The huge fleet is drifting on the Rhine River, and the victorious army is rushing to another battlefield at high speed.

Most of the oars of each boat are retracted, leaving only a few as rudders to control the course.

The water of the Rhine River pushed them through Cologne smoothly, and passing the riverside name with solid stone walls by boat was really a different feeling for Robert in this life.

As a high-ranking nobleman, even if he lost his fief now, his status is still a nobleman.

It is foreseeable that this man will inevitably change his identity and continue to be chic after he arrives at his father-in-law's territory.

Robert was able to sit on the flagship of Blue Fox and have a good chat with this fierce "Ross merchant" along the way.

On the right is Cologne. He noticed that there was an endless stream of people on the shore, and those who were crossing the river in small boats took an evasive attitude when they saw the huge fleet coming.

He stared intently at the stone wall, and then slightly raised his head against the large cross specially erected on top of the cathedral, the tallest building in the city.

"Do you want to stay here? Maybe, you can talk to the bishop." The flirtatious blue fox sat lazily and smiled casually.

"No need. I don't want the bishop to see my downfall." As he spoke, Robert nodded his head silently. "Keep sailing. Just do as planned."

"Very well. Then we may stop at Utrecht a little longer."

"There? Don't go there."

There was a little panic in Robert's words, why?

"Why don't you go? Anyway, along the way, my army can also make some supplies locally." Blue Fox said deliberately.

"Need supplies? You go by yourself. Give my family some ships, let me go to your new Durist first..."

"It's Rotterstadt. The ruins of Durrist are history, we have new ones."

"Anyway, it's the new stronghold of your Normans." Robert shrugged: "I can rest there. After that, I will go south, and I will go to Tours quickly. Even if it is a dangerous sea route."

"Sea route? Dangerous? Absurd." Blue Fox smiled and shook his head, "You can't go first, and you can't go without my permission. It doesn't matter if you don't go to Utrecht, your old vassal Henry Nassau is there to do it. Earl. A mere baron is stronger than you now, and no one with self-respect can face it. Don't worry... I won't let you be wronged."

"It seems that you understand it very well. That's good."

"However." Blue Fox added casually: "When you arrive at Rotterstadt, you will see our army that is about to rob Aachen. You will see some old friends. Of course, if you are willing to meet with them."

Hearing this, Robert, who was barely calm, became nervous again. "You!" He stuck his head out and bared his teeth: "Are you entertaining me?"

"I dare not. But those guys may say something sarcastic. It is a fact that you were defeated two years ago. Are we allies now?"

"Allies? Maybe."

"At least we can do business. It also includes military transactions. If there is a demand from Tours in the future, as long as we pay a suitable price, we Ross will send troops to help."

"Oh! Thank you so much." Robert deliberately emphasized his tone.

Robert had great expectations for his trip to Tours. His father-in-law was dead, and the new Earl of Tours, his brother-in-law, was very young, and his wife was not too young.

The brother-in-law is noble but too immature. Can he control the entire Loire (Country of Tours)? If he feels struggling, his brother-in-law will step up his efforts to help.

After some chatting, the army that had left after the victory in Nassau-Koblenz had passed through Cologne silently.

Archbishop Hardbold, who had heard about the event, stood on the high wall, and the cardinals watched silently as the fleet of longships sailed away in a very peaceful manner.

"They won at Koblenz?"

"I don't know how many more people they killed."

"They have thirty to forty people in a boat, look at these boats, there are at least a thousand people leaving..."

Cardinal priests have different opinions, and it is hard for the archbishop to say anything about it. The large-scale war about Koblenz has been sent along with the messengers of the Wallendal Abbey. Within a few days of the letter delivery, the huge Ross fleet rowed across the city arrogantly with amazing large oars.

Some things the elderly archbishop dare not think about!

If you have an army of thousands of people, it will cost a lot of money and food just to feed them. Are the Ross people gods? That blue fox can summon an army of thousands of people with a wave of his hand at will? No one is an idiot. Many of the guys on those boats wear highly reflective helmets, and all of them have blond hair without helmets.

The well-informed archbishop estimated that a staggering number of Norman troops were entrenched at the mouth of the Rhine. Are they going to fight a big battle? Apparently this is the only plausible explanation.

Who are they going to hit? Obviously little Koblenz is not their main target.

Maybe

Even if the blue fox stayed in Cologne with a small army some time ago, everyone did not reveal that the army was going to attack New Rome, the capital of the empire.

The bishop is not a fool, he can think about it himself, and after thinking about it, he can estimate the approximate direction of their attack. It's like a pack of wolves will always rush to the sheepfold, because the location of the sheepfold is basically constant, and the most meat is there.

But what does this have to do with the Diocese of Cologne?

Unlike Odegar, the archbishop of Mainz, the archbishop of Cologne had offered an olive branch to Ludwig before the outbreak of the civil war. This is not all because the Diocese of Cologne as a whole is on the right bank (north bank) of the Rhine River, but also because if Lothair is really made the only king of the whole of Frank, this king who values power and tactics will not be able to plunder Cologne's wealth?

