General Offensive

Ironstone Town is a vital mining town for House Bolton, normally garrisoned by at least five hundred of their soldiers. Because of these two reasons, the town is quite prosperous.

The first merchant caravan leader that Ramsay slaughtered mentioned doing business at Dreadfort, which referred to trading in Ironstone Town.

Compared to other businesses, the red-light district in Ironstone Town is arguably the most luxuriously built.

After all, if the undisciplined Night's Watch at Black Castle could support the development of Mole Town's red-light industry, then this place is even more so.

Due to Count Roose recently summoning all soldiers within his territory, Ironstone Town's red-light district has been packed every day.

After all, these soldiers either 'fight' with the sex workers or fight with each other.

BEEP!

A loud horn blast sounded, and the red-light district of Ironstone Town immediately erupted like an anthill flooded with water.

Many soldiers, still dressing, hurriedly ran towards the direction of the horn.

East of Ironstone Town lies a troop outpost of House Bolton. After a period of noisy commotion.

Four thousand soldiers of House Bolton completed their formation. Due to their sheer numbers, the lines stretched straight out of the outpost gate.

Locke stood at the very front of the formation with a serious expression. Once the four-thousand-strong force was assembled, he gave a rousing speech before pointing forward, ordering the army to advance.

Locke had no expectations for this war, as he already knew House Bolton was destined to win.

This was not only due to Lord Roose's shrewd calculations but also because House Bolton possessed a trump card.

Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!

A large contingent of heavily armored cavalry, with both men and horses clad in iron, passed before him. The armored warhorses and the knights wielding shields and lances possessed an unstoppable aura.

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

Hundreds of siege infantry were lost, and they still hadn't even reached the walls of Dreadfort.

At the start of today, the morale of the Winterfell infantry was low. If it weren't for the battle commanders behind them, they might not have even dared to enter the range of the Bolton soldiers' attacks.

The third siege assault was completely different from the first. This time, Winterfell's casualties were relatively low. This was because the infantry had no intention of attacking the castle; they hid behind their wooden shields at the base of the walls, never venturing out.

After failing to breach the defenses for a long time, the Winterfell infantry, leaving behind the bodies of some unfortunate souls, hastily retreated back to the allied army's camp.

Trog was a commander of the Winterfell infantry, leading over a thousand men. He shook his head as he watched the poorly executed third siege assault and walked towards the military tents behind him.

The allied forces' tents were arranged in a Chinese character "田" (tián) formation. The tents for the four thousand Winterfell infantry were located in the front half, closest to Dreadfort.

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

The supply wagons of the logistics unit were arranged horizontally at the end of the "field" formation, seemingly to prevent the allied soldiers from deserting.

Furthermore, the tents of the Karstark and Stark forces were clearly separated, with Karstark cavalry standing guard in between.

Trog harbored resentment in his heart. Nearly six hundred Karstark cavalry occupied as many tents as their four thousand men. Wasn't this blatant special treatment?

Moreover, in the past three days of siege battles, these cavalry were nowhere to be seen.

While it was true that cavalry might not be needed for a siege, they should at least be patrolling the perimeter of the battlefield. This would prevent any surprise attacks from Dreadfort's cavalry or reinforcements.

In the current situation, without the cover and defense of the Karstark cavalry, the Winterfell infantry would be at the mercy of enemy cavalry.

"Halt! No one is permitted to enter the rear tents without Lord Rickard's permission."

Trog was walking towards the rear when he was stopped by a cavalryman in front of him.

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

Seeing the cavalryman blocking his path, Trog suppressed his anger and said in a clear voice.

"Lord Rickard's order is to continue the attack on Dreadfort. No suggestions are needed. You just need to obey orders."

The cavalryman clearly did not want Trog to enter the tents behind him and directly rejected his request to meet.

Upon hearing this, Trog's face immediately showed anger. Although they had loyally answered Lord Robb of Winterfell's call to arms and fought for him, the commander they had chosen was useless and only led them to their deaths. This feeling of betrayal made Trog erupt.

"I believe Lord Rickard's siege tactics have serious flaws. We Winterfell soldiers will not die in vain, and we will absolutely not continue the siege."

"Refusing a military order, the battle commanders have the right to execute you."

"Come on then! Let's see if you have more men than we do."

The loud argument between the two immediately attracted the attention of many surrounding soldiers. They watched Trog and the other man, whispering amongst themselves in small groups.

"Enough, stop arguing! Lord Rickard says you can come in."

A Karstark cavalryman ran out from the rear tents and stopped the argument, speaking to Trog.

Trog, whose face was flushed red from arguing, no longer bothered with the other man. He strode forward past the cavalryman.

In the center of the rear tents, there was a noticeably larger tent. This was Count Rickard's tent.

Trog noticed that there were many cavalrymen guarding the tent, with a guard basically every two or three steps.

With so many guards, was this Count Rickard really that timid!

Trog grumbled inwardly with dissatisfaction, then walked proudly into the tent.

After a while, Trog, with a respectful expression, lowered his head and maintained his bowing posture before exiting the military tent.

Once the tent flap was fully closed, his face immediately lit up with joy, and he turned to quickly walk towards his own tent.

Upon returning to his tent, he first gathered the other infantry commanders who had been conscripted to participate in the war, and then said, "Tomorrow we launch a general offensive. This time, we're going to fight for our lives!"

On the seventh day of the siege of Dreadfort, birds flew freely in the sky. As the morning sun cast its first rays upon Dreadfort, a heavy horn blast shattered the quiet atmosphere.

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

"Prepare the defenses. You, quickly notify Lord Roose."

On the walls of Dreadfort, an officer in charge sensed the unusual nature of this attack and immediately made his assessment.

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

The defenders of Dreadfort still employed their usual tactics of arrows, stones, and boiling oil. However, the morale of the joint army was entirely different this time, and the intensity of their assault was incredibly sharp.

Whenever a Dreadfort defender dared to expose their body and throw defensive items over the city walls, the Winterfell archers below would unleash a volley of arrows at them.

Watching their comrades fall and suffer casualties, the Dreadfort defenders felt suffocated by the archers below the city walls.

On the siege ladders by the city walls, the joint army's infantry had already climbed more than halfway, drawing ever closer to the ramparts.

Just then, Lord Roose arrived with the rotating reserve soldiers. He calmly began to direct the reinforcements, quickly filling the gaps.

"Don't panic, defend your own areas. The victory in this war will surely belong to us!"

The House Bolton mining stronghold and heavy cavalry were original additions to make the war more exciting and intense. Please consider them as trump cards that House Bolton had never revealed before.

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