Chapter 976： Ross cavalry south of the Weser

Compared with the Frankish horses with Roman blood, the horses of the Rus army are all from the steppe. The former is tall and mighty and good at rushing, while the latter is small and good at long-distance marches.

The cavalry must take advantage of its high mobility. What the Ross cavalry has to do now is to go south to the ruins of Bremen as soon as possible to seize a tactical opportunity.

Large numbers of cavalry were assembled inside the wooden walls of Hamburg, Fisk donning a thick white polar bear fleece cap and a white bearskin coat.

All the warriors were quite thickly dressed, and their mounts also grew longer manes.

The steppes of the lower Volga have even colder winters than the Saxony region. Horses can adapt to the cold of the steppe winters, and naturally they can also endure the harsh winters of Saxony.

The Rus army still made some plans, for example, they carried some horses rented by the Saxons, purely for consignment of food and spare arrows.

General Fisk temporarily eliminated the riders who were in poor condition from the team, carefully selected 200 riders, and had 50 spare horses.

They passed the battlefield remnants on the other side smoothly along the pontoon bridge, and then went straight to the forest area in the south.

Sandwiched between Hamburg and Bremen is a large forest area, which although the majority of pine trees, the large number of heather trees is another feature.

Because this place is close to the Atlantic Ocean, it is suitable for pioneering wheat when the global temperature warms up. As the population increased, vast forests were cut down and replaced by dense farmland and numerous villages and towns.

Today, there are not many people here.

Because of the war, a large number of Franks fled south, and a large number of Saxons fled to the north of the Elbe.

The vast forest has become a no-man's land, dotted with small villages where people go to empty houses, the land that was forced to be abandoned in winter is matched with empty mansions, the beasts have resumed their occupation here, and bears and wolves are often haunted.

The tall Fisk was a little odd on his shorter horse. He didn't want to stop and go on the road, so his troops continued to push south along the hardened Pavement of Rome.

Not long ago, three thousand Frankish cavalry rushed north from this forest road, and the traces of the horseshoes are still clearly visible.

There are some villages on both sides of the road, and Fisk has always been vigilant about the conditions of these villages along the way, and sent scouts to find out.

The answers he got were surprisingly consistent—no one was there.

"Everyone should continue to be vigilant, even if there are no enemies, beware of bears and wolves. We must reach Bremen as soon as possible, and strive to arrive by tomorrow evening! We must get ahead of the navy."

Why run so fast? Since there is a chance to run faster than the navy, this is the reason why the brothers continue to speed.

There is a suitable road from Hamburg to Bremen, the route is equivalent to 70 kilometers.

In essence, the Turkic horse owned by the Rus army is a kind of Mongolian horse. If Fisk is also in a situation of one man and five horses, he will start from Hamburg early in the morning, and he will arrive in Hamburg when the sun goes down.

With no more horses, the Ross cavalry slowed down to save horsepower.

Slowing down is only relative! The era is 840 AD after all.

When Fisk regretted that his speed was still not the fastest, it was still possible to lose in the naval race.

They ignored the fact that the Franks were five times less talkative than they were.

Because it was impossible for Ludwig, the king of the East Franks, to transfer all his last main force from the south, he still had to be on guard against his elder brother's sneak attack.

Although there were 2,000 cavalry, only more than 1,000 of them were standard Frankish heavy cavalry. The so-called transfer of two flag teams was used to suppress the rebellion in the north.

Another thousand cavalry can be described as a patchwork of goods. These cavalry have no or no armor and can only be used for harassment and assistance.

These two thousand cavalry are Ludwig's mobile troops, and the rest of the army is all infantry.

In ancient times, the Roman corps was known as the "mule and horse" jokingly, that is, the soldiers had to carry their own soft, quilts, square shields and other materials on their backs, and rely on one pair of feet to march long distances. The warriors who can do this are all physically strong, and a strong physique does have a tactical advantage in fighting.

