Rise of Rurik

Ragnar returned like lightning, his fleet of dragon-headed longships flying over the river.

Those fishermen and salt-boilers saw their allies suddenly return, and everyone was happy at first, and then they were quite envious when they saw a lot of stuff piled up in their open-air cabins.

Unexpectedly, Ragnarok yelled at everyone he met: "The Frankish army is coming!"

The wind blew his hair and beard quite messy, and the soldiers paddling didn't care about getting tired, they all wanted to hurry to Hamburg and settle down.

Longboats came ashore, and of course word of their return had spread, and Rurik himself had noticed them as they made their way down the river to the Ross army camp.

The sound of the wind overshadowed Ragnar's enemy alert, and all attention was on the supplies in his cabin.

Rurik immediately took a group of entourage to the pier that has not been completed in a hurry to welcome the return of his old friend.

He opened his arms: "It seems that you have made a lot of money on the Rhine? You must have grabbed a lot of gold."

Ragnar looked sad, and then he stroked a messy beard: "Forget it. We washed away Cologne all the way, look at my sad face, you can guess what I encountered."

"Ah? Could it be that your army failed to attack, and they fought back?"

"It's not just a counterattack. Rurik, you're right. There's a large army in that place called Cologne. It must be the army of the Frankish King. I...I was counterattacked by them."

Listen, of course Rurik's good mood is gone.

As if being poured a basin of cold water, he also pulled his face down: "Quick! Tell me what you have seen and experienced."

Regarding the treaty of the "Northern Alliance", Rurik could of course conclude that Ragnar would unconditionally sign his name to determine its legitimacy on behalf of the entire Kingdom of Denmark.

In fact, Ragnar didn't even think about it, just glanced at the paper document, claimed that it was a good contract for everyone, and signed it directly.

Although the political significance of the treaty is of great significance, how important it is will reflect its value in the long economic and military exchanges in the future.

Obviously, nothing is more important than the pressure of the Frankish army.

Although a strategic decisive battle in the future is predicted by everyone, but it is early winter now, and the first snow will fall at any time. Could it be that the Franks will uncharacteristically insist on starting a war in winter?

Looking at it from another angle, perhaps Ludwig of East Francia felt that his methods were extremely wise, and he arranged a surprise expedition in the winter when his opponent was absolutely safe.

At least Rurik thought of this possibility, as did Ludov.

Ragnar returned with news, for which all the nobles gathered again.

Unlike the last time when the whole group gathered, this was a purely military battle meeting, and all the military nobles gathered in one place.

The war has continued to the present, and the rations carried by the Rus army from their hometowns have been exhausted. Now they are all seized from the Hamburg area, sorghum, and tribute brought from Britain. The Russ Army also actively engaged in labor production, supplementing the food shortage to a certain extent by plundering herring and cod.

However, Hamburg gathered a large number of war refugees, and a large number of villages on the south bank of the Elbe were suddenly abandoned. The Saxon people took food to cross the river by boat and gathered in Hamburg. They can still keep up with the food they bring, but if the war continues to drag on, they may not be able to keep producing until next spring.

Liudov was deeply concerned about this, but that was all in the future. At present, with the fact that the Frankish army entered the invaders, the Saxon army will be further expanded to defend against the strong enemy.

The meeting has not yet started, and everyone has the attitude of expanding their arms and preparing for war.

A large, yellowed birch paper was spread out, on which Rurik had sketched the vast pan-Nordic region.

After all, the earth is a sphere. Projecting the surface of the sphere onto a plane will make the equatorial region appear smaller and the Nordic region larger.

Therefore, on this map, Rurik naturally painted the map of northern Europe quite large, so that the Danish world is not very big, and the Saxony of Ludov is too small.

Nonetheless, no one thought there was anything wrong with it.

Even some nobles saw the overall structure of the small world they knew for the first time, and the topography of some locations was refreshing.

Ernred with the broken arm stared into the copper bell, and he noticed that Rurik had drawn the terrain of Britain and Ireland, and accurately marked the names of some countries in Latin.

The world of Denmark and some settlements are accurately marked, as is the Duchy of Saxony, and the region of Flanders, which has recently become clear about its political geography.

What is striking is Rurik's standards for the kingdom of Rus. Not to mention her huge geographical territory, it is dotted with settlements, which makes it appear that Rus is a superpower in the north.

A map can also become a means to intimidate others, and it can also make allies feel that Ross is reliable.

Even more amazing is that, just to the northwest of the British Isles, a circle is marked and labeled "Iceland".

