094

The fighting continued all night long, the large population only increasing the panic and chaos in the city. However, although the city had a relatively large garrison, it was not prepared for the long fighting in the city streets. If they had managed to hold the walls and the gate, they could have defended themselves for several weeks, but in this situation a few hours would have been enough for London to fall...

- The city is ours, what are we doing next? (Leif)

- We rob everything we can, we only take artisans, young women and children captive ... Check everything carefully ... this city is a big commercial center, it would be a pity to miss something. (Ulf)

- I have already given orders to our people... are we going back to Jorvik now or are we going to Oxnaford and Tamworth? (Leif)

- As soon as we're done here we go north. We can ship the slaves to Jorvik. How big are our losses? (Ulf)

- Too early to say, but 250 to 400 wounded and killed ... Getting the gate ... was hard. (Leif)

- In the war you cannot avoid victims, the most important thing is that more of them are on the enemy's side ... Kill, fight, die that's what a warrior should do. (Ulf)

- I know, but we started our expedition with 4500 warriors ... we lost over a thousand, some will recover, but not all of them. We may have to return to Norway earlier. (Leif)

- We will see ... at the moment we have enough strength to make a few more conquests. (Ulf)

The inhabitants were forced to help us load our loot and prisoners onto the ships ... There were a few incidents, but they were not serious, and a few blows of an ax and a spear settled the matter... A few hours later, we were on our way to Oxnaford, which was 90 kilometers from London. We were also forced to reduce the number of attacks on the settlements on our way, there was no need for additional waste of time on meaningless fighting. If there are no delays and we keep a good pace, we will get there in 5 days and then we have another 120 kilometers to go to Tamworth... a few days later we were already near Oxford.

- Let three hundred men attack, and the rest of them go immediately further north to the King's seat. (Ulf)

- Are you expecting difficult fights? (Leif)

- I'm not going to fight King Offa, we'll offer him protection, if he pays us with gold and silver, we won't attack him ... (giggle) Do you remember that nobleman in London, the one I saved his life? Then, out of gratitude, he gave us his wealth. (Ulf)

- But you didn't save his life, you just stopped kicking him ... (Leif)

- Well, and I could have killed him ... which is as if I had saved his life. We will do the same with King Offa. (Ulf)

- Wouldn't it be easier to loot this place and get rid of the king? (Leif)

- Your father in Kattegat has a few sheep. If he killed them, he would have meat, but if he spares them, he has wool every year. He sells wool and can buy meat ... King Offa is our sheep ... he will have to pay us every year. The second thing is if in one year the two kingdoms cease to exist, it could cause problems ... in cloudy water you won't catch a lot of fish. (Ulf)

My men moved to attack, and the rest of the troops continued on to the next destination ... it took us seven days to get there.

After setting up camp two kilometers from Tamworth, I sent a messenger to the town ... for lack of paper and not knowing the language among my people, the messenger was one of the local prisoners. I told him what to say on my behalf and additionally ordered him to bring a few severed heads to the King ... In the future there was a saying "One photo is worth a thousand words." and another saying, "Two heads are better than one."

- I am afraid that my message might be perceived as very aggressive ... The art of diplomacy is to tell the other side the fuck off in such a way that they will be happy for the upcoming journey ... (Ulf)

- Sometimes I don't understand you ... (Leif)

- So there are two of us ... Tell the people to strengthen the fortifications and send scouts ... King Offa will certainly send his. (Ulf)

- Kill or try to take them alive? (Leif)

- Alive, we need information. We don't know what's going on in the city. (Ulf)

I overestimated King Offa's intelligence, instead of scouts, he sent a small squad of soldiers towards our camp ... I don't know if he didn't believe the messenger or there were other reasons for it, but his decision was stupid... Out of twenty people, we had spared only one person who was tasked with delivering a second message on my behalf along with the heads of his companions.

My demands were not excessive, only five thousand pounds of gold and silver. Mercia was the largest and richest kingdom on the islands, until King Offa's death ... only then did Wessex take his place.

Two days later, there was no reply from the King. My men watched the city but nothing suspicious happened ... no one escaped, no new reinforcements arrived ... the defense was reinforced which was normal, but the gate remained open.

I decided it was time for a show of strength and ordered my people to surround the city ... perhaps the sight of so many warriors will convince the king... and to emphasize the message, I was going to shoot a few ... thousand arrows towards the city.