Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Nine: The King Sees the King
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Rumble!
The strong horse hooves full of muscles trampled on the road of the valley road, raising a burst of dust that filled the sky.
Thousands of valley cavalrymen in the front row raised the steel lances they held tightly in their hands. Under the tip of the steel lances, there was a flag with a blue and white background and an eagle soaring in the moon as the family emblem.
It was constantly flying with the strong wind brought by the charge.
The 5,000 Riverrun cavalry led by Edmure were only intended to harass the Western Army and had no intention of facing them head-on.
Therefore, they did not even carry lances. Apart from dry food and water, they only had swords, bows and arrows on their war horses.
Since the distance between the two sides was not far, and the Valley cavalry that had fully charged were very fast, the Riverrun cavalry had no time to draw their bows and fire a volley.
Edmure, who immediately made a judgment in his mind, drew out his long sword, pointed at the valley cavalry directly in front, and ordered loudly: "Charge!"
Go!
The Riverrun cavalry also understood their situation. They drew out their swords one after another, held the sword in their right hands above their heads, raised the tip of the sword towards the enemy, and shouted in unison.
Da da da!
Bah!
Hey~~
ah!
!
As the cavalry from both sides charged towards each other, at the moment of contact, a large number of intertwined sounds immediately sounded on the battlefield.
Every inch is longer and every inch stronger! The front row of the valley cavalry, with their steel lances, directly pierced the bodies of a large number of Riverrun cavalry.
The Riverrun cavalry in the front row were like wheat harvested by scythes, screaming and falling from their horses in pieces.
Tear!
A small number of Riverrun soldiers who had avoided the thrust of the lances approached the Valley Cavalry. Before the other party could throw away their lances and draw their swords, the long swords in their hands directly passed through their necks.
Blood flowers bloomed on the battlefield, marking the official start of the brutal cavalry charge.
Bang!
Hey~~
ah!
In fact, when the cavalry from both sides clashes, both the cavalry and the war horses will subconsciously avoid the oncoming enemy.
However, in a compact group charge formation, some cavalrymen will inevitably collide with each other.
In this collision of power and speed, neither side was happy. The horses that collided fell to the ground with a scream. The masters on their backs, carried by the strong inertia, screamed and fell hard from the air.
Enter the enemy camp.
These fallen cavalrymen were extremely lucky to be able to survive the galloping charge. But most of them were trampled to pieces by countless iron hooves, making it impossible to distinguish what they once looked like.
Clang, Clang, Clang!
When the cavalry from both sides formally came into contact and began to engage in hand-to-hand combat with real swords and guns, some people kept bleeding and falling on their horses.
Blood, corpses, and screams made the battlefield extremely chaotic.
But what is the decisive factor in the cavalry confrontation?
Is the formation appropriate? Is the charge speed sufficient? Is the equipment well-equipped?
In fact, many cavalry commanders with rich actual combat experience unanimously believe that the most important thing is morale!
However, the morale of the cavalry is not obtained out of thin air. In addition to external factors such as money, the most important internal factor that affects the morale of the cavalry is the speed during the charge.
Because when humans exercise at high speeds, the body will secrete enough dopamine, and at the same time, adrenaline hormones will also surge.
In words that ordinary people can understand, if you rush fast enough, you will drift away, and if you drift away, you will forget the danger!
Under this strong stimulation, the cavalrymen were naturally in high spirits and fought like chickens.
The cavalry of Riverrun were being surrounded from all sides and had not fully charged. Their equipment was not as good as the valley cavalry in bright silver armor.
Therefore, after a brief hand-to-hand fight, they had no doubt that in this cavalry confrontation, they were easily penetrated by the valley cavalry in a conical charge formation.
ah!
The Riverrun cavalry whose formation was cut through began to be skillfully divided by the Valley cavalry.
And kept killing.
At first, Edmure, who was sitting at the rear, issued forceful orders, allowing the Riverrun cavalry to struggle and fight hard. But when the casualties reached a certain level, there was a great rout that no one could stop.
Looking at the Riverrun cavalry who were fleeing and being chased by the valley cavalry, Edmure bit his lip fiercely and ordered the dozens of elite guards around him: "You can't rush through the other three sides. Take advantage of the chaos here and follow me.
Head towards the Vale of Arryn.
After breaking through the siege, we turned to Salt Farm Town. There is a port there, and we returned to Riverrun by water."
"yes!"
Dozens of personal guards who were loyal to Edmure all responded to him and then tightly protected him to break out of the siege.
