#118Chapter 117: Siege
The progress of the Blood Wolf Army is very smooth.
The northern region of the West was beaten to the point of losing all its energy by Robb. Not to mention the consecutive defeats, the main force was wiped out by Robb's men.
The city of Kaiche that Little Jon is attacking now does not have many defenders. Before Robb attacked them, he had rehearsed the surrender ceremony several times.
This can't be blamed on them. After the capture of Golden Teeth City, the connection between the West and King's Landing was almost completely cut off. There is also the Reach to the south, which is now also a hostile force.
Most of the nobles in the city took refuge in Casterly Rock. The soldiers left behind were all old, weak, sick and disabled. What kind of combat effectiveness could they expect?
Little Jon was very proud and looked at the map in the hall of Keche City: "Now the territory of our Westeros Empire has expanded again."
"The next one is Yanhuo City. After the battle, we will immediately transfer all our troops and march towards Casterly Rock City!"
"For Lord Robb!"
——
The Knight of Flowers and Garlan Tyrell were not as smooth as Little Jon.
When attacking Crake Hall, they had no geographical advantage. The forest near the castle was very dense. Before the siege, the Knights of Flowers needed to burn and cut down the forest.
An open space must first be cleared for the large troops to be stationed.
Now that the long winter is approaching, the climate has become drier. If it is not handled well and the opponent uses fire attacks, our side will suffer heavy losses.
Moreover, the Crake Hall is located in the south of the Western Territory, with Casterly Rock as a barrier. When Robb's army went to plunder the Western Territory, they did not attack the Crake Hall.
Therefore, the strength of the Crake Hall is relatively intact. Regarding the attack of the Flower Knights, they did not surrender directly like the lords in the north, but actively resisted.
The Knight of Flowers showed an anxious look on his face: "It will take some time to clean up the forest here. We need to speed up the progress."
Garland was sullen, just nodded and said nothing.
"Why don't you know how to be anxious at all? The north has already captured a city, and we are still fighting these trees. Doesn't this show that our soldiers in the Reach are not as good as those in the north?"
——
"Your Majesty, the intelligence from the spies has come back."
In Robb's army, Earl Blackfish took back the intelligence, his brows furrowed, and he seemed a little unsure of the information behind the intelligence.
"Tywin divided his army into two groups. One group still came to plunder our riverlands. It seemed that they wanted to disrupt our sight."
"But his large army did not return to the Western Region to aid. Instead, it headed towards Highgarden. It seemed that he was preparing to join forces with the Hightower family to directly eat Highgarden."
When Robb heard Tywin's actions, he felt a little strange. Could it be that this old guy Tywin had lost his mind and wanted to fight to the death?
But Robb soon became wary.
The probability that Tywin is unclear is very low. Since he would make such an unreasonable move, it means that the other party must have information or other things that he does not know about.
Just like how he dared to deal with James with three hundred wolf cavalry.
Others don't know that their strength has reached a terrifying level, so they find it incredible.
"Since Tywin won't take this road to return to the West to aid, then you can take people to Highgarden to help support."
Earl Blackfish asked: "Your Majesty, what about you?"
"I'll take the wolf cavalry to clean up the soldiers sent by Tywin."
Heiyu was a little puzzled. Those small troops seemed to pose no threat, so why did His Majesty go there to clean them up in person?
Even if the troops left behind in Star City come out, they can deal with those teams.
Robb did not explain to Heiyu: Of course, those small troops were not worth mentioning. They came to the hostile area alone, and their own combat effectiveness was not very strong. They would soon be wiped out by the various lords on their own initiative.
But what Robb is worried about is the cavalry at the bottom of the valley coming out to attack the riverlands.
Under Littlefinger's instigation and control, it is not impossible for Valley Bottom to suddenly backstab. When large and small forces unite to wreak havoc in the Riverlands, the situation will be different.
Small units collect intelligence, and large units mobilize collectively.
Especially the logistics troops led by Edmure will suffer a devastating blow.
If Robb cleans out the small forces of the Lannister family, the people at the bottom of the valley will not know the situation in the riverlands and will never dare to attack rashly.
This will ensure rear stability.
Moreover, Robb's wolf cavalry marches very fast, and its mobile combat capabilities can be ranked at the forefront of the entire Westeros continent. After cleaning up the small Lannister troops, they can go back and catch up with Earl Blackfish's large troops. .
——
Tywin's team moved slowly, but the old lion was always very patient.
Kevanhui reported: "The Hightower family has arrived. They have begun to station themselves near Highgarden. They are just waiting for us to pass before they can begin the siege."
