"Boom..."
The whole forest was filled with violent explosions and roars, and the chaotic warhorses ran around, making it impossible for many knights to control the frightened warhorses, and they were directly lifted from the horses.
Aysel Florent, his head swimming, got up from the ground. It felt like a bug was chirping in his head, making him feel very uncomfortable. Suddenly, he saw one of his trumpeters, who was leaning against a sentinel tree.
He looked terrified, trembling all over, and there seemed to be some unknown liquid on the ground. Because the sky was dark, Yasser Florence didn't see what it was.
Aser Floren staggered over, grabbed the bugler, and pulled him over, seemingly preparing to reprimand him.
But when he saw the other man's face, Yasser Florence was so frightened that he fell to the ground. The bugler's face was badly burned, and the flesh on his face was like a swollen meat pie, which looked very terrible.
Moreover, the bugler seemed to have gone blind, so he leaned against the sentinel tree. After he felt someone touching him, he groped and walked in that direction, scaring the still dizzy Aser Floren into retreating again and again.
"Hee-hee..."
A frightened warhorse whizzed past and knocked the bugler down. After the bugler was knocked down, his head hit a stone in front of Yasser Florent. Blood splattered everyplace along with the bugler's broken facial features.
The eyeball even splashed onto the face of Aser Floren along with the blood, which made him recover from his dazed state. He quickly wiped the blood and flesh on his face, shook his head, and ran over to pick up the horn hanging on the waist of the bugler.
"Woo..."
A long horn suddenly sounded on the chaotic battlefield, which also made Stannis' cavalry find the backbone. The generals quickly gathered the soldiers under their command and quickly gathered near Axell Florent.
After reorganizing his troops, Axell Florent led the remnants of his army toward the only direction where there was no fire. Although it was very likely to be an enemy trap, he could not afford to delay any longer in this situation.
After Stannis's remnants rushed out of the burning forest, they came to a tidal flat. Under the illumination of fire and moonlight, they saw the situation outside the forest.
A fully armed legion of infantry was arrayed in a square formation, blocking their way out. The soldiers were led by tower shield soldiers, followed by soldiers holding spears. The 3-meter-long spears formed a dense spear formation in front of the tower shield soldiers.
The emblem on their shields was the holy sun of Marco, and although their armor was still a motley collection, they already had the feel of the Valerian Imperial Army.
Behind these soldiers was an old riverbed that led to the Ram's Head, the only path thru the forest to the mountain. The raging flames were separated by a firebreak that had been cleared in advance, so that the fire would not affect the forest on the slope.
On the firebreak on the slope, a large number of deer antlers and rolling logs were placed, and teams of soldiers holding longbows were hiding behind these defensive facilities, seemingly preparing to launch an attack on the cavalry below.
To the right of the soldiers was a stretch of mudflat, with river sand and gravel scattered across the still-damp riverbed, as if the river had only recently dried up.
Next to this beach was a tributary of the White Blade River. It was now the dry season, and the river, which had been more than 10 meters wide, was now only a stream of water about 3 meters wide, which looked as if it could still be crossed.
But although it was the dry season, the river bank left after the river water flowed away was simply impassable, and even light infantry might not be able to climb up, let alone cavalry.
Aser Floren looked at the exhausted soldiers around him, sighed silently in his heart, threw down the weapon in his hand, and said to the people around him:
"We surrender..."
Immediately afterward, the sound of weapons falling to the ground echoed across the battlefield. Seeing the Stannis troops who had thrown down their weapons and surrendered, Ramsay ordered his soldiers to surround them. Soon, the remaining Stannis cavalry troops were basically captured.
Their hands were tied behind their backs with rope, one after another, and their feet were tied together with rope to prevent them from escaping.
Behind the soldiers under Rams, three red-robed monks covered in blood were kneeling on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs, their eyes covered, and their mouths gagged.
They were covered in claw marks and bite marks, and looked very miserable. The gem necklaces around their necks had been untied, and they were now being guarded by five of Rams' guards.
After the battle, the dragon in the sky landed. Brynden flipped off the dragon saddle and walked straight to the three red-robed monks. He took a gem necklace from the hand of a soldier.
