Armies dominated by green and blue surged toward the somewhat dilapidated Mud Gate defense line.
The wind picked up, and the black banner with the white direwolf flapped loudly.
"Draw—"
The archers commanded by Randyll Tarly drew their bows in unison, the bowstrings making a teeth-grinding creak.
"Loose!!!"
Two or three thousand arrows rained down on the battlements. The soldiers behind the battlements curled their bodies as much as possible while carefully observing the situation outside.
The arrow rain from the Reach army was ceaseless, creating cover for the soldiers storming the walls.
Facing such a massive siege force, Martyn, responsible for defending the Mud Gate, felt a bit diffident.
He was still young and hadn't seen such a scene before. Not just him; even his uncle, Earl Raymun, probably hadn't seen such a scene.
Even at the Battle of the Trident back then, the number of participants on both sides might not have been as many as today.
Seeing the enemy's siege ladders already set up, he hurriedly ordered the soldiers to drop rolling stones and shoot back to block them.
But this first wave of attack was truly fierce; the Northern soldiers on the battlements were somewhat suppressed and breathless.
"Hold to the death!"
Martyn stood up and shouted loudly to the surrounding soldiers, an arrow flying past almost grazing his shoulder.
Just then, a commander with conspicuously strange attire suddenly arrived with a large group of men.
His armor was bright, and he wore a black cloak.
But more than that, this commander had four banners stuck on his back!
A white wolf on black, a white sun on black, a peasant on red, and a direwolf on grey.
The four banners fluttering behind him made him the most eye-catching presence on the Mud Gate defense line.
And behind him followed a large group of heavy armored soldiers.
Closest to him was a soldier holding a large black banner with a white wolf, from which hung The Mountain's nearly dried head.
"My Lord!" Martyn's eyes widened as he saw Jon shooting at the enemy below with a strong bow.
Everyone could see Jon running back and forth on the battlements at a glance. His appearance even lowered the surrounding shouts of killing by a few degrees.
Especially since he could move agilely and vigorously like a cheetah even in heavy armor, surprising many experienced knights and nobles.
A long wolf howl attracted even more enemy attention over a wider range.
Such conspicuous behavior, almost like slapping their faces, immediately drew more "firepower."
"Catch him! That's Jon Snow with the flags on his back!" a Reach knight said excitedly.
Although they knew of Jon killing The Mountain, the situation now was a hundred thousand against ten thousand; the advantage was theirs!
Catching or killing Jon at this time would be a great merit.
But just as he climbed the ladder, he suddenly felt his neck being whipped hard with a stick.
A terrible crack sounded in his head, and his vision quickly went black.
Strength vanished from his body like melting snow, and he fell dejectedly.
Jon shooting a noble dead with one arrow clearly boosted morale.
The counterattack from the battlements became more effective.
"Kill him! Kill that bastard! I'll double his fief!" On the command platform not far away, Mace was still furious.
He was the Duke of Highgarden, Warden of the South! House Tyrell would never allow such slander, especially insults to his children.
However, when more elite knights tried to approach Jon, arrows shot them down one by one with precision.
And Jon only killed nobles and those with obviously bright armor, significantly hindering the Reach army's offensive.
The knight class was not only an important part of the nobility but also the frontline commanders on the battlefield.
If they died, the squires and auxiliary soldiers they led would lose command and could only retreat dejectedly to await reorganization.
Jon hadn't expected a barrage of insults to enrage Mace; he was just trying it out.
If Mace had endured it, Jon would have used wildfire to share the pressure of the attack.
He was originally guarding against Tywin at the Lion Gate, but unexpectedly, the provocation worked, so he brought men to Martyn's side.
Seeing the attack hindered, Jon ordered Martyn: "I'm going to Hakon's side. Draw two-fifths of your men to follow me for support!"
"..." Martyn glanced down at the city wall. Although the Reach's offensive was greatly weakened, the attack hadn't stopped.
He wasn't sure if drawing men away was feasible.
But after a slight hesitation, he chose to trust Jon.
So Jon took his heavy armored unit plus the men drawn from Martyn, totaling a thousand, to support Hakon at the Iron Gate.
At this moment, the Iron Gate was facing bombardment from trebuchets.
Stones the size of human heads bombarded the wall, making heart-palpitating thuds.
Hakon had lost quite a few men; they had never seen the power of trebuchets before.
In their eyes, these wooden monsters swinging their arms were terrifying.
Some Reach soldiers had even stormed the battlements.
"Get up! Kill with me! Kill!!!"
Hakon glared with bloodshot eyes, urging his soldiers.
But flying debris bit off half his ear.
Blood dyed half his face red, mixing with mud and dust, making him look very wretched.
Seeing more and more Reach soldiers storming the battlements, Hakon forgot about asking for reinforcements.
Of course, Jon wouldn't entrust an entire section of the defense line to Hakon; with his lack of education, it was hard to rest easy.
Jon had assigned ten knights from House Darry to help Hakon defend. Hakon's main role was to utilize his personal martial prowess and cohesion with the mountain clans.
Hakon picked up a spear scattered on the ground, about to attack a Reach noble who had stormed the battlements.
But an arrow grazed his shoulder, piercing directly through the noble knight's chest.
Hakon looked back and saw Jon arriving with reinforcements almost equal to the number of defenders here.
