The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Hearing Missandei say they would be staying in the royal palace made Jaime extremely uncomfortable.

He would have preferred to stay in that dilapidated wooden house.

"Alright, let's go buy some clothes," Jaime said, flashing Missandei a smile.

Connie sensed Jaime's reluctance. She let Tommen and Missandei walk ahead, lagging behind a step to walk with Jaime. Six Unsullied soldiers stood between them and Tommen and Missandei.

"You're not happy?" Connie asked softly.

"No, I… I feel fine."

"You can't let go of your hatred for His Majesty the King?"

"…It's not that…"

"Then why are you so gloomy?"

"…………"

"Alright, if you really don't want to be a vassal of King Clegane, after I give birth, I'll go wherever you want to go with you."

Jaime looked at Connie. "I have no intention of leaving Tommen and Missandei. Casterly Rock is our home."

"But I see you…"

"The Mountain gave Tommen a legitimate identity and status. He could have killed us."

Connie understood what Jaime meant by 'The Mountain gave Tommen a legitimate identity and status.' Tommen and Missandei were the bastard children of Jaime and Cersei's incestuous relationship, and bastards were looked down upon in Westeros and had no right to inheritance.

But the Mountain had ennobled Tommen Lannister as an Earl, clearing away a series of secular problems brought about by Tommen's bastard status. Missandei was also a bastard, but with Tommen as an Earl and with Casterly Rock, she would be best protected. Of course, it would be perfect if the Mountain could grant Missandei a legitimate noble title.

But it was difficult for Jaime to kneel before the Mountain and beg.

"Jaime, the past is in the past. What's important is to look forward. The conflict between His Majesty the King and Lord Tywin was because of war, just like humans and the White Walkers. Everyone had no choice but to fight."

Connie's words of persuasion to Jaime were actually what the Mountain had said to Connie. Connie simply repeated them to Jaime.

"The Mountain is right. It's my fault," Jaime said sullenly.

"It's not your fault either. The Seven Gods are to blame," Connie said deliberately, to cheer Jaime up.

Jaime gave a strained smile. He turned to look at the harbor, where the Mountain's flagship was slowly leaving the port, flanked by two escort ships equipped with cannons.

Each escort ship had a cannon, unconcealed, right on the deck at the bow, with the muzzle pointing forward.

*

Off the coast of Qarth, the booming of drums echoed on the flagship. Thousands of warships were arranged in square formations, like the Dothraki cavalry on the plains.

There were six formations in total, each with three hundred warships.

Woo woo woo!

The bugler on the flagship blew the horn.

The two formations on the left and right of the flagship quickly formed a spearhead formation, with the largest warships at the front, three in a line, with bronze rams mounted on their bows.

The rams were weapons specifically designed to ram enemy ships. Although painted bronze, they were actually made of steel. They were sharp iron implements about three meters long.

The three large warships gradually converged, and behind them was a huge fleet in a triangular formation, a total of five hundred and ninety-seven warships. When the outermost warships engaged the enemy and were destroyed, the inner warships would immediately fill the gap, so that this spearhead-like battle formation would always maintain its combat formation.

"Ramming speed!" the Mountain roared on the flagship.

Woo woo woo!

The horn sounded the 'ramming speed' command.

In naval battles, all commands on the flagship were transmitted through the horn signals of the buglers. Different commands had different horn signals.

As the horn sounded, the flagships of the generals on the warships echoed with the 'ramming speed' horn signal.

Thus, on the sea, there was a deafening sound of drums and the shouts of sailors. The warships accelerated and sailed forward as if flying.

All the rhythms and speeds of the warships' forward movement, backward movement, and turning were controlled by the drumbeats on the warships. Ramming speed was the fastest speed, specifically used for close combat attacks. In approaching enemy ships, warships would use 'constant speed.' The drumbeats for constant speed were slow and steady, and the warship's speed was neither fast nor slow. The drumbeats for ramming speed were like a storm, and the rowers' rowing rhythm had to be completely consistent with the drumbeat rhythm.

Looking down from the sky, a giant black long knife cleaved the sea, separating the waves, and thrust forward.

"Defense speed!" the Mountain roared on the commander-in-chief's flagship.

Asha gestured, and the bugler blew the command for defense.

