Chapter 1554: At the Barbarian Banquet (Part 2)

In another era, Burgundy stood firm in the Frankish expansion wars in its early years. Even after Charlemagne split it up, it was still able to rise and exist in various forms until the Habsburg family legally obtained the power of Burgundy through marriage. , the annexation was finally completed, with a span of one thousand years.

For a small force, it is already a miracle that it has survived for thousands of years in the chaotic Western Europe without being completely annexed by the giants around it.

With this in mind, Rurik had to think about one more thing.

There is a certain resilience about the Burgundians, which can be seen in the fact that they are very cunning and can be extremely diplomatic when they are in big trouble. If their nobles were as brave and reckless as Gilbert of Lamont, their country would have been completely ruined.

Even when he thought about the emergence of characters like Bold Charlie, Rurik couldn't hope that his judgment would be correct.

Rurik deliberately made two preparations. On the one hand, he had to make a plan for a defensive counterattack. On the other hand, he also tried to find some opportunities to talk to the Burgundians.

Will Burgundy fight to the last man for Lothair? They are not Franks. If a country must exist, they must hope to establish a unique and unified Burgundian country composed of Burgundian nobles and Burgundians, instead of being awarded a title by Frankish nobles.

So, Rurik changed the subject, which cooled down the heated emotions that had been brewing: "We must be prepared for a war with the Burgundians. But! We cannot give up on peace talks with them."

Everything Rurik said eloquently just now was true. His words changed so drastically that everyone who was listening with great interest didn't know what to do.

The uproar on the spot caught Rurik off guard.

"Are you going to fight them or not? Uncle?" The young Askard was full of blood. He had already known the location of Burgundy from the textbook provided by Rurik. The majority of young Russian warriors had received cultural education. The existence of this force was known as early as two or three years ago.

"Askard, you can raise your hand first when you ask me." Rurik said harshly.

"Okay, I'll pay attention next time. Uncle, are we going to fight or not?"

"Fight! Of course we must fight. If the Burgundians must fight, we will fight to the end. However, we cannot give up another possibility, which is to persuade them to withdraw from the war. This should not be their war, and we are not obliged to We must fight to the end with such an army.

Maybe we'll have a small conflict with them first. The Burgundians may want to negotiate for peace if they suffer a loss. We must give them a chance for peace talks. After that, we will use all our strength to deal with other imperial nobles. Blocking the Roman road was one plan that forced them to suffer, and the other. "

Rurik glanced at Fisk: "Brother."

"I?"

"When necessary, you have to lead the cavalry to attack independently. If the Burgundians show up but fail to act, I need someone to take the initiative to stimulate them. If this is really necessary, you are the key person."

"Luring them into battle? I understand." Fisk said with great interest.

"So everyone here must fully implement my decision, and you must not take any unauthorized actions when the war is approaching. Whether it is to fight a large-scale encirclement and annihilation war, or to force them to withdraw from the war with a battle, or even... order them to form an alliance with us. Even if it is possible If a more bizarre situation occurs, before I make a decision, your troops cannot act independently and cause trouble."

Hearing it, the nobles and officers from the Russian regular army all claimed that it was, although everyone could not immediately understand the king's strategy.

The other nobles also hesitated for a moment and then complied.

Complying with the king's orders is a natural thing for each flag team. Rurik emphasizes this now because there are a large number of Jotalan nobles and other nobles sitting here. The Russian combat troops account for half of the coalition forces, and they will carry out orders without hesitation. The remaining half is hard to say.

Rurik cannot use the stricter military discipline of the Russian regular army to restrain friendly forces. If his own troops act without authorization, they may be fined or dismissed from the military. As for being punished with executions such as beheading and hanging, Rurik has not yet used them. Rurik retains This kind of capital punishment power. For example, deserting from battle, collaborating with the enemy and treason are all written in the regulations. The punishment is beheading, and even the family members must be punished as slave labor in mining in the north.

For example, Ragnar's Danish army. If there is a flag force retreating in this way with the loot, it is fixed that their team will kill all the officers, the flag force soldiers will execute a group of people according to the eleven-day killing rule, and the remaining personnel will serve as death squads in the future. Work hard to wash away your sins. Because that is desertion!

Unfortunately, Ragnar and his men have no right to take care of it themselves.

I can manage other friendly troops myself, but not many.

Strict military discipline is the result of Morris's military reforms, which dates back to the sixteenth century.

