Rise of Rurik - Chapter 1396

[Chapter 1,495 The lowlands and montmorillonite scattering under the autumn rain]

【The Rise of Rurik】 【】

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It was on this day that a distinguished uninvited guest floated over in a boat.

Blue Fox wanted to take a long nap, but when he learned that Count Baudouin II of Flanders was here in person, he got up quickly.

The chicken thief Baudoin is nothing. Blue Fox does not think that this person can become a strong man. After all, he is the father-in-law of his younger brother Red Fox, so he is half a relative. Even if it seems that in terms of the face of his younger brother and his sister-in-law, It is essential to give this guy the necessary etiquette.

What is he here for?

Blue Fox soon saw that this visitor was already chatting happily with his younger brother Red Fox. When he saw him again, he opened his arms and walked towards him as if he was familiar with it, as if the two were good friends who had not been together for many years.

“The brave Earl of Gothenburg, Lord Blue Fox, you have come again with a powerful army.”

Faced with the enthusiasm, Blue Fox had no choice but to open his arms and hug this guy hard. Such closeness can be regarded as an interpretation of the alliance formed by the treaty.

Economically, the County of Flanders has been completely piggybacked on the chariot by Ross. With Ross as a big buyer and the completely peaceful Cologne market, Baudouin has no worries about selling all the agricultural products in his hands, and he is completely Shipping business dependent on Russian help.

Loading goods from the rebuilt port of Antwerp into the fleet managed by Ross’s local governor Red Fox, Baudouin no longer needs to consider the safety and usefulness of all offshore goods, because he has already obtained the money at the port. .

In Rotterstad, the number of the huge Ross fleet and the terrifying landing troops completely refreshed Baudouin’s understanding of the army. Is this the size of the force that the Normans can organize?

Then the bizarre reality is here, the Russians really

Yes, and the ambition is huge.

Of course, the Blue Fox did not know the true strategic intentions of King Rurik of Russia. He used his imagination to outline the possibility of attacking Metz and Lance. He said it as if it was a real strategy of the Russian army. He thought he could use this to scare Bodu. Rest assured, he never expected that Baudouin approved of these “purely fabricated” plans from the bottom of his heart.

It turns out that Baudouin came here to ask for help.

It is said that as long as the imperial nobles suffer a devastating blow in terms of military strength, not only will the tension on the southern and eastern borders of Flanders be resolved, but they will also have enough ability to expand.

Unexpectedly, there is another careerist in the alliance!

The ambition was written on his face, and he came openly to ask Ross to help him fight the war.

Shouldn’t the plan to expand the territory be carried out by a military nobleman himself?

There is no glory in borrowing troops or taking advantage of opportunities to open up frontiers.

Blue Fox is the current commander-in-chief of the Ross Army at the mouth of the Rhine. Although he has been granted great power by Rurik, he does not have the power to break away from the control of the troops and actively choose targets to attack.

“I understand. I will tell King Ross your request. As for the King’s plan, we will wait for notification. Or, you can go to Coblenz or Nassau in person to hear about the King’s attitude.”

Baudoin looked embarrassed. He did not refuse or object. Another purpose of his coming was to formally express his position: I fully welcome the expedition of King Rus and I support whatever purpose he has.

The implication is that it would be okay if the Russian army dismembered the Franks, because Flanders never owed anything to the Frankish kingdom. On the contrary, it became part of the kingdom because its ancestors were losers.

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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】

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The current residents of the County of Flanders are mainly Brabant, Frisians, Franks, and an increasing number of mixed Walloons.

“Walloon” refers to a mule and is a derogatory term for mixed blood.

This was the situation in the County of Flanders. Even though Baudouin had some of the blood of the old Frank nobles, he was always regarded as a border town by the empire. Lothair had never trusted the loyalty of Flanders when he was the prince.

Baudouin did not need to prove his loyalty to Frank. After seeing that the descendants of Widukind actually used the war to regain the power of the Principality of Saxony, Baudouin felt itchy. He was unwilling to openly betray Frank and hoped that the greater his power, the better. Even after the war, what really meant was nominal surrender to the new Frank, or even…

Baudouin had a premonition that Frankia would be destroyed again just like the collapse of Western Rome. After all, it was also a Roman Empire in name only.

The destruction of the empire will bring great opportunities to Flanders. When the time comes, he can control a large territory and become a grand duke. This delusion no longer seems to be a luxury.

For example, Baudouin wanted to annex Lamontgau and Maasgau, and then use the Ardennes Forest and the Meuse River in the southwest as the boundaries of the emerging principality to delimit it with other forces, which would almost expand it into “Belgium” .

And this is the ideal boundary he envisioned for his own power.

