White waves slapped against the sides of the ships, seagulls soared up and down, and the sunlit sea sparkled... Amid the salty smell of the oncoming seawater, the world-famous Bronze Titan appeared in sight.
More than two months after conquering Volantis, Aegor finally led his fleet to the doorstep of Braavos.
The voyage between the two city-states certainly did not take that long. He had spent half that time on postwar cleanup.
The surprise attack on Lys, followed by the Great Red Temple's church militia and the slaves of the western district rising together from within and without to take Volantis in one fell swoop. These two city-capturing battles, though not particularly intense, had been extremely satisfying. They added two more significant entries to his list of achievements, and would likely become classic case studies in history.
However, taking them down was easy. Planting the flag and gaining a firm foothold were the difficult parts.
Aegor faced two challenges: how to establish governance, and how to emancipate the slaves.
For the former, Aegor drew upon Littlefinger's methods in Meereen and his own successful experience in Oldtown, blending them into a new set of policies. First, he selected those with the greatest merit from the nobles of Dorne, the Arbor, and the Iron Islands who had followed him, forming a council of governors and magistrates. Then, he supported the previously suppressed secondary nobles within the city-states as advisors and consultants. Finally, he bought off elites from various industries, such as wealthy merchants, with commercial autonomy, forming city self-governing bodies... Unlike House Hightower, which had surrendered voluntarily and thus preserved its lives, the top-tier slave-owning families in the two city-states were completely eradicated. This was especially true in the inner city enclosed by the Black Wall of Volantis, where blood nearly flowed like rivers on the night it was breached.
This ensured that the governors at the top of the city-states' political and military power were people of the Seven Kingdoms, whose families and property were in Westeros, leaving no ground for independence or secession. Meanwhile, the administrators of executive and judicial affairs were familiar with local customs and traditions, preventing things from going too far wrong. The middle-level industry self-governing bodies had tasted the sweetness of self-management and had no reason to go back and collude with the slave owners... Thus, both efficiency and stability were somewhat guaranteed, and the system could at least operate until the war was completely over and Daenerys had the energy for further reforms.
As for the latter problem, lacking relevant practical experience, Aegor could only stand on Daenerys's shoulders and explore solutions. In the emancipated city-states, slaves willing to continue serving their former masters would become free laborers working for pay, with specific wages and rights protections managed by a dedicated department. Those unwilling to serve their former masters, or those who had lost their masters entirely, would be absorbed into the city-states' newly established systems or armies, becoming government employees or soldiers loyal to Daenerys, assisting in governance and countering threats from the land.
It was predictable that under such a simple and crude approach, messy situations like those Daenerys had encountered in Meereen, where "former slaves gained freedom but ended up worse off than before," would certainly happen repeatedly. To this, Aegor could only shrug apologetically and tell them in his heart: sorry, perhaps you are not bad people, just unfortunate enough to be run over by the wheels of history.
He now had more important matters to prioritize and could not take care of everyone.
...
After holding the Black Wall, orchestrating the city's recovery, personally commanding the army to repel and subdue the large slave armies that had rushed from several major towns under Volantis to "defend the city-state," and leaving half the fleet to ensure the gains were not retaken, he led the army back without any further delay.
Tyrosh, Myr, Pentos... all the city-states that had received the war reports had withdrawn their fleets, halted shipping, closed their ports and cities, and braced for impact, but Aegor did not waste even half a day on any of them. He headed straight for King's Landing, and while briefly anchoring outside the Dragonstone military port, he received the good news that the Vale had formally sworn allegiance to Daenerys and opened its ports to provide supplies and a forward base for the war against Braavos. Thus, for the second time, he changed his plan to have the fleet stop at King's Landing port for rest and resupply. Instead, he entered the city alone on a dragon to give Daenerys a brief report, then directly integrated the navies from the east and west coasts outside Blackwater Bay, leading the combined "Imperial Fleet" northward toward the Vale in a mighty procession. Using Gulltown as a stepping stone, they headed straight for Braavos.
The Narrow Sea in summer rarely saw storms. It was mostly calm and cloudless, making the journey incredibly smooth. The Braavosi, proud of their high-quality fleet, made multiple attempts to intercept during the final leg of the voyage before Aegor's army reached the city walls, but they were crushed by House Targaryen, which held an absolute advantage in the number, power, and range of its cannons... Finally, with no other options, the Braavosi rulers chose the same strategy as several other city-states to preserve their fleet and avoid meaningless losses: ordering their warships to retreat into the harbor and relying on the natural atoll surrounding the city-state for passive defense.
The enemy abandoning frontal resistance naturally boosted the fleet's morale, but looking at the distant Bronze Titan, which seemed to reach the heavens, and the wall-like reef spanning the horizon at its feet, Aegor knew clearly that this battle would not be as easy as the soldiers imagined.
Braavos had no Great Red Temple, no Fiery Hand, and no massive number of slaves who could be incited to revolt. Daenerys's fleet had no tricks up its sleeve and could only attack head-on. And unlike Li Hongzhang's huge mistake in the late Qing dynasty, when he ordered the fleet not to engage the enemy, Braavos, the "City of a Thousand Islands," had no possibility of being breached from the land, truly possessing the capital to adopt a strategy of "preserving ships and avoiding battle." As for attacking from the sea, its structure of atolls, saltwater lagoons, and countless small islands presented the attacking side with an unavoidable tactical dilemma: even if the gateway was breached, the entire city could not be quickly taken in one go. Instead, each island would have to be cleared and occupied one by one...
This would be a tough fight.
Fortunately, Aegor now had the backing of the Vale, and even the entire Seven Kingdoms. He could afford to wear them down.
The fleet continued to cleave through the waves, approaching Braavos, and the iconic Bronze Titan grew larger and larger in everyone's eyes. At this moment, a single-masted sailboat flying a white sail appeared on the northern sea, tacking unsteadily against the wind toward the fleet. Aegor immediately ordered the fleet to disperse and sent a scout ship to intercept it. Ever since his close call in Oldtown, he had become more cautious than before. Although that small boat looked harmless, who knew if it was filled with barrels of gunpowder?
Even if it was an envoy sent by Braavos to surrender, they would have to be relayed through his own ships before coming before him, just in case.
The scout ship quickly completed the interception and sent its findings back to Aegor on the flagship: the visitor was not a Braavosi envoy for negotiations, but a priest of the Many-Faced God from the House of Black and White. He introduced himself as Jaqen H'ghar, an old friend of the Hand of the Queen.
(To be continued.)