Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 386 The Po Plain
After capturing Genoa, Viguet convened a war council. He planned to leave a small number of soldiers to defend the city while the main force marched north into the Po Plain to annihilate the scattered French troops and secure a stable rear.

The journey from Genoa to the Po Plain in the north required traversing a hilly area, and Vigé guessed that the French army would use the terrain to their advantage, slowing their advance.

He decided to divide his forces and advance north along three different routes. Even if the French blocked one of them, they could not stop the entire army.

"The intelligence provided by the prisoners proves that the total strength of the Frankish remnants is maintained at 2 to 3. Even if they launch a full-scale attack, they won't be able to take down any of their forces. What do you think?"

The generals did not object to the emperor's inquiry. They had completely overwhelmed the enemy in terms of numbers, equipment, training, and organization, and could find no reason to fail.

In early July, the 70,000-strong army split into three routes. Vig led the central army out of the north gate and slowly advanced along an ancient Roman road.

After walking for a while, the terrain became increasingly rugged, with large groves of trees in front, including oak, beech, and pine, and occasionally dark shadows could be seen flickering in the woods.

"Find the French scouts and take care of them."

Upon receiving the commander's order, the two mountain infantry battalions of the division disbanded their formation and, in units of fourteen men each, entered the dark, dense forest one after another, like trickles of water flowing into the sea.

From deep within the forest, an ominous sound soon echoed, and flocks of birds rushed out of the treetops in panic, flying away into the distance.

"so many people?"

Vig stroked his chin and threw the mountain infantry companies under each infantry regiment into the woods to reinforce the friendly forces that were struggling in the battle.

With the arrival of a large number of reinforcements, the mountain infantry switched from defense to offense. They were all equipped with light cloth armor, while less than half of the Frankish skirmishers wore armor. At the same time, each mountain infantry squad was issued a compass, which enabled them to determine direction more quickly, making them far more efficient in combat than the Franks.

In less than half an hour, the shouts of battle in the woods gradually faded, and the main Viking force continued its march along the mountain path.

In the afternoon, as the sun began to set, it cast long shadows on the soldiers. After rounding a hillside, the column came to a halt.

A stone fortress stood in front of them, with at least a thousand soldiers stationed there. Outside the walls were trenches and a large number of spiked wooden stakes that had been temporarily placed.

"They even built a stone fortress in this dilapidated place?"

Vig was shocked by the Franks' determination and glad he had brought cannons, otherwise he would have been worn down by the endless fortresses.

The long, resonant bugle call echoed in all directions, deep and chilling, followed by the thunderous roars of junior officers. The companies rapidly deployed to both sides, transforming their marching columns into battle lines facing the enemy.

After some time, the artillery colonel, covered in sweat, brought in twelve bronze cannons, lined them up in a row along the open space, and bombarded the stone city wall three hundred meters away.

At dusk, Viking soldiers stormed into the walls, but the French resisted and held out until nightfall before withdrawing from the fortress.

The following day, Vikings encountered two more strongholds, significantly slowing their advance. Finally, at noon on the third day, the Viking army emerged from the hills and entered the heart of northern Italy—the Po River plain.

A day's journey further north, the Vikings reached the south bank of the Po River. Rangers scouted the area and discovered that the pontoon bridges upstream and downstream had been burned down, with only a few scattered ferries remaining.

"enough."

Vig left 5,000 men to attack two nearby towns, while the main force searched for a suitable crossing. On July 8th, he reached a section of the river with a slower current and found over 3,000 soldiers stationed on the opposite bank, flying a yellow dragon flag. "The Wessex flag?"

He recalled that the prisoners had mentioned that Alfred, the heir to Wessex, was in the Frankish camp, and guessed that he was on the other side of the river.

Seventeen years ago, Vig was appointed Prime Minister by Ragnar. At that time, Esserwolf was also serving in the cabinet. His young son, Alfred, often played with Uber, Sigurd, and others at the palace. Vig occasionally met Alfred and was deeply impressed by the child.

time flies.

On the north shore, Alfred stared at the iconic black dragon flag, his spirits suddenly plummeting. He clutched the silver cross pendant on his chest and prayed softly, barely managing to muster a little fighting spirit.

"Quickly, while the Viking cannons are still in the rear, have the soldiers dig trenches."

The soil near the riverbank was soft, and with the light rain from the previous day, the Franks dug quickly. After more than an hour, each soldier had dug a pit about 0.8 meters deep.

At this moment, the artillery positions on the south bank were set up. Across the two-hundred-meter-wide river, the bronze cannons opened fire one after another. The scorching iron balls hit the soft ground without ricocheting; they simply sank into the loose soil.

"Don't just stand there, dig! The deeper the pit, the greater your chances of survival."

As they were talking, a shell landed not far from Alfred. He observed it for a moment, then used a shovel to move the shell over and let out a long sigh.

After more than a month of fighting, the Franks gained a rudimentary understanding of this new weapon—the Vikings would insert a packet of powder and an iron ball into a heavy metal tube. Once ignited, the iron ball would be propelled at unimaginable speed, hurtling straight forward.

In terms of power, range, and accuracy, the new weapon surpassed the old catapults and torsion ballistae.

According to scholars, the key to propelling the iron ball forward lay in the packet of powder: it was roughly black and capable of intense combustion. Following the earlier account of the Eastern Roman sailors, scholars named it "Viking fire."

"If only we could obtain the recipe for Viking fire."

As the cannons roared, Alfred's mind raced, leading him to a despairing conclusion:

Long before the advent of new weapons, the Serpent of the North had spent two and a half years destroying the Frankish Empire. Even if the Franks had mastered the recipe for fire, at best they could bring the equipment of both sides back to the same level.

Aside from equipment, the Franks lagged behind the Vikings in every other aspect. Even with cannons of equal size, they still couldn't defeat their opponents.

At noon, the Viking soldiers attempted to cross the river. The Franks dared not leave their shelters and could only hide inside the pits, aiming their arrows into the air with very low accuracy.

After crossing the river, the thirty small boats returned to the south bank, while more than two hundred Viking infantrymen on the north bank gathered together, enduring enemy arrows, and waiting for the follow-up troops to cross the river.

As their numbers surpassed one thousand, the Viking infantry charged toward the enemy's central banner with spears in hand. The Frankish soldiers on the flanks were pinned down by artillery fire and unable to move, watching helplessly as the trenches where the central army was located fell.

After Alfred retreated, the Franks on both flanks fled, leaving this crucial crossing point to the Vikings.

(End of this chapter)