Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 226 Ruins
On August 21, Vig's troops arrived at Rendynewum, only to find the city gates wide open and no guards behind the battlements.

Under his arrangement, the field infantry battalion entered the city first, followed by the First and Second Infantry Regiments. After confirming that there were no ambushes inside the city, Vig rode his gray horse through the city gate and returned to the city he had not seen for two years.

According to local residents, two days ago, Gunnar ordered the bishop to baptize Princess Enya and hold an impromptu coronation ceremony to crown her Queen of the Kingdom of Britain.

Subsequently, the main French force departed by ship from the dock south of the city. Fearing interception during the voyage, Gunnar secretly led his personal troops to Hastings, where they boarded a ship to return home.

"Queen? Is it fun to torment a little girl?"

Vig yawned and arrived at the palace surrounded by guards. Large pools of blood and charred soot remained on the outer walls. The palace was in a mess, and several wells were filled with the corpses of maids and commoners.

“This place is no longer habitable.” Vig shook his head and instructed the army to organize the people to properly dispose of the corpses to prevent the spread of disease.

Upon entering the main hall, he found it completely empty. All the items, including the windowpanes, candlesticks, and throne, had been removed. He was furious, but couldn't help finding it somewhat amusing.

"Very well, out with the old, in with the new. From now on, the entire British Isles will be on my shoulders. Although there's not much left, at least I won't have to repay the 40,000 pounds debt."

At that moment, a voice came from the crowd, "Your Excellency, no, Your Majesty, there are some debts you must repay."

Vig turned around and saw his old subordinate, the Prime Minister's secretary, Lodge. "You're still alive. Okay, let's talk about the debt first. Why do some debts have to be repaid?"

Rocky replied: "Previously, Parfice issued a thing called a token in order to raise funds. People would buy it for one pound and get 1.6 pounds after three years. Many of the buyers were minor nobles in direct territories. In order to win their loyalty, I suggest you think carefully."

Vouchers? Who knew eunuchs had a talent for finance.

After a moment's thought, Vig decided to treat them differently. If the minor nobles were still alive and willing to swear allegiance, he could compensate them for their losses as appropriate. As for the rest, he would leave them alone.

As for the secretary who had served three prime ministers, Vig allowed him to remain in his post temporarily to continue assisting Goodwin in maintaining order.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty."

After dismissing the irrelevant personnel, Vig summoned the high-ranking military officers. Looking at the many excited faces, he calmly replied, "Gentlemen, I know what you're thinking. Leif, bring me the map."

Not long after, Leif entered the main hall carrying a stack of maps. Vig found a detailed map of Britain and pointed to Wessex in the southwest.

"This is the richest region in all of Britain, and it belongs to you."

Vigg had only one attitude towards Wessex—to fight. On one hand, he wanted to eliminate this destabilizing factor; on the other hand, he wanted to reward his heroes. If he let Wessex go, he could only appease Jonah, the Shrike, and others with royal lands. What would be left for him then? Wouldn't he be working for nothing?
Staring at the Wessex area, the Shrike breathed heavily. "Your Majesty, when do we make our move?" "We'll set out tomorrow. Rendinium is in ruins; there's no point in staying here. Leave two thousand ragtag troops to clear the ruins and collect the bodies. I'll return after they're done."

The following day, Vig appointed Baron Viper as acting sheriff, and he led the remaining eight thousand men upstream along the Thames, taking two days to reach Reading.

At this moment, the yellow dragon flag of Wessex still flew on the wooden stockade. Vig had no intention of persuading them to surrender and ordered his troops to dig trenches and build a siege camp.

In September, six Kirk ships arrived on the river near Reading and bombarded the stockade walls with heavy crossbows mounted on their decks. (Lagner had spent a considerable sum rebuilding the stone bridges across the Thames, including a section of wooden deck that could be raised to allow ships to pass upstream and downstream.)
Observing the oddly shaped crossbows, the shrike commented, "They are quite accurate, but their power is not as good as the counterweight catapults. If facing stone walls, the latter would be more suitable. By the way, where is the rest of the fleet? Why didn't they follow us?"

Torga, arms crossed, replied casually: “More than six thousand French soldiers evacuated from Rendinium by ship. Lacking unified command, they were scattered everywhere to avoid the storm. Joren is leading the fleet and busy capturing prisoners; it is said that more than eight hundred have already been captured.”

After two days of bombardment, several breaches appeared in the stockade wall north of Reading. Vig ordered a general offensive, and thousands of soldiers rowed longboats to the riverbank, entering the city in small squads to fight in the streets. After suffering more than a hundred casualties, they captured the place.

After capturing Reading, Vig headed southeast towards Winchester, observing the scenery on both sides of the road. He had a strange feeling of returning to more than ten years ago.

Arriving on the outskirts of Winchester, he looked at the lush reeds along the River Itchin and the grey-green wild ducks swimming on the water, and this feeling intensified, as if he were still the Earl of Tyneburg, the siege commander under Ragnar.

Looking back, Vig was somewhat disheartened. He left the trivial matters of building the camp to his subordinates and went to the riverbank to fish to pass the time.

In the afternoon, messengers from the city found him, claiming that Ethelbad had requested to surrender and remain Duke of Wessex.

Watching the buoy suddenly sink on the river surface, Vig raised his rod and reeled in the line, replying impatiently to the messenger:
“Ragnar retained Wessex back then because he expanded too quickly and couldn’t control the large new territories. The situation is different now. My army is looking to acquire fiefdoms, and Wessex is the only way to satisfy them.”

At this moment, the work of reeling in the line was almost finished. Vig picked up the landing net, dipped it into the water, and scooped out a lively river fish.

"I've been fighting all day and haven't had fish soup in ages." He removed the fishhook and tossed the river fish into the empty wooden bucket beside him.

Seeing the messenger's hesitant expression, Vig pointed to the barrel. "Back then, Ragnar caught too many fish, and the barrel couldn't hold them all, so he released a large fish called 'Wessex.' Now, my barrel only has this one fish. What reason is there to let it go?"

Realizing Vig's determination, the messenger returned to Winchester to deliver the devastating news to his king.

"Fish? This barbarian actually compares my kingdom to a river fish?"

All hope was dashed, and Ethelbad slumped helplessly on his throne, drowning himself in wine in an attempt to escape the cruel and cold reality.
In mid-October, Winchester fell, and the Viking army crushed the defenders' resistance, completely destroying Wessex, which had been restored for less than six months.

(End of this chapter)