The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 258: Battle of Bitter Bridge
The horn of war sounded, and Hugo and Daenerys's army marched towards each other along the Rose Road. All forces along the way also made their own choices. Finally, the two armies met at the Bitter Bridge at the river bend.

Bitterbridge was originally called Stonebridge, but it was renamed after 9,000 Poor People's Rally soldiers led by "Woodcutter" Walter were massacred during the armed uprising of the Order. During the Targaryen Dynasty, due to the sensitivity of the armed uprising of the Order, the history of Bitterbridge became a taboo in the kingdom to a certain extent. The Dragon Kings who converted to the Seven Gods may not care about this history, and they always feel uncomfortable looking back on this past, so what happened there was quietly covered up in the 300-year history of the dynasty, and only some devout people who knew the past would quietly come here for pilgrimage.

However, with the collapse of the Targaryen dynasty, the rise of the Baratheon dynasty, the advent of miracles and the Great Crusade, the religious enthusiasm of the kingdom's society for the Seven Gods was reawakened, and the number of pilgrims and donors increased visibly. Those ancient places of great significance to the Seven Gods were revitalized, including Bitterbridge. For the Seven Gods, the armed uprising of the Order was an extremely important event. After Aegon's conquest and Maegor's massacre, the Seven Gods Church completely became a vassal of the King's Landing court, and had few opportunities to show off in the next two hundred years of history. This negative impact was even more significant in the bravery advocated by the doctrine. Therefore, the armed uprising of the Order also became an important theme for the Seven Gods Church to promote itself in the Lu Family Dynasty. Soon, those generals and soldiers who took part in the armed uprising of the church transformed themselves from despised traitors into saints revered by the world. The large number of them kept the priests in charge of canonization very busy: the wave of uprisings spread across the country, and when the archbishop issued the relevant decree, all places enthusiastically reported the deeds of the saints, which made them suffer - in order to determine the reliability of the relevant deeds, the priests had to travel back and forth across the kingdom to verify, and their caravans almost set foot in every territory of Westeros. The high-intensity activities made many people miserable, so they were called "priests on the car" by the people.

Historically, canonizing believers in the church is an extremely long process. This was especially true during the Targaryen dynasty. After the Church of the Seven became a puppet, the frequency of saints' appearances dropped significantly, and their influence was also limited. But now, as the church has been freed and religious enthusiasm has been awakened, the church is in urgent need of canonizing a large number of saints to respond to public enthusiasm. These saints are far more than heroes in the armed uprisings of the order. Various wise ministers, famous generals, good men and local saints are also included - unless it involves the taboos of the new dynasty, those pious royal families of the previous dynasty should also be included.

In short, the church is ready to make up for the decline of the past three hundred years. The saints who were missing during this period must naturally be replaced to lay the foundation for the renewed expansion of the Church of the Seven Gods.

It was in this historical context that Bitter Bridge began to develop. With the efforts of a large number of pilgrims and donors, a Temple of the Seven Gods was built on the ancient battlefield to commemorate the warriors who died defending their beliefs and customs. Many devout believers gathered around this temple and a settlement was formed.

For Baron Kuqiao, he was very reluctant to see the formation of this settlement. With the emergence of another power center in the territory, his influence on the territory would certainly be affected - but the tax revenue brought by the temple ultimately satisfied him.

In the Sept of Bitterbridge, the evil deeds and incest of the Dragon King's family were important preaching content as the cause of the resistance; finally, after nearly a decade of being influenced by them, the locals' views and attitudes towards the Dragon King became very bad, and further spread to neighboring areas - this was the inevitable result of the church's propaganda to encourage believers to revolt. After all, the Targaryen's incestuous customs were a great violation of the doctrine, and their process of suppressing the armed forces of the sect was equally bloody.

Therefore, when the news of the Dragon King's return spread throughout Westeros, the church decisively declared its hostility towards the Targaryens and began to call on believers to join the army of God's favored ones to resist the evil dragons returning from the east; in the river bend, the devout villagers of Bitterbridge also responded to the call of the church at the first time. For the sake of their own beliefs, they decided to stick to the Bitterbridge Cathedral and guard the key point of the false king's march to the north. The nearby devout believers also continued to gather here, and they also came to defend the cathedral.

