The bridge in Maastricht has collapsed, and to the east of the broken bridge is a flat road that continues eastward.

This land passage can certainly lead directly to Aachen, and from then on the land battle can be started to complete the final battle.

The soldiers suffocated their energy, and they still wanted to fight Liege, and they made a fortune by taking Aachen all the way east.

Ordinary soldiers don't think much, but Lan Hu and the nobles have to think too much.

It is precisely because the army is forced to move by land, the ships that maintain strong combat effectiveness are completely useless. The army came here for the purpose of making money and destroying things, not fighting the main force of the Frankish army. This kind of frontal fighting should be avoided as long as necessary.

The coalition forces would rather dawdle for some time to destroy the traffic in the two large towns on the Meuse River to ensure that the coalition forces have no worries.

Either they fell ill due to the continuous rain, or the resources were left in the camp on the right bank of the river. Blue Fox left some soldiers behind. Their task was to guard some of the coalition longships and all the large ships, and it would take some time to continue Build the right bank camp.

A part of the army is doomed not to participate in the future march to Aachen. They have to take care of the spoils plundered in previous battles and guard all the ships.

Now, the Swedish Mlaren Army has become unreliable, and Duke Bjorn left the meeting on his own. He can do this, and he may walk away with the spoils they looted in a few days.

It is impossible for these people to serve as a military force to defend the rear!

After thinking about this aspect, the blue fox can only reduce its own strength to garrison the camp on the right bank in the future. Undoubtedly, this is a real weakening of its strength for attacking Aachen.

He had a bad feeling that the attack on Aachen would eventually turn into a very embarrassing operation.

This is not an attack of the sixth sense, it all comes from a lack of confidence in the strength of the troops.

If you put it all together, even if the people of Mlaren escape in the future, the remaining coalition forces should have a strength of 3,000 people.

Such a large army can be described as a strong military force in Northern Europe, but what about Frank? After all, it was the "New Rome" of the Franks that was about to attack.

"Let's take one step at a time."

He is a businessman, almost from an instinctive risk aversion. Rurik took a fancy to his temperament, and Rurik himself considered the huge risk of attacking Aachen, which required a calm and prudent commander to act on his behalf.

As expected, the blue fox went step by step, throwing away the immobile Mellaren army and a group of uncontrollable free fishermen. He abruptly weakened about one-fifth of the coalition forces, and hundreds of people stayed in the rear camp.

All the troops cut off some soldiers, and they were naturally angry that they could not participate in the attack on Liege.

Keep it if you have grievances!

The coalition fleet has begun to continue upstream along the Meuse River.

This battle is unusual, and the army of the nobles of Gotaland needs better spoils as appeasement, and they will be given the opportunity to attack. Even though they would suffer unnecessary losses with weaker equipment after this arrangement, since the five nobles didn't think there was any problem, Blue Fox no longer insisted.

There were more than 2,000 troops, and a hundred longboats floated on the river. The boats were staggered, and the huge paddles slid in a regular manner, like giant gnats moving on the water.

It had only rained since the Maas River swelled and the flow rate of the river also increased. This increased resistance was not a hindrance to the nobles who were eager to make a fortune, especially those Gotalan nobles and more soldiers.

They talked and laughed along the way, shouting northern folk songs and paddling rhythmically.

Broken Bone Gorm, Stuttering Gosund, Bigfoot Badal, Archer Eric, Broken Tooth Cedric, five noble armies sailed ahead, and the Ross army in white robes seemed to be a foil.

Meanwhile, the fortress of Liege was another scene.

A group of refugees insisted on their way in the heavy rain, and the shortest walk in the woodland fields along the river was 20 kilometers. This not-so-short journey was a great torture for those who fled in a hurry. Those who walked to Liege before the rain received relief from the local church, and among them, the young men were forcibly incorporated into the army.

The rain not only caused the temperature to drop sharply, but also caused the subsequent refugees to move in the mud.

Many of the weak simply died of freezing and starvation in the woodland, so that no one paid attention to their deaths.

Then when the weather cleared, the earth was still muddy.

The Maas River Basin where Liege is located belongs to the lowlands of Western Europe. The rainfall here is quite abundant throughout the year, especially after a summer rain. A large number of low-lying lands in the wilderness have become swamp ponds and cobweb-like streams and waterways.

Such an environment is rich in water and grass, and all the farmlands that have been opened up are the crops that grow wildly.

The harvest season is not far away, and the Church of Liege hopes that the Norman attacks will not disturb Liege, so that they can persist until this year's autumn harvest, and the abundant food they get can greatly solve the current refugee problem.

Because the small city of Liege was already crowded with refugees, they could only be forced to live in limited houses, and those who arrived later could only live in newly built shacks. They were too weak, and if they wanted to cross the river to seek refuge in the east, they had to eat their fill before leaving, and many of them didn't want to leave at all after eating hot wheat porridge for several days.

