Chapter 217: Soldiers approaching the city (6400 chapters)
At night in Westeros, where there is no industrial pollution, you can either see clearly under the bright moonlight, or it can be as dark as ink, with endless darkness covering the land.
The night in Highgarden tonight is the latter!
Ouch!
A melodious wolf howl that seemed to be full of joy suddenly sounded in the High Garden, which suddenly woke up Margaery, who was having a sweet dream. She reached out to the other side of the big bed in confusion, wanting to hug Robb.
puff!
Margery's hand rested on the empty velvet bed, and then she gradually woke up. With the dim light of the four night lights in the corner of the room, she discovered that Robb was no longer on the bed.
Well, is it convenient for Your Majesty to go?
Margaery sat up and the goose down quilt cover slipped from her naked body. She looked around the palace and secretly guessed in her heart.
Anyway, she was awakened by the howling of a wolf from nowhere. Margaery simply put on her light green silk pajamas, got up and went to the wine cabinet in the house.
Since Robb didn't like having maids serve him in the palace, Margaery had no choice but to pour herself a glass of Arbor's golden wine.
Margaery just tasted the high-end wine and thought about something secretly. But after several glasses of wine, Robb never came back.
Margery suddenly put down the wine glass in her hand, stood up and walked to the door of the palace, ready to go out to see the situation.
Squeak!
ah!
As soon as Margery opened the door to the palace, she saw a figure standing in the dark corridor. The man was staring at her with a pair of eyes that glowed with green light. She couldn't help but let out an exclamation.
"Margery, where are you going?"
As a familiar voice sounded, the pair of figures with green eyes stepped forward. Under the light in the room, it was clear that it was Robb who had never returned.
"Huh, Your Majesty, you scared me to death! I saw that you haven't returned to the palace, so I was going to come out and have a look."
Seeing that the figure turned out to be Robb, Margaery immediately stopped her exclamation, then took a deep breath in shock and answered.
While answering the question, Margaery also carefully observed Robb's eyes. But she didn't see any green eyes, he still had the bright yellow eyes.
Margaery immediately shook her head, thinking that maybe she hadn't woken up yet and her eyes had just been blurry.
"Maybe I slept in that ice chamber for too long. I couldn't sleep at night. I just went out to exercise!"
When Robb heard this, he answered Margaery with a bright smile on his face.
"Your Majesty, you...seem to be very happy?"
Seeing Robb's smiling face, Margaery couldn't help but asked curiously.
"Happy? Maybe it's because I thought of a new way to play!"
Hearing this, Robb smiled and turned his head and replied to Margaery, then he directly bowed and picked her up in a princess hug.
"Hey, Your Majesty, you will lead the troops to go on an expedition tomorrow, but not today, um, um..."
Peng!
The palace door then closed.
Early the next morning, there were crowds of people outside the north wall of High Court, which seemed a bit lively.
In the past few days, Willas had moved towards the Golden Tree City with 5,000 Tyrell family cavalry and 8,000 captive soldiers, along with a large amount of food and grass baggage and nearly 100,000 refugees from the refugee gathering place in Highgarden.
But now, the remaining hundreds of thousands of refugees are standing in front of their tents and watching the excitement.
Not far away, 30,000 new soldiers wearing old armor were seen heading north on Rose Avenue in a chaotic manner.
These new recruits recruited by the Duke of Metz not only marched in a terrible formation, but they also greeted familiar people in the refugee gathering place loudly.
Fortunately, there are a group of low-level officers who ride war horses to maintain order among the recruits, otherwise these recruits might not be able to leave the High Court area all day long.
After the new recruits, there were 10,000 Reach noble infantry with relatively ordinary equipment, and 25,000 Tyrell family cavalry with very well-equipped equipment. The Duke of Mace, Garlan, and Loras were walking in the cavalry unit.
ahead.
As a face project that the Tyrell family is proud of, the formation of these cavalry is neat and beautiful, and under the sunlight, the brand-new weapons and equipment are very dazzling.
