Chapter 944: The Record of Robert, Earl of Rheingau
The messenger finally delivered the news to Ludwig's military camp in Worms.
The bad news from the north shocked the prince at a loss. Faced with the new situation, he had to hold a military meeting and discuss the unexpected situation in depth with several generals.
If it was just a messenger who came quickly to report, he would also consider the authenticity of the matter.
Now, even the messenger of the Bishop of Cologne has sent special information, the so-called death of the northern saint Eskil, which proves that war has broken out in the Danish world.
Even Eskil is dead, so then Count Liudolf of Westphalia will definitely die.
Could it be that all this is a conspiracy of the Danish leader Horik?
When the civil war entered an anxious state, Ludwig had not yet assembled enough troops to defeat his eldest brother Lothair. Now that the weather was getting colder, the army was bound to spend the winter in the southernmost part of his territory.
Ludwig's main forces were placed in the southern regions such as Worms and Mainz. He intended to capture Strasbourg and require all local Franks to be loyal to him, thereby strategically completing the attack on his elder brother.
suppress.
In the northwest, the Count of Westphalia was forcibly sent to the Danish world in the north by himself, which was actually a treatment similar to exile.
The leader of the count family is Liudov, who is a descendant of the rebel Vidukind. As time has passed, it seems that this family has no reason to rebel anymore.
The key point is that even if the Count of Westphalia swears allegiance to him, Ludwig really cannot trust Liudov due to the political situation.
Aachen, the capital of the Frankish Kingdom, was not far to the north of the Westphalian region. Aachen and Cologne were actually the core areas of the Frankish monarchy, and were also firmly controlled by Lothair, the de jure real king.
At this point, could it be that my strategic plan has been completely shattered by the sudden outbreak of war in Denmark?
A late summer rain caused the temperature to drop sharply, and the hazy weather made the East Frankish army soldiers stationed in Worms feel very bad.
They suffered losses in the battle at Lao Teng, and the current front line was in a stalemate. The soldiers thought that this year's battle was over.
A large number of Frankish farmers were ordered to serve, and they were eager to return to their hometowns to reunite with their families for the winter.
Those Saxon peasants who were forced to join the army knew that they had no way to return to their hometown. They were not willing to risk their lives for the civil war between the Frankish nobles. Now that the war situation had reached a stalemate, their attitude immediately became extremely negative.
On the negative side, those Sorbians (a part of West Slavia) who were forcibly packed into the army were forced to work as slave labor. When necessary, they were given an axe, and they only wore a single coat to prepare for Lothair's Frankish attack.
, the embarrassment of a narrow escape made their loyalty a joke.
Things have always been bad for Ludwig, and the current situation looks like a disaster.
It was a cold night after the rain. Charlemagne's winter palace in the city of Worms has now become Ludwig's residence and command center. This city and the granary in the nearby city of Mainz maintain the stability of the army's morale.
Basically, in order to boost the sluggish morale, during this year's harvest season, he ensured that the army could remain stationed based on sufficient rations for his men.
The two noble generals were secretly summoned by him in the stone castle in the city.
They are Robert, Count of the Rheingau, and Harald Clark, the former leader of Denmark.
To be summoned by the prince alone must be a major event, but recently a piece of news spread like wildfire, claiming that an uncontrolled war broke out in Denmark and spread to Saxony, making the two people attending the meeting nervous.
Ludwig gave the two people barbecue, bread and ale, entertained them, and finally mentioned something that everyone was concerned about.
The prince had a gloomy face, and the beard on his face could not hide his sadness.
"Perhaps you have learned some news." He sat at the wooden table and held his chin in his hands. "The news circulating in the military recently is half true and half false, but some things are true."
"Is the war breaking out in Denmark?" the elderly Harald Clark asked cautiously.
"Indeed, it is your hometown of Denmark. Your disloyal nephew Horik is very likely to rebel again. It's really disgusting. Does that man still want to be beaten by me again?"
There was threat in Ludwig's words, but also helplessness.
Harald Clark would not make excuses for his nephew. After all, they had become strangers over the years. He hurriedly expressed his loyalty: "Although my subordinates and I are Danes, our loyalty to the king is true. I
Swear to God."
