Chapter 1569 Bruno Walking on the Avenue of Aquitaine
Latest website:
On the other hand, according to the agreement with Reglaf, Bruno and his people gathered in the south of the city.
Bruno and fifty of his subordinates were holding a grain carriage waiting to set off.
The reason why he didn't leave by boat with Regraf was because there were no more vacancies on those boats.
There was no problem for them to walk along the deserted branch of the Roman road to Shannon. Moreover, given his status, there was no need to pay taxes when passing through the bridge.
However, Bruno did something quite unorthodox - he coaxed away all the immigrants from Fontaine Village in Sologne.
These relocated villagers from the former Earl of Orleans territory have been living in a forgotten corner, and now they naively think that they can get a good place to start over in Tours.
As a result, they were immediately ostracized by the local village, and then faced a large wasteland. When they were building a house, they encountered unlucky rain.
What makes them even more upset is that they actually have to pay taxes for logging! Robert did make a promise, but little Hugo had not yet died at that time, and soldiers loyal to the old count immediately stopped this destruction of the count's family property.
The woods near the city are the property of the count. If you want to cut down the wood for firewood, you can also pay taxes with food.
The villagers feel that they have been deeply deceived and this is not home! When a child froze to death on a cold, rainy day, the entire immigrant village clamored to leave, but... no one dared to take the lead.
Until Bruno and his "Saxon Army" came in force.
Archers who have served in the army all know this blond young man from Saxony. He is not bad.
Villagers blocked both sides of the road. Their original plan was to rob travelers and then run away with their belongings and continue to escape back to the Sologne Forest to live a life, even though it was very poor there.
What they encountered was this Saxon army.
The two sides almost came to blows, but once they met they became friends and the misunderstanding ended.
After asking the whole story, Bruno didn't think much about it: "Why don't you all follow me and serve me in the future? I will make you free citizens of the Principality of Saxony. We are going to Shannon to make peace with the Normans. If you are willing to leave, You have to come with me."
Can he be trusted? At least better than that guy Robert. As for the Normans, during the Battle of Orleans, those blond warriors were very cruel to the enemy, but did no harm to the villagers and hunters.
The same goes for Bruno and his men.
The most important thing is that because winter is approaching, their new village has not been built yet, and there is still no hope of staying here. Once the snow starts to fall, everyone will be in danger of freezing to death.
Someone promises a good future, and when someone is willing to follow, more people will follow suit.
As a result, the team under the banner of Saxony suddenly swelled to two hundred people. After recruiting thirty Orions, Bruno's warriors also reached eighty.
Bruno's current mentality is indeed very different from Robert's.
Robert was already an earl, and he could fully mobilize the resources in the area under his direct jurisdiction. A group of poor forest hunters who he had once thought of as reserve soldiers now didn't matter if they froze to death and starved to death.
These villagers did not know that they were actually abandoned.
Bruno was different. He was the eldest son of the Principality of Sachs. He could not be loyal to the Count of Tours. He was only willing to follow his brother-in-law Reglaf to do things. Regrave ran to Shannon, so of course he followed.
He lacked capital, and it was basically difficult to obtain another fiefdom in the south of Frankland. If you want to continue to participate in the war, you must have soldiers, even a few miscellaneous soldiers. If you have more people, you can become a force.
What if? A group of miscellaneous soldiers gradually turned into elite soldiers after a battle. Fighting with the de facto elite Ross soldiers in Reglaf's hands, unless they were fools, they would gradually become good at fighting.
He also knew that out of brotherly loyalty, he would bring some people to join Reglaf, so that everyone would not have to worry about livelihood issues.
So, the guard guarding the bridge informed Robert about the Saxons crossing the bridge.
He knew that Bruno and Reglaf left on the same day, but it was interesting to put this matter together with another part of the report.
Because a guard told them that only half-built houses were left in the village of New Sologne-Fontaine on the Cher River, with only wooden piles and foundations, and traces of shacks. The villagers and their belongings had disappeared completely, and the villagers had apparently fled.
It didn't matter that a group of guys who had no use value escaped. Robert originally thought that the thirty archers among them were of use value. Now that he has lost them, it is not a loss for him.
He did not take it to heart, and did not think about the report from the bridge that the Saxon team was quite large, including a group of women and children.
The situation could not be more obvious! It had only been one day since the Normans left, and that boy Bruno had coaxed the people of a village away.
Robert was angry for a moment, just for a moment.
"Shannon is like a stinking puddle. Throw the Normans over, throw the Saxons over, and throw those boring foresters over there. Tur is my Tur, and those who can't be completely used by me may as well leave." This is what he thought. Once again holding the local directory in his hand, his mentality returned to the past.
However, Tour is not the Rheingau he once was.
Because the population of Europe in this era was too sparse, the Frankish population reached 10 million. Her population was mainly distributed in the south, especially Aquitaine, Burgundy and northern Italy, with northern Italy having the largest population.
