A few days after the last meeting in Riverrun, rows of Northern soldiers who were full of energy and high morale were preparing to go out at the temporary camp outside Riverrun.
During this time, Theon was leading the Iron Fleet, supervising the recently surrendered and renamed Northern Fleet, transporting the Western civilians who had been temporarily transported to the Iron Islands to the North.
Therefore, the actual strength of the northern army that can currently fight is around 25,000, with 2,000 left at Twins and 5,000 at Riverrun.
The original 2,000 guards of Riverrun, plus 16,000 northern soldiers, totaling 18,000 people, were divided into three groups of 6,000 troops to separately carry out operations to recapture Crowtree City, Stonehedge City, and Darry City.
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The commander-in-chief who recaptured Raventree was Earl Tytos. The one who recaptured Stonehedge was Earl Rickard, and the one who recaptured Darry City was Earl Jason.
The three earls chosen by Robb were all recognized by him and Brynden. They all have the ability to lead and the basic ability to judge the battle situation.
Brynden continued to sit in Riverrun, assuming central control and command responsibilities. The Winterfell heavy cavalry, which had been supplied by Casterly Rock and expanded to a thousand men, was left in Riverrun as a small ace.
Robb, on the other hand, seemed to see dangerous flames rising on his base because of the raven letter he received a few days ago. He was preparing to personally lead two thousand light cavalry from Winterfell's direct line to rush back to Winterfell to put out the fire.
Of course, based on the premise of such an army formation, it was the intelligence sent back by Little Jon and Eddard from the front. As expected by Robb, Tywin's army stationed troops at Harrenhal and moved all the roads south to the West.
blockade.
However, according to the intelligence obtained by Clay, another important reason for Tywin to make such a move in a short period of time is that,
Stannis, who had been preparing for war at Bitterbridge and continuing to recruit troops, led his army of nearly 40,000 men and began to move towards King's Landing.
Robb has already communicated this situation with Brynden in detail in advance. If the reconnaissance cavalry confirms it, Tywin's army will leave Harrenhal and return to King's Landing.
Then, Brynden led all the troops in Riverrun to join the three armies that had regained the lost land in the Riverlands, and attacked Harrenhal and other western army strongholds with all their strength.
Take this opportunity to pull out all the nails left by the Western Army in the Riverlands.
If Tywin chooses not to return reinforcements, then it depends on whether King's Landing's thousands of gold robes can stop Stannis's 40,000-strong army.
In the past few months, the situation in Westeros has been changing rapidly. Now, it is Tywin's turn to make this dilemma.
"Set off!"
Robb, who was riding on Bloodwind, waved his hand heavily and loudly ordered at the same time. At the temporary camp outside Riverrun City, 20,000 soldiers lined up neatly, divided into four teams, and went in different directions.
…
Blah, blah!
A large rowing warship with sails shining golden in the sun and a canvas patterned with a flaming stag sailed outside the Whispering Bay of the Sunset Sea.
Directly south of Whispering Bay are the Arbor Island and Redwyne Strait. This sea area happens to be the dividing line between the Sunset Sea and the Summer Sea.
Davos stood on the deck of this large rowing warship named 'The Wrath', frowning very intently and observing the sea situation. Although the journey from the Summer Sea went very smoothly, he always had a feeling in his heart.
A dull feeling of uneasiness.
On the left and right sides of the Fury are two large rowing warships that are only slightly smaller than it, named "Sea Deer" and "Duke Stephen" respectively.
These three rowing warships, which are obviously high-end in size and configuration, are the three leading flagships of Stannis's royal fleet.
Behind them, ten rows were lined up, with twenty warships in each row also carrying the flag of the flaming stag, following them in a mighty manner, directly occupying the entire sea.
The royal fleet originally had only one hundred and sixty warships, and the other forty warships were composed of pirates recruited by Davos, Salladhor Saan, and other mercenary fleets from the Narrow Sea and Myr.
Their ships are of various types,
There are everything from rowing warships to ordinary sailing ships, sailing ships, and flat-bottomed boats.
More than half a month ago, Stannis, who was preparing for war in Bitterbridge, received a letter from the Florentine family in Brightwater City asking for help.