"Indeed, you mercenaries are indeed loyal. Therefore, I have recruited you to give you a major task." Then, Ludwig's eyes were more focused on Count Robert of the Rheingau: "My dear friend
! Gather your cavalry, go to Westerland immediately, and bring Liudov’s family here. You have to continue heading north to Hamburg to help Robert stabilize the situation. "
"This... Your Majesty, are all the news true?" Robert nervously asked.
"It's probably true. Horik is very likely to rebel again. He's such a shameful person. I can't bear to stab him in the back while I'm weak in the northward expedition! I have enough information to prove that Liudo, Count of Westland
The husband was killed by him, and the northern saint Eskil was also killed by him. Those Danish troops will attack Hamburg, and maybe they will cause the Saxon nobles to rebel. I will let you lead a cavalry to the north to control the situation! Listen,
I cannot tolerate chaos in the North at this time."
Obviously this is a risky job. Robert certainly doesn't want to leave his fief and venture north, but he has no choice.
"It's just my own cavalry... I lack confidence." Robert told the truth: "I heard that Liudov went to Denmark with 500 cavalry. Could it be that so many cavalry can't suppress the Danish rebellion? I now
We can also gather five hundred cavalry, but..."
"I'll give you another thousand horses!" Ludwig said with a wooden face.
"Your Majesty, traveling north is very risky."
"Then I'll give you two thousand riders! This is my final bottom line." Ludwig stood up angrily and couldn't help but stand by the window of the stone room. He told his two subordinates with his back on his back: "There is still a lot of information that is unclear and cannot be tolerated."
The argument is that there is a war going on in our north. Now the Holy See is very concerned about the life and death of the saints in the north and the safety of the believers in the north. Lothair's army will not attack us in winter, Robert!"
"exist!"
"I entrust you with the privilege of entrusting you with the command of the two thousand cavalry I brought from Regensburg. You must assemble the two thousand five hundred cavalry, and then gather some infantry from your own fiefdom to go north."
"As commanded."
"And you." Ludwig added: "Harald Clark, that Horik is your nephew, but unfortunately he is a vicious traitor. Take your mercenaries and go north together, prove yourself with your actual actions
of loyalty.”
Time has passed, and Harald Clark's beard has turned gray. As Ludwig's loyal dog, he must prove his loyalty anytime and anywhere in order to continue to survive. Now he not only has to find a way to survive for himself, but also for his brothers.
.
At the end of summer, Ludwig's army began to divide.
His troops stationed in Worms and Mainz maintained a large size of 30,000 men, including many elites from Regensburg.
After all, Lothair had a legitimate past, and he had a strong appeal, so he deployed 20,000 troops in Strasbourg. Heavy troops were deployed in important national towns such as Reims and Aachen, and even a small number of troops were stationed in Cologne.
Unlike Ludwig who concentrated his main force in one place, Lothair's territory extended from Flanders on the Coast (Netherlands) to southern Italy. He deployed his troops in the east and divided them in the west. For example, he would
The army was placed on Frank Island to control the entire Paris, strategically completing the suppression of his younger brother Charles. He did take advantage of the macro situation, but the too narrow territory was leaking everywhere. Even if he had the largest number of troops in the country, he had to divide his forces.
.
The two brothers were betting, Ludwig bet that the eldest brother would not be able to attack in winter, and Lothair bet that the second brother would not be able to attack in winter either.
Ludwig completely concealed the crisis in his northern Saxony territory. He began to block the news in the army, hanged several crow-mouthed soldiers and civilians in public on charges of deceiving the public, and suppressed bad public opinion with thunderous means.
As a result, no one dared to discuss why Count Robert of the Rheingau actually had the authority to lead the King's elite cavalry away.
Three thousand men were separated from the 30,000 combat troops, most of whom were elites. Ludwig's move instantly caused the strength of his army to plummet. After all, he only had 6,000 cavalry capable of fighting on hand.
…
Count Robert of the Rheingau was ordered to do so at the critical moment. He led the cavalry to go north at a high speed. As for the infantry, he did not lead it at all.
Similarly, all the Danish mercenaries who had been Frankized learned to ride horses under the leadership of Harald Clark. There were three thousand of them, riding inferior horses, following Robert's footsteps as mounted infantry.
