Askard, who was extremely tired, lay in the pile of corpses like most of the soldiers. He was exhausted and fast asleep, not caring about the mud all over his body, let alone the corpses around him.
He even ignored the casualties of the Seventh Flag Troop he led, and most of the surviving young soldiers of the entire Flag Troop were sitting or lying down. They did not feel the joy after the victory. They were severely exhausted and they just wanted to rest, even if they lay down.
They still kept their swords in their hands, but they were worried that the enemy would counterattack again.
But the Frank cavalry did escape, and Count Gilbert of Ramengau just wanted to leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible.
The three standing army cavalry banners accompanying him on his escape, some even lost their orders, when they learned from Gilbert that their general Tristan had been killed, and they realized that it was possible to recapture the general's body, their
The morale of the military collapsed completely, and it seemed that the only option was to withdraw to the military camp in Brussels.
In the final analysis, Gilbert and these guys are not from the same group. No matter what goes wrong in the Brussels military camp, it has nothing to do with La Mengau of his own.
He just wanted to go home quickly with the troops whose losses were not serious, and do his best to defend.
"You...really escaped? Won't you come back?!" Blue Fox squinted his eyes and held the brim of his helmet with both hands so that he could clearly see the enemy's retreating back under the scorching sun.
Blue Fox was standing on the battlefield. There were corpses of horses and soldiers everywhere. The soldiers who were busy cleaning the battlefield kept poking the enemy's wounded soldiers and pulling out their own wounded.
A feeling of confusion arose. He knew that such a bad scene could be completely avoided. The army that sacked Aachen had no need to fight with the Frankish elite from beginning to end. Besides, the "road map plan" arranged before the operation was launched was clear.
It shows that the essence of the so-called destruction of bridges is to avoid a bloody battle with the enemy's main force in the west.
This is great, destroying the bridge has become a means, and fighting with the enemy's main force has become the goal.
Which link caused the big problem?
There is no need to doubt anything. It is the "Northern Faith" that everyone is obsessed with that caused the current situation.
All coalition soldiers who are willing to participate in the expedition must consider themselves to be warriors who believe in Odin and Thor. They worship force and would hate to see petty people doing humiliating things in front of them. Unlike businessmen who can bend and stretch, they can be flexible.
Their moral bottom line, unruly and unruly, is like strong wine in a bottle, a spark can ignite a fire.
It's true that benevolence is rewarded. Look at the large number of soldiers who have fallen to the ground. They should have gone home happily with their trophies, but now they are all finished!
There is a good thing. The trophies that belong to the dead left in the camp on the other side of the river will definitely be taken away by the survivors. How to distribute the trophies to each coalition department is the responsibility of the nobles of the department. In the final analysis, the Blue Fox is primarily responsible for
Ross's own army.
And this also gave him a headache.
Some young men were killed by the cavalry, even though they were wearing armor, their chests were pierced by lances.
The Seventh Flag truly experienced their first fierce battle since their establishment. After paying a bloody price, the recruits finally became veterans. Is this price too high? "I returned to New Roseburg, how should I tell Liuli?
Debrief? Tell him that I was unable to restrain the coalition forces at the critical moment, so I was forced to watch them walk alone?"
Let’s not think about these things for now.
Lan Hu hurriedly issued an order. The soldiers from the so-called Ross Army Headquarters were cleaning the battlefield and collecting the bodies of their own personnel. Any injured were treated as much as possible. If they were really hopeless, they would be hit with an ax on the back of the head. Of course, when doing so, they were on the verge of death.
The deceased must hold the sword tightly in his hand.
He will not care about the casualties of other troops. Each noble is responsible for the aftermath of his own people. Whether the corpses of the war dead are buried on the spot, taken away to another place to be buried and burned to ashes, or simply left on the banks of the Maas River.
I don't care at all, Blue Fox claims that it has no obligation to pay attention.
However, all dead bodies that can be found in Ross's own army must be removed. Even if it is midsummer, the corpses will quickly stink and must be removed.
Blue Fox led his own soldiers to search among the corpses in person. He walked towards the gathering place of the soldiers of the Seventh Flag Army, and soon found Ask's sleeping soundly lying in the mud.
"Is your boss seriously injured?" he then asked a soldier.
"It's okay, I'm just too tired."
