Chapter 957： Gauntlets and invitations

The special writing materials made Liudov rare and strange. He did not know Latin at all. Seeing Rurik actually write Latin documents smoothly with a quill pen, the sense of inferiority as an illiterate came to his heart for the first time.

When Rome collapsed, the Latin language mastered by Western Rome was quickly forgotten, and eventually only the clergy continued to master it as the "sacred language of communication with the gods".

The Eastern Rome had already completed the Hellenistic transformation, and Latin had no market at all. Even the scriptures mastered by the priests were written in Greek.

Among the great aristocrats of the Franks, one or the other was a military aristocrat born in the tribal era.

All kinds of small nobles, their source must also be the leader of the small tribe.

Rather than learning knowledge, they believe that the sword and the axe are more powerful. Solving all problems through violence is considered the truth. Unless the sword and the axe really can't solve the problem, they will think of negotiation.

On the contrary, the priests are all pacifists. They show that they forbid force, rely on missionaries to spread their beliefs everywhere, and rely on one mouth to persuade barbarians to convert to sacred beliefs. That is, they retained the use of Latin, and objectively formed a cultural barrier with the nobility.

Now, they consider the use of force by the clergy as a betrayal of their faith, and they are even persuading the Frankish nobles to refrain from force.

But what's the use of this? Even the Pope of Rome could not stop the civil war between the three great nobles of the Franks. The Pope could only appeal to the few cities and fiefs that were completely controlled by the priests to stay neutral and not intervene in the civil war and try their best to gather refugees. For example, Cologne and Dusseldorf, a large number of Frankish immigrants who escaped from Saxony, are migrating to the two places. Just because people were sure they would be sheltered, and even more so, food relief, and it was.

However, the straight-line distance from Cologne to Utrecht is only 170 kilometers.

Utrecht belongs to the Earl of Flanders and is one of the most important towns. Flanders is geographically bordered by Westphalia and by Saxony in the north.

Ludov is still the de jure Count of Westphalia, and in principle he can mobilize all the nobles in the south to continue to listen to him, even if he has raised the flag to restore the Duchy of Saxony. If the emerging duchy of Saxony also includes Westphalia, then this huge country will physically tear apart the entire East Frank, and the entire Flanders loyal to East Frank is already an enclave.

They are all enclaves, and it is theoretically feasible to conquer Flanders and annex them, or to force the Count of Flanders to rebel.

Because the Count of Flanders appears to be Frankish, but in reality? The family lineage may have the blood of the Frisian nation.

After all, what happened to Flanders and Saxony is exactly the same. They both declared their surrender during the defeat of the Frankish Conquest.

Liudov wrote letters himself, he wanted to write more than a letter.

Faced with a new situation, Rurik wanted to write a letter, not a letter as a person.

There is only one letter to be written by King Ragna of Denmark.

All letters are like this.

Rurik's "Lord Ludwig, King of the East Franks" is a battle book.

Core content: 1. Be sure to lead the army north to negotiate with King Ross. If you don't want to negotiate, go to war directly. 2. The Kingdom of Rus, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Duchy of Saxony, and the County of Nassau must be recognized. 3. If they do not come this year, all the 2,000 prisoners of Frankish civilians and 300 prisoners of war will be taken as slaves. 4. If it does not come, the Rus army will continue the war and kill and loot the Frankish civilians. 5. Rus does not intend to go to war. As long as East Frank meets the conditions, a peace treaty can be signed.

Rurik's "Book to the Kingdom of Viking York" is essentially an invitation letter, and the core content is to invite the brothers Biyonni and Floki, who are kings, to come to Hamburg to see the achievements of the kingdom of brothers, and also Take a good look at their own sister Noren.

There is also a credential in the Book of Northumbria, the so-called invitation to the King of Northumbria to Hamburg, asking him to make a statement on the restored Principality of Saxony and requiring it to recognize the legality of the Principality of Saxony. At the same time, I came to Hamburg to take a good look at Regraf, who has grown up a lot. Now we get to know each other well, and when he inherits the kingdom of Mercia in the future, they will be familiar with each other.

Liudov wrote two documents, one is the "Declaration on the Restoration of the Duchy of Saxony", which is essentially a war book against East Frank. Even if Liudov did not want to expand the war, he knew that the war was inevitable.

The core content is as follows: 1. East Frank must recognize the restoration of the Duchy of Saxony. 2. Westphalia is incorporated into the Duchy of Saxony, but does not include the church towns of Cologne and Dusseldorf. 3. Part of Flanders was incorporated into the Duchy of Saxony and became part of the Earl of Nassau. 4. Recognize that the Baron of Nassau has been upgraded to the Baron of Nassau who is loyal to Saxony. 5. The Duchy of Saxony will not betray the faith and will not go to war with East Frank after meeting all territorial requirements.

