"The old gods above!"
"Warriors protect us!"
"Lady of Spears protect!"
"The god of light protect!"
Before the battle, the soldiers sought protection and victory from their respective deities; the Wolf Pack Company prayed to the Seven and the old gods, the Unsullied prayed to the Lady of Spears, while the Free Army mostly prayed to the gods of the Disputed Lands: r'hllor, the god of light, and the goddess of love of Lys.
Above Firegrass Manor, Gendry watched as a black throng appeared on the distant horizon, surging forward like a tide.
The second offensive by the Myrmen was hysterical; the Archons put aside their grievances, hiring the Cat's Company, the Spear Company, the Second Sons, and a large number of Free Mercenaries in Myr.
"It seems the numerous Free Knights we stationed along the way had only a limited impact on a few legions!" said The Handsome Man.
"That was to harass the Myrish army and drain their morale! In the end, it still comes down to a direct confrontation!" said Gendry.
"The road ahead is perilous!" said Longspear. "The Myrmen have also organized twenty warships at sea, blockading our coastline, preparing to attack from the sea in coordination with the Mercenaries. The Tyroshi allowed the Myrish fleet to pass through."
The Myrmen learned from their previous lesson and launched a two-pronged assault, fighting on both land and sea. However, the coastline leading to the Manor was long and the roads rugged; comparatively, the enemies on land were faster and more dangerous.
"The coastline isn't that easy to blockade! The mouth of the Disputed Lands is too wide, and would these armies dare to land?"
"There's another point we need to be careful about: the blood plague. Beware of the Myrmen throwing corpses into the Manor!" said Maester Qyburn.
The blood plague had been the bane of armies since the Dawn Age, and he knew very well that when it spread silently through an army, it would ultimately lead to the annihilation of the entire force.
"The Old Maester's idea is correct, but Bloodbeard probably doesn't have the intelligence you imagine, and he's also considering taking Firegrass Manor for extensive looting," The Handsome Man analyzed.
"The Myrmen are really bleeding this time! Since that's the case, we should take all of the Myrish Manors and towns, making the Myrmen collapse even faster!"
"According to the original plan! Like an Iron Hammer and anvil, we'll crush the Blackfyre rebels; we're replicating the tactics of The King's party army," said Gendry. "This battle will establish our reputation and shatter the Myrish retreat."
"The Myrmen are not as strong as they think, and we have friends!"
"Yes!"
"Damn them!"
Gendry's anvil consisted of the fortified Firegrass Manor and several other Manors; he abandoned some loosely held forward Manors, instructing the runaway slaves to clear the fields and strengthen the defensive chain.
The ever-rising Firegrass Manor resembled a steel fortress, with sharpened stakes filling the deepened and widened moats. The Manor also now had large trebuchets and scorpion ballistas to wear down the enemy's morale.
The Iron Hammer of the Wolf Pack Company and the Free Army was the four hundred Knights personally led by Gendry, a fist unit prepared for a Assault Charge. There were also many Free Army soldiers in the city; aside from those defending the city, two thousand soldiers would move with him. There were also guerrillas; guerrilla warfare was Dick the Fletch's specialty, and he led a group of Longbowmen to ambush in the forests and hills.
Gendry saw Bloodbeard's attack from the city walls: the big cat banner of the Cat's Company, the broken sword emblem of the Second Sons, and the Longspear emblem of the Spear Company were all visible from the city walls.
Bloodbeard's troops formed the Myrish center, with the cavalry of the Second Sons on the left and the cavalry of the Spear Company on the right; infantry made up the majority. The three major Mercenaries formed the core, additionally encompassing a considerable number of Free Mercenaries. Behind them were three giant trebuchets.
"About six thousand men, but Bloodbeard is the core!" Gendry observed the strength and depth of the battle array, planning to lead the cavalry charge later.
"The Knights of the Second Sons are poorly equipped; their armor and equipment are substandard. Bloodbeard's troops are not all elites either; only the foremost thousand are truly elite. The subsequent two thousand Mercenaries and two thousand hastily assembled Free Knights are just along for the ride."
"treasurer, when I lead the Knights in a charge, the Manor will be in your hands!" Gendry said.
"Rest assured, I will live and die with the Manor!" The Handsome Man promised... "That damned brat!" Bloodbeard cursed. Bloodbeard, the captain of the Cat's Company, was a loud, savage brute, accustomed to slaughter.
"It's already evening, damn it, those guerrilla slaves greatly delayed us. Otherwise, by noon, we would have thrown many more stones."
Bloodbeard's voice was as loud as a dozen men. He was large, with a big beard, and had an astonishing appetite for wine and women.
"Of the Manors we passed through, some were empty, and after breaking through the Manor's shell, there were only those stubborn slaves, who killed many of my brothers," Bloodbeard grumbled as he wiped his long sword.
"Crush that brat, they've plundered so many Manors, there must be a vast amount of wealth in the Wolf's Den," Mero said excitedly.
Mero, the captain of the Second Sons, was from Braavos, tall, with pale green eyes and a thick, waist-length red-gold beard. He was infamous, his reputation so bad that almost no one dared to hire the Second Sons under his command.
"This brat is both stubborn and hard-headed; he could have used some gold to curry favor with us first!" Mero said. "But he insists on resisting to the end."
"Don't covet such small gains! Break through the Manor, and the gold and slaves will all be ours," Bloodbeard said disdainfully. "I see you truly are hungry, Bastard of the Titan, cherish this opportunity." The Second Sons' reputation was so bad that for a long time, no Free Cities would hire them.
"Keep an eye on those bastards from the Spear Company; they have many horses and will bolt if the situation looks bad," Bloodbeard warned. The Cat's Company was mostly infantry, with about three hundred cavalry and Attendants, and two thousand seven hundred infantry. The Second Sons had only about five hundred cavalry, while the Spear Company had eight hundred cavalry, being primarily cavalry-based.
"Trebuchets, pull! Bring up the three giant trebuchets of the Myrmen, you lovely Myrish whore!" Bloodbeard shouted.
The Myrmen had built three giant trebuchets for this attack on the Wolf Pack Company headquarters, named Wolfslayer, Lady of Myr, and Glory of Myr.
"You send some men to guard these trebuchets!" Bloodbeard said to Mero.
"Yes, Commander-in-Chief!" Mero nodded. In terms of soldier strength, Bloodbeard was truly worthy of the title Commander-in-Chief.
Bloodbeard's central army of five thousand men was arranged in a dozen ranks, but these men did not launch an attack.
"Boom! Boom!" The trebuchets made a huge noise as the three Myrish trebuchets began to operate. Stones rained down, flying towards Firegrass Manor.
"I need to deal with the trebuchets!" Gendry thought. Firegrass Manor was not a truly invincible fortress, and its strategic buffer was insufficient to withstand too many waves of giant stone impacts.
Gendry wore his black scale armor, with a cape made of beautiful, smooth Myrish silk draped over his shoulders, which could deflect some arrow shots. Gendry rode the black steed gifted by The Red Viper; Dornish horses were among the finest in the world. On his horse, he also carried his spiked warhammer, an arakh, and a similarly dark oak shield.
The silent Longspear led four hundred equally silent Knights, accompanying him. Behind Longspear, someone carried the grey-white banner, the banner of the roaring Wolf Pack.
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