A large army, primarily green and blue, surged towards the somewhat dilapidated River Gate defenses.
The wind suddenly picked up, and the black-and-white Direwolf banners flapped fiercely.
"Draw—"
The archers, commanded by Randal Tarly, drew their bows in unison, the bowstrings emitting a grating, teeth-aching squeak.
"Fire!!!"
Two to three thousand arrows rained down on the top of the city walls. The Soldiers behind the battlements huddled as much as possible, while cautiously observing the situation outside.
The Riverlands Army's arrow rain was incessant, providing cover for the Soldiers assaulting the walls.
Facing such a large attacking force, Martin, who was responsible for defending the River Gate, felt a bit uneasy.
He was still young and had never witnessed such a scene. Not to mention him, even his uncle, Earl Raymon, probably hadn't seen anything like it.
Even in the Battle of the Trident back then, the number of participants on both sides might not have been as many as today.
Seeing that the enemy's siege ladders were already in place, he quickly ordered his Soldiers to drop rocks and shoot to impede them.
But this first wave of attack was truly fierce; the Northern Soldiers on the city walls were almost suffocated.
"Hold the line!"
Martin stood up and shouted to the surrounding Soldiers. An arrow flew past, almost grazing his shoulder.
Just then, a conspicuously, almost strangely, dressed general suddenly arrived with a large contingent of men.
His armor was gleaming, and he wore a black cloak.
However, not only that, but the general also had four banners planted on his back!
A black-and-white Direwolf banner, a black-and-white sun banner, a red-and-farmer banner, and a grey-and-Direwolf banner.
The four banners fluttering behind him made him the most eye-catching presence on the River Gate defense line.
And he was followed by a large group of heavily armored Soldiers.
Closest to him was a Soldier holding a large black-and-white Direwolf banner, from which hung the almost mummified head of the Mountain.
"My Lord!" Martin's eyes widened as Jon, holding a strong bow, shot at the enemy below the city.
Everyone could instantly spot Jon running back and forth on the city wall. His appearance even caused the surrounding shouts of battle to drop several decibels.
Especially with his heavy armor, yet still able to move with the agility and swiftness of a leopard, many knights and nobles with battlefield experience were greatly surprised.
A long wolf howl, "Awooo," attracted even more enemy attention over a wider area.
Such a conspicuous, almost in-your-face, action immediately drew even more firepower.
"Catch him! The one with the banners on his back is Jon Snow!" An knight from The Reach exclaimed excitedly.
Although they knew of Jon's feat of slaying the Mountain, the current situation was a hundred thousand against ten thousand; the advantage was with them!
Capturing or killing Jon at this moment would be a great achievement.
But just as he was climbing up the ladder, he suddenly felt his neck being violently struck with a pole.
A terrible crunch echoed in his head, and the scene before his eyes quickly darkened.
The strength in his body vanished like melting snow, and then he fell heavily.
Jon's act of shooting a noble dead with an arrow clearly boosted morale.
The counterattack on the city wall became more effective.
"Kill him for me! Kill this bastard! I'll double his fiefdom!" From a nearby command platform, Mace was still fuming.
He was the Duke of Highgarden, the Defender of The Reach! Tyrell would never allow such slander, especially not accept his children being so insulted.
However, as more elite knights attempted to approach Jon, arrows accurately shot them down one by one.
And Jon only killed nobles and those clearly in gleaming armor, which greatly hindered the Riverlands Army's offensive.
The knightly class was not only an important component of the nobility but also frontline commanders on the battlefield.
If they died, the squires and auxiliary Soldiers they led would lose command and could only retreat dejectedly, awaiting reorganization.
Originally, Jon hadn't expected to enrage Mace with mere insults; he was just trying it out.
If Mace had held back, then he would have used wildfire to alleviate the attack pressure.
He had just been at the Lions Gate, guarding against Tywin, but when his taunt worked, he brought his men to Martin's position.
Seeing the attack stalled, Jon ordered Martin: "I'm going to Harken's side now. You'll draw two-fifths of your men to come with me as reinforcements!"
"—" Martin glanced at the city below. Although The Reach's offensive had greatly weakened, the attack had not stopped.
He was unsure if Jon drawing men was feasible.
But after a slight hesitation, he still chose to trust him.
So Jon led his heavily armored troops, plus the men drawn from Martin's side, a total of one thousand, to reinforce Harken at the Iron Gate.
At this time, the Iron Gate was facing a bombardment from trebuchets.
Head-sized stones crashed against the city walls, making a heart-stopping thudding sound.
Harken's men suffered considerable losses; they had never witnessed the power of trebuchets.
In their eyes, these wooden monsters swinging their arms were truly terrifying.
Some Riverlands Soldiers even managed to climb onto the city wall.
"Get up! Kill with me! Kill!!!"
Harken, with bloodshot eyes, urged his Soldiers forward.
But flying debris bit off half of his ear.
Blood stained half his face, mixed with dirt and dust, making him look very disheveled.
Seeing more and more Riverlands Soldiers scale the city wall, Harken forgot about the idea of calling for reinforcements.
Jon, of course, would not entrust an entire section of the defense line to Harken; with his limited education, it was difficult to feel at ease.
For Harken's section of the defense, Jon had also assigned ten knights from House Darry to help him defend. Harken's main role was to utilize his personal martial prowess and his ability to rally the Mountain Clans.
Harken picked up a scattered spear from the ground and was about to attack a Riverlands noble who had climbed onto the city wall.
But an arrow grazed his shoulder, directly piercing the chest of that noble knight.
Harken looked back to see Jon arriving with reinforcements almost as numerous as the current defenders.