Although the Ross people extorted 5,000 pounds of silver coins very hatefully, it was a one-shot deal, and besides, the two sides can do reciprocal trade in peace now. The wool textile handicraft industry is a unique skill in Cologne. With this set of business tactics, the Cologne Diocese will be able to make money back sooner or later.

How about Lothar? If he controls Cologne, it means that the pocket of wealth is controlled by him. If this is the case, the good days of the priests will be over.

Cologne will definitely not have trouble with money. Secondly, the Cologne Diocese is responsible to the Holy See. As for the war between the great nobles, there is no need to intervene in principle.

But Cologne was still deeply involved in the civil war, and economic support for Ludwig was even more important than military support. As if they were neutral, they allowed the troops of the Eastern Kingdom to enter and leave at will, and the troops of the Middle Kingdom were not allowed to cross the river. It doesn't matter that there are a large number of Norman armed forces entrenched at the mouth of the Rhine River. After all, Cologne also signed the peace treaty on Christmas Day a year ago. In principle, those Norman troops would guarantee the defense and security of Cologne.

"Perhaps they thought offense was the best defense. Normans are Normans."

Bishop Hadbold would definitely not look at all the Normans with high regard, but was afraid of the humility they had to show due to their might. This attitude was also the same when facing King Ludwig.

The Ross fleet had disappeared without a trace, and the Bishop, who had been silent for a long time, heard too much talking from others.

He coughed twice to stop the noise: "Let's go, the Normans are going to rob again, and the Lord will punish them."

The Lord will punish them? So the Cologne priests who had deep trade with the Normans were punished for sitting down?

Who cares?

The priests are now more concerned with the "autumn wool" of Flanders, when the second batch of wool of the year will arrive in Cologne by the Flanders in the longships of the Normans, especially the Ross. The current situation is that the wool of the entire Flanders wool-producing region is almost the only destination, which is Cologne, by water transport. In the entire trade activity, Cologne passively completes the monopoly of processing materials.

Only Cologne has a huge handicraft population that can quickly consume Flanders wool, and the finished wool products are sold to the entire Frankish world. The prospect of wealth is bright.

In his heart, the archbishop hoped that the Norman army would loot the Middle Kingdom on a large scale this year, but on the surface, he did not make any representations, even if it was a play, he showed that he did not understand and did not want to understand this matter.

The Ross Army didn't even want to stop at the shore to rest if it wasn't necessary. There were even villages and strongholds belonging to the Middle Kingdom on the left bank of the river. In theory, they were all plunderable targets.

The blue fox no longer wastes time, and decisively does not take the northern waterway after entering the estuary area, so-called no longer from the Utrecht waterway.

The fleet took the widest waterway and arrived in Rotterstad smoothly and quickly.

At this time, a large number of ships cruising on the extremely wide river can be seen with the naked eye. They are all large and small long ships. its identity.

And in the lowlands on the right bank of the river, stretches of houses appeared in incredible numbers.

This place is certainly not Durist, even if it is not a ruin, it is not built on the largest river.

"Unbelievable." Robert stood up in amazement. He walked on the long boat until he reached the bow, leaning on the wood and holding the cable, looking at the huge settlement on the shore, he continued to sigh: "It seems to have popped up all of a sudden. A large area of mushrooms. How did you do it? Shouldn't this place be a wasteland?

The blue fox couldn't help but fell into deep pride. He shouted loudly, and his words were more exaggerated: "You are indeed here for the first time. This is Rotterstadt, which is a larger settlement than Durist. It must be here now. Ten thousand people! We fish here, we ship goods here. The army is stationed here, and we can fight whoever we want! This place belongs to no one."

"Doesn't belong to anyone? Doesn't it belong to you?!"

"Only part of it belongs to Ross! You see." The blue fox pointed to a small river in the estuary area: "That is the settlement of the Danes, and we Ross can't control them."

"Where is your power?"

"It's still downstream, and you'll see it soon."

Indeed, there were apparently marked differences between the Rus' and Danes' areas of control. The Danish-controlled area was colonized by various tribes. They built houses in the same way as in their hometown. Pieces of longhouses with haystack roofs rose up from the ground, and the arrangement along the river looked chaotic as a whole, but the residents in it could be clearly distinguished which tribe they belong to.

The Ross Kingdom is more organized, especially the red fox of the Gould family was appointed as the governor of Rotterstadt, specifically the governor of the area controlled by the local Ross people. It is better to place materials and take into account transportation. Shops especially choose places closer to the sea. Although this kind of area is more prone to erosion by sea tides, the convenient location makes the trouble of tides no longer a problem.

For this place, Rurik does not want people to become the territory of the kingdom. It is enough for the kingdom to set up a base covering trade, shipping, and military here.

