The king on the Great Wall

Page 218

He didn't believe that anyone could be so aquatic, able to swim in the icy sea and approach him from below, it must be his good niece Asha Greyjoy!

"Good time!" He roared and plunged into the water, twisting and throwing himself on the soles of his feet.

Asha's water quality is slightly stronger than his own, coupled with the advantages of her size and lack of heavy armor, she is definitely more flexible than herself in the sea, but no matter how good her water skills are, as long as she is caught by him, he can break her slender body in half a second. neck!

He reached out to grab the arm that was pulling his leg, but instead of catching someone in his imagination, he felt a strong rope around his ankle... There must be some kind of weight tied to the other end, even in the The water also seemed heavy, dragging him quickly to the bottom.

asshole!

Euron cursed in the muddy water, but only spit out a few balls of air bubbles. His gauntleted hands couldn't complete complicated operations such as untying knots in the water, so he immediately touched his right boot—— Also planted there was his spare weapon, a Valyrian steel dagger that was light but sharp enough to cut the rope and free him from the danger he was in.

Ok?

where?

Did it get lost when it just fell into the water?

But it is obviously inserted very tightly!

He suddenly recalled the foreign object kicked by his boots while swimming a moment ago... It was the little female cousin who pulled out the dagger in the confusion!

-

Chapter 614

The air waves caused by the explosion swept across the water, the smoke rising from the bay gradually dissipated, and the pain from the eardrums in people's ears also gradually faded away...except that "Invincible Iron" became "Invincible Bomber" After completing the mission and disappearing from the world, the overturn of the "Night Walker" has not yet recovered, and the "Serenity" is also sinking in water, as if nothing happened.

However, time cannot go back.

If the nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal used to detonate the Invincible Irons were prepared as propellants for the artillery, it would be enough for twenty cannons to fire a salvo a hundred times, but when they were packed into barrels as explosives, only two ships of the Iron Fleet were destroyed, eliminating Dozens of people were killed, and the damage to the Iron Fleet was less than [-]%. This cost-effective ratio cannot be described as "ridiculously low".

But it was the huge cost but the seemingly small explosion that completely changed the situation of the battle.

In addition to Asha's success in drowning the King of the Iron Islands by taking advantage of the messy rocks, another factor that cannot be ignored has caused an irreversible and huge morale blow to the Ironmen: Although the entire Queen's fleet only had this self-destructing ship, they have no idea.

***

More than half of the naval power was pinned down by the Royal Fleet, and only less than a hundred warships were free to deal with the Ironborn. The tonnage ratio of the ships actually engaged in the confrontation between the two sides was 1:2, while the number ratio reached an astonishing 1:5. Including Daenerys, most of the navy is composed of recruits, and the opposite is experienced natural-born pirates... The combat effectiveness of the two sides is not proportional at all, and there is no suspense about the outcome of the battle.

Euron's last order to the fleet before jumping aboard the Invincible Ironborn was to strike with all his forces, to encircle, ram, and engage the ships of the Queen's fleet from every direction.

It can be said that as long as this order is honestly fulfilled, no one alive in the Targaryen Navy will be able to escape from the battlefield today.

However, following the occurrence of this shocking explosion, all the captains inevitably had this question in their minds: the fleet on the opposite side, which numbered only a few dozen and knew that they were bound to lose, lined up in a row and rushed towards them aggressively. , How many other ships can self-destruct violently like the "Invincible Ironborn" like a witchcraft?

The idea germinated and spread in the hearts of hundreds of captains like a handful of seeds planted in the fields in spring. If the "Serenity" had not sunk and Euron Greyjoy was still alive, he might still be able to use his power. And the suppression of status forced the fleet to carry out the order.But in the absence of a leader, the fear of burying unknown weapons and the instinct to preserve their own ships quickly overwhelmed the ironmen's desire for glory and victory, and all the warships that were rushing forward at the ramming speed began to stop their oars and slow down. Turning the course, while continuing to attack with long-range weapons, while watching and waiting for the situation to change.

The ships that Daenerys captured from the Volantis Armada were all large ships, and the advantage of large ships is that they can install larger and more equipment.Whether it is a ballista or a catapult, the queen's fleet can stabilize the ironborn's looting longship in terms of range and power. Bullets and arrows are flying all over the sky. In the absence of any news from King Euron or the next order, the Iron Fleet, which did not want to fight to the death with the regular navy, began to disintegrate just as Asha said.

The Iron Fleet still has a crushing water power advantage, but no one can mobilize that power anymore.

