Rise of Rurik

With the longship, the wide Rhine River is no longer an insurmountable moat.

Each long boat can transport fifty civilians to the opposite bank at a time, and ten boats is five hundred. If small fishing boats are added, it is not a problem to transport seven hundred people at a time as a group.

This is true in theory, but in practice it is a completely different matter.

At first, those people who were eager to flee for their lives panicked. They would not carry a lot of daily necessities, but always took a few days' rations and a small amount of pottery cooking utensils, and evacuated with their families carrying blankets for bedding.

Limited luggage doesn't cause much confusion, and the current one is quite different.

The panicked crowd began to feel at ease. They didn't want to before, but now many people simply returned to their homes, carrying sacks full of wheat back to the riverside pier.

There was a lot of people at the pier, although there was no panic, the confusion was obvious.

The Norman conquerors became the maintainers of order, some wooden poles were erected, and the cross flag and the Ross flag waved in the wind.

All the priests were called in to maintain order, and earnestly appealed to everyone to remain calm.

The methods of the Ross warriors are simple and rough, and those who cause confusion due to haste can be honest with a few sticks.

Veteran Eric, as the trusted leader left by the blue fox to his brother, he led a group of brothers to maintain law and order and manage the ships to cross.

The villagers carrying the sack hurriedly jumped onto the long boat. His wife and children represented him, and the faces of the whole family were full of joy.

"Let's go! Bring the rope!"

The leading oarsman roared, and the boat drifted towards the center of the river.

It stands to reason that all able-bodied villagers should also use big oars to join the rowing at this moment. However, they are not Ross people, and letting them paddle can completely destroy the rhythm.

For these Ross warriors, even if they were a little bit resistant at first, and then saw their father-in-law's family on the other side fleeing for their lives, they would do it out of simple feelings.

Marrying her daughter to those Normans who came all the way, it was they who rowed the big ships to save them in times of crisis.

The people of Koblenz have no sense of family and country, they are just ordinary farmers who instinctively avoid war.

Refugees carried their belongings to the other side, knelt on the bank and shouted for safety. The setting sun shone on their backs, and people's faces were filled with joy.

The next thing is still uneasy, they still have to continue on foot to the fishing village of Randstad upstream, and camp at the mouth of the Lan River.

Refugees are forbidden to enter Nassau Village deep in the Lan River. This is not because they are ruthless, but because there are too many of them. How can the small mountain valley be packed with thousands of people?

People who crossed to the other side even started to make fires on the spot. They lit a large number of fires. As night fell, these shining points of light, like star chains, gave a clear direction to the ships that forcibly crossed at night.

There are fires on the opposite bank, and the Lanstein on the upper river is full of bonfires.

The fall of night meant rest for the marching army of Quentin's Banner in the Middle Kingdom. For the fleeing Koblenz people, those who tried to sleep all rushed up.

Because the black fox gave this order: "No matter how tired you are, wake up those guys who fell asleep! Let them continue to cross the river by boat."

As for the paddling brothers who have been busy all afternoon, what should we do? If the Ross army is exhausted on a large scale, wouldn't it be a disadvantage among disadvantages once it fights?

Such a question came from Robert who was waiting for the ship to leave.

"Your people are more devout than priests! Helping them is a great virtue, but your people are exhausted. Even if your fighters are strong, they will lose their fighting spirit. Maybe you should let them rest."

Heihu and Vardy have already discussed, Heihu decides the strategy, and Vardy implements the tactics.

What kind of strategy is the deliberate black fox?

"When did I say that I would fight them desperately? Even if it is a battle, it is not now. I will change the soldiers rowing. In the end, everyone will be exhausted, but what the enemy gets is an empty city."

Even if someone reprimanded Heihu as a coward and shameless, he would only take it as a joke. This young fat man had never believed in Odin, and he never felt that the blood sacrifice to Odin was great.

It is precisely now that Frank's real aristocrats praise themselves as "moral models" with their beliefs, which makes Blue Fox feel extremely comfortable.

Whether it is out of morality or reason, the black fox is forced to adjust its tactics in response to reality.

The tired Eric was replaced, and Vardy jumped on board with another group to join in the paddling.

The replaced soldiers were lying on the pier in Koblenz, snuggled up to the bonfire and sleeping soundly despite the noise in their ears.

Due to many factors, the speed of transportation at night dropped sharply. After all, they got enough time.

