Like most river areas, the fiefdom of the Root family is mainly plains, with a few small hills.
South of the town and the ferry, there is an almost endless plain. As far as the eye can see, except for the King's Road extending straight to the south, there are farmlands and scattered trees.
Arthur took Tyrion, Raymond, Patrick, Locke, Hosteen Frey, Robert Glover and others to a small hill south of the town and looked around the land.
Baron Charles of Root pointed to the ground and said, "This may be the highest mountain in my territory, if it can be called a mountain."
Tyrion pointed to the south, "Based on my understanding of the Lannister family, after knowing the news of the disastrous defeat on the Western Front, there must be a heavy-armed force rushing here to block the ferry and take advantage of the Northern Army's instability to do a bad job first."
While walking here, Arthur had already roughly told Tyrion about the current situation.
But he didn't tell him the specific distribution of the Northern Army's forces, only that a large army would march south from the King's Road.
This little information was enough for the little devil to play the role of his military advisor.
"And the most famous heavy-armored unit of the Lion family is the heavy cavalry corps with a number of up to 5,000 people." Patrick added.
He now wanted to do something with his idol Arthur, so he followed him wherever he went.
"That's right." Tyrion nodded, "So as long as you defend this wave of attacks, when the Northern Army comes to help, you will be no weaker than the enemy in terms of numbers."
"The best way to deal with heavy cavalry is to interrupt their charge, or simply prevent them from rushing over."
He stood in front of everyone and drew a half circle with his little hand, "We can dig a tunnel in the open space in front of this hill to stop the cavalry's charge. When they find that their horses can't cross, they can only dismount and fight us."
Now Tywin's army is still near Harrenhal. It will take them two or three days to march north, which is enough time to set up fortifications here.
Arthur remembered the time outside the Stone Fence, when he and dozens of cavalrymen rushed into the trap made by the enemy.
"The tunnel is a bit small, we can mobilize the nearby civilians to dig dozens of traps, put spikes and sharp stones in them, and guarantee that even armored cavalry and war horses will lose half their lives if they fall into them." He said to everyone.
Among the many brains that followed, only Raymond and Robert Glover had better brains.
The two nodded in agreement, and Raymond added: "The loose soil dug out can also be piled on the inside to form a mound, so that our soldiers can attack the enemy from a high position."
Robert, wearing a crimson cloak, described the whole idea in more detail: "If we dig deep pits and set traps, the workload will be too large. We can dig traps in the south of this hill and dig shallower tunnels on the east and west sides. In short, we can prevent the enemy cavalry from rushing in."
Everyone talked about it and felt that this arrangement was feasible.
"We can gather nearly a thousand men and women who can work nearby, plus our more than 1,800 soldiers, which is enough to complete this project before the enemy arrives." Baron Root said.
Recently, due to the outbreak of war, many people have fled from his territory, otherwise he could have gathered more people.
"Then start the execution. Tyrion is responsible for planning the location of traps and tunnels, and how to pile up the loose soil dug out. Mr. Glover, please protect Tyrion." Arthur ordered.
Tyrion, who is familiar with various books and has a lot of knowledge, can be used as a half-maester. The Root family cannot afford to support a maester, so the little devil can only be responsible for the overall defense project.
But he is not completely his own man, so Arthur asked Robert Glover to supervise him in the name of protection to prevent Tyrion from doing anything.
Robert, with his head held high, looked at Arthur and understood what this Bracken meant.
"If there is no problem, then start."
Everyone returned to the town and began to mobilize the people and soldiers to work.
The cavalry was sent out to gather nearby farmers, and the soldiers took off their armor and prepared for a whole day of work.
Although the idea was comprehensive, there were many difficulties in its implementation.
The most difficult thing was that there were not enough hoes and shovels on the fiefdom of the Root family.
The newly appointed military advisor provided his own advice: "When I went south with the mountain clans, I met many refugee farmers who might have farm tools in their hands. If you can find a way to get them, hoes and shovels will no longer be a problem."
Crossing the Trident River to take refuge was indeed the choice of quite a few farmers, so the north bank gathered far more civilians than usual.
Arthur suddenly remembered that he still had a parchment scroll with the seal of Duke Horst. At that time, Master Tully gave it to him in order to facilitate the several river nobles who were chasing the Mountain. Later, Raymond and others who went to King's Landing to submit evidence were handed over to him.
In this situation, it is just right to use it.
