In the cold wind, Winterfell ended another day surrounded by rebels.

The snowfall that lasted for a few days has stopped, but the snow on the ground and the clouds in the sky will not disappear immediately, but they absorb the sound and obscure the light of the stars and moon. However, while the environment affected hearing and vision, the guards on the walls were not very worried.

Standing on the nearly 100-foot high façade of Winterfell, the sentinels relied on sound to keep an eye on the outside of the city, and the absence of moonlight was not a big problem: the land-giving rebels were born from the Night's Watch, their costumes were almost all black, and the fields surrounding the castle were covered with snow—although the moonlight through the clouds was faint enough to make it impossible to see five fingers, it was enough to illuminate the snowfield, and in the strong contrast between black and white, even the slightest movement of the besiegers would be as obvious as ink dripping on white paper, and it would be difficult to ignore.

......

"Egger, this dog is raised by a mother, and I don't know when the disaster is coming, and most of them are sleeping with a savage girl in their arms. Joel moved his frozen right hand and said to his companion who was about to fall asleep, "I heard that Guy Furen, who was out of town with the 'negotiating team', said that in order to keep Iger from noticing the anomaly, Sir Rodric not only spent more time discussing the details of the agreement with him today, but also made some small concessions on some key points. The rebel leader really thinks he's taken advantage of it, and he's so happy that he wants to keep them drinking in the headquarters!"

"A friend who has been to the land grant told me that it was a red-robed witch from Asha who was messing with Egg, not a savage girl. Disturbed from napping, Argao muttered unhappily, "And- don't make small talk with me, do your duty." As long as Lord Bolton's army doesn't arrive for a day, the threat will not be lifted!"

"Yes, yes, the threat hasn't been lifted yet. "Small talk is a distraction, so why don't you just go to sleep?, this fool is still screaming to catch the thief!" Joel rolled his eyes, and instead of poking at his companion, he continued to nag, "Oh, by the way, how are you talking to your future father-in-law, when will you marry Lisa home...... Thinking about it, it seems that I haven't seen their father and daughter in the castle for the past few days?"

"Evacuated to the city of Severn. Finding that the sleepiness was dissipated, Yagao lost the interest of continuing to doze off, "The old man, relying on his daughter is the most beautiful girl in Xueman Village, and her eyes are about to grow to the top of her head, while talking to me about marriage, he is still unwilling to think about whether he can find a better condition." I hate me and I like that, as if my dignified guard of Winterfell has wronged his daughter! Hmph, if I had gotten married earlier, would I have been able to hide in Winterfell as a family member? Why bother walking dozens of miles in the snow to escape to Severn City!"

"Alas, I told you a long time ago, the old man is not dissatisfied with your conditions, but is just waiting for you to put on an attitude of recognizing him as 'father-in-law'. If it weren't for someone else teaching you to please your father-in-law, you wouldn't listen, how could there be so many twists and turns in this matter?"

"I'm married to his daughter, not him, why am I being looked down on and still whispering to please him?! This time I must let this stinky temper know that not everyone is afraid of him and is willing to let him!"

"Hey, come on, if you're willing to grind more than you want, then you can grind. Joel pretended to be comforted, but shook his head and smiled secretly in his heart: he was really stunned, and he was alone, "Hold on, don't be vain, when this battle is over, with the reward and qualifications of guarding Lindong, you must be begged by people upside down before you stop!"

"Hmph. Yagao didn't hear the ridicule and ridicule in his companion's words at all, and pouted, "It's better not for me to hear that she hooked up with other bastards when she was taking refuge in Severn City, or else ......"

......

The lone guard's cruel words did not end, in addition to not thinking about what should be followed by "otherwise", the main reason was that he was attracted by the sudden unexpected situation: everything was normal outside the city walls, but in a completely unexpected direction- Somewhere in the castle of the black hole behind him, a dark green flame suddenly lit up in the night, and the liquid fuel was lit by a match, and the tongue of fire that was freed up ignited by a match ignited the hay and wood with a strong momentum, and with the change of temperature and combustibles, the color also changed from cold to warm, and after a few breaths, it turned into a flame three or four meters high.

Accompanied by the sudden fire, the screams also pierced the quiet night sky.

"Someone, it's on fire!"

It did catch fire, which was a rarity for Winterfell, where most of the buildings were made of stone, but it was one of the few wooden stables in the castle that caught fire. Strange as it is, the guards who are familiar with the castle environment are not deterred by this, as the permanent residents know that the stables are located in the southwest corner of the school grounds, close to the granite interior walls, and there are no more timber buildings around it, and they are far away from any hoarded or inhabited houses...... Even if the fire gets out of control, at most it will burn the stables themselves, and it will not cause more damage.

