It is not known whether it is a coincidence or inevitability, but the two major gathering places of human civilization in the world were simultaneously caught in a huge vortex of war.
Not long after the War of the Seven Kingdoms in Westeros began, the war on the continent of Essos entered the preparation stage.
Yunkai joined forces with New Ghis, Volantis and several weaker free trade cities to form an anti-Dragon King alliance and assembled an army of 300,000 slaves.
The news quickly reached Meereen, and Daenerys immediately convened a round table meeting, with all of Meereen's new power class present.
In the main hall of the True Dragon Pyramid, in addition to the large round table in the middle, there are also rectangular tables on both sides. This was Daenerys's own idea.
Although the Mother of Dragons does not have long-term political wisdom, she is still quite clever in some matters.
For example, the long table meeting was set up because Daenerys was afraid that Meereen would become a place where Jack had the final say, so she did this.
Dany divided the Dragon Pyramid into three levels of power. The first level was Dany herself, sitting on the throne at the top.
The second level is the Round Table, which is the leadership of Meereen and the royal court after decentralization.
The third tier is the people in front of the square table, including officials and representatives at all levels of Meereen, as well as religious forces such as the Green Saint. They belong to the executive class and have no decision-making power.
"Now that Yunkai has united many forces to form an anti-Dragon King alliance, do you have any countermeasures?"
Dany asked everyone.
She had expected the formation of the Anti-Dragon King Alliance, but she had not expected that Yunkai could win over so many allies in such a short time.
Camel soldiers from Volantis, New Ghis, Tolos, and even Qarth.
Especially the Volantis naval fleet consisting of 300 warships, which is definitely not good news for Dany.
Once Volantis' fleet arrives, Meereen's maritime trade will be directly blockaded.
Everyone in the hall was silent. There was no good way out now. They could only fight against the enemy with their own troops and block the water with earth.
Besides, the arrangements made by the Prime Minister were already very comprehensive, so there was nothing they could do.
So many people looked at Jack silently. After all, it was not a good idea for a subject to remain silent.
Seeing this, Jack said directly: "Your Majesty, it is not us who should be anxious, but the Slave Owners Alliance.
The name of their alliance is the Anti-Dragon King Alliance, and the reason is the four dragons in your and my hands.
They are afraid that the dragon will grow up, so they want to use the term "Dragon King" to awaken people's fear and let everyone unite to deal with us.
Moreover, the Kaiser Pass is under our control, and the Laza people are willing to sell us food at 80% of the market price as long as we provide them with shelter.
We have food and people, and we are also purchasing iron ore on the market. Now the number of iron ore merchants coming to Meereen has increased by 30% compared to before.
With the iron we can craft weapons and arm the Free Folk."
After hearing Jack's words, not only did Daenerys feel relieved, but everyone else present also felt relieved.
Many times, Jack is like a reassurance to Meereen, as if as long as Jack speaks, there will be no problem.
Mantuo then said, "Prime Minister, do you mean that as long as we can delay time, we can win this war?"
Everyone was looking forward to Jack's answer, but Jack's next words poured cold water on everyone.
"The first two years are good for us. We need to train our troops and stabilize the operation of Meereen. But as time goes on and our finances hit rock bottom, if we still cannot defeat this coalition, then we will collapse on our own without the slave owners having to send troops."
Jack looked at everyone and said, "This is the problem we face. The Anti-Dragon King Alliance has just been established. It will take at least half a year for us to gather together and send troops together."
"In the next six months, we must take over Yunkai and Astapor. Otherwise, when the Alliance Army forms an encirclement, we will really be trapped in an isolated city."
Dany sat on the throne, frowning slightly.
It is not difficult to understand what Jack meant. Before the anti-Dragon King alliance gathers to besiege Meereen, Yunkai and Astapor should be taken down first.
Otherwise, they will be surrounded by the Anti-Dragon King Alliance's navy and army.
But if we take Yunkai and Astapor first, we won't have to worry about the army, and we can just focus on resisting the navy's beach landing.
But the question is, how to ensure that we can gain a foothold in Yunkai and Astapor?
"May I ask, Prime Minister? The army of Meereen only has 9,600 Unsullied, and 2,000 of them have to be allocated to protect the Raza people. How can they maintain their rule over the three cities of Slaver's Bay?"
"The Free Folk Army."
"The Free Folk?" Dany asked.
In Dany's view, the Free Folk Army is just a decoration, at least for the next six months.
Made up of a group of ordinary slaves without decent weapons and armor, such a legion is indeed like a decoration compared to the Unsullied.
"Yes, it is the Freemen's Army. Not counting the Unsullied who are protecting the Lazar people, you still have 7,600 people.
Thirty-two hundred Unsullied and the black dragonflight are stationed in Meereen; twenty-four hundred Unsullied and the white dragonflight are stationed in Yunkai, and the remaining Unsullied and the green dragonflight are stationed in Astapor."
"Excuse me, I think dividing the troops is not a good idea. The slave owners are very likely to take this opportunity to encircle and suppress the Unsullied in Yunkai and Astapor."
Barristan was not optimistic about the decision to divide the troops. In his opinion, the most powerful feature of the Unsullied was their military formation, and the more they were, the stronger they were. Once the troops were divided, no city-state would be able to withstand the coalition of slave owners.
Barristan saw that Dany was still lost in thought, so he continued:
"Your Majesty, the three legions of freemen have a total of 18,000 men, and each legion only has 6,000 men after being separated.
Even if the Unsullied are included, there are less than 10,000 of them, not counting the casualties in the attack on Yunkai and Astapor, while the slave owners' coalition has a total of 300,000 people."
"Ser Barristan, I think you have overlooked a problem. After we occupy Yunkai and Astapor, can we no longer recruit soldiers?
Besides, we haven't plundered the wise lords of Yunkai yet. There must be a huge amount of wealth in their pyramids."
Barristan frowned and said, "Prime Minister, believe me, you have never participated in the war, so you may not know.
New recruits are prone to collapse and cannot be compared to normal soldiers. Not all soldiers are like the Unsullied."
After saying this, Barristan glanced at Grey Worm, hoping that Grey Worm could join him in persuading Daenerys not to disperse her forces.
However, Grey Worm pretended not to see anything. He did not want to, nor did he have the ability to, participate in the decision-making. He only had to obey the orders of Her Majesty the Queen.
Seeing that Grey Worm had no intention of speaking, Barristan could only pray that Daenerys would listen to his advice.