After a brief greeting, "Fatty" Eric and the eight nobles sat down. Although he called himself a king, he was not the feudal lord of these nobles. There was no subordinate relationship between them, so his attitude was relatively friendly.
"Everyone," Eric cleared his throat,
"Since we opened a new route to the west, countless warriors have sailed to Britain and West Francia and collected unimaginable wealth. However, all of this is just a small battle. The number of people robbed each time does not exceed two hundred, and it is impossible to capture the enemy's large settlements. Therefore, I intend to form a large army to attack the capital of a certain kingdom, and then we will all plunder together!"
Under his instigation, everyone at the scene roared in unison, and the rolling waves were like the waves of a raging sea, continuously hitting the hearts of several nobles. Some of the men looked fanatical, unable to suppress the desire to fight in their hearts, and some frowned, fearing that Eric would deceive their shield bearers.
As the roar gradually died down, Eric ordered his men to unroll a crude map of Britain. A certain area in the southeast was blackened. Wig looked closely and found that the target was Essex.
"Londinium (later London), I plan to sack this city."
For some time, Eric had been bragging about the wealth of Londinium, praising it as a rare prosperous city in the world. Wig yawned and couldn't help but lament secretly.
"At the beginning of the fifth century, when the last batch of Roman troops retreated from Britain, the city fell into decline. It was not until the eleventh century that the Duke of Normandy in France completely conquered England, and then his successor made Londinium the capital, and the local area prospered again. Ha ha, it would be interesting if we plundered an empty city this time." ...
After a long time
Seeing that no one was against his plan to plunder, Erik, who was tormented by thirst, took a huge golden cup of wine, drank half a bellyful of mead and, belching, approached Ragnar.
"Ragnar Lothbrok, whether you have seen him or not, everyone here has at least heard his name. He has been sailing west every year for the past 18 years to plunder, and is familiar with the coastal conditions of Britain and West Franconia. This time he will lead a fleet to sea. What do you think?"
At this point, the noble opponent showed contempt: "Ragnar is a fine mercenary and can play the role of a hound, but he is not fit to get along with us on equal terms."
Their leader was insulted, and the shield-bearers, including Vig, responded with curses. Among them, Ivar's reaction was the most violent. He tore off his fur coat, drew his iron sword, pointed it at the man, and said word for word:
"Ivar the Boneless, son of Ragnar and Lagertha, challenges you to a duel!"
Viking society preaches bravery and martial arts. When someone suggested a duel, there was a burst of booing. Eric did not want to go against public opinion, so he returned to his place without saying a word and drank the mead in silence.
"You are not of sufficient status to fight me." The nobleman's face turned purple, and he sent a shield bearer to join the duel. The man was about the same height as Ivar and looked rather difficult to deal with.
"Is this the man?" Ivar spat and pointed his finger in the other direction. "Come on, let's finish this as soon as possible."
From Vig's perspective, he could only see Ivar's back, not his specific movements. He only heard a few clanking sounds, and the enemy was lying on the ground, with a cut on his throat and bright red blood gushing out.
However, Ivar did not stop there, but grabbed a round shield and smashed the enemy's body, as if he wanted to break all the bones of this man.
Now Vig finally understood the origin of the nickname "Boneless".
Before his opponent breathed his last, Ivar stood up and looked coldly at the nobleman named Borg. His words were colder than the winter wind. "Next."
A few minutes later, Borg sent three men in a row, but ended up in the same pitiful state. Ivar seemed to want to kill all his shield bearers one by one!
Feeling that the situation was about to get out of hand, Eric stood up and shouted: "Enough, your blood should be spilled on the battlefield of Britain, not on my territory. Stop it!"
Under Eric's pressure, the meeting continued, but everyone was clearly distracted, still remembering the duel that was destined to become famous throughout Northern Europe.
In front of nine nobles and two thousand Viking civilians, Ivar won four victories in an almost humiliating manner. There is no doubt that Ivar's prestige will explode and become the main character in the bard's tale.
...
After the Pirate Conference, Eric invited eight nobles and their shield bearers to dinner, hoping to smooth over their conflicts with mead and food.
The diet during this period was very monotonous. The most attractive dish was a roasted whole pig, evenly coated with a layer of honey and sprinkled with a pinch of extremely expensive pepper. The next course was cod, marinated beef and mutton, and blood sausage made from beef and mutton offal.
Next to the blood sausage, the maid placed a plate of fermented shark meat, as was traditional, which smelled extremely fishy.
There was only one vegetable - a stew of radishes, turnips, onions and broth with a few beans. The main course was stale bread, and dessert was aged cheese. These two dishes and honey wine were available in unlimited quantities.
After Eric finished his toast, the banquet officially began. As a newcomer, Vig had no great martial arts or achievements to boast about, so he did not join in the bragging among the drinkers and devoured the unpalatable dishes alone.
The expedition was inevitable, and he had hard days ahead. He simply wanted to take the opportunity to stock up on more nutrients to increase his survival rate in the ensuing war.
Ironically, before he traveled through time, he hated eating fatty meat the most, finding it too greasy. Now, after half a year of deprivation, I finally realized that the value of fatty pork is much higher than chicken breast and fish.
While eating, Vig heard someone talking about Lord Borg. It turned out that the man was a close associate of the former Lord of Gothenburg, and two months ago he had announced that he would shelter the rest of his family.
"With such a relationship, it is no wonder that he is causing trouble for Ragnar."
On the other hand, Ivar made a blunt statement in front of everyone: "I swear to personally cut off the head of the King of Essex, seize his crown, and raze his magnificent palace to the ground."
Razor to the ground? Vig secretly complained about Ivar's ignorance.
Londinium is a city left over from the Roman Empire. The buildings here are mostly made of brick and stone, and are much sturdier than the Viking longhouses of northern Europe. If the first round of raids failed to breach the city walls, subsequent attacks would likely turn into a brutal siege.
"I will find a way to speak with Ragnar alone later. I hope he can accept the strategy I have proposed." Viger was not so stupid as to publicly contradict Ivar's statements. Drunk Vikings were the most dangerous, and he did not want to be hacked to death with an axe by an enemy who did not understand what was happening.