Chapter 948： We have nowhere to go, and behind us is the burger

In the dark of night, the cool wind of early autumn blows through the stone windows, blowing the stone room at the height of the fortress with a chilling heart.

Liudov was in a complicated mood because he made a special judgment on the situation based on the existing information. It is totally wrong to say that he has persecution paranoia, because compared to Prince Ludwig, Ludov, or the Count of Westphalia, is now a complete traitor.

As a traitor, Ludwig must have spurned his actions, and because he could not get the support of the "Northern Saint" Eskil, he could only form an alliance with the Normans who believed in heresy.

As a traitor and an isolated person, it is inevitable that he will be attacked by the concentrated firepower of the Frankish nobles.

So, this time I stabbed a big basket. But there is no way out!

King Russ and King of Denmark came, and through their faces, Ludov couldn't see any fear and worry between the two heroes.

Could it be that they are not afraid of the huge army of the king of the East Franks?

There was a wooden table in the high stone room, the ventilated stone windows were covered with wooden boards, and a lot of oil lamps were lit in the room.

Seeing that the two heroes were already seated, he didn't ramble, and directly stated his concerns: "Now it's all clear, it's Ludwig! His army has already left for Bremen! He's going to kill my whole family! And kill all the Saxons here! Like... just like Charlemagne did. You two must save me."

"Of course I want to save you. Are you really afraid of those Frankish troops?" Rurik didn't panic at all.

"Why are you afraid? If Ludwig comes, he will bring at least 20,000 troops, or even 30,000. He may dispatch at least 5,000 cavalry!"

"Wait?! What did you say?!" Rurik's confident face suddenly became serious.

"I'm going to be hit with all my strength by him, because I betrayed him. He'll bring 30,000 people, even 40,000, 50,000 people. In this way, the Saxon nobles who swore to me will rebel, and so Ludwig will Hope will assemble a larger army. I'm in danger!"

Liudov's beard couldn't hide the twitching of his entire face, he was really shivering.

Rurik felt strange that this guy was fighting to the end when he was defending the Aleb Fortress, and he had never been so afraid at that time. Could it be that Ludwig is even more terrifying?

Ragnar thought this was too absurd, and retorted with disdain: "Thirty thousand, forty thousand, then fifty thousand. How many people in the end? One hundred thousand people? Ludov, are you a good liar? Now No one has detected the strength of the Frankish army, why are you so sure? Did you see it or hear it? Or is it your imagination."

Ragnar's questioning also made Rurik sober: "Yes. How do you judge their strength?"

Liudov was indeed just imagining, and he also had an explanation for his own judgment. "Ludwig's army has always been in the south, and he has at least 30,000 troops on hand. Now that it is autumn, and presumably King Lothair's army will not attack in the winter, Ludwig can truce in the south and free his hands. Hit me up north."

"An army of thirty thousand?" Rurik asked again.

"Exactly."

"What did you say just now? There are five thousand cavalry?"

"Yes. At least there are 5,000 elite cavalry in Regensburg, and Ludwig has been leading them to battle. The current situation is that this cavalry has arrived in Bremen, and they will cross the river to attack us."

Subjectively Rurik felt that these descriptions were conjectures.

When Blue Fox returned to Ross, he wrote his "Travel Notes", which greatly enriched Rurik's understanding of the current situation in Frank, especially East Frank.

Rurik was convinced that Ludwig had a strong army, but would he really move the main force to the north in a short period of time? Not to mention whether he can come up with an army of more than 30,000 people, but do these soldiers have enough food and grass? You must know that there must be a large number of infantry here. They have to walk from the south to the north on one leg, but the march will consume a lot of food. Unlike the Rus Army and the Danish Army, which relied on sea routes and inland rivers to move quickly, and deliberately stored a large amount of food in case of unexpected events.

In general reason, Rurik did not believe that Ludwig would suddenly go north with all his strength.

It is of course necessary to take precautions in advance.

Seeing Ludov so terrified, Rurik simply stopped worrying about the enemy's strength.

"We seem to be immersed in the mist, we can only see the scene in front of us, and we can only guess what is in the distance." Rurik said a riddle.

"What do you mean?" Ludov asked.