"I saw there was blood in his mouth."
"Maybe he bit his mouth. I saw with my own eyes that he was pushed into the water by the war horse. It seems that the gods helped him..." The little warrior spoke lightly, and the blue fox felt his scalp numb when he heard it!
He looked at Askard and couldn't help sighing: "You reckless boy! You led your brothers to charge without understanding the situation. If you die, how will I explain to your father? How will I explain to the king?"
After talking to himself, the blue fox kicked hard, and Askard slowly sat up and asked as if he had just woken up from a dream: "It's dark now? We won the battle."
"We won. Boy, clean the battlefield, count your men, and tell me the specific losses. Take away all the fallen brothers."
"Okay." He tried his best to hold his dazed head, licked his lips and suddenly felt a heartbreaking pain.
Thanks to the cloth armor with riveted iron pieces and the chainmail lining for protection, he was hit by the cavalry, and the strength was cushioned by the armor and lining. Only when his chest was not crushed was he qualified to continue to survive. However, his teeth gave him
He bit his lower lip deeply, and now the blood has stopped flowing. His whole body has calmed down, and the adrenaline level that was enough to numb his nerves has returned to normal. The injury to his mouth can be said to be very minor, and even the pain of licking it is enough to make him
I feel like I'm going to die.
The huge casualties of the Russian coalition forces are visible to the naked eye!
The nervous warrior's spirit gradually relaxed. Looking at the entire battlefield, there were no living enemies. There was even no trace of enemy activity in this area.
Just south of the battlefield, at first Blue Fox only led Ross elites to set fires on the periphery. The warm southeast wind helped the fire. The fire was spreading irreversibly. When all the peripheral residences were ignited, even the inner city sandwiched in the middle was on fire.
Also protected by the city wall, all the buildings in the inner city would inevitably be caught in the flames.
All afternoon the coalition forces were cleaning the battlefield.
None of the five Jotalan nobles died, not because they had flinched before the battle, but because they were lucky enough. However, the soldiers they brought from their hometown suffered heavy losses.
If someone dies in battle, who can be blamed? Is it because the enemy is too ruthless? No, everything is fate.
People living in harsh environments have their own understanding of death. They die on the battlefield with weapons in hand, their souls will go to the Hall of Valor, and the bodies left behind in the world will be buried.
The Ghotalans still prefer burials. They dig large pits and fill them with the corpses they find. They also put the weapons of the dead in the trenches as burial objects, and then cover them with earth and oats.
The Danish army also suffered a lot of losses, but the losses of the Danish soldiers caused by Yinvar the Boneless were much less. Those free fishermen always seemed to be outside the coalition forces, only joining the coalition forces when necessary. Now these
It is not good for people to die in battle, but their final bravery must be recognized to some extent.
Danish soldiers were also buried in the dug pits. These dead lay together with a group of Malaren dead, and everything was buried under the soil.
The Frank army's crazy charge paid a huge price. No one collected their bodies, and even their helmets and armor were pulled off.
The coalition soldiers who clean up the battlefield will rarely search for their own dead. The loot that can be looted comes from the enemy's depths.
No one noticed that there was a corpse that belonged to the Frankish general Tristan. He was dead, his helmet and armor had been stripped off, and his body was finally exposed to the sun in a very miserable appearance.
The corpses of the Russian coalition forces were buried on a large scale, and a large number of white objects gradually appeared on the battlefield, that is, the corpses of the Frank army, together with the corpses of the horses, gathered together to become a humiliation to the glory of the Franks.
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On the other side of the Maas River, the Ross Army Camp.
The losses of Ross's army mainly came from the 7th Banner Troop. The flanks were washed away by cavalry. Some people fell into the water and disappeared, probably sinking into the mud at the bottom of the river. Now there are more than a hundred corpses found alone. It is unlikely that they will survive.
More than a hundred people died from serious injuries.
After all, the Seventh Flag Team still participated in the final stage of the fight, and half of the entire team suffered casualties. They are the first generation descendants of the old Russians who immigrated, and most of them are half Slavic. This does not mean that they are better than
Their fathers were weakened. Through this battle, the young man paid a cruel price and finally proved that he was worthy of the name of Ross.
That is, when everything settled down and I saw a large number of corpses of comrades lying flat in an open space in the camp, the feeling of sadness was enough to make Askard burst into tears.
