Viking: Master of the Icy Sea

Chapter 300: An Old Acquaintance

Observing the wounded basking in the sun not far away, Pascal Jr. sighed.

"In truth, we haven't done much work. We typically just clean the wounds with strong spirits, stitch them up with a needle and thread, and provide medicine and three meals a day while the wounded recover. By changing their bedsheets and clothes regularly, the recovery rate of the wounded exceeds seventy percent.

"The Franks on the other side pay no attention to such things. Captives claim they only have a handful of doctors who are strictly responsible for treating the nobles. The low-ranking soldiers are tossed into a designated area to fend for themselves. The sanitary conditions there are absolutely abysmal, breeding disease and causing many to die from wound infections.

"In fact, even though their medical skills are backward, as long as they patiently care for the wounded and maintain a clean environment, the recovery rate could reach at least thirty to forty percent."

After chatting for quite a while, Rekker toured the field hospital accompanied by Pascal Jr. He planned to build a similar hospital in Kalmar and asked how many resources it would require.

Pascal Jr. shook his head, urging him to drop the idea. "A qualified doctor needs to undergo a complete primary school and junior high school education, study in a medical academy for three years, and intern at a hospital for a year. That is a total of twelve years before they can officially take up the post.

"The standards for nurses are relatively more lenient, but they still need to meet literacy requirements and undergo a year of intensive training at a medical academy.

"If you want to establish a hospital, the prerequisite is having primary schools, junior high schools, and medical academies. Obviously, you lack those conditions.

"In all of Northern Europe, only Erik Jr. has built a primary school in Oslo. Rumor has it that he directly copied the textbooks from Britain, and the teaching quality is incredibly poor. Last year, he even tried to hire teachers from Britain. He went too far and received a warning from His Majesty as a result."

Sensing his old acquaintance's disappointment, Pascal Jr. found an excuse to comfort him. "Forget it, don't overthink it. I recently hired a new chef who can cook Iberian dishes. It is absolutely a flavor you have never tasted before."May.

The Vikings captured Vejle and Aarhus in succession, but the siege of Aalborg continued. As time passed, Northern European militias gradually gathered, greatly reducing the burden on the standing army.

At the same time, the homeland transported supplementary troops, allowing Wigg's directly affiliated forces to expand to six thousand men, including two hundred conscripted heavy cavalrymen and an equal number of grooms.

Along with the arrival of reinforcements, the navy also delivered a letter from Gwen, the Director of Intelligence. The agents he had dispatched to West Francia and Flandre had successfully relayed information back. West Francia had sent an unknown number of reinforcements that were rushing toward Denmark at top speed. The commander was none other than Charles the Bald's top enforcer, the Duke of Normandy, Gunnar.

"Why is it him again?"

Upon hearing his old partner's name, Wigg's expression grew solemn. However, thinking about it carefully, it was not entirely surprising. After all, Charles the Bald had announced his inheritance of his grandfather Charlemagne's imperial title and proclaimed himself the King of all Franks. Such actions were to be expected.

During the dinner banquet that day, the joyous atmosphere completely vanished when everyone heard this devastating news.

Gunnar had openly converted his faith and even helped West Francia defeat Ragnar's army, indirectly leading to Ragnar's death. This curbed the tide of Viking plundering that had lasted for decades. In the eyes of many nobles, he was considered the most detestable traitor.

Fueled by alcohol, nobles like Rekker and Farvel let loose vicious words, threatening to personally chop off Gunnar's head and use his skull as a drinking bowl.

On the other hand, Butcherbird, Thorkel, and a few others tacitly abstained from drinking. After the banquet ended, they headed to the command post, silently staring at the numerous cavalry models newly added to the southern part of the map.

On the map, the Viking allied forces numbered thirteen thousand men. The northern frontline consisted of Wigg's six thousand direct troops and three thousand militiamen, while the south housed four thousand soldiers led by Erik Jr., Halfdan, and others.

Gunnar excelled in cavalry warfare. Wigg deduced that the four thousand men in the south would not dare to march out of their cities for a field battle; therefore, he had to handle this personally.

However, assuming he led his army south, how would he deal with the three-thousand-plus defenders in Aalborg?

After a period of silence, Thorkel proposed a bold idea.

The standing army could not head south in time to reinforce them, meaning southern Denmark was destined to fall. They might as well let Gunnar in. They could let the Northern European nobles' troops garrison the towns—Randers, Vejle, or Schleswig, anywhere would do. As long as they were not annihilated and maintained their presence, they could pin down the Frankish army's forces.

"While the enemy is distracted, we switch to a new target." Thorkel pointed at Hamburg in the south.

