With a few dozen trumpets and thousands of torches, Iger recaptured the Deep Forest, which had been occupied by the Iron Mins for months. Except for a few wild men who tripped over branches in the dark and scratched their skin, there were no casualties. Correspondingly, they didn't destroy any enemies either.

Iger is pleased with the result.

Theoretically, he didn't have to care so much about the hill clansmen or the new landowners: for every one they died, Iger only had to pay a "huge" pension of one golden dragon. Think of it in terms of spiritual victory - this golden dragon will only flow around in the land grant and eventually return to the hands of the Night's Watch Logistics Department.

Egger's distress is not about gold coins, but about human life: the land grant is different from any other country or place in Westeros, it currently has a total population of less than 40,000, and even if you include all the older children and women, the labor force is only in the early 10,000s, which seems to be a lot of money, but as a small society, it can't actually withstand any consumption.

This means that although he manages the lowest average inhabitants of the Seven Kingdoms, he has to cherish them more than any lord of the Seven Kingdoms...... Not just out of kindness.

In the past, he had to abandon a tribe in order to survive Mormont's death, but after that, he would not do any meaningless recklessness or merit unless necessary. For Robb Stark, the Landdonor's ability to help recapture Deeptim was already a great help, and killing a few dozen more Iron Folk on top of that would not make that much more credit.

＊＊＊

The fire in the watchtower stopped spreading as soon as the wildfire burned out, and the light turned from green to red, and soon extinguished when the new landgivers entered the city to participate in the firefighting, and the unexpected joy ensued—the ironmen didn't even deal with the hostages because they ran so panicked. Mrs. Glover came out of the sacred woods with the support of her valet maid, and the bruised and swollen bachelor and the missing leg butler were quickly lifted out of the cellar.

(No, maybe it's not that they're too panicked and forget to deal with it, but that the commander of the opposing side deliberately left them alive so that after the besiegers recapture the intact castle and save the living hostages, they don't chase after the fleeing ironmen?)

If that's the case, then let them live, and he and the Iron People don't have any deep hatred, Egger thought.

"Did you catch them...... Especially that ...... Asha Greyjoy?" Tears and insomnia made Hibena Glover's eyes red, and he was slightly surprised to see that the commander of the rescue was not a member of the Stark family, but a black-clad Night's Watchman, but he had no intention of pursuing the matter: "My son and daughter have been brought back to the Iron Islands by them, and we must have hostages in exchange for the heirs of Deepwood!"

"Oh, ma'am......" led the team from the last Hearthplace City to Egger to Deepwoodburg, "They have already fled into the wolf forest, and I am not familiar with this forest, so it is difficult to chase." ”

"Gavin and Aina in their hands!" it was a mother's scream.

"If it's in the hands of the thieves who escaped from the deep forest castle, I will lead people to chase after me without saying a word. Joseph shrugged helplessly: "But you also said it, Hibena - they are in the Iron Islands, even if they chase them, they may not be able to catch them, even if they do, they may not be able to catch the daughter of the sea monster alive, and even if they can be captured alive, they may not be able to ......"

Egger had planned to let the ironmen go, but now that he heard Mrs. Glover's request, he had to change his mind. Just as the food delivery guy expects to be praised by customers, he now wants the people he has saved to be completely satisfied—at this very moment, he really needs the gratitude of the people of the north so that he can lead his troops south to achieve the best results.

Since you are here, you will help to the end: "Don't say it, madam, I will personally bring someone to capture the prisoners for you." ”

Horser looked back suspiciously, "Egger, they're not stupid enough to follow the main road. ”

"I just have a way, if Lord Horther is tired, find a room to rest...... Well, until then, search the castle to make sure there's nothing left of the Iron Min. ”

Mrs. Glover looked at Iger with a grateful look, "That's great, who is this lord?"

"The Night's Watch Chief Logistics Officer, Iger West, ma'am. Iger bowed to the other party, "But remember, the Night's Watch is impartial...... It wasn't the Night's Watch that helped you get back to Deepwood, but a group of enthusiastic landgivers passing by. ”

......

Not all women are Margaery Tyrells, and Hibena Glover apparently fails to understand the difference, but Hoser Amber will explain it to her. However, at the end of the day, this matter will ultimately have to be discussed with Robb Stark, and it is too early to discuss.

Iger threw down the two northern nobles with strange looks and walked towards his subordinates: "In what direction did those iron people flee?"

"They will go south and west, and the route of escape is irregular, probably because they are afraid that we will be chased after them. ”

"Tell Aurel, work hard, keep an eye on those guys. Iger nodded: "The rest of the people rest on the spot, drink water, and take a nap...... The commander kept an eye on his men, and nothing was allowed to move, the deep forest fort was not our trophy! After determining the direction of the iron people's escape, take the main road and chase them in front of them!"

"Yes, sir!"

＊＊＊

The towers of the Deep Forest Fort disappeared from view, and the clamor and trumpets of the northern army gradually subsided, and Asha led more than a hundred of his subordinates to the south, west, and southwest, adjusting their direction with each stretch of road. The wolf boy had recaptured the castle and had not torn it up herself, and she thought to herself, maybe they wouldn't be wiped out.

She felt like she wasn't getting rid of her tracking, yes, but what she didn't know was that not only could she not shake off her tail by leaving the road through the woods, but it would make it more difficult for her side to escape—because it was not any "person" who was chasing them, but an eagle hundreds of feet above their heads.

After Egger released the savages into the customs, he forcibly co-opted all the shapeshifters among the Cypriot Outsiders, and put them under house arrest in Houguan Town, including people and "pets".

These people who can communicate with animals, control wild beasts, and have unpredictable abilities are quite feared for their pretending to be ghosts when they are outside the fortress...... However, after passing through the Great Wall, it was discovered that the Night's Watch was not only not afraid of them, but also seemed to know their abilities well, plus they had witnessed or heard of Melisandre's magical powers, and most of their pets were kept under strict supervision in the cages of Houguan Town...... After putting up a score a few times, not long ago, after hearing about Sir Bookwell's half-day slaughter of a tribe, how dare you not be honest and obedient.

This time the land was donated to send troops south, and Iger brought two of them who could control the birds, and they had the cross-era advantage of aerial reconnaissance power, and this small group of iron people could not fly out of the palm of the night watchman's hand unless they put on their wings.

......

After running away through the forest in the middle of the night, the physical strength of the iron people gradually reached the limit, and the weaker ones could no longer hold on: "How far do we have to go?"

If you continue like this, someone will be left behind, Asha reluctantly resigned to the facts, but did not intend to stop: "Then slow down, but keep walking until you reach the beach or the sun comes out." ”

A shameful rout, but with their obsession with "going home", the Iron Folk gritted their teeth and moved on. Not following the road not only means that your feet are uneven, but even the trees are thicker, the forest obscures the light of the moon and the stars, and the ground is dark and muddy underfoot. Constantly people or horses were tripped or stepped into the pit, but in a moment one of them broke its front legs, and the rider on it had a bruised nose and swollen face, but had to slit its throat to stop it from neighing.

There was no advantage on the horse, and all the riders went to the ground.

"We've got to light some torches. ”

"Tell the Yankees where we are?" Asha cursed, beginning to suspect that abandoning the city was a mistake. She took off her helmet, brushed her sweaty hair back, and painted Mei to quench the thirst of the exhausted crew: "Come on, the Black Wind is waiting for us by the sea!"

——