In the halls of Sarsfield, the lords of the North, River, and Vale, the "Northern Route Army" of the Lion War, gathered around a long table full of maps, for their final battle meeting before marching on Lannisport.

Robb Stark stood at one end of the table, smiling and smug as the moderator of the meeting.

He is entitled to pride, as the youngest nobleman present, he commands the strongest of the northern, central, and southern lion armies, has not been defeated since the army on behalf of the family, and is clothed in the glory of breaking through the two valleys and the gateway to the west of the Blood Gate and the Golden Tooth City, and is one of the few noble heirs of the Seven Kingdoms who has truly chosen a suitable spouse for himself - you know, even kings are rarely lucky enough to be together with their sweethearts.

Relying on more than a dozen times the strength of the defenders, the accumulated experience of observing Robert's attack on the Blood Gate, and the brave Northern death squads, the Northern Route Army broke through the barrier on the Riverside Avenue on the fourth day after Robb wrote a letter to his father Eddard "promising to take the Golden Tooth City in three days". Although it seems to take one more day, the actual battle time is indeed three days...... After passing through this level, the northeast of the western frontier was opened, and it took a few more days for the Northern Route Army to take the castle of the Sarsfield family.

In addition to the remaining troops arranged along the way, there were still more than 30,000 troops left in the Northern Route Army, and now, between them and Kaiyan City and Lannisport, only the slightly undulating but unobstructed river road and scattered villages and towns remained, and there was no longer a fortified city.

......

"What is there to discuss, eat, drink, sleep well, nourish your spirits, go straight to Kaiyan City, and take out the old lion and his pair of chaotic sons and daughters and hang them!" said Big Jon Amber in a rough voice: "If the time comes, maybe there will be a chance to go into the cave and dig a mine in person, and how much you dig is all your own, and a hoe will come out full of gold, which you can't experience in the north!"

Gabbert Glover gave Amber a blank look: "If you want to dig it, the gold mine is all yours, and no one will rob you, I only want the vault." ”

The conversation between the two caused the princes present to laugh, but there were still people present who remained calm: "Kaiyan City has never been captured. Blackfish Brynden said indifferently, he was once only a knight of the Blood Gate, his status rose greatly after the end of the counterinsurgency in the valley, and when a large number of important families in the valley were convicted, he now seemed to have become the spokesman of the valley army: "The safest way now is to camp troops in the east of Lannisgang, a safe distance from the city wall, and when the other two armies arrive, take Lanniport in one go, and then dismiss the peasants, leaving only the elite to besiege Kaiyan City until Tywin is exhausted and surrenders." ”

"There are more than 30,000 of us here, and we still can't take Lannisport?" Rickard Karstark snorted: "What are you waiting for!

"According to the investigation, Lannisterport has concentrated the most elite 20,000 soldiers of the Lannister family, and is still training the new army. Luce Bolton, Lord of the Horror Castle, spoke softly, in a low voice, but no one present dared to interrupt. "With more than 30,000 men attacking a city defended by 20,000 people, the chances of victory are not great, not to mention that the Lanniport Guard is the most well-trained garrison of the Seven Nations? ”

"The northerners are each one against ten, and there are only 20,000 defenders...... Hum. ”

"I was born in the North, but I don't think I can fight ten. Luce Bolton continued without any fluctuation: "Assuming that this sentence means 'one northern soldier can deal with ten ordinary people', there are more than 100,000 permanent inhabitants within the walls of Lannisport, and as the war has arisen and the evacuation seekers have flocked in, maybe more at this moment. Counting the city walls, the northerners with one enemy and ten will not be able to take advantage. Of course, I admit that if it doesn't cost anything, it can be breached, it's just ...... I am afraid that there will be a bunch of widows between the rivers and valleys of the north, and you are afraid that you will die in battle, and you will die heroically and be written into a song by the bard, and then someone else will inherit your castle, and go to your wives to beat your children, and it will be a pleasure?"

"Master Bolton has a point. Edmure Tully cautiously spoke in support, although he was the heir of Riverrun and the nominal leader of the Riverlands army, but his poor performance in the face of the Western Grain Burning Team made him speak mediocrely, and the weight of his words was not as high as that of his nephew Robb: "But my army is short of food and grass, and this trip to the west is facing Tywin's scorched earth tactics, and a lot of gold has been grabbed along the way, but the grain and grass have not been replenished...... If you sit and wait for help, I'm afraid you'll be hungry soon......"

Bolton already had a countermeasure: "Move west for another section, establish a defensive line after capturing Oxford, leave the main force to contain the western army in Lanniport, divide the troops to the north and south, attack other small castles and villages, and wait for the other two ways to destroy the lion army." ”

There was no loophole plan, but soon someone raised a new question: "Where are the other two armies now?" The defense line of Golden Tooth City is the most difficult of the three barriers in the western border, but on the contrary, we are the first to approach Kaiyan City, and we have to wait for them in turn, what is this called!"

