King of The Wall

2021-11-11

Chapter 693 when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter
Fortunately the seasons are shifting from spring to summer, After the sun goes down, the sky will still be bright for a while.

The West Expedition Force hurriedly completed cleaning the battlefield, organizing troops, and dragging the wounded and wounded to the new camp before night fell. After struggling to put out the fire in the granary in the southwest corner of the camp, taking inventory of the remaining belongings of the enemy, and happily having a celebration feast with the wine and meat of the Reach people, Igor called the generals together and began to count in front of the Queen. Results and casualties.

The West Expedition Force fought 27,000 men, killed in the early 3,000s, and more than double the number of minor and serious injuries that reached the standard of fire... Since antibiotics have not yet been invented, the difference between the two is huge. The probabilities also shift. It was a tough battle, but what corresponds to the huge casualties was even more astonishing losses for the enemy: Reach coalition forces, the number of corpses left on the main battlefield alone was close to five figures, and it wasn’t even counted as being washed up in a river. Walking and being hunted down in the subsequent rout or being greeted by dragon flames and thrown into the wilderness, in short, countless parts.

Although compared with the conquest of the North, the killing of the Riverlands, and even the two land and sea battles that took place on the banks of King's Landing, the Queen's force was reduced by an order of magnitude, but the exchange ratio fell below 1:10. In the next single digits, this is still a big win that no one can deny.

The reason is simple: both the strategic and tactical objectives of the Western Expedition have been over-achieved.

Strategically, Igor's original plan was to forcibly push forward against the onlookers of the Reach people, relying on the "unstoppable" oppression to kill their will to resist. But the enemy, with the cooperation of courage, brains, judgment and organization, which was slightly higher than expected, actually laid out a decent defensive battle... While creating a challenge for him, it also backfired. land - greatly accelerated the course of the war.

The resistance force that was supposed to be slowly disintegrated by the West Expedition Force's pressing step by step, after a brief condensed and majestic rise, was lifted up and smashed to the ground, and it fell to the ground. !

Whether it is a scout released according to the code and regulations, or a Skinchanger who scouts the battlefield from the perspective of birds, they all return the same message: the originally airtight inescapable net around the battlefield, with the outcome of the war Disappeared instantly disappeared without a trace. The Nuoda Reach Plain, within a ten-mile radius around the West Expedition Force, was so clean that even half a scout could not be seen.

This is a definite sign of giving up resistance no matter what era or place it is placed in, and it can never be faked: a war, no matter how ugly the frontal fight is and no resistance, at the very least. "Knowing where the enemy is" is always guaranteed. But now, the Reach people have scattered in a hurry, and they can't even care about the detection of the West Expedition Force's movements-to use an intuitive analogy to describe it: fleeing for their lives and not even daring to look back.

Compared with the above-mentioned significant but reasonable results, the tactical victory was a complete surprise.

Igor discreetly ordered the Westerlands cavalry to attack, allowing them to charge twenty miles an hour, inserting halfway behind Reach's camp and Highgarden, with the goal of course Stop the enemy's defeated soldiers from retreating into the castle, but the psychological expectation is actually "stop as much as you can", and even subconsciously, you are prepared to damage most or even all of the Westerners' cavalry.

In addition to this relatively shady secondary reason that this weapon is not his direct line and does not feel distressed, the main consideration is actually: the West Expedition Force is actually a strong injury in this battle.

At the climax of the battle, he completely lifted the troops' restrictions on the use of thermal weapons. There was not a single bomb left with the army, and even the gunpowder of the artillery was consumed by the brutal continuous firing. Only the guns with a slower rate of fire or the cannons that exploded were left, and the total amount was evenly distributed. One more volley is not enough, it's better than nothing.

If Highgarden is armed with the support of the defeated soldiers, the West Expedition Force without siege weapons will be unable to start against this white city fort. I don't know how many dragon hunting crossbows are prepared by the Tyrell family. In this case, Igor will only give up the siege, or ask the Queen to take the risk and attack while the fire is at night.

And either way, they will regretfully lose an extremely valuable loot and bargaining chip.

