In May, the wilderness outside Auxerre is lush and green, and the climate is suitable for mild southerly winds. All the warriors from the north calm down and enjoy the comfortable time.
The Ross-Mercia coalition still has sufficient military food reserves, and there is no need to worry about starvation in the next two months.
The coalition forces will not live solely on the food in their hands. They control the wilderness outside the city, and the Earl of Auxerre cannot control how they spread out to plunder local products.
The latter only hopes that the coalition forces will maintain the status quo. Fishing in the river and hunting in the forest can be tolerated. No matter how much they are caught, the birds, animals, and fish will be able to recover in the future, as long as they do not destroy the empty villages. Just burn down the fire and leave the green seedlings alone, so that when the war is over, the fleeing villagers will have a place to live when they return home one after another, and some food can be harvested this autumn to avoid famine.
As for the "relief fee" requested by Rurik and Conrad, Auxerre now cannot afford a thousand pounds of silver coins, nor can he pay a large amount of grain as payment.
Rurik did not use the military means he imagined to rescue the city. He just ordered his eldest son to lift the siege with one sentence. Not only did the Russian army effortlessly, they also appeared in a happy and dreamlike mood. Allied forces join forces.
As a queen, Rurik needs to maintain a bottom line on many things. It is not good to do some hypocritical and shameless things. Even if you do do them, the blame cannot fall on yourself.
So now he is not urging Conrad to repay the money, and there is no need to mention it again in the future. This matter can be used as a bargaining chip to ask Auxerre to repay the money at the appropriate time.
Conrad is waiting for his western garrison to return one after another
He also hopes that his northern neighbor, the Count of Troyes, will respond to his warning.
In the past, everyone was loyal to the "Emperor" Lothair. Now, all the Burgundian nobles including Auxerre stand against the emperor. Is it possible that the Count of Troyes is still stubborn? What? If so, the next target of the Russian attack will be Troyes.
Even if the Russians do not take action, they will take the initiative to fight against Troyes if Charles' army arrives.
The envoy sent by Conrad came with a warning letter, but in fact he misjudged the form.
If he could truly understand that the Ross cavalry who escaped from the Meuse Valley more than a month ago committed crimes, burning, killing, and looting villages in the County of Troyes, he should have thought of Alleran, Count of Troyes. Not only will his warnings fall on deaf ears, but he will also become furious.
More than thirty villages were burned, a cathedral built with huge investment was reduced to ashes, several knighthoods collapsed, the already small army was further damaged by sneak attacks, and countless refugees Flooding into the city of Troyes, God only knows when the mess will be properly resolved.
The Count of Troyes was busy dealing with the numerous troubles around him, and did not care about the series of actions of his neighbors not far away.
Troyes and Auxerre were not hostile, and the count did not expect that Auxerre would suddenly raise rebellion.flag.
The fact is that after running for about fifty kilometers, the envoy arrived at the city of Troyes and found himself in a refugee camp outside the city. The envoy was convinced that there had been an attack here.
At first, Count Aleran kindly summoned envoys from neighboring countries. Unexpectedly, a parchment letter was submitted, and the contents of the document were all asking Troyes to betray the emperor.
Is the Count of Auxerre confused? Kang
Hasn’t Ladd always claimed to be a loyal minister of the royal family? Conrad, in particular, served Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, and Lothair throughout his life, but eventually betrayed them.
What else is there to say, if the threat in the letter is not followed, the arrival of a huge army from the southwest to Troyes will be a barbaric war.
Earl Aleran was confused, and he was gradually shaken. It was not until he personally asked the envoy about the specific situation that he learned the facts like a bolt from the blue, and his originally shaken thoughts suddenly tightened.
It turns out that the murderer who madly attacked his territory has been found! The villains did not escape, but fled to Auxerre. Although he still couldn't believe it, looking at the words of the envoys, it seemed that an army of more than 10,000 people was entrenched in Auxerre.
"Russians? Are they the Russians who attacked me? Aren't they pirates who are good at rowing? Why do they have cunning cavalry? Stupid Conrad, are you asking me to make peace with those bandits? You Do you think I'm as depraved as you? You're a dog!" Aleran simply scolded him in front of the messenger.
Aleran personally chased and killed the gangsters who attacked the church but failed. Seeing the miserable appearance of the church in the fire, he was so angry that he just wanted to catch the attackers and kill them one by one with his own hands. bloodletting.
If he was absolutely rational, he would have known the time and sent an envoy to Auxerre to have a good talk with Conrad and the Russian nobles, and perhaps transfer some power to ensure that Trudeau The situation in Watts should not continue to deteriorate.
He never thought of this possibility, and he was so furious that he almost beheaded the messenger.
He told the envoy: "Go back and tell your master that Troyes will not
succumb to the barbarians." On the back of the parchment letter, he told people He wrote what he said, thought for a moment and added "Conrad of Auxerre was a dog", and then threw it to the messenger to get out.
The helpless envoy was too lazy to stay in Troyes any longer. Ordinary soldiers did not care about the fate of the great nobles, and only a few people regretted the fate of Aleran. Because this letter alone is enough to bring complete destruction to Troyes.
