101.
101.
There was a reason Lincoln was the largest city in the east.
Think on it. Beodericsworth, Lincoln, Jorvik, Bamburgh...
The common trait shared by the most central cities within my lands on the island of Britain.
Add to that the illustrious cities of Mercia such as Tamworth and Winchester in Wessex.
The commonality among all the cities listed was that they were hubs of the old Roman roads.
There were seven major old Roman roads on this island.
Of them, I held two: Dere Street and Ermine Street.
Both were roads that claimed to be the spine of eastern Britain.
Thus, I could confidently say that I had the eastern part of Britain in my grasp.
And now, I sought to seize the road that began at Lincoln and cut across the central part of Britain.
In texts, that road was called Fosse Way.
Moving west from Lincoln, not far off, lay Cair Lerion (the Leicester of the 21st century Earth).
As one could tell from its name, the Fortress of Lerion was literally a great stronghold and also the heart of the old Kingdom of the Middle Angles.
That meant Burgred could not neglect it like he did the three fortresses in the east, and the city's own capabilities were greater than Huntadun or Stanford, and Lincoln.
Furthermore, there would be soldiers and nobles who had fled from Stanford.
If they fought, it would be a great battle, and if the enemy held the fortress, breaching those walls would not be easy.
'If I rush in blindly, it's very likely to turn into a tedious fight, so I must prepare well. With the mindset that I can turn back if necessary.'
It would be nice if another Jarl Leofric appeared and unexpectedly threatened the enemy lord and opened the gates, but really... even battle-hardened jarls like Oleg had never seen such a thing, so it was best to regard it as a once-in-a-lifetime miracle.
So I prepared for war once more.
First, the defense.
I advanced Guthrum from Grantebrycge and had him garrison Huntadun. The necessary food and expenses were to be covered by East Anglia-Beodericsworth, and supplies would continue to be brought in from Scandinavia.
The merchants were already singing hymns of joy at the war boom, so they would eagerly join the trade even at a premium.
There was no longer any need to worry about supplies.
I gave Djur two thousand men to hold Stanford firmly.
It was nearly within reach of Huntadun, so a fluid cooperation between the two fortresses would be possible.
Djur had fought hard under my command, so it was only right to give him an opportunity.
And above all, among the commanders under me, excepting Refil, he was the most diplomatically sharp and outstandingly capable as a jarl.
I thought he would be able to well settle Stanford, where only old men, a few women, and a handful of young men unable to abandon their homeland remained in a restive atmosphere.
After that, Huntadun and Stanford would provide a path for the four thousand men of the 2nd Expeditionary Force entering through East Anglia.
If necessary, they too could join forces and drive out the enemy.
Now, the force at my disposal that could be committed entirely to the attack was seven thousand.
Of those, another thousand had to remain here in Lincoln to guard against unforeseen events, so the number I could use kept shrinking, leaving only six thousand.
This was why offense was harder than defense.
Because there were too many things to account for.
Even so, I decided to attack Mercia because the situation in Britain was overwhelmingly favorable to us.
We had just crushed Mercia's Cyning in person, greatly breaking the enemy's morale, and had seized the Marshlands.
Moreover, in the west of Mercia, King Rhodri of the Cymry and Hásteinn were rampaging fiercely.
It was an opportunity so rare as to make one think, 'What if...?' that it might never come again.
Even I, who normally preferred steady tactics and strategy, found this a betting chance too hard to resist...!
And so, I stood where I was now.
867 AD. The third month of summer. Lincoln, eastern Britain.
Now, roughly two months after leaving home, my soldiers' blood was too heated to stop the war.
"Then I leave the fortress in your good care, Jarl Ecgberht."
"Just entrust it to me...! My Konungr...! This heavy trust you have given me...! I shall surely uphold it...!"
"...Thank you."
By his words alone, one might think him a matchless loyal servant, but I already knew he was a traitor.
I gave Ecgberht a light pat on the shoulder, then turned my gaze away from him, who was trembling with emotion, and spurred my horse onward.
"Then. I shall await good news."
