Chapter 1556 Reglave in the Loire

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Orleans, the stone city wall is like a barrier arranged by an archangel. It stands as solid as a rock on the north bank of the Loire River!

The city stands here, with a cross flag still flying on top of the city. The copper-covered cross on the dome of the cathedral in the city shines brightly in the late autumn sunshine, which is incompatible with the bleak environment.

"The weather is getting colder and colder. If we continue to stay here, we will face winter by the river." Bruno, the eldest son from the Principality of Saxony, stood by the river and complained to his good brother worriedly.

"Yes. Even with the longships, we can't break this city now."

"Oh. It depends on that Robert's attitude. Brother, if that guy still stays here and insists on spending the winter, are you willing to accompany him?" Bruno continued to ask.

"I don't want to be stupid. My people want to spend the winter in a more comfortable place, such as... Le Mans. Or Tours, which is more comfortable."

"It's better to go back to Tours. At least it's the safest there, and at least that little Hugo will support you."

"Yes. He is a nice person, but it's a pity... alas..."

"Maybe that's destiny. Just like you have Caesar's reins, just like you have the kingship of Mercia."

"Indeed. Just like my father was King Rus."

The person standing by the river and talking to Bruno was none other than Rurik's de facto eldest son, Reglaf, who was born through schizophrenia. He was also the legitimate King of Mercia jointly recognized by the Pope of Rome and the archbishops of many places.

Now, Regraf is twelve years old, a boy with a rapidly growing body, blond hair, and thick golden hair on the corners of his mouth and chin. With his appearance and figure, he looks at least three years older than the local Gauls and Franks.

Since Tamworth, the capital of Mercia, was captured by the Ross army, the only princess was captured and then possessed by Rurik. A year later, a boy was born, but the price of the boy's birth was the death of his mother.

The direct royal family of Mercia collapsed, and all the secrets about the last princess died forever along with a large number of insiders and the princess herself.

The only insider in the world is Rurik.

Only Rurik knew that Reglaf's mother was the result of an affair with the queen, and that the boy's grandfather, Reglaf, was once a cheap father.

The secret is sealed in history, and even the name "Regrave" was intentional.

The name of Mercia has a double meaning. Her original name was the Kingdom of West Anglia to distinguish it from neighboring East Anglia.

She suddenly changed her name to Mercia to describe the "borderland", the so-called area occupied by the Angles when they landed, relative to the borders of the small Celtic kingdoms on the island.

Secondly, the word "mercy" is very similar to its meaning. Taking its beautiful meaning, we call it a country of mercy.

In the seventh century, Mercia, which almost established the regional hegemony of England and was expected to be unified for the first time, finally collapsed on itself. Wiglaf was unable to turn the tide and defeat the rising Kingdom of Wessex.

If it were just the internal strife among several Germanic immigrant countries in Britain, it would just be history repeating itself again and again. Until another group of Germanic immigrants arrived - the Vikings.

As a result, Mercia collapsed directly, and a new country created by Norwegian immigrants suddenly emerged in its north. Wessex, which has always wanted to annex the north and unify England, now also focuses its war on resisting the Danish Vikings who invade every year.

The Kingdom of Mercia still exists, and the tyrant is king but no one recognizes it. Her territory is controlled by small nobles from all over the country. It is constantly being encroached on by the Viking Kingdom of York and the Kingdom of Wessex, and they are also experiencing internal strife among themselves.

What the local nobles didn't know at all was that this real king was still living on the European continent.

As for Reglaf, he felt that he did not need to seek the support of the old nobles at all. The existence of the old nobles would probably be harmless to his future rule. "In the future, I can get rid of them collectively."

Who are you? But Rurik's biological son.

Who was the Viking King of York? He was his father's brother who had been his father's brother many years ago.

When I grow up in the future, I will march to the island with a force of troops brought from the European continent, and it will be easy to officially obtain the kingship of Mercia.

Because it is unimaginable that those old nobles would deny the Pope's decision.

The northern saint Eskil was the boy's godfather and baptized him himself. The Duke of Saxony was the boy's father-in-law, and the present Count of Le Mans was the boy's friend. As for the King of Rus, that is the most powerful backer.

According to northern tradition, Reglaf was already thirteen years old in 844. Although it would take a long time before he reached his first birthday, it would count as long as the year arrived.

Still according to northern tradition, Reglaf Rurikson de Mercia is now an adult. According to the habits of ordinary Frankish nobles, he would not officially become an adult until he is sixteen years old.

Although, a ten-year-old Frank boy who was taken to the battlefield by his noble father would always be praised by everyone, and many nobles would also brag about "I have been killing on the battlefield when I was a child."

