Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 206 Military Discussion
"As you said, Your Majesty, except for the twelve Ironmen longships wandering around the mouth of the Mander River, the Iron Fleet around the Shield Islands has disappeared. Only a dozen longships are left guarding the four islands. Seven of them are mainly concentrated on Oakenshield Island, and the remaining five are on the other three islands."

Prime Minister Oberyn reports to Viserys as the longship goes to confirm the situation.

This is the advantage of high-altitude reconnaissance. As soon as Viserys returned from Euron's preset battlefield, he took the opportunity to observe the port conditions of the four islands in the Shield Islands.

The battlefield chosen by Euron was about ninety leagues south of the Shield Islands, one hundred leagues north of the port of the Arbor, about fifty leagues north of Oldtown out of Whispering Bay, thirty leagues northwest of the coast of Blackcrown, and thirty leagues southwest of the coast of Bandaron.

According to the speed of the ships, it would take at least two to three days for both the Redwyne Fleet and the Iron Fleet of the Shield Islands to reach the battlefield. The Redwyne Fleet was expected to reunite with Hightower, and the Iron Fleet was probably planning to repeat the old trick and take a detour through the Sunset Sea to wait for the next move.

Viserys guessed that Euron's plan should be to attack the Redwyne fleet with a storm summoned by magic at his intended battlefield, and at the same time, he might let the Iron Fleet to flank the Redwyne fleet. Of course, it is more likely that the Iron Fleet will bypass the Sunset Sea to attack the Qingting Island or Oldtown - if Euron is confident enough in his magic.

It is very likely that Euron himself will lead another fleet to attack the Redwyne fleet while relying on magic and sea monsters in the storm to beat the Redwyne fleet attacked by the storm.

Viserys put himself in Euron's shoes. If he were Euron, he would send the Iron Fleet to plunder the Arbor, and he would directly invade Oldtown after defeating Redwyne.

When Viserys returned, he informed the Hands Oberyn and Willas of the news.

Oberyn immediately invited Willas to send the survivors who were deliberately released back to the Shield Islands in the Mander River to spread terror, to venture out of the river mouth and conduct reconnaissance in the four islands of the Shield Islands. As expected, although the beacon lights on the island's watchtowers allowed the message to be transmitted from one hilltop to another and from one island to another, the Ironmen only sent out scattered longships to pursue the enemy, and until the end, there were only seven or eight ships out to pursue the enemy.

The twelve Iron Islands longships that were wandering at the mouth of the river and were responsible for acting as decoys, did not dare to pursue further after seeing the support fleet composed of temporarily recruited modified merchant ships and Highgarden longships flying the Targaryen flag at the mouth of the river. Instead, they turned around and ran away.

This means that the Shield Islands were indeed a bait for the Ironborn. Now that they are short of troops, it only means that either the Ironborn are afraid of the Targaryens, the Redwyne fleet, and Highgarden's response and have fled, or the Ironborn have ideas about the Redwyne fleet.

The latter is very likely.

Viserys did not tell them of his discovery of the magic ritual. He only said that he flew west along the Shield Islands for a while and saw the Iron Fleet heading deep into the Sunset Sea, sailing diagonally to the southwest.

The Iron Fleet had left the Shield Islands not long ago, and there were still nearly a hundred ships, forming a huge mass on the sea. Viserys searched ten leagues west of the Shield Islands, and it took only an hour to discover this huge fleet.

Compared to Euron who was hiding his whereabouts, the Iron Fleet was much easier to find - Viserys was very sure that Euron was not in the Iron Fleet, because when he returned to the Shield Islands and flew over the Iron Fleet, he felt very clearly that he had left the area where the power of "Song" was amplified.

"Villas, the Shield Islands are the shield of the South. Now that the Redwyne fleet is heading north at the king's command, it is very likely to be ambushed. The responsibility of retaking the Shield Islands lies on your shoulders. There are only two dozen longships in the Shield Islands, while Highgarden has more than 17,000 troops, twelve longships, and a dozen converted merchant ships requisitioned from the river in the past few days. Can the South retake the Shield Islands on its own?"

Viserys looked at Willas.

All the Dornishmen participating in the meeting looked at Willas, and the heads of the southern families and the knights also looked at him.