With a population of 300,000, the Kingdom of Tourbo is already considered a behemoth along the Loire River.
The area near the city of Tours has always been the area directly under the jurisdiction of the Earl's family. After losing two areas directly under the jurisdiction of Loire and Shannon, there is still an important piece of land left for the new era Earl Robert - Anjou.
Taxes in the city of Anjou and the surrounding areas are paid directly to the earl family, and local free people and serfs are also obliged to join the army.
Anjou is also the border area between Nantes and Tours, which was not the case more than ten years ago.
She once belonged to Old Ode, Count of Orléans, who at that time was also the elderly Hugo III, Count of Tours.
When the civil war in the empire began, the nobles along the Loire River were ready to take action. In the past, it was difficult to discuss the grievances at the negotiating table, so it was better to use this war to resolve them in a package.
Hugo III still led troops to fight despite his old age. He directly annexed Anjou and killed the relatives of Old Ode who stayed here.
It is said that this unjust move also brought a curse to his family. The curse did not fall on the old man. His last and only heir, Hugo IV, bore the curse and died of illness in the early winter of 843.
Hugo III and IV were both deceased, as was Ode of Orléans.
Tours was Robert's world. He inherited the possession of Anjou and naturally became the Count of Anjou.
William inherited the title of his father Ode, and the new Count of Orleans also inherited his father's anger at the loss of Anjou.
The conflict between Robert and William was impossible to reconcile. Compared to Hugo III, who had passed away long ago, the new Earl of Tours was even more ruthless.
William just thought that the monster on the other side of the river would definitely find a way to break through Orleans and take possession of it. What he didn't expect at all was that his entire family was on Robert's killing list.
Robert could easily mobilize resources in Anjou. As for Le Mans, which had just completed its military occupation, he was also more concerned about the possibility of rebellion by the local lower-level nobles.
Regrave and his men left, and the docks suddenly became empty. Without the help of Norman ships, the army could only rely on small barges to cross the Loire River, and the speed of crossing the river was greatly reduced. This is not a big problem. After the second battle against Orleans next spring, the armies from Tours and Anjou will gather at Le Mans and launch an attack after integrating the troops from the three places.
At that time, Reglaf and Bruno, it’s best for them to send troops, and it doesn’t matter if they don’t send troops.
As for the people of the Count of Nantes, whether they like it or not.
Now, with Bruno's troops doubled in number, they were walking on the main road of the Via Romana.
The Avenue of Aquitaine has lasted hundreds of years. Even though many sections of the stone pavement have weathered into sand, its bottom layer of solid rammed earth foundation has remained intact for thousands of years.
Bruno, who was carrying a baggage carriage, really needed such a smooth and hard road.
The Avenue of Aquitaine starts from Naparta (now part of Montpellier) in the south and passes through Bordeaux, Saintes, Poitiers, Tours, Le Mans, Paris, Mons, Namur, Liège, Aachen, Cologne.
Cologne is where the road ends.
Two years ago, Ross's first expeditionary force fought on the northern section of the Avenue of Aquitaine and maliciously demolished the bridge over the Meuse River, temporarily interrupting this ancient road.
Now, Bruno and his people are marching painfully in the middle of this avenue in the early winter when no one is inhabited.
After leaving Tours, the next big city is Poitiers, which is also the royal residence of the little king of Aquitaine and the current residence of Charles "The Bald".
The newly recruited personnel are completely useless. Bruno, who has no one at his disposal, can only make use of these villagers. Now he has to ensure the safety of the villagers along the way.
The carriage and the carts carried by the villagers were equipped with some cooking utensils. Bruno also brought a large amount of food here, but he couldn't care too much about it now.
They camped under a forest. As for the mountain forest resources belonging to the earl family, there was no need to consider it now.
The villagers of Sologne-Fontaine have always been like this when they cut trees on the spot without any worries. After cutting down the wood, they chopped it into pieces. The women searched for some dry grass on the spot. The messy fire starters were gathered together. The next step was to make fire with a bow and drill.
There are many local creeks, so getting water is not a problem.
The crux of the matter is food.
I saw Bruno deliberately standing on top of a carriage, his feet firmly stepping on the linen bag containing wheat.
Everyone paid close attention to this high-spirited young man, only to hear him shouting in Frankish with a strange accent: "I will give you food now! Eat my food, and do good things for me in the future. I don't need you to pay money." , I just hope you will do good things for me in the future.”
He emphasized this so many times that the villagers realized that they actually didn’t have to worry about food along the way from the beginning.
Bruno's preaching is very important. It is only natural to eat his food and do things for him, so that the villagers will not owe any favors.
According to the plan, after they arrived at the Vienne River, a tributary of the Loire River, the entire team would not cross the bridge, but move forward along the branch line on the right. That riverside path connects directly to Shannon.
Under such a plan, Bruno's troops were making a big circle. The straight-line distance from Tours to Shannon was fifty kilometers. Such a detour would take more than a hundred kilometers, which posed a certain challenge to everyone.