After a hearty rejection, Aleran did not sit still and wait for death.
As early as the end of March, when Troyes was suddenly attacked, mobilization began. Not only did the knights within the territory mobilize as much as possible, but a large number of peasants also took up arms. Watching the mighty army in the city of Troyes, the count's vitality was severely damaged by the expeditions in the past years. Troyes did not have the ability to conduct an expedition. The count was still capable of commanding the people in his hometown to protect themselves.
He was even more looking forward to the attacker appearing again, and he was waiting in Troyes.
But if the enemy's troops are really strong, it may be difficult to deal with it by relying on your own strength alone.
The best countermeasure that Troyes thought of was to move reinforcements. Count Aleran sent an envoy to the city of Provins in the northwest, where the royal mint was located. The area was under the direct jurisdiction of the emperor, and the garrison was completely under the emperor's orders. There is no doubt about the loyalty of those troops. If the enemy army really attacks Troyes in an all-out way, no matter whether it succeeds or not, Provins, not far away, contains huge wealth and will definitely be the target of the attack.
The envoys from Troyes rushed to Provins with great speed. As soon as the explosive news came, the local army did not intend to defend the mint with force, but to find ways to transfer the money
Retreat towards Paris.
Suddenly the people of Provins were in panic, rumors spread throughout the city, and the mint craftsmen were no longer interested in working. The entire city began to move spontaneously. People began to flee the day after the messenger arrived, and a full retreat began on the third day.
Could it be that just the words of a few messengers on horseback scared the entire city into fleeing? It turned out that the news of the attack on the Count of Troyes had already reached Provins. The local residents were the first to realize that barbaric bandits were launching an attack. However, the count's counterattack failed. The ferocious bandits were like devils, picking targets for sneak attacks in the big world. .
Since then, Provins City has been on alert, and now it is natural for them to be so nervous that they start to flee.
For the envoys, the city of Provins was just a passing city. After they arrived here, they began to divide their troops into two groups.
A group of messengers continued westward towards the city of Melun, arriving at Melun to inform the local governor of the news. Soon the Count of Paris would be informed of the coming war.
Another group of messengers rushed northwest to Meaux, and soon the Count of Saint-Quentin was duly threatened with war.
The area centered on Paris is quite densely populated, and there are a large number of knight territories there. Such a large number of lower-level nobles is the strength and confidence of the Earl of Paris. As relatives of the royal family, the Count of Paris and the Count of Saint-Quentin would not betray the emperor no matter what they thought, just as Troyes would not betray.
As for the rebellion in Auxerre, there is no problem in comparison - after all, they are Burgundians - sometimes a well-raised dog will suddenly bite its owner.
So the envoy to Troyes left and came back quickly. The envoy handed Alleran's reply to Conrad, who thought about it and disappeared
Troyes mocked and cursed him, and then sent the news to Rurik.
At this moment, the command center of the Russian army is still placed near the bridge in the south of the city. Rurik built some wooden houses here, and as usual, he built simple defenses based on wooden carts.
Rurik has learned about Fisk's adventure in Troyes, and there is also a Knight of Ounai in the coalition, who provided more detailed information.
An envoy claimed to have an audience with the King of Rus with important news.Rick thought that Conrad would never send anyone here unless there was a serious matter, so he asked the guards to let the people in considering the harmony between the two parties.
After some polite words, the messenger presented Conrad's personal letter. I saw some Latin words crookedly written on the parchment, clearly describing the firm hostility of the Count of Troyes, and even suggesting that the Russian army could take the initiative to attack the noble who was still loyal to Lothair.
All imperial nobles should fight, and this is the banner of the Ross Army.
The Countess of Troyes has already received a good beating. Since it is loyal to Lothair, it has no choice but to destroy it, otherwise it will feel like it is disrespectful to that guy's loyalty.
Rurik could take the initiative to attack them, but it was not Conrad who initiated this matter. It seemed that the cunning old boy was deliberately using the knife to kill people.
In any case, the Romanian-Mercian coalition is already very large and can ignore many possible risks.
Moreover, the army just rests and eats all day long. Doing nothing is a waste of the coalition's illustrious martial arts. Soon the coalition will really need to find an enemy to practice their skills with.
Troyes can be attacked but not now. If he attacks, he will be beaten to death with a stick. This requires mobilizing a group of powerful troops to fully suppress the enemy and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.
A new situation suddenly appeared.
A group of cavalry came from the southwest of Auxerre. There were more than a hundred of them.
That was Count Poitier’s cavalry. Even as a messenger, they came in great force. Count Bernard was afraid that the army controlling Auxerre would not recognize the existence of his troops, so he organized The larger force of envoys advanced in a swaggering manner.
Sure enough, Poitier’s cavalry met in the wilderness with Ross’s cavalry, which was patrolling on guard as usual.
The two sides saw each other. Ross's patrol force was obviously inferior in strength, and they noticed the situation and began to retreat decisively.
Poitier just wanted to figure out the situation, so he boldly continued to move forward. After all, they still have three Auxerre envoys who have spared their lives. With the three of them as multiple bargaining chips, they may be able to reach the city smoothly.
