Robert of the Rheingau, who marched on the order, and Harald Clark, the deposed king of Denmark, accompanied him. Their three thousand cavalry encountered the Saxons fleeing to the north.
This is very abnormal!
If they want to escape, the smartest choice is to flee to Cologne, which is not only adjacent to the Westphalia region, but also protected by the clergy. No force dares to take advantage of it.
As a result, they did flee to the north without hesitation. Not only because they were all Saxons, but also because of the news that would make all Saxons excited - a hero announced the restoration of the country.
At first, Robert and Harald Clark were skeptical. The cavalry had no intention of capturing the fleeing people, and continued on their way after obtaining some intelligence.
Whether Liudov really betrayed the kingdom or not, the evidence simply relying on the words of a group of despicable peasants is completely insufficient.
Especially for Robert, because of his past friendship, he subjectively did not want to fight Liudov at all.
The rational earl maintained the greatest restraint. Because of what the farmers said, the stone pier bridge next to the ruins of Bremen was re-paved with wood. Even if it was a patchwork of newly cut trees, there was no need for people to pass through.
Question. Regarding who provided this information, the farmers said with certainty that it was Liudov.
Even so, Count Robert still had great illusions. He did not believe in Liudolf's rebellion, and was more willing to believe that these were Norman plots to sow discord.
After all, the capricious Danish Horik, who surrendered the kingdom out of sheer force, is not trustworthy at all.
Similarly, Harald Clark, the deposed king of Denmark, who is next to him, has a sterling silver cross hanging on his chest, which seems to have completely proved his piety. Can he be trusted? No!
Robert had great concerns about all the Normans, even though this Harald Clark had been a vassal for thirteen years. It was clear that if Prince Ludwig trusted this man, he would at least
He was conferred a title of baron, but he didn't have it. If his monarch doesn't trust him, he doesn't have to trust him either.
However, when he saw a large number of clearly Norman longships parked on the banks of the Weser River in the ruins of Bremen, Robert really couldn't stand it any longer.
A huge cavalry force launched an attack under his command!
The three thousand cavalrymen maintained their marching formation. Although they were about to launch an attack, it took some time for this column-marching column to transform into a horizontal formation.
The well-trained Frankish elite cavalry gradually formed a wide offensive front while their horses were jogging slowly.
The cavalry armed with lances arrived at the risk one after another, and those armed only with swords and battle axes followed behind.
Because they saw that there were densely packed people sitting on the river bank next to a large number of boats.
There are a large number of those people carrying round shields that look like turtle shells. Doesn't this image look like Norman pirates? Those golden hair look particularly dazzling in the sun, and many pirates wear blue and white clothes that look very uniform.
Robert had never seen such pirates, but they could only be Normans.
Therefore, they are well-trained pirates! According to Harald Clark, these pirates are Russians, so they must be eliminated! Rumor has it that this group of elite pirates killed and burned Bremen, and now they are here again. If we let it go
This pirate army continues to swagger in Frankish territory, and it is unknown how many villages and cities will be devastated.
As for Prince Ludwig's battle against King Lothair, this was, after all, a melee among the aristocrats in Frankland.
Robert was forced to be involved in this dispute as a vassal. In principle, he did not like this civil war at all, but when it came to the crusade against the barbaric Normans, that was a different attitude.
The Frankish cavalry made a huge noise here. Their clothes were also blue and white, especially the elite cavalry whose horses were mostly covered with a layer of "blue and white sheets", and the riders generally wore chain mail on their upper bodies.
What is elite? When marching, the rider's armor is curled up and hung on the saddle. When he is about to attack, he quickly puts it on his body.
If the sun is shining brightly at this moment, they will look particularly dazzling under the bright sunshine.
The Ross Army and the Saxon Army were standing by the river "fishing for leisure" when the sudden appearance of a dazzling object made everyone tremble in shock.
What is Aric doing now?
He originally took off his coat and faced the sun, exposing his thick chest hair, so as to enjoy a warm sunbath.
There are also many young Russian soldiers who jumped directly into the river to take a bath. They washed their bodies with slightly smelly soap. If not all of them were wearing white underwear (Rurik ordered them ten years ago), this scene would be different from those waiting on the shore.
The Saxon refugees were indeed too immoral.
A stove was set up by the river, and oats were being cooked in ten large iron pots.
Due to insufficient technology, these mass-produced iron pots made of cast iron are too thick. If you want them to cook oats well, you need to add more firewood. They heat slowly and dissipate heat very slowly, so after the pot is ignited, the stove fire
Instead of stopping, a large amount of food and river water were poured in frequently, so that everyone, whether soldiers or refugees, could eat pulpy wheat porridge anytime and anywhere, which solved the problem of drinking good water and eating.
