Legend has it that during the Age of Dawn, a race of humanity, the "Ancestors", crossed the Arms of Dorne on the land bridge, and began to invade Westeros with bronze weapons, leather armor, and horses. Unable to stop the human attack, the Sons of the Forest, the aborigines, were driven to the north of the continent, and finally the dog jumped over the wall and used magic to summon a monstrous flood, which not only destroyed the land bridge Dorne's arm, but also split the land of Westeros in two, in order to stop the human migration from the south to the north.

After the flood receded, the Dorne Arm became an archipelago of stone steps, and the washed place in the middle of the continent formed the "Neck Ridge", which means "Bottleneck Valley".

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Myths are myths after all, but it is an indisputable fact that Neck Ze divides the continent of Westeros into the south and the north. This area of swamps, mud pools and lakes is littered with pits, quicksands, and most disgustingly, some areas are covered with verdant green turf or aquatic plants – if you are not vigilant, you can easily see them as a solid foothold, but if you step on them, you will immediately sink into the water.

A mere misstep is not a problem, and the myriad poisonous insects, poisonous snakes, poisonous flowers, and giant lizards with dagger teeth bred in the waterholes and wet mud are the greatest threat to adventurers who do not take the big road.

If Neck Ze is the natural danger owned by the people of the north, then Kalin Bay is the "blood gate" that guards this natural risk.

Once a massive fortress with twenty towers and basalt walls as tall as Winterfell, Carlin Bay has managed to wipe out the Andals' attacks countless times, making the northern frontier it guards the only land on Westeros that is still completely controlled by the ancestors of the Old Gods.

However, with the sinking of the terrain and the passage of time, the walls of Carlin Bay have almost completely collapsed, and the wooden forts have long since been rotted and decayed, and only three of the twenty towers remain. From the outside, this "castle" does not even qualify for being marked on the map, let alone any military defense.

It was a small fortress standing alone in the wilderness, and anyone with a small army could completely destroy it in a single attack.

But Robb Stark had been held back here for weeks by this little dilapidated fortress for a simple reason: Carlin Bay did not stand in the wilderness as it was assumed, but in the neck.

The only dry route through this vast wetland is the causeway, and the dilapidated towers of Carlin Bay block the northern exit to the road like a cork on a bottle. The causeway was narrow, and the fortress was strategically arranged in such a way that any enemy would have to pass through the middle beneath it.

Troops from the south to the north would have to "drill into the bottle" and pass through the long "bottleneck", the causeway, before they could reach the fortress, and if they wanted to attack any of the three remaining towers, they would be exposed to the arrows of the other two towers, the damp stone walls were covered with moss, and the sticky white ghost grass hung down from the slippery white ghost grass, which was extremely difficult to climb, and the swamps around the causeway were natural moats that could not be established, let alone passed.

These are only the advantages of Carlin Bay itself, but what is more tricky is that the causeway itself is also part of the defensive perimeter: it is purely artificially fortified, and its width can only be used by two carriages, and only for the passage of the army, and it is not necessary to think about the operation of stopping, stationing, or even setting up a large attack.

......

The nearly 20,000 troops from the north who had returned home had to be stationed in a few villages a few dozen miles south of Carlin Bay, which were rarely found in the middle of the Neck, which was on solid ground—which meant that the troops on the offensive mission had to travel a long distance from the barracks every day to reach the feet of the target. And because of the narrowness of the road, although they have a hundred times the enemy's strength, it is difficult for the northerners to attack with more than 200 men at the same time.

The Bloody Gate is strong and precipitous, and sits at the mouth of the Arryn Valley, beyond which there is a large plain for the army to camp and set up, and only after breaking through it can enter the narrow Arryn Valley, as long as you are willing to "do whatever it takes", you can always force it down, and although the Kalim Bay is tattered and looks like it will fall down with a push, the attackers cannot even fight the enemy desperately.

