Chapter 414

Eastwatch was the first to face the challenge of the dead, but whether by coincidence or by design, across the entire Wall and the great canyon, in the distant Westeros, another seaside fortress manned by the Night's Watch, Icecanyon Port, was also beset by trouble, though from the living.

The fledgling Northern navy dared not sail out to meet Euron Greyjoy's fleet, yet the latter was equally wary of Icecanyon Port's robust defenses and refrained from attacking. The ironborn flaunted their might within the Bay of Ice, while the Northern craftsmen, sailors, and Night's Watchmen hunkered down within the harbor, building ships and bolstering their numbers. On the surface, it seemed neither side could gain the upper hand, but within Icecanyon Port's shipyards, work continued day and night, and given the North’s resources and sheer size, it inevitably held the advantage in this war of attrition. Perhaps aware of this, after several days of stalemate, Euron finally made his move.

Soldiers patrolling the coastline during the day first brought back the news: not ten miles south of Icecanyon Port, several longships had landed, disgorging a large number of reavers onto the shore.

There were no villages along the coast of the Bay of Ice to plunder, so the purpose of the landing was clear: the ironborn, far from home, were unwilling to prolong the standoff. They intended a pincer attack, land and sea, to swiftly dismantle Icecanyon Port and strangle the Northern navy in its cradle.

The harbor fortress held just over a thousand defenders, and they also had to guard the Gorge. Defense was ample, offense lacking. Despite prior knowledge, Icecanyon Port's commander, after some deliberation, chose to send a raven to the Shadow Tower, and then hold his position.

The sky was as black as spilled ink, the moon struggling to appear and disappear amidst thick clouds. The ice storm that had swept across the coast of the Bay of Seals had not reached here. It was another normal night of howling winds, and the world seemed to be silent save for the wind and the crashing of waves against the shore.

The night watch sentries had finished their dinner and stood atop the fortress walls. Due to prior warning of a possible night attack, the number of guards on duty had been doubled. All had their eyes wide open, watching every direction around the fortress with extreme vigilance, unwilling to miss the slightest disturbance. Every time someone saw something that might be a moving figure, they immediately reported it to their captain for a second look through a Myrish lens.

However, it was the guard on the sea-facing watchtower, intently focused on the water, who first spotted the enemy.

Euron deliberately allowed some of the ironborn to land, ensuring their presence was detected by the Northern patrol. But the real attack came from the sea. Tonight, the sky was thick with clouds, and the light was extremely dim. Dozens of sailing ships equipped with trebuchets or other long-range weaponry arrived in the Bay of Ice, outside the mouth of the Milkwater. They first sailed directly towards Icecanyon Port, only opening fire when they were a few hundred meters from the shore. More than ten projectiles, trailing fire and smoke, cut through the dark night sky. Some fell into the icy sea, raising splashes, others smashed against the city walls, scattering sparks, and some hit the brand new Northern warships docked at the shore, quickly threatening to ignite them.

The previously quiet Icecanyon Port instantly erupted in chaos. Alarm bells clanged, horns blared, and from every house emerged figures in disarray. Whether already in bed or not, everyone who heard the alarm leaped up, donned their equipment, grabbed their weapons, and rushed out. They quickly joined with whatever officers they could find and, under their leadership, rushed to their assigned battle stations.

"Everyone who knows how to use a trebuchet, go to the west tower and help! Those who don't, go to the harbor and put out the fires on the ships! Leave a squad to keep watch outside the walls, and sound the alarm if you see the enemy!" The officer on duty shouted orders, leading half of the soldiers down the wall, rushing towards the harbor.

Soon, shore-based catapults and ballistae, manned by ample crews, began to retaliate against the ironborn ships that had suddenly appeared on the surface of the water. With stable bases, their position on land meaning they couldn't be sunk, and the devastating power of wildfire bombs, they soon gained the upper hand in the exchange.

However, just as most people's attention was drawn to the bombardment of long-range weapons, several hundred ironborn warriors who had disembarked and were hidden in the woods far from the fortress emerged from their hiding places. Under cover of darkness, they charged to within a hundred meters of the city walls before being spotted by the soldiers on top.