As his queen's family, it was also the first family that gave him the greatest support in the beginning. Publicly and privately, he needed to send troops for rescue to show his kingly demeanor.
Since the land route had been blocked by the two castles of Highgarden and Horn Hill, Stannis immediately ordered his wife's brother, Yimri Florent, and Davos to lead all the fleets to rush to the rescue.
It was a long journey from Shipwreck Bay to Whispering Bay. After Stannis completed his army reorganization at Bitterbridge and expanded his army, he slowly led his army towards King's Landing. He planned to surround King's Landing first and wait until his fleet helped Brightwater City relieve the siege. At the same time, from
Attack by land and sea.
Moreover, besieging a city is the most testing of people's hearts!
There are nearly half a million civilians in King's Landing, but only a few thousand golden robes guard the city. Stannis thought that maybe when Davos and his fleet came to King's Landing, the Red Keep was already filled with his flaming stag flag.
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"Signal them to lower the sails and slow down!"
As the royal fleet sailed into the inner sea of Whispering Bay, Davos's feeling of uneasiness became more intense, and he issued his own orders to the crew around him.
Davos's order, along with the flag of the Fury, spread throughout the royal fleet. This mighty and menacing fleet immediately lowered its sails and slowed down.
Peng!
The Sea Deer on the left side of the Fury slowly approached, and a springboard was set up from the Sea Deer to the Fury.
"Deputy Commander Davos, we can reach Brightwater City in one more day of sailing, but now you are asking the entire fleet to lower the sails and slow down? Now, you'd better give me a reasonable explanation!"
The commander of the royal fleet, Yimri Florent, passed the gangplank from his flagship and jumped onto the deck of the Fury in a few steps. He spoke loudly to Davos in a tone that clearly suppressed his anger.
"Commander Yinmrui, our original plan was to pass through the Old Town, transfer to the Honey Wine River, and finally go directly to Liangshui City.
Not far away is Old Town, which is one of the most important ports in the Seven Kingdoms and its prosperity is second only to King's Landing."
After Davos saluted Yimri very politely, he pointed in the direction of the old town and said.
"So what? What exactly do you want to say?"
Looking at Davos who was typing riddles for him, Yinmrui felt that his anger was about to reach its peak.
"There are no ships! Commander Yinmrui. From the time we entered Whispering Bay to now, we haven't seen a single merchant ship.
How could such a situation happen in a bustling port like Old Town! There must be something wrong with this."
"Is there a problem? If there is any problem, you should tell me!
Then let's start our return journey now and tell His Majesty Stannis that because we didn't see any ships in front of Old Town, we felt there was something wrong, so we came back.
Is that okay? Davos? Sears!"
After hearing what Davos said, Yinmrui couldn't control his emotions and yelled at him angrily.
The other crew members on the Fury saw the two fleet commanders arguing and looked down at the deck, fearing that they would get angry for no reason.
"That's not what I meant, Commander Yinmrui. I..."
"Okay, I don't want to hear anything more from you! Davos, I have tolerated you for a long time."
Davos originally wanted to continue explaining, but was interrupted by Yin Muri, who was blushing and thick-necked with anger.
"When we passed through Qingting Island and Redwin Strait before, you also said there was something wrong. We docked and waited for two or three days. Was there any problem?
His Majesty Stannis values you so much that he promoted you, a smuggler, to the rank of deputy commander of the fleet, and also gave you command of his Fury. Please don't betray his trust.
Our Florent family has been besieged by 20,000 Highgarden troops for more than half a month. If there is any problem with this rescue operation, you cannot bear the responsibility."
Yin Muri was very excited. He spoke loudly while walking to the front of Davos. At the end of his speech, he stretched out his right hand and poked Davos's left side hard several times with his right index finger.
chest.
Davos was poked by Yimri and took two steps back. He wanted to say something more. But after hearing the word smuggler, he pursed his lips and looked down at the deck beside him, and said no more.
"From now on, the Fury no longer has command authority. All commands follow the signals of the Sea Deer."
After venting his anger, Yin Murui, who felt calmer, glanced around and issued his orders to the hundreds of crew members of the Fury.
"Yes, Commander!"
