Viking: Master of the Icy Sea

Chapter 287: Ultimatum

Having annihilated twelve pirate ships in a single stroke, the Royal Navy's morale soared to its absolute peak. The military officers proposed an assault on Shark Island, eager to amass more military merit and secure hereditary noble titles as early as possible.

While the military officers hungered for martial glory, the crewmen were driven by the pursuit of economic gain.

Earlier this year, the Cabinet had officially passed the Cruising and Capture Act, which stipulated that a portion of the spoils of war would be awarded as prizes to incentivize the navy to fight bravely. To prevent chaos and maintain military discipline, the King established a strict set of rules. These included post-battle reviews of the engagement, appraisals of the value of the spoils of war, and distribution according to precise ratios.

After liquidating the spoils of war, a quarter would be submitted to the state treasury, and another quarter allocated to naval funding. The remaining wealth would be distributed among the fleet commander and the entire crew. This included the carpenters, cooks, and ship doctors (a role typically moonlighted by a shaman). Everyone received a share.

This time, they had captured nine dhows and three hundred pirates, with a total estimated value ranging between 800 and 1,000 pounds. Half of this bounty was allocated to the three warships and five merchant ships that participated in the battle. It was estimated that an ordinary crewman would receive roughly half a pound of silver, enough to purchase four cows.

"Conquer Shark Island!"

"Your Excellency, lead the brothers on another charge!"

Feeling the enthusiasm and restlessness of the crew, Hadavar nodded in agreement. After returning to Sun Island, he sought out the Earl to formally discuss the plan to attack Shark Island.

"That's too risky."

Helgi maintained a conservative stance. However, having long since resigned from his position as Minister of Naval Affairs, he had no authority to restrain these battle-hungry crewmen.After resting for a day, the Viking fleet mobilized once again. By the time the pirates of Shark Island realized what was happening, eight Viking sailing ships had already arrived at the entrance to the bay.

Fighting for their lives, the pirates steered their remaining twenty dhows in a desperate breakout attempt, only to be met with a devastating head-on strike from the Vikings.

Having weathered numerous battles, the Vikings had gradually mastered the trick to this kind of naval warfare. They deliberately aimed their ballistas to bombard the stern rudders of the enemy vessels, stripping the dhows of their maneuverability.

In the next phase, the warships adjusted their bearing and rammed into the flanks of the dhows at full speed. Then, from their elevated vantage points, they hurled lime jars down onto the enemy and used crossbow bolts to purge the enemies from the decks.

In this manner, relying on their agility and sturdy construction, the three warships rampaged through the enemy formation. The pirate dhows were entirely defenseless. Even when they threw grappling hooks in an attempt to initiate boarding actions, they were no match for the standard complement of twenty armored marines stationed on each warship.

Holding the rear, five armed merchant ships formed the second echelon. Led by Baron Garros, they were responsible for mopping up the remaining hostiles.

However, the merchant ships lacked agility, and their sailors were not as disciplined as the navy. They carelessly allowed three pirate ships to slip away, prompting Hadavar and the naval officers to furiously signal with their flags, harshly cursing their useless allies.

An hour passed. The pirate forces suffered a crushing defeat: two ships luckily escaped, three were rammed and sunk, and seven surrendered. The remaining vessels frantically beached themselves. The surviving pirates fled back to their coastal camp, grabbed whatever food they could carry, and vanished into the inland valleys, quickly slipping out of sight.

"This is troublesome," Garros muttered, leaning against the ship's rail as he gazed at the deserted pirate camp on the beach.

From what he knew, the navy would neither risk going ashore in pursuit nor waste time standing guard here. Once the fleet dispersed, the pirates would creep out of their hiding caves, evacuate the island with the help of their accomplices, and likely continue to harass Sun Island's trade routes in the future.

Before long, the flagship Kestrel issued a flag signal, ordering each ship to send men to take over the coastal camp. Garros and his crew rummaged through the site for a long time but failed to uncover anything of value.

