Ten days later, Harrenhal, at the base of Widow's Tower, one of the five towers.
A few torches were the only source of light in this huge cell. Even during the day, it was as dark as late at night.
Due to the decline of the He'an family, no new customers have come to this place where prisoners are held for several years.
But now, there are more than forty Western soldiers who are unwilling to surrender and a dozen Lion spies who pretend to be civilians and try to sneak in.
"Tell me, what are Tywin's army doing in Harren Town?" Patrick shouted fiercely.
The voice is quite ferocious, but the temperament is a bit lacking.
In front of the young master of Seaside City were four Lannister spies wearing only loincloths.
Their hands and feet were tied and they squatted on the ground.
This question has been asked countless times, and even this time there was no satisfactory answer for Patrick.
But since there were no recreational activities, he could only have fun by intimidating the captured spies.
Arthur, who was wearing a linen robe, sat in front of these people and let them see his face.
"Do you think I look like a duke or a rich man?"
Although his vision was dim, he could clearly see Arthur's handsome face and tall figure.
"Based on your noble face, I think you must be a Duke." The prisoner being questioned said with a smile.
Although he himself also knew that the person in front of him was the little baron who had recently become famous throughout the Riverlands, Arthur Bracken.
Behind the two nobles, there were seven or eight soldiers from various river families, and they were discussing their actions in low voices.
"Why does Lord Arthur like to ask the lion family members who enter here to show him their faces?" a Bracken soldier asked.
"Who knows? I also can't understand your lord's move to name this cell the Nishihyoko Grand Hotel."
"But speaking of appearance, Lord Arthur does look very noble. He has a full forehead and handsome eyebrows. He is more handsome than Prince Joffrey and Duke Renly." A Darry City soldier said.
Although Joffrey and Renly had already put on their crowns and declared themselves kings, since it had only been a few weeks, the customary naming among the people had not changed.
Several other people disagreed with this, "When have you seen these two big men? They are people from heaven."
"That's right, I know you admire Lord Arthur, but before you brag, you should first check who you are. Can a mud-legged guy who has never been out of the Riverlands meet Prince Joffrey and Duke Renly?"
Several soldiers shook their heads, disapproving of their companions' words.
Another Darry City soldier present said: "Hey, we have actually met these two people. They are the legendary Kingslayer Jaime, the fearless Barristan and Lord Eddard of the Stark family.
, we have all seen that the late king stayed in our Darui City for many days on his way south."
When the late King Robert I welcomed Lord Eddard as he went south, he stayed in Darry City for four or five days because Eddard's daughter Arya Stark ran away. Therefore, what these two Darry City soldiers said was true.
"Tell you two, what does a regicide look like?" someone asked.
In the past few days, they had been tired of hearing about Arthur riding alone in the midst of thousands of troops to capture the eldest son, Lord Tywin, but they had never seen the true appearance of the regicide, so this was the time to get curious.
"I forgot." said the Darry City soldier who had previously discussed Arthur's appearance.
Another Darry City soldier exposed his lies, "At that time, he was only looking at the sweet Queen Cersei, Princess Myrcella and others, and he was so excited that he couldn't put his eyes on the face of the Kingslayer."
Several people burst into laughter, which made Patrick turn his head and glare.
At this time, a voice came from outside:
"Arthur, come quickly, we have captured four more Lannister spies."
It was Ma Ke, standing in front of the corridor of the cell, waving to Arthur to pass.
After letting the prisoners read their faces, the God of War in Hejian ordered the soldiers behind him:
"Keep them locked up until someone is willing to surrender, then take them to the armory and blow the bellows for the blacksmiths."
There are dozens of blacksmiths in the armory reforging weapons and armor, and strong labor is now needed.
Then Arthur took Patrick and others out of the corridor with Ma Ke and went to the main entrance to deal with the Lion spies according to the procedures.
Ten days ago, Arthur led the remaining riverside army from Stonehedge City, first along the waterway to the Ruby Ford Ferry on the Trident River, and then led the army south to Harrenhal.
Hendry, the nephew of Earl Janos, actually came with him. He said that his uncle gave the soldiers to him to guard Stonewall City. After being taken away by Arthur, he was worried and had to keep an eye on them.
Anyway, the governor of Bracken had clearly given the command to Arthur, and Hendry couldn't do anything wrong, so the River God of War allowed him to follow him to Harrenhal.
As soon as Hendry and all the veterans left, Janos's five daughters also had to follow their cousin Hendry, so they also packed several carts of daily necessities and brought a dozen maids with them. The old lady followed them to Hendry.
Lemberg.
