The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 201 Siege
Braavos, the city founded by escaped slaves, is now in a state of panic.

Even though the Braavos government tried its best to block the spread of news and panic, the news of the approaching Andal army spread like the wind through the streets of the Secret City.

Most Braavos people are not worried about the coming of war. Over the years, the Secret City has withstood attack after attack, but in their hearts, they are still full of worries.

This was the first time that someone had gone so deep into the heart of the secret city, not to mention that the leader was the invincible Hugo - this man had created too many impossibilities.

Braavos has always been like a ship sailing on the sea. Now, the ship began to shake in the wind and waves, and the lower cabin naturally fell into panic.

The panic has been exacerbated by the recent mobilization, in which able-bodied men from every district in Braavos have been called up to serve in the militia.

Not to mention the defeated soldiers who escaped from the inland. Although these defeated soldiers were ordered to keep silent, they still brought a lot of bad news.
Although Braavos's perfect organizational structure and city-state identity enabled them to successfully complete the mobilization and suppress those rumors, it was inevitable that an atmosphere of panic would be created in society.

However, overall it was just a somewhat uneasy atmosphere. The people of Braavos were still full of confidence in their city and navy.

Therefore, compared to fighting with Westerners, the people of Braavos are more concerned about the destruction of their lives by war. The loss of the river valley has caused many people of Braavos to go bankrupt, and the lives of many poor people have also deteriorated.

As Braavosi, although these people are poor, the resources from the valley allow them to live a better life than on the mainland - the identity of the Braavosi people is built with real money.

More importantly, if the Westeros blocked the Sweetwater Canal, how long would the city's water supply last?

The high-ranking officials of Braavos were facing a great enemy. They knew more than the people - the enemy had reached the southern shore of the lagoon where Braavos was located, and all the Braavos towns there had been occupied.

In other words, Braavos' most important source of fresh water was occupied by the enemy.

Now, in the Palace of the Sea King in the center of the Secret City, all the important figures of Braavos are present: the Sea King, the Army Commander, the Fleet Admiral, the Guild Representatives, the General Manager of the Iron Bank and the Leader of the Faceless Men.

Everyone present had the power to call the shots in Braavos, but now everyone was silent and no one spoke.

Looking at this scene, the seriously ill Sea King Frego Antarion could only sigh silently. He knew in his heart that this situation was normal. The failure in the inland was too tragic. Just when everyone thought that the river valley fortress group could hold out for at least half a year, the fortress fell completely in less than a month.

If it weren't for the lagoon, the enemy would have already rushed into Braavos.

"Everyone, please speak up. Facing the current dilemma, I want to hear what solutions you have."

The Sea King did not intend to mention the failure of the Valley Fortress. The most urgent task was to come up with a set of methods to deal with the enemy. Those things could be dealt with at any time after the crisis was over. Bringing them up now would only destroy the unity of Braavos.

As he said this, Aquaman couldn't help but wonder whether his hostility towards the Andals was wrong, which led to the current situation. However, the moment this idea appeared, Aquaman denied it.

What happened in the south was certainly in line with Braavos's political correctness in liberating slaves, but it also had a huge impact on the interests of the Secret City.

Over the past decade or so, they have had to cut some of the welfare benefits of the lower-class people in order to ensure the interests of Braavos.

Although the salary cuts did not cause much trouble thanks to the mature ruling machine, they ultimately greatly undermined the ordinary Braavos people's identification with the city-state. If it were not for the fact that even after the reduction in welfare, the income of Braavos people would still far exceed that of other places, the city-state might have lost population.

And this is only a small part; the bigger challenge lies in the enemy's increasing encroachment on Braavos' trade share.

There are more and more Westerosi ships on the Narrow Sea, and they have taken away the trade originally conducted by Braavos ships. In order to make a profit, all the Braavos can do is take advantage of their faster ship speed and lower the wages, but this is not a long-term solution.

Unlike many large ports, Braavos itself does not have any special outputs. Its exported specialty products are actually some rare mountain products and expensive purple dyes.

