Chapter 9 Detour

Eventually, after assessing the defensive strength of Innsbruck and Salzburg, Egil decisively chose to send troops from the passes of the Eastern Alps. Instead of gnawing on these two hard bones.

These two forts, built on the Alpine passes, seem to be even stronger than Egil had imagined. And all of them are built on excellent terrain. The garrison also numbered more than 4,000. And it's all elite troops. The guards are also said to be very comparable. On such rough terrain, the army could not be deployed. Large counterweight catapults are also not deployable. The siege will be extremely difficult. If you don't get it right, you will be besieged for three and a half years, and you will not be allowed to enter in the end.

So let's take a detour.

As a burgundy who was promoted at the same time, and had a good relationship, and also had a common enemy of France. Egil felt that he could get military access from Charlie. Afterwards, enter the Holy Roman Empire from the Swiss mountains. In this way, it is possible to go around the opponent's two well-guarded fortresses. Attack from the opponent's unsuspecting flank. Uh-huh. That's a really good idea.

In fact, within twenty days of the army's preparation, Egir had already informed his envoys in Dijon by means of a flying pigeon to negotiate with Charles of Burgundy about the military access.

The end result was that Charles was willing to sign the treaty with the Normans. Agree with the Burgundians to attack the Holy Roman Empire by pretending to go through Switzerland. At the same time, there is no need for money, food, or other goods. Of course, it would not be correct to say that it was gratuitous - Burgundy hoped to be able to sign a unilateral alliance with the Norman against France. This is an incomplete treaty of alliance. Targeting France alone. It was stipulated that when France attacked any country in Burgundy and Norman, the other country must declare war on France unconditionally. and to aid the allies or send troops to attack France.

"Tsk, that's an interesting treaty. Egil made such a comment about Charlie's hostile meaning to the treaty that even the white idiot could see. And did not hesitate to agree to Charlie [Baidu]'s conditions. Just kidding, in this situation, Philip II is not a fool. What is he capable of, on what basis, how dare he attack Burgundy, which has just won the title of king, and whose prestige and morale have risen to a higher level?

If Burgundy were going to attack France, it would be about the same...... Hey wait a minute, if you say ......

"I see. Egil thought he saw Charlie's intentions. Always, whoever declares war first, or doesn't declare war, or creates trouble on the border, is quite easy to operate. As long as he wanted it, he could even send people to disguise themselves as the French army and attack himself in order to get an excuse to attack France. When the time comes, there will be such a covenant here, then......

Well, maybe Charlie is playing very loudly. But what does it matter? France, a tragic country, occupies a large amount of territory, but it is full of princes and has no good fortune. Hit a dozen, hit a dozen, it doesn't matter.

So in the end, Egil signed the treaty. And with the army moved out of the foothills on the eastern side of the Alps. Stayed on the territory of France for a while. After being protested by the French, they turned around and moved into the Swiss mountain region.

In the mountainous regions of Switzerland, Egil finally saw the barrenness of the land and the poverty of the people – worse than the serfs of France. At least the French barely have land to cultivate, as long as they work hard, and God gives face. Then you can live half-starved – but not with the Swiss mountain people. Their land is too barren. Or, even if these guys worked hard and the weather was very face-saving at the time, they still couldn't eat enough. With the exception of the little food that could be produced around the capital city of Humnie, the Swiss everywhere else either went to work as mercenaries or died. There really is no second option.

"Really, unfortunate people. Choosing the wrong place of birth...... But then again. If there were no such difficult environmental conditions, there would be no Swiss mercenaries in the Middle Ages, and the best Swiss banks in the world......" Egil sighed while recruiting a total of 1,000 Swiss mercenaries at a relatively low price, that is, a team of 1,000 Swiss mercenaries - not to rely on this mercenary to fight the world, but to see if the tactics of this group of mercenaries can be successfully copied- Today, he also has a number of Germans and Germanic races under his command, and these races are specialized in two-handed swords and super-long spears. ,

Recently, Egil has observed that there seem to be many people among the Normans who are more savvy and may have the possibility of mastering the powerful weapon of the "halberd". Therefore, it is appropriate to introduce a group of Swiss mercenaries as a blueprint and instructor to train qualified ultra-long spear troops and halberd troops for their own country. It is a more urgent task to get your country out of the embarrassing situation where no one is available for the super-long spear array and can only rely on mercenaries.

