Twenty mammoths, lined up in a row, charged wildly. The Golden Company didn't hesitate; they turned and ran. But behind them lay an army of over two hundred thousand. Even those nearby, who witnessed the scene and wanted to flee together, couldn't possibly unify the will of nearly three hundred thousand men. Moreover, there were the city-states' oversight forces following behind. They had paid for this; they certainly wouldn't let these mercenaries escape so easily.
The Golden Company wanted to form a battle formation and fight head-on. However, thanks to their teammates, the catapults had completely shattered their formation. Some wanted to run, some wanted to fight, and in this chaos, the mammoths charged forward.
These behemoths didn't need to do anything. They just had to run. Clad in makeshift armor, neither spears nor arrows were effective. The ballistae were all defending against the dragons in the sky. The key issue was that with so many people mixed together, the ballistae had no target. Once the Golden Legion was thrown into chaos, the entire mercenary army was in complete disarray. Orders from the rear simply couldn't get through.
Blades four or five meters long extended from the sides of those mammoths' bodies. They only needed to run to leave a trail of flesh and blood stretching over ten meters long in their wake. The Unsullied followed, cleaning up any survivors. For them, this was almost an underutilization of their abilities.
The Allied cavalry on both flanks finally broke free of their chaotic formation, reorganized, and charged out from the sidelines, attempting to bypass the mammoths and rout the Unsullied behind them. At that moment, two squads of knights also emerged from behind the Unsullied and engaged them in battle.
Infantry advance, cavalry flank cover – this was Lu Xuan's basic tactic. They were constantly on guard against the enemy's cavalry. This cavalry unit was essentially made up of new recruits, led by a group of Dothraki warriors who had followed Daenerys in the past. Although Lu Xuan didn't really think much of the Dothraki as a barbaric race.
However, it must be acknowledged that these races, raised on horseback, possess an innate acumen in mounted combat. With a slight jolt, Lu Xuan observed that Dani's few Blood Guards were already competent cavalry commanders. This was a boost from their racial talents, and Lu Xuan couldn't deny it.
The allied forces were numerous, and Lu Xuan didn't actually expect them to win. Their primary goal was simply to contain the enemy. The Dothraki cavalry excelled at mounted archery and kiting tactics. In fact, since ancient times, the tactics of nomadic peoples on the grasslands have primarily relied on mounted archery and kiting. The kind of cavalry charge that involves charging into enemy lines is actually quite rare.
The cavalry's failure to turn the tide in time resulted in a brutal massacre on the main battlefield. The Golden Company, though powerful, had never fought a five-meter-tall mammoth. And the Unsullied behind them were no pushovers; their infantry fighting was on par with the Golden Company.
The Golden Company's defeat sent a bad signal to the mercenary groups behind them. However, those soldiers unaware of the battle situation continued to push forward. The overseers kept urging them on. This left countless soldiers stuck in the middle, unable to advance or retreat.
The allied forces were too cumbersome. While concentrating their forces on attacking Meereen, targeting the three cities of Slaver's Bay, wasn't entirely wrong—Daenerys' side had dragons. And to deal with dragons, heavy weapons like dragon-slaying crossbows were only effective when concentrated. Therefore, the opposing commander didn't divide his forces, but instead focused on attacking a single city. Because dividing the forces would essentially be handing them over to the dragons.
However, it was precisely because the forces were so concentrated that this crowded formation resulted. And frankly, in the era of cold weapons, simultaneously commanding 300,000 troops in battle... Lu Xuan stated that even in Chinese history, only a handful of people could accomplish this. The opposing commander was far too overconfident.
The mammoth-like giants advanced steadily, and the carnage was visibly revealed before them in the open space beneath Meereen. Standing on the city walls, one could clearly see the entire earth slowly turning blood red, like a crimson monster relentlessly devouring the ground.
While the bloody battle raged directly ahead, in a secluded courtyard within the city, hundreds of shapeshifters were linking with their contracted partners, carefully searching the area surrounding the battlefield.
Lu Xuan had noticed before that the true masterminds behind the scenes—the representatives of the major slave owners from the nine city-states—had not appeared on the battlefield. This was understandable; after all, with the dragon on this side, the other side naturally wouldn't show its face easily. However, they couldn't simply hide back in their own city-states either.
Lu Xuan received reliable intelligence. The nine city-states had assembled a slave-owning oversight group, or rather, an observation group, composed of high-ranking nobles, to closely monitor the war. After all, they had paid a hefty price.
Lu Xuan spent a considerable amount of time searching for the observation group. However, they seemed quite concerned about their own safety. Moreover, several genuine experts had tried to locate their true address, but despite several attempts, they were unable to find it.
