Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 85 Copycat
After observing for a while, the bandit leader realized the enemy's sinister intentions. This group of people deliberately wore dirty rags on the outside, but wore well-protected iron armor underneath.

"Stop shooting, retreat immediately."

Faced with overwhelming numbers and superior equipment, the leader ordered a retreat back to the stronghold. After counting the men, they discovered that the ambush had resulted in the loss of sixty men!
"Those treacherous Viking barbarians actually used four hundred armored soldiers to launch a surprise attack on our mountain stronghold."

The leader drank several cups of cold water and ordered his men to pack up and prepare to flee, but they were blocked at the gate of the stronghold by more than twenty Vikings.

Seeing these panting Vikings, the chieftain recklessly led the charge. More than eighty bandits, wielding Pickett's signature short swords and round shields, fought the Vikings blocking the gate for a long time, but were unable to break through their blockade.

"Boss, the Viking barbarians are wearing iron armor, we can't cut them down!"

Time ticked by, and Vikings began to arrive at the stronghold on foot. Finding the shield wall at the gate still intact, Vigg, ​​panting with his hands on his knees, ordered some warriors to flank the rear along the wall, making sure no one escaped.

As more and more Vikings appeared outside, the bandits scattered and chose to escape by scaling the five-meter-high wall.

Dropping their packages and weapons, some people struggled to climb to the top of the wall, only to be suddenly struck by several crossbow bolts that whistled past their scalps, causing them to fall backward and crash heavily back inside the wall.

In the end, except for a few lucky ones who escaped into the deep mountains, the remaining 120 bandits were forced to surrender and sat on the open ground awaiting their fate.

Surrounded by his guards, Vig carefully observed the interior of the stronghold; this was his first visit to a Pictish settlement. A massive stone monument stood in the clearing, carved with intricate spiral patterns and abstract animal motifs—snakes, wolves, and bears, it seemed.

Upon entering the warehouse, which was filled with grain and furs, Vig had his men search the entire mountain stronghold, but they found nothing suspicious.

With the help of a translator, he chose a small room to interrogate the prisoners alone, questioning more than ten people in total, and the answers he received were roughly similar.

These bandits belonged to the same small tribe. They lost their territory in the conflict and were forced to migrate south. They were not under the command of any nobles.

Confirming that no one was plotting against him, Vig relaxed and stretched in his chair. Unfortunately, his good mood didn't last long; a careless remark from the prisoner made him wary again.

"What did you say? The Picts are interested in forming an alliance with the Gaels?"

Currently, the two largest settlements in the north are Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Picts control Edinburgh on the eastern coast, while the Gaels control Glasgow on the western coast.

The two towns are less than forty miles apart, and if an alliance is formed, they are very likely to eventually come together as a single entity.

Vig straightened his posture and inquired about the reasons for their alliance. The prisoner looked up at him, hesitated, and said:
"In the past two years, Viking raids have become more and more frequent. In order to deal with the possible war, the Gaels in the west were the first to propose an alliance."

Hey!
Upon hearing of the pirate attack, Vig's first thought was of the archipelago alliance off the northwest coast of Scotland.

These good-for-nothings, constantly harassing the west coast of Scotland and plundering the countryside day after day, finally alerted the Gaelic settlements. Undoubtedly, their meddling significantly increased the difficulty of conquering the north.

"A bunch of good-for-nothing idiots, you'd better not fall into my hands."

After making his threats, Vig ordered his men to burn down the mountain stronghold, and then escorted the prisoners on their way home.

Two days later, upon learning that the lord had wiped out the bandits in one fell swoop, villagers from the surrounding area flocked to watch the spectacle, clamoring for the execution of these heinous prisoners. The portly squire Harry and a dozen or so minor landowners asked in unison, "Sir, have all the bandits been eliminated?"

"More than thirty ran away; the rest either died or surrendered."

Harry's smile froze. "Do you still plan to go into the mountains to clear them out?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? There's a mountain of things to deal with; I don't have time to lead over four hundred men carrying armored vehicles and running around the mountains!"

To be honest, Vig felt that he had done everything he could. All expenses were covered by the lord's treasury, without any apportionment or disturbance to the nearby villagers. Regardless of how others evaluated him, he could find no fault with him.

He took out his water pouch, drank a few sips, and then came up with a way to appease these people.

"If you are worried about future bandit attacks, why not form a militia of forty men? We can draw men and food from nearby villages, and I will provide some captured weapons and bows and arrows. We can regularly go into the mountains to search and suppress bandits. Dealing with small-scale bandits will not be a problem."

Vig waved his right hand, signaling his men to throw the captured junk on the ground, generously refusing to charge any fees.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the crowd, "Could you provide a few sets of armor?"

Vig's eyes turned cold, and the villagers were quite frightened by him, abandoning their attempts to push their luck.

After dealing with the local villagers, Vig rode his horse around the area. He planned to throw the Pict prisoners into the construction team and disperse them, and then take sixty captured Viking pirates from the construction team to build a charcoal workshop on the edge of the forest.

As Tyne Town grows and expands, its demand for fuel increases, especially at the blacksmith shop, which is operating at full capacity and consumes large amounts of high-quality charcoal every day.

Currently, the charcoal burners in the territory are mainly farmers who cut down trees and burn charcoal during the off-season for farming. However, their production capacity is insufficient and the quality is difficult to guarantee.

According to Vig's idea, the newly built charcoal workshop has a clear division of labor: logging, kiln construction, fire control, and transportation are all handled by dedicated personnel, and the quality of charcoal is improved through standardization and specialization.

"Charcoal burns much better than peat in the swamps north of York. Charcoal consumption will increase in the coming years unless we conquer the North and find a shallow coal mine."

Having made up his mind, he disbanded most of the conscripted soldiers and hired the remaining fifteen to guard the camp, preventing the prisoners from escaping on their own.

Under the supervision of guards, the prisoners cut down trees to build camps and earthen kilns. Vig patiently waited for five days, confirming that everything was on track, and then instructed the guard captain:
"The workshop has just started operating, so there's no need to pursue excessive production. Be cautious in everything you do. If a large-scale exodus or mutiny occurs, remember to seek help from the nearby militia."

Having resolved the issues of bandits and charcoal supply, Vig returned to Tyne Town to handle other matters. With the territory's total population now reaching 18,000 and food supplies plentiful, he relaxed the residency requirements for Tyne Town, allowing more artisans to settle there.

Looking at the surrounding area, no towns based on handicrafts have emerged within the territory of Tees and Derwent. Lacking competitors, Tyne Town has developed exceptionally smoothly, and its population is expected to exceed three thousand in a few years.

　Thank you to readers t2377879 and 悼武华夏 for the donations.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)