But the entire Frankish family used to be a frontier group that was recruited by Rome. The Frankish nobles of some Roman legions understood the tactics, but unfortunately, Ludwig lacked that kind of capable army at hand, and even now he was seriously lacking the capital to emulate his grandfather Charlemagne.

One thousand heavy cavalry and five thousand armored heavy infantry, this is the core of his legion. The remaining personnel are largely used as auxiliary personnel.

The army was uneven, and marching speeds varied enormously.

Or because the heavy cavalry was defeated and lost, Ludwig is now throwing his sword. He didn't want to have to shrink himself into a circle and dawdle toward the north after he passed through Cologne, which had swelled into an army of 23,000 people in name.

It was also the army that tried to get together as much as possible, and marched northward against the Teutoburg Forest from a long snake formation.

The elite troops were at the front, and the rest of the troops were at the back.

The entire army is advancing slowly. Those elite troops can still advance 20 kilometers a day, and some follow-up troops can only advance 15 kilometers a day or even slower. Because the follow-up troops also have to **** a large amount of living materials, the consignment-type horses that are pulled and transported cannot be ridden and it is difficult to urge them to speed.

The elite infantry and cavalry on the move will not be crazy enough to wear armor, and a lot of armor is thrown on the accompanying carriage. The elites who were temporarily lacking armor did not dare to enter, all because of the report of Earl Robert, who had returned from the defeat, that the so-called army may encounter battle once it approaches the Weser River.

The East Frankish army reached Münster smoothly along the road.

Today's Munster is just a small town, and its current name is still called monastrium, the so-called "church town".

The political significance here is quite special. Münster is the northern edge of the Cologne Archbishop's jurisdiction, and beyond this is the generalized Saxony area.

The Archbishop of Cologne went out with the army in a carriage, and he even wore the golden cross with the gold-plated mother core.

There has never been such a thing in history, and the current Archbishop Hadbold expressed the Church's affirmation of Ludwig's military actions in this way.

It can be said that this operation has been regarded as a kind of crusade, and people rushed to the northern battlefield with saint-like piety.

Holy is really holy.

To be fair, Ludwig didn't even want the archbishop himself to be involved, especially not to bring the relic with him.

Although the morale of the army was very high, it even suppressed the fear of the cold winter to a great extent, but if the archbishop and the holy relic were in the army, if they had any three strengths and two weaknesses, the entire army would encounter another disaster.

For this reason, Ludwig had to be more cautious, and arranged for a regiment of infantry flags to guard the bishop and the holy relics.

Thus, he had two cavalry flags and seven infantry flags. The rest of the army consisted of conscripted militias and even personal soldiers led by lower-level nobles.

The army reflects each other's rank, and those elites who are loyal to Ludwig can be described as superior. The armies of the lower-ranking nobles were second-class, and the militia they recruited were the lowest-class in principle, but there were still 5,000 special soldiers here.

Five thousand Sorbian slave soldiers, they were part of the West Slavs, they were all slaves after being conquered by the Franks. They are like a flock of sheep, regularly cut for their wool by the conquerors. They were heavily taxed. When the war broke out, Ludwig did not hesitate to search for the men of the Sorbs and put them into the army, make them work as the most difficult auxiliary buddies, and when necessary, as dead soldiers, make them launch a decisive charge against the enemy, etc. Wait.

While the other soldiers had at least the simple boots of this hard leather, the Sorbians were largely barefoot. They stepped on the cold ground in early winter, looking for rags and hemp ropes to tie their feet everywhere. Once the so-called shoes were worn out, they immediately looked for some rags to replenish.

Facing this kind of oppression, they are a flock of docile sheep? Don't know how to resist?

The wife and children were all controlled by the Franks, and if they resisted, the family members who stayed in the East would be revengeful.