The one-night transportation is painful for everyone, and the refugees are relieved only when they reach the other side of the river.

In the morning, when the sun is about to rise, the thick fog of early summer begins to fill the whole world. At the moment, the other side of the river is full of people. They got off the boat and fell asleep. Now they will add more firewood to the bonfire that is about to go out, boil some river water in a pottery urn, throw in dry and hard black bread, soak it soft and eat it with big mouthfuls. That's all, the whole family continued on their way.

On the Koblenz side, Eric's unit, who had been resting overnight, got up, and they took over again. Wadi's unit, which had been busy all night, continued to transport the remaining refugees.

It is gratifying that when the river fog cleared, people on the Koblenz side could see the refugee team appearing on the other side of the river. They push small carts loaded with food, farm implements, and cooking utensils.

They have the basic self-rescue ability, and the existing surplus food can last for a period of time.

Of course, because the church in Koblenz has the right to govern the riverside plain, the church’s granary stores the most grain. Those grains are the rations of the priests, and they are also the tithe tax they collect. There is still a lot of surplus grain, which is the most important property of the priest Bachbert, and the priest cannot transport them away. When he asked the black fox to transport the grain in full, the black fox agreed readily on the surface.

"Of course I will help you transport food. Let's go! Let's go to the church first and take all valuable things away!"

Although it was a great act of kindness for these Normans to save the people, and their hands really touched the property of the monastery, the first thing the priest thought of was that the group of Normans would take the opportunity to loot.

Bakhbert was restless, and he led several young priests to follow behind the Ross soldiers, and finally walked into the fat black fox leading the team.

"Do you have something to say?"

"some."

"What is it?"

"I... need a promise from you. After the disaster is over, please return all the gold and silver to us."

"Oh?" The black fox rolled his eyes at him: "Think we are thieves?"

"I dare not." The priest hastily denied it.

"Of course we are not thieves. But after doing so many things, do you have to pay some fees? Help you transport people and supplies, brothers have never been tired these two days. Next we have to fight with those Frankish troops Fighting, I am afraid that many soldiers will die. How about you? You know that there is a villain named Judas, who is greedy and disgusting."

"Me?!" For a moment, Father Bachbert didn't know how to answer. Then he thought about it, this little fat man who converted to God spoke Latin, and now he mentioned Judas, and he might quote the scriptures again later. "I'm not Judas! I'm not greedy!" The blushing priest had no choice but to answer.

"That's good. I don't want any of the gold and silver relics. All the silver coins you hoarded will be used to reward my soldiers. And your granary, all belong to me now."

"Ah?!" The priest was stunned suddenly, trembling all over. "This... How is this different from a robber?"

"You still think we are robbers?! Brothers, stop." Heihu gave an order, which attracted the brothers to put on the appearance of being picky. He approached the priest, put his face close to his eyes with half a smile, "papa, now you should understand who is the real robber. Those troops killed the mountain dwellers and we are saving them. They will loot Everything, maybe the priest will not be killed, and all your belongings will definitely be confiscated. At this time, you still worry about your own money and food. Aren’t you a servant of God? You can’t let it go now.”

"Me? You?! You're questioning my piety."

"That's right. Your food is better than giving to those people and rewarding my soldiers. It's better to eat it in our stomachs than to be taken away by those people. Don't worry, you can say that the monastery has dispersed all its property."

"Alright." Bahebo had no choice, he only had one last hope: "You must guarantee the life of our priests no matter what."

"Of course. Let's go."

Go ahead and walk into the empty village. Bakhbert's steps became more and more difficult. He had never seen the army of the Middle Kingdom until now, and even doubted the authenticity for a certain moment.

It is undeniable that the plain area below the mountain was originally a densely populated and bustling place. The people disappeared completely, the livestock were led across the river, and the poultry were carried away in cages.

The village community was terribly quiet, only a few people stayed behind in the monastery in uneasiness.

The priest thinks that Paul Black Fox is quite pious and righteous. If he is not a Norman, but a real Frankish nobleman, he must have a very bright future.

But wait! This young man has soldiers in his hands! There are five hundred elite fighters!

The black fox expected the granary to be full, but actually entered the granary. The scene was disappointing.

The man holding the torch illuminated the house, and he clicked his tongue: "I wonder why. You are not rich in food."