In the year when the Bitterbridge Cathedral was just being planned, Viserys was still recruiting the old party of the Dragon Family in Braavos, and the King's Landing court had not let down its guard against the Tyrells. Therefore, with the tacit consent of Old Jon, the possibility of the Targaryen counterattack on the kingdom was taken into consideration when the cathedral was built: after all, the Blackfyre Rebellion lasted five times, and there was no reason why their main branch Targaryen would be worse than Blackfyre. Therefore, when the cathedral was built, as long as the gates were closed, it would be a qualified and solid fortress, which was also the confidence that the devout people held on to - high walls would give people confidence. In the eyes of these devout believers, after the return of Targaryen, he would definitely suppress the Seven Gods again, turning the church and even religion back into the puppet of the previous dynasty, which they could not accept, so they would resist to the end for their faith.

Naturally, when Daenerys's Dothraki and Jorgesnai cavalry arrived at Bitterbridge as the vanguard, they were immediately attacked by the resistance. The believers set traps on the roadside, and many locals also came to help after hearing the news.

Perhaps Daenerys was intentionally indulgent, or perhaps she was unable to effectively restrain these horsemen all the time. After all, the Targaryen prairie cavalry treated the people of Westeros as they were accustomed to. They destroyed everything they went, leaving behind refugees in ruins. The Westerners were full of hatred for these guys.

On the other hand, these barbarians who were charging around on the grassland never thought that someone would dare to attack them. They thought of Westeros as a place like Lhaza and Yidi where they could take whatever they wanted. In the end, these guys were almost wiped out in the sudden attack.

The victory of this outpost battle greatly boosted the morale and spirit of the defenders. More devout people spontaneously rushed to the church and joined the ranks of the defenders. Some of them came from unknown religious orders, some responded to the call of local priests, and some were simply believers who came because they heard the news. Soon, the total number of defenders exceeded 7,000.

In their view, they are the modern-day armed forces of the Order, but this time the Order will not be defeated by the Targaryens who drive demons.

In response to this, Hugo and the High Septon both issued orders to these devout people, requesting them to join the main force of the army instead of fighting against the Targaryen army independently. Bitterbridge was not a strategic point like the Bloody Gate that would put their side in a completely passive position if lost; but these fanatical believers chose to refuse without hesitation. In their eyes, even if they would die under the dragon's flames, they would die for the Seven Gods.

Hugo was helpless in this regard. He could only arrange for a fast horse to deliver a dragon-hunting crossbow, so that at least these devout believers would not be completely helpless in the face of the dragon.

On the other hand, these people also reminded Hugo of the believers who had accompanied the army during the first expedition. They were all precious forces in the war, and Hugo did not want them to die so worthlessly.

However, Hugo still underestimated the fanaticism of these believers.

When Daenerys's army arrived, due to the victory of the previous raid, these believers actually chose to take the initiative to attack, just like the believers in the Battle of Stone Bridge. During the battle, Daenerys's cavalry repeatedly attacked their lines, but the believers' tenacious battle line resisted them. The cavalry was trapped in the sea of ​​believers. After losing the kinetic energy of the attack, they were immediately dragged off their horses and killed by the enemy.

In the infantry duel, the soldiers from Riverbend and Dorne were unable to break through the believers' defenses. Although these people had simple armor, they were full of fanaticism in their hearts, and the desire to reach heaven made them persevere. However, their enemies, those soldiers who were also from Westeros, were hindered by their faith and the ubiquitous seven-pointed star. After the initial setbacks, they could not help but restrain their hands and feet, and the battle line began to retreat.

However, if the battle situation really developed in this way, the battle report that Hugo received from the south should be a victory - just when the devout people were full of morale and thought that victory would come at the next moment, the dragon flew into the sky.

Faced with the tense battle situation, Daenerys no longer chose to wait. She personally drove the giant dragon to the sky above the battlefield, followed by the other two dragons. Then, the raging battle reappeared: the dragon flame separated the front and rear of the enemy army, and then began to rage on the battlefield, ruthlessly devouring all the men and horses involved. Inhuman screams rang out one after another, and the rolling heat waves and eye-sting smoke sobered the believers from their fanaticism. When the collective fanaticism faded, they finally realized their own insignificance and powerlessness, and the fact that they were mortal. Fear finally surged into their hearts, and the desire for life surpassed the fanaticism of faith.

Then, the battle line collapsed, just like countless armies that collapsed before the dragon kings in history, they also collapsed before the dragon flames. However, even in such a horrible battlefield, some people still maintained their fighting spirit. Under the cover of flames and thick smoke, Brother Meribald walked to the dragon-shooting crossbow, put the dead crossbowman aside, and he and several followers strung the crossbow and aimed it at the dragon in the sky.

An evil dragon was wreaking havoc on the battlefield, spewing flames and turning devout believers into torches and charred corpses. The more the monk witnessed this, the rage he felt grew. But he knew that if he failed to respond calmly, the last chance to kill the dragon would be lost.