They were now promised by Ludwig that the Sorbian soldiers in the army would be rewarded with tax relief after the so-called revolts in Saxony and the abominable Normans were swept down. Even if they were very moved by such a promise, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and eat the worst food to **** military supplies for the Frankish army.

Regarding the overall situation of the Frankish army, the Northern Confederate coalition can only be largely guessed.

Rurik's attitude affected the attitudes of all his allies. He said that the enemy was about to invade the north in a large scale, and everyone subjectively wanted this to be true, and even wished to solve all problems through a decisive battle.

So, when Fisk's cavalry rushed all the way to the ruins of Bremen, the Ross cavalry faced a choice.

"Damn, I didn't see anything." Fisk clenched the reins and watched around.

Then a team leader came over: "There doesn't seem to be any trace of the enemy here. It's too quiet."

Soon, the scout cavalry, who had been arranged to investigate the situation, returned on horseback. He held his whip and pointed in one direction: "A bridge is found ahead. The bridge deck is wide and suitable for cavalry to pass through."

"There is actually a bridge? Is there an enemy?" Fisk asked alertly.

"No. It's too quiet. There are a lot of horseshoe marks there, and even the grass has been trampled away, but there is no breath."

Fisk, pinching his beard, thought that all the traces he had detected were the actions of the Pan-Rank cavalry before, and obviously the bridge was also repaired by them before.

"Okay." Fisk sighed. "Aric was ordered to destroy the bridge, and they never arrived. Every time our friendly troops arrived, the enemy didn't show up. Are we going to stay here like fools?"

The brothers rushed forward in a hurricane in order to seize the opportunity to attack the enemy by surprise.

Looking at the slightly melancholy faces of the brothers in the sunset, Fisk thought for a while, and finally made a bold decision.

The cavalry gathered around him in an arc, waiting for the general's speech.

But I saw Fisk pointing south: "Brothers, the king ordered us to find the Frankish army and kill them as much as possible before they were prepared! If they don't show up now, we will find them ourselves. I will go directly through the bridge and follow the road. Take the initiative to attack them. You say! Dare to do it!?"

Such a question is simply a well-informed question.

Someone suddenly raised the whip high and shouted Ula loudly.

Hearing, everyone responded with Ulla.

"Ulla" is a special slang word for the elite of the Ross Army. It stands for determination to win, for fighting now.

There's not much more to say.

Fisk waved his hand: "We cross the river and spend the night on the other side of the river tonight."

The elite Ross cavalry crossed the river as much as possible, and Fisk knew very well that doing so would be contrary to the arrangements of the Great King Rurik. The army really shouldn't rely on not actively looking for fighter planes here, but everyone has to consider the consequences of doing so. A very embarrassing problem is that when Arik's fleet arrives at the ruins of Bremen, they are likely to immediately start to demolish the bridge. .

What if the cavalry guys were still in the south when they finished tearing down the bridge, and then the cavalry retreated? Without the bridge, unless the Weser River froze, the cavalry would not be able to cross the river quickly.

A relatively wide river is often a moat, and it is not that an expeditionary army cannot cross it. Some small boats can cross the river with a small number of soldiers. How can an army of tens of thousands be formed. During the dry season, the Weser River is still relatively wide. Perhaps there is a shoal in the upper reaches that can be directly waded. Fisk, who has no precise understanding of the topographic structure, knows that what he is doing now is taking risks.

The risk is worth it, considering the huge payoffs it can get.

So, when the cavalry left in the early morning of the next day, some wooden boards found from the ruins were deliberately engraved with words.

The script was not Roman, but the actual traditional Nordic rune. Fisk ordered his men to carve a large number of wooden boards with meat-cutting daggers, indicating the movements of the cavalry troops. In order to prove that it was indeed what the friendly troops did, some slang words that old Ross people could understand was engraved, so that Aric couldn't understand it.

A large number of wooden boards engraved with words are scattered on both sides of the bridge head, and even fixed in a higher position.

