Chapter 222: Jon (I wish you all a happy National Day)
Northern Territory, Black Castle of the Great Wall of Despair.
Since Jon burned down the command tower while fighting the resurrected wights to save Commander Geo, the King's Tower became the residence of the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
At this time, in the King's Tower, Jon put on the black cloak representing the commander, and tied the corrugated steel long sword 'Longclaw' with a wolf's head to his waist.
After petting the reunited direwolf Ghost for a while, Jon pushed away to his room.
"Good morning, Commander!"
When the little boy Ollie, who was newly promoted by Jon as his personal affairs officer, saw him coming out, he greeted him with a heartfelt smile on his face.
Ollie was originally a farm boy from a village near the new land grant.
But after the entire village was killed by wildlings including Jegocent and Tormund, he was the only survivor who came to Castle Black to report the news and was taken in.
"Morning, Ollie. Are they ready?"
"Well, everyone is already waiting for you in front of the inner door of the tunnel.
But Lord Commander, we have successfully defended Castle Black, why do you still want to take the risk to negotiate with those cruel savages?"
Hearing Jon's question, Ollie nodded in agreement. Then he asked with a worried look on his face.
"Oli, you didn't see what I saw. The real war is not between us and the savages, but between the living and the dead!"
Upon hearing this, Jon raised his right hand wearing a thick leather glove and patted Ollie on the shoulder, and then said this as he walked past him.
Ollie didn't understand the meaning of Jon's last words, but when he understood the meaning of Jon's words that he didn't want to be enemies with the wildlings, his originally worried expression slowly darkened, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
With the addition of three thousand new soldiers from Winterfell, Castle Black's defensive strength can be said to be at its peak for a long time. When Jon brought Ghost and Ollie to the inner gate of the tunnel at the bottom of the Great Wall,
Many Night's Watchmen, including Sam, 'Melancholy Edd', Grant, Ser Alliser, and the Winterfell officers headed by Jory and Owen were already waiting quietly.
The Battle of Castle Black in this life is different from the previous life!
As early as more than a month ago, after receiving Robb's order from Highgarden to Winterfell, Jory and Owen immediately set off towards Castle Black with three thousand new soldiers.
They hurried slowly, and finally arrived in time before the wildlings fully attacked Castle Black.
The original plan of Mance Rayder, the 'King Beyond the Wall', was to attack Castle Black from both front and back with Tormund's troops who had crossed the Great Wall.
But when the general attack was burning with fire outside the Great Wall, the number of Tormund's troops attacking Castle Black from the south was too small. Five hundred Winterfell recruits, under the command of Jory, beat them so hard that they could not even reach the walls of Castle Black.
If you get close, you will be repulsed.
In the north, Castle Black not only has the desperate Great Wall, which is like a natural barrier, but also has sufficient troops.
Even if Mance had an army of 100,000 savages, giants, and mammoths, he would not be able to pose a substantial threat to Castle Black.
In the end, this internal and external surprise battle turned into a stalemate.
After surviving the danger of wildling siege, the Night's Watch led by Ser Alliser eagerly requested to elect the next commander.
However, their calculation was wrong this time. Jon had the support of Maester Yin Meng, Sam and others, and Jory, who regarded him as his nephew and led the Winterfell army, secretly exerted pressure.
The most important thing is that Castle Black suddenly received a raven letter from King's Landing.
The letter clearly stated that Tywin Lannister admitted his treason and was executed, and that the coronation ceremony of His Majesty Robb Stark, the legal heir to the Iron Throne, was about to take place.
Who is Robb Stark? Jon Snow’s half-brother!
If Jon becomes the Commander of the Night's Watch, will Castle Black be as short of troops, weapons, food and all other resources as it is now?
Therefore, just yesterday, Jon became the 998th Commander of the Night's Watch with more than two-thirds of the votes of the Night's Watch.
"Open the inner door of the tunnel!"
After Jon and everyone who looked at him with various complex expressions nodded, he issued his order.
Immediately afterwards, he left the long claw with Sam and ordered Ghost to stay where he was, then turned around and disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel without looking back.
Kakaka!
Check, check, check!
