Because the Frankish Kingdom is a huge land power country, they have no navy, let alone an inland river fleet.

Located in Italy, the kingdom has always maintained a certain number of warships. The trireme warships inherited from the Greek and Roman era are still the absolute main force, but they have not encountered actual opponents.

In other words, even if the strength is severely weakened, most of the large Christian ships cruising the Mediterranean Sea belong to Eastern Rome.

The significance of the existence of Frank's ocean warships is reflected in the self-protection of its southern port.

Although inland waterway navigation is important, it has always been difficult to function on weekdays.

Only some people in inland rivers in some areas are allowed to fish for business, which is largely due to the tolerance of the priests and lords who control the local area.

All the wealth of the nobles comes from the taxes on the flat lands of their territories, and various methods are used to force them to farm the land with peace of mind. This is the basis for the nobles to stabilize their financial resources and tax base.

People who are restricted from fishing naturally have no need to build boats. Even facing the big river, there are very few fishing boats, and some of them are all small river barges.

The nobles would rather spend more money building pontoon bridges than building large ships.

This is the predicament that now lies in front of Knight Quentin Westrad, the captain of the banner who was ordered to recover the lost ground.

In front of you is the wide Moselle River!

He was dressed in heavy armor and stood by the river on a tall Frankish horse. Facing the rushing river when it swelled in summer, he looked at the water with frowning and sighed.

"If I have enough ships, even if the ships can only transport five people. My army can reach Koblenz quickly!"

He was complaining, and the guards and soldiers around him took advantage of the situation to help the captain say something nice.

"Don't talk about it!" He motioned everyone to shut up. "Continue to walk along the riverside road and cross the bridge at Trier! God bless us there is indeed a bridge there."

The Middle Kingdom has always maintained a garrison in the area around Aachen. Although Aachen is the capital and has the reputation of New Rome, the city was built late and has not yet expanded into a large city.

In the south of Aachen is the almost deserted Ardennes, where there are many kinds of wild animals, and unarmed people who enter the woodland can easily become the prey of bears, wolves, etc.

Through the mountainous woodland here is the Luxembourg Army Camp.

This place is also the residence of Quentin, the captain of the banner who was ordered to go to war.

He and his subordinates did not stay here for a long time. Last year, the city of Trier was looted, and a group of refugees fled to Luxembourg to ask for the protection of the army. After the disaster, Lothair ordered a new army to go to Luxembourg to strengthen its defense, and even sent some troops to Trier to clean up the mess.

The armored stomach was loaded on the carriages, and Earl Metz's men operated these logistics carriages to ensure that the army moved forward lightly.

Many Frankish infantry now only wear commoner clothes of similar colors, iron helmets of similar styles on their heads, and low-cut leather shoes, tied firmly with hemp rope laces.

Each of them carried a broad-bladed iron sword, and also carried a throwing hatchet at his belt. Everyone carried their own small buckler, which was much smaller than the Normans' shields, but was covered with iron sheets. They paid attention to deflecting deftly and even taking the opportunity to stun the opponent when fighting.

But such infantry seemed too ordinary, they were numerous in number, armed with swords and axes, and there were very few archers in the army.

Including the more than 200 people sent by Earl Metz who is in charge of logistics, a total of nearly 700 infantry, the scene is indeed mighty, what is the combat effectiveness?

At least the flag captain Quentin is confident.

His confidence and even pride not only come from being a standing army officer with the title of knight, but he can command more than 800 people to fight. The king attaches so much importance to it. Maybe if he works hard for the king and successfully captured Koblenz, then he will no longer be the king. A knight.

Just like his surname, or the name of his hometown, Westrade, Quentin is the lord of this agricultural village located on the edge of the Ardennes Mountains! The civil war gave a large number of soldiers in the standing army the opportunity, and those officers themselves were lower-level nobles. In this era when the rank transition is quite difficult, making military achievements for the king is simply a great opportunity for a knight to be awarded the title of baron, even if the fiefdom may not have one. Increase.

Names and titles are more important than gold and silver, and they are worth fighting for by junior officers!

King Lothar will fulfill all his promises, and the soldiers of the standing army are also willing to make meritorious deeds on the battlefield.

For Quentin, another part of his confidence comes from the cavalry centurions he leads personally! Frankish heavy cavalry, invincible in the world!

The army of more than 800 people has a sense of righteousness, and the soldiers are motivated by the slogan: "Revenge for Trier! Expel the Norman pirates who occupied Koblenz!"

Many things are difficult to hide even if some people want to hide them. Who actually attacked the city of Trier? It can be clearly identified as Norman pirates. How the pirates touched Trier all the way, because Ludwig had made a dastardly deal with the Normans. Lothar did not have sufficient evidence, and he was not a fool. The mastermind behind the attack on Trier could figure it out with his toes.

As for Koblenz, there is ample evidence that it was occupied by the Normans, especially from priestly letters. Even if the Normans converted to God, is this an inviolable reason? Ludwig has always kept a group of Norman mercenaries who believed in God. Their strength surpassed a banner team.