There is no doubt about the existence of Iceland, because the Viking Kingdom of York has discovered its traces, especially Rurik's good brother Floki has personally landed on the island once. This confirmed the veracity of Rurik's prediction many years ago, and made Floki understand that it was a bare and cold island without trees. However, it is quite suitable for fishing near the island, and you can often catch huge cod.

Now, the coalition is equivalent to opening the perspective of God.

Even if Rurik could not pinpoint the precise location of Frankish cities such as Cologne, it was at least in the south and was built along the Rhine. In addition, because of the actual combat records, the Russ Army is quite familiar with the direction of the Elbe and Weser rivers, and this marking is also quite accurate.

The map is hung on the stone wall, and the sun shines here through the stone window. Rurik holds a wooden stick and, like a geography teacher, first explains the pan-Nordic terrain to many illiterate nobles.

Geographical configuration influences a range of choices made by the people who live here, and so-called geopolitics is exactly that.

The map is hung here, and everyone has compiled the information they know, so that Rurik can even think from the standpoint of the great Frankish nobles.

To the west and north of the Archdiocese of Cologne is the Earl of Westphalia, which is actually the old fief of Ludov. No one knows the local geographical structure better than him. Further west is the Earl of Flanders, whose structure is clear to Rurik.

Now Rurik looked Ludov in the eyes: "The Roman boulevard known as the Road of Death in the Cologne region, through Westphalia, and directly connected to Bremen? If I were the enemy, I could only lead The army goes this way."

"Will they take the waterway and cross the ocean to attack us?" Ragnar suddenly asked this very fantastic question.

"It doesn't need to be discussed. Brother, did they row after you when you were evacuating?"

Ragnar shook his head vigorously, then sneered: "They only have canoes, and those boring boats are meaningless." Although it is an exaggeration, it is true.

Ludov added: "The Franks only have large fleets of rowing boats in the southernmost Mediterranean, all of them in northern Italy... Rurik, you are miraculously familiar with the geography of this world, maybe you understand."

"Of course I understand. The south is Rome, and its former glory is gone. So there is no Frankish navy, and our fleet will not encounter any kind of sea attack?"

"So it is."

"Then." Rurik pointed his stick to the east of Cologne. "The Weser and Elbe are natural obstacles. How can they cross the river since they don't have boats? Maybe they can go upstream and attack our flank from the east. "Well, Rurik also pointed to the east of Hamburg, and asked again: "I know there is an Oberlidt. Is there any power in this area?"

"It's Pomerania. Maybe...you know that," Ludov said cautiously.

"Pomerania? Oh, I know. Any more? Or, if there's an army of 10,000 men, could they attack us from the east by detouring. Are there normal roads there?"

"No." Liudov shook his head very decisively.

"Really?"

"This is a war that concerns my life and death in Saxony. I must win, and I dare not lie with my life. There are no roads in the east, but there are Thuringians. The local ruler, the Marquis of Thuringia, is not Frankish, but Luther. A staunch ally of Vichy. There is no Roman road there, but the Thuringian might be involved in the war."

Things suddenly got tricky again.

Rurik gritted his teeth and temporarily marked the approximate location of the Thuringian Marquis on the map. Although he didn't quite believe that an eastern prince would send out a large number of troops, according to Liudov, the aristocrat had a small population and would not necessarily go all out for the Franks. To a large extent, their existence was to guard Frank's borders, to gain benefits from Frank internally, and externally to seek new living space from the Polish and Pomeranian tribes in the east.

The situation marked on such a map is already quite obvious.

Hamburg already belongs to the northern frontier of the Saxony region. The vast area on the south bank of the Elbe originally belonged to Saxony. The Saxons who were warned of the war tried their best to flee north for their lives or cross the border to the Polish tribes to take refuge in the east. The northern Elbe as far as Schleswig was the last time-controlled territory of the Saxons.

Obviously, the Poles and Pomeranians have opposed the expansion of the Franks since ancient times. If the Franks dared to implement a strategic detour through the territory, they would be attacked by the local West Slav militia. The forest area in the north is somewhat self-defeating.

Even the Frankish army could not try to detour from the territory of the Marquis of Thuringia, after all, there was no way to the north.

Only that "way to hell" is the only possible way.

It is close to the famous Teutonic Forest, where Octavian's Roman legion broke down and was ravaged by the common ancestors of the Franks and Saxons. Today no one remembers each other as Germanic peoples, nor does Saxony feel that the Franks are their cousins, they only remember the terrible killings fifty years ago, and they see the new danger ahead.