"Your Majesty, the Southland is responsible for the loss of territory. It is the responsibility of Highgarden to fight off the invasion. I beg Your Majesty to allow us to make up for our mistakes and drive the Ironmen out of the Shield Islands." Willas bowed his head and said, "But now the Redwyne fleet does not know that it is about to step into the trap set by the Ironmen. Your Majesty, should we warn them before the fleet sets off? Or should we order the fleet to return temporarily to defend the Blue Arbor to prevent the Blue Arbor from being attacked like the Shield Islands in the open air?"

Willas also thought of the possibility that the Ironborn would lure the tiger away from the mountain and directly attack Qingtian Island and Oldtown to plunder.

Although the Redwyne fleet is the strongest in the world, the Iron Fleet is also very powerful at sea. King Balon's Great Ocean Monster and several ships in the Iron Islands fleet are designed for sea control rather than plunder. They can match the smaller rowing ships in speed and power, and have better sailors and captains. After all, the ironmen have been making a living at sea all their lives.

"Just deal with the Shield Islands." Viserys did not comment on Willas's advice. "As for the Redwyne Arbor, I have my own ideas. And Hightower, why don't we discuss it today? What do you think of Hightower? They wrote back saying they were following the king's orders, but the fleet has not set out. Do you think Hightower is waiting for the Redwyne fleet, or does he have other ideas?"

Lord Fowler of Dorne continued, "Your Majesty, the representatives of House Hightower have not yet come to Highgarden to swear allegiance to Your Majesty. The Redwyne Arbor is separated from Highgarden by the Redwyne Strait, which is understandable, but Hightower is not far from Highgarden. Oldtown received your letter requesting you to come to Highgarden, and it should be enough for Lord Hightower to go back and forth to Highgarden several times. But he has not seen anyone come so far, only a letter in response to your request for a fleet. Previously, the Hightower troops in the Southland Army chose to leave and refuse to swear allegiance before Your Majesty moved into Highgarden. With all due respect, Your Majesty, I am afraid that Lord Hightower does not have enough respect for you."

Viserys was pleased with Lord Fowler's words, but he did not nod. He only looked at the heir to Highgarden: "Willas, what do you think?"

"I heard that Lord Layton of Oldtown has been staying in the towering tower and rarely comes out to handle affairs." Willas said, "I think maybe Lord Hightower has other considerations."

"Oh, really?" Oberyn asked. "What are you thinking about?"

"That," Vilas responded blankly, "I don't know about that."

Garlan Tyrell was behind Willas, and seeing Willas respond, he impulsively wanted to step forward and say something. Their mother, Ellery Hightower, was the second daughter of Lord Leighton Hightower of Oldtown.

In fact, the Tyrells are now related to the Hightowers by marriage. Although the knights of the Hightowers chose to withdraw when they surrendered, Garlan really didn't understand what benefit it would bring to his family to attack the Hightowers at this time, and he felt that it was not an act of honor. The king only hinted at his dissatisfaction with the Hightowers, and the Dornishmen took advantage of the king's words to directly offend him. Garlan could hear that the king wanted to take advantage of the situation to do something to the Hightowers, and he didn't believe that his brother Willas couldn't hear it. But Willas was playing dumb.

Not only that, Vilas also grabbed Garland and shook his head at him.

Garland had a strange look on his face, but he didn't say anything in the end.

But His Majesty looked at him.

The king had no expression on his face, and only asked as usual: "Gallan, you seem to have something to say?"

Garlan Tyrell is now the commander of 17,000 men in Highgarden, so it is not surprising that Viserys asked him a question.

Sir Garlan replied: "Your Majesty, since the Ironmen of the Shield Islands are suspicious troops, please allow me to take swift action to clear them out of the islands so that I can rescue the vassal and people on the islands as soon as possible."

Lord Uller of Dorne said with a smile, "Sir Garlan, the agenda has reached Hightower. Are you awake? You are still responsible for commanding the battle to retake the Shield Islands. Why don't you go downstairs and take a nap first?"

"Haha." The Dornish lords laughed.

Sir Garlan smiled and replied calmly, "I heard that His Majesty once said, 'Speed ​​is the essence of war.' Now the enemy situation in the Shield Islands is clear, and our army is well prepared. The sooner we set out, the less surprises there will be."

