Chapter 1,155 Reglaf’s New Mercian Army and the Legend of the Imperial Faction

The day in Hamburg started in the morning mist. A huge cluster of Saxon settlements formed around this city. They seemed to have never been so united.

The territory of the Duchy of Saxony shrank, and most of the people moved here.

They settled on both sides of the Elbe River, logging and reclaiming wasteland, and using their feet to forge a new path.

They are almost all farmers. War can cause temporary damage, but as long as the situation returns to stability, a powerful recovery force can burst out. Now, there are even new ways to make money, which were unimaginable in the past.

A group of Danes left their tribe and migrated to the Elbe River in small families.

They did not get the Danes in general, for they had already turned against the gods before turning against the tribe.

The Archbishop of the North, Eskil, made Hamburg the episcopal seat purely out of frustration after the war. He was bitter that his life's work had failed. He never thought that the Danes who arrived in Hamburg in long boats and spoke Norse would arrive in Hamburg as soon as they landed. Illuminating my own cross pendant, or tying wooden branches into a large cross and placing it on the bow of the ship, doesn't this prove that I have achieved some results?

After converting to God, they no longer have anything to do with the Vikings, and have even become Saxons.

This is why Liudov's selected bodyguards include some strong men of a different kind. They are Danish Christians who spontaneously immigrated last summer after the war was completely over.

Compared with the Saxons, these people's agricultural cultivation technology is completely inferior, but they have unique skills in fishing, salt making, and shipbuilding.

They pledged their allegiance to Liudov, in exchange for which he exempted the immigrants from taxes for ten years.

Even the tithe paid to the monastery was forcibly waived.

A number of open-air shipbuilding workshops have appeared on the riverside in Hamburg. The pine, heather, and oak trees have been standing still for a winter since they were cut down. Now is a good time for shipbuilding.

Liudov was not a stupid person. It was precisely because he had fought fiercely with the Danes and the Russians that he knew why his former enemies were so powerful.

Its most important strength is the longship that can come and go freely!

The cable pontoon bridge on the Elbe River is still there, but how long can it last? The chain bridge built by Charlemagne cost a lot, and the cost of maintaining it is very high. Regarding maintenance expenses, Liu Doufu felt that he couldn't afford it, and even if he could raise it, he would not do it.

No! There is no harm in simply dismantling the pontoon bridge!

"Destroy it and make the Elbe River completely my natural moat. With enough ships, transportation will depend on ships. Dismantle the bridges and get iron, which will turn into a large number of weapons for me."

At least for the time being, he won't.

Saxony is now in a difficult situation. If it wants to quickly regain its strength, the best way is to actively participate in the civil war and plunder the enemy to make a fortune.

As long as you have money, you can continuously buy ironware from the north. The more ironware there is, the stronger the farmers will be.

The few Ross plows imported into the principality have proven their strength in last year's emergency spring plowing. For the first time, farmers even had the problem of sowing seeds indiscriminately. This was because the plows came with a columbine, which plowed the existing farmland. Sowing was completed by the way.

Drill sowing only changed the sowing method, and this alone contributed to the high oat yield last autumn that was different from previous ones.

Of course, there are also expressions of anger: "Those Frankish soldiers who died in battle nourished our land with their blood to atone for their sins."

Do the Saxons still hate the invading Frankish army?

Hatred cannot be forgotten, but they are the winners of the war and have the pride of being winners in their hearts.

For Liudov's family, he controlled much more people than before, and all the Saxon grafs (counts) were loyal to him and began to provide taxes.

In the past, the Westphalian territory was adjacent to Cologne, so people and materials were always sucked away by the wealthy Cologne. Although it is still adjacent to Cologne today, Westphalia in the middle is already depopulated. People did not die on a large scale, but the local people had to choose sides. No, almost all the local Saxons passed the Elbe River and lived in the safer north.

Lacking money and supplies, it was impossible to place Jiawei for the newly formed peasant soldiers, and the peasants were basically powerless.

By defeating the "Spear Jungle", which was a powerful weapon for heavy cavalry, the Russian army set an excellent example. In Hamburg, all young and middle-aged men were counted by Liudolf, including boys as young as ten years old. They were given a spearhead and told to make their own spear.

