Dominate the Game of Thrones with Mount and Blade

Chapter 42 Harrenhal

"This is Harrenhal, the largest castle in the Seven Kingdoms." Patrick introduced it to Arthur in a boastful manner.

Of course Arthur knew this.

According to the original work of Game of Thrones, Harrenhal belongs to the River House, and was occupied by Tywin for a long time during the War of the Five Kings.

Sterling, the chief officer of the King's Landing Gold Cloaks, obtained this castle because of his meritorious service in arresting Eddard, but was then ruthlessly deprived of it by the Little Devil.

Because Harrenhal's fiefdom is vast and rich, its owners are often the most powerful princes in the Riverlands.

But due to the legendary Harrenhal curse, the family that ruled Harrenhal would slowly decline after becoming strong.

Its sixth owner, the River House, was also the same.

In the spring of 281 AD, Earl Walter River held a grand tournament, and Prince Rhaegar defeated everyone and won the championship.

Of course, this was only possible when the fearless Barristan Selmy, who was a member of the Kingsguard during the Mad King's reign and is still a member of the Kingsguard when Robert is King, gave in a little.

Then, a mistake was made. Prince Rhaegar hooked up with Eddard's sister and Robert's fiancée Lyanna Stark, and then took her to his wife's family, Dorne, to live happily.

Eddard's father and brother went to King's Landing to ask the Mad King for an explanation, but one was burned to death and the other was strangled to death.

The Mad King then ordered Jon Arryn, the Lord of the Vale, to kill his adopted son Robert to prevent future troubles.

But the Arryns, whose family language is "High as Glory", are not cowards. In order to keep his oath to protect his adopted son, Jon Arryn rebelled.

And with the cooperation of Hoster Tully, the four-family alliance of Wolf, Fish, Eagle and Deer was officially established, and in 282, the War of the Usurper broke out.

Two years later, Robert became king and the Baratheon dynasty was established.

Fifteen years later, Arthur, Patrick, Desmond and their followers came here.

"Although the Hean family has declined, it is still under the jurisdiction of the earldom, so it is not a problem to entertain us." Desmond said.

Given their status, the Hean family is naturally happy to receive them, but Arthur's status is really not in the eyes of the great nobles. He can stay here because of the two of them.

"I want to take a good bath, change into clean clothes, and shave my beard. I will meet many nobles on the road in the future, so I must have a good image." Patrick muttered to himself.

Although he is the heir to the earldom and the sea city, he is not a big shot in King's Landing.

Now it is the Deer Family Dynasty, and the queen is from the Lion Family, so people from Stormland and the Westerly are calling the shots in King's Landing.

Arthur didn't care much about this kind of thing, "They won't stare at you like they stare at a woman, why do you care about these things?"

Patrick curled his lips and said with a hint of sourness: "With your appearance, if you are more refined, you will be handsome and dignified; if you are more sloppy, you will be unrestrained and free and easy. How can you understand my distress?"

Arthur ignored him and rode his horse to observe.

If I remember correctly, Harrenhal is one of the three major defenses of the Riverlands.

The other two are the Twins in the upper reaches of the Green Fork and Riverrun in the upper reaches of the Red Fork.

The three formed a stable triangle, and together with the Trident and its tributaries, they formed a defense system for the Riverlands.

As long as these three are in hand, the Rivermen are powerful enough to keep the enemy out.

In the early days of the War of the Five Kings, one of the reasons why Edmure failed to deal with the Lannister army was that he gave up Harrenhal.

Giving up this, Tywin was able to gallop across the vast plains from Pink City to Maidenpool on the south bank of the Red Fork and north of the Blackwater.

He crossed the river when he wanted to, and plundered the civilian villages to replenish military supplies when he wanted, without any consideration.

If Harrenhal had a certain number of troops to guard it, the riverlands would not have been so passive in the early stage.

You know, the strength of the lords in the riverlands is not weak. The total number of soldiers from each family is more than 30,000. With the conscripted peasant soldiers, they still have a great advantage in terms of military strength.

But Edmure made a lot of moves. First, he sent 4,000 people from Vance and Piper to attack the important place of Golden Tooth in the West, and gave away these 4,000 people in vain.

Then he directly gave up the areas around God's Eye Lake and Maidenpool, and concentrated his forces on Riverrun and the Westerly Army led by Jaime.

In the end, he was captured.

If it weren't for Lord Tytos of Blackwood who tried his best to rescue Edmure, the Battle of the Whispering Wood would have been even more difficult after Robb arrived with the Northern Cavalry.

Since Arthur decided to join the alliance of the Fish and Wolf families, such a mistake would naturally not happen again.

The triangle defense system with Harrenhal, Riverrun and the Twins as the fulcrum must not fail.

Next to him was Desmond Grell, the coach of Riverrun, whose ideas were enough to influence Edmure.

Arthur felt that he should instill some ideas in him.

"Sir Desmond, what do you think is the most important fortress in the Riverlands that cannot be lost if a war breaks out?"

Desmond was stunned, not understanding why the Hammer God asked him this question, but he quickly answered:

"No need to think about it, it must be Riverrun! As long as the Westerlands are stopped at the confluence of the Tengshi River and the Red Fork River, what other enemies can enter the Riverlands? The North and the Vale are both firm allies."

Arthur's face was dark, as expected, people from Riverrun, they only think about Riverrun.

"If this imaginary enemy, the Lannister army, sets out from the Golden Road, crosses the Blackwater River and goes north, can Riverrun still stop it?"

Like the River Road and the Kingsroad, the Golden Road is one of the five roads built by Jaehaerys I. It starts from Casterly Rock in the west and King's Landing in the winter solstice, and stretches across the southern edge of the Riverlands.

Desmond was shocked, "Then King Robert will have to order the national army to be assembled to defeat the Lannister army."

He also knew that once you reach the north bank of the Blackwater River and the south bank of the Trident, only an absolute advantage in force can win.

"That's not what I mean. If only the Riverlands and the Westerlands fight, how can we deal with the 20,000 or 30,000 troops coming from the Golden Road?"

Desmond shook his head, "That's not something I can consider. The Duke and Edmure will think of a suitable solution."

"In this case, the only way to break the deadlock is to hold on to Harrenhal." Arthur gave a direct answer.

Patrick urged his horse and caught up to join their conversation, "I think Arthur is right, the only solution is for the Tullys to send troops to defend Harrenhal."

Desmond was puzzled: "Why? Can't the Hean family defend the city themselves?"

"This is not the Hean family's business." Arthur raised his whip, "As long as Harrenhal is in hand, the Lannister army can't be arbitrarily mobilized in the vast land near the God's Eye Lake, because Harrenhal can send troops to cut off their food supply at any time."

Desmond's eyes were still confused, but he still made an "oh" sound, pretending that he understood.

Arthur ignored him and turned to talk about this with Patrick.

The Mallister family of Sealand City can also influence Edmure's command, so it's good to let Patrick have this awareness.

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