Chapter 1558 Solonie Fontaine

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In the mountainous area governed by the small kingdom of Provence, this is the westernmost part of the arc-shaped Alps.

This place still has its name and is called the Ardèche Mountains. Beyond the mountains, you can see the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the entire Gaul to the north.

A small river extends from the mountainous area. It flows northward according to the terrain. After passing through the area controlled by the small kingdom of Burgundy, it then flows into the territory of the County of Orleans.

Also in the County of Orleans, the river that originally ran from north to south suddenly made a big bend. After passing the city of Orleans on the river, the river flowed quietly westward, directly entering the County of Nantes and merging into the Atlantic Ocean.

The river makes a big turn and enters the plains. The low and flat terrain allows the river water to fully infiltrate the earth, and the river quickly becomes wider. Even in the summer flood season, the river flow is quite slow.

Such rivers are very convenient for shipping and are more vulnerable to Viking raids in today's era.

However, the Vikings are no longer coming.

In other words, the Vikings have already arrived, but they stand here with an alternative identity and a more novel and decisive attitude.

The siege of Orleans was neither successful nor failed. Robert's coalition forces made a large circle outside the city, plundered a number of villages, caused great distress in the area, and completely withdrew to the other side of the river after leaving endless infamy behind them.

The forest where the coalition camp is located is a forest swamp area with an extremely wide width and length.

It is called the Forest of Sologne, if it is called by its old name in Latin, that is.

It is because of the excessive infiltration of the Loire River that mud ponds are everywhere in the eastern and northeastern parts of the forest. So far, there is no possibility of living in such an environment. Any hunter who enters the local area in the summer will not first worry about being attacked by ferocious beasts. , but to find ways to resist mosquito bites. (It wasn’t until Napoleon ordered a large-scale landfill in the local area that the ponds were transformed into pastures for raising sheep. The wool produced later became the raw material for clothing needed by the French army.)

In the western area of ​​the forest, which is far away from the river, the overall environment is quite dry without being overly infiltrated by the river water.

So when the army was stationed here with nothing to do, the army relied heavily on hunting from the forest for food.

Because the population in this era was too sparse, large-scale logging and reclamation movements were unable to start, and the Sologne Forest was indeed not a good place to live. The local area was under the control of the Count of Orleans, and the large forest was also the private property of the Count's family. For these reasons , the Count of Orleans never had actual control over the region.

There are only a few small outposts that can be counted on one hand scattered around the forest, where only a few villagers are struggling to survive.

The Count of Orleans' treasurer thought about the costs and benefits and was unwilling to cross the river to the forest area to collect the pitiful tithe. On weekdays, only a small number of priests are ordered to come here to see the situation. As for collecting church tithes, it is almost a luxury.

The group of villagers around the forest seemed to have been abandoned by everyone, because no one really restricted their movements. They could enter the forest to hunt on their own without worrying about the count's revenge. If there is a war, the count is not in the mood to go to the forest to recruit a group of uncontrollable hunters to help him fight the war.

Hundreds of years ago, there were some Gallic tribes near the Sologne Forest, and now the people in this vast area are basically descendants of Gauls.

After the Tulun tribe was conquered by Caesar, all its men served as servants of the Roman legions, and they gradually became Roman citizens. Later, the Roman army built a large military camp on a low hill on the south bank of the Loire River. Multiple legions were stationed in turns. The huge demand for military supplies created an opportunity for economic prosperity. The legions quickly attracted the surrendered Tulum tribe. Work for them as handymen and participate in wars as servants.

Even if they were just serving as servants, the tribesmen gradually became wealthy, so villages were built one after another around the Roman military camp, and a number of monasteries also appeared as supporting facilities.

This is how the original city of Tour was born and developed. Her rise also caused the western and southern areas of the Sologne Forest to be abandoned.

The Tulum tribe chose to live better in a better environment for their descendants

They also forgot that they once lived in the west of the forest.

Who would want to go to that damn place? After the spring rains, water began to accumulate on the ground that was difficult to retreat. In summer, there were too many mosquitoes and bugs. Because it was adjacent to the forest, everyone had to worry about being harassed and attacked by wild boars, bears and wolves.

The land there is also confusing. In some places, you can dig deep holes and easily dig out wells.

Too much water is not a good thing.

I wanted to dig a well for irrigating farmland or providing domestic water, but the well was dug out. The water in the well seemed to have been blessed by the water god. It kept pouring water out. It is very likely that the continuous flow of water would cause harm to the good farmland. The mud pond.

In the past, there were layers of soil that held down underground water sources, so artificially dug wells created ponds and streams, making the already muddy life even more uncomfortable.

Tours is very close to the Sologne Forest, only 60 kilometers in a straight line. It would not be difficult for the ancient Tulum tribe to move as a whole further west.

