Chapter 355 Recovering, the King Suffers

"Your Majesty, we have already entered the city."

"Those guys retreated very quickly, leaving the hounds behind to tangle with us."

"What a coward!"

The above two sentences are the results of the blood-stained Kristen riding back to report to Clay.

The last sentence came from Hose Amber, who looked disdainful.

To show his contempt, the old guy spat rudely on the snow.

Clay, who sat on the horse and listened quietly to the report, nodded.

"Order, the army enters the city and clears out all the hounds. If there are any enemies who have not evacuated..."

Clay raised his eyes and glanced at Hose Amber, whose face was a little tense.

He smiled softly, and then uttered a cold word:

"kill!"

…

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid we have to get out of here!"

Stannis's guards shouted to his king.

While shouting, he also dodged the arrows thrown from him.

These appear to be warships from Pentos, and there are actually people on them who can shoot arrows on the sea.

Even Stannis's current ship and their battleships are affected by the terrain.

It doesn't move very fast.

But it also requires an extremely high level.

When Stannis forced Montford Velaryon to take the fleet to rescue his troop transport.

An enemy fleet that originally fell on the periphery of the battlefield and did not fully participate in the battle.

It's like a shark smelling blood.

He bared his fangs instantly.

In a short time, they filled the sails and took advantage of the favorable wind to rush directly towards Stannis's boat.

The battleship he was riding on, named "King Robert's Hammer", was the flagship this time.

A huge yellow crowned stag flag was only half-open at this time.

Stannis was almost furious when he saw this "cooperation" that wasted no time.

Now, he is 100% sure that there is definitely a traitor on his side.

Not to mention being able to accurately find the location of his own fleet.

Even now, the decapitation operation is done so neatly and neatly, without any sloppiness.

There was no hesitation at all. Obviously, this was quite certain.

A curse.

On the top of Stannis's head, gray hair stood up like steel needles.

He was very angry, the anger of being calculated.

He claims to be the most skilled king of the Seven Kingdoms, but this feeling of losing control makes his whole body feel like needles pricking him.

For a moment, he just stared blankly at the approaching fleet.

This is not on land. If you find that your home is being attacked, you can immediately come back to help.

Due to the strong northeast wind, it was too difficult to get back to the original position.

At this time, Stannis's two ships were suddenly surrounded.

Although the "King Robert's Hammer" is powerful, it is just a ship.

This means that when it faces the attack of enemy wolves, it will inevitably lose its footing.

The small battleship responsible for guarding it had already signaled that they should retreat and go up to hold the enemy back.

But the people on the ship couldn't move at all without Stannis's order.

"His Majesty!"

A shout from the guard finally pulled Stannis out of his angry illusion.

It took Stannis three breaths to force his brain back to rationality.

With a quick glance, he understood the crisis in front of him.

At this time, there was no need to worry about whether there were troop transport ships or not.

It's important to save your own life!

So Stannis immediately ordered:

"Quick, let's dock!"

The soldiers were stunned, docked?

"Don't be in a daze here, do as I say, dock, and then we go to land first. Our fleet still has the upper hand. When they deal with these pirates, they will naturally come back to help us!"

Stannis said.

How could the soldiers know whether the decision made by the king was right or wrong?

At this time, they just need an order.

"Quickly, do as your Majesty says!"

No one knows how many roars resounded throughout the "King Robert's Hammer".

The pulled sail was lowered and instantly puffed up in the fierce northeast wind.

The helmsman held the huge rudder tightly.

Hit the direction toward the southwest coast.

There is no deep water area on the coast in this area for large ships to approach.

Therefore, at a considerable distance, the big ship had no choice but to anchor.

Then, the people on the boat rowed the boat across the shallow water to land.

There's nothing we can do about it.

If there are deep water areas everywhere, why are there only a few places that can really be used as ports?

It doesn't make sense.

A little further out to sea, the lookout shouted to Jon Clinton:

"My lord, Stannis's ship seems to be running away!"

