Chapter 1,526 How to Empty Luxembourg’s Wealth
【The Rise of Rurik】 【】
A battle was over in an afternoon.
War in this era is always like this. During most of the war period, soldiers are marching and resting, and even resting in camps for several months.
A war is by no means a collection of small-scale battles. It is hampered by the considerations of both sides in the war in terms of material reserves and personnel transportation.
The commander will not sit back and watch his idle and bored army stay in the camp and just eat. As long as he feels that the troop deployment is appropriate and the weather conditions are acceptable, large-scale battles will break out.
This is what is said about raising an army for a thousand days and using it for a while.
Battles often end within one to two days. In the end, there are often more troops, better weapons and equipment, the most physically fit warriors, and some necessary strategizing. With these advantages, one side will have a great chance of winning.
On the surface, the Ross-Danish-Nassau coalition is only inferior to the enemy in terms of strength. However, after the strength reaches 5,000, the qualitative change caused by the quantitative change is not a question of 12,000 minus 5,000 equaling 7,000.
In the two battles involving the participation of the Russian army, only 300 coalition troops died, while the entire enemy army was wiped out.
If the failed march of Danish King Ragnar and the initial losses of the Danish army are included, the death of the coalition army was only 500.
The coalition played an incredible exchange ratio in this era, which is no surprise to Rurik. The annihilation of 10,000 militiamen was indeed a great victory, but it cannot be said to be particularly glorious. But this was indeed the first battle between a large number of young warriors and the Frankish army. They defeated the cavalry and a large number of militiamen. The young people were completely disenchanted with the legend of Frank, and they would be more confident in future battles.
As for whether confidence turned into arrogance, Rurik was a little worried.
There are also a group of soldiers who are temporarily unable to participate in the battle due to injuries. There are also unlucky ones who have vomiting and diarrhea because they are too lazy to wait for the boiling water to cool down and drink the river water. They also need to rest.
In the north, streams are almost frozen in autumn and winter, and the extreme cold makes it difficult for microorganisms to survive, so forcing drinking of such water is not a big problem.
In the warmer middle and upper reaches of the Moselle River, the winter here is not too cold, but the greater humidity makes the feeling of clammy challenge every warrior's perception. The river water here has more microorganisms. Seeing that some of the companions started to have diarrhea, they wisely had no choice but to continue boiling water in the iron pot.
All the fired arrows were recovered and bundled directly if they were in good condition. For those arrow shafts that were broken, the wood at the tip was carefully peeled off with an axe, and the completed arrow clusters were removed.
It is very easy to distinguish the arrows of the Russians. When Western Europe generally used collar-mounted sleeve arrow clusters, even the Danish arrow clusters were sleeved. However, the Russian arrow clusters were collar-mounted. The so-called arrow clusters were followed by a An iron rod.
The cut arrow shafts are erected, and simple vise forged from steel can be inserted into many arrows side by side. Then the craftsmen use a manual bow drill to cut standardized holes in them.
The Ross arrow clusters are all cast from pig iron for production capacity. They are directly made into low carbon steel through the stir-fried steel method, and then quenched to harden the surface. Such craftsmanship determines that craftsmen cannot punch a sleeve for it, and even if a sleeve-type arrow cluster is made according to past craftsmanship, even if it tests the level of the craftsman, the output of those with superb skills will not be able to keep up.
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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】
Because the process of drilling a hole into a basically straight wooden stick is no different from drilling wood to make fire.
But making sure the arrow shaft is straight is quite labor-intensive in Western Europe. It's not like the arrow bamboo grows naturally straight in the East, and there is no natural through hole in the arrow bamboo to facilitate the insertion of iron rods with arrow clusters directly.
The mass-produced wooden arrow shafts were not hard enough, so after being soaked in rosin, Rurik ordered that the spiral feathers be attached to the arrow shafts whenever possible to ensure stable flight by spinning.
A small arrow, filled with the crystallization of Russian technology.
After a big battle, about 20% of the arrows were scrapped, and a large number of the remaining arrows were quickly removed from the arrow clusters. The Russian army brought a lot of tools for repairing arrows, and there was also a large labor force in Nassau and Coblenz to take on this work.
The breakage rate of these arrow clusters is acceptable to Rurik. 80% of the mass-produced consumables can be reused. I think rationally, it is probably because the enemy's armor armor rate is better than nothing, and the flesh and blood body ensures that the arrows The arrow will not break viciously.
