Game of Thrones: I loaded the witcher system.

Chapter 129 The Gradually Shrinking Pocket

Standing in front of the sand table, Clay found that what he had experienced since going south was either surrounding others or on the way to surround others.

In the Twin Rivers City, he cooperated with the inside and outside, and in the Valley of the Maiden, he surrounded and wiped out Jaime Lannister's 2000 people. Through the perfect cooperation between Riverrun City and the Red Fork River, he still formed a huge encirclement circle.

It can be said that the method of surrounding three and missing one is not easy for him at all, because his purpose is not to defeat the opponent, but to completely prevent the opponent from running away.

That is to say, there is no such thing as dumplings in the traditional diet of Westeros. Otherwise, Clay would not have to spend so much thought, and just open a dumpling restaurant. With his talent, he can definitely realize the freedom of the golden dragon.

What was before him was actually another huge opportunity to make dumplings, but this time, the 2 main force of the Tywin Legion stationed at Harrenhal served as the stuffing for the dumplings.

Duke Tywin was experienced in using troops, and he would not march rashly like his hapless son. Therefore, the re-enactment of the battle between Riverrun and the Vale of the Maiden was too difficult, and if he was not careful, he would encounter Tywin's counterattack.

Moreover, Duke Tywin's food road is, to some extent, safer than when James Lannister besieged Riverrun. It doesn't make much sense for Clay to force him by cutting out his food.

The reason why Jaime Lannister can let Clay deploy four personal guards can cause serious trouble to his logistics, because his logistics line is not on his own territory at all.

In other words, there is no mass base, and the villages and people in the riverland can serve as informers for those who attack the logistics line, and can also provide them with a hiding place.

Lannister didn't have the heart to send all these peasants to the guillotine one by one, and this kind of thing will happen.

However, Duke Tywin, who is fighting at home, does not have this problem. Although he has set up his barracks in Harrenhal, the southern gate of the Riverlands, the problem is that his logistics lines are all in the territory of the royal nobles. .

The nobles in this area of ​​the king's land are very careless. Whoever puts their butt on the Iron Throne is their loyal ministers. Most of them rarely care whether the person on the throne is right or not. "True King".

Now, the seat under the baby king Joe the Great's ass is still safe, and no one can rush into the Red Castle to overthrow him for the time being. Therefore, the royal nobles are loyal to this Lannister who wears the stag crown To the king's grandfather, Duke Tywin.

Therefore, in this case, if Clay's cavalry group is inserted directly behind Tywin's ass, it may cut off Tywin's logistics in a short period of time, but it does not solve the fundamental problem, because he can't find it nearby. to a suitable base.

In response to this situation, Clay had to modify his war goal, replacing the total annihilation of the 2 people with a more reasonable force to force Tywin back. To be more specific, it was to turn the war of annihilation into a war of defeat.

Moreover, considering it selfishly, Clay has made enough military exploits during his southward journey. He took down the Twins, defeated and wiped out more than 9000 Lannister troops in two battles, and captured all the nobles in the Western Region from top to bottom. Chuan, what else do you want?

It can be said that as long as Clay maintains the current situation, wherever he goes, he is an existence that the princes of the northern border dare not mess with. Moreover, through this more than a month of war, he has established a huge prestige in the army and won Valuable military experience.

With the old wolf lord not around, which nobleman in the northern border dares to guarantee that his army can defeat the army led by Clay on the battlefield?If some blind northern nobleman dares to clash with Clay.

If Clay is defeated and loses his land, the large piece of land near Twin River City probably has nothing to do with him, even if Robb Stark has sealed it to him.

But now, who dares to covet the twin river city and the fertile land on the east bank, everyone is frustrated, and can only turn their attention to the unowned land in the west, at least for a share.

Clay put away his thoughts, and he took his eyes out of the sand table, and landed on Edmure Tully, the heir of the Riverland who stood beside him like a guard.

"Lord Edmure, since these Lannisters are already on the run, we shouldn't forcefully stop them. It's not impossible, but it's not worth it."

Clay stared at Edmure Tully's blue eyes, and said slowly:

"There is no one else in this room. Let me tell you the truth, don't think that I speak badly."

He paused, with a serious expression on his face.

