Chapter 13: Logistics

105 AC

Fifth Day of the Ninth Month

Street of Steel, King's Landing

General Omar Bradley once said, "Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics."

And he was right as Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant would attest to that less than a century before he said it, it doesn't matter how many battles you win, if you don't have the resources to continue the war, you are done for. And if you have the resources to continue, you can keep throwing your men into the meat grinder and win.

And in the case of a Westerosi invasion of the Stepstones, it meant having to spend more than half a year preparing the logistics to get everything right to the last detail, and even then it will be some time before the first battles begin. Most likely the first landings will occur after the New Year which means that I will get to participate.

It made me appreciate Otto's meticulous planning, he began planning for the logistics of the campaign the day Viserys approved my plan to annex the Stepstones. And even then we were pressed for time as there was always the fear that the Crabfeeder might run to the Basilisk Isles at the last second and everyone wanted to catch him.

Why the Crabfeeder decided to stay in Stepstones instead of sailing to safety the minute he heard about our attack on Myr is up for debate. He might want vengeance on us for what we have done to his home city of Myr or maybe it's the pride and ego talking, or maybe both who knows.

Already splinter groups have started to form with many pirate captains making their kingdoms in the islands they occupy, the smart ones have already bailed while the proud and foolish captains have stayed put in their future tombs.

Even if we find the islands abandoned when we arrive, we will still be claiming it for the Iron Throne which in turn means that the possibility of war with Dorne is very much on the table, and despite Viserys' wishes I might end up destroying Planky Town or maybe Sunspear.

"My Prince, the work is well underway and we are poised to finish our quotas on time." Master Blacksmith Pate said to me as I came for an inspection of all the weapons and armor.

"We have been working day and night since you placed the orders, my Prince, I put all my Journeymen and apprentices on rotation for eight hours which means that all the smithies and forges in the cities are working without rest." He continues.

"Good, Did you have any trouble from anyone," I asked as I tried on one of the gauntlets.

"Well, there was an incident last week when a knight from the Reach demanded that we put his order on first preference claiming his nobility and he even drew out his sword and threatened us when we refused to do so," Pate replied,

"What happened, and who is this knight?" I asked with a hint of anger,

"Don't worry my Prince, he didn't do much, we told him that we were on special orders from you and that if he did anything stupid we would report it to you, that shut him up and he hasn't shown his face ever since," Pate said with a laugh.

I chuckled, the reputation that I gained with my stunt on Myr was off the charts, everyone on both sides of the Narrow Sea knows that I was the mastermind behind the attack on Myr. This is why Lord Caswell at court called me Aegon the Cunning, and it was a far better monicker than the previous ones I had.

"Yeah, well, next time any other idiot tries to pull off something like that tell them to meet me first, all right," I told Pate as I removed the gauntlet.

After an hour of inspecting all the weapons and armor that were made to equip the soldiers and finding them to be in flawless condition, I took my leave to head back to the Red Keep, only for Daemon to meet me on the road.

"Ah, there you are Aegon, I was heading to the Red Keep to find you, come let's go for a drink, I know this great tavern nearby called the Black Wyrm, you need to try it," Daemon said as he rode up to me, he had a smile on his face that I didn't like.

"Daemon, it's not even midday and you are already drinking," I said with a sigh.

"Of course not, I am about to drink and you are about to join me, valonquar, come on, you are about to be a father, and your wife is about pop out your first child within the week, come celebrate with me brother, it's just a few drinks." Daemon presses,

"Fine, but only a few." I gave in to his demands,

Black Wyrm ( A few drinks later )

"I never noticed this before, but why is Dacey's stomach bigger compared to Aemma they are both due this month," Daemon asked me as we chugged back the best beer I have ever had in King's Landing, this hopped beer is far better than ale. Not to mention the varieties they offer in this place.

"It's because there is a chance that Dacey might be carrying twins, either that or Dacey is carrying a very large child," I replied as I placed my mug for a refill.

"Twins?" Daemon turned to me with a surprised look.

"That's right, Runciter doesn't have much experience in delivering women with twins but one of his assistants has done it before in Oldtown, so yes it might be twins, but as the assistant has only done it once before, they aren't completely sure," I answered as I took my mug.

"Twins or not, I am still going to spoil them," Daemon said with a shit-eating grin.

"As long as you don't look at my daughters the way you look at Rhaenyra, I will throw you out of the window if Dacey doesn't do it first," I warned him which caused him to chuckle,

"Don't worry, I won't do anything untoward with your daughters," He said in a placating manner.

Then a woman entered the tavern, her skin was pale as milk, her hair was just as white, and her lithe body was a dead giveaway to me of who she was, Mysaria, aka the White worm, aka Lady Misery, aka my brother's favorite paramour. And someone to beware of.

"Brother let me introduce you to my Mistress, Mysaria of Lys," Daemon said to me as she approached us.

"My Prince, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, your brother has told me a lot about you," She said with an elegance that wouldn't be out of place in a ballroom.

