The brutal battle is now over. The Frankish cavalry who have not yet been killed are just gesticulating in vain with their swords, desperately facing death.
They were threatened by an astonishing number of spears and halberds, and were stabbed to death one by one.
The killing continued all morning, until at noon the last visible Frank cavalry fell in despair.
The battle is over, and there is no joy after victory.
Almost all the Russian warriors were covered in blood, their blond hair and golden beards were dyed red, and their white and blue-striped robes were also stained with thick blood.
The soldiers were already picking up the corpses, finding the enemy's wounded soldiers, and executing those who were seriously injured, while those who were slightly injured were kept alive so that they could become slaves in the future.
So Count Robert of the Rheingau was dressed in a rather special way. The Russian soldiers discovered that he was not dead, so more than ten people quickly worked together to drag him out from under the horse corpse, and then dragged him to the river to rest.
Another man who was both unlucky and lucky had his hands tied and was dragged out of the pile of corpses. Henry, Baron of Nassau, was not dead and even kept his head clear, but he coughed after a sudden fall.
Blood, energy is very weak now.
Among all the five senior commanders, except for the cavalry flag captain who was stabbed in the torso and died suddenly on the spot, the other four were captured and dragged to the river.
It is a fact that the Frankish cavalry was completely wiped out, but there were also as many as 200 wounded soldiers of varying degrees captured.
Many of them will not survive today due to the rapid deterioration of their injuries, but quite a few can survive with surgery.
Continue to kill the wounded soldiers? No. Keeping the lives of these so-called Frank elites has greater benefits, such as escorting them back to the mines in the north to work as slaves.
Rurik tacitly allowed his subordinates to clean the scene freely, and the equipment they seized would be theirs as long as they could drag it away.
The work of rescuing our own wounded soldiers was also in progress, so the bodies of the Russian army's dead soldiers were also dragged to the river. As for the wounded soldiers of the Russian army, they must be treated regardless of the severity of their injuries.
Now Rurik will not lament his loss. Today, all brothers are fighting for their lives. Rurik also knows that if the enemy destroys the array, he can also be hit to death by heavy cavalry.
To be fair, our losses today are indeed quite heavy. At first glance, our corpses can be as large as four hundred, and the number of wounded soldiers is almost the same. There will also be corpses brought back, and they died in the final fight.
A thousand men were lost, the Frankish elite cavalry was completely wiped out, and half of the elite troops of Ludwig, the King of East Francia, were destroyed in the first battle. How could Ludwig fight this battle?
The Russian army won a complete victory! The brothers who died in the battle all died valuable.
Now it's time to do some post-war reckoning.
The victorious soldiers swept the battlefield in detail. Danes, Saxons, and Russian soldiers inspected each corpse on the battlefield where there were dead corpses. They stripped off the corpses' armor and took tomahawks, swords, and spearheads for themselves.
.
A large number of arrows were recovered, even though many were broken or damaged and could not be used. The spiky carbon steel arrow clusters are difficult to bend, so what the army actually recovered were arrow clusters.
This kind of cleaning of the battlefield was extremely popular among the soldiers, and Liudov's Saxon army simply "replaced shotguns with cannons" because of this battle.
He lost many people due to the collision of heavy cavalry, but in the end, the soldiers held the line in a last-ditch battle. The surviving soldiers took the captured chain mail to the river to clean it, and just put it on their bodies. Their linen trousers belts were replaced by enemy
The army's cowhide belt was used, and the simple wooden shield was replaced by a triangular kite shield. Many people hung captured broad-bladed iron swords on their waists, and there were often several handy hand axes hung on their belts.
Taking away the armor from a dead body is what a Saxon native would do after being exploited for a long time.
The soldiers of the Russian army had experienced many battles. They also checked the dead bodies, especially looking for the small pockets of the corpses, and took away the coins and other valuable weapons.
A large number of corpses of our own dead were dragged to the river and stacked neatly. The wooden or metal "dog tags" they carried were marked with personal information. Rurik sent people with paper and quills to count the identities of the victims in detail, so that they could be cremated.
The ashes will be collected for burial in the New Roseburg Cemetery, and compensation will be provided to the family of the deceased.
Fighting inevitably involves sacrifice. When accepting the king's call to start this great cause, the soldiers must be prepared to make sacrifices.
The living mourn their fallen comrades, but the fight will continue.
Every banner unit suffered losses, many very young soldiers died in battle on the banks of the Elbe River, their short lives blooming like fireworks.
According to Rurik's order, all the victims of one's side will be screened. Each soldier will have his own fire and be reduced to ashes. The ashes will be placed in a wooden box made by surprise, and the details of the deceased will be written on it.
Identity. The weapons and equipment of the deceased should be preserved as much as possible, especially the standard steel sword. The eldest son of the deceased will receive his father's ashes and his father's sword.