But I don't know whether it's a coincidence or a destiny, but the source of the collapse comes from Asha's father's former ship.

After the sinking of the "Tranquility", the largest and most prestigious "Hongyang Monster" should have been automatically promoted to the flagship to take on the important task of commanding and leading the fleet, but it is one of the two ships closest to the explosion point. The air wave overturned, but when the shock wave hit, there were still many unlucky people on the deck who were blown or thrown into the water and sank to the bottom of the sea, and among them, the captain happened to be among them.

The hull was damaged, part of the combat and control personnel was lost, the captain and the king were missing, and none of the surviving ones could convince the crowd... The mob tends to follow the trend and make some unbelievable wrong decisions in a chaotic situation: Under multiple blows, the crew of the "Hongyang Monster" who were afraid of being sacrificed by the fleet decided to turn the ship around first, so as to ensure that when the battle was not going well-they could set sail and escape immediately!

They are not cowards, but they have not received formal military theory guidance and command skills training, cannot think logically, have no overall view, do things without thinking about the consequences, and have no sense of honor...

They did not escape, but turned the bow of the ship to the direction of the exit of the bay, still sailing at a slow speed, while doing everything possible to attack and block the rushing Queen's fleet...

They don't want to be defeated, and they are still continuing to fight in a way they think is useful, but they don't know: this so-called "wise" and "brave", in the face of the devastating consequences of making mistakes as a "quasi-flagship" , It's just a drop in the bucket, and it doesn't help.

As the new core of the fleet, the "Hongyang Monster" is equivalent to the flag bearer at the moment - killing the enemy is not its task, it is to carry the "handsome flag" so that it does not fall.

As long as it maintains its combat position in the first battle row, even if it pretends to be injured and loses its ability to move, it will stay where it is, or even to the extreme point-it will be overturned or sunk in the explosion like the "Serenity", so that the Flagship status—that is, the "handsome flag" automatically falls on the next warship... Then this battle can at least go on no matter what.

Taking a step back, even if they shrink their eggs and issue the flag order to withdraw the entire army and leave the battlefield, it can be regarded as an effective command anyway, and it can roughly bring hundreds of ships and thousands of people on board the fleet out of Black Water Bay intact.

But among the countless options, it chose the most wrong one after losing its captain: it didn't communicate with the surrounding friendly ships, and made a posture and appearance of preparing to escape on its own!

The silent signal conveyed by this action instantly destroyed the combat determination of all the captains of the longships within the visual range. The formation seemed to collide violently, but in fact, countless ships adjusted their course at the last moment, so that the head-on collision turned into a passing one——the thin single-row formation launched by the Queen's fleet, unexpectedly so almost harmless. Go through the first line of the Iron Fleet's seemingly mighty battle formation, cut into the depths, and enter the pile of enemy ships!

A thick and loud roar came from the west, gradually disappearing in the direction of King's Landing in the afterglow of the setting sun. Daenerys, who heard the signal of the explosion, also rode a dragon to the sky in the siege camp. After circling over the Red Keep as a deterrent, it flew eastward, and it was the last move in the series of combined punches, the final blow to the ironborn's morale.

The dragon is very powerful, but the biggest disadvantage is that the attack distance is too short, and the flame breath can only be sprayed 20 meters away - and this height is enough for many ordinary ballistas and catapults that are not specially designed to threaten it and the weapons on its back. rider.As long as the ships in the fleet cooperate closely and weave a network of anti-aircraft firepower, even if they cannot be shot down as easily as anti-aircraft guns, it is enough for the dragon knight to dare not lower the altitude to launch a refreshing flame wash. land.

But after the suicide attack of the "Invincible Ironborn", the entire Iron Fleet fell into a state of losing command and fighting on their own. On the one hand, they were anxiously waiting for the second shocking explosion that would never happen. On the other hand, the formation was disrupted by the queen's fleet breaking into the battle line.They have lost their will to fight and lost their determination to gnaw hard bones. In the chaos, they need to cooperate to deal with threats from the air... There is only one word to describe this expectation: Impossible!

The two dragons flew across the battlefield gracefully, not going to the dangerous place where the ship's dense shells would fly horizontally, but hovering back and forth, looking for the small long ship that was far away from the array and left alone because of its speed. A light longship was swallowed by the dragon flames and turned into a torch floating on the water... This action made the longships subconsciously shrink the battle line, but they did not dare to get too close together for fear of the enemy's self-destruct attack. After being squeezed into a small group, the ground became an excellent target for artillery.