Upon hearing this, the crew of the Fury quickly saluted and replied.
After this small episode, the Haile took the lead and sailed at the forefront, and sent a signal to the Royal Fleet behind it to advance at full speed. The entire Royal Fleet set sail again and headed towards the old town in a mighty manner.
The royal fleet sailed at full speed for only half a day before arriving at the once most prosperous port in Westeros, Old Town.
The most conspicuous thing in the old town is a tall tower built on an island, with a blazing flame burning at the top day and night. Its name is Towering Tower, and it belongs to one of the most powerful noble families in the Reach.
The home of the Tarr family.
The towering tower serves as both a castle and a lighthouse. It is the tallest building in the entire Westeros continent, even taller than the Great Wall. Residents in the old town can tell the direction of the shadow cast by the towering tower.
time of day.
Since the towering tower stands right at the mouth of the Mead River, the royal fleet needs to go around it and enter the inland channel of the Mead River.
When the Royal Fleet entered the Old Town port area, Yin Murui also clearly felt something was wrong. The entire Old Town was too quiet, as if all the people and ships in this lively city had disappeared.
But the royal fleet has already entered, and Yin Murui can only bite the bullet and command the Haile and continue to move forward.
Peng!
The Hailu was preparing to detour from the left side of the towering tower. Suddenly, the Hailu seemed to hit a rock. The whole ship suddenly shook violently and could not continue to move forward.
Woo!~~
A penetrating horn sound sounded. Countless soldiers appeared on the walls of the towering tower. They held bows and arrows and fired blazing rockets at the Royal Fleet below.
At the same time, directly in front of the Royal Fleet, hundreds of small rowing warships hidden in the port area appeared, heading towards the Royal Fleet.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
There was no need for the Hailu to send a signal. The sentries on the masts of the royal fleet's large and small warships immediately sounded the alarm loudly.
"Don't panic, order the oarsman on the left to stop and put the Fury across the water. Everyone else is in position, loading the deck ballistae, adjusting the direction of the trebuchet, and getting ready to attack!"
On the Fury behind the Sea Deer, seeing that there was indeed an ambush, Davos grabbed a young crew member next to him, shouted loudly to stop the commotion of the crew, and issued battle orders in an orderly manner.
Seeing how calm Davos was, the crew of the Fury calmed down and acted according to his orders.
The Fury was once the flagship of Stannis. It was a large rowing warship with three hundred oarsmen and three decks.
Its deck is covered with a ballista on both sides, and an adjustable trebuchet is placed at the bow and stern.
These small rowing warships of the Hightower family, bearing the emblem of the Towering Tower, quickly approached the Haile. Taking advantage of the cover of the soldiers on the wall of the Towering Tower, they directly threw out the ladder with hooks and forcibly landed on the sea.
Deer number.
"Because it's a small boat and its draft is relatively shallow, so it didn't encounter any ambush in the water?"
Davos had been observing the situation of the Sea Deer. He whispered to himself, feeling that the Fury had adjusted its direction, and immediately gave a loud order,
"The ballista target is the enemy in front of the Haile. The trebuchet target is the enemy on the castle. Start attacking!"
Rest, rest, rest!
Ballistas are different from giant crossbows. What they fire is not arrows, but steel spears with a terrifying sound of breaking through the air.
Bangcha!
A steel spear with powerful kinetic energy accurately hit a small rowing warship. Wood chips suddenly flew away. The steel spear penetrated directly through the bottom of the warship. Sea water rushed into the warship through the hole.
.
This is true for warships attacked by ballistae, let alone human beings. Those who were unlucky enough to be hit by steel spears had part of their bodies disappear in an instant and became no longer complete.
Hoo, ho!
The two trebuchets at the front and rear of the Fury, after adjustment, began to hurl burning asphalt barrels at the enemies on the walls of the towering tower.
This was originally used to deal with other warships, but the ballistae had no angle to attack upwards, so Davos could only use the trebuchet to suppress the enemies in the towering tower.
However, the effect is surprisingly good!
These barrels of burning asphalt, which were thrown parabolically by trebuchets, began to sprinkle hot asphalt in the air. The soldiers on the towering tower were caught off guard and were directly doused by the hot asphalt falling from the sky.
ah!
