"I didn't expect that their arrows were so powerful that I lost some men." Gilbert, Count of Ramongo, had to sigh with emotion.
While fighting in the city, his horsemen killed a group of Norman soldiers.
The enemy was easy to identify. It was midsummer, and the Normans walking around the streets were shirtless in large numbers, revealing their very obvious tattoos. The enemy took some precautions in the crisis, but the cavalry took the upper hand and won the first victory.
With Gilbert leading by example, Ramon's army fought all the way to the city dock.
However, just at the dock, he, who was confident that he could drive all the Normans into the river and drown them, encountered the most outrageous blow he had ever seen in his life.
Floating on the river was the largest ship he had ever seen in his life!
Those were the Ross armed cargo ships and sail destroyers that accompanied the army on the expedition, especially the latter. Sail destroyers were a second-class combat force in the Ross Navy, and their size was much larger than a rowing longship.
The torsion slingshots were still placed on the side of the ship. They were usually covered with tarps for protection. In the critical moment, when the Malaren people were beaten by the unexpected Frank cavalry and fled in a hurry, the wounded on the other side of the river who were lying in the sun to heal their wounds got up to help the friendly forces.
Fight back.
The javelins fired by the torsion slingshot fired randomly at the Frank cavalry troops crowded on the riverside, and combined with the crossbows to counterattack.
The sharp javelin penetrated the body of the war horse. The horse neighed and jumped in panic, which only made the injury more serious. It fell down while vomiting blood crazily, and threw the rider away.
At a greater distance, the soldier hit by the crossbow had the needle-like armor-piercing arrow pierce the flesh but not deeply.
Earl Gilbert was young but not an ordinary man. He hurriedly withdrew from the battlefield with his elite soldiers, not caring to rescue the wounded at the critical moment.
The injured cavalry still had stubby arrows stuck in their bodies. The excited soldiers could not feel the pain for a while. They had to calm down after returning to the city. The heart-piercing pain forced the dismounted soldiers to cry and convulse while covering their wounds.
General Tristan had arranged for his cavalry to clear out the remaining enemies in the city. Naturally, he also captured some prisoners of war. The prisoners had their hands and feet tied and began to be interrogated.
It was a pity that his people did not understand the Norse language, so even if they hung up the captured Melalen warriors and beat them, they could not find out the reason.
However, in order to vent his anger, Tristan did order all the prisoners of war to be hung upside down like onions.
This general was known for his cruel methods, so he obviously sent such a trusted general. Lothair believed that such a person sitting in Brussels could deter the Flemish people from acting rashly.
Now that he has learned of the fall of Maastricht, he does not need to consider civilian casualties in the battle to regain the city. There are no civilians in the city at all, either they were sold into slavery by the Normans, or they were killed.
?!
Based on his understanding of the Danes' ways, it is likely that a large number of people really became slaves of the northerners.
Tit for tat? No! All the more than 30 captured Normans will be publicly executed.
In other words, the execution process will be clearly seen by the Normans on the other side of the river.
The dismounted Frankish heavy cavalry soldiers temporarily approached the east gate of the city facing the river in infantry posture.
On the Meuse River are the Norman ships that are watching eagerly. If the enemy finds the right opportunity to launch a counterattack, will our side encounter unexpected passivity?
The Meuse River bridge has collapsed, but according to Gilbert's intelligence, the bridge across the river in Liege has also been destroyed. In theory, cavalry can be carried across the bridge by small boats, but the Normans will give the Franks a chance to cross the river calmly.
? Besides, even the Norman ships that had just been captured were taken back by the enemy.
General Tristan ordered his ministries to take matters into their own hands, and went to the cathedral with his own soldiers first.
He smelled the stench just as he approached the church, and it was obvious what happened inside.
With his heart beating wildly, he subconsciously covered his mouth and nose and ordered his subordinates to push open the closed wooden door.
The soldier didn't want to do this. The strong stench as he approached the wooden door would have made him vomit if he hadn't been through it too many times.
The double wooden doors were pushed open with all their strength, and suddenly a black shadow spewed out with a strong buzzing sound.
"Ah! Lord of the Flies!" A soldier exclaimed as if being pushed down by a shadow, and accidentally fell to the ground.
On the other hand, the soldiers retreated one after another, but along with the overwhelming stench of flies, it suffocated all the soldiers present, and the strong sense of vomiting could no longer be overcome by human subjective willpower.
Even Tristan himself put his hands on the ground and vomited a lot of meat and vegetables.
Even if the so-called city is occupied, Maastricht, which has been robbed of all its superficial wealth, is no longer something Bjorn's Malaren army is willing to occupy. The inner city is full of dead bodies, especially the cathedral.
