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Splash, splash!
In Lannisport's harbor district, this once prosperous and bustling great port now had almost no ships left. In the distance, a dark mass of small longboats was rowing quickly from the harbor mouth toward the harbor district.
Because the waters near the harbor were choked with underwater obstacles, the ships of the Iron Fleet and the Northern Fleet could not approach the shore to land. Asha, who had always led from the front in battle and urgently needed to rebuild her reputation, volunteered to serve as the vanguard for Theon.
Now she led Qarl and the other members of Black Wind, along with five thousand ironborn, in more than five hundred small longboats as they steadily approached the harbor district.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
In Lannisport's harbor district, where almost no ships remained in the once prosperous port, dozens of catapults made from thick timber were operated by Lannister soldiers, constantly hurling millstone-sized rocks.
Crash!
Ten ironborn were rowing a small ten-oared longboat with all their strength when a boulder fell from the sky and smashed into the middle of the boat, crushing two ironborn into bloody pulp on the spot.
That was not all. Carrying immense force, the boulder smashed through the longboat's keel and split it in two.
The other eight ironborn fell into the water. Apart from one unlucky man whose throat was pierced by a splinter of wood, the remaining seven, moving freely in the water, swam toward nearby longboats.
The stones from the catapults were frighteningly powerful, but against flexible small longboats, their accuracy was very low, and reloading them took a long time.
The true threat was the scorpions, which were far more accurate and quicker to load.
Crack!
A Lannister crew quickly loaded a spear into a scorpion. With a loud twang of the bowstring, it struck a small longboat like lightning.
The ironborn at the front of that boat had more than half his head blown apart by the powerful spear, and blood mixed with brain matter splashed over the ironborn sitting beside him.
"Aaaah!"
The spear went on to pierce the second ironborn's chest and did not stop until it buried itself in the third man's left leg. After a brief silence, shrill screams suddenly rang out.
Twang, twang, twang!
The closer they came to Lannisport's harbor district, the more accurate the scorpions became. Ironborn casualties continued to rise, and screams and wails rang out across the water.
In the harbor district, Daven stood behind the catapults and scorpion line, expressionlessly watching the krakens draw closer. However, the raging fire hidden in his brown eyes showed that his heart was not as calm as his face.
A few months ago, he had found his father's corpse at Casterly Rock. Because not one person had been left in the castle, he did not know exactly who had killed him.
But the barbed broad arrowhead commonly used by the krakens, still stuck in his father's rotting corpse, made him identify the murderer as Theon Greyjoy, King of the Iron Islands.
He had sworn on the spot not to shave until he avenged his father. Compared with a few months earlier, he now had a thick, unkempt beard.
"Archers, draw... loose!"
Seeing that the krakens had entered range, Daven roared and ordered the six hundred archers in formation beside him to shoot.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Six hundred bodkin arrows drew arcs through the sky, then fell like raindrops toward the ironborn longboats at the front.
Thunk, slice, slice!
This wave of arrows from the Lannister soldiers proved brutally effective against the ironborn in leather armor. Although nearly half the arrows fell into the sea, the other half mostly covered the ironborn longboats and caused at least one or two hundred casualties.
Crack!
A spear fired from a scorpion struck the longboat beside Asha, instantly skewering two crewmen from Black Wind together.
Looking at the crewmen who died on the boat beside her, then turning to the longboats ahead that had been nailed full of missiles like pincushions, every ironborn aboard dead, grief and fury twisted Asha's face.
She wiped the blood splashed on her face with the back of her hand, then suddenly stood and examined the harbor district. Turning to Qarl, she said, "No. If this continues, even if we land successfully, our losses will be terrible. The distance is enough. Qarl, pass the order. Have the brothers in the front two hundred longboats enter the water. The brothers behind will provide cover."
"Yes, Captain."
Hearing Asha, Qarl immediately answered, then turned and began signaling the other ironborn longboats with hand signs. The signs were passed from ironborn to ironborn and gradually spread through the whole landing force.
Splash!
Asha threw the other items on her body into the longboat, leaving only her one-handed axe at her waist and the convenient dagger hanging before her chest. Then she plunged into the sea.
As she jumped in, first the crewmen of Black Wind followed her, then the ironborn from more than a hundred longboats at the front jumped into the sea one after another.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
After the ironborn in the front boats entered the water, nearly three hundred longboats behind them directly pushed aside the empty boats and continued forward.
Once they entered attack range, they immediately abandoned their oars, took up bows, and began shooting back at the Lannister soldiers in the harbor district.
The catapults and scorpions were scattered and easily blocked by obstacles. Therefore, the ironborn wisely focused their counterattack on the archer formation led by Daven.
Because it was not a coordinated volley, the ironborn arrows were not a covering attack, but a loose, continuous stream of arrows. It was not especially deadly.
Even so, this was still fire from two or three thousand men. The six hundred Lannister archers could only hide behind the nearby houses, occasionally poking out to shoot an arrow.
