It was the first time since Egger became chief logistics officer that he had apologized so sincerely, and he even had a vague feeling of sympathy for Dennis Mellister, but unfortunately this emotion did not last for twelve hours—the next day, before dawn, Robb Stark summoned him and a group of northern nobles to announce the news of the Iron People's invasion of the northern coast.

There are no crows in Icemark City, and it's obvious where this news came from. If you think on your toes, this kind of territorial encroachment can be much more serious than the "what if" threat of the land grant resettlement program, and nine times out of ten, this land grant tour will come to an end.

Iger was only a stone's throw away from the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch, and most of the variables that could have happened could only come from this patrol—if he had known the news, how could Dennis Mellister have made him accept so many conditions?

It is estimated that he was weak or afraid that Egger would not admit it, and the old man left Ice Marks City in a hurry early in the morning, which made Egger have no place to be angry at this time, so he could only scold the old guy over and over again in his heart.

(Forget it, when it comes to trading, you can't make a lot of money every time.) ）

Taking a deep breath, he comforted himself in his heart.

Compared to how many things he had to do after being elected commander-in-chief, he was so entangled in being so innocuous by Dennis, and even racked his brains to think about how to get back into the field...... It's all meaningless, and it's small. One has to look forward, not to mention that he is no longer a horseman.

Collecting his thoughts, Iger turned his attention back to the discussion at hand.

The northern frontier has been invaded, and it is theoretically not the turn of the night watchman to take care of it. It's just that Egger had previously led his troops south to capture Asha Greyjoy alive and expel the First Iron Invasion, and this time he was leading the northern princes to inspect the Great Wall...... Out of politeness and respect for his "master", he was also present in this discussion in the northern part of the country.

＊＊＊

"In his declaration of war sent to Deepwood, Euron Greyjoy not only demanded the release of his niece Asha Greyjoy, but also condemned the North for betraying the Iron Throne by not continuing to send troops to suppress the rebellion on behalf of King Stannis, and that he had come to seek justice. If it weren't for the attack on the North, Robb Stark would have almost laughed at the enemy's backlash, "The latter one is naturally used casually, but the former one ...... Your Excellency, do I want to release Asha?"

"It's all shit, and there's no excuse for going to war? If he really cares about his niece, how can he not even talk about it, and come up and attack the dignitaries in the north?" Count Karstark snorted, "This madman Yoren is not reasonable in doing things, dealing with this kind of person, in a word-it's true that it hurts, don't push him too much! We should rush back at once, regather the army, go to the west coast to find those pirates, and kill them!"

The old earl's words represented the hearts of most of the northern nobles present, and everyone nodded in agreement, looking at Robb with expectant eyes, waiting for his order, they could pack up their things and rush back to defend their homeland.

"That sounds fine, but if you do, you're going to be called a madman. Luce Bolton spoke: "This man can return to the Iron Isle after many years of exile, and without any foundation or influence, he can conquer the islands and ascend to the throne of the sea stone...... You can call him crazy, but don't take him for a fool. He abandoned the rich, warm, two-sided waterless riverbay to the cold, oil-free, triumphant north, with a clear purpose: to drag the Seven Kingdoms into a longer civil war, and to find an opportunity to get their hands on Westeros and restore the Iron Islands to their glory under the leadership of the House of Hall. I'm willing to bet that he's not only raided the North, but most likely the West—and most likely the Riverlands. He will do whatever it takes to weaken the power that openly and covertly supports King Stannis, balancing the balance of power between the two sides in the battle for the Iron Throne, so that they can continue to fight endlessly...... Until the strength of the Seven Kingdoms is exhausted, and it is about the same as him, or even inferior to him. ”

"You guy, how can you analyze a lot of everything, and even if your judgment is correct, what does it have to do with what we are going to do now?" Earl Glover interjected irritably, "We must not continue to wander around the Great Wall and sit back and watch him threaten our people." ”

"Of course not. Luce Bolton shook his head and comforted the other party with kind words: "The Deep Wood Fort now has hundreds more elite soldiers than when Asha attacked and occupied it, and it will not happen so easily, and Lord Glover must not care about it." A war is not a matter of discussing a proper response for a few hours—once all the families have assembled their armies and rushed to the west coast, they have fallen into the trap of Euron......"

"The Bolton family doesn't want to send troops, so they say it directly, to deal with such a group of iron people, it's not bad to be a few pikemen of your family!"

