The Coblenz garrison soldiers who forcibly surrendered abandoned their helmets and armor and fled. Only their helmets and swords were worn as the last dignity of a soldier.
Ten people fled in shame. They knew their humiliation and continued to comfort themselves during their escape.
They first climbed over the mountain behind the fortress, and then went straight to the village behind the mountain. They asked for some food and water, and warned the locals: "You run away! The barbarians have captured Koblenz, and they kill everyone they see."
, we are the last ones to escape."
Of course this is not the case, but these fleeing warriors fully believe what they firmly believe. From their perspective, those guys under the banner of Baron Nassau and the Eastern Kingdom are always Normans who do all kinds of evil. Those people are equivalent to the apostles of Satan.
Brutal.
By persuading the villagers to hurry up and escape, the fleeing warriors were able to comfort themselves.
"At least, we can save a lot of innocent people."
There are not many villages near Koblenz, they are more concentrated near the Moselle River.
After all, the Moselle River Basin was the activity center of the old Germanic Alemannic tribe. After being annexed by the expanding Frankish tribe, it became the core territory of the Franks, and the locals also transformed into authentic Frankish people. Sandwiched between the low mountains
The narrow riverside area is a rare settlement suitable for farming. Most of the local area belongs to the parish of Trier, and the three parishes of Trier, Metz and Reims are now under unified management.
The Archbishop of Reims, Sinquemar, controls the divine power of a contiguous area, but behind this appreciation, the huge area is also the fiefdom of Count Metz.
Theocratic power and secular power have always maintained cooperation. Priests in various places are educating the people, and the feudal nobles control the territory by force.
This area is already the core area of the Franks. It is a densely populated area in this era, but for people trapped in the mountains, it is not easy to find a village, even if these ten fleeing soldiers have been along the Moselle River.
Run upstream.
They wanted to retreat to Trier and inform the standing army stationed there directly under King Lothair of their experiences. They even claimed the disaster of the fall of Coblenz to anyone they met along the way, just for the sake of
Alarm the village.
On an ordinary night of escape, ten exhausted warriors fled to a small village. The villagers did not dare to provoke these ruthless people, so the knight lord of the village gave them some black bread out of basic landlord friendship, and made more considerate arrangements.
Stables for their living quarters.
If these people were not all wearing the standard iron swords of the standing army, the knight would have regarded them as bandits, and there was nothing wrong with him taking the opportunity to kill them.
The simple villagers did not care at all what happened to Coblenz. They were honest and naive and had only heard of the name of this city. As for the knight, it was not their fiefdom, not to mention that his lord was Count Metz. Now Metz
Earl Ci is a staunch supporter of King Lothair, and it is natural that knights from all over the world should stand for King Lothair.
After all, they are standing army soldiers, and their military training is much better than the crooked melons and jujubes under his own command.
This knight only had a small fiefdom and controlled the secular power of three small villages. If Count Metz felt that his existing troops were insufficient, he would definitely ask for more small vassals to send troops to join the war.
"Those barbaric Norman mercenaries raised by the Eastern Kingdom destroyed Coblenz? This must be part of a huge civil war. It seems that the current situation is very complicated and my territory is at risk? But you are all deserters, I know
The king's attitude towards such people. Even if you escape to Trier, you will probably be imprisoned. When King Lothair learns of your situation, he will probably get angry and hang you all! You should imagine carefully, if you are loyal to me
, as my retinue, you will definitely be safe..."
The civil war was an opportunity, and those enterprising knights intended to seize this opportunity. If they could perform meritorious service on the battlefield, they might be able to increase their fiefdom, and even be upgraded to a baron with a large fiefdom in one fell swoop.
It's just that as a lower-level noble, the knights can mobilize not only single-digit elite retinues, but also a small group of armed farmers with flails, sickles and other farm tools.
If you have a group of ruthless people under your command, the situation will be completely different.
The knight's words were very reasonable, and the ten people who escaped had to coo at each other in the stable.
"This kind of little noble is not worthy of everyone's allegiance."
"Otherwise? What else can we do? Flee to Trier, or we will be hanged after giving out information."
"Why hang us? You told the local defenders that we escaped after a long battle. Boss Fred has died in the battle. As long as you talk hard enough, no one will know that we escaped on our own initiative."
"I don't dare to bet. We will have to go a long way in the future. Who knows what the future will bring? It is better to serve as a retinue under this little nobleman now and wait until the situation is stable."
"Forget it! Just consider the past me dead. Anyway, I don't have a wife, so I just stay in this village. You can leave if you want, I want to stay."
…
They did not reach a synchronicity. The next day, the five of them insisted on leaving, and the remaining five simply pledged their allegiance to the knight.
Those who insisted on leaving asked the knight for a horse, even if the horse was rather mediocre.
"How greedy! You are unwilling to be loyal to me and want to take my horse? Why? Giving you dry food for your escape is already a great mercy on my part. Maybe..."
