At the Gates of Casterly Rock

The imposing presence of Casterly Rock is unmatched by any ordinary castle. Perched atop a rocky hill on the shores of the Sunset Sea, the castle and the hill blend seamlessly together, resembling a colossal statue.

To escape the war, the towns surrounding Casterly Rock are deserted, but for this castle that will never fall, it means nothing. The faces that live on this land have changed thousands of times, and the sun has cast its rays into the Sunset Sea millions of times, from east to west.

Casterly Rock is like the fulcrum of all of this.

Yet, faced with this colossal, statue-like castle, someone opened a noose, attempting to pull it down.

Jon's 20,000-strong army had been at Casterly Rock for more than half a month. This sudden attack, like a black tiger tearing out the heart, has kept Tywin's southern army from returning for the time being. In fact, the southern army is still unaware that Jon's army has arrived at Casterly Rock, because all of Tywin's Raven have been intercepted. This allows Jon to more calmly plan his siege.

Twenty thousand troops, working in conjunction with earthworks, had already surrounded Casterly Rock. Today, the horns of attack seemed to have awakened this statue that had slumbered for millennia.

When Jon ordered his soldiers to use the heavy shield wagons, which were over three meters tall, as cover, each wagon required about five horses to drive.

Jon had over three hundred of these shield carts prepared.

Each shield wagon was followed by about twenty soldiers. Using the shield wagons for cover, they slowly approached Casterly Rock.

From an overhead view, these heavy shield-carrying vehicles resemble giant tortoises, slowly and steadily crawling forward.

"What is that?"

"Who knows? Let's wait for orders."

The soldiers of Casterly Rock had never seen such a strange siege weapon before, but some veterans with battlefield experience could roughly estimate what it was used for.

"My lord, that bastard son wants to use this thing to get close to our castle!" Adam said from the side.

Tywin stood silently with his binoculars in hand, his face still devoid of any smile.

Since the cart is made of wood, it would be great if it had its own Wildfire.

Jon burned his brother to death with Wildfire, and he wanted to take revenge with Wildfire as well.

"Order the soldiers to light the arrows before firing," Tywin said coldly.

Casterly Rock has a well-stocked armory, and even has prepared viscous grease specifically for igniting arrows.

Each archer had a brazier lit beside them, and after lighting their arrows, they awaited their commander's orders.

The shield carts were still advancing, but a few arrows with bright yellow fletchings had already been fired. They were measuring the distance.

These arrows with bright yellow fletching marked a dotted line below the city; when the shield carts rolled over these lines, it meant they had entered their killing range.

The soldiers behind the shield carts naturally understood this as well.

"Pull""

At the officer's command, the archers of Casterly Rock drew their bows, producing a sickeningly loud creaking sound.

"Put!!!"

Arrows rained down on the shield carts like locusts, but the soldiers behind them didn't catch fire as expected. It turned out that the carts had already been covered with a thick layer of wet mud.

Arrows rained down on the shield carts like hail, greatly reducing soldier casualties.

Tywin was unconcerned by this, for Casterly Rock's methods went far beyond this.

Soon, the defenders of Casterly Rock showed the attacking army why the city was said to be invincible.

A dozen catapults simultaneously launched hundreds of head-sized projectiles, which rained down on the slowly advancing shield carts. Although most of the projectiles missed, those that did hit the shield carts displayed considerable power.

The catapult projectiles carved horrific cracks into the shield carts, sunlight streaming through them and illuminating the faces of the soldiers pushing them, their pupils wide with terror. The soldiers saw that some projectiles had even embedded themselves directly into the shield carts.

Besides the stationary catapults, Jon also witnessed the terrifyingly long crossbows. When the shield carts approached the city walls, the arrows fired from the crossbows almost pierced through the carts, revealing their sharp, gleaming blades.

It was for this reason that Jon did not allow Tyrell's archers to provide fire support for the shield wagon units; those giant crossbows were simply too terrifying.

If they continue with the conventional formation, their archers will not be able to inflict enough damage on the defenders of Casterly Rock, and they will only lose lives in vain.

"Eighty feet to go! Keep pushing!"

The officer who gave the order came from the Riverlands and was one of the first Riverlands militia to Jon Snow's forces. They had traveled from King's Landing's Landing, eastward, to Golden Tooth.

Along the way, I didn't see a single unburned farmland, a single unlooted house, or a single unraped Maiden.

The people of Riverlands harbored a deep-seated hatred for the Westerlands, a hatred that ran to the bone.

Meanwhile, in Jon's army, clashes occasionally broke out Riverlands Militia who had joined early on and the Westerlands soldiers he had recruited.

