The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Martin was captured and bound. Mountain said, "Martin, which is the first castle in the Westerlands that Euron plans to attack? What are his specific attack plans? Will the attack be during the day or night? What day will it begin?"

"...My lord Duke, I don't know... I don't know anything... I have no contact with Euron..."

Mountain looked at Lord Osgrey: "Lord Osgrey, perhaps we need to use torture."

*

Lord Osgrey was unwilling to use torture on Martin, knowing he was innocent. From Crackclaw Point onwards, Lord Osgrey had lost his freedom, tightly controlled by Mountain. He first realized his 'weakness' in the Foote tribe of Crackclaw Point. After returning to the Westerlands and witnessing the increasingly powerful Clegane forces, this feeling intensified.

In the port, there was a Clegane mixed mercenary force of two thousand men, equivalent to the number of the former Seagull Company. This mercenary company became the most active in the port, and anyone needing to hire warriors preferred the Clegane mercenary corps: the Warblade Company. The commander of the mercenary corps was Big Chiswyck. He was not in the Warblade Company's port barracks but in Clegane's Keep. This force was not his direct line of soldiers, but it did not affect the prestige of the mercenary corps.

The name "Warblade Company" originated from Big Chiswyck's rise to power. Street thugs were all children from poor families, many orphans and vagrants. Because they were poor, they couldn't afford good swords, let alone armor. They mainly used cleavers, hatchets, short knives, daggers, and other bladed weapons, hence the name Warblade.

In fact, the Warblade Company controlled the port and was as close as brothers with the Lannister naval warriors. A significant portion of the naval warriors were Big Chiswyck's former brothers. This group had been the main force of the Seagull Company. After Big Chiswyck led dozens of men to conquer the Seagull Company, they all honored Big Chiswyck as their commander. Later, Big Chiswyck was imprisoned by Lord Osgrey and sentenced to death, the Warblade Company disbanded, and a significant portion of the Seagull brothers joined Lord Osgrey's naval fleet and became naval warriors.

For these brothers, Big Chiswyck was their former boss, their commander. After Big Chiswyck returned to Lannisport, he quickly became the uncrowned king of Lannisport, and the centurions of the naval fleet were all close friends with him.

Lord Osgrey saw very clearly that Big Chiswyck controlled the port of Lannisport in both tangible and intangible ways. He dared not reveal any dissatisfaction and had to maintain his mask of authority in front of Maester Bancroft, not daring to speak of the 'contradictions' and 'control' between himself and Mountain.

Lord Osgrey's dilemma stemmed from Mountain being too powerful, and Kevan Lannister having to rely on external forces to deal with Mountain.

The Westerlands belonged to the Lannister family, not the Clegane family!

Kevan wanted to use Euron to get rid of Mountain, and Euron wanted to use Kevan to enter the royal palace. The two hit it off. Kevan told this secret to Lord Osgrey, who could not reveal it to Mountain because he was also a Lannister.

However, the blood mage's prophetic abilities made Lord Osgrey restless. He had to follow Mountain's plans. Mountain was already wary and could kill him with just one punch.

In addition, Lord Osgrey knew that Jaime had already brought Princess Myrcella Baratheon back to King's Landing by ship from Dorne. For Lannisport, for his daughter Rosamund, for himself, and for the Lannisters, Lord Osgrey had to first comply with Mountain and then seek opportunities.

However, Lord Osgrey dared not ask what Mountain had seen in his prophecy. Did Mountain see the prophecy of Kevan secretly ordering Osgrey to cooperate with Euron to kill Mountain? Osgrey didn't know, which made him anxious and fearful, caught in a dilemma.

Complying with Mountain meant siding against the Lannisters, who controlled the royal palace; complying with the Lannisters meant facing the powerful and invincible Mountain, who could eliminate him at any time and seize Lannisport.

Mountain's suggestion to torture Martin was deliberately intended to make Lord Osgrey do something that would harm the Lannister family, so as to destroy his path back to the Lannister family in the future. However, Lord Osgrey did not hesitate because he knew he had no choice. All the nobles of the Westerlands were witnesses: Osgrey was forced by Mountain's power and it was not his intention.

*

Lord Osgrey ordered Martin to be whipped. With the first lash, Martin's facial features twisted; with the second lash, Martin screamed; with the third lash, Martin began to curse... Whipping was a professional skill of the executioner, and no one had ever survived more than ten lashes.

