The squadron actually returned on foot, and their faces were full of tiredness and sadness.

What have they been through?

When they returned to the big camp of the Ross Army, the surrounding people learned of the deadly storm at sea.

Of course, the mission was completed, and some brothers were sacrificed for this, but the power of the ocean continued to destroy the entire fleet. If those large ships were not strong enough, the sub-fleet would have been wiped out.

Arik, Yevlo, and Grund returned to debrief. After hearing their reports, Rurik was surprised but did not complain too much.

However, he still has to show his anger on the bright side.

He did not address Arik directly as his brother, but by his first name.

"Arik, you are guilty of a great sin! You are a master of sailing, no matter how bad the sea conditions are, after all, hundreds of brothers are buried in the sea. Do you know this sin?"

Arik, who was already guilty, had no intention of defending: "Indeed, I am guilty. The brothers in the camp all need an explanation, and I am willing to be punished."

Arik lowered his proud head in public, and his guilt was obvious.

Hit with a stick? Have a whip? There is no need and no reason.

The squadron did its job and accidentally killed a staggering number of wounded Franks and even destroyed its granary. The storm that killed hundreds of people at sea was an unexpected natural disaster, and Arik didn't do the dangerous operation of "breaking through the typhoon", so it was unreasonable to continue to punish him.

"Then fight the enemy bravely in the next battle. The dead brothers, their heroic spirits will also be satisfied with your actions. Therefore, you must make such a guarantee to all the soldiers in the camp that you must fight bravely."

"I will."

Because the sleighs towed by the more than 800 people who returned were indeed loaded with a large number of Frankish weapons and helmets, and everyone must not ignore their exploits.

Heavy losses due to storms, the Ross Army had not experienced in more than a decade.

The incident shocked the whole army, and everyone had to reconsider whether it would always be safe to sail in the vast ocean in the west. Who caused ocean storms? Apparently Yemengard did it. People believed it, and the legend became very real.

But Rurik probably understood the reason. It is understandable that the North Atlantic became violent in winter, and the Titanic also suddenly hit an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic in winter.

Do not sail in the North Atlantic in future winters, even close to the Dutch coast.

The squadron achieved amazing results and obtained important information at the same time.

To this end, Rurik enthusiastically pulled the three returning generals and made urgent discussions with the nobles.

It's still a high tower stone room, and the temperature seems to be colder than a few days ago.

The experience of the returning squadron fighters has spread throughout the army. The so-called fighters once again destroyed the bridge between Bremen and the local area, so that they destroyed the logistics base of the Frankish army and killed many enemies. It is a fact that destroying the enemy army The granary and the large amount of food were taken away, which made the morale of the coalition troops strong.

Even if a large number of Saxons were drowned in the shipwreck, the survivors seized a large amount of enemy food. They tried their best to use sleds to pull part of the hamburgers. After that, they immediately reported the good news to Grand Duke Liudoff, and the food they transported was immediately melted. for military rations.

After Ludov learned of this, he arranged for the horses he borrowed from the local lord to arrive at the mouth of the Elbe River as soon as possible by horse-drawn sleigh. He wanted to bring back his share of the spoils of war, and immediately use it as military rations to ensure that the army he organized could eat a few full meals.

The atmosphere in the stone room is very lively, and the optimistic mood is like a fire.

Rurik was still the center of attention. He opened his arms to silence everyone, and immediately announced: "Obviously the rear granary of the Franks has been destroyed. There is no doubt that Dewish has a large Frankish army and has a lot of rations, but it will not last long."

Rurik began to call Arik his brother again, and the latter was very pleased.

"That's true." Arik couldn't wait to speak: "The enemy's main force is hiding in the forest. Maybe they will flee, and they will continue to attack. However, I think our army has the opportunity to take the initiative to attack."

"Of course we can take the initiative to attack, but that's not my intention. We need a decisive battle, on the glacier outside Hamburg, which is good for our army, otherwise we would not have bothered to make spikes. already."

"I'm afraid that Ludwig will be forced to evacuate due to logistical difficulties. Because the Weser River must also freeze, and the effect of destroying the bridge has disappeared." Liudov sighed meaningfully.

"Then don't let the enemy evacuate! You can't let them have the idea of evacuating." Rurik continued.

"Do you have a new idea?"

"There is one. My brother's suggestion is not impossible to implement. Of course, our army can take the initiative to find enemies and challenge them. It's just that the purpose of doing this is debatable."

"You want to provoke them and force them to take the initiative to attack?" Ludov stuck his head, he had already guessed.

"That's right, and..." Rurik smiled maliciously. "I will use some tricks that will embarrass Ludwig. It will also force them to attack."

"What is it?"

"I intend to free those Frankish captives."

