Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 392 An Unexpected Battlefield

On October 5th, Basil's remaining army arrived in Rome as scheduled, with 80,000 soldiers in the city, and the number is still growing.

"The Vikings are the attackers and need a large number of troops to transport supplies and garrison various places. Their field forces can never exceed 70,000. This battle is worth fighting."

Basil was full of confidence, and he devoted most of his energy to training the militia, striving to make them a qualified garrison force.

In terms of logistics, monasteries in various locations are transporting autumn harvest grains to Rome:

Some of the grain was transported by land. Another portion, escorted by the fleet, arrived at the port of Ostia and was then transported upstream along the Tiber River to the city of Rome.

In addition, Basil sent craftsmen to inspect the city's defenses, including Rome's sewer system, to prevent the Vikings from sneaking into the city through any gaps in the defenses.

Meanwhile, in northern Italy, the Po River plain.

Vig is on his way, having been traveling from morning until afternoon, with only a two-hour rest in between.

How much further ahead is it?

Leif replied, "We're still ten miles from our destination; we can get there before sunset."

Vig spread out a map on the grass and estimated the distance between himself and the Balkan coalition forces.

Recently, Vigé transferred his direct divisions, three infantry divisions, and eight garrison regiments to central Italy to attack towns in the south; however, all of this was merely a show of force.

Upon learning of the arrival of Basil's reinforcements, Vig abandoned his plan to attack Rome and instead set his sights on the Balkan coalition forces in the north.

He broke away from the main infantry force, leading his cavalry and mounted infantry to turn around, cross the Apennine Mountains, and head north back to the Po Plain.

The remaining 50,000 infantrymen moved slowly south to draw the enemy's attention rather than launch a full-scale attack on Rome.

According to historical records, the walls of Aurelian in Rome were built in the third century AD, with a total length of nineteen kilometers, including the traditional "Seven Hills".

During the reign of Emperor Honorius, the city walls were further fortified, boasting 380 towers, which is equivalent to one tower every few tens of meters. By this time, the walls were approximately ten meters high and four meters thick.

Correspondingly, Constantinople had two walls, with the inner wall being five meters thick and the outer wall two meters thick.

In 1453, the Ottomans besieged Constantinople and specially cast the massive Urban cannon, capable of firing stone projectiles weighing hundreds of kilograms. Even so, the besieging forces bombarded the city for seven weeks, finally managing to breach the walls.

Given the current power of bronze cannons, they could only handle conventional city walls with a thickness of 1.5 to 2.5 meters. Assuming the Vikings used cannons to attack Rome, it would likely take them two months to breach the walls. Even after breaking through, they would still face tens of thousands of defenders, making their chances of victory extremely low.

In late September, the Balkan coalition forces received letters from the Papacy and Emperor Basil, urging them to march south as soon as possible to reinforce Rome!

Hearing that Rome was under threat, the lower-ranking soldiers were in high spirits and almost dragged the allied high command into northern Italy.

After three days, they arrived in Treviso, only to find that the city's Viking soldiers had already withdrawn. Residents claimed that the men left in such a hurry that they didn't even have time to take their food.

Another day passed, and the allied forces successfully "recaptured" Padua. They sent a message to Venice, requesting the Doge of Venice and the remnants of the Franks to come and join them. Having received orders from both the Papacy and the Eastern Roman Emperor, the Doge of Venice dared not disobey. He personally led two thousand militiamen and six thousand Franks to Padua.

On October 6, the allied forces on the northern front completed their assembly, with a total strength of 30,000. They had received a large amount of armor from the Eastern Roman Empire, with 30% of their troops wearing armor. They also had ample food supplies. Their only weakness was the lack of cavalry.

The Balkans are rugged, making cavalry less cost-effective. Venice, being a water city, focuses its development on its navy and doesn't need to spend heavily on maintaining a cavalry force.

The Frankish remnants originally had 1,500 cavalrymen, but they fled into the Alps, lost all their horses, and the cavalrymen were reduced to ordinary heavy infantry.

Alfred observed the Allied forces' formation and muttered complaints to his colleagues:
"It's too risky to march overland. A safer route would be to transport the soldiers by ship to southern Italy and then march overland to Rome to assemble."

The Count of Orléans retorted, "Where will the fleet come from? Warships and large merchant ships have been diverted to the west coast to engage the Viking navy, leaving only a few civilian ships to transport Eastern Roman warhorses and supplies. The Venetian fleet is insufficient; it won't be able to complete the transport in two months. If Rome falls, who will take responsibility?"

At seven o'clock in the morning, the Allied forces left Padua. The sky was leaden gray, like a piece of linen soaked in sewage hanging overhead. A cold wind howled from the Alps, carrying a slight chill.

Along the ancient Roman road, 30,000 soldiers advanced slowly, their organization lax, chatting loudly as they walked, followed by a large number of merchants.

After walking for about two hours, the militiamen's strength and patience were exhausted. Upon hearing their commander's order, they spontaneously lay down to rest on both sides of the road. Some took out black bread and ate it in small bites, while a few bought food and drinks from the accompanying merchants.

During the rest period, Alfred and several of his colleagues stared intently at the southern horizon with furrowed brows. Before setting off, the Allied forces had gathered all their cavalry to serve as scouts, returning every half hour to report back.

Suddenly, several small dots appeared to the south, and the scout riders reported back: there were no enemies ahead.

"Are you sure you don't?" Alfred pressed.

"No Vikings have been found from here all the way to the Po River. In addition, the Venetian fleet has entered the lower reaches of the Po River and is building a pontoon bridge, which is expected to be completed in two days."

At 9:30 a.m., the allied forces set off again, and after marching for about two hours, they rested around a small town.

At lunch, Alfred remained unsettled, and the remaining Frankish nobles maintained basic vigilance, refraining from drinking alcohol.

In contrast, the Balkan nobles, who had never met the Serpent of the North, regarded him as a degraded version of Hannibal or Attila, speaking quite casually, with some sipping wine until their faces were flushed.

At 1 p.m., junior officers woke up the sleeping soldiers, and the 30,000-strong army set off again. Scouts reported that there were no enemy troops in the south and that the advance was unimpeded.

After walking for about three hours, suddenly, a sound came from the northwest horizon. It started as a low, muffled thud, and then turned into a continuous rumble of thunder.

What happened?

The militiamen behind them stopped and looked around blankly, and the whole group came to a halt.

In the distance, small black dots crawled on the withered yellow horizon. Then, more and more black dots appeared, eventually converging into a boundless, raging tide that surged toward the Balkan coalition forces.

(End of this chapter)