Baudouin had already joined the civil war, but his army was always located in the border areas of the count, especially in the two border fortresses of Lille and Brussels.

He had to guard both settlements in order to control the Roman road lines of communication into the lowlands.

He suffered heavy losses in the battle with King Rus in Antwerp three years ago. Now that the two sides have restored peace and even established an alliance, Flanders can also have the opportunity to develop rapidly in the long term, but the failure of the war has brought about serious personnel losses. The losses left Baudouin almost without the ability to lead troops on expeditions within a few years. The few elites and militiamen who could be quickly recruited were basically only enough to defend the territory.

Even if Baudoin had spent money to hire a group of Danish warriors who converted to Christianity, maintaining a “Nordic Guard” of 200 people would have required him to pay a huge sum of money every month.

So regarding the attitude towards war, Baudouin’s attitude was consistent.

Since the already very familiar Count Blue Fox of Gothenburg is still an important general appointed by King Ross, it is enough to actively cooperate with him as always.

In official publicity, Baudoin still declared in a high-profile manner: I support Ludwig.

He was a cunning man, supporting Ludwig gave him a political advantage (meaning that the entire Lowlands supported him), and he had himself to thank for his victory.

The way to support the Ross army is very specific, which is to provide logistical materials for the Ross expeditionary force and supply them through sales. Flanders can make a war fortune without having to send troops personally, and then use the wealth to recruit more armed farmers, He even bought more Danish soldiers to be his mercenaries.

…

If there were no man-operated lever cranes at the docks, the entire process of transporting materials and equipment carried by large ships to the warehouse would take at least a week without sleep.

There are a large number of local farmers in the Netherlands who are willing to work as porters in order to earn a sum of money.

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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】

In addition to a sum of silver and copper coins, the daily large amounts of boiled wheat and mashed fish have great appeal.

After the expeditionary force arrived at the Rhine River and rested comfortably for two days, the fatigue of the journey was basically erased by adequate and restful sleep.

Before they received an explicit order from King Rus, they took the time to start fishing in the fertile waters of the Rhine Estuary and Zeeland Island. Using the clever “buried net fishing and fire fishing method”, they plundered the extremely rich local fish. Herring resources.

The expeditionary force caught up with the traditional North Sea herring fishing season, which begins at the end of August in the Julian calendar and ends after the first snow.

The so-called swimming herring schools eat a lot of nutrients during the warm period. They must store a lot of fat to survive the low temperatures of the North Sea and the vast North Atlantic. These fish oils and proteins are very important to the people of Flanders and the Netherlands.

Using fishing fire to lure fish, the net buried in the water quickly rises, and all the big fish in the attracted fish are collected at the bottom of the net.

Technology had just spread to the Low Countries with the Rus and Swedes, and the locals were just beginning to learn it.

Now every night, intensive fishing fires light up at the mouth of the Rhine River, and at dawn a large number of fishing boats return to the port. The fresh fish unloaded are surprisingly enough to satisfy the expeditionary force’s meals for the day, and there is a surplus.

A group of local women were recruited to work. They were responsible for processing the herring and cod caught on a large scale, and the most direct reward was that they were allowed to take the surplus catch home to enjoy with their families.

Even now that the climate is getting colder, the herrings that have landed soon begin to rot, and the female workers who have been recruited must act quickly.

The head and tail of each fish were cut off, and the scales were not removed after cutting off the internal organs, one after another.

The fish fillets were thrown into rattan baskets and directly supplied to the army.

They worked around the clock, baking and drying the extra fish strips as food reserves.

The capital ships of the huge fleet and most of the armed cargo ships will not go deep into the hinterland of the Rhine. The biggest obstacle is that large ships can no longer rely on oars to move forward. It is difficult to navigate the winding rivers using wind power. Without the self-sustainability to sail, they are losing the effectiveness of their sails. The latter can only be towed by rowing a long boat.

The Rhine is not a calm river, it flows faster even in the dry season.

Regarding how the army uses the Rhine River and its tributaries to carry out high-intensity tactical maneuvers and transport large quantities of goods to their destinations, Blue Fox is already an expert in this aspect. His two younger brothers Red Fox and Black Fox also have extremely special skills. rich experience.

Because of this, no one in the entire army is as experienced as Blue Fox. Only if he serves as the commander of this part of the Ross army can he effectively mobilize the army to perform tasks.

Nobles and generals at all levels are well aware of their own shortcomings in this area, and no one has the slightest doubt about Blue Fox’s ability.

According to Blue Fox’s plan, after the army was basically settled, he made a clear plan as to which supplies should be stored in Rotterstad and which ones should be transported to Nassau and Koblenz.