"Ah? Are you disgusted? It's the spring famine period, and...we are never greedy." At this moment, the priest is still proving his innocence for the "Judas theory" just now.

"Forget it, we can move if there is not much food. What kind of wheat are these?" the black fox asked again.

"Not much wheat, mostly rye and oats."

"It's all right." The black fox still prefers wheat. It is ground and sifted through a gauze mesh to make scones and bread, which are delicious when coated with honey raspberry sauce. Just can't taste it now.

He ordered the requisition of all the carts of the monastery, and the great removal began.

The last refugees were quickly transported to the other side of the river, and they walked to the fishing village of Lanstein, a fishing village at the mouth of the river, which had been maintained by the priest Conrad of Nassau Abbey with a group of young people.

They are too few in number, and if they really want to maintain order, they still need a big man to control the field.

Before seeing the cash and leaving here, Laingor Robert was the lord of this area. The majority of residents have no time to care about the new relationship between the Baron of Nassau and Earl Robert. They still simply think that Lord Robert is the supreme lord. It would be difficult for them to see the great Frankish nobles in their entire lives, and they did so this time.

Even with limited attendants, with the support of two knights and the help of the three escaped knights on the other side, the people all chose to obey when facing high-ranking and powerful people.

The overcrowding on the other side of the river did not cause trouble, and the existing food can last for a while.

What they didn't know was that right in Koblenz the Russ were doing the final "scavenging".

The Gould family is all businessmen, and they also started as property owners in their early years. When the black fox grew up, his family fortune rose rapidly, and he still has the unlucky spirit of eating pickled shark meat.

The trolleys continued to transport the sacks of grain to the riverside pier, and the soldiers who had rested went door to door to search for the supplies that had not been taken away.

At this moment, the brothers were very happy. Some people remembered their father-in-law's mansion, and such people would not let other brothers **** it. The attitude is very simple: I'm taking my stuff and doing a full evacuation.

As for the completely unfamiliar house, the soldiers searched all kinds of useful things from the shed, and useful daily necessities such as wooden pots and pans were also taken away.

The longboat full of food from the monastery had to go directly to the fishing village of Randstad to unload on the spot. When the supplies became less and less, the final "aftermath work" should also be implemented.

At this moment, Eric and Vardy rolled up their sleeves. Their plain white linen shirts covered their chest hair. Because of exhaustion, the sweat on their faces receded, and the salt stains left behind were clearly visible.

"Everyone has worked hard. Now that priest has also gone to the other side, and we brothers are the only ones left behind in Koblenz." Black Fox said frankly.

"Brothers are exhausted!" Veteran Eric panted heavily. "I am also exhausted. Now it's time to transport the brothers to the other side. With our current state, we are simply unable to fight those troops."

"That's right." Vardy immediately echoed: "We have a small number of troops, and a large number of brothers stay on the shore. If they find out... If we run a step slower, something will happen."

The black fox nodded, then pointed to the fortress on the hillside: "Kobron Castle! If it's a field battle, once our reinforcements arrive, we don't have to worry about how many Franks will come. If they take that fortress, we will be in trouble. I don't want to attack the city afterwards."

Eric smiled and glanced at the fat young man: "Needless to say. We won't let them get what we can't get. I can't do it in a short time to destroy the stone city wall. It's okay to burn the wooden houses inside." "

"Uncle, go do it!"

"That's the case." Wadi thought for a while: "We also set fire to the village. If we can't get them, we can't get them. We let them come to a place where there is no rest."

"It won't work."

"no?"

The black fox was firm: "No matter who set the fire, it couldn't be us anyway. It would be better if the Frankish army set the fire! Or, we can find a way to let them set the fire."

"You?" Vardy narrowed his eyes: "Thinking of a conspiracy?"

"Maybe...it's a conspiracy." The black fox also narrowed his eyes like a cunning fox.

No, the Ross soldiers holding torches began to set fire to each house in the fort one by one. They feel a little pity, this is the house where they have been stationed for a year. Although it is also a trophy, it is a lie to say that they have no feelings after living for a year.

Koblenz has stone walls and tall buildings made of stone and wood. This is a military fortress. The three princes of Frank fought for the sovereignty of this place many years ago. They all knew that they held the strategic advantage of the Koblenz Fortress.

Therefore, the soldiers believed that the ultimate goal of the crusade army that Frank had never met before was to take back the fortress. If it was dilapidated, wouldn't the enemy be so angry that they vomited blood?

