GOT: Chapter 416/417

Chapter 416: All-out Attack

The cold wind howled like a wailing infant. Along the entire Great Gorge, aside from the sound of the frigid air flowing, only the occasional snippets of conversation from the soldiers on night duty along the defense path remained, along with the crackling of firewood in front of the tents behind him.

Such a long-lost quiet.

The wights' nightly harassment that had persisted for weeks had ceased the day before yesterday—not because it had become ineffective, but because as the forest destruction progressed (the weirwood trees had been destroyed by the wights, and the remaining ones burned by the Night's Watch using wildfire), the concealment provided by the forest had weakened significantly. Along the Great Gorge, the Haunted Forest on both the northern slope and the southern slope near the valley floor had been cleared of trees and roots. The banks of the Milkwater River were now bare, with only a few scattered weirwoods clinging near the Night's Watch mountain path still remaining.

This final batch of weirwoods, while their resistance to the cold god's power had already diminished to near nothing, were located so close they were practically under the noses of the Night's Watch, to the point that not even the thickest night could conceal them. If the enemy wanted to uproot and destroy them in advance, it would cost hundreds or thousands of wights.

Although controlling the dead was simple, it still required magic. Moreover, though the resurrection of corpses was terrifying to the living, it had insurmountable flaws. No matter how advanced the necromancy, it could not conjure soldiers out of thin air. When the White Walkers led an army of the dead, unless they achieved a great victory, their numbers would decrease with every battle. Unlike the living, they could not rely on reproduction or reinforcements from other regions to maintain an endless army.

Sending wights to chop down trees right under the watchful eyes of the well-prepared Night's Watch at night, just to destroy the last few weirwoods, was not only cost-ineffective but also a waste of military strength.


---

The breath he exhaled turned into puffs of white mist, forming frost on his eyebrows and beard, which rustled and fell as he brushed them off. Slim wrapped his blanket tighter around himself and moved all nineteen of his fingers and toes on his two arms and two legs.

The Night's Watch stationed along the Great Gorge received an allowance 1.5 times greater than those at the fortresses, and the food supply provided ample meat and wine. When they were first selected and sent to the Gorge, many were pleased, but over time they realized that guarding this place was truly grueling.

With the continuous improvement of the Wall's logistics, the soldiers' cold-weather gear was generally adequate... However, the weather here was simply too harsh. The Night's Watch at the front lines of the Gorge had no walls to block the wind. The moment the air stirred, the temperature would plummet to the point where one could barely feel their own body, and only by moving occasionally could they avoid freezing their toes off.

Just a bit longer! Slim muttered to himself—less than an hour and his shift would be over. Then he could return to the wind-sheltered tent built in a hollow behind him, take off his armor, crawl into his sleeping bag, and get some proper sleep.

As he looked forward to resting, a soldier a few meters away let out a low gasp. Slim turned his head and saw that the sky to the west had brightened slightly. For a moment, he thought the sun had risen from the wrong direction. Only after two seconds did he realize—no, it was the Beacon Tower at Ice Canyon Port. The westernmost fortress along the defense line was under attack.

Ice Canyon Port lay southwest of the Milkwater River estuary. Ice Bay had not frozen over. Could the army of the dead have swum around the defense line to attack from the sea? Slim had doubts, but what troubled him more was this: now that the Beacon Tower at Ice Canyon Port was lit, was there anything he needed to do after seeing it?

The Gorge defense plan had long been verbally conveyed to every soldier by the lowest-ranking officers, and after repeated drills, it was deeply ingrained. Everyone knew: no matter which part of the Great Gorge was attacked, once it was confirmed not to be a feint, the Night's Watch on duty had to light the Beacon Tower. If the commanders of Ice Canyon Port, Gorge Lookout, or Shadow Tower deemed it necessary, they would dispatch reserves from the two fortresses to reinforce the attacked area.

However, the plan never said what the Night's Watch stationed along the Gorge should do when the Beacon Tower at Ice Canyon Port was lit.

A faint ripple of commotion spread instantly from west to east across the entire Gorge defense line, waking many soldiers who had just finished their shifts and should have been resting. But the Night's Watch at each section still strictly adhered to the plan and did not leave their posts or act rashly. The commander at Gorge Lookout quickly dispatched messengers along the entire Gorge to deliver orders, reiterating that "adherence to the plan is the highest priority." The command believed that Ice Canyon Port had the capability to deal with whatever problem it faced. On the other hand, if the problem was one that even a thousand Night's Watch couldn't handle, then drawing troops from the Gorge would only weaken the defense line without helping the situation.

