Game of Thrones: Kings in the North

Chapter 145 Unexpected reinforcements

Many of Winterfell's vassals, family members, considered Mance Rayder, King Beyond the Wall, as much an enemy as Samuro Crowle, King of the Rock.Ed didn't think so.

Edd knew from the beginning that Mance Rayder was far more dangerous and cunning than the Rock King.

The cunning King Beyond the Wall, Mance Rayder, surprised Ed as soon as he came up.

In the letter sent to Winterfell earlier, the Night's Watch announced that the army of wildlings was coming. According to Ed's plan, Mance Rayder, the king beyond the wall, had gathered an army of wildlings and appeared not far from the Great Wall of Desperation, setting up camp. .

The wildlings lack discipline, and the Rangers of the North and the Night's Watch can smash the wildling army with a single night raid.If Mance Rayder could be killed or captured, the wildling hordes would pose no threat to the North for generations.

Now Mance Rayder's army of savages is scattered in Frostfang, the upper reaches of the Milk River, the Frozen Coast, the Haunted Forest, and even the area of ​​Hardwood. Ed's plan to wipe out the main force of the savages is almost impossible to implement.

In the hall of Castle Black, Ed, Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch Legion, Old Bear, Chief Ranger Bunyan, Chief Bursar Bowen Marsh and others were looking at the map beyond the Great Wall, at a loss.

Ed stroked the beard on his chin, "Lord Mormont, your sister, Countess Maggie Mormont of Bear Island, sent a letter from the raven saying that a large number of people from the Frozen Coast crossed the ice in canoes Bay, tried to land on Bear Island, but fortunately was repelled by the soldiers of Bear Island."

"Now Mance Rayder has scattered the wildling army in various places outside the Great Wall. Could it be that he wants to attract the rangers of the Northern Territory and the Night Watchman to attack, and then the wildling army will move to the frozen coast, cross the sea from the frozen coast, and use Bear Island as a springboard. Gateway to the North?"

Old Xiong was full of melancholy, shaking his head and said: "Master Ed, I am a native of Bear Island, and I know Bear Island and the people on the frozen coast north of Ice Bay best. The people on the frozen coast lack shipbuilding skills, they can only make Canoes, even canoes, are limited in number."

"We don't know whether the attack on Bear Island was Mance's order or the leader of the Frozen Coast tribe's initiative. In short, if the wildling army wants to open the door to the northern border, it is impossible to rely solely on crossing the sea, because the wildlings don't have so many ships. .

"Thousands of savages gathered together. Eighty percent of these savages had never seen the Great Wall. They brought cattle, sheep, bedding, food, and families with them. They had absolutely no intention of turning back. If the savages wanted to go south, We can only capture a certain fortress on the Great Wall head-on, and only after opening the city gates can the barbarian army pass through, neither crossing the sea nor the Great Wall will work."

Bunyan added: "Sooner or later, Mance Rayder's army of savages will join forces and choose a certain place on the Great Wall to complete the breakthrough."

Sauron Smallwood, an experienced ranger, said proudly: "Duke Ed, the wildlings are just a group of uncivilized barbarians. To deal with such an enemy, we only need a thousand cavalry to make the wildling army corpses litter the field. , Crying for father and mother, fled back to the deep mountains."

"Whether Mance Rayder gathers his troops or not, if the wildlings dare to join forces, the army of the North and the Night's Watch will attack and wipe out the wildlings. If he is scattered in various places, it will not be difficult for us to defeat them one by one. It is a waste of time, my lords, to seriously study such a vulnerable enemy as the wildlings."

Ed raised his eyebrows, "If you underestimate the enemy, you will often fail. Beyond the Great Wall is the territory of wildlings. When we march into the wild, it is always right to be cautious. Although the wildlings are lax in discipline and poorly equipped, they have far more troops than us. "

Alliser Thorne, the head coach of Castle Black, said contemptuously: "The army of wildlings summoned by Mance Rayder may number more than one hundred thousand, but how many warriors are there? It's just a flock of sheep, Lord Ed, the Stark family The coat of arms is the direwolf, if thousands of wolves are to deal with more than [-] sheep, the result will be a one-sided massacre."

The Wildlings and the Night Watch Legion hate each other, and it is inevitable that the Night Watch has prejudice against the Wildlings.Ed turned to Elder Xiong and Maester Aemon, "Mance Rayder suddenly summoned an army of wildlings. What is the reason for this? I still remember some deserters from the Night's Watch who said they had seen the White Walkers in the wild. The woman I captured Osha, the wildling, also claims to have seen white walkers and wights."

