Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 284 The Ambition of the Indigenous People
In just half a day, the pirates occupied two inland villages, ransacking cellars and slaughtering livestock to celebrate their hard-won victory.

Without a doubt, their next target is the plantation.

After lunch, the supervisor approached Hergi and advised the Count to make plans as soon as possible. "We can use the stockade walls to defend the camp, but the crops outside are completely unprotected. If the enemy fails to break through and destroys the sugarcane and wheat seedlings, everything we have worked so hard to build will be completely ruined."

Hergi glared at his subordinate in frustration. He had considered the problem, but to no avail.

The plantation workers are discontented and only suited for low-difficulty tasks: defending camps or bullying weak native tribes. If they were to lead the workers into a direct confrontation with pirates, a 10% casualty rate would likely result in defeat.

"Sir, you can seek reinforcements and ask the Guaqie people to help you in the battle!"

Indigenous people?

Since Hosa married the chief’s daughter, Poti, the conflict between Helgi and the Guache people has temporarily subsided. The two sides trade regularly, and the plantation also employs a small number of Guache temporary workers, maintaining a normal level of relations.

Over time, Helgi discovered that the chief was one of the most shrewd people in the Guache group, and would never suffer a loss. He anticipated that if he took the initiative to seek help, he would have to pay a very high price.

"Sigh, I hope they don't go too far."

Hergier accepted the supervisor's suggestion, "After I leave, remember to guard the camp and use the pretext of peace talks to stall these pirates and prevent them from damaging the sugarcane seedlings in the fields."

"As you command, sir."

Soon, Helgi chose a temporary worker from Guacher to serve as his guide, and they followed him deep into the jungle. According to the peace agreement, the Vikings had not ventured inland for two years, and the surrounding landscape was completely unfamiliar to them. The deeper they went, the more uneasy the four knights became, fearing for their lord's safety.

Late that night, he arrived at the valley in the middle of the island. In the distance, he could see lights twinkling on the mountain walls on both sides. At the entrance to the valley, there was a stockade wall with a moat on the outside, which looked like a clumsy imitation of Viking defenses.

The next moment, the guide from Guaqie raised his hands and walked towards the village wall, calling out several times until he finally woke up the tribesmen who were dozing off at the watchtower.

They talked for a while, then the gate of the village was slightly opened, allowing the Guaqie guide to pass through before being quickly closed.

"The sentries are actually dozing off? It seems I overestimated their vigilance and combat capabilities. Fighting alongside this bunch of useless trash, the chances of winning are probably no more than 60%."

Helji ate his dry rations in small bites. Soon, the gate of the village was fully opened, and a group of Guaqi soldiers carrying spears came out. Chief Chuatu greeted this uninvited guest, followed by his Viking follower Adrian.

"My lord, what brings you here so late at night?"

The pirates had been causing trouble along the coast for four whole days. Cavatu must have received the message and was clearly playing dumb. Helgi needed something from them, so he didn't expose their true colors. Just as he was about to explain his purpose, Cavatu dragged him to a house in the middle of the valley.

Upon entering, food and wine were already laid out inside. Unable to resist the invitation, Helgi reluctantly drank several large cups of sugarcane wine. Before getting drunk, he solemnly requested that Cavatu send troops to assist him.

After listening to some useless pleasantries, Helgi straightened his posture and his tone became serious. "Chief, what exactly do you need? Iron tools, food, or knowledge of agriculture and medicine?"

"No, these are all secondary."

Cavatu believed that the peace agreement was not permanent, but depended on the speed at which the Vikings cleared land, and that conflict would break out sooner or later if they needed more land.

It was foreseeable that even with a small amount of iron weapons and armor, he would still be unable to defeat the well-equipped and tactically superior Viking nobles. Recently, Cavatu had repeatedly consulted with the elders of his tribe, the Viking Adrian, and they came up with a seemingly safe solution:

The chieftain was made a nobleman recognized by the Kingdom of Britain and granted the second largest island as his fief. He was to grow sugarcane and produce sugar, and develop himself through trade, rather than relying on Helgi's unilateral charity.

You think someone like you deserves a noble title?
Helgi, seething with rage, forced himself to plead, "Could we change the terms?"

Cavatu shook his head. "This is my only request. If you do not agree, I will have no choice but to cooperate with pirates."

"Aren't you afraid they'll change their minds later and sell you into slavery? Besides, I have the Kingdom of Britain behind me. Are you confident you can handle Vig's wrath? You've spent enough time with Adrian to have heard a lot about him. If I die here, whether out of loyalty or to uphold the king's authority, Vig will surely seek revenge."

The situation was not good. Helgi temporarily put aside his arrogance and used the title of feudal lord to intimidate people. Cavatu's face turned slightly pale, but he still insisted on his position.

The stalemate continued into the early hours of the morning, when Helgi agreed to compromise on the condition that he would deal with the remaining tribes on Sun Island after Cavatu moved away.

"it is good!"

With the agreement reached, Chaiwatu ordered his confidants to gather troops. In the past two years, he had annexed many small tribes, bringing the total population to five thousand, accounting for 40% of the population of the Guache people on Sunshine Island.

Faced with this hard-won opportunity, he conscripted all the able-bodied men in the tribe and assembled a force of a thousand.

"Your Excellency, what do you think?"

After thinking for half a minute, Helgi managed to find one redeeming quality: "Well, the lads have a good spirit."

During the trade, the Vikings strictly restricted the flow of ironware into the Guache tribe, so that these allies' weapons were still mainly wooden spears. The only noteworthy progress was that Adrian taught them how to use bows and arrows, training two hundred archers.

Compared to the various armies he had seen, the fighting power of this group of Guache people was even inferior to that of the Anglo-Saxon militia, but Helgi had no choice but to make do with them.

After breakfast, Cavatu led his men on their official journey. As time passed, the formation of the Guache people gradually loosened, and many people chatted as they walked. Some even took out their wine flasks and took turns drinking with their comrades.

At noon, they chose an open space to rest. Cavatu ordered his centurions to count the number of men and found that ninety were missing. Perhaps they got lost, or perhaps they were avoiding battle.

Sensing Helgi’s subtle disdain, Cavatu disbanded the guards and mixed them into the various hundred-man squads to maintain order. In addition, he stopped every so often to reorganize the formation. This plan worked well, and only fifty people deserted in the afternoon.

As dusk fell, Helgi instructed them to find a secluded valley to rest. Before leaving, he repeatedly told Cavatu, "Remember, the battle will begin tomorrow morning; you will be in charge then."

After saying that, he returned to the camp under the cover of night and met his supervisor, who looked very anxious.

"How's it going?"

The supervisor replied: "The enemy arrived at the perimeter of the plantation this morning. They did not dare to attack the camp, but lingered in the vicinity. I saw some people destroying crops, so I negotiated with them as you instructed and temporarily persuaded them to stay."

(End of this chapter)