!
Suddenly, shrill screams came from the towering tower.
Not to mention the high-temperature burns caused by these asphalts, they are also irritating and corrosive, and can easily cause injured soldiers to go into shock and become infected to death.
The Sea Deer and the Duke Stephen are both large rowing warships equipped with two hundred oars. They are personally commanded. But now, the Sea Deer is forced to stop on the left side of the towering tower, while the Duke Stephen is on the left side of the tower.
Stop on the right.
But their warships were also equipped with ballistae and trebuchets. After the initial panic of being ambushed, they began to fight back.
The ambush battle in the Towering Tower became a little strange for a while. The party being ambushed began to fight against the party ambushing.
However, this is only temporary!
Blah, blah!
At the rear of the royal fleet, the pirate Salladhor Saan, who was wearing gorgeous clothes, looked at the entire inner sea of Whispering Bay with a dull look on his face.
At least two hundred and fifty warships were occupying his field of vision, heading unswervingly towards the Royal Fleet.
Among the two to three hundred warships, most of the warships bear the family emblem of "purple grapes on a blue background", and a few of them bear the towering tower family emblem of the Hightower family.
At the forefront of the fleet is a three-masted large-scale rowing warship with a gorgeous and majestic hull, three burgundy giant sails, and the paddles are painted gold and white. This is the flagship of the Redwin fleet, the Queen of the Pavilion.
Next to it is a large four-row oar warship no smaller than it. This is the flagship of the Hightower fleet, the Glory of Oldtown.
Hoo, ho, ho!
It was obvious that this large, strategic-level warship must be armed to the teeth. Before they even got close, a dozen burning asphalt barrels were thrown towards the royal fleet by their trebuchets.
It's really ironic. Just as the front of the Wang fleet attacked the enemy with this move, its comrades in the rear suffered the consequences of this move.
The second half of the royal fleet is mainly composed of small warships composed of pirates and mercenary fleets. They are unable to fight back against such long-distance attacks.
ah!
Oops!
Suddenly, screams broke out in the area being attacked, and the decks and sails of many small warships were ignited by the asphalt, and raging fires with choking smoke began to rise.
"Run, run away along both sides of the coast!"
Salado, who has been working as a smuggler, maritime trader, mercenary, pirate and other various professions all year round, knew the outcome of this naval battle at a glance. He raised his voice and gave the escape order to his crew members in the loudest voice.
Salladhor's ship, the Valyrian, was actually a large rowing warship with three hundred oars.
But he never thought about engaging in a head-on battle. He took several of his direct warships, turned their bows, and escaped from the left and right sides along the coastline of Old Town.
The more than thirty mercenary fleets from Myr in the Narrow Sea were not blind. When they saw Salladhor escaping, they also followed their example and fled in droves.
In a scene like this with hundreds of warships fighting in a melee, it might not matter if a few warships escape. But with nearly forty warships escaping at the same time, this target is a bit too conspicuous.
A signal was sent from the Qingting Queen, and thirty warships were sent out from the left and right wings of this huge combined fleet, and they began to pursue and intercept the nearly forty warships that had escaped, with the attitude of annihilating them all.
Blah, blah!
Check!
As the distance continued to shorten, the Qingting Queen directly and heavily collided with a small warship of the Royal Fleet that was lying across the sea for defense.
The Qingting Queen's bow ram was deeply inserted into the middle of the royal fleet's small warship.
Leveraging its own powerful kinetic energy and weight, the Qingting Queen smashed the small warship into two pieces with a crisp sound.
boom!
After ramming the small warship, the Qingting Queen continued to ram into a large rowing warship of the royal fleet before stopping.
Peng, Peng, Peng!
The springboard with hooks was thrown down, and soldiers wearing Redwin family armor rushed toward the royal fleet warships.
"Tell them that those who are willing to kneel down to serve Renly II can live! Otherwise, they will be killed without mercy!"
On the bow of the Qingting Queen stood a fully armed man with droopy shoulders, a slim build, and only a few clumps of orange hair on his bald head. He was shouting at the soldiers of his family.
"As you command, Lord Paxter!"