He cared about his brother who died in the battle, and Alicia cared about her as well.
Although they were on the other side of the river, a small number of people who stayed behind directly witnessed the whole process of the battle on the other side. They saw thrilling scenes one after another. If it was not for the important task, they would have wanted to join the chaos with weapons in person.
Alicia and Princess Gisla both saw the fact that the French army was defeated. The proud heavy cavalry did not overwhelm the Norman array after all.
The two girls had different attitudes. Gisla knew that it was a standing army that belonged to her father. Even if Lothair ignored her daughter, she was still a princess after all. She hoped that the Frank army would win, but everything was over...
The frustrated Gisla did not have any thoughts about outsiders. She learned that this Norman army could not even be called the main force. The emerging overlord of the north, the Kingdom of Rus, only sent a small number of standing troops and vassal troops, and gathered
Some stragglers, this kind of second-rate or third-rate army, defeated the Frankish elite.
She just wanted to get away from these barbarians as soon as possible. Although she didn't know her uncle Ludwig's attitude towards her, at least she took her niece in for the sake of Charlemagne.
Alicia's attitude was completely different. It wasn't just her body that was conquered by her.
When Askard took off his armor and washed away the mud and blood in the river, he appeared in front of Alicia again in a cleaner appearance. She walked up to her, and just when Askard was also surprised , the girl had already opened her upper arms and hugged him.
Now, who can question that Ascard did not conquer this woman.
"I even thought you were dead. What would I do if you died? I don't want to be a servant in the hands of the Franks anymore. I want you to fulfill your promise. But you... almost died..." She said a lot.
Askard was silent for a moment, hesitating for a long time and caressing her back: "For example, God protects me. I'm not dead. It's over. Everything will be fine."
Although she had heard that her father and brother ancestors had participated in the war against Charlemagne and had been beaten with corpses all over the place, Alicia was just an ordinary girl from a lower-level noble family and had only heard of those things but had never seen them.
I thought that the Norman killing in Aachen was the most barbaric thing I had ever seen in my life, but now the city of Maastricht was in flames, and the battlefield next to the city was literally littered with corpses.
She still didn't have the courage to go to the battlefield to find out what was going on across the Maas River, but as the corpses of the young Ross men were gradually delivered to the camp, she first vomited violently after witnessing the tragedy, and hurriedly avoided it, not daring to look directly.
In the evening, the fire in the city seemed to tear open a hole in the earth. According to the Franks, it was the fire of hell spurting out. According to the northerners, it was the human world of Misgard that was falling apart.
The excessive flames were more noticeable than the setting sun, and across a river, people resting in the camp could also feel its scorching heat.
The soldiers of the First Flag Team of the Standing Army, because of their extreme stomach and extraordinary physique, and as a new force, they launched operations against the rear in a group attack attitude. They did not suffer any casualties, although they were injured, and the injuries were serious enough to force the soldiers to fight for a long time. They won't be able to fight again for a long time, but they really have nothing private.
These troops are all personal soldiers of King Rurik of Rus. The normal operations have continued to this day and the troops have suffered very few casualties. Blue Fox feels that he is enough to report his duties to the king.
Finally, an astonishing number of fallen soldiers from the Seventh Banner Corps were found. Each young soldier had a clear name, and even had an iron nameplate with inscriptions hung around his neck. Even if the nameplate was lost, their clothes were deliberately embroidered by their parents. Enter the names of the children. Even if these are lost, you can draw a conclusion about who died in the battle just by counting the centurions.
After explaining the aftermath, Blue Fox found Askard again and patted the kid on the shoulder. Facing the corpses on the ground, the depressed feeling made him embarrassed to speak.
"Uncle, do you have any orders? Or...are you planning to blame me for being reckless?"
"It's okay. I don't blame you for being insulted." Blue Fox sighed slightly: "You will grow up because of this, and all living warriors will become veterans. Only your uncle and the king can judge whether you have done something right or wrong. Also, As long as you have a clear conscience."
"yes."
Asking themselves, Askard indeed felt that he had acted too hastily at that time, and for a moment he could not imagine that everything was a Frankish conspiracy.
"The bodies of the dead found by our unit are all here, and there are also some missing brothers who probably fell into the river and disappeared. I almost drowned too, alas."