These are the three thousand cavalry, and what awaits them is a journey equivalent to more than 250 kilometers.
They tried their best to reach Dormont, where the Earl of Westchester's mansion was located, at high speed.
The huge Frankish army suddenly arrived, but as soon as Robert arrived, he found an empty village. He didn't take it seriously at first, until he arrived at the count's mansion.
He originally wanted to inform the family members of the Count of Westphalia that Count Liudov's life or death was uncertain. Although this was cruel, he was doing things according to orders.
tons of grain
The town of Dormont and even the local monastery were as empty as a dead city.
What exactly is going on here? Are you afraid of an attack from Lothair's army? Impossible! How could Lothair desecrate the monastery?
After a brief inspection, he discovered something even more bizarre.
In the monastery cemetery, a great man is laid to rest.
Robert and Harald Clark led the army at the goal, facing an empty tomb and a damaged inscription. The stone inscription pointed out that this was the tomb of Vidukind, and the stone inscription was also carved on Charlemagne's order. Now the stone inscription is damaged and the tomb has been destroyed.
Digging, the coffin disappeared.
Things are too strange!
"I have been ordered to move Liudov's family to Mainz. If Liudov really dies in Denmark, his wife will be taken care of and King Ludwig will be his son's godfather. How can I handle this now?!
"
Hearing this, Harald Clark said uneasily: "Perhaps it was Lothair who did it. The Earl of Westphalia was a Saxon. He refused to be loyal to Lothair, and his territory was close to Aachen. Isn't this right?
Seeking death."
"Maybe. If Lothair really attacked the monastery, then he really doesn't deserve to be king. Maybe he really should do this, so that our king has a chance to be the new king of the Franks. Let's go, there is no reason to stay here anymore
.”
Robert felt that something was very strange. What was visible to the naked eye was that the vast and sparsely populated Westphalia region was becoming more desolate.
The cavalry rested here and the two continued to go north. In order to ensure that their whereabouts were sufficiently secretive, they did not pass through neutral towns such as Cologne and Dusseldorf, which were completely managed by priests. Instead, they followed the road trodden by travelers towards Brei.
There was a sudden advance in the direction of May, and the journey to Hamburg was coming to an end.
As a result, on the way north, they suddenly met a group of fleeing villagers.
What's going on? These villagers drove ox carts, dragged carts, and went all the way north with their clothes? Don't they know that Bremen, which experienced the ravages of the Normans, is already desolate? Could it be that they are going to Bremen?
Pioneer?
What happened was so abnormal! When Robert's Frankish cavalry, flying the cross flag, advanced rapidly, it immediately caused panic among the villagers.
It's natural for the villagers to be afraid of the army, but now we still need to control them and find out what's going on.
The huge cavalry easily forced the villagers to settle down, and Robert was surprised to see a priest among them. A bald, middle-aged priest waved a cross made of wooden branches and called on the cavalry not to kill anyone.
Kill? No. Robert just wants to understand the situation.
Just by briefly hearing the news from some villagers, the information completely subverted his understanding.
He was so frightened that he trembled all over!
"What's going on? The one who rebelled was not Horik, but Liudolf? That Liudolf actually led all the Saxons to rebel against King Ludwig?"
"These fleeing villagers are all residents of Saxon villages in Westphalia? They recently received the news and started to move their families?"
"Liudov's family has all been evacuated? The person who dug up Vidukind's grave was his descendant Liudov himself?!"
In an instant, these evacuated villagers became enemies. They did not give up their faith in God, and their move northward was a betrayal of Ludwig.
Robert, who knew a lot of the inside story, sat on his horse and sighed, saying to himself: "My lord, you are worried that the earls of Westphalia will defect to Lothair. Now they have not defected to Lothair, and they are not loyal to you. The Saxons are actually here.
During this period, the entire clan was in rebellion. Am I...going to Hamburg to stabilize the situation, or to quell the rebellion?"
Robert was in a dilemma. Only one thing was true between the news he had learned now and the news that had been conveyed to Worms and Mainz - there was a war in the north and the surrendered people rebelled.
The difference is that the rebel is not Horik from Denmark, but Liudolf and all the Saxons.
The information was seriously distorted and wrong during the transmission process. Going north was just banging my head against a stone wall. But, what could be done?
