With the fall of Orléans, the Franks lost the last major settlement along the Loire River.
The towns farther upstream had populations of fewer than two thousand and lacked stone walls, making them easy targets.
Vig's strategy was on the verge of success.
June 12
Envoys arrived from Paris to discuss a ceasefire.
Vig's response was cold.
"There's nothing to discuss."
"Our two kingdoms are separated by the English Channel. We are natural enemies."
"Even if we signed a peace treaty today, war would break out again sooner or later."
"Rather than leave centuries of conflict for future generations, we might as well settle everything now."
The envoy attempted to bargain further.
Vig could not be bothered.
He ordered the Royal Guards to throw the man out.
Orléans lay roughly 120 kilometers south of Paris, a march of four to five days.
Concerned that Charles the Bald might attempt to retake the city, Vig personally remained there.
Until the walls were fully repaired, he had no intention of campaigning elsewhere.
During this period of rest, he sent the river fleet farther upstream to prepare for future operations.
The Loire was not particularly suitable for navigation.
As a result, the inland fleet contained no cogs or deep-draft seagoing vessels.
Every ship was a longship powered by oars.
To support river warfare, Britannian shipyards had designed a specialized vessel.
Its draft was only one meter deep.
It carried fifty rowers and mounted a medium-sized ballista on both the bow and stern.
With a range of two hundred meters, the weapon could smash through the hulls of smaller boats.
After two minor naval engagements, the Frankish river fleet suffered heavy losses.
The surviving vessels fled into tributaries and marshlands, avoiding battle entirely.
June 20
News reached Orléans.
Italian reinforcements had crossed the Alps and arrived in Marseille.
Forces from southern Francia were also gathering.
Rumor claimed their commander was none other than Duke Gunnar of Zaragoza.
Vig showed little surprise.
"So he finally came back."
The Vikings occupied Normandy and Gunnar's former stronghold at Caen.
Had their positions been reversed, Vig knew he would have marched north as well.
"Very well."
"We've been entangled for most of our lives."
"Let's settle everything once and for all this year."
With a decisive confrontation approaching, Vig sent out even more scouts.
Boival and over twenty surrendered minor nobles also proved useful, helping gather and analyze intelligence.
After compiling reports from every direction, the estimate became clear:
The southern coalition numbered around thirty thousand men—
the absolute limit that southern Francia and Italy could sustain.
Marseille
As commander of the southern army, Gunnar was busy reorganizing his forces.
He divided the thirty thousand men into six corps:
Four infantry corpsOne mounted infantry corpsOne cavalry corps
The army's composition was a nightmare.
Men spoke multiple languages.
No single authority could easily command them all.
Corps and battalion commanders were chosen by the nobles themselves rather than appointed by Gunnar.
The logistical situation astonished him even more.
Over sixty percent of supply support came from monasteries.
Studying the accounting records, Gunnar suddenly understood why so many kingdoms suffered weak finances.
"Vig doesn't carry this burden."
"His treasury is in far better shape than Charles the Bald's."
"Britannia alone fielded fifty thousand expeditionary troops."
"If he ever conquered Francia, he could probably support a field army of one hundred thousand."
From mid-June through late June, Gunnar struggled to piece together a functioning command structure.
As more troops and supplies arrived, he turned his attention toward the campaign route.
Intelligence from the north painted a grim picture.
The Vikings controlled the Loire.
From Orléans all the way down to Nantes, Viking ships moved freely, severing communications between Paris and the south.
"The garrisons of Tours and Orléans were complete idiots."
"Especially Orléans."
"The second-largest city in West Francia after Paris—and it lasted only a month?"
Gunnar cursed Count William of Orléans.
In his opinion, William belonged in the same category as the infamous "Lost General" Boival.
Charles the Bald had entrusted armies of ten thousand men to fools.
After that, losing the Battle of Dunwo would have been inevitable.
With the Loire lost, there was only one viable route.
The southern army departed Marseille and marched northward along the Rhône River.
To the west lay the Massif Central.
To the east stood the Alps.
Gunnar knew Vig would likely anticipate this route.
There was a strong possibility that the Vikings would attempt to intercept the southern army before it could join forces with Charles.
"If this campaign fails, the greatest share of the blame belongs to William."
Late June.
The army marched north along the Rhône.
After twelve days, they reached the confluence of the Rhône and Saône Rivers.
The broad river valley was fertile enough to sustain such a massive force.
Following two days of rest, Gunnar continued north along the Saône.
Rumors suggested the Vikings had left Orléans and were marching south along the Loire.
Their exact location remained unknown.
At the same time, Charles the Bald realized the southern army's predicament.
He led twenty thousand field troops out of Paris and marched south.
If the northern and southern armies could successfully unite, there might still be hope of turning the war around.
July 5
Vig faced two choices:
Attack Charles's northern army.
Attack Gunnar's southern army.
He currently commanded 43,000 men.
If he could catch either force before they united, the war would effectively be over.
Comparing the two targets:
Charles was the weaker commander.
However, he had spent nearly a year leading his troops.
The northern army possessed stronger cohesion and organization.
Gunnar's army was larger.
Gunnar himself was an exceptional commander.
But his army was a patchwork of contingents from different regions and peoples.
There had not been enough time to weld them into a unified force.
Vig smiled.
"A hastily assembled army will always move slowly."
"Old friend, you've brought this on yourself."
He gathered his commanders and completely revised the marching plan.
Soon afterward, more than forty thousand soldiers departed the Loire.
They marched eastward toward the Saône River, one hundred kilometers away.
As the three armies drew closer to one another, the intensity of scouting operations exploded.
Eastern European nomads continued arriving at the front.
Vig's ranger force now approached two thousand horsemen.
They moved like the wind, appearing and disappearing unpredictably while hunting isolated Frankish scouts.
Whenever they found themselves outnumbered, they immediately withdrew and sought support from cavalry or mountain infantry.
Unlike knights, nomadic horsemen had none of the aristocratic obsession with honor.
If they couldn't win—
they ran.
It was an instinct passed down through generations.
Recent clashes showed an exchange ratio of roughly 1 to 1.8 in favor of the rangers.
Their scouting range and efficiency surpassed that of the Franks.
Combined with support from mountain infantry, it was only a matter of time before Vig located Gunnar's position.
And once he did—
he intended either to defeat Gunnar...
or kill him.
July 10
A ranger platoon leader named Santan submitted an urgent report.
His unit claimed to have located Gunnar's main army.
The matter was too important to trust a single report.
Vig immediately dispatched additional ranger units to verify the sighting.
The moment the location was confirmed—
the entire army would move.
—------------------------------
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