Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 339 Return to Hometown
“I am Dilas de Loth, Earl of Brest, appointed by the King.”

The count loudly introduced himself, then handed his sword to the middle-aged man before him, saying, "We seem to have met before."

Vig took the prisoner's sword and casually handed it to his attendant. "I am Vig Tynburg. I have been entangled with the Franks for more than 20 years. It is perfectly normal for you to recognize me."

Upon learning that his opponent was the Serpent of the North, Count Dylas felt slightly relieved. This man had defeated countless Frankish armies, so losing to him was not a disgrace.

The next moment, his heart tightened again. "You've personally crossed the sea to launch an attack. What exactly do you want?"

"all of these."

Vig stopped wasting words and ordered the prisoners to be properly settled. He then summoned the intelligence agents, who had done so without their efforts; otherwise, the siege would have cost at least five hundred lives.

Following a detective, Vig tours the newly conquered port town.

Brest boasts a vast bay, narrow at the outer edge and wide at the inner edge, with an average depth of eight meters, making it particularly suitable for anchoring large warships. In the 17th century, Cardinal Richelieu developed it into a naval port, serving as a crucial hub for French control of its North American and Caribbean colonies.

Looking out over the entire port from the top of the tower, Vigé remarked, "With such excellent natural conditions, it's no wonder it's one of the two most important naval ports in France (the other being Toulon)."

A week later, reinforcements arrived, and this time the fleet expanded to 140 ships, bringing 6,000 soldiers and 400 steppe horses.

Vig left a thousand men to guard the city, instructing them to set up iron chains at the entrance to the bay to prevent the Franks from using fire ships.

"As ordered!"

After arranging everything, Vig led eight thousand men eastward. With the help of his agents, Vig always managed to find knightly estates along the way. These estates lacked stone walls and castles, making them extremely easy to attack.

The estate covers an area of ​​approximately 500 to 1500 acres and also follows the three-field system, with occasional small vineyards visible.

After a week's march, Vig approached the Duke of Brittany's residence, Rennes. Along the way, he also captured seven noble estates, obtaining much-needed grain, cattle, sheep, twenty warhorses, and seventy draft horses, making a considerable haul.

Unfortunately, the Breton commoners were indifferent. Eleven years later, most of the Bretons who dared to resist were killed, or hid in the mountains or went into exile overseas. The vast majority of the people had become accustomed to the rule of the Frankish nobles.

Vig thought to himself, "Well, if the locals are eager to participate, I'll have to give them more autonomy after the war. Since they've chosen to stay out of it, I'll make Brittany a directly governed territory after the war."

Compared to the past, the defenses of Rennes are much stronger, complete with stone walls, towers, and moats. Even more troublesome are the numerous heavy crossbows mounted on the walls, capable of firing bolts about two meters long; judging from their design, they are likely of Iberian origin.

The prisoners of war's confessions confirmed this conjecture: the Duke's eldest son went to Iberia to fight last year and brought back a large number of gold and silver utensils, olive oil and other spoils of war, as well as more than ten Moorish craftsmen.

"Knowing how to recruit technical personnel shows he's a shrewd aristocrat."

Vig rode Greywind III, leading his second son, Leif, and more than thirty young advisors, on a long tour around the city.

Back then, we used catapults to destroy the battlements and siege towers to transport soldiers up the walls. Now, the defenders have heavy crossbows that can easily pierce the wooden planks of the siege towers; the old tactics are outdated.

He decided to adopt a new tactic.

After careful exploration, Vig chose the north side of the city wall as the breakthrough point. He dug a tunnel in an open area outside the city and built a heavy wooden shed at the entrance. The tunnel was located five meters underground, and the air was foul, filled with the smell of mud, sweat and grease, and was only lit by a dim oil lamp.

The tunnel could only accommodate two people at a time. The engineers took turns working, digging while simultaneously building supports with thick wooden beams and planks to support the soft soil and prevent collapse.

The excavation work continued day and night. In order to attract the attention of the defenders, the Vikings launched attacks in other sections. They brought in parts for field crossbows from the rear, assembled twenty light crossbows, and engaged in a firefight with the defenders.

After three weeks of arduous digging, the tunnel was successfully extended to the base of the city wall. The engineers carefully expanded the space at the end of the tunnel to create a place large enough to hold a large amount of fuel, and supported the top with dozens of wooden beams to prevent the soil from collapsing prematurely.

"One hundred and thirty kerosene cans, hmm, that's enough."

The commander inventoried the supplies brought in from the rear, signed the handover form at the end, and ordered the engineers to transport them to the bottom of the tunnel.

With everything ready, Vig ordered the fire to be lit. A brave engineer threw a torch into the combustion chamber and then quickly evacuated the tunnel.

The fire spread, and the temperature in the combustion chamber rose sharply. The wooden beams supporting the soil above crackled and groaned under the weight.

Finally, after hundreds of wooden beams were burned to a certain extent and lost their load-bearing capacity, a section of the stone wall collapsed catastrophically with a loud bang before the defenders could react, raising clouds of dust.

When the smoke and dust cleared, a huge gap appeared in the north wall of Rennes. The stone wall and towering towers disappeared, replaced by a pile of messy stones.

"Good job!"

Upon seeing this, thousands of Vikings erupted in thunderous cheers, and Vigg issued an order:

The axe-wielding guards' target was the Duke's mansion.

Two mountain infantry battalions attacked the warehouse and the defending camp respectively.

The First and Second Infantry Regiments cleared out the enemy on the city walls.

The remaining troops guarded the four city gates to prevent the enemy from breaking through.

"Come with me."

Upon receiving the order, Douglas raised his battle axe and led more than three hundred shouting axe-wielding infantrymen up the pile of stones. After entering the city, they marched quickly along the streets, ignoring the scattered enemies around them.

Following the map from the intelligence system, Douglas arrived at a sprawling mansion in the west of the city. Twenty soldiers carried logs and rammed down the gate. Inside the courtyard, more than a hundred guards hastily assembled, their spears protruding from the gaps in their shields like a small thicket of thorns.

"Throw spears!"

The guards hurled two volleys of javelins, and Douglas charged into the enemy ranks first, his two-handed battle axe slamming down with tremendous force. The shield in front of him shattered with a crack, splinters flying, and the axe blade, without hesitation, dug deep into the shoulder and neck of the soldier behind the shield. Douglas kicked an enemy to the ground and swung his battle axe at another soldier; the defenders' spears futilely struck his thick armor, causing no damage.

Under Douglas's leadership, the axe-wielding infantry wiped out any resistance from the Duke's palace. Unfortunately, one of the soldiers accidentally cut down the Duke of Brittany, failing to capture him alive.

(End of this chapter)