"Yes! Konungr! I shall pray to Goddess Hel for victory!"
"Hyah!"
[Pururuk-! Dakak-! Dakak-!]
Amidst the countless gazes of the people gathered in the square watching me depart, I rode Camembert to where the six thousand troops and their jarls were waiting outside the walls.
Drawing the eyes of the long line, I rode toward the center of the ranks, and behind me Seutorolpeu blew the horn with vigor.
[Buuuuu- Uuuuuung-]
"Warriors of the Konungr! Forward-!"
"We follow right behind! Check your gear one last time! If you forget a shovel like last time, you'll be digging with your bare hands when we build the camp!"
"We answer! Blow the horn-!"
[Buuuuung- Uuuung-]
At that, the Northmen's ranks seemed to surge mightily for an instant, and the army began to move like a great dragon slowly stirring.
The people of Lincoln who watched that sight thought anew with relief that those were their own army, and the one leading them was their own Konungr.
*****
Ceolwulf of Mercia was a meticulous strategist.
"They said the enemy's movements had been spotted? When?"
"A messenger just arrived, so about a day's distance! Ealdorman!"
"I see. Are all preparations complete?"
"They are! The warriors of Mercia will fight without fearing death!"
No. Far more than that would be needed. To lull the dragon of those Northmen to sleep...
'Cœnred, why did you only fan the dragon's flames... It was a battle that should have been guarded.'
In truth, if one were to be strict, much of the blame lay with the overambitious Burgred...
Ceolwulf swallowed the bitter thought of his old comrade gone to God's side and focused on the present.
The dead, after all, had no voice.
He must have had his own circumstances.
Above all, he now had to face that legendary Konungr, Helgi Ragnarsson. For that was the Cyning's command.
"We act according to plan. From the moment the unlogged forest begins, we will harass them. Let us move at once!"
"Yes! Ealdorman! I shall ready the horses!"
[Tap tap! Tap!]
As I watched the lightly armored warrior hurry out, Ceolwulf slowly rose to his feet.
Before him lay maps scattered across a small table and scouts' reports neatly arranged.
'What you suffered in the west, I shall return to you in kind. Konungr.'
He would never fight in the way you desired.
Recalling the fundamentals of combat, Ceolwulf too soon left his position.
*****
"This really is something. It feels just like looking at our homeland."
"That is so, Konungr. Though it is a different feeling from when we fought the mosquitoes in the marshlands."
Refil, who had a surprising weakness for insects, shook his head as he spoke.
The mosquitoes in the marshlands had been rather vicious, to be sure. Of course, Árós and Uppsala were topographically environments not so different from marshlands, so I was quite familiar with the vile bugs that sucked human blood...
But familiarity does not necessarily demand affection.
Of course, I was unexpectedly strong against insects.
That did not mean I was good at looking at disgusting things, but rather that this body, which transcends normal humans, refused to permit mosquitoes to approach.
Did you know you can break a mosquito's proboscis with a subtle movement of muscle? I recommend trying it sometime.
To do so, you need the instantaneous reflexes to perceive the mosquito's wingbeats and the exceptional senses to catch that pair of wings between two fingers.
If you can do it, you can live free of mosquito worries for life.
Though they remain bothersome and annoying creatures regardless... the bastards knew no fear.
"It is quite good to see the woods so thick. Though the road will need a bit more expansion and repair."
"That is so. Even if travelers or merchants might not notice, for a large army to move, there are many places where it was damaged."
"It is a wonder it has held up until now."
Now that even Leon, who absolutely never left my side and seemed to be recording my every single action in detail, had fallen behind, claiming he would describe in greater detail the roads his ancestors had paved in the distant past.
I felt an immensely lightened heart.
How long had it been since I had possessed such leisure?
Because of that, Inga and Mother, whom I had left in Árós, came to mind. Were Hrolf and Björn properly keeping the Jarls, who were forces of nature in themselves, under control? My new house must have been completed by now, surely? Were Rurik and Haskuldr in the east faring well without any trouble? And what of Damian and Michael under them?