Ignoring the disappointed sentiments of the captains, Hadavar ordered a retreat. Before departing, he torched the pirate camp along with the heavily damaged dhows, then led the remaining fleet back to Sun Island. In July, news of the incident reached the homeland, sending shockwaves through Londinium and causing the prices of cane sugar and sugarcane rum to skyrocket. That afternoon, the Cabinet convened an emergency meeting to discuss how to handle this brewing crisis.

After grasping the general sequence of events, Wigg made his decision:

"Dispatch the main fleet to Lisbon to intimidate the Moors. Prioritize a diplomatic resolution through negotiations. If talks break down, sweep the coastline from north to south until they take the initiative to beg us for peace."

Following these orders, the Ministry of Naval Affairs scaled back its efforts to transport immigrants from Denmark, offloading the entirety of those transport duties onto civilian knarr ships.

After two weeks of intense preparation, the navy assembled a formidable armada consisting of twenty warships and eight armed merchant ships, setting sail toward the south with murderous intent.

Initially, the Franks assumed they were the target. The regions of Flandre, Normandy, and Breizh devolved into chaos, with the nobles forcing the populace to abandon their farmwork and assemble at the castles to stand by for orders.

Ignoring these spooked potential adversaries, the fleet bypassed the northwestern tip of Breizh and brazenly sailed south along the coastline until they reached Gijón Port in northern Iberia. After replenishing their fresh water and food supplies, they departed, much to the schadenfreude of the locals.

In August, the main force of the Royal Navy arrived at Lisbon.

Witnessing these towering, heavily built ships and the black dragon flags fluttering high upon their masts, the docks descended into sheer panic. The residents sprinted frantically toward the city gates, abandoning everything. Up on the walls, the defenders operated four counterweight trebuchets, hurling massive boulders toward the sea—an act that seemed less like a warning and more like a desperate attempt to embolden themselves.

Up in the fortress upon the hill, the Governor stepped out onto his second-floor balcony. He gazed at the fleet looming over the western waters, roughly understanding the true intentions of these Northern European barbarians.

"Blame those audacious merchants! This mess is entirely of their making!"

The Governor ordered his military officers to organize the city's defenses while he personally headed down to the port's ramparts for a closer look at the Viking warships. They were all two-masted sailing ships; compared to years past, their sail systems had undergone slight adjustments, significantly improving their upwind performance and maneuverability. Furthermore, they were now equipped with bow rams, perfectly tailored for crushing smaller vessels.

To make matters worse, every single ship was outfitted with heavy ballistas, giving them a long-range firepower advantage that far outstripped his own galley fleet.

In truth, the Moors boasted a sufficiently high level of technological prowess to replicate the ballistas recorded in ancient texts. However, the hulls of their galleys were too narrow. The densely packed rows of oarsmen on both sides monopolized a vast amount of deck space, making it nearly impossible to install the necessary foundations for heavy ballistas.

The only alternative would have been to imitate the massive polyremes of the Romans (such as the quinquereme), which could accommodate deck ballistas. Yet, the flat bottoms and low freeboards of such polyremes made them incredibly susceptible to capsizing in cross seas. Moreover, their weak lateral hull strength meant that constant stress could cause them to disintegrate, rendering them wholly unsuitable for the treacherous waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Comparing the strength of the two nations, the Governor arrived at a regretful conclusion: at least along the Atlantic coast, his side held absolutely no naval superiority.

"Dispatch an envoy! Go negotiate with their fleet commander!"

After half a day of relentless haggling, Joren took a small boat into the port, meeting face-to-face with the Governor, who also arrived in a small skiff.

Forced by circumstance, the Governor claimed to have no involvement in the attack, asserting that the royal court in Cordoba was equally unaware of it beforehand. To placate these furious Vikings, he agreed to hand over the individuals responsible, desperate to prevent this conflict from interfering with the impending Northern War.