The Age of Daenerys Targaryen

Part 47: The Alliance war council

"Daenerys is marching north along the Rhoyne and more troops are constantly joining her", Yohn Royce explained to the assembled leaders of the Alliance in the assembly hall of the palace of the First Magister of Norvos. "She has practically the entire Central Army Group and parts of the Eastern Army Group gathered around her. We have to assume that the final number of the Imperials will be two hundred thousand men."

"Then we would still be more than twice as superior to them", said Belen Osten, the First Magister of Qohor. The Alliance army, which had gathered outside the city, numbered more than five hundred thousand soldiers.

"But they have a dragon", said Jaqicho Hartar, First Magister of Norvos. "In addition there are hundreds of war elephants."

"And they have Arya Stark hostage", said Gendry Baratheon grimly.

"Which means that victory on the battlefield is our only hope", said Queen Sansa. She knew that Gendry loved her little sister and still hoped that one day she would marry him and become his lady. But although Arya was very fond of the young lord of Storm's End, she would never give up her independent life, not even for his sake. Life wasn't a song. It was something Sansa had learned the hard way.

"You have shown at Pentos that we can defeat Daenerys and her army, Lord Gendry", she continued. "Even the dragon, deadly as it may be, is not an insurmountable obstacle. If we manage to wound or even kill it, the Imperial soldiers will certainly lose heart.

"The Empress will be more careful now", said Lord Rocye. "Don't expect her to be so easily lured into the barrage of our ballistae again. Rather, she will behave like at Volon Therys and initially stay in the background."

"If we get her troops in trouble, Daenerys must intervene or give up the battle", Sansa countered. "She cannot afford to give up because otherwise the way into the eastern hinterland of the Empire would be free for us. The Empress HAS to stand up to us, we leave her no other choice."

"That's right", agreed Royce. "But don't underestimate the Imperial Army just because we're twice as superior to it. The enemy is armed with the best weapons available, their soldiers are disciplined and well trained, and they fight with fanatical determination. Most of the Imperials are followers of the Red God and consider Daenerys to be his chosen one. For them it is something of a holy war. They are also incredibly well organized. The Empire has set up a military apparatus that I never thought possible. Only through our numerical advantage can we hope to defeat them."

"We were outnumbered at Pentos", Gendry recalled. "Not very much, but the Imperials had more soldiers than we did back then. And the dragon."

"At that time they were without leadership", said the Master of war. "The wounded dragon fled the battlefield with the Empress and the enemy general fell early. We cannot count on such favorable circumstances again "

"My goodness!", said Belen Osten. "A little more confidence would be appropriate. If we don't think we can win against the Empire, we can submit to Daenerys right away." He looked around. "Is anyone seriously in favor of it? At least I don't."

"I would rather die, and you know that very well, my friend", said Jaqicho Hartar with a grim smile. "None of the Free Cities will bow to the Empress."

"Neither my king", nodded Lord Royce. "I just wanted to emphasize how dangerous our enemy is." He cleared his throat and went to the map of West Essos that was pinned to the wall.

"The Imperials must have almost reached Dagger Lake by now. From there they will march on along the Qhoyne towards Qohor. If we want to catch them before the city, we can't stay here much longer."

"Either way, it is high time the army left", said Jaqicho. "It is becoming more and more difficult to supply the troops here on site. But are you sure the Imperials are really moving to Qohor? They could just as easily continue to follow the Rhoyne and advance towards Norvos, even if that were the further way."

"We managed to intercept some Imperial couriers", said Royce. "The messages they were carrying were encrypted, but we recently got our hands on an Imperial code book. With that we were able to decipher the messages."

He returned to the meeting table and put some papers on it.

Sansa leaned forward.

"Available troops of the Eaestern Atmy Group to Selhorys for the purpose of reinforcing the Central Army Group", was the first message.

"Prepare for the arrival of Her Imperial Majesty and the Field Marshal, " read the next note.

"Will advance to Qohor as soon as possible", it said in another message. The other letters were about provisions, ammunition and other materials. So Sansa learned that the Imperial troops carried five million arrows and ten million crossbow bolts, plus six tons of wildfire and twenty tons of powder - whatever that was. And more than fifteen thousand "birdies".

The queen shook her head. "What are these birdies?"

"One of our spies succeeded in glancing unnoticed into the Imperial supply wagons", said Jaqicho Hartar. "He came across some strange constructions." He put a drawing on the table. It showed a long pole with a kind of cylinder attached to one end. "There is also a version of it with wings", said the First Magister and presented a second drawing. "Maybe these are the 'birdies' of the Imperials."

Belen Osten frowned. "I used to travel to Yi Ti. I've seen something like this there before. These things are called 'rockets' or 'fire arrows'. Actually, the people of Yi Ti use them on festive occasions to create fire flowers in the night sky. That looks really impressive. On the other hand, they are also used militarily. Unfortunately, I cannot say how much damage the missiles cause in battle. I stayed away from the areas of civil war." The once powerful Empire of Yi Ti was now just a shadow of itself and split into several mutually conflicting domains. "As for the powder mentioned in the messages, it is used during sieges to blow up gaps in fortress walls."

"So we now know that the Imperial forces are marching against Qohor and that they have exotic weapons from Yi Ti", summarized Yohn Royce. "They also have war elephants with ballistae, catapults and wildfire, mounted archers, crossbowmen and armored spearmen and lance fighters. And of course a dragon. We have to consider how best to counter this combination of forces. Much also depends on the terrain of the battlefield. Our knights will..."

When the council of war finally ended and everyone rose from their seats, Sansa spoke again.

"Above all, we shouldn't forget Daenerys' greatest weakness," she explained. "Her impatience. That was her undoing once before. It cost Daenerys one of her dragons and her closest confidante. Then it went downhill for her." The Queen of the North looked intently at those present. "Sooner or later the Empress's impatience will make her forget her caution and lead to another catastrophic mistake on her part."

Lord Royce bowed to her. "Well spoken, Your Grace. We will think of your words. Do you want to wait for the outcome of the battle here, or are you returning to the North?"

"Neither", said Sansa decisively. "I will accompany you."

For a moment Royce and the others were speechless.

"Your Grace, we are going into battle", said Bran's Master of War imploringly after regaining his composure. "It's too dangerous for you. Your brother would..."

"I am the Queen of the North", replied the redhead coldly. Her blue eyes flashed. "How are my soldiers supposed to respect me if I hide on Winterfell while they lose their lives fighting the Dragon Empress? While Daenerys is holding Arya hostage? No. I will either return home with my sister or not at all."