The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Theon Greyjoy stood at the bow of the ship, clad in leather armor.

The soldiers on the fleet were all in armor; they were Theon's uncle Victarion's Iron Fleet, the most powerful naval force of the Iron Islands.

This fleet consisted of three hundred warships.

The three hundred warships were arranged in two columns, quickly passing through the narrow channels on either side of the Water Gate.

The two channels only allowed one warship to pass through at a time, greatly slowing down the overall fleet's passage.

The Mountain's warship and the dragon had already arrived in the battle area; they stopped and patiently waited for Theon's fleet to pass through the Water Gate for a decisive battle.

One by one, the Iron Islands' unique longships swiftly passed through the Water Gate, forming three teams in the Blackwater River area to correspond to the Mountain's navy's left, center, and right armies. Failure to divide into three arrays would expose the flanks to the Mountain's navy, a major taboo.

Half an hour later, Theon's vanguard fleet of three hundred warships had still not completely passed through the Water Gate.

Whoosh!

A black iron dragonbone bolt shot out, aiming at Theon's flagship.

In the night, the black iron spear emitted a whistling sound, but it was drowned out by the Blackwater River's rushing water.

Crack!

A burst of sound!

Theon's Sea Monster's hull suddenly shattered, sending high sprays of wooden debris into the air. Soldiers on the deck were pierced by the unmatched black spear, carrying several bodies as they flew up, crashing down on an entire team of soldiers.

Someone in the Mountain's naval fleet couldn't resist and fired the first dragonbone bolt.

On the Sea Monster flagship, the soldiers were immediately thrown into chaos.

Enemy attack!

A centurion shouted, "Archers—prepare!"

Before the order could be fully shouted, the second dragonbone bolt arrived, with another loud crack. This iron spear aimed at the flagship's hull, and with a deafening bang, a huge breach was torn in the hull, as if struck by a heavy hammer in mid-air.

The force on the iron spear was too fierce; the hull shattered on contact, and the powerful force extended rapidly, tearing apart the wooden planks like an invisible giant hand.

Several oarsmen in the cabin were pierced by the terrifying long spear, poof, poof, poof, the long spear carried bodies as it flew, breaking many oars. The oarsmen were thrown into chaos, and the rhythm of the uniform rowing was disrupted, causing the Sea Monster flagship to sway from side to side.

The first dragonbone bolt's shot tore open the prelude to the naval battle.

At this time, more than a hundred of Theon's Iron Fleet ships had not yet passed through the Water Gate.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Three more dragonbone bolts aimed at the Sea Monster flagship, whistling as they arrived. The first hit the tall mast directly, piercing through it, sending wood chips flying. The mast's shattering intensified as it swayed, and with a loud crack, the mast collapsed, causing the soldiers on the deck to panic, and some jumped into the sea.

The soldiers on the Sea Monster had a habit of wearing armor; they were also the only Ironborn who dared to wear armor, everyone fearless, believing that the Drowned God was with them—what is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger!

But wearing armor had one major disadvantage: once they fell into the water, they would sink straight to the bottom. Basically, there was no escape.

Boom!

The tall mast smashed into the bow, shattering it, and the hull shook violently. Shouts and screams filled the air.

*

Crack!

The second iron spear hit the stern directly! The stern exploded!

The third iron spear skimmed the water's surface, and with a loud bang, pierced through the hull. River water immediately poured into the bottom of the cabin, and quickly flooded the bottom, spreading towards the oarsmen's cabin.

The Sea Monster flagship began to spin and sink.

On the deck, the soldiers took off their armor and jumped into the sea. Splash, splash, one after another.

Wagner Gall blew the battle horn!

Crack, crack, crack!

Across the way, the Iron Fleet's warships densely echoed with terrifying sounds of splintering wood. Wood chips exploded, screams rang out, and dragonbone bolts fired in unison, hitting the first and second rows of enemy ships. Theon's left, center, and right fleets were immediately thrown into chaos. The formation was broken.

Woooooo!

The Mountain's navy's all-out charge horn sounded!

The left, center, and right armies shouted together, archers fired ten thousand arrows, and the drumbeats all changed to the speed of the charge.

In naval warfare, control of the speed of advance and retreat depended on the rhythm of the drumbeats on the ship.

"Surround them on three sides!" The Mountain roared from the dragon's back.

The Mountain's voice, even in a battle of tens of thousands of people, was deafening.