"It's hurtful, Lord Amber. Bolton shook his head: "The Iron Islands are small and outnumbered, and fighting head-on is not an opponent in the north...... If we reorganize the army that we had assembled at the call of King Robert to destroy the Lannisters, and when we were to be driven to the seashore, we would not see even a shadow of half of the Iron People...... They have innumerable longships and skilled sailors, who come and go freely by the sunset sea, and can be on the rocky coast in the morning and Bear Island in the evening, and can the army of 20,000 or 30,000 in the north chase after him? If we are so brutal, can we last for a few months? When the food is almost eaten up by the army, how can we survive this winter?"

"The Horror Castle is so far from the coast, and the Bolton family naturally doesn't have a backache when they stand and talk. This doesn't work, that's not right, so tell me, what should I do? Don't you resist!?"

"Resist, of course. But we need to find out why we defend the land, and we just farm to feed the people. Now that the autumn harvest has been completed and winter has arrived, the soil will soon be too cold to dig in. Even if the iron people do not come, we will soon send a signal for the scattered farmers to gather in the winter shelter towns to spend the winter together. Evacuate the men to castles or garrisoned towns in advance, arm them a little, with their own standing guards, and assemble a few elite cavalry for mobile use, patrolling along the coastline or along the main roads, and expelling or burning ships on sight—the Iron Folk cannot plunder and slaughter the people of the north for supplies, and they run the great risk of being raided if they want to ravage our hinterland and even threaten Winterfell. When the snow falls a little heavier, and in a few months, they will have no choice but to roll back to the broken island to starve. ”

......

Iger pouted, Luce Bolton was right: as pirates, the Iron People did not have the ability to attack and gnaw hard bones, and they usually had to send troops to fight when they attacked, because there were often freshly sown seeds, crops that had not yet been harvested, and livestock and poultry in the field that needed to forage for a large amount to grow, and they could not leave the land alone. But now that the autumn harvest in the north has been completed, and there is no food at all, there is no weakness and lifeline to save in the hands of the invaders, so you can adopt turtle tactics, so that the enemy has nowhere to eat, and can only go away.

But...... Lewd play is usually used against strong opponents who cannot be defeated. This is unreasonable in terms of face, and Robb's new monarch is on the throne, and he can't keep his vassals when he goes south to fight in the south this time, and if he is still in Winterfell in the north this time, he will not be able to bear the loss of prestige.

For a variety of reasons, the old skinning proposal, while the most sound, was destined to be impossible.

"Lord Bolton has a point, and that's the idea for Raven's Eye to be sure to fight. Robb nodded, first confirming Bolton's guess, and then unsurprisingly changed his words: "But it would be too cowardly to give up a large area of land and let them come and go without even trying." Moreover, the people must always be escorted on their way to the towns where they are sheltered from winter, and in the event that the Iron Folk do raid the rivers at the same time, and the princes of the Three Rivers are on a campaign with King Stannis, the security of their backyards must be maintained, and the army must be gathered...... It's just that the scale is controlled within 10,000, each family only recruits veterans and elites, and if you really can't find the enemy's main force for a decisive battle, you can make plans again. ”

This is not a discussion, but a decision has been made. As a vassal, Luce Bolton could not continue to question, so he could only sigh helplessly: "Since the adults have made up their minds, then let's do it...... But to fight the Iron People, it is better not to fight without a fleet. Before engaging in battle, you must send a letter to the Earls of Bear Island and White Harbor, asking the two naval armies to help, not to defeat the Iron Fleet, but at least to have ships to cooperate with the ground forces, so that the Iron Men do not want to fight, run if they want, and the timing and location of the battle are determined by the passive situation in the hands of the enemy. ”

It's all pertinent advice, but now that the princes of the northern realm are in a hurry to go back to save their families, how can they listen to his nagging?

"Let's discuss the rest slowly on the way. Robb didn't want to continue to disobey the ideas of most of the vassals, so he waved his hand to interrupt Bolton's proposal, and turned his head to look at Egg, who had been watching the play from the sidelines: "Lord Chief Logistics Officer, this tour can probably only end here. From what I've seen so far, I have reason to believe that you can keep these wildlings in check...... Well, let's just call them the new landowners. But these are just ordinary people living on the north side of the Great Wall. And your resettlement plan is not just to accept them - before heading south to the coast to deal with the Iron People, I plan to spare half a day to see what the legendary giant looks like, you arrange it, and we will set off today. ”

——