The unsolvable dilemma constituted a series of endless loops. Ten minutes after the charge turned into entanglement, and the stalemate slowly changed into retreat, the tense situation finally broke the last string.

Another big defeat like the Battle of the Blackwater River began.

-

Chapter 615

Team battles can be lost, but... Euron must die.

This is the core policy of the Battle of Blackwater Bay that Iger presented to Daenerys.

The Iron Fleet that broke out on the way really disrupted the rhythm and planning of the Queen's forces attacking King's Landing. Even Iger had calculated everything but did not expect that a group of pirates could appear just in time as if they had been waiting for a long time when the communication technology was so backward. Outside of Blackwater Bay, became Stannis' de facto lifeline.

Whether it was the Northern Fleet in White Harbor or the anti-ship wildfire bombs that have been improved and matured in Ice Strait Harbor, he did not bring the south... How to break this situation without the availability of fresh troops and killers, it really makes the world His alias, which is addicted to cheating and used to playing unequal battles, will cause headaches and troubles for a moment.

But just like the countless times in the past, when I woke up from the rest after sleeping, my unsmooth thoughts suddenly cleared up.

Everyone, got sidetracked by Daenerys Ribbon from the start!

She wants a method that can win both the Blackwater Bay naval battle and the King's Landing attack while minimizing casualties—if this is impossible at all, do I have to force her to come up with one?

I am a supporter of Daenerys, and my goal is to push her to the Iron Throne, use her to grab status, interests, and realize ambitions and aspirations; it is not to be her father, to fulfill all her wishes and make this little queen Love it!

The way to break the situation is actually in his mind, not only can it be summed up in one word, he even used it just now in the northern border.

Let's gather some help!

Strategy is dead, but people are alive.

King's Landing is there, and it won't disappear if you take it one day later. On the contrary, Euron has decided to fight against the queen. Going southwest to deal with the river bend, sooner or later, they will detour from the sea and come to the constantly disgusting and reborn Targaryen dynasty.

Instead of chasing and catching him like a cat and a mouse in the future, it's better to take advantage of this time when he comes to your door, and just get rid of this trouble first!

……

After persuading Daenerys to give up the naive idea of ​​going to war at the same time on the sea and land at the second discussion meeting, there was a lot of room for maneuver, and the cards they could play suddenly became more abundant.

First, the Unsullied and Land Grant artillery sneaked away from the siege front by night.

After the Dorne army also clearly joined the queen, the number of siege troops outside the city of King's Landing is actually quite sufficient. Unless Stannis leads the army out of the city for a decisive battle, it is absolutely impossible to see 35000 troops just by standing on the top of the city and observing with a telescope. The difference between one person and 30000 people.

At the same time, the Dragonstone fleet was also summoned from the mouth of the distant Blackwater Bay to the harbor of Duskendale City, which is more than a day's journey from King's Landing.

It seems that they have given up the command of the sea, but in fact, at the new fleet station, the elite forces secretly mobilized here are stuffed onto the ship, forcefully upgrading the queen's sea power from an "armed fleet" to a "armed fleet". Big Navy" (at least in terms of tonnage and staffing).

In the end, thousands of catties of freshly prepared black powder were transported to Hong Kong by animal power, and carried onto the "Invincible Iron Bell", filling its most spacious and safe middle cabin, making it the first self-destructing warship in the ice and fire world , making material preparations for Asha Greyjoy's make-or-break surprise attack.

Naval battles are different from land battles. Morale and numbers don't play a huge role. Hardware, experience and correct command are the key. A huge ship full of high-spirited knights is sunk by a few nimble and experienced longships flying kites. Normal thing.In order to suppress the enemy's strengths and avoid its own weaknesses, the Queen's Fleet also made targeted arrangements for the specific tactics of this naval battle. The core can be briefly summarized as two points: [-]. Use the existence of artillery to extinguish the opponent's idea of ​​​​fighting a war of attrition; [-]. Relying on the half-full fleet of Unsullied to contain the Stannis Royal Navy, deliberately revealing its flaws, and luring the entire Iron Fleet to attack.

It sounds easy, but the plan actually carries huge risks.

As long as any part of it is wrong or does not develop as expected: for example, the combat power of the royal fleet is stronger than expected, for example, the self-destructing battleship is sunk and exploded by ballistas in the middle of the charge, for example, Euron is cautious and does not take the lead... Any failure to achieve the tactical goal for any reason may turn the battle into a defeat that will cheer up the spirits of all enemies and opponents. One's side will not only lose the two trump cards of the Unsullied and the Artillery, but also Faced with a large number of potential opponents and fencers who have rekindled their confidence and courage in rebellion.

