Ulf acted out this scene seriously, and the duchess had no choice but to grant him the title of Earl of the Netherlands. Witnessed by many courtiers, Ulf obtained the right to rule the county of Holland and the Amsterdam Castle as his own private property. property.
"Why do you have to let the Duchess grant you the title? We Northmen have always taken it by force ourselves?" When Ulf completed the investiture ceremony, he walked through the hall and saw Ange leaning against the pillar. Seems to be waiting for him.
"No, we just took away the property. To the people in this land, we are still outsiders." Ulf shook his head and explained to Ange.
"Isn't it?" Ange frowned slightly. She felt that everyone was like this, plundering everywhere before returning to her hometown in Northern Europe.
"No, we should be the rulers," Ulf said to Ange.
"It's you, you will become the ruler." Ange sighed, she stood up and turned away, leaving a silent Ulf.
The soldiers captured in Amsterdam were also brought before Ulf. He stood before them and ordered Dietwin to tell the soldiers that he had become the new Count of Holland and ordered them to swear allegiance to him immediately.
"I swear allegiance to you in the name of my father and God." These captured soldiers came to Ulf one after another. They originally wanted to kiss Ulf's ring as a courtesy, but they found that Ulf He didn't carry any rings, but this didn't bother Ulf. He stretched out his battle ax and ordered them to kiss.
"Integrate them into the army and select outstanding warriors from among them to be generals." After completing the allegiance ceremony of the soldiers, Ulf ordered Vargas, and he organized these Amsterdam soldiers into a team independently. .
"Ulf, you organized these prisoners into an army separately. What if they betray us on the battlefield?" Vargas asked with some worry. In his opinion, it would be safer to sell these people directly into slaves. , the Norse looked down upon the cowardly Dutch and were unwilling to fight alongside them.
"They won't, they don't dare." But Ulf was very confident that he could do what the Mongols had done.
At this time, the Earl of East Friesland prepared his army for war. He placed all ten longships on the dock. After careful consideration, he decided to attack Haarlemburg from the sea. After all, taking the land route not only required passing through muddy and dangerous swamps, , it also takes a long time.
"Hmm." The Earl of East Friesland stood on the pier, the sea breeze blowing his hair, and the three beard braids on his chin also fluttered a few times. He had spent time mobilizing soldiers from three baronies and gathered two More than a hundred warriors, carrying the flag of the Accra family, boarded the long ship at the dock.
"Lord Earl, it's not good. Our spies came back overnight to report that the pirates entrenched in Haarlem broke into Amsterdam. They captured Earl Wadhell and deprived him of his title." A man wearing a brown-red coat, with a thick bush The man with a black beard walked up to the Earl of East Friesland and whispered to him.
"By Frigga's wisdom, I will defeat those sons of bitches." The Earl of East Friesland was furious after hearing this. These damn pirates actually dared to do such a thing, and he regretted it in his heart. He should not wait for the barons to bring their troops to assemble, but should lead the troops directly.
"My lord, do we still want to go now?" The man's name is Conrad, and he is the chief minister and military commander of the Earl of East Friesland.
"Of course we have to go, and they must have been weakened a lot." The Earl of East Friesland narrowed his eyes, reached out and touched his braided beard, and said to Conrad.
Seeing that the earl was very insistent, Conrad stopped insisting, but in fact he was not very optimistic. If Ulf and others took action before Ulf and others occupied Dutch County, then they would still have a chance to fight, but now Wu Wolf and others occupied the two counties of West Friesland and Holland, and were able to mobilize much more materials and manpower than they did.
"Don't worry, I know they will definitely attack Dutch County, so I'm afraid no one will be willing to help them." The Earl of East Friesland is very confident. He knows the nature of the North people well. Once they occupy other people's land, they will almost Instinctively, you will think about how to loot and loot.
"Woo~~." A dull horn sound sounded, and they heard the sound coming from the pier. The sea wind seemed to become stronger, and the sails on the long boats began to swell.
