Game of Thrones: The Bronze and Fire Lord.

Chapter 356 The Runaway Tiger and Elephant Party Governors
three days ago.

The summer sea, Valantis.

At both ends of the long bridge, the usual citizens and merchants had long been driven away from the port, and the Tiger Robe Army, with tiger tattoos on their faces, stood ready for battle.

The Tiger Robe Army was the garrison of the capital city of Valantis.

The constant harassment over the past month and a half has severely impacted Valantis' trade.

In recent days, the Valerian fleet has been frequently probing the ports, making its intention to attack obvious.

call out!
Suddenly, a firecracker arrow shot into the sky from afar, exploding into a cluster of inconspicuous sparks.

The next moment, the bugler, his face tense as he watched the signal, raised his horn and blew a solemn and uplifting sound.

"Uuuuuu——"

Five thousand Tiger Robe soldiers acted swiftly, retreating in batches into the arrow towers and beacon towers, carrying scorpion crossbows.

Valantis was not as decadent as it would become in later times, and its wealth was comparable to that of city-states such as Braavos and Pentos.

These scorpion crossbows were all newly crafted, specifically designed to deal with Targaryen dragons.

Wow…

The sky suddenly darkened, the waves surged and crashed, accompanied by a strong wind and a light drizzle.

"What's going on? It's raining?"

Teslio wiped the water droplets from his forehead, a strange look appearing on his fierce face.

He was the deputy commander of the Tiger Robe Army.

"Wait, look at the sea! What are those things?!"

One soldier's face changed drastically, as if he had seen a ghost.

Teslio turned around abruptly.

Suddenly, warships appeared on the turbulent sea, approaching the port at an extremely fast speed.

On the sails of those warships were painted turquoise seahorses.

"It's a Valerian bastard! Catapults and rockets, prepare!"

The Tiger Robe Army Commander took the lead, shouting with a ferocious expression.

The Tiger Robe Army acted swiftly, dragging out catapults and loading them with rolling stones, logs, and oil-soaked grass-stone balls.

Logically speaking, they don't have the drive to take such action.

On the eve of the battle, a Tiger Party magistrate and two Elephant Party magistrates, the three supreme commanders of Valantis, summoned them at the same time.

They rewarded him with gold, silver, fine wine, and good meat, on the condition that he defend the city.

After the mission is accomplished, the Tiger Robe Army will receive improved treatment, be granted large amounts of gold and silver, and have noble titles distributed according to their military achievements.

What else is there to say?

The Tiger Robe Army consisted of a group of lowly peasants; otherwise, they wouldn't have joined the capital's garrison and had tattoos on their faces symbolizing lowliness, slavery, and lack of dignity.

"Uuuuuu——"

The sound of the Valerian fleet's horns echoed from the sea, rough and deep, like the roar of a giant.

"Fire arrows!"

Corliss stood at the bow of the Sea Serpent, calmly issuing orders.

In the blink of an eye, arrows rained down.

Although the arrows couldn't reach the harbor, they forced the Tiger Robe Army to duck and dodge, buying them time to get closer.

More than a dozen warships braved the wind and waves, and entered the port area despite the increasingly fierce winds and rain.

"We can't let them advance any further! Catapults, fire!"

The Tiger Robe Army commander was still thinking about his noble title; he couldn't be defeated.

"Little tricks."

A mocking smile crept across Corliss's lips.

As the two sides exchanged blows, the dark clouds in the sky suddenly changed, as if a pair of giant hands were stirring them haphazardly.

"Hiss!"

"Hiss..."

Accompanied by two loud dragon roars, the golden sunburst and the brown sheep thief simultaneously burst out of the clouds, braving the icy rain, and swooped down over the harbor.

"No no no!"

The Tiger Robe Army commander was terrified and let out a desperate cry.

boom--

A golden dragon flame crashed down, burning the man to a charred corpse, and then swept through the crowd.

"Dragon Flame!"

