Chapter 104: Handling Relationships

The Stone Projectile successfully smashed and broke two rungs, then rolled all the way down; the people on this Scaling Ladder saw the situation was bad and jumped to the ground one after another to dodge the Stone Projectile.

After all, jumping down would at most break a leg, but being hit by this Stone Projectile would turn one into a puddle of meat paste.

On the other scaling ladders, although there were no Stone Projectiles, there were Rolling Logs with spikes to treat those climbing up.

It was just that the castle didn't have many Rolling Logs in stock and had to use them sparingly, so they only threw one down when the enemy was about to climb up.

The effect was also obvious; one could take down a dozen people.

Arthur was not idle either; he picked up a stone from beside the smashed Trebuchet and fiercely hurled it directly at the wheels of another Scaling Ladder.

At a height of several dozen meters, the initial velocity of the Stone Projectile was no longer important; after it landed, this Scaling Ladder was mostly destroyed.

The third Scaling Ladder was also destroyed in this way.

It was just that the enemy, under the temptation of Gold Dragons, had explosive power far exceeding the imagination of the New Army soldiers.

Only a few minutes passed, and the second wave of people climbing the scaling ladders rushed up from the seven scaling ladders.

Small-scale fighting unfolded, but fortunately, the New Army soldiers had an absolute numerical advantage, so the situation was in their favor.

Arthur seized the time to destroy the tools the enemy was using to board the city gate.

Three more Stone Projectiles were thrown down to break the scaling ladders, and then, a request from a gate-guarding soldier reached Arthur's ears.

"My Lord, please destroy the Siege Tower, otherwise the corner structure of the iron gate won't hold up."

This soldier had been sent up by Battalion Commander Dawa of the Third Battalion to convey a major problem that needed to be solved urgently.

Although the iron gate could withstand the impact of the Siege Tower, the place where the iron gate was fixed was not made of iron. If it kept being rammed like this, I fear the whole gate would be deformed and collapse.

"I understand."

Arthur lifted a Stone Projectile, then poked his head out to glance at the position of the Siege Tower, walked over with large strides, and threw the stone in his hand down.

"Ouch—"

"Seven Gods!"

The groans and shouts coming from below squeezed into Arthur's ears.

He took a closer look; the wooden roof on the Siege Tower that intercepted falling stones had already been smashed to pieces, and the battering ram was also crooked; the city gate was safe for the time being.

But just in case, Arthur lifted another Stone Projectile and threw it at the Siege Tower.

This caused all the rollers on one side of it to be damaged, making it impossible to be dragged back for repairs.

Moreover, the broken Siege Tower was also blocking the front of the city gate; it couldn't be used to continue ramming the gate without moving it away.

It could be said that there would be no problems with the main gate for a few days.

Enemies continued to climb up the remaining four scaling ladders; the coerced civilians saw the New Army soldiers surrounding them and mostly dropped their weapons and surrendered, while the Lannister infantry wearing Black Ring Mail were much more valiant, often forming a group of three or four to fight against dozens of New Army soldiers.

But the absolute numerical advantage meant the Lion House soldiers who climbed onto the city wall failed to expand their results, and instead left a ground full of corpses.

A dozen minutes later, under the effects of Rolling Logs, Stone Projectiles, and the like, all ten scaling ladders in front of the main gate had been destroyed.

And the Siege Tower was also broken.

This meant that apart from the Trebuchets, the Lannister army in front of the main gate had no other means to threaten the New Army soldiers on the city wall.

"Dickon, Bill, Zodan, and Kafi are responsible for cleaning up the battlefield; the men of the Reinforcement Company come with me to take a look at the East Gate."

After Arthur issued the order, he carried the Golden Guan Dao and took the hundred-plus men of the Reinforcement Company to the East Gate defense sector, which was coordinated by Lord Beric.

They didn't have a powerhouse with freakish strength like Arthur on their side and had no way to destroy the scaling ladders and Siege Tower, so defending would be very strenuous.