"The leader of the army has already arrived outside the Deep Cave City, but the number of people is small and the combat effectiveness is average, so he can't attack it for a long time, and he plans to wait for the arrival of the Storm Land army before making ......an attempt," Robb frowned and explained: "As for the Hewan Army on the South Road, it has already crossed the line of Golden Tooth City when it last got the news two days ago, and it stands to reason that it should not be far away, I will send scouts to contact it, and make plans when there is news." ”

This was obviously intended to be done according to a safe plan, and the successive victories did not make the young wolf lord swell, and many generals with troops in the Hejian Valley respected him...... If there are no accidents, the next step is to assign tasks: who will stay in the camp to contain the defenders of Lannisport, and who will disperse with their own soldiers to raid the western border...... In the case of crushing, wantonly attacking the city in the richest area of the Seven Kingdoms is the beauty that the troop leader dreams of, and everyone is staring at Robb, gearing up.

......

Just when the princes of the three places of the Northern Army looked at each other, ready to compete for this good thing, a soldier suddenly came in outside the door.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there's a scout from outside the city who calls himself a Dorn, saying there's urgent news to report!"

"Dorne?" It was strange why it wasn't the Riverlanders who came, but Robb nodded, "Let him in." ”

At the prompting of Blackfish Brynden, they set up a map of the battle plan on the table. A moment later, a man dressed strangely, dressed in a very dark color and with a very dark complexion, entered the tent.

"Which lord are you?" asked the head of the Amber family in a loud voice.

"At the behest of Lord Oberon Martell, I have come to report the news, which of you is in charge?"

"It's a combat meeting, and we're in charge together. Robb said, "If you have any news, just tell it in public." ”

The yellow-clothed Dorne soldier didn't twist much, nodded and spoke directly: "Two days ago, my Dorne army passed through the Yangji Hall, and continued north along the esplanade to join the coalition forces to besiege Lannisport and Kaiyan City, but when they reached the destination and were still about fifty leagues away from the destination, they were blocked by the Riverland army, and the other party did not provide any explanation, but only set up a position, unreasonably blocking the continuation of our Dorne army, and I and several colleagues were ordered to set off at night and secretly cross the Hewan Army blockade line before arriving here. ”

"The Riverbend Army is blocking the Dorne Army?" No wonder the other two armies were delayed, and the scene of the combat meeting immediately exploded, and Robb took a lot of effort to quiet everyone down: "Do you know the reason?

"The Hewan Army has not given any explanation, because they are twice as strong as we are, and they have not taken the initiative to attack, and they are still in a stalemate at present. ”

"It can't be that the people of Hewan see the gold everywhere in the west and want to swallow it and not share it with outsiders, hahaha......" Karstark was the first to guess, and soon caused a lot of echoes and approvals.

"Any other news?"

"Your Royal Highness the Prince has asked me to take a message and tell you to be on guard to avoid a sneak attack. ”

"Understood, it's been hard all the way, and it's ...... Take this friend of Dorne down and let him rest. ”

Wait until the Dornes leave the hall. Big Jon Amber laughed: "The southerners are just bad, and before they took Lannisport, they began to fight for the spoils." ”

"Fortunately, our wolf and osprey families have always advanced and retreated together, so we don't have this trouble. But you have to hurry up and catch a little more. ”

There was a lot of noise in the room, and most of the people were amused by the news of the infighting between the two friendly armies, but some people realized that something was wrong, and Luce Bolton approached Robb with a serious expression, so as not to be affected by the noise of the other princes: "The Riverlands are as rich as the West, even if someone will do something ugly in this battle for the uneven distribution of the spoils, it should not be their richest person who will do it first, is there news from King's Landing, could it be that the king has changed?"

Blackfish Brynden was also uneasy, and approached his nephew: "Send someone to the Raven House to see if there is any letter from King's Landing...... If not, take stock of the number of ravens. ”

......

There was a commotion in the hall, and the princes of the Wolf, Osprey, who had always called themselves "family", laughed at the infighting between Rose and Sun, and in the chaos, the two Stark soldiers quietly led the order out of the hall. After a while, he dragged the Sarsfield Bachelor back here and pressed him to his knees: "My lord, this guy said that he didn't receive any letters from King's Landing, but after we counted them, we confirmed that there were two more ravens, and asked him again, and he admitted that King's Landing had a letter yesterday, but he forgot to give it to you in the letter. ”

Robb's eyebrows furrowed, and he secretly said in his heart: "What about the letter?"

"Here. ”

Luce Bolton took the letter, handed it to Robb, and then stared at the man who was kneeling on the ground by two soldiers with his surprisingly pale eyes: "The maester is loyal to this castle, whoever his master is, I am not mistaken. ”

The bachelor was frightened at this moment, knelt on the ground and kowtowed desperately: "My lord, my lord, I really forgot...... Age...... I'm old, and my brain is not good! Not next time!"

Amber's eyes widened: "Conceal the military aircraft and don't report it, just drag it out and hang it and pull it down, what nonsense!"

