King of The Wall

2021-10-15

Chapter 668 Power and Skill

The city-state of Braavos, or the "land of the Braavos Republic" "Rising dragon" Braavos city is surrounded by a circle of ring-shaped peaks like a wall in space. The "inside the wall" part is divided and pieced together by the inland sea and hundreds of large and small islands, which finally constitutes this world-famous city. water city.

Because of its special structure, it also has a very poetic name-"city of a thousand islands".

The roundabout not only blocks the direct connection between the Braavos inland sea and the ocean, making the water in the city almost free of waves, but also complements another wall of the city-state, a powerful and well-trained fleet. Forming the "stone-wood" two barriers, Braavos residents have never experienced such a bad feeling as being swept by the tide and invaded by foreign enemies since the founding of the state.

When the winter finally passed, Westeros across the narrow sea was still caught in a seemingly never-ending civil war, and the other eight city-states were noisily forming Alliance Against the Dragonmother...as if the whole world was on fire.

In the midst of bloodshed and conflict, the city of a thousand islands, which was frozen into a solid piece, quietly began to thaw. Proud and happy, the Braavos walk out of their houses, methodically changing their daily transport from sleighs and legs back to boats, enjoying the salty sea breeze that is blowing their faces again, ready for a new summer.

In the midst of such peace and comfort, Braavos residents today witnessed a...

The city-state garrison was dispatched in full force, riding numerous large and small ships, fully armed and murderous-looking from all directions to the south of the Isle of the Gods, surrounded the island of a thousand faces where the House of Black and White was located , under the banner of "Faceless Men threaten the security of the city-state", announcing that they will all be expelled from the city-state!

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No matter how many people think it is incredible, the fact is that the Braavos city-state armed forces really have a combat plan to "suppress the black and white courts".

As the city of a thousand islands, most of the well-known buildings in the main city of Braavos can enjoy the exclusive treatment of an island, including the House of Black and White of course. In this plan, which the designers never thought would come in handy one day: the city-state garrison only needs to defend the only bridge leading to the outside world from the Island of a Thousand Faces, and then dispatch ships with giant nets to block the water and underwater surrounding the island. , and everyone in the House of Black and White has become a turtle in a urn, unable to escape.

Are Faceless Men likely to be easily fooled in various ways? It doesn't matter, as long as you stick to the firm determination that you would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let one go, handcuff everyone on the island as a Faceless Men suspect, turn them and send them to the cell of the Special Affairs Department of the Iron Vault for strict guarding, and hand them over to a more professional. It is enough that the personnel come to interrogate and identify.

What about the resistance of the most terrifying killers in the known world? It doesn't matter, no matter how sharp the dagger is and how deadly the poison is, can it still compete with the fully armed regular army on the battlefield? Long spear daggers, powerful bows and crossbows, iron armored steel shields... The well-trained city-state guards are enough for any rebel force to drink pot after pot until they are full.

As for some transcendent tactics that followers of Many-Faced God might use? It is true that we have to guard against it, but we must also know that although the "special affairs department" is far less famous than the Faceless Men, it is the most commonly used one among Braavos' countless white gloves. There are far more eccentrics than the priests and the Faceless Men in House of Black and White... not to mention the Temple of the Moonsingers - a group of transcendents that have also been active since the days of Valyria, and will never sit back and watch the Faceless Men mess up They single-handedly built Braavos too.

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The trigger condition envisaged by this plan is "the black and white court is uncontrolled and openly rebelled", and the predetermined goal is also "to wipe out all the Faceless Men in Braavos. ”, has now been recklessly used to expel the Many-Faced God sect...

Countless soldiers and agents who clenched their weapons dutifully carried out their orders, but couldn’t help but feel in their hearts. There was a murmur: If you really cast aside all considerations for face and expelled this group of killing gods from the city-state, in the future, they will not be able to be angry, and they will sneak back to start killing in the city secretly, how should they deal with it?