The person being punished wore only a thin shirt and trousers! Each lash left bloody marks, and the force of the whip penetrated the body, tearing the skin.

Martin was hung in the hall and subjected to whipping, a punishment that had not been used for a long time.

Martin's maester was pale and did not dare to come forward to stop it or argue reasonably. His servants were angry but dared not speak out. Mountain's power was such that, with Lord Tywin dead, who dared to restrain Mountain? At least among the nobles of the Westerlands in the hall, no one dared!

Mountain's presence silenced all the nobles who felt uncomfortable, and they held their breath.

By the fifth lash, Martin had fainted.

Mountain said, "Martin is indeed a good young hero, a tough guy who would rather die than betray his father. I have always admired Martin and Prime Minister Kevan, but they should not collude with Euron to invade my Westerlands. Although the Westerlands no longer has a Westerlands army, it still has the Clegane army. To protect Casterly Rock from being looted, Kevan should not offer our castles to Euron. Lord Osgrey, Martin is loyal to his father and Casterly Rock, and we cannot get any useful information from him. Since he would rather die than comply, then let him go. He is still a child."

Releasing Martin was in line with the wishes of many nobles.

Martin was indeed still a child, and the nobles also had doubts about whether Euron would actually attack the Westerlands. Kevan was the Prime Minister, so if Euron wanted to become an official in the royal palace, shouldn't he be trying to please Prime Minister Kevan? Why would he dare to invade the Westerlands? Prime Minister Kevan had no reason to let him rob the Westerlands.

It didn't make sense! It was unreasonable!

But everyone was afraid of Mountain's power and reputation, and no one dared to stand up to object, and no one dared to voice their doubts. Mountain might kill someone for just an unfriendly look.

The Westerlands had no capable people!

Lord Osgrey was wondering how to save Martin when he heard Mountain say to let him go, which was exactly what he wanted: "Lord Duke, since Martin won't say anything, perhaps he doesn't know the exact time of Euron's attack. It's better to imprison Martin first, and we have to sit down and discuss carefully how to fight Euron."

The nobles echoed in agreement!

Mountain glanced at the nobles who were agreeing, all of whom were Tywin's former loyal subjects. It seemed like there were many people, but in reality, there were not many noble families. The majority were silent.

*

Westerlands, Sunset Sea.

Three hundred warships were arrayed in formation, like black ghosts in the black night.

The seawater lapped against the shore, and the warships surrounded a group of islands—not far from the mouth of the Mander River, in the territory of the Reach: the Shield Islands.

The Shield Islands were the collective name for four islands: Green Shield, ruled by House Chester; Grey Shield, ruled by House Grimm; Oak Shield, ruled by House Hewett; and South Shield, ruled by House Serry.

If the Ironborn attacked Highgarden by sea, they would pass the Shield Islands and enter the Mander River, going upstream to Bitterbridge. The four islands were the first line of naval defense for Highgarden, considered to be four shields preventing the Iron Islands from raiding the Mander River region.

Along the coastlines of the four islands, watchtowers were built around the islands. The watchtowers had beacons on top, and the warriors of the four great houses in the watchtowers maintained vigilance day and night, following ancient traditions. As soon as they saw longships, they would light the beacons on the watchtowers, allowing the message to be transmitted from one hilltop to another, from one island to another, so that the four great houses on the islands and the villages and castles on the coast could prepare.

At the mouth of the Mander River, House Tyrell of Highgarden had dispatched the most valiant warriors and the best navy to garrison both sides of the mouth, and had built ports to dock warships, in order to protect the mouth of the Mander River.

For seventeen years, the mouth of the Mander River and the four great houses outside the mouth had never encountered an attack by the Ironborn. The four great houses on the islands and the Highgarden navy in the port had become complacent, and forgetting war was dangerous. The Highgarden navy and the noble soldiers on the Shield Islands had forgotten the history of fighting the Ironborn.

Three hundred Ironborn warships formed the Greyjoy family's most powerful naval fleet: the Iron Fleet! The Iron Fleet was led by Victarion Greyjoy, the second younger brother of King Balon, who had been murdered by Euron.

Victarion was the most powerful naval force among King Balon's hundreds of warships. Before Euron returned, Victarion was the core force of the Ironborn navy. After Euron returned, Victarion had competed with his brother Euron for the Seastone Chair. Victarion's combat power was the strongest among the Ironborn, and his prestige was extremely high, but he still failed, losing to his second brother Euron.