All kinds of weapons need to be repaired, the blood-stained burqas are generally damaged to varying degrees, and the gaps in the clothes need to be sewn immediately. Some warriors' plate armor pieces fall off due to loose rivets. Such armor needs to be re-riveted.
The torsion slingshot was firing crazily, and the draw length was adjusted to the maximum for each shot. This was a great challenge to the hemp ropes and tendons of the torsion unit. Every shot was worn and the oil-soaked hemp rope broke. Use a ratchet to rotate the fixed torque unit. When you stop, replace the broken hemp rope and then apply thick seal grease.
The Russian Army must renovate all weapons. The soldiers may take a good rest. The Russian Army will not be able to fight another battle involving tens of thousands of people within a day or two.
Of course, sufficient intelligence proves that in the Luxembourg Valley hidden among the hills, even though it is said that tens of thousands of refugees are hiding there, all the brave warriors that can be recruited have turned into piles of corpses at the mouth of the Sauer River.
Generally speaking, monarchs in Western Europe did not bury the corpses of their enemies after victory, and because of the Catholic faith, they did not engage in large-scale indignant destruction.
The dead bodies were left on the battlefield and allowed to be eaten by vultures, ravens, foxes, wolves, and even brown bears.
Especially bears, after eating such carrion, they become familiar with the taste, and it becomes natural for brown bears to take the initiative to attack human villages.
In a sense, Gilbert still gathered his Lamongo militia. Rurik naturally knew the real situation. The price had been agreed and he would no longer pursue it.
A group of seemingly stronger prisoners of war were selected. There were about 300 of them. These people had only one task - to dig a big pit with a wooden shovel and put the dead bodies in for burial.
The work of prisoners of war was supervised by Russian soldiers. If anyone tried to escape, he would be caught and killed immediately.
Prisoners of war had to work hard, even if it was just to have enough food to eat.
A small group of captured priests were also brought out from the house of house arrest. They were asked to stand by the pit and chant Latin prayers to the war dead lying in various directions. The verses no longer allowed them to pray to each deceased individually. Then prayed.
All these actions were seen by the captured Archbishop Hatgar. He would never admit that the actions of the Russians were civilized. However, in dealing with the war dead, they were indeed very different from other Normans. For example, the Russians did not engage in barbaric acts of oligarch demonstrations.
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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】
Of course, this is all because the archbishop knows little about war. Not only the owl, the Russians have even built the capital.
One of the reasons for dealing with the battlefield is of very practical significance. Rurik intended to establish the military camp here as a necessary base for the entire military operation. He couldn't tolerate corpses littering the fields near the army assembly area. Winter was relatively fine. As long as the temperature rose, the assembled soldiers would be vomited by the stench. Moreover, once the river water was polluted by rotting corpses...
You must know that the Trier military camp and the Koblenz military camp and residential areas are all downstream. Rurik had to worry about the possibility of plague in his rear area. He wanted to be safe and did not dare to gamble. Therefore, the war dead must be buried.
As for those who died in battle, according to the northern tradition, everyone piled up firewood and cremated them, put the ashes into wooden boxes, marked the name and place of origin of the deceased, and finally transported them to the capital's cemetery to erect a monument for burial.
Even though many of the dead were Danish. This funeral plan of the Russian army moved Ragnar to tears, which invisibly strengthened Rurik's favor among the friendly forces. You must know that residents of various tribes in Denmark are always used to moving freely, and immigrating to Rus by boat is also an option.
The war dead who should have been scattered into rivers and seas after cremation were finally laid to rest in the territory of the Rus, and the relatives and friends of the deceased would have a place to worship at the tomb.
The Sauer River is connected to the Alzette River. Even if the river is very narrow, actual combat has proven that it can be navigable for long ships. The waterway is like a railroad track, and long boats lined up in a row can resemble a freight train.
Rurik had already set his sights on the end of the Alzette River. Since the so-called enemy planned to organize such a large army to try to use troops against Coblenz next spring, they must reserve a large amount of food to feed so many militiamen through the winter.
The enemy army was completely wiped out. They seemed to have stored rations for ten thousand people for about five months. This huge wealth may have been robbed by Ragnar's Danish army.
"Do you have such a big appetite? Ten thousand people have to eat half a year's rations, and your thousand people have to be transported to the Year of the Monkey and the Horse? If you really swallowed it all, it would be no less than robbing a large amount of silver coins. Besides, silver coins cannot be used as food. Hey, if I had known they had 10,000 people and so much food, I would have spent it in a different way." Rurik knew that there was no point in regretting, as the current situation was already considered very good.
