novelraw Chapter 165: Personal Campaign
Chapter 165: Personal Campaign
A commander is meant to be the paragon for all their soldiers.
Since Niels, the commander-in-chief, had acted on his own authority and defied orders for his own selfish desires, the soldiers of the Royal Guard could do the exact same. Acting for their own benefit, they incited a mutiny, forcing their commander to accept their so-called "loyalty."
The moonlight was dim, the freezing wind howled, and the flickering firelight cast shifting shadows over the armored faces of the men. Since their commander was delaying his response, some of the soldiers simply drew their swords.
"General, you bestow titles and lands upon Angle militiamen, Raiders, and sailors, yet you alone reject us. Do you look down on your own brothers?"
To save his own life, Niels put on a miserable face and agreed to the demands of the Royal Guard.
After fighting up to this point, only one thousand two hundred men remained in the Royal Guard. Five hundred of them had already married and started families. Unable to let go of their families and estates back home, they coerced the Deputy Commander, Oleg, into fleeing the camp with them, eventually settling in Skagen at the northernmost tip of Denmark.
The situation had completely spiraled out of control. Oleg wrote another letter back to the kingdom, which finally ignited Ragnar's fury.
"That bastard. Does he think I do not dare to kill?"
At this moment, Ragnar deeply felt his own aging and frailty. Yet, the weaker he became, the more he needed to display an unyielding stance to prevent other vassals from deliberately following suit. He coughed a few times before issuing orders to assemble troops from all regions, planning to personally lead a punitive expedition into Northern Europe.
Sola was worried about the King's health and tried to dissuade him in a low voice. "Why not send someone else?""Send who? Ivar, Viggo, Om, or Prime Minister Pascal?" Ragnar rejected his wife's suggestion. This chaotic mess involved all of Northern Europe, and he could not find a single capable vassal who would remain absolutely impartial.
Ivar, Viggo, and Om all had a good relationship with Niels. They would definitely show favoritism and let that bastard off the hook with a slap on the wrist.
Pascal was fair and just, but his command abilities were limited. Furthermore, he was an Angle, making it impossible for him to pacify the volatile factions in Northern Europe.
The others were entirely out of the question. Nobles like Leonard and Ulf had their fiefs in Sweden utterly ravaged by the Swords of the North, so they would inevitably wait for an opportunity to take revenge on Halfdan. While they might not go as far as killing him, they would at the very least damage his interests and destroy Halfdan's future in Sweden.
"I have been away from Northern Europe for over a decade. It is time I went back for a tour."
Braving the heavy, sky-filling snow, a messenger delivered the conscription order to Teyne.
"Understood. Please return and inform His Majesty that I will arrive in Londinium on time."
After sending the messenger down to rest, Viggo remained silent for a long time.
Consolidating the information provided by the Refugees, the situation in Northern Europe had fallen into deep chaos. The four factions—Erik Jr., Niels, Halfdan, and the Allied Forces of Sweden—were all tangled together in a complex and convoluted web of relations.
Take Erik Jr. and Niels, for example.
In the beginning, the former provided intelligence and inside contacts, while the latter took action to eradicate Hrolf in Schleswig, essentially forming a substantive alliance.
On the other hand, Erik Jr. was secretly funding the Swedish Allied Forces, engaging in fierce battles across Sweden against the Royal Guard led by Niels. In a way, both sides could be considered enemies.
Furthermore, Niels, Oleg, and Halfdan also shared an intricate entanglement of grievances, making a violent internal clash highly likely.
Viggo let out a long sigh. "It's impossible to tell friend from foe. It's a mess, an absolute mess. Only Ragnar can step forward personally to resolve this; anyone else is entirely unsuitable."
With Northern Europe in total disarray, his own life was similarly impacted. This year, a total of ten thousand immigrants had flooded into his territory, severely exceeding its carrying capacity.
In order to settle these fellow Vikings, Viggo drafted a massive amount of corvée labor to build farmsteads in the earldom of Tyne, Edinburgh County, and Aberdeen County. He scrambled everywhere to gather food, cloth, and livestock, expending resources with a total value exceeding six hundred pounds of Silver. Thanks to the turmoil caused by this group, this year's finances were once again in the red.