Eventually, all the children of the victim will be supported by the state, and his eldest son will immediately become a replacement soldier for his father's flag team, and he will be replenished as soon as he reaches the appropriate age.
As for the victim's wives and concubines, the head wife can remarry, but this also means giving up the right to inherit her husband's inheritance. The head wife will immediately become the head of the family, and the side wife can stay or leave freely.
With this system in place, soldiers don't have to worry about their family's financial ruin after they suddenly die in battle.
In the afternoon of that day, the soldiers who had basically cleaned up the battlefield began to cut down trees everywhere.
They threw the corpses of their enemies into the Elbe River and allowed the water to wash them into the ocean.
A large number of pine trees were placed in the remaining open space, and the cremations of our own war dead were carried out that night.
The huge group of injured people had all arrived in Hamburg via the pontoon in the afternoon.
The strong alcohol used for anesthesia is no longer enough, but it is enough for debridement.
Several large iron pots were specially used to boil boiling river water. After the boiling water cooled down, the sterilized water was used to clean the wounds of the wounded soldiers, and then the wounds were sutured with twine.
The wound is sutured just like sewing leather clothes, then a layer of honey is applied and then wrapped in plain white linen cloth. Whether it recovers depends on luck.
At least Eskil's wound healed well, and he did not suffer from scurvy, which caused the wound to be infected. Of course, he regarded this as "the favor of the Lord", completely ignoring the fact that the Russians had excellent medical skills.
Of the so-called four hundred wounded, after the first night, only about three hundred wounded were left alive. After the most difficult night, the remaining wounded could theoretically return to normal after a long period of recovery.
.
It’s not that the Russians are really skilled in medicine, it’s because the wounds of these lucky people are all on non-vital parts of their limbs. As long as the wound infection is closely monitored, most of them can survive. This is a story for another day.
However, Robert, Count of the Rheingau, had already developed a severe inflammatory reaction in his injured left arm.
Baron Nassau had already woken up first. When he woke up, he found himself lying in a complete house with stone walls. Through the narrow stone window, he saw orange light shining in.
"It's already evening? Am I...really not dead?"
He suddenly felt that he was covered with a blanket that looked like felt. He suddenly wanted to sit up, but it felt as if all the joints in his body were broken.
He subconsciously began to howl, which immediately attracted the guarding soldiers to push open the wooden door.
Gu Biao
They were the elite standing army of the Ross Army with bear heads on their heads. Their sudden appearance made the Baron of Nassau see their ferocious fangs.
"Ah! It's a monster from hell!" He shouted and fainted again from fright.
When he woke up again, a familiar person was already standing in front of him.
"It's...is it you? Count Liudolf of Westphalia?"
"It seems you didn't hit your head. It was me." Liudov replied with the arrogant attitude of a winner: "It's the Duke of Saxony. Nassau, you were defeated. Your defeat is not your problem. Now I see you wake up."
, I’m very pleased.”
"I am defeated. We are destined to fail in this battle, so..." Baron Nassau was relieved and immediately asked the key question: "What will you do with me? Execute me? Or, demand a ransom."
"Execute you? No. Am I such a despicable person? You are not a Frank. My family has no enmity with you since ancient times. I have already thought about how to deal with you. Now I give you a choice."
"A choice? Isn't it better for me to be loyal to you?"
"Correct." After saying that, Liudov walked straight over and sat directly by the wooden window: "This is my hamburger, and this is my country. My territory needs some emerging nobles, and your lord Robert has already
It’s over, you don’t have much power in East Frankfurt, why don’t you serve me now and I can make you an earl.”
To jump from baron to earl is such a promotion that is unbelievable. In this era where blood is important, it is almost impossible for the Nassau family to be promoted to earl due to blood problems. That position is basically reserved for the Frankish nobles.
Unless, the person you are loyal to is not the King of Franks.
"If I am loyal to you, I am betraying Frank. You...you know it." Baron Nassau's eyes trembled: "My village is still in the Rheingau. If I declare my allegiance to you, my tribe and family may be taken away.
Threatened. So..."
"So what?"
"I need recognition from the priests."
"This is easy to do!" Liudov said hurriedly: "The northern saint Eskil is here with me. You know, he was originally going to be the bishop of St. Peter's Cathedral in Bremen, and the bishop's seat was also to be placed in Bremen.
May. Now the situation has changed. He decided to make the little monastery in Hamburg the seat of the bishop. He is the archbishop of the entire Saxony region and also serves as the bishop of Denmark. He has enough power to recognize your title of earl."
In the whole of Saxony, the ascetic Eskil was indeed the highest-ranking Catholic priest.