At the beginning, one of the refugees appeared to be a bad guy, until the responder suddenly appeared and claimed to be a Saxon warrior serving Liudov.
The refugees all went northward in the form of village associations. They were driven to the river bank with anxiety, and were immediately given hot wheat porridge, which was extremely useful to the refugees who were tired from traveling.
The refugees don't know the Russian flag, but it looks like the pattern of the flag is like a cross flag rotated 45°. There is indeed a cross flag flying here, and the upper left corner also spells sakson in letters. What this means is clear at a glance.
The vast majority of the Saxon people from Westphalia used to worry that their lord would be used as a target for Lothair to vent his anger because of his support for Ludwig. When the lord's envoys picked up their family members overnight,
, even the tomb of the great hero Vidukind was dug up and moved. When the people heard about it, they joined in a panic to escape.
Every village has moved northward in the form of an armed association, often with priests stationed in the village to stabilize people's hearts, and the village's minor lord or the lord's son or cronies acting as commanders.
This is very similar to the way of life of the traditional Saxons a hundred years ago. A village is a fighting group with strong fighting spirit and survivability.
A village often has only two to three hundred people, and smaller ones only have a hundred people. They took this year's new harvest of wheat and whatever soft goods they could take away to escape. They wanted to enter Hamburg through the Weser River, and they believed in the bridge.
has been repaired.
When the refugee team that fled their entire village arrived in the ruins of Bremen, they immediately found that they had two choices. Or they could continue walking across the bridge to Hamburg, which might take five or six days. After all, they were not an army.
Or you can take the ship provided by the Duke (that is, the Ross Fleet Squadron) and you can arrive there in just one day.
Basically never leaving the village, these refugees have almost walked all their lives. Many of them have been tortured to the point where they can only tear some leather and tie their feet with hemp rope, and can barely move on the road full of weeds. Taking the sea route is risky.
It is very large, and very subtle. It is the first time for many villagers to see the ocean. They are willing to believe the promise of arriving in one day, but the commander of the fleet, Arik, is determined to wait until tomorrow to leave early so that he can arrive in Hamburg tomorrow evening without delaying the refugees from finishing their meals.
.
After sending the waiting refugees to Hamburg, the squadron was divided into two under Arik's arrangement. One team transported the people, and the other team was on standby in the ruins of Bremen.
Therefore, in the ruins of Bremen, the Ross-Saxony coalition maintained a strength of just over 500 men for a long time. This strength was not small, but it was too shabby for Arik now.
Because some boats must be arranged to catch seabass on the spot to satisfy the soldiers' appetite. After all, they are Russians, and they love grilled fish endlessly.
Four hundred soldiers hung out their fishing nets by the river, polished their weapons, washed their clothes, took baths, and even just basked in the sun.
More than two hundred refugees were not in a hurry to board the ship. They learned that there were a large number of Norman Rus mixed with their Saxon compatriots. Everyone was naturally surprised at first, but everyone knew nothing about the Rus and anything about pirates.
They are all hearsay. According to descriptions in the scriptures, a pious person should not listen to slander, but should see with his own eyes and listen with open ears.
They believed in their own eyes. Although these Russians had strange clothes and hairstyles, it was these people who gave the tired people hot porridge and would soon take them to Hamburg.
Many people, even the accompanying priests, saw many large ships on the river bank that had never been seen before in their lives. Based on their extremely limited knowledge, they pointed at the large ships and said that it was the Teivat mentioned in the scriptures.
It was certainly not the Ark, but for all the refugees, it was the Ark.
But now, a large group of life-threatening Frank cavalry suddenly appeared.
All the casual people stood up, and Arik's relief instantly turned into fear.
He was so frightened that he opened his mouth wide and roared at the top of his lungs for several times before giving the order: "It's the enemy! Let's get on the boat quickly."
Get on the ship? Suddenly escape for your life?
Although almost everyone was running in panic towards the half-stranded longship parked by the river, some young soldiers of the Second Flag, led by Konuson Jr., insisted on defending the camp where wooden sheds had been erected.
Fan.
Young Conuson was not a young man, on the contrary, he and Aric were similar in age. They were both in their early thirties, a time when a Viking warrior was not only young but also wise.
His father was a feudal official who was appointed as the governor of the New Roseburg Capital District. In principle, when his father died, he would take over immediately.
Young Conuson, who had fought many bloody battles and was proven to be a pure man, served as the flag captain of the Second Flag in this war. Most of his subordinates were young soldiers recruited from New Roseburg. Everyone's arrogance is shown here.
, the Second Banner Corps was not afraid of those cavalry.