"When you asked to fight before, I originally wanted to refuse you. In my original plan, my cavalry blocked the ferry on the south bank of the Tengshi River, preventing these Lannisters from returning south."

"Before the war started, I had already sent people to cut off their food. More than 2000 people were starving to death in the wilderness, but your father, the Duke of Horst, found me and asked me to give you this opportunity. Recover the honor of House Tully on the battlefield."

"Because the northern border is an ally with your Hejian land, I agreed to his request, but you came back from your army today and brought me such news, Lord Edmure, what do you want me to think? ?”

Seeing the unfriendly expression on the face of the leader of the northern army who killed nearly ten thousand people on this battlefield, Edmure Tully blushed, but he could only squirm his mouth a few times, and couldn't say anything at all.

It is impossible to admit that his army command ability is really poor even if he is killed, but no matter how proud a person is, there is something to be said for it. It can be said that since the war with Lannister, he has never led an army to win.

Now, the superior force is encircling and suppressing a defeated army that has lost its logistics, but they still can't get it down. Edmure Tully really can't make up a reasonable explanation. The so-called no comparison means no harm. How dazzling Clay is, he just How miserable.

"I'm going to sit in Riverrun now, Lord Edmure Tully. I'll give you another thousand cavalry, all of them elite, and I'll send Earl Seven to go with you."

Clay's finger pointed on the table, pointing to the location on the south bank of the Tumshi River.

"Since they have already crossed the river, they must have seen the dawn of escaping back to the western region. They don't know the situation near Golden Tooth City. This is our advantage. I will bring you 1000 people and give you a suggestion."

When Edmure heard this, he immediately pricked up his ears. He could dissatisfy Clay Manderly in other things, but no matter how proud he was on the battlefield, he had to obey.

He is not stupid, this kind of private suggestion behind closed doors actually has extremely high gold content.

"From now on, arrange all your infantry on the way Lannister joins the army and flees south. Divide them into several waves for your own consideration. Every time the rout arrives, you let them attack."

"I don't want to win, I don't want to be defeated, I don't want to encircle and annihilate them, just keep them in a state of mental tension all the time, and keep bleeding them."

"Forcing them to drop all the wounded, tearing them apart bit by bit."

Clay's eyes were full of dangerous light, and he said the final ultimate move:
"When they are exhausted, thirsty, tired, and short of food, use the thousand cavalry I gave you to crush them one by one, and the thousand men in the hands of Lord Glover near the Golden Tooth City, I will also call you here."

"Their final burial site is probably under the Golden Tooth City. It can be regarded as an explanation for their long-term escape to the south. After all, I have already let them see the gate of the Western Territory."

It was like this again, easily playing with the opponent between applause, without any hesitation, as if he had seen through everything long ago.

Edmure Tully had asked many people about this mysterious leader of the northern cavalry group before, and the answers he got were all kinds of strange, but one thing was consistent. All the battles that Clay Manderly won, His planning before the station played a vital role.

The Battle of the Twins was like this, the Battle of the Vale of the Maiden was like this, and the Battle of Riverrun was still like this. It seemed that the people who faced Clay Manderly were all babbling children.

But Edmure Tully knew all too well, from the vanished Frey family to the captive Jaime Lannister and the nobles of the Westlands, which one is easy to get along with?

Just look at Edmure himself.

However, right in front of him, Clay Mandler gave a vivid lesson to the heir of the Riverland, showing him what it means to plan and act.

"This... Your lord's tactics are really similar to those of wolves."

Edmure Tully said with difficulty.

These words summed it up correctly. Clay was wolf pack tactics, tearing off the flesh and blood of the enemy bit by bit, consuming the enemy with fatigue and fear, and then pounced on him for the final blow when the enemy was weak enough.

Clay didn't want to hear those insincere compliments from Edmure Tully, so he motioned for him to leave, and the military order would be given to the cavalry battalion later.

Before Edmure Tully left, Clay added:
"Lord Edmure, you only have ten days to win honor for yourself and your family. After that, I will withdraw all the troops. Don't forget that Lord Tywin is still staying in Harrenhal. You have to see him, don't you?"

……

Southeastern Harrenhal, woodlands near Buckhorn Hold
In a shallow stream, Ed Stark had just washed his worn-out boots, and then put them on his feet without drying them.

