The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 554: War (8) Sinking Ships

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*

“In my judgment, Euron will not attack Clegane Village again,” Jeyne said.

Everyone looked at each other!

“General Jekar's raven message said that Euron is continuing to march towards us, but I judge that Euron will divide his forces tonight and retreat,” Jeyne scanned the room.

Everyone quieted down, many with doubt in their eyes.

Jeyne said slowly: “My lords, Euron already knows our strength. He must have heard of the Clegane Legion's invincibility before the war, but he still came to invade. This shows that Euron simply does not believe that the Clegane Legion's combat power is as strong as rumored. Lannisport will soon be completely recaptured by His Grace, cutting off his retreat. Our heavy cavalry and elite cavalry have also terrified his soldiers. If he really wants to advance to Clegane Village for a decisive battle, he will be attacked from both sides and be doomed. No one will choose to continue on a dead end, neither will we, nor will Euron. Nor will his generals. If Euron continues, his generals will definitely dissuade him.”

The doubts in the hearts of the nobles and generals were resolved by Jeyne, and everyone nodded in agreement.

“My lady, since Euron no longer has the will to fight, why don't we take the initiative to attack and wipe him out?” Aiven Lyverly, the young lord of Golden Tooth, was eager to try.

“We can indeed take the initiative to attack, but this will put us in a dangerous situation. Once Euron knows there is no retreat, his thirty thousand soldiers will inevitably fight to the death, and we will sacrifice many soldiers, only to achieve a pyrrhic victory. The wavering, timid, and dissenting soldiers under Euron have almost all fled. The remaining thirty thousand soldiers are Euron's loyal legions. If these people have a way out, they will not fight desperately. When they leave in multiple directions tonight, we should not stop them. After they pass, we will ambush them, and we will win a great victory, and we will not sacrifice the lives of many soldiers.”

Lord Osgood and Maester Bancroft finally put away their deep-seated contempt for Jeyne, and the Westerland nobles and generals' admiration for Jeyne arose spontaneously.

Jeyne's analysis cleared up everyone's doubts, making everyone see the problem clearly.

Sansa Stark's eyes flickered. She really did not expect Jeyne's military talent to be so outstanding. Jeyne had already demonstrated her talents in medicine, history, noble history, agriculture, casting, poetry… and other aspects in front of her. Lady Jeyne's strategic military talent was the first time Sansa had witnessed it. She seemed to see her brother Robb Stark commanding a large army to win hundreds of battles in the rumors.

Jeyne said: “Lady Sarrett, I want you to lead two thousand infantrymen to ambush in the dense forest on both sides of the Gold Road. If Euron's legions pass by, let them pass, and then ambush them.”

“As you command, my lady!” Lady Sarrett no longer doubted Lady Jeyne's ability. She decided to truly submit to Clegane from this moment on, and advance and retreat with them, and revitalize the Westerlands together after the war.

“Lady Farman, Ser Follard Prester of Feastfires, the two of you, lead two thousand soldiers to ambush near the Roseroad. If Euron's soldiers pass by the avenue and move westward, let them pass, and then ambush them.”

“As you command, my lady.” Lady Farman and Ser Follard Prester bowed together.

Lord Garrison Prester of Feastfires was fighting abroad, leaving his cousin to guard Feastfires and act as the acting lord.

…………

The Westerland nobles received their orders and led their troops to the designated locations to ambush. Jeyne had set up a net in all directions, east, south, west, and north.

Aggo, Jory, Rorge, Shagga, Conner, Timett, Brienne… and other direct Clegane infantry generals watched as the Westerland lords walked out of the hall full of fighting spirit, but the lady did not arrange any tasks for the Clegane generals.

Shagga was the first to couldn't bear it: “My lady…”

“Shagga, Conner, Timett, Qylla, Gunthor, Aggo, Brienne, Jory… all of you, prepare yourselves. Tonight, Euron's main force will come to attack Clegane Village to cover Euron's real retreat.”

“Mother, which road will Euron take?” Jory said, “Our horse archers hope to catch him.”

