Building an Empire in Game of Thrones (REWORKED VERSION)-Chapter 90: Battle of Lannisport

At Lannisport, the Northern army which was combined with the soldiers from the Riverlords, found themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. Instead of taking the river road to Lannisport, Tywin led his army of 30,000 to Kingslanding where he basically 'took' 10,000 soldiers and then took the Gold Road up to Lannisport. The Gold Road led right up to the rear of Robb's army of 25,000 which were besieging the city, allowing Tywin to cut them off from behind.

Robb's scouts had been caught before they could make it back to the camp, which allowed Tywin's army to sneak behind them. The various commanders had ordered a portion of the army to turn around to face the incoming Lannister Knights. The North and Riverland soldiers rushed to their horses while the infantry ran to set up a shield wall to pose some sort of resistance against the mounted Lannister Knights.

However, hundreds of soldiers rushing at once to their horses wasn't exactly organized. Barely 200 managed to counter charge as the Lannister Knight smashed into charged right through them and then into the shield wall.

The line collapsed under the charge of 6,000 Lannister Knights. As the Knights battered through, horns sounded, and the main Lannister army advanced on the Northern host's rear. The Northern army turned into chaos as some fought valiantly while others ran, afraid of being trampled by horses. Robb was at the back of the army wanted to charge in, but his father halted him and instead took control while his son remained behind.

Yet even as the Northern rear fought desperately, a horn blast echoed from the walls of Lannisport. With the enemy distracted, the garrison, some 5,000 fresh troops who had been conserving their strength, sallied out of the city gates. They charged out in ranks led by Ser Addam Marbrand, striking into the exposed flanks of the Northern front.

Panic threatened to spread among the Northern infantry, who were now under attack from two sides. Robb's men found themselves being ground between Tywin's vanguard and the sudden garrison attack.

But Robb ordered a controlled withdrawal to regroup on a defensible ridge. Lord Karstark led a furious counterassault with his heavy infantry, forming a crescent around the Lannisport garrison troops to slow their advance. Meanwhile, Ser Brynden Tully led a detachment to plug the rear gap, halting the push of Lannister horse with pikemen in tightly disciplined ranks.

The battle see-sawed for hours. The Riverlords under Lord Tytos Blackwood proved tenacious, forming a stalwart center to hold the line. Roose Bolton sent his men in flanking waves, striking at overstretched Lannister positions. The Northern longbowmen, perched on nearby slopes, rained arrows into Tywin's formations, thinning their ranks.

Tywin's forces did the same and due to their superior number, they managed to cause more damage than the Northern longbowmen did. While Robb's army had used some clever tactics to hold for so long. 25,000 men couldn't beat 40,000 men especially when they were attacked from two sides.

After almost an hour and a half, Eddard shouted to his son. "Tell the men to retreat!" yelled Eddard, as he saw the battle was not winnable in its current state.

Robb found himself forced to make a difficult choice. "RETREAT!!" he shouted as loud as he could. The commanders had spread the word and soon enough Robb's army was attempting to flee up the Northern Road back up to Riverrun.

But Tywin didn't wasn't going to let this happen. He already planned for this and had the remainder of his mounted Knights hunt down the fleeing soldiers. There were a few attempts on both Robb and Eddard's life as they fled, but the Shadowhand agents appeared to block every attack and keep them alive. Eddard didn't notice it, but he would have been during the battle if not for the Shadowhand agents.

Tywin had finally delt a serious blow to the Northern forces and had gained a significant victory. Robb's army had suffered a total of 15,000 casualties, with nearly 9,000 being killed, while the others being severely injured, slightly injured, or captured.

As a few days passed and the remainder of Robb's army had made it back to Riverrun. Less than 10,000 soldiers remained from the encounter. Some fled during the retreat, others died from injuries along the way. Many lords had died including lords Karstark, Mormont, and a few others. This was a devastating loss for the Northern army and the Northern cause in general.

Maximus knew about the Lannister army and its movements, but he didn't inform Robb as this was a necessary evil that needed to happen in order to force the North to seek his help. Still as he read the report, he didn't expect them to be caught off guard like that. He began to see why Tywin was considered to be calculating, intelligent, politically astute, and ruthless.

Now all he needed to do was wait until they came begging for his assistance.

