Building a Viking Empire with Modern Industry-Chapter 83: Market Correction

Currently, King Aethelred of Wessex was alongside his Ealdormen, including the Earl of Chester, who had regrouped with the western levies at the Welsh border where they were currently inspecting the crumbling Roman walls.

They were inside the royal pavilion within the encampment, where they were discussing budget allocation for the ongoing refurbishment that had already been dragging on for a total of fifteen days at this point.

While going over preparations for a new tax levy to pay for the stone, a courier rushed into the tent with dire news in hand.

"My King, I am sorry for the intrusion, but the market volatility is urgent!"

Seeing the distressed expression on the courier’s face, King Aethelred calmly responded to his uninvited appearance.

"What news is so grim that you would interrupt my fiscal council?"

Noticing the unfriendly gazes of the Ealdormen gazing upon him, the courier instantly gulped his saliva while finding the courage to report the grave situation back in the North.

"The Frankish Crusade has failed. Grandmaster Pierre and his heavy cavalry... they have been liquidated at the Battle of Titan!"

Aethelred’s expression turned ashen as he heard the shocking news; he was not expecting the premier military force of Europe to be delisted so quickly. However, right when the King was about to speak, the courier spoke up once more.

"There’s more..."

King Aethelred composed himself in a manner befitting a Chairman of the Board before giving the courier an order.

"Continue..."

As such, the courier continued to tell the full content of the news he had received.

"Prince Aethelwold has issued a trade embargo against the Directorate, declaring their goods contraband. In response, Director Ragnar has issued a ’Notice of Hostile Intent’ and is marching his army south upon Nottingham to force the Kingdom of Mercia to open the roads, intending to audit Winchester personally."

The courier then reported the message Ragnar had sent out across the realm, and the frown on Aethelred’s face turned to a weary grimace as he spoke his thoughts aloud.

"The boy clearly knows Aethelwold has overstepped his authority and is acting in a way to leverage a better contract, but so be it. If he actually has the physics to crush the Franks and put down the ensuing chaos, I will have to renegotiate. As for Mercia... Earl of Chester, you keep the men here. We will let King Burgred absorb the hostile takeover attempt. I will reward you dearly if you can keep the Welsh from raiding our assets while I return to the capital to fire my son!"

The Earl of Chester bowed respectfully to King Aethelred before accepting his request, though it would be difficult as the Welsh raiders were numerous; he must perform the duty for the sake of the Kingdom and the solvency of the Crown!

"It will be done, my King!"

With that, the stage was set for a series of massive "corporate mergers" within England; as such, Wessex was now severely limited in its ability to intervene in the north.

Though it was not as if the other Kingdoms were in any better of a position.

After all, the entirety of the Heptarchy and the regions in the immediate vicinity had become embroiled in panic since the fall of the Frankish heavy cavalry.

...

King Burgred of Mercia was currently in a similar position as King Aethelred; he was currently holding the strategic bridge at Nottingham, which acted as the gateway to the Midlands.

It was the primary trade hub for the region, and as such, he sought to defend it to tax the traffic.

He currently stood within his tent reading the letter from Ragnar which declared his "Bad Faith" status against the Mercian Crown, and his official intent to conduct an audit. In his other hand was a secret letter from a "disgruntled Saxon Lord" in York (who was actually Leif the Lesser).

After reading the contents of both letters to his Thanes, he left it up for discussion as to how they would proceed. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Throughout the entire conversation, King Burgred remained calm; luckily, his greed was on his side, as he thought the Vikings were exhausted.

In the secret letter, it was written that Ragnar was blinded by hubris and had marched a very poorly maintained army onto Nottingham, leaving City Titan completely defenseless.

The letter claimed that the "Heavy Assets" Division had suffered catastrophic armor failure against the Franks and that their "Lucerne Hammers" were broken scrap metal.

It added that the "Saxon Resistance" would welcome a liberator if one were to show up at the gates of Titan.

However, the goal was to hold Nottingham; after all, if Burgred abandoned it now, he would lose the toll revenue.

However, due to how poorly defended Titan appeared from the spy’s description, Burgred could not help but take the bait; as such, he decided on a course of action while his Thanes were screaming at each other with how to proceed.

"Earl Godwin, I want you to take a quarter of our army the men with the fast horses and flank the Vikings. March on City Titan and secure the industrial district. You should not face any resistance now that their ’Director’ is distracted; we will make sure that bastard Ragnar and his loathsome machines have no factory to return to!"

With that said, Earl Godwin grinned from ear to ear with a wicked smile; he would now be able to ransack the legendary workshops of Jernheim and seize the secrets of the velvet loom for himself; this was also his chance to capture Gyda, whom he had desired to ransom back to her father.

As for the "Industrial Corps," he planned to burn their pension records.

Thus he was more than happy to accept the offer as he bowed before King Burgred.

"You can count on me, my lord. I will bring you the blueprint for the blast furnace."

With that, King Burgred’s armies were severely weakened overnight as a quarter of them would soon march into a trap Ragnar and General Bjorn had prepared.

Godwin was completely unaware that he would soon be facing the "Titan Garrison" a reserve force of 1,000 men armed with Torsion Spikes and barricaded behind ferro-concrete pillboxes.

As for Burgred, he had greatly weakened his position, completely unaware that Ragnar was marching with his full force not to fight a traditional battle, but to conduct a "Product Demonstration."

Whether or not King Burgred survived the ordeal was determined by how much trust he placed in the obsolete chainmail Ragnar had sold him the previous month.

In a single move, the false intelligence had greatly weakened the position of Ragnar’s enemies, all while Ragnar and his army were marching down the macadam road to lay siege to the bridge of Nottingham.

One thing was certain: the Market Correction for England had just begun, and it would become a short and brutal audit with an expected profit margin.

After all, both the King of Wessex and the King of Mercia were currently operating on a deficit of information, where anything could happen, and assets were easily liquidated.

Ragnar rode at the head of the column, watching the rain bounce off his matte-grey armor. He turned to General Bjorn.

"General, did the Earl take the bait?"

Bjorn lowered his telescope.

"He split his forces, Director. Two thousand men are riding north. They think the factory is empty."

Ragnar adjusted his visor, hiding a cruel smile. "Excellent. Notify the Reserve Garrison. And as for us..."

He looked at the bridge of Nottingham, where Burgred’s men stood clad in the rusty, second-hand armor Ragnar had sold them.

"...we have a return policy to enforce."