Chapter 943 The confidence of Duke Ludoff of Saxony
The Robard tribe, which was once prosperous, now only remains in ruins. Their villages were occupied, and they themselves were either killed or taken into slavery.
When outsiders Horik and Robard carried out strategic bundling, they also took down risks.
At that time, when their leader was killed and the people were left without a leader, they were forced to join forces with the outsider Horik due to many considerations.
Now it's all over...
In theory, Denmark has been completely restored!
The War of Jutland in 840 began with the landing battle and retaliatory destruction at the northernmost tip of the peninsula, and then the battle for the Aleb Fortress on the Lindholm Isthmus.
When the battle line was pushed all the way south to the Schleswig Great Wall, all enemies in the town of Schleswig were wiped out.
For the vast majority of Danish nobles, it is time to stop.
But the war will still go on.
Just as Schleswig was recaptured and the coalition forces were taking a short rest, another military meeting was held.
This is a conference of victory, a conference of unity, and a conference that breaks new ground.
Even the many Danish nobles present at the meeting, while praising King Rurik of Rus as the Holy Lord and King Ragnar of Denmark as the Great One, also bluntly and collectively demanded that they withdraw their troops.
Retreat? Why retreat? Where is the fight?
Ragnar begged them to stay, and many nobles also spoke plausibly.
Some said that their tribe suffered heavy casualties and needed to cultivate themselves.
Some say that the Frankish forces have been expelled from Jutland, and there is no need to expand the war at least this year.
Others said that their team had already plundered enough loot.
Some people even said that they should go to the north quickly and let the Götalanders go back to Scandinavia. It was this statement that resonated with the majority of nobles.
Because the Gautalans are not welcomed by the Danish tribes. If it were not for the joint crusade against the trespasser Horik, and due to the prestige of King Rus, no Dane would want the Gautalans to wreak havoc in Danish territory, even if they wreaked havoc
This is the territory of the hostile Robad people. This can be regarded as an internal struggle in Denmark. Denmark is unable to make irresponsible remarks to the overly powerful Rus people. As for the poor Götalans, they must leave.
This made Ragna quite embarrassed.
Continuing south to enter Hamburg, it is natural. But if the demands of many nobles are not met, these guys will secretly choose another king, and then trigger a new civil war...
The parties in the military conference reached a compromise.
The main force of the Russian army will be divided into two teams: sea and land. It seems to have returned to the tactical arrangement at Lake Vettern, but the fact is that Rurik compromised the overall situation. As the king, he divided the ethnic groups with different interests within the territory.
When we come together, we must try our best to satisfy their respective demands.
What the Danes said is very true. As friendly forces, the Götalanders continue to stay on the Jutland Peninsula. As long as time is delayed, the alliance they forcibly created will split, and the Danes will expel the Götalanders on their own.
They also had more euphemistic words about the Swedish army verbally. The nobles were convinced that the Rus and the Swedes were brothers. Compared to the Götalans, the Swedes were even more heavyweight.
If you want the Swedes to leave Jutland, you really can only rely on King Rurik to persuade them personally.
Ross County had to divide its troops, and the wounded had to be taken away by ship immediately.
Arik was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the land forces of the Russian army, and was responsible for the combat forces of the first to sixth banner corps. To this day, the continuous fighting has caused many soldiers to be killed or injured and transported away. It seems that the huge six banners
The combat strength of the team has been reduced to 2,000. For example, the brave First Flag Team has been reduced by half, and the only remaining veterans in their early 200s still have their essence.
The cavalry was also incorporated into this team. Fisk used some captured horses to collect soldiers who could ride horses in the army. The cavalry returned to the size of 300 cavalry, but its combat effectiveness was greatly reduced.
The main force of the Russian army had lost a lot of energy in the battle that lasted for nearly half a year. It was at this juncture that the Slavic army, which had suffered no losses, immediately showed its value.
There are as many as a thousand warriors in Medvet! At this season, they should be cutting wheat, threshing and growing crops in the fields of Novgorod, but now they are in the extremely far west. Since they are too far away from their hometown,
The soldiers simply gave up. Because the king promised everyone that the so-called army would receive a large amount of food supplies from the Count of Hamburg. Even if the farmland in their hometown failed to harvest, the brothers would not suffer any loss.
More than that? In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Rurik solemnly promised that all soldiers who go to war, regardless of their ethnicity, life or death, will be exempted from all taxes this year.
