Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 84: The First Battle of Dragonstone

Princess Shilin was awakened by the sound of drums coming from the castle. When she woke up, she vaguely heard the noise of people shouting under the castle.

She climbed up from the bed in a daze.

Down below the tower there was a faint clanking of Patchface's antlers, and the princess's jester seemed to have woken up earlier than Princess Shireen and was already singing his weird ballad.

"It's raining fire from the sky, and bubbles are coming out of the sea. I know, I know, oh oh oh. Shadows are hiding, and there's a dragon living in the castle. Oh, there's a dragon--"

The princess's room was on the upper floor of the Dragon Tower in Aegon's Garden. The towers of Dragonstone Castle were designed for defense rather than comfort. There were four tall, narrow windows in this room facing east, west, south and north. Only translucent green gauze was hung in front of the windows to slightly block the wind blowing into the room from outside.

This was the highest room in the Dragon Tower and the place with the best view. From the tower, one could smell the pleasant pine scent of Aegon's garden. Looking out from the east window, one could see the crowns of the tall black trees in the garden, the wild roses growing in the garden beds, the thorn bushes rising from the mounds, and the cranberries growing in the mud.

An arched high stone bridge connects the Flying Dragon Tower and the Stone Drum Tower of the main fortress of Dragonstone Island in the air. You can follow the stone bridge passage into the main fortress's spiral staircase and directly reach the main hall of the main fortress. The main hall is shaped like a giant dragon lying on the ground. People enter through its open mouth from the front. From the Flying Dragon Tower, there is a side door formed by the hollowing out of the upper wing of one of the dragon's wings. There is also a door on the lower wing next to it, which leads to the Sea Dragon Tower where the bachelor is.

An iron brazier was placed in the middle of the princess's room, the charcoal fire in it glowing orange-red. It was autumn and the morning breeze was a little cold.

Princess Shilin rubbed her sleepy eyes and walked to the south window. She looked down from the tower and saw that there were already several rows of fully armed guards standing in the parade ground below the castle, and more guards were constantly joining the team.

Princess Shilin was looking for her maid. After calling her several times, the maid appeared from the stairs leading down from the tower.

"What happened?" Princess Shilin asked.

"Your Highness, are you disturbed by the guards gathering?" The maid came up to serve her and prepared her to wash. As she prepared, she said, "I heard that there seemed to be bandits harassing the port town. Sir Axell was about to send guards to deal with it."

The princess asked worriedly, "Are the people in the town all right?"

The maid comforted her: "They will be fine."

Princess Shilin walked to the west window worriedly, and leaned her head out to look at the town below the mountain from an angle. Thick smoke was rising, and blazing flames could be vaguely seen in the town.

-

The first to discover that the Targaryen-flagged galleys were attacking Dragonstone were not the town guards or watchtower guards on the shore, but the crew of the 50-oared longships on guard on the sea outside the harbor.

It was daybreak, and the two galleys were still sailing towards Dragonstone with sails spread, relying on the south wind.

The longships spotted two ships approaching, and they probably just wanted to confirm where the ships came from. They must have seen the black sails first and thought they were pirates, but they didn't expect the Targaryen flag with a black background and a red dragon was hanging on the bow and side of the ship.

The hazy sea fog in the morning brought fatal danger to the longship. They were too close, and when they tried to run, they were hit by the crossbows mounted on the two ships. The longship did not seem to be fully staffed, and there was no counterattack at all.

The battle at sea was lackluster.

The fifty-oared longship lost its speed advantage and was not far enough away, so it was used as a target by the rowing ship's ballista, and finally hooked by the modified whale gun that fired several times before hitting it, and was hit by the ram of the Joking Yoso. The head-on collision between the three-hundred-oared ship and the fifty-oared ship was fatal, and the longship was doomed to sink without Viserys even having to spit out dragon fire.

It might have been harsh on the men on the longship, but that was what war was all about.

Afterwards, the two rowing boats rushed directly to the dock of Dragonstone Port without any obstruction.

All the guards on night watch at the dock ran away, and when the Unsullied landed, there was no guard at the dock.

But the town's alarm bells are already ringing.

Battles are always full of surprises.

When 140 Unsullied gathered at the dock and marched towards the town, the tung oil barrels stacked at one side of the road had been set on fire in advance. Some guards noticed the flammable materials stacked on the road, and they pushed the oil barrels onto the town streets and set them on fire to block the road from the dock to the town guard post.