As the outer door of the tunnel at the bottom of the Great Wall opened, Jon walked into this world of ice and snow alone.
Wow, wow!
A large number of black crows are happily feasting on the carcasses of savages, giants, and mammoths outside the Great Wall.
Jon glanced worriedly at the large number of corpses around him, wondering when they would stand up again.
However, his current focus was not on burning the body, so he walked without stopping into the remaining woods that had not been burned by the fire.
Haloxylon ammodendron!
As soon as Jon approached the woods, the wildling reconnaissance sentry appeared directly and aimed at him with the bow and arrow in his hand.
"I'm here to negotiate! I want to see Mance!"
Jon raised his hands and shouted at the wildling whistle.
Immediately, several savages armed with old swords and axes came forward and pushed him down to search him. Seeing that Jon did not have any hidden weapons, they escorted him towards the center of the forest.
There is a large open space covered with ice and snow in the center of the forest. Whether it is to keep warm, the thick tents of the savages are tightly tied together one after another.
“Not only put on the black robe, but also became the commander?
That’s right! He lurked into our camp alone and successfully brought back such important information, which is indeed a great achievement!
Jon Snow, how I wish you had been loyal when you swore an oath to us!"
When Jon was escorted into Mance's relatively spacious royal tent, he looked Jon up and down while sitting on a simple wooden bench, and then said in a lonely tone.
"In order to obtain your information, Colin Halfhand asked me to kill him to gain your trust.
Yes, I was indeed loyal at that time... just loyal to Qorin and the oath of the Night's Watch!"
Jon heard Mance's words and answered him firmly.
"Oh? Loyal to all your oaths?"
"..."
Jon knew what Mance wanted to express, so he subconsciously tilted his head and remained silent.
"Did you see her in Castle Black that day when the fire started?"
"No, my brother sent five thousand Winterfell soldiers to Castle Black. It's impossible for them to attack. They should still be hiding near Castle Black now!"
Upon hearing Mance's question, Jon shook his head and replied. He also deliberately exaggerated his own strength.
"Five thousand soldiers? Then let's get back to the topic!
What did you want to talk to me about today?"
Mance pursed his lips and repeated the number of troops Jon said, then stared at him and asked.
"I just received the news yesterday that my brother, Robb Stark, has become the new king of the Seven Kingdoms.
He has at least 100,000 elite soldiers under his command to help him ascend to the Iron Throne.
One hundred thousand...soldiers with sophisticated equipment and fighting in all directions!
Mance, you should understand what this means. Enough blood has been shed inside and outside Castle Black during this period.
Armistice and go home! There is no way you can conquer Castle Black!"
Jon also stared at Mance with a serious face and put forward his suggestions in a sincere tone.
"Jon Snow, some of your words are right. My people have indeed shed enough blood.
But some of the things I said were wrong!
We are not here to conquer Castle Black, we just want to gain a place behind the Great Wall.
We both know that winter is coming, and the dead that come with them will drown all living life outside the Great Wall!
Go home? We have no home to go back to!"
After hearing Jon's words, Mance answered his proposal in a low tone, but at the end, a bitter expression appeared on his face.
"There's no way they're going to let you go behind the Great Wall!"
Upon hearing this, Jon immediately replied in a very affirmative tone.
Mance was keenly aware of the wording in his sentence, which was 'them' rather than 'us'. He glanced left and right,
Then he pointed to a huge horn in the corner and said: "Jon Snow, you should know what I sent Ygosheart and the others to look for in the ancient tomb of Frostfang, right?
That’s right, it’s this ‘Horn of Winter’!”
Hearing Mance's words, Jon suddenly turned his head and looked at the huge horn.
It was only about two and a half meters long, and the surface of the pitch-black horn was inlaid with unknown runes in gold.
“‘Blow the horn of winter, awaken the giants beneath the ground, and the Great Wall will crumble!’ This is a song that has been sung by free people for thousands of years.
To be honest, I don’t want to use it to destroy the Great Wall of Despair until the last moment. After all, only the Great Wall can stop the footsteps of those dead!
But if they must force tens of thousands of us free people to death, then I will blow it loud enough that even your brother the king can hear it!"
