Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 388 Water City
On August 1, Alfred was still trekking through the mountains.

Suddenly, cheers erupted from all around him. He rubbed his ears in disbelief, thinking it was just his imagination.

Before long, he arrived at a pass with his cane, where the narrow view suddenly opened up. The mountain path stopped going uphill, gradually became gentler, and then continued to extend downhill.

In the distance, a wide, verdant, and vibrant valley unfolds, dotted with lush forests, a winding stream, and wisps of smoke rising from distant chimneys.

They came out.

That afternoon, the French army reached the small town at the bottom of the valley, a place called Bolzano. The town was built along the river, with a large number of rough wooden houses and a few stone buildings on both sides of the river.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the locals, a large group of ragged, disarmed French soldiers knelt on the ground, kissing the warm, soft earth beneath their feet, tears streaming down their faces.

Bald Charles and a group of high-ranking French officers poured into the lord's longhouse, enjoying the local coarse wine and stale, salted meat. Alfred licked the last of his bowl of oatmeal clean and inquired about the enemy situation nearby.

Lord Bolzano: "My lord, there are no enemies. This is the heart of the Alps. From here to Bavaria in the north, there are hundreds of miles of mountain roads, and there are fortresses blocking the way. The Bavarian Viking barbarians cannot get in!"

Upon hearing this, Alfred's worries were largely relieved, and a wave of weariness washed over him. He casually found a corner to lie down and rested, sleeping until the next morning.

The rest of the journey was relatively easy. The French army marched south along the road for three days, completely leaving the Alps and entering the Veneto Plain.

Along the way, the French army lost all their horses, as well as a large amount of armor and weapons, leaving only more than six thousand weak and exhausted soldiers.

Listening to the figures in the various reports, Bald Charlie looked dazed and questioned the necessity of the trip.

In any case, the French army finally shook off the Viking cavalry's pursuit and headed southeast to Padua to rest.

On the night after entering the city, Bald Charles sent out a new round of messengers, requesting Basil to send reinforcements as soon as possible, and even including many countries in the Balkans in the requests for help.

Turin, on the western side of the Po Plain, August 2.

After capturing Milan, Vigé sailed up the Po River to attack the city, which had a large stockpile of supplies. In order to secure the complete supply, he promised to ennoble the commander as a count.

However, the other party was not satisfied with this condition. Instead, he demanded to become the Duke of Turin, ruling over the western half of the Po Plain, including towns such as Milan and Pavia.

After five days of intermittent talks, Vig lost patience and suspected that the man was deliberately stalling for time.

In the afternoon, twenty bronze cannons fired three volleys, collapsing the tower in the northeast corner of the city. As the smoke cleared, hundreds of captured militiamen, under the horrified gazes of the defenders, shouted in unison:

The deadline for surrender is tomorrow morning. The Emperor promises the safety of all residents except the garrison commander and his family. Anyone can exchange the commander's head for a count's title.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, a small commotion broke out in the city. About half an hour later, dozens of corpses were pushed out of the city wall, and the one in the lead was the greedy guard.

The mastermind behind this plot was the garrison commander's nephew, whom Vig accepted as his sworn brother, promising him the title of earl after the war. That evening, the Viking army took control of the city, and after a night of inventory, the captured grain was enough to sustain them for eight months.

In addition, hundreds of river oared ships were moored at the eastern dock. During subsequent military operations, the Viking army could utilize this fleet to transport supplies along the Po River, significantly reducing logistical burdens.

The capture of Turin meant that the last town in the western part of the Po River plain had been captured by our side. Vig wasted no time and led the main force down the river.

On August 5th, Charles the Bald received news that the Viking army had overlooked the towns in the middle and lower reaches of the Po River and was rapidly heading towards the lower Po.

"Oh no, Vig's target is still me!"

Bald Charles anxiously looked at the map. His six thousand remaining soldiers lacked fighting strength. The only way was to contact Venice, request the Doge to allow the French army to take refuge on the island, and then use a fleet to transport the French army to central Italy.

Alfred was appointed as an envoy, and he rode overnight to the east coast carrying a personal letter from the king.

To the east lies a vast lagoon, separated from the Adriatic Sea to the northeast by a series of intermittent, narrow sandbars, and connected to the open sea only by a few waterways.

The lagoon is dotted with islands of varying sizes. The largest islands have dense clusters of buildings that, at first glance, appear not to be built on land, but rather to have grown directly from the sea.

Alfred walked onto the pier and hired a long, narrow boat. Before long, the boat approached the Rialto Islands and entered a wide main waterway.

The banks are lined with densely packed houses, the first and second floors made of solid stone, while the upper floors are wooden attics. Many houses have doorways that extend directly into the water, and stone bollards for mooring boats stand at the entrances. The mansions of the wealthy have arched windows and stained glass, while ordinary houses appear simple and cramped.

The waterways were teeming with small boats, their boatmen calling out to each other to warn one another to give way. Alfred observed carefully and discovered that there were many glass workshops, and that shipbuilding and salt production were also thriving.

"Master, we have arrived."

The small boat docked at a busy stone-stepped pier, and Alfred navigated the narrow streets lined with towering wooden and stone houses, their windows almost touching those of the houses opposite each other in a struggle for space. Clotheslines stretched across the alleys, laden with clothes and sheets drying in the sun.

Due to the influence of the tides, the river water often overflows the lower steps, making the streets slightly damp and giving off a faint sour smell. After a long while, he walked through the maze-like streets and alleys, and a wide square came into view. A church covering a huge area was under construction here. Scaffolding was attached to part of the exterior walls, and workers were busy decorating the exterior of the church.

On the other side of the square is the Governor's Palace, with its towering towers overlooking the entire city and the lagoon, and its narrow arched windows displaying a distinct Byzantine style.

Soldiers guarded the entrance to the mansion. Alfred identified himself, handed over the handwritten letter from Bald Charlie, and waited a moment before following an officer inside.

As of now, Venice is still nominally subordinate to the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Doge received orders from Constantinople at the beginning of the war to do his utmost to assist the Franks' actions.

Without much hesitation, the governor allowed the remnants of the French army to take refuge on the island, on the condition that they hand over their weapons and armor to prevent them from looting the city and repeating the looting of Corsica and Sardinia last year.

(End of this chapter)