The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Mountain looked at his subordinates: Chiswyck the Big Head, Raff the Sweetmouth, the neurotic Polliver, Drennan the Headsman, and his adopted daughter Julie. Their eyes gleamed with excitement, clearly thrilled by the iron shields with their knife-edged rims. These shields, meant for defense, had been modified by Master Tob Mott to incorporate the advantages of a scimitar, transforming a round shield into a round blade, capable of both defense and offense.

The Mountain's iron hammer resembled an oversized mace, which had an unparalleled advantage: armor-piercing. Whether it was a helmet or plate armor, a single blow could pierce the steel defenses, severely injuring the body beneath the armor.

Both weapons were designed for slaughter!

In tomorrow's team melee, everyone would be using real weapons, and the defenses would be at their most robust. Each person would be covered from head to toe. Generally, only victory or defeat would be considered, not life or death. Unless someone intentionally wanted to kill—or in the heat of battle, lost control and killed someone.

Of all the tournaments, the most dangerous was the team melee.

Dozens of people fought together, each potentially an ally, each potentially an enemy. The last person standing in the arena would be the champion.

The team melee could only have one winner.

But Master Tob Mott's two weapons were clearly not meant for tournaments; they were meant for killing.

Jeyne, Reynard, Rolph, Burney, Zelle, and the others were all astonished by these weapons! Their temperament differed from that of Big Head and the others. Since it was a team tournament, it shouldn't focus on killing but on showcasing one's skills. The team battle also had rules: falling meant defeat, surrendering meant defeat, and stepping out of the circle meant defeat. Only victory or defeat mattered, not life or death.

Jeyne said sternly, "Ser Gregor, don't use such dangerous weapons. One blow from that great hammer, and no one can withstand it; it will cause death or serious injury. The round shield's edge is as sharp as a knife, suitable for battlefield killing, not for tournament murder."

Polliver, who revered Jeyne like the moon goddess, twitched his right cheek and said, "The lady is right. At most, we might fancy someone's beautiful hands or someone's pretty eyeballs, dig them out, and make them into works of art, but we must not kill. After all, this is a national tournament. If we accidentally kill a big shot like Duke Renly, the king will be furious, and that wouldn't be good."

"Ser Polliver, you must not gouge out eyes or sever limbs either. The tournament is only about victory or defeat. Once victory or defeat is determined, you must not injure anyone," Jeyne said.

"...Uh...yes, my lady!" Polliver's right cheek twitched even more.

The Mountain seized the opportunity to say, "The lady has spoken. Tomorrow is not a battlefield for killing. We won't use the great hammer or the round shield."

"Sword shield! Lord Mountain, Lady Jeyne," Sweetmouth said with a flattering smile, "Master Tob named this shield the 'Sword Shield.' The master wants to see the Sword Shield in action, to test whether it can withstand the knights' sword strikes in real combat."

"We can use it only for defense, and even if we attack, we won't kill," Drennan the Headsman said.

Drennan was highly skilled and controlled his movements well, so he wouldn't accidentally injure anyone. He could indeed use the Sword Shield to test it in real combat.

It turned out that Master Tob had another intention: to test the Sword Shield's defensive capabilities and offensive assistance in real combat.

Sweetmouth smiled and said, "Lord, the hammer and shield are a team battle tactic that Master Tob came up with. You attack in front, and me, Drennan, Polliver, and Big Head will protect you from three sides. No matter if the enemy attacks from the side or the rear, they must first get past our swords and shields."

This was indeed a new tactic, which sparked a flash of inspiration in the time-traveling Mountain, reminding him of Qi Jiguang's invincible Mandarin Duck Formation. The Mountain himself didn't have the ability to create a practical battle formation, but he could directly use a battle formation that had been tested by history and proven successful.

Of course, the hammer-shield formation was a coordinated tactic that Master Tob had devised for team tournaments, far inferior to the invincible Mandarin Duck Formation, and the equipment was also lacking. However, this hammer-shield formation gave the Mountain inspiration: after the tournament, he could try Qi Jiguang's invincible Mandarin Duck Formation. If it proved feasible after practice, he would have the two thousand infantrymen from Crakehall and Lannisport train it.

Battle formations!

