With their retreat now threatened, Lennard and the others panicked, shouting for an immediate withdrawal. Their noise rattled Ivar until he finally snapped:
"Shut up!"
At once, a sharp pain tore through his abdomen, cutting off whatever he meant to say next.
Lennard continued regardless.
"Your Majesty, we can't waste time! We must reinforce Tamworth—most of our grain is stored there!"
Unable to withstand the collective pressure, Ivar agreed to lead the main force to relieve Tamworth. This decision meant abandoning Seawulf, but there was no longer room for hesitation.
May 30, Morning
Ivar led 6,500 men out of Oxfordshire (excluding Seawulf's troops), retreating north along the road.
After one day's march, scattered Frankish scouts appeared along the roadside. Ivar sent cavalry to drive them off. Another day passed, and the number of Frankish horsemen increased. Several small cavalry engagements followed, with neither side gaining the upper hand.
By June 2, Frankish cavalry had achieved overwhelming superiority. Ivar's mounted forces dwindled rapidly, and his reconnaissance perimeter was steadily compressed.
When they reached the outskirts of Tamworth, only one-third of Ivar's cavalry remained—just 310 riders fit for combat.
Looking ahead, the brown bear banner of Gunnar fluttered atop Tamworth's walls. Outside the city camped 3,000 Frankish troops, half cavalry and half mounted infantry.
At that moment, a group of Royal Guards who had defected to Gunnar shouted loudly:
"Ivar! Your retreat is cut off! Surrender now! His Majesty promises not to kill you—he'll reassign you as an earl elsewhere!"
Ivar ignored the taunts. With Tamworth already in enemy hands, there was no choice but to continue withdrawing north.
After marching roughly twenty kilometers, the demoralized Viking army entered Repton. That night, the governor of Yorkshire slipped away with his militia without a word. A chain reaction followed—more soldiers deserted on their own, and the army's condition deteriorated rapidly.
The Next Day
"What do we do now?" Lennard asked his peers, seeing only faces as lost as his own.
They were trapped. The war was unwinnable, and even surrender seemed futile—Gunnar had no reason to spare these Viking nobles of questionable loyalty now that victory was assured. Better to redistribute their lands to his own followers.
After waiting more than ten minutes, Lennard asked a guard at the door:
"Has His Majesty still not risen?"
"N-no…"
The guard's panic unsettled Lennard. He rushed into Ivar's bedchamber and found him unconscious, sunk deep into the bed. The wound on his abdomen emitted a strong, metallic stench of blood.
Lennard turned to the elderly shaman tending the bed.
"How is he?"
The shaman replied,
"An old wound has reopened. There is nothing I can do. We can only hope for the gods' mercy."
Late into the night, Ivar suddenly awoke and ordered the guards to summon Lennard and the remaining nobles.
"Your Majesty—Lennard has fled!"
Ivar no longer had the strength even to curse. When Little Pascal and the remaining four great nobles entered the room, he endured the pain and spoke:
"In the end, it was my failure as commander. I lost to Gunnar and Æthelbald.
Write to Vig. Tell him to clean up this mess. Cough… Whether he becomes prime minister or king—I no longer care."
Once the scribe finished the letter, Ivar struggled to press his wolf-head seal at the end. He then ordered the nobles to add their own seals.
"So be it," he said quietly. "Perhaps he truly is the most suitable man to be king."
Tynemouth Castle
When news of Ivar's death arrived, Vig's mind went blank. For over ten years, Ivar had been his closest friend. But having chosen this path, Vig knew he was destined to walk it alone.
"Did he leave any last words?"
The messenger replied with reddened eyes:
"Before his death, His Majesty ordered us to retreat north to Nottingham. There are about four thousand men left. You should arrive as soon as possible—otherwise the number will keep shrinking."
After dismissing the messenger, Vig sat in the great hall until deep into the night, then summoned Jorunn, Nightjar, Thorgil, Viper, Bracken, and the other commanders.
"Pass the order," Vig said. "Tomorrow, we march south—to end all of this."
Jorunn nodded.
"As you command, my lord."
After a pause, he corrected himself:
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Since the first suit of gambeson armor came out of the smithy, seven years had passed. Hidden in warehouses across the land were about 5,000 suits of armor. Publicly, Vig also possessed 2,000 suits of various iron armors—scale, lamellar, and mail—mostly captured in war.
That made 7,000 suits of armor in total.
In terms of protection, gambeson was not outstanding. Its greatest advantage was its low cost.
As pig iron output from Stirling increased year by year and armorers grew more skilled, the cost of a single gambeson dropped to 0.65 pounds of silver (about 227 grams). By Ming-dynasty standards, that equaled roughly six taels of silver—still higher than native Ming gambeson, which cost about four taels.
By contrast, iron scale, lamellar, and mail armor cost at least two pounds of silver per suit. Vig simply lacked the resources to make iron armor standard issue.
"You don't need perfect weapons to fight a war," he said. "If it works, it's enough."
June 13
After four and a half months of training, Vig finally had a force fit for battle.
The original 8,000 soldiers were reduced by a thousand—the worst performers reassigned to garrison duty in the north and supply transport.
The remaining 7,000 troops were organized into:
Five infantry regimentsOne mountain infantry battalionOne heavy cavalry battalion (300 men)Two ranger cavalry companiesOne corps logistics battalionOne field medical companyOver 600 mercenaries
Each infantry regiment numbered roughly 1,000 men, composed of:
600 spearmen
200 archers/crossbowmen
One light infantry company for urban combat and reconnaissance, consisting of nine "mandarin-duck formation" squads
Despite being "light infantry," they were still issued gambeson armor.
Each regiment also included:
10 mounted messengers
10 medics
30 drummers and buglers
Over 60 support personnel (grooms, cooks, clerks)
40 supply wagons
Heavy cavalry consisted mainly of barons and knights, tasked with frontal shock attacks. Their horses were tall, powerful, and capable of bearing immense loads.
Ranger cavalry used soft bows, long arrows, fast horses, and light sabers—similar to Ming frontier scouts.
They wore a lighter gambeson with fewer armor plates, weighing just six kilograms. Their mounts were crossbreeds of Frankish and local horses—less explosive and weaker under load, but extremely durable, ideal for long-distance operations.
The 600+ mercenaries all came from Highland clans. After much arguing, they elected their strongest warrior as commander—a massive man named Douglas, tall, broad, and not especially bright-looking.
Their equipment was a chaotic mix: light shields, short swords, iron axes, light javelins, and even shepherds skilled with slings. Vig additionally provided 50 suits of iron armor for their leaders.
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