As thousands of Riverrun cavalry fled, the battlefield was very chaotic at this time. Edmure and his party of dozens of cavalry avoided the majority of the Vale cavalry who were concentrating on dividing and massacring them, and broke out towards a less crowded place.
After a while, they broke through to the rear of the valley cavalry formation.
And this retrograde cavalry team finally attracted the attention of the valley cavalry. Hundreds of valley cavalry separated from the formation and chased them.
"Haha, they just discovered us now. It's too late!"
As Edmure rode his horse forward quickly, he turned his head and stared closely at the enemy pursuers behind him, letting out a laugh that lasted for the rest of his life.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Just as he turned to stare at the pursuers behind him, he heard the sound of sharp arrows piercing the air.
ah!
Hey~~
Densely packed arrows were like raindrops, falling on the front part of Edmure's dozens of cavalry. The more than ten cavalry in front, including men and horses, were stabbed into hedgehogs while screaming.
Oops!
Seeing this, Edmure pulled the reins directly, causing the horse to slowly stop and look forward.
Far ahead, Tyrion with a smile on his face, and Baelish with a thoughtful look on his face, each riding a war horse.
Beside them, five to six hundred archers with quivers on their waists stood in a relatively orderly array, reloading their arrows and drawing their bows, aiming at Edmure's dozens of cavalry, waiting for orders.
"Surrender!"
Knowing that the opponent's first wave of arrows was a warning, and at the same time, Edmure also knew that with his status, it was absolutely impossible for them to execute him, so he directly threw away the sword in his hand and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
The personal guards who were guarding him all threw away their swords when they saw that the lord they were loyal to had surrendered.
Da da da!
The valley cavalry from behind came quickly and captured Edmure and others directly. The siege arranged by Tywin ended successfully.
"The group charge of these valley cavalry is really powerful! The Riverrun cavalry is no match for them!"
Kevan, who had already arrived at the crossroads, saw that the cavalry battle on the Valley Avenue ended quickly, and he sincerely let out a sigh of admiration.
"After all, the Arryn family is the ancient Andal royal family. The knight tradition in the valley is strong, so it is normal for their cavalry to be powerful."
When Tywin heard his brother's words behind him, he answered without looking back. He shook his head with regret and continued,
"I cast the net this time, originally hoping to catch the black fish. Unexpectedly, I caught a small trout instead."
"Lord Tywin, Edmure Tully has a distinguished status and is the only son and heir of Hoster Tully. This should be a better thing than catching the Blackfish Brynden!"
Steve Lun, who knew the Tully family very well, interrupted at the right time.
"You don't understand. If we could have caught this little trout in the early stages of the war, we would probably have taken Riverrun long ago. But now..."
"Enemies, enemies appear in the direction of Hejian Avenue!"
While Tywin was opening his mouth to explain, thousands of Western Infantrymen approaching the crossroads along the River Road simultaneously issued loud warnings.
When Tywin heard the sound, he immediately turned his head and looked towards the River Avenue.
In the distance of the Hejian Avenue, at least thousands of cavalrymen clearly dressed as northerners appeared. They stood still and waited silently for something.
The northern cavalry formation suddenly separated like a wave, and a giant gray-furred wolf, significantly taller than the surrounding horses, stepped out with the leisurely attitude of a king who quickly gains territory.
On its back, a strong young king wearing brand-new armor looked expressionlessly at Tywin's army at the crossroads.
Beside the young king, a young black-haired knight attendant accompanied him. He was holding a long-handled warhammer in one hand and a two-handed giant sword wrapped in a black scabbard.
"Robb Stark!"
Without thinking too much, Tywin immediately knew who the young man riding the giant wolf was. He pronounced the other person's name viciously in a low tone.
"Tywin Lannister!"
Similarly, Robb, who was riding on Bloodwind, immediately locked his eyes on the old lion who stood out among the tens of thousands of troops in the West.
Valley participated in the war and joined the Western Army?
After sizing up Tywin, Robb looked beyond him to the battlefield on the Vale Avenue where corpses were strewn. When he saw the banner of House Arryn, he couldn't help but frown.
"Your Majesty, the opponent has at least 20,000 infantry and about 10,000 cavalry. The results on Lord Edmure's side are already very obvious."
Lord Rickard, who was following Robb, knew that he was not an impulsive person, but he still tried his best to persuade him.
"Lord Rickard is right!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, please think carefully about Earl Rickard's suggestion!"
After Earl Rickard finished speaking, even Greatjon, who always liked to be direct and rash, agreed, and the other Earls of the North who accompanied him to the battle also echoed.
Ouch!
!
Sensing Robb's thoughts, Bloodwind raised his huge head upwards and let out a huge wolf howl.
