Rise of Rurik

To Robert's surprise, even though he revealed his identity, the Norman nobles who attended the meeting did not mention the war two years ago at all.

The words of the Norman nobles were very direct. They were all asking about one thing—how about Aachen gold and silver.

"Gold? Of course there is a lot of gold in New Rome, the premise is that you can really get in. However, if you really do this, those nobles will kill you."

Robert was busy eating, not to mention that the pea production in the lowlands has always been low. It is indeed a wonderful feeling to use boiled peas as a staple food, and now it tastes good with some grilled fish.

His favorable description aroused everyone's spirits, and they collectively beat the table rhythmically, demonstrating their ambition to plunder gold and silver to the fullest.

"Gold!" The black fox slammed on the table.

"Roar! Roar!"

After a while, everyone knocked on the table collectively.

"silver!"

"Roar! Roar!"

"woman!"

"Roar! Roar!"

"Gods bless! We will win!"

"Wow!" Bjorn, Duke of Mälaren, ran away and stood up, baring his teeth and sticking out his tongue, like a wolf that can swallow its prey alive.

The nobles yelled frantically in the Norse language, and even the too young Askad, Regalaf, and Yinvar, who had a bad leg, barked their teeth and claws together like adults.

Robert even felt deep fear, for fear that these ruthless people would go mad and take him away as a sacrifice to the barbarian god.

The dinner had a violent beginning and a violent end, which made Robert dislike the place so much that he wished he could leave by boat.

Returning fighters need a short period of adjustment, and other fighters with a surprising number may have time to reorganize their internal affairs.

The blue fox gave the army three days, and these three days were also opportunities for the Robert family to get to know King Regraf of Mercia and the eldest son Bruno of the Duke of Saxony who were about to go south to Tours.

The civil war of the top nobles forced the vassals from all over the world to stand in line. Robert had no hatred for the family of the Duke of Saxony, and they fought fiercely with each other according to orders.

He kept emphasizing this to reassure Bruno.

According to the new arrangement adjusted by Blue Fox, there will be ten long boats heading south to Tours. There were Reggraf and his guards, including Bruno who was on board, sixty soldiers of the Ross army specially arranged to come in, and the rest were all members of Robert's family.

Those who don't know how to operate the longship should learn as soon as possible. A total of nearly 150 Norman warriors boarded the ship. If you say it well, they are the guards of the messengers. If you say it badly, they can turn into bandits in an instant. These people all obeyed the orders of King Reglaf of Mercia, and there were also accompanying priests arranged by the Diocese of Utrecht in the team. Such actions made Robert willing to believe that all behaviors of these Normans would be restrained.

Robert currently has a total of 70 followers and soldiers. He dismissed many of them before, and the 50 captives he rescued in Koblenz have taken on a new identity. It is very magical that they, who were killed by the Normans and cried for their fathers and mothers, actually imitated the Normans and paddled hard. You can't do it without learning, after all, this place is full of Normans who speak another language.

Many people couldn't help whispering in private, worried about the future of the empire.

To **** with the Empire! King Lothar may not necessarily win the final victory. After all, all the nobles never imagined that there would be a huge Norman army entrenched at the mouth of the Rhine, and this army was about to attack Aachen arrogantly.

Faced with such a situation, what should a small soldier do? There are also people who want to escape, even if they swim across the river or run wildly on foot, they must report this matter to the southern nobles as soon as possible.

The soldier who held such an idea was slapped severely by his colleagues.

The sensible veteran said plausibly: "Go to report? Who will believe you, a deserter? We have died in Koblenz, and now we have a chance of rebirth only in Tours. If one person escapes, others will be implicated. If there are deserters, I will kill him."

Indeed, it was because of the distrust of the Ross people that even though he had a new identity, he didn't even deserve to have a knife for cutting meat. If he wanted to rearm, he could only do it in Tours.

On the appointed day, the morning tide receded, and the Laiyin River estuary was crowded with boats.

On the shore, soldiers with weapons and bags on their backs were even more crowded. Today's weather is not bad, the sun shines on the soldiers' iron helmets, and a large area is strongly reflective.

An army is very particular about logistics, which is rare in today's Europe. The Ross Army is exactly such an army. When the army has enjoyed the benefits of abundant logistical materials time and time again, it has paid special attention to this aspect.

Each has a burlap pocket, which contains wheat, peas, and a lot of dried fish and baked wheat cakes.

Each soldier is responsible for himself, eating dry food during the march, and setting up the cooking utensils to cook wheat whenever there is time to rest on the land.

Rolled blankets were tied to the sides of the sackcloth pockets, and even the buckler was tied to the knapsack. Swords, axes, and daggers dangled from the soldiers, and many raised their crossbows.

The best-dressed and most sophisticatedly equipped are Ross's elite, whose strength Robert already knows.