"Don't talk about this yet. Tell me how many troops you lost?"
"One hundred and fifty people were killed and missing, and there were more than a hundred injured. If another strong force comes, the Seventh Flag Team will no longer be able to fight."
"Serious losses! But we defeated the powerful army of the Middle Kingdom. You and your brothers have achieved great glory at a young age and are worthy of praise." As he said this, Blue Fox patted the brat on the back.
Askard felt much better after receiving this encouragement and praise: "What should I do if they are corpses? Cut down the wood and burn them, or bury them on the spot."
"Ship it away and take it away. Go to Roterstad to cremate them. Eventually, we will bury the ashes of all the soldiers in the cemetery of New Rossburg. This will also give an explanation to your uncle and all the old Ross people. And your troops
The portion of the spoils that originally belonged to those who died in battle shall be given to their families.”
"I will." Askard nodded.
"Very good. Take out all the fabrics seized from Aachen."
"what for?"
"Wrap them as a shroud. We will leave as soon as possible and finish burning the bodies before they start to stink."
"Alright alright……"
The war dead were tied up like insect chrysalis with cloth and hemp rope, and then they were carried by their companions to the longboat and stacked neatly. The whole process was silent.
In order to avoid a sneak attack, which obviously caused heavy losses, Lanhu ordered the entire army to light bonfires on a large scale to continue to create the illusion that the coalition forces were still strong.
His caution was important, but the Frankish army in the west had already fled.
He had also been worried about the Frankish army coming from the direction of Aachen. Although it would be difficult for the enemy troops to cross the Geul River if they destroyed the Geul River Bridge, if they insisted on crossing the river, they could send a certain army to seek revenge.
Now is the reality of the fragility of the coalition forces, and Blue Fox does not want to spend another day in this river beach camp.
He gave the entire army the last and only day off, and then continued to clean the battlefield the next day. There were piles of helmets and armors ripped off from the Franks, especially the helmets. Blue Fox didn't want any other trophies, so he just plundered the entire army.
of enemy helmets gathered in their hands.
This is a kind of token. Firstly, it proves to Ludwig that the Kingdom of Russia has implemented the secret agreement and even made a significant contribution, and then can extort some political resources. Secondly, it is also a clear explanation to King Rurik of Russia. After all, the coalition forces
There were really as many as 1,900 Frankish-style iron helmets collected. There is no need to fake this item. It is enough to prove that the coalition forces at least eliminated an equal number of elite enemies.
As for how many Frank militiamen were killed, it would be meaningless to report a number to the king.
Only by proving the number of elite soldiers killed can the merits of the battle be assessed.
In fact, this was a normal seizure of helmets. Even so, at the scene of the chaotic battle in Maastricht, the coalition forces captured as many as 400 horses, and 900 Frank troops were killed.
The general was killed in battle, and half of the entire army was lost. Such a cruel loss ratio was extremely rare for the Frankish army. They could persist until nearly half of them were killed before the entire army collapsed due to accidental factors, which is enough to prove that they are worthy of being elite.
However, the Ross coalition forces on the opposite side were not afraid of death in their fury and endured to the end despite suffering exactly the same proportion of losses.
Yes, the coalition lost more than a thousand people in this battle. If the previous losses are included, the entire Ross coalition has lost more than 1,500 people so far.
Although Blue Fox was not distressed by the mass death, he estimated that King Rurik was not distressed either. Those who died were all vassals, servants and allies. They were not so much the army as the most traditional northern militia. This kind of
People are brave enough to fight and dare to do anything to make money. If there is a new war, just through a call, a group of poor people will bring their own bucklers and weapons to join the army and participate in the expedition.
Now, the action should be over.
On the appointed day, all the trophies were loaded onto the ships. Some longships were piled with the bodies of the dead, and some even simply became tools for transporting horses. All war horses with docile personalities and controllable characters were driven onto the ships, and the best quality ones were
Naturally, they were taken away by the Russian army, and Blue Fox wanted to pay tribute to Rurik. The rest of the horses were probably sold on the spot at the mouth of the Rhine River.
Who would buy a horse? It must be Henry Nassau, Earl of the Netherlands.
That guy is an ally, and he is definitely willing to pay for war horses.