The five people who were asking for trouble said nothing and hurriedly carried the linen bags and continued their escape.
The fate of the five people left behind has indeed changed. They have no worries in their hometown, and they are all quite young and unmarried. From the perspective of this knight, he picked up five treasures. These five young people were born in the standing army.
With his subordinates here, the crooked melons and jujubes he has on hand can receive some formal military training, so that his family can gain the possibility of prosperity in the future.
The core area of this knightly territory is in a long bend in the middle and lower reaches of the Moselle River. It is like a peninsula. The largest village has only about 200 men, women and children, relying on the pretty good natural environment here.
He lived a poor and boring pastoral life. In fact, this knight's territory was vast and sparsely populated. There were only three villages and a small group of scattered people living on the hillside, totaling more than 500 people.
Koblenz is just downstream, and its fall only makes the knight worry about the future.
But after the fugitives left, the life here returned to its former tranquility. Except that the knight added a few new retinues, nothing changed.
In the conquered Koblenz, the local situation changed suddenly. It has been incorporated into the Barony of Nassau, but it has not been recognized by King Ludwig for the time being. And this is one of the things that Blue Fox will do in the future. Because,
An opportunity to expand your results is in front of you. This is like a business opportunity. Once you miss the opportunity, you will never get it again!
The fortress is there, and the Russian army completed the conquest in the name of Baron of Nassau. The warriors from Northern Europe moved the Koblenz Fortress cleanly, and put all the granaries, armory and other goods into everyone's pockets. Looking forward to making a fortune.
The people's thirst was basically satisfied. By taking off the enemy's chainmail, many warriors replaced the enemy's armor, and their armament increased.
Entering a house made of heavy boulders, what Blue Fox saw were neatly arranged linen bags. The soldiers were busy carrying them, but Blue Fox temporarily stopped them all.
"Be patient for a moment, let me see what's here." He stabbed a sack with his sword, and all he saw was dry rye flowing out like gravel.
"Of course this place is a granary." Black Fox complained a little.
"I know. It seems that this is the only place that the brothers cannot rob." Lan Hu thought for a while, and then arranged for his cronies to block the place. As for the food that had been removed before, he would not pursue it, but the rest would belong to the army.
Store food.
In this siege of the city, two unlucky men of the Russian army died after their skulls were smashed by rocks. In addition, ten others suffered minor skin injuries.
The fact is that the defenders did not suffer much losses. The battle was a mess. The heavy armored soldiers on both sides were in a group. It would take some time to kill a heavy infantryman in a cramped place.
More than 60 defenders died, and more than 100 prisoners of all kinds were captured. The prisoners of war were all injured to varying degrees. Since they could not be killed, they had to spend money and resources to temporarily support them.
Including his own people and prisoners of war, Black Fox had to solve the problem of feeding as many as 800 people for a long time.
There is a batch of food in the fortress, and some oak barrels contain a large amount of drinking water. Obviously, this is the capital of the logistic reserves that the defenders have the courage to hold on to. Blue Fox estimates that if he is unable to capture the fortress for some reason, he will adopt siege tactics and the defenders.
Consumption, even if the opponent is destined to be consumed, it will only happen after a long time.
This batch of food solved the military ration problem for a period of time, but it was far from enough.
Koblenz Fortress still flies the cross flag with black lines on a white background, but for the first time, it flies a Russian flag.
Blue Fox continued to tell the two priests that this was the "St. Andrew's Flag", which represented that his Norman army "always believes in God."
Are the barbarian nobles in the north more pious than the local Frankish nobles? Father Bachbert brought the small parish of Koblenz with the secular power of the new Baron of Nassau. From what he has seen so far, these troops maintain incredible kindness.
.
They did not persecute the prisoners at all, and even provided them with meals after removing all their weapons.
At the beginning of the period, Fred, the flag captain of the garrison, was extremely uncooperative.
If Blue Fox was an old soldier with a hot temper, he wanted to vent his anger by hanging the garrison general up and sending someone to whip him. He didn't do this because he knew exactly what he really wanted.
Blue Fox has always taken his younger brother Black Fox with him, and he is seizing every moment to educate his younger brother on how to obtain greater benefits from prisoners of war.
First of all, it is impossible for the Barony of Nassau to take in these prisoners of war. Trying to keep them will eventually leave a group of disasters. Because the Barony of Nassau has actually become a controlled area of Ross, trying to get a group of Frank standing troops to follow the lead of the Norman Ross people.
This is a great humiliation. It would be a wise choice to hand them over to Ludwig in exchange for money.
It was not suitable for Blue Fox to come forward directly for the time being, so he arranged for two priests, Bachbert and Conrad, to persuade him.
