Chapter 149 - Battle of the Crossing (II)
"Fire, blood and iron. That is the true power of the world." - Prince Oberyn Martell, looking at the crumbling walls before him.
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"Fire!!!" A soldier shouted while covering his ears. The next second, explosions rang out, making the ground around the cannons seem to shake.
GOODMMMMMMMMM!!! GOODMMMMMMMMM!!! GOODMMMMMM!!!
Round iron projectiles were fired, accompanied by loud, powerful and frightening sounds. The cannonballs tore violently through the air, hitting the castle walls with ferocity. Chunks of stone flew off, revealing craters where the shots had hit.
"The power is very good." Tyrion commented, watching the consecutive attacks on the walls from afar. He couldn't help but admire the blacksmiths who had invented such weapons. He could see that this was only the beginning. In the future, even more powerful weapons could be created, and this brought him a feeling of unreality.
Was this really a power that humans should control? But then he laughed at his own naive thoughts. As Aenar had said, humans should have the power to choose to self-destruct, instead of leaving that fate in the hands of other beings.
Tyrion agreed with the king's words. Humanity could be extinguished by humans themselves, but never by other beings. Perhaps that was human arrogance talking, but he believed it deeply.
"Imagine these weapons on warships. Besieging a coastal city like Lannisport will be as easy as deflowering a young woman in love." Oberyn commented next to Tyrion, with a cold smile. Although the city had a ring of high and powerful walls, with these weapons he could cut a hole in the fortification and begin the invasion without any difficulty.
"Although the cannons are powerful, their accuracy is less than that of an arrow fired by an archer. With the waves, accuracy will drop even further, making it very difficult to hit a stationary target, such as a wall." Tyrion shook his head, not as optimistic as Oberyn about besieging Lannisport. He had been to the city many times, spent years there and knew only too well how powerful the walls protecting the port were.
However, Oberyn's words made sense. If the cannons were placed on ships, there would be no fleets capable of withstanding the fire. In sea battles, cannons on ships would be a real weapon of war.