The day after the three-way night watchman vanguard left the Great Wall north, early in the morning.

The Heavenly Father was not beautiful, but stood on the cloud curtain and sprinkled snowflakes downward, and fine white ice crystals fluttered between the heavens and the earth, shrouding the distance in the field of vision in a gray mist.

The Pioneer Force, which had already set out from the three major fortresses, was now cautiously and slowly advancing through the snow north of the fortress, according to the plan that the High Command had already laid out: to open a path in the Ghost Forest for a large army, to find a suitable place to establish a base for advancement, and to search and reconnoiter the enemy's whereabouts—at the cost of doubling the risk itself, to ensure that the main force behind it would not be ambushed or too far away to be able to respond.

In order for this expedition to look real, not only did all the pre-war preparations be carried out, but the expeditionary operations announced by Iger were also carefully planned - not only did they look good, but they could actually be implemented. In other words: if Iger had now received definite news that there were still strange spirits outside the Cypriots, and had decided to change his itinerary and go on an expedition in the first place, the military operation would have been carried out.

Of course, there is no need to discuss the meaningless hypothesis in depth, not to mention that the strange spirits have temporarily disappeared from the world with the death of the old and new Night Kings and the retreat of the cold gods, and even if there are still alive, as long as it does not regather 100,000 dead people outside the fortress to attack again, Iger will launch a southern expedition without moving. The vacillating old-school night watchmen must be banished to the outside of the city to reduce the threat, but at this moment, there are no strangers or wildlings north of the Great Wall, are they not destined for a futile ultra-long patrol?

No, even for this group of temporary exiles, Egger still made more detailed arrangements to ensure that their value was squeezed out, so that the food and grass materials sent by the logistics department to the Great Wall could be used.

The Tri-Way Pioneers were not all night watchmen, but each team was stuffed into a small number of selected young land-giver tribesmen who had been sent hostage to Houguan Town, where they had taken courses in language, mathematics, and geography with excellent grades. In addition to the task of "searching for strange ghosts", which is destined to be fruitless, the opening force also has another important task: through reconnaissance, on the basis of the original old map, modify the erroneous or changed geological features and hydrological environment, and further fill in the blanks, combining the experience of the rangers with the surveying and mapping knowledge of the academy teenagers, and condensing it into the final product - a new version of the map outside the Saiwai!

Iger could not force the tribes who wanted to return to the outside of the fortress to stay in the land and lay the seeds of restlessness for the rule, but at the same time, he was reluctant to let the population of the legion, which was only 40,000, shrink again, or even become a threat of "savages" again. So, naturally, he had a shocking idea that the Night's Watch and the rulers of the North had not had for thousands of years: to bring the Ghost Forest of Saibei under his rule!

The three vanguard of the expeditionary force that drove out of the Great Wall in order to ensure the success of the southern expedition became his first attempt at this idea.

The plan to expand the territory to the north is just a habitual step to prepare for the future, and it is just a matter of going with the flow. For now, Egger had to settle the queen's legitimate rule over the seven southern kingdoms first.

＊＊＊

The large force had already been assembled outside the walls of Houguan Town, and according to the official plan, Egger would lead them north for a day to reach Castle Black, and then advance through the tunnel in the early morning of the next day, and advance at full speed along the road opened by the pioneer and the guide mark left behind by the pioneer at a distance of more than ten miles.

Due to the more time to prepare, and the need for logistics rather than just soldiers to fight abroad, the land-giving army that was about to participate in the expedition outside Houguan Town at this moment was larger than the previous pursuit of the fleeing ghosts, and even the gender was not all male. Hundreds of old and new soldiers who had traveled from all over the land grant to participate in the recapture of Fort Deepwood, the forced surrender of Carlin Bay, and even the bloody battles with the Iron Folk in Icegap Harbor and with the ghouls inside and outside the walls of the Land Grant gathered in the square outside the town, clamoring for the Commander-in-Chief to preside over the "Expeditionary Pledge Meeting".

They didn't have to wait long, and under the gaze of thousands of eyes, Egg, who was dressed in a light black robe, appeared in the field of vision on time with a group of soldiers, walked out of the gate of Houguan Town, and passed through the military formation under the arch guard, and climbed onto the temporary high platform built at the front.

......

A few snowflakes were blown on his face by the wind, causing his body temperature to melt into droplets, and then he was wiped away by his hands, Iger looked up at the gray-white sky, and frowned slightly: it had been sunny for a long time, but it was ended on the day of the beginning of the southern expedition, even if he didn't believe in the superstitious saying of "omen", he would still feel unhappy.

He didn't know if or when the snow would get heavier, so he didn't dare to delay the time, and after standing still, he turned to face the more than 5,000 soldiers in the audience, took a deep breath, and began to speak loudly.

"Land-giving warriors, it's a pleasure to stand here and talk to you intact after so many ups and downs. Everyone knows what we're going to do today, so without further ado, let me first pay tribute to all of you here, the brave warriors who are willing to stand up and join the battle after seeing the horrors of the enemy!"

The soldiers looked at him unmoved, and they all felt a little disdainful in their hearts: Who bravely stood up? Why did he say it so nicely when he was obviously forced to participate!

