Starting with the destruction of the giant catapults built by the White Walkers, the next half month of war gradually turned into a battle of attrition, with the White Walkers consuming wights and the humans consuming resources.
Against the White Walkers’ attacks, as long as no catapults were involved, the humans would allow them to approach the Wall, then use ordinary arrows imbued with holy fire, Dragonglass arrows, and other ans to destroy the wights and White Walkers.
However, whenever fog began to form too close to the Wall, the humans would use their catapults to launch wildfire and firewood at maximum range, turning the area into a sea of flas. The fire would disperse the fog, denying the White Walkers any chance to build giant catapults nearby.
Faced with this almost shaless tactic, the White Walkers clearly had no way to counter it. Every day, they threw more wights into the fray. It was obvious that the White Walkers had not engaged in large-scale warfare in the Land of Always Winter for thousands of years; their understanding of war remained stuck in ancient tis, relying solely on the number of warriors to decide the outco.
In a way, they weren’t entirely wrong. Without Lynd’s appearance, the outco of wars in this world would still largely depend on the number of soldiers. A force of ten thousand facing a force of one thousand would almost certainly prevail—unless the commander was utterly incompetent, the troops were exceptionally poor, or a superhuman force like Lynd intervened. Otherwise, the smaller force would stand little chance of victory.
But now, things were different. Lynd had introduced equipnt, technology, and new thods of attack into the equation, making the number of soldiers less crucial than before.
Over the years, Lynd had continually refined various technologies for fighting White Walkers and wights, all to thoroughly suppress their advances—just as he was doing now—and he was still improving these technologies.
An arrow shot from his Dragonbone bow flew out. Empowered by the Storm Dragon rune, it t no resistance from the headwinds; instead, it was boosted by the rune’s wind force, soaring a trendous distance beyond what ordinary eyes could see, and struck a White Walker dead on.
The mont the White Walker was pierced by the Dragonglass arrow and shattered into ice crystals, the holy fire-enchanted Dragonglass arrowhead exploded into countless shards, piercing the bodies of over a dozen White Walkers and hundreds of surrounding wights, wiping them out in a single blast.
"It worked! The holy fire Dragonglass worked!" Stannis said with a hint of excitent after witnessing the destruction caused by the Dragonglass arrows imbued with holy fire through the newly developed telescope.
Benerro, lisandre, and the others nearby also smiled in satisfaction. Although they had initially been uneasy about Lynd’s research into combining holy fire with Dragonglass, that aversion had now completely vanished. To them, the holy fire Dragonglass arrows clearly demonstrated the power of the Lord of Light.
"The effect is excellent." Lynd turned to the alchemist in charge of the Ice Crystal Castle’s Secret Arts and asked, "How’s the production of these arrows?"
"With the current number of personnel in the Secret Arts, and using the latest engraving technique from the Black Cave, we can produce thirty arrows a day," the alchemist reported truthfully. "However, Your Grace could have the Black Cave process them directly and transport them to the Wall. If so, production should reach about two thousand arrows per day."
Lynd nodded and ordered the Secret Arts division to continue producing holy fire Dragonglass arrows for now. At the sa ti, he commanded the Black Cave to ramp up processing of these special Dragonglass arrows to ensure that every sharpshooter stationed at the Wall’s defensive points would be equipped with them as soon as possible.
Besides the holy fire Dragonglass arrows specifically designed to fight White Walkers, Lynd also tested all the weapons developed recently for dealing with wights. Although these weapons were effective, none proved as efficient as wildfire.
"Your Grace, news from Westwatch-by-the-Bridge." Just as Lynd and the others finished testing all the weapons and were preparing to leave the Wall, a Night’s Watch officer hurried over to report.
"Westwatch-by-the-Bridge?" Lynd paused for a mont, then imdiately took the letter from the officer’s hand.
Due to the White Walkers’ relentless attacks on the Wall, Lynd had nearly forgotten about Westwatch-by-the-Bridge, a vulnerable point in their defenses.
The letter was straightforward: Westwatch-by-the-Bridge had encountered a massive army of wights. However, the well-prepared God’s n had already used wildfire to blow open the ice on the Milkwater, exposing the river and sweeping away all the wights and White Walkers that had rushed into it.