It has been three years since he left his father on the banks of the Elbe River. The boy who has entered adolescence has grown rapidly in stature, his voice is changing, and a thick golden beard has begun to appear on his lips and chin. His hair is also quite straight and golden, and his hair is also quite straight and golden. Imitate your father and tie your hair in a ponytail. He is also fair-skinned, with freckles on his cheeks, a testament to his experience.

Reglaf has been feeling pain in his calves in recent months. In fact, it was caused by rapid growth and a temporary lack of calcium.

His ancestry is very close to that of the old Germans.

Even if her mother was the product of the queen's affair, she was still a serious Anglo.

What is an Anglo? They have always been neighbors with the Jutes. Both tribes left Jutland, and those who did not leave were Jutlanders, and then mixed with the Danes regardless of you and me.

In other words, there is no blood difference between Reglaf's mother and the Danes. The huge difference lies in the geographical and cultural separation of more than three hundred years, as well as the huge differences in beliefs.

The Rus were born out of Sweden, and both Sweden, Götaland, and the Danes were one family hundreds of years ago.

Reglaf was born with blond hair. Now it seems that his blond hair has a hint of whiteness. This wonderful texture is more obvious in the sun, just like his father Rurik.

In fact, Bruno might as well make more concessions here.

Bruno is an authentic Saxon. His family comes from the last chieftain Vidukind. Due to the shackles of the old times, his family has not been directly infected with the blood of Gauls and Romans. He also has blond hair, but the roots of his hair are uneven. Brown and black, the longer the hair, the more attention can be paid to the golden color at the top.

One is the legitimate King of Mercia, and the other is the next generation Duke of Saxony. One is only thirteen years old, and the other is only nineteen years old.

The Loire River flows quietly and the forest rustles with the northern breeze.

The warrior holding the round shield is orange in color, specifically this color is closer to that of a carrot.

The Kingdom of Mercia has its own royal emblem, which is made of lapis lazuli powder ground into a sky blue background, and a cross is pasted on it with gold sheets.

In the past, the kings of Mercia would try their best to unify the color matching of their soldiers. Although there was no concept of unified military uniforms, at least the concept of unified color matching had emerged, so that the enemy could be easily distinguished from ourselves in war. At first, the Mercians hoped to use ready-made dyes to create a texture close to gold. Although yellow dyes were prepared, due to unqualified technical standards, the cloth inevitably faded after being dyed. The dyes were oxidized and the color faded over time. Subtle changes, gradually like the orange carrots getting closer.

He is an exiled wolf, but his exile shows his father's love even more.

Because this wolf is not alone.

One hundred northern warriors stood beside Reglaf. They were Russians, Danes, and a small group of Swedes. The common feature of all of them was that they had converted to God, so they had the right to follow Reglaf. Fighting in the southern Franks qualifies you to take huge risks and plunder rich spoils.

As for converting to God, one must live according to those rules and regulations?

let that

To hell with all these weird rules and regulations!

The great men from the north can sit in church on Sunday and try to control their anxiety to listen to the bald-headed priest talking nonsense in Latin without leaving early. This is already enough respect for the so-called Catholic faith.

If any priest claims that these "Danish converts" are still pirates, he is asking for his own death.

No force dares to send troops to impose sanctions. If the priest is disobedient, he will be killed and replaced with an obedient one.

Reglaf has its own flag, with a blue background and a yellow cross. Unfortunately, the crosses are arranged diagonally, the so-called "Saint Andre's Cross".

Flags symbolizing the country are still a novel concept, but badges symbolizing noble status have begun to become popular. In a sense, the flag is like a larger version of the noble coat of arms.

Rurik's troops carry flags on a large scale, even for the defeated countries at war with the Russian army. They have learned various experiences in the war, and learning the concept of "flag" is one of them.

Robert's family arrived in Tours, where his father-in-law's family lived. In addition to organizing an army and serving as the de facto military ruler of the Kingdom of Tours, they also erected a flag.

The fleur-de-lis flag symbolizing Frank's honor must be erected, and the cross flag symbolizing faith must be erected.

As "Bald" Charles entered Aquitaine, all the southern nobles who opposed Emperor Lothair, no matter what their prejudices against this Charles, were after all a figure who could be recommended. After putting this man on the throne, everyone had A good excuse to oppose Lothair - you are not the true king we recognize.

Therefore, the country of Tours also needs "Bald" Charles to become such a virtual king. He is at least the grandson of Charlemagne. Tours also sewed and hung Charlemagne's lion flags in batches as a performance art. Promote Charles as the "true emperor".

