The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 220 Battle of the Strait
Above the waves, a huge fleet is rising and falling.

This is a large fleet that brings together ships from Westeros and Essos. It is far larger than the legendary fleets recorded in history books, and its commanders are even more outstanding. Just witnessing its lineup is enough to make many villains surrender. It is the pride of the people of Westeros, the sharp blade of the Iron Throne, and the embodiment of the power of the empire. Anyone who sees the forest of masts on the sea will be in awe of the power and authority of the Lord of the King.

However, as the commander of this large fleet, Gillian Lannister was not as excited about the southward expedition as others. On the contrary, he was not happy.

As a naval commander who had led fleets to fight in the wild southern border for a long time, Gillian had long developed the habit of leading by example, so now he was in the watchtower on top of the flagship's mast, carefully observing the overall actions of the fleet.

Although he was leading a huge fleet unprecedented in the history of the known world, Gillian was not happy at all. The little sense of accomplishment had long been overwhelmed by the heavy workload. Compared to the current large fleet, he would rather lead the beggar fleet that was cobbled together during the first expedition. At least the latter was united in achieving the goal.

Yes, this fleet is huge, and they are the elite forces of various families in Westeros, but they are not united. Everyone in this fleet has different ideas and is thinking about how to gain more benefits for themselves and the masters behind them.

This had a great impact on Gillian's leadership. These people would quarrel every day over interests, status, supplies, and even marching and berthing locations. He had to make great efforts to mediate. Not to mention that when some nobles came up with unrealistic ideas, he had to rush over to pull the fleet back to prevent them from doing something stupid that would be irreversible.

In addition, with all the trivial matters that occurred during the fleet's voyage, Gillian could hardly spare a moment of rest, let alone a good sleep in the hammock. He didn't even know how many days had passed since he had a formal meal in the officers' cabin. Similarly, facing these noisy friendly forces, even his tough subordinates felt a little overwhelmed.

This made Gillian miss the time when he was galloping in the south, and he also envied his brother Tiget, who was the governor of the border in the New Seven Kingdoms. No matter what happened on the front line there, at least there was a stable rear to take care of him, and the friendly forces were allies he could trust, which was much better than the terrible situation here.

However, speaking of the East, I heard that Hugo has recently captured Braavos, and the remaining three city-states have also chosen to negotiate peace. I think that with the pacification of the North, the Eastern Regent should also take further action.

Of course, for Gillian, this topic is far away from him. As the commander of the Iron Throne fleet, what he has to do is to win the battle with Stannis.

When thinking of this battle, Gillian couldn't help but frown. The quality of his fleet was already uneven, and now he had to crash head-on into the position that Stannis had prepared for a long time. How to fight this battle and how to command this fleet with different ideas gave him a headache.

This situation was formed because of the smooth advance of the punitive army into the new seven countries.

After disembarking in Myr, the army led by Barristan Selmy and Randyll Tarly marched south and quickly entered the Disputed Lands along the river. The army had a very smooth progress here. The news of Stannis' defeat in Westeros had already spread, causing those warlords in the Disputed Lands who wanted to play both sides to find a way out. Now facing the Iron Throne army coming to attack, they naturally turned against them and replaced the flag of Stannis or Volantis with the crown and stag flag, just like their usual attitude.

Lord Inflatable Fish accepted all these unscrupulous surrenderers and accepted them into the army. Thanks to the change of hands of the disputed land, the army was also able to receive some reinforcements and supplies from Lys across the sea. As a result, Mace Tyrell became very famous for a while and looked like a general with great military achievements.

Those Lys people who were good at running brothels were also very smart. They boasted about the inflatable fish desperately and filled the military camp with Lys whores and supplies to serve the River Bend Army very well, as if this army was not marching towards the enemy, but returning victoriously.

All these actions were to make Inflatable Fish ignore the little tricks they had done during the civil war. And Inflatable Fish was just like his nickname. Once he was praised, he would lose his sense of direction. Moreover, he was the one who abandoned Reese first. If they got serious, it would be embarrassing for both sides.

So all the unpleasantness of the past was completely forgotten amid the laughter and joy in the camp, and everyone was still a good subject of the Iron Throne. Although this was understandable, it still made Gillian feel quite absurd and helpless.

Then, with the warlords as guides, the Iron Throne army quickly passed through the hills of the Disputed Lands and began to sweep the mainland territory of Tyrosh. The progress was smooth at first, but problems followed.

In the years before the civil war, in order to make up for the damage to the island of Tyrosh caused by Euron's Plague, Stannis had already relocated a large number of people from the rest of the great estate to the island of Tyrosh, especially the villages on the mainland. It can be said that all of them were relocated. Therefore, after the sweetness of the first battle, the Inflatable Fish had to face the series of strong fortresses in the heart of Tyrosh.

