Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 84 Blacksmith Shop

In late July, Bjorn returned north by ship, relaying the situation in York to Vig:

“I witnessed the cavalry training, and it looked really impressive. My father said he plans to go to West Frankish next year. Haha, I hope I can get there in time to witness a large-scale cavalry charge.”

After a one-day stay, the fleet, loaded with wool, wine, and fifty slaves purchased from York, departed from the dock.

After bidding farewell to Bjorn, Vig headed to the southwestern region of Tyne. Thanks to the influx of Nordic refugees, the number of blacksmiths had increased to twelve, and business was booming. Each blacksmith had taken on two apprentices to help, for a total of thirty-six practitioners.

Among them, eight blacksmiths, including Kader, were employed by the lord. Kader served as the blacksmith's foreman, responsible for the production and repair of military equipment, and sometimes also for civilian ironware. The largest order was for iron plow blades for Saxon wheel plows.

Vig stepped into the blacksmith's shop, which was made of brick and stone. The scorching heat mixed with charcoal ash hit him. The door was open for ventilation. The forge was in the middle, connected to a leather bellows. Hammers, pliers, chisels and other tools were scattered around the ground.

"My lord?" Kader handed the tools to his apprentice, picked up a rag to wipe the sweat from his body, and asked the lord what his orders were.

"Of the two hundred sets of damaged armor, how many are still usable?"

Kader: "Eighty-five sets were repaired. You need them urgently?"

Vig nodded. "Try to finish it before September. Also, make fifty more crossbows; our stock is running low."

Twenty miles northwest of Tyneburg lies a vast expanse of rolling hills that stretch all the way to Edinburgh in the north.

Recently, villagers on the edge of the hills came to complain that bandits were becoming increasingly active, repeatedly stealing sheep and harvesting crops from the fields. Vig plans to launch a sweep to prevent the bandits from growing in strength and ultimately threatening the area surrounding Tyne Town.

Let Kader go about his business, and Vig finds a more spacious place to sit down and observe the blacksmith's work.

Before the work begins, the apprentice needs to pull the bellows to heat the pig iron to incandescence. The blacksmith then uses tongs to take out the iron and uses a hammer to forge and remove impurities.

When forging an iron plowshare, it requires multiple folding and forging processes to improve its toughness. For forging an iron sword, blacksmiths use a "clad steel" technique, where two pieces of tough iron encase a high-carbon steel core to prevent the blade from breaking. This complex process results in iron swords being very expensive.

Currently, the vast majority of production capacity is used to repair damaged iron scale armor, which consists of small iron scales stacked and fixed on a substrate to form protection.

There are two reasons for the damage:

The iron sheet cracked or bent due to being struck by an iron axe.

Prolonged use has caused some of the metal sheets to detach.

When repairing, if the lining is in good condition, the blacksmith only needs to replace the damaged iron piece, thread linen through the hole in the iron piece, and sew it in place.

If the lining is severely damaged, all the metal plates must be removed and replaced with a new piece of intact leather.

Compared to chainmail, scale armor is easier to make and repair, making it suitable for mass production. Besides these secondhand pieces, there are seventy sets in stock in the warehouse. Including the eighty sets of shield guard equipment, Vig possesses a total of three hundred and fifty sets of scale armor.

"Taking Edinburgh would be a stretch, but dealing with these bandits would be more than enough."

After a while, Vig couldn't stand the high temperature in the blacksmith's shop any longer and walked out the door, wiping away his sweat.

Just then, a horse-drawn carriage arrived carrying iron ore. This raw material came from Picts in the north, specifically from Stirling, northwest of Edinburgh, where locals mined reddish-brown iron ore in open pits, simply processed it into pig iron ingots, and then sold it to Britain and Northern Europe via merchant ships.

In Vig's memory, during the Victorian era, Scotland was renowned for its mining industry, rich in coal and iron. The idea was that if they one day conquered the north, it would be ideal for building an industrial base. In September, banditry was rampant, and the villages on the edge of the hills were suffering greatly; almost every day, villagers went to the official residence to lodge complaints.

Once Kader delivered the equipment, Vig recruited four hundred men for a week-long short-term training program before heading to the northwestern hills to suppress bandits, amidst the expectant gazes of his people.

"My lord, you've finally arrived."

The portly country gentleman, Harry, rushed to the grey horse, weeping as he recounted the loss of ten sheep from his estate. Furthermore, bandits would occasionally stealthily harvest crops under the cover of night, and seeing no one stop them, this eventually escalated into open extortion.

Based on the area of ​​cultivated land, bandits demanded a certain percentage of money from local gentry, small landlords, and ordinary farmers, threatening to attack villages that were unwilling to cooperate.

As a country gentleman, Harry was allocated the largest amount, a full three hundred bushels of wheat, which was already beyond his means. If Vig delayed any longer, he would have no choice but to form his own militia and fight the bandits to the death.

Upon hearing this, Vig's anger flared instantly. "They dare to collect protection money on my turf? Do they think I don't exist?"

After resting for a night, he selected three nimble hunters to serve as guides, and more than 400 people resolutely ventured into the complex mountain forest.

The mountain breeze in September carried a slight chill, caressing everyone's faces. A few red wild berries hung sparsely from the bushes on both sides of the mountain road, and if you looked closely, you could vaguely see a few grouse in the distance.

After walking for more than two hours, the mountain path gradually disappeared, and the advance troops wielded iron axes to clear the way, greatly slowing their progress.

"How far is it?"

The hunter hesitated before replying, "We still have to cross three more mountains. Your soldiers are equipped with iron armor, so they're too slow. We expect to arrive by noon tomorrow."

Looking out over the vast birch forest on the opposite ridge, Vig casually asked, "Do you know anything about the bandits?"

Recalling the past, the hunter shuddered. "There were probably two or three hundred of them. Some of them used indigo dye to draw various patterns on their skin, which looked quite intimidating."

Upon hearing the word "indigo dye," Vig realized that these bandits were Picts, whose name "Picti" comes from the Latin word meaning "one who is painted."

Was it a coincidence that a small group of Pict bandits ventured deep into Northumbria to plunder, or was it a covert probe by the northern nobles?

After spending the night in an open area halfway up the mountain, the group continued onward. As they crossed the last hill, Vig heard the soft tinkling of a bowstring.

Whoosh~
In an instant, hundreds of arrows shot out from the bushes on both sides, and countless figures with indigo patterns flickered behind the trees, trying to frighten the enemy with their shrill roars.

However, what happened next was completely unexpected by all the bandits.

The arrows whistled through the ranks, but did not cause much damage. Some people had five or six arrows stuck in their bodies, but they still stood there blankly and ignorantly.

Enraged by his subordinates' sluggishness, Vig shouted at the top of his lungs, "What are you standing there for? Shoot it back!"

Under his command, two hundred crossbowmen drew their crossbows, nocked their bolts, and returned fire under a hail of enemy arrows.

After several rounds of fire, the Pict bandits suffered heavy casualties, while only five Vikings fell. Apart from two unlucky ones who were shot in the face, the remaining three lay on the ground howling in pain, their voices loud, not appearing to be fatally wounded.

(End of this chapter)