Chapter 192: Four dragons arrive
"Aunt from a beautiful school!" Arthur couldn't help but praise the beautiful scene in front of him.
The beautiful Dany asked back: "What do you mean? Why don't I understand?"
Arthur made the young aunt's feet face up and started to attack before replying:
"Nothing, just a simple compliment to you."
Of course, he would not tell Dany that this sentence should be read backwards in Chinese.
According to the Dragon Queen's temperament, it would be fine even if she knew it. At most, she would praise Arthur for a long time.
The battle in the tent continued, but there was a different scene in the sky outside the tent.
A thick and extremely purple-gray comet, dragging a long star body, appeared in the starry sky.
Because of the attack of the comet, sometimes one or two drops of stars, sometimes several drops of stars, fell at the same time, causing the autumn sky that had never been explored by anyone to tremble slightly, and the entire starry sky seemed to be confused.
In the first half of the night, the comet was sliding through the starry sky. At the last moment, it suddenly shone a crack in the corner of the sky like a decisive battle, as if it pierced the eternal darkness, and penetrated and left some milky white light.
The afterglow faded, the dusk sky swayed a few times, and then wrapped up again. The quiet and lazy stars returned to their original positions, smiling at the entire military camp and Casterly Rock.
"How about discussing the military affairs tonight here? I see you are exhausted."
Arthur, who had drunk enough, asked.
Daenerys, who had reached the peak of her life, glanced lazily at her nephew and waved gently to signal him to leave.
No wonder he dared to marry two wives.
The well-fed dragon queen estimated that even if there were two more, Arthur's body could withstand it.
After the king tidied up his appearance, he filially tidied up the clothes for his "aunt" Daenerys.
"You came in a hurry, and there are not many maids in the camp. I'll ask Margaery to send a maid to you, and we'll talk about it when we return to King's Landing. Okay?"
Arthur asked.
Although the maid sent by Margaery was 99% of the time a spy, Dany couldn't live alone in the barracks, so she just had to make do with it.
The Dragon Queen, who finally recovered her breath, nodded slightly, agreeing.
You can't blame her for not speaking, poor and happy Dany couldn't open her mouth.
After doing what he had to do, the king left the tent. The Dragon Queen's temporary residence was next to the king's tent, and there were nearly a hundred elite soldiers guarding it day and night, so there was no need to worry about anything going wrong.
It was already midnight, and Arthur I had to go find Queen Margaery.
Her purpose of coming to the barracks was to get pregnant in time, so she asked Arthur to come several times every night.
The king naturally couldn't refuse this request.
There was no way, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.
If Margaery was satisfied early, he would have to find the Dorne princess.
The ordinary night passed like this.
...
Two days later, outside the Westerly barracks outside Casterly Rock.
Although the Lannister Castle is large, it was dug out of the mountain bit by bit. Except for the residences of the nobles, most of the space exists in the form of mines.
Unlike Harrenhal, Casterly Rock was designed as a large military camp from the beginning, so tens of thousands of troops from the Westerlands could only be stationed outside the city.
In the afternoon, Kevan, who received the news of the enemy's departure, began to summon nobles and officers on the spot to prepare for the battle.
"It seems that the Dragon Bearers are going to do a big thing this time, but we are not afraid!"
In the commander's tent, facing many Westerland nobles, Kevan said with full energy.
His confidence is tens of thousands of Lannister elites, including 3,500 heavy cavalry, 4,000 heavy infantry, 1,500 light infantry, 1,000 light cavalry, and the equally famous 1,000 Lannisport garrison.
This is a rare elite force in the entire continent, and it has withstood the test of many wars, proving its good combat effectiveness.
According to intelligence, the Dragon Bearer's army is composed of three major parts: the River Army, the Frey Army, and the Tyrell Family. In addition to the Rose Family's army, which can still compete with the Lannister Army in terms of equipment, the remaining two major parts only have the armor of the noble knights that surpasses the heavy cavalry of the Westerlands.
One-armed Adam, the heir of the Marbrand family, also loudly encouraged morale:
"Only if we win this battle can we keep our territory and minerals. If we lose, we will lose them all. Most of our families in the Westerlands have been passed down for thousands of years. How can we let our families be humiliated in our hands?"
Another Lannister member who was recently exchanged back also firmly supported the negotiation after the battle.
"That's right, if we can kill the Dragon Bearer in this battle, the dilemma of the Westerlands will be solved directly." The young man Davon thought more.
A few months of captivity made him very angry, and he must vent his anger in this war.
Because of the strength of the former lord, Duke Tywin, most of the Westerlands nobles only obeyed the command of the Lannister family obediently.
Since Kevan, who was in charge of the army, and two powerful figures all supported the start of the war, the dozen or so Western nobles had no choice but to do so.