"Captive?" Liudov couldn't figure out the logic after thinking about it: "Unbelievable, you still plan to release them? Isn't it planned to exchange for ransom? Even become a slave."

"They are a bunch of tools after all! I want to verify one thing now, what do these Frankish captives mean to Ludwig. Are his subjects? The men are released and the women and children are kept. Or the women are released and the men are kept. Our captives come from many villages, and the captives know each other, so we forcibly dismantle them, some of them will be controlled by our army, and some of them will be returned intact. Ludwig. Guess what?"

"How do I know? Your idea is very strange." Ludov shrugged, still not knowing the logic.

"Men can't give up their wives, women can't give up their children and husbands. We free some people who in Ludwig's camp would beg their king to save the hostages."

"That's actually the case?!" Liudov heard some doorway, and asked: "What if he doesn't plan to save it?"

"Then Ludwig's notoriety will spread, and many Franks will suspect that the prince is not a good man. I don't think that man will abandon his creed."

What else could Liudov say, he sighed with a charming smile: "You... you are really vicious."

"So the question now is how to find their camp. I will send scouts to investigate as soon as possible. As for splitting up those prisoners, it's up to you."

Liudov signaled to do it immediately.

If after determining the winter camp of the Frankish army, some prisoners are pulled over and beheaded in public to provoke Ludwig to fight, this is a trick to induce an immediate decisive battle.

However, this kind of trick is considered despicable in Viking society, and it cannot be used unless it is a face-breaking situation.

This meeting was actually a fine-tuning of the decisive battle plan, and the revised plan began to be implemented immediately.

Speaking of the Frankish prisoners, they were almost all immigrants who had emigrated to Saxony. They are indeed robbing the traditional living space of the Saxons, because they are all for the reason of believing in God. The local Saxons do not want a large number of captured women and children to be killed, so it is enough to expel them.

Subjectively, the coalition forces will not persecute these prisoners. They have great use value. In the past few months, some of the prisoners have inevitably died, and most of them are still alive and well.

They were pulled from the warehouse, and the Saxon soldiers ordered them to be gathered in family style.

Many prisoners did not know what happened. They stood in the cold outdoors wearing sloppy clothes, standing in the snow with shabby shoes, and their families hugged each other to avoid the cold.

More than 1,800 prisoners survived, but they continued to freeze outdoors, and some more people were about to die.

Liudov then personally took care of the next thing. He brought nearly a thousand soldiers selected by the general principle from his own scorpion, and dressed up as well-equipped to tightly surround the small open space in the city.

The captives in the encirclement thought they were the doomsday generals, and their fear made the cold feel even worse.

As a result, a man in a polar bear fur walked out of the soldiers, and there was an old man in black robes who personally carried a dark wooden cross.

Ludov, who borrowed an ornate outfit from Rurik, spoke arrogantly in Frankish in the face of many nervous captives.

"You! All captives! I am the Duke of Saxony and the Count of Westphalia! I am the unquestioned ruler of all Saxons, and you Franks are not welcome! But you did not die, I No intention to execute you! Now your King Ludwig leads an army against my Saxony principality, and our country has to fight back. Listen! I am a descendant of Widukind, and you should understand what I mean."

Ludov did not need to explain, after all, when Widukind surrendered, a large number of Franks were ordered to move north to settle in Saxony. Among the captives were some elderly women, actually in their fifties, who were part of that group of immigrants when they were young.

Everything was the revenge of the Saxons, for which they allied themselves with the Normans. The prisoners basically know this situation, and Liudov is just repeating it again today.

"Some of you will be released, Ludwig's army is in the forest on the other side of the river, they have set up camp, and your king will be there. All heard! Some of you will be released! Now, listen to me! All the children together, all the women together, all the men together! Quick!"

It's a good thing to be released, what the **** is the arrangement after that?

Seeing that they were indifferent, Liudov immediately dispatched soldiers to do things forcibly, making the whole scene cry.

This made Eskil, the saint of the north, extremely embarrassed. He came here today carrying the cross just to calm the hearts of these prisoners of war. Seeing the violence of the Saxon army, he had to remind Liudoff to attack lightly.

"Actually, all of this is a conspiracy of that kid in Rurik." Ludov whispered to Esquier, who came over.

"I understand. Rurik has been very conspiratorial since he was ten years old. It's just that there is nothing we can do now. These Franks are poor lambs. You must restrain your subordinates no matter what."

Liudov nodded, and immediately ordered his men not to be too rude when pulling people down.

In the end, under the coercion of sharp spearheads and swords, all the prisoners were divided into three parts.

