Chapter 1002: Ludwig, the King of East Francia, Collapsed in a Cowardly Manner

In the dark forest, the Ross Cavalry polished his sword. The air was filled with the aroma of cooking wheat and barbecue, and the soldiers waited for the delicious meal to be cooked.

Hundreds of captives sat slumped together. They were driven to Cologne during the day, dreaming of being rescued by the defenders. However, the priests seemed to be a group of traitors.

They witnessed the martyrdom of a brave cardinal and the murder of his companions.

Many people were disheartened. They did not trust the Ross horse bandits at all, and were sure that they would be driven to the city again tomorrow, only to be brutally killed.

The captured village priests had all been killed, and there was no suitable messenger to preach to the prisoners sitting all over the place.

In desperation, Fiske struggled to describe the scene using poor Middle French vocabulary.

He stood on high and preached: "Money! Your lives! We! Got the money! You are released. Cologne refuses! You die."

They were all simple words that the captives could understand and were greatly shocked.

Are those "great people" in Cologne really willing to give up money? The captured people were devout in their faith. As for whether those "servants of God" were also very devout, many people had some unexplainable doubts.

All the prisoners were given some food anyway.

Or a piece of wood, or just hold it with your hands to form a nest. They were given some cooked wheat in various vessels, but it was like the Last Supper to them.

Just as these prisoners thought, Fisk had indeed made two preparations.

If the priests refused to fulfill their contract, they would simply execute the prisoners indiscriminately under the city walls. After all, it is impossible for the brothers to continue to waste money in the Cologne area. Rationally, it is difficult to force the Cologne people to spend money to buy peace with less than 200 cavalry. It doesn't matter. Once the opponent refuses, it will be a sufficient reason for the Russian army to launch a possible military attack in the future. After all, it is not difficult for the fleet to attack Cologne by going up the Rhine River.

"I hope my threats can be effective." Fisk secretly hoped.

On the other hand, just as Fisk hoped most, the city wall could protect the physical bodies of the Cologne people, and the people and priests had given up.

The treasury was opened. Fearing that the shrewd Norman horse bandits would find out that the ransom given was insufficient and cause trouble again, the priests decided to take out the full amount of 5,000 pounds of silver coins and pack them into a hundred sacks.

Acting Bishop Hildwin even went a step further. In addition to the two small carriages, he organized ten additional pack horses, with a small oak barrel hung on each side of the horse's back, filled with pure barley wine.

Giving in to the barbarians was a very humiliating thing. Considering that four hundred years ago the Pope also gave in to the Hun leader who attacked Rome, the priests had reason to comfort themselves with this example.

After all, it is not a glorious thing, and any Cardinal Bishop of Cologne who has done such a thing will obviously not be able to participate in the vote for archbishop. Therefore, the death of Cardinal Marquez won him the status of a martyr and posthumous honors, and his attempts to buy peace during his lifetime were impossible to get any help for him to run for archbishop. Everything was tacitly understood. The emptiness and guilt are in the snake.

Hildwin's position as acting bishop was not his own, and he had no bigger dreams. Now he just wanted to put an end to the disaster.

After all, what he was criticized for this time was his decision, final decision, and ultimately his execution.

On the day of the appointment, the city walls were covered with city guards as usual. Even if the soldiers don't have the courage to go out and fight, they should at least have enough stage skills.

Everyone was holding a flag, and as far as the eye could see across the city, there were cross flags fluttering in the wind.

At this moment, a team walked out of the gray forest through the snow. The Ross cavalry escorted these more than 300 prisoners, with arrows on the handles of their bows, ready for battle.

Fisk saw the flags everywhere on the city wall from a distance, and couldn't help but be shocked.

"They are showing off their power! Brothers, pay attention! Everything is under my command."

The implication is that everyone is ready to execute the prisoners.

As a result, they arrived outside the city gate cautiously. First, all the corpses were cleaned up, leaving some traces on the snow. The cavalry were all within a stone's throw, and Fisk couldn't help shouting loudly. The north gate of the city had been opened by a sneaky person.

"Attention everyone, there are enemies rushing out now." He continued to order.

The cavalry soldiers have formed a linear formation, and they can use recurve bows to shoot three arrows quickly to counter any possible ground heat.

The enemy they were worried about did not exist. What came out of the relatively narrow city gate was a cavalry team.

The two carriages carried a large number of sacks, and the horses behind them carried some barrels.

A prelate carried the cross, followed by a number of defenseless servants.

