Game of Thrones: The Wrath of the Sleeping Dragon

Oberyn ordered a full retreat, abandoning everything except rations and necessary weapons, and fled at full speed toward King's Landing.

He knew his old friend Bessie would definitely come after them and would do everything in his power to keep them here.

Because if we can keep them all here, then this war can be considered a victory.

Otherwise, given the strength of the First Prince Heros, the imperial capital King's Landing as an engine, and the Golden Company currently locked in a fierce battle in the West, it wouldn't be long before Heros could regroup and threaten Highgarden's safety once again.

Therefore, Oberyn knew that Bessie would stop at nothing to keep them.

This is a race against time.

He had to outrun his pursuers to escape successfully and preserve this last hope.

This reminded Oberyn of his youth, when he seemed to have played a similar game with others, which ended in his victory.

What about this time?

In Highgarden, the heavy rain lasted for a day and a night, finally gradually stopping in the latter half of the night.

After obtaining the artifact, the Skull of the Storm God, Yin Meng told his teacher, Bessie, about it without reservation.

As one of the Empire's most outstanding commanders, Bessie immediately had a way of using this artifact to achieve the best tactical effect after hearing this.

Therefore, he orchestrated the Battle of Gaoting, in which Yin Meng exhausted all the divine power his father had given him.

This amazing device that could change the weather can no longer be used.

But Yin Meng trusted his mentor implicitly, believing that he could help him achieve final victory.

Chapter 1065 Dispersal of Prisoners

"Hahaha, last night a coward knelt down in front of me and begged for mercy."

"As a result, I slit his throat with one knife, watched his body convulse, drain the blood from his veins, and then he died."

The next day, when the sky cleared, Highgarden was filled with a celebratory atmosphere. They had survived the ordeal and defeated their enemies in an almost impossible way.

The Horus Targaryen army suffered heavy losses, with countless dead and wounded. They retreated towards King's Landing overnight, submerged in water.

A knight from the Stormlands was boasting loudly while holding a wooden goblet, which drew laughter from the crowd.

Meanwhile, the Imperial soldiers who had laid down their weapons and surrendered the previous night were casting hostile glances in their direction.

They are now cleaning up the battlefield, doing some dirty and tiring work. After all, they are prisoners of war, and were enemies just the day before, so it is normal that they are not well received.

"Pah, if it weren't for that heavy rain..."

"Those scum are already dead!"

A young Imperial soldier, his eyes bloodshot, spoke with resentment.

Last night, all his friends in the army camp died during the siege.

"Alright, kid!"

"If you don't want that guy to poke your ass through with a stick, you'd better shut your mouth!"

Just as the young imperial soldier was about to say something indignant, a prisoner with gray hair and a wrinkled face behind him spoke up to stop him.

Although his words and tone were a bit harsh, they actually helped him.

Because on the other side, the Stormland Knight who was boasting happened to look over, as if he had just heard something.

His current duty was to supervise the prisoners' work. After finding nothing amiss, he turned his attention back to his friend beside him.

"Thank you, uncle."

The Imperial soldier, whose eyes had just been red-rimmed and filled with resentment, swallowed hard when he saw this scene.

Then he turned to Bronn and thanked him.

"If that guy had heard that, he would have at least gotten a beating."

The supervisor did not know his name, only that he was a knight from the Elor family.

The other party had a fiery temper and liked to hit people, especially the prisoners of war. Although it had only been one night, many of them had already developed resentment or fear towards this guy.

Although Polon's hair had turned white, he still had a lot of strength and worked efficiently.

thump--

He dragged a soldier's corpse into a pre-dug mass grave, and when he heard the soldier's thanks, he merely snorted coldly and paid no attention.

"Oh, right."

"Uncle, which unit are you from?"

Then, the young Imperial soldier, who was also doing his chores, looked Polon up and down curiously, and then asked a strange question.

According to his understanding, there were not many people in their legion as old as Polon, and those who were were all cooks with decent skills.

Unless the general has gone mad, how could the army's cooks be captured on the front lines? Didn't they want to eat?

"Don't overthink it, I'm not from your area."

“I come from Tek Village.”

However, the gray-haired Polon glanced at the other person, snorted again, shook his head, and spoke.

“Your masters said that as long as we can storm Highgarden, they will set us free and give each of us three golden dragons.”