Jon Clinton originally wanted to shout:

"Catch him and entangle him!"

But after a second thought, he ordered again:

"We slowly approached, let them run, and forced them to the shore."

The other nobles next to him were a little puzzled by Jon Clinton's order and asked in confusion:

"Count Clinton, what are you doing?"

Jon Clinton looked at the large and clumsy figure on the sea in front of him and sneered.

He replied:

"We don't have to deal with the people on that ship."

"Forcing them to abandon ship is what I want."

Others still didn't understand and continued to look puzzled.

Jon Clinton seemed very patient as he continued:

"When they leave, we will sink this unmanned giant ship. What do you think the rest of Stannis's fleet will think when they see this scene?"

"What will they think when we capture Stannis's crowned stag's sail and cruise around?"

As soon as these words came out, some nobles immediately understood.

His eyes lit up and he blurted out:

"They'll think we killed Stannis!"

Jon Clinton laughed:

"That's right. I don't care whether Stannis dies or not, but as long as his men feel that he is dead during this naval battle, that is enough."

"When they lose command, our time will come, and then it will be time for us to launch a general attack!"

The other nobles all left excitedly.

Only one guy seemed hesitant, and he was Governor Illyrio who came with him.

"Earl, I don't understand the war."

He spoke cautiously.

"But Stannis is not dead after all."

"It's impossible for us to swallow up all his power. This..."

Jon Connington glanced at the bejeweled Governor of Pentos who was incompatible with this ship, shook his head, and whispered:

"No, it's not like that."

"That's not our problem, it's Renly's."

"It won't do any good if we kill Stannis here."

"But letting him die in Renly's hands is a very good choice."

"Just in time, Varys's little bird is ready to move. Let them find the Earl of Harvest Hall and give them a good price. I believe that Earl Astan will be happy to help us."

Varys has been an intelligence worker since the time of Aerys II.

The intelligence network he runs covers a large area in the seven countries.

For example, the Selmy family in Harvest Hall.

Originally, such a "loyal" family banished Ser Barristan Selmy because of Joffrey Baratheon's foolish actions.

It also made the entire Selmy family feel cold towards the Iron Throne.

Therefore, Varys, who sensed an opportunity, immediately began to launch various offensives.

In the end, he brought this family to his side.

Originally, this was just a casual move, just for little Aegon to conquer the Stormlands and rule it better.

But I didn't expect that it would come in handy now.

Anyway, Renly has too much to worry about now. As long as the death of Stannis is blamed on him, he will have no excuse.

After all, never mind whether Renly actually gave the order.

But the attack on Dragonstone...

Renly's side really did it, and in the end, the matter was never really clarified.

Therefore, it seems reasonable to reproduce it again.

Storm's End has seen it all before, and Jon Connington will not let it go if it can create the slightest opportunity to defeat itself.

Illyrio looked at the man in front of him, who he thought was just a soldier who could fight, and suddenly felt uneasy in his heart.

The water in Westeros was deeper than he thought.

Are these people really ready for little Aegon?

After all, only they know whose son this "Targaryen" is.

…

"Seven Hells, we have finally reached the shore."

The staggering soldiers lay on the cold beach.

Looking at the sky that was starting to get gloomier, I couldn't help but complain.

And their king, Lord Stannis Baratheon, is still like a javelin.

Standing on the sand, a pair of iron-gray eyes stared intently at the battle on the sea.

Just now, Stannis saw with his own eyes the warships that had been chasing them.

After they landed, they didn't want to wait for a moment. They directly used the ramming horn to break the keel of the "King Robert's Hammer" from the side.

The largest battleship in the royal fleet ended its life.

As it continued to crack, it completely sank into the not-so-deep seabed in less than twenty minutes.

Even a small section of its tallest mast can be seen sticking out of the sea.

Then Stannis saw the men begin to fish for his sails.

At this moment, Stannis suddenly realized what a stupid decision he had just made.