This person is the acting bishop. Fisk still remembers that this guy is called Hildwin.

He then held the reins and led the horse forward, and asked condescendingly: "Have all the silver coins arrived?"

"As you can see, it's all here. Fifty sacks, each containing a hundred pounds. I guarantee on my honor that this time they are all fine silver coins."

"Really? Maybe I should believe you."

"We don't dare to deceive, we keep our promises, and we also hope... that you can release the prisoners and all leave."

"At least let me inspect the goods."

Fisk personally inspected the goods, and he deliberately asked to open the sack buried deepest. This move really made Hildwin break out in a cold sweat.

Hildwin was frightened by what happened. After all, someone asked to stuff a large amount of low-quality silver coins into sacks and throw them to the Ross horse bandits. As long as they were pressed in the middle of the carriage, how would the enemy know? Hildwin was afraid that something would go wrong and scolded this kind of deceitful behavior. Now, as expected, his worries came true, and he woke up to his wits last night.

"Yes, they are all of good quality. I also know that these silver coins are engraved with Charlemagne's face. Your good silver coins are very popular in the northern world." Holding a large number of silver coins, Fisk couldn't help but praise them.

Hildwin said tremblingly: "Thank you for the praise, sir."

"Okay. Those barrels should be filled with ale?"

"Yes."

"Oh? You won't poison it, right?" Fisk asked with interest.

This question made Hildwin tremble and jump in shock. He denied incoherently: "We don't dare! That is an evil act that violates faith. If we do it, we will all go to hell. Even if... you don't believe in it." Our God.”

"I can trust you. It seems that you are willing to keep the promise, so we will keep the promise too." Fisk nodded and ordered: "Don't move. We will take away the carriage and horses. You can take away these tied prisoners." . We Russians are actually principled. Your Franks have been defeated and Cologne has spent money to buy peace. At least I will no longer lead troops to wreak havoc here. Let’s leave now.”

"Then, I wish you a safe return to your hometown."

Hildwin subconsciously wanted to mutter "The Lord is with you" to say goodbye, but thinking that these were a group of barbarians, he had to mutter something else. At this moment, he felt secretly happy and frightened at the same time, wishing that these devils on horseback would leave quickly.

Fisk was completely ecstatic. Fortunately, he had already experienced hundreds of battles. Since he could face the bloody battlefield calmly, now he was faced with the sudden robbery of five thousand pounds of silver coins... This thing is indeed outrageous, but one thing is true. , he and his brothers created a miracle of war. He suppressed his joy and ordered his men to take away all the horses and carriages.

After that, they still took action against the prisoners.

The prisoner thought he was going to be killed, but the rope binding his hands was untied, and then the soldier kicked him hard. The man who stumbled on the snow quickly got up and ran towards the open city gate.

Because it was inconvenient to carry a carriage on the return journey, a large number of sacks of silver coins had to be carried on horses instead, and the brothers needed to recover all the ropes used to tie people up. Their act of untying the rope was like a performance art. Now all the densely packed Cologne people on the city wall saw it. The Rossmar bandits had indeed released the prisoners safely, and they would probably keep their other promises.

Forget it, Fisk said nothing more to the priests. He even ordered the army to leave without looking back and gradually disappeared into the forest with the spoils of war.

…

For the Ross Cavalry led by Fisk, it was time for their winter adventure to come to an end.

If war is a means to gain profits, then their special actions directly earned sufficient military expenses for Ross's expedition.

Fisk was in a great mood. He felt that the cold wind blowing on his face was warm. The first thing he could think of while guarding a large amount of treasure was the good days ahead.

He tightened his grip on the reins, raised his chin and shouted to everyone with great interest: "The king asked us to sneak attack the enemy, and we made a fortune! Don't forget, many brothers have died in this war. They went to the Heroic Spirit The palace, but their families must be compensated. After paying the treasure that belongs to the king, we brothers will share the treasure equally. Living and dead, we all will share equally!"

As a general, Fisk was embarrassed to be greedy. He had the power to take a large part of the loot as his own, but he was unwilling to do so.

Because, he noticed Arik's actions over the years. The man was not greedy, but Arik still had great wealth, and the brothers all admired this man as a true warrior, and he was definitely not the king's cousin.

Fiske pursues personal glory more than wealth.

Many cavalry warriors hold huge amounts of wealth, especially young people who were once forced into the Ross Cavalry by their parents. For a while, they just want to go back to their hometowns with their wealth to show off, and they are even a little war-weary because of it.