Imond went even further, driving the sheep thief to spew dragonfire at the soldiers operating the catapults.

boom! boom!
The dragon flames burned the ropes of the catapults, and several catapults, like rebounding springs, were sent flying and crashed to the ground, killing many people.

"Full speed ahead! Lower the ram and charge onto the long bridge!"

Corliss was overjoyed.

On a clear day, the condition of the summer sea is completely visible, making it impossible to achieve the desired effect of an attack.

He deliberately waited for a rainy day to launch the most crucial attack.

While rain may weaken the dragons' power, the overcast weather allowed the dragons and their fleet to arrive at the port of Valanthi undetected.

Despite the rain, the dragon's flames remained, but Valanthis rockets had burned out.

Weakening the enemy is strengthening yourself.

"Hiss!"

Yangyan was very excited and, without Aegon's command, hovered in the air, constantly spewing dragonfire.

The arrow towers and watchtowers could withstand the dragon's flames, but the walls were shattered by the impact, and the intense heat seeped in and baked the soldiers.

call out!call out!
The scorpion crossbow was fired, chasing after the two flying dragons.

Yang Yan easily dodged, then retaliated with dragon flames, not letting any dark little insect escape.

Needless to say, the sheep thief, cunning and treacherous, destroyed the Tiger Robe Army's crossbow squad, pounced on an arrow tower, and lay prone, using its demonic claw-like dragon-winged forelimbs to shove into the tower's window, its little claws crushing the scorpion crossbow.

With a loud bang, the broken crossbow string flew out and snapped the bones of nearby soldiers.

"Gah!"

The sheep thief shook his head and swayed as if he were croaking, then flew over the city-state of Valantis on the other side of the long bridge and spewed dragonfire.

It smelled the treasure and the sheep.

Driven by desire, even when Imond tried to stop it, whipping it fiercely, he couldn't stop this thick-skinned mud dragon.

Fortunately, the port's defenses had been disrupted, so the absence of a dragon was insignificant.

Yang Yan Yilong suppressed the entire Tiger Robe Army, burning them to a pulp. Kolis led his fleet to a successful landing, quickly seizing the western district of Valantis and the Long Bridge.

Valantis is a city-state with a distinctive regional character.

Norfolk was built on a high hill and consisted of two cities, an upper city and an lower city.

Valantis was originally built on the east side of the mouth of the Rhohn River, but was later expanded to the west side of the Rhohn River, which is across the river.

Later, in order to strengthen the connection between the east and west districts, a "long bridge" was built over several decades and with huge amounts of manpower and resources on the calm bay formed by the mouth of the Lorne River.

Over time, the East District became the private domain of nobles and wealthy merchants, while the West District, connected to the port, became a stronghold for commoners, slaves, and merchants.

This wasn't Corliss's first time stepping into the western part of Valantis, and he was still overwhelmed by the fishy and manure smells of the harbor.

"Control the long bridge and head to the East District to arrest the ruling officials of the Tiger and Elephant parties."

His brother, Wimond Valerian, was ordered to lead an elite force across the long bridge.

……

It was already midnight.

Exhausted, Wei Mengde brought back one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.

The good news is that the Valerian sailors fought bravely and successfully took control of Longbridge and a large part of the East District.

The remaining majority of nobles and wealthy merchants in the East District all hid inside the black walls.

The Black Wall is the inner city wall of Valantis, made of black stone, and is wide enough for two carriages to pass side by side.

That was the territory of a self-proclaimed noble and ancient aristocracy, and no one was allowed to enter or leave without an invitation.

Upon hearing this, Corliss felt there was no problem; it was good that nobles and wealthy merchants were all together, saving them the trouble of arresting people everywhere.

With a complicated expression, Wei Mengde delivered the bad news.

"According to the captured nobles, the Tiger Party and Elephant Party officials had secretly fled half a month ago."

Two weeks ago!!
Corliss's eyes widened, a surge of anger welling up inside him.

Two weeks ago, that was when he first started testing the waters.

