Chapter 112: Battle of Holdfast
A/N: Hey guys,
Here's today's second chapter.
For every two new pàtreons, I will upload one more chapter the next day.
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Enjoy.
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"Because it had to be you. You are better at defensive strategies. Plus, you are my brother and have to protect Stormsland instead of me. I don't need you to worry. In fact, I am giving you the field to show your talents. You are going to lead the whole situation if you stayed here. Plus, I am sure that Dorne would listen to Aerys's orders and send an army. You will have your chance to attack them. You will also have the ability to defend against the old fox, Tywin Lannister if he attacked and will supervise the siege of Highgarden." Said Edward trying to show Stannis the benefits of staying here in Stormsland. Edward was not lying. He was giving Stannis the chance to perform so that Robert would give him Dragonstone after he became the king.
After hearing his brother's words, Stannis could see the logic behind them and decided to follow his brother's arrangement. Edward started telling him with all he needed to know. He told him about Bruce's attack on Wyl and how to use Mace Tyrell to their benefit if anything happened. He also told Stannis to depend on Lance and Elbert, who were supervising the siege at the moment.
Later that night, Edward got the news that Jon's army took action and moved in Riverlands' direction. Edward had come prepared this time and took the Connington prisoners with him. He wanted to see Jon's tortured expression when he killed the member of his house in front of him. Edward even thought of not killing Jon for the moment and only taking him as a prisoner and using him against Rhaegar when the final fight began. With this, he could weaken Rhaegar's followers' trust in him when he let his man die just like that.
The next day, Jon Clinn arrived somewhat late, and Edward decided to rest for another day before marching north. He had a private talk with Clinn and the others about their experience in the previous battles. Those people's names would be recorded in the history of Westeros.
When the sun rose in the sky the next day, Edward and twenty-five thousand men made their move and took their way north. Their target was Riverlands. Edward wanted to perform a small operation, at first, as he could hide his tracks while moving but decided otherwise. It was best to end this situation as fast as possible. Edward did not want to lose more men in a prolonged war.
Meanwhile, Riverrun was busy with the war preparations. The armies of the north and the vale would launch the attack on the crown's army. The old fox, Hoster Tully, managed to convince the naive Ned and the helpless Jon that he would not fight till the wedding ceremonies happened. With this, he would save himself from making any sacrifices and let the north and vale fight and reap the benefits in the end.
If Edward had been there, he would punch him in the face without hesitation. Edward did not hate House Tully without any reason. Except for Blackfish, Edward did not see any suitable man in this house. House Tully was among The Houses with the 'Must Eliminate.' tag in Edward's dictionary.
Ned, Robert, and Jon led their army to meet Jon's army. This time the battle would not happen in Stoney Sept as Robert was not hiding there. The three commanders decided to meet Jon at Holdfast and moved fast in order to meet him there.
Two weeks later, the battle of Holdfast took place. The armies of The North and The Vale face the crown army. The Rebellion side had about twenty-five thousand men while The Crown had about fifteen thousand. Jon Connington managed to convince some lords from the Vale, Riverlands, and Westerlands to send him some men.
Although Jon did all he could to gather this army, it would not help him much. He was facing an army twice in size. Plus, Jon was not good at using tactics to win the war, so Jon only depended on a frontal attack. He only hoped that he could surprise the rebel's army with his fifteen thousand men army, but he could not anymore.
Since Jon was a coward, when he saw that the battle was in the other side's favor, he decided to abandon the fight and flee back to King's Landing. At least he killed Denys Arryn, the last heir to The Vale. At the moment, Jon Arryn did not have any heir to The Vale, and it would fall under the control of the other houses if Jon died in this war, so Jon decided to return to Riverrun. He would supervise the rebellion from there. Jon knew that Edward would come north soon as Jon had just received Edward's letter. Edward could lead the battles, and he would not have to worry. He should concentrate on his marriage to Lysa Tully in order to have an heir to the Eyrie.
Jon, who hid under his men's corpses, managed to find a way to leave the battle while half the army he gathered ran away. The other half either got killed by The Rebellion's army or got captured.
Jon blamed himself for those defeats and could not help but curse Edward. He was the one who started all this. If he did not get defeated by Edward in Stormsland, Jon might have a chance to put down the rebellion here and for good. But at the moment, he did not know what to do. The prince was away since the start of this rebellion, and Jon ran out of ideas. If he returned to King's Landing, Jon was sure that he might get killed by Aerys, but he had to in order to save the prince's children.
But on his way to King's Landing with the two thousand men who survived the battle, he got the shock of his life. Without realizing it, he and his men got surrounded by a large army. Jon did not have the time to send scouts in King's Landing's direction as he focused all his attention on the rebels. He thought that they might send an army to follow him, so all the surviving scouts got sent in that direction.
At the moment, Jon's vision was blank. He did not know whose army was this. He began to have thoughts about the Lannisters. Edward also came to his mind, but he dismissed Edward from his calculations as he did not get any news about Edward's movement for the past two weeks. Not to mention that Jon had received the news that Stormsland's army was still besieging Highgarden.
But when he focused his attention on the army in the front, his expression changed. No, he did not see Edward but saw the surviving members of his house crucified on a cross carried by a cart. Jon could see Edward holding a knife and skinning the last one of the younger generation while smiling at Jon.