At least Fred, the flag captain, had respect for Bachbert. The visitors were all priests. They did not pay attention to secular power, and the priests had nothing to do with who was the lord. So when the two came to persuade them to surrender for the first time, Fred did something
After a decent threat, he invited them all away. Now when he saw the two of them again, he had lost his spirit after defeat and his attitude became very easy-going.
It was this easy-going attitude that made the two priests very happy. After all, the Russians provided them with a way out.
"From now on, Coblenz will be classified as the Barony of Nassau. It will be part of the Eastern Kingdom. Your time of garrison here is over. You were defeated by the Baron of Nassau and defeated by a stronger army. As warriors, you
The defeat should be worthwhile. You have proven your loyalty to Lothair, what happens next?" Bachbert said these words, and he was implying a lot.
Fred was still angry when he mentioned his defeat. He suppressed his emotions: "Am I really defeated by the Baron of Nassau? If only that were the case. You are noble priests, lying is blasphemy. They are clearly Normans! My family has always been loyal to the king.
, my grandfather and my father were at war with the Normans! I know what the Normans are like."
"Okay." Father Conrad admitted that what he said was a fact, but emphasized that it was not the whole truth. "But you have to understand that those Normans have converted to God. Just imagine if they were really as cruel as Satan's apostles.
, how can you live? How can the farmers here live? Baron Nassau has gone to the west. He was promoted to earl under King Ludwig, and his fiefs are all in the west. He married his daughter to a young Norman
Man! You must know the noble status of the person who defeated you."
"Me? I am defeated. Do I need to understand it seriously?"
"Of course. I told you last time I came here that they are nobles. I say again, the ones who defeated you were two people, a northern earl and the brand new Baron of Nassau. Although they are Normans, they have all converted, noble
The northern saint Eskil baptized these two Norman nobles and became their godfather. Think about it! What is your identity and what is their identity!"
Fred thought about it carefully, and the two priests seemed to imply that he was still glorious despite his defeat.
He asked with a dull face: "So, how will we be treated?"
Father Bachbert continued: "Those who died in the battle will be buried on the spot, and all of you who survived will be sent to Wiesbaden. Go and serve the Eastern Kingdom! King Ludwig will reuse you."
Fred's eyes were trembling, thinking that this was indeed an acceptable result.
"Perhaps I should talk to them directly about these matters. You two noble people should not be reduced to being lobbyists."
"It doesn't matter, because those two nobles respect you. They have learned about your attitude towards the Normans and are afraid of a dispute if they disagree. Now it seems that you are willing to calm down and have a good chat. A meeting will be arranged for you soon.
Chances are, those two Norman nobles are proficient in Latin but not very proficient in Frankish. I will accompany you as a translator, so please feel at ease." Father Conrad persuaded them earnestly.
If a barbarian can speak sacred Latin, completes the conversion, and ensures the lives of all captives, are such Normans still considered barbarians?
Fred couldn't help but feel tempted. If the other party was a Frankish noble, he could just swear allegiance on the spot. Anyway, he would lose the face to serve as King Lothair's standing army anyway.
Koblenz was originally the fiefdom of Charles the Bald of the Western Kingdom, and King Lothair had the ambition to take it away with arms. Fred, who was ordered to be transferred to garrison here, never felt at ease as an officer. This was the place where the Fourth World War came.
On the other side of the Inn River is the Count of Leingau of the Eastern Kingdom. In his understanding, the Count of Leingau is loyal to the Eastern Kingdom, just like the Count of Metz is loyal to the Middle Kingdom.
Now is the peak period of the all-out civil war. In the nearby area centered on the northern Vosges Mountains, King Lothair and King Ludwig are fighting here. Fred, who is a standing army, knows something about the situation, and his name is Lau.
The town of Tenkaiserslautern is in the middle of a tug-of-war between the two kings. Even Count Metz himself has led troops to participate in the battle, and the battlefield is not very far from Coblenz.
Thinking about this carefully, Fred suddenly realized that the northern army's attack on me was part of the civil war and part of the tactics.
As the standard-bearer of the standing army, he at least knew the stationing situation of the standing army in the earldom of Metz. The garrison of Coblenz was small, but the garrison of Trier and Luxembourg were large. Otherwise, the defense of this area was entirely Metz.
The affairs of the count, and further south are the Duchy of Burgundy and the Duchy of Provence.
The main force of the standing army was mainly placed near Aachen and Strasbourg. The former was to guard against the rebellious Earls of Flanders and the local Norman pirates, and the latter was where Lothair personally led the main force against King Ludwig.
The army fought for the area north of the Vosges Mountains and south and west of the Rhine River, and tried to directly capture Ludwig alive and force him to become only the Duke of Bavaria.
The big picture is like this, the details are things Fred doesn't deserve to know.
During the civil war, all nobles have to consider their own positions, and officers of the standing army can also imagine whether they can take the opportunity to become a feudal noble of one party. After all, in today's world, if you continue to be a military household for generations, it is better to immediately transform yourself into a noble lord.