after Ludwig’s instruction, they believe that the frozen Elbe River is also a miracle.

The generals and nobles unified their thinking, and three days later it will be the day when the army will move out, and ice and snow will no longer be an obstacle.

It was not until Ludwig’s order had been delivered that Archbishop Hardebold came to see the king who decided the war.

The safe house is still warm and pleasant, but it is just a private house, a king lives here, Ludwig feels that it is too low-profile.

The Archbishop of Cologne felt that the current situation of the army was terrible. He would think of his poor life as a trainee priest when he was young, and he would not expect to be frozen in an unknown village when he was old.

“It’s the bishop, you’re here.” Seeing the archbishop standing alone in the room, Ludwig was respectful.

“yes.”

“Have any lessons for me?”

“I don’t dare…” The archbishop still had some lingering thoughts: “It’s those who were rescued. I listened to all their confessions, and I guarantee with my soul that they did not voluntarily do things for the Norman pirates and Saxon traitors.”

“Oh?” Ludwig was taken aback, “So they were forced to do something? Sure enough, they were guilty.”

“We all have original sins. They have no treachery, no new sins. They have told me a great deal about the Normans, and it may be to your advantage.”

“Go ahead.”

Therefore, the Archbishop of Cologne relayed from his own memory, and he also selectively reported that he did not mention anything that was not good for the church.

The Normans have a strong army and many ships, and the Saxons all recognize the Count of Westphalia as the Duke of Saxony. The heavy cavalry sent before were wiped out and the horses were also eaten…

A lot of news indicated that the enemy was strong, and Ludwig slapped his thigh in anger: “Enough! Are you talking and doing things for them? Are they so strong?”

The archbishop hurriedly took a step back, trying to hide his timidity: “I’m just repeating. And those people also came up with a strange news.”

“what news?”

“It is Baudouin, Count of Flanders.”

“That guy? What’s the matter?”

“Although I can’t believe it, those people pointed out that Baudouin has been captured and is in the city of Hamburg. Moreover, the country of Flanders was attacked not long ago, and the Normans destroyed Antwerp. Land area has been occupied by the Normans!”

“This…” Ludwig who was standing couldn’t stop shaking: “This is ridiculous. Could it be that Baudouin also betrayed? That guy, I couldn’t trust him at all, I didn’t expect him to betray my faith?! What if It’s true, I…must have this war.”

“Of course there will be a decisive battle, but Baudouin was only captured, and there is no evidence that he defected to the Normans. There are still a large number of our prisoners in Hamburg, and their families are controlled by the enemy. I beseech God to save those Therefore, Lamb, God has entrusted you with this glorious mission. Save them and you… will become Patron Saint.”

“The patron saint?” Hearing this word, Ludwig couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat.

“Yes. You will succeed, and I will apply to Rome for you. You will be the custodian of the faith and have reason to be patron saint.”

Ludwig never thought about winning the title of “Emperor of the All Roman People”, he dared not compare with his grandfather Charlemagne.

The root cause of the civil war today is to resist the elder brother’s reduction of the domain. As long as the elder brother agrees to abolish the reduction of the domain and agree to the three-part kingdom, his East Franks will immediately withdraw their troops and cease the war.

It all boils down to brotherly strife, but with the title “Sant” in front of his own name, everything is beautiful.

Ludwig was completely persuaded that he aspired to be a saint.

The two parties seem to have made a deal, but the inside story of some transactions is unknown to the party involved Ludwig.

Because the Bishop of Utrecht and the Archbishop of the North, whether for security reasons or simply participating in the rebellion, the nobles of the lands where their parishes were located became rebels.

In particular, Archbishop Eskil of the North is the patron saint, and what he protects is “until the end of the northern world.” Archbishop Hardebold of Cologne is equivalent to his status.

The area involved in the rebellion thus coincided geographically with the entire northern parish.

Could it be said that the Northern Saint joined the war against Frank?

And so it was, for the rebellious Saxons had not betrayed their faith.

In principle, it can be said that this war will involve the entire Holy See. The Archbishop of Cologne, out of rational considerations, does not want the Holy See to be forced to mediate and make things very embarrassing.

After all, these grandsons of Charlemagne are not easy-going, especially this Ludwig, who imprisoned his father, King Louis, who was still alive three years ago, and the Holy See asked for his release, but Ludwig turned a deaf ear.

It is a crime to release him only when his father is exhausted. It is a pity that the Holy See cannot judge the Frankish king who owns the “Emperor of the All Roman People”.

Because the other party involved in the incident is the current legal king Lothair, who especially maintains the noble title of emperor. If necessary, his soldiers and horses can take Cologne within three days.

The Archbishop of Cologne couldn’t afford to mess with these ruthless people. In order to ensure that the Diocese of Cologne continued to preserve its power in all aspects and to protect the face of the Holy See, the Archbishop desperately needed a decisive battle.

As long as Ludwig’s Frankish army wins, no matter how the rebellion is settled in the future, it will be an internal struggle only seen by the noble lords, and has nothing to do with the Holy See.

So it is business as usual in the diocese of Utrecht and the northern diocese.

The army is eager for revenge in a decisive battle, and the released people are eager to rescue their loved ones after the decisive battle.

Priests should have avoided war, but this time the Archbishop of Cologne became a resolute main fighter. Ludwig was surprised and admired by his transformation.

[In other words, currently the best app for reading and listening to books, change the source app, www.huanyuanapp.com to install the latest version.

】

The Frankish barracks completely unified their thinking, and a decisive battle was about to break out.

