Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 336 The Eve of War
That afternoon, Vigé quickly completed the reshuffling of his cabinet and established an overseas affairs department to manage the New World, the Canary Islands, the Azores, and the Nordic territories.

Thus, there are three vacant positions in the cabinet.

First was Seibert Stormwind, a student taught by Vig during his time as Count of Tynburg, who succeeded Rugal as the new Minister of Industry.

Next was Pascal Jr., who replaced Mitcham as the Secretary of the Navy (Minister of Administrative Affairs), leaving Pascal Jr. in charge of the Admiralty.

Finally, there's Rocky, an excellent administrative bureaucrat who manages the Overseas Affairs Department.

With the personnel adjustments completed, Vieg convened a cabinet meeting to announce the decision to go to war and the scale of mobilization:

The twelve directly administered counties, with a total of 80,000 reserve soldiers, had 24,000 conscripted at a ratio of one-third, and all of them were organized into field troops.

The dukes and earls within the territory were to be conscripted, with each family's troops numbering according to the Mobilization Act enacted last year, totaling 16,000 men, including 2,000 heavy cavalry.

Vig planned to draw cavalry from the high nobility to fight alongside the barons and knights of the directly controlled territories, aiming to assemble 2,800 heavy cavalry. In addition, the standing army had also organized four ranger battalions with more than 1,200 light cavalry, bringing the total number of cavalry in this operation to over 4,000.

"In summary, the Imperial Guard and the regular army totaled 10,000, the directly commanded conscripts numbered 24,000, and the nobles conscripted 15,000, for a total of 50,000."

Of these, the more than 10,000 militia conscripted by the nobles were of poor fighting strength, with only cavalry, a small number of heavy infantry, and Welsh longbowmen being of any use. Even so, our side still had nearly 40,000 field troops.

Pascal observed his eight colleagues and noticed that they were all surprised; not one of them had known the news beforehand.

My first cabinet meeting ever was surprisingly exciting.

He was not good at military campaigns, so he wisely chose to keep quiet and listen to the conversation between the King, Prime Minister Mitcham, and Secretary of War Bavus.

After an unknown amount of time, the light outside dimmed, and the servants lit the whale oil candles on both sides, instantly illuminating the entire conference room as if it were daytime.

At eight o'clock in the evening, the meeting was suspended for half an hour. Servants brought dinner to the king and his ministers, and young Pascal quickly finished his portion.

"The steak was absolutely delicious, along with the cream cake and the golden, crispy egg tarts. Ugh, I really wish I had a glass of sugarcane wine."

Of course, he only sighed inwardly; he would never be foolish enough to ask for drinks. The king demanded meticulousness and rigor from the administrative system and detested anyone drinking during work hours, especially during such crucial meetings.

Exhaling a breath of stale air, Pascal walked out of the stuffy meeting room and wandered aimlessly around, breathing in the fresh air of the garden, until the meeting resumed.

Following the advice of the cabinet, Vigé organized the combat forces into one direct division and three field divisions.

Each field division has six infantry regiments, plus two mountain infantry battalions, one ranger battalion, and a large number of logistics personnel, totaling 8,500 men.

The direct division, personally commanded by Vig, included the Imperial Guard, the regular army, and 2,800 heavy cavalrymen assembled later, totaling 12,000 men. In addition, the more than 10,000 militiamen of the great nobles were organized into ten garrison regiments to undertake auxiliary tasks such as supplying troops, guarding towns, and mopping up stragglers.

In terms of logistics, the treasury has gold, silver, textiles, grain and other supplies worth a total of 35,000 pounds. Moreover, West Francia is rich in resources and suitable for local requisition and replenishment, which should be enough to sustain the region for two years.

If they couldn't handle Bald Charlie in two years, Vig felt there was no point in continuing the war.

After Vig ascended the throne, the armories in Tyne and Lundinium went into full production, and the arsenals were filled with all kinds of equipment, enough to equip all the soldiers in the combat troops with cloth armor. The extra two thousand sets of captured armor were allocated to ten garrison regiments.

Clutching the reports provided by the cabinet, his eyes gleamed. "Over 30,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry—this is the wealth I've accumulated over 20 years. I want to see how much the Franks can wager."

More than half a century ago, Charlemagne created a vast Frankish Empire with a population of approximately 1200 to 1500 million, surpassing the Eastern Roman Empire of the same period and becoming the absolute power in Western and Central Europe.

After Charlemagne's death, the empire disintegrated due to the equal division of inheritance. The successors of the Carolingian dynasty fought amongst themselves, which weakened the country, although the total population still exceeded ten million.

Based on a mobilization rate of 1% to 2%, Vig believed that the enemy's mobilization limit exceeded 100,000, and could potentially reach 200,000. However, the larger the number of soldiers, the greater the logistical pressure. In the current era, radio, trains, and canned goods were lacking, and the Frankish logistical system was insufficient to support such a large number. It was estimated that only 50,000 to 80,000 troops could be deployed.

Suddenly, Prime Minister Mitcham interrupted Vig's thoughts. "Your Majesty, after the war begins, prices will inevitably skyrocket, and I am worried that our savings will not be enough. Have you considered imposing a war tax?"

War tax?
Vig was slightly tempted, but then he reconsidered. The kingdom had a total population of 2.7 million, and conscripting 50,000 able-bodied men to fight abroad for extended periods was severely impacting agricultural production. Imposing additional taxes under such circumstances would inevitably exacerbate public discontent and could even incite rebellion.

"No, we should use a more suitable method."

He introduced a new idea to his cabinet members—war bonds, which would raise funds from merchants and gentry, repay the principal and interest after five years, and, assuming victory in the war, the purchaser would also receive a piece of land in West Frankish territory.

The last topic is the landing site.

West Frankish coastline is long, but there aren't many suitable landing sites. Considering logistical factors, Vig must capture a port that can accommodate a large number of ships.

He had his attendants spread out a detailed map of West Francia on the conference table, marking the towns, fortresses, main roads, and rivers of West Francia, representing years of hard work by the intelligence system.

Calais is the closest port to Britain, heavily guarded, and the surrounding area is densely populated with fortifications, making it unsuitable for landing.

Secondly, there was the Seine estuary. Ragnar's first attack on West Frankish began by sailing upstream along the Seine. Later, Charles the Bald learned from this experience and built the Hofleur fortress at the estuary, making it extremely difficult to besiege. Furthermore, many iron chains were laid across the river, cutting off any possibility of sailing upstream.

In recent years, with Britain occupying the Channel Islands, the nearby Normandy ports have also been strengthened with security. Saint-Malo and Cherbourg have built stone walls and installed large catapults, making them unsuitable for invasion.

Excluding the above options, Vig decided to land on the Brittany peninsula, or more precisely, at the westernmost port of Brest.

(End of this chapter)