Tywin was calm and asked: "Where are the people of Dorne?"
"We have crossed the mountain range and will meet up with the Hightower family soon."
Tywin sneered and said: "Then we really need to increase our speed a little bit. Dorne and the various nobles in the River Bend have hatred. If I don't go there, they will probably start fighting themselves."
The Dornish people are martial and aggressive. Because of the barren land, they have not had a good relationship with the nobles of the Stormlands and the River Bend for a long time.
It is perfectly normal for people to die in war.
Now everyone is temporarily united for benefit, but no one can guarantee that they can live together in harmony.
Tywin had no idea that he had a deep hatred for Dorne.
"We should pay more attention to the north and send out spies. That Stark does have some military talent. His large army is attacking my western border, but he might send some people to attack us."
Tywin glanced at the huge baggage train in the rear. Although those were powerful weapons for siege, they were still very energy-consuming to transport.
In just the past few days of marching, several pack horses and donkeys that were temporarily recruited died of exhaustion.
At this rate of consumption, it is estimated that the military horses will soon be used to pull supplies, which makes Tywin a little distressed.
"Send a small force to grab more things in the Reach, especially horses and donkeys."
"Pay attention to that old guy Stannis, who has been hiding in Storm's End. I don't know what he is plotting. He won't give up so easily."
"Write a letter to the Hightower family and ask them to try it according to the established plan. If they succeed, our action will be smoother."
Tywin sat on the horse steadily, issued one order after another, and his horses that delivered the message ran out one after another, passing the Prime Minister's order to each noble.
Tywin was also very clear about the main goal of this expedition: "This time, we must catch that little guy. When the time comes, the hypocritical prosperous castle will collapse by itself."
——
"Kill!!!"
"King Joffrey and Lord Tywin have ordered that anyone who climbs to the top of Highgarden first can be canonized as a knight!"
"Hold on! For Highgarden!"
In Highgarden, Duke Mace stood on the wall, looking at the Hightower army below, with a big belly and a puzzled expression on his face.
"Are the people of the Hightower family geniuses? When the number of people and supplies on both sides are similar, they dare to attack the castle directly?"
Ever since receiving Robb's letter and more than a dozen warning letters from the Queen of Thorns, the Duke of Mace has given up the idea of taking people out to fight a decisive battle with the Hightower family.
Although he is eager for honor, he still can't stand the double pressure.
In the letter, Robb also mentioned an important strategy for defending the city, called "clearing the surrounding land and strengthening the city walls."
So when the Hightower army arrived at Highgarden, they were surprised to find that the grain and rose crops near Highgarden had been harvested.
When Baelor Hightower led his men to provoke and insult the Duke of Mace under the city wall, he was only responded by cold arrows.
The Duke of Mace at least kept his inner restlessness.
"But how dare these people attack my city wall directly?"
The Duke of Mace was puzzled. The situation on the battlefield was the same as he thought. The people of the Hightower family were quickly repelled by the defenders.
In this siege, the enemy did not gain any advantage and suffered a lot of losses.
Watching the enemy retreating like a tide, Duke Mace felt that he was doing well again.
Thinking back to the time when Robert rebelled, Stannis was trapped in Storm's End for several months under his command and persisted until Robert succeeded in usurping the throne.
He became a laughing stock in the background.
Now his sons are out to attack the Westerlands, and he is here to defend Highgarden. In a trance, Duke Mace also has a sense of mission to sacrifice himself for the overall situation.
"Very good, that's it! I can also become a legendary lord recorded by the maesters!"
Just when Duke Mace was smiling, the soldiers of the Hightower family gathered again. This time they were no longer working directly, but were setting up strange devices one by one.
"It seems to be used for siege?"
When a huge monster you have never seen before appears on the battlefield, it must be a siege device.
——
At this time, in the Hightower camp.
The scholars from the Citadel filled the barracks. They wrote and drew on paper, as if calculating something.
"When the soldiers attacked the city just now, they recorded the data of the city wall here."
Sir Baelor Hightower said loudly: "The drawings sent by Lord Tywin are also here. You know better than me how to install these big guys. Please help me."
The scholars were confident: "Sir Baelor, don't worry. We have tested it before. This siege drawing is really ingenious. It can not only increase the projection distance of large equipment, but also reduce consumption."
"I didn't expect that there are such genius scholars in King's Landing. They are simply blessed by the Seven Gods Blacksmith. Otherwise, it will take at least decades to research this kind of thing!"
Sir Baelor nodded: "That's good. This time, we must destroy Highgarden before Lord Tywin arrives!"
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