Rurik thinks so, some nobles don't want to be just like that.

Baudouin, Earl of Flanders, did not trust all Ross people, but the young governor, the red fox Gouldsson arranged by Rurik, was worthy of trust and win over.

Baudouin couldn't wait to send his youngest daughter there. Of course, the little girl was not of the marriageable age under the Frankish law. It's all right!

Marriage is also a bargaining chip in commercial trade. Baudouin was afraid that the situation would change. Taking advantage of the opportunity of victory in the wool monopoly trade that had just been completed, and a large number of Norman nobles entrenched at the mouth of the Rhine, he thought about waiting. He is well versed in the art of being able to see the wind and the rudder, and he thought about it quickly and sent his daughter to the Ross shop at the mouth of the river.

Is the little fat red fox a villain? Absolutely not. This fat little golden retriever is eager for merit and glory, and his understanding of glory is to become rich, just like his deceased old father.

Cohabitation is considered marriage. With a woman by his side, a man's heart is basically tied.

So when the returning fleet docked, the red fox who came to greet him in person resolutely brought his fiance with him, and in Lanhu's view, his fourth brother brought his sister-in-law to welcome him.

On the other hand, I am still a "lonely ocean wave" until now.

There is no woman that makes Lanhu very obsessed, and he doesn't care about marriage and childbirth. Anyway, my fief in the north has a very large population, so I can just pick a few women to be my wives, even if there is still a cross on my chest.

The Ross shop is still on a high place, and there is still a distance from the pier, so the tide will not erode the main body of the shop.

A small-scale city rose from the ground, with wooden walls surrounding a large number of neatly arranged buildings. Just outside the wooden wall is a considerable number of shantytowns. Although there are a large number of shacks and wooden houses, their arrangement is also very particular. The reserved horizontal and vertical roads are arranged in a grid, and drainage ditches have been dug on both sides of the road. . The road is not reinforced, but the road surface is as smooth as possible, that is, it should be muddy after heavy rain.

The victorious soldiers disembarked one after another and returned to their temporary barracks one after another.

The Ross-Danish allied forces, who are eager to go on an expedition, have been waiting here for a long time. The blue fox doesn't know if they are worried, but a large number of wooden poles are tied with hemp ropes, and a large number of cut and propped fish are hanging on the ropes. Baked in the sun to become dried fish, and this purely air-dried salted fish is a very common dry food for sailing in the Viking world.

Robert originally thought that he would stay in a corrupt pirate den for a few days before going to the civilized world of Tours. Unexpectedly, the situation in the area controlled by the real Ross people was very good.

What surprised him the most was that the road was straight, and the blackened road surface was because its composition was coastal silt. The road surface did not smell of feces and urine, and the houses on both sides of the road were not chaotic.

"What do you think?" Blue Fox, who had been chatting with his fourth brother for a while, deliberately approached the Robert family who were looking around. His smiling appearance clearly showed off, and Robert had to admit that they had the capital to show off.

"I feel fine. You call this a shop?"

"if not?"

"It should be a city."

"Yes, but not all. Let's go, enter the wall, that is the body of the shop. Haha, an impenetrable fortress. I will hold a noble dinner tonight."

Speaking of this, the blue fox did not forget to say something more: "Robert, you are a great nobleman, and your wife is equally noble. The young King of Mercia, the Duke of Mellaron of Ross, and my counties are also here. The five barons of the country, the princes of Denmark, the sons of the earls of Finland..."

Blue Fox pinched his fingers to count, the number of nobles was large, which proved the complexity of the huge army stationed here.

And this surprised Robert even more.

How many Norman troops are there? The elite soldiers who can directly participate in the battle are said to be as large as 3,000, and with the addition of the next-level soldiers, the number of troops exceeds 4,000. But in Robert's view, all northern fishermen turned into soldiers, which is the characteristic of the Normans.

He guessed that Blue Fox's words were still conservative~www.mtlnovel.com~ After all, when the fleet landed, he saw a group of long ships of different sizes near the coast of the area controlled by the Ross people. Float lots of ships.

There are even multiple giant ships that cannot be ignored.

The man with such a huge military power is just Joseph Blue Fox? King Ross himself is not here? Does Rurik really trust this round-faced guy?

Well, don't think too much about it.

Robert was very happy that the returned Blue Fox asked his subordinates to surprise him with a sumptuous dinner to cleanse the dust. There was no serious embarrassment in this dinner without the Count of the Netherlands, that is, Henry Nassau. But no matter how you think about it, the dinner is a "barbarian's dinner". It would be a humiliation for the second lady of the Earl of Tours and his wife to participate.

The high-ranking female nobles had no reason to participate in such a possibly very rough banquet. Robert was only willing to go alone. He was ready to be ridiculed by a group of Norman nobles about his past defeat, and patted his old face resolutely and resolutely participated.

Because he wanted to know how the group of barbarians wanted to attack Aachen.