Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 300 Old Acquaintance

Pascal sighed as he looked at the wounded soldiers basking in the sun not far away.
"Actually, we didn't do much work. We usually cleaned the wounds with strong liquor, then stitched them up, provided medication and three meals a day during the wounded's recovery period, and changed the sheets and clothes regularly. As a result, the cure rate of the wounded exceeded 70%."

The Franks on the other side didn't take these things seriously. The prisoners claimed that they only had a very small number of doctors responsible for treating the nobles, while the lower-ranking soldiers were left to fend for themselves in an area with poor sanitation and rampant germs, where many died from infected wounds.

In fact, although their medical skills were rudimentary, as long as the wounded were patiently cared for and a clean environment maintained, the cure rate could reach at least 3% to 4%.

After a long conversation, Lexal, accompanied by Pascal Jr., visited a field hospital. He planned to build a similar hospital in Kalmar and inquired about the resources needed.

Pascal shook his head, advising him to give up the idea. "A qualified doctor needs to go through a complete primary and junior high school education, study at a medical school for three years, and then intern at a hospital for one year, for a total of twelve years, before he can officially start working."

The standards for nurses are relatively more lenient, but they still need to meet the literacy standard and undergo a year of intensive training at a medical school.

If you want to start a hospital, you need to have a primary school, a middle school, and a medical school, which you obviously don't have.

Throughout Northern Europe, only Eric the Younger is building a primary school in Oslo. Rumor has it that he's simply copying British textbooks and his teaching abilities are poor. Last year, he even tried to hire teachers from Britain, which went too far and earned him a warning from His Majesty.

Sensing his old acquaintance's disappointment, Pascal the Younger comforted him with a reason, "Don't think too much about it. I recently hired a new chef who can cook Iberian dishes that you've never tasted before."

May.

The Vikings successively captured Wael and Aarhus, but the siege of Aalborg continued. As time passed, Nordic militia gradually arrived and gathered, greatly relieving the burden on the standing army.

Meanwhile, reinforcements were sent from within the country, expanding Vig's direct forces to six thousand men, including two hundred conscripted heavy cavalry and an equal number of grooms.

With the arrival of reinforcements, the navy also sent a letter from intelligence chief Gwen, whose agents sent to West Frankish and Flanders reported that West Frankish had dispatched an unspecified number of reinforcements, who were rushing to Denmark under the command of "Bald" Charles's top henchman, Duke Gunnar of Normandy.

"Why is it him again?"

Upon learning his old friend's name, Vig's expression turned solemn, but upon reflection, it was not surprising that "Bald" Charles had declared himself emperor, inheriting the title of his grandfather Charlemagne, and even proclaiming himself king of all Franks.

That evening at the banquet, the cheerful atmosphere vanished the moment everyone heard the discouraging news.

Gunnar openly converted to Islam and helped the West Franks defeat Ragnar's army, indirectly leading to Ragnar's death and curbing the decades-long Viking raiding frenzy. In the eyes of many nobles, he was considered the most hateful traitor.

Under the influence of alcohol, nobles such as Lexal and Favel made threatening remarks, vowing to personally cut off Gunnar's head and use his skull as a bowl.

On the other side, Shrike, Torga, and the others tacitly refrained from drinking. After the banquet, they went to the command post and silently watched the numerous cavalry models that had been added to the south of the map.

On the map, the Viking coalition had 13,000 men. On the northern front were Vig's 6,000 direct troops and 3,000 militia, while on the southern front were 4,000 soldiers from Eric the Younger, Hafdan, and others.

Gunnar was skilled in cavalry warfare, and Vig was certain that the four thousand men in the south would not dare to leave the city for open battle, so he had to personally lead the charge.

But if I lead my army south, what will happen to the more than three thousand men in Aalborg?

After a period of silence, Tolga proposed a bold idea:

With the regular army unable to reinforce the south in time, southern Denmark was destined to fall, so it was better to let Gunnar enter. The Nordic nobles' troops could be stationed in towns—Lannas, Wajle, or Schleswig, anywhere—as long as they weren't annihilated and maintained their presence, they could tie down the French forces.

“Let’s find a new target while the enemy isn’t looking,” Torga said, pointing to Hamburg in the south.