At that time, the ruling officials of the Tiger Party and Elephant Party actually ran away with their buckets.

"What kind of rulers are they? They're a bunch of cowards and wimps."

Even with his excellent composure, Corliss couldn't help but burst into a tirade of curses.

In fact, many nobles and wealthy businessmen have quietly fled.

They moved with their belongings to the land towns of Veronces and Sa Meyr, north of Valantis.

Valantis was not just a single coastal city; it also occupied several towns built along the banks of the Lorne River.

After the apocalyptic catastrophe, most of these towns were destroyed and abandoned.

The towns of Veronses and Sa Meyer, being closest to Valantis, received much aid and restoration, and were rich in population and trade.

How many resources are left in the city?

Collis grasped the key points.

It must be said that the ruling officials of the Tiger Party and Elephant Party are indeed shameless, but they have also figured out the principle of "if you lose people while preserving land, you lose both land and people; if you preserve people while preserving land, you preserve both land and people."

You have dragons and fleets, I won't fight you.

I can't just run away to a town along the river and then have you chase after me by boat to beat me up.

That means forcing people to work themselves to the bone.

At this moment, the advantage of strategic depth is demonstrated.

Kolis, eager to make a name for himself, dared not risk being caught in the crossfire between the towns along the river and Valantis by venturing into the Lorne River in pursuit.

Even if Valantisne doesn't have enough supplies, he'll have to leave after making a quick buck.

He could not afford to feed or provide for the 300,000 to 400,000 commoners and slaves in the city-state.

"Not many."

Wei Mengde sighed and slowly said, "We only found some grain and goods in a warehouse in the West District and a noble merchant's mansion in the East District. It's just enough to replenish supplies and can be used to reward the army."

This was all planned in advance by the ruling officials of the Tiger Party and the Elephant Party.

Sea serpents shouldn't push them too far, and they won't make things difficult for them.

"damn it!"

Corliss's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, as if he had swallowed a dead fly; he felt extremely disgusted.

"There's also some bad news."

Wei Mengde's expression was grave: "The Tiger Party and Elephant Party governors have divided up the town of Veronces and Sa Meyer, and have amassed a large number of naval forces, seemingly to test our movements."

More precisely, a large fleet of ships has already sailed upstream to support the preparatory battlefield at Dagger Lake.

The naval forces stationed there were only there to guard against the Valerian fleet.

"In that case, the defenses of these two towns are not very strong."

Kolis's eyes flashed, sensing an opportunity.

"The two towns have a larger population and more troops. Even with the dragon's firepower, we will suffer heavy losses if we try to capture them."

Weymond strongly opposed it.

If you defeat Volantis, the territory belongs to the Iron Throne.

But the soldiers who were lost were all from the Valerian family.

It's not worth risking your life!

“I know that without sufficient benefit, I would not act impulsively.”

Corliss, with a calm expression, stood up and said, "Mobilize our forces, head north to the Lorne River tomorrow, and send another letter to Na Saxing, setting the main battlefield at Dagger Lake."

The inability to conquer Valantis does not mean that one cannot plunder and make a fortune.

As long as Aemon and Damon turn Dagger Lake into a battlefield meat grinder, the troops from Velonseth and Sa'mayr cannot be recalled, and they will inevitably be unable to stop the Valerian fleet.

He could choose to attack a town, plunder it, and then sail upstream to join Aemon and his son Damon.

In this way, they gained the benefits and avoided being attacked from both sides.

If handled properly, they might even be able to enter Dagger Lake ahead of time and gain another credit.

Where have the two princes gone?

After Corliss finished speaking, he suddenly realized that the two boys were nowhere to be found.

"Prince Aemond is in the military camp, Prince Aegon..."

Wei Mengde hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"Speak!" Corliss said, his tone becoming more forceful.

Wei Mengde was speechless: "Prince Aegon is insisting on going to a brothel. Don't worry, it's in the West District. I've sent someone to follow him."

"..."

(End of this chapter)