Game of Thrones: Kings in the North

Chapter 152
The tents of the Northern Army and the Night's Watch combined, like mushrooms after a heavy rain, sprang up on the top of the Fist of the First Men.

Relying on the remains of the ring castle of the ancestors, the northern army established a strong camp, commanding a commanding height, and a panoramic view of several leagues around the fist of the ancestors.

The grain and grass were transported to the top of the mountain one after another, and the soldiers dug trenches, arranged antlers and obstacles, and built stables and toilets.

Robb leaned in front of Ed, "Father, the army of the North will surely win the key victory against the wildlings at the Fist of the First Men, because this is the Fist of the First Men, and the North is the descendant of the First Men, so the victory will surely be Belongs to the North, belongs to Winterfell!"

Ed shook his head lightly, "Robb, I'm afraid you have forgotten the most important point, the savages are also descendants of the ancestors."

Domilik, who is familiar with history, came over, "In the Seven Kingdoms, when people talk about the descendants of the ancestors, they usually refer to the northerners north of the Neck, but this is not accurate. According to the records in the books, the wildlings , the mountain clans of the Vale of Arryn, the rockborn of Skagos, and the wildlings beyond the Wall, all descended from the First Men, worshiping the weirwood and the old gods."

Robb suddenly became excited. He held Ed's wrist, "Father, please let me lead the army! I am eager to prove myself in battle. I want to join Ferran's scouts."

Scouts are responsible for reconnaissance and are also the most dangerous unit.Robb has always regretted that he was not able to participate in last year's Rock Seed War, and his brothers Jon and Domeric both won glory in the Rock Seed War, and he is eager to prove himself in this war.

Ed stroked Robb's auburn hair, which came from his current Tully family lineage of Caitlin, "Robb, you are destined to fight, but you are the heir to Winterfell, I will not send you to Adventure on the battlefield."

Robb was a little confused, "But I train hard every day in the school field, isn't it just to kill the enemy on the battlefield? Sir Rodrik has said that I am already qualified to kill the enemy on the battlefield."

Ed said indifferently: "If you want to win a war, it is not enough to rely on the bravery of a common man. You need to show the pattern and vision of a military strategist. Becoming an excellent military commander is much more difficult than becoming a champion of martial arts or a killing machine. I will not allow it." You go into battle, but you'll sit by my side, listen, learn, and prepare yourself to be a good military commander."

Robb's eyes lit up, "Father, can I become an excellent commander?"

"Of course you can, but you have to put aside the idea of ​​​​being a hero on the horse." Ed straightened Robb's direwolf pin with his hands, "People talk about warriors on the battlefield, heroes on the tournament field, there are everywhere, but excellent military commanders, just a few, such as Tywin Lannister, Lando Tarly, Stannis"

"Robb, you must not only study military affairs, but also study politics, and learn how to deal with nobles and civilians. In this hypocritical world, full of deceit and betrayal, you can only succeed in this hypocritical world if you strategize and understand people's hearts. , to protect the family and the people.”

Robb was stunned, "Politics? What can you learn? It's nothing more than dealing with people! As long as you keep your promises and pursue fairness and justice in everything, you can naturally win people's hearts."

"You are still too young." Ed smiled, "Don't be too naive, politics may be the most profound knowledge, some excellent military strategists may not be good at politics, for example, Stannis, this man is brave and good at fighting on the battlefield, But it never won hearts."

"In contrast, Tywin Lannister is a more terrifying opponent. This person is not only good at training troops and commanding battles, but also served as the Hand of the King for decades during the period of Mad King Aerys. Military Tywin is a master."

"Robb, you have to study hard. You are the heir to Stark and Winterfell. I have high expectations for you."

The walls of the ring castle of the ancestors are full of cracks and are very old, but some ditches, towers, and houses are still usable. Ed looked at these moss-covered walls of the ring castle, and frowned: "These ring castles of the ancestors stand here. How long?"

Old Bear Mormont stroked his snow-white beard, and with his pet crow on his shoulder, Mormont said, "During the Dawn Era, the First Men built ring castles here, and these ring castles may be older than the Wall. "

Robb was shocked when he heard this, "Era of Dawn? What did the ancestors go to build the ring castle outside the Great Wall? Could it be that in ancient times, the ancestors fought against the ghosts here?"

Ed nodded, "Very likely."

Helen Pike was puzzled and said: "The power of the ancestors actually reached as far as the Fist of the First Men. The northern border is the descendant of the Fist of the First Men, but lost the land here. Where did the ancestors who lived near the Fist of the First Men go? No Will they be killed by the White Walkers? Or, they fled to the south of the Great Wall?"

Ed smiled, "The descendants of the ancestors who built the Ring Castle back then probably lived in the nearby Ghost Forest, Frostfang, or Milk River Valley. Don't forget, the wildlings are also descendants of the ancestors."