"We only know now that a strong cavalry has arrived in Bremen. Even if my eldest brother destroys the bridge, it will not take them a long time to rebuild it. We should not pay too much attention to whether the main Ludwig is coming, How long will it come, if this huge cavalry enters the border of Hamburg and launches a strong attack on us, their cavalry can swept our infantry line. So I laid the fleet across the Elbe, and the bridge was heavily guarded. Are their cavalry? Can you rush over from the river?"

"Naturally it's impossible. But... they can attack me in a detour. And go to remote areas and ask the local nobles to be hostile to me."

Rurik shook his head: "You don't care about commanding the nobles who are too far away, so don't expect them to send troops to help you. The only one who can help you now is me! Rurik, King of Ross! And you want to be the Duke of Saxony in peace, problem. It's not Ludwig, it's me. I've decided to help you take down the enemy."

Ludov wanted such a promise, and he needed Rurik to make it clear.

But the situation was too complicated, and Liudov asked again: "What if they really came to 30,000 people or more? What would you do?"

"Fight! Must fight. At least I will try to kill their lives as much as possible. We must make good use of the Elbe River, the wide waterway is a big obstacle to the enemy." Said, Rurik scratched his face: "Just like this, your army's Leave the command to me. I will command your Saxon army, so our combined army must be ten thousand people. You have never had the experience of commanding such a large army before, and I have a lot of experience. Our Rus army and the Danish army No one knows the power better than you."

Handing over the command of the army, Ludov still hesitated.

Rurik immediately added: "Don't worry, if I invade your country, I will face the Frankish kingdom. This is not my intention. When your crisis is resolved, your army will still be your army. You are me now. One of the generals of the army, you obey my command, and you persuade all the Saxons to obey my arrangements, so as to ensure your victory."

To this, Liudov, who had no choice but to agree.

The annexation of the Duchy of Saxony is a foolish move for both Rus and Denmark. According to Rurik and Ragnar's plan, first of all, Rus and Denmark are brothers. Although the principalities of Saxony bordering the Kingdom of Denmark are not brothers, they at least recognize each other as non-aggression. Saxony is a buffer country that lies between northern Europe and the Franks. The country must maintain sufficient independence to ensure that the Frankish countries will not easily go north to attack the Viking world in the future.

For the current situation in Northern Europe, for the huge Rus Kingdom, a sufficiently independent duchy of Saxony is very important.

It is a pity that the military strength of this country is really weak. The Saxon army that Rurik saw, except for those Saxons from the north of the Schleswig Great Wall, had a strong fighting spirit after Vikingization. Liudov Most of the men recruited in Hamburg and the surrounding areas are honest farmers. They have a certain viciousness, but unfortunately their physical fitness is too poor.

After all, the good farmland was occupied by the immigrant Franks, and the tamed Saxons lacked even decent farming tools, and even so they had to pay eleven taxes. They can only eat sour rye and oatmeal on weekdays, and they almost rely on these coarse grains to survive. They are generally shorter than their Saxon counterparts outside the Great Wall, which is better than their population.

Liudov has an amazing number of farmers. Their relatively short stature is not a problem, but their poor physical fitness is a big problem. Big problems are easy to solve, just eat fish and oatmeal for a month, plus some physical training to get strong.

Too bad Ludov ran out of time.

The large number of Saxon peasant soldiers was estimated to be as large as 4,000, and they were all men between fifteen and thirty years old.

They lacked weapons, most of them used sharpened wooden sticks as short spears, dressed in coarse clothes, and used wooden shields as their only protective equipment.

Nonetheless, they arrested a large number of Franks and killed many in revenge. They could kill the unprepared Frankish immigrants, and when they heard that they were going to fight against the powerful Frankish cavalry, they all persuaded them.

Now that Ludov has entrusted the military power to Rurik, this sacred power must be used in a good place.

Many Saxon peasant soldiers were so terrified of the coming battle that they didn't even think it was a terrible thing to have thousands of Norman soldiers stationed in Hamburg.

It was entirely because of the bad influence of Charlemagne's massacre that year, that the Frankish army really killed indiscriminately! And for the Saxon soldiers who were caught, they were killed by brutal means.

So, after Rurik gained power, he arranged for his Rus army to go to the forest to capture the fleeing Saxon warriors.

Nearly 100 people were arrested overnight.

So on a new day, all the Saxon peasant soldiers were assembled, along with almost all the Rus and Danish troops.

