What was the point of defending Winterfell?
It was Stark's castle. Was it special to the Seven Kingdoms, the Dragon Queen, and Erlu?
Was it the only way to stop the Deviant Ghosts from invading the South?
None of them.
Danny and Erlu, and even Sansa didn't mind that Winterfell was temporarily occupied by the Deviant Ghosts.
As long as Stark's forces were preserved, they would have a chance to reclaim their homeland.
Without a doubt, Sansa's thinking was rational and correct.
Hence, Winterfell didn't have any special meaning.
Winterfell was blocking the King's Lane. Behind it were Savon City, Torun City, and White Harbor. It was also the only land route to the South — the Neck.
But the Deviant Ghosts could bypass Winterfell.
Hence, Winterfell didn't have a strategic location.
Why were Danny and Erlu willing to defend Winterfell?
It was highly possible that the Deviant Ghost King would appear at Winterfell.
Winterfell was the largest city that the Deviant Ghosts encountered when they invaded the South. It was also the first Stronghold that was defended by a large number of Humans.
The Deviant Ghosts weren't like the conqueror Aegon 300 years ago. Conquering the Westeros was meaningless to them. Their goal was to kill the living humans.
Danny, Erlu, Jaime, Hound, and Deacon came to Winterfell with a simple goal: to kill the Deviant Ghosts and the Deviant Ghost King.
The goal of defending Winterfell wasn't to "defend" Winterfell. It was to eliminate the Deviant Ghosts and Ghouls.
It would be best if they could kill the Deviant Ghost King.
Hence, Danny opened the gates and allowed the Deviant Ghosts to die. Hence, the guards on the city walls put down wooden ladders for the Ghouls to climb up and stab them to death.
Danny came up with the idea of putting down wooden ladders.
Winterfell had two layers of city walls. The outer wall was 24 meters high and there was a dry moat in the middle. The inner wall was 30 meters high.
The reason why the walls were so high was because the snow in the North was too thick during the winter. It was seven to eight meters deep on the plains and 15 meters at the foot of the city walls.
Knowing that the Deviant Ghosts were coming, the Winterfell garrison had to clear the snow outside the city.
When the Dragon Queen arrived, three Megalosaurus were sent to melt the snow within a hundred meters of Winterfell into the White Blade River.
If there were no wooden ladders, there would be two possibilities. First, the ghouls would not be able to climb the city walls, so they would just stand outside the city and not attack.
The humans wanted to end the Long Night as soon as possible and clean up the deviant ghosts and ghouls that had crossed the Great Wall.
If the Deviant Ghost Army continued to stand outside the city and confront the humans on the city walls, it would be disadvantageous to the humans. This was because human warriors needed rest and mental pressure, while Ghouls were never tired and did not need to eat.
It was more likely that a portion of the Ghouls would surround Winterfell and not attack, while the rest would continue south.
This was the worst case scenario.
Of course, Deviant Ghosts weren't zombies. They belonged to the sub-human race and had high intelligence, especially when the Deviant Ghost King was present.
Seeing that the city walls were too high, they might try to attack the city.
With the number and mobility of the Ghouls, it wouldn't be difficult to form a slope on the city walls.
After all, including the outer city walls, Winterfell was only 300 meters wide and 500 meters long. It was less than two kilometers in circumference.
Would it take less time to dig a 2,000-meter river?
Instead of waiting for the Deviant Ghosts to attack, it was better to provide a path for the Ghouls to attack the city.
The 14-year-old Obena was able to kill 15 knight-level ghouls and more than 40 normal ghouls with her spear when she faced a zombie horde for the first time. She was even confident that she could kill a hundred ghouls.
If the 18,000 soldiers of Winterfell were able to kill a hundred Ghouls, no matter how many Ghouls there were, they wouldn't last long.
If the Deviant Ghosts were stupid and surrounded Winterfell, they would have to challenge the Deviant Ghost King to kill all the Deviant Ghosts and Ghouls.
This was the best wish. The tall city walls could only reduce the casualty ratio between the living and the dead. If more Ghouls died, the garrison would also suffer losses.
For example, the 14-year-old baby-faced Little Sand Snake made use of the wooden ladder to kill 15 Horseman Ghouls. She looked down on the Ghouls and was immediately taught a lesson … Ghoul.
Due to the intense exercise, the little Sand Snake lifted its visor to get some fresh air. It even poked its head out of the battlements to see what was going on. The knight in full armor who had been stabbed to death earlier had rolled down the siege ladder, bringing the ghouls down with him.
An ice sword flew out from the Ghouls below and pierced through the baby-faced girl's left eye like lightning. It penetrated her skull and came out from the back of her head.
She was killed instantly.
The powerful kinetic energy sent her corpse flying back four to five meters like a cannonball. She knocked down Sister Sand Snake, who was acting as her attendant.
"No, Obena!" Obena collapsed in the corner, her sister's corpse on top of her body. She wailed in pain.
But since the Deviant Ghosts had attacked, they wouldn't just throw an ice sword.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh —" Three grayish-red shadows leaped up the wooden ladder as though it was flat ground.
And this was just the beginning. Like a flood that had found a hole in the dam, more Deviant Ghosts gathered toward the lost section of the city wall.
Unfortunately, the wooden ladder tactic had already taken this situation into consideration.
In addition to the battlements at the top, there was also a bowl-sized observation hole in the middle of the city wall.
Every wooden ladder was placed on the section of the city wall with the observation hole.
The wooden ladder tactic allowed and even encouraged a small number of Deviant Ghosts to break through the city wall. But there couldn't be too many of them. Otherwise, the city wall would be in danger of being lost.