Feeling the faint power on it, Brynden also recalled some past events. The way this magic was used was very similar to that of his former lover, Xixin Yangxing.
They also used gems to cast spells, and the necklaces were similar in shape, but it seemed that the quality of these people's magic necklaces was very poor.
Recalling what Marco had said, Brynden wished he could fly to Oldtown immediately, but reason told him that this matter was not simple, so he silently suppressed the excitement in his heart.
"Bloodraven, our soldiers have captured all the defeated soldiers. What should we do now?"
Ramsay's words came from the middle of the soldiers, and then Brynden saw Ramsay in full military uniform coming up. He was holding a rope in his hand, and he pulled a guy over with a sudden force.
"Is this the commander of this force?" Brynden asked, puzzled. "
Rams said with a smile, "This guy is the commander of this team. He is from the Florence family."
"Oh! Well done, Rams, your battle plan was very successful this time, and His Majesty the Emperor will be very pleased."
The next morning, at another temporary camp, Marco welcomed the triumphant return of Brynden and Rams, who had captured more than 1,000 Stannis soldiers and more than 600 warhorses in the battle. The remaining troops were either scattered or died or were burned to death.
The human troops under Marco's command suffered basically no losses, only more than 300 rock golems were damaged to varying degrees, but they could be used after only a little repair. After the enemy found something wrong, they immediately retreated, and the losses were not too great.
After listening to Rams' report, Marco nodded in satisfaction. This battle was basically planned by Rams alone, and Blinden only assisted him from the side, deploying the dragons to attack for him.
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared in Marco's right palm, and then the "Flame Dragon Fire Tongue" burning with raging flames appeared in front of everyone. Under the indication of Blinden, Rams came to Marco with excitement and slowly knelt on one knee.
"Ramsay Snow, Earl of Horwood, you have proved yourself with your wisdom and bravery. You are the commander and victor of this 'Burning Forest Campaign'. Therefore, I grant you the surname of Burning Forest. Whether the bloodline is noble or not is always related to people. I hope you will continue to work hard and establish a strong family of your own."
After saying this, Marco tapped Rames' shoulder twice with the Flame Dragon's Tongue in his hand. The scorching sword did not burn Rames' body, but only made him feel a trace of warmth.
"Long live my king! Ramses Burnwood will make this surname a terror to all the enemies of the Empire. Fire kills, long live the Empire!"
Rams shouted excitedly. At this moment, he felt the proof of his existence. He had been recognized by an emperor of the empire. From now on, he would no longer be a bastard despised by everyone. He had a surname of his own, Burning Forest.
After a simple breakfast, the Valyrian Empire's army began to set off. There were three roads from Sheep's Head Mountain directly to Hornwood, and only one road from Hornwood to the Two Rivers Plain.
This road is also a road that the residents of the North often take. Marco estimated that Stannis should ambush Marco on this line.
Marco was preparing to set out from the road west of Pinecone Castle, first to reach Hornwood and then continue to the Two Rivers Plain to fight the main force of Stannis and White Harbor.
The army moved slowly, forming a long line of soldiers in the mountains, and when the army marched to a valley near the city of Howood, a large group of Stannis' soldiers rushed down from the surrounding valleys.
They chose the right time, completely avoiding the golem troops in front, and directly attacked Marco and his party, as if they were preparing for a beheading operation.
The soldiers around Marco also rushed up without fear, and the two sides quickly entangled together. Stannis's soldiers were very fast, and their purpose was to prevent the dragons from rescuing in time, so as to achieve the greatest attack effect.
But before these knights in various coats of arms could attack, they were stopped by four huge elemental creatures. Fire and wind elements, earth and water elements, they protected Marco's two wings on the left and right.
"Boom..."
Flames, wind, ice, and rocks, all kinds of magical elemental forces attacked Stannis's troops head-on, and the weapons burning with flames were completely incomparable to real magic at this moment.
The orc chieftain, Gothai, was like a god of slaughter, rushing thru the left flank of Marco's raiding party. Many fully armed knights were no match for him, and were often cleaved in two with a single ax.
Nymph and Dany, on the other hand, had entered battle mode and were charging back and forth thru the raiding party. Marco's wives were as strong as a knightly order, and Stannis's troops were no match for them in a head-on confrontation.
