The Kingsroad.
They marched hard for a month and a week, before it became clear they would not reach the battle in time as they were. They had three options. First they could turn west and siege kings landing hoping that the rebels would beat the loyalists, they could push as far forward as they could and either defeat the remaining Loyalist forces if the loyalists won or join up with the victorious rebels after it. The third option was the most risky one. Lead the cavalry by itself and have the infantry and archers in position to either fall back or march on kings landing depending on the result. Making his choice he gave command of the Infantry and archers to Lord Konnor Clyde, the new Clyde lord and told him to take position near the Antlers while he, Lewyn and Yuri along with surprisingly Lyndon Beesbury took the calvary and marched north at a rapid speed to get to the battle, he just hoped it would be in time.
The time had come, Rhaegar had gotten reports from his scouts that Ayden Dayne had given up on trying to make it in time to the battle and had reported his army moving west towards Kings Landing, obviously banking on a Rebel victory. And so the rebels had begun their march at a slow pace towards him. 80,000 or so rebels, 30,000 northmen, 25,000 men of the Vale and 25,000 stromlanders and a couple thousand riverlanders. His own men were not as numerous though his position was a strong one, defending across a river.
He had 75,000 men, 45,000 Westermen, 25,000 Rivermen, 3,000 crownlands men and 2,000 Reach men who had joined their forces after fleeing the battle of the Rose, sun and star as the signers had begun to call it. Fitting considering the battle had taken place on a field of roses underneath both the sun and a shooting star. Tywin and Hoster had levied every man they could in a desperate attempt for numbers and the fields of the west and Riverlands were virtually empty of men. It was desperate but Rhaegar knew it was their best hope at winning and Rhaegar was fairly confident of a victory.
A week later the rebels lined out across the ford. The battle field was not quite large enough to fit all the men on the battlefield at once and Rhaegar knew the battle would more than likely take more than one day. In preparation for this he had rested his men well the last week and knew that the long march combined with the river crossing would tire the rebel army, giving the advantage to him. Rhaegar was on the left flank leading a mixed force of Crownlands men, Reachmen and 15,000 westerlanders. Opposite him was the stormlands and his cousin Robert. In the center was the north against 25,000 westerlanders and on the other side the riverlanders and Vale faced off. He had kept 5,000 westermen in reserve and the rebel riverlanders also appeared to be in reserve.
It was early morning when the sides lined out and it was just before midday when the Rebel cavalry began their advance across the river. It was at this time when his own cavalry moved forward, as the rebel cavalry reached the other side the loyalist cavalry were closing in on them. In a huge clash of nearly 30,000 cavalry many men died, the river began to turn red and neither side was willing to pull back. A hard slog of cavalry fighting began. I'm the center the heavy horse of the north was pushing hard against the Lannisters to limited success while on the right flank the knights of the vale faired better against the riverland knights as expected, on the left however the knights of the Crownlands, Reach and West where fairing well against the Stormlanders. A kingdom better known for its fierce infantry than its knights.
After about 2 hours of fighting war horns sounded from the rebel side and a organised retreat ensued, the loyalist cavalry, commanded on his flank by Ser Jonothor, in the center by Ser Kevan Lannister and on the right by Lord Bracken let them go, knowing this was just the first of many battles. A winner could not be determined and while the initial charge had gone in favour of the loyalist the rebels had done well to not waver and their more experienced and elite horsemen had probably edged it on the right and center but they had struggled on the left.
The cavalry returned to their lines and Rhaegar made the decision to move up his lines closer to the river, a move mirrored by the center and left. Twenty minutes later the rebels forces began to advance, archers loosed arrows and the skirmish lasted half an hour and Rhaegar was happy to see that his archers had won it fairly comfortably. The vale had very few archers, the north had a moderate amount and they were decent but nothing amazing and the stormlanders the same. Apparently noticing this it was the stormlanders who made the first move closely followed by their allies. The infantry began their crossing taking arrows as they did. The infantry clashed and Rhaegar was among his men on foot with Barristan beside him.
