Chapter 152: Who are the serious people to line up and fight?
The overall strength of the valley has always been firmly ranked third among the seven realms. A normal lord calling for war can easily pull out an army of 30,000 people. If it is mobilized to the extreme, it can be much more.
In the Hundred Furnaces Hall, except for those who had already led the troops away, all the leading nobles and wealthy knights gathered together to discuss how to face this powerful enemy.
On a large wooden table, a military map showing the distribution of enemy and friendly forces has been laid out, and some thoughtful nobles are actively expressing their opinions.
"According to the intelligence collected by Ser Hosteen, Bronze Yonn said he would never fight for the Lannisters, and he refused to lead the troops in this battle. Therefore, the enemy general is likely to be Ser Lyn Corbray, who is Leon
The younger brother of Earl No. Corbray cannot inherit the family territory, so he wants to use his military exploits to gain territory and castles." Tristan Legg said.
Sir Lyn is the holder of the Corbray family sword "The Lady of Silence". He killed Prince Lewen Martell of the royal party during the Usurper War, so he was given this Valyrian sword by his father.
Steel sword.
The clean-faced Matus pointed to the town of Salt Farm and the northeast side of the Green Fork River. "If they move quickly, we should confront them in this area. It will depend on how many soldiers the Valley People have."
These words made many nobles nod their heads in approval. In their view, the battlefield should be on a flat area, with the infantry forming an immovable line of resistance, and the knights and the cavalry of the big families forming a charging offensive phalanx.
Arthur stared at the Eagle's Nest City and the Valley Road, and asked: "What kind of reward did King's Landing offer to get Littlefinger and Lady Lysa to agree to send troops?"
Lysa Arryn is the undisputed Mistress of the Vale, and she holds the only male in the Arryn family, Robin, so most of the Vale Housemasters are willing to listen to Lady Lysa.
Previously, she didn't even send troops to help her own sister and nephew Robb because of Littlefinger's order, but now she is out of character.
A middle-aged knight from the Oakheart family, Aijilon, guessed:
"The helplessness is about the territory. The second and youngest sons of many families cannot obtain the territory. If Cersei is ruthless enough to give three or four pieces of the earldom of the Riverlands as a reward, it will be enough to drive the valley nobles with small territories crazy.
Earl Yohn Royce did not have the worries of his second son's territory, so he refused to go to war. Other families were very concerned about their territories. For example, the Tampaton family in Nine Star City, they have been the strongest in the Seven Realms for more than a hundred years.
There are wealthy knights, and the family has thousands of independent soldiers. He is stronger than most viscounts, but his title is only a knight, which is on the same level as the infamous Magic Mountain."
Bronze Yonn has three sons. The eldest son Anda is determined to inherit the family. The second son Robert joins Renly's side in order to get his own territory and becomes the Red Guard, one of the Rainbow Seven Guards. He has been taken over by Loras, the Knight of Flowers.
Kill with sword.
The youngest son, Wayma, is one of the three Night Watchmen at the beginning of the Game of Thrones story, and is also the earliest noble to die in the entire canon.
"That's what I say, but I always feel something is wrong." Arthur looked at the map, "Is there a possibility that some of the families participating in the battle this time may be firmly opposed to Littlefinger, so Baelish asked
Lysa agreed to send troops to consume the strength of the rival family."
He vaguely remembered that Lynn Corbray was from Littlefinger, so he came up with this guess.
Matus pointed to the north of Salt Farm Town, "But the battle will still be fought, Your Majesty. The soldiers of the Frey family have already set off in advance. I propose that we also go north immediately. After arriving at the battlefield, wait for the arrival of the enemy."
Most of the river nobles such as Kalel, Tristan, and Lyman Darry also have this view.
Arthur shook his right index finger, "Who is a decent person to line up for battle? I decided to place the battlefield in the mountains on the south side of the Mingyue Mountains."
Under the aristocratic fiefdom system of Westeros, the honorable knight's fighting method has become the mainstream, and battles must be fought according to certain habits.
But this habit does not suit Arthur, who comes from a small business.
Guerrilla warfare, hijacking camps, burning granaries and other unprepared tactics are what he should adopt.
Kalel Vance advised: "Your Majesty, the Mingyue Mountains are high in mountains and trees, rocky and deep in forests, and the ground is slippery and steep. It is extremely unsuitable for soldiers wearing iron armor to fight..."
