Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 403 The Crown Prince's Plan

A week later, the Red Falcon, its hull bobbing gently on the waves, headed toward the northeastern port of Puerto Rico.

Although it was winter, Puerto Rico's climate was still scorching hot. Dockworkers wore linen shirts, rolled up the cuffs of their trousers, and carried goods back and forth.

Once the ship had come to a stop, Captain Enrique and his first mate eagerly stepped onto the pier, followed by two sailors carrying a wooden crate, heading towards the Governor's Palace amidst the strange looks from the crowd.

Passing by a small stall, Enrique tossed two silver pennies to the local vendor and bought four cups of light beer and a large plate of fried fish.

The vendor asked curiously, "What's inside the box?"

“Bird guano, suitable as fertilizer.” After saying this, the captain opened the wooden box and showed some pale yellow stones, attracting the attention of passersby, including Vikings, Franks, Lombards, and Puerto Rican natives.

After a hasty lunch, the captain left the dock area, passed through the low city walls, and headed to a stone fortress high in the city, where four lazy guards stood.

"I am the captain of the Red Falcon. We have found an island with a lot of guano!"

The shouts of the captain and sailors reached the mansion. Baron Lake, forgetting his meal, rushed to the mansion gate and asked everyone, "Have you verified it?"

"Yes, purified saltpeter can burn."

Baron Lake sighed, the worries that had been weighing on his heart dissipating. Six months ago, he had received word from Londinium that the cabinet was considering replacing him as governor and sending a naval officer from the Old World to take his place.

If he finds the guano island, he can get some credit, and even if problems are found during the handover, he will not be severely punished.

Soon, Baron Lake brought together a Puerto Rican judge, auditor, and temple shaman to examine these precious samples.

Once it was confirmed that the sample could be used to extract saltpeter, the management dispatched another two-masted sailing ship to conduct an on-site investigation based on the route and coordinates provided by Enrique. If the situation was true, everyone would deserve credit.

The governor warmly invited Enrique into the restaurant. "Congratulations, Captain Enrique. Before long, I will be calling you Knight Enrique. What are your thoughts on the future fiefdom?"

The New World is vast and sparsely populated, and the fiefdoms of nobles are larger than those in the Old World. For example, Baron Lake's fiefdom is the western half of Puerto Rico, covering an area of ​​about 4,500 square kilometers, which exceeds the size of a few earls in the mainland.

"Uh, I haven't decided yet." Enrique wasn't in a hurry to make a decision regarding the family's legacy passed down through generations.

For the next two weeks, with nothing to do, he devoted all his energy to data and maps of the Caribbean Sea, excluding the territories of twenty nobles, and there were still a large number of islands to choose from.

"Hmm, if I'm knighted, I'll choose one of these options, or a baron."

During the tedious wait, the second sailboat brought back more guano, confirming that Enrique's message was valid.

In January 875 AD, the Red Falcon set sail to return to its homeland, carrying sugarcane, tobacco, cocoa, guano, and a joint letter from the governor and others.

More than a week later, the sailboat gradually approached North America, passing by an archipelago (the Bahamas) along the way. In Enrique's memory, the scenery here surpassed that of other parts of the Caribbean.

The sea surface is sapphire blue, while in shallower areas the water turns a clear light blue-green, revealing large coral reefs beneath the surface, with colorful schools of fish swimming freely among them.

The island's edge is lined with endless white sand beaches, beyond which stretches of coconut groves sway gently in the warm sea breeze, occasionally dropping a few ripe coconuts.

In a daze, Enrique had a strange feeling that he had found the fiefdom he truly wanted.

The Red Falcon sailed along the east coast of North America, which had more than twenty ports and was the territory of barons and knights, mainly producing furs, tobacco and wheat.

In the past two years, tobacco has become popular in the Old World at a rapid pace, with excellent economic benefits. However, the downside is that tobacco easily depletes soil fertility, and a piece of land can only be cultivated for two years.

After the soil was exhausted, the lord would casually throw some clover seeds into the fields as fallow land for grazing livestock, and then organize the exiles to cut down forests and cultivate new tobacco fields.

Land in the New World is worthless. Even the lowest-ranking knight can have a fiefdom of 200 to 300 square kilometers. For them, the cost-effectiveness of intensive cultivation is far less than that of simple and brutal deforestation and land reclamation.

