"This is Harrenhal, the largest castle in the Seven Kingdoms." Patrick introduced to Arthur like a show off.
Of course Arthur knew this.
According to the original work of Game of Thrones, Harrenhal belongs to the River House and was occupied by Tywin for a long time during the War of the Five Kings.
Sterling, the golden robe chief of King's Landing, got the castle for his role in arresting Ed, but was ruthlessly deprived of it by the little devil.
Because the fiefdom of Harrenhal is vast and rich, its owners are often the most powerful lords in the Riverlands.
However, due to the legendary Curse of Harrenhal, the families that rule Harrenhal will slowly decline after becoming strong.
The same goes for its sixth owner, the He'an family.
In the spring of 281 AD, Earl Walter Hean held a grand tourney, and Prince Rhaegar defeated everyone and won the championship.
Of course, this is only when the fearless Barristan, who was the captain of the Kingsguard when he was the Mad King, and Robert is the king now, made a slight concession, that the young prince could have such glory.
Ed's father and brother went to King's Landing to seek an explanation from the Mad King, but one was burned to death and the other was strangled.
The Mad King then ordered Jon Arryn, Lord of the Vale, to kill his adopted son Robert to prevent future trouble.
But the Arryn family, whose motto is "High as Glory", is not a coward. In order to keep his oath to protect his adopted son, Jon Arryn raised an army and rebelled.
With the cooperation of Hoster Tully, the four alliances of Wolf, Osprey, Eagle and Deer were formally established. In 282, the Usurper War broke out.
Two years later, Robert became king and the Baratheon dynasty was established.
Fifteen years later, Arthur, Patrick, Desmond and their entourage came here.
"Although the He'an family has declined, after all, it is the county under its jurisdiction, so it will not be a problem to entertain a few of us." Desmond said.
With their status, the He'an family was naturally happy to receive them, but Arthur's status was really not in the eyes of the great nobles, so he could stay here only because of their favor.
"I want to take a good bath, change into clean clothes, and shave my beard. I will meet many nobles in the future, so my image must be good." Patrick murmured to himself.
Although he is the heir to the earldom and Seaside City, he is not a big shot in King's Landing.
Now it is the Deer family dynasty, and the queen is from the Lion family, so the people from the Stormlands and the Western Region are in King's Landing to make the wind and rain rain.
Arthur didn't care much about this kind of thing, "They won't stare at you like a woman, why do they care?"
Patrick curled his lips and said with a hint of sourness: "With your appearance, if you are more refined, you will be like a jade tree facing the wind, with a dignified appearance; if you are more careless, you will be unrestrained, free and easy. How do you understand my troubles?"
Arthur ignored him and rode on his horse to observe.
If you remember correctly, Harrenhal is the three most important defense points in the Riverlands.
The other two are Twin River City on the upper reaches of the Green Fork River and Riverrun on the upper reaches of the Red Fork River.
The three formed a stable triangle, plus the Trident River and its tributaries, forming the defense system of the Riverlands.
As long as these three are in hand, the Hejian people are powerful enough to resist external enemies.
In the early days of the War of the Five Kings, one of Edmure's failures in dealing with the Lannister army was his abandonment of Harrenhal.
By giving up this, Tywin was able to gallop across the vast plains south of the Red Fork River, north of the Blackwater River, from Pink City to Maidenpool.
Cross the river if you want to, and plunder civilian villages to replenish military supplies, without any regard.
If Harrenhal had been guarded by a certain amount of troops, the Riverlands would not have been so passive in the early stages.
You must know that the strength of the princes in the Hejian region is not weak. The total number of off-duty soldiers from each family is more than 30,000. Together with the recruited peasant soldiers, they still have a great advantage in military strength.
However, Edmure made a sudden move, and first sent four thousand men from Vance and Piper to attack the Golden Tooth City, an important place in the Western Territory, and lost these four thousand men in vain.
Afterwards, they directly abandoned the areas around the Lake of God's Eye, Maidenpool and other places, and concentrated their forces in Riverrun City to fight against the Western Division led by James.
In the end, he ended up being captured.
If Lord Tytos of Blackwood hadn't made a desperate effort to rescue Edmure, the battle in the Whispering Forest would have been even more difficult after Robb arrived with the Northern Cavalry.
Now that Arthur has decided to form an alliance between Team Fish and Wolf, such a mistake will naturally not happen again.
The triangular defense system with Harrenhal, Riverrun, and the Twins as the fulcrum must not fail.
Next to him is Desmond Grell, the coach of Riverrun, and his ideas are enough to influence Edmure.
Arthur felt that he should instill some ideas into him.
"Sir Desmond, if a war breaks out, what do you think is the most important fortress in the Riverlands that cannot be lost?"
Desmond was stunned and didn't understand why Hammer God asked him this question, but he still answered quickly:
"Don't even think about it, it must be Riverrun! As long as we stop the people from the West at the confluence of the Tengshi River and the Red Fork River, what other enemy can fight between the rivers? The North and the Valley are both staunch allies."
Arthur had a dark look on his face, he was indeed from Riverrun, and he was thinking about things in Riverrun.
"If this imaginary enemy, the Lannister army, sets off from the Golden Road and crosses the Blackwater River to the north, can Riverrun still stop it?"
Like the Riverwalk and the King's Road, the Golden Road is one of the five roads built by Jaehaerys I. It starts from Casterly Rock in the west, ends at King's Landing in Winter Solstice, and runs across the southern edge of the Riverlands.
Desmond was shocked, "Then King Robert will have to order the mobilization of the entire army to defeat the Lannister army."
He also knew that once he reached large plains like the north bank of the Blackwater River and the south bank of the Trident River, only an absolutely superior force could win the battle.
"That's not what I mean. If only the Riverlands and the West are fighting, how can we deal with an army of twenty or thirty thousand coming from the Golden Road?"
Desmond shook his head, "That's not something I can think about. The Duke and Edmure will think of a suitable solution."
"In this case, the only way to break the situation is to stick to Harrenhal." Arthur gave the answer directly.
Patrick urged his horse and caught up to join their conversation, "I think Arthur is right. The only solution is for the Tully family to send troops to defend Harrenhal."
Desmond was puzzled: "Why? Can't the He'an family defend the city by themselves?"
"This is not the He'an family's business." Arthur raised his riding whip, "As long as Harrenhal is in hand, the Lannister army cannot be mobilized arbitrarily in the vast land near the Lake of the God's Eye, because Harrenhal can be mobilized at any time.
Send troops to cut off their food line."
Desmond's eyes were still confused, but he still said "oh" and pretended that he understood.
Arthur ignored him and talked about it with Patrick.
The Mallister family in Seaside City can also influence Edmure's command, so it would be good for Patrick to have this awareness.
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