As the great battle began, Lu Xuan deployed hundreds of shapeshifters, controlling various animals, to search an area of fifty miles around the battlefield. They finally discovered some subtle clues.
In the crowd, Valamir suddenly opened his eyes. Just now, through the eagle's perspective, he had seen something different. He quickly stood up and reported to the messenger outside.
Valamir was once incredibly arrogant among the wildlings. But after arriving here and discovering that Lu Xuan could possess over a dozen pterosaurs with a single thought, his pride instantly turned into groveling. Daenerys's ability to control four dragons simultaneously astonished him even more. He quickly became Lu Xuan and Daenerys's devoted follower.
Upon receiving the message, Lu Xuan glanced thoughtfully at the port. He had been wondering why, despite the heavy losses inflicted on the fleet by the dragon legion's surprise attack that night, they shouldn't have been rendered incapable of fighting. Yet, with the battle now underway, the fleet showed no intention of providing support whatsoever.
Fortunately, Lu Xuan had reserved a force to defend the port. It now appears those people were hiding within the fleet. It's unclear whether they were already there or moved there after the raid. But regardless, for Lu Xuan, even a 60% chance is enough to warrant his intervention.
"Dani, get ready, we're about to go in."
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Chapter 313 The Drowning God Strikes
The observation group was extremely cautious, changing locations frequently and deciding on the exact spot just before each meeting. This was all to prevent a surprise attack from Daenerys's dragon. The two previous attacks, in particular, made them even more vigilant.
Many slave owners actually regretted coming. But they had no choice; they had paid money to hire an army. If they didn't come to keep an eye on things, the other side would definitely sell them off. These slave owners had dealt with mercenaries for years and knew all too well that mercenaries, including the Golden Company, had absolutely no morals.
They chose to observe the battle from the ship because they knew the fighting on the ground should draw Daenerys's attention. They were perfectly safe on the ship. They just hadn't expected that Lu Xuan would focus so much attention on them from the very beginning.
On a seemingly unremarkable warship, a dozen or so representatives from the nine major city-states are watching the match, not the battle, as a commentator.
If Lu Xuan were present, he would have discovered that they had also hired shapeshifters to provide on-site commentary on the war from the perspective of an eagle.
A group of slave owners were furious when they saw their army being crushed by one-tenth of the enemy's forces.
"These useless trash! We spent so much money, and this is how they managed to beat us. Three hundred thousand people, and they were beaten to a pulp by only thirty thousand."
"Heh, they didn't even touch the city walls. The famous Golden Company looks like nothing more than trash."
"Don't be too harsh on them. Look at those mammoths. I bet no army on land could stand up to them head-on."
"Why not use the dragon-hunting crossbow? That thing is enough to kill those mammoths."
"It's useless. Those things are all in the back, mainly used to defend against dragons. Right in front of them are all our own people, so they can't shoot those mammoths at all."
"There's nothing more to say, we're finished."
"Only some mercenaries died. Mammoths can't be used for sieges; the ballistae on the walls are enough to kill them. They pose no threat to our city."
"But dragons can. If we lose this battle, all we'll have left is to build ten thousand dragon-hunting crossbows and deploy them throughout the city. The nine city-states will then exist under the threat of dragons."
“I’ve said it before, we should hire a Faceless Man to kill Daenerys and that weird Easterner.”
"Heh, as far as I know, the Faceless Men refused the mission to assassinate Daenerys. This is the first time in their history that they have refused a request from their employer."
"......"
A moment of silence fell over the conference room, but suddenly the wary shapeshifter screamed, foaming at the mouth and collapsing to the ground.
"Enemy attack..." a guard outside shouted. But before anyone inside could react, the deck above them was smashed apart by a tremendous impact. Two figures clad in armor appeared in the conference room.
The commander on the front lines had just received incredibly frustrating news. Apparently, his employers had just been ambushed and wiped out by a dragon. So, how should they fight this battle now?
He wasn't a mercenary; he was a representative of those high-ranking nobles. After all, leading troops is something that should ideally be done by one's own people. But now, the sponsors have been robbed...
The soldiers on the field were unaware of what was happening. Due to their numerical superiority, they used a large number of heavy armory formations and siege engines, successfully halting part of the mammoths' advance. This gave the allied soldiers some hope.
"We need ballistae. Mobilize those ballistae and take out these big guys first." It's unclear whose order it was, but at this point, when someone gives the command, others naturally obey. Everyone was in chaos, and it was rare to find someone with a clear head; they had to quickly follow the other side.