However, the tense and chilling repressed atmosphere was tense for a moment, and then dissipated with the return of the warriors who entered the temple first: the House of Black and White of Nuoda was already empty. The Faceless Men and all the Many-Faced God priests, taking advantage of this afternoon when the Keyholders will be planning an anti-Dragonmother plan, have passed both land and water, and the city-state guards have completed the victory transfer without any hostility or awareness. Ground Zero was diluted into all Braavos inhabitants. Experts in the special affairs department or strange people may have a way to tell whether a person they have captured is a faceless Men, but they will never be able to find a drop of water hidden in the sea.

Gordon Gallonier, who was planning to come to monitor the results in person, took a boat to the waters of the Isle of the Gods, and looked from afar at the double-colored gate where the soldiers who repeatedly searched and found nothing came in and out of the black and white courtyard. , the solemn expression is full of worries full of ominous foreboding - the plan of "wiping out the truth in the name of expulsion" has completely gone bankrupt before it begins, and it is impossible to be a thief. it has started!

 …

The news that Black and White Court broke with Braavos and parted ways, and the last city-state that did not stand in line finally decided to go to war with Queen Daenerys, these two news quickly followed each other. Road channels spread both ways throughout the known world. Coincidentally and interestingly, a few days later, at Westeros beyond a thousand li across the Narrow Sea, the Keyholders would meet a certain Lord Commander of the Night's whom Gordon Gallonier had identified as their archenemy Watch, also suffered a similar failure to break the trick and fell into an exactly similar dilemma.

Igor led the West Expedition Force's main force of more than 30,000 troops to the west along the Roseroad. All the way was like a hot knife through butter. In the heart of Reach, the speed of advance was half a point faster than originally expected... But the problem lies in this half point: fast, because there is less fighting and resistance than inferred, but this less is not lost helmets The ones who abandon armor and demoralize are less, but the ones who retreat in an orderly way and give up useless consumption voluntarily.

And this is exactly what worries him the most.

Reach is not stupid, it is impossible to meet force with force in the field with the West Expedition Force equipped with hot weapons led by oneself, this is what Igor knows at first, he judges this The first half of the Western Expedition will be complicated and boring to attack the fortified city and pull the city, and the attacking of the fortress... Apart from the incredible natural dangers such as Casterly Rock City or Eyrie, there are impossible fortresses on the plains of this era that can block the formidable power of hot weapons, so you can Boldly assume that the West Expedition Force will win every battle.

As for how to deal with the enemy after winning, he also already has a set of plans - which are roughly divided into three categories.

Class A: reserved class.

Have friendship or business dealings with Night's Watch and Night's Watch industry, have donated supplies to Legion, or have family members serving in Wall;

Responding to oneself in the Twins generation The "Declaration of Conquest" issued by Queen did not raise troops to resist, but took the initiative to become a minister, and has changed its flag; although he stood in the hostile camp for a short time, he was able to recognize the situation in time, and he was able to recognize the situation in time and arrived at the front of Wang Shibing. Before surrendering decisively, without causing casualties or delays to the West Expedition Force;

Meeting more than one of the above conditions...and never offending Igor, he looked "pleasant".

These nobles, he would treat each other with courtesy, "invite" their families to King's Landing as a pre-war claim, and make reasonable efforts to their property and Fiefdom. The possible reservations make them a good example of [the feudal lords of the old era can also adapt to the new era], and reduce the suspicion and resistance of other nobles.

This is "en".

The second category: erasure category.

Igor wants to grab a place and cake share on the Game of Thrones table for the military factions who follow oneself and the Queen's slave dragon ministers, but the vested interests impossible take the initiative to quit the table decently, there is no way , the only option is to kick them off.

And the most worry-free way to "kick down" is to cut weeds and eliminate the roots and eliminate them physically.

Murdering unarmed prisoners or surrendering soldiers is definitely despised by the world, so if you want to eliminate some of the aristocratic class, the best time and place is during the fight and on the battlefield!

Those who are stubborn and persistent in resistance, drag the battle into the fortified stage, and force the land-grant army to invest large-scale gunpowder weapons to destroy the city... I'm sorry, but I'm just looking for someone to see blood. Who do you kill without killing you? Once the city is broken, the surrender signal will be ignored, and Igor will order Unsullied to enter the city first to clear the way after climbing the city wall or blowing up the city gates. These reliable killing machines will carry out his secret orders. After entering the city, the owner of the castle will "rather die than submit for the last stubborn resistance, and finally be killed by Unsullied helplessly", and their guards, family members and servants also Will "be extremely loyal or set fire to the castle to set fire to the castle or kill themselves with poison", in short, "follow" House Head under the Nine Springs in various ways.

