The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 45 Eastward Strategy

As the mast of the last ship disappeared over the horizon, Hugo withdrew his gaze.

After sending the expeditionary force to the Eastern Continent, some ship owners were in a hurry to leave. Even if they had seen Hu Ge's miracles with their own eyes, many people believed that they could not fight against the Purple Sail Fleet.

However, it was originally planned to let the fleet go back. Instead of letting the fleet be restricted in the port, it is better to let them transport goods. Although the expeditionary force left, money, materials and manpower from all over Westeros are still going to Seagull Town. Gathering, these all need to be pulled over.

Of course, you must not say this to the Earl of Seagull Town and the business group. Everyone understands the truth, but it is not polite to say it, so Hu Ge ordered them to go back to collect supplies.

However, since some people still do not believe in miracles after seeing them, then of course there are also people who choose to stay and join the expeditionary force because of the miracles.

For such people, Hugo will persuade them to go back to collect supplies, but there are always fanatic believers who are unwilling to collect supplies, and even say that as long as he and his sailors join the expeditionary force, they can do anything to his ship.

In this case, Hugo was not polite. He dragged all the ships that were not suitable for combat to the shore as part of the ship barrier.

The so-called ship fortress refers to the expeditionary army camp built on the place where Hugo's army landed. The expeditionary army needs to rest and recuperate to restore its combat effectiveness after landing, and it also needs a camp as the base of the expeditionary army.

Since the most conspicuous buildings in the camp were ships that were towed ashore, people called it the camp boat rampart.

The construction of the ship fortress was in accordance with Yongbei's standards. Hugo chose this beach to land because of its good terrain and hydrology. In his plan, the ship fortress would become one of the most important strongholds of the entire expedition in the future.

Therefore, after Hugo's army recovered a little, he began to carry out large-scale construction. At the same time, he constantly sent scouts and troops to investigate the surrounding area to understand the situation of this land.

Thanks to the fact that Andals and mixed-race people are mainly distributed in the area, Hugo's team quickly figured out the current situation in the Andas region after arriving.

First of all, they knew their location. The current location was under the coast of Braavos, called Far Ferry. Pentos was quite a distance away from here. Although it was part of the flat land that was daily plundered by centaurs. , but due to its location in the extreme west, centaurs do not often come here to plunder. Therefore, there are many manors and ranches in the area, which is a wealthy area in the plains second only to the surrounding areas of Pantos.

As for the Andas Valley, it is currently in turmoil. In the valleys and hills of the Andas, people are falling into agitation because of the appearance of a "saint". The reputation of the saint has made Glacier, the great slave owner in the valley It reached its peak after Erfofar, and now the Andals have begun to renew their slogans of expelling the Pentos and restoring their independence.

Pentos is struggling because of this. Their ruling agent in the river valley, the Tax Company, is constantly suppressing the Andal rebellions across the river valley, but they always fail. Instead, the Andal rebels become stronger, and even many Andal lords They all began to waver, and Lord Andal had already joined the rebellion.

This news made Hu Ge smile. The chaos in Andas was perfect for showing off his skills.

However, the expeditionary force itself has its own problems. After all, Hu Ge's team is a loose expeditionary force.

Before reaching the east, everyone still needed to act in a unified manner, but as they arrived in the east, everyone began to act independently, which also made the form of the expedition confusing.

"Long live Lord Hugo!"

"May you bless me, Lord Hugo."

"Look, that's Lord Hugo, salute your Lord."

Hugo stepped on the wooden planks laid on the beach, and the guards cleared a path for him. However, it was still difficult to conceal the enthusiasm of the expeditionary force. Among them, the liberated slaves were even more enthusiastic about Hugo. They had a fanatical attitude toward Hugo. trust.

The expeditionary force was currently in a period of heightened emotion. Shortly after the camp was completed, teams immediately set out from the camp to attack the nearby Pentos Manor and Ranch.

The Pentos people only had a few garrison units in this area to suppress slaves. They were only enough to suppress slaves. When Hugo's team came to kill them, these guards collapsed without a fight, leaving their masters and responsibilities behind and fled.

The team that attacked rashly gained a large amount of materials and wealth in the manor and pasture, and also liberated the slaves who worked there. As they returned to the camp with a large amount of gold and silver, and drove large herds of cattle and sheep, the entire expeditionary force was excited.

Expeditionary forces continued to set off to attack nearby manors, ranches and even towns. Even Hugo sent troops to join the attack. Due to the weak fighting power of the Pentos people, in just two weeks, almost everyone They all make a lot of money.

Hu Ge originally thought that the biggest problem they would have to face after arriving in the east was food supplies, but in the past two weeks, this problem was solved directly. The wealth of the slave owners quickly filled the expeditionary army's material warehouse.

Due to the cheese industry in Pantos, the people of Pantos raised a large number of livestock. Now the livestock are continuously plundered by the expeditionary force and then driven to the camp. The price of cattle and sheep in the camp has been extremely low. Even now The poorest people can eat meat every day.

Many slaves also came to the camp. Most of the slaves were Andals. They regarded the expeditionary force as a messenger sent by the Seven Gods and were willing to join the expeditionary force in its great cause, adding many soldiers to Hugo.

Everyone was excited and happy, even those who had complained the most about the expedition changed their minds while eating cheese, cattle and sheep, and grabbing the wealth and various utensils of the Pentos people.

