"Warrior, bless us!"
"Warrior, bless us!" the Household Guard soldiers cheered loudly as Gendry walked out of the courtyard. Ser Barristan Selmy, Anguy, Anguy, Jon Snow, the Bear Maiden Dacey Mormont, and the others followed him.
At this moment, the Crackclawmen controlled the area around Maidenpool, the Vale army held its position at Duskendale, and the combined armies of the North and the Riverlands were recovering lost territory and striking at Lannister supplies. The Stormlands army, their strongest force, was also marching north in good order. The Stormlands were indeed very close to the Crownlands. With so many powers contending for supremacy, the Lannisters were beset on every side.
At the docks, beautiful heraldic designs adorned the sails. Duke Stannis Baratheon now bore the heavy responsibility of managing the Royal Fleet and the reinforcements from the Twin Cities Fleet, while Gendry commanded the land army himself. Stannis was better at naval warfare to begin with. In the original timeline, he would never have surrendered command of the fleet had he not lacked a trusted general for his land army and somewhat underestimated the enemy.
"Prince Gendry, the fleet is ready," Duke Stannis said.
"Very good, Lord Stannis. Proceed according to our original plan," Gendry said.
"As you command!" Stannis nodded. The fleet would divide into three groups, appearing very scattered. One large group would feint at Lannisport, making a great show of attacking the Westerlands. The second would strike into the Blackwater Rush and attack King's Landing. The third would serve as a support force, maintaining contact with the other forces.
Dividing one's forces was generally a terrible idea, but this was also an opportunity to lure the enemy deep in. Even that filthy gutter of King's Landing was bait. They would see who was willing.
*I hope my bait