After saying this, Polon shrugged slightly, and the young farmers behind him, receiving his hint, quickly nodded.

"Yes."

Taik is a village in a river bend.

Although Heros's soldiers kept mocking Yinmeng's army for being made up of farmers, in those days, what army didn't conscript men when fighting?

The operations that Bronn mentioned are commonplace in war.

They recruited able-bodied men from the surrounding area to fill the ranks, and during battles, some of them were pushed to the front lines, promised great rewards, and made to serve as cannon fodder.

Otherwise, where does the term "cannon fodder" come from?

Even the most incompetent general wouldn't send his elite troops to attack a city in a war; trading the lives of one's own elite soldiers for the enemy's arrows is hardly a good deal.

The young imperial soldier paused for a moment upon hearing this, then his face was filled with remorse.

"Sorry, sir..."

"Everyone! Come here!"

But before he could finish speaking, a messenger from the Second Prince's forces ran over.

He brought good news to these surrendered soldiers...

...

The Empire's second prince, Immon Targaryen, decided to release all the prisoners captured the previous night.

Anyway, their weapons and armor have already been collected. In this day and age, a complete set of armor is worth more than a human life.

And just as Oberon had predicted, Immon captured so many prisoners, but he didn't have enough manpower to guard them, yet he couldn't just leave them unattended.

Otherwise, once the army begins to pursue the enemy, the homeland of High Court will immediately change hands.

Therefore, Yin Meng dismissed all the prisoners and sent them back to their hometowns.

"Thank you, Your Highness Yin Meng."

The captured soldiers who surrendered were greatly encouraged upon hearing this news.

After all, one only realizes the value of freedom when one loses it, and being a prisoner of war is not an easy life.

However, although the messenger claimed to be instructing them to return to their hometowns after leaving the High Court, no one actually took the instruction to heart.

Because the empire now has a professional legion, these people are soldiers and receive a fixed salary.

Once they leave the army, they don't even have basic life skills. Mercenaries aren't very popular in Westeros these days, and they have to travel across the ocean to the Eastern Continent to find work.

After all, many of them had accumulated military merits and were about to be ennobled, or were originally officers.

After this incident, not many people were disheartened and wanted to give up and return to their hometowns. Most people were planning to catch up with the main group as soon as they left High Court.

"I'm going to get back the Golden Dragon they promised!"

Meanwhile, Bronn muttered to himself.

Many of the surrendered soldiers around him glanced at him sideways. Although they secretly mocked the old man for not being able to spend the money he had obtained, they did not suspect anything and instead believed the identity he had fabricated.

The surrendered soldiers who had been captured the previous night were then released. All their weapons and armor were confiscated, but they were given several days' worth of rations, including expenses for their journey back home.

The surrendered imperial soldiers were deeply grateful and thanked the Second Prince, Yin Meng, from the bottom of their hearts.

However, after leaving Gaoting with the travel expenses given to them by Yin Meng, most of the surrendered soldiers immediately set off to catch up with the main force.

Chapter 1066 Escape

After all these surrendered troops were dismissed.

Oberon led his army in retreat, and Bessie, as the commander of the Second Prince's army, naturally demanded pursuit.

Oberyn was right about this. After all, as a renowned general of the empire, although he made a mistake and suffered a defeat at the High Court due to carelessness, his reputation was well-deserved. Bessie's next move was exactly what Oberyn had predicted.

That is why Oberyn ordered a full-speed retreat at all costs, without any hesitation.

As expected, after resting, Bessie ordered a pursuit of the enemy to give them a good beating.

If this army cannot be completely annihilated, His Highness the Crown Prince cannot be severely damaged, and the victory in this war will be greatly diminished.

"We must catch up with them at all costs!"

Bessie then issued a death order, demanding that the entire army march at full speed to catch up.

Although Oberyn led his army to escape for an extra night, they were still trapped in the water.

In addition, they had been fighting all day, and were exhausted and hungry. Even the strongest person couldn't run very far.

Therefore, Bessie is still very confident that he can catch up with Oberyn.

The reason he didn't lead his troops to pursue the enemy overnight, but waited until the heavy rain stopped the next day and the floodwaters had receded considerably, was not because he loved his soldiers like his own children, but because of other strategic considerations.

In fact, after achieving a miraculous comeback victory in the Battle of Highgarden, Bessie wanted to immediately pursue their enemies.