Immediately behind them were nearly 10,000 Martell family soldiers and 2,000 Tully family soldiers dressed in exotic styles.
Oberyn, who looked lazy, and Lord Randyll, who looked serious, were riding horses together.
The reason why Lord Randyll did not march with the Tyrells seems to be because of some unpleasant friction between Robb and the Duke of Mace while Robb was sleeping in the giant ice blight.
As for the last part of the team, it was the 15,000-strong Northern Army that was the finale.
Robb stood proudly on top of Bloodwind's head. The half-white hair of the man and the wolf contrasted with each other. Weir and other Wolf Guards rode around him on blood-related direwolves.
The 15,000-strong northern army array was also very orderly. They marched forward in silence. There was a solemn atmosphere permeating the entire army array.
On the wide Mander River to the west of Highgarden, countless small and medium-sized longships and oar warships are heading west. This is a joint fleet composed of Ironborn and Redwyne family soldiers.
The large warships of these two fleets are already waiting at the mouth of the Mander River where it merges into the Sunset Sea. As soon as they meet, they will head straight to the Blackwater Bay outside King's Landing.
…
Riverlands, Harrenhal, Hall of One Hundred Furnaces.
Brynden's broken left elbow was no longer bandaged, and it could be clearly seen that there was a thick bloody scar on his broken arm.
Sometimes Brynden moves too hard, and some blood-like pus-like fluid will leak out from his wounds.
At this time, the pale Brynden was adhering to Count Tytos, and Little Jon was discussing the battle situation together.
"We have been besieged by the enemy for twenty-five days. I don't know if Riverrun can hold on according to my arrangements. Moreover, the letter asking for help sent to Highgarden has never received a reply."
Looking at the map on the table, Brynden frowned and worried about the safety of Riverrun and the rescue situation in Highgarden.
"Lord Brynden, please rest assured. It is the enemy's main force that is besieging Harrenhal. As long as they do not leave, Riverrun will definitely not be in any danger. However, the villages and towns in the Riverlands will indeed be in disaster again.
Got it!
As for Highgarden, the enemy should have blocked Harrenhal. Even if His Majesty Robb sends troops to rescue, it will take at least a month or two to go from Highgarden to the west and then from the River Road to Harrenhal.
After all, our cavalry troops are besieged here, and the infantry troops are marching more slowly."
Upon hearing this, Earl Tytos immediately spoke to comfort Brynden, who was already hurt and worried.
"Count Tytos is right, Lord Brynden, don't worry so much. We can hold Harrenhal for at least a year or two. When His Majesty's army comes, we will easily defeat these enemies!"
When Little Jon saw this, he immediately echoed Earl Tytos's words.
"Don't be so optimistic. If we relax even a little bit, something might happen. I've told you before how I lost this hand.
There is also someone on the other side who can use magic like His Majesty, but he has not taken action during this period. Who knows if they are planning something."
Brynden is similar to Clay in that he is careful and cautious. They are both used to preparing for the worst.
"You are right, I..."
Ta-ta-ta!
Just as Little Jon nodded to answer Brynden, a rush of footsteps came from outside Hundred Furnaces Hall. Eddard, who was in charge of the defense of the city wall today, was seen walking quickly with a solemn expression.
"Lord Brynden, many enemies are gathering from all over the Riverlands. The enemies should be serious about attacking Harrenhal!"
As soon as Ed came in, he immediately loudly reported what he saw to Brynden.
"Let's go to the city wall and have a look!"
The worry on Brynden's face flashed away when he heard this. He said something in a deep voice and then walked out of the Hundred Furnace Hall.
A short while later, Brynden and the others arrived at the towering city wall of Harrenhal. Brynden immediately approached the wall stacks and looked down.
I saw that the camp of the Bannerless Rebel Army was significantly larger than before, and there were groups of people in the distance gathering towards their camp.
"It seems that the enemy is indeed preparing to attack us. We still have 6,000 infantry, 7,000 light cavalry, and 1,600 heavy cavalry in the castle.