The danger of this gamble is so great that even Iger is psychologically prepared to fail, so he just offered a strategy to the queen through Asha's mouth, and did not speak personally, recommend adoption or guarantee for it, or even issue a military order ——Anyway, with Daenerys' character, she would decide to take risks no matter what.

This move achieved self-protection, but it also reduced the credit for him after winning the bet... Fortunately, Iger has a lot of military merits in his pocket right now, and there will be a lot more in the future I can earn more opportunities, and I don’t feel bad if I lose a little bit.

***

There was no carnival meeting or celebration banquet, and the queen's siege camp outside the high walls of King's Landing was full of busy atmosphere and chill atmosphere.

When the sea battle broke out in Blackwater Bay the day before yesterday, the siege troops did not launch a general attack on King's Landing at the same time. Stannis must have felt that he was being played hard. But tomorrow, the Unsullied and the artillery who will be transferred to the navy will join the siege line again. When it comes, whether it is windy and snowing or a knife falling from the sky, it will be the last day of the Baratheon dynasty.

Everyone tensed up and made final preparations.

Iger is in charge of commanding the attack on the western front—the three gates of the gods, the lion and the king among the seven gates of King's Landing and the two sections of the city wall in the middle. The battle will begin after dawn tomorrow.

"My lord, Asha Greyjoy is outside the castle, and I beg your audience."

What are you doing again?

Take credit?I got the wrong guy.

Express thankfulness?Don't pick a time either!

"Put it in, arrange board and lodging, and tell her I'll see her after King's Landing is taken."

Iger is busy, he is a pragmatist, this woman may have some experience in naval warfare is a talent, but if she can be of any help in the general attack on King's Landing tomorrow, he absolutely does not believe it.Unfortunately, after rejecting her once, the woman still came outside the commander-in-chief's residence a while later, still insisting on seeing him.

After procrastinating for a while, seeing that this girl really risked her life to get rid of her troubles, Iger finally let go.

……

"Commander-in-Chief, excuse me for disturbing you late at night, the journey from Rosby City is really far away, and the road after the snow has melted is also a bit muddy."

Asha came into the room carrying a sack and apologized.

"It's fine if you know it's disturbing, it's getting late, let's get straight to the point."

This girl was obviously trying to get close by calling herself a subordinate, but as her second female night watchman, there seemed to be nothing wrong with saying so.Now that she admitted the superior-subordinate relationship, Iger's answer became more polite... Of course, her tone must have lost the coldness and impatience of the past. After all, she is a person who has just made great achievements.

"A loot, I feel that only you, my lord, are entitled to enjoy it, and it's best to get it to you before the attack on King's Landing begins. It took me a whole day to come here from the seaside." , the girl lifted the cloth bag in her hand and turned it upside down.

When something hit the ground, there was a crisp sound of metal friction and collision.

Although the movement was noisy, the things in her bag must have been inspected by the guard before she entered the house. Iger sat quietly waiting for the other party to explain, but it was Mei who was originally staying by the fireplace, meditating in front of the fire and performing the duty of "mage guard". Lisandra turned her head and exclaimed after seeing the things on the ground: "Dragon Steel Armor?"

Although it was only a short word, Iger still raised his eyebrows instantly.

It was the Valyrian steel armor worn by Euron, and Melisandre called it "Dragon Steel" - this small detail shows that it was most likely used by the dragon kings in the Valyrian Empire in the past It is made of authentic Valyrian steel, not the monkey version of tile steel used by the local nobles who export fools and rich money.

Such a piece of dragon steel armor, even in the most prosperous and powerful peak period of the Valyrian Empire, was a treasure that only a few of the most powerful families were eligible to own, and its value was enough to buy a small kingdom.And after the catastrophe of the doomsday, it became a priceless and marketless legend, existing only in records... Before Euron appeared wearing it, the world didn't even hear about it, let alone witness it with their own eyes.

And now, it is such a treasure, not only lying quietly on the floor in front of his desk, but also listening to the owner's tone, he still wants to give it to himself! ?

Asha did not answer Melisandre's words, but threw away the sack, and picked up the thing that was poured out with both hands—it was indeed a piece of scale armor, which looked as black as ink under the dim light in the room, but There is also a shimmering golden light, what else can it be if it is not a dragon steel armor?

