Rise of Rurik - Chapter 1386

[Chapter 1485: Night Talk around the Fire on the Rhine River]

A weak country noble was surrounded by hundreds of Norman warriors. Will she be forced to become a Valkyrie?

From Sophia’s eyes, Rurik saw some familiar ambition.

This… is just like the expression in Theresia the Blackbird’s eyes.

But Blackbird is the real great-granddaughter of Charlemagne, and Sophia is just the youngest daughter of the tiny Baron of Nassau.

Rurik glanced at the setting sun and took a deep breath: “I hoped to cross the river and go to Coblenz to rest early, but it’s too late now.”

The black fox’s smile did not change and he stepped forward: “It’s because we didn’t entertain them well enough.”

“It doesn’t matter. After all, the fishing village of Landstein is also part of Nassau. I finally arrived. Even if I find a wooden shed or even if I set up a tent here and sleep on the ground, it won’t be a problem. Coblenz? ? Or go to Nassau itself…” Rurik thought again: “It is risky to cross the river in the evening. I have changed my mind and I will cross the river again tomorrow.”

The black fox felt that there was no danger in passing through the calm Rhine River at night. Maybe the king was really tired, so he simply made a decision: “In that case, I won’t cross the river tonight.”

“Are you and your Sofia staying?” Rurik turned around and asked.

“Yes. Although Landstein is small, there are still houses where you can stay and sleep. I don’t think most of the soldiers need to set up tents and sleep in the open. They can go to the fishing village.”

“In this case, wouldn’t it interfere with the lives of the villagers?”

The black fox lowered his head slightly and smiled: “That is their glory! In fact, they have already thought that you are the real king. There are some locals here, and there are also some new immigrants from Denmark. They don’t think that your arrival will be a big deal at all. No ill effects, on the contrary, your residence in the village of Llandstein is a privilege to all.”

“The mouth is smeared with honey.” Rurik looked at Sophia who lowered her head again: “The real Count Sophia?”

“ah?”

Sophia had just mustered up the courage to appear strong, but now her energy was sluggish again.

“Speaking of which, my eldest daughter is as old as you. Soon, my daughter will also arrive in Nassau by boat. You don’t have to be afraid of me. You and I have already formed an alliance and we are friends. Your fiancé asked you to live in Spend the night with my elite Russian troops in the village. What do you think?”

“Welcome! Very welcome.” Sophia blurted out without thinking.

“very good.”

Rurik glanced at the approximately two hundred soldiers who had arrived on the ferry again. He cleared his throat and faced the happy crowd: “Brothers! You have worked hard for the past two years. Now we have merged together again. Everyone pays attention. Let us pay attention tonight.” Dinner. Odin!”

With a final roar, Rurik raised his right fist high.

I saw this group of warriors from Northern Europe. Even though everyone had cross pendants hanging on their chests, on this good night, everyone faced King Rus and happily raised their right fists and let out a unified war cry, as if coming from the depths of their souls. The shouts everywhere.

Everything was said without saying anything. With just this action, Rurik knew that although he was not legally a visitor to a foreign land, he had now de facto obtained the military power of the County of Nassau-Koblenz.

That night, the originally quiet fishing village was bustling with activity. There were bonfires everywhere in the riverside meadows. The soldiers who had been marching for three months finally sat down.

As if their burden was relieved, they sat around the campfire, wrapped freshly slaughtered venison in sticks and roasted it, and continued to wait for the wheat in the iron pot to be cooked.

It is not surprising that the Black Fox who controls Nassau provides a batch of food to reward everyone. What is surprising is that the Black Fox is really willing to show his loyalty to the landlord.

All the war horses were unsaddled, and after nightfall, one after another was led aside after being fed fodder. The horses knelt on their hooves and cuddled up to each other to enjoy a relaxing moment.

The larger herd of reindeer was deliberately led farther away, fed grass, and continued to be watched over by Vahavanen’s personnel.

According to the plan, when the main force of the Ross Expeditionary Force completely gathers in the open area of Koblenz in the future, about five reindeer can be slaughtered every day to meet the meat needs of the entire army. Even compared to the Frank army, such a military ration is a bit too rich. .

