Chapter 44 Naval Battle
After spending the night on the Isle of Man, the fleet sailed west for most of the day, finally arriving at a remote coast in eastern Ireland.
Anchoring offshore, the ten turtle ships assembled their hulls and upper decks, then sailed south along the coastline. When they arrived at the bay beyond the mouth of the River Liffey, the enemy had assembled a large fleet waiting for them.
According to the pre-battle deployment, Ivar commanded the ten turtle ships, responsible for mid- and close-range combat.
Vig commanded the five trebuchets and fifteen regular warships. The trebuchets bombarded the enemy's larger warships from a distance, while the ten regular warships were responsible for defense, preventing smaller enemy ships from sneaking up and attacking from behind.
"Is this Sven's fleet? The information Ivar gave was wrong. There are definitely more than a thousand men on the other side."
Climbing the mast to a higher position, Vig discovered that Sven had sent thirty-two ordinary small and medium-sized warships, as well as three large ships over 30 meters long and over 6 meters wide, which could hold a hundred men, including rowers.
With current shipbuilding technology, these three warships were also not seaworthy and could only be used for inland river and sea battles.
A salty, damp sea breeze brushed his cheeks, and Vig glanced at the weather vane on the masthead. It was a westerly wind.
With a chorus of shouts from the rowers, the fleet slowly sailed against the wind toward the mouth of the River Liffey. As they entered firing range, he pulled a small red flag from his belt and waved it frantically.
On receiving the order, the five catapult warships lined up and pointed their weak flanks at the enemy ships to the west. Under the captain's command, the sailors pulled the rope to lift the counterweight box to a high place, then placed a heavy clay jug filled with kerosene in a leather bag and lit the fuse on the neck of the jug.
"Fire!"
The hammer fell, and the counterweight box fell with a crash. Ten clay jugs flew towards Sven's black flagship, nine of which missed everything, and the last one hit a regular Viking longship on the starboard side of the flagship. Before the crew could react, the fire quickly spread throughout the cabin, turning the warship into a blazing torch in just a few seconds.
In front of the friendly forces, more than 40 crew members jumped into the cold sea water in horror. The captain and three senior warriors sank to the bottom of the sea after several fights because they were wearing iron armor. The rest of the crew swam on the waves, screaming and shouting for reinforcements.
"What is this evil weapon?"
Looking at the five ships with strange technology in the distance and the flag with a black bottom in the form of a golden dragon hanging on the mast, Sven was shocked, and then learned a strange rumor from the shield bearer.
"Your Majesty, it is said that last year, when Ragnar attacked the capital of Northumbria, a wizard nicknamed "The Chosen One" built a device that could launch fireballs, which I think was called a "trebuchet".
"Trebuchet. A machine that throws stones from a great distance, and can also throw cans of oil."
After some thought, Sweyn came to the conclusion that this method was not witchcraft. Coming to his senses, he was about to explain this to his subordinates, when ten black dots flew in the distance again.
This time, the nearest clay can was less than ten meters from the flagship, narrowly missing the stern and falling into the sea behind.
As Sweyn listened to the shouts one after another, he realized that his morale had fallen to the extreme and he was not fit to fight. However, the west wind was strong at the moment, and retreating to Dufilin meant going against the wind and the current. If the fleet blocked the river during the retreat, the situation would only get worse.
Should they continue fighting or retreat?
The first time he saw this new tactic, Svein was confused, silently repeating the names of the gods in his heart, begging for the guidance of a certain god.
Before he could think of a response, his subordinates pointed at the huge turtle ships and shouted desperately. "Your Majesty, a strange enemy ship is approaching."
The lead turtle ship hung out a flag with a gray wolf's head and was less than 50 meters from Dufilin's warship in front. The crossbowmen desperately threw arrows, but unfortunately, most of them were blocked by the wooden hull of the turtle ship.
On the other hand, the archers on the upper deck of the turtle ship had the advantage of height. Under the protection of the wooden hull, they gathered the enemy crew members in plain sight, and the exchange ratio was significantly higher.
Less than five minutes into the battle, the eight longships in the front had suffered heavy losses, and only a few survivors were huddled in a corner, completely unable to resist.
The situation was hopeless, and Svein was forced to give the order to retreat. In order to survive, the oarsmen desperately rowed towards the mouth against the oncoming current, and as expected, they were huddled together.
"A pile of rubbish!"
Seeing the turtle ship behind him getting closer and closer, Svein was forced to give the order to disembark. At this point, his only remaining idea was to flee back to Dufilin and use the wall to block Ivar's advance.
Under the king's leadership, the remaining ships rushed to the nearest river beach, and the entire fleet was completely destroyed.
...
"Go down and take away these broken ships!"
At the mouth of the Liffey, Ivar wanted to take advantage of the enemy's defeat and take Difflin in one fell swoop, but unfortunately the river was overcrowded with more than 20 longboats, completely blocking the fleet's ability to go upstream.
When the second echelon led by Vig arrived, he ordered the regular warships to use grappling hooks to pull out the empty ships that had lost their way and pull them away from the center of the river one by one.
After all was done, Ivar ordered the fleet to move forward and finally saw the target of this attack - Difflin.
The city is located on the southern bank of the Liffey, and on the eastern side there is a black lake, which is probably the source of Difflin - the black pond.
Difflin has a wooden wall about five meters high. Behind the battlements stood many panicked crossbowmen. Svein, dressed in a black cloak, walked around the wall and posted his close associates to guard key positions. Using these precious two hours, he hastily organized a defense, and Ivar's blitzkrieg plan ultimately failed.
With a grim face, Ivar set up camp on the northern bank, thinking about how to attack this city with a population of at least two thousand.
"Throw cans of kerosene and turn Sven into a roast pig," Halfdan suggested excitedly, but his brother rolled his eyes.
"I went so long to attack, just to profit from burnt ruins?"
At this point, Vig, surrounded by shield bearers, came up: "The bad news is that all the kerosene canisters we brought are gone."
Before the expedition, the two families of Derwent and Tyneburg had worked hard to collect asphalt, rosin, and lard, and in the end they had made 115 kerosene canisters, which could only withstand less than twelve volleys. If Sven had delayed a little longer, the catapult would only be able to throw small stones weighing ten kilograms, which would hardly cause much damage.
"Victory in this naval battle is not defeat." Ivar looked at the large birch forest to the northwest. "I will have the men cut down trees and prepare to build a large trebuchet. Alas, I wonder how long it will take this time?"
The construction of a large trebuchet is an extremely labor-intensive process, and will take at least over a month. If you add in the subsequent bombardment of the city wall, it will likely take more than three months.
Worried about his wife, who remained in Tyneburg, Vig looked across the 30-meter-wide river to the other bank, intent on finding a less labor-intensive way to capture Dufillin.