Ludwig will lead the whole army to attack in order to make a decisive battle.

He didn’t even want to leave a way out for himself.

Therefore, the day before the agreed departure, the Frankish army assembled.

All the soldiers from each camp gathered in the front camp, so the land under the snow-covered pine forest was trampled hard, and soldiers wandering back and forth could be seen everywhere.

They each took their own weapons and equipment, and many of them were also bloated. They used more cloth to keep out the cold, and even tore a batch of sackcloth for tents to wrap around their bodies.

Ludwig knew all this. He had made some preparations to keep out the cold, but he didn’t know that he was still not well prepared when he was attacked by the university.

Even though he lost a lot in a defeat on the banks of the Elbe River before, according to the reports of various generals and nobles, he still has 14,000 people who can participate in the decisive battle.

Compared with the loss of a full 10,000 people before departure, such a loss ratio is too outrageous. Fortunately, the strength of his elite army is especially strong. The lost troops are either from Sorb slave soldiers or peasant soldiers. Those soldiers are not capable of fighting bloody battles. However, the key to everything lies in whether your elite can still fight.

Ludwig took a good look at it, and his elite was indeed an elite. The severe winter did not dampen their spirit, and the number of elite soldiers in armor was still close to 5,000.

“Those Saxons are also armed peasants. It will take a long time for them to become strong soldiers. The key lies in the Norman army. Their strength may not be as large as mine. When they completely lose the cover of rivers and ships, when my army takes If they disperse, I will win!”

No one advised Ludwig, and he had no staff around him.

The European aristocratic wars in this era were generally simple, all relying on the personal planning of the noble generals, and the success or failure was entirely borne by the nobles themselves.

Ludwig passively became the dictator of military planning. He didn’t think it was inappropriate, he just thought of a simple and crude solution to the problem.

Now, the Frozen Forest is full of Frankish troops. They are densely packed, with a total number of as many as 14,000.

The men of those freed were recruited and given arms to fight as a militia.

Ludwig gathered all those who could fight, and those who suffered from severe frostbite were thrown into the camp as if abandoned.

The elite soldiers gathered densely to listen to Ludwig wearing the golden crown on his final pre-war mobilization.

Prior to this, the army had already made both material and psychological preparations. Many people were very worried before the decisive battle, but when they thought of the humiliation they had encountered before and what this war meant, most of those worried people put their fear of death Forget it.

This is a glorious showdown!

Safeguard the holy faith!

Fight against barbarians and traitors!

The glory belongs to Frank, to rescue his kindred who were captured by the barbarians.

…

Ludwig emphasized many slogans, and the soldiers cheered constantly.

They didn’t run far after their first defeat, but in fact they didn’t have the ability to run far.

If the land was not covered by the heather forest, the camp of the Frankish army could be seen from a distance from the heights of Hamburg.

The Frankish army was cheering, and the shouts of tens of thousands of people turned into a dull roar, as if the sound came from the earth.

The coalition forces guarding Hamburg could not ignore the loud rumble, but they didn’t understand what it meant.

Some said the sound came from the earth, some said it was thunder from afar, and some speculated that it was the cry of soldiers.

The coalition forces have already made preparations for battle. The five hundred captives serving as envoys have been released, and the soldiers are directly entering the final stage of pre-war preparations.

Most of the soldiers had already made spikes, and even ordinary Saxon peasant soldiers made their own spikes from dismantled parts of captured Frankish armor.

Spikes come in all shapes and sizes, and the materials used are also useful. In the end, most of them guarantee that they will not slip easily when walking on ice.

The rumbling sound made Rurik extremely nervous. He immediately took off his white velvet cap, put on his iron helmet, and first issued the assembly order for the Ross army.

The soldiers who had been prepared for a long time acted immediately, and the sword and shield hand, crossbowman, spearman, and heavy weaponry troops assembled with all their strength.

The Ross army was doing things with great fanfare, and Ragnar’s Danish army immediately followed up.

Ross’s blue-striped flag on a white background was flying, and so was Denmark’s black-striped raven flag on a white background.

Then, a large number of white cross flags were hoisted, and the Army of the Principality of Saxony and the Army of the Principality of the Netherlands also joined in.

There are also some special flags here, the king of Northumbria with a red and yellow checkered pattern, appearing at the same time as King Ainred.

Einred and Crown Prince Ella appeared purely as observers. When he thought of the decisive battle that would happen next with more than 10,000 people participating, this kind of battle was too extreme, and Einred’s inner excitement surpassed everything else.

There is also a blue raven-patterned flag with a unique style, which is a symbol of the Viking Kingdom of York. King Biyony and his younger brother Floki appear.

Soldiers began to gather outside the city, looking towards the forest on the south bank of the frozen Elbe River, expecting the appearance of the enemy.

Liudov hurriedly put on his battle armor, hurried out of the city with his cronies, and soon met Rurik, the King of Ross, who was looking far away.

He panted heavily, and his breath was full of thick mist: “The enemy…the enemy is really coming?”

“Here it comes. Listen! The rumble is their cry.”

“Is today the day of the decisive battle?”

“At least they definitely chose a decisive battle, and everything is in our plan. What to do next, I will not repeat it.”

“I understand!” Liudov gritted his teeth and assured: “This is mainly our Saxons’ battle. Thank you for your assistance to our country. In order to survive, we Saxons will never back down.”

Rurik nodded, “You and I were enemies a few months ago, and your courage shocked me. I hope you can show the same courage this time.”

[End of this Chapter]