Maybe that's not obvious enough? So a round shield painted in blue and white mixed colors was placed in a prominent place, and a small Ross flag was firmly hung on the freshly cut branches, and then it was deeply pested on the bridge.

The Ross cavalry had now passed the Weser River and dashed further south.

One is dawdling, and the other is maintaining a hurricane and rushing posture.

Ludwig still had to accommodate his slow troops, and was forced to make the first legion not dare to get too far from the main force.

When they arrived in Münster, they did a major rest there, so-called waiting until all the follow-up troops had arrived before moving on. After all, for a large number of infantrymen, who marched on foot for many days, they should suspend their operations and take a rest, even if it is only for a day.

Ludwig took the opportunity to discuss military countermeasures with his generals and nobles.

The Archbishop of Cologne, Hardbold, hurriedly gave a mass in Münster.

...

But the Russ cavalry was on the way to the south, because the "road to hell" became smoother and smoother as it went south, and penetrated deep into the territory of the Franks. All the warriors were extremely excited.

Brothers can be unscrupulous in robbing their homes, setting fires is ordered to set fires, making killings is acting according to orders, and they can even strike at unowned cattle and sheep.

Such systematic persecution of the Franks would not have taken place if Rurik had not ordered it. Fisk and his guys were at best bringing piracy to land, systemic destruction was unnecessary, but they had to do it when they were ordered to.

Their first task was to find the Frankish army and at least kill them. Like attacking the Frankish villages around the avenue, in principle, it is to be done, but it is not the first task.

They were still advancing at high speed, and they did loot a roadside Frankish village along the way.

It was a small village with a population of less than 100 people.

Just like the Mongolian cavalry crossing the border, Fisk issued an order to kill without amnesty, and the soldiers strictly implemented it. Even the livestock kept by the villagers were killed, and the leg of lamb was deliberately cut off by the Rusian soldiers and hung on horseback as food that could be roasted later. It is not impossible to eat raw to satisfy hunger.

Another batch of wheat was seized, and the soldiers added some oats each, and fed their war horses recklessly.

They further set fire to the village, and all the wheat that could not be taken away will be turned into toner, and the dead will be turned into charred bones.

The firelight at night brightened the clouds, a special scene that caught the attention of a monastery.

Osnabrück, a small town built around a monastery.

This city despised the first monastery built by Charlemagne in Saxony, and also used it as the first center of the Catholic faith in Saxony, the so-called seat of the bishop.

After that, the bishop's seat continued to move northward, and St. Peter's Cathedral was built in the emerging city of Bremen, where the bishop's seat was moved.

The Archbishop of the North in Saxony’s time, the archbishop of this term is the Northern Saint Esquier. Based on the current chaos in the northern region, Esquier’s value has become extremely important. He still has a lot of things to do, so he can only At the end of his life, the Roman side will choose another person to take over.

Osnabrück is home to the first Saxony monastery and the starting point for the spread of the Catholic faith throughout Saxony. Now, although the entire Saxony region has converted to God, the situation has become complicated this year, many people cannot escape, and Osnabrück is also panicking.

The local priests called on the people not to listen to those rumors and to devote themselves to their devout faith.

Because it is a holy place there is no local armed force, and the nearby nobles will not go crazy to attack the monastery.

She was a completely undefended town, so on a normal early winter morning, a group of strange cavalrymen with white high tops and velvet caps covering their entire faces rushed in with swords and bows.

The town was slaughtered, the population was slaughtered, and the cavalry even launched a pursuit, killing some who had fled into the sparse woodland.

All the priests were killed, and all the gold and silver utensils in the monastery were taken away. As for the things that cannot be taken away, it is natural to burn them with a fire.

In this attack, Fisk was untouched, his brothers became more cold-blooded by the killing, and the psychological concerns he had before disappeared.

The wooden monastery was ablaze, and all the haystack dwellings were deliberately set on fire. The town under the fire is full of corpses, the whole scene is like **** on earth...

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