King of The Wall

2021-10-15

Chapter 670 Sinister Tricks and Invitational Battles

A light rain fell in the early hours of the morning, and it only stopped at dawn, the rising sun The breakthrough blockade slowly floated up from the horizon, and life followed the rays of light and was scattered to the endless Reach plain. The wet near-surface quickly evaporated a hazy layer of water vapor, slowly rising to the sky, reflecting a magnificent rainbow arc across the sky.

With the evaporation of the remaining water droplets on the leaves, the weeds and crops on the vast fields began to rise up and compete for the sun as before; Next to the indisputable fungus, a lucky vole that has survived the winter is also sticking one's head around to look for in a hidden hole, intending to make today's breakfast for oneself's whole litter of cubs.

The beautiful and peaceful spring morning scene was broken by the terrifying Homo erectus at the next moment - the rumble of the ground rumbled from far and near, and the vole mother was scared back into the hole from far away In the middle of the road, horseshoes with dusty hooves arrived a little later, trampling all the plants along the way into the mud and grinding them into sap, regardless of wild domestication, as if they were using violence to declare their ownership of the land.

The sky was completely bright, the gate of the Queen's military camp opened slowly, and the scout cavalry, who had eaten their first meal early, swarmed out fully armed with spare horses, scattered all directions as usual, for the army Westward expedition to clear the road to clear obstacles.

Behind them, the 30,000 West Expedition army also began to dismantle the tents in an orderly manner, pulling out the camp at a moderate pace.

It's been half a month since Crownlands stepped into Reach, and they fought all the way. Except for sporadic harassment, they didn't encounter any large-scale resistance along the way. Although their spirit was dragged away a little, their confidence in victory became more and more inflated: At this rate, in two days, they'll be camping under Highgarden and out on Tyrell's stables!

......

In the center of the huge camp, Igor, who had just finished his breakfast, walked out of the army tent and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. Brain optimistic.

The situation is not very good.

This kind of "bad" doesn't mean that the battle cannot be won, but that the Scales of Victory is constantly shifting towards the middle...or in the opposite direction.

Two months ago, at the end of the Battle of Blackwater Rush, if the Queen camp gave up on King's Landing and turned around to pursue the victory and headed into the Reach, the chance of winning would be full, and the opponent would probably have the strength to fight back. None.

However, in Igor's sea and land in the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, a naval battle and a fortification were fought, and after a short rest and subdued the Westerlands, the general national policy was formulated and the situation in the Crownlands was stabilized - in short It took a little time to digest the spoils that had entered the stomach, and after giving Aegon and Reach a breather, the win rate dropped slightly to 90%.

Immediately afterwards, the Reach people not only failed to defeat the fighting intent, but also successfully fiddled with gunpowder and began to conduct general mobilization throughout the entire country - 80%.

Under the command of the joint headquarters, the front-line nobles took the initiative to retreat, carry out scorched earth, exchange space for time, and chose the most correct response strategy - 70%.

The supply line connecting the Crownlands was harassed by the Reach cavalry troops behind it to In name only, and the gains from sieging the city and taking down the fortress were far less than expected. The land was "forced to buy" from neighboring villages, and the consumption of 30,000 army people eating horse chews quickly dragged the Western Expedition into a logistical quagmire...

As they penetrated deeper and deeper into the hinterland of Reach, the local nobles resisted to the end. Determination and preparation for a big battle are becoming clearer and clearer, and while the West Expedition Force has been on the offensive so far, Igor has responded when he realizes the situation is serious. The day before yesterday, he used Raven to send letters to both the north and south auxiliary troops and the King's Landing in the rear: he ordered the new army of the Westerlands in the area of the ancient Oak City to go south along the Ocean Road to the northwest of Highgarden. The local army also moved westward to put pressure on the east of Highgarden. At the same time, it also asked the Queen for help, hoping that she would arrive in time to ride the dragon and participate in the most crucial battle to unify the Seven Kingdoms.

It is too late to turn around, and forcing the supply line to maintain the supply line will distract the enemy and give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage. Igor has two choices: either declare logistical tension, control supply and distribution, and trade morale for durability. Stay in place and wait for the other three possible reinforcements to assist; either maintain the original rhythm and continue to advance, and go deep alone to meet force with force - the bet is that after winning 30,000 to 100,000, there is still strength to force it. Highgarden.

The Reach capital's impossible has also been scorched, as long as you get Tyrell's winter reserves, you can easily get through this difficulty!

After thinking about it, Igor did not make a rash decision. Instead, he secretly summoned the two witches, Melisandre and Kinvara, in the dead of night last night to ask them the feasibility of "assassinating little Aegon with Shadowbind".

Yes, bad luck.