Although their combined strength was less than 3,000, and they were mostly newly recruited peasants.
In fact, Kevan knew that he didn't really need the nods of the noble lords, but in order to ensure the gathering of people's hearts, he had the previous mobilization.
After deciding to fight a big battle, the Westerners began to arrange the battlefield.
"Adam will still command the heavy cavalry and stay in the center to follow my command. The light cavalry will also stay in the center."
Kevan issued the first order.
Then, he looked at the nobles of the West, "Your lords' armies will be with the Lannisport garrison, and serve as the left army. These 4,000 people will be commanded by Ser Tybalt Crakehe."
Ser Tybalt, who was chosen by Kevan, was the eldest son and heir of Roland Crakehe, Lord of Crake Hall, and was also an influential noble.
Tybalt, who had the family's usual strong blood, agreed generously, "Please rest assured, lord, if you ask me to fight, I will definitely charge in front."
"As for the right army, it will be commanded by Davon. Four thousand heavy infantry and fifteen hundred light infantry are all given to you. You may have to face the Rivermen, so I gave you more soldiers." Kevan, whose hair was already gray, said.
The feudal lord family arranged things on the ground, and a noble raised questions.
"Should we be on guard against the dragons? I heard that the Dragon Owner has summoned his aunt, the Dragon Queen who lives far away in Slaver's Bay, and three dragons have also come along."
The arrival of the four dragons frightened some of the people in the West, and also made some of them feel proud.
They thought that the Dragon Owner was afraid of the military might of the West, so he summoned all the dragons to join the battle.
"The battle that took place in the dragon cave before proved the fighting ability of that Alduin. It can ignore bows and arrows, but its dragon scales cannot defend against powerful crossbows."
Kevan said confidently.
Although the five or six-meter wingspan makes the dragons look scary, in the final analysis, the four dragons are still young dragons less than two years old.
One-armed Adam nodded slightly, "Yes, the lord is right, the defense of the young dragon is just so-so, as for the offensive ability, the flame can just cover one person at a time, and the soldiers wearing iron armor will not burn that quickly. As long as the dragon owner dares to let the young dragon attack, our crossbowmen can make him lose the dragon."
The shadow of the dragon always looms over the Lannister family and the Westerlands, so these high-level people have long decided on a plan to guard against the dragon.
In addition to several hastily made bed crossbows, there are also a considerable number of high-power crossbows, the kind that requires two or three people to pull the crossbow string.
"Our crossbowmen will be distributed in the three armies, and when the young dragon comes, we will kill the dragon."
Kevan also imitated his brother Tywin and ordered the battle with great power.
After that, the entire Westerlands camp took action, and the servants helped the knights put on a set of plate armor, especially tying key parts such as throat guards, and the soldiers put on armor with the help of their companions and auxiliary soldiers.
Some of the servants in the barracks began to pack up their things. When the army left, most of them would flee westward and enter Lannister Harbor to avoid the battle.
Although the port was no longer protected by the garrison, it was still much safer to mingle with the civilians than to stay in the barracks.
Before the enemy slowly arrived, the Westerland Army finally formed a battle formation.
…
Twelve thousand troops slowly spread out, and four giant dragons kept moving in the sky, flapping their wings and flying high, or gliding low.
Arthur, riding a golden horse and wearing a golden armor, looked through a telescope for a long time before saying to the vassals around him: "The enemy has already attacked with all its forces, so we don't have to hold back."
He turned his horse's head so that most of the nobles could see the king's face clearly, and then announced loudly:
"Let's change the plan a little. The Tyrell, Bisbury and other families will face the enemy's right army, and the Frey army will face the enemy's left army. I will lead the rest of the troops in the center army to support the left and right at any time."
To the east of Casterly Rock is a small plain, with only some slightly raised hills.
Unfortunately, the right army of the Westerlands, which was deployed in a north-south direction, happened to be on a hill.
If the soldiers of the Tyrell family and other families started fighting with the Westerlands infantry first, the terrain would be quite unfavorable to them.
But fortunately, the right army of the Westerlands happened to be in the south.
According to Arthur I's idea, no matter who the enemy in the south was, the soldiers of the Tyrell family and other families had to face them, and they had to fight first.
So he fine-tuned the distribution of soldiers.
"When we conquer the Westerlands and Casterly Rock, you can take the gold, and you can divide the minerals and territories." The king offered the greatest temptation.
The nobles who received the order left one after another, and then almost divided into three parts, slowly and chaotically forming a three-army posture.
There was no way, the leading nobles and soldiers came from more than a dozen families, large and small, and they were not very familiar with each other, so it was a bit difficult for them to cooperate closely.