If Braavos was just an ordinary port, the wealth brought by the goods would still be enough to support the entire city, but Braavos is a city with a huge merchant fleet and colony.

To support all this, the people of Braavos risked their lives in overseas trade.

By sending goods from the East to the West and goods from the North to the South in order to earn various price differences and gain various benefits, we have the powerful Braavos we have today, and the Iron Bank that is admired by countless people in the East and the West.

The Westerosi forces in the south have a structural contradiction with Braavos. This is why Braavos has always been an enemy of the south, and it is not the result of any leader's impulse - if nothing is done, the future of Braavos will only be eaten up bit by bit by the Westerosi people.

"Lord Sea King, we don't have to worry. The Westerosi people can't pass through the lagoon." Fleet Admiral Voluka said confidently, "Braavos will never fall. Those barbarians can't even touch our beautiful city."

"But we can't drive them away. We can only wait until the God-favored One gets impatient. Moreover, they can block the sweet water channel. We don't have enough water in storage, so we can only bring water in from outside. But whether we can guarantee the supply is still a big problem."

The army commander said dejectedly that his troops suffered heavy losses in the Westerners' offensive because they did not expect the Westeros people to break through the valley fortress so quickly.

In response to his words, the naval admiral did not speak, because the army commander was right, the water problem is now very serious.

"The Iron Bank and the guilds have already used all the resources they can, and we have also been looking for mercenaries everywhere. However, the trouble in the east has prevented many of our forces from getting out. Some ships transporting mercenaries have also been blocked by Ibanese ships, and the Lorathians have even said that they are completely stuck."

"Utherod, the spy chief of Braavos, said this," said the Sea King, who immediately remembered the trouble in the east - those damned Ibbenese, they came at the perfect time.

The Sea King suspected that all this was related to Hugo. It was no secret that Andas was colluding with Ibben. But unfortunately, even if he knew that this was related to Hugo, he could do nothing. Braavos was unable to stop Duke Andas from contacting the God-King of Ibben.

And if Lorath can't come, it means that Braavos will not be able to get any reinforcements from outside.

"Can we negotiate with the Westeros people? That Frey is still in the city, and we can contact Hugo through him. It doesn't matter how much money it costs. If the war lasts too long, it will be too bad for trade." The general manager of the Iron Bank said. "Now it's not a matter of money! What are you dreaming about?" Someone immediately rebuked him.

"Are there any of his subordinates who can be bribed? Money is never a problem." Another voice sounded.

"Are you mistaken? The previous all-out offensive has completely angered those Westerners, and they are eager to get their losses back from us." A rebuttal voice sounded immediately, "Besides, don't you see what kind of people are willing to cooperate with us?"

At present, those guys are the only ones we can count on. Listening to the arguments of others, Aquaman thought, he looked at the black-robed man who had been silent in the corner, the leader of the Faceless Men and the representative of the Temple of a Thousand Faces.

"In this situation, does the Temple of the Thousand Faces have any solution? Or is the Great Kao on the Great Grass Sea willing to help us?"

Aquaman's voice silenced everyone.

The Faceless Men, a group that can "switch" their faces at will, are naturally placed in the most suitable position by Braavos. Moreover, compared with assassinations, these Face Changers more often act as intelligence personnel of the Secret City.

"Ever since the appearance of the Seven Gods, every failure of the Thousand-Faced God's servants has caused heavy losses to the temple. We can't do anything to him anymore." There was no emotion in the tone of the Thousand-Faced God's messenger, but it still made everyone present feel discouraged.

Aquaman was not surprised by this. Ever since the Faceless Man was exposed to the public and confirmed to be real more than ten years ago, his activities have become much more difficult. Moreover, if he falls into the hands of the Seven Gods' believers, especially Andas's gang, even the Thousand Faces God will be damaged. He still read the report on how the Seven Gods' power dissolved and devoured the power of the Thousand Faces God from time to time.