There are also a large number of armor and white robes. This is the so-called Gothenburg Army under Ross's command, which is actually the army of the blue fox fief.

As for the other armies, their situation is extremely strange. These Normans are actually wearing Frankish armor. It is self-evident how they got the armor.

Robert himself didn't want to say anything anymore, he was eager to leave quickly, and he didn't want to have much to do with the North.

His wife Adelaide got on the boat silently with the child in her arms, sat down safely and called her husband to come quickly.

Standing on the shore, Robert no longer wanted to say anything to the blue fox, especially now that the group of people were obviously doing a sacrificial trick again.

"Ridiculous." He spat, shook his head and jumped into the boat.

The farewell words that should have been said have been said. Blue Fox and others are not friends with the Robert family. At best, Robert is just a tool that can be used.

He had said a personal farewell to Legraf and Bruno, and now the two young men were about to leave.

Putting on a cloth robe dyed light green, the identity of this Norman army was transformed into that of King Mercia's guard. Dark green is the hue of the Kingdom of Mercia, and Mercia at that time could not unify the military uniform, so he could only work on the hue. Legolaf made a fuss about the clothes, but the dyeing of the cloth made the color of the cloth gown become lighter and lighter after several washes.

There is no problem with these. He now has more troops, which has expanded to more than a hundred people and can support his noble platoon. Next, he will go to see the Earl of Tours as King of Mercia.

It can be said that Regalaf, the fleet going south, is the commander. Being young is not ignorant, thinking that his father Rurik has commanded battles at his age, perhaps it is too difficult to surpass his father, at least he must behave like a real man.

His eyes were fixed on the people who were slaughtering cattle and offering sacrifices by the river, the same old tradition of Rus, the blood of livestock was poured into the sea to sacrifice to the gods.

But…

"Ah, I'm different from you guys." Regalaf slightly turned his head, and saw that the accompanying priest closed his eyes slightly as if he had seen the "barbarian priest" out of sight and out of mind, and hugged him tightly The huge wooden cross has now become Regalaf's spiritual sustenance.

He had already found his belonging, and saw that Robert had boarded the ship, so he stood up like an adult and gave an order: "Fly the cross flag! Fly the king's flag!"

The only mast of the flagship hoisted a special flag, which was dyed light blue with woad juice, and a light yellow cloth strip dyed with yellow root carrot juice was sewn on the diagonal.

If Rose's paddle flag could be mistaken for the "St. Andrew's Cross", the real Mercian flag raised by Legolaf this time is really inspired by the "St. Andrew's Cross". He is very happy, the flag looks like Ross but it is not at all, and the army under him is born out of the Ross army but it is not.

So in Robert's view, a young boy was leaning on the bow and yelling at everyone who was rowing. This boy was either stupid or really ambitious.

"Rurik's eldest son? How old was that Rurik who had an affair with a woman? Is he a god? Maybe. Maybe this kid can do some miracles too. Let me sabotage you." Robert kept the words in his heart, and said a few words of comfort to his wife's worries.

The fleet left the port of Ross's store, and the next step was to go all the way south along the coastline. It will be a sea area completely unfamiliar to all people from the north, but it doesn't matter, based on past experience, as long as the fleet is groping along the coastline, everything will be fine.

And what makes Regalaf very confident is that he has a map drawn by his father himself. The map is a little rough, and it actually marks a huge cape. The so-called "Brittany", as long as the fleet crosses the sea The cape continues to advance along the coast, and it is only a matter of time before it enters the mouth of the Loire. Even, it can enter the correct Seine estuary and directly attack Paris.

So this is what makes Robert shudder.

Legolaf is young and ambitious, but unfortunately at such an age it is easy to act stunned. He shared the map with Robert, who immediately shocked him.

Paris, Champagne, Brittany, Tours, Nantes, Orleans, Dunkirk…

Robert had to think about where Rurik and his men got the information, even though they had never been to the south. Although the spelling of the letters was a bit strange, and even the handwriting was strange, he could recognize and spell it, and then suddenly realized . The map is set to go up north and down south, which is very characteristic of the Ross people. Robert is no longer surprised by this. But such a precious map can be easily held by his young son, does Rurik really not care?

Or did the Rus have long planned to invade the southern region?

You can't just think about it this way. Even the Seine River is marked on the map. Regardless of whether the location is correct or not, there is an estuary and the city of Paris. With the navigation advantage of the Normans, they just defeated the Middle Kingdom in Koblenz Army, that's pretty outback, if...

Look at the oarsmen on the nearby ships, dressed in shades of light green. They are the so-called Mercian Kingdom Guard, which is essentially a large group of Normans. If they had more ships, all wearing white robes with blue stripes, it would not be a problem to attack Paris directly by water.

The Normans can do it, why can't I? If I borrow their ship and I get it by attacking Paris with Tour's army, won't my strength be restored immediately.

In desperation, Robert has not only hope, but also ambition, and the desire for revenge.