Relying on Harrenhal’s defense capabilities, I’m actually not afraid even if they return to their previous strength of 20,000 or 30,000 men. But, that guy who can use fire magic..."
Looking at the enemy situation under the city wall, Brynden whispered his judgment in a low voice. Then he paused slightly and continued in a firm tone,
"Well, I want to organize a team of dead soldiers. If that guy really wants to use magic to bombard the city gate, I will lead the team of dead soldiers to open the door and rush out to kill him!"
"Lord Brynden, let me lead the team of dead soldiers!"
As soon as Brynden finished speaking, the three Count Tytos spoke to him simultaneously.
"Needless to say, I've already decided! Hey, just let me, this loser, fight one last time!"
Brynden shook his head when he heard this. He waved his severed arm twice in front of the three of them and said with a relaxed expression.
Seeing Brynden's determined expression, the other three looked at each other and fell silent.
"Okay, don't look depressed. Let's go back and have a drink together! They will definitely not attack today."
Brynden greeted the three Earls of Tytos very openly, turned around and walked towards the city wall.
As Brynden expected, the Rebels Without Banners did not launch an attack on Harrenhal that day.
But what Brynden didn't expect was that not only on the first day, but for three consecutive days, they had no intention of attacking Harrenhal.
With the continuous influx of troops, the Bannerless Rebel Army camp has grown approximately three times larger than the initial size.
In other words, they originally left only 20,000 people to surround Harrenhal, but now they have more than 60,000 people.
What was even more unexpected by Brynden and others was that on the fifth day, the 60,000-strong Army of the Bannerless Rebel Army began to break camp and leave Harrenhal.
"Well, this must be a trap set by them, right?
First pretend to leave Harrenhal, and actually ambush around it. Then wait for us to relax and leave the city, and then take Harrenhal in one fell swoop?"
Looking at the flagless rebels who really started marching south along the King's Road, Ed speculated with uncertainty on his face.
"Well, I agree with Ed!"
Little Jon, who likes to use his hands more than his head, heard this and immediately nodded in agreement.
"If it's not a trap, then if they go south...could their target be King's Landing?"
Count Tytos did not directly agree with Ed's speculation, but was thinking about more possibilities.
After listening to the discussion between the three of them, Brynden expressed his judgment:
"Whether they set a trap or actually go to King's Landing, it doesn't matter to us.
We just need to defend Harrenhal!"
…
The Reach, Cider Hall.
"Hahaha, I am the first to win this battle!"
An Oakheart family soldier from Ancient Oak City stood on the wall of the Cider Hall, waving the direwolf flag in his hand and laughing wildly with excitement.
After the city was broken, tens of thousands of soldiers began to loot the cider hall, while the soldiers from the north acted as a temporary law enforcement team.
In the reception hall of Cider Hall Castle, their former rulers, House Fossoway, were kneeling before Robb.
"Your Majesty, I beg your mercy, we are willing to be loyal to you!"
With his father and brothers killed in the war, the newly succeeded Lord Tanton Fossoway is devastated and loyal to Robb.
"As long as you answer my questions truthfully, I can be merciful to you."
Looking at Earl Tanton, Robb answered in a gentle tone, and then immediately asked him,
"Why do you only have a few hundred men defending the city? Where are the Lannisters?"
"Your Majesty, the Lannisters are guys who don't keep their promises. They promised to ensure that nothing would happen to us. As a result, they asked us to abandon the Cider Hall and move the entire family to King's Landing some time ago.
How is this possible? The Cider Hall is the castle where our ancestors have lived for generations. How could we give up on it!”
Upon hearing Robb's question, Earl Tanton immediately answered with an indignant look.
"Does that mean that the Lannister army has all withdrawn to King's Landing? Are you just abandoned pawns?"
When Robb heard this, he spoke thoughtfully.
"Your Majesty, I have answered your question. Can you forgive us?"
"Well, you have my forgiveness!"
"Thank you, thank you Your Majesty!"
Looking at Count Tanton who kept nodding his thanks to him, Robb turned to the Duke of Metz and said:
"Lord Mace, I have forgiven them. Now they are yours!"