Especially with the arrival of the heavily armored Soldiers, they acted like the plunger of a syringe, almost effortlessly driving back the enemy who had already scaled the city wall.
Having relieved the crisis at the Iron Gate, Jon left a few knights from House Darry and a hundred heavily armored Soldiers to assist Harken in defense, then led the remaining men towards the gate where Dondarrion was stationed.
Dondarrion was quite capable; his defense line here was relatively stable, and the first wave of attack was almost repelled.
Jon's arrival accelerated this process.
After repelling the Riverlands Soldiers, he drew another five hundred men from Dondarrion and headed to the Lions Gate, where Tywin was concentrating his attack.
At this point, Tywin had only just begun his offensive.
Tywin was unaffected, proceeding entirely at his own pace, but when he saw the Soldiers on the city wall almost doubled in density, his face immediately darkened.
Especially when he saw the huge black-and-white Direwolf banner, with the Mountain's head hanging from it, and the leaping white figure on the city wall, he felt even less confident.
However, since the order to attack had been given, it had to be carried out, otherwise the impact on morale would be far greater than a failed assault.
In Tywin's view, with their hundred-thousand-strong army attacking fiercely, Jon would sooner or later expose a weakness. However, the battle continued until nightfall, and the Lannister-Tyrell alliance achieved no significant results.
The black-and-white Direwolf banner on the city wall still fluttered.
Because the offensive rhythms of The Reach and the Westerlands were not unified, Jon was always able to flexibly redeploy Soldiers to repel them.
Randal Tarly, in particular, even concluded that Jon had nearly thirty thousand troops at his disposal.
If that were truly the case, then their chances of conquering King's Landing would be slim.
After dark, the Lannister-Tyrell alliance's offensive finally ceased.
And the consequence of Jon's men working twice as hard also became apparent.
Dozens of Soldiers lay down to rest and never got up again.
"Harken, you won't be defending the city tomorrow. I have another task for you." Jon began to adjust the defense line deployment based on the day's offensive and defensive situation.
Harken knew he hadn't performed well, so he nodded in agreement.
The so-called 'other task' was merely to save his face.
During this time, Jon continuously adjusted the defense line, replenishing arrows for the Soldiers. Fortunately, King's Landing had a very ample stock of weapons and equipment, especially the Gold Cloaks and mercenaries also had good gear, so Jon directly stripped them of their armor and put it on his own Soldiers.
When Jon took control of King's Landing, the Gold Cloaks and Soldiers originally organized by Tyrion were held in custody.
Sandor Clegane, the Hound, who had fled in fear of wildfire and was the Mountain's brother, was also imprisoned there.
When he was found, he was huddled, trembling, among a pile of wooden crates.
But after a day or two, he finally calmed down.
When he learned that King's Landing was now occupied by Jon, the man who killed the Mountain, he repeatedly requested to see Jon.
His reason was that he wanted to serve Jon.
"Don't bother with that. That Jon killed the Mountain, and you're the Mountain's brother. Now you want to see him? How could he possibly meet you?" The mercenary Bronn tried to make Sandor give up this unrealistic idea.
"It's precisely because he killed my brother that I want to serve him!"
"Huh?"
Bronn, also a captive, was locked up with Sandor the Hound. He couldn't stand this constantly shouting fellow, which was why he tried to dissuade him.
Bronn's situation was currently very bad.
He had invested so much in Tyrion before.
Now, let alone a return, Tyrion was gone. He himself had become a prisoner.
They had just received news that Jon had actually withstood the allied attack.
This shattered his last bit of hope.
As a seasoned mercenary, Bronn knew that the first wave was the most crucial part of a siege.
Especially for an alliance like Tyrell and Lannister.
If the first wave of the siege failed, they would only blame each other further down the line. In his opinion, these allied armies were no different from their mercenaries.
As the captives worried about their future fate, several Soldiers with Riverlands accents approached them.
Bronn saw a distinct wildness about the leader.
There were fresh scars on the exposed skin at his collar.
"Today, under the leadership of Lord Jon, we repelled the Lannister and Tyrell forces. Before long, Robb, the King in the North, will arrive with the armies of the North and the Riverlands to reinforce us, and His Majesty Stannis will also come with forces from Dragonstone and the Stormlands. If you are willing to help Lord Jon defend the city, your crimes will be pardoned, and if you earn merits, the Lord will also reward you. Those willing to help Lord Jon defend the city, step forward now!"
"Me! I'm willing!"
Sandor the Hound was almost the first to stand up.
Several braver mercenaries, after some thought, also believed that the crisis outside would be resolved before long.
So they also chose to sign up.
Bronn thought for a moment, then spat on the ground.
He had lost everything now, so how could he miss an opportunity to get back in the game?
Soon, Jon recruited over three thousand 'auxiliary troops' from these captives.
Of course, they were all assigned to the least important positions, helping with tasks like transporting supplies, thereby freeing up more of Jon's forces for city defense.
Besides mobilizing the surrendered Soldiers, Jon also tried to rally the common people within King's Landing.
Although the High Septon had fled, his residence and vestments could still be found as spares.
Jon directly found an old man who was still a septon, had him put on the High Septon's vestments, and sent him around to preach that only by helping Jon defend the city could one receive blessings and the protection of the Seven Gods.
Incidentally, King's Landing had previously suffered a famine because Stannis had blockaded the sea routes, so Jon did not use Stannis's name.
Unexpectedly, however, a group of people calling themselves 'Stagfolk' emerged from the wealthy district near the Old Gate.
They also wished to support Stannis and oppose Lannister.
These people had money and food, but they had been suppressed by Tyrion once before and dared not show themselves. Now, seeing that Jon seemed capable of success, they brought food, weapons, and even their own armed forces to provide support.
Offer is going on
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