After fulfilling a certain period of labor, exiles could receive tens of acres of farmland and begin a life of farming, day in and day out. Alternatively, they could join hunting teams, risking conflict with the indigenous people to enter the forests and obtain furs.

In early February, the Red Falcon arrived in Boston with the ocean currents, planning to rest there for two weeks before returning to its homeland along the North Atlantic Current.

After years of development, Boston had two thousand town residents and twelve surrounding villages, with a total population of over five thousand. The main reason for this was the eloquence of the temple shamans, who persuaded a large group of natives to pledge allegiance to the empire.

Unfortunately, this shaman was transferred to headquarters due to his outstanding achievements, and his successor was mediocre and unable to replicate his work.

After the ship came to a stop, Enrique headed to the lord's mansion in the town center. As he passed the temple entrance, he saw a young man giving a speech to the crowd, which seemed to be related to Bjorn.

Soon, Enrique heard a shocking truth: Bjorn was dead!

Driven by curiosity, he took out two silver coins and inquired about more information.

Bjorn did not die in battle, but in a hunting accident. Afterwards, his children began to fight over the inheritance, and his youngest son fled to Boston with the will, attempting to sail to Rendynewme.

Is this the end for a legendary navigator?

Enrique was conflicted but decided to help the young man.

March, 875 AD, the Imperial Palace.

Upon hearing the news of Bjorn, Vig paused for a long time before asking the young man for his will.

The contents of the parchment are simple: Bjorn left behind many children, and he divided Quebec, Greenland, and Iceland among his three most favored sons, while the shares of the West Sea Fur Company were distributed among his wives, concubines, and all his children.

In the past two years, the total market value of the fur company has remained stable at £40,000, which is a huge fortune, no wonder they are arguing so much.

Vigé: "To whom will Björn pass on his Damascus steel sword 'Raging Waves'?"

The young man replied, “He considered me the most outstanding heir, entrusting me with both Quebec and the sword. It’s a pity my other brothers belittled my Greenlandic bloodline, using this to deny me my right to inherit.” Vigé pondered for a moment, “Ahem, I’ll have the Royal Navy escort you back to Quebec. Assuming the investigation is true, the estate will be divided according to Björn’s wishes. If the will is flawed, it will be distributed according to Viking tradition.”

After the young man left, Vig was lost in his memories until a servant brought him a report from the armory.

He finished his hot cocoa with sugar, calmed himself slightly, and picked up the report to read it word by word:

The arsenal processed the guano brought by the Red Falcon, and the resulting saltpeter was of very high purity and far superior to the wall soil supplied by the direct territories. It was recommended that the Overseas Affairs Department mine it on a large scale.

"If we send people to mine now, we can get guano in bulk next year. It seems we can't count on it this year."

Starting in February of this year, tens of thousands of nomads have flocked to the Carpathian Basin.

Initially, their targets were local villages, or Serbia and Croatia in the south. The cabinet did not pay much attention to them, but they never expected that this group would dare to attack imperial territory!
Although the emperor and cabinet had no interest in starting a war, the enemy had taken the initiative to provoke them, and they had to retaliate to deter the forces in Iberia, the Italian peninsula, and Eastern Europe.

After lunch, Vig summoned Enrique to the main hall and asked, "Where is the fiefdom you desire?"

Enrique pointed to a small dot on the edge of the Caribbean map, "This is it. My voyages have covered most of the Caribbean, and there is no more perfect island than this."

Nassau?

Based on the captain's description, Vig recalled the scene: "You have good taste; you've picked a good spot."

He briefly promoted Enrique to knighthood, granted him the small island of two hundred square kilometers, and then proceeded to the conference room surrounded by his attendants.

Not long after the meeting began, everyone noticed that the emperor had a slight cough. At this moment, the crown prince suggested, "Father, I will lead the troops into battle this time. It is what I should do, whether for you or for Greke."

The crown prince will serve as commander-in-chief?

Cabinet members looked at each other, most of them with worried expressions.

The emperor had never been absent from any major battle, serving as the symbol of the entire army. The soldiers were accustomed to his presence, and now that the crown prince was in command, morale was bound to be affected.

However, the Prime Minister had a different consideration: the Emperor was over fifty years old, and the long-term war had affected his health. If he were to go into battle while ill, the risks would probably be even greater!
He cleared his throat and took the lead in stating his position, "I agree with Your Highness's proposal."

