When the news reached Emperor Norman, the tyrant and the madman who was likely to unify the whole of Europe in the future showed a pleasant smile. The Pope's hysterical behavior did not scare him, even if it was not at all. On the contrary, Egil regarded this message as a gangster act that the other party was desperately betting on all the rogue behavior. It was a direct manifestation of the other party's madness. In addition, it was his own plan and the result of the successful conspiracy.

The first soldier in the Norman Empire to be canonized as a marshal, the Norman Empire naval veteran. He is now stationed on the island of Malta, leading 20,000 navy and more than 400 warships. He is ready to go north at any time to attack Rome. Carter, the highest commander of the outer sea fleet that he destroyed, is not so easy to buy. Although Rome gave a very high bargaining chip, even this soldier who was quite loyal to Egil was a little moved.

"If you can join the righteous side of your search in this war, then after the war, the Pope will crown you as King of Sicily! Incorporate the entire island of Sicily, Naples and southern Italy into your kingdom, and canonize you as a saint!"

When the Roman messenger arrived on a merchant ship to the island of Malta, secretly met Marshal Carter, and offered such a price. The older general was stunned. Greed and ** swelled up sharply in his heart, but soon, the general recalled his master's lord a few months ago. It should be said that a few years ago, when he led the outer sea fleet to ride the wind and waves and occupied the island of Malta, his master's words were given to him. It was not encouragement or promise, but a cold command:

There will be a battle between the Norman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church. At that time, you will definitely be one of the keys to the outcome. In order to prevent the rear of the raid, the Roman Catholic Church will inevitably win you over in every possible way. Money, status, honor, and beauty. There will be countless temptations you have to face. I tell you that you can swallow all these things. You must also agree to the other party’s request. I want you to surrender to the Holy See, and then, when the Holy See army heads north and fights against my army on land, your fleet must head north as quickly as possible to occupy Rome!

At that time, Emperor Norman stared at him with a faint light, like a hungry wolf, like a hawk, like a devil. Carter kept remembering this order firmly. With such a terrifying look, Carter did not dare to say a word at all. And he didn't even dare to think about betraying the emperor.

"After the matter is completed, I will enthrone the entire Sardinia to you and give you a duke! This is my promise to you as the Norman Emperor. Do what you say."

Of course, a barren and barren Sardinia is nothing compared to the entire poor and barren Sicily. If you think about it carefully, Sardinia and two Sicily, all of which are the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire! Whether it is the Norman Emperor or the Roman Pope, this promise is a very deceptive!

The explanation from the Roman Catholic envoy was as follows: "The Greeks did not want the Norman Empire to become stronger. Their maritime power in the Mediterranean was also weakened a lot. Therefore, if your army occupied Naples and Sicily, the other party would only protest at most. They would never do anything irrational."

And Egil's acceptance became even more domineering: "This is my promise. Even the Greeks must not interfere!"

In this way, the poor Marshal Carter lamented his fate. After the envoy of the Roman Catholic Church said these words, he felt chilling while recalling what his emperor said at that time, and shook his head and sighed. In the eyes of the envoy of the Roman Catholic Church, it was the general hesitation that the battle between heaven and man in his heart was as Egil said in advance. When General Carter occupied the island of Malta, especially in the year when Innocent III was still alive, Carter led the fleet northward and "exercised" at the doorstep of the Roman Catholic Church.

Just as Egil said. After that, the money beauties, promises and honors of the Holy See came one after another. Some were accepted by Marshal Carter, while others were used to buy the commanders of the various squadrons under his subordinates. Even if it was just a captain or a centurion, the Holy See would give a reward. This made some people feel moved for a while in the entire offshore fleet. Indeed, some people were bribed.

Prepare to move closer to the Roman Catholic Church.

"Looking for it clearly and finding what to do."

When the heart of the Roman messenger was raised to his throat, Marshal Carter nodded and opened his eyes to speak out the decision: "Look for a decision and accept the blessings given by the throne. Fight for the Roman Catholic Church and for the sacred faith. Even if this will make it contrary to the way of loyalty."