"How could that wolf be so huge!"
"I heard that Robb Stark also has wolf nature and eats human flesh raw every day!"
"For being able to control such a terrifying giant wolf, is he really blessed by God?"
The Western Army, which had never seen Bloodwind before, was directly restrained by the terrifying wolf howl, and then the entire Western Army began to talk about it.
"Lord Tywin, I am willing to take these three thousand cavalry and join them with the valley cavalry to attack Robb Stark together."
Steveron, who was very eager to defeat the northern army and retake the Twins, gritted his teeth and asked Tywin for orders.
"No, he is demonstrating to me now!
Someone who can take Lannisport, Casterly Rock, and the Twins one after another will never rush in and die just because of a relative."
Tywin's light green eyes, full of wisdom, looked at the man and the wolf in the distance, and he rejected Stevron's request.
As Tywin expected, after the penetrating wolf howl ended, all the northern cavalry turned their horses and began to leave.
Robb, who finally left on his wolf, looked at Tywin at the crossroads as if his eyes penetrated this vast distance, conveying his thoughts.
Next time we meet, only one of us will survive!
The Western Army, which lacks Adam's cavalry, cannot leave the Northern Cavalry behind at all and can only watch them leave. The Valley Cavalry, who are capable of fighting in a battle, are still picking up the pieces.
Of the more than 5,000 Riverrun cavalry, more than 3,000 were killed or injured. Most of the remaining nearly 2,000 cavalry surrendered on the spot. A few tried to escape on horseback, but were trapped to death by this spider-web-like encirclement.
"Father!"
"Lord Tywin!"
A moment later, Tyrion and Baelish rode to the crossroads and met Tywin together.
"Well, Lord Baelish, this time you persuaded the Valley to release Tyrion and send troops to join the war. Your credit is very great.
It just so happens that the He'an family of Harrenhal has been expelled by me. Perhaps, you will become the earl of Harrenhal."
Tywin heard their greetings, nodded, and did not pay attention to Tyrion, but first spoke to Baelish.
"Thank you Lord Tywin for your generosity. I will devote all my loyalty to serve the Lannister family."
Although Baelish holds the financial power of the kingdom, his status is still low. Hearing this, Baelish's face burst into a smile from the bottom of his heart. He sat on the horse, bowed to Tywin and replied.
"Well, I will write to King Joffrey later to explain my suggestions."
Tywin was very satisfied with Baelish's humble attitude. He nodded, then turned to his youngest son and continued, "Very good, you were lucky enough to survive this time. Where is the little trout?"
"Are you lucky enough to survive again? Oh, I'm sorry to disappoint you."
After recalling Tywin's words in a low voice, Tyrion laughed self-deprecatingly, and then shouted behind him, "Brother, bring the noble Lord Edmure here."
"yes!"
Following the answer, a mercenary with a wicked smile on his face, black hair, black eyes, and a stubble on his face came forward on horseback with Edmure, who was tied up and lying in front of him.
"Tyrion!"
Looking at Edmure who was brought by Bronn, Tywin frowned and called Tyrion's name in a higher pitch than usual.
"I'm here, father. What are your orders?"
"I have always thought that you are useless except for your brain. Are you being imprisoned in the Eyrie and being stupid now? Treat Lord Edmure like this? Treat a noble noble like this?"
Tywin scolded Tyrion loudly in front of everyone without giving Tyrion any face.
"Yes, father. I didn't think carefully enough."
Tyrion's face turned red and white after being scolded. He suppressed his anger and ordered Bronn,
"Bronn, put our noble nobleman down gently and loosen his bonds."
Hearing this, Bronn nodded and followed his instructions to put Edmure down and untie him.
"Lord Edmure, I apologize for my son's rudeness. Even if you become a prisoner, you should be treated with the dignity that a nobleman deserves."
"Thank you Lord Tywin, you are truly a noble and courteous nobleman."
After Edmure was released, he moved his wrists and shoulders and responded politely to Tywin.
"I think we can talk about how to stop the war between the Riverlands and the West and share peace."
…
"Open the door!"
As the order was given, the gate to the west of Riverrun slowly lowered. Robb rode Bloodwind and entered with a group of northern earls and personal guards.
"Robb... Your Majesty, how is Edmure?"
Robb and his party had just entered the school grounds of Riverrun. Brynden, who hurried down the stone stairs from the city wall, asked anxiously.
"We arrived late. More than 20,000 troops from the Western Region, plus at least 7,000 to 8,000 valley cavalry, surrounded them directly.