He observed the three dragons for a long time, waiting for the right opportunity. Finally, he chose the milky white dragon, and the crossbow immediately sent out the long-accumulated power.

The dragon seemed to have the ability to sense danger, because the moment the crossbow arrow flew out, the dragon with milky white scales dodged immediately, so the crossbow arrow failed to hit the monk's head, but hit its wings instead. The dragon that was shot let out an inhuman roar, stumbled and glided downwards, falling into the distance. It had been struggling hard, but even so, it could not change the trend.

The pain in the demon's voice made Meribald feel a little bit of pleasure, but his sense of crisis would not disappear. As a veteran who had been fighting on the battlefield for a long time, he knew that he had to move immediately after completing this attack, because he would inevitably become the target of revenge by the false king.

His choice proved to be correct, because shortly after the monks and their followers left the dragon-hunting crossbow, the crossbow was engulfed in flames.

The falling dragon boosted the morale of the believers. Many people took their weapons and rushed towards the direction where the dragon fell. Some were not even afraid of the sea of ​​fire. Many warriors who were blocked on the other side of the sea of ​​fire saw this scene and grabbed their weapons and started fighting again.

However, for more people, reason prevailed over fanaticism, and they seized the opportunity to flee the battlefield in a hurry. Some fled to Bitterbridge Sept, while others fled to the nearby forest. It turned out that the latter was more wise, because Bitterbridge Sept soon repeated the same ending as Harrenhal.

Daenerys was very angry that the dragon was injured in the battle. She rarely lost her mind. There was no negotiation or discussion in the following battle. She chose to directly devour the temple with dragon flames. Afterwards, she realized that this was inappropriate, but it was too late to undo what had happened. The negative impact of this incident would soon come.

As for the injured dragon, it finally landed on the ground safely. The nearby believers immediately went to besiege it, but unfortunately the dragon was not a stupid beast. It used flames to form a circle of fire around it, making it difficult for people to approach. Even those who were not afraid of fire and rushed forward with the wall of fire would find it difficult to survive in the hands of the dragon.

At the same time, the dragon was constantly spewing fire. Every time a line of fire passed, many people were turned into charcoal, which further undermined the morale and determination of the besiegers.

Finally, as Daenerys's cavalry arrived and drove away the Seven Gods followers nearby, the dragon was safe, but it seemed that it could no longer distinguish between friends and foes, and even though those around it were there to protect it, it still treated them with fire. Helplessly, the cavalry had to retreat to a distance and wait for Daenerys to come in person. Facts proved that their choice was correct. When the mother comforted the injured and restless child, the dragon finally calmed down.

As for the war, the queen left it to her subordinates - the situation had come to this point, if they still couldn't defeat the enemy, they should give up.

Then, the queen quickly found a doctor to diagnose the dragon's condition, and her army had to stop advancing and set up camp on the spot; the queen finally received bad news: based on its current injuries, the dragon might not be able to fly.

To make matters worse, on the second day after the Battle of Bitter Bridge, Hugo's army came into the sight of the scouts.

Originally, it would take some time for Hugo to reach Bitterbridge, but after learning of the failure of the Battle of Bitterbridge, he immediately ordered the entire army to start a forced march and head to Bitterbridge as quickly as possible. At the same time, he also ordered his bards to write as quickly as possible about Daenerys's "great achievements" in the battle, such as the massacre of believers and the destruction of the temple, as well as the achievement of the unknown believer who injured the dragon with a crossbow - as for who stood up, there is no need to consider so much in the propaganda.

When Hugo's army arrived at Bitterbridge, many scattered believers immediately walked out of the forest and joined Hugo's army. They hoped that the God-favored One would be able to administer justice and make the false king and the evil dragon pay for their actions. Naturally, Hugo also made a promise to them, promising to make the Targaryens and their evil dragons pay the price in blood. Then, Hugo showed the hundreds of crossbows that were transported with the army - he had been preparing for this day for a long time.

As hundreds of dragon-hunting crossbows were deployed, the soldiers who had originally been worried and afraid of the dragons became excited again - one crossbow could injure a dragon, so so many would surely be able to shoot down all the dragons quickly.

However, even though he had many advantages, Hugo did not choose to launch an attack immediately. He ordered his army to set up camp first. The mobility of the dragon-hunting crossbow was indeed a big problem, and the army needed time to deploy and arrange them.

In this way, the confrontation between the two armies at Bitter Bridge began, and the future fate of Westeros will be decided in the next battle.

(End of this chapter)