This world lacked the rich and varied battle formations of Chinese history. Battle formations were simple, just queues and phalanxes. Compared to the battle formations honed in the sea of blood and corpses of China's thousands of years of history, this world's queues and phalanxes were at the kindergarten level.

For individual courage, the sword was king; for battles of thousands or tens of thousands, the formation was king.

The hammer-shield battle formation was a small attempt at team coordination; for those knights who fought in their own ways, even this tactical idea was far superior.

The Mountain looked at Jeyne: "My lady, can we... try this hammer-shield tomorrow?"

Jeyne looked at the Mountain. She knew that it was difficult to change what the Mountain had decided. This question was just for her respect: "Tomorrow is not a battlefield. None of you are allowed to kill at will!"

"Thank you, my lady!" Polliver, Drennan, Big Head, and Sweetmouth were overjoyed, speaking in unison, their faces beaming with smiles.

Julie said, "Mother, I request to participate in tomorrow's team tournament."

"You can't go. It's too dangerous!" Jeyne said.

"It will be even more dangerous on the battlefield in the future, Mother. This time, I'll be with Father and several uncles helping me. The opponents won't want to kill me; they'll just want to knock me down," Julie said. "If I can't win, I can withdraw from the battle circle and raise my hand to surrender," Julie pleaded.

The Mountain looked at Jeyne: "My lady, let Julie... uh... try it. I promise to protect her!"

"And me, my lady, I will protect Julie!" Big Head said. He remembered his promise to Julie in Crakehall: to protect the only daughter of House Clegane.

"Me too!" Polliver said.

"And Drennan and I, my lady, you can rest assured," Sweetmouth said with a smile.

The Mountain said, "My lady, only by letting the child participate in real combat can she help herself faster. Don't think about protecting her. To quote the Stark's words, 'Winter is coming.' We must let the child learn to protect herself."

"Clegane is invincible!" Drennan raised his fist. "My lady, the championship is ours. Let Julie come!"

"Clegane is invincible!" Big Head pounded his chest with his fist. "My lady, let Julie participate."

"The registration period has already passed. Even if I approve, it won't work," Jeyne said calmly, not at all moved by these violent and intimidating guys. She had learned to be calm and collected among these murderous and intimidating people, never showing her emotions.

Big Head, Sweetmouth, the neurotic one, and the headsman all smiled.

Jeyne immediately understood: "Julie, you've already registered?"

"Yes, Mother, but without your approval, I can only give up!" Julie said in an innocent tone, telling a very obvious lie.

Julie had also registered for the archery competition, which was the day after tomorrow.

The Mountain had always strictly required her to practice archery diligently, including crossbows, as well as horsemanship, and finally swordsmanship. In fact, the fastest way to practice arm strength, the Mountain believed, was to draw a bow. Mounted archery encompassed horsemanship, eyesight, waist coordination, arm strength, and many other basic training elements.

So the team battle roster was confirmed: The Mountain, Big Head, the neurotic one, Sweetmouth, the headsman, Julie.

Reynard Westerling, Rolph Spicer, and Zelle Gerda would represent Crakehall.

*

The next morning, the arena was packed with people. The crowd was twice as large as yesterday's preliminary and semi-final rounds. The rows of large trees along the Blackwater Rush were covered with people.

Today's finals attracted even more people than yesterday's preliminary rounds.

The real champion of the Seven Kingdoms would be decided this morning!

The Hound, the Kingslayer, the Mountain, and the Knight of Flowers appeared in the arena together, circling the arena and accepting the cheers of the crowd.

In the royal box, there was a row of royal courtiers and nobles.

Littlefinger Petyr Baelish stood next to Duke Renly.

"Lord Renly, let's make a bet!" Littlefinger Petyr Baelish said.

"Alright!" Duke Renly said with a smile.

"The Knight of Flowers' challenge to the Mountain has been approved by the king. One hundred gold dragons, I bet the Mountain wins!" Littlefinger said with a smile on his lips.

"I bet the Knight of Flowers wins." Duke Renly also smiled. "Littlefinger..." Duke Renly said with disdain. Littlefinger was consistently looked down upon by the true nobles. "The Mountain is bound to lose to the Knight of Flowers! Come on, add another five hundred gold dragons and bet on who will be the champion this time!"