068

The following weeks passed quietly, most of the time I tested new types of weapons and their usefulness ... heavy pilum, ballista and kite shield... and I was wondering how to effectively test them, there were more and more new weapons, but apart from training, they were lying and collecting dust.

The Pilum was surprisingly effective even in those days, if you were lucky your opponent would die, but even if we only hit the opponent's shield, the shield became useless and the opponent had to throw it away... The kite shield, had better enarmes than a round shield, provided more protection but at the expense of mobility on the battlefield ... and the ballista, its only drawback was the quick-wearing bowstring, animal tendons were easily accessible, but ballista tuning after each shot was exhausting.

Unfortunately, there is no perfect weapon, in the pursuit of force, we sacrifice mobility, when we have greater mobility, it is at the expense of defense... Many of these weapons attracted a lot of attention from my people, but they lacked experience in handling them.

The next day I called a council and suggested to my people that we needed to fortify the Kattegat position and to do that we had to conquer Agder. I didn't have to persuade them long, many wanted to go to raids and others wanted to stay there ... and I found the perfect solution for them.

I decided to take only fifteen ships and 650 men for this trip. I was also going to test crossbows, ballista and pilum in real combat... our main target was Tromøya, the headquarters of King Harald Granraude.

The preparation of ships and supplies did not take much time, the goal of our trip was not far away... we covered 350 km in less than twenty hours ... it's good to always have a favorable wind on your side. We landed a few kilometers west of the settlement. I decided to go the rest of the way on foot and I also sent a messenger to King Harald. The message was short, either you'll surrender and swear allegiance to me, or you'll be destroyed.

The king decided to give us a battle, of course I gladly agreed. I let him leave the settlement and even take better positions.

At the front I placed two rows of infantry for a total of two hundred men, and behind them I placed fifty crossbowmen, and the rest of my men were on my left and right side.

King Harald did the same, placing his archers behind the backs of his warriors.

We were approximately one hundred meters apart, the crossbows were effective up to 125 meters, the bows could have a similar range, their effectiveness was lower, but they were faster to fire the next shot.

I ordered my crossbowman to prepare and wait. The enemy formed a shieldwall ... that's what I've been waiting for.

- Don't aim too high, it's not a bow. You can shoot the enemy's shields ... Fire.

In an instant, fifty bolts flew towards King Harald's army. There were a few screams, but less than I expected ... only after a while several people fell to the ground, some looked dead, others were only wounded.

One of the men tried to detach the shield which the bolt had nailed to his forearm.

- Shieldwall ... crossbowmen, reload and fire without order.

The King's archers started shooting at us. Most of the arrows were blocked by our shield, causing no major losses, there were only a few injured... at that time, my crossbowmen reloaded and fired a second volley towards the enemy. This time the effect was better, our shots were not so focused in one place, and the defenders found out that the shields do not protect well against bolts.

... after the third volley of crossbows, the king's army launched an attack. Our forces were more or less balanced. When they were about 25 yards away, I gave the order to use the pilum ... and it's a really effective weapon.

The battle continued for over an hour, it was not without losses on my part, but the opponent's losses were greater. Winter training was effective. Part of King Harald's army withdrew into the settlement and closed the gate behind them.

The settlement was surrounded by an ordinary polisade and the gate was not very impressive. Using a ballista against it is like trying to kill a cockroach with a cannon shot.

I ordered a ballista two hundred meters from the gate ... but before I could fire the gate opened and a messenger came out ... and it spoiled my fun.

I sent Erik to speak on my behalf and explain my terms ...

1) King Harald will swear allegiance and obedience to me.

2) King Harald will recognize my sovereignty over all Agder.

3) King Harald will be obligated on my behalf to collect taxes and deliver them to Kattegat.

4) He must also immediately pay 200 pounds of silver and give us 200 slaves.

I didn't care about silver and slaves, but that way Tromøya and the King would be weakened. It will also be better for everyone that silver and slaves will fall into my hands. Than in the hands of the future son-in-law of the King ... who will kill him, rob him and marry his daughter.

Before the King decides whether to fight or agree to my terms, I ordered my men to find all the bolts and take them, even if they were to get them out of the corpses ... they weren't cheap and I didn't want to give ideas to a potential enemy.

A few hours later, King Harald was kneeling before me and swore loyalty and obedience to me ... the future will show how much his word is worth. There was a feast that lasted until morning.

We loaded the silver and slaves onto our ships and set a course for Kattegat.

My next target is Hordaland, if I can conquer it ... in theory I will control the west and south coast of Norway.