However, because of the reasons he couldn't fully understand for the time being, the five-six thousand enemies who were obviously still able to fight were so panicked that not even a thousand dismounted light cavalrymen dared to challenge them. The whole army turned and retreated to the south with a clean stance, and escaped to the depths of the Reach Plain under the cover of the coming night. Among them, not only the remnants of the Golden Regiment infantry, but also the Highgarden Guards who were supposed to guard Highgarden, but went to the front line with Tyrell Duke's personal expedition.

This also means: at this moment, not only are there no enemies between the West Expedition Force and the outer walls of Highgarden City, but there are probably not many left in the walls.

 …

The brief wrap-up meeting ended, and the generals dispersed to re-enter the celebrations that had come to an end. Igor was sitting in his chair contemplating what to do with the Highgarden he had taken intact, when Daenerys's sweet but unquestionably majestic voice sounded beside his ears.

"Igor, accompany me out for a walk."

Stepping out of the tent covered with the Three Headed Red Dragon coat of arms, the Queen stepped side by side with the black clothed commander into the torches and bonfires Illuminated dignified camp grounds.

As the most powerful man and woman in this continent at the moment, their so-called "walking" is of course impossible to chat. Sure enough, Daenerys quickly spoke up and talked about the opposite direction of this westward expedition—a series of incidents that were happening east of Westeros.

The existence of the Anti-Queen Alliance is not news, but after Igor set out on his way to conquer the Reach, the situation has changed a little: Braavos has passed a resolution to semi-publicly support the Alliance Against the Dragonmother ——Although not half of the soldiers were sent to the war except the liaison, but with the financial and material help of the known world financial center + the most efficient Arsenal, the slave-master military alliance, which was still in a mess, suddenly seemed to have a backbone. It started to get on the right track. Not only did it quickly set up a combined fleet that was comparable in size to Iron Fleet, and its tonnage was stronger than the latter, it also advertised everywhere, announcing that it would hire all mercenaries who were willing to bid and sail across the sea, ready to start a battle. A familiar war.

Those who are interested will still remember: A few years ago, when House Lannister's golden sibling relationship was just exposed, when King Robert ordered the Six Nations to siege the Westerlands to wipe out the Lion Family from the world, Tywin had paid all he could to harass the shores of the Eastern Sea, ruled by Robert, with armed forces across the Narrow Sea, so that the armies of Stormlands, Crownlands and Vale could not advance westward in full force.

Right now Alliance Against the Dragonmother is doing something similar, only they're not a little Aegon, they're a lot bigger than last time.

"The trade between the two sides of the strait has been cut off. This is not a big problem. The enemy's navy is cruising in the narrow sea. Daenerys's tone was filled with suppressed anger, "The navy has not yet finished resting, and the artillery has been taken away by you. At the critical moment of the Spring Seeds, the army cannot be recruited on a large scale to open another front, so I ordered the fleet to rely on Dragonstone for defense, and Training in Blackwater Bay, no rash attack. But the situation is really tense, the mercenaries hired by slave-masters may land at Stormlands on a large scale at any time. And my army is stuck in the Reach battlefield on 2/3/2022 , not to mention that Vale is also negotiating with the Braavos messenger..."

She took a long breath, turned her head and glanced at the oneself Hand of the Queen: "Do you understand what I want to say? , my taking back Iron Throne is a major victory, and it's important to unify the Seven Kingdoms, but a king who can't protect a kingdom of oneself will be despised, let alone a Queen!"

"Understood! Igor nods quickly, "Now that the battle of Reach has been decided, the news will definitely make Vale dare not move. At the same time, I will advance westward, and after taking Oldtown, I will return east as soon as possible, and then put the artillery on the ship. , have accumulated knowledge and deliver it slowly , the slave-master alliance is unable to withstand a single blow . Your Majesty is very wise in taking a defensive decision, time is on our side, you can drag it a little longer, and the world will be vast!”

This is not a slap in the face. When there is no certainty of winning, it is also a valuable wisdom to stay calm and avoid fighting. When the Queen is not crazy, she is actually quite wise.

"Must be fast, as long as you are willing to surrender, it's okay to spare the Reach nobles a little bit. Reach is right here, can't fly away. After we finish cleaning up the slave-master alliance, we have time to deal with it slowly." Daenerys was very satisfied that Igor could quickly grasp her urging intentions, and after another warning, he did not continue to nag, but sighed and switched to the next topic, "Aegon was led south by the Golden Group and Clinton and fled south. Do you have any advice on what to do with my nephew?"

—

(end of this chapter)