Who is the Inflatable Fish? He naturally didn't want to spend time in this place named "Armament Coast". The endless siege of the fortress made him irritable. After all, he remembered the long time he had wasted under Storm's End during the Usurper's War.

So he decided to bypass these fortresses and lead the army to invade the main island of Tyrosh, directly besieging the home port of the royal fleet and Stannis's base.

Right now, Tyrosh is the only one of the large strongholds still controlled by Stannis that has a large number of manpower and resources and can continue to support the war. Dragonstone is essentially just a barren fortress. Without a fleet stationed there, it can't even blockade Blackwater Bay. Storm's End has long been surrounded by the royal army and is simply unable to mobilize the resources of the Stormlands.

However, landing on the island is easier said than done. The first thing is to defeat the royal fleet, otherwise you will be caught in a trap on Tyroshi Island.

Stannis also calculated this accurately. He deployed his troops on the narrow sea between Tyrosh Island and the mainland, and his posture seemed to be waiting for the Iron Throne fleet to attack.

Moreover, according to the news brought by the expeditionary army's secret agents in Tyrosh, Tyrosh is now like an iron wall. This city has a strong military color to begin with, and it has been reinforced a lot after being attacked by the madman Euron. After the outbreak of the civil war, Stannis further strengthened the city's defense. The defense system of this fortified city has become very modern - that is, it has been specially strengthened against those siege beasts.

I really don't know why the inflatable fish acts like everything will be fine as long as they get to the island. It underestimates the enemy so much that I'm afraid it will turn into the Second Siege of Storm's End.

Naval battles have always been taboo to respond passively to the enemy. Gillian did not want to be led by Stannis's baton, but the army had already gathered on the coast and the arrow was on the string. The Inflatable Fish guy also put pressure on him all day long, asking the navy to assist the army's actions. No matter how unwilling he was in his heart, he had to lead the fleet to Stannis's preset position.

So, Gillian looked at his fleet worriedly while sailing towards the strait. Soon, they entered the strait and the fleet inevitably experienced some organizational chaos. In order to adjust the status of the fleet, Gillian had to spend his energy coordinating the various fleets again. He even had to personally sit in a transport boat to communicate back and forth between the various branch fleets.

After finally settling the chaos, the fleet was able to advance into the strait. Although the strait was considered wide, a feeling of uneasiness still swept through Gillian's heart like a wave. He vigilantly observed various places on the coast, deducing strategies to deal with the attack.

Stannis' attack soon arrived, and the Iron Throne fleet encountered some small boats and clipper ships. Seeing these ships, Gillian immediately recognized their identities. These were the ships that the pirates of the Stepstones liked to use the most.

The Stepstones have always been infested with pirates, even during the Iron Throne era, and Stannis has conducted several brutal raids on them, but they have only reduced their numbers.

During this process, many pirates pledged allegiance to the ruler of the Stepstones and became members of the royal fleet. Therefore, Gillian was not surprised by the appearance of these small boats. It seemed that Stannis was throwing the pirates out as cannon fodder.

These pirate boats could not pose any threat to Gillian's large fleet. They could only shoot arrows from a distance without causing any harm, or use their speed to launch life-and-death raids. Their overall strategy was to preserve themselves, which was very much like pirates.

Gillian tried his best to restrain the fleet. There was no need to disperse the formation for these small boats. They were like flies, harmless, just annoying to fly around. Anyway, if they dared to approach, they would be sunk.

After realizing Gillian's determination, these pirate ships also retreated. They were scattered soldiers, not cannon fodder. They would fight when there was a fight to be fought, and retreat when there was no fight to be fought. Not to mention that the most reckless ones had already died under the artillery of Gillian's fleet.

The entire fleet regarded the retreat of Stannis's vanguard as a victory. Cheers rang out from all the ships, and Gillian finally smiled - after all, high morale is a good thing.

The Iron Throne fleet continued to move forward, and reconnaissance ships continued to bring news from all directions. Soon, the information Gillian wanted finally appeared, and the location of Stannis's fleet was clear.

Just as Gillian had expected, Stannis had set up a large battle array and was waiting for his arrival. He couldn't help but sigh. This moment had finally come.

Compared to the Iron Throne's fleet, which still looks disorganized no matter how it is reorganized, the royal fleet under Stannis looks more like an elite force.

Rows of standard warships were lined up on the sea as if they were being reviewed, which made Gillian immediately feel the pressure coming towards him.

