Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 252 Helpless Choice
After leaving the brewery, Hafdan headed to the nearby textile factory.

Pushing open the door, one finds more than twenty women sitting in front of spinning machines, bursting into laughter from time to time. Overall, they seem to focus their energy on chatting, with spinning being a secondary task.

"You, you guys."

As usual, Hafdan threw a tantrum and summoned the manager to inquire about the recent income and expenditure situation.

The textile factory is in the worst situation. The employees are inefficient and can only produce the lowest quality wool fabrics. There is no dyed or embroidered fabric, and the profit for this month is expected to be only two pounds.

Finally, Hafdan arrived at the blacksmith's workshop, where a scorching heat rushed towards him, sparks flew, and the clanging of metal filled the air. Newly forged hoes, axes, and spearheads gleamed in the shadows.

Compared to the previous two workshops, the four blacksmiths and ten apprentices were in the best working condition. Hafdan was just about to praise them when he caught a glimpse of the pig iron ingots the blacksmiths were using, and his anger surged up.

"We said last month that we would use local iron ingots, so why are we still buying expensive pig iron ingots from Stirling?"

The blacksmiths all agreed, “Your Majesty, the cast iron ingots from Stirling are of the best quality. If we try to buy inferior cast iron to save money, we will have to spend more time forging it repeatedly, which will slow down the forging process and reduce the quality of the ironware.”

Hafdan took the ledger; last month's profit was four pounds, in line with his expectations, and he left with a gloomy face.

In addition to the three factories mentioned above, he also invested in a shipyard, but the two cogs built at great expense were unsuitable for sailing. The shipwrights subsequently improved the process, but the second batch of two cogs were also substandard, causing complaints from buyers and resulting in Hafdan incurring a large debt.

The problem is that the buyers are nobles from the east coast of Sweden. Some of them invested individually, while others joined together to buy the ship. This debt cannot be evaded and can only be paid off slowly by Hafdan.

Upon returning to the lord's longhouse, he summoned the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who estimated this year's income to be just over four hundred pounds. Even with careful budgeting, he could save at most one hundred pounds, equivalent to twenty sets of armor.

"That's too little. As a king, he's not as happy as an earl of the Franks or Britain."

Compared to Vig's extravagant display of seven thousand sets of armor during the Civil War, Hafdan looked dejected, feeling increasingly distant from the throne of Britain.

“I plan to launch a large-scale raid. Send someone to invite Uber, Nils, and Eric.”

Shilesuyige.

Niels' situation was similar to Hafdan's; southern Denmark was plagued by war, and agriculture and handicrafts were not profitable. He turned his attention to the Pomeranian region, conquering a total of twelve tribes, but these West Slavic tribes were impoverished and could not be exploited for much profit.

Currently, a large amount of British goods are flowing into the markets of Northern and Eastern Europe. Many tribal chiefs are obsessed with luxury goods such as spirits, sugar, dyed cloth, fine warhorses, and high-end armor, resulting in a gradual loss of wealth.

To meet their own needs, they turned to developing a new business, sending the tribe's young men to work in Britain in the civil engineering industry, such as road construction and house building. The young men would get paid, and the chief would receive a commission.

Faced with Vig's dumping practices, Niels abandoned his business aspirations and gladly went to Gothenburg to discuss the looting plan.

Upon arriving in Gothenburg, Nils was slightly disappointed to find neither Uber nor Eric in sight. "Just the two of us?"

Hafdan: "Uber is busy dealing with internal strife, and Eric Jr., who is used to doing business, has declined the invitation to plunder."

Regarding their targets, they dared not provoke the two formidable figures, Vig and Gunnar, as the economic situation in Eastern Europe was too dire. Suitable targets were only Flanders, the Aquitaine region in southern Frankish territory, and Iberia.

The latter two targets were far away, so Hafdan and Nils unanimously decided to raid Flanders. In fact, the two had considered raiding Norway, but they did not voice it.

Over the years, Eric the Younger had granted twenty barons and hundreds of knights, and had gone to great lengths to smuggle horses from Britain and Normandy. In the event of war, he could muster two hundred cavalrymen, enough to confront this loosely organized raiding force, which consisted mainly of light infantry.

In early July, Hafdan and Nils used their prestige to gather four thousand raiders and set sail along the coastline toward their destination.

Midway through the journey, three two-masted sailing ships appeared unnoticed to the side and rear of the fleet, with black dragon flags flying at the top of their masts.

Throughout the entire operation, the ship did not launch an attack and refused Hafdan's repeated invitations.

Niels advised his temporary ally to decline the invitation, saying, "This is Vig's patrol fleet; it doesn't participate in the looting but keeps a close watch on our fleet."

Gazing at the massive, well-maneuverable sailing ships and the imposing heavy ballistae on their decks, Hafdan, from a pirate's perspective, exclaimed in admiration:

“If I had these ships, I would definitely go into the Mediterranean to plunder. Bjorn made a fortune with longships, and the profits from dhows would only be greater.”

Niels leaned against the side of the ship, his tone dejected. "You can try to purchase from Vig. The ships, crossbows, and armaments will cost two hundred pounds per warship, but that's an internal price. As the King of Sweden, your purchase price could potentially exceed three hundred pounds."

In the early morning of July 20th, the raiding fleet reached the Flanders coast and entered the Scheldt River, its banks lined with muddy marshes where reeds swayed. Broken fishing boats lay aground on the exposed mudflats, and five startled wild ducks flapped their wings and flew into the reeds.

Soon, the fleet arrived at a bend in the river, where a wooden watchtower stood, its body blackened by thick smoke, with a dozen or so corpses scattered below, and a small flock of ravens feasting on them.

Hafdan looked puzzled. "Who did this?"

Niels, "presumably a British raider, Vig issued letters of marque, encouraging certain restless Vikings to harass the Flanders coast."

Looking at this scene, the two men's spirits plummeted. After three months of low-intensity warfare, Flanders' maritime trade had been disrupted, and they estimated that they wouldn't be able to plunder much this time.

Deep inland, neatly reclaimed wheat fields and vineyards appeared on both sides of the river. Hafdan left a small force to plunder, while the main force continued to advance.

At dusk, the fleet arrived in Antwerp, where the wooden fortifications had been urgently reinforced, and local militiamen were seen behind the battlements.

Hafdan drew his longsword. "Charge!"

The longship ran aground on the shoal, and the raiders leaped into the waist-deep water, holding round shields as they waded toward the city wall. More than twenty long ladders were placed on top of the battlements, and many fearless raiders frantically climbed up the ladders.

Watching the corpses of the raiders fall to the ground one by one, Niels whispered a reminder, "It's getting dark, time is running out. Should we send your berserker to charge?"

Hafdan shook his head. The four hundred armored berserkers behind him were the core force of his kingdom's rule, and it was not advisable to lose too many of them.

Unable to persuade his temporary ally, Niels ordered his guards to halt the attack and spend the night in the wilderness, planning to launch another offensive the following day.

(End of this chapter)