The Stormlanders were hardy and blooded men and his men slowly began to be pushed back, though many stormlanders lost their lives in the effort. He did not know what was happening across the battlefield, his thoughts fully on the battle. He blocked the thrust of a stormlanders spear and thrust his sword threw the man's neck before cutting the next man's arm off and ending his life without hesitation, he and Barristan began to carve a bloody path in the rebel lines and after another hour or so he heard a shout.
"RHAEGAR!" He heard and the Prince looked to see his huge cousin smashing through his lines to get to him like a demon. "COME AND DIE!" The man said enraged, Barristan and he shared a look before advancing on the Baratheon lord together, a few men tried to keep Barristan occupied but the old knight just cut them apart like a artist painting in blood. They met and Robert was on the attack using raw strength to try and beat them, both Rhaegar and Barristan had to duck his swings for fear of getting their arms broken had they blocked them, Barristan knowing they could not do this dance forever tried to close the distance on Robert only for his cousin to block his swing and send a powerful kick to the bolds leg the forced him to his knees Robert swung his hammer and Rhaegar reacted without thinking and raised his shield to block the swing that would have ended his guards life.
He heard his shield crunch and felt his left arm shatter under the swing, he bit back a scream as he fell to the floor, Barristan rushed to his feet, seeing his Prince vulnerable and began to beat back Robert with masterful sword strokes that put the Baratheon on the back foot, eventually his cousin was caught in the side by a swing and mad had to retreat from the fight, his life being saved by a knight in Penrose colours. Barristan did not try and chase them, instead falling back to cover his Prince being dragged away. Half an hour later horns sounded, the rebels retreated again leaving only the dead and dying on the banks of the river.
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Ned wiped the blood off Ice as he looked upon the battlefield. The cavalry engagement had been bloody but he thought they had most likely won it before they withdrew, the skirmish they had lost, and the infantry battle had been pretty even. On his right flank Roberts fierce stormlanders infantry had pushed back the loyalist ones until Robert had challenged both Rhaegar and Ser Barristan the bold apparently breaking the princes arm but injuring his side in the process, he had put the Prince out of the fight and only sustained a flesh wound in the process. In the center his Northerners had fared only a little worse but had taken heavy casualties to the Lannisters. On the left it was even with Jon and Denys not making much progress against the Riverlanders. In short they were slightly winning but losing to many men for it to result in a victory by the end of the battle.
Something needed to give. After two hours of rest they once more prepared to ford the trident. The cavalry once more leading the way, it was the logical thing to do considering they had one the last cavalry battle. Lord William Dustin commanded his horsemen along with Lord Ryswell and they met the Lannister's head on. A bloody battle ensued and once more it seemed like they were winning the engagement.
"Send up the archers, hit the backlines of the Lannister cavalry." He commanded, he needed to create a foothold across the river. Lord Karstark led the archers into range and they shot their arrows and rained death on the Lannister cavalry. That sealed the engagement and after another half an hour were his allies copied his move and the loyalist horseman retreated. Taking his chance to create a foothold he sent across his infantry under Lord Umber and Bolton's command. The stormlanders and Vale infantry advanced as well and to counter this the loyalists sent theirs to meet them.
"Charge the cavalry, we need this bridgehead." He commanded as he crossed the river with his men. The order reached the cavalry and they charged at the loyalist infantry catching them by surprise, they did not have time to form ranks and the Northern cavalry smashed into their lines killing many of them. He knew it wouldn't be enough to break them and soon ordered a retreat. Covering the horsemen with his archers. The charge did its job and along with killing many loyalists it also gave his infantry time to form up across the river. Afraid of over-extension, the loyalist infantry on the other side halted as well, giving his allies time to form up as well.
"Damn good job Lord Stark!" Said William as he and his cavalry joined him just behind the infantry and archer lines.
"Thanks William but it's not done yet, we need to keep this foothold before night falls or else our progress will be lost." He said and the Dustin Lord nodded in agreement.
"My lord we should call the reserves to cross as well." Lord Jeor Mormont suggested.
"Aye do it." Ned agreed and the reserve began to make their way to the river ford. Seeing this and not wanting to let them strengthen their position the loyalist infantry began their advance.