The young Konuson was still bare chest and back, and his chest hair and tattoos were clearly visible. He faced Aric with a bloody steel sword and directly refuted his order to escape: "We can't escape! I want to fight those enemies.
.”
"you?"
"right!"
Arik's eyes widened with anger, and his strong aura forced Konuson to subconsciously take a step back. For a moment, Arik became angry and punched his old friend in the stomach.
The little Konuson, who was in pain, was greatly puzzled. He bent over and held his stomach, and raised his head with wolfish eyes that were intent on killing people.
Gu Hao
"Why did you hit me? Are you...going to be a coward?"
"You... Oops!" Arik stomped his feet angrily, and said angrily: "If you want to fight them desperately, I won't stop you, but if you want to drag many bastards who have never been to the world to die, I will give you another
Fist. Fool, turn your head and take a good look! Look how many there are in them."
Because there was not much time left for the Ross-Saxon Army, and the refugees, old, weak, women, and children, no longer cared about carrying heavy luggage, and jumped onto the long ship as soon as possible, even wading into the water to climb aboard.
There were many handcarts, oxcarts, and small wagons, carrying sacks of oats that had not yet been transferred to the ships.
The oatmeal porridge in the ten-cupped pot was still bubbling.
Seeing the cavalry becoming more and more overwhelming, little Konuson suddenly became frightened.
Persistence? Bah!
Look at those cavalry! They reflect the strong sunlight all over their bodies, which proves that they are all wearing iron armor. But it is not surprising that they are wearing armor. The Russian army also wears a lot of armor. However, the number of their cavalry is too ridiculous.
The refugees, both men and women, were shouting that they were Frankish cavalry. Some even claimed that it was the Frankish king's cavalry who had come to kill them.
The Ross-Saxon warriors who were still on the shore hurriedly took their personal belongings, especially their weapons, and quickly pushed the long boat into the river, then climbed directly onto the boat and entered the wider river.
in the Weser River.
As for those who were still swimming, they climbed into the nearest longboat that was running away.
There was no time to untie the ropes from the wooden stakes that fixed the big ships. The warrior carried the Nordic forest ax and slammed it into contact and fixed it.
After receiving that punch, Cornuson felt that his belly was already bruised. He didn't blame Arik for being rude now, because the enemy's cavalry had already arrived!
Yes, the Frankish cavalry launched an attack after arriving about three hundred meters away from the Ross-Saxon camp.
A white war horse rides an iron man, and an extremely long lance is aimed forward.
Count Robert took the lead, which reflected the self-cultivation of a great Frankish nobleman. He was so brave that he instantly impressed the elite cavalrymen from Regensburg who were only loyal to Ludwig himself, and they were willing to do so unconditionally.
Accept his orders.
On the contrary, Harald Clark, the deposed king of Denmark, and his brothers would not be stupid enough to fight against the current Nordic hegemons, the Russians, and led the people to stay in the rear like a thief. He had already thought of an excuse for himself.
——Our war horses are all bad horses. Can you expect bad horses to fly?
All the Ross ships had floated onto the Weser River, and all the torsion slingshots on the sides immediately took off their oilcloth jackets. The sailors didn't care too much, grabbed a handful of gelatinous seal oil, applied it to the chute, and inserted it into the chute.
A javelin and a ratchet winch rotated wildly, the mechanical sight stared at the enemy's densely packed cavalry, and a torsion slingshot driver launched.
All the ships were running away, but those who were reluctant to part with supplies were a step behind.
There were Saxon refugees who couldn't give up their new wheat. They tried their best to carry the sacks and rushed to the river. However, the last long boat had floated away quickly. The refugees on the boat didn't care about anything. They grabbed the long oar as if they were Russians on the boat.
Rowing hard together, everyone behaved exactly the same way when it came to saving their lives.
No matter how the people on the shore called, the boat would not stop.
At this moment, Arik and little Konuson had climbed onto the deck like monkeys, following the rope net thrown by the ship.
Arik, who had just settled down, had no time to rejoice.
Just as little Conuson shouted just now, running away without fighting is really a coward.
Then fight for a while and then retreat! Now that the brothers have entered the water, is it possible that those cavalry can still float on the water?
"Crossbow! Torque slingshot! Shoot me!" he roared.
Now, the dense cavalry has swept across the camp just now. The whole process from the tiny phantom of the cavalry to the arrival of the huge cavalry group took less than ten minutes.
Poor those Saxon refugees who were reluctant to part with their money. They couldn't swim and didn't even have the ability to swim to escape, so they were directly stabbed to death by their spears. The Frank cavalry just wanted to kill all the Norman pirates, so they regarded the people in front of them as pirates. They didn't care at all.
Give yourself a chance to defend yourself.