———

Arriving at Castle Black, Eonwe looked down at the massive ice wall that separated the two sides. It was magnificent sure, but he could also break a portion of it himself. As a Maiar, it wouldn't be too difficult for him, but to the average person who only heard stories, it would seem impossible.

"Sir" said a soldier as he approached Eonwe. "Where shall we land?" he asked.

Eonwe pointed to an area just outside of the castle. "There." The soldier followed his finger and nodded his head as he left to relay the information to the captain who was in charge of flying the airship.

Several minutes later, the airship had landed just outside Castle Black while the other airships had just hovered in place, waiting for orders. Eonwe led a detachment of Dragon Knights to Castle Black to negotiate with the Lord Commander. If all goes well, they can defend the wall alongside the Night's Watch. If all goes to shit, then they would just take it by force. They could do this anyway, but it didn't hurt to ask right?

Meanwhile, within Castle Black, the men were going crazy from the sudden appearance of flying ships. Most didn't know who these ships belonged to, while the younger men who had arrived withing the past 2 years knew exactly who these belonged to.

Just a few days ago, the brothers from the expedition across the wall had come back with less men than they left with causing a lot of questions to be asked. By this point a few things had already happened. The Mutiny at Craster's Keep resulting in the death of Lord Commander Jeor Mormont. The loyal men had returned alongside Samwell Tarly and one of Craster's wives along with her child.

Now the de facto commander of Castle Black and the Night's Watch, Ser Alliser Thorne calls the men to arms in preparation for whatever was about to happen after seeing one of the airships land.

Riding up to the wall, Eonwe already saw the Night's watch with crossbows aimed at him from on top of the gates. He held up his hand, halting his escort while he approached slowly. "My name is Eonwe, a high-ranking member of the Imperial Union, and I am here to speak with Lord Commander Mormont." he stated.

Ser Alliser Thorne stepped forward, "The Lord Commander has been killed." he replied.

This surprised Eonwe, as he hadn't heard the news so he figured this must be a recent development. "Alright then, let me speak to whoever is in charge then."

"That's me," Ser Alliser Thorne replied again. The only reason he hadn't killed this group was because he could clearly tell that they were not Wildlings and they did bear the Imperial banner on their chest plates.

"Well, how about offering up some hospitality and let's sit down in a warm room to discuss things." offered Eonwe.

Ser Alliser Thorne didn't like that idea, nor did he trust these men, so he shook his head in response, "I think not lord Eonwe, you say you are from the Imperial Union, but what is your purpose here specifically."

Eonwe was getting a little bit agitated at the disrespect he was getting despite him being here to save their lives. "Ah, that's simple. I am here to negotiate with the Night's Watch to work together to repel the Wildlings attack." he explained.

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Ser Alliser was taken by surprise. He hadn't heard anything about this, and he guessed that the man was lying. "Lies! The Wildlings are not going to attack the wall. And even if they did, why should we trust you."

Samwell Tarly was watching this unfold and didn't know what to do. He knew a lot about the Imperial Union, and he knew who Eonwe was from studying in the Imperial Union prior to his banishment to the wall. If such an important person came here, then he believed him without question. Though his brothers didn't. He was about to open his mouth when everything seemed to slow down, then in the next second, the gate was practically blown open and everybody standing on top of the walls was blown away.

Eonwe charged in with the Dragon Knights following behind him. He found Ser Alliser amongst the debris and grabbed him by his neck. The surrounding brothers were about to come to his assistance, but they saw the Dragon Knights storm the area. That's when from above, one of the Dragon riders landed on one of the buildings overlooking the entrance of the Castle.

This caused everybody to freeze in place. "It's a fucking dragon" one person shouted.

Eonwe didn't choke Ser Alliser out and just dropped him on the ground as he addressed the others. "Now, everybody put their weapons down and nobody will die."

With morale already low, everybody dropped their weapons in a heartbeat. "Good, now from now on, the wall is under my control. You men will assist in manning the wall in preparation for the Wildlings invasion, in return you will receive, better gear, and some warmth. In the meantime, everybody line up in the courtyard." he ordered.

He began counting how many people were actually in the castle and then began making preparations. With Castle Black under his control, he began to expand to other Castles set up defenses. The 30,000 Elven army moved quickly spread out and began to set up patrols to cover the entire wall. Eonwe didn't want to do it this way, but Ser Alliser forced his hand with his attitude.