Robert of the Rheingau had a devout faith, and these Saxon villagers had converted to God. If you raised a butcher knife against them, you would go to hell. Times have changed, and Charlemagne could still take bloody revenge on the Saxons who maintained their barbaric beliefs, without any hesitation.
There was no reason to do any violence to the converted people. He even restrained his army from contacting these villagers, and instead accelerated his horses' hooves to march north.
After all, these are three thousand cavalry. It seems that Liudov is likely to rebel. So will he immediately give in when faced with a strong cavalry force?
Robert's Earldom of the Rheingau and Liudov's Earldom of Westphalia were geographically adjacent to each other. Both sides were rulers of large regions, and even Robert had a crush on Liudov's eldest son Polu.
Nuo's memory was particularly vivid, and he also thought about marrying off his youngest daughter, or trying to arrange for his youngest son to go to the camp with Liu Doufu's youngest daughter.
This was a marriage between nobles, and Robert could never bear any ill will towards Liudov. He was willing to have a good talk with him, to hear why he rebelled, and even to persuade him to step back from the brink, but he could not go against the road during the civil war in the kingdom.
Derwig was stabbed wildly in the back.
According to what the villagers said, Liudolf gathered the Saxon army in Hamburg and called himself Duke of Saxony. He used more and more armed forces to prove to Ludwig his determination to restore the country.
How many real words can an ordinary villager have in his mouth?
He should have sent a messenger back to Worms to meet his king, considering that errors in the transmission of information would lead to an untimely and irreversible war.
Robert decided to go straight to Hamburg to confront Liudov in public, but subjectively he would not take the initiative.
Then, Bremen, which was theoretically turned into a wasteland, encountered strange troops stationed here, some ships anchored on the Weser River, and even people who seemed to be waiting to board the ships.
Obviously, those weird people also noticed their presence. For a while, the trumpet sounded loudly, which was like a signal to prepare for battle.
Taking a good look at those strange ships, Harald Clark was shocked: "That's our longship!"
"Longship?!"
"That's what you call a Norman ship! That's our Danish longship! Ah! There's also the flag flying on the big ship."
Robert squinted and saw clearly: "It looks like an x coat of arms."
"Oh God, they are Russians!"
"Russian?"
"They are not Liudov's people!" Harald Clark decided with determination, "They are the murderers who burned down Bremen! I have informed Denmark, and I know it very well."
"How? Fight?" Robert asked.
"Let's fight! Bremen Hunter's family was killed by them, and these barbarians must pay the price. We will catch them off guard before their ships can leave in time."
"Then do it!"
As a result, this huge Frankish cavalry all blew their horns, and each centurion took the order. Suddenly, there was a forest of lances, and the cavalry array began to advance in formation...
At the same time, Rurik, who had completed the settlement in the north and led the main force of the fleet to the Elbe River, had made an agreement with Liudov. The Russian army sent a squadron around the Weser River to pick up loyalists at the ruins of Bremen.
Yulyudov's Saxons from the South.
Back then it was Aric and Ragnar who worked together to burn down Bremen. This time Aric indeed led the sea team to act as a benefactor at the old site of Bremen.
Is he really a good person? On the contrary, standing on the ruins of Bremen, the remnants of the First Flag Team and the young boys of the Second Flag Team collectively praised Arik as "Ross's famous ruthless man". For Ali
He felt that the devastation covered by weeds was proof of his heroic fighting. He was here to help his defeated Duke Liudolf of Saxony, commanding the Saxony army, and quickly transported the Saxony soldiers who were tired from walking by sea.
Refugees were also sold to Liu Doufu as a righteous act.
Of course, none of this is free.
Under the arrangement of King Rurik, Arik played the role of "snakehead". In exchange, Liudov had to pay the Russian military labor service. The fee was nothing more than this year's newly harvested wheat and existing cattle and sheep.
Liudolf's family took the sea route in Bremen. Instead of the previous delay, they arrived in Hamburg by boat in just one day.
Such actions by the Rus' army proved the friendship between Rus and Saxony, and Rurik had gained Liudov's trust.
So looking at the son and youngest daughter of the Duke of Saxony, considering that he also brought his de facto eldest son, the real crown prince of Mercia, Reglaf.