For these, King Lothar still firmly believes that the so-called "Haral Clarke Mercenary Squad" has never disappeared. This kind of Norman mercenary group has done all kinds of bad things, and it is also this group of Normans who occupied Koblenz.

In this way, the marching Quentin Banner marched with a series of information obtained.

For the king! For God! Eliminate the nobles who are in league with the Norman demons! Save the people oppressed by pirates!

The soldiers' emotions were high, and when they arrived at the city of Trier, which was severely damaged and repaired too slowly, this emotion immediately turned into anger.

Standing at Nicholas Gate, the blackened but standing northern gate, Quentin was as angry as if his own home had been burned.

When the people who fled back saw the newly arrived Frankish army, they all came together and cried about their tragic experience.

Even ordinary soldiers are regarded as saviors by the common people, and everyone is given high hopes.

It was no secret that the Normans had taken control of Koblenz, and now the Trier refugees knew it too.

The army rested in the city for a while, absorbing the anger of the locals.

Killing the enemy is righteousness, and punishing those traitors who defected to the Normans is also righteousness. Anyone who does anything for the Normans must be killed! All the villages of Koblenz will undergo "the Last Judgment on Earth", and anyone who has served the Normans will be hanged!

Standing in the ruins of Trier, Quentin sadly and angrily preached his idea of venting his anger to the soldiers, and his cry attracted a lot of response. The people suffering deeply heard howling and screaming heart-piercingly.

Passing the pontoon bridge of Trier, the army took a shortcut along the mountain road and rushed to Koblenz as quickly as possible.

Anger and eagerness to perform meritorious service suppressed the exhaustion of the body, and they moved forward as quickly as possible on one pair of feet.

Even so, Quentin is neither deaf nor blind. He has learned some legends about the north. It is said that the Normans are not only a group of despicable pirates, but also good at land warfare. A group of weak people who were said to have been beaten by Charlemagne, but now they are also stronger? probably. Koblenz originally had colleagues stationed there, and even had a stone fortress, so why was it quickly captured by the Normans?

Is it only explained by the fact that there are too few local troops? According to Quentin's understanding, this is probably the whole reason.

The road was close to the Moselle River again, which was very close to Koblenz. After finishing the final rest, the whole army began the final sprint.

Banner Captain Quentin kept wandering around the bonfire at night, emphasizing discipline constantly: "Polish your swords! Pack your shoes! We are about to enter our destination. We will first surround the first village, try the local nobles, and find out All the villagers who have cooperated with the Normans will be hanged on the spot! However, you are not allowed to attack the local women, and you are not allowed to rob wantonly! Violators will be beaten with twenty army sticks!"

The Frankish regular army has basic military discipline. In principle, it is a serious crime to attack civilians and priests!

Unless those people are villains who have betrayed morality.

Quentin was ordered to purge all the Norman forces in Coblenz and all the traitors. The soldiers recognized their mission this time, and the whole army began a well-trained assault the next day.

Then, the first village was suddenly surrounded by the army.

Seeing this, the knights of the village rode skinny horses, and led a slightly listless retinue, tremblingly greeted the Frankish army flying the cross and lion flags. They are definitely not Ludwig's army, and only the army of the Middle Kingdom can come from the upper reaches of the Moselle River.

Not being greeted by the knight, the heavy cavalry surrounded him and immediately disarmed them all.

"Why?! What are you doing?!" The knight's neck was also pressed down, his whole body was pressed to the ground, and his face was firmly stuck in the mud crushed by the horse's hooves.

Quentin took off his helmet, rode on the horse with high toes, and stared down with contemptuous eyes: "I don't need to know who you are, I only know that you are a traitor. You were the subjects of King Lothair, and now you are betraying King! Damn you!"

"Why? May I explain? I never"

"Come here! This person dares to argue! Call me!"

After a violent beating, the village knight lost his intuition. When he woke up again, he found that his neck had been wrapped with a rope.

He opened his eyes vigorously, and suddenly found that his whole family, young and old, had been arrested. Several sons, servants at home, and even the groom who was in charge of taking care of the horses would also be sentenced to death.

Everyone had their mouths stuffed with cloth, and their hands and feet were tightly bound.

The whole village, young and old, was driven to one place by these warriors. Now it was the setting sun, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone brightly on the warriors in chain mail, giving everyone no glory, but the fear that invaded the bone marrow.

Without any excuse, the whole family of the village knight was arrested, the man was to be hanged, the woman was detained, and in principle sent to the women's monastery in the south for the rest of her life.

Although Quentin, the captain of the banner, is a knight, he is really extraordinary. He has more than 800 combat troops in his hands, and he is directly responsible to King Lothar. Now it is the king's order to implement it.

He came prepared. Execution of prisoners is not random killing.

He took out a scroll of parchment, on which Lothair's edict was written.

He recited in public that the so-called army was ordered to execute all Koblenz nobles who betrayed the king and took refuge in the Normans.

The death sentence has been pronounced, the ropes are pulled up, and all the prisoners are hung on the tree, struggling desperately and gradually losing their breath.