So, when the people on the city wall felt tired, the guards guarding the observation hole would throw a small bottle of Wildfire Bullets.
It was really small, about half a pound.
"Boom —" When Yergret called for Wildfire Bullets, there was a fierce explosion under the wooden ladder guarded by the baby-faced girl. Green flames rose four to five meters high, illuminating this section of the city wall in green.
"Ouch …" The wooden ladder burned in the green flames. The more than 60 Ghouls under the wooden ladder were ignited as if they had been splashed with gasoline. In the red and green flames, a Deviant Ghost was burning and screaming.
Ghouls couldn't scream, but Deviant Ghosts were "living people." They could speak and feel pain.
Large patches of white mist were emitted from its body, weakening the ordinary flames on the corpses and wooden ladder. However, the green wildfire stuck to the Deviant Ghost's body was still burning.
The flames at the base of the city wall were red and green.
The small group of Deviant Ghosts that were about to climb up the ladder was stopped, and one of them even died. The three Deviant Ghosts that had already jumped onto the city wall didn't have a good ending either.
They caught the baby-faced girl and Big Sister Sand Snake off guard. A White Ghost even took a step forward and came to Obena's corpse. It grabbed the hilt of its ice sword and was about to press down hard to pierce through Big Sister Obena.
However, more than 20 soldiers with thick oak shields had already surrounded them.
The oak shields were thicker than the old chopping boards in rural kitchens. There were even a few horizontal bars added behind them to block slashes.
More than 20 huge shield bearers knocked the three Deviant Ghosts to the ground. Then, they stabbed with their swords and spears. Light blue ice water flowed on the stone path of the city wall …
"Don't hurt her. She's my sister!"
Just as the shield bearers turned around and held down Obena who was crazily biting Obena's throat, Araine walked over to block Yegorit who had raised her Dragontooth Blade and was about to slash her neck.
"She used to be your sister. Now, she's a Corpse Ghost. This is the Long Night! This is the calamity of the dead! "Yegorit's heavy breathing came through the gap in her helmet.
"Crunch, crunch, crunch …" Araine lowered her head and saw Obena, who was behind her, opening her mouth wide and gnawing on her iron boots.
Her beautiful baby-face lost its redness and luster and became pale and dim. There was a large bloody hole in her left eye, and the beautiful brown pupil in her right eye flashed with blue light.
Even with the shield bearers holding her hands, feet, and back, she twisted her neck awkwardly and gnashed her teeth at the living.
She had really become a living dead, just like the endless Corpse Ghosts outside the city.
Thinking of this, Princess Dorne's heart ached. She couldn't help but cry.
Big Sister Obena got up from the ground and knelt in front of her younger sister. She choked and said, "I'm sorry, Obena. I didn't protect you well."
The other two Sand Snakes also cried silently.
Yegorit curled her lips and calmly said, "Don't cry. She believes in the Seven Gods and even has the Atonement Scroll. She's already gone to the Seven Gods Heaven. You should be happy."
"Gah —" The three snakes and Ya Lian 'en stopped crying.
"Obena really went to heaven?" Araine murmured as she looked at the sky. It was as if she wanted to see the heavens that would receive her younger sister's soul.
"Kill the Deviant Ghosts and go to heaven!" Yegorit raised her Dragontooth Dagger and shouted.
Araine felt much better. She turned around and squatted down. She raised her dagger and stabbed it into the hole in the right eye. The violently struggling corpse instantly stiffened and went limp.
"Obena went to heaven. We'll reunite with her sooner or later," she said to her sisters.
The shield bearers dispersed. Yegorit looked outside the city and saw that the green light was gradually weakening. She asked, "The fire is about to go out. Should we put down another wooden ladder? Or, should we go back to the castle and rest? "
"No, we want to kill the Deviant Ghosts!" The three Sand Snakes and Araine said in unison.
The battle continued. The Deviant Ghosts continued to climb up the wooden ladder. Occasionally, there would be Deviant Ghosts mixed in and ambushed them in an attempt to steal the city wall.
Soon, three hours passed.
During this time, the corpses of the Deviant Ghosts piled up like a mountain. Many of the guards on the city wall had also died.
Most of them were like Obena. At first, they fought the dead with reverence. Gradually, the more Deviant Ghosts they killed, the less reverence they had in their hearts. Due to their carelessness, they were killed by the Deviant Ghosts that rushed up.
Obena's side of the city wall was still fine. Because they knew the identities of the Sand Snakes and Araine, the shield bearers protecting them were all True Knights. They were strong and skilled.
On the other side of the city wall, the shield bearers were Savage Warriors. They were brave but lacked skill and experience. As a result, the Deviant Ghosts broke through the encirclement and suffered heavy casualties.
Six hours after the battle, when dawn broke, the eastern sky was still dark.
The soldiers guarding the wooden ladder on the city wall took turns to rest. At the city gate, Dragon Queen still hadn't gotten off work.
However, the shield wall in front of her had shrunk by 90%. Only four Unsullied raised their shields and squatted on the ground, protecting the Queen.
The remaining 36 Unsullied didn't go too far. They were in the barbican behind the city gate, leaning against Whitey as they slept.
Er, that's right. They were sleeping beside the battlefield.
Whitey lay on the ground and extended his head into the city gate. When the fireball above Dragon Queen's head was about to be extinguished, he immediately provided support with a wave of Dragon Flames.
Winterfell was cold, but Whitey was a Megalosaurus. His body emitted scorching heat. Sleeping next to him was more comfortable than turning on the heater.
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