In total, it took Egier's army nearly three months to make a detour from Rome through the Alps, and from the Alps into France, and from France into the Swiss mountains. In between, the people in Bern and Switzerland spent a slightly shabby New Year.

There was also a small episode in this - although the various food supplies that Egir took out had already made the Swiss mountain people and nobles feel very incredible. But Egil was still not satisfied.

And it was almost difficult, and in a half-drunk state, he asked his chef to cook him a frustration at the current level. If he couldn't, he would have cut down all the court cooks—despite the hardships of the northern and southern conquests. Maids who groom themselves are not allowed to be brought, but in order to satisfy his appetite, Egil will still keep these cooks around. It's also one of Egil's few hobbies. Whenever he arrived at a new place, Egil would send someone to ask if there were any famous delicacies in the neighborhood - like snail mustard or braised toad, which sounded unreliable. But as long as there was a suitable one, he asked the knights of the guard to buy two servings—one for himself to eat, and the other for the imperial chefs to study.

Therefore, the remuneration of these palace chefs is very high, comparable to that of ordinary royal knights. It's just that it's not too clever in terms of status. A king like Egil took everything that could endanger his life very seriously. When the Imperial Chefs are cooking, they are supervised by Norman dead soldiers from the spy system. And after it is done, it will also let a specialist test the poison. to ensure safety.

Therefore, the status of the imperial chefs can be imagined, and they are not much different from ordinary serfs. They are all extremely lowly and lowly. Therefore, Egil's words about "all cut down" are definitely not a joke in the kitchens.

The trembling cooks were terrified. Although they have excellent knife skills and top-notch cooking skills. But without the raw materials, Italian food can't be made anyway. And just when the chefs are scratching their heads. Director of Intelligence, Nemulis, came to the kitchen and asked why they hadn't started yet. So the chefs put the problem to the powerful intelligence director.

Nemoulis chuckled and said that this kind of thing was very easy to solve: His Majesty did not want real Italian food – but "Italian food" that would make him face up in front of the Swiss. You don't need to make it taste good, you just have to make it so gorgeous that it looks like that.

In this way, the chefs suddenly became enlightened, replacing truffles with ordinary mushrooms, replacing this year's new wine with inferior wines, and replacing lamb meat with goat meat...... And so on and so forth. The final dish tastes like this. But as Nemulis said. Egil's prestige, as well as the extraordinarily ornate dishes produced by the imperial chefs, had such a shocking effect, and thus succeeded in intimidating these turtles and impressing the Swiss people with the steamed buns. That's what Egil wants. As for the taste or something. Anyway, the alcohol has drunk the tongue, and it's okay to eat anything......

And just like that, after the New Year, the Norman army continued to march.

Most of the time the road is very difficult to pass, especially in such an unpleasant place as the Swiss mountains. It is the most able to demolish the morale of the military. Although along the way, officers at all levels, and even Egil, constantly cheered on the soldiers. But demoralization is still inevitable.

However, it all has an end. When the locals' guide finally said, "The border ahead." After passing through a section of the forest, you will arrive in Swabia. After saying this, Egil [Baidu] announced the news loudly to his soldiers. Immediately afterwards, the Norman army, which was originally a little demoralized, broke out into shocking cheers!

On January 18, 1004, after nearly three months of marching, the Norman army of 80,000 men bypassed Frederick's Alpine line and marched from the Swiss heights. An army of 80,000 marched straight to the near-undefended city of Swabian, the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, while the Holy Roman Empire's army remained trapped beneath the city of Hamburg and endured the seemingly never-ending harassment of the garrison in Pomerania.

The offensive and defensive forces were out of place—— what awaited the Holy Roman Empire would be the most brutal and brutal attack of the Normans!。 (Proofreading [Baidu])