However, this battle seriously delayed his attack on the city of Metz, but if you think about the situation carefully, it is a kind of good luck.
Ragnar was unlucky. He failed to plunder the food mountain and was driven back by the enemy.
Now, the Russian army, which contributed the most in the battle, had the right to march to Luxembourg arrogantly and empty out all the food. In a brotherly relationship, I also have to consider Ragna's feelings.
He is a stubborn person, but sometimes he is unexpectedly fragile. He dared to challenge a strong man in a duel, and when he was escaping, he was really as embarrassed as a bereaved dog. The operation to transport food after the war will begin in the near future, and the coalition forces will loot Luxembourg.
The most valuable wealth there is food. If the Danes are given benefits, their brothers will definitely not accept it. They are afraid that Ragnar may feel that he is being given a handout. If you don't give them benefits or give them less benefits, your brothers will naturally be satisfied, and Ragna will probably be angry. After all, this guy brought his own pirate army to serve as a detective.
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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】
In the Ross camp at the mouth of the Sauer River, the coalition forces had rested for two full days. The weather continued to slowly become colder during the two days, and it seemed that haze began to appear in the sky. There was a fear of a cold wave, forcing Rurik to quickly organize the "spoils sharing conference" "Open it, just rush to empty Luxembourg's wealth before the first snowfall.
A larger tent was quickly set up, and a stove was placed under the large patchwork canvas. The roundabout generals and nobles gathered here.
The ground was covered with leather blankets, and everyone sat on the ground. To everyone's surprise, the captured Archbishop Hatgar of Liège and Count Eberhard of Ulichgau were included.
Their hands and feet were not tied, and their mouths were not stuffed with rags. If they wanted to curse, they could just curse.
Smart people can tell that the king may have had a subtle change in his attitude towards the two of them, or he may want to use them to make some fuss.
But in the eyes of these two people, the most promising meeting of barbarians is to sit here in this unfettered way, seemingly able to escape at any time. It can be said to be an insult, or it can be said to be a courtesy, and the two of them fell into a deep in contradiction.
Unlike these two, Count Gilbert of Ramongo, who was aware of current affairs, thought carefully about the current situation.
It is not too difficult to restore the army after the personal retinue and cavalry are wiped out. When you return, you can be merciful, improve the status of some serfs, forgive the debts of those serfs, restore their freedom first, and then give them the qualification to serve the nobles. New retinues are not yet available. Dead-set? As for the large number of knights who died in battle, it also provided an opportunity for their sons to inherit the title. A group of boys who are too young lack control over the situation, so giving them some serfs to appease them is probably enough.
In the end, as Count Ramongo, his own power expanded due to the defeat. As for betraying the emperor and forming an alliance with Ross, now that I think about it, Emperor Lothair seems to have little chance of victory. As for after the war... it will be a new era where everything is decided with the sword, and strength is everything.
Even if you restore your army, the new army will have weak combat effectiveness. We must also consider that other nobles were weakened after the war, which in turn made them weak.
As for morality, who knows? Gilbert deeply realized that his future needed the support of the King of Ross and a good relationship with the King of Denmark. In addition, I need to maintain a good relationship with the round-faced Count Blue Fox of Gothenburg. Since their wives are biological sisters, they can naturally help each other as relatives.
It was Gilbert who was very aware of Luxembourg's food reserves. He was now very satisfied with his alliance with the King of Rus, and he also lowered his attitude and hoped to maintain good relations with the King of Denmark. He gave a big gift, which was the amount of grain stored in Luxembourg and the location of its granaries, as well as the fact that there were a large number of refugees there.
Gilbert had already communicated with Rurik first. "Take all the food, and don't kill the local refugees indiscriminately, let alone take them as slaves. If you can, please drive them away, and God will bless their future." was his only prayer.
Knight Gilbert also knew that if the Russians launched an expulsion, tens of thousands of refugees would definitely flee towards the mountains with only a small amount of supplies. The cold would kill them in large numbers, and in the end only a small number of people would survive.
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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】
Who can survive? As a nobleman, Gilbert would not scrutinize the life and death of those people. He just didn't want to see the Ross army wantonly killing and capturing prisoners again. The eyes were not clean and the mind was not disturbed, and they could still argue that their deaths were not caused by the Norman butcher's knife.
Therefore, in this meeting, Rurik discussed with everyone how to empty Luxembourg's wealth.
He is the king and the commander of the war. Although Ragnar is the King of Denmark, he still needs to pay tribute to the King of Rus, who is nearly ten years younger than him. Now he must listen attentively.
