Game of Thrones: The Wrath of the Sleeping Dragon

Chapter 256 Pre-War Meeting

"According to the Legion Commander's intelligence, a portion of the Dothraki vanguard has already arrived at the foot of Heroes' Fortress."

Jon Clinton was dressed in military uniform, his bright armor reflecting the candlelight.

The room was brightly lit.

Viserys was also dressed in full military uniform, and on both sides sat two rows of the main commanders of the Pentos garrison, including the ragged prince.

A huge map was spread across the long command table, visible to everyone.

The map covers a line from the Golden Plains in the south to Andalus and Norfos in the north, including Pentos.

The great plain between Pentos and Mil is the focus of this map, and it is marked with many symbols.

In addition, as part of the sand table simulation, there were also small wooden dragons representing the Targaryen army and five small wooden ponies symbolizing Khal Drogo.

"As for... the main force of the Dothraki is here."

Then Jon Clinton, holding a baton, pointed to the mountain in the middle of the Great Plains.

This is the only mountain range in the vast plain.

The Dothraki split up their forces.

Perhaps because the five Khals were not under unified command, or perhaps because they had great confidence in their own strength, the 80,000-plus Slarks were almost twice the size of the Targaryen army.

If we include the villages and towns that were captured along the way, and the slaves who were plundered and captured to serve as cannon fodder, the Dothraki army numbered over a hundred thousand.

Two of the Khao, Dzeko Khao and Moro Khao, led their respective khalasas and joined together.

Thirty thousand Dothraki warriors drove the slaves across the plains, separating from the main force, and headed straight for the confluence of the three rivers.

The First Legion of House Targaryen, numbering as many as ten thousand, is stationed there.

Meanwhile, the main force of the Dothraki was led by the elderly Mosokao, along with Jacokao and Bonokao, who had previously had some grudges but had now joined forces.

The main force of 50,000 Dothraki warriors drove the slaves straight toward Pentos.

"Mr. Clinton, there's something I don't understand."

"Don't these Dothraki know that a fist is most powerful when clenched?"

In the conference hall of the Nine Towers Palace.

The former captain of the Windblown Crew, the 'War Poet' Danzo Dehan, asked with some confusion.

Although he was once quite capable of commanding mercenary groups in battle, he acted steadily and achieved many remarkable feats.

However, now he's being asked to command an epic battle involving over a hundred thousand troops on both sides, with the battlefield stretching hundreds of kilometers in depth...

His abilities were still somewhat inadequate, and he even seemed a little slow to think.

This phenomenon is not unique to Danzo Dehan.

Apart from Viserys and Jon Clinton, who remained calm, everyone else stared at each other blankly, even the Prince of Raggedy seemed somewhat bewildered.

Viserys had studied written war knowledge under Maester Daniel.

He later observed and learned practical application of the technology from Sir Geoffrey, Commander-in-Chief of the Dragonstone Fleet, and later personally commanded a major battle involving more than 10,000 men.

Viserys is a professionally trained individual with a proven track record of success in real-world combat.

Jon Clinton's situation was much the same as Viserys'; he was also well-educated and had experience commanding battles involving tens of thousands of people.

Therefore, the two remained calm in the face of an enemy force of up to 80,000 Dothraki and tens of thousands of displaced refugees, totaling over 100,000.

But the ragged prince, who had only commanded the Wind Blowing Band of over two thousand men in his lifetime, and his mercenary commanders were far inferior, both in terms of courage and intelligence.

Danzo Dehan did not understand why the Dothraki were splitting up their forces.

The other commanders of the Pentos garrison present all nodded in agreement.

They also had this question in their minds: facing an enemy twice their size, they hadn't made a fool of themselves on the surface, but inwardly they were constantly having second thoughts.

"Because they wanted to sever the connection between the First Legion and Pentos."

At this moment, Viserys, who had been sitting in the main seat looking at the sand table simulation on the map and had not spoken for a long time, suddenly spoke up.

He gently pinched the space between his eyebrows with one hand.

Many people say that the Dothraki are fools, but are all the Dothraki really fools?

He doesn't believe it.

The reason Drogo died at his hands a long time ago was simply because he underestimated him and set fire to him.

However, the Dothraki's bravery and fearlessness left a very deep impression on Viserys.

These Dothraki Roaring Warriors are practically born cavalrymen; their mastery of horses and their cavalry strategies and tactics are unmatched by almost any other race.

However, the Dothraki's only weakness was also their strength: they relied too heavily on horseback riding, to the point that they were willing to abandon armor and infantry.