Almost simultaneously, the flagships of the generals in the ship formation echoed with the defense horn signal.

Instantly, thousands of oars splashed into the water together, stopping rowing. The warships continued to move forward with inertia. The three large warships responsible for ramming the enemy formation began to turn. The warships behind them rushed to the front. Those were six warships filled with swordsmen, shieldmen, and archers.

Swordsmen and shieldmen were responsible for defense, hacking and killing enemies who jumped over from enemy ships; while archers were responsible for shooting, restraining the more distant enemy ships, and delaying their speed of attack. A rain of arrows covering the enemy's deck could effectively strike the enemy's combat power.

The Mountain trained the Qartheen navy as if they were the cavalry and infantry of the army. The only difference between the navy and the army was the sea and the ships, but the essence of combat, the Mountain believed, was exactly the same.

No matter how excellent the Qartheen navy was in the past, they now had to start adapting to new tactics. They had to have a thorough understanding of the various naval warfare tactics formulated by the Mountain and Asha, and cooperate tacitly. There was only one way to achieve this: training, continuous and repeated training.

*

"Your Majesty, warships have appeared in the distance," the naval soldier standing on the lookout post on the flagship's bridge shouted down.

"How many!" the Mountain roared.

"It's a fleet, about thirty ships."

"Understood, continue to observe."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The Mountain looked at Asha. "Pass down the order, the fleet will continue training, our flagship will go and take a look."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Asha passed down the order. The horns sounded, this time signaling all warship formations to begin training.

Woo woo woo!

On the sea, the sound of horns rose and fell one after another, and soon, the sound of horns resounded throughout this vast sea area.

Amidst the sound of horns, the Mountain's flagship and the two escort ships on the left and right sailed out of the center of the formation at a constant speed, heading forward.

*

On the leading ship, a giant sword banner flew high.

Even higher than the giant sword banner was a Red Smoke Beast Ice Sword banner.

The giant sword banner was the military flag.

The Red Smoke Beast Ice Sword banner was the royal flag.

The military flag was the Mountain's military flag, and the royal flag was the Mountain's royal flag.

On the second warship, there was still the Mountain's military flag and royal flag.

The remaining twenty-odd warships were flying flags that the Mountain had never seen before: the flags had a sky-blue background, and in the middle of the flag was a woman wearing a brightly colored dress. The woman was very beautiful, wearing a golden crescent-shaped crown on her head.

"Slow down," the Mountain said to Asha.

Asha gestured to the captain, the captain passed down the order, and the speed of the rowers slowed down together. The rhythmic drumbeats also lengthened, becoming drawn out and gentle.

At the same time, the opposing fleet also slowed down together.

The Mountain, Asha, Theon, Euron, Damian, and others stood together at the bow of the ship. On the bow of the opposite ship stood a radiant young general. Beside the general was a girl wearing a crescent-shaped golden crown. The sea breeze blew her skirt, as if she was about to fly away.

The two ships gradually approached. The young general on the bow of the approaching ship knelt on one knee, and the crescent-crowned girl beside him also knelt down. Behind the young general and the girl, a deck full of soldiers knelt down in a dark mass.

The soldiers on the second ship also knelt down together, and then the soldiers on the more than twenty following ships all knelt down together.

The two sides' ships approached.

"Earl Horas Redwyne," the Mountain said, his voice like thunder, "Rise. The soldiers on the ships, all rise."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Earl Horas Redwyne stood up, and then the girl beside him also stood up, followed by all the soldiers on the ship.

The two ships connected, each slightly angled, the sides of the ships slowly leaned against each other, and then slowly stopped. The helmsmen on both sides of the ships were very skilled and cooperated very well.

Horas Redwyne was in excellent spirits, but still had a mediocre appearance, his hair was still a dull color, and his face was still covered with many freckles. But the girl beside him was as beautiful as a bright moon in the sky. Horas standing next to the crescent-crowned girl looked like rubble and rough stones next to a beautiful jade.

The wooden ladder was quickly set up, and the sailors on both sides threw the ropes to each other's ships, and then fixed them to the special wooden stakes.

Horas Redwyne took the crescent-crowned girl's hand and walked across the wooden ladder together, coming to the Mountain and kneeling down to salute the Mountain again.

The Mountain raised his hand to let the two of them rise.

