The Burgundians rode southward, and the whole of Lombardy was shaken.
For hundreds of years, Burgundy and Lombardy were separated by mountains and had little contact with each other. The worst relationship between Lombardy and Burgundy was simply to support the Swabian Principality's invasion of Burgundy and get a share of the spoils from it.
But in just over a month, the iron nail hanging above the plains of northern Lombardy suddenly drove in and drove straight into the heads of the Lombards.
In the Battle of Rock Castle, the Lombardy "Northern Expeditionary Army" was almost completely wiped out. The few defeated soldiers who escaped returned to Lombardy and were stunned. They told everyone they met that the Burgundians had made a deal with the devil and obtained magic and witchcraft. In order to cover up the tragic defeat, they described the Burgundian army as ferocious beast soldiers who ate flesh and drank blood.
The haze of war enveloped the northern plains of Lombardy, and the people fell into extreme fear.
Perhaps they were still in the atmosphere of "sending their troops northward", so the Lombards' response was actually a bit slow. It wasn't until Odo and Angus led their troops to occupy more than a dozen village fortresses outside the mountain pass that the northern lords of Lombardy gathered together 4,000 soldiers, or 4,000 farmers.
"...Having assembled an army of 4,000 people and still delaying going north to fight, what on earth does that old guy von Bilen want to do? Is he going to wait for the Burgundians to attack the city of Milan?"
In the Milan palace, the red-faced Duke of Lombardy was already desperate.
Hence all the Marquis and Counts of Lombardy who were attending the meeting of ministers in the palace hall, holding their breath.
Sudden changes in the north caught them off guard, and the battle of the Northern Expedition became a matter of resisting foreign enemies. It doesn't matter if it's just a Welsh Legion. Even if the Burgundy Kingdom wants to go south, it can handle it calmly.
But now the Principality of Provence has raised its long sword, and the bandits of the Mountain Confederation are also watching like wolves. The most important thing is that the Kingdom of France and the Church have also announced their support for the so-called Earl of Wales to go south.
Overnight, we were attacked from all sides.
Seeing that His Highness made no move, the Duke of Lombardy raised his hand and wiped his pale beard, looking around at everyone with sharp eyes like an eagle, "Speak!"
His voice was not loud, but it made people feel heart-stopping.
Finally, the Prime Minister of Lombardy couldn't hold on any longer. If he didn't say anything, the Duke would probably be angry again.
"Your Majesty, Duke, since this bastard Wadbury caused this trouble, he still has to quell it by himself."
"The palace allocates huge military pay to him every year, not to let him lead the enemy."
The Duke of Lombardy scolded. A voice said, "Where is that bastard Wadbury hiding now?"
A palace official hesitated for a long time, "Reporting to your lord, the Duke, Earl Wadbury was seriously injured in the Battle of the Northern Expedition. He is currently being treated in his own territory. I am afraid that he will not be able to lead troops in battle for a while."
The Duke of Lombardy grabbed a glass wine glass next to him and threw it to the ground. "Why didn't this useless bastard die in the North? He should have used magic and witchcraft to cover up his incompetence. Immediately send someone to capture him back to the palace, confiscate his land and property, and bring him back to the palace." All his troops were sent to the north and handed over to von Biron."
After calming down for a moment, the Duke of Lombardy ordered, "Send an order to von Biron and order him to lead the army to fight immediately and drive those Burgundians back to the mountains to become savages."
"In addition, a thousand elites will be dispatched from the central and southern regions to fight in the north."
Someone immediately objected, "Your Majesty, the Provence army is gathering on the border. I'm afraid we should not transfer our elite troops to the north. If Provence attacks from the west, we will be unable to resist. The Burgundians are wounded in the flesh, but Provence is the pain in the bones." With the money and salary, he can recruit troops in the North. The North is vast and prosperous. As long as there is enough money and food, he can recruit more than 10,000 troops, enough to drive back the Burgundian bandits..."
The largest autonomous city in the North of Lombardy, the city of Lavati, is on high alert.
The city that used to be bustling has entered an emergency curfew. Five hundred Lavati city militiamen and two hundred castle iron guards are all wearing armor and patrolling around the city without high wall protection. Anyone entering or leaving the city must undergo their strict inspection.
All this was certainly due to the sudden war in the north, but it was also due to the huge Lombard Guard army stationed outside the city of Lavati.
Two miles north of Lavati City, an unharvested wheat field has been trampled into flat ground.
As far as the eye can see, tents of various sizes have been set up haphazardly. Soldiers, farmers, laborers, traders, prostitutes, and jugglers all gather here. The pungent smell of sheep excrement, horse dung, and urine and urine fills the entire space.
From time to time, nobles and nobles wearing gorgeous armor and carrying heraldic flags, following the escort group, shuttled through the process with horses on their backs and pinching their noses... Outside the camp, on a mound less than thirty feet away, eight cavalrymen in full-body mail guarded an honorable nobleman wearing full-body plate armor and carrying a high-headed black war horse.
"Your Majesty, as of noon today, we have gathered 5,200 people, and almost all the lords in the North have brought troops to fight." The person who looked like a secretary next to you reported in a low voice.
The nobleman riding a tall war horse is officially the earl of the northern court of Lombardy and the military officer of the northern border, von Biron.
This person should be familiar. At that time, Art was appointed by the court of the Count of Burgundy to assist Viscount Geoffrey in leading the army south to fight for Provence. He fought with von Biren near Sauleburg in Provence. In that battle, Art's "black robe army" defeated von Biren's army in one battle. In the end, von Biren only escaped with the remnants of his army.
Although von Biron was defeated in that battle, it could not conceal his outstanding achievements in the Provence battlefield. Therefore, after the war, he was promoted to earl and became the northern military officer under the palace military minister, guarding the northern side with Wadbury respectively.
Wardbury suffered a tragic loss, and von Biron was ordered to do so at the critical moment, and hastily formed this seemingly huge army.
"There are four to five thousand people in Wuyangyang, but apart from the homeless and beggars who were captured to make up for the numbers, the peasants and untouchables who were forced to join the war, and the urban gangsters who tricked themselves into the army to eat and drink, I am afraid that less than two thousand can barely fight. The only ones who are truly capable of fighting are probably the few followers around you and me. We have hundreds of frontier troops in our hands."
"The palace issued several military orders a day, urging us to go north to meet the enemy immediately. Those guys who have been sitting in the palace for a long time have probably never seen the power of the enemy." Von Bilen sighed and recalled, while looking at the city to the south.
"Have the messengers who sent Lavati come back?"
The secretary replied hesitantly: "I was about to report that the people who went to Lavati have returned. The people of the Free City State are unwilling to send troops to fight for the lords of the North."
Von Bilen spat towards the south, "Those rats in the city-state know how to guard the city. If we can't resist the barbarians from the north, will their city survive? A bunch of idiots!"
"My lord, there is one more thing to report."
Von Bilen did not answer.
"Sir, at noon today, another letter came from the palace, saying that the palace has allocated 100,000 pounds of military rations, two thousand sets of weapons and armor, and more than a thousand pounds of gold and silver for us, which will arrive the day after tomorrow at the latest."
"Yes. Didn't you send an army? "
"The letter didn't say anything about the army."
Von Biron sighed, "If the war could be won with money, food and weapons, Lombardy would have become an empire long ago..."
“Send someone to train my new recruits and start heading north in three days…”