Chapter 999: Ross Cavalry Scored Twice to Sweep Cologne

In principle, there were no organized cavalry units in the Viking world, but horses were not a rare thing here.

Horses for transporting supplies have always existed in the Danish world, as well as in areas of Norway such as Bergen and Oslo.

The Rus people who once lived in the far north of the Viking world were a group that rarely saw horses. However, they were the first to have an established cavalry.

The Russian cavalry was trained by the Pechenegs in the steppe, and it was reasonable to use steppe-style rogue tactics.

The basic tactics are "picking weak persimmons" to plunder the weak, horseback plunder and rowing landing plunder. The Ross cavalry easily found the commonalities among them, and quickly matured in this war.

Those young warriors grew up rapidly during the one-year war, and the long battle did not make them war-weary.

On the contrary, they witnessed too many novel things, personally felt the vastness of the world, and made a fortune in the war.

Each cavalryman's pocket contained some gold and silver, and another pocket contained a large amount of food.

They were in an uninhabited territory in East Francia, plundering everywhere like horse bandits. This kind of thing was unimaginable to the Franks in the past.

Until the snowfall dispelled the cavalry's intention of further plundering, Fisk, who had already made a fortune, decided to stop.

Because of the looting, the cavalry's horse lineup swelled to more than 300 horses.

The world is pale and cold after the snowfall, and the Frankish villagers prefer to stay at home. Often a knight master controlled multiple villages as fiefs, and there were often resident priests in the villages to maintain the order of production and life.

No matter how simple the monastery is, it is the heart of the village. Each village household must pay tithes, either silver coins or the equivalent in grain, to the monastery. The monastery was almost a village money box and also had the public property of being a granary.

Fisk's group of Ross cavalrymen, who had been looting for several months, knew the structure of the Frankish village very well through actual combat, and their looting operations became extremely precise.

A team wearing white bear skins walked majestically on the deserted Roman road.

Looking around, there were no living people, and the surrounding area was filled with gray-white forests.

It is not because of their excessive plundering that the population is declining. In fact, the population of all Europe in this era is low. The East Frankish region they plundered also had the smallest population in the entire kingdom. Most of the villages were concentrated near large settlements, roads, and rivers. Finding villages was like hunting.

Their current actions are undoubtedly lacking in hunting.

It was another successful robbery. After a large-scale snowfall, Fisk and his gang received sufficient supplies.

They looted the monastery, executed villagers everywhere, and drove some people into the ice and snow forest to die.

They didn't see any problem with this at all, so they cooked wheat and fed horses in the village.

The bonfire crackled. They snatched away the hens that the villagers had kept in cages and now skewered the chickens and roasted them over the fire.

"The next step is for us to return to Cologne. If possible, we can loot again. Ah! I really want to go to the city and steal all their gold!" Fisk could not hide his desire for wealth.

Immediately, someone started shouting: "Then let's make another sneak attack."

"But with just these people, we can't even enter the city."

"Continue to loot the villages outside the city. At least, we will steal a lot of food and more horses."

…

The brothers talked about how to rob, but no one considered whether there were risks here. In the final analysis, everyone is still thinking about the legendary wealth that Cologne possesses. If it is possible to get a fortune of gold, they should try it.

After all, Fisk faced the booing from his brothers and stamped his feet: "Then let's do it! No one can stop us!"

So they revised their plan of action.

The cavalry, which was originally returning at full strength after the snow, decided to try their best to loot gold and silver near Cologne, and the operation had already begun.

Fisk organized as many as five independent action teams based on the inherent ten-man team organization, organizing them into two teams.

He himself led the remaining ninety brothers to control a large amount of loot and acted as the main force of robbery step by step.

Facts have proven that when the cavalry rushes into the village to launch a plundering operation, the opponent's resistance will be quickly broken down by the well-trained cavalry, and the rest is killing. To deal with a Frankish village, you don't need many cavalry to act at the same time. Twenty cavalry is enough.

The Kingdom of Rus never thought of expanding to rule the Diocese of Cologne, so Fisk had no scruples in his new round of plundering operations.

The cavalry went straight to Cologne in the open snowy forest. Fisk suddenly raised his arms and the team began to break up.

Five special operations teams separated from Fisk's main team. Each operation team has a small map of the area, even if it is extremely crudely drawn. Each team had its own plundering area, with Ross flags, horns and sounding arrows as contacts. They agreed to plunder for five days and then assemble in a grand manner near the north gate of Cologne City.

"Let's all go! We'll see you in five days!"

Riding hardy prairie horses, the special operations team headed straight for their plunder zone.

Their whereabouts had been seen by the city patrols standing on the wooden stone walls of Cologne, and the city immediately sounded the alarm.

Cologne is a center of faith, with many monasteries in the city and a purely wooden cathedral. The ringing of countless bronze bells caused a loud noise, which was heard by the Ross cavalry passing by the city.

