The Great Arcanist Who Traveled Through the World of American Variety Shows.

Chapter 586 Servant Army

"Do we have any reinforcements?"

"I don't know. The chief's order is to gather in Paris."

"What about the Paladins? Have they come too?"

Most of the Frankish paladins were concentrated in the monasteries of Orleans and Paris, but to the chief's disappointment, the soldier still shook his head.

There were about 500,000 to 600,000 Franks here, distributed in the northern, central and western parts of Gaul. The population of the entire Gaul province was less than two million, and the vast majority of them were Gauls.

Years of war and looting meant that the population of the province of Gaul remained small. It was not until the founding of the Frankish Kingdom that the population gradually exceeded three million. Until the tenth century, the population of the Frankish Kingdom was only over six million.

Because of the oppression of the Roman Empire, the Gauls either fled or hid in the mountains. Almost all of the remaining ones became tenants and serfs of the Roman nobles.

The later Frankish Kingdom was able to be established largely because they accepted the Gauls. It was only with these populous people that the Frankish Kingdom was truly established and continued.

"Damn it, Merovich didn't even inform us when he took action! And we didn't get any of the supplies!"

"He wants to take the opportunity to wipe out our tribe that opposes him!" Several people around said.

The Franks were not a monolithic group. After all, there were so many tribes, some were doing well, some were doing poorly, some had begun to Romanize and urbanize, while others were still barbarian tribes.

If it weren't for the Germanic raids, these Franks might have fought among themselves.

Now the leaders of these tribes say that it is not impossible that Merovice wants to take the opportunity to deal with them.

"It seems that the Great Chief has made up his mind to have a decisive battle in Paris!" Carol said with a grim expression.

"What do we do now?"

The people around looked at each other and said slowly: "Chief, we all listen to you!"

"It is basically impossible to stop the Rhine Legion with our strength." Carol said heavily. Their tribe is located on the plains and they still live in wooden houses. The surrounding area is just a wall built with wooden railings, and at most some parts are surrounded by rock walls.

But the height of these rock walls is only three meters, not enough for people to stand.

This level of defense might be enough to stop wild beasts or marauding Germans, but it would be a pipe dream to try to deal with the fully armed Rhine Army.

"This matter was caused by Merovice who robbed the Rhine Province's caravan. It has nothing to do with us. Even the looted materials were not distributed to us. We didn't get any benefits, so why should we be enemies with the Rhine Province?"

The people around looked at each other, and one of them said, "Chief, why don't we surrender too!"

They couldn't resist the 3,000 fully armed Rhine Legion, and even if they could, why should they shed blood for the benefit of others?

Carol hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "Surrender!"

"This war was caused by Merovice."

"We are not gaining anything, there is no need to shed the children's blood!"

Hearing the words of the tribal chief, the surrounding warriors couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. A sturdy man next to him said in a deep voice: "That's right!"

"The children's blood cannot be shed in vain, and we cannot die in vain!"

"I heard that the Lord of the Rhine is a Roman, and he is also the governor of Gaul appointed by the Emperor himself. It is not cowardice for us to surrender to him."

The empire ruled the province of Gaul for more than four hundred years and still had extraordinary authority here. It should be noted that in history the empire paid almost no military pay, and these Franks still followed Rome to fight against the Visigoths and Germans.

This is the legitimacy of the Roman Empire.

Although this orthodoxy is becoming less and less popular, it is undeniable that it still has a strong influence here.

After Richard's surrender was confirmed, the atmosphere in the entire meeting room instantly relaxed, and everyone around him also relaxed. Chief Carol immediately ordered: "Let my son go to the Rhine Army in person to express his submission to Governor Richard."

"Order people to prepare wine and water, and slaughter ten cows and thirty sheep. Send them to the army when it arrives. Don't give the governor an excuse."

In this era, even if you surrender, there is no guarantee that others will not accept it, or they may just agree on the surface and then launch another attack when you let your guard down.

So we must be careful.

You know, the empire's army looting is a natural skill. They loot when they win, and they loot when they lose.

After Carol gave the order, the people around him immediately took action. His son led a dozen Frank warriors to surrender to Richard, and the other side also began to select animals for slaughter.

At the same time, the soldiers in the tribe did not completely let down their guard.

When Richard learned that these tribes had surrendered, he did not intend to take advantage of the situation, and of course he would not let them go. After Richard agreed and accepted the surrender of these people, he immediately ordered the surrendered tribes to send some soldiers as vassal troops to follow the army north to Paris.

