The Night's Watch patrol, who witnessed the shocking scene of the "Ghoul Sea Logging", fled back to the West Bridge, while Denis Mellister, who was informed of the situation, decisively ordered the re-blockade of the Skull Bridge.

Patrolling the north side of the Grand Canyon began and ended in a hurry, becoming the least number of orders issued by Iger (once), the shortest duration (half a day), and the speed and efficiency with which the feedback was unbelievably high.

The Shadow Tower Commander overstepped his command to stop the Commander-in-Chief's order, which was certainly not procedurally correct, but the right decision was the right decision. Iger would never suspect that a patrol led by a battle-hardened veteran like Colin would lie about the military situation and order the resumption of patrols outside the fortress in order to "use the adventures of a small number of people to gain more warning and preparation time for the final battle", rather than "send troops to the Night King", and since he knew that there was no time left, he should have decisively stopped.

Under his own command, the land grant has long been prepared to deal with this battle, but how far is it from the level of "doing it well"?

＊＊＊

The news of this news completely overwhelmed the joy brought about by the miraculous victory of the "Battle of Cold Ice Bay". Although he did not want to be bureaucratic all day, the stakes were so high that Iger had to reconvene the heads of the various departments of the land grant who could be in time for a final discussion.

The first thing he asked by name was the logistics supervisor related to the infrastructure construction: "How is the progress of the in-depth repair of the patrol route along the canyon?"

Humphrey, who had already done his homework, immediately replied, "It's almost done, and the two horses can be safely ridden together." In addition to the fact that the width is limited because it is located on the mountainside, and the elevation of the terrain cannot be changed significantly by manpower in a short period of time, the road itself is flat and smooth, and it is possible to catch up with the situation at the top of the Great Wall. ”

"Very well, speed up the wildfire and dragon crystal weapon hoarding in the canyon lookout. In addition, the density and scale of beacon towers and temporary storage places for materials will be increased between the transit fortress and the Icefjord Harbor and the Shadow Tower...... The effect I wanted was that the Rangers would be lightly armed and would be able to immediately signal and secure wildfire and dragon crystal weapons in place wherever they found an army of ghouls in the Grand Canyon. Iger solemnly repeated his expectations, "Then, the nearest reinforcements also set off with as few weapons as possible, and quickly arrived at the place where the call for help was issued, and also relied on the supplies obtained nearby to put in support first, stabilize the front, and then wait for logistics to deliver more weapons and equipment." ”

"It's the ideal scenario, but ...... I'm afraid it's beyond the reach of the hill clans and the new land-giver warriors to fully enforce it. Warner Buckwell disagreed, "If everyone has the level of training like the Night's Watch or the Houguan Town Guard, that's fine, but this kind of quality is piled up by time, money, and the daily training of officers, and it is difficult to develop quickly." ”

......

That's true.

Since the former commander-in-chief, Jao Mormont, took office, all the night watchmen have lived a fairly regular militarized life under the management of Commander Mormont, although limited by the quality of the troops, the combat effectiveness is uneven, but the level of training and discipline is definitely among the top in Westeros. The new army brought by Egger from King's Landing, now known as the "Houguan Town Guard", also had a clean family background and good character, and had at least half a year of full-time training and final selection before going north to participate in the work......

And these are all traits that the land-giving militia of the mountain clans and savages do not have, and there is no way to make up for it in the short term.

"If you have any opinions, this may be the last operational meeting that was allowed to be discussed before the war, and today I walked out of this door, and after that, I just went all out to implement the established plan, and did not change the layout. ”

"Then I'll mention it. Warner Boucwell, who came from a royal and aristocratic background, was not as cautious as Yamm and Humphrey, who were personally promoted by Iger to management, "I think that the dead are not afraid of death, and the dangers of the Grand Canyon have no psychological deterrent effect on the enemy." Such a long front is only defended by a few thousand people, and it is impossible to hold it, and instead of investing a lot of manpower and material resources to maintain dispersion, it is better to simply give up and shrink the personnel to various strong fortresses to wait for work. ”

"Impossible!" Jon, who had arrived from Castle Black, immediately spoke out in stern objection, "Sir Warner has never fought against the dead, and his concept is still at the level of fighting the living. Besides, the dead don't eat, but they don't need to worry about the logistics line being cut off, and the Great Wall and the land grant itself have no value to fight for, so if the strangers cross the canyon and go straight to the north despite the many fortresses of the Night's Watch, won't it make countless residents unprepared to face the danger that should have been borne by us?"

The controversy arose so quickly, and this is the result of the disagreement. There are three main sources of managerial leadership that Iger now has available and trusts: the original team of Night's Watch from the Mormont era, especially Jon and his friends, a small number of self-cultivated civilian followers brought from King's Landing, and a few "New Night's Watchmen" who were banished to the Wall after Stannis's victory in the throne for supporting Blue Barrasson as king.