This proposal makes sense, but there is only one bachelor in a castle, and if you really hang yourself, there will be no one to manage even the letter crow, Ruce Bolton stared coldly at the old man who kowtowed until his head was red for a while, and then spoke: "I will send someone to eat and live with you, and ensure that your memory will not have any problems." If this happens again next time...... I'm going to turn you into my family crest, and then I'm going to ask for someone who takes more care of my skin, you know?"

The bachelor stared at the skinning coat of arms of the Bolton family, thinking of all kinds of rumors about this bloodthirsty family in the north, his body trembled for a moment, and he quickly nodded in agreement.

"Take it out. "After all, the battle meeting is not over yet, and we can't let outsiders stay any longer.

After the local bachelor left, everyone's eyes were focused on Robb again, and the young wolf lord's face changed drastically at this moment, obviously shocked by the contents of the letter.

"What, is King Robert dead?"

"The letter doesn't mention this, it just says something else. Robb put away his surprised expression and said with a calm face: "According to the report of the princes of the river along the Golden Avenue, the Stormland army, which was supposed to rush to the city of the deep cave to join the king's army, and after conquering the city, continued to march west to join our army in Lannisport, two days ago, suddenly had an abnormal movement and began to return east along the original road...... This letter was written three days ago, and it is estimated that the Stormlands army is only about two or three days away from King's Landing at this moment. ”

Everyone was in an uproar, the originally good three-way army marched together, and the tailwind battle that could destroy the Lannister family in the blink of an eye, how could the wind direction change drastically in the blink of an eye, and the friendly troops ran away all the way, making it almost impossible to continue?

"This is Lan Li's army, if it weren't for King's Landing's change of wanting to transfer the army back to fight for the Iron Throne, this kid would never have dared to march to the capital of the Seven Kingdoms so openly!" Blackfish Brynden was the first to react: "Is there any instruction for us in the letter, return to King Qin immediately?"

"No, my father said that he would bring back the army of the Lords and Lord Stannis, and replenish the army in King's Lands, which is no more than 10,000 strong, and should not pose a threat to King's Land...... The letter only told us to be more careful, and beware of a counterattack by the army from the west without one way of support. ”

"Is it really a 'journey'?" said Luce Bolton in a deep voice, "Lord Eddard wrote to me without knowing what was going on on the Esplanade - we were just talking about why the Riverbend Army intercepted the Dorne Army for no reason, and now, we know, it's not for the gold." ”

"Riverbend supports Lan Li in his fight for the Iron Throne!" Blackfish Brynden lived for more than fifty years, how could he still see the key to it: "They stopped Dorne from joining our assault on Lannishaven because they wanted to prevent the Western Army from losing too quickly, so that they could contain us - let Lan Li take King's Landing smoothly." Oh no, if this speculation is true, then King's Landing is about to face not only the 'more than 10,000 Storm Land troops' that the Prime Minister thinks, but also the supporters of the Blue Rites. With the strength of the Tyrell family and the population of the riverbend, there is no problem with another 350,000 troops from the east close to the royal territory to support the Blue Rite!"

"Write to King's Landing and call the police immediately!" Robb slapped the table, just as he was about to discuss how to divide the spoils, who wanted to reverse the situation in the next moment: "Then withdraw the army immediately and defend King's Landing!"

"It's too late, we've gone too far into the West, and returning to King's Landing from here, even if it's a pure cavalry, it will take nearly ten days for one man and two horses to travel day and night, not to mention, will the Lannisters let us leave calmly?, an army composed of a large number ......of peasant soldiers, once pursued on the way back, can easily turn into a rout," Luce Bolton said with a gloomy face, " There is also a problem, since we have all come in, if we can't give enough damage to the west, we will withdraw our troops, and when Tywin comes to his senses, with the financial strength of the west, no matter which side we help, it will win. In case he waits for the other six of us to fight and is seriously injured, he will send troops to retaliate......"

"Grass, if that's like this, what do we do now?"

"King's Landing is expected to be difficult to protect, so write to Lord Eddard, so that he can not stand it and prepare to abandon the city and return to the north. Bolton's expression was grim: "My suggestion is to go south quickly and join forces with Dorne to defeat the Riverbend Army." Then, together with Oberon Martell, they looted and destroyed all the towns and villages in the West except for Castle Rock, and killed as little! Dorne and Lannister have a feud, and must be very hardworking...... In this way, it can not only weaken the military strength of the river bay, but also destroy the material basis for the comeback of the western territory to reap the benefits...... And with such a dozen, Dorne will never ally with Riverbend again to support Lan Li's ascension. After doing all this, calmly exit the Western Frontier with a large amount of loot...... Fatten yourself and weaken your opponents, and when you return to the river, you will be invincible!"

——

[Those who are interested must have noticed that there have been a lot of updates every day since May. I plan to travel at the end of this month, and now I have a little more yards when I have time, and I won't make up for a few days when I stop watching. 】