"Thank you Your Majesty, I will 'forgive' them!"
Originally, Duke Metz couldn't help but twitch when he heard Robb forgive Earl Tanton. But when he heard what Robb said next, he immediately thanked him with a smile on his face.
Although the Duke of Metz does not have outstanding abilities, he is indeed a qualified nobleman. He will only fight back in the most cruel way against vassals who dare to betray the lord.
"No, no, Your Majesty! Lord Mace! Mercy, mercy..."
After hearing what Robb meant, Earl Tanton immediately changed his face and begged bitterly.
Robb did not pay attention to Earl Tanton, but directly led Clay, Will and other wolf guards out of the reception hall.
"Clay, persuade the soldiers of the Fossoway family to surrender. Those who are willing to surrender will be added to the Duke of Metz's recruits, and those who are unwilling will be sent to me."
Robb, who currently lacks blood bond points, immediately turned his head and gave instructions to Clay after coming out.
After Clay nodded and accepted the order, he immediately went to do things for Robb. These things were already familiar to him.
Bloodwind's magic attribute cannot be improved after it reaches 100 points. Robb doesn't know why yet. However, its physical attributes are still a little short of reaching 100 points.
Although Robb is fully confident about attacking King's Landing this time, he doesn't mind adding more trump cards.
In the end, the Fossoway family could not withstand the 'forgiveness' of the Duke of Metz, and the Cider Hall was given to the family of their son Garland's wife, the Fossoway family of New Barrel City, by the Duke of Metz.
Let this branch family, which has always been loyal to the Tyrell family, obtain the coveted direct family castle.
In the following ten days or so, the Long Table Hall, Green Valley City, and Bitter Bridge were all successfully captured by Robb's army. Not to mention the final battle of the Northern Army, even the Martell and Tully families were involved in these battles.
None of the troops were used.
Bitter Bridge, once Renly I stationed his army here to put pressure on King's Landing. Now, Robb's army of one hundred thousand is also stationed here, looking at King's Landing in the distance.
"Your Majesty, our journey has been too smooth. I am worried that there is some conspiracy of Tywin in this."
A post-war meeting was being held in Robb's royal tent, and the cautious Clay immediately spoke out his thoughts.
"Haha, Lord Clay is too cautious. The traitors in these castles have all been recruited together, and the Lannister army has already returned to King's Landing.
Now Tywin's reaction is just as we expected when we made the tactical plan. It seems that the Redwin fleet and the iron fleet should have brought enough pressure in Blackwater Bay.
Moreover, even if those 30,000 Lannister troops have any conspiracy, with our 100,000 troops who have won consecutive battles, we can completely crush them with an absolute advantage in strength!
Therefore, I suggest that you rush to King’s Landing as soon as possible and take the Iron Throne directly!”
After hearing Clay's words, the Duke of Metz, still smiling, stood up immediately to refute.
In the recent battles, the Duke of Metz's vanguard has won consecutive battles, and with the River Bend back in his hands, he can be said to be very ambitious and high-spirited.
"No, Lord Clay is right. The performance of the Lannister army is too abnormal. Because the situation now is actually different from the beginning!"
I don’t know if it was aimed at the Duke of Metz, but after he finished speaking, Earl Landau immediately made an excuse.
"The situation is different? Two fleets attack Blackwater Bay in the narrow sea, we capture the Betrayer's Castle from the land, and then attack King's Landing.
Come, Lord Landau, please tell me what's different!"
The Duke of Metz felt that Count Landau was deliberately looking for trouble. The smile on his face froze, and he replied angrily.
"Times are different!"
Upon hearing this, Earl Landau stated the differences in his opinion.
After finishing speaking, Earl Landao looked around and found that most of the nobles in the royal tent were staring at him, waiting for him to continue. So, he continued to speak:
"When the tactical plan was first drawn up, Tywin didn't have enough troops, so even if he reluctantly recruited new soldiers, he could only make up the numbers.
Therefore, he was faced with the difficult choice of giving up the Reach's defense line.