When we get ashore like this, we will be safe.

But the problem is that other people don't know whether they are safe or not.

He had just lost his mind in desperation, and now Stannis regretted it.

Now, King Robert's Hammer has sunk.

Let the rest of his fleet see this sail that symbolizes his ship.

What would happen... Stannis could imagine it with his eyes closed.

"Seven Gods, it's going to be over this time."

It turns out that Stannis, when Melisandre was still alive, would shout a slogan of R'hllor's followers.

But now, he has completely abandoned that time.

A "devout" believer in the Seven Gods has returned.

In this way, like the Watcher's Stone, Stannis has been on the beach, staring intently at the naval battle taking place on the sea.

He prayed countless times that his fleet would not believe the lies that he had died in battle.

Able to stabilize the position and then defeat the invading enemy in one fell swoop with superior force.

However, his fantasy failed.

The Wang fleet, which lost its command, immediately fell into fighting on its own.

There is no one person who can completely control the actions of the entire fleet.

The fleet that has crossed the narrow mouth is still advancing into the broken ship bay.

Stannis had previously given orders for them to go south and not block the narrow opening.

They did so, completely unaware that their lair had been killed.

The troop transport in the center was now in chaos, and a considerable number of pot-bellied ships were sinking.

There were a large number of human heads floating on the sea surface.

They were all crew members who fell into the sea.

At the rear, the battleships led by Lord Montford Velaryon were locked in a fierce battle with Jon Connington's men.

It is suddenly heard that Stannis's ship has been attacked, but his troops are entangled with Jon Connington and are unable to rescue him.

He could only watch helplessly as the "King Robert's Hammer" turned its helm and fled.

Then it disappeared into the southwest sea.

A large number of long boats with black-bottomed red dragon sails also rushed towards them with their claws and teeth.

With great difficulty, Montford Velaryon, who was sweating all over his forehead, broke away from the enemy.

Just now I wanted to take my own battleship and several other free ships to look for traces of Stannis.

They saw the returning Jon Clinton fleet.

There is also the crowned stag sail that is dragged on the sea and completely stretched by the rope.

That was the symbol of King Robert's Hammer.

Montford Velaryon's heart suddenly sank when he saw this scene.

This is nothing else. Even if you want to block the message, you can't.

Under the gaze of everyone, no one can think that their eyes are blind.

Lord Stannis... was captured? Or... dead?

The thought kept lingering in Montford Velaryon's mind.

Everyone else in the fleet had the same idea as him.

The countenance of Chaotou Island was so gloomy that water was almost dripping from his face.

After all, I never expected that this war meeting would end like this.

Yes, the war is over.

If Stannis is lost, what else are they going to fight?

Even if he tried his best to sink all the Targaryen fleet in front of him to the bottom of the sea without leaving any one behind.

So what?

It served no purpose other than earning the hatred of Aegon Targaryen.

Without Stannis, what should everyone do when they return to Dragonstone?

Remember, Stannis has no heir.

They couldn't even find a new successor.

That's why Montford Velaryon said the war was over.

At least, there's nothing they can do until they get Stannis back, or submit to a new master.

"grown ups?"

Everyone is waiting for Montford Velaryon's decision.

Stannis' favorite "Onion Knight" is now at the forefront of the fleet. He has already led people through the narrow mouth and cannot be contacted at all.

Therefore, the one who made the decision was him, the relatively powerful Earl of Chaotou Island.

Montford Velaryon took a deep breath and whispered to his left and right:

"Go find the fleets of our respective families. At this time, let's protect ourselves first."

It makes sense for him to do so.

Stannis's life or death is now unknown, and once the Targaryen fleet dragging the sails of their flagship ships returns to the battlefield, it will immediately cause a complete collapse of their own morale.

At that time, even if Stannis was still alive, it was useless to parachute a Stannis to each ship.

Nobles must be responsible for their own families.

Finding their own fleet and bringing them back to their fiefdom as much as possible is what they should do most.