"Haaah… ah?" A grizzled Northern veteran, clad in furs and chainmail, was the first to leap from the longship. Yet, his battle cry was cut short, halfway through, as he stared blankly at the ancient city engulfed in flames.
As the vanguard, only nobles and veterans participated, with many noble house heads even joining. What the green youngsters didn't understand, the old hands and the noble house heads understood much more clearly: what this ruin before them truly signified.
One dragon after another descended before the Iron Throne army as they landed, and the face of every dragon knight was grim. Daeron dismounted from his dragon, his face ashen, and walked towards the army that had finished landing and was unloading horses and provisions. The commanders of the vanguard were Ser Adam, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Ser Will Hunter, Lord Benjicot Blackwood, and Lord Hugh Arryn of the Vale.
"Your Majesty… everyone," Lord Benjicot Blackwood, the most experienced in warfare among the commanders, immediately stepped forward. He said without reservation, "What's going on?"
"If I'm not mistaken, there must have been infighting within the city," Sendroth slowly crawled closer to the crowd, and Jacaerys said in a deep voice. "Ricca Lacron is a city of conflict, where too many powers converge. Our act of removing their outposts must have alerted them that we were coming."
"Fear," Ilion muttered, "Fear has stripped the city of its reason." Vermax, beneath him, snarled and roared at Sendroth. He had no affection for this fierce, aggressive, and impolite dragon. In the recent battle, Sendroth had, more than once, shown off his dragonfire and agile movements before the other dragons.
Dreamfyre's temper was unusually good now. Seasmoke and Tyraxes also didn't know what Sendroth grew up eating. It seemed the growth rate of these dragons from Dragon Nest City was somewhat abnormal. Shadow Nightmare, Arrax, and Sendroth were all dragon breeds with frighteningly fast growth rates. Even Candlelight, who had long resided in King's Landing, grew faster than average dragons. Although Sendroth was young, in terms of size, he was second only to Dreamfyre among the participating dragons.
This was the fundamental reason for his unbridled nature, but perhaps due to their long time together, this unruly dragon would show Skyfire some respect, and under Dan's restraint, he wouldn't be excessively arrogant.
"Your Majesty, you have overlooked the complex situation in the Disputed Lands. We were also not prepared for the city to be razed to the ground," Ilion continued. "Extinguishing dragonfire takes time, so we may not be able to occupy this city in the short term."
"Your Majesty, the army cannot wait." Lord Benjicot Blackwood extended his gauntleted hand, pointing towards the fiercely burning Ricca Lacron. How many survivors would be left in this city after the flames died down? They didn't know, but everyone with war experience, or at least some related knowledge, knew. Their five thousand vanguards needed a garrison, provisions, time to rest, and artisans to repair weapons.
That's why Ricca Lacron was so important. As an ancient Rhoynar town, even after being destroyed once, it still retained numerous buildings and complete infrastructure. Therefore, it was later re-colonized and utilized by Valyria's colonies, eventually becoming one of the largest towns in the Disputed Lands. Its population and facilities were sufficient to support the vanguard and subsequent large armies.
But now…
Perhaps the Rhoynar's underground drainage system was fine, but the fate of the surface buildings and the residents who hadn't managed to escape would only be known once the fire was extinguished.
Daeron and the others saw it clearly from above. The fire first ignited in the wooden barracks in the western district, then spread uncontrollably to the wooden palaces and the wooden shanties and ancient bushes densely scattered throughout the city. Even with the dragon knights' utmost caution, the dragonfire inevitably exacerbated the blaze. They could even still hear screams occasionally emanating from the city.
Now, even they couldn't say when the flames would die down.
People engulfed in flames screamed as they rushed out of the city, shouting in an unrecognizable dialect, "Save me, save me!"
But when these few people saw the fully armed Westeros army, continuously pouring from the seemingly endless sailing ships, everyone collapsed to the ground as if their strength had drained away, allowing the flames to completely consume them.
Only the Westeros commanders, their faces as dark as water, remained.
"Your Majesty, I will immediately write to my father and eldest brother." Dan, seeing Daeron's grim face, stepped forward: "The supplies waiting in Silver Crown City will set sail immediately. The supplies we currently have are enough to last until the next batch arrives."
"Not enough, Your Highness," Lord Benjicot Blackwood interrupted Dan. "The destruction of Ricca Lacron is bound to cause great upheaval along the Redwood Coast, and even within the Disputed Lands. We cannot guarantee whether they will slaughter each other or concentrate their forces to eliminate us."
He glanced at King Daeron and sighed.
If it were Prince Daemon or Prince Dragonzel, Ricca Lacron would have already been completely handed over to the vanguard by the local forces they had bribed, and the "collaborators" who had either gained sufficient benefits or been suppressed by force would have been ready to cooperate in battle at any time.
It was merely a matter of giving up some flesh, and whether that flesh would remain on the "collaborators'" bread after the fighting was mostly over was uncertain.
"Our main forces are still gathering, Your Majesty. If the warlords of the Disputed Lands gather, or even enlist those well-equipped large mercenary groups, we must hold the undefended Ricca Lacron region before our main forces arrive."
Lord Benjicot Blackwood stated resolutely.
"I understand." Daeron nodded, the cold sweat on his forehead not yet receded. Though young, the King possessed an astonishing war intuition, and he clearly knew that Benjicot Blackwood spoke an undeniable truth. "Lord Benjicot Blackwood, Lord Hugh, no, Rhaegar."
Rhaegar, with his neat silver short hair and simple leather armor, immediately perked up.
"You will immediately ride Horn Tide to scout the area around Ricca Lacron."
King Daeron then looked at Dan and Jacaerys: "Uncles, I trouble you to write to my grandfather, requesting his intelligence support…"
"As you command, Your Majesty."
"Lord Benjicot Blackwood, Lord Hugh, you will lead everyone to set up camp and rest here. We will change camps once Rhaegar returns. Ser Adam, please command the fleet to patrol the coast." Daeron swiftly laid out all the arrangements.
Only when the army began to move again did he glare fiercely at the still-burning city.
The screams grew clearer and clearer. Dreamfyre let out a low growl, slowly resting her head beside King Daeron. She gently nudged her clearly distressed companion.
Daeron likewise gently stroked Dreamfyre's scales, and his tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed.
On the other side, Sendroth roared and soared into the sky. Dan worried that the ravens wouldn't be fast enough; he intended to personally rush back to Dragon Nest City for reinforcements.
Time was slipping away, and so was the opportunity for battle. Daeron did not want to repeat Baratheon's mistakes.
He had to be fast, as fast as possible.
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