บท 25: Chapter 23: Battle of Bitterbridge - Opening Act I
Amongst the manifold points of importance that are ascribed to Prince Quentyn Martell and his actions, the one thing that stands above all is the creation of the group known as the 'Three Great Heavens'. Simply put, 'Great Heaven' was the title afforded to a person, whom Quentyn Martell also later known as 'The Invincible', deemed to be as capable as himself in the arts of war. They were essentially his deputies, and in whom he reposed absolute trust. Three warriors deemed so capable that it was said that the heavens itself trembled at their arrival.
The Great Heavens were allowed the right to unilaterally command the military might of the Southern Kingdom of Westeros and possessed the right to freely wage war without needing the approval of the crown as long as it was deemed to be in the good of the Kingdom.
The very first time that the first two members of this group converged together was at the Battle of Bitterbridge. Anders Yronwood and Randyll Tarly, arguably two of the greatest generals to have arisen in the Golden age of War in Westeros. During the Battle of Bitterbridge, Quentyn Martell had ordered Lord Yronwood to race ahead and take command of the area surrounding Bitterbridge before the arrival of the main body of the Dornish Army. When Lord Yronwood set out to do this task, he succeeded, but at the same time, his outriders ran into an unexpected encounter. The Army of the Reach under the command of Mace Tyrell and Randyll Tarly.
Although it was unknown at the time, Mace Tyrell had ordered the Army of the Reach to assemble at Bitterbridge as a precaution against any moves by Robert Baratheon while he intended to parley with Quentyn Martell. However, the massacre of Bitterbridge changed his mind. Contrary to all expectations, Mace Tyrell decided to first retake Bitterbridge and avenge this stain of honour on his people and his land before proceeding to Starpike to meet the Prince of Dorne. Though neither side was aware of it at that time, both armies, the Dornish and that of the Reach were racing towards Bitterbridge with the same goal.
On the outset of the first day of the battle, the Dornish outriders, owing to the superior speed of their horses arrived first on the field. They immediately set about the task of completely isolating the city, and it was at this time that they ran into the outriders of the Army of the Reach who also arrived at the outskirts of Bitterbridge at the same time. Randyll Tarly had also decided upon the same goal of isolating the city before assaulting it and had sent out his own scouts with the same goal as evinced by Quentyn Martell.
When both sides met for the first time, they approached each other cautiously, and made their intentions known to each other to avoid any misunderstandings or unwanted clashes. At that time, using great foresight, Lord Yronwood sought out Mace Tyrell himself and explained the position of the Dornish Army and as to why they intended to assault the city. Although initially taken aback, Mace Tyrell uncannily adapted to this unexpected situation and decided to wait for the arrival of Quentyn Martell himself before proceeding further. Furthermore, acting upon the advice of his father-in-law, Lord Hightower, he recused himself from direct command and handed over the reins to General Tarly and General Yronwood. There, the two men now possessing a surfeit of soldierly talent at their hands rapidly pooled their resources together and set out about their task.
The next day, the main Army of the Dornish arrived along with Quentyn Martell himself. After appraising himself of the situation, Quentyn Martell met with the leadership of the Reach, and in that meeting, they laid down the foundation of what would eventually become the Great Southern Kingdom. Quentyn would take over total command of the combined armies of the Reach and Dorne, and with Lord Yronwood and Lord Tarly as his deputies, set his sight upon Bitterbridge much to the lamentation of the Westerlands. The result of this battle would make Quentyn Martell a household name in the entire world.
- Excerpt from 'The Golden Age of War in Westeros' by Archmaester Qyburn.
"All troops, Alert status!"
"Maintain vigilance while advancing!"
"Be wary of the thickets to our right!"
The advance scouts of the Dornish cavalry regiment were racing towards the city of Bitterbridge while the troop commanders were continuously barking out orders to the men dividing them into proper groups and commands. Upon orders from their prince, Anders Yronwood had immediately set out with a troop of five thousand cavalry soldiers within a scant time frame of seven hours.