Why keep going? Liege had fortified fortresses, a regular Frankish army, and a staggering number of militias. Only God knows if I will be safe if I go to the East, and then I will continue to stay in Liege and have free oatmeal every day.

Originally, these refugees had already lived a life of beggars in Maastricht, but now they are just begging in another place. If the local Japanese in Liege don't dislike it, many people are willing to settle there after the disaster is over.

The church is very busy, and so is the situation with Perot, the commander of the fortress.

The state of the veterans of the flag team is in a bad state, and those militiamen who were forcibly recruited are really hard to describe...

The weather was fine today, and the militiamen were ordered to assemble for military training in the open space outside the fort.

The old soldiers trained these fighters like training dogs, verbally ordered the militiamen to carry their own weapons for thrust training, organized them to line up in compact formations for assault, and even trained them to throw short spears as javelins like their ancestors did.

The militiamen did a poor job, so they saw stupid people in the army formation. The sergeants in charge of training were calm and accusing at first, but now they just punched and kicked.

Banner Captain Pelot took the time to count the existing declared horses before the rain. You must know that he even confiscated all the horses in Liege.

Many horses cannot be qualified war horses at all. They are mostly used to pull carts, mills, and plowshares. Their endurance is well trained, so don't think about their assault power as war horses.

Even so, something is better than nothing, no matter how bad the horse is, the banner captain abruptly organized soldiers who could ride horses, including himself, and an infantry banner team abruptly turned into cavalry.

As long as conditions permit, the Frankish infantry will fight in the form of cavalry.

Three hundred cavalry were born out of nowhere, and of course it is more appropriate to call them mounted infantry.

The captain of the flag led the cavalry team composed of various horses to train in the muddy field. The old and rusty horseshoes drove away endless fishermen, and the brown mane soon turned black.

The fort made a lot of noise. Their training gave Liege a certain sense of security, but the more they strengthened their training, did it mean that the threat of the enemy was getting closer?

No one knew what happened in Maastricht, so on this day, two cavalrymen were ordered to go north along the riverside road to find out.

The war horses fed some oats, and the scouts also ate. They set off when the sun was high in the sky and the morning sun was shining brightly, and the cavalry team that had broken away from training galloped north.

Captain Banner had a glimmer of fantasy.

"If those Normans feel that they have made enough money, they will leave? The crisis will be over, right?"

Maybe it was just like what I heard in the past, the barbaric Normans disappeared without a trace after looting, and the serious damage would only target a small area that was targeted.

The captain of the banner continued his training, but not long after the scout cavalry went out, they were hurried back.

The scout cavalry simply rushed into the cavalry that was still busy with training. Perot saw the panic and panic of the two men, and felt deeply uneasy for a moment.

"My lord! My lord..." A scout pointed to the north: "Normans!"

"Hey! Don't panic about anything! Speak slowly."

"Normans." Another scout continued the panic: "I see their longships everywhere! The Normans are coming here."

As if a sword had been stabbed in his heart, Perot's whole body was shaken violently, and the horse also raised its front hooves after subconsciously tightening the reins.

"Damn it! Damn it! The last thing I expected to happen happened?!" Perot, who was on a stable horse, kept shaking his body, baring his teeth and trying to stabilize his spirit.

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At this moment, the cavalry team who got the news was already restless. They were not afraid of fighting, but they didn't want the astonishing number of Normans to catch them off guard.

"They are too arrogant, they should take the initiative to attack when the sun is shining. If they dare to come! Kill them!"

After he figured it out, the flag captain Pelote would never sit still, so he ordered all his subordinates: "Soldiers, kill the Norman pirates and defend our honor. You want to be heroes. The decisive battle is today! let's go!"

The soldiers saw the heroic posture of the heroic flag captain holding up his spear, and everyone followed him, and immediately began to assemble.

Immediately after all the soldiers who were training were ordered, they began to assemble on the spot in a large scale.

The news spread to the city of Liege like thunder, and the militia in the city must also gather in the direction of the fortress, and the refugees stranded in the city, according to the suggestion of the captain of the banner, asked them to attack Liege as soon as possible. It doesn't matter where you go, even if it's farther into the bushes, as long as you leave the city.

Perot had good intentions. He was willing to believe that he now controlled a large number of militias, and even if he paid a larger number of casualties, he could hit Norman Island head-on. The decision to evacuate the city of Liege immediately caused panic throughout the city. There was no orderly evacuation, and a chaotic flight began. No, the narrow wooden bridge began to be crowded again, and some people accidentally fell into the water, becoming the first batch of victims before the battle started...

And the advancing Ross allied forces saw two cavalrymen appearing on the riverside dirt road.

Lan Hu was in the middle of the fleet, and as soon as he saw the lone two cavalrymen, he realized that they were scouts.

"Oops, we have been spotted. Order to go down, all soldiers wear armor."

