novelraw Chapter 270: Northern Leaders Gathering
Chapter 270: Northern Leaders Gathering
The sky above the ruined gate of Zaragoza was instantly filled with thousands of arcing, smoke-trailing projectiles.
The firebombs sailed over the heads of the protective Arab knights, descending rapidly toward the dense mass of the advancing Tang infantry. The warlord watched in horror as the inevitability of his defeat rained down upon his finest warriors.
The heavy clay pots struck the raised shields, the iron helmets, and the lowered spear shafts of the Tang vanguard. Upon impact, the brittle clay shattered. The ignited naphtha erupted outward in massive, blossoming clouds of clinging, searing fire.
The front lines of the Tang defensive wall were instantaneously engulfed in a localized inferno.
The consequences of the firebomb onslaught were immediate. The liquid flame splashed across the tightly packed ranks, instantly setting clothes, leather harnesses, and wooden spear shafts ablaze.
While the fire ravaged the vanguard, the Tang army finally snapped. The soldiers in the front ranks, overwhelmed by agony, dropped their heavy spears.
They abandoned their honorable duty and began to thrash wildly, attempting to strip the burning armor from their bodies. Because they were packed so tightly together, the burning men collided with their comrades in the second and third lines, inadvertently spreading the sticky flames deeper into the formation.
With the integrity of the spear-wall compromised by the fire, the defensive strength of the Tang army began to crumble. The impenetrable forest of iron points collapsed as burning men fell to the cobblestones or turned to flee from the unbearable heat.
The warlord observed this collapse from his elevated position, knowing that the battle was irrevocably lost. He had commanded his men to hold an immovable line, but he had failed to account for the destructive power of the Emirate’s ultimate weapon.
After witnessing the initial collapse of the Tang vanguard, the dismounted Arab knights seized the absolute advantage. They did not hesitate. Driven by a righteous fury and the undeniable momentum of victory, they surged forward through the fading smoke and the screams of the dying Easterners.
Their wooden shields easily deflected the few remaining, disorganized spear thrusts of the panicked defenders.
With the enemy line broken, the Arab knights stepped firmly into the bloody breach of Zaragoza.
The Easterners, trapped in the narrow streets behind the gate and deprived of their long-reach weapons, were entirely defenseless against the heavy, downward hacking of the Arab swords.
The might of the East had been tested against the fiery resolve of the Andalusian host, and the East had been found severely wanting...
With the total destruction of the main gate’s defenders, the heart of Zaragoza lay completely open to the conquering Arab host. The knights pressed deeper into the city, their swords rising and falling. They stepped over the charred, mutilated bodies of the Emperor’s finest troops, claiming the streets in the name of their Supreme Emir.
The firebombs had done their terrible work, clearing the path for the righteous blades of the vanguard.
After securing the initial breach, thousands more Arab warriors poured into the city...
***
868 AD, a month after the fall of Zaragoza, in Wessex.
The year was eight hundred and sixty-eight. A full month had passed since the distant fall of Zaragoza.
The streets of Wessex were filled with grand festivities. The children played freely in the wide avenues. The food was plentiful. Massive wagons, heavy with the rich spoils of the autumn harvest and the tribute of conquered lands, filled the storehouses to bursting. The people possessed woolen clothes to ward off the chill of the coming winter, a direct result of the safe, protected trade routes established by the Iron King’s fleets.
Happiness resided clearly on everyone’s face. Everyone was joyful because today was the day of the great gathering. It was the gathering of the kings of England, and the gathering of the supreme lords of the surrounding isles.
After securing the western seas and solidifying the borders of his own lands, King Aedh MacNeill of Ireland had arrived. He was bound to the Iron Kingdom through the sacred vows of a marriage contract that guaranteed peace between their shores.
He brought his greatest champions and his most loyal shield-brothers to Wessex to honor this bond.
When King Aedh marched his host through the massive wooden gates of the city, he displayed only the deep respect of a sovereign ally who knew the true meaning of power in this age.
While the Irish hosts settled into their guarded encampments, King Donald the Second of Scotland arrived from the cold northern highlands.
He brought a vast retinue of powerful dukes and their noble wives. King Donald had fought long, bitter wars among the crags and glens of his homeland, yet he too had ultimately bowed his head to the Iron King’s authority.
He brought heavy chests filled with raw silver, polished gemstones, and the finest weapons of his realm as a tribute to Ragnar’s supremacy.
King Donald commanded men of iron will and unmatched ferocity, but he knew with certainty that his courage was eclipsed by the overwhelming force of Ragnar’s standing armies. The Scottish dukes walked proudly through the streets of Wessex, observing the immense wealth, the towering stone fortifications, and the unyielding order of the Iron Kingdom.
The deep-water harbor of Wessex welcomed the arrival of a darker, more violent sovereign. He was the newly appointed king of Norway, Erik Bloodtooth.
He owed his crown, his lands, and his life entirely to the weapons, the wealth, and the veteran warriors gifted to him by the Iron King. Erik Bloodtooth stepped off his longship wearing the bloody pelts of great wolves, his hands resting upon the hilts of his twin axes.
Despite his terrifying reputation, he possessed the loyalty of a hound to its master. He had come to Wessex to present his blood-stained sword to Ragnar, to offer the wealth of the northern fjords, and to reaffirm his vassalage before the gathered, observing monarchs of the world.
He wished to prove that the Iron King’s reach extended far beyond the green hills of England, deep into the frozen heart of the north.
After securing the presence of these great lords, the true purpose of the gathering was revealed.
They were all there to celebrate the peace forged by war, and to attend the grand auction held by the Iron King...