Splash!
A string of lights, arranged like a long dragon, appeared on the dark surface of Blackwater Bay, it was an unknown fleet sailing under the cover of night.
As this fleet neared Dragonstone, located at the mouth of the sea, most of the lights went out, leaving only a single light at the very front.
A gate, generally shaped like the Chinese character 'Mountain' (mountain), was built at the foot of Dragonstone.
The walls on either side of the gate were about ten meters high, while the central and side towers were significantly taller than the walls, roughly twenty-two to twenty-three meters.
Haaah~~
On the wall to the left of the Dragonstone gate, more than twenty soldiers on night duty were yawning one after another.
The darkest period before dawn is the easiest time to feel sleepy, they could only use quiet chatter to distract themselves from the fatigue.
"Prince Daemon has kept everyone on high alert during this period.
Hey, who do you think he's guarding against?"
"Is that even a question? It must be people from the Red Keep.
I heard that a few months ago, six Dragons fought in the sky over King's Landing.
Our Dragons from Dragonstone accounted for half of them."
"If you ask me, Prince Daemon is still too cautious.
What idiot would dare attack Dragonstone, which holds a strategic position and has over ten Dragons?"
"Heh heh, didn't Prince Jacaerys just attack some time ago?"
"Shh, quiet, Ser Lorent is coming!"
When a burly, bald White Knight walked over from the wall on the right, the chatter on the left wall abruptly stopped.
Lorent Marbrand, one of Viserys I's seven White Knights.
Since escorting Princess Rhaenyra to Dragonstone, he hadn't returned to King's Landing, and could now be considered her personal White Knight.
Before she and Daemon left Dragonstone, they handed command of the Dragonstone soldiers to Ser Lorent.
This esteemed White Knight also didn't betray her trust, personally undertaking small tasks like night patrols.
"Keep your attention outside during your shift, no chattering."
"Yes!"
After speaking a word to reprimand the night shift soldiers, Ser Lorent was about to return to the Stone Drum Tower.
But he suddenly saw that single light on the sea surface.
Hmm? Why would there be a ship coming to Dragonstone at this hour?
"Everyone! Snap to attention, there's an unfamiliar ship approaching!"
Following Ser Lorent's loud shout.
The fifty to sixty night shift soldiers on the walls on either side of the gate, as well as the thirty to forty archers in the three towers, immediately perked up.
Once the ship entered visible range, Ser Lorent's tense nerves relaxed slightly.
Using the ship's lights, it could be seen that this was a large warship flying the golden angry lion banner.
Since Earl Corliss led the Valyrian Fleet into the war in the Stepstones,
Tyrann Lannister took over as Master of Ships, and the title of the Royal Fleet naturally fell to the House Lannister fleet.
A ship of the Royal Fleet was not considered an unfamiliar vessel.
Clatter clatter!
Ser Tylan, with standard House Lannister golden hair, arrived at the Dragonstone gate with over a dozen personal guards carrying lanterns.
"Open the gate, I have a King's order for Prince Lucerys."
"Wait!"
The soldiers on the Dragonstone wall, hearing this, were about to open the gate with the winch, but were directly stopped by Ser Lorent's shout.
He immediately asked in a loud voice: "Lord Tylan, King's orders are usually delivered by my White Knight brothers.
Why didn't they come to see me?"
"This is an urgent order, and the other White Knights all have their own duties.
I was just heading back to Lannisport anyway, so I brought it along on the way."
Ser Tylan, hearing this, replied unhurriedly.
While saying this, he reached his right hand behind his back and gave a signal to one of the personal guards behind him.
The personal guard, seeing this, subtly shielded his lantern with his hand, making the light flicker.
As expected, Ser Lorent was not so easily fooled.
Hearing Ser Tylan's words, he immediately retorted: "Lord Tylan, since you are busy enough to brave the many reefs of the Merling King's Spear (an area in Blackwater Bay) and sail at night.
How do you still have time to bring a King's order along the way? Aren't those words a little contradictory?"
"This is because..."
Whizz whizz whizz!
Ser Tylan had just opened his mouth when Ser Lorent heard a familiar sharp whistling sound.
"Enemy attack! Get down!"
Thud thud thud!