Greatjon Umber said roughly: "Lord Ed, the wildlings are just a group of uncivilized savages. Their ancestors could build such a majestic ring castle? I doubt it!"

The headquarters is located in a tent next to the ring castle. Winterfell soldiers and affairs officers have set up the tent. Ed, Greatjon, Lord Rickard Karstark and other northern nobles, Old Bear, Bunyan, Sauron Smallwood, Odin Wellers and other night watchman commanders filed in.

Torches flickered in the tent, Ed told Domilik.

"Write to Castle Black and tell the brothers of the Night's Watch that we have reached the Fist of the First Men safely."

Domilik made a grimace, "Master Ed, there are still eagles around the Fist of the First Men. I think there is a high probability that they are the eagles of the skinchangers. The ravens we sent will probably be shot down by the eagles within a short distance."

"Release a few more, the skinchanger can't catch up to every raven." Besides, the skinchanger also needs to eat and sleep, and it is impossible to control the eagle all the time.Ed was a skin changer himself, and other people's understanding of skin changers was very limited, so Ed didn't say much.

The northern nobles and the commander of the Night Watchman sat together around a long temporary table.

Old Xiong stared at the map on the table, "According to the information sent back by Jeremy Lake and Ferran, the number of cavalry scouts of Doghead Harma along the Milk River may exceed five hundred. Up to ten wildling cavalry is a rarity, and hundreds of wildling cavalry appearing together is simply unheard of."

Ed nodded slightly, "Mance Rayder has assembled an army of wildlings, tens of thousands of people, and it's not unusual for the wildlings to gather hundreds of horses. I suspect that the wildlings still have cavalry in ambush in other places. We should step up alert."

Soren Smallwood said proudly: "The horses outside the Wall are resistant to cold, but they are small. What cavalry tactics do the wildlings know? Many of the wildling cavalry's equipment were taken from dead rangers. They didn't even have leather armor. Rarely, let alone chain mail and plate armor."

"I believe that Sir Jeremy Lake and Ferran can easily defeat the dog-headed Harmo. My lords, according to my opinion, we should take the initiative. We still have more than 3000 cavalry and more than 1000 infantry. Keep the infantry At the Fist of the First Men, the cavalry headed straight up the Milk River to Mance Rayder's camp, and the wildlings would run home crying for their fathers and mothers."

Ed stroked the obsidian dagger, "If the only enemies are wildlings, I believe your tactics may be successful, but don't forget, there are skinchangers among the wildlings. Skinchangers control bears, shadow lynxes, wild boars, and possibly Other beasts we have never seen, even if the cavalry is not afraid, the horses will be afraid of wild beasts."

"During the rock species war last year, the cavalry in the north were afraid of unicorns. Many cavalry lost their precious lives because of this. I will never allow similar things to happen again."

The Ranger Sir Malado Locke is from the Locke family in the Old City of the North. He knew Ed before he joined the Night Watch Corps. He smiled nervously, "Lord Ed, people always die in war. Savages even There are skinchangers, the number cannot be many, if their heads are cut off, they will die as well."

Old Xiong said depressedly: "Although I said that, don't forget that there is still the threat of the ghosts."

Silence spread among the crowd. When they first left the Great Wall, the soldiers in the north and the brothers of the night watchmen were making various jokes with the other ghosts. Everyone thought that the other ghosts were monsters in bedtime stories, not real. existing.

However, from Whitetree Village to Craster's Keep to the Fist of the First Men, every wildling captive talked about the White Walker, whether it was the Weirwood Heart Tree, the Haunted Forest or the towering Frostfang to the west. With the breath of death, horror and coldness, all kinds of ominous rumors spread among the soldiers' campfires, and more and more people began to worry about the existence of the White Walkers.

Ed looked at the crowd, "We have enough obsidian daggers and arrows, and prepared enough tar torches. The White Walkers and Ghouls are coming, and I believe we can also win."

Bunyan looked at his brother, "Ed, Ferran and Jeremy Lake's scouts scouted along the Milky River, but we didn't send out scouts in the Frostfangs, Ghost Forest."

Enemies are everywhere in the wilderness. Sending out scouts means greater risks. Without scouts, you will lose your eyeliner in the wilderness. This is a dilemma. Ed cautiously said: "Halfhand, Big Wine Barrel, the mountain clan and wandering clans you lead Cavalry, heading north along the Frostfang. Jory Cassel and Woodfang Daven are leading an army to sweep the Haunted Forest, I don't think there is any need to send additional scouts."

Old Xiong said harshly: "The Ghost Forest is too big. Even if Jory Cassel and Devon's army has more than a thousand people, they will easily be drowned in the Ghost Forest. Precipitous, the largest mountain range, Halfhand's army is advancing from south to north, and we sent out scouts to investigate, just like Halfhand and the mountain clan."

Ed looked at Robb, "What's your opinion?"