In Shili City, the instructor serves as the acting city lord, assisted by several sworn knights and mercenary knights like Hans Darry, and more than 500 recruits watch over the defense of the city.
Five days ago, Arthur returned to Harrenhal with a team of more than a thousand people. One day later, the mayor of Harren Town reported the appearance of the Western Army.
So Arthur asked all the civilians near the town of Harren to take refuge in Harrenhal with food and daily necessities.
Soon, Tywin personally led the main force of the Lion family to settle in Heron Town.
After confirming that there were thousands of defenders in Harrenhal, the Lion Army organized two small-scale siege attempts. Once, they used a siege ram to pound the main gate and east gate for two hours, but there was not even a thick iron door.
Another time, they used a ladder to climb up to the crenellations of the city wall, but the normal ladder could only reach half of the Harrenhal wall, so the siege soldiers had no choice but to give up.
After this, there was a three-four day standoff. Before the extended ladder was built, it was impossible for the Lion soldiers to launch another attack.
But because Arthur ordered a slit to be opened through the smaller east gate to receive the refugees from the river, some Lion spies tried to pass by pretending to be civilians.
It's just that the soldiers in the Western Region are tall, muscular, and skinny, which is obviously different from the farmers who are tanned and thin in the fields and have families to raise, so it's easy to distinguish between the two.
Ma Ke, who had nothing to do, was sent to supervise the gatekeepers at the East Gate to screen out disguised spies.
After the Lion family spies are caught, they will first be tied to a cross and then put up on the wall above the main entrance. This will let the Lion family scouts who are always watching outside the castle know that this road is not feasible. Secondly, it will also give these spies a warning.
the first punishment.
After being tied to a cross and left to dry in the sun for a whole day, most Lion spies would choose to surrender, and then be sent to the armory to work for the blacksmiths, or to work with the civilians to repair the superstructure of Harrenhal.
The spies who refused to surrender were imprisoned in the West Bingku Hotel on the ground floor of Widow's Tower, where they were given five-star prison services.
After passing the stone bridge connected to the Widow's Tower, the group passed through the Burning King Tower and reached the city wall above the main entrance.
There is plenty of sunshine and no clouds in the sky, which is a good time to do some spying.
If these people weren't all good coolies, Arthur would really want to try what he would get after spending one hundred and eighty days in the sun.
All four people were stripped down to their underwear and tied to the cross in the crucifixion pose.
Arthur approached, exerted force from the middle of the cross, stood up the cross with the person tied up, and then raised it to the crenel.
Ma Ke and four or five Hejian soldiers quickly took the rope and worked in various directions for a long time. After a long time, the first spy was fixed on the top of the city wall.
Originally, ordinary soldiers could do this job, but because Harrenhal is so big, soldiers from various river houses in their early 1,000s can only be scattered around and take turns watching and standing guard. The new army is stepping up training, so they can only sit idle.
Several nobles and soldiers came to do it.
In the distance, a mounted Western Scout saw this scene and turned around to leave.
After repeating this three times, the work is completed.
During this period, the four Western soldiers kept shouting and scolding, but after being fixed on the city wall, they became much more honest.
After all, under this sun, even spit and dregs become precious.
After a few people finished their work, they stood on the city wall chatting.
"There have been more civilians taking refuge in the past few days. It seems that Lord Tywin is collecting food in the same place again."
The increase in the number of civilians means that his screening work becomes more difficult.
"Isn't this the case for everyone? Which army brings its own food after entering the river?" Patrick asked rhetorically.
Since Westeros is a long continent, the Hejian in the middle has naturally become the main battlefield in all the Seven Kingdoms wars. In addition, it is a grain-producing area, so providing military rations on the spot has become the best way to enter the Hejian army.
Cost-effective way.
Even the friendly Stark army will forcefully seize the food from the farmers on the river.
Tens of thousands of troops ate horse chews, which a normal earldom simply could not supply.
Therefore, the farmers who had been robbed of food could only starve to death, while the passing army continued to cause trouble in the next area.
"The farmers in the Riverlands are really the most miserable common people." Arthur felt pity for them.
Things harm their own kind, and he had an idea in his mind to save them.
"You are here, let me find you easily." Raymond Darry's figure appeared from the stairs, "Earl Berry and the red-robed monk Thoros are here, bringing some very bad news."
Arthur was surprised, "What news?"
Raymond shook his head and said: "They didn't say anything. Thoros asked for food first to fill his stomach. Count Berry said we would discuss it after we all get together."
The few people no longer had the energy to chat just now, and hurriedly followed Raymond to meet the members of the Brotherhood Without Banners.
…
Most of the river nobles in Harrenhal were summoned together to listen to the latest news brought by Lord Beric.