Well, no more damage – this conclusion is usually true, but it is not the case at the moment.

It was different from normal times: at this moment, there were three or four thousand people crowded into Winterfell, and the nearby residents who had taken refuge in the city had set up tents and blankets and spread them all over the inside and outside of the city walls, and naturally they would not let go of the largest and most conspicuous open space of the school grounds. The housekeeper who arranged for the camp did set aside a separate area between the stables and the camp for the refugees, so the accident could not have caused a tragic fire in the camp, but the planners apparently failed to take into account that there were also "residents" in the stables.

As the fire grew larger and burned through the walls and into the stables, the flames flickered and pressed— No, the heat of the horses made the horses in it quickly go berserk and riot, and when the sturdy horses, in the instinct of survival, took the lead over the fence and broke through the gate and rushed out of the fire, the school yard was soon chaotic in a roar: no one died in the fire, but countless tents were knocked down and torn by the onslaught of the fleeing horses, and a large number of newly awakened residents who had just woken up had been knocked down or trampled by sturdy livestock before they could react to what had happened.

The sound of shouts and cries, flames engulfing a corner of the stable, causing it to collapse...... The original silence of the night has been completely torn to shreds, and the complete chain of disasters has just pulled a head.

The casualties caused by the horses escaping from the stables and crashing into the camp of the refugeists were negligible, and the fear and confusion caused was truly terrible, and many of those who had been asleep a moment ago were frightened by the crying and screaming, and in a daze they wanted to ask what had happened but no one answered, and finally took the safest way they could think of: escape.

No matter what happens, there's always nothing wrong with staying out of danger!

There is nothing wrong with this ideological logic, but it ignores the fact that the chaos caused by the herd effect is in many cases far more dangerous than the accident itself!

The first, and the second began to run, and soon ten or twenty men were brought in them, and the number swelled to tens or hundreds at an even faster rate...... Eventually, a small fire that was not serious but occurred at the right time and place turned into a tsunami of panic. In this wave of people, the children could not find their mothers, the husbands and wives were scattered by the crowds, and even the reserve soldiers, who were hurrying to put out the fire from the distant guard room with buckets, were squeezed by the oncoming flow of fleeing people......

It was necessary to have people gather to gather the frightened horses, to divide people to rescue the wounded, and to allocate more soldiers to maintain order and evacuate the crowd so that the firefighting team could enter the scene smoothly.

......

"Isn't it just a fire in the stable, how can it be like this?" The whole story fell into the eyes of the sentries on the wall, Joel was dumbfounded, and then immediately became vigilant: "Argo, did you hear any noise just now, could it be an incendiary bomb thrown in by the rebels outside the city with trebuchets." Are they going to take advantage of the chaos to attack?"

"Impossible! The inner walls of Winterfell are a hundred feet high, and if it was an incendiary bomb thrown from outside the city, if it could climb such a high wall, it should have fallen closer to the middle of the castle, how could it be possible to set fire to the stables that were sheltered by the city walls......?" Forget it, don't think about where the fire came from, I want to know, do our night guards need help?"

"Probably not, if we also go to fight the fire, in case the rebels take the opportunity to attack the city......"

The discussion didn't last long, and tonight's prefect and heralds from the main fort had already appeared on the walls in time to resolve the sentinels' doubts.

"Don't look like a fool who has never seen a fire! Stick to your post, don't look at it again, don't discuss it more, and don't leave without permission!"

"Lord Robb has ordered that the sentries on each wall do not need to participate in the firefighting, and they should be vigilant and vigilant, and he has arranged for additional personnel to deal with the fire!"

Two loud reprimands, a few firm and clear instructions, instantly suppressed the commotion and doubts of the soldiers on the city wall. The chaos caused by the fire in the stables was terrible, but it did not alter the non-flammable chemistry of the granite, and the scattered inhabitants were loyal subjects of the Stark family for thousands of years, and there were no spies or spies among them...... When the entire wooden shed is burned clean and there is no follow-up fuel, and the people who run around are tired and sober, the stampede will naturally end.

Compared with a mere stable, the improvement and stability of the castle's overall defense system to ensure that the rebels outside the city have no gaps is a more important task.

Robb's cautious and sophisticated choice shows Robb's ability to judge the situation and command at the tactical level. It's a pity that sometimes, some things, not the right judgment and response of the person concerned can change the outcome.

Soon after the sentries on the inner and outer city walls withdrew their gaze from the castle one after another under the command and order of the commander, and no longer looked at the burning stables and the chaotic schoolyard, but continued to devote themselves to the boring guard work, in a few flashes of light, a loud and earth-shaking noise suddenly sounded under their feet and in their ears!

——