Victarion had the bravest warriors, the most powerful warships, the strictest discipline, and the support of his fourth brother Aeron.

The fourth brother, Aeron Greyjoy, was the high priest of the Ironborn, the high priest of the Drowned God, and his prestige among the Ironborn was second only to King Balon. Balon gave the best Ironborn fleet to Victarion for management. He was the most powerful and had the support of the high priest, who was like a god in the eyes of the Ironborn, but he still lost to Euron Crow's Eye. Most of the nobles of the five island groups voted for Euron Crow's Eye.

At the Kingsmoot, Euron Crow's Eye poured white, yellow, and shiny gold and silver, as well as various beautiful jade and pearls, onto the stone steps, dazzling the eyes of all the Ironborn.

Whoever was willing to vote for Euron could get boxes of gold, silver, and beautiful jade, becoming rich overnight.

There were a total of three people participating in the competition for the Seastone Chair. The first was Euron Crow's Eye, the second was Victarion, the commander of the Iron Fleet, and the third was Balon's eldest daughter Asha Greyjoy.

When Euron kicked boxes of money in front of Victarion, Victarion gave up participating in the election. He understood that he had no way to defeat Euron's wealth. The famous commander of the Iron Fleet chose to follow Euron Crow's Eye and cast his vote for Euron Crow's Eye.

Victarion's sudden 'defection' made Asha, who was determined to seize the Seastone Chair, powerless to recover. During the election, Asha left Pyke on the pretext, leading her loyal fleet to flee quickly, accompanied by her younger brother—the true heir to the Seastone Chair, Theon Greyjoy.

With Euron's character, after obtaining the Seastone Chair, the first thing he would eliminate would be Asha and Theon.

Asha and Theon escaped quickly. After the Kingsmoot ended and Euron Crow's Eye obtained the Seastone Chair, he ordered the Ironborn to arrest Asha, only to find out that Asha had already escaped by boat.

Euron ordered a pursuit, but Asha's ship had already escaped far away and could no longer be caught up.

After Victarion pledged allegiance to Euron Crow's Eye, he received dozens of boxes of gold, silver, and various priceless beautiful jade. He became rich, and his warriors also became rich with him. After Victarion became rich, he purchased the most sophisticated weapons and armor for his warriors and installed new rams on the warships.

The rams were several meters long, made of pure steel, just like the fangs of giant beasts. Once they hit an enemy warship, it would basically be destroyed and the crew would be killed.

Victarion armed his three hundred warships and was ordered by Euron to lead the fleet to attack the Shield Islands in the night, then take the port of the Mander River, destroy the Highgarden navy, and then advance east along the Mander River, plundering all the way, deep into the belly of the Reach.

Victarion's combat power was astonishing. The Iron Fleet he led was the only legion that dared to be fully armed in naval battles. In naval battles, it was most taboo to be fully armed because once you fell into the water, it was a dead end.

Daring to be fully armed, wearing neat armor, was not only courage but also the confidence of certain victory. Victarion himself was also fully armed, wearing a double-horned helmet and carrying a heavy axe. His soldiers mostly carried heavy axes and were extremely brave.

On the four islands of the Shield Islands, not a single beacon tower was lit. The Ironborn, surrounded on all sides, landed and killed their way into the castles of the four great houses under the cover of the night and the sound of the sea, slaughtering all the way, unstoppable. Many people were killed by heavy axes in their sleep.

House Chester of Green Shield, House Grimm of Grey Shield, House Hewett of Oak Shield, and House Serry of South Shield were massacred by the Iron Fleet led by Victarion. The commander of the Iron Fleet ordered that all men except the women of the four great houses be killed.

When the castles on the four islands were set ablaze, the naval barracks on the coastline of the mouth of the Mander River were alarmed, and dozens of warships in the harbor were alarmed. The soldiers on the shore put on their armor and lined up, and the naval soldiers boarded the ships one after another. Dozens of warships were arranged in battle formation, but instead of retaking the four islands, they were arranged at the mouth of the sea, blocking the waterway for the Ironborn navy to enter the Mander River.

Victarion and his soldiers gathered the noblewomen of the four island-guarding families in House Chester's castle on Green Shield, drinking and making merry, reveling all night long, completely disregarding the Highgarden navy in the port.

Their laughter echoed throughout Green Shield and reached the shore.

At the same time, Euron personally led more than seven hundred warships to launch an attack on Lannisport in the Westerlands.

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