It is impossible to go by sea, and it is equally impossible to go around the forest.

The Frankish army had no choice but to take the existing Roman avenue, which made the problem simpler.

The nobles secretly admired Rurik's appearance of questioning and then objecting. Although there was no sand table, he also did some war games on the spread out map, which was really refreshing for other nobles. At least Ernred in Northumbria could not have imagined that the war could be deduced in this way.

Rurik's stick drew a straight line on the map: "Then, the Frankish army will reach the ruins of Bremen. A big question! How will their army of 10,000 people cross the river? Just like the cavalry before."

At this time, Harald Clark, a prisoner of war who was brought into a military conference and a former Danish leader who had lost his power, finally got his turn to speak.

Because this man was the loser, everyone despised the loser, and everyone questioned why Rurik brought this prisoner to the military meeting.

Harald Clark does have its value, only because he has worked for Ludwig for thirteen years!

"The previous Robert rebuilt the bridge you destroyed over the Weser River. Even though it was very crude, the cavalry passed smoothly. If this time it was Ludwig who led the army himself, or sent his son to lead the army for more than one day. Ten thousand people, it is not a problem to pass the bridge smoothly."

Harald Clark's speech was clear and low-key, and the information provided by him was confirmed by Henry Nassau, another party involved in the bridge repair.

History is such an irony that the former master of the Danish alliance is now a prisoner who has lost all power, and is not given shackles out of pity and usefulness. Another baron of the enemy country, just because of his special surname, was transformed into an earl of the new system and became a guest of the meeting.

Although Harald Clarke despised Nassau for speaking up here, he just wanted to live the rest of his life without being abused, and now he kept silent.

Where the Weser's channel narrows, a large number of stone piers are erected, on which a large number of logs can be laid to restore the smooth flow of the bridge. Since the previous three thousand cavalry of Robert can repair the bridge in a few days, and the current bridge has not been damaged, destroying it again will definitely delay the speed of the Frankish army.

Even the opponent can still quickly repair the bridge.

Send a navy into the Weser River to destroy the bridge, especially the deliberate destruction of the stone piers. Such a plan is proposed by Rurik. As for the executor, it is up to Aric. After all, Arik has done it once, and this time is the second time, but the new operation requires more javelins, and it is strictly forbidden for the army to camp overnight on the shore.

Naturally, Aric took the command and attacked the enemy's possible cavalry with the navy. The possibility of history repeating itself was a new opportunity. Arik was very happy to avenge the last embarrassing escape.

This matter, everyone is happy to drink, but no one completely pinned the collapse of the Franks' crusade on the Bridge of Destruction.

There is another question. The so-called Frank army still has to pass through the Weser River, and what will happen after that? Could they rush to Hamburg from the Elbe?

"Are we going to take the initiative to destroy the pontoon bridge on the river?" Liudov suddenly thought of this and asked with a sad face.

"If necessary, it's natural to tear it down."

"Is it really necessary? I demolish it and restore it later. With the national strength of Saxony, it cannot be completed within ten years. Rurik, this is the most convenient bridge and the only bridge for us to travel north and south. Really. necessary?"

"It depends on the situation." Rurik didn't want to destroy this beautiful bridge, but at this moment, the real Count of Hamburg, Robert, only said one sentence, directly dispelling everyone's concerns and complaints.

"In my opinion, there is no need to demolish the bridge. Because the Elbe River, which is broken by Hamburg, freezes every winter, the ice layer is enough for people to walk on foot or ride across the river. The severe winter is coming, if the Frankish army really comes, you demolish it. Bridges are meaningless."

Enjoying the warm North Atlantic current in Hamburg, do you have to worry about the freezing of the Elbe? That is probably the case.

Today's times are cold, and the Nordic climate is still getting colder macro.

Of course, the South Baltic Sea will not freeze, but because the salt content of this sea area is relatively high, it is not easy to freeze, while the North and East Baltic Seas are full of ice sheets and breed icebergs.

The Elbe is a pure freshwater river with dimensions not much lower than the Gulf of Finland.

Thinking dialectically, Rurik also felt that the Frankish army would not even consider the fact that the army crossed the river.

If this is the case, it will be even more arrogant to set up small troops to attack the enemy first in the Weser River in the south, and it will also buy more time for the combat readiness of the coalition troops.

In fact, until now the coalition did not know the true strength of the Frankish army, nor the exact identity of the commander.