About ten days ago, Kevan Lannister took over the partial division on the western front, and then led his army north to attack Riverrun.
However, Edmure and more than 17,000 riverside troops held on to the fortified city, making it impossible for the Western Division to attack in a short period of time.
After several days of siege, Kevan used a large number of civilians as bait. Edmure, who had always been kind to the civilians, couldn't stand it and led some of his troops out of the city to protect the civilians in the river.
However, the Western Border Army was well prepared, and the Hejian Army was severely defeated, losing four to five thousand men.
What is even more touching is that Kevan ordered the civilians in the river to be shot, so Edmure led his soldiers to protect the civilians.
The only heir to the duke was seriously wounded by a crossbowman from the West.
Fortunately, the rest of the Riverside Army in the city, led by Tatus Blackwood, Jason Mallister and other riverside nobles, went out of the city to rescue, and only then the seriously injured Edmure was rescued.
This news made Arthur angry and sad.
Angry that Kevan of the Lannister family was so despicable, using innocent civilians as bait; sad that the kind-hearted Edmure did not end well.
The two men of the Tully family were seriously injured and too ill to take charge.
The Hedong area was invaded by war, so the five earls on the south bank of the Red Fork River left at the same time with their troops to defend their territories.
What is even more unexpected is that, taking advantage of the chaos, Lord Janos Bracken led his men to kidnap Jaime the Kingslayer, and then gave him to Kevan in the West.
"It is said that when the regicide poops, there are three hundred fully armed Western soldiers watching, many of whom are nobles wearing plate armor." Thoros took a bite of the chicken leg and said what he heard
of gossip.
Lightning King Lord Beric shook his head, "Don't talk about these rumors. After the nobles on the south bank of the river left with their troops, the strength of Riverrun's troops dropped to about 5,000, and it was no longer a serious problem for Kevan. So he led the army to cross
The ford of the Tengshi River, marching towards the north."
The Tengshi River is a tributary of the Red Fork River, and the two rivers converge at Riverrun City.
Going north across the Tengshi River means that Arthur's territory, Seaside City, Crowtree City, Beauty Market and other riverlands are no longer safe.
Patrick shouted: "They must be heading towards my home city of Haijiang. I don't know if my father can hold it."
Seaside City is located at the source of the Lancha River and close to the west coast. It is the first fortress in the Riverlands to defend against the invasion of the Ironborn of the Iron Islands. The coastal defense has a high strategic position, but the land battle is just an ordinary earldom-level castle that is insignificant.
.
"Idiot, the North has gathered forces to move south to the Gulf of Cailin. Kevan's army is targeting the Twins." The red-robed monk Thoros was amused by Patrick's simple remarks and reminded him.
Arthur also thought of this section, and as a result, the entire war situation on the Western Front completely collapsed.
Although Robb, the eldest son of Duke Eddard in the north, had already led his army to the Gulf of Cailin at this time, he had not yet won the support of the Frey family, which had more than 4,000 troops.
If Kevan leads his army to the Twins, due to the marriage relationship between the local lords Frey and Lannister, Lord Walder Frey will immediately stop riding on the fence and turn to the Lion family.
By then, the northern troops will no longer have to go south.
Because there are only two choices: either fight with the Kevan-Frey family coalition forces of equal strength in the Twins City, and there is no guarantee that they will win.
Either go south along the King's Road, and then be blocked by the Kevan Frey coalition in the narrow strip between the Green Fork River and the Moon Mountains.
If Tywin's Eastern Front Lion Army could also cross the Ruby Bank and head north, then the nearly 20,000 Northern Army would be directly blocked from both ends, and Young Wolf Lord Robb would be defeated without a fight.
"So we rushed here in a hurry to deliver this series of news to you." Earl Berry said.
The steady Raymond held his chin in thought for a moment and then said: "In this case, the only chance of a comeback on the Western Front is for the Northern Army to quickly move south, and then the Starks use heavy profits to lure the Frey family and bring his family to the Fish and Wolf Alliance.
inside, and then join forces with Seaside City, Riverrun City, etc. to attack Kevan's Western Division in front and back."
Lord Beric nodded in agreement, "Yes, this is not necessarily a win. Robb is only a teenager, so he is too young."
Arthur is not worried about Robb's fighting ability. With famous generals like Robb and Lord Roose Bolton, who are extremely talented in fighting, there is a high probability that the actions in the north will be as Raymond said.
But there is another problem. In this case, all the Wolf soldiers will go to fight on the western front in the Riverlands.
Arthur and the others, who were stuck at Harrenhal, did not get any support.
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