For example, the Russian regular army was very organized during looting. After the king ordered to stop looting, the soldiers stopped using force. Just as the Russian army now controls a large number of prisoners, Rurik issued an order prohibiting harassment of prisoners of war. For the sake of military pay and plundering rights, the Russian soldiers did not dare to harass those prisoners of war.

Qia Qia was also ordered to cook more meals and send them to the prisoners of war.

By relying on fines, Rurik was able to ensure that the Russian army maintained discipline that was far superior to that of the Frankish army. After all, the soldiers' families lived in Novorosberg or Novgorod, and soldiers who made major mistakes were personally punished. , the family members must sit together.

If a fine is imposed for disobeying orders and acting indiscriminately, this humiliation will also be ridiculed by friendly forces. The mental humiliation suffered by the person concerned can only be washed away by military exploits in future battles.

Rurik said this with great emotion, but after all, they had never seen the Burgundian nobles.

The Burgundians were indeed closely related to the Franks, so much so that Gilbert and Eberhard were sitting here, and since they had no connection with them, they only knew them by name.

Then when Rurik asked the middle-aged and elderly Eberhardt, who was still very clear-headed, to talk about the situation, he explained such a thing.

"Thank the Russians for letting me introduce Burgundy. I know that they are brave and good at fighting, but they are definitely not as good as you. If you want to attack them, victory belongs to you. As for everything else..." Eberhard shrugged: "I don't know."

It wasn't until Eberhardt, Count of Ulichgao, explained many situations in Latin that Hatega truly realized that the golden-haired King of Rus was talking endlessly about attacking Burgundy.

Archbishop Hatega of Liège certainly knew about the situation in Burgundy, and he also understood that Eberhard knew some wonderful details.

For example, the Count of Auxerre was a great Burgundian noble. It was Charlemagne who demolished Great Burgundy, and it was also because Conrad of Auxerre was young and comely at the time, which made Charlemagne very energetic in his later years. What happened was dirty and dirty based on the faith of God, and it was also a scandal in the life of a great emperor that should not be exposed to the world.

Eberhard knew this but didn't say anything. He also felt that it meant that this situation was nothing more than a mere laugh at the banquet.

Archbishop Hatega remained silent, staring at everything at the scene with his round, aging eyes, and then at the roasted deer that had been eaten until only the meat residue was left. Where it is roasted deer, it is Burgundy being eaten! It’s not just Burgundy. They eat small Burgundy. The next step is to eat Provence, and then... they can’t even think about it.

"You really don't know?" Rurik finally asked.

"Yes... I really don't know."

"Maybe you know. That's fine." Rurik finished. He didn't expect Burgundy to surrender without a fight, nor did he expect this to be the result.

Just like Charles the Bold, a powerful Burgundy is very likely to give birth to a war madman. The existence of such a character will be a long-term threat to Ross's interests in Western Europe.

Rurik looked at everyone again: "Our priority now is indeed to prepare for war. Trier may become a battlefield again, so all the prisoners in our hands should be transported to safer places."

This is another key point. Blue Fox, Black Fox, and Gorm, the prisoners of war are almost all in the hands of the three of them, and what Rurik said is directly related to their interests.

“Trier is not safe and there are not enough warm houses here. Besides, we have a lot of food and we cannot continue to feed them, even though a large number of children do not eat much every day.

I've thought about it. If you all follow me and continue the war, it will be impossible to fight with prisoners. We may have even more prisoners in future battles.

I hope that all kinds of prisoners of war will be transported to Coblenz. The barracks where our army should live should be thrown directly to these people.

black Fox! "

Rurik clearly called this little fat man.

"exist."

"A task is assigned to you. Organize your men to transport 10,000 prisoners to Coblenz. After you settle them down, organize the army to go north."

Black Fox did not agree immediately, nor did he dare to refuse stupidly. "Your Majesty." He asked with a low eyebrow: "It is my responsibility to take away the prisoners who belong to me in Nassau. However, you ask me to take action immediately? Am I being too hasty?"

"There's no rush. I intend to let them spend a comfortable Christmas here, and then you can take them away."

Black Fox felt a little relieved: "If that's the case, I have nothing to say."

"What about me? Your Majesty, do my prisoners also need to be transported to Coblenz to be stationed for a long time?" Blue Fox followed the words and glanced at the barons under his command. He added: "Thousands of prisoners were supposed to be transported to the north and temporarily placed in Coblenz. How long will they be stationed? Will they start production and life there?"