“The lower Elbe River is navigable by sea. We will take the fleet directly to Hamburg and cut off the French supply lines. Years of war have left the entire Jutland Peninsula sparsely populated, with only a few settlements like Esbjerg maintaining a population of over a thousand. Gunnar’s cavalry will not be able to find enough food in Denmark and will soon have to retreat.”

After a night of discussion, Vig accepted Torga's suggestion and withdrew from the siege camp the next day, leading his personal troops to Esbjörn. Knowing of Vig's plan, Lexal had no right to stop him. He consulted briefly with the remaining nobles and decided to remain in Lannes for the time being, planning to either sail out to sea to reunite with Eric the Younger or return to their homeland in Sweden should the situation change.

On May 8th, Vig received an urgent report from Schleswig:

Two days ago, Gunnar's cavalry had crossed the Danivilk line, and their objective was currently unknown.

At the end of the letter, young Eric vowed to hold Schleswig, Wael, Aarhus, and Lannes. Some of these four towns were by the sea, while others were along rivers leading directly to the ocean. Even if the situation turned against them, the defenders could be moved by boat to other areas. They would never compromise with Gunnar, that traitor.

"Seven thousand men, scattered across four towns, it seems they have completely given up on the idea of ​​fighting in the open outside the city."

Vig understood their predicament. Less than 20% of the Nordic army was armored, and the number of cavalry was scarce. Only Eric the Younger had more than two hundred cavalrymen. They had no chance of winning in open battle, so it was better to defend the city and buy time.

On May 9, with everything prepared, he led the 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments, the Mountain Infantry Battalion, and the Marine Battalion to board a ship at the port of Esbjerg.

This surprise attack utilized twenty warships, twenty Kirk transport ships, and twenty temporarily rented longboats for the landing operation. Accustomed to the new type of ships, the soldiers were slightly unaccustomed to using the longboats again.

Following the north wind, the fleet sailed south along the Danish coastline and spent the night in a pre-selected bay.

The next morning, the wind shifted to west-northwest, and the fleet carefully sailed into the river mouth, led by longboats with oars.

The river reflected the rising sun, and a thin mist hung over the forests on both banks. Vig lay on the side of the flagship, gazing at the vast forest, and always felt that there were some spying eyes hidden within it.

In the afternoon, the fleet arrived at the river where Hamburg was located. A pontoon bridge spanned the river upstream. As expected, the town had been alerted by the sentries in the forest and had made preparations in advance.

Catapult?
From a distance, the walls of Hamburg were equipped with five counterweight catapults. The captain of the Blackback immediately ordered the ship to anchor to prevent the king from entering the range of the defenders.

The remaining nineteen warships continued to advance, lined up in a row on the river 300 meters away from Hamburg. At this time, the defenders' catapults launched stones one after another. Due to the high trajectory of the projectiles, the accuracy was extremely poor, and not a single one hit the target.

Seeing the defenders frantically loading the catapult, the crew members no longer hesitated. They aimed their crossbows at the catapult and then slammed the trigger.

boom! boom! boom!
In an instant, the air seemed to be torn apart as thirty-eight stone projectiles, emitting a muffled whistle, slammed into the eastern bank wall, sending wood chips flying and eliciting countless panicked shouts.

After the ballistae finished firing, the crew hurriedly turned the winch, and while the catapult's counterweight box was still slowly rising, the fleet launched a second salvo.

This time, the launched stones failed to destroy the catapults, instead hitting two arrow towers. The fleet reloaded and finally destroyed one of the catapults in the third salvo.

By the time the fourth salvo was underway, the Hamburg defenders' catapults were fully loaded, and both sides launched their attacks almost simultaneously.

The next moment, a boulder weighing tens of kilograms came down from above and slammed into the bow of a two-masted warship. The warship shook violently, and surging river water poured into the cabin through the breach, causing the ship to tilt continuously.

"Abandon the ship! Everyone abandon the ship!"

The captain frantically rang the alarm bell and ordered all crew members to jump into the river to escape. Seeing this, longboats that were wandering nearby swarmed to the scene and rescued most of the crew members who had fallen into the water.

The exchange of fire continued, and the fleet, with its faster reloading speed and more accurate hits, destroyed the defenders' counterweight catapults one by one, without losing any more ships.

At 3 p.m., the fleet approached the riverbank, only 150 meters from the stockade wall, and then repeatedly bombarded the enemy's battlements. The Kirk ships in the distance also followed, continuously hurling arrows at the stockade wall.

(End of this chapter)