The strength of the coalition army has apparently swelled to 11,000 people, and it is the Rus-Danish coalition of 7,000 who can really fight.

The gathering of such a large army was deliberately done by Rurik.

Behold! The Russ Army and the Danish Army were dressed in majesty, especially the Russ cavalry, who had assembled to three hundred cavalrymen, were dressed in full costumes and paraded openly in front of the army.

In particular, the Russ Army, dressed neatly and uniformly, formed a square on the grass outside the city with a flag team.

On the other hand, the Saxon peasant army was large in number, and at first glance it looked like a group of black onlookers with blond hair and gray-black robes. They stood in disarray without the heroic spirit of a warrior, and their faces were solemn, because they were all watching a terrible punishment.

This is indeed a terrible punishment!

The newly felled pine wood was pieced together into three columns of wooden frames, and the ropes were chased down. This is a simple gallows.

A total of ninety fleeing Saxon warriors who betrayed their oath of allegiance to the Duke were captured last night and publicly executed today.

Gu Ping

Ludov on a horse and his eldest son Bruno followed Rurik on a horse to observe the event.

Ninety deserters were pinned to the grass with their hands tied. The majestic Roth Guards with bear heads were ready to carry out the punishment, and they waited for Rurik's order.

Liudov now saw the gathering of the huge Russian army and the Danish army, and the majestic scene reminded him directly of Ludwig's army. Do not! More majestic than Ludwig!

"It's a great army! It's powerful, and I suddenly have confidence." He complimented.

Rurik exclaimed proudly: "You know what? In Rus, every woman can have eight children, and every child lives to grow up. I have a steady stream of soldiers in reserve who are loyal to me! Look at you! The Rus army in front of me, in a few years, I will have an army several times that. You still have to worry about Ludwig's army? Forget it. By then, my army will not only be bigger than him, but also better at fighting than him. Just It's just that our strength is weak now."

"That...that's a wonderful future."

Liudov took a deep breath, and then pointed to the kneeling people and asked coldly, "Do they really deserve to die?"

"What? Are you dissatisfied with my decision?"

"No. I should have protected them, not killed them."

"kindness?"

"Shouldn't it be merciful? According to our belief, it should be merciful to them."

With that said, Rurik suddenly remembered himself more than ten years ago. On the contrary, so many years of **** and battle have made others sober.

"You think they are pitiful, but they are deserters. If they escape successfully, other warriors will follow in their eyes. At that time, your army will only be left with family members and retinues! You want to maintain your status, You have to kill these deserters who bring chaos. Listen. You have four thousand troops, and you can't keep those four thousand unless you kill the ninety!"

"Then... let's do it!"

"I still need your words. I am a Norman after all," Rurik said deliberately. "On this matter, you are the only one who can give orders."

Like a boulder pressing on his shoulders, Liudov decided to "kill" his own kin.

He stood on horseback in front of his Saxon army and cried out: "Look at those kneeling! They have betrayed me! They have betrayed you! We are here to fight the Franks and defeat Ludwig to defend our Saxony. But some people are running away! Now we have nowhere to go, and behind us is the hamburger. Without the hamburger, all of you will run like wild beasts. Listen, the king of Denmark refuses to let you escape from Denmark, Frank The army will flay you and cramp you. Escape to Pomerania and Oberlidt to the east, where the locals will make you slaves! Now you just have to follow me closely, and our Norman allies Together, defeat the Frankish army. So these traitors must die!"

Ludov was a decent man after all, and he talked a lot to the farmer.

Instead, he wisely kept emphasizing the concept that all so-called prisoners are traitors, and traitors must die.

It was at this time that Esquil, who ignored his leg injury, ran to the scene of Xing Xing like a madman accompanied by many little priests. He was limping on a silver-plated crucifix, and the temporary bishop's top hat he put on, immediately attracted everyone's attention.

The Saxon warriors were taken aback by the sudden arrival of the "Sage of the North".

However, Eskill was immediately captured by Rurik's subordinates, and many little priests were expelled.

He was escorted before Rurik.

"Stupid old guy, what do you want to do?!"

Eskil roared with anger: "Can't kill! You can't kill them."

"Can't even kill traitors?"

"They are godly lambs, and you must not kill them. It is unrighteous! You..."

Rurik wasn't angry either, just kicked the wound on his thigh, causing Esquil to scream in pain.