“Jory, no one knows which road Euron will take. Maybe he has several doubles, maybe Euron will appear on every road, and even the real Euron is likely to attack Clegane Village, and then take advantage of the chaos to take the Gold Road, cross the Red Fork River and enter the Riverlands, and then go south to King's Landing. I cannot know which road the real Euron will take. Tonight, whoever can catch Euron and make the greatest contribution will only depend on everyone's luck.”

When the generals heard this, they were relieved, and everyone left to prepare for the great battle tonight.

Only Sansa felt that it was inappropriate: Since Euron let the legions retreat from the four directions of southeast, northwest, his main force will definitely protect Euron from leaving the Westerlands. Then, the one who comes to attack Clegane Village will not be Euron's main force.

The lady is so shrewd, is she deliberately giving the credit to the Westerland nobles, or is she letting the Clegane soldiers have a good rest to preserve their strength?

Jeyne announced the crime of Kevan colluding with the Iron Islands in front of all the nobles in the Westerlands. This shows that Jeyne and the Mountain simply think that Kevan is not to be feared, and they don't take the Lannister branch forces in Lannisport and Casterly Rock seriously. Is this because Prime Minister Kevan has no legion? Or is it because Lord Osgood cut off Martin's head, causing the Lannister split?

Sansa had doubts in her heart, but she was cautious and careful, keeping all the questions in her stomach, and would never let Jeyne feel the slightest bit.

*

Lannisport, about five thousand infantrymen surrounded the lord's main castle.

Inside the main castle were the Ironborn infantry's holy man: the blind high priest Baelon Blacktyde. After Euron's whereabouts were unknown, Baelon became the most important high priest for the Ironborn to communicate with the Drowned God. In the team, there were also some drowned men who had been baptized. Their weapons were driftwood sticks, and their armor was gray robes.

The Mountain stood on the stone wall of the main castle, with soldiers all over the city wall, and did not open the door to go out and fight the Ironborn, pirates, and drowned men.

The east gate had returned to the hands of the Ironborn. The fifty soldiers stationed at the east gate and Reynard and Foulmouth had withdrawn to the north city.

The north city was a poor area, full of garbage and dilapidated small shacks, a place where thieves and criminals hid. People with a little money would not go to the north city. After Euron occupied Lannisport, the north city only sent a small scout to take a look.

Reynard and Foulmouth went to the north city, and the Mountain's thousand cavalrymen who entered the east gate had completed their established task.

There were eight hundred elite infantrymen in the north city, all of whom were locals from Lannisport, and most of them came from the north city. When Reynard and Foulmouth arrived in the north city, the eight hundred soldiers had become more than three thousand people.

The soldiers told the people in the north city to set fire to the port in the west city and rob the property on the warships. Whoever robbed it would be theirs. Therefore, in a short period of time, more than two thousand people gathered in the north city, both men and women.

Throughout Lannisport, after Euron led his army into the city, the people in the north city hardly left their homes. Anyway, they had nothing and were not afraid of the Ironborn and pirates robbing them.

Reynard and Foulmouth led this ragtag legion straight to the west city port.

The port was filled with nearly a thousand warships, densely packed, densely packed.

Only a small number of soldiers and sailors were guarding the warships.

Reynard and Foulmouth led their troops to appear, and the soldiers on the warships were shocked and quickly blew their horns, wuwuwuwuwu, wuwuwuwuwu…

The warships' distress horns resounded throughout the west city and throughout the city.

The Ironborn garrison at the east gate and the Ironborn soldiers surrounding the lord's main castle heard the emergency distress horns. Soon after, several warships in the port were set on fire.

The warships filled with the port could not move to avoid the fire. The remaining soldiers and sailors rushed to the outermost warships, jumping from one ship to another, hoping to row away as many ships as possible before the fire destroyed all the warships.

The soldiers besieging the lord's main castle immediately retreated!

The warships contained all their belongings: looted wealth and legion wealth, food, all the necessities of life, wine, cider… light armor and weapons! The warships were their homes, their everything.

On the east gate, the Ironborn and pirates abandoned the gate in a roar. Each warship was the captain's life. Among the five hundred people stationed at the east gate, three were captains.