Daven, likewise hiding behind one house, looked helplessly at his archers, who were suppressed by the enemy's numbers. He had naturally seen the ironborn jump into the sea, but right now he had no power to stop them.
He had only three thousand Lannister soldiers under him.
One thousand had been left at Casterly Rock as Daven's final defensive line. Here at Lannisport, nearly eight hundred soldiers transported supplies and operated the engines. Six hundred archers returned fire. The remaining six hundred cavalry waited nearby.
In the coastal waters of the harbor district, more than a thousand ironborn gathered densely like a school of sardines and swam underwater in perfect coordination toward the front.
As ironborn who lived by the water, they were absurdly strong swimmers. Most could swim twenty or thirty yards in one breath before lifting their heads to breathe.
In the sea, Asha moved like a great fish. Her movements were clean, her posture graceful, and her speed extremely swift. Before long, she could already see the stone steps of the harbor piers ahead.
She surfaced and took a deep breath, then quickly swam underwater to the base of a pier where a scorpion had been set up.
Leaning against the steps below the pier, Asha breathed out and inhaled deeply while drawing the dagger hanging before her chest. Then she held its hilt between her teeth.
Splash!
Asha waited quietly until she heard the loud twang of the scorpion above. Then she placed both hands on the edge, the muscles in her arms bunched as she hauled herself up, and with a rush of water, she leapt onto the pier.
Four Lannister soldiers stood beside the scorpion: two responsible for adjusting its position and winding it, one responsible for aiming and firing, and one responsible for carrying and loading the spear.
When they saw Asha suddenly appear, all four froze, too stunned to react before the enemy was already among them.
Asha had been ready; she did not freeze. She drew the axe at her waist with her right hand while taking the dagger from her mouth with her left and throwing it at the Lannister soldier on the left.
Slice!
The dagger struck the Lannister soldier's throat accurately, and he immediately clutched his neck and fell. The Lannister soldier on the right had only just drawn the longsword at his waist when Asha raised her axe high and threw herself at him.
Clang!
The Lannister soldier on the right, having drawn his longsword, hurriedly lifted it above his head to block the axe Asha chopped down fiercely.
Asha had fought countless battles, and the blow carried all the strength in her right arm. She knocked the Lannister soldier's longsword from his hand.
"Wait!"
Rip!
The Lannister soldier, whose right hand had been numbed by the impact, raised his left hand high and shouted in panic.
Asha wrapped her left hand around her spent right hand and, gripping the axe with both hands, lifted it from lower left to upper right. The sharp axe opened the Lannister soldier's belly and cut off his raised left hand at the wrist.
Hiss!
Blood sprayed from the Lannister soldier's body, soaking Asha's head and face and directly blinding her with blood.
While she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, the Lannister soldier who had been preparing to load the scorpion with a spear charged at her with the spear in both hands.
A one-handed axe whistled out from behind Asha and buried itself heavily in the Lannister soldier's face.
Asha, who had just wiped the blood from one eye, looked behind her and saw Qarl, soaked all over, holding an axe in one hand while the other still held the motion of a throw.
Asha gave Qarl a seductive smile, then turned and saw the last scorpion operator fleeing in panic. She raised the axe in her hand and shouted, "Kill these greenlander whores, and this city belongs to us ironborn!
"What is dead may never die!"
"Woooh!"
"Kill!"
"What is dead may never die!"
More than a hundred ironborn, seawater streaming from their bodies as they climbed into the harbor district, released a storm of war cries and madly threw themselves at the Lannister soldiers who had abandoned the catapults, scorpions, and other engines and drawn swords to fight.
Behind them, more ironborn climbed onto the harbor like water ghosts, one after another, while ironborn longboats in the distance continued approaching the harbor district.
Tap, tap, tap!
Many Stormlands soldiers ran along the walls of the Golden Tooth, preparing quivers full of arrows, boiling oil, falling stones, and other defensive stores.
Catapults, stone throwers, scorpions, and other defensive engines had also been adjusted by the soldiers responsible for operating them, quietly waiting for the battle to come.
Because Addam had been transferred by Tywin to Lannisport, and Lord Leo's son was still young and staying safely in the main keep under the care of his mother, Lady Alysanne Lefford, Raynald Lefford, Lord Leo's nephew, had been appointed commander of the Golden Tooth's defenses by Lady Alysanne.
Raynald stood on the walls of the Golden Tooth and looked down from above at the river road below the mountain.
The dark mass of the northern army, marching forward in battle formations so orderly they were terrifying, filled him with a sudden sense of doom.
'Hah! What am I thinking? The Golden Tooth is an extraordinarily strong fortress. Nothing will happen.'
He slapped his own head a few times and silently mocked his wild thoughts.
Indeed, as a famous fortress of the Westerlands, the name of the Golden Tooth represented its importance and solidity.
Gold referred to the gold mines in the Westerlands mountains near the castle, while tooth represented its role as the gateway fortress of the Westerlands, able to protect the lands behind it like a strong tooth.