The young soldier who first discovered the situation had, moments before, been watching the spectacular fireworks-like duel between the ships in the distant harbor and bay. The next second, he heard footsteps and voices outside the wall. Cautiously, he tossed out a torch and, in its weak light, saw dozens of heads packed together. Terrified, he almost fell to the ground. He immediately yelled to his comrades and rang the alarm bell for the south wall's attack.

This was the scene that greeted Jaime when he burst out of his room, fully dressed: on the surface of the sea, towards the harbor, "cannon fire was flying," but under the cover of this loud but ultimately harmless noise, alarm bells sounded from the south and east walls.

What's going on?

The Kingslayer frowned in confusion.

From the beginning, he had not supported Aegor's decision to lease Icecanyon Port to the North as a naval port, nor did he particularly approve of the "groveling" tactic of "proactively providing a large number of troops for protection" in exchange for the Starks' support and cooperation in other areas. Even less did he want to fight the ironborn.

He originally volunteered to come to the Wall because his pile of shameful secrets had brought a crisis of destruction upon his family. He wanted to atone by fighting the "natural enemy of mankind," the Others, and find a quiet place to live out his remaining years.

If he just switched locations but ended up fighting living men, especially living men within the Seven Kingdoms, what was the point?

Although he did indeed despise the ironborn, this group of stubborn and greedy pirates, he was equally unenthusiastic about the stinky, hard-headed, and self-righteous Northmen. Now Aegor wanted him to fight one group he didn't particularly like, for another group he disliked, and the feeling was terrible! This was not his war.

Despite his displeasure, Jaime had no intention of quitting. First, the Iron Islands were indeed at war with the Westerlands, so fighting the ironborn did not go against his family's interests. Second, Aegor, as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, had been nothing but kind to him, using his authority to take care of his three children and even himself. The third reason was a bit embarrassing to admit: he had, for the first time, experienced the feeling of love from someone other than Cersei, and had someone to protect besides his family.

Because of his handsome appearance from a young age, Jaime was used to women showing interest in him. Being pursued was not unusual, but Val fully demonstrated why she had earned the nickname "Wildling Princess." Despite knowing about his oathbreaking past and hearing about his incestuous relationship with his sister, despite the fact that he was no longer powerful, wealthy, or influential, Val was still willing to approach and understand him, peeling back the hard shell he had built around himself, and touching his not-so-manly, soft heart.

And after finally deciding she wanted to be with him, her bold, passionate, yet sincere advances, so different from the "delicate and coy" manner of typical Westerosi women, could make any man with a sound mind and body fall for her.

Jaime now had a reason to fight. Not to mention, the ironborn, led by the madman Euron Greyjoy, wouldn't spare him just because he said, "Stop fighting, I dislike the Northmen as much as you do." For both emotional and practical reasons, he had to give it his all.

His trusted squad of Westerlanders had armed themselves and assembled before him. Although these men were half-voluntarily accompanying him to the Wall as Night's Watchmen under the pressure of his father, Lord Tywin, their families and children were being well cared for in Lannisport, and Aegor had promised to allow them to return home to visit in the future. Their morale and loyalty were not bad. After a quick scan of the squad to ensure no one was missing, the Kingslayer looked around and finally decided to reinforce the southeast wall, which was reporting an attack.

After all, no matter how fierce the fighting in the harbor was, the ships hundreds of meters offshore wouldn't instantly teleport into the harbor to occupy the fortress, but if the walls and gates were lost, the enemy would be inside.

Dozens of Westerlanders soldiers rushed towards the wall. Along the way, they gathered several groups of Northern and Gift soldiers who had become separated from their officers and were unsure what to do. They grew like a snowball, and by the time they reached the foot of the wall, they had become a force of over a hundred men. Then, they joined with the official reserve force brought by the Icecanyon Port commander, forming a substantial reinforcement. Half of Icecanyon Port's soldiers had come to the wall to help.