Rurik wrote a speech on the spur of the moment and read it in Norse on the open cardboard...
The core of all content is only one - to search for the wealth of Luxembourg.
The core within the core is to take all the grain, gold and silver, useful cloth, and available pots and pans.
As for the local civilians, King Rus's request was quite surprising.
"I heard that there are a lot of refugees there. We don't have time to waste time with such idiots. I don't want you to capture prisoners of war. You should try to disperse them. If someone dares to resist, it will be considered a militia. You can do something evil. If they delay I forbid you to shoot arrows in the back and chase and kill people as they flee with their families. When we empty the food and set fires everywhere, we will eradicate all the settlements in the Luxembourg Valley."
Ragna felt really uncomfortable hearing this, and he interjected: "Why? It is natural to take prisoners. King Rus, do you also hope that I will not take prisoners?"
Rurik hurriedly added: "This is for my people. Brothers, you Danes can do whatever you want. No matter how many prisoners you take, as long as your ship is enough to take them away, they will all belong to you. But what the prisoners need You also need to handle the food yourself."
"No problem. Then, the most important thing is food." Ragna calmed down: "Brother Rurik, originally I led the troops to grab food, but it ended up in this situation. What now? We fight side by side. Killing ten thousand of them, the blood sacrifice to Odin has been completed. Now I want the food that belongs to me. Brother, the distribution power is yours, I admit this..."
Looking at Ragnar's sincere eyes, Rurik immediately expressed his well-thought-out disgust: "You send one thousand troops, I send four thousand troops, and Nassau sends five hundred troops. That's about the number. We divide it according to proportion. You take Take two-elevenths of the food, I think you can understand."
It's okay for Ragnar to be at a math level, and he also has a basic understanding of fractions. He nodded: "This seems to be the fairest thing. I agree! I don't know what the attitude of the other brothers is." Then he looked at the nobles of Ross who were doing it, and the black fox who was smiling and saying nothing.
Behind the Black Fox is the Nassau Army. In fact, everyone sitting here knows that the so-called Nassau Army is just an alternative Ross Army with another name.
The current situation is actually very unfavorable to Ragnar. He deprived his son of his guards and finally pieced together 1,100 warriors. More than 300 people died in the two battles, and another 200 people were injured to varying degrees. I am afraid that some soldiers will die from worsening wounds in the future. One-third of the Danish army was lost, and many veterans who had followed him through life and death in Britain died in the charge of the Frankish militia.
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【The Rise of Rurik】 【】
If I had the strength to equip my brothers with heavy armor like the Russians, the result might not be like this.
Now that he is recruiting some Danish heroes from the mouth of the Rhine, Ragnar estimates that he can quickly regain his strength. However, there are only more than 600 Danish soldiers on hand who can fight immediately. After the wounded soldiers recover, he will only have 700 soldiers. It's just a team of more than a hundred people. Such a force in the huge coalition army has been weakened to the equivalent of an infantry flag force of the Ross Army.
It won’t look good if you ask for too much. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com Ragnar also hates people chewing their tongues. As the saying goes: It doesn't mean that if you die more in battle, you have a reason to take more loot.
In this way, Ragnar boasted that he could still take slaves freely, and with enough food, he could feed many prisoners of war. As for what kind of prisoners of war are most favored by brothers? Since all the local militiamen who dared to fight were dead, there were probably only a large number of women and children left there. You can no longer count on capturing strong laborers. It would be great to capture a large number of young women. You can solve the marriage and concubine problems for your brothers who are loyal to you, and you will get better loyalty from them.
Hattega and Eberhard, the two of them listened to the conversation in Norse as if they were reading from heaven. When they heard Rurik's simple description in Frankish, they were both furious, but they had to suppress their emotions in order to Express your protest with strong eyes.
"You two, don't scold me in your heart. It's my kindness to tell you two what we will do. We are about to take action, and Luxembourg will eventually only have a place name, and someone will rebuild it after the war." Rurik's attitude Very peaceful.
It was this kind of calmness that invisibly made Archbishop Hatgar extremely angry. The old guy squeezed out words from his teeth: "There is no mercy. King Rus, you are so arrogant, you will be punished by God."
"Okay. I thought you were a stone head, but now you are willing to call me king. Old guy, you will continue to be detained, and I will keep an eye on you personally. Just wait for my army to return with full load!"
After hearing this, Hart lowered his head and said nothing.
And the Ross generals and nobles are all cheering for the upcoming plunder of Luxembourg.
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