More than a hundred cavalry are already considered a relatively powerful combat force. Bernard feels that if he sends such a large number of troops, even if there is a high possibility of conflict with the Ross cavalry, his side will not suffer casually. .
Even as messengers, they also have the meaning of armed reconnaissance. Their appearance decisively aroused the attention of the Russian army.
Fisk was furious, quickly organized an army and rushed forward.
I heard that the brothers who had withdrawn said that the enemy cavalry was larger in number. Could it be that the mysterious army is still coming to charge? Currently, the Ross Army Camp is relatively lax, and there is indeed a risk of being attacked by a sneak attack.
Rurik learned the news later. At this moment, Fisk and Brody led their men to break out of the camp.
Soon there were more than 500 Ross cavalry lining up on the lush grass. About a stone's throw away, a group of soldiers
More than a hundred Poitiers cavalry in chainmail lined up in a horizontal line with their spears. They were surprised by the opponent's strong force and quick reaction. They were even more surprised by the numerous tents and wooden houses in the distance, and a large camp surrounded the Osse. The city suddenly appeared.
Soon, the trumpet of Ross Barracks sounded loudly, and the originally leisurely soldiers were sitting or lying down. They thought there was an enemy attack, so they quickly picked up their weapons and gathered together.
The Ross cavalry reacted more quickly than their infantry. Fisk had seen enemy attacks in the wilderness many times, and he was familiar with how to deal with them.
He looked at the other party carefully and felt that they were another group of familiar Frank-style cavalry.
Before the conversation, he had already thought about how to respond if a fight broke out, but looking at this posture, the other party did not look like they were going to start a fight.
Brody held the reins and rode into Fisk: "Fight or not? It looks like they are waiting for us to take the initiative?"
"Maybe it's that Otan Soldiers and horses from the country?" "Otan?" Brody thought for a while: "That's right, there is no need to fight them due to the south of Auxerre." /p>
"It's hard to say." Fisk shook his head: "We will stand here and order your brothers to prepare their bows. Whether to start a war or not, all follow my orders."
"It's already wound up. Let's see what they will do."
Bernard's soldiers and horses were not looking for trouble. They were suddenly blocked by troops in strange clothes. They subconsciously thought that this was Ou. The army of Serbo, until the former Auxerre envoy who was beaten into panda eyes, claimed that the group of feathers on their heads in front of them were the fierce Ross cavalry.
A knight walked out of their formation. This man
had a big nose like his companions.
He thrust his spear into the ground, drove his horse forward and spread his hands to show that he meant no harm.
"They sent a messenger." Brody reminded.
"I've seen them all. It doesn't matter." Fisk shrugged, "Let me go and meet them." After that, he himself rode up to meet them.
On one side was Frankish with a strong nasal sound, and on the other side was Frankish with unclear pronunciation and color. Both sides spoke to each other with gestures, and in the end they did not understand each other's situation.
There is one thing that the two sides agree on - neither of them has the desire to fight.
Fisk finally understood the most critical information from the vague sentences. Although it was hard to believe, the people coming were the legendary "Bald" Charlie's army. Behind more than a hundred cavalry, there was a mighty force. Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. As for how many thousands of people there are, Fiske has not figured out, but it is probably the number that Regraf mentioned before.
More and more Rus warriors are flocking to the south, where they gather with the cavalry.
Bernard's soldiers and horses looked left and right, and retreated after sensing that they might be surrounded, ensuring that each other was always safe.distance. < /p>
Subconsciously thinking that there was a battle to be fought, Rurik, who was busy putting on his plate armor, casually asked: "I know everything. I was the one who ordered the rally horn to be blown. Have you figured out their identities? ? Fisk has started a war?"
"Report to the king, the ones coming are actually...that Charlie's army."
"Huh? "
Rurik stopped dawdling. Regardless of the fact that he was wearing half of his plate armor, he suddenly leaned out and asked his subordinates in surprise: "Charlie? Bald Charlie is actually from? Appeared in our south?"
"That's what they claim to be." The shocked soldiers continued to report truthfully.
"Humph, that's really strange. Fortunately, we are prepared. Are all of them here, or are they just the vanguard sent?"
"It's the messenger. Lord Fisk is leading The brothers confronted them."
Hearing this, Rurik glanced carefully towards the south. He ignored the sound of horns and was convinced that he did not hear any fighting sounds. He was relieved. Smiling slightly: "Fisk finally came to his senses for once. I didn't need to start a war with Charlie, but fortunately there was no misunderstanding."
That's all, he immediately ordered the envoy in front of him: "You guys, go north quickly. At the Jovany camp, ask Reglaf to come to the south with his cavalry and tell my son that Charlie's army is here."
"After that, Several cavalrymen retreated quickly, mounted their horses magnificently, and rushed north in a flash.
Rurik then calmly tightened the belt of his plate armor, straightened his helmet, and ordered several personal guards around him with great interest: "We have already I have been idle for many days, but I didn’t expect to encounter Charlie’s army in this way. Follow me, let’s go see their situation.”
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