As a result, the Russian army has 3,300 soldiers, which is able to run sideways in Europe today.
The Blue Fox also has a mixed force of the Swedish Unclas Army and the Gothenburg Army, which still has a strength of 600 people today.
A team of 4,000 people was assembled, and their destination was Hamburg.
Could it be that without the command of the supreme commander, this army could march with a certain degree of discipline?
As Duke Liudolf of the restored country, he could now gather not even a thousand Saxon troops.
Look at the Ross army, and then look at your own people. On one side, the troops are as powerful as the legendary Charlemagne's army, and on the other side are peasant soldiers who are like beggars. Consider your own strength. If this Ross army desperately robs people on its way south,
Liudov was convinced that he could not stop it, so he could only pray that these Russian noble generals would abide by their agreement and would not take the initiative to plunder Saxon villages.
But as the Duke of Saxony, he had to pay a price, and he had to give out a lot of new wheat as tribute to appease the army from going crazy.
Liudov was not a fool. When he watched the Russian army's tactics from a new perspective, he was also learning silently in his heart.
The army moves in a unified and orderly manner. Troops are divided into groups and communicate with each other by drums, horns and flags. Each soldier wears the same clothes and has the same weapons. Each soldier has a large backpack with food and personal belongings stuffed inside, and there are also bundles outside.
Curly cloth blanket.
What shocked him the most was that the Russian army was good at using arrows. It seemed that most battles could be solved by relying on endless archery.
He silently remembered it in his mind, thinking that the five hundred cavalry he brought from the Westphalian fiefdom were extremely capable, but the entire army was wiped out. The Earl of Hamburg brought two hundred cavalry and was also wiped out. Is it understandable?
Prince Ludwig leads a thousand cavalry into battle, but will his entire army be annihilated?
"I need these Norman troops to escort me on my way south, and I need them to consolidate my rule. At least I need them this year."
As a result, the Ross-Saxony coalition army of 5,000 people began to move southward by land.
At the same time, Rurik also took action. The huge fleet carried the remaining Russian troops and began to move north. At this point, Rurik still had two thousand people under his command. Apart from the capable standing army wearing bear heads, the remaining The force seemed very mixed. The huge Ross fleet accompanied the fleet of Danish nobles, and they left Schlei Bay and headed north.
At this point, Schleswig regained its calm and lost its vitality.
Everyone has evacuated completely. Although there are a lot of buildings, there is no one at the moment.
Some large pits were dug to bury those who died in the war. The dead were laid to rest in their graves. The dead of the Ross Army had been reduced to ashes in the flames, and their ashes were collected and brought back to the cemetery in New Roseburg for burial. Ross Army The battlefield was cleaned, which is extremely rare in today's European wars.
Is this a kind act? The northern saint Eskil, who was hit by an arrow in the thigh, was very pleased...
"Perhaps, he can really become a king like Augustus. Unfortunately, he is unwilling to convert."
Gu Huang
The carriage creaked and creaked, but Eskil still held his silver-plated wooden cross firmly. Next to him sat a young priest who had fled into the forest and was picked up again and settled in Schleswig. They were on the same journey. A carriage, heading south together with a huge army.
He lifted up his black robe and occasionally opened the linen wrapped around his leg to check the injury. Thank God, his fatal wound healed well. As long as there was no strenuous exercise, everything would be fine.
Esquier did not attribute this to medical skills, but was convinced that this was a miracle. The arrow in his thigh was fatally injured, and it must have been because his piety moved God. With God's blessing, he continued his work of spreading the gospel after the situation stabilized. Still have to continue.
From Schleswig to Hamburg, even if the road is a little winding, the total journey is equivalent to 120 kilometers.
Of course, this is not a big problem for the Russian army, which often fights wars. Even if it is a land march, when each soldier has extremely abundant logistical supplies, marching is nothing.
For the Saxon army, dilly-dally was unavoidable.
As the commander-in-chief, Arik had no choice but to accommodate Liudov's dissatisfaction.
Precisely because they have sufficient supplies, the Russian army does not need to rob the villages along the way. "On-site supply" is plundering. This is indeed a shortcut to solve logistics. Even if what is obtained depends on luck, it can also force the locals to flee, and even It was a tactic that elicited the locals' tragic fortification and clearing the field. Logistics were completely replenished by looting. Normal Viking armies would give priority to this, but the Ross army already numbered 4,000 people, and they were marching across the border in Saxony, a region they were unfamiliar with. , really need to be cautious.
