Koblenz continued to burn, and the joy of escape quickly turned to despair.
My home is gone, what should I do in the future? !
Father Bachbert couldn't understand why the troops loyal to Lothair wanted to set fire to it, and now even the holy monastery was burned.
The bald man tried to hide his pain, and when he saw Father Conrad, who maintained order, the two old guys simply hugged each other and cried.
They were all devout priests, and when they thought of the monastery being maliciously destroyed, and thought that those troops were not even as good as the Normans, they couldn't hide their crying anymore.
"What are those two old men crying about? They look like two women." Old Eric glanced at them and muttered in confusion.
Wadi threw firewood to the bonfire and muttered casually: "Cry. The home has been destroyed, so I can only cry."
"If someone demolishes my home and finds an opportunity, I will execute the entire family of the attacker. Cry?! How can the attacker cry to death."
"But they are priests. As servants of God, murder is a great sin."
"Really? We also believe in their gods." Old Eric shook his head sullenly, "I don't want to be a coward. We might as well keep setting up the altar."
"That's not the case. Only God's servants are pedantic. Besides, who can control us."
"So?" Old Eric looked at the old man: "Our little fat man went to negotiate with that Robert, and he must have organized a counterattack. We are the old civilians, and we are the ones who counterattack. The savior? In my opinion We are the saviors."
"Who knows?" Vardy shrugged: "The brothers who came back have explained the situation of the enemy. We have to find a way to kill them all!"
"Yes! They all beheaded, and the bodies were thrown into the river and floated into the sea. I heard that according to their belief, the souls of decapitated people cannot go to heaven. We will take revenge like this!"
"Not really." Vardy shook his head, his slightly twisted head showed a fierce look: "Why don't you give that Ludwig upstream a gift."
"what gift?"
Wadi started to decapitate with a knife in his hand, and then yelled in a low voice: "Give him a thousand heads."
"It's fierce enough. Unexpectedly, you are so cruel."
"if not?"
Vadi is a Slav of Pomeranian descent. After several twists and turns as a slave, he became a general of Nassau. After this crisis, he must be made a baron. With a title of title, one can not be controlled by others to a certain extent, and can have some opinions of one's own.
Especially this Koblenz crisis.
The physical condition of the little fat black fox determines that he can't fight. He has a good mind. What he lacks most now is the experience of directing frontal battles.
The kid needs the help of the old guys. The most important thing for him to consider now is to determine what kind of attitude to plan a general direction and a grand strategy, and then the brothers will help him implement it.
"Still chatting?"
The speaker was the black fox, and behind him stood Robert and a total of five other knights.
Two knights from the Hesse Mountains, and three knights from the Koblenz Mountains who had recently escaped with their families.
"It's just to talk about what to do in the future." Said, Wadi pulled the old Eric to stand up.
"We chatted for a while, now let's get together and talk. We are all fighters, now let's talk about how to fight."
It seems that the young black fox has really become a seasoned general, maybe he has the potential in this regard. He did learn some things from Rurik, King of Ross, and the two were looking forward to him coming up with new ideas.
Tonight, the black fox took on his wife's title responsibility and talked with the other six nobles as Earl of Koblenz-Nassau-Leingau.
The Ross army stationed has sufficient combat experience, and there is no one with more experience than Robert who is about to leave.
As a veteran military nobleman, Earl Robert of Lyingal was able to mobilize an army of as many as 3,000 men in his heyday. Of course, his elite is his five hundred cavalry. The vassal knights formed a "cavalry tactical squad" with their retinues. These people could organize 200 cavalry. In the end, Robert took out his 300 elites. At that time, 500 Ingol heavy cavalry went north to fight.
Henry, the Baron of Nassau at that time, also brought all his cavalry, including the only second knight, and after gathering fifty men, he went north with Feng Jun. Unlike those knights, the Nassau side has a certain degree of autonomy.
This was exactly two years ago.
Fast-forward two years, and now the host and guest have changed positions, and the former enemy has become not only an ally, but also the leader of the war.
Nassau is weak but strong! It is to grab the huge population currently occupied.