"Let's go~." The Earl of East Friesland put the big-nosed iron helmet on his head, held the sword on his waist, and said to Conrad, and then strode towards the dock.
"Boom, boom, boom~~~." The North soldiers, together with the soldiers recruited from the Barony of Emden, the Territory of Williamsport and the Territory of Farrar, lined up in an orderly manner and walked towards the dock. The black background The flag of the golden eagle is flying.
"Wow, wow~~." The Earl of East Friesland stood on the bow of the longship. He came back to his senses and looked in the direction of his castle. His wife Sif led his children to stand on the city wall and looked out. They went to war with their father and husband.
"I swear by Frigga's wisdom that I will definitely take back the rule of the entire Netherlands." The Earl of East Friesland raised his hand and waved it, secretly vowing to take back his rights from Ulf's hands. .
"Sea route?" Ulf and others were not idle at this time. Before the war with Count Waldhel, he sent spies everywhere to inquire about the movements of East Friesland. No one knew the intelligence in the war better than him. importance.
"That's right, my lord, the villagers of the Barony of Dokham and the Barony of Leeuwarden along the way have discovered the Earl of East Friesland's fleet. There should be ten of them." The spy wearing a gray hood gasped and said to Ulf said.
"I understand, you go down and have a rest!" Ulf frowned. As expected, they are all Northmen and are very good at water attacks. If you think about it, if you take the land route, you will pass through the narrow wetland, the Zuiderzee, and the It is not as convenient as crossing the Wadden Sea directly.
"Let's fight!" Vargas was drinking from his wine glass. At this time, after listening to the spies, he directly put the wine glass on the table with a loud bang and said to Ulf.
"What do you think?" Ulf looked at Ange, Viside, Luther and Sigrid again, wanting to seek their opinions.
"They came well prepared. Maybe we can defend the city." Ange believed that we could fight conservatively. After all, Ulf's army had just fought and needed time to rest.
"I agree to fight." Sigrid immediately agreed, as if she agreed to any attack.
"Where are you, Verside?" Ulf turned his attention to Verside again. This old slave has very rich experience in naval battles.
"We don't have enough ships to repel them at sea." Wayside thought for a while, and he believed that our own advantages in sea combat were not great.
"I'll think about it." Ulf listened to everyone's words and fell silent. The land battle seemed very reasonable. For a moment, he even thought of a half-crossing attack, but he quickly rejected it because he didn't know how to do it. Knowing where the Earl of East Friesland will land, if he waits for the other party to land and then leads the army to rush over, it is very likely that the landing will be completed, but his energy will be restrained in the hands of the other party.
"I have decided." After thinking for a moment, Ulf stood up. His body was bathed in the light of the window. Vargas and others looked at him, waiting for his final decision.
"In a sea battle, we will attack the fleet of the Earl of East Friesland from the sea." Ulf announced loudly to everyone.
"Why are you using four longships to attack the opponent's ten longships? Are you crazy?" Ange was shocked. No matter how he calculated, they could not win against each other.
"That's right, the Earl of East Friesland would never have thought that we would fight them at sea, and we still have time to be fully prepared." Ulf was determined, this was a battle that surprised everyone. Unexpected surprises, including enemies.
"Crazy, good, I like it." Vargas laughed, his laughter echoing in the Lord's Hall.
Ulf immediately ordered Vargas to bring all the bed crossbows and crossbows made by craftsmen to the ship, and plunder all the bows and arrows in Haarlem, although the Vikings' naval battles preferred to bring the two ships closer together, and then After boarding the sampan, the soldiers fought and boarded the ship through the narrow sampan, but Ulf decided to change this fighting method.
"In addition to the crossbow, bring olive oil and whale oil, and some more linen." Ulf ordered Vargas and others.