The ship was everything to the captain; the city was not, and the city gate was even less so.

If the warships were burned, destroyed, or sunk, they would not only have no way out, but also many captains' life's work, life, and soul were their ships.

With an order from the Mountain, the gate of the lord's main castle opened, and the cavalry poured out, chasing and killing the Ironborn, drowned men, and pirates who were running towards the west city.

The massacre began again. This time, the Mountain and his soldiers who harvested lives were even more merciless and handy.

Crackle, crackle, the fire soared into the air, and fireballs and black smoke rose from the port in the west city. Inside the main castle, High Priest Baelon released all the ravens, and then, with the help of the drowned man's assistant, he stabbed his throat with a short sword… The situation was over, the Euron legion could not conquer the Westerlands, and Euron could not save the warships… Euron failed to listen to Baelon's warning. He believed that the high priest could not see the prophecy, but could only help the Ironborn enter the Watery Halls, help the Ironborn pray to the Drowned God and send the departed Ironborn into the Watery Halls, while in military affairs, Euron never thought that a blind high priest could understand…

Baelon did not understand military affairs, but he could assess the situation, he had his own premonitions and warnings from the Drowned God…

It was a pity that his warning failed to save Euron!

The Mountain rushed to the front, Ice and Red Smoke recklessly harvested the lives of the Ironborn, pirates, and drowned men who had no intention of fighting. He rode in front, followed by everyone, advancing together from several streets. Even without the fire disrupting the Ironborn's morale, the Ironborn were actually no match for the Mountain in a frontal battle.

Only this kind of pursuit and massacre is the most enjoyable!

Cold light flickered, one sword divided into two. The Mountain ran like flying, killing people like hemp. When many centurions were cut in half by the Mountain, some Ironborn and pirates chose to kneel and surrender. The only ones who refused to yield were the drowned men who used driftwood stick weapons.

People with faith are always firm and unyielding!

It was just that their firmness could not stop the Mountain's Ice greatsword from sweeping across.

Kill! Kill! Kill!

The whole city echoed with the shouts of the Mountain and his cavalrymen.

The Ironborn, pirates, and drowned men retreated like a tide towards the west city. The Mountain, Big Head, Tobbot, Denson, Raff, and Polliver, the six main generals, rushed to the front, slashing wildly with their long swords. The Ironborn fell one after another, and screams resounded in the air… All the surrendered soldiers had all their weapons confiscated, tied up, and thrown on the street.

In the west city, the warships in the port burned with soaring fire. In the raging fire, the warships made crackling protests, but it was a pity that the protests were invalid!

The great fire started at the west gate port, and the Mountain did not attack the east gate, and the east gate was obtained without attacking; with a fire, the Mountain did not fight the Ironborn soldiers outside the main castle, and the Ironborn soldiers retreated without fighting.

A fire solved all the problems.

The Mountain and his soldiers then ambushed, chopping melons and vegetables, and chased and killed them happily. By the time they chased to the west city port wharf, only a small part of the enemies had not been killed.

Foulmouth and Reynard led eight hundred elite infantrymen to counterattack, and the infantry and cavalry attacked from both sides. The last batch of Ironborn, pirates, and drowned men fell one after another!

Some lucky Ironborn, pirates, and drowned men broke through the encirclement and ran to the farthest wharf, jumping onto the warships that had not been burned by the flames. They jumped from one warship to another, quickly escaping to the outermost warships.

If they escaped to the outermost warships, they could row away and save their lives!

The battle at the west city port ended quickly, and the fire reddened the entire west city. The ships in the port were burning with uncontrollable fire. On some ships, many sailors and soldiers jumped towards the outermost warships.

The Mountain rode Red Smoke and looked out at the harbor. Half of the harbor was on fire, and half was hundreds of warships that had not been affected by the fire.

The Clegane cavalry and infantrymen let out deafening cheers. Only the Mountain felt sorry in his heart. What good warships, it was a pity to burn them like this.

The Ironborn's warships were known for being narrow and long, while the pirates' warships were known for being large in size. No matter what form of warship it was, it was a pity to burn it.