After circling more than halfway around, the situation at the East Gate defense sector revealed itself to Arthur and the Reinforcement Company.

Sure enough, the situation here was a bit lackluster.

Nearly a hundred Western Lands Army soldiers had climbed onto the city wall and started fighting with the soldiers of the various Riverlands families, and on the scaling ladders, there were still a large number of Western Lands Army soldiers climbing up.

Although the battlefield was controlled on the city wall and the Riverlands soldiers had a numerical advantage, the situation could be called white-hot.

And in front of Arthur were a dozen Lion House soldiers who had come up from the westernmost scaling ladder, and fifty or sixty Riverlands soldiers surrounding them.

"Move aside," he shouted loudly, swinging the Guan Dao as he charged inside.

The crowd suddenly squeezed apart, allowing Arthur to rush in.

"My Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Dadao has long been thirsty; surrender or death?" He first asked this group of Lion House soldiers.

"Ten thousand Gold Dragons are mine." The leader of the Lion House soldiers had red eyes, clearly having gone mad with killing.

Seeing Arthur holding the Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Dadao, he couldn't help but brandish his hand-and-a-half sword and Small Round Shield and charge over.

But the next second, the Golden Guan Dao gave him the most profound lesson of his life.

His Small Round Shield was split open by a single blade, and then his whole person was split into two halves.

The remaining Lion House soldiers looked at each other, knelt down on the spot, and dropped their weapons to surrender.

"Tie them all up and send them to be locked up under the Widow's Tower."

After resolving this pile of Lion House soldiers, Arthur had people throw down a Rolling Log, temporarily clearing the enemies on this scaling ladder.

Afterward, he found a Stone Projectile and smashed the scaling ladder in half with one blow.

The nine ladders behind were also destroyed using the same method; about half an hour later, the fighting on the East Gate city wall stopped.

Without the scaling ladders, the Lion House soldiers could only sigh at the towering city walls, then drag away their comrades' corpses and leave the front of the East Gate.

"Why is it that you have more people, yet you still fought so arduously?" Taking advantage of the Riverlands soldiers cleaning the battlefield, Arthur found Thoros of Myr, Lord Beric, and others, and asked.

"It's just that the ones who charged up first were the Riverlands farmers, so Beric felt we shouldn't use things like spiked Rolling Logs, and I agreed." Thoros of Myr immediately stated the most fundamental reason.

Not using Rolling Logs to clear the enemies climbing the scaling ladders, nor having the means to destroy the scaling ladders, was what made the defense of the East Gate so arduous.

"I originally thought my own heart was soft enough, but I didn't expect you two to be even more merciful than me," Arthur said helplessly.

Beric Dondarrion, the Lightning Lord, was originally a good noble overflowing with a sense of Justice, and Thoros of Myr was a believer, so they truly didn't kill much.

The behavior of the Lion House soldiers outside the city using civilians to charge in front truly cured the ailment of these two people.

Fortunately, Arthur used the Stone Projectiles thrown up by the enemy to ruin the scaling ladders and the Siege Tower, which was how they held off the first day's attack.

Night fell upon the Hall of a Hundred Hearths.

Due to its extremely vast space, this place had temporarily become a gathering point for the soldiers, and the soldiers and commoners wounded in the day's defensive battle were also arranged here.

The High Sparrow and dozens of other Septons walked back and forth, helping to treat the wounded and soothe hearts.

Harrenhal's old Maester Tosmue had also been requested by Arthur to examine the soldiers, but clearly, his white hair and white beard did not increase his authority in providing medical care.

Many soldiers refused the old Maester's treatment, insisting only on the Septons to bandage their wounds.

Arthur sat on the lord's main seat in the cleared Hall of a Hundred Hearths, watching the busy figures of the Septons with a thoughtful look.

This large group of Septons all supported the High Sparrow, and they had already accumulated quite a bit of popularity within Harrenhal.

Arthur had to set about dealing with his relationship with the Septons.

(End of this chapter)