Game of Thrones: Dance of the Dragons

The sea serpent patiently explained, "Prince, the Stone Steps Islands are easy to defend and difficult to attack, especially the caves within the islands, which are extremely complex, making it impossible for dragons to launch an effective attack."

"If we rely solely on our current soldiers and launch a rash attack, we fear we will suffer heavy losses."

"so……"

"Just tell me straight. As long as it's not a withdrawal of troops, I can accept any outcome." Baylor wasn't there to listen to his complaints; he was there to get answers.

"War of attrition"

"The Stone Steps Islands are not suitable for storing food. According to my estimate, all these people only have enough food for half a month at most."

"As long as we can weather this period, the Stone Steps Islands will fall without a fight."

Having said that, Corliss looked up to observe the prince's reaction. He found that the prince showed no disgust whatsoever, not even a vivid expression.

He's so calm. Should I say he has good mental fortitude, or that he expected this all along?

Baylor snorted inwardly.

Don't think I don't know that the war of attrition you mentioned is just an excuse, and the real purpose is to preserve the Valerian family's strength.

What a coincidence. I have only two purposes for coming here this time: one is to subdue the Stone Steps Islands, and the other is to weaken your Valerian family.

"Based on the kingdom's current food reserves, we can wage a war of attrition for half a month without any problem."

"However, we destroyed the trading ships of the Three Daughters Kingdom. Sooner or later they will realize that there is a problem with the Stone Steps Islands and send troops to support them."

The Sea Serpents will wage a war of attrition, and the Baylors will use information blackout tactics to force the Valerian family to send troops.

Upon hearing Baylor's explanation, the sea serpent's expression indeed darkened.

"Your Highness, what you say makes sense. Please allow me to think about it carefully."

Baylor nodded.

Afterwards, he went on patrol with Lannino to disturb the Dornish people who were resting in the cave.

As noon approached, the dragon riders who had been patrolling around the Stone Steps Islands came to rest in the tents they had set up.

For lunch, we had some bread, chicken sausages, wine, and freshly grilled seafood.

"Why is it another war of attrition?"

"Sea Serpent, even if you go to a brothel to find women, you'd at least find a different one every day, right?"

At this moment, Damon wished he could use the Dark Sisters to split open the serpent's head and see if water had entered his brain.

The sea serpent spoke angrily, "Damon, watch your words!"

"As I've mentioned before, this is the optimal tactical solution!"

"Heh, I bet you're just reluctant to damage the Valerian family's warships."

Damon may not know what others are thinking, but he knows perfectly well what the serpent is plotting.

"Damon, if you dare spout any more nonsense, I, as the commander-in-chief, will send you on a patrol of the straits outside the Steppe Islands!"

"Fine, go ahead and give the order if you dare. Do you think I'm afraid of you, you old bastard?"

The command center was incredibly noisy, and Beller and Lannino couldn't stand it any longer, so they decided to go outside to soak up some sun.

Just then, I ran into Wei Mengde and his two sons grilling fish.

Instead of using the most traditional wooden sticks, they placed a piece of raw fish on a stone and heated the stone with the heat of a flame to cook the fish.

"Can you grill fish with stones?" Baylor asked curiously.

"Of course. The grilled fish, apart from not looking very appetizing, tastes just as good as any restaurant."

With that, Wei Mengde placed the freshly grilled fish on a plate and invited Baylor to try it.

After eating it, Baylor gave it a thumbs up repeatedly, exclaiming, "I never imagined you could grill fish with stones! What are these stones made of?"

Baylor crouched down and examined it closely, finding that it was no different from an ordinary stone.

"This should be a specialty of the Stone Steps Islands," Wei Mengde explained.

"Not only can they be used to grill fish, but they can also be used to build houses. The bizarre caves of the Stone Steps Archipelago are all formed from these stones."

"Are they all these stones?" Baylor asked Weimond again, as if he had just thought of something.

"Of course, when I was young, I went to sea with my father and grandfather to trade a lot, and they told me a lot about the architecture of the Stone Steps Islands."

When talking about his proud father and grandfather, Wei Mengde began to speak at length about their heroic achievements during their sea explorations.

Baylor nodded occasionally in agreement, but in his mind, he had a brilliant plan to defeat the enemy.

If we treat the many people in the cave as fish and the dragon as the flames under the stone slab, wouldn't we be able to conquer the Stone Steps Islands in the fastest time?

"Yes, that's what we'll do!"

"Lord Wei Mengde, if I can conquer the Stone Steps Islands, I will certainly give you the greatest credit!"

Baylor stood up, pulled Lannino, who was eating fish, and walked to the head coach's tent.

Seeing that the argument between the two had escalated from disagreements on tactics to escalating into insults and personal attacks, he quickly spoke up to stop them.

"Gentlemen, watch your mouth. I have a way to quickly take over the Stone Steps Islands."

Then, Baylor prepared to use the extreme heat of the dragonfire, imitating how Warmond roasted fish with stones, to force the Dornish hiding in the cave out.

"Of course, if they don't come out, they can just wait to die."

Upon hearing Baylor's plan, the expressions on Sea Serpent and Damon's faces were nothing short of theatrical.

"Oh my, my nephew has changed partners, and they actually have the same taste as me?"

Beyond surprise, Damon felt mostly admiration.

It is no exaggeration to say that Baylor's proposed plan was very much in line with his own ideas.

To deal with bastards like Dorne and the Three Kingdoms, there's no other way but to either make them submit or to wipe them out of the family line.

"Prince, I do not deny that your plan is absolutely correct, but if word gets to the kingdom and the free trade city-states, it will be bad for your reputation."

In addition, the sea serpent was also worried that its hard-earned reputation and trade would be affected.

Baylor placed his hands on his lower abdomen and said with a smile, "Lord Sea Serpent, there are so many thieves in the world, and the kingdom has been punishing them constantly, but why haven't their numbers decreased?"

"The answer is, stealing money is faster than making money. Do you think they'd care about these things if money isn't involved?"

At the same time, Baylor was also indirectly telling the sea serpent that he didn't care about the means or the damage to his reputation as long as he could achieve his goal.

The sea serpent was speechless.

Or perhaps, isn't he the same way?

"Since Your Highness has provided such a good plan, I will summon all the dragon riders later and have them all obey your command."

Having said that, the sea serpent immediately left the commander's tent, leaving the uncle and nephew alone.

"Impressive. It takes more than just talking to convince this old bastard to agree to the plan." Damon looked at Baylor with admiration.

It seems unexpected that among his brother's children, Baylor's personality and behavior are so similar to his own.

"I simply did what I was supposed to do at the time."

Reputation, what is that?