Arthur stretched out his hand to stop him from speaking, "This terrain is also not suitable for our enemies. It is late autumn now, and the grass and trees are beginning to wither. We can defeat them with only a small number of troops."
He thought of a way to defeat this valley army, but to be on the safe side, he didn't tell this group of people.
The two battles near Stone Hall Town and Harvard City allowed King Hejian to establish a certain degree of authority, so no one had any objections.
"Active defense is not enough. Since I became king, I have been thinking of ways to resist attacks from various families. Therefore, the flames of war have always been burning in the territory that is loyal to me. Now it is time for them to have a taste of this."
King Hejian placed his right hand on the map near Yinshan City and Deep Cave City in the western border.
"Please see, everyone, the area south of Shitang Town and north of Jinshu City is no longer heavily guarded. Moreover, the nobles in these two places died in battle and were captured, and there are no powerful people in the territory.
Presiding over major events. If an army can capture this area, then the Golden Tree City, Stalwart Tower, Ancient Oak City and other river bend territories can be connected with the River Land, and future offensive and defensive operations will be much more convenient."
The owner of the Steadfast Tower is the Osgrey family, loyal to the Rowan family, and now they have also surrendered to Arthur.
After hearing this, Matus Rowan suddenly became hot-eyed, "Yes, Silver Mountain City and Deep Cave City have responded to Tywin's call, so there are not many people in the territory. Only four to five thousand troops are needed.
If you can take down these castles one by one and leave hundreds of defenders behind, you can also go to my territory to repair a circle, and then attack north along the coastal road. You can take down places such as Crake Hall and Corn City, and even
Lannisterport is not impossible."
The protruding part of the mountains in the West is surrounded by the southern part of the Riverlands and the northern part of the Reach, where Deep Cave City and Silver Mountain City are located.
It is worth mentioning that after a certain King of Casterly Rock died, his son-in-law Lydon changed his surname and inherited Casterly Rock and the Kingdom of Westerland, so Tywin Lannister can also be called Tywin Lydon.
Therefore, the Deep Cave City has always been loyal to the Lannister family. In the early days of the War of the Five Kings, Lord Lyns Leighton sent all his soldiers to fight for the lord, resulting in the territory now being empty.
"This plan is very feasible. Your Majesty, I will lead the troops south to capture these rebel castles for you."
Matus's plan coincides with that of the River King.
But Arthur was not prepared to let the Reachers return south.
If the war between the River Kingdom and the Valley does not go well, I am afraid that these newly surrendered River Bend families will be shaken again.
"The knight culture in the southern region is extremely prosperous, so your soldiers are more elite than those in the riverlands, and they are just used to fight against the knights of the valley."
Arthur glanced at Matus, who still had some ideas, and didn't say anything more, but looked at Dickon.
"I have decided to appoint Ser Dickon Tarly as the commander-in-chief of the Southern Expedition. He will lead five thousand riverside soldiers to seize Deep Cave City, Silver Mountain City and other western territories, and then station them there. At the same time, he will cut off the Golden Road and allow the king to lead the expedition.
The connection with the West is completely severed. Several families in the Reach will send a few knights to follow this army. After Sir Dickon has opened up the riverlands and North Reach, your territory will provide food for this army.
"
There are fields in Corn City, Crake Hall and other places in the west, and the castles in the mountains don't have much leftover grain. If the grain bought from Maiden Spring is transported to nearby areas, there will be a lot of losses on the light road, so Arthur issued this message
An order.
Matus Rowan had no choice but to agree.
Arthur issued several more orders, asking Karel Vance, Tristan Legg and others to follow Dickon.
By the time all the details were finalized, it was almost lunch time.
In order to seize the opportunity to attack first, King Hejian ordered the armies to start mobilizing after dinner.
After the leading nobles left, Arthur recruited Sansa, Hayley, mercenary leader Bill, Harrenhal steward Richard and others.
"Some people say that chanting scriptures and chanting prayers can eliminate the curse of Harrenhal and dissipate the weeping souls of injustice. You go and gather those sparrow monks together and recite prayers for several days throughout the castle. By the way,
Go and secretly collect a large amount of sesame oil, dry cotton and other flammable materials, which will be used by the army in battle."
The second request was easily complied with by several people, but the first order was not.
"That group of monks left here when the war in the river gradually subsided. They should be in the king's territory and other places now." Haili, who became more and more capable, replied.
