[Chapter Size: 1200 Words.]
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In February, Theon Greyjoy would be able to launch his assault on the North.
After the hardships of winter, the North would be at its weakest the following February, when grain was only just being prepared for planting.
Once Theon seized control of the North, the Iron Islands, the North, and the Riverlands would be joined together, giving him a domain larger than all the other kingdoms combined.
At the same time, Theon would be able to resist the White Walkers in the far north and strike southward, fully consolidating his power. Even if the other realms united, Theon would have little to fear.
Then, at last, he would declare a kingdom of his own and establish the Iron Empire he had long envisioned.
…
The sun rose and set, and in the blink of an eye it was December.
Slaver's Bay, Astapor.
Schiller looked over the ten thousand soldiers assembled on the parade ground and felt a deep swell of pride.
One month after recruiting his first levy, he had gathered another six thousand. The second round of enlistment had gone remarkably smoothly, with even more volunteers than the first.
Supported by glassworks, soap factories, and salt refineries, Schiller had amassed great wealth along with food, leather armor, and weapons.
When a single industry monopolizes a market, it becomes immensely profitable.
Moreover, with many merchants already established in Slaver's Bay, and few traders from the Riverlands willing to make such long journeys, the glass, soap, and refined salt produced in Astapor became highly sought after.
Taking up a tin trumpet, Schiller cried out:
"War! It is never far from us! The slavers of Yunkai are always scheming to chain us again!"
"They feast on white bread and drink red wine, yet still they dream of binding us in shackles."
"But the times have changed! We are free citizens of Astapor! Stand proud as the glorious fighters for Astapor's freedom!"
"War has begun, my friends! They have stolen our method of refining salt. They will seize the wealth that belongs to us."
"Your families will lose their work, your wages will go unpaid, and once more we will be poor, clutching black bread while they savor their white loaves!"
His words ignited fury in the ranks. None of the soldiers wished to lose the life they now enjoyed: three meals a day, a monthly wage of thirty copper coins, and rations of half a pound of meat and half a pound of milk.
It was a life they had never dared to dream of before. And now, a leader with vision, courage, and resolve stood ready to defend that dream with the spear in his hand.
"War!" the warriors roared for Astapor.
Schiller watched in satisfaction. As for the supposed theft of salt-refining technology?
Nonsense, the process was Astapor's most closely guarded secret. It could not possibly have leaked.
But with ample food, supplies, and sharpened weapons, the time had come to liberate Yunkai.
Schiller knew that Yunkai had already reached out to the slaver cities of Qarth, Volantis, and New Ghis to form an alliance.
Once that coalition was forged, its first target would undoubtedly be Astapor.
In the original tale, Cleon had ruled Astapor, only to die when the allied forces besieged the city. Astapor fell into chaos, its leadership changing hands repeatedly without improvement.
Eventually, plague struck, leaving the city nearly a graveyard.
But with Schiller in command, there would be no waiting for death. He would strike first, seize Yunkai, and then turn to face the slaver coalition.
…
January 1st.
Ten thousand elite soldiers of Astapor marched north. Schiller declared that Yunkai had stolen the secret of salt refining.
This left Yunkai defenseless. The city's nobles quickly convened a council, but after some debate they realized no one had been capable of stealing anything.
At that moment, the lords of Yunkai suddenly understood: the claim that they had stolen the method of refining salt was utter nonsense. It was Astapor that had moved against them.
The Yunkish had already agreed that, once the coalition army led by Volantis arrived, they would first retake Astapor and only afterward turn their attention to Daenerys.
Their slavers commanded many slave-soldiers, but how many men did the Mother of Dragons truly have?
What they had not expected was that Astapor would strike first.
But by the time they realized it, it was already too late. Under the cover of darkness, Bronn led ten thousand men northward. A day later, Schiller publicly declared that the Yunkish were despicable thieves.
So when the lords of Yunkai finally reacted, Bronn was already at their gates.
The Astapori host numbered ten thousand. From atop the city walls, Yunkai's nobles looked down at an army whose discipline rivaled that of the Unsullied, and doubts began to gnaw at their hearts.
At first, they had planned to rely on Yunkai's walls to hold off the Astapori until the slaver coalition could arrive. But now they worried whether they could endure that long.
Still, they were not yet panicked.
"Gentlemen, there is no need to fret," declared Kirk Raymond with firm conviction. "Schiller has no Unsullied and no dragons. We have men and time on our side. Once the coalition arrives, he is finished!"
His confidence steadied the others.
Meanwhile, Bronn encamped outside the walls. His soldiers were exhausted from the march, so there was no need to rush the assault. The siege could wait until dawn.
At first light the next morning, as the sky turned pale, Bronn sent the first wave of soldiers forward.
The Yunkish sentries were the first to notice the enemy's movement and sounded the alarm.
A mass of slave-soldiers was herded to the battlements, while the Astapori hurriedly prepared their siege engines.
Eighteen catapults were wheeled into place, each loaded with solid pots of wildfire.
At Bronn's command, the projectiles soared through the sky and exploded with savage force, scattering shards of iron and fireballs that tore through ranks of slave-soldiers.
After four volleys, Yunkai's walls were already crumbling.
Covered by the barrage, Astapori infantry advanced with collapsible ladders. Siege engines with pulley rams lumbered toward the city gates.
These machines, resembling iron-clad battering carts, were operated by six men. The iron shields on their fronts protected them from arrows raining down from the walls.
Inside, soldiers wound the pulley, building momentum. When the release rope was cut, the ram slammed forward like a giant crossbow bolt, shattering Yunkai's gates in an instant.
The Astapori soldiers wore leather armor, iron shields, and carried cleavers, while the slave-soldiers of Yunkai were poorly armed and scarcely armored.
The moment the gates burst open, scores of slave-soldiers were cut down on the spot.
The Astapori stormed into Yunkai with almost no resistance.
One of the three great cities of Slaver's Bay, famed for breeding bedslaves, fell in less than half an hour.
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