This absurd world...
To preserve House Stark, their castle had to be captured.
The reasoning sounded comical even to Aegor himself, yet it was both true and urgent. If Robb, out of pride and stubbornness, refused to surrender when the Bolton army and Daenerys arrived, it would not only doom everyone in the castle, but also place him in a humiliating position. At the same time, Aegor knew clearly that explaining his reasoning to the other side would be seen as a crude deception. Not only would it be useless, it could also expose that Myrcella had delivered the message, increasing the vigilance of those inside the castle.
After much thought, Aegor finally made a difficult decision. Since the truth would not be believed, it might as well stay buried. He would adopt the safest course of action—cut cleanly, seize Winterfell in a lightning night raid, and take the initiative for himself, not for Stark, Bolton, or even the Queen.
What he had solemnly handed to Myrcella during the day was a box of new-style matches, developed in the Gift and improved by Maester Qyburn. Due to the shortage of chemical materials, they were being produced in limited quantities solely for military use. Aegor's request to the little princess was this: fabricate a temporary excuse, find a way to hide what she was doing, return to Winterfell with Rodrik, and then, at midnight, take this box of matches and a small bottle of wildfire to start a blaze in a key location within the castle—somewhere that would draw attention but not cause casualties. The goal was to create chaos, drain the defenders' focus, and support his all-out assault on the walls.
Influenced by the original storyline and their real interactions since meeting, Aegor instinctively felt that Myrcella was a trustworthy and reliable partner. However, he also understood that "instinct" is never a dependable basis for judgment.
He believed Myrcella was smart, brave, mature, and dependable, but perhaps she had earned the same image in the eyes of the Stark family. It was possible that after returning to the city, she would rethink everything and confess their conversation to the Starks. Maybe when Ser Rodrik returned from the negotiations and happened to run into Lady Catelyn, he might ask offhandedly, "My lady, did you send Lady Maeve out of the city to deliver a message?" thus exposing the hastily made lie. Or perhaps, in the end, she was still just a young girl, and despite agreeing face-to-face, she might lose her nerve at the last moment and do nothing out of fear...
Too many variables could cause the inside-outside coordination to fail. Therefore, Aegor never bet everything on her. Telling Myrcella about his suspicions regarding the Bolton army and his intent to attack Winterfell served primarily two purposes: first, to explain why he had not reacted immediately after receiving the news, and second, as recognition and reciprocation of the courage she showed in risking herself to warn him.
But in the end, he was a "rebel" who broke rules, an ambitious man. He would never entrust his fate to another so easily.
He had a trump card in the shadows. No, several.
What he told Myrcella was that if her part of the plan succeeded, he would launch the attack as soon as the fire ignited within the city. All she needed to do was return to her room, close the door tightly, and stay with Lady Sansa and Lady Arya, no matter what happened. But if nothing happened that night, for any reason, he would delay the assault and wait until dawn to issue a final ultimatum before beginning the offensive.
But in truth, his plan was simple: regardless of the circumstances, even if knives fell from the sky, he would attack at the scheduled time in the second half of the night and take Winterfell.
If Myrcella failed to light the fire because of fear or hesitation, it would just mean the night raid shifted from a coordinated breach to a direct assault, and he would suffer no loss. If she betrayed him and told Robb everything, what the defenders would prepare for was an assault after sunrise. Even in the worst-case scenario, where Robb deliberately set a fire to lure the Gift army into a trap and blunt their assault with full preparedness, Aegor remained unafraid.
Because he had only told Myrcella that he would attack after the fire started. He had never shared the direction of attack or what weapons he would use. His confidence did not come from stealth or surprise, but from a weapon unknown to this era. No matter how solid the defenders' preparations were, when confronted with gunpowder in war for the first time, they would be like those who raise a stone only to drop it on their own feet.
---
Cannons could certainly blast open Winterfell's gates, but given the power and accuracy of the first-generation models, using them at night would take dozens, perhaps hundreds of shots to achieve the goal. Shelling for half a day would alert the entire world. Even if the defenders were overwhelmed in the end, the drawn-out, bloody fight would go against Aegor's goal of minimizing casualties on both sides. Thus, the long-awaited debut of this long-range killing machine was vetoed by Aegor himself.