Almost half of the officers of the old-school night watch came from the north, of course, to perform their duties, while the employees of the estates were paid obedient and Iger went wherever he wanted, and only the royal nobles were the ...... Rather than guarding the Seven Kingdoms, they want to preserve the current state of the Night's Watch and the Land Grant, so that they can use this to push Iger to the stage of power in the future, and use him as a fulcrum to fight for their deprived status and interests, which is the big pie that Iger drew for them by hinting when he first enlisted the support of these people.

Thankfully, Iger has enough control over the land grant for the time being, whether it's soft or hard.

......

"Are you sure that the enemy will attack from the Grand Canyon, why not muster more troops?" suggested Yam, who was much quieter than the two night watchmen on opposite sides, "As far as I know, there are still thousands of troops to be mobilized in the land grants. ”

The communications officer immediately interjected: "Carter Pike came to report that the de-icing work over there in Donghaiwang is becoming more and more difficult, and it has gradually changed from 'looking for ice to remove ice' to 'seizing the right time to take turns to rest', and I am afraid that more manpower will be needed." ”

Egger coughed: "I have other arrangements for the shortage of manpower in Donghaiwang, and we will discuss it later." It is true that there are still some troops that can be mobilized in the land grant, but Jon's statement just now is wrong: I don't have time to explain the specific reason why the Great Wall is of strategic value to the Wraith, you just need to know that the Long Night Castle is the key. The Wraiths will surely want to attack and destroy the giant heart tree beneath it, thus destroying the magic woven inside the Great Wall and making it lose its ability to shield the power of the cold god. We can now almost confirm that the enemy's main attack direction is in the Grand Canyon, but I can also guarantee that if we really leave no room for all our forces to deploy in the Grand Canyon, the enemy will definitely appear somewhere else in the end. Placing a third of the combatants in an area less than a tenth of the length of the entire line is already the limit...... In other places, especially Donghaiwang, we still have to defend them, and they have to be heavily guarded. ”

Iger had to explain the reasons and purposes of all his deployments to this group of core subordinates, so as not to encounter any doubts and mistakes in the execution of these high-ranking people: "Warner, on the other hand, you are purely thinking about the problem from the perspective of looking at an ordinary war, and you are not right when you say that the threat of the 'natural danger' to the dead is not as good as that of the living, but in the blink of an eye, you ignore that the 'dead' is not an ordinary army. If we don't take the initiative to engage in battle, they will never attrition naturally with the march, but will roll more and more and more...... Ravaging the land grant and even the northern border, and finally turning it over by five, six, seven, eight, or even more than ten times, and then going back and easily destroying us!"

Warner pouted, "We've sent a lot of obsidian weapons to the North at a low price, they should know how to use them." ”

Jon didn't hesitate for a second: "That's how many, not enough people, and we have the wildfire that most restrains ghouls!"

Iger slapped the table and forcibly interrupted their argument: "Defending the Grand Canyon is more than just a rigid attempt to do the duty of a night watchman. If we abandon this place, the enemy is likely to sneak over the canyon into the Grant one night without us even noticing, and kill us in our beds unsuspecting...... And once defended, with the help of the terrain of the canyon, even if it can't be stopped, it can at least kill enough enemies to weaken the strength of the ghoul army. More importantly, the start of the canyon defense battle will provide a warning to the entire land grant and even all the residents of the northern territory, and give people enough time to stop their field work and retreat into the nearest fortress!" He looked around at all the night watchmen and the middle and senior management of the land grant, and made sure that everyone was listening, "Therefore, my vision of the Grand Canyon defense line must be fully and thoroughly realized, and this point is not subject to discussion!"

Warner didn't intend to raise a bar with his immediate boss, and he shrugged: "Okay, obey the decision of the commander." However, it is an unavoidable trouble that the level and quality of training do not meet expectations, and I propose to immediately organize field exercises along the Grand Canyon to test the reaction speed of the defenders, and take advantage of this last little bit of time to train as many proficiency as possible. ”

"This proposal is okay, start arranging, start today, day and night. ”

......

No one had too many objections or suggestions, and in the following time, everyone not only quickly discussed a set of practical and feasible exercise plans that could be cut into the actual combat state at any time, but also added and discussed more detailed arrangements: such as moving several tribes placed in the eastern part of the land grant to Donghaiwang, determining that several fortresses along the Great Wall that were in poor condition would be directly abandoned in wartime, and bringing the giants who moved slowly and inconveniently to the outside of the Houguan town wall in advance. Knowingly lying about the military situation, issuing an alert to the Seven Kingdoms, especially the North, in advance that the ghouls were already attacking the Grand Canyon, etc...... It doesn't seem to be a lie to count the Fishbeam Grove inside and outside the Grand Canyon as part of the defense.

At the end of a long, heavy, and fulfilling meeting, several of Iger's most trusted and valued officials went their separate ways with their own tasks. The Night King's years-long ultramarathon north of the Wall is finally nearing its finish, and Iger now has to do so without being a trophy for the runner with incredible perseverance.

Egger breathed some fresh air and walked towards his lodgings, where he saw Melisandre standing by the door, apparently waiting for him, and walked towards her.

Before she could think of what to say, the witch shook her head and said, "We do have something to talk about, but now is probably not the time, you need to get ready to meet Lady Stark first." Fupin Chinese