24

Chapter 24 Butcher's Bill

Despite reaching relative safety it wasn't time to rest. Instead the charioteers were restored with potions and then sent out again. Sadly that used up the last of my stockpile. The only potions left were the last few the samurai carried.

The chariots should ensure the enemy gets little sleep. Without having to worry about their mounts they will attack constantly. The enemy will get little rest tonight.

I don't need to sleep and with hours to prepare I completely rebuild the camps defenses. An eighty foot wall, riddled with arrow slits rises around the camp. A second soon follows along with a series of shallow ditches. Not enough to provide cover, but enough to break up charges.

Easily defended walkways join the walls. A mile long escape tunnel, a bit narrow, but still perfectly usable is also added.

I had managed to grab quite a few bodies during the battle. I use them all creating as many undead as possible. I still don't have nearly enough skeleton archers. The issue is lessened by the charioteers, who periodically drag bodies back in nets. Sometimes still alive, although it's rare anyone survives the trip.

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The enemy reacts as predicted. In the morning they march against me. They're tired and even as they march the chariots keep harassing them. It takes them most of the day to arrive and they don't pause when they see my wall. Instead they break out into a furious charge.

Perfect.

The ditches slow them down and keep them from trying to use a tortoise. Which they don't even attempt. Oh well, better too prepared then not enough. The arrows rain down and start killing them even as they claw at the walls.

Wow. The harassment was better than I thought. They're acting nearly mindless.

Then a group of enemy soldiers march up. Why are they purple? I realize what they did at the same time as my samurai.

I don't even try to stop them. The samurai charge. Many of them leaping off the wall instead of using the small armored gates. They charge deep into the enemy army, using their powers recklessly. They're almost berserk as they slaughter everyone in the way of recovering their fellow samurai's armor.

The charge was pretty demoralizing and I see the enemy waver. Then I see a pair of dragons lift off and they rally. I grin. Looks like the one I shot is still out if not dead. I watch as they get ever closer, clearly intending to burn down the giant wooden wall.

Now!

I signal and even as they prepare to breath the battery of windlances I had hidden all fire at the same time. I watch in satisfaction as both dragons are struck multiple times. The riders, in an impressive display of agility, both manage to leap free when the dragons crash.

Thanks to shulker boxes and my metal fount I always have supplies. I only made the wall from wood to draw in the dragons. Good to know they can't predict everything I do.

The army retreats at that point. They cluster tightly around the riders to shield them. I let them. Time is on my side now.

I send out my samurai to collect bodies for me. They should get at least some exercise. They also give up the rest of their potions to the charioteers. Then I send them out again. I need them to keep the pressure up. They still outnumber me by a huge margin.

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I give the samurai a few hours to recover. It's late evening when I lead them on another assault. We don't stay long, just enough to force the army to rouse to deal with us. Then we retreat.

A few of them try to chase us, but the skeleton archers still man the walls. There are more of them than before. Very few survive long enough to run away.

By that time it's late enough for me. I send out the zombies. All of them. I had dug a tunnel to either side of the camp, a narrow cramped thing, but it'll last long enough. The zombies pour out and attack the sides of the camp.

Even as the zombies attack the center of the camp erupts. Giant golems, buried in preparation for this moment, all stand and start attacking. They're closer to the front than I'd like and I don't have many of them but it works. The giants tear through the camp, keeping anyone from organizing until the elephantmen rush forward to meet them.

The samurai had only taken a breather behind the wall. At the sounds of combat they once again charged forth. I was proud to see the samurai keeping up with me. This is exactly why I trained them so strenuously.

We carve deep into the enemy once again. In the dark, the nightvision given by the helmets are a huge advantage. Fighting always seems to cause fires though. Burning tents, supplies and even bodies soon robs us of our advantage.

We retreat in good order, confident and feeling victorious. I order a feast laid out as I spring my last surprise for the night.