What's even better is that for some reason, Pantos' response was also slow. The city did not immediately send troops. Hugo was puzzled at first, but after learning from the locals, since the defeat to Bra After Fos was forced to become the sphere of influence of the Secret City, Pantos was forced to abolish the army. It is normal that he cannot use the army now. He is probably still looking for mercenaries everywhere. Under various conditions, Hugo's prestige has reached a peak. After all, both spiritual and material needs have been met.

Passing through the enthusiastic crowds and buildings under construction, Hugo went to the expeditionary force camp that was transformed from a flat-bottomed merchant ship. After boarding the ship, Hugo sat on the main seat amid the salutes of the soldiers, in front of him They are the generals and lords of the expeditionary force. They have been waiting for a long time.

The Lannister brothers sat with the nobles on one side, and on the other side were the old sparrow, Bishop Luchen, church people, and civilians. The two sat opposite each other clearly.

"Lord Hugo, the Pentos people are really vulnerable in front of us. Today we have captured eight more manors and three ranches. Some Pentos people united, but they still fell to the army led by Lord Gales. The king leads the princes before him.”

The old sparrow's excitement was palpable. As a devout believer in the Seven Gods, when he saw the pagans being driven away and the slaves of the Seven Gods being liberated, his praise for the Seven Gods and Hugo became even stronger.

As for Earl Gales, when he was mentioned, the Earl proudly puffed out his chest and displayed his exquisite clothing in front of everyone.

"Bless the Seven Gods, everyone. I am very happy to see you achieve such a victory. Whenever the slave manor is captured, the Seven Gods will be more and more pleased." Hu Ge took over the conversation first, "However, today we are not continuing to discuss the attack on Pan. To attack the Thos people, we need to discuss future strategies.”

Everyone listened attentively and everyone knew the topic before the meeting started.

"I have decided that the expeditionary force will advance further to the Andas Valley. Everyone, we cannot be satisfied with the wealth in front of us and forget why we came to the east."

Hu Ge looked at the reactions of everyone below. Church members like Old Sparrow were naturally enthusiastic. They were on an expedition to the sacred hills.

Nobles like the Lannister brothers who originally intended to go on an expedition even agreed. However, the nobles led by Earl Gales were embarrassed, but more people had no attitude. They firmly believed that following Hugo would be absolutely fine. .

"Andas is in chaos. This is a great opportunity for us to liberate our homeland. We can't just be content with plundering the wealth of the Pentos people. The real wealth is in the river valley!"

Hu Ge's words caused many people to start shouting in response, and a fanatical atmosphere swept over them for a while. However, some nobles' faces were even more ugly. They did not want to continue going to the East. Hu Ge saw it in his eyes. This was the case, and the next step was easy. them.

"However, even if we are going to the Andas Valley, we still cannot give up the ship fortress. This is our base and a key node for us to maintain contact with Westeros. If we lose this place, I am afraid that the fleet that transports the baggage will return in the future. There is not even a place to stay. As for this task, Earl Gales, I think you should be able to arrange good candidates to guard the camp."

For Gales, Hugo's words were like an angel bringing good news. He didn't want to continue moving eastward. He occupied a beautiful fortress. "Lord Hugo, we will definitely guard the camp." .”

Looking at the joyful face of Gales, Hu Ge sighed. Alas, he was forced to do this. If he was allowed, he didn't want to split the strength of the expeditionary force, but now he can only give in this way. Be decent yourself.

The land where the expeditionary force is located is very wealthy. For many civilians, mercenaries and nobles, occupying this land satisfies their needs. Moreover, the local residents are mostly Andals and slaves, and they rule the expeditionary force. It doesn’t matter, it’s better than Pentos, right?

Therefore, from the beginning of the sweep of local manors, civilians, mercenaries and nobles have been occupying towns or manors, and directly farming in the conquered fields. People are leaving the expedition camp every day.

The nobles of the royal territory and the Stormlands were the most active. They occupied many Andal towns. Even though these nobles just wanted to rob in the east at first, they found out that the Pentos people did not make an expedition to the plains. After the violent reaction from the military, they are now beginning to plan to buy a family property for their children and grandchildren in the East.

Hu Ge understood that he could not prevent this phenomenon from occurring. The expeditionary force was essentially an extremely loose existence, and many people in it had various thoughts.

For most people, the wealth on this coast is enough, but for Hugo, it is not enough.

Hugo knew that he must continue to move forward. His political life was based on the expedition. If he gave up the expedition and became a lord on the coast, his leadership of the expedition would immediately collapse.

More importantly, in Hugo's view, this land is still too dangerous. It is between Pentos and Braavos. Both city-states can directly advance with their armies.

In comparison, it is better to enter the safety of the river valley full of Andals and with closed terrain. After gaining the support of the river valley, Hugo can truly not be afraid of these two city-states.

As for attacking Braavos or Pentos directly, Hugo didn't even think about it. With his current strength, it was still too reluctant to attack such a giant city.

However, fortunately, there are still many people who are willing to follow firmly. This is thanks to the two miracles of the Seven Gods. Otherwise, Hu Ge seems, the expeditionary force may completely fall apart.

As for leaving people at the landing site, it is also necessary. What Hu Ge said is not entirely a show of force. As the retreat of the expeditionary force, the ship fortification must be controlled by the expeditionary force. If the ship fortification is lost, the expeditionary force will be destroyed. morale will take a huge hit.

As Hu Ge set his future strategy, everyone dispersed and prepared for their respective tasks.

(End of this chapter)