Norman warriors were ordinary people from the north. Even if they were used to seeing death in killing battles, as long as conditions permitted, they would never get together with a bunch of dead bodies.
The inner city looked like a huge tomb to Bjorn, and there was no gold or silver to plunder.
After vomiting, Tristan stood up and continued to cover his mouth and nose to gain the courage to enter the cathedral to find out.
However, the stinky scene still forced him and the soldiers to retreat completely.
He had to order one: "Damn it! The bishop is dead! Close the door quickly, we will talk about anything later."
This was expected, but he didn't expect that the priests and a large number of ordinary people would die so miserably.
Frustrated, he took the well water handed over by his subordinates to rinse his mouth, then grabbed the horse whip and aggressively approached the hung Malaren prisoners of war.
He was arrogant and bared his teeth as if he wanted to eat them alive. He held up the water-soaked riding crop and yelled: "You bandits! You all deserve to die! One stabbing to death will give you an advantage!"
After that, he personally acted as the executioner. After selecting a prisoner of war, he used a riding crop to beat the prisoner until his flesh was bloody and bloody. Finally, it turned into a mass of scarlet rotten flesh. The prisoner died of exhaustion.
The dismounted soldiers who were watching had rarely seen a general so sick. As a close colleague, a flag captain approached Tristan and grabbed his arm: "Brother, that's enough. These are just a group of sheep in the sheepfold.
If you want to be slaughtered, give it a good try."
Tristan angrily threw down the bloody riding crop: "Damn it! I'm very angry now."
"But we are not them. When everything is over, we can collect the bodies of the victims."
"It's over?" Tristan turned his head and glared at his colleagues' faces: "How to talk about the end? The Normans are still entrenched on the other side of the river. How can I report to the king now? Tell him that we guarded Brussels but lost the Master.
Richter? I’m going to fight back! I’m going to wipe them all out.”
That being said, all three Frankish heavy cavalry banner captains, including him, knew that the cavalry could not directly cross the river unless the Normans were willing to cross the river and fight the cavalry one after another.
Are the Normans fools? No one thinks they are stupid. On the contrary, everyone feels that they are stupid because of their passiveness in this attack.
The flag captain suppressed his anger and suggested: "We should indeed kill them. Our army cannot cross the river directly. We must find a way to anger the Normans and force them to cross the river to challenge us. In this way, our army The iron hooves trampled them all into pulp."
"What else can we do? I think...those guys will be afraid of our cavalry strength."
What Tristan said was inherently arrogant, but if you think about it for a moment, if you were in charge of infantry, you would have to move around when you saw the enemy's cavalry.
"Provoke them." The flag captain continued, "I heard that the Danes are very brave and fierce. Through some humiliation, they will definitely be forced to submit."
"How to do?"
"Don't they have blood eagle punishment? We can imitate it. But we don't have to learn it completely. We don't need mercy to kill these gangsters with heretical beliefs. Since you want to vent your anger, then use another way to vent your anger. At least let them see it when you vent your anger. arrive."
The flag captain seemed to have said a lot of nonsense, and seemed to have given Tristan some inspiration. He was looking at the frightened prisoners of war, pinching his curly beard and couldn't help but have some wild thoughts.
However, General Tristan did not give up the possibility of crossing the river to attack.
He held his helmet and led his soldiers to the camp of Count Ramengau.
Gilbert, the bravery of this young man is worthy of admiration, but bravery and recklessness are often difficult to explain clearly. He would never dare to scold this young man for being reckless in person. After all, this young man is really the legal son-in-law of the king and has become a person who cannot be scolded.
In the end, Maastricht returned to the Franks, and the cross flag flew again on the city walls.
Before his anger subsided, he approached Gilbert aggressively: "Young man, your bravery impresses me. We almost drove the Normans down the river to feed the fish."
But Gilbert couldn't be happy, "Uncle, do you know?"
"what do you know?"
"I was almost shot! They had big ships and could throw javelins. Is that human-powered? I saw with my own eyes that our war horses were shot through the side."
Tristan choked for a moment: "Obviously, the Normans had some secret weapons. No wonder they captured this city, but everything passed and we regained it."
"Recapture? No. This city is empty. I found some stinky corpses and am arranging for the manpower to bury them on the spot."
"You did a great job. In fact, the situation in the inner city is worse."
"Are there dead bodies everywhere in the inner city? Where is the bishop?" Gilbert was of course sure that the bishop was dead. He hoped that the bishop would die an honorable death, but looking at the general's gloomy face, it was clear that the situation was bad.
"You'd better stop asking."
"Okay. I won't ask. Uncle, what will happen to us now? The Normans are on the other side. However, I lost some soldiers and horses, and my cavalry cannot cross the Meuse River."
Tristan nodded: "That's why I'm here."
"what for?"