Even as the charioteers all flee the area I trigger the same trap I used last time. This time I had longer to prepare. The bunkers were much larger. The gates also were all pointed at the same area. The very heart of the enemy army.

Thanks to the attacks I had manage to get accurate measurements without anyone realizing. I had positioned the gate perfectly. The horde of spiders was enormous. They poured out, burying everything nearby before anyone had time to react. The last of their supplies were lost before they realized they were under attack yet again.

Here and there portions of the army rallied. In particular the Tigermen and Unsullied all stood fast and didn't panic. It didn't help. Against a literal flood of spiders standing still just meant you died quicker.

At the camp almost everyone stayed up. We cheered, drank and feasted while watching the spiders blanket the land. Without anything to prevent it the army shattered. They ran off in every direction, all of them being chased by spiders. Everything that ran in our direction was filled with arrows.

At that point I shut down the spawners. No sense endangering my own troops. Besides the enemy army was gone. Even if any of them survive the night, they won't be a threat. As an army they're finished.

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Afterwards came the clean up. It wasn't pretty. The land was choked with blood and torn apart bodies. I was just glad I could make undead to handle it for me. Arranging to bring back my dead for funerals was a hassle. Unfortunately it was a necessary one. Everyone else I just burned, although I did take a few samples.

My losses were incredibly light considering my army had just fought in two or three pitch battles depending on how you counted. The charioteers took the most losses. Not surprising considering they faced ranged weapons without heavy armor and were in almost constant danger.

Out of the eight thousand charioteers I lost almost half. I have no doubt it would be much worse except for the imperial chariots. I resolve to grant every surviving team an imperial chariot if they didn't already have one. They more than earned it.

My samurai shouldn't have taken any losses. The first battle only killed a few hundred, mostly from just bad luck. It was the second battle, when they went berserk, that left them vulnerable and exposed. They retrieved the armor, but paid for it. They also collected all their dead on the way back, which made it even worse.

I lost almost two thousand samurai. It was a horrible blow. They were supposed to be invincible!

Still. Six thousand dead in return for destroying an army numbering over a quarter million. Hard to be upset with numbers so obviously in my favor. And with luck the newest classes of samurai will graduate before I have to face anyone else.

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Flush with my success and wanting more good news I scry on the land cruisers. If they're keeping to the schedule they should be be making contact with my brother right about now. I don't want to miss their first live fire exercise. I have high hopes for them,

The initial clash is very promising. The land cruisers easily plow through the massed undead. Nothing they have is capable of actually damaging the armor that sheaths them. While the the various projectile weapons aren't really effective against undead they aren't completely useless.

The windlances at least work well. Their bolts tear entire lines of bodies apart. As for the rest? Well the sheer volume of fire is at least wearing down the undead. At least when they hit. While the undead birds couldn't get through the armor they were more than capable of blocking sight lines. The turrets were practically reduced to blind fire.

At least my rams work. The ram was a series of angled enchanted blades allowing the land cruiser to literally plow through enemies. A last minute addition, I was very glad I thought of it. Where as the various turrets labored to slowly pick apart undead the ram had no such problem.

Every undead the land cruiser struck was almost instantly turned into a cloud of ash. Even most living creatures were similarly vaporized from the amount of damage dealt. Since a ram was located at both the front and rear there was little danger of being bogged down and trapped. With it the land cruisers charged down the road virtually unopposed.

I love seeing my enemies so easily destroyed. Still they could be better. Already I can see where I can make improvements. Designs for new war machines are already forming. After all given how much effort it requires to make them, it makes sense to turn them into unique works of art.

I even know how I can go about doing so. Hold a contest for people to help design new war machines. Reward the winner well and people will fall all over themselves to submit ideas. They don't even have to be working models. Wood models or even detailed enough blueprints would be enough.

My plans were interrupted when I see the army finally react. The air shimmers and one of the land cruisers abruptly veers off the road. It takes me a second to realize one of the maegi must have used an illusion. Clever.