Fisk is not the case. If the cavalry still encounters the Frankish army on its way back, it will repeat its old tricks and grab another meal to expand the results.

After all, the horses used as pack mules still had sufficient transport capacity.

The cavalry went north along the all-too-familiar Roman road. Except for them, there were no living people at all on the journey. The surrounding quiet gray-white forest and the dry grassland covered with snow in the forest.

Occasionally, a fox would flash by, but the warriors intent on hunting always missed the opportunity.

The cavalry had no intention of attacking at full strength. They staggered to Osbrunak, which was burned by their own hands, rested here for the night and continued northward.

The further north you go, the more dangerous it becomes. The soldiers who were quite bored along the way cheered up after Fisk's kind reminder.

They cooked wheat around the campfire, drank ale, and ate roasted and cold meat.

"Your Majesty, we will definitely win! Our expedition took a long time, and perhaps the enemy's large forces are still entrenched on the banks of the Elbe River. If we continue to go north, we are likely to encounter the enemy. Everyone should be alert and take action immediately if they find the enemy, without mercy!"

Fisk ordered so, but now there are a lot of bottles and cans, and the cavalry's flexibility has been greatly reduced.

As a last resort, he had to divide his troops into two groups just to be on the safe side, with his command leading the reconnaissance at the front, and steadily advancing a large amount of loot at the rear.

They immediately split into two groups and advanced until they unexpectedly encountered a cavalry caravan on the road.

At the beginning of the period, Fisk led a hundred cavalry just to walk around, so that the horses were not tired and the people were not tired. The warriors didn't even bother to hold their bows. They put their hands into each other's sleeves, and the horse's reins were put on their sleeves. Everyone wore sunglasses, fur scarves wrapped around their faces, and furry white bear skin hats, so that not even an inch of skin was exposed.

Fisk himself also relaxed his vigilance. The money team he led formed two columns, always keeping a distance of about 500 meters from the rear team.

Now, after another bend in the road, another horse team suddenly appeared in front of the forest cover disappearing.

Seeing this, Fisk, the team leader, was instantly alert. He subconsciously grabbed the bow in the leather bag with his left hand and instinctively shouted: "It's an enemy attack!"

A roar shook the whole team.

The well-trained Ross cavalry changed their slouchy appearance. Their hands that were shrunk in their sleeves and were covered with heat were extremely flexible. They grabbed their bows and pulled out an arrow from the quiver on the right side.

What is preemptive strike? I saw some soldiers at the head of the front team, not caring to expand their formation slightly, and immediately shot arrows under the guidance of Fisk.

The arrow was set on the right side, and immediately after the first shot, there was a second and third shot.

This is an encounter. Although the Ross cavalry does not know the identity of the opponent yet, in this quiet ice and snow forest, any one who is not Ross's cavalry is the enemy.

Some warriors simply dismounted and fired arrows from the posture of an archer. In this way, they stood closer and their shooting accuracy was extremely high.

They didn't even have time to take off their sunglasses, and they were shooting desperately in an attitude of competing with each other for credit.

The increasingly dense rain of arrows hit the opponent into chaos!

In other words, from the moment of encounter, the opponent's position was already in chaos.

Inexplicably, the enemy began to fall off their horses and cause casualties, and the horses also fell one after another. More people began to fall into chaos. If they were not wearing armor, Fisk was sure that what he was attacking was indeed not an ordinary merchant cavalry.

"No! They must be Frank soldiers! Those who are still riding, draw your swords and charge me!"

Having said that, Fisker has already taken the lead.

More than twenty cavalry followed closely behind. The brothers didn't even have time to take off their cotton hats and put on their leather helmets before they already drew their swords and charged.

I saw only the infantry archers in the rear. They carried round shields and did not bother to draw their swords. They continued to pursue with recurve bows...

An incredible encounter also ended with the Russians winning with inexplicable ease, so much so that Fisk felt that his victory had no glory at all.

They killed a large number of people wrapped in sackcloth. These people were obviously armed men. The strange thing was that they seemed to have no resistance. Even the hands they wielded their swords were hard. Some of the armed men were busy escaping, but unfortunately the horses seemed to be extremely weak and were easily killed.

The Ross cavalry understood the principle of shooting men first and horses first. A large number of the opponent's horses fell down, and they also threw the extremely bloated people on the snow.

In a moment, a large number of Ross's dismounted riders caught up, either continuing to shoot or directly drawing their swords to kill.

