Tens of thousands of Aachen residents fled the city with only a small amount of food. After witnessing the brutal killing in the city, they fled into the woodland outside the city in intense fear.

Their number was already very large, and as the escape deepened, the people who had begun to fall into deep hunger were finally forced to become an army of beggars, and even bandits.

It is now the summer famine, and before the wheat is harvested, the villages near Aachen are struggling to live.

Even if they lived near the capital, the wealthy life did not come to these Frankish villagers at all. On the contrary, because they are the purest Franks, and they also bear the most obligations in the kingdom.

Mass conscription is still dying, and peasants no longer serve unconditionally unless necessary. However, each household still retains weapons according to the old regulations.

Each village has opened up the world in the forest, forming farms of different sizes.

Not long after the festival ended, the people who returned to the village continued to live their poor lives, and now prayed to God for a good harvest, and also prayed for King Lothair to reduce taxes.

There is not much surplus grain in each village, and the villagers borrow grain from each other, and the poor can only dig some wild vegetables to make up for it.

In order to produce more land, each family has more children, and a larger population leads to more food consumption. The life of the villagers is struggling on the food and clothing line. They are controlled by the priests, and they have no more desires, and their lives are quite flat. They can't see the hope of great prosperity in the future, but they also feel that life will not deteriorate.

What the Normans said was terrible, and that was something outside the forest, but what happened to the sudden appearance of a large number of people?

The people who came out of the forest were hungry, and they had better clothes and even jewelry.

The kind-hearted villagers invited the village priest to inquire about the rare outsider, and were shocked to learn that the barbaric army had invaded Aachen.

Aachen fell? The statement is outrageous.

But everyone's attitude was still in shock, and a large number of refugees gathered in the rough lanes of many villages. The teachers in the village provide a small amount of food, but there are too many of them!

Even if the jewelry and necklaces are sold, the high-priced food in exchange will soon be exhausted. When the food was not supplied, the hungry residents of Aachen had no hope of begging, and finally abandoned the law.

Fierce conflicts broke out between the looters and the villagers. The villagers took out their weapons and attacked their fellow villagers. The priest tried to maintain order in panic, but even the priest was killed by mistake in the chaos.

The larger number of refugees turned into their ancestors!

The Franks in the past were known for their barbarism. Breaking through the walls of Rome, burning, killing, and looting were no different from today's Viking army.

Such destruction not only made the peaceful villagers aware of the attack in Aachen, but also made them feel the aftermath of the attack. Lives have been destroyed, and the villagers who have lost their food surplus have to face the terrible reality of how we will live until we receive the goods.

The wheat has not yet headed, and the current wheat seedlings can at most be used as fodder for livestock.

The fleeing refugee team gathered more and more, and they were advancing along the "Cologne Avenue" macroscopically, but this hungry army was causing fear, and more villagers began to move towards Cologne under the chain reaction.

Many villages were looted by the Frankish refugees themselves, and they had the ability to continue fleeing after receiving certain provisions, and all of this was undoubtedly destroying the tax base of Count Julicgau.

Boulevard Colon is known as the "Road to Hell," and what's happening now lives up to its sad moniker.

Most of the refugees did not participate in the robbery while fleeing. Most of them were women and children, eager for safe asylum.

The nearest shelter is the city of Jlich, which is the residence of the earl, so there must be the earl's personal guards. Those soldiers will be everyone's shelter, and the earl will surely provide some food for everyone to tide over the difficulties.

Time difference! The key is the time difference.

When the Ross allied forces stormed Aachen, the Archbishop of Liege, Hatga, who had successfully fled, had just finished his emergency visit to Count Lihigau.

The archbishop had already wasted a lot of time on the road. He believed that because he informed the two nobles of the disaster, the nobles would immediately organize an army to defend Aachen, and point their swords at Maastricht and the west. liege.

Hartega didn't believe that the Norman pirates would go ashore and attack Aachen directly. Presumably, Aachen is still peaceful now, and his friends in Aachen Cathedral know nothing about the major events happening outside.

However, when his carriage went straight to Aachen along Cologne Avenue, he suddenly saw moving figures on the road.

"Parda! What kind of weirdo is that?!" The junior priest woke up the archbishop who was drowsy due to the exhaustion.

Hartja woke up a little, he looked up and saw the shadow at the end of the road.

There are more and more objects like human figures, and if you look carefully, they are indeed a lot of people who are moving.

"Weird. Is that a nearby villager?"

"I don't know. But... I feel scared." The junior priests were now suspicious because of the disaster they had encountered in Liege.