"It is necessary. The prisoners belonging to Nassau should be divided immediately. The prisoners in your hands should also go to cultivate the wasteland. All the prisoners will be put into plowing next spring. There is a large amount of wasteland in Koblenz and nearby areas that needs to be developed. Grain will be sown on the new land in the autumn. The output must be very limited, and that would be more useful than doing nothing and letting us raise them. I think the Black Fox brothers can do a good job in this matter."

"Even the prisoners in our hands do this?" Gom asked, leaning his head.

"Yes. You have to follow me and continue fighting. Unless." Rurik calmed down and deliberately whispered: "Some people ran away with the spoils because they were afraid of continuing the war. Everyone here will insist on the war."

These words were also a signal to Gilbert and Eberhard that even though these two men had a lot of miscellaneous personnel in their hands, they could not evacuate.

The biggest problem before the conquest of Burgundy is to properly handle the prisoners. They are very critical human resources.

On this issue, Rurik and everyone else could not hide their tangles and frustrations. It is said that starting a war is easy to deal with and troublesome.

If it's still like the Viking pirates did in the past, just kill the captives and sell them off. Rus has long been a kingdom, and everyone is struggling with how to use this large number of captives to run it.

"Why don't you give me a part." The down-and-out Count Hermann of Siegburg Palace pointed out: "I can buy some food. You divide it into some people, and I will place them in my village. I think this Good for everyone.”

"It's a good plan." Rurik looked at him with a smile: "My friend, you still participated in the war after all, but you did not directly participate in the siege. Hard work is also credit. The same number of prisoners will be divided according to the number of troops you sent. .”

"I want more. Even if it's a thousand people, I can accept it." The old Hermann clenched his fists as he spoke. His son sat aside and could feel his father's persistence.

It is false to ask for prisoners, but it is true to save the people.

"Since he is like this, I am willing to spend money to redeem more." Count Eberhard of Jürichgaard said.

"Great." Rurik slapped his thigh: "This is an open question, but I think the plan is not enough at all. A large number of prisoners of war are a burden in the hands of our coalition forces. If you Frank allies are willing to pay to buy them, we Of course I am willing to let him go."

Eberhard couldn't wait to sit up and said, "I do." He even kicked Gilbert, who was drunk, and hoped that the guy would hum.

Anyway, Gilbert blushed and snorted, so that was considered an agreement. Eberhard immediately said: "My friend is also willing, and Ramengao will also accept a group of people. If Siegburg is willing to take away one thousand, I am willing to take away two thousand. As for Gilbert, he is also willing Take away two thousand.”

At this point, the matter has completely become an economic issue, and prisoners have become commodities. The Frankish allies of the Ross Alliance claimed that they could take away five thousand people.

Rurik noticed that Brother Fox's face was as crumbling as a stone just now. Three Frank nobles popped up and claimed to have taken away 40% of the number of prisoners. Brother Fox's face had relaxed a lot.

"Then according to the rules in the north, the price for a mature man is generally one pound of silver coins, for a young woman is half a pound, for a group of older children, 20 silver coins for a boy and 10 for a girl. What do you think?"

Eberhard was somewhat silent again.

"You can use food instead. If you can't give it now, you can give it in the autumn."

"Okay. I'll give it!" Eberhard didn't bargain any more.

A great nobleman like him has seen the Russians continue to attack the city. He can't bear to see the lives of the people in ruins. The prisoners who spent money to redeem them are destined to be no labor force. He knew that if he did this, he would become further impoverished, even if he would be hailed as a good person by the church. The continued weakening of his strength made Julichgaard have no choice but to tighten his belt and get by.

He could only hope that the hardships he endured for the rest of his life would reserve human resources for the rise of his descendants. There were an astonishing number of children among the captives. They would not be able to become farmers or soldiers until ten years later, and girls would not be able to become mothers until ten years later.

The prisoners were all Franks, of the same race as himself. His kindness took over, and he gritted his teeth and said: "The prisoners can be put in Coblenz first. When the spring comes, I can borrow your ship to transport them to my territory. I am willing to pay even the cost of transportation." Pay. Then when the fleet comes back, it will carry the military rations I brought back from my hometown."

Rurik's eyes lit up: "Do you want to escort it personally?"

"If you agree."

"Why should I agree? If you evacuate and refuse to pay the bill, we will lose money."

Eberhard put on an old face: "Then you have a reason to conquer me."

"That's true." Rurik laughed out loud, with a hint of threat in his laughter: "I'm sorry you won't break your promise."