Rise of Rurik

The moment of total collapse of the defenders at the Battle of Kaiserslautern was over. The identity of the captured suspected great aristocrat was really a high-ranking aristocrat.

Freibach, if nothing else, he is the next generation Earl of Metz.

Liudov actually knew this man, and also knew that his father was not in good health.

Even though Metz is a die-hard fan of Lothair, the Saxons have no hatred for this group of guys. The two sides fought purely because Kaiserslautern was a place of contention, and the Metz people occupied the wealth. This was enough to force the Saxons to desperately. If the defenders were the other, the battle would break out.

Freibach was captured, and Liudov was keenly aware that this was a major bargaining chip. From the moment he revealed his identity, Liudov arranged a way out for him.

As for the legend that there is a golden mountain in Kaiserslautern, this statement was categorically denied by Freibach.

"You are lying to me. It's okay, I will send someone to dig out all the gold and silver you have hidden."

Liudov, who had just won, desperately needs to see a lot of cash, and he has no intention of talking nonsense with the captured guy now.

This ordered his subordinates to tie him up firmly, considering that this guy was definitely rebellious and probably only wanted to die.

Liudov told the guards he arranged in his native dialect: "You keep an eye on this man, but cover your ears. Keep an eye on him, don't let him escape, and don't be provoked."

After all, many brothers were killed by the cavalry charge commanded by this guy, and the Saxon guards wanted to use a small stick to slowly look at them as meat sauce to vent their anger.

They will carry out the Duke's order, and now they are staring at the next generation of Earl Metz who has been stripped to a single and barefoot with blue eyes.

Of course, the premise is that this man lives until his father dies, and that his younger brother does not compete with him for the title.

It was only in the current situation that Freibach realized that the black army who defeated himself, and even the king's standing army, was the Duke of Saxony and the former Earl of Westphalia.

My own father and Liudov met before, and the time was still good, and now the war is just their own master.

Freibach became a "guest under house arrest", but a group of captured Metz soldiers were out of luck.

Liudov also told this guy specifically about the killing of the prisoners. He was so angry that his body tied to the pillars of the house twisted violently, as if the pillars could be broken.

The captured ordinary soldiers were escorted to the Lauter River and beheaded one by one. It is unknown to the Saxon people that they have never heard of it. Their killing in this way is a sympathetic revenge for the incident fifty years ago.

On the other hand, this group of prisoners of war is not trustworthy at all. They are loyal to their lords and lack communication and language with the Saxons.

Keeping the captives would only waste food, so just do it. Liudov didn't believe that God sent thunder to kill him for such a trivial matter.

That is, he was tired and rode a horse to the river to observe the execution in person, and he needed his soldiers to further vent.

The setting sun left the last ray of light in the west, and the sun finally completely sank into the earth from the vast hilly forest area in the north of Saarland, which is the original ecological uninhabited area in the west.

Kaiserslautern does not have gold and silver mountains, nor does a hundred money suitcases. But this unfortunate fact can only be learned by searching.

However, the vast number of soldiers searched hard and still found the treasure. Everyone found some silver coins, and even seized protective gear and weapons from the enemy barracks. military.

The biggest seizure was actually the granary!

But when they found the granary, anyone with a discerning eye could see that there was not much food here, how could it support the huge garrison here with so much food for so long.

Earl Graf from the very backwoods of the Saxons get together to discuss…

"The people of Metz are afraid that they will run out of food. The Duke grasped the timing really well."

"It just so happens that there are a lot of cooking utensils here. My people have had enough dry food, and many people's mouths are worn out." These words immediately resonated with everyone.

"We have a lot of horse carcasses, and my men found some bacon in their barracks. We can have a good meal..."

Then, they laughed and called their own people to carry the food spontaneously.

In the afternoon after the war, when the dust settled, every Saxon looked different.

With new shoes and new clothes, many soldiers began to put on chain mail and plate armor. They abandoned the simple, so the military strength of Liudov's army increased dramatically in this battle.

For this reason, it is worth paying a lot of casualties. Because the entire Kaiserslautern is a treasure mine that belongs to the Saxons, Liudoff has ordered free looting, except for the prohibition of arson, you can plunder in any way you want to vent.

It is true that Liudov was somewhat dazzled by the victory.

The battlefield is full of broken corpses of the dead, and a large number of horses are concentrated and killed. In the evening, the corpses of the enemy are stripped clean. The Saxon soldiers started from poverty. They stripped off the blood-stained clothes and the good shoes of the Frankish soldiers. , any dirt is washed in the Lauter River, a bonfire is lit and dried.

Just in the past, there was a headhunting culture in Saxony during the tribal period. The enemy was beheaded, the teeth were punched to make necklaces, and the skulls of the enemies were made into bowls.

Such barbarism ended when they were forced to convert to God, but possession of the relics of the dead was still considered an honor for the victors.

After all, the cavalry group gave the Saxons a heavy blow, but the impact was not enough.

The Saxon army suffered thousands of casualties, and the poor sanitary conditions determined that the wounded would also die.