The messenger's order reassured Slim. He turned back from looking westward and refocused on the dark Gorge below. A sudden, stronger gust of wind blew past, and something cold and wet landed on his nose. He looked up and, unsurprised, saw that it was snowing again.

The good news was that the increased brightness from the accumulating snow made scouting and sentry duty slightly easier. The bad news was that someone would have to clear the snow piling up on the mountain path once daylight came. The Night's Watch had no special cleaning unit. Each section had to handle the work themselves.

Another busy day tomorrow.

Slim sighed. The hot breath he exhaled turned into a large puff of white mist. Then suddenly, a horn sounded.

Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh—

The horn echoed through the Gorge, spreading across the line and gradually fading, but there was no mistaking it—it wasn't an illusion. Along the Gorge line, the Night's Watch had abandoned the traditional one, two, or three horn blasts. The men here never descended into the Gorge to patrol, which meant that if the horn sounded, there was only one possibility.

Enemy attack.

He quickly looked both east and west to confirm that the lit Beacon Tower was not in an adjacent defense section. Shadow Tower, the high command of the western front, had long divided the Gorge line into nearly a hundred defense sections based on length and terrain. Each section, depending on the ruggedness of the terrain, was manned by twenty to fifty Night's Watch, with slightly more at the central stronghold, Gorge Lookout. According to the plan, if a neighboring section was attacked, the immediately adjacent sections had the duty to assist while ensuring the safety of their own post, helping hold the line until reinforcements arrived.

Though his glance was hurried, he found the answer at once. The Beacon Tower that had been lit was several miles away. It was not a neighboring section.

...

Hurried footsteps came from behind him. Several of the quicker-reacting soldiers from his team had already thrown on warm clothes to avoid freezing to death and rushed out of the tent, following their captain toward the cliff's edge.

"What's happening?"

"At least three miles to the east. It's not our adjacent section!" Slim reported loudly.

"I asked what's happening, not where was attacked! What kind of answer is that? Are you happy it's not our section?" the squad commander barked. "When you hear the horn, the first thing you need to do is confirm our own section isn't under attack. Only then do you check if others need support. Understand?"

"Yes... Commander!" Though he had been on night duty properly and hadn't even dozed off, Slim still felt a bit wronged by the scolding. But military law was strict, and he dared not argue. Obediently, he responded and, following the usual training, took a burning torch from the brazier stand and hurled it into the Gorge.

The commander's reprimand wasn't just because the young man had failed to respond according to the rules. It was also because of the glee in his voice when he said "it's not our adjacent section," which had irritated him, so he intended to lecture him thoroughly.

However, as the torch flew through the darkness and fell into the deep Gorge, its faint light, reflected off the snow, illuminated an area of several dozen feet. What came into view shocked even the commander. On the icy surface of the Milkwater River at the bottom of the Gorge, a black tide surged across the north-south boundary line, flooding toward the southern slope where the defense line was situated. The eerie horn that echoed in the Gorge had, to a degree, muffled the noise of the wights. That was why none of the night sentries had noticed them right away.

The torch vanished into the black tide in an instant, like it had sunk into water. Even the commander, a veteran who prided himself on his nerve, was almost scared stiff.

"Lord of Light above..." the commander muttered hoarsely, then snapped back to action. "Slim, light the Beacon Tower immediately! Nahat, take your brothers and open the wildfire crates, move them out! Gwen, go wake everyone still dawdling in the tents and bring all the Dragonglass weapons. Lads, this time it's real!"

All the soldiers in the section were roused. One crate after another of war supplies was opened and hauled from their moisture-proof, blast-proof packaging to the cliff edge. The battle began at once. Green fireballs burst over the forefront of the wight horde as they began climbing the cliffs, and Dragonglass arrows rained down like water. Although the enemy's attack was overwhelming, at least this time, the Night's Watch didn't have to worry about wasting supplies on a false alarm.

The Beacon Tower was quickly lit, but it was soon clear that no help would come from neighboring sections.

Beacon after beacon was lit across the Gorge. Of more than ninety defense sections, over eighty were attacked simultaneously. The worst-case scenario in the plan had come to pass. The enemy wasn't attacking at a single point. They were launching a full-scale assault across the entire line.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 417: Port Melee

The "Night's Watch Defense Plan" is divided into three parts: the Great Gorge, the Wall, and the Gift. While not all-encompassing, it covers nearly all possible military scenarios within the Night's Watch's territory, such as external enemy attacks and internal unrest, and offers clear, specific response strategies.