Not a great tactic though. He obviously can't cast it only all them and since he needs line of sight he had to step into the open. Which proves to be a mistake when he's riddled with arrows.

Viserys is attempting to rally with mercenaries. He's riding around waving his glowing sword around. Surprisingly a lot of them are listening to him. He might even have succeeded if he didn't get shot.

The bolt from the windlance didn't actually penetrate. His armor was likely Valyrian steel. It didn't save him. The bolt broke him, folding him in half. If he wasn't dead, he was at least crippled.

Seeing Viserys taken down so abruptly broke the morale of the mercenaries. They scattered. For the most part the land cruisers ignored them. Without a leader they weren't a problem.

The wagons had been largely ignored. Once they were knocked off the road and the undead animals pulling them destroyed they weren't going anywhere. The land cruisers passed them to start slaughtering the female troops from the Patrimony of Hyrkoon. Without armor the turrets finally had their chance to shine.

When the earth shook and a crevasse opened up beneath one of my land cruisers I almost panicked. I was afraid of another colossal failure. Sure the army was pretty much broken already, but losing the land cruisers in the process was definitely not a fair trade.

I cheered when I saw it still moving. Thank goodness I went with treads instead of wheels. They tear into the ground until there is enough purchase for it then drag itself out.

I look around and see movement near the wagons. Red cloth fluttering in the wind to match the large pool of red on the ground.

Melisandre.

Even as I watch she tosses aside a small body and reaches for another. She's sacrificing the children.

Royal blood. She makes a fuss about it in the books. I had forgotten about that. It's effective too if the earthquake was any indication.

I'm really glad I placed samurai in charge. They don't panic at the use of magic. Instead they look for the caster. They all race towards the wagons, firing as they go.

I'll give Melisandre this much. She doesn't panic. As calmly as you'd drink tea she starts cutting the throats of all the children she can reach. They all just sit there too. Probably from another spell.

Jagged cracks in the ground slow the land cruisers long enough for her to finish sacrificing most of the kids. Abruptly a massive tornado of sand rises up around her, blocking her from sight. It's strong enough to batter the land cruisers and even tips one over.

From beneath her a dragon made from sand forms. I'm disappointed to see her escape. She takes with her one of the smaller kids. Definitely going to be a problem later on.

Besides her escape I only have one regret, the fact that they didn't take any prisoners. I really want to know how they managed to create undead that don't burst into flames from sunlight.

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Staring at the remains of the army as my land cruisers mop up I realize now it when an airship would be the most effective. Hunting down the escaped remnants as well as harassing vulnerable targets was perfect for them. Not to mention one of them could have chased down Melisandre.

Well, there's still time to make up for my mistake. With that thought I venture into the End to start working on another zeppelin. What I find is amazing. The advanced golems can learn. Clearly I need to be careful.

Seeing me carefully harvesting the wings from the ender dragons they had continued once I left. There was entire crates full of dragon skin. Enough to build a few airships.

In keeping with my new preference for war machines each of the zeppelins I make are different. Sadly, the limitations of my equipment and powers mean they use the same design. I do manage to make to balloons a bit wider to increase carrying capacity, but it was something I did for all of them. No point using an inferior design just for aesthetics. What I can change is their coloration and weapons.

The first one was actually just an improved version of the original Razorwind. To free up more weight I actually reduced the number of golems crewing the ship. I then installed elaborate weapon emplacements and painted it black.

The weapon emplacements weren't so much a single turret as an array of them. I admit to stealing the idea from Thomas Jefferson. Instead of copying the movement of a pen, it mimics the movement of the single manned turret. All six move and fire together, generating walls of arrows.

It still wouldn't be much use against hardened targets, but that's what the second design was for. The infinity enchantment has a very capricious definition of what it counts as normal ammunition. It took a great deal of experimentation since there doesn't seem to be any logic behind what counts and doesn't.