Hartega was not like that, but he couldn't help being frightened when he saw that the people who moved away had a tendency to become a mobile army.

"There is a problem! There is a big problem here. Why do I feel...they seem to be fleeing?" He realized the terrifying possibility himself, and suddenly he slapped his thigh with a flash of inspiration: "Oops! Don't be Aachen Something big happened."

"What do we do?"

"Go up and ask why." That's all, Hart hurriedly ordered the imperial husband to move forward quickly.

"But it must not be that something happened to Aachen." He muttered to himself, but when he had this ominous premonition, he basically believed that the disaster had already been confirmed.

The hungry refugees saw a carriage appearing as if they saw a savior. They imagined that the carriage was pulling a lot of food, and as the carriage approached, the figure of the black-robed priest sitting on it became a greater salvation.

These well-dressed men and women are urban residents of Aachen, and the fact that they wear leather shoes on a large scale proves that the living standards of these people are far better than those of the villagers around the city.

More and more people gathered, and Cologne Avenue was completely blocked.

About a thousand people blocked the carriage, and just as Hartga was in a panic, I don't know which refugee started first. More and more people knelt down around the carriage and raised their hands to a great thing. Worship and cry.

They don't worship Khatja, or even know him at all. It was only because when he fled Liege, he removed the black wooden cross placed in the bishop's seat. This cross is so big that it is not covered with a layer of copper and gilded like the bishop of Cologne, but there are still some decorations on it.

The carriage carried this sacred object, which fully demonstrated the extraordinary identity of Khatja. The actual worship of the refugees was the cross, and its existence seemed to be the manifestation of God.

"Who are you? Why are you blocking the road? Don't kneel, I order you to get up!" The excited Hartega stood on the carriage. It is true that he is a bishop and can become a general when necessary, but he is too old now. .

He changed his tone and called again: "Get up! I am the archbishop of Liege, Hatga. If you have any difficulties or any grievances, please tell me! I will help you. Now get out of the way, I want to Aachen."

Regardless of what happened to the Archbishop of Lige, these people escaped from the city of Aachen, and heard that the senior priests actually wanted to break into hell. Isn't this a risk? Not even martyrdom should be done in this way.

The baker in the city lost his shop and became poor overnight. At least he had a craft, so he fled to Count Jlichgaard and brought his family back to the old business.

The bearded baker owner temporarily became the talker, and he still retains a lot of strength because his family packed a lot of bread in cloth bags when they fled. Now the bread has already been distributed to the refugees, and the limited bread can only be supplied for a while, and now his family is basically out of food, but fortunately, the current location is almost approaching the city of Jlich.

"Parda, we... we all escaped from Aachen!" An old man cried bitterly in front of the archbishop like a child, explaining in pain what he saw in the city and everything he described The archbishop was shocked.

impossible? No! Maybe there are some exaggerations, but nothing should be groundless.

Because, this veteran baker swears that what he saw was absolutely true. This person suggested several key details: the white robe, the large buckler, and the X-shaped blue stripes on the white cloth banner.

The key among the keys is the most frightening because of the blue pattern on the robe.

The attackers have such a style of painting, aren't they just...

Hartega's eyes were as big as copper bells. At this moment, the people were still waiting for the priest to show them how to survive. What they saw was an old man in complete confusion.

"Impossible, Aachen has been occupied by them...Normans, how could they be so fast? How could they take Aachen lightly?!"

There was no answer to a series of questions, and Hart, who was at a loss, thought about it and decided that going to Aachen would be a dead end. He knew clearly in Liege that this group of Normans were no longer ordinary pirates. As the king's advisor, he could guess that there must be a huge conspiracy in this. It's unbelievable that they can attack Aachen, there must be someone who can show the way! Hartega is more willing to believe that this incident is indeed part of a huge civil war, and that the man behind the scenes is none other than Lothair's younger brother Ludwig.

"Walk!"

Hartegar gave the Aurora orders.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the people to give up the easy passage for the carriage, he did not solve the problems for these refugees, but took advantage of the window time to quickly separate from the refugee team.

The people saw the high priest who claimed to be the Archbishop of Liege striding away. It was because they did not dare to obstruct the saint that they made way, and now they did not dare to embarrass his evacuation.

What else can I do? Keep moving. Just hold on a little longer and you'll be in Jlich, and everything will be fine.

It's just that some old and weak people are afraid that they won't be able to hold on.

The Cologne boulevard extends westward to the town of Drren, where a crossroad is formed, and from there a further distance to the north leads to the town of Jlich.