No one knows the situation of Liege's defenders. Based on the principle of being prepared, Blue Fox prepared in advance, which directly caused the middle and rear of the fleet to suspend their march.

The front team once dismissed the scouts who appeared out of nowhere. Seeing that the rear army was busy putting on their armor, they also paused to change their clothes.

"The enemy must have discovered our army and must have started to form defensive formations. There must be a large-scale battle today."

The blue fox passed on the "three certainties" in the form of semaphore, and then the ships quickly made the whole army crowded in the river unify their thinking by means of oral relay - there must be a big battle today.

As a result, the fleet that resumed sailing became extremely cautious. All soldiers with armor had already put on their armor, and the round shields that were originally hanging on the side of the ship were temporarily carried on their backs.

A pair of eyes stared at the surroundings, and finally after passing through a forest area that was likely to have an ambush, the world suddenly became clear, and a group of buildings suddenly appeared in the field of vision.

There is even a fortress-like existence with gray-black stone walls. And it is indeed the barracks where Charlemagne was born a hundred years ago, and it is the current Fortress of Liege.

And there are a lot of reflective objects in front of the fortress.

what is that? Could it be a highly reflective iron helmet? !

"Bah! It's a helmet!" The blue fox was surprised but not surprised. As the saying goes, when he can clearly see the shiny helmet in the sun, the reflective stomach of his own army will undoubtedly stand out.

He decisively ordered: "That's it. Trumpeter! Sound the trumpet! Let the whole army land here. Let's go to the battlefield!"

After all, landing on the beach is a technical job. Since the enemy is prepared, the Ross coalition forces should pay attention to one, and they must not be caught by surprise by these Franks when they land.

He didn't know the strength of the opponent, so he could only estimate the strength of a soldier based on the amount of light reflected from the helmet.

Blue Fox still doesn't understand the situation of the Franks. He is cautious about the enemy, and he estimates that he may have encountered the legendary main force of the Frankish army in charge of confronting the Earl of Flanders. He is also the enemy that needs to be guarded against in this battle. .

Even if it is a group of militiamen, because the old conscription system has not completely disintegrated, this place is the essence of the Frankish area, and all households from all walks of life have the possibility of being conscripted into the army in theory. Tin helmet. The Frankish-style helmet is more compact than the Nordic version. It has a visor brim and a mid-ridge, with eyes facing outwards on the temples, so that it can deflect slashing swords to a certain extent, and can completely avoid the rain without blocking the line of sight.

The militiamen wear almost no armor, and the helmets that are heavily equipped are very intimidating.

At this point, the Ross Allied Forces landed one after another, and began to form formations according to the division of each flag team and each tribe.

The blue fox tirelessly yelled at the messy soldiers: "Let's run! Line up! Infantry at the front! Archers at the back! Engineers! Install your heavy weapons!"

I thought that most of the soldiers were dispatched to fight for the sake of fairness, and I thought that the action would become a battle like "beating up children".

Now, Blue Fox actually felt that he had greatly underestimated the defense strength of Liege Fortress and the strength of the Franks.

Just as the troops lined up, he assembled the officers and nobles of the whole army.

He was very pleased to see that all the noble officers were full of murderous looks, even with smiles caused by fighting fanaticism.

"You all saw it!"

Everyone said yes.

"I didn't want to have a decisive battle with the Franks prematurely. It seems that our decision to rob Maastricht really made them crazy!"

"That's fine." Gorm, who had been gearing up for a while, eagerly said, "We should even be thankful."

"What are you lucky about?" Blue Fox asked suspiciously.

"Hey, I'm glad we are well prepared. Do you think, if we are still plundering the city in the north, wouldn't it be a heavy loss if we are attacked by the enemy's army?"

"Alas~www.mtlnovel.com~ In fact, King Rurik urged us not to fight this battle as much as possible. However, no one wants to be a coward. Everything is fate."

"Fate. Is this fate?!" Yin Waer, who was still being carried in a sedan chair, asked back with a frown.

"That's right, boy! There have been reports that the Franks have set up four or five flag teams west of the Maas River. Maybe we are facing these enemies." After finishing speaking, he turned his head and looked at everyone: " Look, the premise of attacking Aachen is to ensure that there is no enemy behind us. Either destroy the bridge so that the enemy cannot cross the river, or kill them. In my opinion, there is no other choice."

"Then kill. Use the blood of the Frankish soldiers to sacrifice Odin, and all of us will be honored." Grund said the most violent words in the calmest tone.

All the noble officers exchanged glances, everyone unified their attitudes, and then the whole army unified their attitudes.

They simply abandoned all the longships, and all the ships were half-stranded on the reedy shore. The Ross coalition army in formation raised the Ross flag and the Raven flag high, and lined up their troops as neatly as possible to attack what they thought was the Frankish army on the Maas River. The elite troops in the west.