Game of Thrones: Kings in the North

Chapter 153 The Battle of the Giant Ladder

In the camp of the Fist Peak of the First Men, since there are no streams or rivers on the mountain, in order to cope with possible protracted battles, the soldiers dug a reservoir and carried water from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain. Carry water together.

Theon disdained to do rough work, and mingled with the nurses on the mountain every day, telling jokes to amuse them, and protecting them from harassment by the brothers of the Night Watch and the soldiers of the North.

In addition to Theon, Osha the female savage, Helen Pike, and Laresa, a Dornish mixed-race black, are also responsible for protecting the safety of the nurses. Helen Pike has become the king of the girls, and she calls herself the "Nurse Queen".Ed let Osha and Helen live with the nurses so that they could take care of their diet and daily life at any time.

Domilik is responsible for taking care of the ravens and writing letters. Apart from training his sword and shield skills, he spends all his time writing his book "The Rock Seed and the Unicorn".

This is a book based on what he saw and heard in the rock seed war last year, and the knowledge he obtained from asking many of the rock seed adopted sons and rock seed soldiers in Winterfell. Domilik is determined to make this book into a The most authoritative book on rock species in history, so I pay special attention to it.

Jon quickly became friends with some of the Night Watch brothers, such as "Melancholy" Eddie Tollett, Pip, Grenn, Todd and others, and Jon taught them how to practice swords and archery.

Ed watched from a distance. Could it be that Jon wants to meet a few more friends to pave the way for joining the Night Watch Corps in the future?Is Jon still planning to join the Night's Watch?
A few days later, wounded scouts were sent back to the Fist of the First Men one after another. A Winterfell soldier was shot in the shoulder by an arrow. A nurse wearing the direwolf crest swiftly pulled out the arrow, disinfected it with medical alcohol, Wrapped with gauze, the wound was treated quickly.

Elder Xiong, Bunyan, Sir Odin Wellers and others of the Night Watch Corps watched the nurse treat the wound with dumbfounded eyes.Old Xiong smiled and told Ed, "Scholar Aemon should be shown how the nurse treats the wound, but unfortunately he is already blind in both eyes. Girls can actually do the job of a bachelor. Lord Ed, I really owe you."

"Nurses are very common occupations in Volantis and Braavos." Ed said indifferently, "I noticed that there are silent sisters who collect corpses in the Seven Kingdoms, but there are no professional nurses, so I just cultivated them." One batch."

This time the army was divided into three groups. The West Route Army was commanded by "Halfhand" Colin and "Big Barrel" Wahl, and went north along the Frost Fang; Ghost Shadow Forest; the central army commanded by Ed and Xiong Lao is the main force, stationed in Frost and Snow Fang, waiting for an opportunity to move.

In fact, Ed originally wanted to assign the nurses to the various armies, but Colin Halfhand and Jory Cassel clearly refused. They thought that having women in the camp would disturb the morale of the army. In a state of war, some night watchman brothers could not be kept together. Or soldiers would harass nurses.

In the end, Ed still kept all the nurses by his side. After all, with the protection of Winterfell soldiers, Helen, Osha and others by Ed's side, the nurses were much safer.

The wounded were basically Ferran's scouts.

"Lord Ed, Baron Ferran didn't let go of any of the wildling scouts, and the dog-headed Harma's men can't fight us at all." A scout with an arm injury told Ed while the nurse was bandaging him.

"Heal well." Ed comforted the soldiers, then turned to look at the Frost Fang under the gray blue sky in the west. This mountain was really like teeth, biting the sky.

Ferran's scouts were progressing smoothly. Ed didn't know the situation of Colin Halfhand. He had hundreds of night watchman rangers under him, but the main force was the infantry of the northern mountain clan, with 1000 infantry.

In the valley of Frost and Snow Fang, the bitter mountain wind roared, blowing Colin Halfhand's black cloak. Colin's right hand palms were all broken. When he confronted the wildlings, he was chopped off by the wildlings' battle axe. But he still relied on the bloody severed palm to kill the enemy.

Commanding with Colin Halfhand were the warriors of the mountain clan "Big Barrel" Woll, Black Donna Flint, Middle Riddle and others. These mountain clan warriors wearing animal skin cloaks were not convinced at first. A Night's Watch ranger, they don't understand why Eddard sent a cripple to lead the operation.

However, Colin Halfhand quickly convinced the leaders of the mountain clan. Not only was he outstanding in ability and full of charm, but the lethality displayed by the sword in his left hand shocked the leaders of the mountain clan even more.

Soon, Middle Riddle, Big Wine Barrel, and Black Donna were all convinced by Colin Halfhand, and the West Route Army marched along the Frost and Snow Tooth Mountains, and the progress was smooth.

However, a few days later, the situation changed suddenly, and the Frostfangs began to snow heavily. The troglodyte began to come out of the cave, attacking the mountain clans and rangers, and the valley was full of corpses.

