Salt, sea, and the sight of war all made his blood run quick with anticipation.
Euron Greyjoy licked blue lips as he saw fifteen Tully ships backed against the bridge, waiting for them. They had hoisted their flags, but none of them were white. Not that it mattered – he was too eager for signs of surrender to stop him from bathing in crimson blood.
The Tully king – Edward, was it? – had only five thousand puny men to his cause. Spies had told them that Edward planned to garrison a thousand men on the west tower and another thousand on the east. That should mean three thousand would be among the ships. Three thousand men against my thousand-and-twenty? The bards would show grace if they call this a battle, and not a massacre.
Even though the fog prevented clear sight, the mass of Lannister men west of the Green Fork were easily noticeable. While the Crow’s Eye would soak ships with blood, the plan was for Lord Prissy Goldenhand to ride with his sixty-thousand handsome men to conquer the western tower. The toddlers left in the eastern stronghold should surrender at the sight of the slaughter. Mayhaps they will choose to fight instead, Euron thought, but one must not get their hopes up.
Apart from soldiers and pirates, his fleet also had to accommodate food, ale, horses, spare banners, clothing, tents, and other things necessary for the future siege of Winterfell. It was important none of them sunk during the battle, Goldenhand insisted, so Euron stashed the cargo in ten ships instead of across forty. To keep them protected his fleet rode in a triangle, with the ten ships carrying the goods at the base of it. He added another ten ships behind, to protect assaults from the rear.
Forty Greyjoy ships hurtled through the fog. Euron’s Silence was at the tip of the triangle. His crew of eight-hundred sang in drunken tones, holding swords and shields, dancing to war drums, ripe for battle. The only one not participating was Cragorn. “They have fifteen ships lined abreast,” he said, looking through the fog. “It looks like they are staying close to the bridge behind them, to keep us from fucking them from the arse.”
Euron cackled appreciatively. “It looks like the fish have decided to flop around and gasp for air.” Cragorn had been with him during his years of exile the longest, and he knew what he was thinking. “We have fought some legendary battles, but this will not be one of those. Take as much fun from this carnage as you can.”
Then suddenly, as if on some command, all fifteen Tully ships charged forward.
Ah, trying to fool me, are we? A common counterattack to his triangular formation was to flank it from the sides, but for that to work the two forces forming the tip of Euron’s triangle would have to separate from the two base fleets behind. That way, a gap would be formed in the triangle, large enough for Tully ships to swarm inside and breach their line of defense.
The Crow’s Eye had enough experience to know that by staying true to his triangular formation, the Tullys would fail. He was also certain that, in order to tempt Euron to pierce through their fleet, the center of the Tully line would purposefully appear weak. If Euron were to take the bait, by rushing the tip of the triangle through the center, the gaps in his formation would give his enemy the advantage.
But when they saw through the fog, much to the shock of everyone aboard the Silence, the central three ships seemed jam-packed with crewmen.
Euron could not but feel a tinge of respect and appreciation for the Tullys. They intend to face me head-on, no tactics, no japes. This had to be the work of Edward, who he heard preferred open combat than intricate, almost diplomatic ways of war. If he intended to fight Euron like a warrior, so be it. “It seems,” he muttered to Cragorn, “that your hopes for a bloody scrap may come true.” Then, Euron spoke out loud. “Prepare the boarding bridges!”
As Silence charged at full throttle to the center of the Tully line, through overwhelming fog, Euron heard to his west the clash of sword on steel, and knew the Lannisters had begun their dance as well.
*
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