Quentin squinted his eyes and quietly witnessed the deaths of those people, and then stared at the trembling villagers hugging each other with devilish eyes.

"Speak! Who else has worked for the Normans?!"

For a while no one answered.

He asked three times in a row, but all he responded was the trembling of the people.

"It seems that you are not talking!"

If the Normans were like demons when they killed and robbed, the current Quentin Westerlad is no different.

He ordered his subordinates to find out all the honest male farmers, and then issued the "Eleventh Killing Order".

For a while, the woman cried and the man howled, and the unlucky one who was selected fainted on the spot. Even so, he was twisted, put on a rope, and hanged alive on the tree.

Even though the priests in the village denounced such atrocities like the apostles of Satan, Quentin's group really ignored them in return.

He would never attack the priest, but there were threats.

Frightened for a while, the priest shut his mouth. Quentin gave the priest the task of solving the aftermath of the punishment.

The army would not stay in the first village for long. The next day, after looting the property and food of the knights in the killed village, the killing force continued to target the second village.

It's the same killing, but this time because the village is next to the river, those fast-legged people feel dangerous. They don't care about taking the family's treasures, and run away with their wives and children, and go down the river in a small boat...

When the first wave of refugees appeared, the third village who heard the news immediately began to flee. The refugees claimed that the knight lord in their village was arrested and hanged, and the army who claimed to be loyal to King Lothair claimed that everything was ordered to kill, and all the nobles would be killed because they betrayed Lothair.

The village knights, who are facing a great enemy, feel that they have no ability to resist at all, and the only thing they can rely on now is the Norman army.

The top priority is to escape!

No, the most real news of the killings reached the village of Nassau with the Normans' extremely fast rowing dragon-headed warships. The village knight came in person, and the information explained by many witnesses living in different places was not bad. It was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue.

How many enemies are there? Maybe another thousand. What is the enemy's purpose? Looks like it's killing people everywhere.

There was no warning about the sudden arrival of the Frankish army, and the black fox was annoyed at his carelessness and miscalculation. But things have already happened. The purpose of the Crusade Army is to take back Koblenz. How can this kind of thing allow them to succeed? !

Of course, the black fox didn't think that the local civilians had to be rescued. The key lies in the strategic location of Koblenz. The strategic fulcrum of Ross in the middle and upper reaches of the Rhine River is in the Lan River Valley of Nassau, and Koblenz is the gateway. Without it, Ross's layout is broken.

what can he do !

The black fox mobilized decisively. He was young and energetic and wanted to build a career with his own strength. Out of self-confidence, he was unwilling to ask for support from his friends at the estuary of the Inn River.

It is possible to piece together an army of 700 to 900 people just by relying on the northern heroes, Utrecht immigrants and local villagers at hand.

Those so-called soldiers who only hold simple weapons and don't wear armor can do their best to wave the flag and shout. Quickly counting his troops, Heihu estimated that he could mobilize at most five hundred reliable fighters.

that's enough.

However, perhaps there is no need to rely solely on these people and the huge army that suddenly came to fight to the end.

At this moment, his cunning heart as a businessman made his fat head work quickly.

"Of course I can't lose Koblenz, and I haven't fallen to the point where I have to fight them to the last drop of blood."

It was at this critical moment that Father Conrad could not ignore the armed action in this settlement. He walked into the baron's mansion, where he faced an unexpected situation. Black Fox, Robert and the two newly loyal knights, the four There is no end to talking in the face of emergencies.

When Father Conrad arrived, everyone fell silent.

"I beg you!" the priest burst into tears, "Since those armies are demons! I beg you to save the people first! Let them be unkillable! Go and save the innocent lamb! Use your ships to save the people!" They were transported across the river, and you too are Christians, and your righteousness will be praised forever."

After the priest said that, the black fox remembered that there was indeed a sterling silver cross hanging on his chest.

At first, the black fox was hesitant about evacuating the people in the Koblenz Riverside area~www.mtlnovel.com~ He can save them. Although there are not many ships on hand, they have a strong carrying capacity. In addition, those riverside residents have many small boats, which can also help transfer people.

Black Fox can hesitate, his fiance Sophia has been persuaded by Conrad. The education this little girl received made her feel that she should save people from fire and water. After all, she was also the ruler of Koblenz, and she ruled not the land, but also the residents above.

Now facing his wife's determination, the hesitant Heihu no longer hesitated.

At this moment, Robert, who was waiting for the boat, proposed a new possibility: "Why do you have to work hard now? It's not like your brother won't come. I'm afraid they are already on the way at this moment. I don't have many people now, but I can help you. I also I can't see those guys wantonly killing indiscriminately in the name of Lothair, which is why I have never been loyal to Lothair."

Only then did Heihu realize that as long as the war was delayed a little, he could wait for the second brother Lanhu's boat. At that time, the Robert family will leave by boat.

"Then don't fight first, let's delay the time first! Evacuate people as much as possible first! Fight with them for time! Gather all the ships and rush to build rafts, and don't stop at night! Evacuate all the people in the villages under the Koblenz Fortress!"