The only pity was that the enemy's warships had not all entered the Blackwater River area, so they could not be completely annihilated. The Clegane army's generals were always very warlike, and many times the soldiers couldn't resist rushing forward even before the orders were given.

During the Mountain's time of using people in battle, he did not severely punish those warlike and disobedient generals several times, including his personal guard captain, Joyce Foote, and other heavyweight generals. This time, the Mountain saw that his wife's uncle, Rolph Spicer, had taken the lead in launching the attack.

Now that the most dangerous battle with the Others was over, the Clegane Legion's military strength in the Seven Kingdoms had reached the top. Daenerys's foreign army, having lost the dragons, came from different places, a rabble, vulnerable and not to be feared—therefore, it was time to strictly rectify military discipline!

This might be a typical case of settling accounts after the autumn harvest!

Without an absolutely disciplined legion, there would be huge challenges in crossing the sea to conquer the continent of Essos.

*

Boom!

A loud noise—Theon's flagship, the Sea Monster, disintegrated under the continuous attack of the dragonbone bolts, breaking into two halves. The two sections of the hull spun in the rapids, and with two loud bangs, collided with two other warships that were turning to retreat. The soldiers on the warship's deck fell into the water one after another…

Naval Deputy Commander Theon Greyjoy's sword had not even touched any enemy when it slipped from his hand. He had to jump into the river, and was immediately submerged by the river water…

Seeing this, the Iron Fleet's longships passing through the Water Gate retreated one after another!

The narrow waterway became the biggest obstacle to the Iron Fleet's escape.

Bang, bang, bang!

Many warships ran into underwater reefs, and the hulls immediately tilted, capsized, and were swept into the water. The bottom of the Water Gate was full of reefs. After thousands of years of rapid current erosion, the reefs were covered with spikes like long swords and spears. All ships and people that touched the reefs would be swept into the water, torn to pieces, and then emerge from the sea far away…

Soon, the Ironborn's most powerful navy, the Iron Fleet, was utterly defeated, with no power to fight back. In front of the Water Gate, the escaping longships were crowded together, while the Mountain's navy pressed on from three sides, as dark as a city wall. Only the loud cracking sounds of crack, crack, crack were constantly heard, and gray clouds of wood chips burst out from the hulls, masts, and bodies of the longships—hundreds of dragonbone bolts were continuously fired at the crowded enemy ships…

This was a disaster!

In front of the dragonbone bolts, any ship's hull was vulnerable!

*

Outside the sea area at the mouth of the sea, the first to escape was the navy fleet of Pentos. Commander Chester turned around and left without a word. The warships of Pentos immediately followed their commander, turning towards the vast expanse of the outer sea.

Closely following behind was the naval fleet of Lys, commanded by Anseel. These two fleets had no intention of really attacking King's Landing from the beginning. They followed behind the team, and if progress was smooth, they wouldn't mind taking a share. But when the Mountain and his dragon appeared, they already regretted it.

Then the fleets of Myr, Tyrosh, and Volantis began to retreat, only the fleet of Braavos still maintained its formation—for now. Braavos's naval commander, Jared, stood on the high bridge, witnessing a naval battle in which there was no power to fight back—the powerful Iron Fleet of two hundred warships was crushed, while the opposing warships were undamaged.

In the low air, the Mountain and his dragon did indeed keep their promise and did not join the naval battle!

The moment the Mountain and his dragon appeared, the King's Landing garrison and citizens' morale soared, and their fighting spirit boiled! In the face of this momentum, any powerful legion would be better off avoiding its edge!

*

Suddenly, a large fire burned along the coast of Duskendale. It was Jorah Mormont leading the Dothraki who landed on the coastline and launched a carpet-like attack—looting and setting fires all the way.

Jorah Mormont was unable to stop the Dothraki's traditional way of fighting: once the war started, they looted any villages, cities, and towns they passed through, plundered wealth and women, and then set fire to all the houses.

Burn, kill, and loot, the Dothraki's traditional fighting style.

Along with Queen's Guard Captain Jorah Mormont were also Her Majesty's two bloodriders, Aggo and Rakharo! Their other bloodrider brother, Quogo, had already died for Her Majesty on the grasslands.

The Dothraki respected Daenerys, obeyed the Queen's orders, but did not take the Queen's Guard Captain seriously. Jorah Mormont was just leading the way for them. The proud and arrogant Dothraki were not used to being on ships. They were not yet adapted to the transition after abandoning the ships and landing, but it did not affect their massacre of the villagers along the coast of Duskendale.