"Earl Horas, where is your naval vice-commander?" the Mountain asked.

"I am very sorry, Your Majesty, the Prince has already died in battle."

The naval commander-in-chief the Mountain sent to raid Qarth was Earl Horas Redwyne, and the vice-commander was a Prince from the Summer Isles who had recently submitted.

"Did more soldiers escape?"

"When we broke out of the encirclement and fled east, I saw two cannon ships in the west also break out of the enemy's encirclement. They went west."

The Mountain nodded, paying tribute to the Westerosi naval soldiers on the two warships. "Soldiers, you were able to return safely, each of you is a warrior in my heart."

The Westerosi naval soldiers on the two ships were excited in their hearts, and together they drew out their swords and struck them on their shields, armor, and the sides of the ships, and together they shouted to His Majesty the King: "The Westerosi Navy is brave, loyal, and fearless!"

The Mountain raised his hand, and the soldiers' shouts slowly subsided.

The Mountain looked at the girl beside Redwyne: "Earl, who is this lady?"

"Your Majesty, she is Gina Bella, the Holy Woman of the Ganlaiani Islands. She is already my wife. We were married on the Ganlaiani Islands."

"Holy Woman?"

"Your Majesty? There is no king, no governor, no lord or duke on the Ganlaiani Islands. Their highest leader is the Holy Woman. Ganlaiani is the name of the first Holy Woman."

"Oh!" The Mountain knew nothing about the island Redwyne mentioned. He glanced at the beautiful woman's flag from the Ganlaiani warship. "How far is the Holy Woman's island from Qarth?"

"More than thirty days' journey by ship, Your Majesty."

"How big is the island?"

"As big as two Arbor and one Summer Isles."

"Oh, how many warships are there on the island?"

"More than a hundred warships."

"Have they submitted to you?"

"This matter is hard to believe, Your Majesty. I was able to marry the Holy Woman, all thanks to the Sea God's safety."

"The people on the Ganlaiani Islands worship the Sea God?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. When our warship discovered the Ganlaiani Islands in the sea, we sailed towards the island…" Earl Horas approached the Mountain, lowered his voice, and said in the Westerosi language, "…At that time, there were many people on the coast, men and women, they were performing some kind of sacrifice, and when our warship appeared and landed, those sacrificing people all thought I was the Sea God."

The Mountain, Asha, Theon, Damian, Illyrio, and others all had strange expressions. Ever since the Holy Woman Gina Bella boarded the ship, Theon's eyes had been unable to leave Gina. The Mountain's Unsullied soldiers were fine, not paying too much attention to Gina, but the Dothraki soldiers under Damian were rolling their eyes at Gina.

Gina may have been accustomed to these men's gazes since she was a child, and she did not feel that this was blasphemy at all. She was calm and composed, and enjoyed the 'lustful' gazes of these men. She returned the favor with a sweet smile. It was very possible that the Holy Woman believed that men's infatuated gazes towards her were praise and respect for her.

On the Ganlaiani Islands, the Holy Woman was a symbol of beauty, health, strength, and authority.

"Horas, let us return to Qarth first. After you and the Holy Woman have rested, we will talk about the Ganlaiani Islands."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

*

When the Mountain, Asha, Theon, Horas, the Holy Woman Gina Bella, and others entered the city and rode horses on the wide streets of Qarth, Gina Bella's beauty caused a sensation. People flocked to the streets to see Gina Bella's beauty. Gina's service and the pure gold crescent crown each aroused people's discussions.

And in the back of the team, there were boxes and boxes of tribute from Gina's island country. The Mountain did not open the boxes to see what was inside, but it was estimated that they should be the best spices, because along the way, the fragrance emitted by those boxes made the soldiers feel very comfortable.

And in the middle of the Ganlaiani soldiers, there was a row of people pulling small horse-drawn carts. Each carriage had a beautiful girl from Ganlaiani. There were a total of twelve small horse-drawn carts that came with the warship, which meant that there were a total of twelve very beautiful girls.

And according to the ancient traditions of the Ganlaiani island country, these twelve girls, like the boxes of spices and beautiful jade given to the Mountain, were all gifts from the Holy Woman to His Majesty King Clegane.

Ganlaiani is famous for producing beautiful women, pearls, and spices!