Initially, Vig thought of personally leading the expedition, but then he thought that the empire would eventually have a new master, so it would be better to take this opportunity to let the crown prince try to lead troops into battle as a final test for the successor.

He looked calmly at Frode.

"This time the enemy is nomads. I'll give you as many rangers as possible, about 2,500. If you don't have enough rangers, you'll need to recruit them locally in Eastern Europe. Remember to put in a lot of effort."

Over the next two days, you will devise a battle plan, which will then be discussed at the cabinet meeting. Remember, the Empire has suffered two consecutive major wars and is short-handed. Try to avoid conflict with the Balkan states; even if we defeat them, we will not have enough troops to control the region.

After the meeting, Frode left the palace and went to his cousin Leif's mansion.

In 856 AD, Raff participated in the Second Viking-West Frankish War as a bodyguard and subsequently served in the army, accumulating extensive combat experience. Frode, considering various factors, determined him to be the most suitable candidate for chief of staff.

In the study, Leif poured his cousin a glass of sugarcane wine. “I’m away fighting all year round, and my two children have been neglected. Their grades have never been good. I never thought there would be another war. I really don’t have a moment to spare.”

He flipped through the documents Frode had brought. "How do you plan to fight?"

Frode explained his battle plan:

"During the spring and summer seasons, nomadic tribes will stay in one place for 15 to 30 days, waiting for their livestock to have grazed on the grass, and then begin their long migration."

Sheep need to graze as they walk, and the flocks are mixed with many old and weak people, as well as a large number of oxcarts and horse-drawn carts, so their migration speed is relatively slow, and they can travel 10 to 15 kilometers a day.

I referenced the curriculum of the army academy and instructed the infantry to use the cover of vehicle formations to confront the enemy's light cavalry on the open grasslands. If the light cavalry avoided battle, we would pursue the enemy's migrating caravans, marching thirty kilometers a day, giving the nomads no time to stop and rest.

At that time, the field army will pursue the enemy from the front, while the garrison regiments and prisoner-of-war construction teams will build fortifications in the rear, constructing a fortress every thirty kilometers to compress the enemy's operational space and force them to initiate a decisive battle.

Leif's idea was similar to his cousin's. He took out paper and pen to sketch out the general structure of a regimental-level vehicle formation and introduced the artillery located at the edge of the formation.

"Last summer, the Ordnance Department developed a new type of artillery that reduced the range and power, but was lighter, making it suitable for field mobility. It could fire three-pound solid shot with a range of 500 meters."

Light artillery is suitable for distribution to infantry regiments, along with a large number of archers and crossbowmen, which is sufficient to deal with an attack by several times the number of cavalry.

Another point is that my uncle's military treatise mentions the war between the Han Empire and the Xiongnu. When the Han army ventured beyond the Great Wall, the Xiongnu, while retreating, contaminated water sources with diseased and dead livestock, causing severe casualties. This time, the proportion of water carts should be increased, and more cavalry should be hired to find clean, large and medium-sized rivers.

Based on intelligence from the front lines, the main group of people involved in this migration were Magyars, excluding the Pechenegs and Khazars.

Leif suggested recruiting ethnic groups other than the Magyars to fight. Since the Empire was not short of money, using nomadic mercenaries to fight against nomads was a very worthwhile deal.

The two talked until late at night and drafted a preliminary battle plan.

Britain was short of manpower, and Frode only planned to use 30,000 soldiers, including two field infantry divisions, 2,500 rangers, and ten garrison regiments.

He also planned to recruit 8,000 prisoners of war to build fortifications, and at least 3,000 steppe cavalry to meet the army's reconnaissance needs.

The expeditionary force would set out in April, traveling by boat to the mouth of the Elbe, then transferring to inland waterways to sail upstream to Bohemia.
On March 15th, the Crown Prince presented the war plan at a cabinet meeting, and no one objected. The following day, the empire officially entered a state of war.

It is said that the target of this war is nomadic tribes, and the general public is optimistic, snapping up war bonds in an attempt to get a share of the profits from this feast.

After three weeks of mobilization, the expeditionary force was assembled and began boarding ships at the Landineum dock.

As the nominal King of Pannonia, Grek was only fourteen years old and had not yet graduated from the military academy, so he was not qualified to participate in the war. He could only stand beside his parents and watch the vast number of sails disappear on the distant river.

(End of this chapter)