They still continued to pursue the plan that had been repeatedly proven effective in many wars, which was to tow an armed cargo ship with at least two rowing long boats while sailing against the current.

Then increase the number of long boats and rowers appropriately based on the cargo capacity of the cargo ship.

Based on the current situation, Blue Fox decided to group four longships and one cargo ship into a tactical unit in a four-to-one manner.

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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】

Because four ships

The longship formation constitutes a “centred” of the Russian army’s regular troops.

Under the command of the centurion, it would not be inappropriate for a team of 120 people to manage not only the longship, but also the cargo ship carrying a large amount of logistics supplies.

One hundred and twenty people rowed together while shouting the northern trumpet. The powerful force they unleashed should be able to be dragged around the inland river like a sail cruiser, but this was not necessary in terms of cost performance.

Currently, the Ross regular army in Rotterstad has six standard squadrons, each with four centurions. Together, there are twenty-four operational units, which are matched with twenty-four fully loaded troops. cargo ship.

The cargo operation will last for a period of time. Because there are so many people involved in the first operation, a large amount of cargo can be transported to Nassau.

The scale of subsequent cargo operations will be much smaller, because the Rhine River will not freeze in winter, and cargo operations will continue in a small-scale, high-frequency manner.

An autumn rain comes unexpectedly.

It is inevitable even by accident. Ever since the air started to become a little special and moist, experienced and sensitive people have been preparing to take shelter from the rain.

First, strong winds started, and the temperature dropped sharply. Ships returned to the harbor to take shelter from the wind. People who once went shirtless to carry supplies now had to put on thick clothes and hide.

The blue fox hid in the fortress. Now the houses in the entire fortress area are crowded with people seeking shelter from the rain. Regular army soldiers even made bunks on the floor of warehouses filled with military rations.

Only these regular army soldiers, Lan Hu was assured that they would sleep in the granary and not steal the food.

Things were much worse for the warriors from the Göta River.

“Broken Bones” Gorm and his troops crowded into the wooden houses that had been built.

Try your best to avoid the rain.

He was Count Wienerstad, and he had full responsibility for his own army. If he couldn’t bear it, he would have to go home.

Being hit by sudden rains on the battlefield and struggling with wind and rain while sailing at sea, northerners can endure worse weather, and the current situation is far less terrifying than the storm.

No one knows how long this autumn rain will last, but in just one day the ground has become excessively muddy.

The lowlands are worthy of being called lowlands. The dense waterways at the mouth of the Rhine provide great convenience for navigation. Nowadays, mud is everywhere here, which exactly coincides with the original intention of Rotterstad – a mud city.

It is temporarily difficult to move around in the densely populated areas of Denmark. As long as you take a walk outdoors, your boots will be stained with thick black mud, so that your feet seem to be wrapped in a layer of iron. Walking becomes a torture, not to mention the erosion of the cold autumn rain.

Despite their enthusiasm for a new war, Ragnar, the Danish king, and his warriors could only stay dormant in the longhouse.

The hustle and bustle of the entire Rhine Estuary was suppressed by the autumn rain, and the blue fox’s action plan had to give way to the damn rain.

Now he had to worry about something else.

disease!

In the past, someone would get sick after every autumn rain. Elderly people in a tribe began to get sick, and at most they would die of high fever after the first snow.

No one knows the root cause of it, and everyone thinks it is the fate of the deceased. The priests say that the will of the gods is irreversible, but in fact it is helplessness due to poor medical standards.

King Rurik of Rus put forward new reasons to explain.

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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】

“Autumn rain makes the stream turbid, and the sudden cold makes people weak. A weak person drinks dirty water, and there are invisible things in it.

Dirt will corrode the body.

If you can boil the turbid water and drink it after it cools down, there will be no problem.

”

Rainfall caused the Rhine River to swell, and the river fruit became indeed turbid.

The local people who have no idea about drinking hot water are still the same. Soldiers from Jotaland even drink rainwater directly. Even if Blue Fox orders all expeditionary soldiers, including allied army soldiers, to drink boiled river water as much as possible, it is really implemented. Only the various departments of the Russian army.

The disease did occur, and a group of soldiers began to suffer from diarrhea, and some even became extremely weak.

Fortunately, Rurik had foreseen this situation. The priestesses who accompanied the army also served as doctors, and all the cooks also served as assistants to the doctors.

A barn was temporarily vacated, and soldiers suffering from severe diarrhea and listlessness were sent in for treatment.

When they serve as military doctors, their main task is to treat wounds of wounded soldiers, disinfect, debridement, suture wounds, and bandage. The priests are surgeons and also physicians.

