The Sage of Einar

Chapter 319 - Mad Emperor Ludovico's Plan

The Ludovico's ship continued to advance down the Seine River until a group of ships signaled for it to stop.

Gautier, who was quite depressed, only sighed and with a wave of his hand a group of soldiers raised their coat of arms to inform that they were a ship of a duke of the empire.

The guard ships then allowed the duke's ship to pass, as they had to anger a member of the nobility.

After a few hours of travel they reached the ruins of the city of Parisii, so that the faces of Gautier and Guido turned terrible.

"You think the son of the Emperor Lodovico went mad or was the emperor."

Guido shook his head. "I don't think either of us went completely insane that they could have carried out a massacre in the capital.

That would be a political blow for either of them. Even in madness, they should never have done that. I mean, they won by burning the city to ashes.

We must quickly find a soldier or someone who can tell us what the hell happened in this place. "

After this, the two continued advancing on the Seine River for a few minutes until they reached a place where there was a group of pilgrims carrying a cross on their back.

The boat got as close to the river bank as it could and dropped the anchor and then began to descend in the shallow area of ??the river using a rope.

After this Gautier, Guido, a priest and 10 crew members went down to talk to the pilgrims who looked at the ship with some joy because they knew they were not Vikings.

So they waited to be able to speak with the mysterious crew of the ship.

When Gautier arrived with the pilgrims, he looked at them with some doubts. "Excuse me, you know what happened to the capital of the empire.

Who was to blame for such destruction and what became of the city's population? "

The older pilgrim looked at Gautier seriously "I see you must have been away for a few months, but I will explain.

Some time ago the emperor's son and the emperor's daughter were fighting each other, when a group of Vikings arrived and finished off the army of the emperor's son.

Later, they besieged the city using the siege weapons of the emperor's son. The emperor's daughter could not coordinate an efficient defense because of the damage caused by her brother.

That is why the Vikings entered, but the inhabitants of the city fought in the last bastion of the city, which fell.

But all of them, far from surrendering, fought against all of them bravely and that is why they earned the honor of being the fallen.

The entire city has been declared by the High Pontiff Gregory as a holy site because it is the city of those who fought against the pagans instead of surrendering.

Such was their feat that the leader of the Vikings did not dare to sully the corpses, instead he buried them as warriors.

Currently, the emperor should be in the capital Aachen as he is preparing everything for the attack against the pagans of the north. "

Ludovico, who was looking at the report of his commanders, frowned, "So the damn Vikings are preparing troops to reinforce their stupid wall.

When do you think winter will end so you can launch an attack? "

All of his commanders sighed at the same time and one duke decided to speak.

"Your Imperial Highness, things are more complicated than you may believe. We will not be able to launch an attack at the end of winter.

We will have to wait at least until the summer to launch the attack because the supplies are few, because of the civil war.

There are no grains available and food is scarce in many parts of the empire, not to mention that the constant Viking attacks on the coasts prevent us from dispatching troops correctly.

The casualties of prepared soldiers are too high. Summer is the only time where we can launch an effective attack.

We have spoken, and that is why, as the one chosen to explain the situation, I hope that you can decide to wait for the attack after the end of the winter.

We need that time to prepare the troops. If you don't want to listen to us, listen to your daughter.

She is going to tell him the same as us, because it is logical to wait until we are better to be able to launch an attack.

The heathen wall may be strong and have more troops to defend it, but we will gather nearly 100,000 soldiers for battle.

Most will be levies, but at least they will have food for the initial raid.

The high pontiff will send us aid and grain, as well as the Christian kingdoms of the Italian peninsula. "

Ludovico, who was extremely angry, struck the table with his only hand "Everyone is incompetent shit and assholes.

They had only one job, and you have failed at it. Now all of you are before me, giving me excuses that the attack cannot be launched because there are no supplies.

Do not forget that the troops in the front line are rebels, dirty rebels who do not deserve mercy from God or the empire.

Since you want to wait, you can do it, but you will have to build siege machinery until everything is ready to launch an attack.

I don't care if they have to prune all the damn forest they find. I want ladders, siege towers, and weapons to attack the wall.

Hire every engineer in the empire and anywhere you can. I want to have siege towers every 100 steps.

We must win the war against those damned pagans at all costs, that the corpses of those who do not survive are used as wood to feed the fire.

Their corpses at least have to be used for something against the cold. I hope that way they learn to harden themselves in battle.

Also, because food is scarce, make a meritocratic system. If they want to have a good diet, let them work.

If they do not work, they are not given food; they do not deserve it. We can only keep the troops efficient.

Does anyone have a complaint? "

Everyone in the room fell silent and decided to follow the tyrannical orders of the emperor, who already believed that he had lost control.