"Not here when it's time to use it!" Arthur was a little dissatisfied. The High Sparrow left at the wrong time.
"Does anyone know some devout old monks who have been chanting prayers for decades? Please ask them to come to Harrenhal to remove the curse."
Mrs. He'an can no longer get out of bed, so she must hurry up.
Sansa, Hailey and others looked at each other. They really didn't know any old monk who met this condition.
Richard, the steward who had always been insignificant, stood up and said, "I recommend an old monk who has been reading scriptures for forty years, Meribald. This is a truly devout believer who has spent his whole life giving to poor people.
Host weddings and funerals. He has come to our Harrenhal many times to ask for some food and money to distribute to those who really need them. Our He An family has a pretty good relationship with him, and he should be able to do this, and
Call in the equally pious monks."
This man sounds like a perfect match for Arthur's requirements.
He asked: "Where is Brother Meribald now? Isn't it convenient to call him?"
Richard replied: "It's roughly between the East River, maybe in the south, or maybe near Maidenpool. He is more sincere than the High Sparrow monk, and he has left his footprints throughout the riverlands."
The King of Hejian nodded, "Then let Richard lead people to find this monk, and also call in more devout monks to rest the dead souls. The small church and weaving workshop in Heron Town must also quickly
After it is built, the weather turns cold, so the civilians must have thick clothes to wear. I want to lead the army to fight, and Sansa has to worry about these important matters of people's livelihood."
Miss Stark, who tied her waist-length hair back, agreed.
When the River King waved everyone to go out for lunch, Sansa approached Arthur and asked in a low voice:
"When will our wedding be held? Can it be held in Riverrun?"
Ever since Arthur promised her to be the queen, she had been very interested in getting married and took the initiative to arrange weddings twice, but they failed because Arthur had to go out to fight.
The King of Hejian thought for a while, "After convincing the people of the valley this time and letting them calm down for a while, I will come back to marry you. The location will be at Harrenhal, no, in Harren Town, so that all people can witness it.
A union between you and me. Other parts of the banquet can be reduced, but there must be enough food to give all the commoners who can participate a good meal."
For most weddings, what the guests remember is not how beautiful the bride and groom's wedding clothes were, or how lavish the wedding was, but how delicious the food was.
After the wedding day was set, Sansa immediately became happy.
She screamed strangely at Arthur: "It's enough trouble for you to ask me to be responsible for feeding tens of thousands of people, but you actually want these tens of thousands of people to have a meal of meat. It's really embarrassing for me."
"On your wedding night you will know what it means to make things difficult for you."
Taking advantage of the lack of people, Arthur took a bite of her.
This made Miss Stark's pretty face as red as her hair.
Podrick watched all this silently. He lowered his head smartly and at the same time moved his steps lightly to prevent the two men from noticing him behind him.
"I hate it." She covered the place where she was kissed with the back of her hand, "Oh, by the way, my sister Arya came here some time ago and said she was going to Braavos to learn something. Morghulis came to help her brother, father and mother.
Revenge with my brothers. I asked her to stay here, and she ostensibly agreed, slipping away from the sewer at night. I don’t know where she went now. Can you send some people to look for her?"
Although Sansa used to dislike this lively and active sister, now she misses her more and more and worries about whether she has food to eat and whether she has thick clothes to wear when the weather gets cold.
"Didn't you ask the knight Brienne of Tarth to find her? Let the knight Brienne look for her again. After I resolve the issues in the valley and the south, I will send a large number of people to find Arya.
"
Now that she has gone to Braavos, Arthur's worries are much less.
Sansa was obviously a little unhappy, but she still nodded in agreement.
At this time, Gendry, who was responsible for feeding the dragon, suddenly hurried to Arthur's side.
"Your Majesty, His Highness Alduin ate the corpse of the witch and then began to shed its skin."
This was the first time he had seen such a situation, so he reported it to the real owner of the dragon.
Arthur was also so shocked that he didn't even bother to have lunch, so he followed Gendry to see Alduin outside the city.
Sansa and several guards followed.
Still next to the weirwood, Alduin looked quite ferocious. Beside it, there was a circle of black skin scattered on the ground.
What's surprising is that the dragon has grown a lot bigger at this time. When Adachi stood on the ground, the dragon's head was already at the same level as Arthur's chin, and it was visually estimated that the dragon's length had grown to about two meters.
"Is this how the body of the child of the forest is replenished?"
PS: Please give me recommendations and monthly votes.