This spear head is a treasure. It can be used for hunting animals on weekdays, and it can be used as a spear in wartime.

He also ordered his militiamen to make a large number of black clothes and dye the plain cloth black with ink. Those who had the conditions could get some black leather and sew it into clothes. Similarly, the hats should also be black.

Because, just like the name of the previous great chief, he is a son of the forest. The black-toned warrior easily blends in with the dense forest.

In theory, the troops are huge, but the strength is a bit embarrassing.

The blue fox knew what level Liu Duofu was at. He was very ambitious. In his opinion, if this guy really fought against the aristocratic army loyal to the Middle Kingdom on the battlefield, he would still suffer.

What is truly reliable about this man is his re-formed cavalry and his guard consisting of many Viking Saxons and Christian Danes. A level in the army.

So, what happened to Regrave?

I haven’t seen him for a year, and the boy is already ten years old.

The boy has some freckles on his face and his straight hair is tied into a ponytail like his father's, making him completely different from the others.

Inherited from the Franks' understanding of hair, straight hair let down naturally, preferably at a length that can hang down the shoulders without any braids, is a symbol of nobility.

This was true for Liudov's whole family, as well as for the refined people, and even for the Danish immigrants who had pledged their allegiance.

However, Reglaf became an outlier. In his opinion, his father Rurik's flowing golden ponytail was truly noble.

At the banquet, Blue Fox didn't care whether Liudov was drunk or not, he announced that on the order of King Rus, he would take Reglaf away to carry out important orders.

Liudov seemed to have really drunk too much, and he had a yes-yes attitude. Only his son Bruno heard clearly in his surprise. In any case, his brother-in-law is considered a member of his family, so why does this boy want to go to a distant place? Tours, too far.

So, Liu Dov's eldest son, after he sobered up the next day, told his father what he knew about the embarrassment. He was so shocked that Liu Dou got a headache despite being sober.

"What are you doing? Taking him away to contact the Count of Tours? That Robert also sold his Lyingau to the Ross Black Fox in Nassau?"

The amount of information was too much, and he realized that he had missed something important in yesterday's conversation because of drinking. Now Liu Doufu was filled with regret.

He asked his eldest son: "Blue fox?! Where is that damn fox now?!"

His father cursed, and Bruno, who was startled, pointed lightly in the direction of the river, "Regraf is... showing his soldiers to Blue Fox."

"Oh! Damn it. After all, they are in the same group." Liudofu stood up suddenly after a big hand hit his face, "Let's go! I have to talk to Blue Fox again."

At the same time, Reglaf was very happy that he still had extraordinary weight in his father's eyes.

At the age of ten, he also urgently needed to prove his growing strength to his relatives and friends.

As many as two centurions lined up on an empty river beach, just like the Russian army, they were performing martial arts.

At the same time, Blue Fox took his friends with great interest to see the young King of Mercia's military management skills.

I saw Reglaf with a ponytail ordering his men in Norse. The soldiers were like the Russian army. Thirty people were "one ship" and one hundred and twenty were "hundred men". They formed according to the orders. The shield walls are arranged horizontally, sometimes forming a tight circular shield array, and forming a wedge-shaped impact shield array.

They all wore clothes dyed dark green, and Blue Fox could see that these warriors were actually wearing armor. Leather is used as the base, and a large number of iron sheets are riveted with rivets, and finally a layer of dark green cloth is sewn on.

This is a kind of cloth armor, the workmanship is simpler than chain mail, and a layer of cloth is attached to cover up the internal condition. Whether it is really useful can only be tested in actual combat. Of course, Blue Fox is convinced that such a "Mercian army" is quite satisfactory in the Frankish world, and is really weak when facing the Russian army's standing army equipped with the latest plate armor.

Following Reglaf's slogan, the soldiers performed a series of actions with Viking war cries. They wielded tomahawks and spears seemingly comfortably against the air.

The armor is still somewhat interesting, but the weapons are quite bad.

All because the young Reglaf simply did not have the strength to equip his more than 200 personal guards with Ross steel swords. Most of the existing weapons were from captured Frankish weapons, including a suit of cloth armor.