And the most terrifying of them all was Dani, whose stealth abilities combined with the terrifying power of dark magic made her like a ghost on the battlefield.
Many of Stannis' soldiers either died of festering wounds all over their bodies, or went mad and hacked at their comrades, eventually being killed by their own men or committing suicide.
The rear army of Marco took the opportunity to quietly surround the army of Stannis. The army of more than 1,000 people wanted to retreat when they saw that the sneak attack failed, but they encountered the rear army of Marco in the depths of the forest, and the battle between the two sides was on the verge of collapse.
Stannis' soldiers had no intention of fighting, and they all fled outwards, causing many soldiers to almost run out to pursue them, but they were stopped by Rams in advance. He was not sure whether this was the enemy's plan. Due to the limitation of the shapeshifter's ability, the imperial army's advantage of being invincible was gone, and they could only grope forward.
On the way, Marco's team encountered three attacks. After the first attack had no effect, Stannis's troops all shifted their targets to the logistics troops, but when they saw the tall golems, they felt that there was no way to start.
The stone beast-shaped golems, which were like elephants, had food and supplies loaded into their "bodies", and looked like bloated fat pigs. The soldiers of the Valyrian Empire were basically around them, making it impossible for Stannis' soldiers to start.
After several attempts to set fire to the golems failed, Stannis's soldiers began to regroup and move toward the next target. What they didn't know was that some big cats with glowing eyes in the forest were watching them.
After a few days of marching thru the Sheephead Hills, Marco's forces finally arrived at Hornwood, which had already been taken by Ramsay's forces.
Ramsay had originally thot that the garrison could hold out for about a month, but he did not expect that in less than 15 days, the troops had mutinied, the commander and the red-robed monk were hanged by the soldiers, and all the more than 1,000 troops surrendered.
Rams' adjutant was not so insane as to skin all the prisoners. Marco's policy had always been to keep the prisoners to mine and farm, so they had been kept waiting for Marco's disposal.
Marco looked at the yellow and thin soldiers in front of him, and looked at the deputy of Rams with a bad face. The guy named "Old Stinky" exuded a strange smell all over his body.
Even if he put on the gorgeous armor, he still could not hide the strange smell on his body. This guy looked very gloomy, just like the Rams in the TV series, which made people look very unhappy.
Ramsay saw Marco's dissatisfaction and quickly explained to Marco:
"Your Majesty! I told him to do this. These soldiers come from other fiefs and may not listen to my orders as an adjutant. So I told him to do this to prevent the prisoners from rioting."
Marko was relieved to hear this. He thot that Rams, the adjutant, had abused the prisoners on his own initiative. He did not expect that there would be such a reason.
It seems that he was still influenced by the preconceived ideas. The notorious master and servant, Old Stinky and Rams, had always been in Marco's memory in his previous life, so Marco would be so sure.
"Uh! What's your name?"
"Your most respected Majesty! My name is Chou Lao, and I have forgotten my original name."
Old Stinky lowered his head and said respectfully to Marco. His etiquette was quite good.
Marco nodded and said, "Alright! From today onward, you will be responsible for the work of this group of prisoners. I need them to widen the road from Songuo Fort to Howood City for my empire. Someone will come to you to contact you about this matter later. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Stannis's camp on the road to Hornwood
After Stannis had subdued the forces around White Harbor, he formed an elite force of nearly 8,000 people, and he also organized a small fleet composed of pirates from the Three Sisters Islands.
Together with the original White Harbor fleet and Stannis' Narrow Sea fleet, they formed the most powerful force in Bite Bay, and many pirates who were unwilling to submit, including the Bloodhand Pirates, were driven out of Bite Bay.
In Stannis's camp, he was dressed in military uniform and was staring at the military chess on the map. The golden dragon represented Marco's army. There were two of them, one was a flying dragon with wings, and the other was a dragon head.
"The heretic king's army will drop oil bombs from the sky, and the fire dragon will spew dragon flames to burn our soldiers..."
The red priestess Melisandre said slowly, wearing a red robe, in front of her was a slowly burning brazier, but at the moment her peach-like face was full of sweat, and she seemed very painful.
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