At the sa ti, they had used catapults to launch wildfire at a group of White Walkers in the distance who were casting so sort of spell, successfully interrupting their magic and killing many of them.
Overall, the situation at Westwatch-by-the-Bridge seed stable for now, with no imdiate threat.
However, since the White Walkers had now realized that Westwatch-by-the-Bridge provided a way to bypass the Wall, they would surely stop at nothing to force their way through.
After nearly a month of battles, it had beco clear that unless the Horn of Winter truly had the legendary power to destroy the Wall, breaking through it by force was practically impossible.
Therefore, Lynd speculated that Westwatch-by-the-Bridge would soon beco the White Walkers’ primary target. Even more concerning was that across from Westwatch-by-the-Bridge lay the tail end of the Frostfangs, with higher ground and hilly terrain that the enemy could exploit, making defense even more challenging.
Lynd had always treated the defense of Westwatch-by-the-Bridge with utmost importance. From the start, he had stationed a full contingent of the Redemptions and Silent n there, later transferring a third of the God’s n from the Wall to reinforce it. With the additional deploynt of 500 Night’s Watch soldiers and 1,000 Free Folk warriors, Westwatch-by-the-Bridge now had far more defenders than any other point along the Wall.
Beyond just manpower, supplies were also abundant, especially wildfire, which had been allocated at nearly double the amount given to other defensive sites. This was what had allowed them to so easily blow apart the ice on the Milkwater and send hundreds of thousands of White Walkers and wights tumbling into the sea in one decisive strike.
Although Stannis and the others now believed that Westwatch-by-the-Bridge was sufficiently prepared and did not require more reinforcents or supplies, Lynd disagreed. He was convinced that the White Walkers would shift their focus to this weak point, so he still dispatched another army from the Seven Kingdoms to bolster its defense.
The news of the White Walkers advancing south to attack the Wall had long since spread across the Seven Kingdoms. After the initial shock and panic, the people quickly returned to their routines. They realized that the war, supposedly about the survival of human civilization, did not seem to affect them directly. Life continued as it always had; the battle was far away beyond the Wall, seemingly irrelevant to their daily lives.
It wasn’t just the common folk who thought this way. Many noble lords shared the sa view, so even believing that Lynd’s so-called "White Walker tax" was rely a clever sche to make money.
Compared to the White Walkers trapped beyond the Wall, the nobility was far more concerned about their future positions in the new Tarran Empire.
Ever since Lynd had announced during the Small Council that, following Queen Nyria and Queen Daenerys’s conquest of Slaver’s Bay, all territories would be unified into an unprecedented human empire, discussions about this new empire had beco the hottest topic not only in the Seven Kingdoms but also across the Free Cities of Essos.
For the nobility and lords, the future structure of the empire was their primary concern. What truly worried them were the rumors that Lynd intended to model the empire’s system after Sumrhall.
As everyone knew, the most distinctive feature of the Sumrhall model was the absence of lords—there weren’t even any knights. All the lords and knights in Sumrhall had been granted their titles in the past, and even those who held lands had seen their powers significantly curtailed. For example, Blackhaven and Wyl retained only the right to collect taxes; all other powers were controlled by Sumrhall. Even in the Stormlands, although lords technically retained the right to raise troops, the overall defense of the territory was firmly under Sumrhall’s control.
From the situation of these lords, it was easy to see that once the Tarran Empire was established, if it adopted the Sumrhall model, the rights currently held by the lords would inevitably be greatly diminished. At best, their position would be comparable to that of the lords of the Stormlands.
Thus, once the news spread, communication between the various territories of the Seven Kingdoms beca increasingly frequent. Nurous discussions unfolded in private chambers and secret gatherings among the lords. Yet no matter how much they debated, they could not co up with a viable solution to the problem.
In the past, they could have rallied armies to resist any system Lynd tried to impose, forcing him to maintain the current order. But now, they could find no grounds to justify raising armies and using force against Lynd, since the Tarran Empire had not yet been officially established and there was, therefore, no new system to oppose.
More importantly, they realized that even if they did form armies, they would be powerless against Lynd. His forces on the continent of Essos aside, the local army under Sumrhall’s command alone could sweep through the Seven Kingdoms without difficulty.
