A huge fleet was galloping on the coast with sails hung. This was more than half of the entire Scottish Kingdom's military strength, and was far beyond the reach of "Snake Eyes" Sigurd.
Moreover, compared with Sigurd's fleet, this fleet maintained a subtle sense of discipline in its movement.
The master of the fleet is Ragnar Lodbrok's second son, "White Shirt" Halfdan. He rules the entire Scotland.
Unlike all other pirates, he never wears armor, but always wears a white coat. He always holds a book in his rough big hands. You can always see him flipping through the books carefully.
According to the attendants around him, this book has not been changed in several years.
He had just received news that Alfred's fleet was far behind because of its slow speed. Someone suggested that he slow down the ship and let Alfred's fleet take the lead.
Now, the entire fleet is in absolute silence, waiting for Halfdan's decision - he is quietly flipping through the book in his hand, just like a philosopher. When he is thinking, no one is allowed to make a sound.
.
"Waiting for the allies is fear, fear is a stain, and I will not tolerate stains."
"But sir, according to the information we have received, the one stationed in Zealand is the shield girl who defeated Sigurd. She has the protection of Valkyrie and can turn an impossible war into a possibility..."
"Valkyrie? A type of protection I have never heard of. However, any protection does not matter - the favor of Baldr, the God of Light, can protect me from any magic damage!"
Having said this, Halfdan's eyes flashed with greed.
"I heard that she comes from the Seven Hills Empire... that is the most developed civilization on the entire continent. And that Ella is from the royal family there, and is a treasure that cannot be compared to any gold! Let her fall in Hestein, or
In the hands of my father, they are all wasted things! Only I! Only I know her value!"
There was a cage beside him, as delicate as a bird cage and as huge as an animal cage.
"We must capture her alive...I will keep her in this birdcage, feed her with my own hands, and let her sing psalms to me every day."
"Capture alive... what about the other Zealanders?"
"Sealand... barbarians, trash, garbage! Even if I use them as slaves, they will stain my clothes. Just dispose of them like garbage."
While talking, the fleet arrived near Sifor. People on the ship shouted happily: "Sifor! It's Sifor! We are back in Scandinavia!"
"Scandinavia...are you still nostalgic for this remote country?"
Halfdan's words silenced everyone. Someone carefully replied: "Boss, after all, this is where we grew up..."
"Except for the place where I grew up, this place is nothing!" Halfdan roared irritably. "It's cold, barren, and people die every day trying to snatch prey. It's just a broken place! Your vision cannot be limited to this land!
You have to set your sights on those fertile, civilized lands, that’s where you should be excited! Go plunder their resources, or seize their land directly! This is what you should do!”
"Oh... I shouldn't be as irritable as a savage." Halfdan sorted out his emotions and started to read the book in his hand again. "Wisdom... can always calm my emotions."
After sailing forward for some distance, the people on the boat clearly saw that the place where the city was supposed to be was shrouded in thick black fog, as if a thousand years of darkness had gathered on this day, and nothing could be seen.
True.
They knew that this was Sigurd's magic. Although it still took about ten minutes to reach the area where the black mist gathered, the ships all invariably moved their bows away for fear of accidentally touching the unlucky ship.
Black fog.
Halfdan looked at the black fog from a distance, thinking deeply.
"Filth... there are always thousands of conspiracies beneath the filth. Let's get closer and find out."
"This... Sir, Sir Sigurd's black mist will make people fall asleep when it touches it. We should stay away..."
"So, we have to get closer to investigate. Remember this wise saying - filthy people like to hide in the darkness where light cannot reach."
Under Halfdan's order, four or five small boats broke away from the fleet and moved towards West Fore. After a while, the five boats came back one after another and reported to Halfdan that they had searched all nearby places.
, I didn’t see anything unusual. If I search further, I will enter Sigurd’s black mist.
"Don't take chances. Since that royal family can defeat Sigurd, it is likely that there is a way to avoid the erosion of the black mist. Wisdom can illuminate all darkness and penetrate all subtleties. Moreover, the terrain ahead is narrow, so we must not take it lightly."
At Halfdan's insistence, the ship carrying him sailed towards West Fore. They moved forward until they could no longer move forward, and the black mist was like an insurmountable high wall, blocking their way.
before.
"The filthy magic used by my stupid brother can only cover the eyes of mortals. However, the light of Balder, the God of Light, can drive away all filth."
Halfdan opened his hands, and a burst of light far whiter than his clothes exploded in front of him. The powerful light defeated the black fog in Sigurd, and for a moment, the sky in Siful was as clear as ever.
The warm sunshine penetrated the chaos and finally shone on the earth. In the distance, the crowing of a rooster was heard.
However, the sea area was still empty and there was nothing.
Halfdan was a little disinterested:
"It seems that I overestimated the wisdom of that royal family. If it were me, ambushing an army in this black mist, and then suddenly appear when the enemy enters the narrow sea area ahead, and attack from front to back, maybe there would be a trace of
A chance for the weak to defeat the strong.”
"I know the terrain here well. There is no place ahead that is more suitable for an ambush than here. Since there is no ambush here, it seems that the royal family is preparing to defend Zealand. It was a stupid act made out of cowardice, which completely tainted wisdom.
——Wisdom puts clothes on, and since she doesn’t, there’s no need for her to wear clothes in the birdcage.”
Under Halfdan's order, the entire fleet began to move toward Zealand with confidence.
Another fleet suddenly appeared ahead.
They were heading towards Halfdan's fleet, but when they saw Halfdan from a distance, they suddenly turned around and ran away in a hurry.
"It's the enemy's fleet! The number is much lower than ours!" Someone shouted excitedly, "It's their misfortune! They collided with us directly! Let's catch up!"
"No... Although it is slightly worse than this, there is still a place with narrow terrain ahead. It is also possible that the other party deliberately gave up here and chose the latter in order to make us take it lightly."
Halfdan separated part of the fleet to prepare them to meet the enemy coming from behind, and then cautiously sailed into the narrow area in front. However, until he completely passed through it, he still did not find the enemy's ambush.
The enemy fleet kept fleeing.
"There is no longer a suitable place for an ambush ahead. The whole team gathers and pursues at full speed!"
Halfdan issued such an order.
They were led into the third strait - a sea area that was wider than the previous two. There was a delta in the middle of the sea area, and two sea routes branched out in front.
At such a three-way intersection, encirclement from the front and rear will not have much effect, because Halfdan can have the fleet evacuate from the third sea route at any time. And if there is an encirclement from three ways, Sealand's limited military strength will only be
Just make it easier for Halfdan to break through from one of them.
Compared with the first two straits, the Sealand people's advantage in fighting here will be much reduced. Coupled with Sealand's huge disadvantage in numbers, even if they successfully double-team, they will definitely not be able to defeat Halfdan.