Game of Thrones: Oath of Iron and Fire-Chapter 49: A Battle of Wills and Catapults

"By the Old Gods!"

"The Warrior protects us!"

"The Mother of Spears bless us!"

"The Lord of Light shield us!"

Before battle, soldiers sought the favor of their deities to ensure victory. The Wolfpack prayed to both the Seven and the Old Gods, the Unsullied to the Mother of Spears, while the Free Army, mostly composed of men from the Disputed Lands, turned to R'hllor, the Lord of Light, and the pleasure goddess of Lys.

At Powdergrass Manor, Gendry watched the distant horizon as a dark tide of men approached.

The Myrish second offensive was frantic. The governors had set aside their grudges, hiring the Cat's Guild, the Long Spears, the Second Sons, and a large number of free sellswords from Myr.

"It seems our guerrilla knights along the way have only limited impact on these legions," Handsome Harry remarked.

"That's to harass the morale of the Myrish army! The real test will be the pitched battle," Gendry said.

"The road ahead is perilous!" Longspear said. "The Myrish have also assembled twenty warships at sea to blockade our coastline and coordinate an attack with the sellswords. The Tyroshi have allowed the Myrish fleet to pass through."

The Myrish had learned from their previous defeat, launching a two-pronged assault, both by land and sea. But the coastline leading to the manor was long and treacherous, and compared to that, the enemies on land were faster and more dangerous.

"The coastline won't be that easy to seal off! The Disputed Lands are too vast, and these armies dare not land," Gendry said.

"There's another thing we need to be cautious about: blood plague. Beware, the Myrish might hurl corpses into the manor!" Maester Cale warned.

Blood plague had been the scourge of armies since the Dawn Age, and he knew all too well how it could silently spread through a camp, leading to the annihilation of an entire force.

"The old maester is right, but Bloodbeard probably doesn't have the wit you think he does, and he's more interested in taking Powdergrass Manor and looting it," Handsome Harry analyzed.

"This time, the Myrish are bleeding! Since that's the case, we need to take all their manors and towns, to break the Myrish more quickly!" Gendry said.

"Follow the original plan! Like a hammer and an anvil, we'll crush the Blackfyre rebels, replicating the tactics of the royalist army," Gendry said. "This battle will make our mark, shatter the Myrish retreat."

"The Myrish are not as strong as they think, and we have friends!"

"Yes!"

"Hell with 'em!"

Gendry's anvil was the reinforced Powdergrass Manor and several other manors, having abandoned some forward, loosely defended estates to let the escaped slaves clear the land and focus on building a defensive chain.

Powdergrass Manor, now layered and fortified, seemed like a steel fortress, with deepened and widened trenches filled with spikes. Inside the manor, there were now large catapults and scorpions to wear down the enemy's momentum.

The Wolfpack and the Free Army's hammer were the four hundred knights personally led by Gendry, the fist of the reserve assault force. In addition to the defenders in the city, there were two thousand Free Army soldiers ready to move with him. There were also guerrilla fighters; guerrilla warfare was the specialty of the Bowyer, Dick, who led a group of longbowmen to ambush in the woods and hills.

From the city walls, Gendry saw Bloodbeard's assault, the Cat's Guild's cat banner, the Second Sons' broken sword emblem, and the Long Spears' spear symbol all visible on the ramparts.

Bloodbeard's troops were the Myrish center, with the Second Sons' cavalry on the left and the Long Spears' cavalry on the right, the infantry making up the majority. The three mercenary companies formed the core, with a considerable number of free sellswords in tow. Behind them, there were three giant catapults.

"About six thousand men, but the core is Bloodbeard!" Gendry assessed the strength and depth of the battle array, knowing he would lead the cavalry charge.

"The Second Sons' knights are less well-equipped, with poor armor and weapons. Bloodbeard's troops are not all elite; only the first thousand are truly elite. The following two thousand mercenaries and two thousand hastily gathered free knights are just there for the show," Gendry observed.

"Steward, when I lead the cavalry charge, the manor is in your hands!" Gendry said.

"Rest easy, I'll stand or fall with the manor!" Handsome Harry promised.

"Damn that little brat!" Bloodbeard cursed. The captain of the Cat's Guild, Bloodbeard, was a loud-mouthed brute with a taste for bloodshed.

"It's already evening, damn it. Those guerrilla slaves have cost us a lot of time. Otherwise, by noon, we would have launched more stones," Bloodbeard complained. His voice could drown out a dozen men. He was a large man with a thick beard and an insatiable appetite for wine and women.

"Some of the manors we passed were empty, while others, once we broke through their defenses, were filled with those stubborn slaves who cost me many brothers," Bloodbeard wiped his long blade and grumbled.

"Smash that little brat; they've raided so many manors. There must be a fortune in that wolf's den," Mero said excitedly.

Mero, the captain of the Second Sons, was from Braavos, tall with pale green eyes and a thick, waist-length red-gold beard. His reputation was so notorious that under his command, the Second Sons were rarely hired by the Free Cities.

"This little brat is stubborn and stinky. He could have bribed us with some gold first!" Mero said. "He chose to resist to the end."

"Don't be greedy for a little profit! Break through the manor, and gold and slaves will be ours," Bloodbeard dismissed the idea. "I see you're hungry. Cherish this opportunity, Titan's Bastard. The Second Sons have a bad reputation and haven't been hired by the Free Cities for a long time."

"Keep an eye on those bastards from the Long Spears; they have many horses and will run at the first sign of trouble," Bloodbeard warned. The Cat's Guild was mostly infantry, with about three hundred cavalry and squires, and two thousand seven hundred foot soldiers. The Second Sons had only a little over five hundred cavalry, while the Long Spears had eight hundred cavalry, making them a predominantly cavalry force.

"Catapults, haul 'em in. Bring in the Myrish three giant catapults, those lovely Myrish whores!" Bloodbeard shouted.

The Myrish had constructed three giant catapults for this assault on the Wolfpack's headquarters, named Wolfslayer, Myrish Matron, and Myrish Glory.

"Send some men to guard those catapults!" Bloodbeard said to Mero.

"As you command, Commander!" Mero nodded. In terms of military strength, Bloodbeard was the de facto commander.

Bloodbeard's center of five thousand men was arrayed in more than a dozen ranks, but they did not launch an attack yet.

"Boom! Boom!"

The catapults roared, and the three Myrish catapults began to operate. Stones rained down on Powdergrass Manor like hail.

"I need to deal with those catapults," Gendry thought. Powdergrass Manor was not an invincible fortress, and its strategic depth was not enough to withstand too many waves of boulders.

Gendry wore his black scale armor, with a cloak made of luxurious Myrish brocade over his shoulders to deflect some arrow shots. He rode the black stallion gifted by the Red Viper, a Dornish horse, one of the finest breeds in the world. His warhammer, arakh blade, and a matching dark oak shield were all ready on his mount.

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Silent Longspear led four hundred equally silent knights alongside him, with the grey-and-white banner of the howling wolf carried behind Longspear.