When the brothers heard some bloated armed men begging for mercy in Frankish, everything was relieved.

"It's actually the Franks?! It's actually their army?" Fisk, who had swept across the entire enemy team, heard the cry for mercy and hurriedly led his brothers to turn their horses around and charge back again.

The Ross cavalry had already begun to hunt down the enemies who had fled into the ice and snow forest. They shot with bows as if they were hunting wild deer, and easily completed the sniper kill with one arrow.

There were many people sitting on the snow. They didn't scream in fear or fight to the death. Instead, they looked like they had seen through everything and were being killed with expressionless faces.

Some brothers were about to stab many of the victims with their swords. This was all too abnormal. Fisk came on horseback and said, "Stop it! Keep the prisoners alive first!"

The soldiers who didn't hear the order had quickly and neatly completed the elimination, while the others paused one after another.

Fisk's heart was beating wildly. He didn't expect that he would be able to fight again halfway.

"Check each other to see if any brothers are injured!"

As a result, everyone claimed that everything was normal, as if the Russians were indeed unscathed during the entire encounter.

This is indeed the case, because they are attacking a defeated army that is constantly escaping in the ice and snow, has been unable to receive supplies, is trapped, hungry and freezing.

These people can continue to arduously travel south in the world of ice and snow, which is simply a miracle for mankind.

They are by no means superhuman. Even if they did not face this encounter, the defeated army would still have to face a fatal trek when they retreated to Dusseldorf, which was still inhabited by people, with a slim chance of success.

There are less than fifty people who can persist until they encounter Ross's cavalry.

After crossing the frozen Weser River, they lost half of their life while camping due to cold and hunger. An extremely noble man no longer had any arrogance, but his survival instinct continued to lead him to the south.

Now, the noble man had been a prisoner of an unknown Rus warrior.

When the man covered his whole face, and when the Ross warrior tried to pull away the sackcloth covering his face, the man who seemed to have given up resistance suddenly got angry and took advantage of the man's surprise to pull out the dagger on his body and stab him.

Fortunately, the soldier was smart enough to dodge, and he was stabbed in the air.

"madness."

The warrior kicked him violently and knocked him over, causing warm nosebleeds to flow out. But when he was about to stab the attacker who fell to the ground, he saw that the sword that almost killed him was actually a Ross steel sword!

"Is it our sword?" The surprised soldier looked closer and saw the name "Clavasen" clearly spelled out in Roman letters on the hilt.

Klavason is the most famous old blacksmith in Ross, and all the young Ross warriors know his name!

Finally, the warrior finally removed all the coverings of the man with the nosebleed. Hidden under the linen covering his face was a gray-white face. His face was ferocious and angry, but it was a pity that he looked haggard at a glance.

Is he this kind of person, but he still wears a golden crown with a lot of protrusions on his head?

No! This is the golden crown of iris. This person's identity is extraordinary!

"Boss! Come on! I caught the bear!"

"You just caught a bear." Fisk came on horseback and couldn't help complaining, until he saw the haggard face of the man lying on his side in the snow and the extremely eye-catching golden crown on his head, he could no longer remain calm.

"Ah! This man?!"

A person's name is about to come out.

Fisk's face was trembling and he yelled: "Ludwig? Frankish Ludwig?!"

Although the man lying on his side was unresponsive, his constantly trembling eyes and face that rarely moved twice in its stiffness proved everything.

Fisk's head buzzed, his scalp became hairy, his whole body trembled, and his feet even sweated for a moment.

"It is indeed a big bear! Did you capture him? Brody Haraldsson?" he asked hurriedly

"It's me. Did I make a meritorious deed? This man seems to be very noble."

"Of course. Brothers, come and watch!" Fisk roared, which immediately attracted many soldiers who were collecting trophies to watch the show.

That's all, he shouted with great interest: "Brody, although this shocks us all, I am afraid that the person you captured is King Ludwig of East Francia. You have become a great hero!"

Warrior Brody's face was trembling. He took off his sunglasses and looked at the weak man wearing the golden crown. He couldn't believe that such a useless person was actually a king.

This was indeed the case. Ludwig, who was hungry, cold, and disheartened by the humiliation of defeat, thought that he had escaped the full-scale counterattack of the Norman-Saxon army. He thought that he could go all out to escape and obtain key supplies on the way.

He did escape the Weser River and was theoretically very close to the "civilized world".

However... this was a very embarrassing coincidence, and he fell into a trap...