The Mountain of Ice and Fire

In Creekton, all the nobles of the Westerlands had gathered.

Euron Crow's Eye's warships filling Lannisport's harbor had impressed the nobles, and the troops spread throughout the city's streets and alleys had filled them with fear.

In Creekton's training yard, the Mountain, in his capacity as Master of War and Warden of the West, convened a pre-battle mobilization meeting.

The nobles were all silent.

Euron Crow's Eye's power was too great. The Iron Islands had never been so prosperous in centuries.

Historically, during the reign of House Hoare over the Iron Islands, the ironborn had occupied the entire Riverlands and most of the western coast of Westeros: Harren Hoare forced the Lannisters of the Westerlands and their vassals to submit, occupying most of the Riverlands' coastal territory.

In Harren's time, the ironborn's prestige was unmatched!

Harren Hoare spent forty years building an unparalleled castle on the shores of the Gods Eye – Harrenhal. When Aegon I Targaryen, the Dragon, came to Harrenhal during his conquest of Westeros, he attempted to make Harren bend the knee. Harren refused, and Aegon set Harrenhal ablaze with dragonflame, burning the upper halves of Harrenhal's five towers into liquid. King Harren and his family were scorched to death by the searing walls, and the ironborn warriors opened the gates and surrendered. Harren's line was extinguished from then on. The ironborn's glory of dominating Westeros was gone forever.

After Aegon extinguished Harren the Blackheart, Vickon Greyjoy was chosen as the ruler of the Iron Islands. Thus, House Greyjoy ruled the Iron Islands to this day. During the Targaryen reign, the Greyjoys did not dare to rebel, swearing fealty to the Targaryen family on the Iron Throne. That was until the Targaryen family was overthrown by Eddard Stark, Robert Baratheon, and Jon Arryn.

Was Euron Crow's Eye trying to recreate the glory of the former 'Blackheart' Harren the Black?

*

The Mountain said in a deep voice, "Euron Crow's Eye's forces are powerful, but in my opinion, they are vulnerable. They have many men, but they also have internal conflicts. I saw the 'Silver Scythe' banner in their ranks, which represents House Harlaw. Lord Rodrik Harlaw is the lord of Harlaw Island, the master of Ten Towers. He is the only truly educated noble on the Iron Islands, a voracious reader, known as 'The Reader'. Lady Alannys Harlaw is Rodrik's sister, and she is the widow of Balon Greyjoy, who was killed by Crow's Eye. Lord Rodrik is Balon's brother-in-law, and he has always been loyal to Balon. The ironborn on Harlaw Island will turn against Crow's Eye at the first opportunity. They are loyal to Asha Greyjoy."

The training yard was full of people, and the entire place was silent.

The Mountain and the nobles were all familiar with the Greyjoy family's relationships on the Iron Islands. House Harlaw would only choose to be loyal to Balon's daughter, Asha, or his son, Theon, and would never be truly loyal to Euron Crow's Eye.

"There are quite a few ironborn nobles like House Harlaw, many of whom only have loyalty to King Balon in their hearts. After Theon was taken to the North by Eddard Stark to be fostered, King Balon considered his son Theon dead, and he raised his daughter Asha as his heir. The ironborn nobles who were loyal to King Balon turned to support Asha after King Balon's death."

The Mountain paused, seeing the confusion in the eyes of the Westerlands nobles: Was the Mountain making this up, or was he really telling the truth?

Standing beside the Mountain was the incomparably beautiful Jeyne Westerling, and beside Jeyne stood two strong and tall female generals: Brienne of Tarth and Zeliegar of the Bull.

The Westerlands nobles all believed that the Mountain definitely did not know these things and that Lady Jeyne must have told the Mountain. Rumors about Lady Jeyne being able to foresee the future had been spreading more and more in Lannisport recently. It was said that some captains had received some advice from Jeyne before going to sea, and the captains deeply believed in Jeyne's words.

If the Mountain could know some inside information about the Iron Islands, everyone would rather believe that it was Jeyne's help to the Mountain.

The Mountain saw the many complex emotions in everyone's eyes, and he continued, "My lords, a considerable portion of the ironborn warriors on the Iron Islands are women, which stems from their ancient traditions. On the Iron Islands, both men and women must go out to raid and participate in battles. Asha was raised by King Balon as the heir to the Iron Islands, which is in accordance with the traditions and ancient laws of the Iron Islands."

Great lords such as Lord Osgood and Lady Shatter were nodding secretly. They knew that what the Mountain said about the Iron Islands not distinguishing between men and women in warfare was true. Apart from the younger generation, those with a little experience and age in the Westerlands nobles knew this.