His expression remained unchanged, but his heart could no longer calm down. Iger stood up from behind the table, walked around to the front, and together with Melisandre who also came closer, looked at this treasure carefully.

The night watchman is also wearing black clothes, but this piece of scale armor is different. Its color is so deep that it seems to absorb light. If the edges of each scale that make up the whole are not shining with red gold, there are also some clearly visible patterns and symbols on it. Looking at it from a distance, it looks like a picture-like blackness has been deducted from the field of vision.Melisandre reached out to touch it, but Asha handed it to her without hesitation.

"This is not just a piece of dragon steel armor." Melisandre held the scale armor with one hand and caressed its surface with the other hand, her fingertips brushed the runes on it, she did not hide her surprise at all, "This is also covered with The incredible method stabilizes several protective spells, not only impenetrable by swords and guns, but also shields common curse spells, as long as the wearer still has magic power in his body... Damn, is this the only one? Helmet, visor, gloves and lower body How about pretending?"

"I don't know, and I've never seen the Crow's Eye pass through, and there's a high probability that he didn't get it either. It's good to have one, and your request is too high!" Asha rolled her eyes at the witch, took back the scale armor, With an unconcealable smug look, it was handed over to Iger.

so light.

This was Iger's first thought after getting it. It's a bit violent to say, he really doesn't know anything about spells, so he can only draw conclusions about this scale armor based on its physical characteristics.It includes the upper torso and two arms, and the combined weight is less than ten catties. It can be picked up with one little finger. Compared with the breastplate made of steel plates on the body, it is nothing. Unsurpassed protective ability... It is both light and strong. For a coward like him who can't wait to sleep without taking off his protective gear, it is simply a boon.

Melisandre really had reason to regret and ask, if such armor could be assembled into a complete set, wouldn't the wearer be invulnerable to weapons and magic, like an invincible hanger?

(If this piece of scale armor can be obtained before the war between humans and ghosts, then the number of "Bright Messenger" is probably not 77, but 770 and seven.)

Throwing away this somewhat funny idea, Iger frowned and became curious: "The version I saw this morning was that you drowned Euron in the bottom of the sea... Is it because the description in the battle report was wrong, or you were looking for a needle in a haystack and drowned the Crow's Eye?" The body was fished out of the black water bay?"

-

Chapter 616

"What drew Euron down to the bottom was an iron weight to which was attached a thick rope, to which was attached a fifty-foot-long thin rope, terminated by two air-bags, by which we It was because of the air bag floating on the surface that he didn't fall to the bottom of the water when he was diving close to Euron..."

Floating beacon?Asha's description was a bit vague, but Iger understood the principle immediately after hearing it: "But how did you ensure that the airbag was not used by Euron to save himself?"

"I thought about it, so I made preparations before boarding the boat. The size of these two airbags is just enough to offset the buoyancy and the weight of the iron block. I only need to tie the iron block to Euron's feet, and then put the One puncture of his body... and no one can stop him from meeting the Drowned God."

Heh, it's quite thoughtful.

Iger suddenly realized, and quickly sketched a picture in his mind.

Asha was holding her breath, holding the air bag, the weight, and a large number of thick and thin ropes in one hand, and the other three limbs were swimming in the cold and dark sea against the cold and turbulent currents, approaching Euron from below like a fish, and breathed a sigh of relief. Completed: Put the thick rope on Euron's feet to kill him, avoid the opponent's attack, release the thin rope, puncture one of the two airbags... In this way, only the remaining airbag tied by the thin rope cannot be Euron used it to save himself, but he could surface after he was drowned, marking where the body of the King of the Iron Islands was. The salvager only needed to find the air bag and pull it up along the rope to bring Euron up again. Strip off his armor as a spoil.

What the hell... No, a fairy operation?

In the eyes of Iger, who can only dog ​​plan and backstroke, and can barely guarantee that he will not drown in the water, this is a task that is difficult in hell and impossible to complete.

"It's too risky. If the string is not fully unfolded or breaks in the middle, or the depth of the water where Euron drowned is more than fifty feet... Wouldn't this be a waste of effort?" Iger shook his head, feeling terrified after thinking about it. "What if you were entangled in a rope underwater and couldn't escape, wouldn't it not only be impossible to complete the mission, but also cost your life in vain?"

"Hey, now you suddenly care about me again? A week ago, you thought it was a waste of time to even talk to me, who is it?" Asha snorted and mocked a little, "Just I knew you would be jabbering, so I didn't tell you about it before I got it, so I just asked you, do you want it or not?"

People who are successful say what they say.