"As you said, the bridge in Liège collapsed. Our army cannot use the bridge there to make a detour. But is there a possibility?"
"What are you implying?"
"Go through your fiefdom. Cross the river through the bridge in Namur City. Or, take a boat across the river from Xiuyin."
"My fief?" Gilbert had to think about it.
He was very alert to this matter. After all, Tristan was a direct subordinate of the king, and the standing army must carry out necessary supplies when passing through his fiefdom. He was very resistant to this in his heart. If it was the king's request, it was Tristan.
requirements.
What is this person? There is no clear title so far. In the final analysis, he is just a dog of the king. Now respecting him is actually respecting the king. Secondly, because this person has thousands of troops under his command.
Considering practical factors, the best way to attack the Normans is indeed to launch the Frankish army's specialty - a cavalry attack after crossing the river.
But were the Normans fools? If the cavalry attacked them, and the bandits got on the boat and moved to the river, the cavalry would stand on the bank, holding their arrows, and shouting curses? The bandits could not be killed by insulting them.
Of course, Gilbert didn't want this battle to really involve his fiefdom, so suddenly he thought of some excuses.
"Uncle," he said deliberately, "I came from Namur and it has taken me three days to get here. If the main force of our army withdraws from Maastricht, wouldn't it take a week to get around to the other side of the river?
I have no extravagant hopes for Xiuyin Town. The locals are so scared that they almost drag their families to live in my fiefdom. I am kind and provide them with food. It is impossible for us to cross the river with the boats from Xiuyin Town.
, besides, I’m afraid the Normans will have left in their boats within a week.”
Young Gilbert did give Tristan a heads up, but also felt a clear rejection.
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It is true that the king's army broke into the territory of another great nobleman, which was considered a pretext. It was actually a bad rule to break into the territory without explaining it in advance.
Since Gilbert had thousands of reasons to deny the plan of taking a detour to cross the river, this plan, which was not favored by Tristan, was simply abandoned, which further strengthened the implementation of his "fishing plan".
He sighed deeply and said deliberately: "It's really not advisable to take a detour. If I were a Norman, I would definitely escape in a boat when I get the chance. That's what those Norman pirates are like, unless they are provoked."
The relieved Gilbert let out a sigh of relief: "How to anger them?"
"Go to the riverside area and insult them."
"But if we do that, won't we be attacked by arrows? I'm worried. Besides, can they understand our language?"
"It's a problem. It seems... we should use some cruel methods."
According to Tristan's original plan, he wanted to hang all the prisoners of war and hang their bodies directly on the wall of the inner city for public display, thus angering the enemy and boosting his own morale.
Now that I think about it, I should be more aggressive. It doesn't matter if the enemy can shoot arrows, the key is to provoke them.
The captives should be killed in front of the Normans like cattle and sheep.
"They should be skinned in public!"
Gilbert was shocked and stunned: "Uncle, what you did...isn't it too cruel?"
"No! I think it's just right. Young Earl, you know nothing about the Normans or the Danes. You don't know their blood eagle punishment."
"what is that?"
Tristan made gestures, and Gilbert understood and shuddered.
Maastricht has been completely recaptured by the Franks. More and more cross flags are flying, and soldiers have made a large number of simple crosses with ropes and wooden strips. They are used as markers or placed on the city walls as substitutes for flags.
, or simply as a simple tombstone.
The inner city was the most stinky, and there were some stinking corpses in the houses in the outer city. These corpses were wrapped in rotten coarse cloth and straw mats, and soldiers dragged them outside the city with horses. They dug pits and buried them collectively, and finally inserted them into the city.
Go up to the wooden cross.
The entire city began to be fortified, and the prisoners of war were stripped of their clothes, leaving only a fig leaf tied around their crotches.
Tristan himself spoke some Frankish words to the prisoners of war, which the Malaren prisoners could not understand at all, and they could hear the death threat from his stern tone. The prisoners of war had no more thoughts about their future.
, the worst case scenario is death, everyone just hopes that they will die happily, and that after death, the brothers on the other side of the river can cross the river and kill these Frank troops.
Tristan decided to use these prisoners of war to set up a trap, which he called "Operation Fishing".
The so-called wooden stakes were set up near the old battlefield in the north of the city and all the prisoners of war were tied to the wooden stakes. That was an open area, which was most suitable for the cavalry to take advantage of their tactics, and the main cavalry was hidden in the houses and streets in the north of the city. As long as the provoked
If the Normans dare to land, what awaits them is a powerful cavalry attack!
But the situation suddenly changed, as Norman reinforcements suddenly appeared from the Aachen Avenue.
This...can't help but make Tristan and Gilbert think about it with horror.
"Why? They will appear from that road?! Have they been to Aachen?!" Tristan no longer dared to think.