He lost 25% of his combat effectiveness in the First World War. If the enemy had not made a large-scale cavalry charge at the last moment, Liudov would not have suffered such a loss at all.

Actual combat has proved that as long as a large number of spears are used in a concentrated manner, it is one-sided killing of the enemy by one's own side.

The corpses of the enemies on the Yamaguchi battlefield seemed to have spread a terrible blanket on the field. The Saxons only gestured to their own people and buried them on the spot. The enemy's white corpses are still in place.

On the first night after the battle, Lyudov saw the decapitated bodies of the captives thrown into the Lauter River.

As a small tributary of the Rhine River, if all the enemy corpses on the battlefield were thrown over, the river would surely ride into the empty city for himself.

The old palace in Kaiserslautern has gone through wars, and the residential area outside the palace looks dilapidated. There are only a large number of soldiers holding burning sticks for lighting and counting down to search for property.

The reason why it is believed that the box promised by Ludwig does not exist is because the soldiers rushed into the palace to see everything clearly, and then were deeply disappointed. They dream of grandeur, and think that even the walls are plated with gold.

There is nothing in the real palace, the walls and floors are just rough rocks, the place where the bathing pool used to be is now a dry pit, and thick dust can be found when you touch the pillars.

There are no valuable furnishings in the palace, the coarse cloth of the curtains is covered with dust, there are a lot of cobwebs in the corners, and there are rats running around.

It is not like a palace, but more like a tomb, at least no one has lived in it for a long time.

Liudov swaggered into the palace on his horse, full of ambition.

"Soldiers, do you know where this is?"

The servants on horseback and holding torches were silent.

"I don't know? Hehe, this is the royal palace, which is the property of Charlemagne. It seems that neither Ludwig nor Lothair care about this kind of palace. Let's go! Let's ride in directly."

As a result, the hall that was originally used for meeting guests and banquets became a racetrack for the Saxons, and a large amount of horse manure was stranded on the site.

The palace complex was full of soldiers pouring in, and they couldn't find the cash box, so what Frebach, who was just captured, said was true.

It would be a lie if Liudov was not angry, how much he wished that the legend about the cash box was true.

He got off his horse and walked in the empty palace. Compared with the noise outside, the silence and dilapidation here are regrettable.

He heard the chatter of his subordinates and the neighing of war horses. He caressed his mount and looked at the soldiers, "Let's go, leave this ruin. Me! I will meet that Freibach again."

At this moment, Freibach is locked on a pillar of a private house. This is the "polite house arrest" of the Saxons.

No one beat him badly. After receiving such treatment and having learned that the prisoners of war had been killed, Freibach kept yelling curses, trying to provoke the guarding soldiers to stab him to death with a sword.

He cursed loudly, saying "Saxons are dung", "Lyudolf is a descendant of a marmot", "surprise attack is contrary to noble morals", and so on.

Just as Liudov was striding forward, holding his sword hilt tightly, a loud shout came from the house: "Liudov! You are Ludwig's dog!"

"Hmph! Whose dog are you?!" Liudolf, who was holding the hilt of his sword, walked into the house aggressively. The enemy was extremely jealous when he met him. He suddenly drew his sword, and the blade directly touched Freibach's neck.

"You?" Freibach looked up at the sword, and had to say that it was a good sword. He continued to grin his teeth: "Either kill me, we will exile me. You, you'd better kill me."

"Do you want to die with honor? I want you to tell me something."

"Heh! What else can I say if you treat me like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered?"

Liudov withdrew his sword: "Tell me, what happened to the palace? It was empty, and I didn't find a single gold coin."

"So that's why you started the war? You're a robber."

"No." Ludoff smiled. "In my opinion you are the robber. Kaiserslautern is, for example, the property of Ludwig, who gave all his property to me, and you are the thief. You ..."

Liudov reached out and patted Freibach's bearded face very rudely. This action was like a grandfather beating a grandson, which was really humiliating.

The furious Freibach struggled and continued to yell: "You let me go, otherwise..."

"Otherwise? How else?"

"I advise you to end the war. You Saxons should submit to the real king, that is His Royal Highness Lothair. If you continue to go your own way, it will only lead to the massacre of the whole family! Don't forget what Charlemagne did!"

It sounds like good words of persuasion, but it is actually a threat.

Liudov stared at him contemptuously: "You still want to be a lobbyist now? If you can't beat me on the battlefield, you can win with just a few words?"

"No. You will be doomed. I never thought that Ludwig was the first to attack, and you Saxons were the first to attack."

"Could it be?" Liudov narrowed his eyes: "Lothair wants to do something too?"

"My lord must have made his move. The army is starting from Strasbourg. Soon, my father's army will arrive in Kaiserslautern, and the new Metz army will definitely defeat you. It is still too late to turn from darkness to light, Lu Derwig is not worthy of your following, only the Roman emperor Lothair is worthy."

Hearing these remarks, Liudov burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at? You are also a Frankish vassal."

"Of course I am a vassal, but I never thought that being a hunting dog is also an honor?"

"Ridiculous, we are nobles, not dogs."