Similarly, after a lapse of eight hundred years, the Tours-Le Mans-Nantes-Mercia-Saxony coalition army set out from Tours in a mighty two thousand troops. Even if it was just a slow walking operation, it took three days. We also arrived at the westernmost part of Sologne Forest - a ghostly place where a hoe can dig out a fountain.

A small village is located next to the forest. Due to the strange characteristics of the local land, the people are too lazy to clear the land on a large scale, and they are also unwilling to dig more wells.

In addition to growing grain and vegetables, they also raise some cattle and sheep.

It seems that there will be a pleasant pastoral scene here. In fact, there are a small group of farmers digging in the soil, and a group of people who risk being killed by bears and wild boars to hunt in the forest in order to support their families.

Due to the relatively harsh living environment and the natural exclusion of out-of-town residents, they have always lived here. Unless they want to exchange necessary living supplies, they carry their fur goods to the nearest barony of Blois on the other side of the river to sell them and pay a fee. The city tax was added to the lord's tithe and the church's tithe, so that a large number of leather goods were only exchanged for a small amount of salt and ironware.

Paying taxes is painful, so what can you do? Do you want to leave your hometown and become serfs for those nobles?

This small village has a fitting name - Sologne Fontaine.

Sologne means "swamp forest" in Latin, and Fontaine means "fountain". If the spring water here is a hot spring like the Badon Mountain area and the city of Trier in the northeast, it will have development value. It's a pity that what gushes out from each spring is just ordinary clear water.

In principle, the village of Fontaine in Sologne belonged to the Count of Orleans, and the locals were also its subjects. This made the Baron of Blois afraid to get involved with this group of potential serfs.

The Barony of Blois was officially established in 832, and Bodie de Blois's family history of allegiance can be traced back to the Count of Tours family of the Roman Empire Senate.

In other words, this barony is a descendant of a branch of the Earl of Tours family in the past. In order to consolidate his power, the old Earl placed a close confidant in the area across the river.

Blois suddenly appeared on the riverside, and the main city deliberately appeared on the north bank.

The Barony of Blois is also very close to Orleans, and it is exactly halfway between Tours and Orleans.

The Earl of Tours family can be said to be supporters of the Carolingian royal family, and the deceased old Earl Hugo is a veteran of the royal family. But when the old earl was alive, he could not bear the current emperor Lothair's renegade, even if his eldest daughter was already the queen.

emperor? Augustus? But he is the most powerful among many nobles.

When the palace minister usurped the power of the Merovingian royal family, the ancestors of the Carolingian royal family set a good example. What is wrong with a new noble usurping the Carolingian throne?

Besides, what does Lothair have? If it weren't for the support of a large number of nobles and a powerful army assigned to him by the late king...

Now that the powerful army has been gradually worn away by years of civil war, Hugo III, who is exhausted, does not believe that Lothair can have the last laugh in the civil war era.

Of course, the old Hugo III could not imagine that a group of pirates whom he despised would turn Frank upside down under the leadership of the newly emerged Kingdom of Ross, and even

A big change in his family's fortunes - a beneficial change overall.

The situation in Tours is also very difficult. As for whether there will be a monstrous flood after his death, Hugo III will close his eyes and return to heaven, and whether his sick little son can maintain the situation, he does not have extravagant expectations when he is alive and will leave everything to him. Leave it to Almighty God to arrange it and die.

Although his younger son's condition became more and more serious, Hugo Sr. had made some arrangements for the nobles before his death.

If the situation changes, his nephew Gerald, who is staying in Alsace, can come back to inherit the title according to the succession of nobles, even if he has always supported Lothair.

If a son-in-law or grandson inherits the title of Tours in the end, there will be no problem.

Of course, if the sick younger son can survive until adulthood and successfully get married and give birth to a male heir, that would be the most perfect outcome.

It's a pity that old Hugo couldn't believe this situation when he was alive.

There are also more possibilities. For example, the Baron of Blois arranged by him is not emotionally unacceptable because he is distantly related to his family. The Baron Bertie will eventually succeed the title of Tours.

The dead old count Hugo III could no longer control the affairs of his family. His people of Tours were in ruins and his rule ceased. Everything changed when his second daughter Adelaide returned from the Rheingau.

A group of lower-level nobles in Tours fell into a deep sense of crisis after the death of the old earl.

As the legal first heir, little Hugo was frail and sick. According to the law, in a large county like Tours, the succession of the new count required the approval of the church and the emperor. It happened that the deceased Hugo was against the emperor, so Lothair would probably not be willing to give power to Hugo's son.

The fact is that shortly after the death of old Hugo, Lothair split the eastern territory of the County of Tours and created an independent County of Alsace. In the future, when little Hugo died of illness, Lothair made a surprise move to confer the title of Count Gerard, Count of Alsace, as the new Count of Tours. The procedure was also impeccable - Gerard, as the nephew of the old count, was indeed very senior. of inheritance rights.