'I certainly roamed about quite diligently over a short period.'
If I were to draw the distances I had covered by ship and horse on a map, it would form a shape gently embracing Western Europe. One could truly say I had set foot on every part of Europe, save for the steppe, the gateway into Asia.
'At this rate, I won't end up crossing over into Iberia or the Mediterranean, will I...?'
If so, the next stage really would leave nothing but North Africa...
Could it be that I was cursed with a wanderlust fate?
Shaking my head, I pushed the foolish thought to a corner of my mind. Then, something strange was caught by my senses, which had been recalling the texture and scent of Inga's hair.
It was neither the wingbeats of a mosquito, nor the cries of wild animals wandering lost, displaced by the sudden column of humans.
[Sasak- sasasak- kigigik-]
'Sound of footsteps. Sound of bowstrings being drawn.'
It was the enemy.
"Halt! Everyone raise shields! Prepare for enemy arrows!"
"...! Halt! Shields!"
"Raise shields!"
The Jarls and troops, who chose obedience rather than questioning my voice that boomed like thunder.
[Chik! Chik! Chik!]
The arrows that were forewarned rained down upon our formation, which had simultaneously turned around, pressed backs against each other, and raised shields toward both sides of the forest.
[Pyung! Pyung! Sswaeaeak- sswaeaeak- tuk! tak! puk!]
Was it thanks to the enlarged shields, or thanks to the swift response? No screams or groans were heard from anywhere.
Instead, only the noisy sound of arrowheads embedded in the shields, quivering, was clamorous.
[Sswaeaeak- sswaeaeak-!]
"They come again! Do not lower your shields!"
[Hududuk! Hududuk!]
"Do not lower your shields!"
"They are among the trees! If you see anything, return fire!"
[Pyung! pyupyung!]
Having endured the enemy's second and third volleys, the archers in our formation soon began to return fire one by one. As this standoff continued for roughly thirty more minutes, I too was forced to bat away several arrows aimed at Camembert and myself.
[Sswaeaeak- sswaeaeak- huuuung-! poseok! poseok!]
Batting away arrows was not such a difficult task, as long as one possessed the dynamic visual acuity to grasp the trajectory of a fast-flying object and the skill to freely wield a greatsword roughly the size of a man's body.
Just like I was doing now, like this...!
[Huung- huung- wing- wing- poseok! poseok!]
Swinging like rays of light, in the course of blocking, I also batted away all the arrows headed for Refil and Ubba, positioned on either side of me. I then spoke, low and quiet.
"This enemy commander is no fool. Had I been in his place, I would have attacked in precisely this manner. Thanks to this, our advance will be slowed."
"Even if you win a battle in the forest, losses are inevitable. It will be exhausting, Helgi."
Ubba diagnosed the situation with cold eyes. In that clever head, he must have been thinking of a way to break through this situation.
But in truth, there was no sharp stratagem against this type of attack.
One could only silently endure and press forward, or turn back.
[Sswaeaeak- sswaeaeak-! huuung- uuung- poseok! poseoseok!]
"Konungr, what shall we do? Do we pursue them?"
[Pureureuk!]
Camembert snorted irritably at the continuing rain of arrows.
I patted his nape and deflected another arrow, deciding against any rash movement for now.
"Cavalry is limited in its movements within the forest. Our riders cannot yet maneuver freely in those woods. We have no choice but to call in an expert."
"An expert... you say?"
Refil's voice and eyes were filled with confusion.
Indeed. Did we not have one Assassin in our ranks?
We had to match guerrilla with guerrilla.
☆☆☆☆☆Reference☆☆☆☆☆
Andrei nacu at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Here are the most important roads on the island of Britain haha
All of them are works of Rome.
The two roads Helgi seized are the red vertical line and the blue vertical line in the eastern part of the island on the map.
Long, right. lololol If you look at this map, you can see why places like Jorvik or Lincoln are important cities. It's because you can stretch straight out from them...!
The place Helgi is aiming for now is the green road going left from Lincoln. Leicester isn't far off!