Chapter 82: Logistics Affecting the Front Line
"The duty of the Night's Watch is to guard the Wall, not to protect House Stark. Organizing a large-scale action to search for Benjen Stark is not only putting the cart before the horse but also showing disregard and disrespect for the lives of the other brothers." Tyrion repeated Aeg's words, staring at him as if he had seen a ghost, his hand holding the pen motionless for a long time: "Are you sure you want to write this? This is insubordination. Even if Mormont is reasonable, he can't... Besides, how do you know that your Lord Commander's ranger expedition is to find Benjen Stark?"
"I don't know." Aeg admitted: "Maybe I misunderstood him. He's the former Lord of Bear Island, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, a big shot with a big heart. He wouldn't summon me back and punish me just because I, his subordinate, 'misunderstood' and criticized him a bit. Besides, he's counting on me to provide supplies."
"Since you understand that, why use such a confrontational tone?"
Aeg spread his hands: "What do you think would happen if I presented facts and reasoned with him, trying to persuade him not to undertake this large-scale reconnaissance in a gentle manner?"
"I don't know. I may be short, but I can't crawl into Mormont's belly."
"I believe he would think, 'Hmph, a guy enjoying himself in King's Landing, pretending to advise us not to take risks? Just provide your supplies and mind your own business!'" Aeg said: "Then, he probably wouldn't even look at the points and evidence you wrote about not undertaking this adventure and would directly reply, ordering me to prepare the supplies as soon as possible, or else summon me back."
"That's completely malicious speculation."
"But you have to admit it's possible. On the contrary, if I pretend to be mistaken and then criticize him from the standpoint of doing what's best for the Night's Watch..." Aeg didn't argue, just continued to explain his reasons for doing so: "Hehe, you know, people have a weakness—when they hear or see someone saying they're doing something wrong, their attention immediately focuses, and they instinctively want to refute the other person. When Commander Mormont sees my accusations, even if he disdains them, under this mental habit, he will at least read the following content. Who knows, he might even write another letter to comfort me and explain the true purpose of his action... After all, he's counting on me to work harder and provide as much as possible from the list."
"You just have a lot of ideas." Tyrion grumbled a few times, but also felt that Aeg's idea made some sense. He nodded and looked back at the letter paper: "Alright, say it again, I'll write it down word for word as you say it. Don't come looking for me if anything goes wrong."
***
Thus, Aeg spoke and Tyrion wrote, and about an hour later, the first official letter from the 1st Night's Watch "Chief Logistics Officer" to the 997th Lord Commander was meticulously drafted by Tyrion Lannister, using the upright and beautiful Western script popular in the Westerlands.
The letter began with a righteous accusation, aiming to immediately capture the reader's attention; following this was Aeg's speculation and judgment on the current situation north of the Wall, making it as perilous as possible to scare people; then, the Chief Logistics Officer presented his opinion—the Night's Watch was now weak and unsuitable for independent action. The safest approach was to first stabilize and strengthen the defense and then present compelling evidence to seek aid from the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms.
Finally, Aeg proposed several specific plans—he used his imagination to come up with several schemes that could capture wights alive with minimal risk to the Night's Watch. Not only that, but he also promised to provide all the weapons and equipment needed to execute these plans.
*****
"To be honest, Aeg, your plan clearly has an idealistic air to it. It seems that it can only succeed under perfect conditions and if everything goes smoothly." By now, Tyrion didn't want to question the existence of those ghostly things beyond the Wall anymore. Assuming Aeg wasn't spouting nonsense, he spoke matter-of-factly: "I've been to the Wall, and the conditions and situation there are really harsh and complex, with uneven personnel quality, and things can change at any moment."
"I'm not asking them to follow my plan to the letter. The key lies in what I've prepared for these plans." Aeg explained: "As long as they somewhat acknowledge the idea of 'seeking aid from the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms' and then wait for me to send them the equipment to capture wights and deal with the Others, my goal will be achieved. It takes a month by sea from King's Landing to the Wall, even if they travel day and night. By then, the most dangerous moment will have long passed."
"What most dangerous moment?"
"Hehe, military secret."
*****
Aeg couldn't tell Tyrion more: In the original plot's ranger expedition, the Night's Watch chose to station themselves at the Fist of the First Men because they judged it to be the inevitable path for Mance Rayder's tens of thousands of wildlings to attack the Wall from the Frostfangs along the Milkwater, and the terrain was easy to defend and difficult to attack—as long as they seized this high ground and held it, a few hundred Night's Watchmen could hold off tens of thousands of wildlings and hinder their southward advance.
There was no mistake in this strategy or tactics, unfortunately, they didn't wait for the wildlings but were faced with a sea of wights.
As long as the Night's Watch was willing to delay their departure slightly to wait for the equipment and supplies Aeg promised, the wildling army would set out from their assembly point and march south, flooding past the Fist of the First Men, depriving the expeditionary force of the "opportunity" to occupy the favorable terrain. Without being able to seize the Fist of the First Men, they wouldn't give the army of the dead a chance to surround them on the mountain, and naturally, they wouldn't be nearly annihilated.
This was the best way a logistics officer could influence the front line without command authority—controlling the timing of the delivery of supplies.
If the Night's Watch could capture a wight and send it to King's Landing according to his suggestion, that would undoubtedly be the best outcome. If not, saving as many brothers as possible was also a good choice.
Unable to judge which was more in his interest, to save or not to save, Aeg finally decided to follow his heart: This time, he would be a sentimental person—he couldn't just stand by and watch three hundred brothers march out to their deaths. Although he wanted to shed his identity as a member of the Night's Watch and was dissatisfied with the tasks thrown at him by the leadership, at the end of the day—the hundreds of Night's Watch brothers at Castle Black had shared a comradeship with him, and personally, he admired the character and dedication of high-ranking members of the Black Watch like Commander Mormont and Maester Aemon.
"Tch... military secret, I'm not even interested." Tyrion made a gesture of disdain, picked up the letter paper, and looked at it: "Well, that's it. Anything else to add?"
"Hmm, let me think... First, help me get the official appointment certificate for 'Chief Logistics Officer' and write it in—I don't want a salary, I'll recruit my subordinates myself, as long as the Night's Watch officially recognizes this title."
"Alright, that's important. Anything else?"
Aeg thought for a moment. It wasn't easy to send a letter to the Wall, so he might as well say everything he wanted to say in advance: "Write in the difficulties I've encountered in recruiting and tell them about my idea of recruiting 'temporary Night's Watchmen.' See if Mormont agrees."
"You've encountered difficulties in recruiting?" Tyrion glanced at him again: "I didn't know that. Have you started recruiting?"
"No, don't worry about that. Just write what I say."
"Hmm... alright."
Aeg organized his words and slightly embellished his plan, which Tyrion then wrote into the letter.
"By the way, add one more thing. If the bodies of the rangers patrolling north are found, don't burn them after bringing them back to Castle Black. Lock them in cages, and if they come back to life, just send them to King's Landing."
What the hell is this? Tyrion frowned, but decided to temporarily give up thinking and focus on being a writing machine: "Anything else?"
"No... oh, add one last sentence for Jon Snow, saying Arya sends her regards through me, she's learning swordsmanship in King's Landing and is very happy, and to take care of himself at the Wall."
Tyrion rolled his eyes: "You dare speak on behalf of Lady Stark?"
"Just write it down. I'll tell Arya tomorrow, and she'll definitely agree."