There is another, the so-called "Information to the Earl of Flanders". To say that his credentials against Ludwig were too outrageous and unacceptable, to Baudouin, Count of Flanders, would be hooliganism.

Ludoff persuaded Baudouin to cede part of the territory to the new duchy of Saxony, and betray Frank with the remaining territory.

He estimated that this kind of "give you a knife to commit suicide" letter is meaningless, and even difficult to get to Baudouin, but write it down in case it can be used later. After all, the Rus and Danes were about to go on an expedition.

expedition? At the speed of the Rus, they could kill Utrecht in just two days. Those who have mastered the superb navigation skills can do whatever they want. Ludov is very envious of this super mobility.

Ragnar had only one letter, and Rurik was the writer. His request was quite simple, just asking the Frankish country to recognize him as the king of Denmark, and that the Franks forbade the northern invasion. As for the promise that "Frank will not be robbed if he keeps his promise," he doesn't mention it at all.

It rained for three days in autumn, and the earth was completely soaked. When the sky cleared up, the warm temperature could not return.

The north wind was still relatively strong, and the waves of the sea were also a little fierce, but it did not affect the hurricane of Ross's ship in the slightest.

This autumn rain is just a prelude. The autumn rain in Hamburg is concentrated in October, and there are not many rainy days as a whole. In winter, snowfall becomes more frequent.

As long as it is not stormy, the Ross fleet can advance safely, or because the southward attack on Utrecht is advancing along the coastline. The so-called "West Flanders Islands" in the Dutch waters, the geographical structure like a pearl necklace, is simply a natural breakwater , greatly weakening the power of the waves, and the fleet will push against this special archipelago.

Until you find the deepest bay and see the only river with a wide mouth, the so-called Aemestelle.

All this information was specified by Liudov. In order to ensure the smooth military operations of Rus' Danish allies, he even sent a guide.

The words were too familiar, and Rurik pondered and came to a conclusion. A city can arise near this river, which is Amsterdam.

As for Utrecht, the target of the attack, it was just upstream of this river, where long ships could rush directly into it. Even without a long boat, the Ross ship anchored at the mouth of the river, the army landed directly, and it was possible to reach Utrecht on foot on the same day.

Thus, the Rus army began to gather in Hamburg.

Is it necessary to take a personal expedition? Rurik thinks there is.

The last time the eldest brother Arik performed the task of transporting people, he encountered the Frankish army in the ruins of Bremen.

This time, Rurik wanted to bring elite soldiers, not a large number, just a thousand. All the so-called standing armies will come, and then from the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, each will organize a full 100-man team (120 people), and then match some armed sailors. It is the pirates of Saaremaa, who made up a thousand people to carry out this task.

The other Rus army units did not have to be idle, because they did not know how Ludwig would react, but when the weather was too cold, the army was going to return. Rurik made a prelude. If Ludwig was a tortoise, or the messenger lost the letter and caused the other party to not make a statement, the Ross army retreated to Bornholm Island and Gothenburg to rest, and a small number of people Retreat as far as Tombstone Island.

The war is not easily suspended until now. Rurik wanted to return to his hometown in winter. Now it seems that because the war has burned into the Frankish territory, the scale has far exceeded expectations. Standing in this position, he can no longer be. Close hand.

Of course, if it is possible to create a situation of "safe and stable trade in the huge western region" for Ross in one package, today's hard work is worth it.

The main force of the Rus army will move to the mouth of the Elbe, where it plans to boil salt and plunder fish resources. Considering that there is a high probability that the army will not be able to return to their hometown in winter, this is the first time in history that the soldiers have no choice but to complain. Lu Long couldn't think of it anymore. It's better to follow the arrangement of the king and actively produce materials for winter storage, such as boiling salt and pickling salted fish. Even boiled a little more salt for a very smooth exchange of wheat from the local Saxons.

Because the victory of the war directly attracted a considerable number of local nobles of Saxony who were watching the situation and really surrendered to Liudorf. Either by themselves or by sending representatives, they took the unpaid food and handed it over to Ludov.

They also saw a huge Norman army, and also saw traces of the battlefield, and a large number of captured people, and a mountain of captured weapons.

The main force of the Rus army has not yet strategically moved to the mouth of the Elbe, and such a big ship set off first.

The royal pirate Speuter, who was commander of the Rus' Squadron, is now back in his old business - escorting Northumbrian tribute.

Unlike in the past, his task this year is to send the requested tribute directly to Hamburg, and immediately use it to meet military needs. He was also tasked with delivering the letter and persuaded the recipient to come.