"No." Liudov shook his hand: "At least I am not Ludwig's dog. I am the Duke of Saxony, and my army is all Saxons. Tell you!" His spirit became agitated: "My ancestors were Vidukind! The surrender back then was a last resort, but now I have returned to the country. Ludwild recognizes my special status, can your Lothar do it?"

"The king..." Freibach was surprised that such an existence could still exist in the northern region, and Ludwig actually tolerated the separatism of a big noble.

"King Lothair... will recognize all your current powers."

"Do you think I'll believe it?"

"Why not? The king gave his loyal subjects riches and lands."

Ludwig also said this nonsense, since the Principality of Saxony is de facto independent, as to whether he is still loyal to him after helping Ludwig win the civil war (at least not to lose), it needs to be discussed again. Of course, as long as you can get more benefits decently, there is nothing wrong with submitting in name.

As for Lothair, this guy killed his younger brother in order to cut down the vassal. This person would question all his promises to the Frankish nobles, let alone a Saxon nobleman?

There's even a stark example.

Liudov would not play tricks on the prisoners for a while. The so-called attack on Aachen was that he, Liudov, actively advised the Russians. Such a thing is a secret, but it will be exposed sooner or later, and by then "Lothair will have to swallow me in one bite."

"Stop your persuasion! Now that your father is coming to Kaiserslautern, you should think about how that Adalbert is going to pass over the destroyed Salabrücken bridge, and the burned town, The granary was also burned, so your granary is almost bottomed out."

I heard that Freibach, who was in shock, was already doubting his life.

"The killing of Baron Sargau...you know? Could it be you who did it?"

"Yes, not all." Liudov did not intend to tell this person the inside story. The so-called Earl of the Netherlands is his vassal. After the Earl's youngest daughter married the Ross nobleman, the Barony of Nassau has expanded to include the entire Lyingau and Koblenz.

Although the female Earl Sophia was openly loyal to Ludwig, her father was a vassal of the Duke of Saxony after all.

So Liudov was somewhat responsible, but he really wished that the bridge was destroyed by himself.

"The bridge is broken. No matter how many people your father has, I don't think they will be able to cross the Saar River this year." Liudov was satisfied.

Freibach looked stubborn: "Not necessarily."

"How? Can you still fly over the Saar River?"

"Of course it is through the territory of Baron Bristol, don't forget Schwabruecken..."

"That's a little bridge. Besides, Briscoe let you cross?"

"Hehe, this is your ignorance. You can either kill me or send me back to my father. Otherwise, once my father's army arrives, there will be a **** battle, and this time your army will lose."

To be honest, Liudov was a little nervous. Firstly, his soldiers were busy with post-war relief, and it was impossible to quickly assemble for battle in a short period of time. Second, the loss of the army was really not small, and there were less than 4,000 people with combat effectiveness. The army needed to digest the fruits of victory. Only then can we fight again. Nor could he take all the captive's word for it.

"Okay, I'll consider your argument."

"Surrender to King Lothar?"

"Stupid! I have to think about how to defeat your father's reinforcements again! And you should also think about your own way out."

"Me?" Freibach closed his eyes, and kept bumping the back of his head against the pillar, roaring, "Why don't you kill me."

"I'd better give you to Ludwig! Although you are loyal to Lothar now, take a look at the whole Yinlan! The people's livelihood here is depressed, and your Metz also came here after the war. Besides, your family is only left You are alone, if you die again, the Earl of Metz's family will have to change."

There was something in these words, and Freibach suddenly calmed down: "How do you say this? What do you mean I am the only one left?"

"Because behind me is the main force of Ludwig's Bavarian army and the army of the Marquis of Thuringia. They came prepared. Your father is not only facing us! It will be four times Kaiser The Battle of Slautern! Do you think your father can win an army of fifty thousand? He'll be killed."

"It's not true! Besides, I have my brother. Our Metz has the new earl! And there's a constant army."

"Your brother Odobach? I've heard of it. Your whole family is in Metz, it's just a pity..."

"how?!"

"The Nassau army has been ordered to attack the city of Metz."

"Nassau? A mere baron?"

"Stupid! Nassau is now the earl~www.readwn.com~ Besides, they only have the name of Nassau. You should know that even I have a relationship with the Danes. And those so-called Nassau troops..."

"Danish? The well-known Ludwig's Danish mercenary?"

"It's stronger than Denmark." Liudov stared at his sharp eyes, and his words became more and more arrogant, "Your whole family will die because your family chose the wrong monarch. Listen, Lothar will be defeated, he The territory of the country is full of war. Ha ha, I have sent my son to Tours, and I dare say, you Metz will soon learn about the war in the south. Don't you forget that Louis (the pious) has no crown on his head, He is also on the move, will Metz be able to fight on two fronts? How many troops do you have ordered to meet the attack from the south?"

This year's war was launched by Ludwig, but the war turned into the "Frankish World War". Liudolf actually became the military planner of the Eastern Kingdom camp and joined as a conspirator and doer.

As a result, Freibach passively learned something that he didn't even dare to think about.

Now this bound body can only be impotent and furious.