From the perspective of Liudov and Robert who accompanied him, this group of Norman Ross troops from the north refreshed their understanding of Norman pirates.
The army walked on a dirt road that was paved by the feet of travelers. This dirt road was not random. The villages along the way were action nodes. The roads connected these villages in series, connecting Hamburg to the north.
The villages here are all inhabited by Saxons, but the people who escaped from the north have long informed of the war in the north. All villages were on alert. When they saw the appearance of a huge army, and saw a large number of blue and white troops, the first The time came to mind that this was not a barbarian army, it must be a Frankish regular army.
The Danish Normans cannot be offended, and the Frankish regular army cannot be offended even more. Because the retaliatory killings of the Saxon people by Charlemagne's Frankish army are a lingering nightmare in everyone's mind.
One by one, village leaders took the villagers to inquire about the situation, and soon learned something shocking.
Liudov, who inherited his bloodline from Vidukind, announced that the Principality of Saxony was resurrected! The restored Principality of Saxony declared its opposition to Ludwig, and all conquered Saxons were freed from Frankish control at this moment.
Villages along the way doubted the authenticity of the incident and were afraid of retaliation from the Frankish army, especially the local Count of Hamburg. With Robert, Count of Hamburg himself being dragged out to testify, the matter seemed to be finalized.
It has been too long! The Saxons, who were subjugated slaves, welcomed back their king. They vented their inner dissatisfaction and offered some newly harvested oats and rye as tribute, and the village declared its allegiance to Liudolf.
At the same time, they also understood the true identity of these neatly dressed troops. They were not Danes, but Russians. The Russian army was a foreign army. They were allied with the restored Principality of Saxony. The purpose of their existence today is to help Liudov defend
The hard-won fruit of restoration is this group of Russian troops. They will fight against possible Frankish counter-rebellion forces. As long as they win a major victory, the Principality of Saxony will not perish again.
Of course, these Saxon villages also knew the price of refusing allegiance, which was countless northern troops. To refuse allegiance was to declare confrontation. In this way, without the arrival of the Frankish army, these powerful northern troops could raze the villages to the ground.
Each village made the most rational choice - to be loyal to Liudov as the Duke. Only in this way, they bought peace by paying tribute to this year's new wheat.
A village can provide five hundred pounds of new wheat, an amount that Liudov personally requested. Many villages must hand over "certificates of allegiance" of this weight. Liudov thus proved his power and satisfied himself.
Supplies for the army, and more importantly, he began to implement his contract with King Rurik.
Such an amount of wheat is just equivalent to an appetizer before a meal. For these Saxons, their restoration almost all came from the charity of the Kingdom of Rus. Restoration is an extremely accidental thing. Without the support of the Kingdom of Rus, this kind of
The restoration of the country is short-lived, and will encounter bloody revenge from the Franks when the time comes.
Then all Saxons will still have to pay a huge price.
It was a secret agreement. The Principality of Saxony was to hand over two million pounds of wheat to the Kingdom of Rus to serve as the military expenditure for the Rus' army this year and to pay for the military protection of the Kingdom of Rus.
This is a very large amount, but Rurik is not asking for an exorbitant price. He has a good reason: "We will help you restore your country and help you fight the war. We do not intend to occupy your land, and we will be allies in the future. I want you to spend two hundred this year."
Ten thousand pounds of wheat is already very friendly."
The uncontrollable Danes did not come, but the principled Russians came.
Liudov, who could no longer look back, was sad that because of his ambition, he did not even care about the lives of his wife and children in Westphalia. He simply became cruel and gave the Russians whatever they wanted. At worst, he would immediately start to conquer all the Frankish villages in the south.
Take control, confiscate the wealth and immediately pay it as tribute to the Rus' army.
In fact, for the huge Saxony region, their total population is as high as half a million.
Theoretically, a population of this size must be loyal to Duke Liudov, but he has little ability to control it well. He cannot do what Rurik did, and place the kingdom's main population of 200,000 in several large cities.
within the settlement, thus allowing for direct top-down control.
Liudov could still only do what his ancestor Widukind did, first firmly control a core area, and then rely on his personal prestige to demand the loyalty of Saxon barons everywhere. There are variables here, and there are barons who have different reasons for not being able to protect them all.