Although the southern nobles did not have any public meetings or documents to state this idea.

Standing on the banks of the Loire, Reglave, his flag waving behind him.

His gaze spanned the wide river, his eyes fixed on the impenetrable stone wall on the other side of the river.

Bruno was tired from standing, so he patted his good brother on the shoulder: "I'm tired, and I'm going to camp to rest now. What do you think?"

"Damn it. In the end, we still couldn't break the city." Reglaf finally shook his head with regret.

"Who has a solution? Maybe your father will come up with a solution when he comes. For us... it's better to save our worries."

After that, Bruno turned around and evacuated first with his entourage.

"Alas." Reglaf clenched his fists. He knew that if he left, he would probably not be able to defeat Orleans this year. He greeted his flag officer and reluctantly left the riverside.

At the same time, pairs of eyes peered through the battlements of the Orleans stone wall, across the river, and stared at the orange flags on the other side of the river, as well as the two long boats cruising on the river.

The cruising longships had no siege capabilities, and the Norman pirates holding large shields fled under the arrows of the defenders.

They were Mercian warriors wearing orange robes. Of course they were essentially Norman soldiers, and their fighting methods were also the same.

Earlier, under the command of Robert, the army of Tours combined with the limited Mercian Army, Saxon Army, and even a small number of Nanterbean Army. The coalition gathered 2,000 people to launch a siege of Orleans. .

If that big piece of wood had knocked open the city gate, all problems would have been over if the coalition forces broke through the city.

Kill the Count of Orleans, remove the thorn in the side of this imperial noble in the south, and continue to attack other nobles!

For a moment, Robert felt that he was sure of victory. The Russians he knew were those who repeatedly destroyed the city by bashing their heads against doors. He had Rurik's son Reglaf as an adviser, and there was a reason not to break the city.

It is a pity that William Eudes, Count of Orleans, learned the lesson of the failure at Le Mans. He strengthened the city gates and actively blocked the defenses, successfully surviving this major crisis.

Robert's army was originally recruited through money. With a huge sum of money allocated by Rurik, he quickly recruited a large army after immigrating to Tours and began to march towards Le Mans.

Using troops, and with the savage assistance of a hundred fierce Norman warriors (already nominally members of the Mercian Army) at Regrave's disposal, he relied on door-ramming tactics to forcefully break open the Le Mans gate with felled cedar trees, and the army filed in. …

Robert then became the new Count of Le Mans.

As a price, many of the mercenaries he recruited died. However, after taking control of Le Mans, the disobedient priests were murdered by him. After taking control of the regional financial power, recruiting troops was no longer a problem. It was because the troops recruited by force were more capable of fighting with the wind. Tours mobilized hundreds of elites, plus Regrave and Bruno's men, to create the "Siege of Orleans" in late summer.

In the new siege operation, it feels like the big wood is hitting the stone. There must be a lot of blocking debris behind the wooden door! As for making long ladders and forcibly climbing the wall to attack the city, a large number of soldiers would not dare to do it in such a crazy way.

The elite soldiers from Tours refused to take such a risk, and as for Reglaf's men to take the risk...

The young man only had these few brothers. Although everyone had armor and the overall equipment was the same as that of the regular Russian army, the brothers followed the young master to Frank to make a fortune, not to fight for Robert, his former subordinate. The brothers still had to save their energy to search the villages around Orleans, so how could they be in the mood to attack Lauchzi?

Regrave and Bruno, whose armies were centered on Norman warriors, also recruited a group of local gangsters in Tours.

The two brothers had a very simple idea. Their soldiers were still in the habit of being pirates. Maybe if they gave this group of people a chance with the prisoners in Tours Prison, they might be happy to rob their homes.

Ordinary and dutiful farmers were not included in the recruitment of the two brothers. Anyone who was imprisoned for fighting would be taken away.

A group of criminals who were good at violent crimes, a group of peasants who were too poor to survive and decided to take risks, and a hundred Norman warriors who were well versed in plundering, formed the Mercian and Saxon armies fighting in the south.

He did what his father did, and Reglaf continued to implement the Ross Army-style violence without any psychological burden.

As for Bruno, it’s even less burdensome! He is the next generation of Duke of Saxony. If Lothair wins this war, his status as Duke will be eliminated. In order to ensure his power, and because he is a descendant of subjugated slaves who were conquered by the Franks fifty years ago, this young man thought of the famous "Olden Massacre" in which 4,500 surrendered Saxon soldiers were killed. The Franks committed treacherous murders, and there must be nothing wrong with him imitating them.

Although a large proportion of the residents of the villages near Orleans were not Franks at all, but were of Gallo-Roman descent.

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