Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 352 The Earl Who Voluntarily Surrendered

At the cost of fifteen casualties, Santan routed the French scouts, killing twenty and driving away seven.

"Pack your things, don't waste time!"

With heavy casualties, Santan was forced to abandon the mission and head to an oak forest five miles to the west, where a mountain infantry company was stationed.

An hour later, the nine wounded received temporary medical treatment in the oak grove, and the allied forces also provided two wagons to facilitate Santa's transport of the wounded back to the camp.

"I've been promoted to platoon leader for less than a month and I've already run into this mess. I wonder what my superiors will think of me?"

At dusk, Santan led his troops back to camp. He ordered the wounded to be sent to the aid station, and then went alone to the company headquarters with a truckload of captured armor to report.

"Looks like you're out of luck," the company commander said, counting the number of helmets stacked together, realizing his subordinates had failed to complete the reconnaissance mission.

"The enemy scouts are equipped with crossbows."

Santan recounted his experience, explaining that since he was illiterate, the company clerk wrote the combat report for him. Half an hour later, the report was sent to the battalion headquarters, whereupon the battalion commander, realizing the seriousness of the situation, forwarded the report to the division headquarters.

And so the report was sent up the chain of command, eventually reaching Vig.

"Another crossbow cavalryman, how many times has this happened?"

One of the staff officers replied, "This is the third time we've engaged the crossbowmen. Judging from the exchange ratio, the French scouts' combat effectiveness has improved."

Given the current trend, French scouts are rapidly deploying crossbows. While slow-loading, crossbows compensate for their lack of ranged attacks. Training horse archers is too difficult; crossbowmen are a better fit for the French army's current situation.

This is a very dangerous phenomenon. The enemy has not been defeated by the defeat and is actively using new tactics. Vig stared at the map on the table and decided to invest more chips.

He instructed Leif to send a secret message to the royal palace, using the shares of various royal companies as collateral to secure loans from the private sector for recruiting Eastern European infantry or steppe cavalry.

Leif pressed on incredulously, "Including paper mills, breweries, and shares in football clubs?"

Vig nodded. "Apart from the newspaper, the ironworks, the arsenal, and the shipyard, all the other shares are subject to mortgaging. We should also sell off all the vacant land east of London. The Crown Prince is still inexperienced, so let Heligef take charge of raising at least £50,000."

The two sides are now locked in an irreconcilable feud. If they still can't win over Frank, Vig will put all his eggs in one basket—launching a full-scale mobilization.

On March 22, the expeditionary force arrived at the banks of the Loire River. On the south bank of the river was the city of Tours, where the garrison was urgently dismantling the pontoon bridge over the river.

The river was narrow in this section, only 150 to 200 meters wide. Vig ordered his soldiers to cut down trees and build a large number of catapults to bombard the city walls across the river.

Meanwhile, Vig sent rangers to search for boats in the vicinity, eventually finding twenty small boats in a fishing village thirty miles upstream.

Taking advantage of the defenders' laxity, the Viking infantry crossed the river by boat. By the time the defenders discovered them, the south bank already had an entire infantry regiment.

The French army's main defensive areas were Paris, Havreul, Calais, and other places, while the garrison in Tours consisted of only 2,500 men (most of whom were temporarily recruited militia).

"Quickly, drive them into the river!" The Earl of Tours brought 1,500 men, committing all his troops at once, but with little success. The first fifty-odd cavalrymen to charge were met with a volley of crossbow fire; most of their horses were shot down, and only a dozen or so, carrying their riders, made it to the front lines, where they were impaled by a dense barrage of spears.

The French infantry that followed were hit by long-range attacks, and their advance slowed down instantly. The militia, in particular, who were not protected by armor, held up their shields and huddled together with their comrades, trying to avoid the arrows that were everywhere.

In the end, only a little over three hundred heavy infantrymen engaged the Vikings, and within moments, the French infantry routed. The Vikings, lacking cavalry, achieved little success in their pursuit.

On March 27, two infantry regiments went east of Tours to cut down trees to build camps, and then began digging tunnels.

After repeated operations, the Viking engineers became more skilled and their trench-digging efficiency gradually improved. They dug to the base of the city wall in just twenty days, at which point Vig ordered a general offensive.

After the city fell, he ordered his men to find the fishermen within its walls, interrogate them separately, and gather hydrological information about the Loire River: seasonal water level fluctuations, the location of reefs, which sections of the river had rapid currents, and which sections were prone to running aground.
Two days later, he received a report from Utgard: Angers had been successfully captured.

"Nantes, Angers, Tours, I now control the main towns in the lower Loire Valley. The river fleet can transport troops and supplies along the waterways, greatly reducing logistical pressure. The first phase of the objective has been successfully achieved."

Some time later, the Eastern European infantry hired by the cabinet last year arrived at the front, totaling 4,000 men, increasing the total number of expeditionary troops to 57,000.

Vig organized them into four garrison regiments, assigning a small number of officers and translators, and planned to use them for various low-value missions.

Further upstream lies Orléans, a major city in central Frankish territory. It was inhabited as early as the Gallo-American period and later rebuilt by the Roman Emperor Aurelian. According to collected information, the city had nearly ten thousand inhabitants, second only to Paris in size.

On May 1, Vig left Tours, and 45,000 soldiers advanced by land and water along the river towards Orleans, more than 100 kilometers away.

The following afternoon, while the army was encamped, an unexpected visitor requested to see Vig.

The sentry asked bluntly, "Who are you?"

The middle-aged man removed his cloak. "Jean de Beauval, I've heard the king is recruiting talented individuals, and I wish to pledge my allegiance to him."

"Oh, I know you, the lost general." The sentry and his companion laughed heartily and sent someone to report to their superiors.

Before long, a squad of royal guards came over, searched him, answered a few simple questions, and then led him to the riverbank, where the king was fishing.

The sun was slowly sinking in the west, its lingering heat filling the air. Vig sat on a small stool, resting his chin on one hand, staring blankly at the scenery before him.

The river flowed gently, and large clumps of reeds grew along the banks. A white egret quietly took flight from the reeds, its wings skimming the water's surface, snatched a river fish, and glided towards the sandbar in the middle of the river.

The south bank is a large, flat, open grassland, where several cows graze leisurely, their shadows stretched long and thin by the setting sun, moving silently.

"Your Excellency, what do you desire?" Vig's gaze remained fixed on the river, the visitor's information flashing through his mind:

Last year, Charles the Bald led his troops back to Paris, shifting all blame onto Beauval, stripping him of all his titles, and imprisoning him. Beauval later bribed the jailers and luckily escaped Paris.

Bovard replied in Latin: "Your Majesty, I have a way to help you quickly conquer Orleans. Please accept my allegiance."

(End of this chapter)