The road taken by the people is now Hartga's return journey, and the archbishop rushed back to Jlich with unexpected news.

The bishop's return journey made the earl subconsciously think that he had forgotten something, or that he needed to order something.

Not long after the bishop himself left, Earl Eberhart, who was busy rectifying his troops, was in armor and riding a tall horse to welcome the noble bishop.

Standing beside the carriage was a mighty cavalry team. Seeing these warriors, Hartega felt a sense of peace in his heart. He couldn't be happier, this army is too small, after all, according to the baker and many refugees, the city of Aachen is full of Norman soldiers, perhaps thousands of people? According to the archbishop's knowledge, as long as it is indeed the Norman army that broke through Maastricht and Liege, they are indeed capable of capturing Aachen, which is currently very loosely defended.

"Parda, what should make you return now?" the earl, who didn't know the urgency of the situation, asked casually.

"Aachen! Aachen has fallen."

"What?!"

The count felt that he had heard something terrible, so he couldn't help taking off his helmet, buttoning his ears, and asked again, "What did you say?"

"The most terrible thing has happened. Aachen! It has been captured by the Normans. It's all over! It's all over..."

Khatega tried to stay calm, which is what his qualifications allow him to do.

He jumped out of the carriage, approached the earl with a wooden stick, and forced the noble earl Eberhart to dismount to meet him hastily.

The negotiation of only a few sentences has already explained the situation.

"The king's city is occupied by barbarians? This is our shame! No, I have to attack with the whole army!" The count looked left and right in a hurry, and ordered his soldiers casually: "Go! Order the assembled men to ride horses immediately, don't One person was missed."

The ordered cavalry whipped their whips violently, and the horseshoes collapsed and flew away in endless mud.

"You don't need to be in such a hurry." Hartega said seriously.

"Why! That is the king's city, Charlemagne's city. How can I not be in a hurry, I want to avenge the king. Besides, Charlemagne rests there."

"Do you have many soldiers? Can you really win by rushing into the city with a small number of troops?"

This is an important issue, and the hot-blooded Eberhardt has ignored it. He beat his chest vigorously: "This is due to my duty. I happen to have a team on hand. I was on standby by the king's order. Now the nearest to Aachen The army is me, and I would rather disobey than fight to the aid of Aachen, even if I die in battle. Go away! God supports justice."

After finishing speaking, the count turned around and got on his horse and rode off again.

Hartega stood where he was. He couldn't persuade the Earl of Lihigau, and he probably wasn't qualified to persuade him based on the current situation. For ordinary priests, they often went with the army to attack the Normans because of their fanaticism. Having truly seen the horror of those special Normans, Hartega was willing to stay in the town of Yulich.

As Earl Eberhart said, he is indeed going all out to rectify the existing troops.

All young and middle-aged men who can ride horses are assembled, and all the riding horses that can be found are led out. Even some grinding and pulling horses cannot be wasted, so the pack horses are arranged to pull flatbed carts to transport some infantry.

Nothing is more important than speed these days.

Eberhart calmed down a bit. Considering that the enemy had a large number of troops, he had to spend the necessary time to assemble his troops for a higher chance of winning.

All day long he was raising the army, and the time spent had remarkably fruitful results, for he did raise an army of fifteen hundred men.

Eight hundred cavalry and seven hundred infantry, Jlichgau has never had such a strong armed force. Seeing the army he personally assaulted and organized, the count felt heroic.

The strength of the Frankish army lies in the cavalry, and the other forces they face are generally weaker than the cavalry. Relying on greater mobility than the enemy, the Frankish army was able to launch a surprise attack, and was able to use armored heavy cavalry to smash down the enemy's front line ~www.mtlnovel.com~ and trample the enemy into a lake with horseshoes.

Most of the 800 cavalry are light cavalry, and nearly 40% of the cavalry only have leather armor. The piece is also corroded, and the hard cowhide that is extremely resistant to storage and wear is left and can continue to be used.

Even so, Count Eberhardt of Jlich, who organized such a large armed force for the first time, was already extremely excited.

"Save Aachen! Defend the faith! Fight against the barbarians!"

The soldiers chanted such slogans, which was the fundamental reason why the Earl was able to assemble such a large army.

The people of Jlichgau are fighting for greater morality. They are pure Franks, and Charlemagne is the greatest king in their hearts. Any behavior that humiliates Charlemagne will arouse the fury of these people, so they are enthusiastic join the army.

Of course, there is also a rather realistic factorrescue Aachen and drive out the Normans. After the war, everyone may be rewarded by King Lothair.