These soldiers of the Redwyne family nodded and replied to Lord Paxter. They joined in the fight while shouting loyalty to Renly II and not killing him.
Not to mention, after shouting like this, partly because of the ambush and the large gap between the enemy and our forces, the demoralized soldiers of the Royal Fleet knelt down and surrendered.
Davos had already seen the rear of the Royal Fleet being attacked, but he had no time to care about it now.
When dozens of small warships of the Hightower family approached the Sea Deer and Duke Stephen, he could not continue to allow the crew of the Fury to attack because of fear of accidental damage.
At this moment, the Sea Deer and the Duke Stephen were engaged in a bloody and cruel boarding battle.
At the same time, the soldiers on the wall of the towering tower seemed to have finally prepared their defense equipment, including various trebuchets and giant crossbows, and started to use them one after another. The Fury alone could no longer suppress them.
No, if this continues, His Majesty Stannis's royal fleet will be completely destroyed!
This battlefield was extremely noisy, but Davos' thoughts were extremely clear. In his eyes, the entire battlefield seemed to slow down.
Finally, his eyes were fixed on the left side of the coast of Old Town, where thirty Redwine fleets were chasing Salladhor's Valyrian.
"Turn the ship around and prepare to retreat. Send a signal to all warships, and all those that can still move will break out towards the left side of the coast!"
"The captain ordered to turn the ship's bow..."
Following Davos's order, the Fury, which was already parked sideways, turned its bow relatively easily. At the same time, hundreds of oarsmen in the cabin shouted the chants and rowed hard. The Fury's speed
Start improving.
As soon as the conspicuous Fury began to move, on board the Glory of Oldtown, the handsome Ser Baelor Hightower, the eldest son and heir of Earl Leyton Hightower of Oldtown, immediately noticed its intentions.
"The target is the enemy's flagship. Move forward at full speed. Hit it and intercept it!"
After Sir Baelor turned his head and gave his order, the four rows of oars of the Oldtown Glory rowed at the same time, heading straight for the Fury at a very fast speed.
"The enemy ship is approaching on the right, the enemy ship is approaching on the right!"
Just as Ser Baelor discovered the Fury, the conspicuous Honor of Oldtown was also discovered by the crew of the Fury, who loudly reminded Davos.
But there was nothing Davos could do. If he was stopped in such a situation, he would basically lose the chance to escape.
"Prepare for boarding battle!"
Davos looked at the rapidly approaching Glory of Oldtown, pulled out his long sword from his waist, and prepared to be loyal to His Majesty Stannis and fight the last battle of his life.uuReading www.uukanshu.com
Peng!
The collision angle of the Oldtown Glory penetrated directly into the middle of the warship, and the two warships shook violently due to the collision.
Davos on board the Fury seemed to have thought of something when he looked at a large rowing warship from the royal fleet that suddenly stood in front of him.
The violent shaking gradually calmed down. The warship that collided with the Old Town Glory,
A young man who looked somewhat similar to Davos climbed up from the deck and shouted to Davos on the Fury: "Father, leave quickly!"
"Mathos, no, come here quickly. Let's leave together!"
Looking at his son, Davos immediately shouted loudly, and at the same time stretched out his left hand, as if he wanted to catch him.
However, the Fury was not intercepted, and with the oarsmen's increasingly smooth rhythm, it quickly moved away from the two warships that collided with each other.
"No!"
Watching his son from a distance, drowned in a group of Hightower soldiers, Davos burst into tears and collapsed on the side of the Fury.
The chaos on the sea in Old Town lasted for a long time. Nearly three hundred warships attacked each other. Warships were constantly being burned by flames, and lives were constantly lost in this battle.
The pirate Salladhor created a loophole in the encirclement of the Redwyne fleet and the Hightower fleet. Davos escaped with the Fury and more than twenty Royal Fleet warships.
Although Stannis's fleet was not completely wiped out, it was basically unable to compete with other large fleets and withdrew from the competition for maritime hegemony.
At the same time, due to the failure of the rescue, the city of Brightwater, which was besieged by Randyll Tarly, was in danger. Stannis, who had accepted the remnants of Renly and was in a good situation, saw his strength plummet.