Lanstein is the estuary of the Lane River, and the deep Lane River Basin is the main body of Nassau. The long valley and valley plains gathered more than 7,000 people in a short period of time. According to the Viking tradition, it is not easy to gather an army of 3,000 men from it. question. However, there are many prerequisites for these farmers to join the army. The most important thing is whether they are willing to fight the enemy.
If the lord summons the local peasants to fight, the peasants will definitely bring their own dung forks, threshing chain flails, and short spears, and follow behind the lord's elite. Life is one's own, and the lord's elite will do it bravely and fiercely, unless the war really damages the property of the peasants.
Now, the refugees in Koblenz had an absolute reason to fight.
The knights who escaped could be said to have narrowly escaped death. Those peasants who had seen the army of the Middle Kingdom kill intentionally, after some agitation, a little spark in their hearts turned into a raging flame.
If the peasants want revenge, they use the farm tools they brought back as weapons, or cut down a small tree and sharpen it to make a whistle stick.
Overnight, as many as nearly a thousand peasant fighters emerged from the Koblenz refugees alone. Of course, no one is optimistic about the combat effectiveness of these people. They cannot face the armored enemy head-on. Unless the enemy retreats, these peasant soldiers can join in the downwind battle and beat the dog in the water.
At least they are loud! Coupled with the peasant fighters mobilized from Nassau, it is obviously no problem to gather the previous 200 people.
Who is their commander in chief? Robert couldn't be more fitting.
The dignified Earl Ingol led everyone to defeat the enemy who burned down their homes, and the two priests endorsed the Earl's righteous deed. The earl has a certain elite, and there are five knights to help out. With these elite troops, a maximum of fourteen hundred people can be assembled in the end.
Of course, a large number of people does not mean a strong combat effectiveness. The Nassau side does have a boat that can quickly transport them to the other side of the river to launch an attack.
However, if there is a beach-and-landing battle, no matter what you think, the Nassau-Leingo side will show its weakness to the enemy.
Of course the black fox knew that he could send a small boat downstream to call for reinforcements, but he didn't do so.
Is the situation so dangerous that reinforcements must be called in? What will others think of me?
The young fat man got angry, and this time he wanted to use his existing strength to defeat the enemy as much as possible!
A group of military generals got together, not far away was Koblenz, which continued to burn, and they studied the tactics.
People who experience panic need to continue to rest, and the Ross Army who rested overnight will not.
Three hundred warriors were assembled at Lanstein at the mouth of the river, and ten longships were ready to go.
"Then it's up to your people. Make them restless!" Black Fox finally said a few words to Vardy.
"Don't worry. If we don't let us have a good time, they won't have a good time either. Let's go."
Three hundred soldiers boarded the ship one after another, and discerning people noticed that they were carrying a huge number of bows and crossbows, and even a few special heavy weapons.
It was a torsion slingshot temporarily unloaded from an armed cargo ship moored in Nassau Village. The six-seat slingshot was used as the main weapon of the big ship. It had an unparalleled tactical advantage in this battle. However, the big ship is not suitable for today's flexible combat mode. .
Six longships had torsion slingshots mounted at the bow, which could fire javelins, cast-iron pellets, and even multiple light arrows.
They have an excellent range advantage, coupled with the tradition of missing bows used by the Ross army, the black fox wants to bully the enemy with its own advantage.
At the same time, the fire in Koblenz has been burning all night, and the smoke from the open fire is still slightly reduced. Only the fire at the fortress will be extinguished naturally.
Quentin, who fantasized about punishing the traitors in Koblenz, clearing out the Normans, and looting property for military supplies, disappointed him greatly.
Even the vast number of Frankish warriors standing outside the flames, and those with keen eyes seeing the cross on the steeple of the monastery crumbling in the thick smoke, are all judging themselves.
The soldiers could only camp on the spot, with the fire on one side and the news of the loss of cavalry on the other. In addition, they saw the Norman ships majesticly going up the current twice in a row, but they lacked the ability to counterattack. regret.
The continuous marching soldiers were exhausted, they lay down and fell asleep, and when they woke up, it was already daylight.
This was most of the time when the Frankish army was at its weakest. They didn't even wear armor, they just made linings and lay in disorder.