"It's really interesting." Sigrid looked at the busy people. She saw Waldheer standing in the corner holding a plate, looking intently as if he were a sculpture, so she raised the corners of her mouth and walked towards Waldheer. Go, at this time Waldhel has been deprived of his title and is just an ordinary slave.
"Hey, why don't you greet your master?" Sigrid saw Waldheer ignoring her and asked him angrily.
"Well, me." Earl Waldhel was so frightened that he almost couldn't hold the plate. He couldn't understand Sigrid's words at all and could only hesitate, but Sigrid was not going to let him go. After saving his collar and walking out, Waldheer, who looked horrified, was at a loss.
"Here you go, this time as a slave you have to follow me on the expedition, and remember to protect my rear." Sigrid handed an ax to Waldhel and said to him seriously.
"I, but the lord said that I don't have to go to the battlefield, and I don't know how to use an axe." Waldhel was so frightened that he almost cried. Although he couldn't understand Sigrid's words, miraculously, he actually understood. She meant that, so he quickly said that except for his love of reading, he had hardly learned any fighting skills.
"Don't worry, I also learned how to fight on the battlefield. I remember the first time I went to the battlefield, I cut off a man's head, and I specially pulled out his teeth as a souvenir." Sigrid was completely different. She didn't take it to heart, since she couldn't understand what Waldhel said anyway, but even if she did, she wouldn't be able to let him go.
The craftsmen quickly placed the crossbows on the long boats. This time, even the newly recruited soldiers from Amsterdam were recruited, but they did not even have a flag at this time.
"Dear Lord, what company title and flag should we use?" The person selected was a Dutch knight named Douwo. He originally served in the army of Count Waldhel, but due to an affair, They were punished by Flores, so when they were captured, Douvo offered to be the commander of the army.
"Well, you will be called the Eagle Regiment. After the battle is over, you will be equipped with an eagle flag." Ulf said to Douwo. This knight named Douwo can speak fluent Norse. , is the only person who is better than Detwin, which is why Ulf chose him.
"The Eagles will swear allegiance to the lord to the death." Dowuwo immediately put his hand on his chest and swore to Ulf.
When everything was ready, Ulf led his companions and the North warriors to board the longship. Wayside stood on the bow of the ship, put his finger on his tongue, licked it, and then raised it high. In this way, the direction of the wind is judged.
"Creak, creak." The longship made a creaking sound among the trees floating on the sea. Ulf and others waited with bated breath for Verside's order.
"The wind direction is favorable, we can set off." After a while, Verside put down his finger and said to Ulf and others.
"Let's go~~." Ulf immediately ordered loudly.
"Let's go~."
"Let's go~~."
At the sound of orders, the sails of the long ships were lowered, the hulls shook a few times, and they drifted towards the sea. A horn sounded, and the four long ships sailed slowly towards the east.
The waves beat against the hull, and the dragon's bow cut through the waves. If you look at it from above, you will find that the two fleets are getting closer and closer. In fact, the Earl of East Friesland at this time did not know Ulf's decision. It seems that Ulf, who lacks a longship, does not dare to intercept him on the sea. The only possibility is to land again, but he is more familiar with the land of West Friesland than Ulf, and he will never let Ulf Find your own.
"The stupid pirates will pay the price for their recklessness." The Earl of East Friesland held the rope in his hand and looked at the endless sea, and the coast of the Netherlands was to their south.
"What if they hide in the castle?" Conrad asked curiously.
"That would be even more stupid. When no one is afraid of the pirates' force, they will join my command and trap the pirates in the castle. And we have a lot of time." East Friesland The earl laughed and said proudly.
"But the duchess and the heir are still in the castle." Conrad said in surprise, but he quickly stopped because he understood that this would be more in line with the earl's wishes.
"Why has our ship's speed slowed down?" The Earl of East Friesland frowned and said to the people on the bow.
"Sorry, count, the wind is against us now." The man at the helm shrugged helplessly and replied to the count.