Especially with the arrival of the heavy armored soldiers, they were like the plunger of a syringe, driving the enemy who had stormed the battlements down with devastating force.
Having resolved the crisis at the Iron Gate, Jon left a few Darry knights and a hundred heavy armored soldiers to assist in defense, taking the rest to the gate where Beric was stationed.
Beric was quite capable; his defense line was relatively stable, and the first wave of attacks was almost repelled.
Jon's arrival accelerated this process.
After repelling the Reach soldiers, he drew over five hundred men from Beric and went to the Lion Gate, where Tywin was concentrating his attack.
At this time, Tywin had just begun his attack.
Tywin was unaffected, following his own rhythm entirely. But seeing the soldiers on the battlements almost double in density, his face darkened immediately.
Especially when he saw the huge black banner with the white wolf hanging The Mountain's head, and the snow-white figure leaping on the battlements, he felt less certain.
But since the attack order had been given, it had to be carried out; otherwise, the impact on morale would be far greater than a failed attack.
In Tywin's view, with a hundred thousand troops attacking fiercely, Jon would reveal flaws sooner or later. However, the battle continued until dark, and the Lion-Rose Alliance achieved no decent results.
The black banner with the white wolf on the battlements still fluttered.
Because the attack rhythms of the Reach and the Westerlands were uncoordinated, Jon could always flexibly draw soldiers to repel them.
Especially Randyll Tarly, who even concluded that Jon had nearly thirty thousand troops.
If that were true, they would have no chance of winning the siege of King's Landing.
After dark, the Lion-Rose Alliance's offensive finally ceased.
And the consequences of Jon using one man as two also showed.
Dozens of soldiers lay down to rest and never got up again.
"Hakon, don't defend the city tomorrow. I have another task for you." Based on the day's offensive and defensive situation, Jon began to adjust the defense deployment.
Hakon knew he hadn't fought well, so he nodded in agreement.
The so-called "other task" was actually just to save his face.
Taking advantage of this time, Jon constantly adjusted the defense lines and replenished arrows for the soldiers. Fortunately, King's Landing had ample stocks of weapons and equipment. Especially the equipment of the Gold Cloaks and mercenaries was good; Jon simply stripped their armor and put it on his own soldiers.
After Jon controlled King's Landing, the Gold Cloaks and mercenaries originally organized by Tyrion were detained.
Sandor Clegane, The Hound, The Mountain's brother, who had been scared off by the wildfire, was also detained here.
When he was found, he was curled up amidst a pile of wooden crates, shivering.
But after a day or two, he finally calmed down.
Upon learning that the one currently occupying King's Landing was Jon, who killed The Mountain, he repeatedly requested to see Jon.
The reason was he wanted to serve Jon.
"Don't bother. Jon killed The Mountain, and you're The Mountain's brother. If you go see him now, how could he possibly see you?" The mercenary Bronn tried to get Sandor to give up this unrealistic idea.
"It's precisely because he killed my brother that I want to serve him!"
"Huh?"
Bronn, also captured and detained with The Hound, couldn't stand this yelling guy, so he spoke up to dissuade him.
Bronn's mood was terrible right now.
He had invested so much in Tyrion before.
Now, forget about returns; Tyrion was gone. And he was a prisoner.
They had just received news that Jon had actually withstood the alliance's attack.
This shattered his last bit of hope.
As a veteran among mercenaries, Bronn knew the most crucial part of a siege was the first wave.
Especially for alliances like Tyrell and Lannister.
If the first wave failed, they would start blaming each other later. In his view, these allied forces were no different from mercenaries.
Just as the prisoners worried about their future fate, several soldiers with Riverlands accents came before them.
Bronn saw the leader had an obvious wildness about him.
There were fresh scars on the exposed skin at his collar.
"Today, under Lord Jon's leadership, we repelled the Lannisters and Tyrells. Before long, King Robb of the North will arrive with the Northern and Riverlands armies for support, and King Stannis will also arrive with the Dragonstone and Stormlands armies. If you are willing to help the Lord defend the city, your crimes will be pardoned. If you earn merit, the Lord will reward you. Those willing to help defend the city, step out now!"
"Me! I'm willing!"
Sandor Clegane was almost the first to stand up.
Several bolder mercenaries thought about it and also believed the crisis outside would be resolved soon.
So they signed up too.
Bronn thought for a moment and spat on the ground.
He had lost everything; since there was another chance to join the table, why would he let it pass?
Soon, Jon recruited over three thousand "servant soldiers" from these prisoners.
Of course, they were assigned to the least important positions, helping move supplies and such, thereby freeing up more of Jon's troops for city defense.
Besides mobilizing surrendered soldiers, Jon also tried to mobilize the commoners in King's Landing.
Although the High Septon had run away, spare robes could still be found in his residence.
Jon found an elderly man who was still a septon, had him put on the High Septon's robes, and go around preaching that only by helping Jon defend the city could they receive blessings and the protection of the Seven.
King's Landing had suffered famine before due to Stannis's blockade of sea routes, so Jon didn't use Stannis's name.
Surprisingly, a group of people calling themselves "Antler Men" popped up in the wealthy district near the Old Gate.
They also wished to support Stannis and oppose the Lannisters.
These people had money and food. They hadn't dared to show themselves after being suppressed by Tyrion before, but seeing Jon seemingly succeeding, they brought food, weapons, and even their own armed forces.