What he needed was a violent, decisive method—one that could instantly flip the battlefield and end the battle before the defenders could even react.
Undermining the walls with tunnels would have been a great option, but the frozen ground was too difficult to dig, and Aegor didn't know how much time he had left. That was when the pre-prepared snow camouflage suits came in handy.
"Snow camouflage suits" sounded like something grand and complex, but in reality, they were nothing of the sort. They were merely large quantities of the whitest fabric that could be produced using the current era's craft and techniques. These were gathered, bought, cut, and sewn into cloaks, worn over the Night's Watch's black clothing to blend with the snow and hide the movements of his soldiers.
Long before the fire in the stable caused unrest and drew most of the defenders' attention, two squads of dozens of "demolition team" soldiers, dressed in snow camo, had quietly moved out. Using the effect of being right under the torch-lit walls and their white cloaks blending into the snowy ground, they crept forward undetected and reached the granite walls of Winterfell. They entered the gate recesses and began placing explosive satchels at the predetermined positions: under the east and north gates.
Though the plan was formed hastily within a day, the calculations and reasoning were not lacking. Attacking the gates was obvious, as the black powder explosives weren't powerful enough to destroy entire walls. So the weak points were targeted. But Winterfell had four gates. Why choose only the east and north gates and ignore the others? There were many factors.
Taking a castle requires two key objectives: eliminating the defenders and removing or capturing the ruling lord to destroy the enemy's will to fight.
From his conversation with Myrcella, Aegor learned that Winterfell was now crowded with civilians. To prevent confusion between civilians and defenders, Robb had stationed his troops in the guardhouse and guest quarters near the main keep and the armory. Based on the terrain recalled from memory, Aegor determined that these two buildings were located roughly in the center and northeast section of the castle.
This meant both main objectives—the garrison and the ruling family—were located toward the northeast.
If he attacked from the west or south gates, he would have to pass through the Godswood and the training yard before reaching those key points. That meant pushing through civilians, women, and children. A direct approach would be both cruel and inefficient. But from the east and north gates, either route would lead directly toward the barracks and the keep, allowing him to scatter the defenders and surround the castle quickly.
...
Aegor could not be certain of the quality of Winterfell's gates. To ensure the plan's success, he provided his demolition team with oversized satchels of explosives. The finely ground and carefully mixed powder was packed tightly in waterproof cloth, bound securely, the fuses attached. The charges were then wedged into the gaps between the gates and the ground. Once everything was ready, the fuses were lit, and the teams pulled back.
With a deafening roar, dazzling light erupted along with a tremor underfoot. Winterfell's solid granite walls withstood the explosion, but the thick wooden gates within the openings were not so lucky. They were shredded and blown inward like paper. Smoke and heat surged through the openings, blanketing the walls. When visibility returned, those watching by the firelight saw that not only had the gates been blown wide open, even the gatehouses had collapsed.
Powder was rare, and although the demolition teams had trained in the Gift, they had never experienced the full effect of several dozen pounds of explosives. They underestimated its power and didn't retreat far enough, leaving them dazed by the blast they had triggered themselves. Even with preparation and protection, they staggered. For the Winterfell guards, who had never even seen such a weapon, the impact was far worse. Stunned by the sudden assault, they even forgot to sound the alarm for a time.
Before they could recover, the demolition teams, enduring dizziness and ringing ears, carried out the next phase of the mission. Pushing past the shock, they charged through the blasted gates. Crossing the narrow moat, they hurled their remaining charges into the gatehouses.
More explosions followed like rolling thunder. The drawbridges and inner gates, though sturdier, were also torn apart like straw.
Winterfell, the fortress that had stood unconquered for a thousand years, had both its walls breached in less than ten minutes.
And now, Aegor needed only to push forward and take it—swiftly, completely, and without mercy.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)