The daylight hours were shortening rapidly, and Bruno was unable to move forward at night. They could only use the limited daylight to go as fast as possible.
Due to reality, it is impossible to walk quickly. His subordinates are very agile. Among the villagers, only the hunters are good at running because of their daily needs. The village women and children are just struggling.
Bruno did not force these weaklings, so the whole team had no choice but to adapt to the speed of the village women and children.
They walked at most about fifteen kilometers a day, and the longer the time stretched, the slower their speed became.
After they entered the forest, the coldness and chill made everyone nervous.
Being armed is a good way to deal with fear.
Bruno decisively ordered: "The women and children stay in the team. All men, pick up their weapons to protect the team. If a wild beast attacks, kill the beast and eat its meat. If a bandit attacks, kill the bandit and leave it to the wild beast as fresh meat."
That's all, he took the lead and drew his sword.
A dagger can be tied to a wooden pole and used as a short spear, or a sharp wooden stick can be simply cut out. The hunter can shoot arrows at any time without removing the bow string.
The villagers quickly completed their arming, but it was Bruno's fifty soldiers who could really handle the sneak attack. These warriors have gone through war experience. In order to join the army, they either took the initiative to separate themselves from their families, or they had no family in the first place. In the end, they swore allegiance to Bruno as a lonely family. They were fierce when they fought without any worries, and they were fierce when they looted. Don't worry about retaliation in the future, and hope that when everything is settled, you can reconcile with
His master went to Saxony to get a wife and live a happy life.
They all wanted to believe that their allegiance would bring them a new life in Saxony.
The orange clothes of the group were particularly conspicuous in the dark green forest. Fortunately, the beasts were not stupid enough to challenge a large group of armed men alone. The so-called ambushing bandits only existed in the legends of Tours.
These were often done by bandits hiding in the forest who lay in wait for the opportunity to plunder near the Roman road.
With the outbreak of the civil war, the nobles near the Avenue of Aquitaine moved frequently, and troops came and went. Before attacking the hostile forces, they spontaneously cleared out the bandits near the road. Not to mention bandits, if they just live in villages near roads, the villagers will be expropriated for various reasons first, or they will give money, grain, cattle and sheep as special taxes, or they will also be taken away to work as coolies for the army. When necessary Send an ax and serve as a militia to join the battle.
The nature of the gangsters is almost all bankrupt farmers. Those who do not want to be serfs simply become bandits.
However, the nobles gradually eliminated the scattered villages. In order to control and mobilize resources faster, the nobles intentionally or unintentionally moved the villagers in the territory to the main city, which objectively deprived the gangsters of the fat sheep that they could rob.
Over the years, if the bandit gang does not go out of the forest and swear allegiance to the nearest lord to obtain recruitment, it will die naturally if it cannot survive on its own in the forest.
In the village of Fontaine in Sologne, the villagers do not exist near the Roman Avenue. They will also secretly work as robbers, but they are also engaged in agricultural production with difficulty, because they will never affect the substantial interests of the Count of Orleans and the Count of Tours. Sending troops to annihilate this group of forest residents was not worth the loss, so the nobles spared their lives.
However, the tide of the times finally hit them. Now that they had betrayed Count Tour, they could only find new masters to seek peace.
Finally, they passed through the forest safely, and what suddenly appeared in front of them was a lonely stone bridge with a series of stone arches.
There are no buildings near the stone bridge, and there seems to be no trace of villagers' activities.
Behind him is a large forest, and directly in front is the Vienne River and a new forest to the south.
The Vienne River is relatively wide, which is why the stone bridge has a series of stone arches. No matter how you look at the bridge, it looks weather-beaten. You can hear the constant rustling in your ears, the huge forest is swaying, and there is a shining golden sun in the sky, which is cloudless at the same time.
At this moment, the sight of the whole world made Bruno feel a little dazed.
It was as if there were only more than 200 people like myself and my subordinates in the world.
"That's stupid, Robert. You could have sent someone to set up a stronghold here, control the bridge and collect tolls from travelers."
Thinking of this, Bruno shook his head.
He didn't need to doubt that the new bridge and new wide river he encountered after crossing the Cher River Bridge was undoubtedly the Vienne River.
"That's it!" He raised his right fist high to suppress the chatter of the group.
His big fist pointed to the right, which was the west.
"We are already on the final journey. Soon, we will see the Vienne River on our left, and the hilly forest of Shannon on our right. Along the path you all saw, we will go to Shannon!"
"Roar!" Following the example of the Normans, Bruno's team of mixed Franks and Gauls also used a Viking war cry to embolden them for the final journey.
At this point, after many days of trekking, this strange Saxon army is about to enter the Shannon area and is about to encounter Shannon's village.
Bruno's troops were indeed very slow. Reglaf's fleet had already arrived. After its arrival, he also informed the locals that a friendly army was moving overland towards Shannon. Please let everyone know.
Latest website: