"I am Diras de Loth, Count of Brest by royal appointment."
The count loudly declared his identity before handing over his sword to the middle-aged man before him.
"We seem to have met before."
Vig accepted the captive's sword and casually passed it to an attendant beside him.
"I am Vig of House Tyneburg. I've been fighting the Franks for over twenty years. The fact that you recognize me is perfectly ordinary."
Upon learning that the man before him was the Serpent of the North, Count Diras relaxed slightly.
This was a man who had defeated countless Frankish armies. Losing to him was no disgrace.
The next moment, however, his tension returned.
"You personally crossed the sea to attack us… what exactly do you want?"
"Everything."
Vig did not waste further words.
He ordered the prisoners to be properly handled, then summoned the intelligence agents.
Without their efforts, this siege alone would have cost at least five hundred casualties.
Accompanied by one of the senior agents, Vig toured the newly conquered port city.
Brest possessed an enormous bay—narrow at the entrance but broad within—with an average depth of eight meters, exceptionally suited for anchoring large warships.
Standing atop a tower and overlooking the harbor, Vig sighed in admiration.
"The natural conditions are excellent. No wonder it became one of France's two most important naval ports."
(The other being Toulon.)
A week later, reinforcements arrived.
This time, the fleet had expanded to one hundred and forty vessels, transporting six thousand soldiers and four hundred steppe horses.
Vig left behind one thousand men to garrison the city and ordered them to install chain barriers across the harbor entrance to prevent Frankish fireship tactics.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
After arranging all necessary matters, Vig led eight thousand men eastward.
Under the guidance of intelligence operatives, he repeatedly located knightly estates along the route.
These manors lacked stone walls or castles and were extremely easy to assault.
Most covered roughly 500 to 1,500 acres and likewise used the three-field system. Occasionally, small vineyards could also be seen.
After a week of marching, Vig approached Rennes, seat of the Duke of Brittany.
Along the way, his army stormed seven noble estates, seizing desperately needed grain, cattle, sheep, twenty warhorses, and seventy draft horses.
The campaign had yielded considerable gains.
Unfortunately, the Breton commoners remained indifferent.
Eleven years had passed.
Most Bretons who dared resist had either been killed, fled into the mountains, or gone into exile overseas.
The overwhelming majority had already grown accustomed to Frankish rule.
Vig reflected silently:
"Forget it. If the locals eagerly joined us, I would have to grant them greater autonomy after the war.
"But since they've chosen neutrality, Brittany will become a directly administered territory once the war ends."
Compared to the past, Rennes' defenses had become far stronger.
Stone walls, towers, and moats were all present.
More troublesome still, the walls mounted numerous heavy crossbows capable of firing massive bolts nearly two meters long.
Judging by their construction, they likely originated from Moorish Iberia.
Prisoner testimony confirmed this suspicion.
The duke's eldest son had gone to fight in Iberia the previous year and returned with large quantities of gold and silverware, olive oil, and over a dozen Moorish craftsmen.
"He understands the value of seizing skilled technicians. A clever noble."
Mounted upon Greywind III, Vig rode around the city with his second son, Leif, and more than thirty young staff officers.
Years ago, he had destroyed battlements with trebuchets and used siege towers to place troops atop enemy walls.
But now the defenders possessed heavy crossbows capable of punching straight through the wooden panels of siege towers.
The old methods had become obsolete.
So Vig decided to employ a new tactic.
After careful surveying, he selected the northern wall as the breakthrough point.
A tunnel was excavated beneath the outer field, with a heavy wooden shelter built over the entrance.
The tunnel ran five meters underground.
The air was foul, thick with the smell of dirt, sweat, and oil.
Only dim oil lamps provided illumination.
The passage was so cramped that only two men could dig at a time.
The engineers worked in shifts, excavating while reinforcing the tunnel with thick beams and wooden supports to prevent collapse.
The digging continued day and night.
To distract the defenders, Viking troops launched attacks elsewhere along the walls.
Components for field ballistae were brought from the rear, assembling twenty light ballistae that traded fire with the defenders.
After three grueling weeks, the tunnel finally reached beneath the wall.
The engineers carefully expanded the chamber at the tunnel's end into a large cavity capable of storing huge amounts of fuel.
Dozens of timber supports held up the ceiling, preventing premature collapse.
"One hundred thirty jars of fire oil. Hm. That should be enough."
After counting the supplies delivered from the rear, the commander signed the transfer document and ordered the engineers to move everything into the underground chamber.
Everything was ready.
Vig gave the order to ignite it.
One brave engineer tossed a torch into the chamber before rapidly retreating from the tunnel.
The flames spread quickly.
Temperatures inside the chamber rose drastically.
The supporting beams crackled and groaned under unbearable strain.
Finally, after the hundreds of supports had burned through enough to lose structural integrity—
the wall collapsed catastrophically with a thunderous roar.
Before the defenders could react, an entire section of Rennes' stone wall gave way, sending immense clouds of dust into the sky.
When the dust settled, a gigantic breach had appeared in the northern wall.
The stone wall and towering fortification were simply gone, replaced by a chaotic mountain of rubble.
"Well done!"
Thousands of Vikings erupted into deafening cheers.
Vig immediately issued orders:
The Axeguard would assault the ducal palace
The two mountain infantry battalions would attack the warehouses and military barracks
The First and Second Infantry Regiments would clear enemies from the walls
The remaining troops would secure all four city gates and prevent enemy escape
"Follow me!"
Receiving the order, Douglas raised his battle axe high and led over three hundred roaring axe infantry up the rubble slope.
Once inside the city, they advanced rapidly through the streets, ignoring scattered resistance.
Following the intelligence service's maps, Douglas reached a sprawling estate in western Rennes.
Twenty soldiers carrying a battering log smashed through the gates.
Inside the courtyard, more than a hundred guards hastily formed ranks.
Spears protruded through shield gaps like a patch of deadly thorns.
"Throw spears!"
The Axeguard hurled two volleys of throwing spears.
Then Douglas charged directly into the enemy formation.
His two-handed axe came crashing down.
The shield before him shattered instantly, splinters flying everywhere.
The axe blade continued downward without slowing, cleaving deep into the shoulder and neck of the soldier behind it.
Douglas kicked the dying man aside and swung toward another defender.
Enemy spears struck futilely against his heavy armor, unable to inflict any harm.
Under Douglas's lead, the axe infantry crushed all resistance within the ducal palace.
Unfortunately, during the chaos, one soldier accidentally hacked down the Duke of Brittany.
They failed to capture him alive.
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