He had to find a way to keep the other half of the warships. Hundreds of warships were a huge amount of wealth that could not be estimated. The Royal Navy only had dozens of warships. The most powerful Redwyne family of Arbor only had hundreds of warships.

And here, there were hundreds of warships still outside the fire.

The Mountain made a decisive decision and shouted: “Are there any warriors who are proficient in swimming?”

“Ho!” At least half of the soldiers roared.

The people and soldiers who lived by the sea could all swim, and many were proficient in swimming. Everyone was from the Westerlands, living by the sea, and there were no men who could not swim at all.

The Mountain drew his greatsword and said: “The fire is spreading, but there are still hundreds of warships that have not been ignited. We still have at least two hours to rescue some warships.”

Big Head looked at the warships burning fiercely near the coast: “My lord, do you have any ideas?”.

There were dozens of wharves, and the dozen or so wharves in front of them that stretched into the sea had not been affected by the fire. Hundreds of warships were still outside the fire, but they were blocked in the port. To save the warships, they needed to start moving the ships from the outside, otherwise, they could only watch them burn out.

However, the speed at which these ships moved would be very slow, and the speed of the fire was very fast.

If they couldn't think of any wonderful way, it was only a matter of time before the densely packed warships filled with the port would be burned out.

On the outermost ring of warships in the harbor, several began to rock. Ironborn sailors and warriors, having reached their positions, were frantically rowing away.

The Mountain leaped from the dock onto a warship and shouted, "Everyone, follow me! Breach the hulls of the warships near the fire, sink them! But be careful, don't get too close to the flames. It's too dangerous!"

Boom!

Infantry and cavalry alike jumped onto the warships, leaping from ship to ship, rapidly approaching the burning vessels.

On the docks, over two thousand citizens of the North City emerged, along with others venturing out from their hiding places within the city.

With the battle concluded, the Clegane men's victorious cheers echoed throughout the city. Their Western accents, shouting their triumph, gave the hidden citizens the courage to come out.

The Mountain stood on the deck, bellowing, "Pierce the warships, sink them, and use the sea to isolate the fire from the other ships! Citizens of the North City, help me sink these ships! Anyone who participates will receive three silver stags, half a sack of salt, and a short knife or sword."

Boom!

More than two thousand citizens of the North City swarmed onto the warships, wielding axes and hatchets.

"Soldiers, give your spare good knives and short swords to the citizens! Everyone together, breach the hulls, sink the ships, and stop the fire from spreading!"

Clang! Bang! Crash!

Around four thousand people scrambled across the warships, climbing, leaping, and swiftly approaching the fire zone. They quickly descended into the ships' holds, hacking away with axes and swords. In moments, they breached the hulls, and seawater surged in. They frantically enlarged the holes, the water gushing out as they retreated, scrambling back onto the decks and leaping to other ships to continue their work.

The act of puncturing perfectly good warships filled both citizens and soldiers with a strange excitement.

Destructive activities always invigorate, excite, and bring joy!

Polliver led his three hundred cavalrymen to the furthest reaches of the harbor, breaching warships to prevent the fire from spreading from the outer perimeter.

The Mountain stood on a warship, shouting commands. His voice, like thunder, carried clearly even to the citizens and soldiers working in the ships' holds. He ordered them to avoid the fire zone and to create as much separation as possible between the ships they were breaching. Once a hull was breached, they were to evacuate immediately.

Once a hull was breached, the seawater rushed in with astonishing speed. The fire spread rapidly, but the thousands of people worked just as fast. The Mountain's only worry was the wind direction, but it remained favorable, blowing towards the city. The wind's force was unable to move the densely packed warships. The anchors, sunk deep into the seabed, held the ships as steady as mountains.

Truly, it was heaven's help!

One by one, the well-built and valuable warships slowly sank into the sea, eventually swallowed by the deep water.

The fire raged, but the number of sinking ships increased rapidly. A distinct water line appeared, stretching from the distance to the shore, separating the fire and the warships, creating two distinct zones.

The hidden residents of the entire city emerged onto the dozens of docks. When The Mountain gave the order to cease breaching, thousands of people on the docks and warships cheered as one, as if they had won a tremendous victory.