Rise of Rurik

Entering the Bridge Castle is already entering Shannon, the army traveled in Aquitaine for a month, and spent Christmas peacefully in the city of Poitiers.

For the majority of militiamen, this long winter march was not only a rehearsal for war, but also an extremely rare experience for each individual in their boring lives.

The migrant soldiers in the Shannon area who were supposed to remain unknown all their lives have unified their mentality.

They had long been told that when the spring plowing was over, the army would gather to join forces and march eastward. Now, this statement is no longer a myth. All returning militiamen are required to rest at home and repair their weapons before spring plowing. The rest of the time is spent eating and drinking!

Just because we have a huge amount of food in hand, even if the army really expands to 2,000 people, where can we waste it by eating and drinking? Especially now, eating and drinking a lot is good for the soldiers' physique and the morale of the whole army.

Regraf estimated that the real backbone on the battlefield would still be his own veterans and the thousand militiamen trained last year.

One thousand militiamen, plus some soldiers' sons, expanded the army again on a small scale in Shannon, and the two spear flags each expanded to 600 people.

Among them were one hundred young men as slingers, and five hundred adult men as spearmen. This is a real-life father-son soldier. The nimble teenagers focus on throwing stones and fight side by side with their father.

Before there is a war, everyone can have an extremely optimistic view of the war. But the soldiers are still thin. Their bodies can no longer grow taller. Their shorter bodies are more suitable for handling spears. It would be better if they are strong collectively.

So, everything

Soldiers who were eager to go out were given a pound of wheat a day to make them fatter before spring plowing. As for whether the extra wheat was used by the soldiers to feed his wife and children, Reglaf didn't care.

After returning to Shannon, they spent three days stuffing this batch of more than 200,000 pounds of oats into warehouses in Bridgeburg, Shannon, and Awanee.

Even the warehouses belonging to the monastery were used, so that the warehouses of Saint-Maximin Abbey were so packed that there was almost no room for them to stand.

Then the cats and dogs raised by the villagers in the two large villages were also rented. The duty of these small animals was to prevent rats. As for the rats that were not caught, they were fed with fresh meat.

Priests have their own wisdom in managing people's livelihood. Especially in daily life, they must take good care of all kinds of things, and the most important thing is to store food. Because the parchment manuscripts must be properly preserved, they are extremely sensitive to moisture erosion and naturally have better coping methods than ordinary villagers. Regraf also believes that with the priests watching over them, he does not need to allocate a large number of manpower to guard the warehouse.

In any case, there will be inevitable losses in grain storage. At least Abbot Bode is fully responsible for this matter, so there is no need to worry about large-scale flooding of the granaries due to spring rains. As for the "reward", or "offering" given to the monastery, Reglaf promised: "If the war is over and the military rations are not used up, the remaining part will be the offering."

Can the army still consume all this amazing food? ! Because Dean Bode learned that there were about forty

Thousands of pounds of wheat are gradually being transported from Aquitaine to Shannon.

Originally, there was no shortage of wheat in all the monasteries in the Shannon area, and the same was true for the local monasteries in Anjou. Bode's concept of a "huge army" was still vague, and he was even more confused about how much food a large army could consume. He thought he could end up with a huge fortune.

This is the first time in Dean Bode's life that he has managed so much wealth. Looking at his enthusiastic face, it seems that all the food now belongs to him.

On the other hand, after resting for three days, Regraf once again gathered his veterans when his spirit recovered.

In the past three days, Bekon and his friends had taken a good look at Shannon, who had been governed by Reglaf for nearly half a year.

The villagers always have smiles on their faces, and they are generally energetic and rosy-cheeked.

Just as Reglaf said, the local villagers are really logging freely, and walls of firewood are piled at the door of each house.

Farmers also built fences and opened small vegetable gardens in front of their homes. Although the nursery was empty, some wooden poles were stuck in the mud, and there were hemp ropes connecting the poles. It is said that when spring comes, the pea seeds are sown and the seedlings are allowed to follow. The wooden pole climbs up.

