Boival picked up a stick and sketched a rough outline of Orléans in the sand by the river.
"Orléans' walls are tall and sturdy. There are already three thousand defenders inside, and once they receive warning, the number will increase."
To demonstrate his value, Boival deliberately exaggerated the difficulty of taking the city before pointing the stick toward the northeastern corner of the "city."
"Two years ago, Orléans suffered a long season of autumn rains. The foundations softened, and one of the northeastern towers along with the nearby wall partially collapsed."
"Count William hired masons to repair it."
"I know one of those masons. Greedy man. His only strength is that he talks well and knows how to fool employers."
"That section of wall definitely has problems."
"If Your Majesty uses torsion ballistae or trebuchets and pounds it for a few days, I guarantee the wall will collapse."
After hearing him out, Vig asked:
"Building large trebuchets takes a month or more."
"Why not dig tunnels? That would be simpler."
Boival continued drawing in the sand.
"Someone figured out how to counter tunneling."
"Dig deep trenches outside the walls to block the tunnels."
"Send men underground to kill the engineers."
"Or flood the tunnels."
"Orléans has enough manpower to do all of that."
So quickly?
Vig had expected this tactic to remain effective longer.
Yet in less than a year—
people had already developed counters.
He paced the riverbank for a long time before deciding to accept this mediocre but useful Frankish noble.
May 4
The Viking army reached the outskirts of Orléans.
Rangers spread out to scout.
They discovered that nearby villagers had already evacuated.
Grain and livestock had been taken away.
Conditions remained unclear in the forests east of Orléans and along the southern bank of the Loire.
There might be a major enemy force hiding there—
or merely scattered scouts.
Vig shook his head.
"No."
"You're letting yourselves be frightened."
"The Frankish main force isn't hiding in those woods."
"Charles the Bald doesn't have the courage to fight me in open battle."
After taking Angers and Tours, Vig had gathered plenty of intelligence.
Charles possessed only around twenty thousand field troops.
Reinforcements elsewhere were still assembling.
Italian forces moved slowly—
likely not even across the Alps yet.
May 5
The Siege of Orléans began.
With ample manpower, Vig attacked from east, north, and west simultaneously, ordering both tunnel excavation and construction of large trebuchets.
From a distance—
the defenders could be seen digging deep trenches outside the walls.
Boival had not lied.
Tunnel warfare might truly be becoming obsolete.
At the same time—
Vig sent mountain infantry into the eastern forests to eliminate scattered Frankish forces.
In small engagements, the Mandarin Duck formations consistently crushed equal numbers of Frankish troops.
Their efficiency was remarkably high.
After two days—
the forests north of the river had been cleared.
No ambushes appeared.
May 20
One of the western tunnels was discovered.
Both sides fought underground in the cramped and suffocating passage.
Eventually the tunnel had to be abandoned.
Soon afterward—
other tunnels were uncovered as well.
To avoid detection, Viking engineers were forced to dig deeper and reduce noise.
Excavation speed slowed dramatically.
June arrived.
Trebuchets were completed one after another.
Engineers slowly rolled them forward and began bombarding the walls.
"Fire!"
The command tore through the morning mist.
Engineers slammed wooden mallets into the release mechanisms.
Huge throwing arms snapped free and whipped skyward.
Stone shot screamed through the air and crashed toward the city walls.
Within seconds—
stones struck parapets.
Fragments scattered like rain.
Clouds of gray dust rose into the air.
The Franks answered immediately.
Stones launched from inside the city arced over the walls and slammed into Viking positions.
Boom!
One projectile landed beside a trebuchet and buried itself deep in the mud.
Mud sprayed everywhere.
Several soldiers wiped grime from their faces while cursing—
yet kept turning the heavy winches to prepare the next shot.
Because trebuchets used high-arcing trajectories—
accuracy remained low.
Both sides loaded, pulled, released—
again and again.
As time passed—
more machines came online.
Eventually over twenty trebuchets concentrated fire on the tower Boival had mentioned.
Day after day—
from dawn until dusk—
stone rained down endlessly.
The tall tower gradually began to fail.
Every impact shook its structure.
Dust drifted constantly from its surface.
Then—
one dull afternoon—
another stone smashed into its already damaged middle.
Something finally gave.
The tower suddenly collapsed inward.
Its upper section lost support and crashed down into the city.
The adjacent wall—
already heavily damaged—
gave way as well.
The earth seemed to tremble.
The enormous crash swallowed every sound of battle.
Dust exploded outward.
Wheeeeeee—
A piercing assault whistle sounded.
Douglas's Axe Guard and one mountain infantry battalion charged first.
Soldiers carried four-meter ladders, laying them across the moat.
But once they approached—
they discovered the ditch had already been half-filled by collapsed stone.
The ladders barely mattered.
Using the rubble slope—
the Axe Guard and mountain infantry surged into the city.
Their objective:
the Count's manor.
Behind them came two eager Eastern European infantry regiments.
Poor discipline.
Poor organization.
Their only real purpose—
wearing down defenders.
By four in the afternoon—
the manor had fallen.
Defender morale collapsed.
Some escaped by boat upstream.
Others fled across the floating bridge to the southern bank.
Watching the fleeing crowd—
the river fleet could do nothing.
A massive river chain blocked passage.
Only after securing the southern wall did the Vikings operate the giant winches and lower the chain beneath the water.
The fleet sailed forward and docked at the harbor.
Orléans had fallen far faster than expected.
Supplies inside the city had not been evacuated or burned.
Captured grain alone could feed the Viking army for two months.
There were also enormous stocks of:
Wine
Textiles
After the textile industry in Flanders suffered devastating decline, many textile workers moved inland into Frankia.
Orléans benefited greatly.
Nearly forty percent of its labor force worked in textiles.
Vig inspected the captured cloth.
Quality was comparable to old Flemish goods.
Britannia's textile industry had improved rapidly.
Output and quality had already surpassed former competitors.
Unfortunately—
Britannian goods lacked access to continental markets.
Otherwise—
they would have crushed Frankish textile production long ago.
He inspected the remaining workshops.
Other industries fared no better.
Rising literacy.
The introduction of Patent Law.
Royal support.
Together, these drove technological advancement—
which fueled commercial prosperity.
Britannia had only 2.7 million people—
yet collected more tax revenue than West Francia's five million.
—------------------------------
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