The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 155: The Out-of-Battle Situation
Petyr Baelish opened the pitcher and drank the liquid in one gulp, even though some of the water ran down his lips.

The coolness of the clear water made him feel refreshed, and then he subconsciously missed the leisurely days in Myr and even the Red Keep.

As the Governor of Myr, a commanding civil servant, Petyr naturally had a strict group of servants to take care of his daily life, but even so, this still made the civil servant extremely uncomfortable, and he preferred to stay in the office to work.

Petyr's nostalgia did not last long. He was not a person who would waste his energy thinking about useless things. The current battle was obviously more important.

Littlefinger was standing on top of a crude wooden tower, so crude and hastily built that even the bark hadn't been scraped off the tree—it was going to be torn down after the war anyway.

Before his eyes, the army of Westeros had been deployed, flags from all over Westeros were fluttering in the air, and various emblems stood there proudly as if competing for beauty.

Under these flags are countless soldiers and knights ready for battle. The soldiers are in high spirits and are always ready to fight in the battlefield to win wealth and glory and have their names sung by bards.

Seeing this magnificent military might, even someone like Petyr, who had never been interested in war, could not help but be moved by such a grand scene.

However, in order to deploy such a large army, it takes a lot of energy. Petyr is the one responsible for organizing the deployment of the troops. He got up at four o'clock and commanded the deployment of the troops at the front line. He has been busy until now.

When Petyr thought of the scene, he subconsciously closed his eyes. The scene was too... He still remembered how he had yelled on the battlefield without any grace, and watched the officers drive the soldiers to their corresponding positions like cattle.

Therefore, his mind was not filled with any "inevitable victory". After seeing how serious the organizational problems of this army were, he was more worried, not to mention what Old Ailin said to him.

Two days ago, news about the Targaryens spread throughout the army like wildfire, and soon people learned about the appearance of the Targaryen descendants. Along with this news, there was also a high reward from the Iron Throne - Robert even promised that if anyone could take off the head of the Targaryen descendant, he would grant that person an earl's territory.

This news added fuel to the already boiling pot. The new recruits filling the army were now even more eager to fight and couldn't wait to get on the battlefield.

So under the king's order, the people of Westeros sped up.

This was a life-threatening situation for Petyr. He was not used to marching, let alone such high-intensity running. It was really tiring, but fortunately the centaur did not run away, so this torture did not last very long.

Although the king wanted to chop off the heads of the remaining dragons immediately, he still controlled his emotions. He did not lead the knights to charge directly, but set up camp on the spot to let the troops gain a foothold first.

The battlefield they chose was on the road to Mir. With the road as the center, it was open and flat all around. It was a very suitable battlefield, large enough for both armies to deploy.

On the day the Westeros people arrived, the king convened a military meeting to discuss tomorrow's battle. As the leader of the Myr army, Petyr was qualified to attend, even though the nobles looked down on him.

At the meeting, His Majesty the King's strategic thinking was to charge and charge again. Anyway, as long as the knights charged forward, the centaurs would immediately collapse and their fighting power would be insignificant - this was also what the King's experience told him.

If it weren't for Lord Eddard's constant persuasion, Petyr suspected that the entire army of Westeros would rush towards the centaurs after the battle started today.

After a heated discussion, they finally came to the conclusion that His Majesty Robert would lead the king's lords and the Storm Knights to attack the centaurs' camp directly to chop off the heads of Prince Targaryen and the Great Khaaul, while the rest of the people would hold their ground. So now the people of Westeros have deployed such a formation.

Looking past the army of Westeros, Petyr looked at the centaur army on the opposite side.

This was the first time he had seen centaurs, and these people were indeed riding on horses with their upper bodies naked, just as he had imagined. Some of the centaurs were waving scimitars at the Westeros army, and they looked eager to try.

In sharp contrast to the eagerness of the centaurs, he also saw a number of listless infantrymen in the enemy camp. These people were mainly distributed on the left and right wings, while the centaurs' central army was still composed of cavalry.

He didn't recognize these poor people in cloaks and holding spears, but his memories of the East Continent told him that these people should be cannon fodder and slaves driven here by the centaurs.

However, not all of the centaurs' infantry were of this type. For example, he saw some infantrymen who were obviously more disciplined. The tiger stripes on their faces clearly revealed their identity - the Tiger Robe Army of Volantis.

In addition, among the centaurs, you can also see a huge three-headed dragon flag, which is a flag that every Westeros person cannot mistake - the Targaryen flag.

This made Petyr smell something was wrong. The centaurs' actions were undoubtedly a provocation to the King. After the war started, the King would definitely rush towards the flag as fast as possible. Since the centaurs did this, they must have been prepared.

Subconsciously, Petyr began to count the troops at his disposal. As reserves, he had militia composed of Myr citizens, Myr crossbowmen, several mercenary groups, and some hired knights, totaling to about 5,000 people. Unfortunately, these 5,000 people were not enough on this battlefield. However, in order to gather these forces, he was almost exhausted.

Therefore, Petyr now only hopes that the war will go smoothly and the king will win smoothly, rather than any unexpected or troublesome things happening.

Between the two armies, there were many scattered soldiers, some on horseback and some on foot, and the earliest battles took place among these people.

The tower where Petyr was located was built on a high slope, and his good eyesight allowed him to easily see the situation on the front line.

The scattered soldiers fighting on the front line were all Dornishmen. As for why they were sent to the front line, it was because of Lord Inflatable Fish's words, "Whose orders will the Dornishmen obey?" The Dornishmen were naturally dissatisfied with this, but what could they do since their prince did not come?
However, although the Dornishmen went to the front line in a scattered posture, they still demonstrated their toughness and strength very well. Facing the centaurs that were roaring towards them, they did not show any fear and still held their spears firmly. Then, the centaurs once again demonstrated how stupid it was to not wear armor.

