Author: A little white whale

According to the general rules of war, even if the nobles living in the castle are defeated, if they surrender in time, they theoretically do not have to worry about their lives.

The price of a knight, the price of an earl, and the price of a duke all have a set of hidden rules that cannot be left on the table.

Fighting, losing the sword, throwing away the sword and surrendering, waiting for enough ransom from the family, then going back to recruit a new group of soldiers to continue fighting, and the cycle repeats.

As for the life and death of the soldiers summoned, I'm sorry, the nobles don't care.

But the capture of the Twins this time has nothing to do with this set of rules. First of all, taking the Twins is equivalent to taking over the Frey family's home base.

You have lost your old home, who do you expect to pay the ransom?

The armies in the north have completely controlled the Twins City. Where is the golden dragon? Won't they take it themselves? Will they let you living Frey take it as a ransom? Just dream!

Moreover, last night, due to a fire and a specially chopped sword, the Frey family lost more than a dozen direct members in the past few hours.

When the large-scale killings stopped, the extremely lucky Frey people gathered together and discovered that the inheritance of the Frey family had actually fallen to a fool nicknamed "Jingle Bell".

This guy is a member of Steve's family who has just been beheaded. The male Freys in front of him have all died, and it is his turn to inherit.

So, now the question is, what should the Frey family do?

There are actually four choices before the princes in the north.

First, leave this mess to Riverrun. After all, the Frey family is still nominally the vassal of Riverrun. How to deal with them is theoretically the responsibility of the old Duke of Riverrun.

But what is very embarrassing is that the current owner of Riverrun, Lord Hoster Tully, the guardian of the riverlands, has actually been bedridden for a long time, and there is no telling when he will go to see the Seven Gods.

As for his heir, Mr. Edmure Tully, as expected at this time, he should be in prison in the camp of the Lannister army.

Therefore, it is true that this problem belongs to Riverrun, but in fact, after going around in a big circle, I finally found that the North has to solve it on its own.

The second option for the North is to pinch the nose and help Aegon Frey, whose actual status in the Frey family is equal to the clown, to the position of Marquis Frey in accordance with the well-established inheritance laws of the Westeros continent.

.

The advantage of this method is that if you help it up, it means you don't help it. People with abnormal brains cannot control Twin River City. Therefore, the people who are really in power are the people who stay here in the north.

But there is a hidden danger in this method. Even a fool can understand that this Aegon Frey is an out-and-out puppet. No one among the huge low-level members of the Frey family will truly obey him.

At the same time, a certain northern noble staying here will actually become the object of hatred of the lower-level members of the Frey family.

Maintaining stability is another pressing issue.

The third option in the North violates the sacred law of Westeros succession. It is better to choose a capable Frey to be the Lord of the Twins.

This can prevent the Frey family from being leaderless. Under the force of the Northern Blade, the Frey family can quickly become a group again.

However, because there were problems with the inheritance from the beginning, there were also hidden dangers. Although it was guaranteed that the Frey family would have to hold on to the thighs of the Northern Army to secure the position of the family head.

If the influence of the Northern Legion fades, there will be a backlash from the Frey family.

It will still be a problem at that time, but that will happen later.

The last plan is to banish the Frey family and let the North directly take over the Twins and a large area of ​​territory nearby.

This is okay, as long as the North kills the Twins and the Frey family stands on the opposite side of the Riverlands and the North, and is on the same side as Lord Tywin, there will be no problem.

If you really do this, a very simple question will be placed in front of everyone: Who should eat such a large piece of fat?

Although from the map, Twin River City and the large area of ​​land surrounding it are bordering the northern border, it seems that it would be easy to annex them directly.

But this is not just about drawing a line on a map. The actual geographical situation is not like that at all.

Further north of Twin River City is the Neck, the traditional dividing line between the north and the south. Except for a small part near the eastern coast that is passable, most of this place is an impassable swamp.

After the North captured this place, it actually took a long time to integrate this place. Before that, there was actually no difference between the Twins City and the enclave.

For example, this place was allocated to the Amber family of the Last Hearth. Here comes something interesting. Guess how far it is from the Last Hearth to the Twins?

Even if the flag of the Amber family is currently planted on the walls of Twins City, it will have to be changed to something else in a few years. Quite simply, it cannot be defended at all.

Not to mention a series of complex issues such as customs, beliefs, etc., the distance alone is destined to determine that the Northern family that is granted the title here will only become a new southern noble in a few years, and at most it will be the same as the Northern family.

The relationship is just a little better.

And here, Clay's Mandalay family is the best choice.

Geographically speaking, White Harbor, which controls Biting Bay and annexes the Three Sisters Islands, can directly cross the Neck, which has difficult traffic, and directly reach the territory of Twin River City by sea.

In terms of belief culture, although they have been in the north for a long time, the Mandalay family still believes in the seven gods of the south.

Well...although Clay's generation is not religious at all.

And the most important point is that the Twin River City was actually captured by the Clay Plane and the troops led by internal and external cooperation. This is a military medal that no one can deny in full view of the public.

If we really want to separate, Clay has a huge advantage, if the adults in the north want to lose face.

