Total Assault

Ironstone Town was an important mining stronghold of House Bolton. On ordinary days, at least five hundred House Bolton soldiers were stationed there. For these two reasons, the town was quite prosperous.

When the first caravan leader Ramsay butchered said he was going to Dreadfort to do business, he meant coming to Ironstone Town to trade.

Compared with other businesses, Ironstone Town's red-light district could be said to have been built with the greatest luxury.

After all, the undisciplined Night's Watch at Black Castle alone was enough to support the development of Mole's Town's red-light business, let alone this place.

Since Count Roose had recently summoned all the soldiers in his territory to gather, Ironstone Town's red-light district had been packed every day.

After all, these soldiers were either "fighting" with prostitutes or fighting with other soldiers.

Toot!

A loud horn sounded, and Ironstone Town's red-light district immediately exploded like an anthill flooded with water.

Many disheveled soldiers hurried toward the sound of the horn while straightening their clothes.

East of Ironstone Town was one of House Bolton's military outposts. After a burst of noisy commotion,

four thousand House Bolton soldiers finished forming ranks. Because there were so many of them, the formation stretched straight beyond the outpost's gate.

Locke stood solemnly at the very front of the formation. Once the four thousand troops had assembled, he gave them a loud speech, then pointed ahead and ordered the army to set out.

Locke had no expectations for this war, because he had known from the start that House Bolton would win.

Not only because of Lord Roose's shrewd calculations, but also because House Bolton had a trump card hidden away.

Clop! Clop! Clop!

A large group of Heavy Cavalry, clad in full plate armor along with their horses, passed before him. The knights atop those armored horses, carrying shields and lances, possessed an unstoppable momentum.

The siege of Dreadfort had entered its sixth day. Yesterday's second assault had repeated the events of the first.

Hundreds of siege infantry had been lost, yet they still had not even reached Dreadfort's walls.

At the start of the day, the Winterfell infantry were already demoralized. If not for the rear detachment supervising the battle, they might not have been willing to enter the range of the Bolton soldiers at all.

The third assault was completely different from the first. This time, Winterfell's casualties were relatively low, because the infantry had no intention of attacking the city. They hid behind their wooden shields beneath the walls and simply refused to come out.

After failing to breach the walls for a long time, the Winterfell infantry left behind the corpses of a few unlucky men and hurried back to the allied army's camp.

Trog was a commander in the Winterfell infantry, leading more than a thousand soldiers. Watching the haphazard third assault, he shook his head and walked toward the command tent behind him.

The allied army's tents were arranged in the shape of the Chinese character for "field." The four thousand Winterfell infantry tents occupied the front half, closest to Dreadfort.

The Karstark cavalry led by Count Rickard occupied the tents in the rear half.

The supply wagons were arranged crosswise at the end of the formation, as if meant to stop the allied soldiers from fleeing.

Moreover, the Karstark and Stark camps were clearly separated, with Karstark cavalry standing guard between them.

Trog had long been resentful. Nearly six hundred Karstark cavalrymen occupied as many tents as their four thousand men. Wasn't that obviously special treatment?

Besides, during the past three days of sieges, there had been no sign of those cavalrymen.

Although cavalry was of no use in a siege, they should at least have kept watch around the battlefield to prevent a cavalry charge from Dreadfort or a surprise attack by enemy reinforcements.

Under the current circumstances, without the Karstark cavalry providing defensive cover, the Winterfell infantry could only be slaughtered if they encountered enemy cavalry.

"Stop! Without Lord Rickard's permission, no one is allowed to enter the rear camp."

Trog was walking with his head lowered toward the rear when a cavalryman in front of him blocked his way.

"I'm Trog, commander of the Winterfell infantry. I have some suggestions regarding the siege, and I wish to see Lord Rickard."

Seeing the cavalryman blocking the way, Trog suppressed his anger and spoke loudly.

"Lord Rickard's order is to continue attacking Dreadfort. No suggestions are needed. You only need to obey orders."

The cavalryman clearly had no intention of letting Trog enter the camp behind him and directly rejected his request for an audience.

At those words, Trog immediately looked furious. Although they had loyally obeyed Lord Robb of Winterfell's summons and fought for him,

the commander he had chosen was completely useless and would only send them to their deaths for nothing. The feeling of having that loyalty betrayed caused Trog to erupt.

"I think Lord Rickard's siege tactics have serious problems. We Winterfell soldiers will not die for nothing. We absolutely will not continue the siege."

"Refusing a military order gives the battle-supervision force the right to execute you."

"Come on! Let's see whether you have more men or we do."

Their loud argument immediately attracted the attention of many nearby soldiers. They looked at the two men and whispered among themselves in small groups.

"All right, stop arguing! Lord Rickard says you may enter."

A Karstark cavalryman ran out from the rear camp, stopped their argument, and spoke to Trog.

Trog's face was flushed from the argument, but when he heard this, he stopped quarreling with the other man, raised his chest and head, and walked past the cavalryman.

At the center of the rear camp stood a tent noticeably more spacious than the others. This was Count Rickard's command tent.

Trog noticed that there were many cavalrymen guarding the tent, with a sentry stationed practically every two or three steps.

So many guards? Wasn't this Count Rickard a little too timid?

Trog grumbled inwardly with dissatisfaction, then held his head high and entered the tent.

After some time, Trog backed out of the tent with a respectful expression, his head lowered as he maintained a bowing posture.

Once the tent had fully closed, his face immediately lit up with delight. He turned and hurried toward his own tent.

After returning to his tent, he immediately gathered several other infantry commanders who had been summoned to fight. Then he said, "Tomorrow we launch an all-out assault. This time, we need to be ready to risk our lives!"

On the seventh day of the siege of Dreadfort, birds flew freely through the sky. Just as the morning sun cast its first rays over Dreadfort, a deep horn blast shattered the quiet atmosphere.

The defenders of Dreadfort discovered that the allied army's attack was completely different this time. Not only were there far more infantry carrying wooden shields, but their advance was also much faster.

"Prepare the defensive works. You, hurry and notify Lord Roose."

On Dreadfort's walls, a responsible officer sensed that something was unusual about this attack and made his judgment immediately.

Before long, the siege of Dreadfort was in full swing.

The Dreadfort defenders still relied on their three old methods: arrows, stones, and boiling oil. But the allied army's morale was entirely different this time, and the intensity of the assault was extremely fierce.

Whenever a Dreadfort defender dared expose himself to throw defensive weapons beyond the walls, the Winterfell archers below immediately showered him with arrows.

Watching their comrades fall and suffer injuries one after another, the Dreadfort defenders were pressed down by the archers below the walls until they could barely breathe.

On the siege ladders beside the walls, the allied infantry had already climbed more than halfway up and were drawing ever closer to the top.

Just then, Roose arrived in time with the troops coming off rotation. Calmly, he began directing the reinforcements, quickly filling the gaps.

"Do not panic. Hold your own positions. Victory in this war will inevitably belong to us!"

The Heavy Cavalry and the mining stronghold of House Bolton were original additions intended to make the war more exciting and intense. Please treat them as a trump card House Bolton had never revealed before.

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