Chapter 1198 The Ross Army Speeds Through the Frankish Capital Aachen
The Frankish Civil War seemed to have nothing to do with the city of Aachen. No matter how the nobles fought, the lives of the people in the city remained the same.
This sacred city located in a dense forest still enjoys its peace and tranquility. It was made great by Charlemagne, and Charlemagne was eventually buried here.
The former Roman Baths were significantly renovated, and a magnificent palace was built on its foundation.
This is the palace of Aachen, and it was Charlemagne's favorite residence. In his later years, he suffered from severe gout and loved bathing. It seemed that only the hot springs in Aachen could relieve his pain.
His era is over, and his descendants will inherit this hot spring palace.
He hopes to use a set of aristocratic systems to regulate all nobles, so that the noble fighting that happened to him will forever end. Perhaps enfeoffing the great nobles is the best way to bridge the contradictions. As long as the sons are distributed to various places, they can enjoy eternal peace.
Peace? Maybe it really is.
This great emperor died, and his heavy coffin was placed in the Aachen Cathedral next to the palace, in the Paladin Hall!
Back then, the Pope of Rome consecrated him here, and he eventually became the glorious "Roman Emperor". Now, he lies here quietly enjoying eternal glory.
However, this European emperor never dreamed that although his sons did not start a civil war, the most terrifying civil war would happen to his grandson.
He also never imagined that the Saxons, who had been crushed by his own iron hoofs, would rebel, and that the Danes, who were forced to surrender by force, would actually dare to attack the "new city" he created less than thirty years after his death.
Rome” Aachen!
The current Bishop of Aachen, Heinbach, as Lothair's court minister, his biggest job was to keep vigil for Charlemagne.
Lothair owns the ownership of his grandfather's palace and has the obligation to guard his grandfather's tomb.
However, Aachen is not a comprehensive big city. It has the name of "New Rome" but does not have the urban atmosphere of Rome.
She is a city of faith. The priests live a peaceful life in this city, and almost all the residents inside and outside the city serve the priests.
The thick Roman-style city walls were further reinforced, and the five hundred palace guards in the city were the unshakable defenders of the city.
The task of these soldiers is to guard palaces and cathedrals. They are richly dressed and well-equipped. All soldiers are only loyal to the king himself.
Although they belong to a standing army, these warriors will not participate in any field battles. They even have only a small number of horses and usually appear as infantry.
Regarding the real standing army, no one thinks that these "praetorian guards" are real warriors, they are more like a guard of honor. Even Lothair himself does not think that this kind of army has strong combat effectiveness.
Showing the splendor and glory of the royal family in the event is a perfect fulfillment of one's duties.
In addition to these ceremonial duties, their second duty is to maintain public security in Aachen.
This was New Rome, and it was only a theoretical existence that people who could live in the city were wealthy people, or there were a large number of skilled craftsmen, and there were criminals.
The Guards put on gorgeous costumes every day and patrolled the streets of the city as usual. On festivals, regardless of whether the king was in the city or not, they participated in a series of festival activities arranged by the archbishop.
Time in the city seemed to have stopped, and every day's life was exactly the same as the previous day. It was like Charlemagne resting in the Palatine Hall, and Aachen had gained eternity.
However, several carriages roared toward the city along the Aachen Avenue.
The guardsmen guarding the gate have never seen such a guy rush into the city gate since they took office.
They hurriedly raised the drawbridge slightly to stop the carriage from falling into the water-filled ditch surrounding the city.
The charioteer's movements were too harsh, and the horse, which was hit hard by the whip, suddenly stopped and was tightened so hard that it fainted.
The manager of Liangyian Village Mine, who was already injured, was directly thrown out.
He gritted his teeth and endured the severe pain and got up. At this moment, the vigilant city gate guards were already yelling and cursing maliciously.
Just listen to the manager wailing in pain: "There is an enemy attack! Let us enter the city quickly, I want to see your captain!"
However, how could the distinguished captain of the Imperial Guard be visible to a group of people who intended to break into the city?
However, the incident at the city gate quickly reached the captain's ears.
I was thinking that the holy city was usually peaceful, but suddenly there were armored soldiers in carriages breaking into the city. If something went wrong, something serious would happen.
With a group of soldiers, Sebastian, the captain of the Praetorian Guard, personally appeared at the south gate of the city where the trouble had occurred, which was also the end of the Aachen Avenue.
After a simple interrogation, and after confirming the identity of the other party, Sebaste ordered the door to be lowered with a suspicious attitude.
A group of strange troops attacked the mines in Bright Lead Village? Those soldiers wore white robes on a large scale with obvious blue lines on their robes? Those soldiers killed everyone on sight, used huge round shields extensively, and were extremely good at archery.
?