These soldiers are both cannon fodder and hostages. They will be the first wave of soldiers after the war with the Franks breaks out.

Doing so would not only replenish the insufficient military forces in his hands, but also solve the problem of those tribes rebelling again.

After learning of Richard's conditions, the Frankish tribal chiefs also agreed to his request. It was normal to send troops as vassal troops.

This is an old tradition of the Roman Empire, and all the tribal chiefs agreed. Moreover, with these people, they are not worried that Richard will suddenly turn against them.

The Roman Empire still had some credibility.

Thus, after just a few days, Richard's Rhine Army rapidly expanded from three people to ten thousand people.

At the same time, these tribes also sent cattle and sheep to the Rhine Army, and Richard accepted all of these things. Of course, he did not take them for nothing, but gave these tribes in return refined salt, sugar, wine and other supplies.

This action immediately improved Richard's reputation among the Franks.

You have to know that even when the Roman Empire recruited soldiers from various tribes, they did not give them money or supplies, and even required them to provide their own dry food and weapons.

In comparison, Richard's actions immediately won the favor of these Franks, and they also felt that following Richard seemed to be a possible solution.

Carol soon met the Rhine Army. The three thousand soldiers arrived near their tribe in just one afternoon, which was one day earlier than they expected.

Carol was also surprised when he saw the majestic and well-equipped Rhine army. The elite level of this army was far beyond his expectations.

If he hadn't made the decision quickly enough, his tribe might have been conquered a little later.

All the members of the Rhine Legion were equipped with armor, and all of them rode war horses. They all had a strong aura, and you could tell at first glance that they were not good people.

Such an elite army, even if all the Franks were to gather together, they would not be able to select so many elite soldiers.

More importantly, this army obeyed orders and the thousands of troops were completely silent except for the neighing of some war horses.

The three thousand silent troops looked very oppressive.

If it had been the Franks, it would have been a mess. Only then did he understand why the previous tribes had been defeated so quickly and why the other tribes had surrendered so thoroughly.

Soon a knight rushed out from the army. He was a strong man wearing iron armor. He quickly rushed in front of Carol.

The galloping horses made Carol and the surrounding Frank warriors change their expressions slightly, and they couldn't help but tighten their weapons.

But just when the warhorse was only two meters away from them, the knight suddenly pulled the reins, and the majestic warhorse was actually pulled up upright by him.

'Shh!'

The horse raised its front hooves, then dropped them suddenly, splashing a lot of dust. The knight sat on the horse without moving. His riding skills were so superb that it was amazing.

"The Governor has ordered that you gather a thousand soldiers immediately and join the main army to march out together!"

At this point, the knight said in a deep voice: "I am Cruz. If you have any objections to the Governor's decree, I can give you a chance. As long as one of you can withstand my attack, I can make the decision and save you from sending troops!"

Hearing this, the surrounding Frank warriors blushed immediately and couldn't help but want to speak, but before anyone else could say anything, Carol directly agreed and said, "Please rest assured, Knight Cruz, I will order people to prepare immediately!"

Cruise was very disappointed to see Carol agree so readily. He wanted to take the opportunity to establish his authority and let these country bumpkins see how powerful their knights were.

Hearing this, the surrounding Frank warriors blushed immediately and couldn't help but want to speak, but before anyone else could say anything, Carol directly agreed and said, "Please rest assured, Knight Cruz, I will order people to prepare immediately!"

Cruise was very disappointed to see Carol agree so readily. He wanted to take the opportunity to establish his authority and let these country bumpkins see how powerful their knights were.

For this reason, he deliberately made provocative remarks, hoping that the person would not be able to help but jump out, but it turned out that these people were so cautious.

Carol was relieved to see Cruz leave. A soldier next to him couldn't help but ask, "Chief, why did you agree so quickly? I wanted to teach him a lesson!"

"Shut up!" Carol scolded sternly, "Do you know who he is?"

"The Bloody Butcher, he has been known as the murderous devil among the Germans for a long time. At least hundreds of German warriors have died at his hands!"

"What do you have to fight him? Can't you see that he is just provoking you so that you can't help but fight?"

Hearing the nickname "Bloody Butcher", the surrounding Franks suddenly fell silent, and the Frank warrior just now turned pale.

(End of this chapter)