Viking: Master of the Icy Sea

Chapter 354: Reinforcements from Italy

With the fall of Orléans, the Franks lost their last medium-to-large settlement along the Loire River. The upstream towns and villages boasted populations of no more than two thousand and lacked stone walls, making them incredibly easy to conquer. Wigg's strategy was on the verge of full realization.

On June 12th, Paris dispatched an envoy to negotiate a truce.

Wigg's attitude was exceptionally cold. "There is nothing to discuss. Separated by the Channel, our two nations are natural, bitter enemies. Even if we reach a peace agreement now, war will inevitably break out again sooner or later. It is far better to decide the victor once and for all, sparing ourselves centuries of future entanglement."

The envoy attempted to bargain further, but Wigg couldn't be bothered to waste his breath and had the Royal Guard throw the man out.

Orléans was located south of Paris. The overland journey between the two cities was roughly one hundred and twenty kilometers, requiring a four-to-five-day march. Worried that Charles the Bald might attempt to retake the city, Wigg personally oversaw the defense of Orléans. He refused to depart for any other region until the city walls were fully repaired.

During this period of rest and reorganization, Wigg ordered the riverine fleet to advance further upstream to prepare for their subsequent march.

The navigability of the Loire River was rather poor. Consequently, the riverine fleet possessed no deep-draft sea vessels like knarr ships or three-masted sailing ships; their entire armada consisted of oared longships.

To adapt to this, the homeland shipyards had designed a specialized warship with a draft of only one meter, capable of accommodating a fifty-man rowing crew. A medium ballista was mounted on both the bow and stern decks, boasting a range of two hundred meters and enough power to smash right through the hulls of enemy skiffs.

After two minor naval skirmishes, the Frankish army's fleet on the Loire River suffered catastrophic losses. The surviving vessels fled into tributaries and marshes, strictly avoiding any further engagements.

On June 20th, urgent news reached Orléans:Reinforcements from Italy had crossed the Alps and arrived in Marseille. Southern Frankish reinforcements were also gathering. Rumor had it that their commander was the Duke of Zaragoza, Gunnar.

'He has returned after all.'

Wigg was not surprised. The massive Viking army had occupied his enemy's territory in Normandy and Caen Castle; if their positions were reversed, he would have chosen to march north as well.

'Very well. We have been entangled for the better part of a lifetime. Let us settle this once and for all this year.'

With the decisive battle looming, he dispatched even more riders to conduct reconnaissance. Beauval and over twenty surrendered minor nobles also proved useful, assisting in gathering and analyzing intelligence.

Consolidating the reports from various sources, the total military strength of the southern reinforcements was estimated at thirty thousand—the absolute limit of what South Francia and Italy could support.

At the same time, in Marseille.

As the commander of the southern reinforcements, Gunnar was busy restructuring his forces. He divided the thirty thousand men into six regiments: four infantry regiments, one mounted infantry regiment, and one cavalry regiment.

The soldiers hailed from complex backgrounds and spoke a multitude of languages. A commander's authority was hardly enough to subdue them all; the regiment and battalion commanders were elected by the nobles rather than appointed by Gunnar himself.

In terms of logistics, regional monasteries shouldered over sixty percent of the burden. This was a true eye-opener for Gunnar. Reading the figures in the account books, he suddenly realized the root cause behind the severe lack of national revenue in these kingdoms.

'Wigg does not suffer from such burdens. His finances are vastly superior to those of Charles the Bald. Relying solely on Britain, he managed to muster an expeditionary force of fifty thousand men. If he were allowed to conquer Francia, he could perhaps field a field army of a hundred thousand.'

Working tirelessly from mid-to-late June, Gunnar barely managed to cobble together a functional chain of command. As reinforcements and supplies trickled in from all over, he began to deliberate on their march route.

According to intelligence from the north, the Vikings controlled the Loire River. From Orléans in the middle reaches down to Nantes at the estuary, Viking ships ran rampant, completely severing communications between Paris and the southern regions.

"The garrisons in places like Tours and Orléans are nothing but a bunch of useless trash! Especially Orléans! As the second most important stronghold in West Francia after Paris, it only held out for a single month?" Gunnar bitterly cursed William, the Earl of Orléans. He considered this man to be a fool on the exact same level as the Lost General, Beauval. It made perfect sense that Charles the Bald had lost the Battle of Dunvo Manor after entrusting tens of thousands of troops to these two idiots.

Having lost the Loire River, the southern reinforcements had no choice but to depart from Marseille, traveling northwards against the current of the Rhône River to rendezvous with Charles the Bald's forces.

This was the only logical route. Gunnar surmised that Wigg had already deduced this as well; perhaps he would set up an ambush somewhere along the way to prevent the northern and southern armies from joining forces.

'If we lose this battle, the lion's share of the blame should fall squarely on William.'

In late June, the reinforcements marched north along the Rhône River, flanked by the Massif Central to the west and the Alps to the east. They traveled for twelve days before reaching the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers.

This area was a broad river valley plain, its fertile soil more than capable of sustaining such a massive army of reinforcements.

After resting for two days, Gunnar continued north along the Saône River. Rumor had it that the enemy had already departed Orléans and was marching south along the Loire River, though their exact position remained unknown.

Meanwhile, Charles the Bald had also recognized the precarious situation of the southern reinforcements. He led a field army of twenty thousand men out of Paris, marching southwards as well. Assuming the two Frankish armies could successfully merge, there was still a glimmer of hope to turn the tide.

On July 5th, Wigg found himself facing two choices: attack the northern army, or attack the southern army.

His current total military strength stood at forty-three thousand men. As long as he could catch and crush either one of the enemy forces, the outcome of the entire war would be sealed without a shred of suspense.

Comparing the two, Charles the Bald's command ability was somewhat inferior, but he had been leading his army for nearly a year; thus, the cohesion and organization of the northern army far surpassed that of the south.

The southern army boasted greater numbers, and Gunnar possessed top-tier command ability. However, their fatal flaw lay in their complex composition; it was simply impossible to mold them into a unified, cohesive force in such a short amount of time.

'A hastily assembled army will inevitably suffer from a sluggish marching speed. Old friend, you brought this upon yourself.'

Wigg summoned his commanding officers and formulated a new march route. Shortly after, the force of over forty thousand men departed the banks of the Loire River, sweeping from west to east as they marched straight for the Saône River, roughly one hundred kilometers away.

As the three armies gradually converged, the intensity of the reconnaissance skirmishes sharply escalated. Nomads from Eastern Europe were continuously funneled to the front lines, swelling the ranks of Wigg's Rangers to nearly two thousand. They moved like the wind, scattering and regrouping unpredictably as they intercepted and slaughtered any small bands of Frankish scouts they encountered.

The moment the Rangers found themselves at a numerical disadvantage, they would flee without hesitation, seeking the support of other cavalrymen or mountain infantry. The nomads harbored none of the fanaticism or haughty pride of the knights. "If you can't win, run"—this was an instinct passed down through their bloodlines for generations.

The clashes over the past few days revealed a kill-to-death ratio of roughly one to one point eight in favor of Wigg's cavalry. The Rangers' reconnaissance range and efficiency vastly outstripped the enemy's. Coupled with the coordination of the mountain infantry, it was only a matter of time before Wigg pinpointed Gunnar's exact position to defeat him—or kill him.

July 10th.

A Ranger platoon leader named Santan reported in, claiming his squad had discovered Gunnar's main force. Recognizing the immense gravity of the situation, Wigg immediately deployed a larger contingent of Rangers to verify the sighting. Once the enemy's position was firmly confirmed, the entire army would be mobilized at once.