Zhong Riddle looked at the warriors of the mountain clan who fell to the ground and died in battle, and said sadly: "These damned savages only use caves to sneak attacks. We should kill them in the caves and drive them out."

"Don't do this, Lord Riddle." Colin Halfhand's voice was blown away by the cold wind, and he raised his pitch, "Many caves in Frostfang are connected to each other and connected to underground passages. Even wildlings will get lost. No one compares Cavemen know these caves better because they have lived here for generations, who knows how many cavemen are hidden in the dark caves?"

"The enemy suffered heavy casualties. Our soldiers are becoming more and more familiar with the cavemen's tactics. I believe that it will be difficult for the cavemen to launch a powerful sneak attack. The next valley is the Giant's Ladder. It occupies there and can cut off many Neanderthal tribal connections."

Black Donner said depressedly: "These gutter rats are really annoying, how long will it take for us to get out of the caveman's territory?"

"There are dozens of caveman tribes, large and small." Colin Halfhand looked at the mountains in the distance. Lord, there are cavemen."

The big wine barrel Woer sneered, "What kind of bullshit cave master, in my opinion, is a gopher, so this war is a whack-a-mole!"

Colin Halfhand rubbed his long sword, "At present, the troglodytes mainly harass, and they dare not face a decisive battle, but I guess, the troglodyte will not easily give up the giant ladder, Mance Rayder will definitely be there, arrange Cavemen defend. My lords, a tough battle awaits us."

When the West Route Army followed the valley and arrived at the Giant's Ladder, the heavy snow stopped, and the sun shone on the snow, emitting an orange light.

The ancient stairs built by the giants have collapsed and been damaged, but the remains of the Giant's Ladder still shock people who see it for the first time. Huge granite is stacked together, each step is half a person high and ten meters wide.

Zhong Riddle set up a pergola to look out, "This is a very old place, it looks like there is no enemy defense here?"

"It's calm on the surface, but it's actually dangerous." Colin Halfhand drew out his sword vigilantly, "The wildlings have no reason to give up the giant ladder. Soldiers, get ready to charge."

Colin Halfhand beckoned, and a group of rangers from the Shadow Tower rode their horses to the foot of the giant ladder, looking around vigilantly.

A ranger rode his horse around and said with a smile, "Dullhand, there is no one here, you can come here."

As soon as the words fell, a sharp arrow pierced the ranger's throat, and he fell to the ground screaming.

Hundreds of cavemen around were smeared with green and red paint on their faces, roaring ferociously, waving stone axes, wooden sticks and other weapons, and rushed out.Among the cavemen, only a few cave masters wearing animal skin cloaks had mounts, and the others were all ragged infantry.

"Fight for King Robert!" Colin Halfhand squeezed his spurs, and rushed out first, followed by the rangers roaring, and the leaders of the mountain clan led the rock-born warriors to fight out behind the cavalry.

"Long live Duke Ed, long live Stark!"

"Long live Winterfell!"

The shouts of killing resounded through the valley and echoed on the ancient giant ladder. Colin Halfhand chopped down a cave master with a sword, and immediately trampled another troglodyte infantry under his horse. He was like the embodiment of death, chopping melons and vegetables. Knock down every opponent.

In the middle, Riddle hacked down a spearwife with a great sword, Barrel Woll hacked a wildman with a stone hammer with an axe, and Black Donner stabbed a caveman to death with a curse.

"Such an enemy is totally vulnerable." Zhong Riddle roared, and the giant sword easily killed the unarmored savage.

Suddenly, the savage's horn sounded, and the weeper, Afin the Crow Hunter, rushed out with hundreds of savage cavalry.

Both the Weeper and Afin the Ravenhunter were notorious wildling raiders, and the Weeper liked to take captured rangers, gouged out their eyes, and sent their heads back to the Night's Watch Castle to show off.Crow Hunter Afin was nicknamed "Crow Hunter" Afin precisely because he was good at hunting rangers.

Even if the wildling cavalry raided, the rangers still had the upper hand after making some adjustments.

Colin Halfhand rode his horse and killed the Weeper in close combat. The Weeper wielded a huge scythe, and the battlefield shrank to a few feet around him. Halfhand blocked the Weeper's scythe, and said solemnly: "Weeper, do you think this ambush is enough? Can stop us? The wildlings have no armor, no discipline, and want to win?"

The Weeper was chubby, with blond hair, and his eyes were moist as if he were crying.

"Dullhand, you kneeling people don't know that outside the Great Wall, we have the protection of the gods, and we possess ancient power."

A roar of the shadow cat echoed in the valley, and the ranger's steed began to panic.

The skinchanger Thorn rode on the back of the shadow lynx, and bit off the head of a ranger's mount with one bite. The blood was pouring, and the ranger fell to the ground screaming, and his head was easily crushed by the shadow lynx.

Briar was about 20 years old, thin and quick, and handsome in his shadow lynx fur cloak.