The Ross army stationed in Nassau knew nothing about this, but it was not too late for Vardy to bring his brothers to deliberately cause trouble.
They carried bull horns and two drums. These tools for cheering and communication have now become characteristic weapons for scaring people.
The sentinel of the Frankish army was drowsy. Now that the sentry had changed, the replacement soldier wriggled around the riverside area.
Soldiers were ordered to look for barges, and cavalry in heavy armor early in the morning searched the riverside area together. The lazy soldiers woke up one after another, and were told to start crossing the river as soon as they found enough boats. The centurion asked his own people to be more vigilant.
Want to fight across the river? The soldiers who heard the news woke up one after another. They had to consider a terrible fact-I can't swim.
Wear heavy armor to avoid being attacked by the cunning Normans again. But wearing heavy armor and falling into the water while crossing the river is sure to die.
So what should I do? This is the order of the captain of the banner.
Whether it is excitement or entanglement, the Quentin Banner of the Frankish Army is waking up, and they are regaining their slack combat effectiveness.
It was at this juncture that there was a sudden sound of horns and drums.
It was not the horn of the Frankish army, but a distant and deep sound, as if from another world.
who is it? ! Should it be an enemy? !
They couldn't help doubting that two pointed Viking longships appeared brazenly in the river, and the sound of drums and horns came from these ships.
The current eliminates the need for oars, and the Ross warriors on the ship will drop the anchor at the right time according to the order.
Vardy stood up with a group of brothers, holding a shield in his left arm, holding a scabbard or ax handle in his right hand, and kept beating his own shield, accompanied by a rhythmic Viking war cry. challenge.
The time has come, Wadi's flagship dropped its anchor, and the follow-up ships moved one after another. The ships were inconceivably fixed on the course of the Rhine River, arranged in two staggered teams. The soldiers wore armor and were deliberately located within the enemy's arrows. They seemed to put themselves in a dangerous place. As the saying goes, if the enemy's arrows can hit me, I can attack better.
The soldiers on the port side lined up in a shield wall and kept knocking on the shields and shouting, their figures completely concealed the brothers behind them.
A layer of round shields has been hung on the port side, plus a row of warrior shield walls, because the anchored ship is like a small fortress.
The soldier on the starboard side didn't say a word, busy stringing the steel-armed crossbow, and what's more, adjusting the torsion slingshot.
Vardy squinted his eyes and stared at the violent actions the Franks were making. The enemies stood up and gathered one after another. It was obvious that his moves had completely attracted their attention.
From Quentin's point of view, this is the Norman army's initiative to challenge!
"The Normans are about to attack! Quickly line up and fight with them! Quickly wear armor!"
"Quick! Assemble the archers, shoot them to pierce the cover for the infantry."
Quentin said a lot, and seized the time to gather the existing cavalry. Even the 200 people sent by Earl Metz, who acted as a logistics soldier, took up arms, and all of them deliberately stayed on the shore to wait for work.
According to previous legends, the Normans always took the initiative to attack, and their ships rushed to the shore like wild beasts. According to these statements, Quentin thinks that waiting for work is the right choice.
More than fifty archers also cameo as infantry, they didn't pay much attention to bows and arrows, just because they had the right choice for the purpose of killing the enemy. Weak bows and arrows are of limited use to soldiers in armor. After all, the Ross army is a different kind. Apart from them, there is no second force capable of equipped with a large number of carbon steel armor-piercing arrows, and no second force is equipped with more advanced weapons. crossbow.
Yesterday was just a small setback, but today Quentin doesn't care about it, and he doesn't feel ashamed at all if he fights on foot. Even, he deliberately brought fifty heavy cavalry to launch a victory-winning attack at a suitable time. He felt that all he had to do was lure the enemy ashore.
But Vardy and Ross fighters were staring at the archers.
"The enemy's archers are coming! Pay attention to concealment!"
When he came down like this, the soldiers who made the big noise bowed down one after another, covering them with their round shields, and also covering up the crossbowmen behind them who were about to shoot.
The Frankish archers didn't say a word. They stood by the river bank, ignoring the cool waves of the Rhine lapping on the soft beach. Many people's shoes were soaked. They stuck six arrows in the mud, and immediately shot at a commander Under the leadership, the first round of salvo was launched.