If the Dothraki were willing to don armor and combine infantry and cavalry to create siege weapons, coupled with their reverence for bravery and fearlessness, the entire continent of Essos would submit to them.

Viseris was even somewhat envious of these Dothraki cavalry at that time.

However, after defeating Drogo, they captured some Dothraki, but they were unwilling to submit to Viserys and preferred to be sold into slavery.

Perhaps they still believe that Viserys defeated Khal Drogo, the greatest mounted warrior in the world, by using despicable blood magic.

Viserys still had some regrets at that time.

"Cut off contact?"

Upon hearing the king's words, all the commanders of the Pentos garrison in the meeting hall couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

Jon remained standing in front of the map, turned his head to look at Viserys, their eyes met, and then he nodded.

"Your Majesty... is right."

"The Dothraki want to sever the connection between Pentos and the First Legion."

The Dothraki, as a nomadic people, were not actually skilled at siege warfare.

However, why were the Dothraki so successful in siege warfare, becoming destroyers of civilizations and decimating city after city?

The reason is that the Dothraki had long had tactics ingrained in their very being, making full use of their agility on horseback and their advantages against infantry in open field battles.

They could destroy villages surrounding the city, seize their food, and drive these displaced people toward the city they had besieged.

For cities besieged by the Dothraki, accepting these refugees meant consuming food, while slaughtering them would also deplete the city's resources and damage morale.

Many cities besieged by the Dothraki faced such a difficult choice.

Like prey with its throat caught by a wolf, it eventually exhausts all its strength in the struggle.

Chapter 257 Pirates

but.

The Dothraki certainly didn't only have this one tactic for dealing with city walls.

Their tactics have almost become muscle memory; even if their Khao is a simple-minded guy, he still knows what to do.

"First, cut off our connection with Heroes' Castle and create panic."

"Let Pentos be unaware of the situation at Heroes' Castle, and Heroes' Castle will also be unaware of what happened to Pentos."

Jon Clinton began to explain.

"As long as we dare not leave the city to fight and keep hiding behind the city walls, it will be difficult to make contact with the outside world."

Fortunately, Pentos is close to the sea, so the Dothraki blockade was not complete.

Even if the war goes badly, Viserys' life is not in danger. The garrison and commander of Pentos can leave by boat, not to mention the dragons.

Of course, this is an extreme situation, and the Dothraki may also be thinking the same thing. If they can scare off the enemy without losing a single soldier, the Dothraki do not want to fight a hard battle.

Jon paused briefly before continuing.

“All news is blocked. Every day when we open our eyes, all we see outside the city are Dothraki. Not even a single raven can fly out.”

"In such circumstances, anxiety and worry will arise. If either side cannot resist the urge to leave the city to fight and rescue the people on the other side, they will fall right into the Dothraki's trap."

The Dothraki were able to intimidate the continent of Essos because of their unparalleled mobility and combat prowess in open-field warfare.

If the Unsullied hadn't fought with their backs to the city walls, the outcome of that legendary war might have been different.

"The Dothraki were too good at... manipulating the psychology of their prey; they understood what people were afraid of."

Jon Clinton finally sighed and spoke.

"So all we need to remember is that we must never go out of the city to fight the Dothraki under any circumstances."

Although the Dothraki are said to be simple-minded, they are masters of psychological warfare, including the Roaring Warriors.

They constantly created noise to intimidate their prey, eventually driving them to a breakdown in morale.

Perhaps this is a tactic they learned from wolves.

After Jon Snow finished speaking, the meeting hall fell silent. Everyone except Viserys looked at each other in bewilderment. Then Straw Dick couldn't help but ask a question.

"Mr. Clinton, you mean... we can defeat the Dothraki as long as we hold the city?"

After Dick finished speaking, everyone's eyes fell on the man with gray-red hair.

Now they both know each other's identities and that Jon is an experienced and excellent commander.

Jon Clinton coughed lightly at the question, then turned to look at Viserys.

Viserys, still looking down at the map, shook his head slightly, perhaps noticing Jon's gaze.

Jon Clinton immediately understood, then sighed and nodded.

"Ah."

"Yes, that's right."

"So as long as everyone stays in the city and doesn't leave without permission, we will definitely defeat the Dothraki."

...

In fact, Jon Clinton and Viserys certainly didn't tell the truth during the daytime war meeting.

If the Dothraki were simply holed up in their cities and there was nothing they could do, then they were seriously underestimating the destroyers of civilization.