Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 282 Pirates
After the fleet departed, the marine battalion remained in Denmark to recruit immigrants, occasionally encountering bandits along the way. Most of the bandits dared not provoke Vig's army, being frightened away by the fluttering black flag. A few, driven mad by hunger, took the initiative to provoke them, and unsurprisingly became prisoners of war.

"These men are too poor; they can barely find any loot." After the war, Invallon complained to his company commanders, and he suddenly understood the old captain's thoughts.

"Sigh, I really envy those guys who fly the southern routes."

Meanwhile, in the Canary Islands.

Amidst the cheers of the crowd at the port, three merchant ships loaded with sugar and sugarcane wine sailed away from the harbor, their tall hulls cleaving through the waves as they headed north.

Four days later at noon, the lookout high on the mast suddenly sounded an alarm. Seven ships with triangular sails appeared silently and followed them at a leisurely pace. The atmosphere on board became tense, and the experienced sailors recognized them as the type of ships commonly used by the Moors.

"Signal with flags, sail at full speed, and shake them off as soon as possible."

The captain, not wanting to cause any further trouble, ordered his crew to maintain course and vigilance, and continue the long and tedious voyage northward.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the wind direction changed without warning. The southeast wind that was originally favorable for navigation had now become a headwind blowing directly in our faces.

This was clearly the worst news for a two-masted merchant ship with two square mainsails. Square sails are poor against the wind and rely solely on auxiliary sails for power. In contrast, the triangular sails of Moorish ships were much more flexible and could better utilize wind power for propulsion when sailing against the wind.

An unsettling scene unfolded: despite the merchant ships' efforts to maneuver, these smaller Moorish vessels, like sharks smelling blood, used their sails to their advantage, gradually closing the distance between them.

As the enemy drew closer, the crew's panic intensified, and the captain, left with no other choice, gave the order.

"Fire the crossbows to warn these unidentified Moors."

With a dull thud, a stone projectile was launched from the heavy ballista on the stern deck, landing dozens of meters away from the Moorish ships, warning them to keep their distance and disperse as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, these Moorish ships did not slow down or turn around. Instead, they dispersed and prepared to encircle the merchant fleet, clearly disregarding the earlier intimidation.

Naval warfare inevitably broke out.

Three merchant ships fired stones in succession, aiming in unison at the enemy vessel charging at the front. After five rounds of firing, a heavy stone struck its target, sending wood chips flying. The sloping sailboat visibly trembled, a hole was torn in its hull, and its speed decreased. Seeing that the attack had worked, the crew of the merchant ships erupted in a brief cheer.

But this brief joy was quickly extinguished by reality. The remaining six undamaged pirate ships, along with the damaged but still navigable enemy ship, used the maneuverability of their triangular sails against the wind to quickly adjust their angles and desperately try to get close to the massive, heavy body of the two-masted merchant ship.

"Change it to a kerosene canister!"

The situation was critical, so the merchant ship replaced its stone projectiles with expensive oil canisters and set fire to the hull of a pirate ship, forcing the pirates to frantically pour water over the hull to extinguish the fire.

The remaining pirate ships finally approached the merchant ship. Some pirates threw grappling hooks, while the rest hurled arrows. The arrows rained down on the merchant ship's deck like a dense swarm of locusts, pinning the Viking sailors down.

"Fire! Don't expect these Moorish pirates to let you go. Even if you surrender, you'll spend the rest of your lives on sugarcane plantations!" The captain paced the deck, urging the sailors hiding behind the ship's gunwales to return fire. At this moment, the advantage of the two-masted sailing ship became apparent; its gunwales, much higher than the pirate ship's, formed a natural barrier.

Using the hull as cover, the Vikings, positioned on higher ground, unleashed a barrage of crossbow bolts at the enemy ships on both sides. The height difference gave the Vikings a tremendous advantage, and the arrows rained down, inflicting heavy casualties on the pirates attempting to climb or gather on the deck.

"Watch the starboard side, cut their ropes!"

Despite the pirates' exceptional ferocity and several attempts to force their way onto the ship, the Vikings used their superior height to repel them. Hooks were severed by iron axes, and pirates who climbed onto the ship's side were hacked down, their bodies falling to the ground and staining a small patch of the nearby sea red.
As casualties mounted and the offensive began to falter, the pirates hastily turned their ships around, dragging their battered hulls, and fled in disarray towards the distant horizon. The two slowest pirate ships were struck by oil canisters, and the fire spread. Abandoning any hope of fighting the fire, the pirates hastily boarded smaller boats and fled.

"Damn it, how dare they rob Vikings? Don't they know what we used to be?"

Seeing the deck in complete disarray, the captain's face contorted with rage. Of the forty-five crew members, seven had been killed and ten wounded in the battle. They had also consumed a large number of arrows and twenty expensive oil canisters, and had gained nothing in return.

Besides the losses mentioned above, what worried the captain even more was the future. This was the first pirate attack the fleet had encountered since the exploration of the Canary Islands, and a second and third attack was inevitable.
At this moment, the first mate came over to discuss, "Should we return to Sunshine Island to rest, or head to Britain?"

"Suppose we return to Sunshine Island, and then encounter pirate ships again on our next trip, what should we do then? The pirates have their eyes on us, and they will definitely send more ships in the future."

During the battle, the ship only suffered minor damage, which did not affect its subsequent voyage. The captain decided to maintain the original course and head to Gijon, the port of Asturias, for rest and refitting.

In fact, the captain was right. Eight days after the outbreak of this maritime conflict, Sunshine Island was also attacked.

The fortress on the hillside north of the port was now complete, and a conscripted militiaman was on duty atop the watchtower. The air was sweltering, and his linen shirt, soaked with sweat, clung stickily to his body. The militiaman was dazed by the heat, his gaze aimlessly sweeping across the vast, monotonous blue sea, his thoughts already wandering elsewhere.

Just then, he inadvertently glanced at the place where the sea and sky met in the distance, and something seemed amiss.

At first, the guard thought it was a large flock of seabirds or a hallucination caused by the heat. He rubbed his eyes, which were stinging from the sweat, trying to clear his head.

When he looked again, the blurry shadow hadn't disappeared; instead, it was becoming clearer. A vast expanse of densely packed sails was slowly emerging from the horizon.

Triangular sail! Only Moorish ships in Iberia and North Africa used this iconic angled triangular sail.

His eyes widened, and a chill instantly crept up his spine, dispelling all the heat.

"By Odin, what is there in this godforsaken place worth stealing?"

The guard suddenly straightened up, staggered towards the alarm bell by the tower, and frantically shook the hammer with all his might.

(End of this chapter)