With real power and sharp weapons in hand, there are many ways to do it. In short, the final result is: there will be two or three families and three or five castles in the offensive and defensive battles. Burning "even chicken and dog doesn't remain" or "Field of Fire" bloodshed that shocked the Seven Kingdoms.

is for "wei".

The third category: exile.

The purpose of transforming King's Landing is to build it into a big golden birdcage, and the killer is to control the number of noble forces... When he arranged for the three-way army to go west, he deliberately divided North and Riverlands into two places. The armed forces are arranged on the side roads instead of being carried around in a group. In addition to considering the factors of reliability, the biggest reason is to set aside these great nobles who have the right to speak and have prejudice against oneself, so that oneself can not do business when doing business. disturbed and hindered.

But whether it is preferential treatment or slaughter, the combination of grace and power is only a means, not a goal. Igor is impossible to raise all Reach nobles in King's Landing - the country's finances can't bear it, and he can kill them like a mad dog - he also has to consider the perceptions and thoughts of his own lords and nobles. Killing too much will make the society change too fast. bring instability. Therefore... After killing one batch and one batch, Reach will definitely gather all its forces for a decisive counterattack. The descendants of Greenhand who participated in this battle, oneself, no matter how much they emphasize on the battlefield, they will not leave alive and kill them all. , and after they completely gave up resistance and surrendered unconditionally in the decisive defeat, oneself even more impossible to find Fiefdom to destroy the door. How to deal with such a large number of nobles who can't kill and dare not stay?

Igor came to the conclusion after thinking about it: exile.

It's not exile to the other side of the narrow sea - that would be another big trouble when a fortuitous encounter (with the support of strange foreign forces) makes a comeback and returns in a swirl of dust.

Instead, deprive Fiefdom and nobility, and leave nothing behind in chains and shackles and send it to the north—beyond the wall farther north than the land grant north of the North and beyond the wall, and let those in the After winning the Ghost War, they chose the "new land grantors" who returned to their hometowns to educate and reform through labor. These guys in the wrong team not only filled the northernmost population of the kingdom, but also relied on a multi-pronged approach of wealth deprivation, geographic isolation, and social disconnection. , completely stifling the possibility of the resurgence of this group of people, so that they can only expand their territory on the frozen land in northern Saibei, defend Cold God and plant and dig potatoes at least for the rest of their lives!
......

In the war between nobles, it is rare to do things like this.

Igor brutally broke the unwritten rules because he was not a member of the noble group. He knew that if oneself and the Queen were defeated, there would be no way out, and he naturally did not give the enemy this kind of enjoyment due to the principle of reciprocity. The identity of breakthrough Night's Watch has limited support for Queen, presented Daenerys with the "big Crownlands" plan that is almost extinct, and turned King's Landing into a luxurious birdcage ready to put Reach nobles under house arrest. The nobles, especially the Reach family, were offended to death.

And what's the worst thing about offending people?
That is: pulling hatred, but not depriving the opponent of the ability to resist.

If One Doesn't Cut The Grass At Its Roots, Then The Spring Breeze Will Blow And Give Life To It Once More. Anyway, the favorability is -100, so you don't have to worry if you have too much debt. If you simply do things absolutely, maybe you will be able to smash the sky like Aegon the Conqueror!
……

Although the plan in his stomach was well established, the Reach people did not give him a chance to practice it.

Igor set off from King's Landing and fought all the way to the hinterland of Reach like killing through the Riverlands. He personally commanded and captured nearly ten large and small castles, but even one of the serious nobles above Knight was caught. I can count the hands, most of them are just servants and stewards left by the lords to watch the house, and some are even just gatekeepers. Wang Shibing approached the city, and happily opened the door and offered the city-the gold, silver, and food and grass equipment were all taken away. The empty city swept away.

Although the formidable power of gunpowder and dragons is unstoppable, they are also faced with a group of wily old fox bastards. West turtles huddled together, preparing for a big counterattack!
——

(end of this chapter)