Mance, who had been observing Jon's expression, waited for an opportunity to speak in an unusually firm tone.
"No, it's impossible! I don't believe that such a horn can collapse the Great Wall that has stood for more than 8,000 years!"
After hearing what Mance said, Jon shook his head repeatedly to express that he did not believe what he said.
"Haha, you didn't believe there were giants before you saw Wangwang, and you didn't believe there were ghosts before you saw the resurrected dead.
Jon Snow, I know you say you don’t believe it, but you already believe it in your heart!
I was also a crow, so I had heard that ancient magic was cast on the walls of the Great Wall. Since it is magic, there must be a way to break it.
This Horn of Winter is that method!"
While Mance was speaking, he noticed Jon's somewhat shaken expression. After a slight pause, he continued,
"You and I both know that there are a large number of uncultivated fields in the land grants around the Great Wall. Even if all the more than 100,000 free people moved in, they would not be able to occupy them.
Jon, I beg you! Help us!"
"What if, I mean, if you are allowed to move into the land grant, but your people cause harm to Castle Black or the North, what should you do?"
"Since I can unite these hundreds of tribes, I have the confidence to restrict their behavior.
If situations like what you mentioned really arise, as long as I am not dead, I will take action to deal with them myself.
Of course, even if I die, your king's brother's army of 100,000 people can easily defeat them!
Isn't it?"
After listening to Mance's words, Jon glanced at the huge horn in the corner of the tent again.
Seeing his behavior, Mance immediately added: "As long as we pass the Great Wall, I will hand over the Horn of Winter to you. Then you can destroy it to ensure that the Great Wall will always stand here."
"Well... I can't make a decision on this matter alone. I have to go back and discuss it with everyone!"
Jon gritted his teeth secretly, and then spoke to Mance.
"Well, but time is tight, I hope you can reply to me as soon as possible.
After all, we still have a large number of women, children, old people, and sick people waiting for us at Hardhome at Stodd's Head."
Mance nodded and once again revealed some information about his side to Jon.
"Don't worry, I will try my best!"
…
King's Landing, main hall of Baelor's Great Sept.
The gilded candlesticks in the main hall with poor lighting conditions were filled with candles. Weir and other wolf guards wore gold robes to tightly guard the inside and outside of the main hall.
Hundreds of Westeros' dignitaries were waiting quietly. On the steps near the central platform of the main hall, Margaery, Clay, Brynden and others were all lined up.
The new Archbishop on the high platform was also waiting, but in his hand he held a red gold crown surrounded by direwolf figures.
Squeak!
The door to the main hall was suddenly pushed open, and Robb, dressed in a gorgeous king's dress, appeared at the door with Xue Feng, the size of a wolf cub.
Robb waved his gorgeous king's dress back and stepped onto the red carpet in the main hall. As he walked forward, all the eyes of the audience focused on him.
Ta-ta-ta!
With a calm expression, Robb slowly walked to the high platform and stood next to the new Archbishop.
When the archbishop saw that the new king finally stood at the designated position, he breathed out gently, placed the red gold crown on Robb's head with both hands, and said: "Now the coronation ceremony of the new king begins, under the witness of the Seven Gods
…”
"etc!"
Just as the Archbishop was saying the coronation prayer that every king must have, Robb suddenly stopped him.
Everyone in the main hall, including the archbishop, was suddenly shocked, wondering what unexpected behavior the new king would do.
I saw Robb reaching out and taking the red gold crown from the archbishop's hand, and then said very domineeringly: "My coronation ceremony does not require any divine witness!"
After saying this, he put the red gold crown above his head with both hands without waiting for others in the main hall to react.
Then he said loudly: "I, Robb I of the Stark family, today officially become the king of the Andals, Loyinna and the First Men, and the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Robb put the red gold crown on his reddish-brown and white hair.
"Well, may Robb I's rule be long and stable!"
The Archbishop, who was shocked by Robb's behavior, suddenly reacted and immediately spoke to break the strange silence in the main hall.
Upon hearing the Archbishop's blessing words, all the nobles in the main hall also reacted and congratulated loudly.