Thick smoke billowed from the roofs of the haystacks, and the entire fort area was gradually covered by smoke and dust. The smoke swelled up with the wind, and the arsonists inside the fort were also ashamed by the fast-diffusing smoke and dust.

The Ross soldiers hurriedly evacuated, and when they sneezed and retreated to the pier, they suddenly heard a terrifying low roar.

Their feet felt the obvious tremor of the ground, and the black fox who was waiting to leave by boat suddenly looked up, only to see that the tallest stone building in the fort collapsed amidst more intense smoke and dust.

Immediately afterwards, all the taller stone towers collapsed one after another.

"You guys did a good job." Facing the black-faced guys, the black fox had to ask one more question: "No one was injured in the sabotage activities?"

"No." One of the ten husbands said Hanhan, "It's just a little regretful."

"What do you regret?"

"It's like destroying our house, I can't be happier."

"Don't be entangled. We will build better fortresses after this crisis is resolved. Don't feel that it is not honorable to evacuate without a fight. Let's rest and kill them slowly. Take all their armor and weapons."

But the fighters still like to be happy and enmity, even if the little fat black fox's words are quite reasonable.

After all, there were as many as 30 warriors with crossbows and short wooden bows hiding in the houses, and a "captain" led these brothers and was ordered to sneak attack.

They accepted special so-called "hatred" operations, which allowed them to participate in the first battle, which was the envy of most fighters.

The black fox doesn't care about them, the brothers still need to leave with some supplies, and they intend to move as much as possible from Coblenz to enrich themselves.

Some of the fighters had withdrawn, and there were not many soldiers left in Koblenz.

Heihu and Wadi wanted to stay at the end, leading more than a hundred brothers and leaning against the four longboats, waiting for the last pot of wheat porridge to retreat collectively.

The mild afternoon weather was nice and everyone was in a good mood. The smoke column of the Koblenz Fortress is still terrifying. The wooden beams collapsed due to fire, and all the upper stone chambers collapsed. All the wood is burning, and the lower wood is smoldering. The black smoke billows like a volcano erupting.

Quentin, who was marching, was not blind. He wondered why there was thick smoke billowing before his crusade army arrived?

No, Quentin simply led all the more than one hundred cavalry to find out.

They hurriedly decided not to wear armor, and passed through the mountains as light cavalry. What they saw was the hillside fortress in the thick smoke, the obvious Viking longship under the hillside, and a group of people sitting by the river.

"It's the Normans! Don't miss this opportunity! Frankish warriors, follow me and kill them!"

It was their justice to crusade against the northern barbarians. Quentin temporarily ignored the village not far away, and only wanted to kill the Normans as much as possible before they fled. After all, the behavior of punishing the rebellious noble knights made many cavalry warriors feel conflicted, and now they have found justice by killing the Normans.

The cavalry suddenly appeared, and the giggling black fox rose up. He threw away the wooden bowl and couldn't care less about tasting now. Picking up his saber, he pushed the bubbling oatmeal urn to the ground in a fit of rage, causing the food to flow all over the floor.

"Damn it, the enemy has really appeared. Brothers, let's retreat!"

This group of Russian troops didn't fight the Frankish cavalry. They smashed the cooking utensils and staggered onto the boat. With a few big oars pushed, four long boats entered the Rhine River one after another.

"It's safe now." Someone said as if lifting a heavy burden.

"Bah! Broken my dinner~www.readwn.com~ The black fox was angry, looked around: "Don't row the boat yet! Pull up your pants and humiliate them. "

The not-so-fat black fox started by himself, and in a short while, the long boat was lying on the Rhine River, except for a few people who were rowing against the current, the rest of the people formed a white flower.

The four white things twisted and squirmed, accompanied by rampant laughter and foul phrases in Frankish.

Quentin and his cavalry had arrived at the riverbank where the Ross people fled, and their horseshoes stepped on the wheat porridge scattered all over the ground.

Quentin's face trembled as the Normans were busy humiliating themselves by taking off their trousers. What's even more strange is that there are still many people on the other side of the river.

"They are disgusting, they should cut off their ears and hang them again." A soldier pouted angrily.

"No. They escaped." Quentin, who was gripping his horsewhip tightly, was extremely regretful: "If I really want to be caught, I will use a red-hot iron to burn their butts! How dare you humiliate me?! How vicious."