His revenge is not aimed at a certain person, but in this unfair world. It is really unreasonable for the dignified Robertini family to be reduced to a bereaved dog in my own generation. Besides, my wife's family suffered a lot in this large-scale civil war. He set his sights on wealthy Paris, fantasizing about getting it. Is this an impossible delusion? uncertain!

As long as King Lothair is defeated, as long as the current Count of Paris is killed in the civil war, there will be a chance. As the saying goes, nobles are related to each other, and my wife Adelaide and the Earl of Paris are distant relatives. In the civil war, relatives were beaten to death, but it left a chance for foreign relatives to inherit the title and fiefdom of a certain place.

The mother of the Count of Paris of this generation was the cousin of the late Count of Tours. If the family is extinct, in principle, his wife has a certain possibility of inheritance.

Even if there is only a slight possibility, it will be convenient for public opinion propaganda and mediation with other nobles after the event is completed.

As for making it possible, is there any quicker means than war?

After all, when you come to Tour, you don't want to be a rich and idle person.

"You guys left..."

The blue fox couldn't help but glance at the fleet that was drifting away, and then shifted his eyes to the sacrifice in front of him.

The water was reddened by the blood of the cow, and the beef was hacked again and again, and finally the beef and beef bones were thrown into the sea.

The soldiers on standby began to beat the drums, and the horns of the whole army blew vigorously.

"Let's go." After saying that, Blue Fox jumped onto the long boat.

The soldiers on standby boarded the boat one after another, and more and more half-stranded longboats gathered on the river.

The cable thrown from the armed cargo ship was caught by the long boat, and the four boats towed one, and they lined up methodically.

The two elite flag teams of the main force of the Ross Army consisted of 1,000 soldiers, the Earl of Gothenburg had 800 soldiers, the Principality of Mälaren had 500 soldiers, and the Earl of Finland had 500 soldiers. Also add naval sailors and engineers for land operations.

Even Prince Invar of Denmark attracted some resident Danish fishermen to join in Rotterstadt, and his troops have already expanded.

On the surface, the strength of the army attacking Aachen was close to 4,000, but it actually exceeded this number.

Fishermen of different backgrounds often do not take the initiative to join a certain faction. They are like a group of hyenas following a group of lions. The lions eat meat, and the hyenas can also eat some leftovers.

The fishermen in the north brought their own weapons, and took advantage of the power of the crusade army to take advantage of the opportunity to loot. Even local fishermen from Utrecht are mixed in here.

Looting is obviously a serious crime, but all the blame can be shifted to the Normans. This kind of people dressed up as Norman pirates and rowed their own small fishing boats to join the mighty team.

The Ross army wore blue-striped white robes, and the armed cargo ships and sail destroyers were being towed. In addition to loading a large amount of logistics materials, a large number of soldiers with bows and crossbows were on standby.

Only the Norman army can launch attacks with the advantage of ships, and now their weapons and equipment are not what they used to be, and they have a wonderful weapon-the map.

The mighty Ross Army took the lead in advancing, followed closely by friendly forces from all sides.

The 100-meter-wide Maas River is full of long boats with two upturned ends, round shields with various patterns on both sides, and huge oars paddling rhythmically.

The Maas River has never seen such a scene, and it is true that few residents on both sides pay attention to this matter, because the residents seem to disappear.

On both sides of the Maas River are low flat bottoms, on which are clusters of woods and huge bushes.

The army seemed to have entered a no-man's land, and they didn't see the first riverside village until the third day of the voyage.

Such a village is like a gift from the gods to the coalition army. The supreme commander Lanhu did not hesitate to send troops to investigate by force and rob some supplies.

However, this is clearly an empty village. Not only is the house devoid of human habitation, but a large number of interior furnishings have accumulated dust. Weeds are growing in the surrounding farmland, and the small pier along the river is dilapidated and covered with moss. There were no dogs barking and chickens crowing, and the whole village seemed dead silent.

Where have they all gone?

"Could it be that these villagers are afraid of something~www.readwn.com~ moved away early? Isn't it because of what we did before that went too far?"

Blue Fox estimated that the Ross Army launched a looting campaign against the big cities in Flanders two years ago, which indeed caused panic in the region. Could it be that this remote village also moved away after hearing the news? not necessarily.

An abandoned village happened to be the foothold of the army. After they landed, they buried pots for cooking. Not many people cared about why the village was empty. The continuous sailing made the retrograde paddling soldiers exhausted. I like to eat the new Huhu porridge mixed with oatmeal and peas.

What is certain is that the coalition forces led by Ross are indeed sailing on the Maas River.

As long as you keep going, once you find a large city, a wooden cross on the top of the monastery's towering spiers, and a strong wooden bridge, that is the initial combat target Maastricht.

It is said that the target is not very far from the mouth of the Rhine River, and everyone is willing to believe that the battle will definitely happen within three days.