Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 183 Breakup
In the main hall, a large group of nobles were arguing fiercely over a large map. Upon noticing Ragnar's arrival, they all bowed in respect.

According to rumors among the merchants, "Bald" Charles was also preparing for war. After discussion, Ragnar decided to set off the next day, crossing the sea and landing before the enemy could fully assemble, choosing Calais as the location.

Given that the army had grown to 21,000 men, Ragnar decided to divide it into three parts, which would be commanded by him, Ivar, and Vig respectively.

The crowd asked, "Where is Gunnar?"

Ragnar's face darkened, and he gave Horst a wink. The Foreign Secretary quickly produced Gunnar's letter and read it aloud.

In the letter, Gunnar announced his renunciation of allegiance to Ragnar for two reasons:

1. Gunnar accused the monarch of unfair treatment, excessively spoiling his third son, Halfdan, who had just come of age when he was appointed to conquer Wales with the intention of making him Duke of Wales after the success. However, the campaign ended in a disgraceful defeat, leaving others (Vigg and Theowough) to clean up the mess.

After being enfeoffed in Gothenburg, Hafdan continued his reckless actions, dragging tens of thousands of troops into an expedition to Northern Europe. After six months of hard work, they gained nothing, and the royal family incurred huge debts and long-term arrears in payments to the nobles.

"Your Majesty, why must others always suffer because of our own affairs?"

Second, Gunnar admitted that he had converted to Roman Catholicism and was unwilling to help pagans attack rulers of the same religion, let alone that "Bald" Charles was his lord.

"Your Majesty, this is the last time I will address you with this word. From now on, you and I are enemies. Farewell, my brother."

After the announcement was read, the audience erupted in uproar.

Vig, Ivar, and Gunnar have always been Ragnar's three most capable warriors. Gunnar possesses exceptional horsemanship and is an extremely rare cavalry commander among the Vikings; without him, it would be impossible to find even a qualified cavalry commander.

As the murmurs subsided, Ragnar announced the stripping of Gunnar's title of Earl of Cambridge, stating, "He has sided with the Franks and is no longer our brother."

Suddenly, fourteen-year-old Uber complained in a low voice, "If that's the case, why didn't we kill him sooner? There were so many opportunities."

Horst, who was beside him, explained, "In recent years, Gunnar has been the biggest warhorse smuggler. If we kill him, where will we get so many cavalrymen?"

After seven years of warhorse smuggling, the number of British cavalry has increased dramatically. This time, with two thousand cavalrymen gathered, their strength has significantly increased compared to the last time.

“Ahem,” Ragnar interrupted the whispers and began to announce the affiliation of the various units. Unexpectedly, the scene became increasingly chaotic, with the vassals having complicated relationships with each other and clamoring that they were unwilling to fight alongside their enemies.

For example, Ulf and Leonard, Horst and Nils, Hafdan and some of the Swedish nobles who participated in the war.
After arguing for a full hour, they finally determined the affiliation of each unit. Vig had a total of 6,000 men under his command, including 2,600 soldiers directly under his command, 1,000 men under Ulf, 700 men under Pascal, and more than 1,700 Swedish light infantry.

Clearing his throat, Vig said in a serious tone, "I'm sure you've all heard about my personality. I have many rules. If you're unwilling to follow them, you should join His Majesty's or Ivar's forces as soon as possible."

Ulf is an old acquaintance and has long been accustomed to Vig's fighting style. Following him will never be a bad thing.

Pascal Jr. is eighteen years old this year. Like his father Pascal, he is not good at fighting and only wants to get through this war peacefully.

The remaining seven Swedish nobles didn't have many concerns; as long as they didn't stay with Hafdan, everything was fine.

The discussion went on until late at night. Vig left the palace with a yawn and looked around. He saw his nephew chatting and boasting with several palace guards.

"Leif!"

The latter hurriedly ran over, "Uncle, when are we crossing the sea? My sword is thirsting for the enemy's blood."

With a sigh, Vigé gestured for his nephew to draw his sword, intending to teach him a lesson beforehand. Leif: "What did you say?"

"Draw your sword!"

Leif did as instructed, when suddenly a dark shadow flashed before his eyes, striking his right wrist. He instinctively released his grip on the sword hilt. Immediately afterward, another dark shadow attacked, and he fell straight to the ground, staring blankly at the brilliant starry sky above. "Who am I? Where am I?"

After a couple of minutes, Leif struggled to his feet and realized that Vig had defeated him with just the scabbard. His anxiety suddenly subsided.

"Remember, those guards fawn over you not because you're a great fighter, but simply because you're my nephew. Tomorrow the army sets off, you'd better rein in your foolishness. There are too many uncontrollable factors on the battlefield, and I don't have the energy to keep an eye on you all the time."

Upon returning to the camp outside the city, Vig summoned the quartermaster, Seibert Stormrage, and put him in charge of coordinating the supply of provisions for this mission.

"Looking across the entire army, many nobles are simply incompetent in command. They are illiterate and don't know how to learn from experience. I have a feeling that logistics will be a major problem this time. You and your civil officials should pay close attention and make sure to deliver supplies to the front lines on time!"

"Understood." Seibert nodded emphatically, accepting this arduous and tiring task.

With everything settled, Vig blew out the lamp in the tent, wrapped himself in a thin blanket, and fell into a deep sleep, which lasted until the next morning.

According to the marching order, Ivar's 7,000 men were the first to cross the sea, followed by Vig, and then Ragnar's 8,000 main force crossed the sea in the third wave.

Golden rays of light pierced through the clouds and spread down, a cool morning breeze swept through the camp, and the shouts of the rank and file officers filled the air.

"Get dressed and have breakfast quickly."

"Whose shield is this? Take it away right now!"

"All personnel of the Third Company, First Regiment, assemble!"

The 2,600 directly subordinate soldiers, including two bayonet squads of 1,000 men each, were organized into regimental units and were commanded by Yoren and Shrike respectively.

There were also two mountain infantry companies, commanded by Baron Viper. The cavalry commander was Torga, who also led the cavalry of Ulf and Pascal the Younger, totaling three hundred and seventy cavalrymen.

After breakfast, Vig's direct troops packed their bags and waited quietly in the camp. By noon, they still hadn't heard any bugle calls from the city.

what happened?

Vig rode his horse to the south dock and found that Ivar's first batch had not yet departed. Looking around, the entire dock area was filled with a vast number of ships, crowding and colliding with each other, completely unable to move, like a chaotic flock of sheep that had lost its leader.

"It's over. Twenty thousand people are stuck in Rendynewum and can't get out. This is a huge embarrassment."

Left with no other choice, Ragnar convened a meeting with the command and decided to send Vig's second batch of troops to Dover by land. "There are enough ships there. Once you arrive, no matter what the situation is in Ivar, you can simply cross the sea to Calais."

"As ordered!"

Vig returned to the camp, and amidst the soldiers' complaints, he led six thousand men across the stone bridge over the Thames to the south bank of the river. They then traversed Kent along the stone-paved roads left by the Roman Empire, arriving at Dover Port on the evening of the third day.

(End of this chapter)