Spuut went out to sea with a mission and ran to Britain. In fact, he only needed to go all the way west, and then plunged into Hunter Bay, which was equivalent to hitting the territory of the Viking York Kingdom. He estimated that the guy Biyonni would never miss this opportunity. He hadn't seen each other for many years. He definitely didn't bother to listen to his description of King Ross. He wanted to come over and take a good look at what happened to his Rurik brother. .

At the pier, Rurik took off his hat to send off the important subordinate who was on a mission.

He was facing the Grey Squirrel down the river. "Speuter! Be sure to convince Biyonni to come!"

Similarly, Noren, who was relying on a heavy leather coat to cover up his pregnancy, stopped pretending at this moment: "Speuter! Tell my brother that he must come, that I am going to give birth, and that he is going to be an uncle (uncle). Let him be sure to come. To come!"

This far-flung vessel is not a simple Sorgon; it has enormous political significance.

Ludov would have liked the King of Northumbria to come personally, even if he sent a messenger. He needs more countries that believe in God to recognize the Duchy of Saxony, even if Northumbria is a weak country, it is good to have its recognition. It is even possible to take this opportunity to get in touch with Wessex in order to win the other party's recognition. The more countries that recognize the Duchy of Saxony, the better, Ludov is not picky about this, he just hopes that he is not isolated.

The next day, another group of people was leaving.

Or rather, exile.

Robert's wound has been improving, and his attitude is shaken. Obviously, this is not a miracle, or the medical skills of the Rus people have saved his life. Ironically, they were killed by their shooting and they were rescued by them. The huge army was played and applauded by them, and then the whole army was wiped out.

Robert didn't want to die, and there was no reason to die now. He carried a leather bag with many letters stuffed in it. He knew that as long as one of these letters was handed over to Ludwig, the other party would be furious.

But if they refuse to deliver the letter or the letter is lost, the Russ will continue to fight and kill the Franks. This is very unreasonable. It is obviously the rudeness of the nobles, why should they be angry with the people?

If Ludwig did not give an explanation, a large number of Franks would have been killed inexplicably.

The threat of the Rus people is not fake, they are really ruthless and dare to do it.

Ludov gave Robert horses, and at the same time released ten people, including Robert's squires and Frankish elite cavalry. There are so many followers to ensure that Robert does not have to be too embarrassed, and also to ensure that there is a care along the way to ensure that he has an accident while the injury is not healed. Even if there is an accident, others are obliged to deliver the letter. No matter how bad it is, they have to tell the Ludwig Ross army that they have killed 3,000 cavalry on the Elbe River.

Robert, the Earl of Rheingau, left, riding a bad horse that was sent by others and running wildly on the pontoon, disappearing into the forest as fast as possible.

How sad this is. A month ago, he took 3,000 cavalry to the north, and now he has only 11 people.

He knew that he would be punished when he went back, and he was willing to accept punishment for greater morality. As a nobleman, he must also be punished. After all, the monarch Ludwig was innocent.

Finally, Rurik and Ragnar's crusade against Utrecht.

The large ships towed the vacant longships, and half of the main force of the Ross fleet was dispatched.

Five sail destroyers, five sail cruisers, and twenty standard cargo ships, and ten longships in tow.

Put on and carry 1,500 people, the so-called Russ army has more than 1,000 people, and the Danish army has more than 400 people.

An army of this size is enough for a large-scale European war, and a decisive battle with the Earl of Flanders is also enough. After all, it is rumored that this guy is really pulling his hips.

Those rumors may be right, Rurik still assembled an army of this size, and his own team members were deliberately arranged in a complicated way. Except for the first flag team, which suffered too many casualties and was the army with the most trophies, the remaining five flag teams. Need opportunity to expand loot. The five flag teams have all dispatched a centenary, and the brothers will fight for public opinion, and no one will talk about it in the future.

There was nothing left to keep. From Ludov's standpoint, he wished that his allies would win the victory earlier, so that he would not have to worry about Ludwig's army suddenly attacking and lacking any troops to resist.

The new march had begun, the fleet was going down the river, galloping fast against the coastline under the north wind, raising its jibs.

Immediately after almost all the Rus and Danish troops migrated to the mouth of the Elbe River, and they rapidly expanded their coastal camps for large-scale fishing and boiling salt. In a short time, Ludov's Hamburg, the Norman forces almost disappeared.

He knew that the Normans were going to leave sooner or later, and now his heart was empty.

He knew exactly what he was regretting - the lack of military protection.

It is better to ask for yourself, and the Normans are never good people. The young man in Rurik is also ruthless in nature. He is joining with Saxony today just because they need a buffer zone in Ross.

As a buffer country, no one knows its meaning better than Liudov. Because, since the army of Ludwig, it said that it was a crusade against itself, but it was actually eyeing the Norman world. He began to expand his own militia, maintaining morale in the name of "defending Saxony", as to whether he can really strengthen himself, this is unknown.

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