Even though Jon had already conducted a sufficiently impactful and brutal trial in the Dragonpit.

Jon knew the best way was to find Tywin, give him a trial, and then kill him to quell the divisions within the army.

Otherwise, we can only rely on time to slowly wear it down.

After all, when the Riverlands army marched into the Westerlands, if it weren't for Jon's violent deterrence, they would have turned their swords on innocent people as well.

"Quickly! Keep pushing!"

"Push harder! Push harder!"

The shield vehicles, which had been slightly delayed, accelerated again and sped toward their target, but the second wave of projectiles soon arrived with a whoosh.

Because the shield carts were closer to the castle, the projectiles and crossbow bolts were more concentrated. Half of the dozens of shield carts that advanced suffered varying degrees of damage, and two shield carts were even blasted open, killing and injuring a large number of soldiers behind them.

"Keep pushing! Forty feet left!"

"Advance! Advance!"

"Waaah"

The officers roared, the bugles urged them on, and the shield carts sped up again.

Fortunately, because of its proximity to the castle, Casterly Rock's catapults are difficult to aim, and even the giant crossbows require more time to adjust their direction and aim.

Taking advantage of this opening, the soldiers rushed out from behind the shield carts, shields in hand, and stormed the low wall in front.

The Westerlands soldiers on the low wall remained fierce. Tywin told them that Jon was going to lead the Riverlands army to kill them all. Out of fear and resentment, and of course, mainly because they showed no mercy to ranged projectiles like arrows and javelins, they had already inflicted considerable casualties before Jon's army even got close.

Therefore, the other shield carts that could still be advanced moved as close as possible, stopping only when they hit the wall.

With relatively sufficient troops, they stormed the low wall, but they had no intention of occupying it. Their real target was the well and spring behind the wall.

The rotting carcasses of sheep, already decaying and infested with maggots, were thrown into the well, after which the army quickly withdrew.

"How foolish, sir! It seems this bastard doesn't know that our main source of water actually comes from rainfall." Adam found this very amusing.

Tywin breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Jon Snow's great effort was only for a few wells.

After all, ever since this unknown illegitimate son made his move, he has always appeared and disappeared mysteriously, even to the point of "turning the rotten into the miraculous."

Casterly Rock is incredibly fortified!

Adam Lannister.

"My lord." Adam's face lit up with joy. Ever since he was legitimized by Tywin, he had really enjoyed being called by his full name.

"Go to that little bastard's camp tonight and give me a couple of messages."

"To Jon's camp?!" Adam's heart skipped a beat, and he felt inexplicably afraid.

What if Jon, enraged by the unsuccessful daytime attack, kills him?

But there was no way around it; he was currently in Casterly Rock, and he couldn't disobey Tywin's orders.

"Yes, sir."

Meanwhile, in Jon's camp, many nobles and officers felt their scalps tingle. They had never seen a castle with such tight defenses. Even the low walls, less than seven feet high, required such a heavy price to attack, let alone the entire Casterly Rock.

The soldiers who retreated were somewhat demoralized and frustrated by the formidable barrier.

The atmosphere in Jon's tent was also tense.

Jon may have some unique skills in open field battles, but Casterly Rock is no ordinary fortress; if you can't take it, you simply can't.

"Lord Jon, perhaps we could try using Wildfire?" Brynden suggested.

Before Jon could retort, Loras chimed in impatiently, "Wildfire? That would have to be something we can throw at Tywin first. Besides, we might be able to burn ships and people with Wildfire, but burning stones?"

"Loras!" Garlan whispered a reminder, urging Loras to be more polite.

However, Brynden wasn't angry, because he knew that Loras was ostensibly talking about himself, but actually trying to persuade Jon to quit.

He desperately wanted Jon to be at his wits' end, then feel immense shame and ask the House Tyrell to annul the engagement, so his sister wouldn't have to marry a bastard.

Of course, it's impossible to break off an engagement; it's absolutely impossible in this lifetime.

Jon knew that Highgarden's help was absolutely essential for the Westerlands to recover quickly, and only Margaery could provide that help.

Golden Finger is a superpower, and so is the power of money!

Jon ignored Loras's provocation. After all, he was only seventeen years old, and having learned his lesson, he had become much more sensible. At least now, a single glance from Jon would immediately silence him.

"Sir Brynden, I can still use Wildfire, but not on offense."

When do you plan to use it?

Before Jon could answer, Robert Frey came into the tent and reported to Jon and the others, "My lord, Tywin has sent someone who wants to see you."

Let him come.