Vikings: Nordic women

Chapter 53: All Out, Set Sail to the East

In the early morning of the town of Skelvik, smoke rises up, heralding the busiest day of preparation before the Viking War.

This may be the only grand banquet in the near future. After the soldiers go out today, the territory will be dead silent.

Today, under Margaret's order, the mess hall will prepare 370 banquets to provide a sumptuous meal for approximately 3,000 soldiers and assisting townspeople.

What made her happy was that, excluding the Faroe Islands, the total number of soldiers from the Kingdom of Gotland, including the new generation of warriors, reached about three thousand.

This data shocked her.

But three thousand people were too many. If they were all her soldiers, she would not be able to feed them. Just one meal consumed enough food for her entire territory for three days.

A samurai could eat as much as two civilians in one meal if he wanted.

However, the subjects were unaware of Margaret's sorrow. Each of them was busy, with smiles on their faces, preparing for the grand banquet.

Opportunities to eat for free are rare, especially at a banquet with an ample supply of meat. What's worse, some people haven't eaten since yesterday, just to save space for a big meal today.

Margaret was not a stingy person. She had just realized the importance of morale in an expedition, so she ordered supplies to be made available.

On this morning full of energy and expectation, the aroma of cooking smoke permeates every corner of the town of Skelvik.

Margaret stood on a high place, her eyes swept over the busy crowd, and complex emotions surged in her heart.

She knew that this banquet was not only a comfort to the soldiers, but also a reward to the townspeople.

Although she felt stressed about food consumption, she understood that morale was crucial for the soldiers who were about to go to war.

She took a deep breath, temporarily put her worries behind her, turned around and joined the busy crowd. Today, she would personally supervise the preparation of each dish to ensure that every serving of food was perfect.

In the open space, the screams of livestock continued, and the smell of blood filled the air.

Two buckets of water were used to clean the blood on the ground, which then flowed into the stream. Several children held brooms and carefully cleaned the blood left after the slaughter.

Although the blood of these animals can be eaten, Margaret did not intend to feed the warriors with this soft, fishy and smelly blood, but instead released it all.

At the downstream estuary, a large number of filter-feeding sardines were attracted by the smell of blood and feasted on the fish. Seabirds flying in the sky took the opportunity to catch fish and snatched them up.

The fishermen have been waiting for a long time. At this moment, they lift up the fishing nets, feel the heavy fishing nets, and their faces are filled with the joy of a good harvest.

“This method is really good!”

"I heard it was Her Majesty the Queen's idea. Next time I catch fish, I'll pour out a bucket of blood. That way I'll have endless smoked fish to eat!"

"But where did you get so much bait?"

"It's not important. What's important is that this is indeed a good idea!"

"Children, come here, send these fish upstream, empty their internal organs and smoke them!" The man simply used a wooden barrel to scoop into the net bag and filled a bucket with fish.

"Ok!"

The sardines were jumping around in the barrel dishonestly, and then jumped out of the barrel, and were frantically plundered by the timid sea birds who were ignorant of the danger.

"Damn it!" The man grabbed one and angrily threw it to the ground, killing it. The children shouted and drove the seabird away.

These fresh sardines are quickly packed into barrels and sent to slaughterhouses upstream, while the fish intestines flow into the estuary along the stream, attracting a new batch of sardines.

Outside the canteen, a large pot was set up, big enough to stew a deer. Ribs and meat were put into the pot one after another, and various spices were added to cook out an enticing aroma.

Margaret held a bag and threw a few pieces of precious salt into every cauldron she passed.

"1～2～3～"

It is a misconception that there is no shortage of salt in coastal areas.

Sea salt does not usually contain iodine and cannot replace table salt. Iodine is an important element for maintaining normal thyroid function. Long-term consumption of sea salt without iodine can lead to iodine deficiency, which can cause health problems such as hypothyroidism.

The peasant women's faces were filled with joy, and they were talking and laughing, carrying baskets full of baked barley cakes.

The lord's army arrived one after another and was warmly welcomed by Polly. The harbor was filled with huge sailing warships, at least forty of them.

The soldiers were busy loading war horses, food, fresh water, wine and other supplies onto the ship. They received orders to set sail this afternoon.

They have to prepare in advance.

Barrels of barley beer were brought to the dining hall. The warriors gathered in a circle and eagerly opened the lids, the aroma of beer filling the air.

They scooped the wine into wooden cups, took a sip to quench their thirst, and contentedly squeezed through the crowd to take their seats to wait for the banquet to begin.

All the soldiers knew that this might be the best meal they would have in the next few months.

The lords and Huscarz were not present. They all went to the lord's hall and enjoyed the small stove prepared specially for them.

Margaret was in an extremely happy mood. This was her first time going out to sea since she traveled through time. After twenty-three years of waiting, she finally got the opportunity to go on this Viking expedition.

Moreover, she could finally drink fine wine, and this body did not seem to suffer from alcohol allergy.

"Your Majesty, when are we going to set sail? I can't wait to fight a bloody battle!" A yal stood up, looked around proudly, and said loudly.

"We'll set off after the meal," Margaret responded generously, "Today, you can drink as much ale as you want and then have a good rest on the boat!"

She then raised her voice and said to the lords present: "Lords, please raise your glasses and drink them all. If anyone cannot finish the drink, he must get out of here and sit outside with the dogs in the territory to chat! Because here, we only welcome people who can drink well!"

"Hahahaha~" The lords laughed loudly and raised their glasses to each other, creating a lively atmosphere.

Outside, the soldiers' laughter and chatter became even louder, and it seemed that they had also started drinking. The entire town of Skelvik was immersed in the joy and anticipation of the upcoming expedition.

Margaret put aside her dignity and joined the group of lords, sitting side by side with them, talking and laughing, chatting about topics that interested each other.

The lively atmosphere lasted until the afternoon, and after three rounds of wine and five dishes, Margaret's face turned pale and blue, her head was dizzy, and she couldn't count how many times she had gone to the toilet.

In the hall, the lords were staggering around, some were even drooling and sleeping soundly.

In this way, it is estimated that five hundred soldiers can wipe out all the drunkards in the entire territory.

Only a few lords with big bellies were still toasting and drinking. Margaret stood up with the help of her maid, burped, and announced loudly: "Get ready to board the ship!"

However, no one in the hall responded. The lords pushed the drunk guys and staggered out of the hall in twos and threes.

This is exactly the effect Margaret wanted, and why plenty of malt liquor is usually brought on voyages.

"I'm so happy! Wine is such a good thing. It can help me put aside all my worries!"

She boarded the flagship, found a comfortable position on the ship, leaned against it, stared blankly at the sky, and murmured to herself: "Feld, here I come!"

After saying that, she leaned over the side of the boat and vomited violently. This young body really couldn't stand her drinking so much.

"Prepare to board the ship!"

"Woo~" The horn sounded, and the lords and pirates boarded the ships one after another. The flagship where Margaret was was the first to weigh anchor and leave the port, followed by the second and third ships.

Thick ropes connected the ships in series to ensure that each ship sailed at a constant speed at different speeds and that no ship was left behind.

The weather is very good today. The ships have hoisted their sails and, pushed by the sails, are sailing against the waves and heading towards the Faroe Islands.

All the men in the territory went out in force, leaving only women and children behind. As the chief minister, Polly did not follow the fleet, but stayed in the town.

She stood at the harbor, looking at the fleet getting farther and farther away, and raised her head to the sky: "May the Valkyries pay attention to you!"

(End of this chapter)