It wasn't until we did some actual personnel statistics that the war has continued to this day. At first, there were more than 3,000 people and even nearly 4,000 people, but now only half of them are left. There are still many wounded among them, and only a thousand people are still able to fight.

The remaining people.

Among all the teams that can fight, only Ross's elite troops still maintain combat effectiveness.

However, the combat effectiveness is there, but not much anymore.

Even the most elite troops were crippled, and the First Banner Corps of the Standing Army, which suffered almost no loss of strength, succeeded even though it was heavily armored.

The tall and strong soldiers were sore all over, and just one day's rest could not restore their bodies.

If the Frankish army still had tactical reserves, and the general was not dead, and Count Gilbert, who was actually the deputy general, fought resolutely, the Ross coalition led by Blue Fox might have been severely defeated.

It's all over now.

The Blue Fox can say that they have won, but this kind of victory is not a glorious victory no matter how you look at it.

Especially the aristocratic army he brought from his fiefdom in Gothenburg. The local aristocrats were originally forced to join the Kingdom of Rus under military pressure. The founders of this expedition joined the battle with the mentality of robbing and making money, and ultimately suffered catastrophic human losses.

Their looting spree in Aachen came to nothing in an instant, but the large amount of loot left in the camp was still real.

The elite of the Russian army are not greedy, and the supreme commander, Blue Fox, acts as the arbiter and requires that no matter how many soldiers are left in each department, no one can deprive other troops of their spoils.

In this way, for Bjorn, whose entire army was almost wiped out, this move turned out to be a benefit to his family.

A group of large local landowners of the Melalen tribe refused to send troops because they felt that the expedition was unlucky. In the end, the members of the Melalen Army were all a group of debt slaves. They were the lowest-ranking guys in the tribe, which is a bad thing to say.

It is said that they only have one life left.

As the Duke of Mellaren, Bjorn's moral level is not yet high enough to be on the same level as a group of debt slaves.

There are only about thirty warriors left, and one long boat can carry the entire Mellaren army.

However, the fact is that there are fully twenty long ships belonging to the Mellaren Army, and each ship is now carrying loot.

He grabbed gold and silver coins, bottles and cans, and even extremely rare purple cloth from the city of Aachen. When he announced to his subordinates that all of this was almost his own, none of his surviving subordinates objected.

The remaining station slaves had regained their freedom and even obtained their own spoils of war. They did not dare to think anything wrong, but they did psychologically despise Bjorn's greed.

These people couldn't help but cast their eyes on the Russians.

Those soldiers wearing blue-striped white robes and heavy armor, because of their noble status, took the most loot. Although they also paid a lot of losses, they did not steal or embezzle the spoils of the dead!

This is the justice of the King of Rus! Even if he dies in battle, his family members will inherit the deceased's wealth.

"Perhaps, after regaining my freedom, I should take my family to Tombstone Island and join Ross directly." Many people muttered like this.

Bjorn heard it, and he simply ignored these code words.

So next time there is a war, will you still participate? Of course you will! At that time, a group of debt slaves of the tribe will be organized, and the serfs will join. When the lowly people die, the loot will naturally be legally owned by the nobles.

Nowadays, there are densely packed ships sailing on the Maas River.

The fleet carrying a large amount of loot was carrying a large amount of loot. Behind them was the burning city of Maastricht, the remains of a stone pier and wooden bridge that collapsed and was further maliciously damaged, and a battlefield filled with corpses and simple graves.

, and even a messy camp on the other side of the river.

Could it be that there are no Frankish pursuers to the east of the Ross coalition?

Of course there are pursuers, but the main job of these people is not to chase and kill.

Although the problem of "attack on the back" that Blue Fox was worried about from the beginning existed, it was no longer a problem in a short period of time.

Count Eberhard of Jülichgau mobilized his cavalry troops to launch the operation. Archbishop Hartgar of Liège simply took off his black robe temporarily. The bishop in chain mail looked like a warrior, and he definitely wanted to wear a pair of black robes.

The cross inlaid with gold and silver shows your noble status and purity of faith.

The archbishop only had two junior priests as his entourage, and they mounted their horses and mixed with the cavalry led by the count himself.

The count used the limited time to make some preparations. The cavalry, which had been prepared for battle, was now in very good condition. The whole army marched in the opposite direction along Cologne Avenue, and as expected, they collided with the refugee army.

In the eyes of these Aachen refugees, the sudden appearance of the army was their savior. They surrounded them eager to get salvation, especially to get some food.

Count Naihe didn't want to get involved with these people at all. It was the priests' job to help the refugees. As a military nobleman, Eberhard hoped to rush into Aachen as soon as possible to save the city.

The war horses directly knocked away the refugees blocking the road, and some who could not dodge were simply trampled to death by the galloping cavalry.

The refugees who had already experienced severe mental shock suddenly remembered the tragedy that had happened before. They screamed and ran to the woods on both sides of the road to hide until the cavalry drove away.

What happens next?

What else?

Maybe the army that just passed by was Count Jülich's army, but now everyone can only move their leaden bodies to gather in the city of Jülich. After going through hardships, everyone always thinks that the only place where they can get help is.

The cavalry's collision with the refugees made the Archbishop of Liege very speechless. He held the reins and made the sign of the cross on his chest with his right hand.

Looking at the count and even his army, no one cares about the refugees. They just think that blocking the road is asking for death.