In the skirmish, the centaurs were completely defeated by the Dornish. Relying on good organization and better armor, the Dornish did not gain any advantage over the centaurs, and instead seized a large number of war horses.

The victory of the Dornish in turn stimulated the people of Westeros. Seeing the Dornish, who had always been regarded as outsiders and excluded, win on the battlefield naturally stimulated many people. They began to get restless, worried that the glory would be taken away by the Dornish - that would be too shameful.

However, before they could get restless, the king took action.

Even though he was in the rear, Petyr heard the shouts of "The King is out!" Then he saw the stag banner of the Baratheon dynasty move, and with the horns and shouts, the Dornish skirmishers who were originally stationed in front of the center army began to retreat to the left and right.

King Robert's figure wearing a stag-horned helmet appeared only for a moment in Petyr's eyes, and then he was engulfed by the knights from the crownland and the stormlands and the billowing dust - the king led the knights to launch an attack.

When the king attacked, enthusiastic cheers came one after another, almost overwhelming the sound of horses' hooves on the ground. Even from such a distance, Littlefinger's heart, which had never been moved by anything, was slightly moved. He thought that if he was in the army, he would definitely shout enthusiastically.

The king's army rushed out like an arrow, rushing towards the center of the centaurs, towards the place where the three-headed dragon flag was. The armored knights rolled up a sky full of dust, almost blocking Petyr's vision.

In addition to the roars of soldiers and horses coming from inside, there were also various collisions and screams, telling people that a fierce battle was going on there, and no one knew what was going on inside.

Although Petyr had heard countless poems about how King Robert defeated the centaurs when he was in King's Landing, he still couldn't help but become nervous when the battle happened right before his eyes. There were many people who had the same mentality as him. Everyone was looking at the smoke nervously, waiting for it to dissipate.

However, the speed at which the smoke dissipated was beyond everyone's expectations. After only ten minutes, the smoke slowly dissipated, and people were able to see the situation on the front line - the centaurs left corpses all over the ground, and the knights were chasing the centaurs.

On the left and right wings of the centaur line, the cannon fodder captured by the centaurs and the Tiger Cloak Army's lines were wavering. Although the charge of the Westeros knights just now did not affect them, they were still scared to death. If it were not for the centaurs supervising the battle behind them, these infantrymen would have fled long ago.

Faced with this scene, the Dornishmen, who were skirmishers, launched an attack, tentatively attacking the Eastern infantry line, but then Littlefinger saw a scene that even he had not expected - those Easterners collapsed as soon as they engaged the Dornishmen!

Yes, collapse. When the Dornishmen held their spears and fought with the Eastern infantry, the Eastern infantry in the back row collapsed. They also killed the centaurs who were supervising the battle and left without looking back.

As for the centaurs, they retreated on their own initiative under Petyr's surprised gaze.

The soldiers on the front line were not standing in the same position as Petyr, so they naturally could not see this scene. They only saw the Eastern infantry collapse at the first touch, which caused a huge shock in the Westeros army. They did not expect the Easterners to collapse at the first touch, and what followed was the emotion of "not letting the Dornish take away the credit."

Dorne has always been isolated and excluded in Westeros. Even in the North, it has never been excluded like this. Now the Dornish are going to achieve military exploits and glory second only to that of His Majesty the King. How can others sit still and wait?

The first to take action were the Hewan people.

At the previous meeting, at the strong request of Mace Tyrell, Duke of the River Reach and due to the huge number of the River Reach army, the River Reach people were able to serve as the main force on the right wing.

The River Reach and Dorne have had an inexplicable feud, and the raiding wars between the two have lasted for hundreds of years. Both sides have the blood of the other side on their hands, so the people of the River Reach could not accept the great achievements of the Dornish, so the Roses launched a charge at the same time - in external affairs, these descendants of King Green Hand are always so in step.

The unauthorized attack by the River Bay army directly opened Pandora's box. These people were originally the largest part of the Westeros army. When they moved, others had to follow suit.

So, everyone started to move. Some people called on the soldiers around them who could hear the orders, and charged towards the enemy regardless of the consequences. Even those troops with better military discipline did the same and moved forward in an orderly manner - Robert was not a monarch who would reward disciplined troops.

The fact that each unit acted independently immediately exposed the flaws of this huge army. Westeros did not have the ability to organize such a large army, so the commanding units of this huge army were the lords. However, the abilities of the lords varied greatly, so coordination became an impossible task.

In just a moment, the army that was originally in good order suddenly became uneven. The neat military columns disappeared, replaced by gaps between the troops and increasingly scattered troops.

Petyr saw it all clearly from the rear, and he was the most heartbroken person at the moment the army formation was broken. He still remembered how much effort he had put in to organize the army formation, but that was not the point now. He also remembered the centaurs' active retreat, which made him certain that the centaurs must have some tricks up their sleeves.

Originally, he wanted to tell the news to Duke Ed and the commander of the army after the king left, but everything happened so quickly that the whole situation was messed up as soon as he sent out the messenger.

Subconsciously, Petyr began to pray to the Seven Gods, hoping that the outcome of the war would not be like the horrible idea in his heart. However, often when this happened, the gods would be less likely to let people get what they wanted.

Because Petyr saw billowing smoke coming from another direction. There was no doubt that it was a group of approaching centaurs, and there were quite a few of them.

Even someone like Petyr, who didn't understand military formations, felt a subconscious sense of despair when he saw this scene. Given the current state of the army, if they were rushed by these centaurs...

(End of this chapter)