The Great Gorge stretches over fifty miles. Even if the Night's Watch Command mobilized every available man, they could only manage to place a few dozen defenders per mile on average. That density is more than enough for surveillance, but far from sufficient for defense.

Most of the Great Gorge Defense Plan focuses on addressing this issue.

After establishing the defensive sections and surveillance arrangements, the plan centered on how best to deploy personnel and supplies in ideal circumstances—that is, when "the enemy attacks from one or several points"—to maximize the effectiveness of limited manpower, while ensuring the rest of the line did not become vulnerable to exploitation.

Half of the wildfire and dragonglass weapons were distributed to the frontline section teams, to prevent the White Walkers from launching a sudden strike in remote areas far from the fortresses, breaking through the line before reinforcements could react. The other half of the war supplies, stored in the three fortresses along the Gorge, were meant to be delivered by the reserve teams to the appropriate locations, providing powerful support at the point of attack.

Though the defenders were outnumbered twenty to one, if the battle occurred at only one or a few narrow fronts, humanity could completely wear down the wights' numerical advantage through precise coordination, proper use of terrain, and targeted weaponry. First build a road, then fight a war. The defensive mountain road, now wider and smoother after multiple improvements, offered a transport network as effective as the top of the Wall, allowing the defenders across the entire Gorge to function as one cohesive force, regardless of where the enemy struck.

...

The plan was well-conceived. Unfortunately, the enemy Commander is an intelligent magical being. The newly born Night King may not have much experience commanding large-scale warfare, but that did not stop him from making a sound judgment: launching a full-scale assault across the entire line would maximize his overwhelming numerical advantage and exploit the Night's Watch's greatest weakness—lack of manpower. This avoided the risk of protracted battles and fruitless losses.

Using strength to attack weakness is the best strategy.

In human warfare during the age of swords and shields, due to differences in individual commanders' capabilities, communication limitations, and battlefield chaos, a "true full-scale assault" across a long, over-the-horizon front was extremely rare. Even if the high command issued such an order, the troops would rarely be able to execute it properly.

But the army of the dead had no such problem. All wights were directly controlled by the White Walkers who raised them, and all White Walkers were connected to their leader—the Night King—through their minds. The entire army functioned less like a military force and more like a single organism of a hundred thousand cells. Any wight could coordinate tactically with another wight hundreds or thousands of yards away, even without line of sight. This was a perfect army with nearly flawless execution, capable of carrying out any tactical plan devised by its supreme Commander.

Did the Great Gorge Defense Plan account for this situation? Yes. But it occupied only a single page, and the contents could be summarized in two points: 1) Each defense section must hold the line, kill as many enemies as possible, and after using up its wildfire and dragonglass reserves, retreat to the nearest fortress. 2) The three fortresses along the Gorge would offer systematic support, aiming to ensure that the order of collapse followed a "from far to near" pattern, allowing as many defenders as possible to retreat into the strongholds and preserve their fighting strength.

This was the best overall solution Aegor could devise in the face of such overwhelming disparity.

But now, even the second of those two directives could no longer be implemented. Because something had gone wrong at Ice Canyon Port, the westernmost of the three fortresses along the Gorge.

According to the plan, once the entire line of the Gorge came under attack, Ice Canyon Port was to dispatch its reserve teams to reinforce the western quarter, stabilize the frontline, and once war supplies were exhausted, retreat east to west in good order. In the end, they would fall back within the walls of the port fortress, where the remaining forces could either hold or make a final stand. But now, the soldiers meant to carry out that task were instead busy dealing with attacks from within their own ranks.


---

The defense plan had accounted for the possibility of "Ice Canyon Port being attacked by Ironborn." However, the newly appointed commander of the harbor fortress was neither as experienced nor as shrewd as Cotter Pyke or Denys Mallister, and he had not yet fully integrated with his men. The troops panicked under pressure and forgot the directives laid out in the plan. Jaime Lannister was not adept at defending fortresses, and there were Northmen stationed within the port who did not fall under the command of the Night's Watch. All of this led to disorganized leadership. None of these issues were severe on their own, but when combined and exploited by a cunning and ruthless opponent like Euron Greyjoy, they became a major problem.

