Viking: Master of the Icy Sea

Chapter 244: The Nonexistent Alliance

Winter passed and spring arrived, bringing a lull to the wind and waves. An anxious Edmund finally received the news: the reinforcements from Flandre had arrived.

Rushing to the stable, Edmund mounted his horse and galloped to the coast over a dozen miles away. He saw over ten Knarr ships crowded into a small fishing port. Poorly equipped conscripted militia emerged from the cabins one after another, their eyes filled with a mix of bewilderment and faint excitement.

Scanning the area, Edmund saw only five hundred disorganized infantrymen. Their armor rate was less than ten percent.

Upon closer questioning, he discovered they were not native to Flandre at all. Instead, they were impoverished commoners from the inland regions of East Francia, lured to Britain by textile merchants for a pitiful sum. They were only good for putting up a front.

He found the commander and demanded harshly, "We agreed on over four thousand men! Why are there so few? Where is the rest of the army? Where is the cavalry?"

The commander replied in a subdued tone, "My Lord Earl, some people do not trust you. They suspect this is a trap deliberately set by Wigg. As soon as you publicly break ties with Wigg, they will immediately dispatch the second wave of troops."

With matters having reached this point, regret was entirely pointless. Edmund led the reinforcements back to Norwich and then summoned the barons and knights within his territory.

Two days later, more than forty minor nobles entered the castle. They found numerous armored guards lining both sides of the great hall. The elderly Edmund sat squarely on his seat of honor, clad in chainmail for the first time in many years, his expression solemn and majestic.

"Gentlemen, Wigg is a greedy and draconian tyrant. He allows his subordinates to commit extortion against the commoners, and he has dispatched a large number of spies into East Anglia in an attempt to seize my territory."

Edmund sharply rebuked Wigg's "tyrannical rule," his tone growing increasingly impassioned, which deeply confused everyone present.During the initial British civil war, Edmund had rejected the invitations of Gunnar and Ethelbald, cowering in his territory to protect himself. Later, seeing the tide turn, he had defected to Wigg. His entire journey had been driven by profit; there was no sign of this so-called faith. Now that Wigg was at the height of his power, wasn't rebelling at this moment just asking for death?

Noticing his subordinates' lackluster response, Edmund produced reply letters from Gunnar and the towns of Flandre. He claimed they had promised to join the war to liberate the suffering populace of Britain. Furthermore, he had established contact with Earl Buden of Scunthorpe and Duke Imon of Ireland, agreeing to jointly crusade against this tyrant.

At this point, the vassals finally understood why so many guards were stationed in the hall. The crowd whispered among themselves, but in the end, no one dared to oppose Edmund's proposal.

For a long time, they had belonged to a different culture and faith from the Viking kings, submitting to Ragnar, Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, and Wigg solely out of circumstantial necessity. Since Edmund had made up his mind to go to war, they, as subordinates, had no choice but to obey.

"Thank you all for choosing the right side."

Edmund ordered his vassals to conscript militia and head for Norwich. He did not dare face Wigg in a pitched battle; instead, he planned to fortify his castle and hold out. As long as he could delay until Flandre sent their second wave of reinforcements and Gunnar and Imon entered the fray, the enemy's main forces would be forced to retreat.

Three days later, news of Edmund's rebellion reached Londinium. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet members sought out Wigg.

Gorm urged, "Your Majesty, Edmund's rebellion must have the backing of the Franks. We must immediately order the fleet to blockade The Channel."

Bafors asked, "Your Majesty, how many troops do you intend to muster? Shall we conscript from the entire kingdom or just specific regions?"

Listening to their advice, Wigg's expression remained indifferent. He ordered the conscription of the army from the central and southern parts of the kingdom but did not mobilize the Royal Fleet, seemingly allowing the enemy to land unhindered.

In truth, he had received a letter of denunciation from Duke Imon last year, exposing the rebellion of Earl Edmund and Earl Buden.

This was undoubtedly the wisest decision. Imon was not yet fourteen and lacked the power to control the situation in Ireland. He simply allowed the three earls and the barons to act as they pleased, maintaining a superficial balance. If he had gathered his vassals to plot, it was highly likely he would have been sold out by someone eager to climb the ranks.

By comparison, Earl Buden was three years older than him yet appeared far more naive, serving as a classic cautionary tale.

Buden had initially been coaxed and duped into the mess by Edmund. After agonizing over it for a long time, he still sent someone to contact Imon. However, before Imon could even reply, messengers from Buden's uncle, Ricard, and four barons had already arrived at the Royal Palace.

After careful consideration, Wigg did not act rashly. Instead, he instructed Imon to keep his mouth shut and pretend nothing had happened. On the other hand, he authorized Ricard and the four barons to take over Scunthorpe and continue humoring Edmund, aiming to draw out even more traitors in one fell swoop.

Of course, even if Imon and Ricard hadn't reported it, Wigg still would have known about Edmund's moves in advance through his intelligence network. Conscripting an army required stockpiling grain and forging weapons ahead of time, which had caused abnormal price fluctuations in East Anglia. Even the merchants had noticed that something was amiss.

Dismissing the Cabinet members, Wigg walked over to the window to admire the view of the garden, a bottle of whiskey dangling from his right hand. He was in a remarkably relaxed mood.

"No rush. Let's play with this monkey first. I want to see exactly who will step up to support him."

Half an hour later, the Royal Fleet received a baffling edict. They were ordered out to sea, but specifically told to avoid the Strait of Calais, leaving the route open for the Flandre reinforcements to land.

As time passed, troops continued to gather in Londinium. Yet, Wigg made no move to attack. He simply stationed two thousand men in Cambridge, as if waiting for something.

One day.

Two days.

After waiting a full week with absolute silence from Flandre, Wigg summoned the fleet admiral, suspecting that the navy had engaged in unauthorized combat and scared the Flandre forces away.

The admiral quickly protested, "Your Majesty, the men have been fishing in the open sea these past few days. The five merchant ships we encountered were detained. We absolutely did not leak the fleet's position."

"Is that so?" His expectations dashed, Wigg felt notably disappointed.

Recently, the weather over the Strait of Calais had cleared up, and sea conditions were excellent—perfect for a large-scale landing. The fact that they had delayed until now proved that Flandre had absolutely no sincere intention of joining the war.

"What a pity."

The kingdom was currently suffering from a labor shortage. Wigg had originally planned to capture several thousand prisoners to throw into various major construction projects. Now, it seemed that plan was ruined.

He waited another three days. On the southern shores of The Channel, Flandre and Normandy still made no move to enter the war. Within Britain, not a single other great noble responded to the rebellion. Wigg's "fishing" scheme had completely fallen through.

"So much for an alliance of five factions. In the end, Edmund is the only one to take action?"

As time slipped by, the military officers' pleas for battle grew louder by the day. Left with no other choice, Wigg led eight thousand soldiers toward East Anglia. They met absolutely zero resistance along the way; it felt more like an armed parade.

On March 5th, Edmund stealthily fled aboard a rowed longship. The one thousand four hundred soldiers garrisoned in Norwich promptly announced their surrender.

Afterward, the prisoners confessed the location where Paffis's body was buried. Learning of the former Palace Steward's death, everyone felt a sense of surrealism. They thought his demise was far too absurd and completely out of character with the ruthless cunning he had displayed when helping Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye ascend to the throne.

Meanwhile, Ricard and the four barons escorted Buden south. This rebellion, which had brewed for half a year, came to an abrupt halt without a single battle ever being fought.