There is no reason to reject him, but to continue to be loyal to the Frankish nobility. You can't say for sure. Liudov is still not convinced that the effect of his "grandson of Vidukind" is perfect.
However, as he received the reinforcement order from Count Robert of Hamburg to support the Saxon baron army in Schleswig, it turned out that his identity was indeed useful.
Indeed, Vidukind is a hero well known to everyone, and the viscounts also know that the descendants of the hero did not decline, but were deliberately placed in distant places to continue to be nobles. In the past year, they have even become more aware of the grandson of this hero.
He was sent to the Danish world as a chess piece, and many Saxon barons were worried about him, fearing that the Danes would devour him.
Liudov, the grandson of the hero, did not die. After being exiled, he actually formed an alliance with the Danes and the mysterious Rus. After all, he was the grandson of the hero! Half a century has passed, and many heroic deeds have become stories passed down by word of mouth.
.
They did not lose the courage to rebel, and because of the outbreak of a full-scale civil war among the three Frankish princes, the Saxon forces in the northern border area were secretly preparing to move.
It's like a bundle of firewood that has been spilled with grease. It only needs a spark to burst into flames in an instant.
They did not hesitate to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and reluctantly went to Schleswig. Now, the barons, the retinues and the peasant soldiers, these Saxons supported Liudov as the real Duke of Saxony like no other.
After all, this is the only dirt road going north to Schleswig. The Ross-Saxony road going south was very slow for various reasons. It took six days to walk the equivalent of 120 kilometers.
However, at the time of departure, Liudov's various Saxon warriors (including the hiders found in the Schleswig Forest) were only 900, and many of them were actually making up the number. Even if they were making up the number, when the coalition forces arrived in Hamburg
, the Saxon army has swelled to five thousand men!
Judging from absolute numbers alone, Liudov's Saxon Army had surpassed the Russian Army's land force, which immediately made him feel confident.
Now, the city of Hamburg is right in front of us. Even though it is just a fortress-like city with a population of less than a thousand people, it is guarded by a large number of villages like stars.
Liudolf was standing here, and Robert, Count of Hamburg, paid him the utmost respect.
The whole of Hamburg welcomed the real Duke of Saxony. All the local Saxons supported Liudolf, and all the Franks in the region were shocked!
The Franks could not bear to be shocked by the rapid development of the incident. It was the autumn harvest season and it was impossible for the Frankish farmers to leave their farmland. They were all working and were rounded up and detained. All their property was confiscated, leaving only the clothes they were wearing.
, as well as a limited daily food supply. They were collectively put into ten huge barns and closely guarded by the Ross army and the Saxon army.
On the other hand, Robert was reunited with his wife and children, and his servants and last retinue were successfully preserved. In fact, due to the loss of his absolute elite, Robert's status as earl was only in name only. In the Hamburg area, he, the earl of Hamburg, had no soldiers or soldiers.
However, no common people recognized the status of this nobleman.
Because Bremen was burned and nearby villages were destroyed, the fleeing people created Hamburg, a densely populated area. Both sides of the Elbe River are a good place for agriculture, and now the Frankish immigrants have been concentrated in custody after the retaliation of the local Saxons.
The remaining farmland was occupied by the Saxons. At present, Liudov did not see the bloody acts in the retaliatory action and simply treated it as non-existent. It was he who ordered the elimination of Frankish influence, and now he has a large number of Frankish "prisoners" with nothing. This is a tactic
The goal has been achieved.
Liudolf arrived in Hamburg and immediately declared it the temporary capital of the Duchy of Saxony.
He stood on the tower of the fortress and looked up into the distance. Everything was so beautiful, but also very magical.
Robert, his wife and children had moved out of the fortress and were camping outside the city with a small group of followers.
Similarly, the huge Russian army was also encamped by the river outside the city.
Liudov knew that if these ruthless Normans waited any longer, the huge fleet of King Rurik of Russia would soon come from the direction of the ocean. In his heart, he did not want this to happen, but Hamburg was an open area facing the river and the sea, and the Ross army would meet
By using this place as a large military camp, the Ross-Saxon coalition forces can wait and wait for Ludwig's reaction.
"Ah! I have to reorganize the army immediately. I want to send an envoy immediately to order all the barons to be loyal to me! No! I have to send an envoy back to Westphalia to pick up my family. Yes, the pick-up matter is in the