Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 338 Brest
"Let's go! The gods are watching us!"

Upon receiving the king's order, fifty ships weighed anchor and set sail. The fleet was arranged in a broad wedge formation, like giant arrowheads, slowly and steadily cutting through the waves to the south.

On the morning of the third day, the coast of Brittany appeared ahead. The officers of the Blackback Perch took out a map and determined their approximate location based on their latitude and nearby coastal landmarks.

The fleet then sailed slowly westward, and at seven o'clock in the morning, they rounded the westernmost point of the Brittany peninsula, less than ten miles from their target.

Fleet Admiral Joren found the king and received the expected order: "Prepare to land!"

After conducting numerous reconnaissance missions, the intelligence services became familiar with Brest's defenses:
The garrison consisted of 500 soldiers. On the seaward side, there were two walls: an outer stone wall about six meters high and an inner wooden stockade wall. They also had eight large catapults.

When the navy launched a surprise attack on Hamburg on the Elbe River, the defenders' catapults only hit one stone, and the hull of the two-masted sailing ship instantly ruptured and quickly sank to the bottom of the river.

Learning from this lesson, Vig did not rely on numerical superiority to launch a direct assault on the port. Instead, he adopted a more cautious approach, having his soldiers land on nearby beaches and advance overland towards Brest.

Soon, fifty ships launched small boats, and twelve hundred soldiers crowded into the swaying boats, rowing vigorously. The wooden oars cleaved the sea, stirring up white sprays. The soldiers' faces were serious as they stared intently at the approaching golden beach ahead.

Behind the beachhead, a jagged, brown rock formation abruptly rose, forming a natural high ground barrier. Just as the small boats approached the shallow water, figures suddenly appeared atop the high ground.

The sunlight poured down relentlessly, clearly illuminating a fleur-de-lis flag and their simple leather armor.

Upon hearing a rapid command in French, more than a hundred soldiers drew their bows and nocked their arrows.

"put!"

Arrows flew out like summer hail, mercilessly pelting the Viking soldiers' small boats. One arrow thudded into the edge of the boat, its fletching still trembling violently; several others landed, disrupting the previously synchronized rowing rhythm. The soldiers instinctively ducked, and the boat's speed decreased significantly.

Vig stared at the small group of archers on the high ground. "Shoot them away with the crossbows."

Upon receiving the signal, the fleet's heavy crossbows unleashed a volley aimed at the high ground, a hundred stone projectiles slamming into the archers' ranks, instantly sending stone fragments flying and billowing dust. The French commander shouted through the swirling dust, trying to regain his footing. Less than half a minute later, another volley of stones followed.

The surviving French soldiers collapsed. They dropped their longbows and fled like a herd of frightened deer toward the sparse woodland behind the hill, leaving behind only scattered quivers and a few rolled-down helmets, reflecting the blinding sunlight among the rubble.

After landing, the Viking soldiers took control of the entire beachhead, and Vig followed the second wave of troops ashore. After resting for half an hour, the soldiers formed a marching column and silently advanced southeast toward Brest. Each soldier carried five days' worth of rations, and some soldiers worked together to carry a log to build siege ladders.

Last year, the intelligence system created a detailed map of the area around Brest, adding extra markers such as mills, vineyards, and churches to help people quickly find their way and avoid getting lost.

At 10 a.m., the troops arrived outside Brest. Because they arrived so quickly, the barons and knights in the surrounding area did not have time to react and were unable to lead the manor militia into the city to assemble. The city's garrison was left with only the original 500 men.

What kind of unit is this?

The local count observed the soldiers assembling the ladders and saw that they moved with practiced skill and in an orderly manner, while the remaining Vikings sat quietly in place without making a sound.

Based on the attackers' equipment and discipline, the Earl judged that they were no ordinary soldiers, but most likely the British Royal Guard.

"The Serpent of the North attacked last time to seize the Channel Islands. This time, it has deployed a large fleet and three thousand soldiers with the aim of capturing Brest and then the whole of Brittany?"

The count quickly wrote two letters requesting help, sending a rider to Rennes and then to Paris to meet with Bald Charles.

Suddenly, a thousand Vikings outside the city circled around to the east, seemingly intending to attack from both the east and north simultaneously. "Hold the walls! Reinforcements will be here soon!" the Earl shouted, encouraging the defenders to prepare to fire.

The Vikings at the front held up shields to cover the archers behind them, and behind them were soldiers carrying twenty long ladders.

They advanced slowly, stopping a hundred meters from the city wall. The front rank of shield wall provided defense, while Viking archers seized the opportunity to fire at the Franks behind the crenellations. The Vikings' accuracy far surpassed that of ordinary troops, further exacerbating the Count's concerns.

The two sides exchanged fire back and forth, and the battle continued until noon. The Vikings withdrew from the range of the French crossbowmen and sat on the ground, munching on hard bread.

"Send some food from inside the city, quickly!" The count anxiously looked outside the city, worried that the Vikings would finish eating and launch another attack at any moment.

Ten minutes later, baskets of freshly baked wheat bread were delivered from the city. Not long after, four civilians pushed a cart toward a section of the wall. The cart was loaded with four buckets of fresh fish soup. The officer asked where the fish soup came from, and one of the civilians timidly replied that an lord had instructed them to cook the fish soup and deliver it to the wall at noon, and to deliver it again in the evening.

The Earl's butler?

The officer pondered for a moment, but the soldiers couldn't wait any longer. They gathered around the cart and used earthenware bowls to scoop fish soup from the wooden bucket.

"Hey, leave some for me."

"Why are they all herring?"

"The bottom of the bucket is full of seashells; they actually used these to make up the numbers!"

Instinctively, the officer did not restrain the hungry and irritable soldiers. He took the earthenware bowl handed to him by someone and casually ordered, "There's too much salt. Put less in this afternoon."

"Understood, sir." The four commoners pushed the cart away.

After an unknown amount of time, the enemy outside the city launched another attack, and the Frankish defenders returned fire with crossbows. After a dozen or so rounds of fire, one of the defenders suddenly clutched his stomach, and then, more than fifty nearby defenders also clutched their stomachs and screamed in pain.

"There's something wrong with the fish soup!"

The officer, his forehead glistening with sweat, leaned against the wall. Suddenly, twenty civilians rushed out of a courtyard in the city. The four leading them were the spies who had delivered the fish soup earlier.

"Quickly, report the situation here to the Earl." The officer sent the fastest man to call for help, then struggled to hold off the Viking spies.

After a few exchanges, the officer struck a spy in the shoulder, tearing his coarse cloth shirt and revealing a chainmail vest underneath.

Moreover, the remaining Vikings, also clad in chainmail, easily scattered the Frankish defenders while they were in poor condition. They then pulled out a black flag and waved it vigorously towards the outside of the city.

Upon seeing their signal, Vig breathed a sigh of relief and ordered his troops to launch an assault on that section of the city wall.

Enduring arrows shot from both sides of the city walls, the Viking soldiers scaled the moat and desperately climbed upwards, pulling themselves up with ropes. As more and more Vikings appeared on the walls, the count led his troops to stop them, but was instead driven back by these well-trained soldiers.

"withdraw!"

The count led a small group of soldiers back to his mansion and held out until 2 p.m. When he saw that the situation was hopeless, he had no choice but to go out and surrender.

(End of this chapter)