When fighting in distant places, it is inevitable to face the situation of acclimatization. Rurik considered that diarrhea is the most common condition, and there are certain special medicines to deal with this disease.

Montmorillonite is a clay mine found in Montmorillon in northern Aquitaine. It was originally used for making pottery, but it was used as a medicine after the locals accidentally discovered that taking this clay can treat diarrhea. .

(Montmorillon is located south of the city of Tours, near Povatti in Aquitaine. In 843, Povatti finally became the royal residence of King Charles “The Bald” of Aquitaine, who was restored to power with external help)

Montmorillonite is just a kind of gray-white clay. In addition to making pottery, it is also an auxiliary material for making incense.

, it exists everywhere but no one has discovered that it can treat diarrhea for a long time.

At Ross, rosin is not used directly for burning, but is mixed with clay and shaped so that it can burn slowly.

This has been a craft of priests since ancient times, but Rurik knew that its ashes were a kind of Guanyin soil, which could be used as medicine at critical moments.

Rurik gave it a name, “montuostone”, and it was used to treat diarrhea, although it was not generally used.

Regarding the diarrhea situation in the army, Lan Hu felt that this was a typical case of acclimatization. The king had perfectly predicted this situation and must have come up with a special medicine to cure the disease.

So Verica decisively took out the reserved medicines and asked the girls to prepare and administer the medicines. Everything was just like their extra job at the Great Temple in the capital, which was to act as doctors to solve common diseases.

What physical problems can an average person have in Ross?

Either he has a bad stomach or is injured.

The expeditionary army will definitely encounter these problems. The passive training of medical skills by the priestesses can solve these concerns of the army on the battlefield, which can also improve the combat effectiveness.

Montmorillonite powder was mixed with water and was taken by the patient. At the same time, the patient also drank woad water (isatis root), even though the patient felt that he was drinking the blue dye used to dye the cloth.

Drinking montmorillonite and isatis root into the stomach, if the diarrhea and accompanying fever cannot be suppressed, the priests will also dispose of the dead bodies of the warriors if they really die of illness.

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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】

As a result, some soldiers actually fell into insanity and died due to severe diarrhea and dehydration, and this was already the fourth day after the autumn rain began.

Of course, there are also a large number of patients who miraculously can defecate normally.

Sexual diarrhea ends…

Those who got sick and died were basically the Gothenburg Army and the Wienerstadt Army from Götaland. As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, Blue Fox mainly commanded the Ross Army. On the contrary, his own vassal army management was quite lax and caused a lot of trouble. patients.

The barons of Gothenburg manage their own people. They originally thought that illness was God’s will. Since fully implementing Earl Blue Fox’s orders can avoid disasters, they should implement them honestly and stop talking harshly.

The rain is continuous. If you try to live in old Russia, an autumn rain in September or October can last for half a month. This is the case in the distant hometown of Russia, and it must be similar at the mouth of the Rhine River.

No matter how ambitious they were, they were suppressed by the bad mud, annoying humidity, and the risk of illness. The bad cold weather made the soldiers even more depressed. UU Reading www.SonicMTL.

ｎnet The body also becomes more and more lazy.

Even so, a small fleet was carrying Rurik’s orders, enduring the coldness on the swollen Rhine River, and drifting toward the lowlands in the autumn rain that didn’t know when it would end.

Even if there is no rainfall, it would take five days at the fastest for two boats with fifty brothers to sail down the river and paddle together. Due to the rain, the voyage may be extended to more than a week.

Although Rurik had the idea of launching an autumn and winter offensive, due to the bad weather, he did not expect his order to be quickly notified to Hao Jun, who had successfully arrived at the mouth of the Rhine, nor did he expect them to quickly arrive in Koblenz after receiving the order. Grand Master.

The Russian army moved too fast, and its mobility could not surpass the times.

This autumn rain process, which started in Northern Europe and spread all the way to Western Europe, was to cool down the war fever in the entire Frankish world of civil war.

Loyalty to Lotay

Your imperial aristocratic army, Ludwig still staying in Alsace in the south, and his Bavarian army that continued to increase troops by water, even restored his status as the King of Aquitaine and stayed in Poitiers. The palace where Charles “The Bald” lived.

Charlemagne’s three grandsons and the nobles under his command all chose to go into hibernation, and generally believed that it was impossible to end the civil war this year. Everyone’s top priority was to make winter plans and consider military operations next year.

But they all ignored a major variable that suddenly occurred in the civil war-Russian King Rurik and his friends suddenly appeared with 10,000 Norman troops and controlled the lower Rhine River.

Winter is by no means a good time for Frankish nobles to fight.

The opposite is true for the Rus’ army, or the Rus’ army can fight in any season.

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[End of This Chapter.]