Lady Farman of Fair Isle nodded frequently. Fair Isle was in the sea, and even in peaceful times, it was often subjected to small-scale harassment by the ironborn. Several times a year, cargo ships were robbed by ironborn disguised as pirates. She understood everything the Mountain said very well. She completely agreed with the Mountain's statement.

Lord Farman of Fair Isle was the first great lord of the Westerlands to swear allegiance to the Mountain when the Mountain attacked King's Landing. This family had always been hostile to the Lannister family.

The Mountain knew that he had at least two allied families: the Farman family and the Shatter family.

The Mountain continued, "Euron Crow's Eye Greyjoy brought back a powerful fleet, brought back chests of gold and silver jewelry. He plundered merchant ships overseas, attacked large and small island nations in the sea, and amassed huge amounts of wealth. Money and fleets are the magic weapons that helped Crow's Eye sit on the Seastone Chair. The ironborn follow Crow's Eye in battle, not out of loyalty, but out of greed for money and fear of Crow's Eye's overwhelming power. Just like your fear of Crow's Eye now."

The Westerlands nobles stirred slightly!

The Westerlands nobles were very proud and were stung by the Mountain's words, and many felt ashamed.

"My lords, we have two major advantages that can ensure victory over Euron Crow's Eye. The first advantage is that we are an army and are more accustomed to fighting on land than at sea."

The Westerlands nobles exchanged glances, unimpressed. Pirates and ironborn often came ashore to rob and fight, and their land combat capabilities were not bad.

"The second advantage is that Euron Crow's Eye has no cavalry. In land battles, heavy and light cavalry have a natural advantage over infantry, flanking on both wings, attacking from both sides, and heavy cavalry charging the formation are all unstoppable by infantry. As long as I am willing, I can lead the cavalry to defeat Crow's Eye's infantry. They do fight very bravely, but the pirates on the sea have no formation in their fighting style, and neither do the ironborn," the Mountain chuckled. "Which of you lords who understand pirates or ironborn can tell me, do pirates and ironborn train in battle formations?"

"Never, Your Grace," Lady Farman said loudly.

As the countess of the Farman family, who had the most dealings with the ironborn, her words were authoritative in this regard.

"My lords, ladies, Lord Osgood and I want to abandon Lannisport because we want to lure Crow's Eye further away. I don't want him to have the opportunity to escape back to the sea on a warship. As long as we are at sea, we will not be his opponents, and he will defeat us and flee in disarray. But on land, he is no match for us, and I assure you of that."

The Mountain's words had magic, and the Westerlands nobles, who were terrified of Crow's Eye's power, gradually regained confidence. The solemn faces of some people began to relax, and some noble youths showed expressions of relief.

"Any of Crow's Eye's legions that catch up will have their spirit crushed by us at the first moment." The Mountain clapped his hands, and on the east side of the training yard, Ser Gendry the blacksmith shouted, "My lords, ladies, please look this way."

Swish!

Everyone turned their heads together, looking to the east side of the training yard.

At the far east side of the training yard, against the wall, a gray canvas covered a hill-like tall object. Gendry grabbed the corner of the canvas and pulled it hard. With a whoosh, the canvas was pulled open, revealing a carriage, the outside of the carriage wrapped in a layer of iron.

A brand new carriage.

Gendry pulled the carriage to the southeast corner of the training yard, placed it against the wall, and pointed to the northeast corner. Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing. In the northeast corner, against the wall, stood his master: the famous weapons master of Steel Street, Ser Tobho Mott. – After Gendry and Master Tobho Mott escaped with their lives from the massacre in Darry, the Mountain knighted them both and adopted Gendry as his son.

From then on, the two became landless knights – the lowest rank of nobility in the Seven Kingdoms.

In the northeast corner of the training yard, there was also a hand-pulled cart-like object covered with a gray canvas. Master Tobho Mott reached out and lifted the canvas, and a dragon-slaying crossbow that everyone had never seen before appeared in front of everyone.

Everyone did not recognize the dragon-slaying crossbow, but everyone recognized the iron spear that was more than two meters long. The noble generals all recognized the thick crossbow string that was stretched tight at the end of the iron spear.

The general shape of the dragon-slaying crossbow had too many similarities to a short crossbow, but everyone was seeing a dragon-slaying crossbow as large as a carriage for the first time.

Everyone was shocked!