Riding on Bloodwind, Robb looked at the Golden Tooth standing atop the mountain like a towering giant and frowned.
Seeing this gateway fortress of the Westerlands with his own eyes, Robb knew it fully deserved its reputation in Westeros. When the distance was about right, he raised his hand and signaled the army to halt.
The messengers behind him relayed Robb's order down the line. After several months of strict training, the northern army, now able to obey commands immediately, halted at once and formed ranks in neat silence.
"The army will make camp here. Send word to Lord Rickard to lead the scouting cavalry and investigate the surrounding area. Send word to Lord Jason to lead the thousand-man logistics unit and build defensive works."
Robb jumped down from Bloodwind, who had crouched to the ground, and gave orders to the messengers beside him.
"Yes, Your Grace."
Watching the messengers hurry away, he turned and patted Bloodwind's head as the direwolf leaned close, then said softly, "Bloodwind, take your pack and go play around nearby."
Awooo!
Hearing Robb's words, Bloodwind's intelligent eyes immediately brightened.
He released a low growl, and the fifteen ice direwolves, including Nymeria and Lady, left the Wolfguard and followed Bloodwind into the lush mountains around the Golden Tooth.
"Crey, give me all intelligence from the past two days as soon as possible."
After arranging Bloodwind's task, Robb finally turned and instructed Crey, who followed behind him.
"As you command, Your Grace."
After giving all his orders, Robb looked again at the towering Golden Tooth, then turned toward the special carriage where Leaf was.
Slice!
Asha's axe sank with tremendous force into a Lannister soldier's chest, instantly taking the light from his eyes.
As she pulled out the axe, her gaze swept around. She quickly drew the dagger before her chest and threw it to her side, accurately driving it into the eye of an enemy preparing to ambush Qarl from behind.
Qarl cut down the Lannister soldier before him. Hearing movement behind him, he turned and gave Asha a blood-covered smile, as if telling her they were even, one rescue each.
As more and more ironborn successfully landed in the harbor district, these Lannister soldiers trained over the past few months could not withstand the fierce ironborn, who fought like beasts. They began retreating step by step.
'No. If the battle continues, it will become a rout.'
After learning from the previous battle, Daven understood that his task this time was only to delay. Therefore, he did not bravely charge forward to fight, but remained with the archers the entire time, calmly observing the whole field and directing the battle.
"Sound the horn!"
Ooo-oo!
At Daven's order, two urgent horn blasts sounded one after another.
Da-da-da!
Six hundred Lannister cavalry who had long been waiting nearby charged across the bluestone roads of the harbor district from left to right.
Bang, bang!
Rip! Slice!
The six hundred Lannister cavalry charged directly through the middle of the two sides fighting in the harbor district, knocking down many soldiers from both sides who were fighting fiercely.
The riders' longswords cut down many ironborn during the charge. But many cavalrymen also had their horses' legs cut out from under them or were knocked from the saddle by surrounding ironborn.
Even so, after this cavalry charge, the soldiers of both sides, who had been tangled in bitter fighting, were separated as if a line had been drawn between them.
The Lannister soldiers on the far side of the line seized the chance to join Daven's archers. Barely maintaining formation, they retreated toward the town of Lannisport behind them.
Just as in the last battle, Daven was fighting in familiar urban terrain. Street fighting was his strength.
Seeing the enemy flee into the town, Asha would not give up the chance to finish them off. She lifted her axe and was about to lead the pursuit.
A loud horn sounded from behind her, and Asha, Qarl, and the other ironborn in the harbor district all froze.
Her axe chopped heavily into a stone beside a catapult, producing a loud collision.
Asha's face twisted somewhat with anger. She turned toward the Iron Fleet and roared, "What kind of joke is this? So many ironborn brothers died before we finally landed and defeated the enemy, and now they want us to retreat?"
As if seeing that the vanguard in the harbor district had not moved, the Iron Fleet at the harbor mouth sounded the retreat horn again.
"Captain, retreat. King Theon strictly follows the military discipline laid down by His Grace Robb. Disobeying orders is a beheading offense."
Having experienced the last war in the Westerlands, Qarl, covered in blood, came to Asha's side and advised her.
"It must be that damned Ramsay playing tricks.
"Sigh. Qarl, have the brothers destroy all these engines before retreating."
Hearing Robb's name, Asha, always unruly, pressed her lips together, still marked by dried blood, and gave the order.
At the mouth of Lannisport's harbor, aboard the Great Kraken, which sat on the sea like a monster, Ramsay asked, confused, "King Theon, Lady Asha is about to take Lannisport. Why order the retreat now?"
This time, Ramsay truly had not understood Theon's sudden order to retreat.
Theon looked pleased that Ramsay, who usually guessed his thoughts in advance, had to ask. "Heh. I am no longer interested in Lannisport, which has already been conquered once.
"Our true target is..."
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