There is an alarm bell in the guardhouse bell tower. The town guards believe that it is very important and must be attacked by the Targaryen army.

But when the Targaryen army disembarked and occupied the fork in the center of the town, they did not try to attack the guard post, but instead spread out their array at the wide fork and divided their troops to continue setting fires along the streets elsewhere. The main forces were gathering on the road up the mountain.

A blazing fire immediately broke out on the roadside at the intersection of the port town. Some of the oil drums were even stacked with asphalt drums. The town was instantly filled with thick smoke, which was terrifying.

Although the town seemed to be ablaze with smoke and dust, in fact only the roads were burning. When the Targaryen army controlled the road up the mountain from the town, some people soon realized that this was a trap set by the Targaryen army for the castle defenders, luring them down the mountain to fight.

They speculated that there were more Targaryen troops in the rowboats that landed at the dock.

Those who discovered Viserys's intention to fight were Stannis's soldiers who were on break and drinking in the town tavern last night. Leading them was a sworn knight of the house of Florent. After discovering the intentions of the Targaryen army, they broke out from the taverns and brothels where they were hiding, preparing to rush out of the town to warn the castle on the mountain.

The sworn knight of the House of Florent rushed out of the tavern with seven armored guards including him and headed towards the city guard. They came to the gate of the guardhouse from the alley that was not on fire. The leading knight raised his sword and shouted to the surprised and confused captain of the town guard: "Those who are loyal to King Stannis, obey my command and follow me to open a way out of the city! The light of the Lord shines! For King Stannis!"

The tiger eyes revealed from the knight's helmet were wide open, staring at the captain of the guard post.

The captain of the guard dared not resist. He raised his sword and shouted: "The Lord, the Lord shines brightly! For King Stannis! Please command us, ser."

Then the knight led the fifty town guards from the garrison through the alley to the mountain road up the town.

They rushed along the familiar path and intercepted a part of the Unsullied's formation on the way up the mountain when the Unsullied who set the fire returned to their team.

The battle took place at a three-way intersection. The Unsullied reacted quickly, and the troops that were suddenly cut off immediately raised their shields, formed a line of soldiers, formed an encirclement, and used spears to pierce the armored guards, blocking Stannis's army that was trying to rush forward.

The road leading up the mountain from the town was not wide, so the battle array could not be fully deployed, so the actual combat area was not large. When the knights and the town guards rushed to the Unsullied, the Unsullied were already ready.

The Unsullied slammed their spears against their shields and shouted in unison: "Lay down your weapons, surrender and you will not be killed! For the Targaryen King!"

Seven mailed guardsmen shouted, "For King Stannis!" but the fifty town guardsmen who crowded the fork in the road behind them failed to respond in unison.

And as the two voices stirred, the battle broke out here.

In fact, at this time, the Targaryen army had actually occupied the town exit, and the efforts made by these Stannis soldiers were in vain.

But the guards loyal to Stannis launched a desperate charge.

It has to be said that these armored soldiers who fought desperately did teach the Unsullied a lesson.

These soldiers in full body armor were very powerful when charging. They wore plate armor on the outside. The main body of this armor was usually made of canvas or leather, with rows of rectangular metal pieces inlaid in the fabric. The inner layer was also chain mail, which was a kind of interlocking clothing, made of many small metal rings riveted together to form a shirt-like shape. They also relied on helmets, visors, and throat guards.

Their first charge was almost against the Unsullied's spears, and they used the weight advantage brought by their armor to break up the first line of the Unsullied. The surging town guards rushed up and followed them, hacking and killing indiscriminately, causing multiple casualties to the first line of Unsullied. Then they wanted to continue charging outwards.

But that's all.

They obviously underestimated the fighting skills of the Unsullied, thinking that this group of soldiers who were not wearing armor, only leather protective gear and holding shields for defense could be easily broken up and then fight their way out.

However, they failed to do so. The Unsullied were dispersed from the first row, and immediately ignored the lives of the soldiers in the first row and rushed to the second row. Realizing that the spears stabbing the vital parts of the armored soldiers seemed to be unable to cause fatal injuries, the Unsullied raised their shields to suppress their movements, and used spears to stab their legs, crotch, armpits, elbows, knees, arms and other places in the brutal wrestling.

