King of The Wall

2021-01-06

Chapter 113 The quagmire of war
Igor listened patiently to Earl Buckwell, and finally understood the "trouble ”—morale, and military pay.

Two triflings, but it's a long story to explain.

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When more than 30,000 soldiers of the coalition army were ordered by Robert to rush out from the camp to various places, the Vale of Arryn was besieged in groups of several thousand. When there were many castle strongholds outside, a strange situation appeared: no matter which family's castle, it was only waiting for the rebel army to arrive. When I entered the city, I was immediately dumbfounded: only a few servants were left in the castle who were responsible for cleaning and guarding the gate. No matter whether the core is core or not, important or not... As long as they are family members with status, they have long since left the castle with valuable items when Robert was rectifying the Crownlands army outside King's Landing. Safe.

You can't get valuable trophies, so the Six Nations did not gather here for robbery - but without the noble captives, there is no way to ask for ransom, and there is no way to rely on hostages to persecute the "rebels". "surrender. Robert's plan to put pressure on the Lords Declarant by removing his stronghold has failed. If he is still unwilling to compromise, he can only storm the Bloody Gate.

If you want to make a strong attack, the difficulty will come: the so-called in a spurt of energy, it will decline again, and it will be exhausted after three. The coalition troops were stationed in this fertile field outside Bloody Gate for more than ten days to a month, except for the first two days, Robert personally directed the army to carry out several decent attacks. Later: the nobles drank and drank their relatives to talk about marriage, and the soldiers spent their days holding novels and small yellow books, and even passed the time in competitions, and they only played every six days. Even if it's your turn, you will rush up and shoot arrows just like the exercise, forcibly inflict casualties, and immediately withdraw your troops...

If it comes down to a few rounds, the shortcomings of the army's system and training will be eliminated at once. It was revealed: Robert is indeed very prestigious and powerful in the world, but the morale maintained by the ruler's personal reputation and charm is not long at all. When encountering a danger like Bloody Gate, don't hurry to die, delay a little, the soldiers' fighting Intent is like water in a bamboo basket, and it flows clean.

If at first, he would use a sea of tactical attack regardless of casualties, and would not hesitate to pay tens of thousands of casualties, Robert might already be in Eyrie at the moment, and he might have opened a hx for Vale's chicks, but Now, just to organize a storm, I'm afraid it will be a little difficult.

......

Morale is only the second of the two major troubles. Although the difficulty in attacking the fortress has been reduced a lot, it has not suffered a major defeat and fell to a negative value. Excellent generals gather here, and they can always find a way to drum up, but another trouble is more realistic: military pay.

In this era of Westeros, they joined the army when the lord issued a conscription. In Westeros, they belonged to the "corrupt service" that the people should serve. The rewards that the responders could get mainly came from the loot, the lord's reward after victory, In that year, family taxes were reduced or exempted, and after meritorious service, officials were promoted to nobility.

In addition to personal bodyguards and standing guards, most of the peasant soldiers recruited during wartime are not paid, and the lords will provide equipment if they have money. Poor people like North even need weapons. Bring some of your own - the peasants fight the nobles and give their lives for free until they win!
Existence is reasonable. This seemingly unreasonable conscription system can be realized because it is limited: guard home, defend the country defensive operations are carried out in the [territory] of the lord to which it belongs, and in [ Within a certain period of time, you can completely refrain from paying military salaries. This time, the army of the Six Nations left their hometown and ran to Vale to fight against the rebellion for King Robert and Duke Arryn. Not only did the lords bear the cost of travel and transportation, but once the time limit was exceeded, they had to pay the army!

According to different local customs and traditions, the time limit for the Six Nations levy varies from forty to sixty days. Igor is busy promoting the Night's Watch industry all day long and does not feel the passage of time, but in fact, This counter-insurgency war has been unconsciously dragged on for too long, and the lords of various places will soon start worrying about military pay!
And this is the reason why Robert asked Littlefinger to go to the iron vault to borrow money in advance - not only the soldiers that the king oneself recruited from King's Landing will ask for money, but the princes pay the soldiers after the time limit is exceeded. From a legal point of view , also has the right to ask the king for reimbursement!
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"Master of Coin defected?"

"It can't be considered a defect, Petyr disappeared after disembarking at Braavos, without iron The treasury's loan...at best, it can only be regarded as absconding in fear of crime." Old Earl sighed: "This is very troublesome, and it's not just a matter of not borrowing money. I heard that the iron treasury is planning to send people to King's Landing. Investigating Iron Throne's finances."

Littlefinger didn't dare to touch the Iron Vault's wealth. Igor had anticipated that the rulers of Braavos had deliberately campaigned for the Faceless Men to promote their deterrence, not in Is it useful at a critical moment? He shrugged: "If I were an iron vault, I would be nervous when something like this happened in a client's home."

"Not only that, Littlefinger's run, It's equivalent to pleading guilty and telling the world that Lysa Tully did murder the old Duke Arryn with him... Now, even our counter-insurgency coalition is in a dilemma."