However, Aquaman was still disappointed to hear the temple admit this - before this, the Temple of a Thousand Faces had never admitted that they had suffered heavy losses.

"As for the Great Khal, Lord Sea King, we cannot count on him to provide assistance. I have received news that some powerful people have assassinated the Great Khal. Although he was not killed immediately, his life is in danger. The authority of the Great Khal can still stabilize the situation in the Grass Sea, but it is completely impossible to ask the centaurs to launch another large-scale invasion, especially since they are still vigorously attacking Slaver's Bay. Now, half of the world is focusing on that Khaleesi, wanting to observe whether she has the ability and prestige to inherit the entire Grass Sea."

Everyone present knew what "having power" meant, that is, those who manipulate supernatural forces. In the West, such people are relatively rare and live outside of society, but in the East, the existence of these guys has never been a secret, at least among the top leaders.

Aquaman subconsciously wanted to ask Great Kao why he was assassinated, but the current bad situation made him suppress this idea.

"It seems we can only rely on ourselves." The Sea King stood up and looked at the people with different eyes. "Voloka, I want your fleet to ensure the water supply of Braavos as much as possible."

"Yes, Lord Poseidon." The admiral responded immediately.

Next, Aquaman looked at everyone present, all of whom were the elites and core members of Braavos.

"Our ancestors escaped from the hands of the Dragon King and paid countless sacrifices for it, but they created a bright future for us descendants. Now, it is time for us to meet the challenge. Everyone, be prepared for hard times, but I believe we can survive the dark times, just as we have experienced before. Long live Braavos!"

Aquaman was responded with a burst of excited shouts, which brought some relief to his body which was suffering from illness and pain.

Let him come, the Sea King thought, it is not easy to eat a sturdy ship from Braavos.

.

"The terrain here is really great." Standing on the hillside, the scene of Braavos appeared before Hugo.

The city of Braavos seems to be floating on the water, standing in the center of the lagoon. The city is surrounded by a group of shield-like islands that wrap Braavos in it. These islands are also like mountains, and humans cannot stand on them at all, just like high walls.

And the famous Titan stood on the most important waterway of the city, like a guard guarding the city - except that this time the enemy came from behind, so the Titan's butt was facing the enemy.

There is a large canal extending from the floating city to the inland. Hugo's men are already working on cutting off this canal. Although it leads directly to the city, it is impossible for a large-scale army to pass through it, so it is better to cut off the water supply directly.

This was Hugo's first time in Braavos. To be honest, he was quite fascinated by this city on the water. It reminded him of the water city of Venice, which he had never visited in his previous life.

However, he would not confuse the priorities. If the development of the war required the destruction of the city, he would destroy the city without hesitation.

The town of Braavos on the south shore of the lagoon has been occupied. The residents here have not yet reacted. They just watched the Braavos army flee the city, and then it was occupied by Westerners.

However, many residents here have no aversion to Westerners, because there are many Andals living in these towns on the south coast who come here to make a living.

The people of Braavosi did not want the Andals to fill their cities, so many of them were sent to the south coast, doing boring and heavy work and being discriminated against by the people of Braavosi.

Therefore, when their compatriots arrived in large numbers, they chose to support them without hesitation.

As for the Braavos people, those who had boats took them to the city, and those who didn't took to the mountains to hide.

Therefore, the buildings they left behind were just right for Hugo to turn into a military camp for the troops to move in.

These locals found the warehouse area of ​​Braavos on the south bank for Hugo's army. All the supplies there were taken over by Hugo's army. These supplies were enough to ensure Hugo's supply supply for several months.

Elsewhere, too, good news was coming in. On the coast of Braavos, the Andals rebelled. On the coastal plains of Lorath, the Andals also rebelled.

It can be said that within the former territory of the Kingdom of Khorron, the Andals began to rebel against their rulers. After all, this was a good opportunity to get rid of foreign rulers.

The situation is very good now, so Hugo is determined to take Braavos.

(End of this chapter)