Fisk, who was in charge of the home team, couldn't help but feel a little worried. Someone also asked: "Boss, will they send troops to challenge us?"

"Then kill them." Fisk bared his teeth fiercely. Now that all the special operations teams have been dispatched, he must start the robbery. "We continue to inflict terror."

Suddenly, a Pecheneg warrior in the team rode forward: "Sir, should we use some strategies?"

"Strategy?"

"Since our goal is gold, maybe we can capture a group of prisoners and use them to blackmail the people in the city into handing over the gold."

"Is this possible? You think I didn't think of it? Those wealthy people are not willing to pay ransom for ordinary farmers." Fisk shook his head.

"Could it be that those monks would watch with wide eyes as we kill all the prisoners in front of them? If they are indeed cruel."

This Pecheneg warrior had a ferocious look on his face. After all, he was the riding instructor of his brothers, and he was well versed in the ways of fighting on the grasslands.

Fisk thought about it and it made sense: "Okay, let's go capture the prisoners and capture more for them to watch carefully."

Because the Pechenegs always like to use rogue tactics, it is precisely because their weapons and equipment in the past were poor. Frontal combat is asking for trouble, and it is natural to use various tactics without martial ethics. They make good use of a kind of grassland guerrilla warfare. They often form small teams with several people and horses. They take advantage of dusk and night to sneak attack on the enemy's camp, loot and kill, and quickly evacuate without fighting.

The so-called Ross Special Operations Team is an expanded version of this tactic.

It is not unusual. This rogue tactic is very effective in terms of creating terror and disrupting the enemy's military deployment.

Five action teams found the target hidden in the forest.

Those villagers already knew that horse bandits were wreaking havoc outside the city some time ago, and even earlier there was news of the Norman fleet robberies. After all, they are just some legends. They are busy with farming and usually never leave the village for a day's journey. They generally don't care about the outside world and only regard the bandit attacks as horror stories for fun.

The priests stationed in the village claimed that the attackers were the apostles of Satan. King Ludwig had organized a large army to crusade from the north. The Franks with holy faith would achieve a great victory.

It may be a wonderful narrative of light triumphing over darkness, and the villagers continue to live a life without competing with the world.

The path leading out into the open world was now completely deserted, something Ross's cavalry was acutely aware of as they moved into action. Since there is a forest road, it must lead to a certain goal. They started to take action and immediately gained something.

The five special operations teams did not know that Fisk later changed their tactics. They implemented their previous request and gave death to the village, leaving the bodies behind and taking away as much food as possible and all the silver and copper coins they found.

Fisk's operation to capture prisoners began in full swing. Except for those who resolutely resisted, they were killed and those who begged for mercy were tied up.

He even captured three priests, elderly men with Mediterranean haircuts who cursed "Devils on horseback, go back to hell."

Fisk did not get angry, but instead pulled out his sword and rubbed the scabbard with the back of the sword to scare him.

He threatened again in Latin: "I won't kill you just because I want to use you in exchange for ransom from Cologne. If you want to die, I don't mind burning some people to vent your anger."

The priests were stunned. They could not imagine that the devil's apostle could understand the sacred language.

There was nothing to talk about with the priest and other junior priests. They were all tied up and given only a small amount of food to ensure that they lacked the physical strength to dare to escape.

Since there was no need to hide their identity, in fact the cavalry's looting operation a month ago had exposed their identity. The current plunder was scored twice, and the Ross flag shown by Fisk bluntly said that this was a glimpse of the entire war. The Cologne area was a secondary battlefield, not the rear.

The priests and villagers couldn't understand why ordinary villagers became victims of the nobles' war. They just wanted to live a peaceful life and no one wanted to provoke it.

They are still naive and have no idea that the core area of ​​​​the Rus Kingdom's rule has been transformed into a whole war machine. They know nothing about the concept of "total war".

They are indeed very simple. As the bandit leader in their minds, Fisk Xu can only believe his promises under the current situation.

So in just five days, Fisk's main team was busy looting and capturing prisoners, while the five special operations teams were busy killing.

The last raid was to kill and burn the easily distinguishable villages near Cologne City, and now it was to sort out the villages in the remote forest.

Thick smoke suddenly erupted from the snow-covered forest. It was deliberately set on fire by the special operations team who were obsessed with destruction.

Thick smoke billowed everywhere near Cologne, as if a huge army was coming.

For a time, rumors were flying in the city. Some said that the cavalry exposed before was just the vanguard of a strange enemy. Some said that a large Norman fleet was already on the way.

The current situation is extremely unfavorable for Cologne. The city defense troops loyal to the archbishop have followed the bishop north. Although there are as many as 20,000 people in the city, in theory, at least 2,000 armed citizens can be organized.