"Shield wall!" He heard the booming voice of Lord umber call the northern infantry braced their ranks prepared to hold their ground. Once more along the lines the clash began and Eddard went wherever he thought he was needed, letting his lords go and command their own men. I've cleaved men apart like butter and Eddard lost track of how many lives he had taken. However as the sun began to set the loyalist forces began to push them back, the rebels fired from the march and the river crossing, they began to slowly fall back until they reached the river. Determined not to let them be pushed across Eddard led a large push into the lines of Westermen towards a man in Lannister colours, Tygett Lannister, brother to Tywin was a brilliant swordsman and Eddard was hard pressed to keep up but eventually he snapped and let the wolfs blood take over, with a speed he didn't know he had he made it look as though the Lannister was moving in slow motion and with a last great effort cleaved the Lannister from his shoulder to about half way through his chest.
With a roar his men began to push once more and the north men sent Lannisters into a retreat. However on the other flanks they were not faring so well and when Ned saw Tywin ride down and rallied his men who had begun to waver Eddard knew he had to withdraw his men lest they be left alone on the other side of the river and they once more retreated across the river. Though he knew they were winning in the center the same could not be said for the other flanks.
At the end of the day where once 80,000 rebels stood, now only 56,000 did. And across the river the 75,000 loyalists had become 52,000. They were losing.
Both sides knew a night time battle across the river would be hell and a raid such as the one carried out by his good brother would be impossible due to the river and the ultra alertness both forces would be one because of it. Eddard sighed as he walked through his camp, the men looked exhausted yet every man he met had a determined look in their eyes, a steady confidence that they would not flee. He met with Jon and Robert that night, just the three of them, Robert had once more been cleared to fight and was determined to make up for the lack of success on the stormlanders flank by joining his infantry on foot rather than on horseback, despite being advised against it by both Eddard and Jon. They discussed how they were performing on their side of the battlefield and were trying to discern where they should send some reserves. Jon said his men were doing fine, they were not doing enough to break the Riverlanders but were causing some heavy casualties to them, his men were steady and were not likely to flee anytime soon. Robert siad much the same though he had reluctantly admitted to taking a lot of casualties, Eddard told the truth, his men were doing well, making the Westerman nearly rout and causing heavy casualties to them, they had also gained the most ground against them but had taken about the same amount of casualties as the Stormlanders had. Deciding to risk it they resolved to commit their reserves and spread them out evenly along the three fronts as reinforcements. He hoped it would be enough.
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AN- Personally happy with this chapter, I think the tactics are quite good and we see Ned coming into his own as a leader, right now the battle is even…. How long will it stay that way? Eventually something's got to give….
Reviews.
ATP chapter 11 .
With Reach,Westerlands weak and Riverlands not tied to North,there would be no next wars.
Well,Balon could try something,but he would die.
Only problem now - kind of Others you use ? show or book ?
Arthur - could die or run with Viserys and Dany.
Thanks again for the review. I'm sure I could figure something out, maybe someone's heir isn't the same as their father and doesn't value his allies, like Joffrey in cannon or something. As for the others, that's a fair bit in the future and I don't even know if ill be using them at all, I didnt in my last story. With Arthur I'm still not sure.
J26596 chapter 11 .
Really loving this AU, can't wait for more though surprised that Rhaengar got the river lands given Brandon was betrothed to Catelyn. As for Arthur, would it be too ooc if he tried to free Lyanna given his honourable nature and that she is connected by marriage to him? He certainly seems to be questioning something
Thank you, I'm quite happy with it as well. Brandon was betrothed but then he died, and Hoster holds no loyalty to dead men, grasping fish that he is, he saw a way to tie himself to the royal family and took it after Ned refused to set aside Ashara. And as for Arthur he's questioning it sure but this would not be the first time he's questioned his king, surely the honorable Arthur Dayne, Barristan Selmy etc all questioned what they were doing as they stood outside Rhaellas room as she was raped by her brother, their king. I think it's conceivable that he might run away but I don't think so.
QCoffee chapter 10 .
We would definitely like to see you continue the story after the rebellion, an AU of War of the 5 kings would be fascinating with the addition of Torrentine.
Thanks, I'm glad you think so, however I will have to brainstorm how it will happen.
Fury074 chapter 11 .
For Arthur, the least he can suffer in punishment is the Night's watch.
That's a decent Idea and one I will definitely consider, however I think I have another idea I can use him for...