The arrows began to hit the Ross man's shield, and clusters of wrought iron arrows pierced the shield one after another, making the wooden shield crackle.
The first round of volley followed immediately by the second round. The Ross people just put on the posture of an old tortoise, with many arrows stuck on the shield wall, and even some strange beasts on the bow of the long ship were also hit by arrows.
These barbed arrows are not designed to hit unarmored infantry, but the arrows of the wrought iron clusters are thrown by short wooden bows, and the final power is really limited.
In fact, the distance between the two sides was only 70 meters at best. The short wooden bow had to be thrown, and Ross's steel-armed crossbow only needed to shoot at a slightly raised angle. And the latter fires heavier arrows!
The six rounds of arrow rain were over, and the Frankish archers were a little tired, but they still maintained their formation and rested their arms.
They didn't know how many enemies they had killed, and now they suddenly saw the shield walls of those ships spread out, and the shield bearers squatted down one after another.
Some unshielded figures stood up, as if holding something strange.
Standing in Wadi's perspective, he saw that his bow bearers had already taken their positions, and with one command, all arrows were fired.
Those Frankish archers in formation became a living target!
Javelins and stubby crossbow arrows smashed at the head and face. The archers who were temporarily unarmored suffered heavy losses in the first round of the Ross Army's counterattack.
The chest was pierced by a javelin, the neck was pierced by a short and thick strange arrow, and the abdomen and legs were shot...
It's not over yet.
"Crossbowmen! Rewind! Slingshot! Recharge! Others, shoot with your short bows!" Vardy shouted at the opportunity.
The crossbowmen on the flagship set an example for other ships. They pulled out the arrows from their shields and put them on their short bows to pay back. However, these brothers are not good hunters, and shooting with short bows is at best a tactical cover. .
Fortunately, the counterattack of these light arrows further disturbed the position of the enemy archers. With the second round of crossbow shooting, the Frankish archers left more than 30 fallen people and fled.
They even heard the wounded groaning and spitting blood, but they could do nothing to rescue them.
The riverside area has become a dangerous place? !
"They've escaped! Fear not! Keep hitting their infantry with the torsion slingshot! Give them a big gift!"
All the torsion slingshots threw the javelins at a 45-degree angle, and the six lightweight javelins flew more than 200 meters in a whirl, and plunged into the Frankish heavy infantry that had just formed.
Even the chain mail or cloth face armor worn can't match the impact of the javelin. Even if it is a lightweight javelin, light is right. The purpose of the special carbon steel needle point is to break the armor, and the armor provides a certain protection, but the arrow is still inserted into the body by the javelin.
All six arrows hit, only because the Frankish infantry stood too densely.
The Frankish army immediately became agitated, but only six javelins were not enough to break the momentum. At first they didn't know what kind of blow they had encountered, but when they examined it they found it to be a javelin.
Since it is a javelin, there are ways to deal with it. Their small iron-covered shields were raised above their heads to welcome the brand-new javelins, but some casualties were still inevitable.
One side is passively beaten, and the other side is to shoot without haste~www.mtlnovel.com~ Facing brothers who have been shot by arrows one after another, and the arrows are almost fatal injuries, the morale of the Frankish flag team that has formed a formation is rapidly disintegrating . The critical point was reached, and the array avalanche in an instant.
Even if Quentin gritted his teeth and urged everyone not to flee, the soldiers had to retreat as much as possible. Everyone just didn't want to die in ignorance, and this escape would be a long way away.
Did the Franks just escape?
The joyful Ross people couldn't help but someone suggested: "Let's land directly."
login? It stands to reason that it is necessary to implement the black fox's request not to log in.
Vardy has absolute command power, and this is an exception based on the actual situation on the battlefield. He chose to be conservative, so he sent a boat of brothers to land, and ordered: "You guys retrieve the lost arrows, capture the slightly injured guys, and give the seriously injured ones a good time. Remember, don't enter the inland."
Accompanied by the waves of swear words and taunts against the enemy in Frankish by the brothers behind them, they rowed the boat to start the operation of "recovering lost arrows and catching tongues".