The small nobles in Tours, and even the more senior nobles like Baron Bodie of Blois, do not want to be dictated by the guys from the Alsatian faction.

So Robert suddenly appeared with a huge sum of money and a group of Norman mercenaries, and the situation changed.

Tour, who is under suspicion by his young master, needs a strong person to take the lead, and Robert is such a "strong person".

"Strong" Robert also has the right to inherit as the old earl's son-in-law, because he brought not only a huge sum of money but also his own son.

As the grandson of the old earl, little Robert also has the right to inherit.

"Strong" Robert was young and powerful, and the nobles in Tours were willing to support this man in trying to make a breakthrough. The first big gift he brought to Tours was to win Le Mans, which established prestige and reassured the nobles of Tours.

The military front has seriously threatened Paris in the north. Now everyone knows that Robert wants to get Orleans again, although this is a very crazy plan.

Earlier, news about the failure of the attack on Orleans had returned to Tours. As the Baron of Blois closest to the battlefield, Bodie did not choose to send troops to help.

After all, in public, the current "strong man" Robert appears as a Le Mans trespasser. He has proclaimed himself Count of Le Mans and is not in a hurry to be recognized by other nobles. Even if his army has a large number of elite soldiers from Tour, even so, it has nothing to do with Tour.

Neither Nantes nor Tours declared war on Orléans and Paris. As for what the war was about, the great nobles all knew it, and they did not dare to pierce the window paper. They pretended to be confused because they understood.

Based on this consideration, the army led by Robert was just a group of bandits without any official identity. The Baron of Blois also chose not to send troops to avoid giving Orleans an excuse.

Since they were rogues, they had some longships in their hands, and there was indeed a group of Normans (Mercian Army) wearing orange clothes in the army, so everyone abandoned their morality and went for it.

After all, who could have any moral lofty expectations of a Norman pirate?

Therefore, based on the consideration of protecting friendly forces, whether it is advancing or withdrawing, it is obviously located in the middle of the two cities.

The city of Blois he brought with him could not be used as a supply station for Robert's army at all.

This is not a problem for Robert and his army.

This army did not act like Wallenstein's "Locust Army". After encountering some villages, they completely controlled them and took all the resources for themselves. In this regard, Robert's method was very simple. Robert only attacked the villages of hostile forces. All settlements on the south bank of the Loire River were within the "uninvasionable" area he designed.

At the end of summer, he returned to Tours with the army he recruited from Le Mans, and then approached the southwestern part of the Sologne forest along the meadows along the Loire River to control the forest villages he discovered.

If they were really Norman pirates, the entire village would have been slaughtered.

Robert was selective and wanted to save face. The villagers were controlled and the men who could fight were forcibly taken away.

The selected men are all hunters, and each of them can bring a short wooden bow and a long bow, as well as a batch of homemade iron cluster arrows.

These hunters have no armor and only have their own thick leather for protection and protection from the cold.

Thirty hunters were used as archers to participate in the failed siege. They suffered no casualties. After wasting some arrows and not knowing whether they had hurt the enemy, they retreated in despair along with the large army.

Now, the war that belongs to the hunters seems to have come to an end.

Hunters were required to swear an oath of allegiance to Robert, and those who disobeyed were threatened with execution as bandits.

Gangster? Who is the gangster?

Thinking that their families were in their hands, when Robert's army arrived, the selected hunters had no choice but to kneel down and pledge their allegiance.

Since he is loyal, as their master, Robert feels the obligation to protect the future of this group of people.

The residents of the Sologne-Fontaine village were not really willing to stay in this place with overflowing spring water. If the local villagers of Tours had not rejected the despicable outsiders, they would have fled westward long ago if they did not want to be serfs.

Robert had already made a promise to this group of villagers: "Your men will follow me to fight. After this battle, I will allow you to settle in Tours. I will arrange a good piece of land for you to cultivate freely. In the first I won’t collect your tithe in the first year, and I’ll treat you like ordinary farmers in the second year.”

If what this grown-up from afar told the truth, the whole village could move safely.

This promised that the village of Sologne-Fontaine, as a coalition camp, remained stable during the two-month "Battle of Orleans". As for what supplies this small village can provide to the coalition forces, it is nothing more than hunters sending some birds and beasts caught in traps, and some low-quality bone cluster arrows made by surprise.

Hunters from the village noticed that soldiers had disposed of the prisoners overnight.

They were obviously villagers similar to him on the other side of the river, but they were killed because they stood in the wrong position. They were glad that they had made a decisive choice at that time, and they also lamented how vicious this barbaric army was, but they couldn't help but wonder whether that gentleman would fulfill his promise.

The hunters did not dare to escape, and there was no point in trying to escape.

The coalition forces decided to withdraw, and they would pass through their own village on the way. As long as the adult made up his mind, the entire village would follow them in the direction of Tours. At that time, it is time for adults to fulfill their promises.

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