During the war, no one’s daily diet ballooned to as much as three pounds of oats, plus some high-fat dried herrings.

During non-combat periods, unless military training is carried out, if soldiers just stay in the military camp to rest and sleep, their daily food consumption will be directly reduced to less than two pounds.

Having arrived at the destination, Rurik knew that he could take a good rest for a few days. Next, the entire army would make a judgment based on the situation, and then consider entering a winter state. He would not raise troops to fight unless necessary, and his focus would shift to logistics consumption.

The campfire was crackling, and Rurik sat comfortably on the leather cushion to warm himself up to the fire. He was also waiting for the wheat porridge to be cooked thoroughly.

Chopped mushrooms, chopped cabbage and chopped onions are the ingredients of the wheat porridge. It uses local wheat and is paired with salt and butter. People sitting around are intoxicated by the rich aroma.

The entire Ross Army Camp was immersed in the extremely cloying aroma of butter and cheese.

“What a delicious meal!” After taking off all his baggage and changing his clothes, Rurik sat cross-legged casually. He was looking forward to the delicious meal prepared by the black fox and was willing to chat with this kid.

“Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty. Regarding this wonderful meal…”

Rurik noticed that this boy had an extremely strong desire for expression, and asked with interest: “How is it? Indeed, I also want to find out where you got a lot of butter and cheese. In addition to wine, Nassau has nothing else Is it also rich in products?”

“This is what I intend to report properly. The large amount of materials that I paid tribute to you were actually looted by us this year.”

Rurik thought of something: “What did you do this year? I heard that you did lead your brothers to make a fortune in Metz?”

The black fox shook his head regretfully: “It’s not a fortune. We didn’t break through the city gate of Metz, so our army could only plunder on the periphery. Fortunately, the brothers were lucky, we found the mill and the barn, and also found the We have a warehouse for storing cheese. Unfortunately, our ship capacity is limited, so we just brought back some goats and sheep, but we can’t bring back the cows and donkeys.”

“You kid.” Rurik happily punched the black fox: “You are not like a businessman, you are a warrior.”

“Hehe, plus we looted the Saar River area two years ago, now… the entire Moselle River is our looting area.” Black Fox slapped his belly with both hands and said with great interest: “I have a good appetite, I will The wealth of the South is eaten clean.”

A young fat man talked eloquently. In his words, Metz in the upper reaches of the Moselle River was already the sheep of the Nassau army. It was true that they could not break into the city to plunder gold and silver, but they could just like shaving wool, freely outside the main city. Plunder those villages and towns.

Compared with when they first arrived two years ago, the Black Fox now has more longships, more newly arrived Danes who are eager to make a fortune, and local militiamen who want to improve their lives. The war gives everyone a chance, when they all feel that they will win. , as soon as he heard that there was a war, he enthusiastically joined the army.

Rurik learned about this situation from the black fox’s mouth.

The city of Koblenz is located in the delta zone of the “German Corner”. It relies on a large mountain and has open and flat residential areas and farming areas.

This place actually changed hands several times. During the Carolingian Dynasty, the current Nassau was its third owner.

If we look at further history, it was originally the territory of the Celtic tribes. Then the Roman legions came, and then the Germanic Alemannic tribe came. Finally, the Franks established a new order here…

When Koblenz suddenly became a war point, local farmers realized for the first time that the civil war between the great nobles might cost them their lives.

Eventually it was Nassau that came under Norman control, and they moved the people across the river.

The people were very worried that they would be accidentally injured by Lothair’s army. Of course, some people had a lucky mentality. When they saw that the Frank army failed to win in the street battle and deliberately set fires, they were filled with anger.

Their houses were burned, and even the monastery was reduced to smoldering black coals.

The people first cried in despair, and then under the guidance of the black fox, despair led to anger, and anger turned into courage.

The subsequent battle was actually a joint operation between Ross’s first expeditionary force and Black Fox’s Nassau Army. The Frankish Army in Coblenz was completely wiped out, and what followed was the most brutal and continuous counterattack by the coalition.

During the war, the militia composed of refugees made certain military exploits, but the most important thing is that the people have taken practical actions against Lothair.