The Mander River flows under the city of Highgarden, and the garrison is nearby. Garlan only needs to go into the camp to check the troops and then he can march to the Shield Islands immediately. So his answer is appropriate.

Viserys looked at Garlan, then at the southern lords who were watching their hearts and minds, and answered: "You are the commander of the southern army. Do you have a strategy for the enemy? Although the iron fleet of the Shield Islands is not here, it is not easy to capture the castles."

"I am familiar with the Shield Islands, and I know that only the castle and port of Oakenshield Island are easy to defend and difficult to attack. This is why the enemy has deployed the most longships on Oakenshield Island. But now that we have confirmed that the four islands have no support from the Iron Fleet, they are isolated. I only need to leave a troop of soldiers and horses outside Oakenshield Island to monitor and ambush, and first take down the weakly defended Greyshield Island, Southshield Island and Greenshield Island. The defenders of Oakenshield Island will either watch the loss of the other three islands and be besieged by me in the end, or go out of the city to rescue and be ambushed by me. The enemy situation is clear, and it is only a matter of time to recapture the four islands. I am only afraid that something will change if I delay."

"That's right. You already have a plan, so let's mobilize the troops and march out with speed."

Sir Garlan knelt solemnly on one knee and bowed his head, saying: "Your Majesty, I swear to you that in two days, I will lead the southern border troops to recapture the Shield Islands. If I fail, please impose military law on me." Garlan knew that it was not a good idea to interrupt the king's meeting agenda directly, which would undermine the king's authority, so he simply took the opportunity to back off and appeared to be a reckless warrior who was only concerned with war.

"Your courage impresses me, Ser Garlan," Viserys said. "Since you have the courage to do so, I give you command of the host of the south, and you will have full access to the ships at Highgarden's docks. I look forward to hearing from you when you return, Ser Garlan."

"I will never let you down, Your Majesty." He stood up.

Viserys nodded, his expression calm, and announced, "Lord Garlan will help me in the Shield Islands. I will go to help the Redwyne fleet fight the ironmen."

The Dornishman looked strange: "Your Majesty, what about us?"

Willas also looked up in surprise.

Viserys nodded. "We had planned to wait in Highgarden for the southern lords to come and swear allegiance, but we didn't expect to encounter the ironmen rebelling here. At this moment, we should protect the country and the people and mediate the disputes. Oberyn, you lead the Dornish army south from the Rose Road to Oldtown. I suspect that the ironmen fleet is more than this. It is rumored that there are a thousand longships in the Iron Islands. Even if the rumor is false, the number of ships in the Iron Islands is still as high as 500. Now the iron fleet I see has only more than a hundred ships. I am afraid that the ironmen have ambushes and other plans.

I judge that since their goal is not to plunder the Reach along the Mander River, then they must be targeting Oldtown or the Arbor. Willas, you are now the acting ruler of the South. Oldtown and the Arbor may be in crisis. You need to take the southern lords who are now in Highgarden with Prime Minister Oberyn, guide the Prime Minister on the way, and coordinate the logistics of the lords and Dornish troops on the way south. Although the Hightower family will swear allegiance in the future, I am the king after all, and Oldtown and the Arbor are my territory. Euron Greyjoy is a false king, and he wants to plunder Oldtown or the Arbor. I cannot tolerate this.

Let those who stay in Highgarden inform the lords who come later that I will go to Oldtown to protect the people and ask them to go to Oldtown to swear allegiance to me."

Prince Oberon understood the king's meaning and responded immediately: "Yes, Your Majesty, I will live up to your trust."

Willas felt a headache. There were a thousand ships in the Iron Islands? Five hundred ships? How could it be possible? If that were the case, the Iron Islands would have been king long before Robert died. During his voyage with Dr. Marwyn, he had already sensed from Dr. Marwyn's words that there seemed to be a conflict between Oldtown and the Targaryens.

And everyone knows that behind the Citadel is Hightower.

But Willas knew that at this time, even if he himself was the heir of the Hightower family, let alone his mother being the daughter of the Hightower family, he would still stand firmly on the side of King Targaryen. So he also answered solemnly: "Yes, Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)