Not a single rider from Riverrun has escaped. Uncle Edmure... we don't know whether he is dead or alive."
Robb jumped down from Xue Feng who was lying on the ground, shook his head with a solemn expression, and directly told what he saw.
"Hey, I should have tried my best to prevent him from leading an attack at that time. Moreover, I didn't think carefully about how you would let Riverrun send troops to hold off Tywin's Western Army in that situation.
In short, this time, it’s my fault!”
When Brynden heard Robb say that he didn't know whether Edmure was alive or dead, he seemed to be discouraged. He lowered his head and whispered, blaming himself.
"Uncle, this is not your fault. Uncle Edmure used my name to attack, and there was nothing you could do to stop it.
Don't worry, he is protected by Riverrun's elite guards. As long as he surrenders at the right time, his life will not be in danger.
After all, he is not someone who will fight to the end."
Robb comforted Brynden very rationally. Based on his understanding of Edmure, he estimated that Edmure would probably surrender if he saw that there was nothing he could do.
"Well, I hope so. Come on, let me take you to see your grandpa!"
Brynden nodded, calmed down, and spoke to Robb.
"Okay, then I'll ask my uncle to lead the way!"
After Robb nodded in agreement, Brynden quickly led him towards the main castle of Riverrun.
Since Riverrun was built in a triangular position on the river, the Duke's room in the inner castle of Riverrun was also designed according to a triangle. Robb and his wife arrived at the Duke's room through a spiral staircase and met Lord Hoster Tully.
Duke Horst is lying on the large velvet bed in the room. His face is old and thin, and his brown-red hair when he was young is now silver-white. His blue eyes are dull and dull, staring blankly at the door of the Duke's room.
roof.
Beside his bed, several servants and guards stood beside him, waiting for his occasional call.
"Brother, Robb is here to see you. Robb Stark, the son of Catelyn and Eddard!"
Looking at Lord Hoster on the bed, Brynden sniffed uncomfortably. In his heart, he would rather his brother scolded him loudly like before, rather than see him like this.
"Grandpa, I'm back to Riverrun again. Please tell me a few words!"
Robb saw that Lord Hoster had no reaction after Brynden finished speaking, so he tried to say a few words.
In fact, he had no impression of Riverrun or his grandfather at all.
Although Robb was born in Riverrun, when Eddard won the Usurper's War, returned triumphantly from the south, and took Catelyn and him back to Winterfell, he was still an infant, so how could he have any memory!
"Hey, he's been like this since he got sick. Sometimes he's sober and sometimes he's confused. But now he's confused for longer and longer. Forget it, let's go!"
Seeing that Lord Hoster had no reaction, Brynden spoke to Robb.
"Um!"
"B...Brynden."
Just as Robb answered and turned to leave with Brynden, he suddenly heard a faint cry behind him.
"Brother, I'm here, are you awake?"
When Brynden heard the call, he turned around in surprise and walked quickly to the bed, asking Duke Hoster.uuReading www.uukanshu.com
"Um."
"Brother, look. This is Robb, Catelyn's son."
After hearing Lord Hoster's answer, Brynden immediately pulled Robb to him and explained to him.
"Robb... looks so much like Catelyn!"
Upon hearing this, Duke Hoster slightly raised his right hand covered with age spots toward Robb and spoke in a low voice.
When Robb saw this, he immediately stepped forward and held his right hand, calling softly: "Grandpa, I'm here to visit you on behalf of my mother."
"Brother, Robb is now the majestic King of the North. He has just led the northern army to conquer Lannisport, Casterly Rock, and the Twins. He has also lifted the siege of Riverrun by the Lannister family.
We, the Tully family, should express our attitude now!"
Brynden took advantage of his brother's sober state to quickly reveal his purpose.
"I... Lord of Riverrun, Governor of the Trident, Hoster Tully of House Tully in the Riverlands, declare allegiance to the King in the North.
Cough, cough. Finally, after my death, my title will be inherited by my son Edmure Tully.
However, the prerequisite for him to inherit the title is to continue to be loyal to the King of the North and the Riverlands, Robb Stark!"
Seemingly aware of his physical condition, Duke Hoster heard Brynden's reminder, mustered up all his strength, and said these words in one breath.
When Duke Hoster finished speaking, Brynden reacted and took the lead to kneel down on one knee in front of Robb and shouted loudly: "Brynden Tully, pay homage to the King of the North and the Riverlands!"
When the guards and servants in the Duke's room heard Brynden's shout, they immediately reacted, fell to their knees with a thud, and shouted in unison: "Greetings to the King of the North and the Riverlands!"