The shadow lynx caused the rangers' horses to panic, and the horses began to stand up. Some rangers were thrown off their horses and were killed by wildlings on the spot.

Suddenly the earth trembled, and some giants appeared on the battlefield.

The Seven Kingdoms generally believe that the giants have become extinct. Although Ed emphasized that this expedition is likely to encounter giants, ghosts and other creatures, many rangers and northern soldiers were still shocked when they encountered giants on the battlefield. Big jump.

These giants are generally more than three meters tall, and the tallest is close to four meters. The trunks of the big trees are like rolling pins in their hands. The giants use the trunks to knock down rangers and warriors of the mountain clan. Some giants simply tear the enemy with their hands. It's as easy as tearing apart a rag doll.

After the shadow lynx and the giant joined the battle, the night watchman and the warriors of the mountain clan fell into fear, and fear was the prelude to failure. There were more and more corpses of ground rangers and mountain clan soldiers. Colin Halfhand understood that today Destined to be unable to win, he could only do his best to kill the weepers, roaring: "Retreat!"

The rangers and the warriors of the mountain clan began to retreat back to the valley. The crossbowmen arranged by Colin Halfhand in advance shot to the ground. The wildling cavalry and giant rushed over and were immediately hit by the rain of arrows. The giant screamed and retreated, while the wildling cavalry was shot. shoot.

Colin Halfhand came to the rear in person to avoid a rout.

After returning to a valley, Colin Halfhand counted the number of people and found that "Big Barrel" Vol was missing.

Zhong Riddle said sadly: "Wol was captured by Afin. He was covering the retreat of the warriors of the mountain clan, but was hit by a giant with a wooden club, and then he was captured by Afin the crow hunter."

Black Donna said angrily: "The big wine barrel is the leader of the Wall clan, the hero of the mountain clan, we must rescue him!"

Halfhand stopped Black Donnel, "There are giants and skinchangers on the wildling side, we can't attack rashly."

Black Donna glared at Colin Halfhand, "Could it be possible to sit back and watch the big wine barrel be killed by wildlings? Didn't you rangers say that wildling raiders never leave alive?"

"That's for the rangers." Colin Halfhand's tone was full of helplessness, "I have no doubt that those black-clothed brothers who stayed on the battlefield and were captured by the Weepers and the Crowhunters will suffer terribly. Die, the wildlings hate the Night's Watch, especially the Rangers, they call them 'The Crows.' No one survives a captured Ranger."

"As for the Great Barrel Vol, he is not the Night's Watchman, but a warrior of the mountain clan, and even a nobleman. Mance Rayder was once a brother of the Night's Watchman. I know him very well. He is a wise man. Mance knows that everyone Barrel Vol was a useful hostage, so he kept Great Barrel alive for later negotiations with Lord Eddard and Lord Commander Mormont."

Zhong Riddle said roughly: "The giant and the shadow lynx are guarding the giant ladder. If we can't capture the giant ladder, can't we make a detour?"

Colin Halfhand was helpless, "We can take a detour, but if we make a detour, the enemies of the Giant's Ladder will become a hidden danger to our rear, our food road will be cut off, and our supplies will be destroyed, so we must capture the Giant's Ladder. It's just a pity. With our current strength, the enemy has giants and skinchangers to help us fight, and it is difficult for us to win."

Black Donna shook his head and sighed, "There's no detour, and you don't want to attack the Giant's Ladder, and you don't send anyone to rescue the big wine barrel Wall. Could it be that if we stay in the valley, the enemy can surrender?"

Colin Halfhand said: "Here we have restrained the wildlings and the enemies in the upper reaches of the Milk River. At least a group of giants and a skinchanger driving the shadow lynx are missing. I will immediately send ravens to the Fist of the First Men. Let Lord Eddard and Commander Mormont attack the upper Milk River, or simply attack Frostfang directly from the Windsound Pass."

"In this way, the savages on the Giant's Ladder will be passive. If these savages go to support the Fengsheng Gorge or the upper reaches of the Milk River, the strength of the Giant's Ladder will be empty, and we can take the opportunity to occupy the Giant's Ladder. If the savages on the Giant's Ladder choose to hold on , it will save a lot of effort for our army to attack the savages in the upper reaches of the Milk River."

In the middle, Riddle held the blood-stained greatsword on his shoulder, "Halfhand, I hope you bet right, if the big barrel of Vol is dead, I swear, the warriors of the mountain clan will use the blood of wildlings, Mance Rayder, giants , staining the entire Frost Snow Fang red."

Qhorin Halfhand tied the letter to the raven's leg and let the raven fly.

Black Donna looked at the hawk under the sky, "Is this hawk the one from the skinchanger? Damn it, the damn wildling skinchangers are everywhere."

"I hope the raven can arrive smoothly and bring the news to Duke Ed."

"Otherwise, we will be passive."

(End of this chapter)