Arthur asked his servant Medan to find the parchment scroll and give it to Charles Root and Hosteen Frey, asking them to go to the north bank to get farm tools and, if possible, call some people to help with the work.
The Frey family's territory was along the Green Fork River, and the Root family was considered an influential noble in the area, so it was just right for the two to go.
An hour later, the intense but orderly construction of fortifications officially began.
The seven or eight hundred farmers and thousands of soldiers who were summoned dug at the designated traps, but because of the lack of tools, only three or four people were often given a hoe and a shovel.
In order to be fair, one person would work for half an hour before the other person took his turn.
This slowed down the progress.
When not working, some optimistic farmers began to hum folk songs, and then the mercenaries followed and shouted the rather bold ballads on the continent of Essos.
The hometown of these mercenaries, Qohor, is located at the junction of the Free Trade City and the Dothraki grasslands. Wars often break out, and the area nearby is the most densely populated area of the Rhoyne River bandits, so the people are quite brave.
In the ballads, they shouted at the top of their lungs.
This is in sharp contrast to the light and passionate tunes of the riverlands.
Fortunately, singing does not affect the progress of the project.
In the afternoon, the two nobles who went to the north bank brought back nearly a thousand tools and more than three hundred farmers.
This immediately brought the construction site to life, and before dark, the general appearance of the entire group of traps and tunnels appeared.
Of course, in order to prevent the enemy's small forces from exploring the fortifications, Arthur also sent a dozen cavalry teams of four or five people to move around in the south for more than ten leagues to drive away the scouts from the West.
After dinner, the farmers and soldiers crowded on the flat ground around the town, spread some hay and began to sleep and rest. Although the long summer is about to end, the temperature is still warm, and sleeping in the open air is not impossible.
Although there are some tents, they are not enough for nearly three thousand people.
The next two days are almost the same.
On the morning of the fourth day, the entire project was roughly completed.
The cavalry who went to the south to drive away the scouts from the West were also called back. Before the traps are fully formed, they have to pass through the trap area to avoid falling into the pits they dug.
Then, simple camouflage covered the surface of dozens of traps.
After finishing the work, most of the farmers and the people of the Root family were sent to the north bank. The next battle would be fierce, and they had no need to wade through the flood without armor and weapons.
That afternoon, thousands of westerland cavalry wearing crimson cloaks and black ringmail finally appeared a few leagues to the south.
The river coalition forces who received the news gathered together and prepared to defend against the enemy on the hill and on the east and west sides.
Arthur brought 500 soldiers from the river families, 600 soldiers from the Murton family, more than 500 people from the mountain clan, more than 200 mercenaries from Qohor, and 47 soldiers from the Root family, a total of 1,892 combatants.
The armor and flags they wore were even more varied, including plate armor, chain mail, iron armor, plate armor, bronze rune plate armor, etc. There were Arthur's golden saber flag, Patrick's purple silver eagle flag, Raymond's brown black farmer flag, two quarter-grid flags of the Vance family, the two-headed horse flag of the Root family, and the red salmon flag of Maiden Spring City.
Even the knowledgeable Tyrion had to admit that if he hadn't gotten familiar with this group of people in the past few days, he wouldn't have recognized all the flags of so many people at once.
The flags and armor of the Westerlands Army, which was slowly charging north, were much more unified.
They were all Lannister's roaring lion flags, and the armor could tell whether they were heavy cavalry or light cavalry at a glance.
Nearly 5,000 Westerlands cavalry launched an attack on the hill and the river coalition on both sides, and the rumbling of horse hooves made the earth begin to tremble.
Tyrion, holding a small pocket sword, had trembling legs: "Who would have thought that a captive like me would have to face his own cavalry?"
Although he had been proud of the Lannister heavy cavalry in the past, he now deeply resented why his father had built such a powerful army.
Arthur, who was standing beside him, replied: "Relax, you will be safe with me."
The purpose of bringing Tyrion with him was to protect him.
The little devil raised his head and saw the golden sword in Arthur's hand.
"Looking at your worn-out sword, I feel that I am not far from meeting the gods in the sky. Is it easier to chop people with a sword with many holes?" He questioned.
The blade of the golden Guandao in Arthur's hand has become irregularly serrated, so it naturally does not look very sharp.
"It's not very handy, but it's enough to kill someone." Arthur swung the handy weapon fiercely, "In fact, I always use it as a blunt weapon."
Because the blade is not very sharp, Arthur needs to use more strength when he cuts people, which makes his opponent die more painfully.