Arianne Martell on the dragon's back also saw the fire in the distance on the left. Before she could speak, the dragon had already flown over there…

The Dothraki liked to play with fire, and the dragon and the Mountain liked it too!

*

In the darkness, Varys had already smelled the sea breeze.

But he noticed that Daario Naharis beside him suddenly stopped moving.

Varys felt Daario draw his arakh and pull out his scimitar.

He widened his eyes, but did not sense anything unusual in the darkness.

Varys had walked this secret passage many times.

The last time he escaped King's Landing with the help of the Mountain, he took this secret passage.

Before the land and sea battles began, Varys, on Her Majesty's orders, took the lead in sneaking into King's Landing, and everything went as smoothly as he had expected. After the Mother of Dragons visited King's Landing on her three dragons, the courtiers, generals, and lords of the Crownlands in King's Landing had their morale plummet to the dust. Many people had a knight's heart and two good plans: if they could defend the city, they would defend it; if they couldn't, they would surrender.

Varys quickly contacted the new leader of the Golden Company, and the two earls of the Crownlands. They all clearly stated that they were willing to obey the Queen's orders conveyed by Varys, and they would open the city gates when Her Majesty's army reached the city walls.

But Varys suddenly decided to escape secretly through the secret passage. He did not let the generals who had prepared for the rebellion know that he had chosen to leave—because the Mountain and his dragon's sudden arrival had completely changed the morale of the entire city—this shattered Varys's beautiful plan. He believed that the surrender faction would soon change their original intentions and turn from a surrender faction into a pro-war faction!

This was very realistic, and Varys trusted his judgment!

When the Mountain rode his dragon over the Blackwater River in King's Landing and spoke to the King's Landing soldiers and citizens, Varys decisively made a decision: leave the city!

In order not to attract the attention of his partners, Varys left several guards behind and only took Daario with him!

They took the underground secret passage out of the city to the docks, and then boarded a ship to hide. Then they would find a suitable opportunity to sail away.

But as they were about to leave the secret passage, Daario stopped and silently drew his weapons.

Varys was covered in cold sweat!

How could there be an ambush here?

The Mountain was riding a dragon in the sky. He could not possibly have foreseen that Varys would sneak into King's Landing, and then take this road to escape.

Absolutely impossible!

In the darkness ahead, a small candle lit up.

A dwarf-like man held the candle in his hand.

"Lord Varys, lower your hood. We knew you came to King's Landing, and we also knew you would escape through this road."

Varys slowly pulled down his hood and wiped off the beard on his chin: "Lord Bronn Clegane."

"Yes, my lord. After you left, the little birds have been doing well. I haven't mistreated them, and they haven't let me down."

"Did the little birds get my message, or did the generals betray me?"

"Lord Varys, with your intelligence, do I need to tell you the answer?"

Varys slowly pulled off his wig, revealing a clean bald head: "Which general betrayed me?"

"All the generals you contacted." Bronn Clegane smiled, "Varys, you are a smart man. Tell the dog next to you to put down his claws, otherwise you will all die."

As he spoke, torches lit up behind Varys, and two white-robed generals appeared, holding short swords suitable for combat in narrow spaces.

Two Kingsguard!

And in front, beside Bronn Clegane, a short general also appeared, surrounded by four archers holding short crossbows.

Attacked from both sides!

No matter how fierce Daario Naharis was, in this space, it would be difficult for him to dodge four short crossbows, not to mention that he still had to face three swords!

"Lord Mountain does not want to start a war, he only wants to negotiate, as you know." Bronn Clegane smiled.

When the Mountain released Varys the first time, it was to have Varys advise Daenerys to make peace; when Daenerys led her army to attack Westeros, the Mountain sent messengers to still express his willingness to negotiate… But Varys believed that there was no need to be soft on evil, and he did not convey the Mountain's true intentions to Daenerys, because he believed that evil people like the Mountain should not be allowed to continue doing evil.

The Mountain must die!

Varys thought silently, and decided to accept Bronn's proposal: negotiate with the Mountain!

Varys looked at Daario and nodded to Daario.

Daario slowly lowered the arakh and scimitar in his hands.

"Varys, tell your dog to drop his weapons, or I'll kill him first," Bernie said with a smile. Bernie raised his left hand, the one not holding the candle, and the short crossbows of the four crossbowmen all aimed at Daario.

Varys signaled with his eyes, and Daario dropped his narrow sword and scimitar!

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