As a result, the lords turned their hopes toward the great lords of the Seven Kingdoms, wishing they would speak on their behalf and exert pressure on Lynd.
But they were destined for disappointnt. The first regions under Lynd’s direct control—the Crownlands and Dragonstone—publicly declared their willingness to support the future imperial reforms.
In the days following the Crownlands’ public announcent of support for the establishnt of the empire and its reforms, several major figures also ca forward to express their backing: Shireen Baratheon, Warden of the Stormlands and Lady of Storm’s End; Sansa Stark, Warden of the North and Lady of Winterfell; Tomn Lannister, Warden of the Westerlands and Lord of Casterly Rock; Mace Tyrell, Warden of the Reach and Lord of Highgarden; and Doran Martell, Prince of Dorne and Lord of Sunspear.
Two days later, Catelyn Tully, Warden of the Riverlands and Duchess of Riverrun, and Robert Arryn, Warden of the Vale and Duke of the Eyrie, also publicly declared their support for the imperial system.
Soon after, the Iron Islands, Bear Island, Oldtown, Greenstone Island, White Harbor, and other territories also announced their willingness to cooperate in establishing the new imperial system.
In no ti, the great lords willing to follow the Sumrhall model in building the new Tarran Empire beca the overwhelming majority. Even if so lords were still reluctant, no one dared to speak out at that point.
Especially after the news of the conquest of Slaver’s Bay reached Westeros, everyone understood that the creation of a vast empire was inevitable, and it would most likely be established once the White Walkers were finally defeated.
A strange sense of comfort and purpose spread rapidly across the Seven Kingdoms and even among the Free Cities of Essos. Everyone eagerly anticipated the founding of the new empire, and their attention once again shifted to the war at the Wall.
At that ti, Lynd also received a battle report from Slaver’s Bay. Although the outco was not unexpected, the process had been a bit more complicated than he had anticipated.
Nyria, leading the forces of the Kingdom of Lorne, attacked Yunkai, while Daenerys targeted ereen. Both campaigns went smoothly. With the aid of dragons—even though they were still young—the armies were able to breach the city gates swiftly. Furthermore, within both cities, a large number of slaves, unwilling to endure further persecution, acted as internal allies. As a result, it took only two days for both queens to capture the cities. At that ti, Lothor Brune, commanding the army of chosen soldiers and the Miracle Fleet, had just arrived at Astapor and begun the siege.
Originally, Lothor Brune had planned to take advantage of the downfall of the two slave cities to sow unrest within Astapor, weaken the slaveholders’ forces, and thus make the siege easier.
However, he had not anticipated that Nyria and Daenerys would imdiately free all the slaves after taking Yunkai and ereen, and begin holding public trials and executions of the slaveholders. Apart from a few who had relatively good reputations and displayed so semblance of humanity—who were allowed to survive and retain a small portion of their assets—all other slaveholders were executed without exception. Those mbers of their families who had committed cris were also put to death, while the innocent, such as young children, were sent to Great Moraq to help pioneer new settlents for the empire.
When news of what had happened in Yunkai and ereen reached Astapor, the slaveholders there, who had previously considered surrendering, imdiately hardened their stance. They killed any among their ranks who advocated surrender, slaughtered all slaves showing even the slightest hint of rebellion, abandoned any thoughts of capitulation, and resolved to defend Astapor to the death.
Realizing that taking Astapor would not be easy, Lothor Brune had no choice but to launch a direct assault.
Although he commanded the elite God’s Chosen army, had the support of the Miracle Fleet’s ballistae and catapults from the sea, and had an additional dragonrider unit ford by the Children of the Forest, ensuring overwhelming superiority, the defenders fought back with desperate ferocity. The slaveholders even resorted to using forbidden drugs that numbed their soldiers’ pain, boosting their combat effectiveness and causing setbacks during the siege.
It wasn’t until Daenerys arrived in person, bringing her three dragons to bear down on a section of the city wall and burning it open, that a breach was finally made in Astapor’s defenses.
Seeing that the city was lost and all hope extinguished, the slaveholders set fire to the oil hidden throughout Astapor, engulfing the entire city—and everyone inside it—in flas. In the end, only half of Astapor remained, a ruin.
Reviews
All reviews (0)