Of course, if the blade is rusty, it will be more in line with Arthur's taste.
One cut, if you are lucky enough not to die on the spot, you will be infected. Considering the level of the maesters and the military doctors, it is probably equivalent to death.
Tyrion shook his head and thought that he should find an opportunity to reveal his identity to the westerly soldiers on the opposite side.
The little devil immediately overturned this idea. With his height, as long as the westerly soldiers saw him, how could they not recognize who he was?
Although he participated in the construction of fortifications, he also knew that if his own cavalry decided to rush over regardless of casualties, the traps and tunnels would not be able to stop them for long.
The final decisive battle must be a crowded battle.
Tyrion thought vaguely, racking his brains but couldn't figure out how to escape from this ambitious man next to him under such circumstances.
"Ah!" He sighed softly, feeling sad that he couldn't decide his own life.
Arthur looked down at this Lannister and knew that he had no intention of returning home and was still thinking about escaping from him and returning to the Westerlands.
"Don't sigh, my friend. I will protect you in this battle."
After Arthur comforted the little devil, he ordered a bundle of lances to be brought to him.
In the late night attack on the camp, he hit Tywin who was fleeing on horseback with a sword, which gave him confidence in his ability to throw javelins, so he practiced javelin throwing a lot in the past few days.
Since there was no special javelin for him, he could only use the most common lance to throw.
When the enemy charged to a distance of forty or fifty steps, Arthur threw the first lance with all his strength.
Under the gaze of thousands of people in the audience, this lance passed through a long distance like a sharp arrow from a string and pierced into the neck of a certain unlucky Westerland soldier.
Ordinary soldiers don't have the throat guards of noble lords. There is only a layer of chain mail around the neck, so they can't defend against stabs.
But this unlucky Westerland cavalry only attracted attention for a few breaths, because the cavalry in the front row began to fall into the dug trap.
Tyrion looked at the Westerland cavalrymen who fell into the trap he had built and commanded, and he could not help but regret it.
These were the cavalrymen that his family had spent a lot of money to train. The money spent on the hundreds of war horses that fell into the pit was impossible for the families below the earl to afford.
Fortunately, Duke Tywin's gold was well spent. After just a commotion, the momentum of the Westerland cavalry charge came to an abrupt end.
Several officers commanded the Lion Family cavalrymen in front of the trap to retreat and organized to rescue their comrades who fell into the trap.
It was a pity that the River Alliance did not have a large number of archers and crossbowmen, otherwise they could take this opportunity to give the enemy a hard blow.
Arthur lowered his head and asked, "Brother Tyrion, do you recognize who is the leader of your family? Let me see the style of the Lion Family General."
The little devil squinted his eyes and recognized that the leader was his cousin, Davon Lannister.
At the moment, Davon was surrounded by dozens of dismounted Lion officers and heavy cavalry, studying the traps and tunnels around the hill.
He was about to point it out to Arthur, but suddenly remembered the previous throw.
If he pointed it out, his cousin's life would be in danger.
"Hey, I've been in Casterly Rock for a long time, and I'm not very familiar with these low-level officers." Tyrion said.
Patrick beside Arthur guessed the enemy's commander, "It's the man surrounded by the group of cavalry in the middle. It's probably Davon, with the golden long hair and golden beard that are the symbols of the Lannister family. There's no mistake."
He was responsible for the defense of the Harrenhal gate for a period of time, so he had dealt with many Lion spies and knew the characteristics of the enemy's new commander.
Arthur looked at Tyrion, who was a little guilty, with interest, then picked up a lance, aimed at the target, and threw it hard.
But when the enemy didn't move, the effect was not as good as before.
A heavy cavalryman caught the shot with his heavily armored body, saving the commander from death.
After that, Arthur's several attempts were resolved by the Lion's soldiers with their cavalry shields and heavily armored bodies.
This also angered Davon and the Lion's officers. After probing the trap area, the dismounted heavy cavalrymen attacked from the tunnels on both sides.
The battle became visibly fierce.
"Horsding, you take the mountain clans to the east to strengthen the defense, and I and the mercenaries will go to the west." Arthur ordered.
According to Patrick, this Hosting is the most capable Frey, and it is estimated that he is also a powerful fighting force of the first-line knights in Westeros. Arthur is still very relieved to send him to the east.
"No problem, watch me stab the assholes of the Lannister soldiers!" The tall Frey drew out his greatsword, turned around and went to the east with his men.
Arthur himself also went to the west with more than 200 Qohor mercenaries.