Ch 85: Mountain Stronghold

Observing for a while, the bandit leader noticed the enemy’s malicious intent. This group of people were deliberately wearing dirty rags on the outside, but underneath they wore excellent iron armor.

“Stop shooting, retreat quickly!”

Faced with a double crushing blow in numbers and equipment, the leader ordered a retreat to the mountain stronghold. Counting the number of people, they found that this ambush had resulted in a loss of sixty men!

“Insidious Viking barbarians, they actually used four hundred armored soldiers to ambush our mountain stronghold.”

The leader consecutively drank several glasses of cold water, and had people pack up to prepare to flee. Unexpectedly, they were blocked at the gate of the mountain stronghold by more than twenty Vikings.

Looking at these panting Viking barbarians, the leader charged ahead without hesitation. More than eighty bandits, wielding the Picts’ characteristic short swords and round shields, engaged in melee combat with the Vikings blocking the gate for a long time, but they were unable to break through their blockade.

“Boss, the Viking barbarians are wearing iron armor, we can’t cut through it!”

Time ticked by, and more Vikings arrived at the mountain stronghold one after another. Finding that the shield wall at the gate was still intact, Vig propped himself up on his knees, panting. He ordered some warriors to encircle the rear along the fortifications, trying to prevent anyone from escaping.

Seeing more and more Vikings outside, the bandits scattered and chose to climb over the five-meter-high wall to escape.

Abandoning their packs and weapons, someone struggled to climb to the top of the wall. Unexpectedly, several crossbow bolts suddenly flew from outside, whistling past his scalp. This scared the man so much that he fell back, crashing heavily back inside the wall.

In the end, except for a small number of lucky ones who escaped into the deep mountains, the remaining one hundred and twenty bandits were forced to surrender and sat in the open space awaiting disposal.

Surrounded by shield-bearers, Vig carefully observed the interior of the mountain stronghold. This was his first time visiting a Pictish settlement. A huge stone tablet stood in the open space, engraved with complex spiral patterns and some abstract animal patterns, seemingly snakes, wolves, and bears.

Entering the warehouse, Vig found many grains and furs piled inside. He had people search the entire mountain stronghold, but they found no suspicious signs.

With the help of a translator, he chose a small room to interrogate the prisoners individually. He questioned more than ten people, and the answers were largely similar.

These bandits belonged to the same small tribe. They lost their territory in the conflict and were forced to migrate south. They had not been instructed by any noble.

Confirming that no one was plotting against him, Vig relaxed, leaning back in his chair and stretching. Unfortunately, his good mood did not last long; a casual remark from a prisoner made him vigilant again.

“What did you say? The Picts intend to form an alliance with the Gaels?”

Currently, the two largest settlements in the North are Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Picts control Edinburgh on the east coast, and the Gaels control Glasgow on the west coast.

The two towns are less than forty miles apart. If they form an alliance, they are very likely to unite into a single entity.

Vig sat up straight and asked about the reasons for the alliance. The prisoner looked up at him and hesitantly said:

“In recent years, Viking pirate attacks have become increasingly frequent. In order to deal with the possible war, the Gaels in the west were the first to propose an alliance.”

Damn!

Upon hearing about the pirate attacks, Vig first thought of the Island Alliance on the northwest coast of Scotland.

These wastes harass the west coast of Scotland day after day, pillaging the countryside, finally awakening the vigilance of those Gael settlements. Undoubtedly, their actions have significantly increased the difficulty of capturing the Northern Border.

“A bunch of good-for-nothing fools, you’d better not fall into my hands.”

After uttering his threats, Vig ordered the mountain stronghold to be burned down and then escorted the prisoners on their way back.

Two days later in the morning, upon learning that the Lord had wiped out the bandits, the surrounding villagers came to watch the excitement, clamoring for the execution of these sinful prisoners.

Fat Squire Harry and a dozen small landowners asked in unison: “Sir, have all the bandits been eliminated?”

“More than thirty escaped; the rest are either dead or surrendered.”

Harry’s smile froze. “Do you plan to go into the mountains to purge them further?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? There are a lot of things to deal with, I don’t have the time to lead four hundred people carrying iron armor around in the mountains!”

To be honest, Vig felt that he had done his best this time. All expenses were covered by the Lord’s treasury; there were no levies or harassment of nearby villagers. Regardless of others’ evaluations, at least he could find no fault with himself.

Taking out his waterskin and taking a few sips, he offered a method to put off these people:

“If you are worried about bandit attacks in the future, why not form a militia of forty men? Draw personnel and grain from nearby villages; I will provide some of the looted weapons and bows and arrows. Regularly search the mountains to deal with small-scale bandits; it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Vig waved his right hand, signaling his subordinates to throw the looted scraps on the ground, generously refusing to charge any fees.

Suddenly, a voice came from the crowd, “Could you provide a few sets of iron armor?”

Vig’s eyes turned cold, and the villagers were quite frightened by him, abandoning their greedy thoughts.

After dealing with the local villagers, Vig rode his horse around the area. He planned to disperse the Pictish prisoners into the construction teams to settle them, and then draw sixty captured Viking pirates from the construction teams to build a charcoal workshop on the edge of the forest.

Tyne Town is growing rapidly, and the demand for fuel is increasing, especially for the blacksmith’s shop, which has reached full production capacity and consumes a large amount of high-quality charcoal every day.

Currently, the main charcoal makers in the territory are peasants who make charcoal during their off-season. Their production capacity is insufficient, and the quality is difficult to guarantee.

According to Vig’s idea, the newly built charcoal workshop will have a clear division of labor: felling trees, building kilns, controlling fire, and transportation. Each link will be handled by a dedicated person. Standardization and professionalization will improve the quality of charcoal.

“Compared to the peat in the swamps north of York, charcoal burns better. In the next few years, the consumption of charcoal will continue to increase, unless we capture the Northern Border and find a coal mine that is relatively shallow.”

Having made up his mind, he disbanded most of the conscripted soldiers and hired fifteen of the remaining men to serve as camp guards to prevent the prisoners from escaping secretly.

Under the supervision of the guards, the prisoners felled trees and built the camp and earthen kilns. Vig patiently waited for five days, confirming that all the work was on track, and he instructed the guard captain:

“The workshop has just started operating. There is no need to pursue production quotas excessively; everything should be done safely. If a large-scale escape or mutiny occurs, remember to seek help from nearby militiamen.”

Having solved the problems of the bandits and charcoal supply, Vig returned to Tyne Town to handle other matters. The total population of the territory has now reached eighteen thousand, and the grain supply is sufficient, so he relaxed the requirements for settling in Tyne Town, allowing more artisans to settle there.

Looking at the surrounding area, no towns specializing in handicrafts have been formed in the Tees and Derwent areas. Lacking competitors, Tyne Town’s development has been exceptionally smooth. In a few years, the town’s population is expected to exceed three thousand.

Thank you to book friends t2377879 and Dao Wu Huaxia for their rewards.