"As has always been the rule, I should then reiterate the purpose of our war against the Strangers, emphasizing that we are fighting them not for others but for our own children and grandchildren, and after this chatter...... Regardless of whether everyone understood it or not, they announced the start of the expedition by themselves. ”

Iger glanced around the scene and noticed that morale wasn't high. But it doesn't matter, his next words will definitely easily attract everyone's attention.

"But to-day, I will not do that! I would like to begin by speaking to my brethren who have fought alongside me some rumors of the recent appearance of the land grants, namely, the news that most of those present must have heard, that the kings and nobles of the south intend to liquidate us for no reason after the completion of this expedition outside the Cypriots, and to order the hill clans to move back to the mountains, and to expel the new land-givers from outside the Cypriots back to the north of the wall. ”

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the reaction caused by Egger's words was transmitted like a wave of water with him as the center of the circle, and the bored look on the faces of most of the soldiers who could be heard close to it was swept away, and even the soldiers in the back row, who were far away and could not hear clearly because of the sound absorption of the snow on the ground, also figured out what was happening from the mouths of others after exchanging their ears, and then joined the ranks of the same energetic, and tens of thousands of eyes turned their direction in unison as if under the unified command of some magical force, staring at the people on the stage.

Under everyone's gaze, Iger took a breath and raised his voice to continue his surprise "pre-war mobilization".

"You are angry, I can relate to that, and I apologize for the indifference of High Command to this news during this time. But besides, I must ask for your understanding: I, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch and responsible for the entire grant, cannot go to the king and the nobles in anger over such a 'supposed' piece of news—I must find out the source of the news and its veracity before I can react. During the time when everyone was extremely angry at this rumor, I actually did not have a moment of idleness, and now, with regret, I announce to you that this news is most likely not out of nowhere!"

Of course, the news was not made out of nothing, but he sent someone to spread it, and the sentence announced by Egger was broken down according to strict grammar, in fact, it was the same as not saying it. But it would be too difficult to expect the land-donor warriors in the audience, who most of them did not know a single big word and had not received the slightest logical training, to distinguish the subtle but huge difference between "it may not be out of nowhere" and "it is definitely true". The reason why Iger wanted to use this awkward statement instead of directly falsely claiming to "confirm the news" was precisely because it would achieve exactly the same effect without leaving a stain on the truth - if someone asked him why he lied to his soldiers in the first place, he could rightly retort that he had never said that the news was true, but that he was just as deceived as everyone else.

"Boom", until this bombshell news was transmitted into the ears through the vibration of the air and converted into nerve signals into the brain through the eardrum and cochlea, and the soldiers who reacted slowly were surprised to find that the commander-in-chief threw not a stone into the water, but a mine. Compared to the monstrous waves of its explosion, the previous ripples were insignificant.

The square where the expedition pledge meeting was held exploded, and the noise caused by the discussion and roar of thousands of soldiers and logisticians was so loud that even the residents of Houguan Town within the walls could clearly hear it. Some people are shouting to kill all the nobles in the south, some are calling on the new land-givers to stop playing with the southerners and return to Saiwai, and more are at a loss and don't know how to react...... Not to mention the ordinary soldiers, even the officers brought up by Egger were confused by this sudden revelation that they didn't greet in advance, and they were stupid for a moment before they remembered their duties and began to walk around and shout to maintain order on the scene.

......

"The land grant and the Great Wall are the first line of defense for the human world. We have spent time and energy building it, we have shed blood and sweat to carry out our duties and make sure that we live up to this status, and even after we have completed our mission and have a clear conscience, we have not let up and planned this expedition on an unprecedented scale, in order to completely destroy the enemy and leave a safe environment for all the inhabitants of Westeros. Having clearly shifted the object of his anger and placed his position on the side of the land-grantors, Iger was not in a hurry to continue, but did not re-speak until the uproar of the scene subsided: "I was naïve to think that the enemy was in the north, beyond the Wall, and that peace would be found by destroying them. But when I suddenly looked back, I was shocked to find in a cold sweat that the group of people I believed to be allies and solid backing were staring at my back with bloodshot scarlet eyes!"

"When we were confronted with the strangers, isolated, and most in need of support and help, those damned kings and nobles were fighting for a meaningless iron chair in the South. Today, we stand here, in this land that we have watered with our flesh and blood guards, those who hide in the warm and safe places of the south, who have never killed a single ghoul and have seen half a finger of a stranger, but who have just finished enjoying our protection on their front feet, and who have turned back to deny us the status of the legal inhabitants of the kingdom of Westeros, and question our qualifications to live here, and want to take advantage of the gap between us leaving to fight in the north, and deprive us of the right to enjoy the fruits of victory!"

"Aliens are the natural enemies of humanity, and they are the source of the crisis we have just experienced...... However, it is the reversal of black and white by the group of wicked people behind us, the indifference between right and wrong, good and evil, and the inaction that hinders it, that this war, which should have been won easily, is carried out so tragically and with great difficulty! Although the demons and monsters and the ancient gods are hateful, they are only not of our race and stand opposite to human beings, but the traitors who have the same appearance and the same flesh and blood as us, but put their own interests above all mankind, and are keen on infighting and ignore the survival of the entire race, are the most damned evil people!" Egger's expression distorted slightly under the excitement, and his voice continued to rise: "Their indignant narrow-mindedness and meanness, their stupidity and selfishness in destroying the Great Wall, are the greatest threat to every living person between heaven and earth, including you and me!

——