Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 43 Warship
Five days later, Tyneburg.

"According to Ivar's description, Sven has a fleet of more than fifty warships, equipped with many light crossbows, giving him an absolute advantage in the firefight phase. Looking back, I've never even participated in a naval battle before, this is troublesome."

Naval warfare was a completely unfamiliar territory, and a head-on confrontation would have little chance of success. To counter the enemy's superiority in crossbows and arrows, Vig's first thought was to install catapults.

It took more than a month for the carpenters of Tyneburg to build a massive warship, which was an astonishing thirty meters long and had a light catapult at both the bow and stern.

After testing, two light catapults were found to be able to throw a 10-kilogram terracotta pot 200 meters, which was sufficient in range, but could not guarantee accuracy, with a hit rate of less than 5%.

Looking at the driftwood targets floating on the river in the distance, Vig felt a little regretful. The catapult warship was suitable for targeting large enemy ships, but it could not deal with small boats that were agile and fast.

"In order to give the catapults enough time to fire, we need some warships to block the enemy in front. However, Sven's sailors are equipped with many light crossbows, and in close to medium range combat, our archers may not be able to outshoot the enemy."

Hearing her husband's complaint, Heligef suddenly said, "Place many shields on the ship's side to block arrows flying from the opposite side."

"Shield?"

Awakened by this unintentional remark, Vig recalled a special type of ship that had appeared in history—the turtle ship.

During the Imjin War, in order to defend against the Japanese fleet's arquebuses and arrows, the Korean navy built a type of ship about thirty meters long with a wooden shell on top, resembling a tortoise shell, hence the name "tortoise ship".

Coincidentally, he had played a strategy game that featured a unit called "turtle ship," so he quickly drew up a sketch and ordered his men to start working on it immediately.

The craftsmen unanimously agreed that this structure was too poor at resisting wind and waves and was not suitable for fighting at sea. However, due to the lord's authority, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and build a strange-looking turtle ship.

This type of ship has an iron anchor at the bow, which increases the impact damage. The hull has two decks, with the upper deck providing a wide field of vision, which is advantageous for archers to shoot at enemy sailors from a high position.

In addition, Vig added two water pumps to pump seawater to the top of the "turtle shell" to prevent the enemy from using rockets to burn the hull.

"It has comprehensive firepower and protection, but its only drawback is that it is not suitable for long-distance ocean voyages."

After much deliberation, Vigé instructed the craftsmen to design the tortoise shell as a detachable structure, which could be disassembled during the voyage to lower the ship's center of gravity and improve its stability, before being reassembled upon reaching the shore.

Once confirmed, Vig led a technical team westward along the ruins of Hadrian's Wall, arriving at the mouth of the Derwent River on the afternoon of the third day.

Compared to their own territory, there were few signs of farming in the surrounding area. Many farmhouses had collapsed under the weight of thick snow, and a solitary stone fort stood on the high ground on the south bank, appearing particularly desolate.

After identifying himself, Vig, led by a guard, arrived at an open space on the west side of the stone fortress, where Ivar was instructing Hafdan on combat techniques.

"Too slow, too slow. You spend all your time drinking and womanizing in York, you haven't been practicing your swordsmanship at all." Taking advantage of an obvious opening to knock down his third brother, Ivar tossed his blunt sword to the shield guard beside him and faced Vig. "Why aren't you spending the winter in Tyneburg? What are you doing here looking for me?"

“Shipbuilding. Tyneburg is located on the east coast. If we build the ship here, we will have to go around a big circle from the north. It would be better to build the ship in Derwent, which is closer to us, to avoid wasting time.”

“There’s no need for that. I’ve already prepared enough ships to carry two thousand people.” Ivar led Vig around to the north side of the stone fortress and pointed to the river bend not far away, where fifty warships were quietly moored and many wooden houses were haphazardly built on the bank to house more than five hundred Viking raiders.

"I'm not talking about these ordinary longships. To deal with Sven's fleet, I specially designed two new types of ships." Vig took two models from the carriage and introduced the features of the catapult warship and the turtle ship.

"The catapults are responsible for long-range attacks, and the turtle ships are responsible for medium and close range attacks. If operated properly, they will surely send all of Sven's ships into the sea to feed the fish."

After repeatedly observing the details of the two models, Ivar adopted the suggestion, "Alright, since we have nothing else to do, I'll have those raiders help build one of each to test the effect. Once we confirm it's feasible, we can start large-scale construction."

Under Ivar's orders, the Derwent estuary quickly transformed into a bustling shipbuilding site. To gather enough air-dried timber, he commissioned purchases from the Lancaster and Mancourney families. Once he confirmed that everything was on track, Vig returned to Tyneburg for the winter and recruited four hundred men for training, half Vikings and half Angles.

During the training camp, he found that the physical fitness and fighting spirit of the Anglo-Saxon peasants were generally worrying, and he had no choice but to classify them all into the rower class.

"Since they are afraid of weapons, let these people row in the bottom of the turtle ship, and they will be of some use."

Four hundred conscripted militiamen and twenty shield guards clad in iron armor. This was the total force Vig had brought with him on this expedition.

In mid-March 845, just before his departure, he said to the worried Harriet, “Viking ships will occasionally arrive. If you intend to farm, give them land as is customary. If you encounter raiders, do not fight them no matter how much they provoke you. Even if you burn down the three workshops on the riverbank, it will not be a big deal.”

Upon arriving at Ivar's stone castle again, one sees the surrounding grasslands dotted with tents of all sizes, filled with a constant clamor. Besides Ivar's wolf banner, there are also the crossed double-axe banner of the Lord of Lancaster and the black goat banner of the Lord of Mancuni.

As Vig walked through the chaotic, filthy camp, he couldn't help but frown. Soldiers living in such unsanitary conditions for a long time would have a significantly higher chance of getting sick.

The only saving grace was that the Vikings did not reject bathing.

Guided by the guards, he arrived at the Lord's Hall of the Stone Castle. After inquiring, Ivar borrowed a total of six hundred warriors from the Lancaster and Mancuni families. Adding Ivar's five hundred Viking warriors and his own four hundred, he had a total of fifteen hundred men.

Ivar poured Vig a glass of mead and showed off the results of his work over the past six months. "Following your blueprints, I've built five catapult warships and ten turtle ships, and I've also stocked up on food, arrows, and oil in advance. For this voyage, I swear to cut off Sven's head and use his skull as a drinking bowl!"

With the campaign imminent, Ivar ordered the slaughter of livestock to reward the troops, and even forcibly requisitioned cattle, pigs, and sheep from the local people. He seemed unconcerned by Vig's advice, saying, "I have no need to appease these farmers; what do a little resentment matter?"

After two days of revelry, the fleet set sail with a rare easterly wind and arrived at the Isle of Man that afternoon.

(End of this chapter)