That's it. When Marshal Carter finally said such words and clearly announced his betrayal of Emperor Norman, the Pope, who received the news, sighed: "Finally, this most troublesome thing has been solved."

First of all, this incident happened, and then the Holy See eliminated the exaggerated affairs of the Seven Kingdoms monarchs in one day. This led to the subsequent changes.

When Emperor Norman received such news, he sighed: "After all my efforts were not wasted." Then the Norman army accelerated a little bit again. He headed southward and moved towards the Brandenburg army, which was at a loss because of such a change. On the other battlefield, the Norman army was not affected at all, and still headed south. In just half a month, it occupied a large area of ​​territory north of the Danube. Just like the Holy Roman Empire, when it was a war between the Norman Empire, replaced all the town flags along the way with the Phoenix flag of the Norman Empire.

At the same time, with the Norman vanguards sang all the way, Henry of Bavaria also handed over the decision he made to Henry of Swabian. He hoped that Henry of Swabian could retreat like him. He took the initiative to give up the land north of the Danube and retreat to the south bank of the Danube, waiting for reinforcements from Northern Italy and the Roman Catholic Church. After all the troops gathered, he went north and launched a counterattack to recover the lost territory.

However, for such a result, Henry, the Bavarian lion, could accept it. Because there were still many territory south of the Danube. The capital Munich was also preserved on the southern bank of the Danube. However, if Swabian was the same as him, then his two most important cities, Frankfurt, and even Swabian City, would have fallen into the hands of the Normans. Although he was once regarded as a second-rate city by the Norman Emperor, this does not mean that Henry would easily surrender him. And the large-scale territorial erosion of the Swabian nobles would never agree.

"If you want to be a timid, you will do it alone! Find a general to choose a glorious victory or a glorious death. No matter which result, it will be hundreds of times better than Xun Qiesheng!" At that time, Henry, who was young and energetic and had a revenge for killing his father, wrote a letter to respond to another Duke of Henry. His heroic and even tragic atmosphere completely infected his Swabian army, a total of 18,000 people, began to approach north. He was preparing to fight to the death with the Hesse army entrenched in Frankfurt and even the 40,000 troops of the Norman Pioneer.

However, all this was useless. When his marching route, goals, and even the configuration of troops were known to the other party, his destiny was finally doomed and ended in failure and a tragedy.

Sura, the commander of the Norman Pioneer Army, made a quick decision and informed the commander of the Western Front, Luciverd, to give up Frankfurt, pretend to retreat, and move closer to the east.

Although in this case, it was a bit unhappy to be ordered by a man with only a viscount. However, Lucivid, the Duke of Hesse, who had only mobilized 10,000 troops, finally decided to obey Sura's orders.

A enemy who gave up Frankfurt was twice as many as his army. He was in high spirits and rushed towards him with a desperate aura. After occupying Frankfurt, he also plundered his troops. The citizens of Frankfurt had a very poor impression of him and the people were unstable. In this case, it was not a wise man to guard the city.

So, without any effort, Duke Henry recovered Frankfurt, the largest city in the north of Swabian. After a victory, the Swabian army became more and more emotional. After two days of rest, Duke Henry urged his army to chase after the enemy's retreat. After five days of march, his army was on the banks of the Rhine, a hilly area covered with yellow plants and trees, and encountered a 43,000 Norman army and a 10,000 Hesse army.

October 2, 1007 AD. This is a day destined to record in history. During this day, the two camps, led by the Norman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church, started the first battle near Marlborough on the banks of the Rhine. The beginning of this battle marked a full-scale war between the two camps. A great war that swept across the entire continent began.

"Bordermen, prepare to shoot, engineers, debug crossbows! Find people to give their enemies a head-on attack!" In the military formation that had been set, the commander of the North Saxony Legion, the Norman Empire Viscount Sula shouted like this. Under the strong northeastern wind, his hair floated and looked energetic... (To be continued)
Chapter completed!