The bankrupt farmers cannot turn back after doing this, and all interests can only be tied to Nassau. Therefore, in the entire rebuilt settlement of Koblenz, Black Fox and the brothers can completely trust this group of people.

“That’s it.” Rurik suddenly realized after listening to Black Fox’s personal report: “Sure enough, these things cannot be explained in detail in the letter, you have to report it in person. Now I finally understand, I saw a lot of neat houses, it turns out that they are all It’s for this reason…”

“Yes. Even the monastery was destroyed, and all the buildings were newly built. Thank you, Your Majesty, for providing me with the correct way to deal with things. Otherwise, I really would not be able to solve the mess after the war.”

Black Fox’s words didn’t sound like flattery. Rurik pinched the rider’s beard and asked with interest: “Oh? Did I give you a revelation?”

“Yes, the rationing system ensured that I used limited food to keep everyone alive. I mobilized everyone to build houses and complete the construction of new residential areas before the first snow. New Roseburg’s urban construction model is very good, so the current science and technology There are smooth roads everywhere in Brentz, but I don’t have the ability to lay them all with stone pavements…”

After another introduction, it sounded like a new city was rising from the ruins at the foot of the mountain.

As a result, the castle on the hillside was also newly built.

How much building materials and personnel rations will this consume?

Can Black Fox really take it?

Rurik suddenly realized that it was precisely because they were spending a lot of money that they decided to take a strategic risk this year.

The two chatted entirely in Norse. The court count Hermann wanted to know what his new neighbor, the actual ruler of Nassau-Coblenz, had done, and what he would stand for in the future. He was completely unable to interrupt, and he couldn’t. So I had to take a roundabout way and try to learn something from Sophia’s mouth.

Hermann was also warming himself here. He finally met the commander-in-chief of the Nassau Army who had fought countless battles in recent years. He was really a little fat man, which was completely inconsistent with the “black fox” he had learned. The little fat man did not have the cunning of a fox at all. , there is an unspeakable ferocity in his eyes.

He took the initiative to sit next to Sophia, who was warming herself quietly by the fire, and explained his identity in Frankish.

Court Count?

Charlemagne’s Paladin?

what is that?

It felt like she was being harassed by a middle-aged uncle. Sophia did not understand how noble Paladin’s status was. She hurriedly moved to the black fox and grabbed her fiancé’s arm, leaving Herman with a big beard in embarrassment.

“Friend?” Rurik noticed this strange movement, “You… want to ask something?”

The black fox always ignored the bearded man, thinking that he was just a noble from the north, and he didn’t know him anyway.

Now that his woman was frightened, he had to be more vigilant and said coldly: “Bearded man, who are you? A friend of King Rus?”

“Am I like a villain?” Herman raised his chest, pulled out a gold cross set with rubies from his collar, and displayed it publicly: “I am the noble Paladin. This is the best evidence.”

The people sitting here were all young people, even King Rus was very young. As a nobleman much older than them, the down-and-out Herman only had his age and his once glorious status to be proud of.

“Paladin?” Black Fox suddenly thought, he raised his chin so frivolously, and immediately switched to Frankish: “Is it you? It’s you? The ruler of the Sig River, my people met you by chance, a down-and-out noble.”

Being evaluated in this way, Herman realized how funny his behavior of holding up the solid gold cross was. He felt that he had been humiliated by an arrogant boy, so he retracted his hand and whispered regretfully: “Boy, you should be lucky that you didn’t meet the man a few years ago. Me. At that time, I had at least a thousand heavy cavalry in my hands, and I could crush everything.”

There was a hint of threat in the words, but more of the old guy’s unwillingness to deal with the past half of his life.

Black Fox already looked down upon this kind of person, and even more so after hearing his story.

“But you were abandoned by Lothair, and you lost almost everything. I learned that you still need help from those guys in Cologne. Besides, you are not afraid even if you have a thousand heavy cavalry. We are fighting your cavalry.”

Black Fox’s eyes widened with anger, and Herman’s arrogant attitude made Herman blush: “Young boy! Don’t be arrogant.”

“Bah, how about I immediately send troops to pull out your castle on the Sig River? Anyway, my territory is extending to the north. By then, all your last vassals will belong to me, and all the villagers will follow the benevolent me. At that time Just farm your own land and survive.”