Ed has no doubt that the reason for the army of wildlings to go south is because the ghosts and ghouls are coming south from the land of eternal winter in the north. A creature from Nan's bedtime stories, few believe in the existence of the White Walkers.

If the officials of the Night Watch Corps can be persuaded that the White Walkers are a threat to all mankind, the officials of the Night Watch Corps may agree to negotiate with Mance Rayder. Bloody battles can save many lives, Ed will gain many people and labor, and the population of the northern border will usher in a surge.

Sir Jeremy Lake let out a disdainful laugh, "Lord Ed, Mance Rayder used to be a ranger from the Shadow Tower. He was a wildling orphan and was raised by the Night Watchman, but his blood was destined to be a Oathbreaker, a chameleon."

"Mance Rayder is a very cunning man. He is good at music and swords, and he is familiar with the wildlings and the Seven Kingdoms. I believe that when Mance Rayder incited those wildlings to leave the settlements that have lived for generations, he must have used the power of the White Walkers. Legend. The White Walkers are meant to scare people."

The wild woman Osha has been standing with Jon, Syrio, Theon and others, she said sullenly: "The White Walker is not a legend, Crow, you will regret it when you are killed by the White Walker Ghoul. "

Jeremy Lake smiled exaggeratedly, "Does the meeting between the night watchman officials and the Duke of the North need a female wildman to give pointers? When did we fall to this field? We actually want to be with female wildlings."

Ed said indifferently: "Osha is my servant. When she was in Winterfell, she served in the kitchen. She also did her best for the other jobs we arranged for her."

Bowen Marsh, Chief of General Affairs, rubbed his hands, "Lord Ed, if the female wildling Osha is really as reliable as you describe, then she can be regarded as one of the best talents among the wildlings. Most wildlings are cunning, cruel and bloodthirsty. monster."

"The wildlings are not only the enemies of the Night's Watch, but also the enemies of the Seven Kingdoms. If there are White Walkers who kill the wildlings outside the Great Wall, then I think it is justice from heaven. We don't even need to attack, as long as we hold the Great Wall, It would be nice to watch the White Walkers and wildlings attack and kill each other outside the Great Wall, and when their corpses are all over the ground, we will play a dirge for them."

The wild woman Osha snorted softly, "You are all idiots in summer, and you have never seen the power of winter. No matter whether the white ghosts kill free people, crows, or kneeling people, these people will become blue-eyed corpses Ghost, how do you fight the dead?"

In the hall of Castle Black, the wild woman Osha raised the threat of the ghosts and wights, Benyan bowed his head and remained silent, Maester Aemon's blind eyes seemed to be thinking, Old Bear frowned, and Sauron Smallwood raised his voice laughing out loud.

Alliser Thorne, the instructor of Castle Black, said contemptuously: "My lords, shall we allow this wild woman to interfere with the progress of our battle meeting with nonsense such as the White Walker?"

Soren Smallwood added: "The savage has no sense of honor at all. The savage and the people of the civilized world are basically two-way people. Who knows if this female savage will go to Mance Rayder after the war begins?" ?”

Jeremy Lake echoed: "That's right, the wild woman Osha should be kicked out."

Ed softly said: "My lords, Osha belongs to me and from Winterfell. She is just expressing her opinion. Should she be kicked out?"

Ser Jeremy Lake, Ser Alliser Thorne, and Ser Thoren Smallwood, the few duly knighted knights of the Night's Watch, fell silent at once.

There are various factions in the Night's Watch, and these guys clearly belong to the same faction.Ed knew very well that Jeremy Lake and Allisa Thorne served in the King's Landing City Guard in the War of the Reavers. Thorne and Jeremy Lake became captives and were sent to the Great Wall by Lord Tywin.

As for Sir Thorn Smallwood, he was a member of the Smallwood family of Acorn Hall in the Riverlands. Eddard didn't know why he came to the Wall. Jeremy Lake came close.

Today, Winterfell is stationed at Fort Greenguard, Westbridge Watch, and Long Night on the Great Wall. The icehouses of these castles all store a large amount of food, seafood, and ale. After the cooperation between the Night Watchmen and Winterfell, The supplies and food of the night watchmen are completely dependent on Winterfell. They rely on the tax share from the land-grant army station, which can better strengthen the Great Wall, and the life of the night watchmen has also improved a lot.

Ed controlled the tables and purses of the Night Watchmen, and the cooperation between Winterfell and the Night Watch Corps was unprecedentedly close. His opinion, any Night Watch Corps official had to listen carefully.