However, then again, if these immigrants had not been properly settled and some were driven to desperation, turning into Raiders, the resulting losses would have been even greater. Some lords had been too stingy to spend the money, and now they were forced to brave the heavy snow to hunt down bandits within their borders, serving as the perfect negative example.
Spring of the year 854 AD.
Viggo led a thousand soldiers to Londinium. Following the guidance of the royal court guards, they set up camp ten miles north of the city.
After six years of peace, the three-field system and heavy iron plows had been widely adopted across Britain. The strength of all the vassal lords had increased. Including the royal army, their total numbers exceeded fifteen thousand men. Even Bjorn Ironside, who was far away in Greenland, had rushed over to join the fray.
The size of the army exceeded expectations, making it difficult for logistical supplies to support them. To depart as early as possible, Ragnar left behind three thousand of the weaker militiamen. He led the remaining twelve thousand men to Dover, where the various divisions crossed the sea in an orderly manner. The fleet followed the Continental Coastline, advancing toward the northeast.
Faced with this unprecedentedly massive army, the Franks were struck with inexplicable terror. Charles the Bald was currently attacking Breizh in northwestern Francia and could not extricate himself for the time being. He could only send orders to all regions to heighten their defenses.
Before long, he received two pieces of news:
First, the Viking fleet had departed, showing no intention of attacking West Francia.
Second, Gunnar had joined this massive army on a whim. However, he had only brought his personal guard and left behind a letter explaining his reasons, stating that he merely wanted to gather information and prepare for the upcoming chaos.
No matter how suspicious he was inwardly, Charles did not pursue the matter on the surface. "Understood. Gunnar is merely fulfilling his duties as the Earl of Cambridge. By the way, the Palace Steward recently reported that the number of Peacocks has greatly increased. Have him send a few dozen to the Duke of Normandy's castle."
After confirming that Ragnar's target was not him, he resumed his assault on Breizh, swearing that he would eradicate these Nobles who had surrendered only to rebel again this year.
In mid-April, the fleet landed on the coast of Denmark and slowly advanced toward Schleswig.
Upon hearing the scouts report the various banners—including the lightning banner, the Wolf banner, the Serpent banner, the Brown Bear banner, the Dragon banner, and the Camellia banner—Niels realized that the situation had completely spiraled out of control.
The King had led the Dukes into Denmark, evidently dead set on crushing him completely.
At that moment, an officer of the Royal Guard suggested seeking reinforcements from Norway. Niels stared blankly ahead, his eyes lifeless, and muttered in a low voice, "How many men can Erik Jr. possibly have? He is a King in name, but in reality, his strength is about the same as the Dukes. Don't count on him."
After sitting numbly in the hall of the lord's longhouse for an entire night, Niels managed to come up with a desperate method to survive.
Early the next morning, he dismissed his personal guards and rode alone to Ragnar's military tent. In front of countless people, this man who claimed to be the lord of Denmark offered no defense whatsoever. Instead, he dropped heavily to his knees, wrapped his arms around Ragnar's legs, and wept bitterly.
"You bastard, what is the use of crying? Do you think this is like when you caused trouble as a child, where crying to me for a while would make everything alright?"
Ragnar's chest he heave rapidly as he harshly berated his disappointing nephew. "I entrusted the Royal Guard to you, and Eve took a ship to join you, yet this is the result I get in return! Was all of this really necessary just for some damn title?"
Even now, Niels offered no excuses. He continued to wail and plead as a nephew. "Uncle, I was wrong. I have failed you, and I have failed Princess Eve. But I couldn't help it! I wanted to be a Duke—no, a King—so desperately that I dreamed about it every single night.
"Back then, I painstakingly sought Princess Eve's hand in marriage, trying every possible method. It's a pity that my status was so low at the time; I wasn't even an Earl, and I was despised and treated like a dog. After struggling to get to where I am today, my romantic feelings have long since faded, but that humiliation remained in my heart. It tortured me every waking moment, tempting me into committing such a grave sin... I leave everything to your judgment. I have absolutely no complaints."