Speaking of the missing arrow, the mine manager, who was injured by an arrow, turned in the arrow that stabbed him.
After all, Sebaste, an honor guard-style flag captain, is also a warrior at heart. Many people think that their brothers are just showing off, but he doesn't think so because of his arrogance.
He observed this arrow. The arrow cluster was like an iron needle but extremely hard. The brown arrow feathers felt like those of a poultry. The iron arrow clusters of the Frank army were all broad-bladed and barbed, and the needle-shaped arrows were not equipped.
What army attacked the Bright Lead village? Could it be the Flemish?
But those armies had a lot of round shields, which was not the case with the Flanders.
The so-called time difference exists because when the Russian army was only about fifteen kilometers away from Aachen, the ordinary people who fled from Maastricht and Liège thought that they would be safe after crossing the river and entering the forest area.
The large and small Frankish villages in the forest can provide these refugees with a certain degree of living care, but once they start to settle down, their eager escape comes to an abrupt end. They become extremely lazy, causing disasters that should have been reported to Aachen.
It is impossible to go faster than the Russians.
At this time, the Bishop of Liège, who wanted to turn the tide, was still running wildly. He did not think that those Normans would be extremely fast. Besides, based on his knowledge of Norman pirates, those guys had no courage at all.
After attacking Aachen, I am afraid that this group of pirates will still be entrenched in the Maas River to digest the results of the victory.
The city of Aachen is like a fat sheep lying down, its soft belly facing the butcher's knife.
On the other hand, the advancing Blue Fox felt that they had wasted too much time and would encounter many obstacles if they continued to attack Aachen along the main road.
The bright lead villages and towns in the intelligence were easily destroyed, the coalition forces looted certain good things, and most importantly, the army correctly discovered the Geul River.
As the intelligence said, based on observing the flow of this river, Blue Fox believes that it will indeed flow into the Maas River. Looking at the width and depth of this river, theoretically the army can use this river for shipping, but the problem is that it is too narrow
It can accommodate at most one long ship.
Geul easily provided sufficient supplies of fresh water for the Ross coalition. The soldiers replenished drinking water and used the resources at their fingertips to eat a hot meal overnight. The cooking utensils used to provide food for the slaves in the mines were used by the Ross army on the spot, and the local
The small grain depot was looted again. It can be said that the coalition forces have sufficient physical strength reserved for the final battle the next day.
And a crucial siege vehicle.
The rescued old Dane Eric did not have any domineering nickname, because he had no time to take care of it, so the length of his white beard was exaggerated.
The shackles and handcuffs were lifted, and the old man put on a pair of leather boots and the seized clothes. He was in good physical condition, so he tied his beard with a rope and put on an iron helmet and a spare round shield.
It was given to him and given a Nordic hook ax, as if the Danish pirate of thirty years had been resurrected.
At this moment, "Whitebeard" Eric got a new life, and he was loyal to the "Boneless One" Yin Var, who had a weak leg, even though this boy was only twelve years old.
The more useful a person is, the more courtesy he must be given. Blue Fox doesn't care about Eric's identity at all. This person has provided some information that no one could have imagined before the war. His value is no less than a pound of gold!
Because Blue Fox has never heard that Aachen has a circular moat, and because the moat draws water from natural rivers, it even has to receive wastewater from hot springs in the city, so that the water in the moat is completely running water, and part of it is
The water will eventually flow into the Geul River. It was because Eric went to Aachen as a slave and discovered the characteristics of this city.
This brought major obstacles to the Ross Army's projects, but attacking urban armies with trenches was not unheard of.
Having had successful experience, Blue Fox knows how to break the situation.
"If I attack hard, will the tragic battle of Aleb Fortress be repeated? If the bullets of the torsion slingshot directly break the iron chains, the suspension bridge will fall down. Wait, if those chains are very thick, the cast iron bullets will probably hit
If I don’t wear it, I can either cut down some pine trees and build a bridge directly over the trench, and let the soldiers run over and smash the suspension bridge with a big axe.”
After some thinking, Lan Hu still felt that the bridge plan was more reliable.
It was a brand new day, and the thick morning fog from the lowlands filled the whole world. The soldiers who were camping found that their clothes had become wet again.
The trumpets and drums sounded loudly, and the sleeping people woke up one after another.
At this moment, the people who woke up early were already cooking a large amount of wheat with the captured cooking utensils and their own iron pots. The soldiers brought their own wooden bowls and dug out a large bowl at their respective camps, and then sprinkled some dried salted fish crumbs to cool down a little.
Then you can enjoy it.
This was the last meal before the war. No, Blue Fox himself began to lead the team to walk around the elite camp of Ross, shouting as he walked: "Eat quickly! After the meal, gather and set off! We will be in Aachen tonight
Spend the night here."
The last words were very powerful, and the morale of the soldiers was greatly boosted.