Everyone was convinced that they had a strong hostility, as evidenced by their attack on the Ragnar fleet at Cologne.

Based on the fact that the enemy was manpower throwing javelins at a super long distance, Robert, the Earl of Hamburg, who knew the affairs of East Frank very well, concluded that this was a special javelin force raised by the Eastern Kingdom, and it was actually managed by Ludwig himself.

Ragnar did not know Ludwig, nor did he see any particularly conspicuous male noble targets under Cologne at the time. He noticed the golden cross, and felt that it was huge pure gold, and he was very greedy for it.

It was an imitation of the Roman "True Cross" made by the Archbishop of Cologne, and since it was so famous, Liudov immediately concluded that it was the proof of the Archbishop of Cologne.

With more information unclear, many things can also be analyzed to draw some judgments.

Everyone believes that Ludwig himself organized the army and assembled it in Cologne, and everyone has reason to believe that the Archbishop of Cologne supported the winter war against Saxony and the northerners.

The current situation has become turbulent, and after thinking about it, it becomes even more chaotic.

The Archbishop of Cologne and the Eastern Kingdom Ludwig attacked the north.

The North, especially the Principality of Saxony, and the Northern Alliance that it joined are a relatively loose political alliance newly established, but the Northern Archbishop "Saint" Eskil has endorsed his beliefs.

Any organization of this war under the banner of faith becomes suspicious. This is pure aristocratic hegemony, mixed with the ** of some ethnic groups.

The nobles in the deep war, even though they had an extraordinary understanding of the current situation because of Rurik's map, still felt a little strange to their enemies.

Even Rurik was a little suspicious that Ludwig's army was actually attacking Aachen to complete the stealing of his elder brother's home.

"No. I killed his 3,000 elite cavalry. This is a great disgrace. If I were Ludwig, I would have to take revenge if I broke my teeth."

Ludwig has a 99% probability of ignoring the severe winter and going straight to the north for revenge. Isn't this "attack on Moscow in December" too contempt for General Winter.

Of course, what Ross and the coalition have to do is not to wait for General Winter to show his power. General Winter is a debuff for everyone. The coalition must prepare in advance to reduce the losses caused by the cold, and expect that the enemy will freeze to death and suffer countless frostbite due to neglect.

So a fleet will leave again, armed with javelins, cast-iron projectiles, and arrows, and headed straight for the ruined ferry of Bremen on the Weser.

Rurik's cavalry units also re-entered the battle. General Bald Fisk led the cavalry archers directly through the pontoon this time to fight guerrillas in the south bank area. After all, the cavalry, trained according to the Pechenegs on the steppe, were naturally good guerrillas, so Rurik placed more arrows for them and got some spare horses from Liudov.

From this military meeting, the nobles have understood their position in the new war.

Especially the new opportunity to fight side by side, King Biyonny of York, and his younger brother Floki were overjoyed, they only hated themselves and brought their entourage. In fact, they were Balmers. The fourth flag team in the Ross Army was made up of Balmers. The flag captain Hellafield knew the eldest son of the old leader, the current York King Biyonni.

The soldiers were lent to Biyonni, and the York Kingdom Confederate army immediately emerged in the coalition army.

Similarly, although he did not want to fight with Frank, the Northumbrian king Ernred had no choice but to make a choice. He felt that he had been deceived by Rurik, and had just arrived in Hamburg to be confronted with a big fight. Since the covenant had been signed, Rurik also announced the abolition of the tribute system, and he knew exactly what to do.

Thus, Northumbria declares war on the fact that the Frankish East kingdom is. Reglav Ruriksson, the sole legitimate heir to the throne of Mercia, also declared war on the Eastern Kingdom.

All members of the Northern Alliance are twisted into a single rope, UU reading www. uukanshu.com Rurik was actually worried about getting a vote that everyone shared, and the Franks brought the opportunity.

The chance to test everyone's sincerity is now!

All members declared war on East Frank, and further preparations for war have already begun, especially the Saxons actually controlled by Ludov. The age of the army has dropped to the limit of twelve years old. All men must bring a wooden pole that is at least sharpened. Participate in the military as a militia.

In the same way, the Russ cavalry quickly passed the pontoon bridge, and the bald Fisk was ordered to attack Frank, leaving no prisoners of war to deliberately create terror.

Arik deliberately set sail with the battleship, and he also wanted to take revenge.

But all this, Ludwig of the Eastern Kingdom and the Archbishop of Cologne, knew nothing about it. Their army is still going north along the "Road to Hell", a very hard and flat Roman road...

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