What is very subtle is that because the cavalry charged so fiercely, some cavalrymen suddenly braked when they were approaching the river bank, and were suddenly hit by the brothers behind them, causing them to fall into the Weser River with their horses and men.
The Frankish army was so helpless that it suffered casualties, because the horses could quickly run back to the shore wet, and the cavalry in armor would sink directly to the bottom and drown if they fell into the river.
Angry at the Norman pirates' quick escape, Count Robert could only curse on the shore.
The Frankish cavalry did not have the multi-functional characteristics of the Eastern Roman cavalry. The latter carried hard bows and long arrows and could be used as mounted archers. Unfortunately, these Frankish cavalry had almost no bows and arrows. The so-called soldiers with bows and arrows were also private acts. Carrying bows and arrows was purely for
During the war, hunting and tooth festivals were held.
On the other hand, the Russian army is waiting for this opportunity.
There are three large combat ships remaining in the Weser River. They declare the majesty of the Russian army and are also the presence of food supply ships. There are also a number of standard armed cargo ships whose job is simply to transport refugees.
Now, because these ships are equipped with different numbers of torsion slingshots, everyone is waiting for the enemy cavalry to catch them off guard when they arrive at the river.
After all, when Bremen was burned, the brothers also launched a defensive counterattack on the river bank against the Frank cavalry who were chasing them.
This time, Arik was at an absolute military disadvantage. If he had not made an appointment in advance, he would rather abandon all the Saxon refugees and run away.
Now the reckless Aric has greatly transformed. He has become considerate of the overall situation, and now he has become one of the protectors of the new Principality of Saxony.
Basically all the torsion slingshots were launched at the same time, and the javelins rushed towards the Frank army's horses. The sharp and barbed javelins made the chain armor of the Frank army riders useless. The powerful momentum directly overturned the entire cavalry.
After all, this is a close-range shooting, aiming at a target about fifty or sixty meters away, and the accuracy and power of the javelin fired are extremely high.
There are more than 30 slingshots on the sides of all the ships, and there are more than 200 warriors holding crossbows and short wooden bows. The single short wooden bow is made of extremely low-cost oak, which can be said to be a favorite weapon and hunting tool for sailors.
, or even shooting fish.
The short distance between the two armies made short wooden bows useful.
And because the Weser River was blocking the way, the Frank army could only be beaten passively.
Many times, too many troops are a big trouble. Now it is extremely difficult for the commander to convey orders.
Robert is now in jail. He saw a large number of javelins fired from the enemy's ships. His army is being damaged. Any piece of armor is like a layer of cloth!
Not only that, a large number of enemy arrows fell from the sky. Those arrows seemed to be ineffective against the armor, but his own subordinates were screaming and being hit by the arrows.
Until even Robert himself was hit by an arrow.
He couldn't feel any obvious pain when his nerves were high, so he angrily pulled out the arrow stuck in the chainmail under the shoulder guard of his left arm, and then he saw the clue. The arrow cluster was a kind of thin needle?!
In an instant, he understood that the enemy was well prepared.
Did your own cavalry regiment take advantage? No!
He yelled: "Get out! Those Saxons lied to us. This is a trap!"
The cavalry regiment's chaotic retreat has begun. This retreat is unorganized. The cavalry behind does not understand the pain of the cavalry in front. They retreat slowly, while the cavalry in front who are being beaten turn their horses and squeeze.
It was their retreat that was quite chaotic, and the Russian army seized the opportunity to fire continuously.
The arrows and javelins were shot out as fast as possible, regardless of whether they were killed or not, even if they were injured.
Until, the cavalry regiment left behind some corpses of men and horses or the wounded, and fled beyond the maximum range of the javelin.
"Damn it, there are still a lot of things taken aboard. Forget it..." Arik stopped muttering and planned to retreat quickly.
At this time, young Konuson quickly took Arik's arm and pointed to a location very close to the upper reaches of the river: "Stone pier bridge! We must destroy it! We cannot let this group of cavalry quickly cross the bridge afterwards."
This matter was proposed by Conuson the Younger, who also personally ordered the destruction of the bridge.
So a long boat rushed upstream, taking advantage of the retreat of the Frank cavalry, to put ropes on the logs. The soldiers rowed bravely and dragged the logs to the Weser River. As for destroying the stone piers, everyone
No more ability.
At least the bridge was temporarily damaged. Even if the enemy wanted to build the bridge and pass through it, they would have to cut down some big trees first, which would take some time.
When Arik saw this, he no longer hesitated. He just left the soft things on the shore there if they couldn't be taken away. Indeed, the oats boiled in the iron pot gave the enemy an advantage.
Those supplies are nothing. If you don't tell your king brother the news of the enemy army's attack quickly, it will be too late!