Master Tobho Mott looked at the Mountain, and the Mountain nodded. Master Tobho Mott flicked the shiny metal plate, and a crisp click was heard. The black iron spear flew out with a sharp whistle, drawing a black shadow, and with a loud bang, the iron spear hit the iron-skinned carriage in the southeast corner. The carriage was struck as if by a giant hammer, collapsing with a crash and hitting the stone wall. The iron spear was too fast and too powerful, piercing through half of the carriage, lifting the carriage into the air, and with a thud, the spearhead plunged into the stone wall. The long spear tail buzzed and trembled incessantly.

Crack, crack, crack!

The carriage was pierced by the iron spear, hanging on the iron spear, and the shattered wooden planks were still making cracking sounds. The remaining force was still vibrating during the transmission.

Lord Osgood was also seeing the power of this giant crossbow for the first time, having never heard the Mountain mention it before.

Everyone was shocked!

Gendry and two blacksmith masters lifted the carriage off the iron spear. The carriage was hit by the iron spear and lifted into the air, and the wheels were already hanging in the air.

Gendry pulled the carriage in front of everyone, and everyone watched. Only then did they see that the thick iron skin was double-layered on both sides. The blacksmiths tore open the iron skin with pointed hammers, and the oak planks inside were cracked, and the cracks ran through both panels of the carriage carriage.

"Lord Osgood, go try to take the crossbow bolt down," the Mountain instructed.

Lord Osgood was still in shock: "Your Grace, I'm afraid I can't."

"Look at that spearhead, it seems to have pierced through the entire stone wall," Lady Shatter's voice changed.

The Mountain actually possessed such a powerful crossbow, which was unbelievable. If she had not been 'forced' to ally with the Mountain and swear allegiance to follow him, and after her son Addam Shatter returned from the battle in the Riverlands, the two sides continued to be hostile, how could the Shatter family be a match for the Mountain?

The power of the dragon-slaying crossbow filled everyone with fear.

Who could withstand such an arrow?

Shooting through the iron-skinned reinforced carriage wall and then nailing it into the thick stone wall. Flesh and blood, any plate armor, would be as fragile as paper in front of such a crossbow bolt and would be vulnerable.

The generals came to the crossbow bolt, and the iron spear had been deeply nailed into the thick stone wall. Lord Osgood grabbed the iron spear with both hands and probed with force, then let go: "I can't, I can't pull it out."

There was no need to blush and make a fool of himself. After trying it, he knew that it was absolutely impossible, so there was no need to force himself to be embarrassed.

"Who will try to pull out this iron spear," the Mountain shouted loudly, "Whoever pulls out this iron spear, I will reward ten golden dragons."

"I will!" Hanson Crakehall, the acting castellan of Crakehall, stood up.

The people of House Crakehall were known for their strength and bravery in the Westerlands. Unfortunately, Lord Roland Crakehall of the main line of Crakehall was killed by Robb Stark of the North. His eldest son and heir, Ser Tybolt Crakehall, his second son, Lyle Crakehall, nicknamed "Strongboar", and his third son, Merlon Crakehall, had all been killed in battle. Hanson Crakehall was a branch of the family. Because of the war and turmoil, he had not yet been officially recognized by the Crakehall family, nor had he sworn an oath in the sept under the guidance of the septon, so he was now the acting castellan.

Hanson was like the Kingsguard Osmund Kettleblack, tall and strong, two meters tall, as strong as an ox, and looked like a smaller version of the Mountain.

Hanson moved his waist, and warm applause rang out in the training yard.

*

Lord Osgood, Lady Shatter, Lady Farman and others had other thoughts. They did not know how many of these giant crossbows the Mountain possessed in total? If there was only one, then the deterrent power would be weak.

Indeed, if there were ten such giant crossbows lined up in the formation, and they were suddenly pushed out when the enemy attacked, they could severely injure the enemy. Once the enemy's spirit was extinguished, the army would be wiped out, and the cavalry would charge, and Crow's Eye's army would bleed into a river.

Catch the enemy off guard!

Pirates and ironborn did not have queue training or battle formation training. Their battles could not be calculated in terms of legion formation combat power. Whether attacking or retreating, they rushed over in a swarm. They won by strength and bloodshed.

Lord Osgood opened his mouth, but forcibly suppressed it without asking. The oppression the Mountain gave people was natural, as if it were innate.

*

Ser Hanson Crakehall grabbed the iron spear with both hands, roared, and pulled hard, but the iron spear was firmly rooted in the stone wall and did not move.

*

ps: Tomorrow (20th) is over, make up for the owed update.

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