read full story inpatreon
CaveLeather
"I used to have many brothers. They all died in Pentos."
Daario said something with profound meaning.
"Uh-huh, so?" Jiang Gan shrugged.
"Do you submit to the True Dragon or not?" Bloodbeard repeated the question mechanically, but the bloodlust in his eyes made it easy to see that he was very much looking forward to using the blade in his hand to chop off the head of the man in front of him.
"Of course."
Daario might not know the saying "I am the fish on the chopping block," but he clearly knew how to do the right thing at the right time.
A moment later, the warriors in the tent withdrew. The four men drank and chatted happily, with the key officers of the Company of the Cat accompanying them on the side while simultaneously keeping a close watch on Gylo and Daario.
"To the great King Viserys!"
"The plan is simple. Even without waiting for the Royal Army to arrive, the troops we have on hand are enough to control the center of Braavos.
Gentlemen, do we wait for the Royal Army to arrive and add a flower to His Grace's crown, or do we bloom from the center within the city and establish merit?" Jiang Gan sat in the seat of honor, holding a wine cup, and looked at the three men.
"Of course, we establish merit. I am eagerly looking forward to His Grace granting me a title." Bloodbeard had already made up his mind to board Viserys's ship. For the title in his heart, he naturally wanted to put in some effort.
Gylo and Daario were currently under someone else's roof; what right did they have to choose? Among the three mercenary commanders, Bloodbeard nodded, so the matter was settled.
It didn't take long for the key members of the Long Lances and the Stormcrows to be brought to Bloodbeard's tent as well.
Using the same old tactics of coercion and bribery, seeing that their leaders were being held hostage, the crowd naturally had no objections.
Braavos didn't belong to them anyway. They were just trying to make a living and earn some danger money. Changing allegiances really didn't carry much psychological burden for them.
Seeing that he had successfully subdued everyone by borrowing the tiger's might, Jiang Gan began to discuss the details of the operation with the key members in the tent.
"This kind of thing cannot be delayed. So I propose that the operation time be set for tomorrow night. Does anyone have a different opinion?" Jiang Gan slapped his hand on the map of Braavos and looked around at the crowd.
Seeing that no one had any objections, Jiang Gan continued:
"I call this operation: Rollo Tomasi!"
"Rollo Tomasi!"
The codename for the operation was soon delivered to Viserys.
At this moment, his Dragon Army had been sweeping through, successively capturing a large number of forward base islands blocking the way to Braavos. By the day after tomorrow at the latest, the city of Braavos, which had no walls, would appear before the True Dragon.
"It seems we won't need to wait until the day after tomorrow for Braavos to fly the dragon banner of House Targaryen," Viserys handed the document back to "Pointing-Rat-Calling-It-Duck" and murmured with his hands behind his back.
"This is all thanks to your great leadership, Your Grace. It is you who made our army as hard as steel and as tough as leather. Targaryen leads us forward!"
"Pointing-Rat-Calling-It-Duck" straightened his body. His flattering words made Viserys feel goosebumps, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.
"My King Viserys!"
Roland raised his head.
The group of White Cloaks in the room brought their feet together simultaneously and performed a Roman salute:
"Long live!"
Ever since more and more rednecks joined the Royal Kingsguard and became White Cloaks, Viserys felt as if he was being treated as a substitute for the spiritual leader in their hearts.
In the past, there weren't many foreign players, and the redneck group was a minority. They didn't necessarily have to join the White Cloaks. After all, who wouldn't want to wander around more in a game world that was both realistic and open, rather than being a soldier standing guard?
But as a new batch of a thousand players came online, more players joined the White Cloaks, and most of them were rednecks. All sorts of weird things began to appear around Viserys.
These people seemed to be intentionally guiding him, or rather, they hoped to create a spiritual leader in their hearts.
Damn, now my White Cloaks have really become stormtroopers. I don't know who started this.
Really... really inappropriate.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, the day of action set by Jiang Gan arrived.
On an ordinary night, inside Bloodbeard's camp, the key officers began instructing their mercenary subordinates to sharpen their knives.
For things like rebellion and mutiny, of course, the rank-and-file soldiers couldn't be informed in advance. But as grassroots commanders who were the backbone of the operation, they still had the right to know.
After all, you couldn't wait until you'd led everyone to the gate to tell them the enemy was at Honno-ji, right?
If someone got cold feet at the last minute, that would be shooting oneself in the foot.
Bloodbeard seemed very experienced. His grassroots officers more or less knew what to do, and those with doubts had naturally been cleaned up in advance.
Several key members of the Long Lances and the Stormcrows also brought their men to the Company of the Cat's camp to assemble. For a moment, nearly five thousand mercenaries gathered in the camp, a forest of swords and spears, a scene of solemnity.
"I will lead you to earn honor and wealth! The enemy is in the Sealord's Palace!"
There was no impassioned speech. The core forces understood what they had to do without needing many words. With a command from Bloodbeard, as grassroots backbones, they quickly responded to the order, leading a group of bewildered rank-and-file soldiers out of the camp.
Hundreds of cavalry from the Long Lances, holding torches, roared out of the camp, heading straight for the Self-Defense Force's camp.
As for that mob, Gylo boasted that if he led the team, he could crush them in less time than it took to milk a cow.
Of course, neither Bloodbeard nor Jiang Gan would allow the other to serve as the cavalry commander. Gylo and Daario were both obediently kept under surveillance near the two of them. The one leading the cavalry was a key member of the Stormcrows.
Originally, Bloodbeard wanted one of his trusted aides to serve as the cavalry commander, but how could Jiang Gan not see that he intended to swallow up the troops of the other two companies? He directly made the decision to let a key member of the Stormcrows command the cavalry.
Then he turned around and let a key member of the Long Lances command the Stormcrows' soldiers to attack the Purple Harbor and the Ragman's Harbor, demanding that all ships in all of Braavos's ports be controlled and not allowed to leave.
The rest of the infantry brigades marched towards the Sealord's Palace.
Thinking that there were only a few hundred guards in the Sealord's Palace at this moment, tonight's operation should be problem-free.
Jiang Gan, who was also carrying a sword and following in the team, thought so.
"Kill!"
When the cavalry of the Long Lances pushed aside the barricades and roared into the Self-Defense Force's camp, a large group of soldiers who were merely conscripted merchants instantly exploded into chaos.
The Long Lances' attack went exceptionally smoothly. With almost no effort, the thousands of Self-Defense Force soldiers scattered like birds and beasts upon hearing the earth-shaking battle cries, crashing headfirst into the cavalry's lance tips like headless flies.
"Kill! Kill towards the crowds!"
"Scatter these cowards!"
"Attack! Attack! Attack again!"