However, the clergy as a whole are opposed to any acts of war. It is precisely for this reason that the bishopric has only organized a patrol of several hundred people to maintain public order. Now it is helpless to be forced to fight by King Ludwig. There was actually no defense in the city, and the priests who stayed behind were faced with a large group of mutilated sheep.

Monasteries all over the city were filled with people who knelt down and prayed to God.

But what's the use of praying? The miracle people expected did not appear. The strong city wall is still protecting everyone.

In this critical moment, the clergy elected an acting archbishop to maintain normal affairs.

Hildwin, a loyal old man, has now taken over the Archbishop's affairs, but this is not what he expected.

We are facing a mess, and the top priority now is to get the most basic weapons in place.

Therefore, the church must allocate a sum of money from its treasury to purchase mercenaries at this difficult time.

The priests held a meeting, and it was rare that what they discussed today was not a matter of faith, but a pure city defense issue.

The bald and beardless acting archbishop seemed very poor, and his gorgeous robes confirmed his nobility.

As a political entity, the core of the Archdiocese of Cologne is in the city of Cologne. The clergy in the city determine some matters through parliamentary discussions, all of which are imitating the Roman Senate in the old times. Even if you are an archbishop, major issues of right and wrong must be discussed and determined by the senior priests, such as this plan to open the money bank to recruit mercenaries.

"Those apostles of Satan are here again. They have exposed their flags. They are undoubtedly Rus. The Rus are the Normans, exactly the same as the Normans who rowed here last time. Now the king is leading troops in the north, and the archbishop is also in the north. We Cologne is now undefended, and we cannot fully count on the protection of the city walls. We must open our treasury to recruit mercenaries, otherwise the holy land will be defiled. You... please express your opinions." Hildwin appealed.

The priests had long held back their words.

"We spent money to recruit a group of mercenaries a month ago, but they were defeated. The enemy is very dangerous, and the money we spent is meaningless. Can you guarantee that we will be safe this time with the money we spend?"

"Yes. As long as we keep the door closed everything will be fine."

"But those villains are attacking villages outside the city. If we do nothing, the people will resist us! The Lord will also punish us for our blasphemy."

There was a lot of discussion among them, and the devout worshipers had serious disagreements about spending money.

At least they have good cultivation on the surface, and there is no room for noise and quarrels in the sacred cathedral. However, despite their calm appearance, these senior priests cannot hide their inner anxiety and fear.

Suddenly, a senior priest said this: "Once, the Pope gave Attila, King of the Hun, a sum of money, and the arrogant Huns evacuated Rome. If we also give a sum of money to the barbarians who looted and killed outside the city, Did they just withdraw the money? What the barbarians need is gold."

"No! This is blasphemy!" Suddenly someone stood up. Although the words were spoken softly, the anger was written on his face.

"This is also a way." Someone else agreed.

They started a new round of discussion, each talking about their own reasons, but no result came out of the discussion.

However, when it dawned the next day, people standing at the top of the city continued to see thick smoke coming from the performance forest, which was evidence that the village was burning. People in the city continued to be panicked, and some people began to question the inaction of the priests. More People still crowded in the monastery to pray, and traveling merchants who lived in the city for the winter were already seizing the time to forge iron tools to protect themselves.

So Fisk's Ross cavalry set fire, looted and captured prisoners outside the city, and the priests who were the rulers in the city continued to discuss how to defend the city.

Acting Bishop Hildwin was almost suffocated by the tremendous pressure. One night, he knelt in front of the statue of Jesus to pray and convened a new meeting with bloodshot eyes.

This time, he finally couldn't bear the endless discussion.

"We still need to open our treasury and use gold and silver to recruit some brave men. We will not let them go out of the city to fight the barbarians, and they will serve as a new patrol force to protect our city walls. I plan to recruit three hundred people."

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of black-robed high priests with Mediterranean hair styles wanted to "discuss" again, but Hildwin immediately stopped them.

"Don't discuss anymore, words can't convince each other. Let's vote! The minority obeys the majority, and whether our decision succeeds or fails is left to God. I still hope that you will support my proposition, so that we only need to insist that the king and the archbishop win. , the crisis in Cologne will be relieved. Remember! There are still 20,000 people in our city. For their safety, sometimes we have to make some sacrifices. If such an opinion will cause us to encounter God's punishment, I would rather go to hell to atone for our sins. .”

It is tantamount to saying that Acting Archbishop Hildwin wants to give up on the people who are still stranded outside the city. After all, horse bandits and pirates were already wreaking havoc before the snowfall. Many villagers fled into Cologne with their families, and a large number of people fled to Aachen in the southwest. Those who did not escape put themselves in danger, and they were attacked It's self-inflicted.

Hildwin would not speak so cruelly. Everything he did was to protect the remaining 20,000 people in Cologne.

Now, they start voting with a show of hands...