Hand axes are the most common, followed by broad-bladed iron swords.

As for the archers, in theory each of these warriors could carry a short wooden bow and some arrows.

There are more than two hundred armored warriors, which is not a small number. It is even more rare that each of them is an all-rounder in combat.

"Well done!" Blue Fox looked around with a smile and took the lead in applauding.

Poor Reglaf looked at his friends who were admiring him, with tears streaming down his face at this moment. He wiped away tears: "In this way, I can be considered a real king."

"Of course you are the king! It is precisely because you are the king that the next task should be done by you. Boy! Mercia is yours, but you need more people to support you, especially the nobles of Frank. When you When you grow up a few years, you should take a larger army to the western islands to build your kingdom. When you need it, I will help you."

"Thank you. However, I prefer to rely on my own strength."

The boy was ambitious, but the young man spoke quite arrogantly. The speaker was none other than his cousin Askard: "Forget it! Who do you think you are? We used to play together, but when we grew up, you rejected me, brother."

"Asgard, I don't dare." Regraf burst into tears and smiled.

"Among the many brothers, I am the eldest and you are the second. Your grandfather and my grandfather are brothers, so you can't see anyone outside. Do you know that I have an entire flag team under my command now, and they are very powerful. When the time comes, I will definitely Will help you."

"And I." Kelha, who had slightly shorter black hair and slightly shorter hair, came out. Although he was from the Suomi tribe, he spoke fluent Norse: "I am the Count of Finland, made by the king. We are half-brothers. If you want to restore your country, let me know and I will definitely help you."

"you……"

Even "The Boneless One" Yin Val, who was sitting in a sedan chair, sent his own attendants to carry him over. The boy imitated the adults and patted his chest: "I learned one thing in Rus. If the gods don't let me die, they must have arranged a mission for me. I can still become a great warrior, and now I have a Danish brother in my hands. You If there is an enemy, he is my enemy. I don’t know where Mercia is. If you want to fight, I will definitely come."

They high-fived each other and hugged each other to renew their brotherhood.

In the eyes of the few old guys watching, a new generation is rising unstoppably. Their parents have created very good conditions for them. This group of kids has a bright future.

Putting aside this touching scene of brotherhood, both Blue and Red Fox admired Reglaf's new army. There are half a flag team among them, and those in front of them are all elites. If there is a war and more people are added, a flag team with decent strength will be born. This unit may not have an absolute advantage in melee combat in the wild, but it is definitely good at sneak attacks in a long boat.

It just so happened that the three fox brothers of the Gould family who were traveling overseas had no intention of fighting for honor since they were not believers in Odin. Just like everyone's name, "doing things" has to be cunning.

People who have experienced the war agree that Reglaf's soldiers are of good quality.

Of course Liudov had the same idea!

No, this guy didn't even bother to smooth his hair, and rushed to the river bank with his son Blono and a small number of followers on horseback.

As a Duke, he suddenly jumped off the horse and hurriedly stood beside Blue Fox without caring about his own identity: "Lan Fox, what are you doing? Take my son Reglaf away."

"Your son?" Lan Hu was confused, and so were everyone else.

Liudof, who was suddenly speechless, immediately changed his words: "I said, why didn't you explain clearly yesterday? Are you going to take Reglaf away?"

"What? I said it yesterday, but you didn't hear it? You agreed."

"I..." Dashou clapped his head: "If you drink too much, any promises won't count."

"It doesn't count? Ridiculous. What you drank yesterday was not wine, but holy blood (wine). Do you dare to tell God that yesterday's promise is invalid?"

"I..." He looked at Regraf, and pulled the boy to him rather roughly: "He is my love, and this army, you let them participate in the Frankish Civil War... At least Now is never the time.”

"Hooray? Did you understand something wrong?"

"That's right. If you ask him to meet Count Tour, do you know who Count Tour is and what he has done? Besides, Tour is too far away."

Originally, Blue Fox's knowledge of the so-called Earl of Tours came from Adelaide, the de facto second daughter of the Earl's family. It was natural to give good words to one's mother-in-law. Before getting any other news, this was the only thing Lan Hu knew.

There is obviously something new now.