As they raced towards the city, Lord Yronwood divided his troop into five sections, four of which were ordered to cover each of the four directions, with the other section under his personal command and as a reserve. The Dornish cavalry were divided into three sections, scouts, skirmishers, and cavalry archers.
Scouts were the ones who were armoured the least and carried just a sword for defence. Sacrificing all defensive capabilities and focusing purely on speed, their only goal was to act as the eyes and ears of the army.
Skirmishers were the shock troops of the cavalry. Possessing moderate levels of armour and equipped with swords and glaives, they maintained a balance between mobility and power and were the frontline troops of the cavalry.
The cavalry archers were a new addition to the armed forces of Dorne devised by Quentyn Martell himself. Lightly armoured and possessing short recurve bows with two quivers containing 100 arrows each, the premise of this group was to rapidly assault an enemy ground troop from a safe distance and retreat before the enemy could counter-attack.
"My Lord, we are now three leagues away from the borders of Bitterbridge," Ser Archibald Yronwood, his nephew and one of his two deputies spoke out. Also known as 'The Big Man', Archibald was six-and-a-half-feet tall, broad of shoulder and huge of belly. He was also the man who boasted of being the strongest man in the entire army of Dorne.
"Hmm," Lord Yronwood paused, and raised his hand indicating a general halt to the entire troop as he dismounted from his horse.
"Bring me a map of the area surrounding the city," he ordered his squire, who hurried to obey. Soon, the map of the city was laid out in front of him on the ground. He sat down on the ground and began to look through the map.
"There exist eight villages along the path to Bitterbridge, yes?" Yronwood asked, even as he looked at the map with a keen gaze.
"Not quite, sir. Our scouts report another small village located northwest to the city," one of the scouts reported while he considered it.
"How many leagues to the northwest of the city?"
"Ahh … about nine leagues, sir!"
His men began to feel apprehensive as they watched their lord sit down without a care in the world.
"I-is he actually attempting to create a strategy right here on the spot?!"
"This is lunacy! We're nearly on the doorstep of Bitterbridge!"
"We came here with only a few men to avoid attracting attention!"
"If the Lannister patrols find us …"
Suddenly, the thoughts of Lord Yronwood's guards was disturbed by the sound of hoofbeats as a group of twenty horsemen came upon them. The eyes of the Dornish cavalrymen went wide open in fear and a few of them started to sweat as they noticed the sigil of House Lannister on their tabards.
"HM? Who the hell are you lot? And exactly what are you up to over there?"
The members of Yronwood's party began to panic, and their body language and their disposition further alerted the Lannister patrol.
"Hm…you don't seem to be affiliated with any of the patrol units organized by Lord Lannister. State your name and affiliation," the leader of the patrol ordered as he made his way forward.
Suddenly, without any warning, the hulking form of Archibald Yronwood appeared behind them, and before the Lannister soldiers could react, he cut them down with a single swing of his blade.
However, it was not without consequences. The death rattle of the two soldiers along with the sounds made by their horses as well as the clash of the weapons was heard all around. Immediately, more voices could be heard.
"What's wrong?"
"What was that noise?"
"The…there's more of them!" one of the Dornish soldiers exclaimed, even as he withdrew his blade.
"Please hurry … My Lord!" another soldier exclaimed, as he too raced forward.
"Archibald?" Lord Yronwood asked, without even looking up as he continued to pore through the map.
"I believe they outnumber us three to one," his nephew replied with a careless shrug of his shoulders.
"Will that be an issue?" the Warden of the Stoneway asked, without even bothering to turn around while more members from the Lannister patrol approached their group.
"Please take as long as you need, My Lord," Archibald Yronwood answered, even as he raced ahead with his spiked mace in his hand, as he and his men engaged in a ferocious battle with the Lannister patrol. The Dornishmen created a circle around their lord and continued to battle, ensuring that their master was not disturbed.
Even though a raging battle erupted around him, Anders Yronwood calmly observed the map surrounding Bitterbridge without nary a care. Ten minutes later, there was nothing left to care about.
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