When these seven brave warriors were overwhelmed and could no longer launch an attack, and the captain of the town guard was treated as one of them because he was wearing armor and was killed, the morale of the town guards quickly collapsed.

The Unsullied attacked again, easily pushing them back to the small fork in the road they had rushed from. Their own formation had already collapsed, and they were crowded and trampled.

The Unsullied then slammed their spears against their shields and shouted in unison: "Put down your weapons, surrender and you will not be killed! For the Targaryen King!"

The surviving town guards were so frightened that they dropped their weapons and surrendered.

The Unsullied have the advantage here, with more numbers and more power, so victory in the battle is no doubt.

On the other side, the Unsullied's attack on the watchtower was much more tragic.

The watchtower was built on a reef, and the only way was a winding path that was only wide enough for one person.

The person in charge of guarding this place is a truly decorated knight anointed with holy oil. He and his three followers are responsible for garrisoning and observing here, and lighting warning beacons for enemy attacks.

After the beacon fire here is lit, it can not only warn the castle on Dragonstone, but also summon reinforcements from the nearby Tidehead Island and the Pointed Castle across the sea.

The smoke from the Dragonstone town fire could not rise to the height of the watchtower beacon fire, so the watchtower was the only possible place to attract outside reinforcements.

Viserys must capture the watchtower in this battle, and the sooner he captures it, the better.

Viserys hoped to avoid the possibility of possible reinforcements arriving nearby and adding to the uncertainty.

The fifty Unsullied who were ordered to attack the watchtower immediately disembarked after the riot at the dock, and rushed here along the island road leading to here from the dock.

The knight in heavy plate armor and his followers were guarding the gate of the tower, almost like a single man blocking the way for ten thousand. The light crossbows carried by the Unsullied could not penetrate the knight's armor, so they could only line up to charge the tower one by one. The combat position was small, so they could only use swords and shields to fight the knight guarding the tower.

In order to capture the tower, a team of soldiers paid the price. There were four guards and 50 attackers, but the real battle was between the Unsullied and the guards on the narrow platform at the entrance of the tower. The first Unsullied who rushed to the tower gate was pushed off the reef and fell into the sea, followed by the collision of the dead soldiers and knights.

At one point, a fearless Unsullied pushed the knights into the tower gate, but the knights were wearing heavy plate armor and were easily hurt. Once they were pressed into the tower, the knights' followers would attack from the corners with swords. After killing the Unsullied together, the knights would rush out of the tower gate to defend again.

Later, when there was really no other way, the Unsullied began to use the lives of soldiers to fill the gap, exchanging death for injury. That is, when the Unsullied and the knights were fighting, they would find the right time to pounce on them and resist the opponent's sword slashing and slashing, hug the armored knights, and then use daggers to stab the weak points of the knights' armor like a vicious dog pouncing on its prey. Even if the knight retreated behind the door, he would ignore the attacks of the knight's squires hiding inside. This fighting method surprised the knights, and they were almost stabbed in the neck by the Unsullied twice.

The Cavaliers ultimately failed to withstand the third attempt.

This battle of exchanging death for injury was effective. The heavily armored knight's armor was eventually stained with blood, and he could no longer see the front of his visor. When he habitually wanted to retreat to the tower gate and let his squires help protect his vital parts, an Unsullied stabbed his heart from under his armpit. After the Unsullied killed the knight, he was soon stabbed to death by the knight's squires in the gate.

This terrifying fight lasted two rounds. Another armored squire tried to replicate the knight's fighting style and was soon killed in the same way. The remaining squire stepped on a corpse when rushing out of the tower and stumbled into the sea. The other unarmored squire hid high up in the tower and tried to negotiate.

The Unsullied have actually been shouting: "Lay down your weapons, surrender and you will not be killed! For the Targaryen King!"

But beyond that, they did not understand the complicated Common Language of Westeros, as the desperate squire discovered during the negotiations, and felt that these were just meaningless slogans from a group of lunatics, just like they shouted the Lord of Light and King Stannis when they fought.

The follower finally chose to jump into the sea from the tower.

Then, the tower was filled with the sound of the Unsullied's trumpets.

Twice.

When I was writing this chapter about the battle, I was thinking about the Undead Street and the Black Knight Tower in Dark Soul.

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(End of this chapter)