Due to the geology, the causeway is sinking all the time under the immersion of the swamp, which requires the elevation of sand and rocks from other places at regular intervals...... After the ironmen raided and occupied the area, the unmaintained causeway had become potholed and impassable after a few rains, which made it even worse for the attackers.

Under the command of King Robert, he enjoyed the prestige of breaking through the bloody gates, and he was undefeated in the battle against the western frontier, even in the battle against the riverband...... As a result, he was stopped outside the door of his house when he returned home. Unable to pass and defeat, Robb Stark, who was exhausted to the point of losing his temper, was forced to choose a roundabout tactic, dividing his troops to take the sea route and the path in the swamp to the north of Carlin Bay, and remove the cork from the outside of the "bottle".

Due to the limited capacity of Seagull Town and the difficulty of the trails, the number of troops that crossed Kalin Bay to the north was only a few hundred, but these few hundred men could be replenished in White Harbor and the surrounding villages, and they could quickly gather thousands of troops...... When the time comes, the main force led by Robb Stark will be flanked between the north and the south, and Carlin Bay will be just around the corner.

After all, it is impossible for the door of one's house to block the owner's house for too long—especially if there are still people in the house. Even if Egger doesn't have the land-giving army with him, the fortress will be taken.

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However, with the sudden death of the rebellious Baron Greyjoy and the public declaration of his support for Stannis Baratheon, the departure of the Iron Fleet from the North, and the arrival of the Amber Family's assistance in retaking Fort Deepwood, the return to the north suddenly became less urgent.

In addition, Robb decided to allow Egg to try his persuasion strategy: the brilliant record of repelling the Riverbend Army led by Randolph Tully twice in the West, and King's Landing, made the young wolf lord so confident that when the Royal Forest was ordered to block the reinforcements from Riverlands against Storm's End, he actually chose to abandon all flexible tactics and face toughness. In this battle, although the Northern Army held the defensive line without collapsing with the courage of the soldiers and generals, it suffered more casualties than the sum of a series of battles in the western territory and the recapture of King's Landing.

Randolph Ta used his skillful and impeccable arrangement to coordinate with all the troops, and slapped Robb's illusion that he was invincible.

Fortunately, Stannis later led the royal army to make a detour to attack the Hewan Army from the flank at a time and place that no one expected, and luckily turned the tide of the battle again, and the northern army maintained its winning streak by hugging the thighs of his teammates...... But only Robb Stark knew that he had made a arrogant and wrong decision, and the thousands of Northerners who had already snatched a lot of money from the West would never have a chance to take home the loot.

This kind of self-blame made him never relentless in the face of Carlin Bay, and even decided to accept the so-called "land gift army" at today's combat meeting, which everyone knew was the help of the night watchman.

Failure can help people grow, and Randall Tully's slap not only woke Robb to his dream of a victorious general, but also made him quickly sober and mature, and he suddenly realized that he was not only a general with troops, but also the head of the duke with the least population in the Seven Kingdoms in the entire North. Compared with the false name of "invincible", his more important mission is to protect the lives and property safety of his subordinates and people.

With this realization, Robb Stark led two hundred elite northern soldiers at this moment, standing on the narrow causeway overlooking the Kraken Banner of Carlin Bay, patiently waiting for the Night Watchman's plan to succeed or fail - the reason why he did not bring more people was because the "two hundred" was already the largest number of people that could be supported in the attack on Carlin Bay, and no more would not only not help, but also easily block the narrow causeway, making himself a living target for the defenders.

Not far away, the Drunkard Tower was still leaning, the shattered spire of the Sons of the Forest Tower still pierced into the sky like a spear, and on the wide and circumferent gate tower, the pale faces of the Iron Folk defenders were hidden between the battlements and the broken pheasant moats.

There were still three or four hours before dark, and if Egger's persuasion strategy did not work, Robb would signal an hour later, ordering the White Harbor army north of Carlin Bay to launch a general attack, and cooperate with his own north-south attack to forcibly open the "cork".

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