First, young children cannot be banished. They are too young, and they can live in a warm place if they stay in the city of Hamburg. If they are thrown to Ludwig, they will surely lead to a meaningless death if they are not well cared for. Even if he chose war, Ludov didn't want to live up to his notoriety as a "child killer" in his heart.

Second, it is the men and women who are really going to be exiled.

Without further scrutiny, Liudov ordered half of the women to be banished and half of the men to be banished.

This arrangement immediately caused an uproar, and the chaos was contained under the coercion of the Saxon army.

Just seeing the dejected faces of the captives, Liudov realized that Rurik had really hit him.

Men are reluctant to fight with their wives, and women are reluctant to leave their husbands. Perhaps the exiled man and woman happened to be the father, but their children were still in the city.

Parents will never give up their children, after all, it is goodbye if they go wrong.

After the atmosphere had stabilized, Ludov commanded in public: "All exiles, I will send you back to your King Ludwig. You can tell him that we have set up a battle on the Elbe, and we are eager to A decisive battle! You go tell him! Of course the Frankish army can escape! That way, the rest of the captives will be executed. You don't want your family to be executed, do you? I don't want to, but if it happens then One step, even if you kill your own relatives. Go and tell your king, your Frankish army. We Saxons are waiting in Hamburg an der Elbe."

Really sent a messenger to the gauntlet, and both Rurik and Ludov were worried that the messenger would be cut by the other side.

The messenger was replaced by a freed Frank, and both were relieved.

Of course, the exiled prisoners were not just messengers, they were a group of lobbyists, numbering as many as five hundred. Their presence will disturb the opponent's military. If the enemy is in a dilemma, as soon as these released prisoners arrive, the enemy will have a unified mind-must strike hard against the despicable Saxony-Norman army, even if there is difficulty, forcibly Overcome difficulties but also attack.

Liudov's side quickly completed the task assigned by Rurik, so those who were selected to be released, as many as 500 people, were specially rewarded with some rags to further keep out the cold, and they also specially ate before departure. Cooked high-salt wheat. This is a good meal. After all, in order to prevent the captives from escaping when they were captured, whether it was Rurik or Ludov, the captives were basically given some widowed food that could only sustain their lives, in order to prevent these people from having the strength to escape.

They ate so badly that it was the last supper.

On the other hand, the scouts sent by Rurik also found the enemy's camp along the Roman road.

Because the scouts on both sides fought a miniature-scale encounter in the snowy forest, with Ross scouts crossbow sniping and Frankish archers shooting.

Both sides are strong and strong people, and they are also Orion origins.

Ludwig learned that the Elbe was completely frozen, so that the enemy could run around on the ice, and Hamburg was still entrenched in a large number of enemies and made a decisive battle.

Ross scouts took advantage of the night to touch the Frankish camp in the forest, and noticed that they had forcibly transformed as many as three abandoned villages into wooden fortresses, and they even arrogantly camped on Roman Avenue.

After the defeat, the Frankish army did not flee far. First, they were beaten to lose a certain amount of logistical materials and suffered from exhaustion after the defeat. Second, their arrogant souls were extremely unwilling to be defeated.

The fact that they built three large walled camps in the woods by cutting wood hard, surprised Rurik, and felt that these people really have the ability of the old Roman legion~www.mtlnovel.com~ But this kind of action also proves One thing - they were not willing to retreat.

But the scout's intelligence could not prove that the enemy would launch a decisive battle in a short period of time.

It's December, and whether it's Catholic Christmas or Viking Hanukkah, the biggest holiday of the year is upon us.

Perhaps the Franks were trying to reorganize their troops and start a decisive battle of fate before the festival?

At least Rurik was willing to win the decisive battle and offer Odin a great gift.

In the colder December, after a period of preparation, those selected captives who had eaten a sumptuous meal for many days, after having eaten the last meal of the extremely rich and salty boiled wheat with oil, began to be eaten by only the A Russ-Saxon coalition of 200 men urged them to step into the glacier.

The prisoners were tied with their hands and ropes around their necks. They changed into thick clothes, and the selected ones also had wooden boards hanging around their necks.

The simple words are marked in Frankish on the boards: Battle.

The army escorted such a group to move, and they set out from early in the morning until the evening finally approached the first large camp of the Frankish army.

But before that, the **** troops had hurriedly evacuated, leaving a group of released prisoners at a loss.

But the Frankish scouts who had been observing secretly had been paying attention to this strange team for a long time, and the existence of the scouts was also discovered by the **** troops.

After a group of prisoners watched from side to side for a while, they encountered scouts who showed up. After questioning each other, the prisoners burst into tears and told in Frankish the horrific abuse they had encountered.

What else could the scouts say, someone pulled out a knife and immediately cut the ropes of the captives, promising: "You are saved. Rest assured, the king will avenge you."

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