Ice and Fire: Conquering the World Starting from the Wall

Stannis stood up and paced back and forth, saying irritably:

"Carter Parker heard rumors that there was a dragon tamer among the savages, but none of us took it seriously. Now tell me, why didn't we foresee this in the flames?"

Melisandre stared into the king's eyes and repeated softly:

"This place is ominous, filled with the power of ancient gods. Sometimes even the King of Light cannot see through the darkness here."

Stannis could not refute this claim.

As early as when they first encountered the ships of the Night's Watch of the Eastsea, the Scarlet Witch had already advised him that the Lord of Light was weak north of the Wall and unable to protect his army.

Stannis himself wanted to emulate his brother Robert by using a forced march day and night to strike an unsuspecting enemy.

If it weren't for the dragon's interference, he would have already won a great victory.

As night fell, the lord and the knights once again gathered around the king, arguing incessantly.

Some of them strongly urged to continue the attack, and even suggested trying to capture the dragon, which was not yet very large.

They believed that the Baratheon family also possessed Targaryen blood, and perhaps His Majesty the King could control them.

Most people are not so crazy; they are more devout in their faith in the Lord of Light.

Therefore, they chose to support Melisandre the Scarlet Witch's opinion, wanting to leave this cursed land as soon as possible and return to the south of the Wall by fleet to make further plans.

Experienced generals argued from a rational perspective that the savages were now prepared, making an attack on the Great Wall from the north a foolish move, just as the Gulf of Carin had never been breached by southern armies for tens of thousands of years.

This statement has received widespread approval.

Stannis agreed with this, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen to retreat during the day.

Once the element of surprise in a surprise attack is lost, it would be a foolish choice to send cavalry to attack a 700-foot-high city wall.

The reason he lingered there was mainly because the appearance of the dragon had disturbed his mind, and his army had been harassed all the way and urgently needed rest and treatment.

Now that the troops have rested and most people support the withdrawal, Stannis had someone bring in the ranger guides arranged by Eastwatch to inquire whether a night march was feasible.

Because of the relentless pursuit of the savages, they only managed to retreat less than twenty miles during the day. If they could not return to Jiannan Village as soon as possible, resupply would be a major problem.

Furthermore, Melisandre's attitude also worried Stannis. His queen and only daughter were staying in Hardhome with the fleet, and he feared that the remaining garrison would not be sufficient to deal with any unforeseen circumstances.

"If it were me, I would never have made that choice, Your Majesty."

The old ranger, cloaked in black, spoke with neither servility nor arrogance under the watchful eyes of the assembled nobles:

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"The savages were unusually tenacious today, and the chaos they caused at night far exceeded that during the day."

"They seem to have a good king."

Stannis said mockingly.

The elderly ranger waited a moment, and seeing that the king had nothing more to say, he continued:

"Besides the savages, we have also heard many rumors about the Cold God. Castle Black also wrote to inform us that Commander-in-Chief Mormont's troops were attacked by an army of the dead at the Fist of the First Men."

"Whether you believe it or not, the White Walkers have awakened from the far north, and the brothers of the Night's Watch believe it."

Otherwise, there would be no reason for the savages to bring women, children, and all their belongings to travel thousands of miles to attack the Great Wall.

They must have been terrified by something.

"And the night is the domain of the dead, and only sunlight and fire can dispel them."

Melisandre seized the opportunity to say:

"Those are the henchmen of the ancient god whom the king once saw in the flames, bringing darkness and cold with them."

"That will be the real enemy!"

She declared loudly:

"Compared to the impending great battle, the current struggle is nothing more than children's squabbles."

That ancient, otherworldly god, unknown to mortals, is gathering power—a terrifying, evil, and powerful force that is difficult to resist.

A cold wind has already begun to blow; soon comes an endless night.

During her sermon, all the nobles who worshipped the Lord of Light made a prayer gesture together.

"We must proceed with caution, or all hope will be lost. Upright people should muster their courage and uphold their burning faith."

Westeros must unite under this faith, in the name of the only legitimate king, the prophesied prince, lord of Dragonstone, and R'hllor's chosen warrior—Stannis Baratheon!

The crowd's emotions rose, and they all followed Melisandre in reciting:

"Because the night is long and fraught with danger..."

That night, Stannis ordered his soldiers to cut down the huge weirwood tree and use it to set fire to a night fire that was dozens of feet high.

The soldiers set up camp around the small village, cutting down as many trees and branches as possible to create a wide enough buffer zone and double the number of sentries to guard against attacks.

The attack could have come from the living or from the dead.

Despite Stannis's soldiers' best efforts in taking precautions, something still happened in the middle of the night.

An unknown number of savage archers fired arrows at the sentries from 150 yards away, almost hitting their targets every time, causing more than 40 deaths and injuries in just half an hour.

The longbowmen in the army claimed that there were fewer than a hundred archers in all of Westeros who could do this in the dark.

As the soldiers carrying torches and shields rushed toward the direction from which the arrows came, the attackers vanished without a trace, leaving no trace of their footprints on the snow.

Some people chased after something so deeply that they never came back.

The soldiers were forced to build more fires, illuminating the area around the village as if it were daytime, before the elusive savage archers finally gave up.

Just as the exhausted soldiers were about to lie down and rest after finally managing to get to dawn, the terrifying dragon returned.

The dragon did not swoop down and breathe fire as it had yesterday. It seemed to know that there were longbowmen lying in ambush, and hovered at a height that the arrows could not reach, occasionally letting out a few chilling hisses, which was enough to make everyone afraid to close their eyes.

The crimson figure disappeared from the sky as dawn broke.

Then, shadowy figures of savages appeared in the distant woods. They were short in stature, carrying short spears, and walking barefoot even in the snow. They were the same Hard-footed people who had suffered a head-on attack by the heavy cavalry the day before.

In the eyes of these soldiers from the south, they were like unevolved apes and were not taken seriously.

To everyone's surprise, these short savages dared to rush into the range of longbows, even charging within dozens of paces to throw their crude short spears at the cavalrymen who were preparing to set off.

This infuriated the knights, who felt they had been greatly insulted, and their sleepless night only fueled their anger.

Without waiting for their superior's orders, they rode straight into the woods and began the chase.

The knights did achieve some success, catching up with some of the fleeing Hardfoot people and killing them with their spears.

But their own losses were greater, as the savages had long prepared traps and tripwires for these reckless enemies.

Stannis severely punished the knights and their squires who had escaped, an action that restored discipline but further demoralized the troops.

At this point, he and several of his generals realized that something was wrong.

After losing their cavalry advantage on the flat ground and having had a full night's sleep, these soldiers from the warm south experienced a significant decline in combat effectiveness.

In addition, the constant harassment along the way has made the original plan to return to Jiannantun in two days seem to be a long way off.