Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 10 Trophies

After the war, Ivar found Vig and said, "Your strategy was excellent, but I've discovered an unavoidable flaw. The wagon formation moves slowly. What if the nomadic tribes choose to migrate?"

Vig offered a seemingly reasonable explanation for this:

Nomadic tribes typically mate their sheep in autumn and give birth in spring. The newborn lambs have more than half a year to grow and develop, accumulating sufficient nutrition before facing their first cold and harsh winter. Their survival rate is much higher than that of lambs born in summer or autumn.

It is late April. The enemy's livestock have just given birth to calves and are unable to move easily. Running away means abandoning the calves and the ewes that have just given birth. Only by holding the camp can they win a chance of survival.

“I see,” Ivar exclaimed in admiration, his light green eyes sparkling with barely suppressed curiosity. “How did you come up with that?”

Vig replied casually, "The bard mentioned this information, and I just remembered it."

In fact, this strategy was prevalent among the Ming Dynasty's border troops, specifically targeting the weakened state of mares and ewes after calving, a tactic commonly known as "nest raiding." Combined with the "autumn burning of wastelands" and the "iron embargo," it significantly weakened the power of the northern nomadic tribes, proving remarkably effective. Unfortunately, the court overlooked the threat posed by the fishing and hunting tribes in the northeast, ultimately leading to a major disaster.

The following day at noon, they discovered a nomadic camp on the lakeshore. It was surrounded by a low wall made of horse-drawn carts, and a shallow trench had been dug outside the wall, clearly indicating that they intended to hold it to the death.

Unfortunately, the tribe had already suffered heavy losses of its able-bodied men, and could barely muster more than 120 men for defense, including many elderly men with graying temples and young boys with tender faces.

"You dare to resist with only this kind of trash left?"

Rurik announced the attack, ordering his troops to advance slowly in a shield wall formation, with fifty archers responsible for scattering arrows from behind to disrupt the enemy's morale.

The moment the shield wall reached the edge of the camp, the enemy crumbled at the first contact. Apart from the chief and a few close associates who died in battle, the rest of the nomads scattered with their families, wandering the grasslands from then on. The lucky ones were accepted by other tribes, while the unlucky ones were reduced to corpses, left to be eaten by ravens.

After the battle, Vig had no interest in participating in the aftermath and sat alone on the grass, reflecting on his experience. As a transmigrator, he was unwilling to merely be a warrior breaking through enemy lines; he preferred to see things from the perspective of a commander.

"Previous battles have shown that light cavalry equipped only with scimitars and horse bows cannot defeat infantry holding their ground. But history shows that cavalry does indeed have a significant advantage over infantry, especially in the later Mongol Empire. How exactly did they achieve this?"

He gathered dozens of pebbles and laid them on the ground to simulate the formations of infantry and cavalry. If he were the cavalry commander, how would he break through this porcupine formation?

Archery harassment?

Horse archers are no match for infantry archers; they would suffer a great loss in a shootout.

artillery?

With the current level of metal processing, we cannot rely on this weapon.

After wasting nearly half an hour, Vig came to the conclusion that he should send some elite cavalrymen in heavy armor to charge into the enemy lines, even at the cost of casualties, to disrupt the infantry's formation. Once the formation was loosened, he would send light cavalry to finish them off.

At that moment, Ivar rushed over and interrupted his thoughts.

"We've struck it rich! The enemy has robbed six caravans in total. All the goods are piled up in one tent, and it's estimated that it will take three cargo ships to carry them. Rurik has done the math, and we're going to make a fortune this time!" Vig walked over and lifted the curtain, only to find snow-white furs piled up haphazardly on the ground. Due to improper storage, nearly a quarter of the furs were severely damaged, some were moldy, and others were pockmarked by rats.

“That’s not all,” Ivar led the man to the chief’s tent, pointing to a box buried in a corner, which was half full of amber.

Vig picked up the largest piece of amber and held it up to the sunlight; its color was warm and lustrous, and he estimated it could fetch a good price. Also at the bottom of the box was a ring with a string of Greek characters engraved on the back.

When escorting the prisoners back to the Rus tribe, Vig had someone translate the Greek text and learned that the ring's owner was named Baldas.

"Was there really such a person as Baldas in history?"

After interrogation, the prisoner confessed to robbing and killing a group of travelers six months earlier. The leader was a Greek, and he was protected by more than a dozen Rus' mercenaries.

Vig sensed something was amiss and quickly pressed the captive to ask what items the Greeks had left behind. To his surprise, the captive replied casually, "There seems to be a letter. None of us could understand it, and the chief simply threw it into the fire and burned it."

"Burned?"

Vig was incredulous. He questioned several other prisoners separately, but the results were similar. He had no choice but to set the matter aside for the time being and start discussing how to divide the spoils.

The battle was very fruitful, and it also eliminated a major threat to the Rus tribe. The chief was very satisfied and left the horses and sheep behind. He gave all the captured furs and amber to the caravan and promised to build three fine cargo ships and send fifteen tribesmen to help with the transportation.

As for the caravan members, they unanimously agreed to divide the spoils equally.

Ivar picked up his wine glass. "So that iron sword was broken. I've heard that Easterners are skilled at forging swords and blades. I want to buy a suitable weapon."

"It is said that a kind of fabric, called silk, is produced in the Far East. I want to bring it back to Northern Europe to give to Princess Eve." Nils is infatuated with Eve, the youngest daughter of King Eric, and plans to use silk to win the beauty's heart.

The group talked more and more enthusiastically until they were completely drunk. Rurik noticed that Vig hadn't said a word the whole time and guessed that the guy wanted a fair-skinned and beautiful female slave. He couldn't help but tease him:
"Haha, do you need me to lend you money?"

"No, I'm thinking about hunting down my target." Having traveled across most of Eastern Europe, Vig was exhausted, both physically and mentally. His biggest worry now was how to find Lord Borg. Constantinople had a population of hundreds of thousands, and without the assistance of official institutions, it would be difficult to find him in the vast sea of ​​people.

For the next two months, the caravan members enjoyed a rare period of peace. Bored, Vig took the time to learn archery from Nils, but unfortunately, his talent in this area was far inferior to his swordsmanship, and he ended up giving up quickly.

In July, they set off again. The Dnieper River had abundant water in the summer, which greatly reduced the difficulty of navigation, and the cargo ship arrived at the estuary smoothly.

"It's such a dark color, no wonder it's called the Black Sea."

Vig couldn't resist reaching into the sea and stirring it a couple of times. Then, following the captain's instructions, he rowed the cargo ship to a nearby settlement for a short rest.

Before entering the port, Rurik warned his companions, "In order to import grain, honey and slaves, the Greeks have built several isolated settlements on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Their rules are complicated, so you must remember not to cause trouble."

(End of this chapter)