Chapter 45: Naval warfare
A/N: Hey guys,
Here's today's second chapter.
Thanks to everyone who supported me.
You could read more advanced chapters on my pàtreon.
https://www.pàtreon.com/Gnanaa
For the mass release, if we reach 50 pàtreons, I will upload 5 more chapters.
Enjoy.
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Rhaegar was now more resolute on recruiting Edward, and he would do whatever it take to make him his hand. Rhaegar thought that he still had time to persuade Edward. He had a few more years before his father would die, and he became the king. So Rhaegar decided to make use of the next few years and persuade Edward.
Edward also received a letter from Lord Arryn telling Edward that he did great and that Jon was sure that Edward could do more for Stormsland. He also stated that he was congratulating Edward for the success of the large plan that Edward implemented. Arryn also thanked him for not forgetting the Vale and the North and the wealth that the Vale could make because of Edward.
Edward also received a thanks letter from Lord Stark. Lord Stark knew that part of the reason why Edward helped them was the Engagement between Robert and Lyanna and his friendship with his son, Eddard. So Lord Stark decided to leave part of the gold dragons to Ned. After all, Ned was not supposed to inherit anything. Lord Stark was now more insistent on Lyanna and Robert's relationship than ever and refused any word from Lyanna. Lyanna knew about Robert's whoring at the moment. She already started to hate him and asked her father to cancel the engagement between her and Robert.
Edward did not know that he became part of the reason that Lyanna suffered more. Edward was only thinking about his profit, and since he wanted to suppress Bravos, then controlling the Narrow sea and the shivering sea was important. And the North and the Vale would play their roles.
Many Lords started offering their daughter to Edward for marriage. After seeing his huge success, how would anyone not want a part of it? Even Lord Stark wished he could marry Lyanna to Edward, but Edward did not seem interested in the girl when he visited the north, plus she was his brother's fiancee.
That was the progress of his business plans. Edward could have made the Baratheon the wealthiest House by the moment if he did not use millions of gold dragons on the other projects. But that did not hinder Edward. He knew that He could make the Baratheon the wealthiest House sooner or later. What he needed at the moment was to improve Stormsland's overall power.
At the end of this year, Edward had three hundred and twenty new ships. The growth of Stormsland's fleets was incredible. It made the rest of the Houses shocked. Not only the number of vessels in the fleet had increased, but the quality of them was also a way better.
Edward was able to construct many sea routes with the free cities, thanks to his fleet. Using his knowledge and Bruce Caron's talent, Edward could organize his fleet with trained marines and sailors. After consulting with his men and his family, Edward came up with a plan to build a school. In this school, he would train sailors and marines in Naval warfare. The problem was how to filter the spies. After what had happened with Tywin's spies, Edward did not trust his security system fully anymore. If Tywin's spies were able to get parts of his recipes and blueprints, It meant that they could get their hands on the training routines as well.
Edward could only think of a new security system with strict protocols to help him. That was all he could do. He could only increase the security measure around all the projects and the people working on them.
It did not take long before Edward's fleet entered its first confrontation. Their first Naval battle was with the pirate groups of Lyseni and Myrmen on the Stepstones. After Edward's goods entered all the free cities, Those pirates could not sit still after knowing that many ships that carried the gold dragons were passing through their islands without them doing anything. Would they be good pirates if they did not attack those ships and take all the gold?
They firstly did not allow the ships to pass without paying a tribute. At first, Edward agreed as he did not have many ships, and the amount they would pay was a lot by then. But at the end of the eighth month, after Edward became the lord, those pirates became daring enough to try to take over his ships. They did not allow the fleet to pass through Stepstones. And if any vessel from Edward's side came close, they would start attacking.
Edward would never bow to them. He was only taking some time to build and organize his fleet or how he would allow them to extort a tribute from him. Edward already had his eyes on the Stepstones, and he was going to get rid of them sooner or later.
So, After the pirate did something like that, he at once ordered Bruce to prepare the fleet. Edward was ready to go all out as he instructed Bruce and his deputies to gather and help him think of a strategy to take control of the Stepstones. After deciding the battle Strategy, Edward deployed most of the fleet. The fleet only had one hundred and fifty ships by then, and Edward ordered one hundred and twenty ships to attack.
Compared to the pirate dens who had occupied the place for centuries, One hundred and Twenty ships were a small number. The pirate decided to go all out and deployed around five hundred ships. They thought it would be their victory since they had the numbers and would be fighting in their area.
Unfortunately for them, Edward ships were nothing those clowns' ships could compare. Plus, Edward had already installed ballistics and other war machines on his heavyweight ships. The sailors and the marines were also proficient archers. Edward made sure of that. He had provided them with long-range bows and crossbows. That was why he was sure he was going to win this battle.
Although that was the case and that was what had really happened, The pirates had the experience. They were sailing in this sea for centuries. And although Edward's men were trained well by him, they still lacked the actual experience to fight on a Naval battle. It was the first battle on the water for many of his men.