…

After seeing the unsightly "bell ringing", all the northern princes present fell silent.

"Did you kill so many Freys last night? I remember that Walder Frey had a very large number of heirs. Could it be... a mistake?"

Roose Bolton's voice was very soft, and it was difficult to speak. As smart as he was, of course he was familiar with the aristocracy. As soon as this situation came out, he immediately realized the trouble involved.

Robb Stark seemed a little slow to this question. He shrugged and seemed to be still immersed in the joy of capturing the Twins:

"I'm sorry, Lord Bolton. We captured all the direct members of the Frey family in Twins City. Among those alive, the guy just now is the first heir."

"The most sacred inheritance law in Westeros is really... really dramatic."

The young man added that in his final evaluation, he couldn't find a suitable word to describe the situation in front of him for a long time.

The Frey family may have the most children in the Seven Kingdoms. Now, the inheritance rights have actually fallen to a fool. It is really a great irony.

It is estimated that Marquis Walder Frey, who has attached great importance to his family throughout his life, would not have imagined that this situation would arise in his most absurd dreams, right?

"We can't hand over the Twins to such people, otherwise we have to leave one or two people here to be the "mother" of this fool Frey. Who among you is willing?"

Lord Rickard Karstark immediately objected.

This is a typical warrior mentality. Everyone knows the principles of logistics in war. As an earl who leads troops in war, Rickard Karstark instinctively wants a rear area that can stably transport food and grass.

If the fool Frey is here to be the master, then the North will inevitably have people left here to take care of things.

"I also don't agree with the Twins City being inherited by such a person. Besides, we have already conquered this place. There is no way we can return the city so easily."

"Of course, we will take these three thousand Dofrei soldiers south, and they will help us consume Lord Tywin's troops."

Clay folded his fingers and placed them in front of the lower handle and said calmly.

"I don't know how many more people the Frey family can produce, but I know that if these more than 3,000 people are captured and there is no chaos, the Frey family will not dare to do anything even if the Frey family makes a pig the head of the family."

This is a conspiracy. I know that your Frey family must be dissatisfied with the northern nobles, but what can you do? Your army is in my hands, and you can't do anything you want to see.

Moreover, Clay made up his mind to consume these 3,000 Dofrey soldiers on the battlefield, and then find a way to keep an eye on the other northern nobles.

Want a bloody wedding? You haven’t woken up yet, have you?

It's not that Clay is willing to be a good vassal to the Stark family for the rest of his life, but in this current situation, his wings are not full, and he must rely on the banner of Stark.

There was no way the Starks were going to suffer heavy losses in the war, at least not yet.

"Lord Clay, there is no one else here. We all know that the Twin River City can be captured. Your contribution cannot be overstated. Now we want to hear your opinions on how to deal with this place."

The speaker was Earl Glover. It seemed that because of his good relationship with Sir Malone, this Earl seemed to favor Clay intentionally or unintentionally during the meeting.

No one objected to his words, and many people even nodded in approval, including Robb Stark, the young master of the North.

This is what most people in the north think. In war, there are spoils, and whoever defeats them will get them, because this is a skill in itself.

Clay frowned. In fact, for him, it was not a question of how to decide now. He had already decided.

"I would like to change the Twin River City flag. I have seen enough of the Twin Towers flag."

After a long time, Clay said something in an extremely calm tone that shocked the entire northern nobles.

This sentence contains too much information. It is a long-established noble family. How can all the adults not know what it means.

The Mandalay family has taken a liking to the Twins. Will this young Mandalay want to plant his flag all over the Twins?

Lord Roose Bolton, who was familiar with the geography of the North, immediately figured out the feasibility of this matter. In theory, if the North really wanted to seize the Frey family's inheritance, the Mandalay family would encounter the least resistance.

It's just that... this matter really took shape, and Robb Stark, who had a very good relationship with Clay Mandler and was like a brother, really nodded his head.

Then, the power of the Mandalay family will expand rapidly in a short period of time. When the Mandalay family took over the Three Sisters Islands and blocked the Biting Bay, everyone present nodded.

With the Bite Bay blocked, the traffic from White Harbor to Twins City is completely safe. As long as the Mandalay family's fleet is there, communication between the two places will not be a problem.

Even if the King's Road is rotated ninety degrees clockwise, it will have no effect.

Earl Wyman of White Harbor sat there to dispatch, Wendell Manderly led his troops to defeat the Three Sisters Islands, and now, the Twins City, the third generation heir of the Manderly family, directly entered the city alone, and attacked it in one fell swoop.

This link was linked with another, and Roose Bolton felt a sense of conspiracy that he had not seen for a long time.

Maybe the Mandalay family had targeted the entire land around Biting Bay from the beginning, from the Three Sisters Islands to the Twins, and fell into the Mandalay family's plan from the beginning.

However, this matter does not seem to be done by Earl Wyman. Roose Bolton knows Earl Wyman very well. In his impression, the Earl is a somewhat conservative person who only places bets when he is sure.

Such a radical thing has developed to this day. If it were the work of Earl Wyman alone, Roose Bolton would not believe it.

His gray eyes flickered back and forth on Clay's face.
To be continued...