By his side, only ten of the closest guards protect his safety.

The Duke of the North, the former Prime Minister of the Seven Kingdoms, a great nobleman who was only one step away from the regent seat after King Robert's death, now looks like a beggar in a flea nest.

Everything that happened in King's Landing City, every night when Ed Stark escaped from King's Landing, would turn into the deepest nightmare, haunting him constantly.

He really didn't expect that that Lannister woman would actually dare to put her incestuous seed with the Kingslayer on the Iron Throne.

Ed Stark himself feels that he has given Cersei Lannister enough opportunities to not hurt the names of your mother and child, and take your child to leave Westeros, and he will never pursue it.

He thought he had done his best, but he didn't expect that Cersei would be corrupted by power into a complete lunatic, and even dared to openly send troops to attack him after he took out the king's will.

Fortunately, there were three hundred loyal and powerful northern soldiers around him, and there were many discords within the golden robe, which gave him a chance to break out of the Red Castle and escape King's Landing City.

He originally planned to go back to the northern border directly, gather his vassals, and raise troops with the Vale of Arryn along the Riverlands, rush into King's Landing, and overthrow the false king's rule.

Then, to present the crown to the true heir to the Iron Throne, Robert's brother, Stannis Baratheon, and himself, having done all this, return directly to his own Winterfell, and swear to the gods old and new , Never set foot in King's Landing again.

But things backfired. Cersei's fear and hatred for herself went deep into her bones, and the pursuers she sent made it impossible for him to go all the way north along the king's road and return to Cailin Bay.

In desperation, Ed Stark ordered his guards of less than 300 people to be broken up and divided into small teams, each finding a way to escape the pursuers and meeting at Cailin Bay.

Unexpectedly, one after another, the pursuers escaped. However, Tywin Lannister led 2 people to complete the military blockade of the entire area around Harrenhal in a very short period of time. .

Ed Stark was forced to not even be able to walk the path, and he dared not stay overnight in a farm, so he could only hide in the dense forest and live by hunting and mountain spring water.

It's not that he hasn't tried to get around here, he has tried, but, unfortunately, the Lannister army's blockade is very long and tight, leaving him no chance at all.

Ed Stark already understood that it must be a broken-up team. Someone was caught by Lannister and revealed the information that he was here.

That's why Tywin Lannister was willing to spend so much money to surround and arrest him.

"My lord, the circle of these Lannisters is getting smaller and smaller."

Jory Cassel, the captain of Eddard Stark's guards, handed his lord a jug filled with cold spring water, and said with gritted teeth.

Four days ago, one of their team was found by the Lannister search force while hunting, and was shot by an arrow. Although they later dealt with the three Lannister soldiers who chased them, their position It must also be exposed.

During these few days of fleeing, the injured guard's wound continued to worsen. As a last resort, Ed Stark let him be freed in advance, and he took the rest of the guards and continued to break through to the northwest.

Lannister lost his target, so he sent a large force here, blocking Eddard Stark and his party in a forest southeast of Harrenhal.

Through the confession of the captives, Ed Stark already knew that his good son, Rob, had already set up his army north of Harrenhal. When you arrive at the northern camp, you will be safe.

Ed Stark knew very well that even if he died, he could not fall into the hands of the Lannister family. He didn't know that Clay had shown his prowess in the western battlefield and captured Lord Tywin's son James Lannis special.

This news was only known to a very few high-level officials in the northern and western regions.

Seeing the bloody scabbard at his waist, but the blade was still sharp as before, Ed Stark finally saw the dawn of victory.

He ordered to his captain of the guard:
"Jory, tell everyone to rest for a night, eat and drink enough, and tomorrow, we will break out to Rob."

Jory Cassel nodded silently. He actually knew very well that this last part of the road was probably the most difficult. Their team was short of food and clothing, exhausted, and they were blessed by the gods to persist until here.

There are less than ten people, how many of them can return to the northern border alive in the end?

Jory Cassel didn't care anymore, the only thing he was thinking about now was to send his lord to the army of the north as soon as possible, so that his own task would be considered complete.

As for the rest, he couldn't care less.

(End of this chapter)