"The lower reaches of the Elbe River are navigable for seagoing vessels. We can take the fleet straight to Hamburg and completely cut off the Frankish army's supply line. Because of the successive years of war, the entire Jutland Peninsula is sparsely populated, leaving only Esbjerg and a very few other settlements to maintain a scale of over a thousand people. Gunnar's cavalry cluster will not be able to find enough grain in Denmark, and it will not be long before they are forced to retreat."

After discussing it all night, Wigg accepted Thorkel's suggestion. The next day, he evacuated the siege camp and led his direct troops toward Esbjerg. Upon learning of Wigg's plan, Rekker had no right to stop him. He deliberated with the remaining nobles for a moment and temporarily stayed in Randers. If the situation changed, they would immediately set sail to regroup with Erik Jr., or return to their hometowns in Sweden.

On May eighth, Wigg received an urgent report from Schleswig.

Two days ago, Gunnar's cavalry cluster had crossed the Danevirke defensive line. Their target was temporarily unknown.

At the end of the letter, Erik Jr. swore to firmly defend Schleswig, Vejle, Aarhus, and Randers. Some of these four towns were close to the sea, while others sat along rivers that led straight to the ocean. Even if the battle situation turned unfavorable, the defenders could transfer to other regions by boat. They would absolutely never compromise with a traitor like Gunnar.

"Seven thousand men, scattered to garrison four towns. It seems they have completely abandoned the idea of a field battle outside the cities."

Wigg understood their difficulties. The armor rate of the Northern European allied forces was less than twenty percent, and their cavalry numbers were incredibly scarce. Only Erik Jr. possessed over two hundred cavalrymen. They had zero chance of winning a field battle, so they might as well defend their cities to delay for time.

On May ninth, with all preparations in place, he led the First and Second Infantry Regiments, the Mountain Infantry Battalion, and the Marine Battalion to board the ships at the port of Esbjerg.

This surprise attack mobilized twenty warships, twenty Knarr transport ships, and twenty temporarily rented longships, specifically for landing operations. Having grown accustomed to the new-style vessels, the soldiers felt slightly unaccustomed to using the rowing longships once again.

Riding the north wind, the fleet sailed south along the Danish coastline, spending the night in a pre-selected bay.

Early the next morning, the wind shifted to the west-northwest. Led by the longships, the fleet carefully navigated into the river estuary.

The river's surface reflected the early morning sun, and a faint mist permeated the forests on both banks. Wigg leaned against the bulwark of the flagship, gazing at the endless expanse of trees. He could not shake the feeling that prying eyes were hidden within.

In the afternoon, the fleet arrived at the stretch of the river where Hamburg was located. A pontoon bridge lay across the upper reaches of the river. Unsurprisingly, the town had been alerted by the sentries in the forest and had already made preparations in advance.

Trebuchets?

Looking from afar, five counterweight trebuchets had been constructed on Hamburg's outer walls. The captain of the Black Sea Bass immediately ordered the anchor to be dropped, preventing the King from entering the defenders' firing range.

The remaining nineteen warships continued forward, lining up horizontally on the river three hundred meters away from Hamburg. At this moment, the defenders' trebuchets successively launched stones. Because of the high-angle trajectory, their accuracy was incredibly poor, and not a single shot hit its target.

Seeing the defenders scrambling to reload, the crew members did not hesitate. They maneuvered their ballistae, aiming right at the trebuchets, and violently slammed down the triggers.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In an instant, the air was ripped apart. Thirty-eight stone projectiles let out a muffled howl, ruthlessly smashing into the palisade on the east bank. Splinters of wood flew in all directions, triggering countless panicked screams.

With the ballistae fired, the crew members hurriedly turned the winches. Taking advantage of the fact that the trebuchets' counterweight boxes were still slowly rising, the fleet launched a second volley.

This time, the launched stone projectiles still failed to destroy the trebuchets, instead striking two arrow towers. The fleet reloaded once again and finally managed to obliterate a trebuchet during their third volley.

By the fourth volley, the Hamburg defenders had finished reloading their trebuchets. Both sides fired almost simultaneously.

In the next moment, a stone weighing dozens of kilograms crashed down from above, viciously slamming into the bow of a twin-masted warship. The warship shuddered violently, and the turbulent river water poured into the cabin through the breach, causing the hull to constantly tilt.

"Abandon ship! Everyone, abandon ship!"

The captain frantically struck the alarm bell, ordering the entire crew to jump into the river and flee for their lives. Seeing this, the longships loitering nearby swarmed over and rescued the vast majority of the crew members who had fallen into the water.

The shootout continued. Relying on their faster reloading speed and superior accuracy, the fleet destroyed the defenders' counterweight trebuchets one by one, without losing a single ship of their own.

At three in the afternoon, the fleet approached the riverbank, positioning themselves a mere one hundred and fifty meters away from the palisade. They then repeatedly bombarded the enemy's battlements. The Knarr ships in the distance also caught up, continuously raining high-angle fire of feathered arrows toward the palisade.