Chapter 132: The war against the free cities

A/N: Hey guys,

Here's today's second chapter.

For every two new pàtreons, I will upload one more chapter the next day.

Thanks for your support.

You can read up to 25 advanced chapters on my pàtreon.

https://www.pàtreon.com/Gnanaa

Enjoy.

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Although Edward thought he acted foolishly for taking this decision, he also saw it as the best opportunity to train his armies. Edward had issued a law that every man in the kingdom that had passed their twentieth names day would have to apply for the central army for two years. Of course, Edward had issued some kind of identity card for every citizen in the kingdom. Although it was not perfect and could get replicated, it helped to organize the things somehow. Edward did something like that after thinking about the situation of losing many men from his many armies. He would have to replace those men or raise another army from those trained men.

This war between the kingdom of storms and the free cities attracted the whole region's attention, especially the lords in Westeros. But since there was an agreement between the two sides, King's Landing did not have to send any men to help. Only Lord Arryn and Ned Stark offered to help, but Edward stopped them. Edward found it a good chance to train and test his new military system.

Edward had asked the lords of The Kingdom of Storms to rotate their men every two years. He also suggested building a central military power that would govern every army in The Kingdom. Edward did that so that the soldiers of every lord would have loyalty to other regions. Plus, he wanted to weaken the control of those lords. Although this decision had faced some objections from the lords as some of the lords asked Edward why they would pay the men if they would protect someone else, it still passed after Edward reminded them of what happened during the rebellion.

Of course, Edward would not act like that without giving them some benefits. He increased the trade between the houses and paved more roads that made the trade between the lords much easier. He also came up with multiple ideas so that each house could have its own specialty that would help them increase their wealth. In the end, after seeing those benefits, all the lords agreed to send half of their men. Edward thought that it was enough and moved on.

The battle between Edward and the free cities started. They sent a fleet of one thousand and two hundred ships while also sending seventy thousand soldiers through the lands. It was enough forces capable of destroying any great house in Westeros, but Edward thought that he could manage to defeat them.

During the years, Edward did not stop making ships for one second. Not only that, but he also started improving the ships after consulting the crafters in his lands. Edward's ships had reached a high number of one thousand and fifty ships with about two hundred and fifty commercial fleets. That meant that he had nearly eight hundred strong and invincible ships in his hand. Plus, the fleets that he took from the three cities numbered six hundred ships. Although they were not of the same quality as Edward's ships, they were on the same level, if not better than Bravos and Volantis's ships.

The naval battles were the first battles in this war. Edward gave Bruce only one order that was to sink all Bravos's ships. Bravos was the most powerful free city, especially their fleet. They even prevented Pentos from having their own fleet so they could control the seas. If they managed to destroy the Bravosi fleet this time, they would have a chance to take the city in the future.

The free cities attacked Myr and Lys simultaneously, with Bravos's fleet as the main one in attacking Myr while Volantis's was the main one in attacking Lys. Edward participated himself in the war to supervised how the war moved on.

The battles continued for three days straight without stopping. Even if Edward's ship were much superior, a fleet of one thousand and two hundred ships would not fall that easily. After three days of battles, Edward's fleet managed to destroy the whole fleet of Bravos. Not a single ship managed to return to Bravos. As for Volantis, since Edward's fleet was not insistent on taking every ship down, they managed to return with one hundred and forty ships.

Edward lost a lot in this battle as well. War on this scale would always result in catastrophe for both sides. But Edward fared much better. He lost about three hundred ships that belonged to the three cities with another forty ships of his. The losses of his men's lives were not on the same level as the previous battles, though. Edward had come up with an idea to use robes at the bottom of the ships. This tactic allowed the sailors whose ships got destroyed to save themselves by using robes tied in every ship.

After this battle, Everyone knew one thing. The seas had new owners from this moment forward. If anyone wanted to travel to the south sea to the free cities or The Slaver's Bay, he would have to pay for the seas' rulers. Edward made use of this opportunity to surround Bravos. After this battle, they did not manage to raise a fleet again. Even their commercial ships got sunk by Edward's fleets. They tried to recruit other free cities to build a fleet for them, though. They only have one thing, and that was gold. Edward only found out after he took the other cities like Volantis and Lorath. He even suspected they asked The Slaver's Bay's cities to do their jobs.

As for the ground battle, Edward preferred to have a siege battle this time as this land was not his. Edward did not know the terrain and would be at a disadvantage if he fought them head-on. Plus, he could only send thirty thousand men in this short time, so he hired another seven thousand men from the shadow legion company as well.

Of course, Edward might lose this time, and the free cities might have a chance to take Myr if he left the situation just like that. So Edward came up with two plans that would help him. He decided to pressure Volantis through his men in the city and his fleet that surrounded Volantis after their defeat. He negotiated with Triarch of Volantis and came up with an agreement. They agreed to help him. They would stab the free city's armies in the back while Edward would not attack the city for ten years and would not destroy their ships. He would also not prevent their ships from trading.

Edward smirked and agreed to their request. The city would be under his control in three years at most, and this agreement got wasted. He promised not to attack the city, not the families.

The other plan that Edward came up with was the Dothraki. He attracted two great khals with women, food, and horses. The khals agreed to attack the free cities' armies as well.