But after that, the refugee gray plague epidemic broke out, and His Majesty fell asleep in a giant ice wither. More than a month has passed now.
When we followed the previous tactical plan, Tywin's reaction was still the same as before. Doesn't that mean that he did nothing in this month and just waited quietly in King's Landing to die?
Everyone, do you think Tywin is this kind of person?"
As Count Landau finished speaking in one breath, everyone in the royal tent fell into silence.
The nobles of Westeros have mixed reviews of Tywin, but everyone knows that he will never be a person willing to wait for death.
Seeing that all the nobles were awakened by him, Earl Randyll nodded and made the final conclusion of his words: "So, the current King's Landing is definitely a trap designed by Tywin!"
"Earl Randyll, it's just your guess that there are traps in King's Landing. I don't believe that Tywin can come up with a way to counter an army of 100,000 people in a month!
What? We have reached this point, and just because there may be a trap in King's Landing, you are so afraid that you have to return to Highgarden?
Humph, they are all a bunch of eggless guys!"
Among the nobles in the king's tent, Oberyn was definitely the one who most wanted to invade King's Landing and annihilate the Lannister family. Therefore, when he saw everyone fell into silence, he couldn't help but taunted them.
"Prince Oberyn, don't worry! I agree with Lord Randyll. There must be Tywin's trap in King's Landing!"
Seeing that Oberyn's mocking words made most of the nobles in the king's tent look sulky, Robb opened his mouth to express his opinion at the right time.
"However, I also agree with Lord Mace. Go directly to King's Landing and take the Iron Throne!
Because...in the face of absolute power, any conspiracy is useless!"
Wow!
Hearing Robb say such a domineering word that he had never heard before, all the nobles in the king's tent immediately started talking about Robb's domineering, kingly demeanor and other flattering words.
"That's it for today's meeting. We'll leave for King's Landing tomorrow!"
As Robb made his final decision, the nobles in the royal tent discussed in groups and left the royal tent.
The two brothers Garland and Loras left the king's tent together, but Garland kept talking alone, while Loras listened quietly.
"Hey, what Your Majesty Robb said just now was so domineering. Why couldn't I have thought of such words!
By the way, Loras, have you heard the howling of wolves every night during this period?"
"Um!"
Upon hearing his brother's question, Loras just answered indifferently.
"Don't answer so perfunctorily! Hey, actually I feel that the wolf's howl contains a lot of emotions, just like a human roaring!
By the way, your majesty’s direwolf has grown a lot taller than when it set off from Highgarden. I heard that it’s because Clay brought many captive soldiers to give it to eat..."
"stop!"
After hearing what Garland said, Loras immediately stopped, then quickly looked around, and continued to whisper,
"Garland, I advise you to keep your mouth shut. There are some things we can't talk about!"
"Well, I understand!"
Early the next morning, this army, which had won consecutive battles and had high morale, approached King's Landing along the Rose Avenue.
When entering the dense and vast royal forest, Robb sent Will and other wolf guards out in advance.
Although he believes that he has absolute strength, he will never be careless where he should be cautious.
Sure enough, the Wolf Guards discovered something in the Kingswood from time to time. There were weird looking people who looked like the Northern Mountain clans, Lannister spies, and even bandits hiding in the Kingswood.
However, with the keen sense of smell and vision of their blood relatives, the direwolves, they posed no threat at all. Robb's army marched smoothly under the detection of the wolf guards.
It took nearly two days for Robb's army to leave this unusually wide and dense forest.
After leaving the exit of the Kingswood, the road ahead is easier to walk than before, because from here on, the Rose Avenue begins to overlap with the King's Road leading to Storm's End, and the road is unusually flat and open.
Anyone who is familiar with this stretch of road knows that at walking speed, it is only half a day's journey from King's Landing.
In fact, Robb's army can be considered as approaching the city now!
But more than half an hour after Robb's army left the exit of the Kingswood, an army numbering tens of thousands surged over from the direction of Storm's End. Not only were they pushing various defensive equipment, but there were also a large number of transport carriages in the military column.