The commander of the Rose family was Leo Tyrell, and his wife Ali was also from the Beesbury family. The king's right army cooperated well.
When the soldiers were in formation, the dragon queen Daenerys, who was also riding on the side, asked:
"Do you need me to ride Drogon and take the other three dragons to the enemy's rear to burn it?"
Drogon was less than seven feet tall, just enough to carry the dragon queen.
Arthur was more than seven feet tall, or more than two meters and a half. It seemed that the dragons could not bear him, so Dany did not doubt the identity of the fake nephew's dragon family.
"No need, just stay with me and stay in the safest center. As for the four dragons, let them fly in the sky. This is called raiding."
The king already knew what Dany did on the road. The dragon queen burned to death the only archon of Volantis who was kind to her, which allowed the election of this city-state to be brought forward.
In view of the orthodox Targaryen's bad behavior towards the archon, the replacement archon elected by the free people of Volantis must take tough measures against her, Westeros, and Slaver's Bay.
This war is inevitable.
Besides, the young dragons have not shed their dragon scales many times, and their current dragon scales and dragon skins are far less strong than the Black Death Balerion, which is invulnerable to swords and guns and cannot be pierced by crossbows. Therefore, letting the dragons fly in the sky and continuously intimidating the soldiers in the West is the right choice.
Arthur was still observing the enemy's situation with a monocular telescope, and the Minister of War Marquis Inis suddenly ran over.
"Your Majesty, let's start the war as soon as possible!"
He probably knew that the king had an extremely powerful backhand, so he knew that this battle was a sure win.
But in order to reduce the casualties of the soldiers, he still put forward his own ideas to the king.
"Why?" The king asked.
Arthur I did not receive the news that Sir Benard Brune had arrived with the little devil and some of the Rowan family soldiers, and it would take some time to delay.
Lord Frey pointed to the sky, "Your Majesty, please look, it's afternoon now, the sun is still overhead, but in the afternoon, the dazzling sunlight will shine from the west, then our battle will be quite unfavorable, and the casualties of the soldiers will increase greatly."
The weather on the day of the decisive battle was naturally clear enough, in fact, it can be described as cloudless.
Innis had rich military experience and noticed this extremely critical problem.
The king looked up at the sky, and stared at Innis's shiny bald head for a long time. When he knew that Lord Frey was uneasy, he asked:
"How long can it be delayed at most?"
The Minister of War played his role, "The soldiers of the Tyrell family and other families are in a loose formation. When they are completely dispersed and enter a single-soldier fight, the sun will have as little impact on us as possible. From the attack to this process, it takes one hour, so we have to wait at most half an hour to attack, otherwise today's trip will be in vain."
Arthur I blinked his eyes, his brain working unprecedentedly, considering the current situation.
A few days ago, he ordered the leading knights of the Rowan and Oakheart families to select a thousand elites and secretly send them from outside the city of Sarsfield to attack Casterly Rock.
The arrival of this army is absolutely confidential. After today, it is likely that the Westerlands Army will know about it.
And Garlan is ready. The 5,000 River Bay cavalry led by him and the same number of infantry are not far to the south and can launch an attack at any time.
"Half an hour is enough." Arthur finally made up his mind.
He waved to Dany to come closer to him, and then whispered in her ear: "You ride your dragon to the south, about two or three hours away, a large River Bay army is waiting for my order. It is easy to find 10,000 people in the sky..."
He carefully instructed the Dragon Queen and made the order clear.
Since we are going to start right away, we must ensure that the Lannister army cannot retreat into Casterly Rock.
Therefore, Garlan's 5,000 cavalry had to break through from the rear of the right army of the Westerlands, that is, from the southwest. The infantry ran slowly, so they might be able to make a circle and intercept the heavy cavalry of the Westerlands' central army.
The afternoon battle had to be delayed until the Westerlands found that Casterly Rock had fallen, and they might surrender.
The king told Daenerys his request and asked her to convey it to Garlan.
"Try to meet the requirements as much as possible, but it's up to him how to fight, and I won't interfere too much."
In the current situation, Arthur's side was in a sure win in the field battle, so he did not restrain Garlan, but let the Riverbend people formulate their own battle plan.
The extremely beautiful Dragon Queen remembered the request, and then summoned Drogon, the largest in size, to ride a dragon under the gaze of thousands of eyes.
In order to confuse the Westerlands and Kevan, Daenerys naturally would not fly directly to the south. She let Drogon rise high enough and circle around the heads of the Westerlands for several times before galloping north.
…
In the center of the Western Frontier, Kevan, Staver and others looked at the enemy and the dragon in the sky, and then had a heated discussion.
"There are 12,000 people in front of us, there is no doubt about that, what is the Dragon Queen doing?"