"Get in the way. The soldiers dragged him away."

Esquil was pulled away with his arms tucked away, and a soldier picked up his fallen crucifix. Eskil kept roaring reluctantly: "Can't kill! If you kill, you will go to hell! Ludov, you will be cursed. You will be Satan!"

However, Liudov, who had already understood how powerful he was, was determined to kill him.

Those deserters were put over their heads in crude sackcloth, ropes around their necks, and without any rubbing, they removed the wooden boards for their feet.

They twitched under the rope, like twisted salted fish, and gradually lost their lives while being watched by 20,000 people...

Even the Saxon women understood that Ludov was really determined to fight the Frankish army, and they also saw the mighty force of the Norman army after it had assembled.

The women had the confidence to win, and the Saxon warriors not only had confidence, but also fully understood that the performance of cowardice was either killed by the enemy or executed by their own dukes.

In a sense, Rurik was helping Ludov to kill people, and he did things that the latter did not dare to do.

In this way, the next military deployment is tense but orderly.

Rurik no longer worried that the Saxon army would not obey his orders.

Their food treatment is only half that of the Ross Army. Even so, for many men, they are open to eating porridge after a long time, especially the porridge with a lot of salt. This is simply happiness.

Of course, these people did not appreciate the Normans who provided food and salt, and regarded this as a gift from Lord Ludoff.

No great aristocrat has ever been so kind to ordinary farmers. It seems that the former King Widukind has done such a righteous act. Coincidentally, Widukind's coffin was moved to Hamburg, and Liudov is his blood descendant.

They are willing to go all out to defend their hard-won recovery. As for cooperating with Normans with heretical beliefs against the Frankish army, this is not a problem for ordinary farmers.

The first question for everyone is to survive.

It is not difficult to survive, as long as the attacking Frankish main force is defeated by war, and Ludwig is forced to recognize the independence of the Duchy of Saxony, the two countries will sign a peace treaty.

Therefore, the coalition soldiers began to build fortifications, Rurik ordered the soldiers to cut wood and dig pits arbitrarily, completely relying on the crowd, a small river was completed in three days! Even if the newly dug channel is shallow and not very wide, it can prevent the enemy from attacking from behind.

So protected by the Elbe and newly excavated waterways, the city of Hamburg has become a huge island in a river. The area of ​​this island is not small, and it has become a huge camp for as many as 30,000 soldiers and civilians.

The main force of the Rus fleet lies across the Elbe, and a large number of wooden stakes are placed on the banks of the newly dug small river, and the wall surrounding the huge island area is also under construction.

The coalition forces are by no means self-defeating, but relying on river water to build natural fortifications. External traffic passes through a stone-pier wooden bridge and an astonishing number of paddling longboats. Thanks to the newly dug aqueduct behind Hamburg, Ross's longboats could easily bypass the bridge and reach the upper Elbe.

All this was completed in a short time, and Rurik also spent a lot of manpower and material resources for this spectacular civil engineering.

This move not only opened the eyes of Liudov, but also surprised Ragnar. It never occurred to them that war could still go on like this.

What they don't know is that the ancient Roman legion that once killed all the way to the Saxony area is best at civil engineering, and Rurik is just a replica of this military literacy.

But now there is no shortage of food, and a large group of arrested Frankish men also acted as slave laborers to dig pits. The people of Saxony are in a very happy mood.

Rurik was busy on his side, waiting for the enemy to appear.

He had waited for many days, and finally the sentry stationed south of the Elbe River urgently withdrew to report that he had seen the enemy's horse-riding scouts.

Rurik didn't have to wait any longer. Soon after the sentinel's report, the Frankish cavalry raised the cross flag and Charlemagne's Three Lions flag and appeared impressively Their strength is indeed huge, but...

Rurik stood at a high place, even though all Hamburg was now in combat readiness, facing the enemy in front of him, it would be absurd for him to believe that this was the so-called main force of Ludwig.

He hurriedly heard the news that Liudov, who was standing beside him, asked jokingly, "The army you're talking about...is this?"

"Indeed...should... be."

"That's it? Ridiculous. I thought they really had 30,000 people here."

"There should be a follow-up army. Even so, this cavalry is too scary."

Rurik shook his head. "Maybe so. Let's see what happens next."

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