Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 221 The Burning Sea

After a night's rest, Yoren led five ships away from the port, leaving the damaged sailboat in Dover until repairs were completed before returning to Tyne.

The humid southeast sea breeze brushed past his ears, and Yoren thought to himself, "The torsion crossbow is highly accurate and best suited for naval warfare. I'll return to Tyne Town to replenish supplies such as oil canisters, and then head south again to completely cut off the enemy's supply lines."

When launching an expedition overseas, the most important thing is supply. The French army can plunder food and livestock from the people, but items such as armor, weapons, arrows, and warhorses can only be supplied from the rear. The longer the delay, the lower the enemy's fighting strength will be.

With this achievement, my title can be raised by one rank. Hmm, which fief should I choose? The northern climate is cold; perhaps a land located further south would be better.”

Suddenly, the crew's shouts interrupted his thoughts.

Joren's gaze turned westward, where he saw a large number of French ships rushing out of the Thames estuary and heading straight for the surprise attack fleet.

"Get ready to fight!"

At that moment, the French ships were sailing from west to east, while the Viking fleet was sailing from south to north. They were facing each other with their sides facing each other, and ten torsion crossbows aimed at the foremost ship and fired stone projectiles, easily sinking a rowboat.

However, the French ships were vast and numerous, and they had waited there specifically to intercept the fleet returning north.

Soon, more and more longboats and cogs approached the Vikings' squareships, and the French sailors drew their crossbows and exchanged fire with the Vikings. When the distance closed, they hurled heavy iron grappling hooks, the hooks attached to hemp ropes. Some hooked onto the gunwales of the two-masted sailing ships, some onto the rigging, and some even pierced through the side planks of the hull!
"Quickly, pull hard!"

Frankish soldiers desperately pulled the enemy ship closer, while Viking soldiers tried to cut the grappling hooks. With unsettling creaking sounds, the two ships were forcibly pulled together, more grappling hooks flew in, and the gunwales finally came together tightly.

The most brutal and bloody boarding action broke out.

"Deus adjuva (God help me)!"

The Frankish soldiers roared their battle cries, and led by their officers and knights, they struggled to climb the grappling hooks with short swords in their mouths. What awaited them was a forest of spears, fierce iron axes, and sharp swords thrusting out from the gaps in their shields.

The marines on the Viking ship, equipped with cloth armor and holding a superior position, desperately tried to stop the enemy from boarding. The sailors, abandoning their bows and crossbows, joined the battle wielding iron swords and daggers. Blood flowed freely on the deck, turning the surrounding seawater a dark red, and the cries and thrashing of those who fell into the water were incessant.

The situation was critical. Suddenly, Yoren remembered that there were many sealed lime jars in the hold, and he quickly ordered several sailors who were not good at hand-to-hand combat to throw them at the Coke ship on the left.

With the sound of shattering terracotta pots, billowing white dust enveloped the air above the Kirk ship, and a large number of French soldiers covered their eyes and screamed in panic, losing their fighting ability in a short period of time.

The sailors then switched targets, hurling lime canisters at the rowing longboat on the starboard side. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Marines used axes to cut the ropes binding the ship, freeing the HMS Parrot II from the enemy vessel.

"Quick, shake them off!"

The situation was critical. The sailors, with no time to catch their breath, steered the Grey Parrot II away from the enemy, while their allies behind them were still under attack. Yoren cursed a few times and ordered the flagship to stop a hundred meters away, firing at the enemy ships with torsion ballistae and crossbows.

Five minutes later, the two two-masted sailing ships managed to escape and reinforce the remaining friendly forces at a relatively safe distance.

Discovering the enemy's attempt to escape, the bloodthirsty French ordered rockets to be fired, targeting not the hulls and Vikings, but the massive sails. The mainmast and foremast sails burst into flames, and the remaining two bimasted sailing ships were trapped. Some crew members seized two enemy longboats and frantically rowed towards their allies. Behind them, the burning sails drooped helplessly, spreading the fire throughout the entire bimasked ship.

"They've gone mad, these people have completely gone mad."

Joren stared bitterly at the two burning sailing ships, fleeing in disarray under the southeast wind. By this time, the French oarsmen were exhausted and, after paddling for a short distance, gave up the pursuit.

In mid-July, Yoren's battle report was delivered to Tamworth. Vig read it once and then passed it on to everyone.
"The navy did a good job. In addition to burning a large amount of military supplies, they also shook the enemy's morale. I estimate that those mercenaries and minor nobles are clamoring to run away. Gunnar doesn't have much time left."

Vig was right.

Two days later, Gunnar persuaded Esselbad to besiege Oxford again. Vig realized that the other side intended to lure him south, and after much consideration, he decided to keep his main force stationed at Tamworth.

Theowl still had a thousand soldiers left, plenty of food, and had received aid of two hundred sets of armor. Holding out for two months against the walls would not be a problem.

Moreover, Theowough and Ethelbad had irreconcilable conflicts. The former was nominally the Duke of Mercia, but unfortunately, he had very low prestige among the people. He had worked hard for more than ten years and only controlled the territory of Oxford. He would never hand it over.

However, in Esselbad's view, Oxford has always been Wessex territory, and there is absolutely no room for compromise.

Given the current situation, Gunnar sent envoys to persuade Esselbad to back down, but was firmly rejected.

“Oxford and the surrounding Mercia region must be mine. What is the point of my participation in this war if I give them up? Go back and tell your Majesty that if he is willing to give up a piece of land to settle Theowough, I will not stop him.”

Gunnar was powerless to do anything about it; his army was vast and required a large amount of land to house its people. During this time, he drafted a rough allocation plan:

The second son and the illegitimate children divided Ireland among themselves.

The northern border, as well as the territories of Leonard, Ulf, and others, were granted to their direct subordinate troops.
He retained York, Nottingham, Tamworth, Cambridge, and Londeneum as royal fiefdoms.

"Assuming I persuade Theowough to surrender, he will inevitably demand a duchy of equal yield. If I satisfy him, what will I have left? A county of Rendynew? Did I work so hard for all this just for this one piece of land?"

Gunnar slammed his fist on the table in frustration, abandoning any thought of persuading Theowough to surrender.

As a result, Wessex’s more than four thousand men were tied up in Oxfordshire, leaving him to face Vig’s massive army alone.

"Fine, after half a year of this, it's time to settle things with him."

At this time, Gunnar's army numbered over ten thousand. After much persuasion from the envoy, he also borrowed four hundred cavalrymen from Wessex (since they were not needed for the siege). His cavalry force expanded to two thousand five hundred, along with one thousand mounted infantry.

(End of this chapter)