Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 267 Field Crossbows
Looking around, the entire port was deserted, and the corpses of the baron's entire family hung on the city gate, where ravens pecked at them.

"Quickly, dig a deep hole and bury them."

Brecken covered his mouth and nose and looked around. The lord's longhouse, temple, and warehouse were in ruins, and the well was filled with the corpses of people and animals.

"There's no need to clear this town anymore; we might as well build our own camp."

Having made up his mind, Brecken selected a vacant lot on the southwest side and began building the camp from scratch, according to the specifications for constructing permanent fortifications.

For the next week, Frode spent his days taking inventory of supplies, and occasionally he had to dig trenches and drag logs himself, leaving his hands and feet covered in blisters.

“Odin above, I understand the meaning of ‘Marius’s Mule’.”

In 107 BC, Gaius Marius reformed the military system and established a professional army. In order to reduce reliance on wagons for supplies, the marching load of ordinary soldiers was greatly increased. The total weight of armor, personal items, rations, shovels, and camping tools was about 30 to 40 kilograms, which was equivalent to the load of a mule. Therefore, the soldiers were called "Marius' mules".

Having experienced arduous marches and heavy labor, Frode truly understood the hardships of soldiers. They were busy from morning till night, and had to be fully focused while working. If their superiors discovered any mistakes, they would be reprimanded at best, and whipped or even publicly executed at worst.

Gradually, Frode became accustomed to being called "Bob," as if it were his birthright and his sole mission was to obey military orders and fulfill all the demands of his superiors.

As time passed, a new camp appeared on the southwest coast of Galway, with trenches, five-meter-high wooden walls, and many tents set up inside, which were later replaced by wooden houses. A simple pier was also built on the beach for naval ships to dock.

"Gods above, what have these Vikings done?"

Upon witnessing the heavily fortified camp, the five rebel leaders exclaimed in astonishment. They had never seen such a speed of construction and suspected that the Vikings had used magic.

Suddenly, an elderly chieftain recalled an ancient Celtic tradition and began chanting druid exorcism spells.

After waiting for a long time, a gentle breeze brushed past them, but the campsite standing on the coast remained unchanged. The five men left dejectedly.

Two days later, five two-masted sailing ships arrived in Galway. This was a hastily assembled Irish fleet responsible for patrolling the west coast of Ireland and transporting supplies and troops.

At the dock, a young naval officer approached Brecken and handed him a list of supplies.

"Count, everything you requested has arrived. Please sign for it."

Brecken quickly scanned the list, his gaze settling on the last item—four field crossbows.

It finally arrived.

He walked toward the two-masted sailing ship that was unloading cargo, trying to find the ballistae. The naval officer whispered a reminder, "The ballistae were disassembled during transport. If you are in a hurry to see them, I will have the men assemble one and test fire it."

Upon receiving the order, the six crew members busied themselves on the dock, assembling metal parts, torsion spring assemblies, and the main frame into a whole.

Then, the soldier took out a thick arrow, which would be more appropriate to call a "short spear." The fletching of the arrow was not animal feathers, but a specially made piece of hardwood.

Once loaded, the crew aimed at the abandoned rowboat 160 paces away and smashed the mechanism with hammers.

Instantly, the crossbow trembled slightly, and the thick arrow whistled as it flew toward the target, plunging into the shallow water a few meters away amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd.

The crew cursed and grumbled, then loaded a second bolt, which also missed. The naval officer removed his tricorn hat, awkwardly wiping the sweat from his brow. Finally, the third bolt struck the abandoned longship, but the arrow got stuck in the hull and failed to penetrate.

"That's it?" Blaken looked disappointed, realizing he had overestimated the power of this thing.

Naval officer: "Count, what do you intend to do with it?"

"During my stay in Athlone, I heard that the arsenal had built a crossbow that could be used in the field, intending to use it to bombard the fences and gates of the rebel strongholds. Now it seems that it can at most penetrate ordinary wooden houses."

Hearing the other party's complaint, the naval officer was helpless. "Well, this thing wasn't manufactured by us. You should contact the Lundinium Armory, or the Minister of War and the Minister of Industry."

After the supplies were handed over, Breken selected forty men from various companies to conduct intensive training on the operation of field crossbows.

First comes the disassembly and assembly. The total weight of the crossbow exceeds 200 kilograms. In plains areas, it is transported by supply wagons. If the terrain is rugged, it needs to be disassembled and carried by mules or soldiers.

In addition, operators should regularly maintain the torsion spring assembly and replace overused tendons to prevent the crossbow's power from decreasing.

"What a troublesome process."

After observing for a long time, Brecken realized the shortcomings of this type of weapon: it was expensive, cumbersome to operate, and one could only choose between power and mobility.

"Well, since we've got the stuff, we'll just have to make do with it."

With the camp completed and supplies plentiful, Breken began clearing the surrounding area, ordering each settlement to provide ten hostages or face annihilation.

Settlements in the plains chose to submit, while tribes in the northwestern mountains were defiant and ignored his demands.

With things having come to this point, Breken divided his two thousand men into three parts. Two of the troops went off to suppress the enemy, while the remaining troops stayed behind to guard the camp and supervise the labor force provided by the villages, making them build various facilities such as barracks, warehouses, and lighthouses.

Led by a local guide, Brecken's group of eight hundred men ventured into the mountains along a rugged path. Near the Atlantic Ocean, strong westerly winds prevailed, and the local vegetation was sparse, consisting of low shrubs and grasses, with the occasional clump of heather.

During the march, Frode commented: "The terrain is rugged, with sparse vegetation, deep fjords and steep cliffs, much like the landscape of Glasgowshire."

The harsh geographical environment resulted in small, sparsely distributed settlements. Besides farming, herding, and fishing, the locals supplemented their diet by hunting seabirds. Brecken had no interest in tormenting these impoverished people who offered no profit; as long as the hostages were handed over, everything would be fine.

On the second day after entering the mountains, Breken encountered a tribe that was resisting. Their camp was located halfway up the mountain, and they had vowed never to submit.

"attack."

Breken deployed two hundred crossbowmen to suppress the enemy on both sides of the mountain path, while conscripting militiamen to hold up shields in front. The rebels were poorly equipped, with most of their arrows having arrowheads made of animal bone, which had extremely poor penetrating power. The militiamen's shield wall successfully advanced to the mountainside.

"Quickly, assemble the crossbows. I want to see how well these things work."

Upon hearing their superior's reprimand, the crossbow squad unloaded various parts from the backs of the mules and set up the crossbows a hundred paces from the stockade wall.

(End of this chapter)