Of course, Igor didn't realize that there were red robe priests available until then. He didn't think about it at first, because it involved a "weighing the pros and cons" problem: in the army that is sure that the dignified is winning. In this case, is it necessary to bet on the character of oneself, the prestige of the Queen, and the legitimacy of the Targaryen regime to seek help from "evil law"?
For the probability of trifling one or two percent failure, of course not worth it.

But now the risk has risen to 30% to 40%. As an open-minded modern man, he naturally cannot be that famous overlord, clinging to rigid moral standards and putting aside such unique skills that can effectively end the war. .

What is a pragmatist? Of course, "I would rather be judged by morality than let him do an autopsy"!
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After listening to Igor's question, the intuitive Jinvara immediately understood what his purpose was.

"Shadowbind is indeed one of the skills that Red Temple can teach, but not every priest can. In addition to needing a certain innate talent, it also takes years of hard practice... lifespan, high priests usually only specialize in a few specific spells, and only dabble in the rest. In this regard, Melisandre is far more accomplished than me and even most of the priests in the church, so I should ask her to answer the question of the agent. The question is."

"Shadowbind, as the name suggests, is the spell that controls the shadow." As Igor's old partner and follower, Melisandre did not hesitate or hesitate at all, "But it should be noted that here The 'shadow' is not the shadow of light, but the 'shadow life' that is woven and provided by spells. Due to the dark color of the shadow, it is easier to hide in the shadow, so after appearing many times to complete the mission, It has become a rumored spell that 'can manipulate shadows'. Ordinary swords can't hurt its body, but magic means can easily get it..."

"It doesn't need to explain too much." Igor interrupted, he didn't understand and didn't want to learn, "Just tell me what conditions are needed."

"First of all, it will take a few days of preparation time - this is still the magic power recovery at the moment. In a superior environment. After casting the spell summon to cast shadows, the caster has to use magic power and even flesh and blood nourishment to finally achieve the goal of shadow binding. In addition... Shadowbind also has a distance limit, if it exceeds the distance Within the scope of ability, shadows have the possibility to escape, dissipate or control failure - although I have reached a higher-level on Shadowbind, but wanting to kill beyond a thousand li is still a fantasy story, at least within sight. If it can be close to the wall and upstairs and downstairs, it will be the best. In addition, the artificially cultivated shadow spiritual wisdom is not opened, it is a kind of stupid thing, the shadow is not a simple 'order to it, and then wait It will come back victoriously, but the sorcerer is like manipulating a second body, manipulating it every minute, every second, every movement, and half an instant, walking to the destination step by step, almost accomplishing what the sorcerer wants to accomplish with his own hands Things."

"So troublesome?" Igor frowned and suddenly understood why Melisandre in the original timeline needed Onion Knight Davos to send her to Storm's End in a small boat before he could do it, watching the play only see S How terrible is hadowbind? How to kill and kill, you can only know the cost and restrictions when you get in touch with it. "That is to say, only when the two armies are close to a certain range, and I know exactly where the target is, can you succeed? "

"It's not 'to do it', but 'to do it'. As for whether it can succeed in the end, it depends on whether the enemy is paralyzed or not, and whether the two Sorcerers that Clinton invited to protect the little Aegon are real... Shadowbind is difficult to perform, but if it is discovered, it wants to avoid and obstruct. Or crack, it is quite simple. "

"Understood, then let's prepare first, whether to use it or not, wait for my order. After a short silence, Igor made up his mind, and then suddenly remembered, "Kinvara, Melisandre said that casting spells requires a lot of magic power. Other than her, priests like you, can you help speed up the process?" "

"Yes, I am happy to help." The chief priestess of the Red God teaching bowed his head respectfully, and took the trouble to acknowledge allegiance again. After lifting the head, there was an ambiguous smile in his eyes, "However, Your Excellency the agent, let me take the liberty to remind: as the Lord of Light As a spokesperson in the world, you are filled with the pure energy of my Lord R'hllor. If you participate and assist in this shadow binding ceremony, the shadows that can be cultivated will grow the fastest, and the adult body will be the strongest. . ”

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In the morning light, Igor recalled the absurdity, weirdness and freshness he experienced last night, but the harsh horn sounded through Clearsky, sharp and urgent, as if roaring. Edit: Warning! Enemy attack!

It's a bit unexpected, but the most feared thing in the tactic of holding a group and steadily advancing is a surprise attack, not to mention that the army is still in the strong camp at the moment, and Igor stands calmly. After a while, I waited for the messenger's report.

"Your Excellency, the scouts found the main Reach troops five miles to the west, about 30,000 to 50,000 people, and the whole army was fighting horizontally. The formation is slowly advancing towards me. In addition, there are also traces of enemy cavalry on the east and south sides, the number of which is unknown, and our scouts are stepping up their investigation! ”

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(end of this chapter)