Without mentioning anything else, Blue Fox lowered his face and said, "Do you know anything about Tur? I'm very curious."

"Of course, we should have a good chat."

"Okay, it looks like we should talk about it when each other is completely awake."

No, after further negotiations, Lan Hu finally understood what "he is my beloved son" meant.

A son-in-law is not considered a son-in-law. According to the rules of northern tribal society, there is no clear distinction between the two.

Liudov was different. He didn't think his son Bruno could become a tough warrior. However, this world of melee needed a warrior to guard the Principality of Saxony.

He valued his son-in-law Reglaf very much, and sometimes imagined that he would send troops to help his son-in-law seize the throne of Mercia that should belong to him. In the future, Saxony and Mercia would form a closer alliance, which would be very beneficial to his family.

For now, it is quite shameful to say that the two centurions under Reglaf are real elites. In principle, they do not belong to the Saxon army, but they are indeed the army that Liudov can mobilize. The son-in-law lives in his father-in-law's house, and his food and drink belong to his father-in-law. If there is a war, he is not allowed to bring the army with him.

Regarding the plan to join the civil war, the Saxon army going south must take Reglaf's people with them to win. In this way, he can improve his son-in-law's record, get to know some Frank nobles, and secondly, use this elite to enhance his own strength.

Now, the sober Liu Dou finally understood that he could not retain his son-in-law to participate in the special operation.

He also truly understood the crazy move that the Robert family was about to do. Without alcohol to numb his mind, he felt that things were even more complicated.

As for the news about Count Tour, Liudov did give some information that Blue Fox didn't know.

The old Earl Hugo has passed away. His eldest daughter happened to be the queen of the Middle Kingdom of Lothair. The second daughter became Robert's wife, Adelaide, nicknamed Al. .

It was in this most formal meeting that Liudov proposed a concept that Blue Fox had never heard of: the Imperial Faction.

"Imperial Faction? What kind of organization is that?" Blue Fox couldn't help but ask loudly.

"Naturally, it was an alliance of nobles who staunchly supported Lothair. Hugo, who was Lothair's father-in-law, opposed Lothair. He could not tolerate his ceding of his fiefdom to the imperial nobles. His rebellion was defeated and the fiefdom of Alsace was deprived of him. .Soon after this the earl died, and was succeeded by his son Eberhart."

"so what?"

"So he supports the old king's fourth son, Charlie. However, from what I understand, he is a spoiled child. He likes wealth but not bravery. He likes the feeling of being superior but is not as warlike as his brothers. At least. Charles turned against his eldest brother Lothair..."

Now, the blue fox's mind is in confusion again. "Forget it, there are a lot of names, you asked me to remember those Frank nobles, why should I? I only intend to take the opportunity to talk to the Earl of Tours, and if there is a chance to talk to that King Charles. What do you think? It’s very interesting. That Charlie is a coward who is greedy for wealth. This is the first time I know. Thank you very much for your explanation.”

The nobles who wanted to talk too much with this outsider really lacked much practical meaning. Now Liudov simply explained what he was most worried about.

"There is a possibility. Those imperial nobles in the north may directly attack Tour. They have a large number of people. You asked my son-in-law to take risks and go to the south. I am afraid that something will happen to him."

Seeing what he said, Blue Fox glanced at him and said, "You should ask your son-in-law what he means. Remember, he is the son of Rurik, King of Rus, and the real King of Mercia. He inherited the bravery of his ancestors and was ashamed of being cowardly. ! Don’t worry..." Blue Fox calmed down: "The Lord will bless him and bless you. Reglaf is a child born from an abortion, just like Caesar. His destiny is like this. If you block his destiny, beware of God. I’ll punish you.”

It is true that he was born from a broken belly, but I don’t believe that God punished Liu Dou. He still believed in fate, and he also believed that if he blocked it and aroused the anger of King Rus, his way of selling salt would be cut off and his money bag would be deflated.

"Forget it." Liudov sighed: "I personally wrote a letter to tell this generation of Earl of Tours to treat my son-in-law Reglaf kindly. By the way, I also conveyed the attitude of this Duke. In any case, all of us are against the domineering Lothair, and his damn imperial noble alliance!”