"Pleasure to meet you as well, Lady Mysaria, my brother has told me absolutely nothing about you," I said with a smile as she sat on Daemon's lap.

I continued "It's not every day that one gets to meet the woman who has ensnared Lord Fleabottom,"

When I said that, Daemon promptly punched me in the stomach causing whatever I drank to come out,

"How dare you to mention that title in my presence, Prince of Sheep," Daemon said half angrily.

He was very sensitive about that title, he even had a few of his men whipped for saying that. On the other hand, Prince of Sheep was the monicker I received from a court jester in Dragonstone when I first bonded with Sheepstealer.

"Oh, shut up, don't you have any more hands to chop off," I replied as I placed my mug on the bar and wiped my mouth.

"No, I don't think your idea for the Fire Fighters did give me more work to do," Daemon replied as he began to fondle Mysaria.

"Aren't you happy that you now have five hundred more men working for you?" I replied as the barkeep refilled my mug while a serving girl cleaned up my mess.

"Of course I am, more men means more power and influence for me, and besides what we did in Myr made it was necessary to have a dedicated force for dealing with a fire in case someone tries to set King's Landing on fire as revenge." Daemon agreed with me,

"Plus you saw how Otto was torn between the two options." He said between kisses to Misery.

Yes, it was either letting the city burn or increasing Daemon's power, Otto was leaning towards the former but Viserys was not, so Daemon got five hundred more men plus an increase in budget much to Otto's growing horror.

The whole Myr attack increased our power and prestige in court to the point that Otto was desperate to find a way to curtail our influence and as luck would have it for him if Daemon gives that Heir for a Day joke in the foreseeable future he will lose it all in the same day.

Misery then got off Daemon's lap before he could completely disrobe her and fuck her on the bar much to his disappointment and much to my relief and gave him a searing kiss before she said, "I have a few things to take care of, my Dragon, I will be there tonight."

She left the tavern leaving a still-hard Daemon who was not impressed, so I decided to bounce before he dragged me to a brothel or a gambling den.

"I have work to do as well, so see you later if you decide to come back to the Red Keep anyway," I said to him patting him on the back as I left.

Small Council Chambers

"So how are the preparations going?" Viserys asked Otto as we all sat down for the meeting.

"They are going well your grace, we shall finish them by the end of the year," Otto answered.

"Good, the sooner this is over the better," Viserys said nodding. He did not like war.

"How many men and ships have we gathered for this war?" Lyonel asks as Lyman opens his ledgers.

"Lord Boremund has pledged ten thousand men, Prince Daemon has assured us that he will be able to marshal around six thousand men from the Crownlands," Otto responded.

"What about you Aegon? How many men will you bring from the Riverlands?" Viserys asked me after that.

"Somewhere around three," I replied.

"My brother shall bring around a similar number of soldiers from Oldtown, your grace," Otto said after me,

"And how many ships do we have for this campaign?" Runciter asked looking at Corlys,

"Around a hundred and fifty ships of the Royal Fleet, a hundred each from both my fleet and the Redwynes along with fifty more ships from White Harbor, Gulltown, and Maidenpool, in a total of four hundred ships, nearly double of the Carbfeeder's ships and that of the other pirates," Corlys replied with confidence.

"How many men does he have?" Viserys asked upon hearing that,

"Last I checked a little more than ten thousand men, with all the desertions that must be plaguing them, I would say less than that," Corlys informed us.

"How many ships are you leaving in Dragonstone and King's Landing?" I asked Corlys upon calculating in my head that he was taking nearly three-quarters of the Royal Fleet.

"Forty ships in Dragonstone and twenty in King's Landing, they will be augmented with around fifty of mine own ships," Corlys answered me.

"Enough war talk, leave it for the war rooms, now I want to hear more about this scheme you and Lyman have brought up, the Fire Insurance thing," Viserys then said turning toward me.

"Well, what is there to explain? I am sure we all know what insurance is, ship owners do it all the time for their ships, this time we are doing it for all property owners in the city in case of fire damages." I shrugged,

"Ship insurance is a private enterprise done by merchants and ships captains, this Fire Insurance is something the Crown is personally getting involved in and that can lead to a risk that the Crown shouldn't be involved in," Otto points out,

"Isn't every harvest a risk, isn't every ship that sails a risk, isn't every war a risk, everything that we do as rulers is a risk in some form or the other," I countered,

"It should be the duty of the Crown to provide for the people of King's Landing in times of need and this will help give people the confidence in the Crown that their needs will be taken care of, besides this is something that can be done even in Oldtown, Lord Corlys and I are already planning to do this in both Driftmark and Fairmarket," I continued,

"So why are you so resistant to it because I know full well that you have already sent word to your brother in Oldtown about this asking him to try it out once Lord Lyman successfully does it in King's Landing." I finished with a smirk that leaves Otto fuming.

Before Otto could say anything, Runciter's assistant bursts into the Small Council chambers startling us all.

"Your Graces, My Lords, Grand Maester, Lady Dacey's labors have begun and her water has broken." He said with frantic urgency.

"Oh, Fuck me."