Soon the army began to assemble, and the two flag teams of the Ross Army were the first to finish their meals. The soldiers devoured their bowls, licked them clean, threw them into their backpacks, and started to line up.
It was already the final march, and the main force of the Ross army, which quickly formed a team, took the lead. This forced the rear team, especially the large number of Götaland warriors and Danish soldiers, to finish their meal in a hurry, not caring about reorganizing the team, and following the orderly Ross army in a chaotic manner.
The main force of the army was behind him, for fear that he would be too late in grabbing the gold.
The walk was about nine Roman miles. This was important information from Eric "Whitebeard". The blue fox was walking on a very flat road. According to his own experience, it was obvious that the coalition forces would be able to reach Aachen before noon.
It is said that the city is very large but lacks an outer city. There are many villages outside the city and they are mostly scattered in the forest. However, there are no military camp facilities near the city.
It is obviously the capital of New Rome that the Franks claim to be, but there is no large standing army stationed there? This is something that Blue Fox finds extremely ridiculous.
The capital of the Kingdom of Ross is New Rossburg. The main force of the kingdom's naval fleet is stationed in the capital, and a large number of standing troops and citizen soldiers are stationed. Especially the naval power. The Kingdom of Ross is proud of this. The new and strongest battleship Sea Monarch guards the capital.
The king should have such an attitude towards the capital. Isn't it natural to defend the capital with strong military strength? The Franks will pay the price for their stupidity or arrogance.
Therefore, in the final battle, the Ross coalition seemed to have entered a no-man's land.
There is no enemy obstruction at all. There are indeed villages near the Aachen Avenue, but those villages are relatively far away from the road. They can be robbed but it is not necessary. As they get closer to the end of the heartbeat, the soldiers are ready to put on armor.
Until, the army saw the obvious city wall in the distance.
Suddenly the morale of the army was boosted, and the excited soldiers shouted collectively. Now it was not Blue Fox himself who gave the order. The soldiers grabbed the armors placed on the carts and put them on as quickly as possible while helping each other.
The Blue Fox was very pleased with their decisiveness, and hurriedly called the veteran Grund and the young Asgard.
"The main attack belongs to us Russians! Grund! Your heavily armored army is responsible for the attack. They carry the wood to build a wooden bridge and rush up to destroy the suspension bridge. Askard! Your people are waiting to attack with Grund. You
All the crossbowmen in hand help suppress the enemy!"
Both of them clapped their chests and said yes, with determined eyes saying they would win again.
After a while, Blue Fox called Kelha over again: "Bring your Finnish archers and those who transport the torsion slingshots. Your task is to cover the siege and suppress the enemy's counterattack on the wall."
For the first time, Kelha was assigned a task like a veteran warrior. He resolutely said yes. The young man had the opportunity to fight in person for the first time in his life. He was no longer a follower of a big shot, but succeeded his father.
Vlo's position in the traditional Russian military formation.
At this moment, the blue fox also realized that he was just like Rurik himself.
All the powers for this military operation were given by Rurik himself. "If I don't do well, if I fail, maybe I will be deprived of all powers and even die to apologize. If I win a big victory,
It’s an even greater honor.”
After calming down, he put on his helmet and shook out the gorgeous dyed wild goose feathers on the top of the helmet.
He decided to personally supervise the battle and attacked together with the heavily armored berserkers of the First Standard Corps of the Standing Army.
"Brothers! Let's go!"
He took the lead and walked quickly, and the entire army simply abandoned all the temporarily useless handcarts on the road, and could only push the specially-made construction truck forward with all its strength.
The heavy infantry of the Russian Army immediately launched an attack. The crossbowmen first accurately hit the door guards and occupied the drawbridge before the other party could react.
"It went so smoothly. If I had known, why would I bother building a wooden bridge?" Blue Fox secretly rejoiced. He himself had already passed the suspension bridge with the heavy infantry.
Their speed was so fast that when the gate guards who survived tried to close the heavy wooden door, they were slammed into the door by as many as fifty heavy infantrymen who were the first to cross the suspension bridge, while hundreds of troops were still swarming after them.
Cross the bridge.
On one side, there were hundreds of strong Nordic men in heavy armor shouting slogans and pushing open the door. On the other side, there were only a dozen defenders blocking the door.
Soon, the last effort of the defenders failed. Grund's heavy infantry had already rushed through the south gate of Aachen. The movement was faster than anyone imagined, and it was as simple as swallowing a herring in one bite.
Blue Fox could not imagine how quickly the city was destroyed. He even had a vague feeling that maybe this was not the capital of the Franks.
But following the army into the city, he easily saw the spire of the cathedral in the city and a large group of buildings. There are no such luxurious buildings in ordinary cities! This is definitely Aachen.