With no time for pleasantries, the two groups quickly ascended the wall. The situation was better than expected. Although there were many raiders, they had traveled a long distance and were unprepared for a siege, relying only on crude wooden ladders to climb the wall. Their attack was loud but posed a limited threat. Besides a human wave attack, there was only one group carrying a fresh log to use as a battering ram, attacking the east gate of the fortress. The log was making the thick wooden gate shake, and although it wouldn't break immediately, the sounds of strain were making everyone nervous.

In the hurried, panicked response to the surprise attack, a considerable amount of wildfire, prepared for the wights, had been wasted due to inexperience and fright. While powerful, it was an enormous waste.

With a single stroke of his sword, Jaime cut down an ironborn warrior who had just climbed up the wall and hadn't had time to shout. Jaime and the Icecanyon Port commander split their forces, sweeping across the top of the wall in two directions, quickly reclaiming a few small sections of the wall that had fallen and overturning several wooden ladders. The previously precarious wall defense immediately stabilized.

"Stop throwing wildfire! That's for the dead, we have a limited supply!"

After shouting to stop several first-time combatants from wasting supplies, Jaime sheathed his sword, took a bow from a soldier beside him, and carefully peered over the top of the wall to observe the battle: wildfire could not burn on the cold snow, but if it landed lucky on someone, it could burn using clothing and equipment as a base. Under the red and green flames burning on several corpses and shields lying in the snow, the enemy's general situation came into view: dozens, even hundreds of people were crowded under the wall, their clothes and equipment displaying the sigils of various houses: the kraken of House Greyjoy, the black horn with a golden rim of House Goodbrother, the intertwined green pipes of House Merlyn, and so on.

A rabble, and they dare to attack a fortress guarded by him?

Jaime sneered, nocked an arrow, drew the fletching to his ear, took aim at random, and released. Then he nocked another arrow, drew. He was no marksman, but the enemy's formation was chaotic and their defenses and counter-fire were insufficient. One by one, ironborn raiders fell screaming, while his own side suffered few casualties. Under his leadership and presence, the other soldiers on the top of the wall gradually calmed down, no longer throwing wildfire randomly, but instead defending with more practical stones and arrows.

The ironborn were not good at sieges, and now they were facing prepared defenders. After a rush of attacks failed, and their "battering ram" was turned into a pillar of fire by pitch and wildfire, the attackers abandoned dozens of corpses and retreated in panic into the darkness.

That was it? They sailed almost a thousand miles to launch a sneak attack, and that's all the commotion they made?

Cheers arose from around him. Regardless of the actual results, this was indeed the first defensive victory since Icecanyon Port was built. Jaime was puzzled, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. However, in the darkness unnoticed by everyone, Euron's true killing move was silently approaching the harbor fortress. Neither the fleet of ships bombarding the fortress from hundreds of meters offshore, nor the land-based attack on the walls, were carried out by the Iron Islands' elite. The truly fiercest warriors, the most seasoned sailors of the Ironborn, were now sitting on longships, biting down on something in their mouths, silently rowing. Led by a small boat using tools to measure the depth of the water and the distribution of reefs, they crept silently at a snail's pace, hugging the coast from south to north, inching towards Icecanyon Port.

Normally, such a close-to-shore infiltration would be spotted by the sentries on the sea-facing watchtower.

However, the ships firing off their weapons to the northwest, deliberately drawing attention, were currently occupying the attention of the fortress's watchtowers and the sailors in the harbor. Everyone was focused on the ships aiming and firing with various projectiles. The inexperienced commander completely forgot to assign people to continue vigilance, thus overlooking the longships quietly passing under their noses.

And the raiders feigning an attack outside the walls had drawn the defensive forces inside the fortress to the southeast walls, far from the coast and harbor. Euron's main attack force seized this moment. Ten longships loaded with soldiers suddenly emerged from the shadows, rounding the natural breakwater and charging into the harbor, sailing directly past the docked Northern warships. Only when they rushed onto the beach did they stop. Over three hundred of the strongest ironborn warriors poured onto the shore, charging into the empty harbor, where only a dozen people were fighting fires, as if entering a no-man's land, and began to wreak havoc on the buildings and warships.