Reglaf promised not to collect even the most basic tithe tax in 844, and to simply cancel all other miscellaneous taxes.

In Beikong's understanding, eggs, vegetables, etc. are all within the scope of taxation. All kinds of miscellaneous taxes have been cancelled?

Having been living in Aquitaine for ten years, Becon and his friends have experienced the warmth and cold of the world. He feels that the people at the bottom want nothing more than as much food as possible. If any noble can really let the people get more food,

If he wants something, everyone will follow him.

Such a simple truth can only be understood by his own family, which was once degraded into a civilian-like existence due to defeat in the war. However, Bekon doesn't think that Reglaf is really a saint, but he can imitate his actions.

I just don’t know how this young Earl of Anjou will govern after he really enters the city of Anjou.

Suddenly, the riverside pier was bustling with activity, and thousands of people gathered here to watch the excitement.

They saw the blond Norman veterans collectively put on clean cloth robes. It is precisely because of the cleaning that the yellow cloth strips on their clothes have further faded. The once orange has turned into light yellow, just like their hair color.

Women in headscarves, holding tightly wrapped children in their arms, bid farewell to their chosen husbands.

A group of militiamen were asked to sit on the longboat because they were stronger. What an honor it is for ordinary militiamen to come! Sitting on the dragon's head warship, outsiders seem to be Normans.

Norman represents a kind of savagery, and savagery seems to mean strong, and strong means not being bullied by others.

The honest farmer's eyes were no longer dull. Once he got on the dragon's head warship, he seemed to be spiritually infected. An inexplicable and powerful courage surged into his heart, as if he was no longer humble and would become invincible by following the strong.

The cavalry also gathered here. Bekon and his friends put on new clothes. Each of them held a spear, and each of them had a Mercian king's standard tied to the spear.

Although the knights have restored their identities, the culture of heraldry and flags in this era is still in the early stages of development. The new Mercian Kingdom army, such as Reglaf, which was born out of the Russian army, is using it extensively.

Flags are really alien to Western Europe today.

Not to mention, a large number of soldiers raised flags, which looked particularly majestic when the army was assembled. A large number of flags can also conceal the reality of the army. At first glance, it seems that because there are too many flags, the army becomes a huge monster. It can also frighten the enemy mentally.

"When I return to Bekon Village to organize my army, I will also design a flag and my coat of arms." Bekon, or Knight Bekon VII, thought so.

The sun shone on the helmets of the soldiers, and the horses' big heads bobbed up and down in annoyance, and the horse clothes also trembled.

At this time, Reglaf and Bruno were standing on the shore, and the two looked left and right.

The noise of the onlookers turned into a low murmur. Because the work of taking over Anjou City with arms was about to begin, the soldiers were gearing up. Especially Bekon and his friends, no one was more excited than them.

Without saying anything, Reglaf signaled the trumpeter to blow the trumpet. He raised his right fist again, and the selected infantry and cavalry began to take action.

The soldiers boarded the half-stranded longboat one after another, and the big oars pushed the boat into the Avina River. On the shore, Bruno personally held up his Saxon horse and walked with Becon and others. So, with 200 people on board and 30 cavalry on shore, this small force with astonishing combat effectiveness drifted towards the city of Anjou on this sunny winter morning.

There is no need to raise the sail or row the oars, only two oars are needed to act as rudders and constantly correct the fleet's navigation.

They arrived calmly at the yellow-white beach at the confluence of the two rivers, where the entire army set up camp for the night. Along the way, they had seen the ruins of the Roman military camp on the hill. The gray-white stones stood out against the gray-brown winter environment.

Blink outside. On the left hand side, there are the Abbey of Saint-Germain and the Abbey of Conde. These are obviously nearby monasteries that farmers do not go to on weekdays. The accompanying militiamen sit on the long boats and watch them gradually disappear into the bleak forest from a unique angle.

The night on the beach was uneventful, and the next morning, after the fog cleared, the cavalry crossing the river by longboats began.