Under the urging of the count, the cavalry normally marched on a two-day path. He led the troops and ran wildly from early in the morning. In the evening, they directly reached the north gate of Aachen, which is also the starting point of the Cologne Avenue.

The cavalry reined in their horses, facing the city with the gates closed and the suspension bridge raised. The count gritted his teeth and did not dare to enter the city for a while.

"Oh my God! How can the city be like this?"

The earl crossed himself on his chest, but he couldn't see anyone now. The whole environment was extremely quiet, and it felt very abnormal no matter how he felt.

At this time, the archbishop drove his horses to approach the count: "Aachen has become strange, and I am afraid of an ambush. What do you think? Launch an attack today?"

"No need for the moment. Parda, I didn't expect that you know military knowledge?"

This is a very unhelpful question. As an archbishop, Hartgar is also an advisor to the king. If he were not an archbishop, his status would be like that of Count Jülich, who could be a vassal of a certain place.

The archbishop didn't say much, his old head looked at the holy city in the distance.

"How can New Rome be defiled by barbarians? But the fact has happened, and the top priority is to rescue the entire city. We can't have many illusions now, and you...my lord, you can't be impulsive either."

"Can't be impulsive? I was very impulsive this day, and even my horse was about to die of exhaustion. Look at this city again!" The count dismissed it, then calmed down, he squinted his eyes and continued to feel the entire excessively quiet place. Environment: "It's so weird. I even think the barbarians may have evacuated the city. I should send someone to lower the drawbridge and go straight into the city."

"It's better to be cautious. We are already standing under the city. There is nothing wrong with entering the city later. Besides, I think I know the Normans. When those villains finish looting, they will probably set fire to it. But Aachen did not Burning, this means there is probably an ambush inside, and they are waiting for us to enter rashly and catch us off guard."

This explanation was really enlightening to the earl. Eberhard's knowledge of the Normans was limited. He learned that a group of Normans attacked Cologne a few years ago and forced the Bishop of Cologne to spend money to buy peace, which reduced those people to nobles. laughing stock.

The entire Diocese of Cologne defected to Ludwig and openly stood against Lothair. In troubled times, all nobles can have their own choices. The civil war between princes forced the nobles to choose sides, and Eberhard did not do it from his heart. To support Lothair, if for some reason Ludwig or "Bald" Charles became the only Roman emperor, he would be able to recognize the new master very smoothly.

All because of the special geographical location of Jülichgau, Eberhard had to recognize Lothair's power.

He did not think there was any glory in this civil war, but if the targets were barbarians, that would be another matter.

He felt that he would gain glory as the savior of Aachen, so in order to gain glory, he had better be cautious.

The count paused his plan to force the door open. He heard the archbishop: "parda? What suggestions do you have?"

"Check around the city. If the Normans really have an ambush, they may also reveal their flaws. Let's try to break through from other doors. Let's go."

"That's fine."

So the entire Jülichau army turned around and moved around the city along the hard road outside the city.

The soldiers' eyes were always fixed on the city wall, but the more they looked at it, the more frightening and terrifying the city became.

According to the information obtained by the archbishop, a huge number of Normans rushed into the city. Their soldiers attacked so fast that the limited city defenders could not stop them. Besides, who is the real defender of the city, other than yourself? ?

One of Jülichgau's responsibilities was to defend Aachen, but his reaction was too slow and Aachen was attacked.

The army cautiously detoured to the south gate of the city, where traces of a large number of personnel activities were clearly visible!

Look! There are obvious ruts on the ground. As long as an experienced warrior kneels close to the ground and examines these marks with his hands, he can judge that they were left recently.

More than a dozen soldiers seemed to be able to find a lot of information from the traces like hounds. Although they looked inelegant, they still got some key information.

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"What's the matter?" asked the count.

"Sir." A soldier with an Orion background stood up: "The tracks are very deep, and the eyes are looking outside the city. I can tell that the Normans took a large amount of looted property and fled towards the west."

"They've escaped?!"

"If the Bishop's information is accurate, that should be the case."

At this moment, the south gate of the city was open, but the count, who was still worried about the ambush, still did not dare to enter the city rashly. The dirt road at the gate of the city was not a rammed Roman road, so it could retain a large number of ruts.

The earl didn't think the Norman robbers were very smart. Since the archbishop had always emphasized the need to be highly vigilant against these people, he was so scared that he was now suspicious.

The city gate is open, and the fallen suspension bridge seems to have no trace of damage.

"Aachen was really sacked? Only God knows how the Normans managed to break through the city."

He didn't dare to lie, but all kinds of abnormal scenes worried him.

No, a small group of cavalry bravely rode into the city as pioneers to explore the way.

They were worried that they would be ambushed when they entered the city, but now they actually entered the city without encountering any attack. As they walked on the road that led directly to the city square, they soon smelled an extremely alarming and uncomfortable odor.

"Oops! It's corpse odor!"

Without even needing to observe, they saw miserable corpses on both sides of the road. The stench made the horses extremely irritated. Some soldiers covered their mouths and noses and dismounted to check. They were shocked to notice that the poor dead were all women and children, and the blood turned into a lake of black slurry.

The whole body was gray-black, and there were flies flying everywhere that couldn't be driven away. They were extremely disgusting and terrifying lying on the corpse.

When they entered the city square, they finally saw the worst scene. As soon as the square came out, there were mounds of dead bodies. Looking carefully at the identities of the dead, they were all adult men. Judging from some obvious clothing information, these people were not

Are they the city's defenders?
To be continued...