About half the soldiers on the left wall reacted in time, crouching behind the merlons with Ser Lorent.
The other half of the slow-reacting soldiers were instantly shot into pincushions.
Ser Lorent waited for the volley of arrows to end, then secretly peeked out from behind the merlon.
He saw a line of lights, like a long dragon, lighting up one after another on the sea surface, judging by the scale, it seemed the entire Royal Fleet had arrived.
Clang clang clang!
The alarm bell on the gate tower rang, and countless lights lit up in the Stone Drum Tower on Dragonstone.
Whizz whizz whizz!
The Dragonstone archers returned fire from the firing slits in the towers.
But Ser Tylan, when the fleet behind him launched the attack, had already hidden in a blind spot among the rocks on the side under the protection of his personal guards.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Bang bang bang!
Catapults loaded on the Royal Fleet's large warships hurled head-sized stones, which crashed heavily against the walls of Dragonstone.
The buildings on Dragonstone were constructed using the lost Valyrian stonework technique, and these stones did not cause significant damage to the walls.
But the soldiers on the walls were flesh and blood, and several unlucky ones were directly smashed, their heads crushed and bones broken.
Coupled with the arrival of the second wave of arrows, the soldiers on Dragonstone didn't even dare to lift their heads.
Charge!
Taking advantage of the Royal Fleet's suppressing fire, hundreds and thousands of House Lannister soldiers landed on Dragonstone.
They carried pre-prepared siege ladders, battering rams, and other siege equipment, heading directly towards the Dragonstone gate.
Clatter clatter clatter!
The Dragonstone reinforcements, after assembling, set off from the Stone Drum Tower, but the Dragon's Tail steps leading to the Dragonstone gate were too narrow and long.
Given the gate defenders' current state, huddled behind the merlons, they wouldn't make it in time at all.
Gurgle gurgle!
Two bright yellow copper pipes quietly extended from the towers on either side, and two streams of black, viscous liquid gushed out from the pipes.
House Lannister soldiers who had just rushed to the bottom of the wall were directly drenched by the viscous liquid.
They touched the black liquid and put it to their noses, immediately smelling a stench similar to rotten eggs.
Whoosh!
Two burning torches extended from the towers and were brought close to the front of the copper pipes.
The black, viscous liquid was instantly ignited by the torches, and spread rapidly downwards towards the bottom of the wall like two snakes of flame.
Ah!!!
The House Lannister soldiers who were drenched by the black liquid were ignited in an instant.
Individual human torches ran around frantically below the wall, igniting their comrades and the siege ladders beside them.
These two snakes of flame from the towers on either side were like the Dracarys of a Dragon, turning the area below the wall into an inferno.
This was a defensive weapon that Daemon used his connections to buy back from Pentos.
Pentos had signed an unequal treaty with Braavos, forbidding them from owning more than 20 warships and from hiring mercenary companies or free mercenaries.
Therefore, the people of Pentos, lacking in military strength, focused their military development on various military machines.
These two flamethrowers were military machines they had newly developed in recent years.
If Daemon hadn't had strong connections with Pentos, it would have been impossible to buy them.
With the assistance of the flamethrowers, the situation for Dragonstone instantly improved.
Ser Lorent and others finally stood up from behind the merlons to assist in the defense, and the reinforcements on the Dragon's Tail steps were also about to arrive.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The sound of Dragon wings tearing through the air, loud enough to drown out the battlefield's desperate screams, came from above.
Ser Lorent, who had just stood up, his face changed drastically, and he once again curled his burly body back behind the merlon.
Whoosh!
Bright yellow Dracarys lit up the sky above the Dragonstone gate, this scorching hot Dracarys instantly struck the right tower.
Boom!~
The storage device for the black liquid in the tower was ignited by the high-temperature Dracarys, causing a violent explosion.
This was why Pentos hadn't popularized flamethrowers; they were very lethal to the enemy.
But when the storage device was detonated by high temperatures, it was even more lethal to their own people.
Crash!
The right tower's roof was directly blown off by this explosion, and a black silhouette large enough to cover the entire Dragonstone gate landed on the top of the blazing tower.
It opened its Dragon mouth, large enough to swallow a mammoth, and let out an earth-shattering Dragon roar.
Roar~~~