“You!” Herman was speechless. He became angry and felt that he was humiliating himself by being invited by King Ross to come to Nassau. He even felt that King Ross sat back and watched the humiliation and everything was a shameful conspiracy. .

“It seems there is no need for me to stay here.”

Rurik also felt that Black Fox’s statement was too extreme, so he raised his head and said, “Are you leaving now? Didn’t you come to form an alliance?”

“An alliance? The ruler of Nassau is humiliating me. Do I still need to form an alliance?”

“But the Black Fox is not the ruler of Nassau. Herman, you’d better sit down. You should explain this matter to Sophia. My friend, aren’t you willing to give the King of Ross face?”

Because the fat little Black Fox and his army were really ruthless, Herman had no choice but to sit back due to reality.

“Well, for the sake of King Ross, I’m back. As for the alliance.”

The opportunity was urgent, so Rurik chatted with Sophia for a few words, then pulled the black fox aside and asked him to avoid it.

Then around the bonfire, with Sophia’s consent, the County of Nassau-Koblenz formed an alliance with Siegburg, although the parties to this alliance were not happy with each other.

Court Count?

The Black Fox, who has a name but no soldiers, and relies solely on military strength to conquer his territory, really can’t think highly of this kind of person, and he doesn’t understand why King Ross should think highly of him, just because this bearded guy inherited the title from his father?

Bah, Charlemagne’s descendants are doing poorly one after another, but they give themselves such a chance to rise.

Because for Black Fox, even though he was made Baron Wiesbaden by Ludwig, he would not be willing to kneel down and salute to that idiot unless he had to go through the process.

The Black Fox thought Ludwig was stupid, but when it came to Lothair, the so-called Roman emperor was even more stupid.

Only King Rurik of Rus is the only holy king in his heart, and perhaps Augustus is more appropriate to describe him.

Hermann was unable to provide any meaningful friendly forces, so he remained here, now looking forward to a hearty meal of stewed wheat porridge and roasted meat, and then heading back to Koblenz tomorrow to see what he was doing.

The quarrel came to an end, and now that the alliance was verbally announced, Hermann finally found out how far the Nassau Army had gone.

The bearded old guy was so frightened that his beard trembled. The nobles in front of him downplayed the attack on Trier and Metz, but it was Metz who was attacked!

More than Metz?

Aachen was also sacked.

“It’s you! It’s you! Everything is clear now. The so-called Norman pirates are actually you? Nassau?!” The old guy got excited again, UU reading www.

uｕkanshu.net There was a look of surprise but also uncontrollable anger.

A pair of eyes looked at him like a fool.

Rurik made two noises and frowned: “Friend, you haven’t figured out the situation yet. We have always been Normans, and now you are Norman’s allies. It was us you planned to form an alliance with, and now you are already allies. , there is no turning back.”

“I’m stupid!” The old guy slapped his head and asked again: “What are you going to do next? Where else are you going to attack? Paris? Reims? Le Mans? Dijon? Auxerre?”

“Who knows?” Rurik shrugged, “Maybe you can point us to a target.”

“I reject.”

Rurik shrugged: “It doesn’t matter. Anyway, you declared allegiance to Ludwig, and we are all helping that man fight. Ludwig is not the king of Frank, I am the king of Russia. No one can influence my opinions and how to fight the war.” It’s all up to me.”

Stimulated by the words, Hermann pointed to the east with anger like a broken jar and shouted directly: “Then attack Strasbourg! Lothair is there. If you kill him, maybe Luther Vichy will succeed him as king.”

“It’s not impossible. This matter needs long-term consideration. At present…” Rurik breathed a sigh of relief and looked around: “The whole army will enter the winter vacation. I will not take the initiative to start a winter offensive unless necessary. The Franks’ civil war will eventually It’s over, and next year will be the year of decisive battle. We must recharge our batteries now for the battle that will begin next spring.”

That being said, everyone was really afraid that things were not that simple based on their understanding of Rurik.

The huge expeditionary force is composed of thousands of warriors who are eager for wealth and honor. They don’t want to do nothing.

[End of This Chapter.]