Chương 59: Chapter 58
As the infiltration team set off the explosion on the main ship they also signaled the water benders to launch a larger scale sneak attack. They targeted all the soldiers and catapults on deck as well as the ships themselves. They froze and broke the rotors of the ships, so while they were not sunk they were dead in the water. Without central leadership, it was up to the individual ship captain to organize a defense. Some were quite capable and we're able to stave off attacks, other captains we're not as talented. All of the water tribe troops withdrew from the ocean as the sun rose in order to reinforce the city. With the majority of ships unable to make a landing and with the chain of command destroyed the ships, instead of mounting an invasion, fired flaming boulders at the city. Well the ships that could, fired flaming boulders. Water benders were working full time protecting the city from the siege weapons. With no sign of land invasion the warriors we're sent out on quick ships to board and capture ships. These groups weren't like the small infiltration group. They were ship fulls of men sent out for open combat. The water tribe ships were much too fast to be targeted by catapults, but boarding was still no easy task.
By the time night had fallen for the second night the Tribe's larger main fleet had shown up circling behind the fire nation navy. What followed was a humiliating defeat for the Fire Nation. The only saving grace was a unexpected surviving retired general. General Iroh had been on his nephew's ship instead of the command ship so he had avoided assassination. Good thing he wasn't there otherwise I have a feeling things would have gone differently. As only a retired general he had no real authority, but after the situation continued to worsen he was able to take command and issued a surrender. He alone had boarded a tender and sailed it to the tribe under a white flag. Soon after both sides stood down. The water tribe at the very least had been given a reprieve from battle. The fire nation ships on the other hand were devastated. Many ships would need repairs to even flee and the ships that didn't need repairs were running skeleton crews.
Last night and leading to this morning, out of retirement General Iroh and several of the remaining ship captains were brought to the city to discuss terms of surrender. Despite being completely shocked by how the events played out the four of us told the elders what happened with our group. They seemed to be taking it well until we told them about the spirit that attacked us. Some of the elders gave Arnook a bit of a look upon hearing about the attacking spirit. I assume it was them silently telling him 'I told you that was a bad idea'. However, the chief thanked us for a job well done and for preventing the loss of any lives. Lives that may have been lost if they had remained in the village. When they realized that there were still no civilian deaths the elders backed off.
Later in the day after the debriefing, Aang was called away to oversee the surrender accords. Katara and I wanted to help reconstruct the town, but our sleep schedule was still off so we went to bed. Sokka deferred sleep in order to spend some time with Princess Yue. Han the man Princess Yue was engaged to died in the infiltration. He was kind of a prick, but he died a hero's death so full respect. Regardless, now that Yue is single Sokka is unintentionally trying to pick her up on the rebound. The whole thing is a bit scummy to me, but apparently, Yue didn't particularly like Han, and Sokka wouldn't realize that Han had died for quite some time.
When Aang came back later that evening he told Katara and I what had happened at the meeting. First, the meeting was smaller than even the war council meetings. The water tribe was represented by Arnook, Rakka, and Pakku. The Fire Nation was represented by Prince Iroh and two surviving Captains. Aang as the Avatar was present to represent a 'neutral' party. Despite several hours of arguing, both sides wanted the whole thing to be over with quickly. Nothing was agreed upon long term. All that they ended up finalizing was the surrender and end of the invasion. The fire nation would be allowed to take no more than 15 ships and then leave northern water tribe waters. All remaining fire nation soldiers would have to be aboard those leaving ships. All ships would also surrender all siege weapons before leaving. The remaining ships would remain in Water Tribe control until the fire nation paid a ransom for their return. The fire nation had wanted to leave without fighting to the last man and take as many ships back as possible. The water tribe wanted to avoid killing them to the last man, minimize chances for follow up attacks, and not be responsible for keeping fire nation prisoners.
This was without a doubt the most humiliating fire nation defeat in the entirety of the war. The only thing that comes close is the loss at Ba Sing Se. Although that was a long term siege and this was a series of increasingly dumb military decisions. The remaining fleet would be returning in shame. After an agreement was reached the delegation went back to the ships in order to reorganize soldiers onto 15 ships. In order to then retreat back to the fire nation.
I'm not sure how I feel about the agreement, but regardless of the exact details, this was a huge win for the water tribe. The ships if they're not ransomed can still be sold to the earth kingdom. However, its the siege weapons that I think are a huge win. Even if they don't have fire benders and oil to light the boulders on fire. The water tribe still has plenty of flammable oil from whales or they can just use huge chunks of ice. Those siege weapons will make it even harder for the fire nation to invade by sea. Outside of Sozen's Comet, I think the north pole is uninvadable.
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