Ice Canyon Port differed from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea in one critical aspect: its seaward side had no walls. The Ironborn elites who slipped into the harbor were already within the fortress as soon as they landed. They immediately split into three groups, storming the fortress center, the coastal watchtower, and the three ships anchored there, unleashing chaos.

The Ironborn were pirates, not soldiers, and had never been good at prolonged land battles against organized forces. To infiltrate undetected, they had brought only a small force. Their goal was not to capture Ice Canyon Port, but to destroy it—specifically the shipyard—to crush the North's attempt at establishing a navy before it could pose a threat to the Iron Islands.

Seeing the danger, the Northmen sailors aboard the ships, who had prepared for such sabotage, quickly removed the gangplanks, turning the only three Northern warships into floating fortresses just offshore. The defenders in the watchtower abandoned their long-range crossbows aimed at the Ironborn fleet and armed themselves to defend the stairs. A small group of North soldiers, seeing the enemy's fierce advance, retreated toward the shipyard, prioritizing the protection of their craftsmen and technical personnel.

The port was filled with shouting and chaos. Though the Ironborn had managed to deceive the defenders and rush ashore, they quickly discovered that their enemies were not panicked or surrendering. There were no unarmed civilians in Ice Canyon Port. The settlers from the New Gift were originally from Beyond the Wall, and after being trained into a militia, they had grown even tougher. Even the women were picking up weapons to fight. Soldiers atop the watchtower hurled wildfire down the stairwell to hold their ground, while sailors worked in the darkness to push the ships away from the dock to avoid capture. As the scuffle turned into aimless chaos, the Ironborn, frustrated, began setting buildings ablaze throughout the fortress, attempting to burn Ice Canyon Port to the ground.

...

"I'll take men to help at the port!" Jaime grabbed the commander, who was once again leading men toward the dock, and said coldly, "You shouldn't have taken all the reserve teams to the wall earlier without leaving anyone behind. Are you going to make the same mistake twice? Driving out the enemy already inside is important, yes, but if we all go and the enemy outside takes the opportunity to breach the gate, Ice Canyon Port is lost!"

"No, you stay and hold the wall. I'll take the main force..."

"What good is your pathetic skill going to do down there?" Jaime interrupted harshly, ignoring that the other man technically outranked him. "I said I'm going, so I'm going."

Without waiting for a reply, he loudly gathered the Westermen and scattered soldiers he had rallied. More than a hundred men followed him as he strode down the stairs from the wall. When he passed a crate, he stopped. "This... isn't this the Dragonglass Bomb from Crowntown? This isn't for fighting the living. Which idiot brought it up here and opened the lid?"

"It was me... the bomb can explode. I thought if we couldn't hold the gate, lighting a few might scare them off," the soldier nearby said nervously.

"Forget it. Take a few, and bring torches." The soldier's comment reminded Jaime of something—the signal fires across the Great Gorge to the east were already burning, like a red ribbon of flame. At this point, those Dragonglass Bombs couldn't be sent to the frontline. They might as well be used here.

Leading more than a hundred men, the Kingslayer charged toward the chaotic harbor, torches in hand. The sight of their approaching column, glowing like a fiery serpent in the night, quickly drew the attention of the invaders. Under the orders of two captains, the Ironborn gathered nearly two hundred fighters and formed a crude line to intercept them.

...

Jaime didn't fear the enemy. After comparing the equipment and morale of both sides, he concluded that under his command, even though they were outnumbered nearly two to one, they could still break the Ironborn's formation and secure victory with minimal losses.

But the port was in disarray. Over a thousand defenders were scattered throughout the fortress, their command disrupted by the surprise assault. For the moment, the enemy had the advantage in numbers on the main battlefield. Worse still, reinforcements could arrive at any moment. Jaime had to end this fight swiftly and decisively.

"With me. Throw them together!" Facing over two hundred enemies closing in, Jaime grabbed a bomb from a trusted soldier with his right hand, took a torch in his left, lit the fuse as the enemy approached within thirty yards, and hurled it with all his strength.

"Despicable!"

"Coward!"

"Have the guts to fight us without tricks!"

The Ironborn had long heard of the destructive power of wildfire bombs. Seeing several round objects, each about the size of a man's head, flying from the enemy ranks, they were shocked that the defenders would dare use such weapons in tight quarters with buildings on all sides, risking setting the port ablaze. Yet despite their curses and jeers, they all scrambled to dodge. Four or five bombs hit the ground with loud thuds and rolled. Just as they began to wonder why no green fire had ignited, the fuses burned down and triggered the explosion.

(To be continued.)