Igor looked thoughtful nodded: "It's really troublesome. If it were me, I would definitely choose to accept Lords Declarant's terms and make a decent truce."

"But King Your Majesty isn't you after all." Old Earl shook his head with a wry smile.

Igor also laughed. He could imagine Robert's rage at the battle meeting. Such a naked face slap would make the Westeros number one irritable Old Brother completely lose his mind. , he will not accept the compromise: "But he really has no money, he can't force the princes of various countries to keep people here to make up the money - this is not allowed in the rules of the game."

" It's really not allowed, Robb Stark...I don't know if you know it or not, the Prime Minister's son, has already stated at the battle meeting that some of the peasants and soldiers who are not well trained should be dispatched to go home to farm, and he himself leads the remaining Knights and each other. The elites of the family continue to help."

After all, it is still a matter of productivity - the society of this era cannot support the young men who account for 1% of the total population to go out of production for a long time. The reality is so cold, even in a world where Magic exists, it still has to abide by the Basic Law after all.

......

"House Stark is not only a great hero in Robert's eyes, but also did not take away much profit after Your Majesty overthrew House Targaryen. This kind of hard-working family, Robert has no reason to stop them from doing coolie to oneself." Igor suddenly realized, vaguely aware of the dilemma facing Earl Buckwell: the hero and the sinner, the treatment will be completely different.

"That's right, House Stark and the Tully family are loyal allies of Your Majesty, Your Majesty impossible forces them to stay without giving money to oneself to die." The old man brows tightly frowns: "The Tully family is fine, they are Lady Lysa, who is sleepy in Eyrie, is her own family. No matter how bad it is, they will leave 10,000 people here to fill the scene. But House Stark, if there are 5,000 people left here, they are loyal. North, if you miss it It’s an important time for farming, but people will starve to death.”

“Let me predict—the Stormlands army is estimated to shrink by half, but after all, it is the king’s family, and the elite should not leave. Lannister is the king's in-law, and it's not bad for this amount of money. He should stick to his position, but the cost of military salaries will definitely be counted into the account Your Majesty owes Duke Tywin." Useful's brain turned, and the analysis went on: "The only one who might slap the butt and leave is the Dorne army, the Martell family has always ignored Iron Throne, and because of the law and morality, they sent troops to come, and the call-up deadline is up to the king. But they can't pay the army, I'm afraid they will leave in a group within a few days; as for the Tyrell family... They are trying their best to drill into the power center of King's Landing, and they will definitely not give up this opportunity to perform. The Seven ah... I finally understand why Reach has so many people, but Highgarden only sent 5,000 elites, because this way, without paying too much military pay, you can always perform the hymn of loyalty to the king in front of one's eyes!"

The rules of the game are simple and rude: if the king wants to fight, you will be rebellious if you don’t go, and you will give people a handle, but when the time comes, it is loyalty to stay, and there is no problem if you don’t stay and go home to farm— -The king can hate you for wearing small shoes for you, but he can't make a fuss about it to make things happen! The problem is: Don't be afraid of Robert's hatred, Seven Kingdoms only has the Dorne family!
North came to 10,000 people, half of the fight left 5,000 and left 5,000. Robert didn't say it, but he might feel uncomfortable, but Highgarden only came for 5,000 but persisted until the end, maybe On the contrary, it won the king's good impression, good intentions! The human heart is such a strange thing, but I don't know if the Tyrell family is hitting right, or is it really so accurate?
"That's right, you just left out our Crownlands families." Earl Buckwell agreed with Igor's analysis during Your Majesty's uprising: "We were not only under Iron Throne's direct jurisdiction at this moment, It is an opportunity to make merit and show loyalty, not only did I not dare to leave, but I did not dare to ask the king to ask for the account of the army!"

......

It's bad, if it weren't for it In the presence of Yoren and Old Earl, Igor would have snapped his thigh - he suddenly realized that the counter-insurgency war had gotten out of hand because of Robert's absurd behavior, and now it was no longer a matter of oneself. There is no interest in it!
"How long will Antlers' family property last?"

"Fortunately, Tyrell's family has packed food and grass, and the pressure has been relieved a lot. I figured it out, it's okay to last a month, and sell the family property, the limit is It's been two months, beyond this number, let alone promise your investment, even my oneself family has to borrow money to eat."

Trouble, really trouble, Igor has already pulled Many of the clients we received were nobles from the Reach and Crownlands. If the armies of these two countries burned their own money hard because they dared not offend Robert, soon, countless money that should have been invested in the Night's Watch industry, would be It will all evaporate because of being trapped in the quagmire of war. Although the money has not disappeared, it is extremely difficult to get it out of the hands of the soldiers.

This is an unbearable loss for an entrepreneur and businessman!
Igor took a breath, the air flowing between his teeth made a "hiss" sound, after thinking for a while, he clenched his fist: the butt decides the head, and he had to interfere a little for the sake of profit.

"In this way, Lord count, I'll give you an idea. You can dedicate it to the king at the next battle meeting. Maybe you can end the war as soon as possible and reduce losses."

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(end of this chapter)