As for the nobles demarcating each other through war, this kind of violent method was actually disgusted by the Roman Pope of this era. They believed in constant preaching and enlightenment, and relied on missionaries to travel around to persuade the barbarians to convert, pious or
He naively believed that as long as everyone believed in God and lived according to the lifestyle prescribed by the great scriptures, perfect peace and harmony would be achieved.
Esquier opposed the war, even though he knew that the noble lords, especially the Norman nobles, disdained his approach.
Finally, the King of Rus, the King of Denmark, and the emerging Duke of Saxony miraculously hoped for peace after a brutal war.
He was greatly shocked and immediately supported this constructive decision.
Eskil immediately declared the monastery in Hamburg as his cathedral. He was originally the bishop of all Saxony and the north. The "office" that had been destroyed in Bremen was reopened in Hamburg. He recognized Liudolf as the Saxon bishop.
Duke, if the Baron of Nassau is willing to become an earl loyal to the Duchy of Saxony, Esquier will immediately perform an anointing ceremony to recognize it.
Baron Nassau thought for a moment and declared his allegiance to Liudov on the sickbed.
"You made the right choice. Unfortunately, I can't give you a suitable fief right now. Do you... have any suggestions?"
Liudolf just asked casually. He had actually thought of a way to move all the people in the old fiefdom of Baron Nassau to the north. He would find a village left by Frankish immigrants near Hamburg as a temporary fief, and then seal it.
The implication of the larger territory is that these new immigrants will take up their axes and demand arable land and pasture from the forest.
Unexpectedly, Baron Nassau said something like this: "I want to take my people away from the Franks. I don't want to be persecuted by them, nor do I want to be invaded by the Normans. I want a place with rich water and grass, such as a swamp."
"
The original meaning of Nassau is "wet swampland", but there is a place that fits his idea.
Liu Duofu's face darkened and he lowered his head with a serious attitude: "There is a place suitable for you."
"where?"
"To Flanders."
"Flanders? That's a county. Do you still want to continue the war?"
"Why not? I have defeated half of Ludwig's elite cavalry. Can he still unilaterally stop the civil war and really send the main force to the north? In that case, Lothair's army will easily capture the entire Rheingau.
Then came the whole Alemany. Besides...those Normans are a bunch of hungry wolves who eat meat but don't spit out bones. I must satisfy their terrible appetite. Why not, let's borrow troops to attack Flanders so that they can retreat.
You can help me govern the place."
Will the war continue? Baron Nassau shuddered.
But if you think about it carefully, it's not impossible.
The Count of Flanders was also an outsider to the locals, who were all Frisians, while the Count was a Frank.
"The current Count of Flanders is Baudouin, and he is a playboy. Like his father, he was obedient to Horik's pirates. We will fight over there, and after the Normans have finished plundering, you will
Occupy it."
"But Flanders is huge."
"Then occupy the northern Friesland region. You can serve as my western barrier. I need you. Listen, war is inevitable. Ludwig's army has no time to go north to attack me this year. For this reason, I want to expand my strength.
.Henry, your Nassau is just a small village in the Franks. If your family joins me, you will immediately become the earl who rules the land. If you want your family to have a great future, just follow me. We have no way out, we can only create a new one.
A situation.”
Should he be a submissive little lord for the rest of his life, or should he become a powerful person in a certain area?
Nassau chose the latter. He was still worried that he would be plundered by the Normans in the future because of his proximity to the sea. At this time, Liudov immediately came up with the so-called "Danish-Saxon Non-Aggression Treaty" and "Ross-Saxony Non-Aggression Treaty". This
Does the treaty signed between this species and the heretic king have any validity? Nassau instinctively felt that it was unreliable, and now he could only agree.
Henry Nassau is a smart man who is now taking a huge gamble with the fate of himself, his family, and his village.
Only lower-level nobles could easily instigate rebellion, not to mention that because of Nassau's act of riding alone into the camp to negotiate, even the Normans respected him as a man, and Liudolf thought he was impressed by him.
But for Count Robert of the Rheingau, the situation completely changed.
It is not necessary to kill him, and there is no need to continue to imprison him.
Because Henry Nassau said these words on his sickbed: "Robert thinks you are a traitor who sold his soul to the Norman devil, and the Normans are all robbers. He feels that there is no reason to negotiate with you at all, and he feels that the heavy cavalry charge
, will overwhelm your army. You cannot make him surrender."
Maybe, Robert really can't be forced to surrender, so that's okay.
Liudov knew very well that if the King of Rus and the King of Denmark wanted to kill this person, they would not treat his wound now. Otherwise, if the wound on his left arm was swollen with an egg, if it develops for a while, this person will suffer from fever.
die.
He had already learned of the decision of King Rurik of Rus, saying that he would have a "good talk" and then banish him.
Let this great nobleman, who lost his army and generals, spare his life and personally go and "report the good news" to Ludwig in the civil war!