The night watchman is divided into three major organizations: the clerk, the artisan, and the ranger. The ranger is the elite of the night watchman. The brothers who can fight the most are almost all rangers.Rangers are the sharp sword of the Night's Watch against the wildlings, and there are many good players here.

Ed saw the fierce "Black Jack" Bulwe, Jarmen Bookwell, "White-eyed" Kenji, and the ranger veteran Devon with a wooden tooth. These are all experienced rangers. Bunyan's brother.

The men of the Night's Watch hated the wildlings as the wildlings hated the crows on the Wall.Ed quickly understood that even if the Night King appeared under the Great Wall with aliens and ghouls, these Night Watch officials might not be willing to open the city gate for the wildlings, and wanted to persuade the Night Watch and Mance Rayder Negotiations, the peaceful admission of wildlings across the Wall, were out of the question.

The only option is to sweep beyond the Great Wall with sword and fire. War is the only option.

In the next few days, Ed and Xiong Lao made final preparations for the expedition.

To Ed's delight, the northern border was still replenished with troops at the last moment.

Riddle, "Barrel" Vol, and Donal Flint brought a thousand warriors from the northern clans.

Ed was surprised: "Warriors of the mountain clan, I never recruited you, why did you rush to Castle Black with soldiers?"

"Big Barrel" Wu Erlang said: "Master Ed, the wildlings are our enemies, the Great Wall and Stark have protected us, since Winterfell and the Night's Watch are going to march beyond the Great Wall, why are there no mountain clans left? ?”

Middle Riddle clenched his fists, "Lord Ed, I heard that Mance Rayder gathered an army in the Frostfangs. Who is better at fighting in the mountains than the mountain clans?"

On the map, the northern mountains in the northern border actually belong to the same mountain system as the Frost and Snow Fang outside the Great Wall, but they were cut off by the Great Wall of Desperation. The warriors of these mountain clans can indeed be of great use.

Ed was curious: "Why didn't you send a raven to notify Castle Black?"

Black Donna Flint frowned and said, "Didn't the raven arrive? We clearly sent a raven."

Probably because the raven got lost, or was attacked by a bird of prey, and the raven couldn't reach it, which is also a common thing.

Two days later, an army of rock species appeared on Eastwatch, which surprised Ed again. Billy Stern, the leader of the Driftwood Hall clan on Skagos Island, and Rayson Magna from King's Hall, led two Thousand rock warriors arrived at Castle Black.

The Stern clan is the most powerful of the northern tribes of Skagos Island, and the Magnar clan of the King's Hall is the king of the eastern region of Skagos Island. There are more than 20 tribes, two-thirds of which come from the nine tribes.

Ed hugs Billy Stern and Raison Magna.

"I heard that Samro the Rock King is wandering on Skagos Isle. You should stay on the island. Why did you bring the Rock Warrior to Castle Black?"

Billy Stern's slender face was extremely resolute, and he said indifferently: "The Rock King has become a street rat, Duke Ed can rest assured that his nephew, Donald Claure of Abyss Castle, will deal with the Rock King, no matter how bad it is And other tribal leaders."

Raisen Magna had a rough smile on his bushy beard, "Master Ed, at the instigation of the Rock King, our rock species became traitors in the north, and now that the north is about to go to war, naturally the rock species should be enthusiastic Join the battle, fight for Winterfell and the Starks!"

There are no ravens or maesters in the castles on Skagos Island, and they cannot send letters to Castle Black. Ed is not surprised, but what makes Ed puzzled is that Eastwatch did not send letters to Castle Black. The news of the arrival of the army of rock species.

"Why didn't Carter Pike, the commander of Eastwatch, send a letter to Castle Black? I remember that Eastwatch has a bachelor."

Billy Stern explained: "Lord Ed, that Iron Commander, sent the Raven, we all saw it, and he said the Raven would send a letter to Castle Black so that the Northern Army and the Night watchmen, wait for the army of rock species to arrive, let's go out together."

This is really strange. The ravens sent by the Mountain Clan did not reach Castle Black, and the ravens from Eastwatch also got lost.Logically speaking, neither the Mountain Clan nor Eastwatch is too far from Castle Black. For Raven, it's just a short trip.

In such a short distance, the two ravens were lost and disappeared, and the news could not be delivered, which made people worried.This is by no means a coincidence.

An eagle hovered over Castle Black, and the direwolf and the sun suddenly bared their teeth and roared at the eagle.

Ed instantly understood that it was a skinchanger.

(End of this chapter)