Sadly normal arrows just didn't have the volume to build anything powerful enough. So I was limited to the large bolts the windlances fired. I still only succeeded due to the exotic materials my powers let my create. The end product was a very decent fire bomb for it's size.

Even then the bolts were just a tad too large. I had to create a new version of the windlance to fire them. I had to limit it to only firing a single bolt at a time, but it was worth it. Ten turrets are a pretty decent artillery battery. I named it the firestorm and of course paint it red.

The last was both based off my water creation engine. Icestorm was colored blue and operated the closest to an actual bomber. It was designed it float way above the enemy and just rain chunks of ice down on them. Simple, but effective.

I attempted to go the opposite way with steam and ended up creating a new land cruiser instead. I just had too many things I wanted to add and there was no possible way for an airship it carry it all.

Cloudkill was painted white to blend in with the steam it generates. It was also meant to get close to enemies. Beacons here work differently than the game. First, every status effect in the game is possible. And I do mean every. Second, it works on everyone who is within the glow.

The glow from a beacon is fairly short range and can be blocked by almost everything. However, reflected light still counts. Which means large cloud of steam create large glowing areas that can spread the effect of a beacon. I even install small vents on the bottom to shroud the land cruiser constantly.

I don't just use a single beacon either. I have one for Blind, Slow, Nausea and Damage. Unfortunately Wither is one of the few status effects I can't create. I also wish mobile beacons didn't have such a reduced area.

The main weapon itself is simple. A giant water hose. A pressurized tank pumps out boiling water. The turret is mounted on the very top to let it aim in any direction. The secondary weapons were actually a set of arms that mounted spinning scythe blades on the end. Between enchanting and Valyrian steel the rotating blades could sheer through even knights in full armor.

All that took room and the Cloudkill was definitely larger than the other land cruisers. It stood as tall as the originals at thirty feet. However it was much more stable being a full fifty feet on each side.

Using the same design I built another land cruiser based around a flamethrower called Pyromancer. It lacked almost everything else though since I needed to space to install the fuel generator. It was simple enough to create.

Create a special arrow made of soft wood soaked in oil and sealed with tar. Build an oil press that a golem can use. One infinity enchantment later and I have a source of oil. Since I didn't need it quite as pressurized I was also able to install four turrets instead of just one. Not wanting it to coat itself in napalm I placed the turrets on the corners.

The beacons should protect the Pyromancer from anyone who got too close. I also only used one, Damage. Hopefully it's effects will just be attributed to the heat. It didn't really need to cover much area so I didn't bother to place a pyramid underneath it.

Half a dozen other projects had been started. All inspired by my past life and the wonder that is Valyrian steel. If I had any access to electronics I'd easily have a hundred times that number. They'd have to wait for later though. Even with the End there just isn't enough time.

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With five land cruisers now that my first three made it back I feel confident invading New Valyria. I send them off together. Their target was Slaver's Bay. The samurai in charge were instructed to destroy every city in the area. I want to cut off any chance of more support from there.

I'm condemning at least five cities to death, but feel no regrets. They made their choice. Besides give it a few weeks and then I can swoop in and rescue all the freed slaves. Instant loyal populace.

I also make sure to send out my zeppelins. Razorwind heads off to wipe out any Dothraki. They're persistent and annoying and after the recent battles my Sarnori need time to recover. Meanwhile Icestorm is sent to bombard Myr.

From reports and scrying I know Skagos has already fallen. They didn't capture it, but did have enough wildfire to gut the population. The island, like Dragonstone, was now empty and ruined. I'm really glad I started breeding unicorns. I doubt there are many left on Skagos.

At least my fire ships worked. Westeros is now landlocked for the near future. Which of course might be why they're assaulting the Wall so fiercely. I send the firestorm to protect the Wall. It's instructions are simple. Patrol the area known as the gift. Sweep back and forth and start killing everyone who even approaches. I really don't want to chance the white walkers getting loose.