The warm sunshine, the crisp autumn wind, and the blue sea were calm and still. It was early autumn, and fortunately, the climate was not too abnormal yet.
Gendry and his companions boarded the best and fastest ship from Gulltown. Before the storm, he could still cross the Narrow Sea. The sight of the golden quartered banners and the blue and white crescent falcon banners unfurling was still vivid in his mind.
"Smash the lion's butt, cut off the lion's head." The Gulltown fleet was not only transporting them but also Ser Boggs's portion of Claw Peninsula cavalry (with some still in Twin River City). After these cavalry returned to the Claw Peninsula, they would launch a rebellion, immediately cutting off King's Landing's northern grain supply.
As for Ser Blackfish Brynden Tully, he would leave with Sansa Stark. Gendry also warned him about the Free Folk he had recruited on the Vale Road. Blackfish was a clever Old Knight and would know how to appease the Free Folk.
"My taxi soldiers, my warriors." Gendry saw the Gold Cloaks Knights, and a small number of blue robes squire following Dumb Harry, and Jon's Butcher's boy Attendant.
Gendry saw the joy and longing on the soldiers' faces. He comforted them one by one. He had brought back over four hundred Kingsguard cavalry, with almost no losses. However, a very few had died due to war or accidents, and they brought back the cold dog tags of those soldiers. The names of the deceased would be recorded one by one and placed in the glorious Pantheon.
"This is war. Casualties in war are not just numbers. If a war yields no results, then victory is meaningless." Gendry thought of those young faces, those joyful laughs. They had set out from Two Cities but died somewhere in a foreign land, a wild lake. Gendry provided the soldiers with good supplies and equipment, drank and played finger-guessing games with them, and even slept with them on simple grass and in military tents. But this could not save everyone's life. The storm could only make the war end better and faster, which was the best comfort for the fallen.
The Gold Cloaks Kingsguard were willing to die for the storm, but the continuous warfare and incessant travel had made even these bravest taxi soldiers slightly weary. They also wanted to return home, to the warmer, greener Two Cities.
"The Liberator!" "The Storm!" The Kingsguard Knights were also proud. They had followed the storm, winning battle after battle, defeating countless powerful enemies. Under the storm, there was the horn of victory, and the wailing and crying of enemies.
Gendry waved past the lovely Kingsguard soldiers and walked to the bow of the ship. His raven had already flown, and after a rest, a greater storm would come. Now, the storm had a bodyguard, Barristan, and five squire: Anguy, the young Falcon King Dumb Harry, the bastard Jon Snow, She-Bear Dacey Mormont, and Lothor.布伦. Ser Lyn had also wanted to come, but Gendry offered him generous treatment and asked him to protect Sweet Robin and Mia Baratheon.
"If the Vale sends troops, our rear will be secure. Vale cavalry have always been reliable," Ser Barristan said. Although the Vale had not achieved the extraordinary military record of the Direwolf Army in history, their cavalry scale and equipment surpassed the Stark's.
"That's natural, Vale cavalry are famous throughout the Seven Kingdoms," Dumb Harry replied proudly.
"The vale men are in much better shape than the North, and they are now waiting for the opportune moment," Jon Snow also agreed. As a bastard from the North, Jon knew that the North was somewhat lacking in material resources.
"I have allied with the three northern kingdoms; the great matter is accomplished." Gendry looked at the blue sea, his heart filled with pride. As long as he took the Stormlands, the great alliance of Two Cities, Stag, wolf, fish, and falcon would be invincible. Although the Westerlands were strong in arms, Tywin's greater advantage lay in inciting internal strife within the great alliance, defeating them one by one. The Stag divided, the wolf and fish going their own way, the falcon idle. Without this advantage and the Rose's healing, the lion was in precarious danger.
Many people were urging a decisive battle with Lannister, but everyone's military advance was slightly delayed, as Tywin was, after all, the first to start the war. Now the Riverlands were devastated, and the North lacked cavalry. By the time Gendry and the Vale replenished their forces, Tywin would have already fled with his troops, and the final battle might take place in the Westerlands.
"If those two cowards, Lys and Volantis, also appeared, I would have the opportunity to fight three kings in a row," Gendry mused, planning a battle of four emperors.
"Is Lord Hand thinking of the silver-haired Dragon Princess?" Anguy looked at the seagulls in the sky and suddenly joked about Gendry.
"So what? I also need to find you a wife who can manage you, boy," Gendry smiled calmly.
"Mercy!" the red-haired Anguy cried out.
The ship, steered by the best sailors, docked, and the Knights landed in the northern part of Pentos, entering the Andals Hills. The Gulltown ships then skillfully turned back on their own. Braavos declared sovereignty over the Braavos coast, but Andals seemed more like an unclaimed land.
The cavalry set up their golden quartered banners and galloped across the Andals Hills.
"This is the homeland of the Andals," Gendry said, looking at the gentle hills. The terrain changes were minimal, making it suitable for cavalry charges.
Andals, the homeland of the Andals, who had taken this land from the long-haired people originally living there, later mostly fled and invaded Westeros out of fear of the Dragon Kings or some other powerful enemy.
"Andals is also a very good grain producing area, but it is somewhat desolate now," Lothor explained. The endless green was refreshing, but unfortunately, there were not many people farming. Lothor had worked as a Mercenaries in Essos and was now a good guide. However, the terrain here was not complicated; just follow the river south, and you will reach the end.
"What a waste," Gendry nodded. He feared that the fertile lands along the Rhoyne River were even more wasted. After being devastated by the Dragon Kings, the Rhoynar civilization, which relied on the great river, was destroyed, its prosperous cities fell into ruin, and it brought plague, followed by the rise of the dothraki.
"Once we reach Ge.Dohe, we will continue south." The cavalry continued south along the river. The Little Rhoyne River was not a great river; in fact, it was not too small, but the smallest of the Trident River's three tributaries was twice its width, and each flowed faster than it.
Then the cavalry encountered a ruined small town. Ge.Dohe appeared. It was once a city of the Rhoynar, not large, but exceptionally beautiful, adorned with lush greenery and blooming flowers, crisscrossed by canals and fountains. Until it was swallowed by war, until the dragons descended.
"The decline of civilization," Gendry thought. All he saw was a scene of utter ruin. The small town's canals were abandoned, leaving only reeds and mud. Fountains had become stagnant pools, swarming with mosquitoes, and palaces and temples were mere shattered walls. Now, only old willow trees grew more luxuriantly in the wasteland by the river.
Valyria civilization was a civilization of blood and fire, while the Rhoyne River civilization was a great river civilization, possessing unique Water Magic. The Rhoynar were elegant, artistic, excellent fishermen, merchants, teachers, scholars, carpenters, masons, and blacksmiths. Unfortunately, they were utterly defeated in war.
"There are still people here!" Dumb Harry exclaimed in surprise. The local people had cleared small vegetable gardens among the weeds and, seeing them and their warhorses, ran back to their usual caves. These Hill Tribesmen might be descendants of the Rhoynar; only a few stared at them like idiots, with little clothing, and some children completely naked, with mud below their knees.
"Cut down the reeds and deal with the stagnant water in the fountains; mosquito breeding will bring plague," Gendry instructed. He might even have a slight blood relation to the Rhoynar; his great-grandmother's grandmother was apparently a Martell princess.
"Yes, Lord Hand!" The Gold Cloaks Knights dismounted, collectively cut down the reeds by the river, then skillfully lit fires to smoke away mosquitoes, and covered the fountains and stagnant pools with stones.
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