Stannis has always been known for his strict military discipline, and this is reflected in the royal navy he manages. After more than ten years of persistent and rigorous training, the royal fleet is as strict and meticulous as Stannis himself.

"damn it.….'

Jillian couldn't help but curse in a low voice. The gap in quality was really obvious. Although Wang Jun's fleet was huge, its quality was really uneven.

However, he was thankful that at least his fleet was not the first to face Stannis, because at the strong request of the inflatable fish, the people of the River Reach insisted on showing their glory with the first battle, so the Qingting Island fleet was scheduled to be the first to engage in battle.

Qingting Island has always been famous for its fertile land and the wine produced on it. The bright red wine has brought huge wealth to the island, but also brought prying eyes from the ocean. In order to defend the island, the nobles of Qingting Island formed a huge fleet, which is also the strongest fleet in Hewan, and sometimes it can even directly represent the Hewan Navy.

The grapes from Qingting Island fluttered on the sails, and the Hewan ships were as wealthy as those in the south, covered with all kinds of decorations, and even the sides were carved with flowers. It was also because of this that the Southern Fleet had always regarded the Hewan Fleet as "flower ships", thinking they were too delicate.

Thanks to the rich land, the Rivermen were well trained. After they rushed out of the battle line, they advanced in a neat battle line, but the battle line was a bit stiff. In contrast, Stannis's fleet could adjust its formation according to the situation while advancing, which was full of the beauty of order.

The two fleets met, and the first thing they did was to fire crossbows and various projectiles back and forth. They continuously damaged the hulls and killed the crew, but it seemed that it was not enough to sink the ships, so the key battle was still in the battle line clashes.

Gillian watched the development of the battle intently, watching the two battle lines approach each other at a very fast speed. The gap between the two fleets was also reflected in it. The battle lines of the Qingting Island fleet soon became uneven, while the royal fleet remained neat, just like the battle-hardened knights on land.

Finally, the battle lines of both sides crossed, and immediately one of the warships was unfortunately hit by the ram, a big hole was made in the hull, and the sea water rushed into it frantically.

However, only a few were knocked out like this. The focus of naval battles was still on boarding combat. Faced with boarding, the Rivermen still showed a spirit of courage. Even though their battle line was obviously inferior to that of the enemy, they did not show any fear and bravely engaged in boarding and hand-to-hand combat with Stannis's fleet.

But many things cannot be compensated by courage alone. Stannis's men are a veritable army of veterans. From captains to sailors, all were trained under the serious former Sea Lord.

So, after the initial fierce battle, the Rivermen quickly fell into a disadvantage and were suppressed by Stannis's fleet. Moreover, in the gaps between the large ships, small boats belonging to Stannis's fleet were also moving. They were loaded with firewood and fuel and set fire to the large ships of the Green Arbor Island nearby.

These flames created a lot of chaos on the battlefield, and the gap between the two sides was once again reflected. When the flames were ignited, Stannis's side was able to decisively escape and dodge, while the reaction of the Rivermen was not even a little bit worse. There were even several ship collisions in the chaos, which exacerbated the chaos.

Gillian frowned. This was indeed an ugly fight, but fortunately the River Bend people were not weak and continued to rush to the front line.

The fire attack changed the situation on the battle line. The collision of ships caused the flames to spread further, which made the nearby ships of both sides retreat at the same time and reorganize the battle line. However, Stannis's fleet was very fast. They tore apart the River Fleet that had not yet completed the reorganization, but the follow-up troops of the Qingting Island Fleet soon made up for it.

Seeing the two sides fighting again, Gillian felt relieved. Although the Rivermen on the front line did not fight decently, the battle had now been dragged into a stalemate. This was exactly the way to victory he had planned - using the size of the Iron Throne's fleet to continuously consume Stannis's fleet. If the consumption continued in this way, the royal army would be able to win the final victory.

However, Gillian also did not think that things would develop smoothly as usual. Stannis was not the kind of person who could be inflated like a fish. Just as his main force remained on hold, Stannis's main force also remained on hold. The current battle was just a fight between the vanguards of both sides.

I am facing Stannis, Gillian thought, the Stannis who witnessed the decisive battle between the East and the West at sea, the Stannis who defeated the Ironborn fleet, the Stannis with great military achievements, the terrifying Stannis; not to mention, the fleet under his command is also the strongest fleet on the Narrow Sea today.

If this was all he was capable of, it would be impossible. Stannis must be preparing something, and all he could do now was to remain unchanged in the face of change.

Fortunately, the Iron Throne's fleet was at least large enough, so while maintaining the threat, he sent out some ships to begin his own roundabout maneuvers. This was not to achieve any success, but only to contain Stannis.

(End of this chapter)