Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 350 Surprise Attack
December 10, 867 AD, late at night.

Due to the cold wave, the Little Belt Strait, which is usually turbulent and separates the Jutland Peninsula from Funen Island, is now frozen.

Looking out, the moonlight was dim, and the sea had turned into a hard, gray, and lifeless ice field, stretching all the way to the blurry opposite shore. The cold wind howled, swirling up gusts of fine snowflakes.

At one point, countless tiny lights appeared in the darkness. Carloman, wrapped in a thick fur coat and carrying a dim whale oil lamp in his right hand, led more than six thousand Franks onto the ice.

Wearing bulky winter clothes and carrying packs and weapons, they walked with difficulty on the ice. The cold wind blew across the empty sea like a knife, stinging their cheeks and making their breath steam.

The frozen sea is not a smooth path. Some places are as smooth as a mirror, and you can easily slip if you are not careful. Other places are covered with jagged ice blocks, making it extremely difficult to walk.

To facilitate the transport of supplies by wagon, the Franks laid dry grass and branches on some slippery sections of the road. Many soldiers pushed and pulled, and the wheels made a dull creaking sound as they rolled over the broken ice, which was particularly clear on the silent and empty ice surface.

"By Odin, have these Franks gone mad?"

On the coast of Funen, two Viking sentinels stared blankly at thousands of slowly crawling figures. The Little Belt Strait had indeed frozen over in the past, but this was the first time anyone had dared to march across the ice.

After a moment of stunned silence, the sentry lit three nearby campfires and then ran two miles to the military camp to wake the sleeping Hafdan.

"The Franks are coming? Ha, are you kidding me?"

Hafdan pushed away the maid beside him, suspecting that his subordinate had been frozen silly and was experiencing some kind of hallucination.

With a grim face, he donned his armor and fur coat, rode his horse to the western coast, and was stunned by the miraculous scene before him.

"I only robbed you a few times, was it really necessary?"

Hafdan rode back to the camp. At this moment, the Vikings were like a flock of frightened sheep. Many of them had lost their weapons and armor and were no longer fit to fight the enemy.

Left with no other option, he set fire to the barracks and supplies, and led his troops to flee northeast. After bypassing several woods, he successfully escaped the pursuit of the Franks.

Funen Island cannot be defended.

Hafdan spent a day escaping to the port on the northeast side of the island. Facing the panicked crowd, he announced that he and his guards would cover the rear and persuaded the soldiers to board the ships in an orderly manner to prevent them from fighting each other over the ships.

Watching the first group of soldiers set sail, Hafdan couldn't help but roar, "If you have even a shred of goodwill left, remember to call a ship to come and pick me up!"

Surprisingly, the Franks did not attack the port where Hafdan was located, but instead marched along the road straight to Odense, the island's largest settlement, and then continued eastward to the east coast of Funen.

Ahead lay the Great Belt Strait, a wide expanse still covered by a layer of sea ice. A valiant Frankish knight, on a sled, led the way across the ice, followed by soldiers in hastily made sleds, slowly making their way to Zealand Island on the other side of the strait.

As they approached the shore, a hundred Viking archers gathered there, their arrows whistling as they flew toward the Franks, but they could not stop this unprecedented adventure.

“Deus adjuva!”

The first twenty-odd knights to land shouted slogans, drew their longswords, and charged at the archers, easily routing them. Then, more and more Franks landed, continuing their eastward march, attempting to replicate their earlier maneuver and conquer Sweden in one fell swoop. Upon learning of the French landing, the count, who was leisurely enjoying his time in Copenhagen, was terrified.

Following the Second Frankish-Danish War, Zealand became a British overseas territory. With disaster looming, the Earl instinctively pleaded for military assistance in defense: "Colonel, what should we do next? Should we seek help from the garrison in Gotland?"

"We can't help. The total number of troops stationed in Gotland, Bornholm, and Veryanka is 1,300. We can only rely on the Nordic Allied Forces."

Hadawa patiently persuaded the count to organize a defense, saying that Copenhagen had a five-meter-high wooden wall, which would be enough to resist the Franks.

In the afternoon, news of Hafdan's plea for help reached Copenhagen, and Hadawat led a fleet to help transport Hafdan's troops to southwestern Sweden, where they were stationed on the east side of the Øresund Strait.

Compared to the Great and Little Belt Straits, the Øresund Strait has the lowest probability of freezing. Even the oldest residents have never encountered a situation where the ice in the Øresund Strait is walkable.

Two days later, Kaloman's army reached the east coast of Zealand. In order to speed up the progress, many soldiers in poor condition were left behind in settlements along the way, leaving him with only five thousand men.

Unfortunately, the Øresund Strait was not frozen at the time, and he attempted a direct assault on the island's largest settlement—Copenhagen. Due to the frigid weather and the soldiers' sluggish movements, the French army failed to breach the five-meter-high fortified wall.

As time passed, the cold wave drew to a close, and temperatures began to rise slightly. Kaloman realized that he had lost the possibility of crossing the sea and was forced to end his offensive and rest in the central part of Zealand.

After more than a month, the Øresund Strait remained unfrozen. With the coldest season about to pass and the Greater and Lesser Belt Straits potentially thawing at any moment, many nobles advised the king to withdraw his troops.

"Your Majesty, you have accomplished an unprecedented feat. It is time to retreat. We did not lose to the Viking barbarians, but to natural phenomena."

They were right. During their stay on Zealand, the hastily assembled Viking army of over seven thousand attempted a counterattack, but was easily defeated by the Frankish knights. The Viking army then retreated to Copenhagen, allowing the Franks to plunder the island's settlements.

"Withdraw," Kaloman did not go against the collective will of the army. Before leaving, he looted the two islands and returned to the Jutland Peninsula with a large amount of rubble.

In February 868 AD, Vig learned that Carloman had withdrawn his troops, and his mood improved slightly.

When he first received news that the French army had crossed the Great and Little Belts, he was quite frightened. He immediately recalled the war in the mid-17th century (1658), in which the Swedish army took advantage of the frozen sea to quickly pass through the two straits, forcing Denmark to cede territory and pay reparations.

However, Kaloman ultimately failed to cross the Øresund Strait and land on Swedish soil.

In summary, it was a successful tactical operation, but it failed to achieve a strategic victory—invading Sweden and Norway and forcing Vigé to send troops to their aid.

"In fact, Kaloman overestimated the importance of Northern Europe to me. Even if he captures Gothenburg, Oslo, and Uppsala, he won't be able to mobilize my expeditionary force."

After a few words of reflection, Vig turned his attention back to West Francia. He believed that once this leading power in Europe was dealt with, the remaining forces would no longer be able to cause any trouble.

　Thanks to book friend 20220123233752363 for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)