Robb thought for a while, "Father, we should send out scouts. Are we going to stay at the Fist of the First Men and sit here, waiting for tens of thousands of wildlings or the legendary army of white ghosts to come? Damn Mance Reid has skinchangers to scout, if we don't send out scouts, we will only be more passive."

"Your analysis makes sense." Ed turned to the northern nobles and the commander of the Night Watchman, "The next question is, who should we send to investigate?"

Bunyan was the first to raise his hand, "I am willing to investigate anywhere, and I am very familiar with the Fist of the First Men."

"No, Bunyan, you have to stay, I can't do without you in the decisive battle." Ed didn't want to take Bunyan's risk.

Elder Xiong nodded, "Yes, Benyan, you are my right-hand man, you must stay." Elder Xiong knew as well as Ed in his heart that Benyan was a member of the Stark family in Winterfell and the chief of the night watchman. Ranger, he is the link between the North and the Night's Watch.

Xiong Lao and Ed quickly finalized the candidates. The Ranger Commander Soren Smallwood led a team of Rangers to go to the Haunted Forest for reconnaissance. The Ranger Jarman Bookwell led a team of Rangers. Go scouting along the Luzhi River.

Another party of Night's Watch rangers, led by Blackjack Bulwey, marched toward Windsound in the Frostfang.

Ed and Jon stood in front of the ring keep on the Fist of the First Men, watching the rangers ride down the mountain and disappear into the wilderness.

Jon whispered: "Father, my dream is to become a ranger of the Night's Watch. If Uncle Benyan went on patrol today, I would have thought of going with him. I want to join the Night's Watch."

Ed frowned, "Jon, didn't I tell you? I don't allow you to join the Night Watch."

Jon squeezed out a sad smile, "I know that my father is doing it for my own good. But, I am the illegitimate child of Winterfell. Lady Caitlin has always hated me, and there is no place for me in Winterfell."

Ed touched Jon's ear, "Silly boy, there is Arya in Winterfell, there is Robb, there is me, and your friends Helen, Laresa, Domeric, Bran and Rickon, and Maester Luwin, Old Nan... so many people who love you, can't they make up for one Catelyn?"

"Why do you care about Caitlin's eyes? She's not your mother. You just stay in Winterfell."

Jon lowered his voice, "Father, if you can answer me a question, I won't ask it."

"What's the problem?" Ed had an ominous premonition.

Jon said excitedly: "Who is my mother? Why didn't you say it?"

Because it may have cost your kid's life.On the surface, Jon is Ed's illegitimate son, which is just a cover to cover up Jon's identity, but in fact Jon is Ed's nephew.

Jon Snow's mother is Ed's younger sister, Lyanna Stark, and his father is the famous Prince Rhaegar.

At the Battle of the Trident River, Robert met Prince Rhaegar, his rival in love. The death knell of the dynasty.

Then the mad king Aerys died at the hands of "Kingslayer" Jaime Lannister, the dragon dynasty completely collapsed, the country changed hands, Rhaegar's wife and children were all massacred.

Today, the last Targaryen descendants, Rhaegar's younger brother Prince Viserys and younger sister Daenerys, are in exile on the mainland of Essos, and have spent the past few years in Braavos, Tyrosh, Panto The cities such as Sri Lanka fled, and Robert never gave up hunting down the remnants of the former dynasty.

In some of Robert's letters to Ed, Robert often complains to Ed that some people still call him "The Snatcher", which makes him very unhappy.When people talk about this war, they prefer to use the name "Reaver's War" rather than "Robert's Rebellion".

After all, the Targaryen family has ruled the Seven Kingdoms for 300 years, while the Baratheon dynasty has only ruled for more than ten years. Some nobles still miss Targaryen, enshrine the portraits of the Targaryen kings in private, and long for the return of the dragon. .

If Robert knew about Jon's life experience and Ed's illegitimate son, who turned out to be the child of his love rival Rhaegar and his beloved Lyanna, Robert would regard this as Ed's betrayal, and if the brothers turned against each other, Robert would definitely insist Kill Jon.

Littlefinger, the conspirator at the Imperial Council, Queen Cersei at the court, and Varys, the master of intelligence, will definitely see Jon's life experience as an opportunity to attack the North, and they will fan the flames and wait for the opportunity.Instigated by conspirators who fear for chaos, the Iron Throne's wrath is likely to bring war, blood and slaughter to Winterfell.

On the Fist of the First Men, Jon asked about his mother's life experience, Eddard felt the nameless gods of streams, stones, rivers, trees watching him, Eddard cleared his throat.

"Jon, I don't allow you to ask about your mother. It is enough for you to remember that she is a good person. Don't worry, I will tell you in the future."

This answer made Jon look forward to it, "When?"

Ed didn't answer, but he already had the answer in his heart.

When the dragon is reborn.

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(End of this chapter)