After returning to the camp with Gendry, Arthur ordered him to stay with the sellswords, and then turned to find Sansa.
There was one more important thing he needed to do:
Let Sansa Stark abolish the position of commander of the old shady Lord Leech.
The Boltons brought about 3,000 infantrymen to the south, and even with his potential ally, the Freys, there were only 5,000.
The combined forces of the second-tier families in the North, such as the Karstarks, Manderlys, and Umbers, and other forces loyal to the Wolfs, were about 5,000.
Considering that the Freys were also loyal to the Wolfs before Robb broke the engagement, Roose Bolton still did not dare to openly disobey the orders of the Starks.
And Sansa and Robb are siblings, and with her around, the matter of replacing Bolton can be explained.
After removing Roose Bolton from the position of commander, the coalition army did not need to fight, and could directly go to the West River to find Robb or go to Harrenhal to garrison.
By then, Tywin would be trapped in the West River, and the time for the Lion and the Flower to join would be greatly delayed. It was Walder Frey's twelfth son "Lame Lotho" who contacted Emmon Frey in the Lion camp, causing the Freys to secretly defect. With top generals like Arthur, it was uncertain whether the Red Wedding could happen.
And as long as the northern soldiers loyal to the Wolf family on the eastern front were still there, Bolton would not dare to have any tricks.
After all, "The North will never forget" refers to the loyalty of the northerners to the Wolf family, not to his skinning family.
There was a circle of Stark soldiers around Sansa's tent. As far as Arthur knew, about 70% of the 3,000 Wolf infantrymen on the eastern front had been sent away by Lord Leech.
The Wolf soldiers on guard nodded and moved away. They also knew that after their eldest lady "escaped" from the Red Castle, the first person she found was this Bracken, so they were very confident in him.
After lifting the curtain and entering, Arthur went straight to the point: "Sansa, now is the time for your Stark family to survive. Bolton must be removed from the position of commander in chief, so that this coalition can be preserved."
Sansa, who was still sewing clothes, put down the needle and thread and cloth and looked at Arthur, who was still covered in blood.
"Why don't you clean the blood off your body? It looks scary."
Sansa's focus was different. If she hadn't maintained the image of a lady in front of the tall and handsome Arthur, she would have pinched her nose to avoid the pungent smell of blood.
For a noble lady like her who had rarely seen blood, and had never smelled the blood of chickens, ducks, fish and meat, this rust-like smell was really frightening.
Arthur glanced at the already worn-out plate armor on his body and felt that it was not a big problem.
In previous battles, he often asked his servant Medan to clean and maintain the plate armor and the chain mail underneath after the battle situation was completely stabilized.
The only time he was forced to clean the blood on his body was when he borrowed troops from Riverrun.
At that time, he was covered in horse blood and internal organs, and he was wary of the pursuers from the Westerlands, so he didn't clean it. The weather was hot at that time, and it fermented and became sour and smelly in three or four days.
Fortunately, the weather is getting cooler now, and the blood on his body should not become smelly. The war is intense recently, so he can only take time to clean it simply, and he can't maintain all the plate armor in the server.
"That's not the point." Arthur also felt that Sansa was a little bit frightened by the blood on his body, so he just stood at the curtain of the tent.
"The key is that you should replace Roose Bolton's position as commander while Willis Manderly, Robert Glover and others are still here. Otherwise, according to his way of fighting, the remaining Northerners will all be his soldiers."
Sansa touched her maroon hair and replied: "What you said makes sense, but will Roose Bolton listen to us? Will other people in the North support me?"
Although she felt that Arthur's smell was very pungent, she still waved him to come closer.
"It goes without saying that Glover, Helman Tallhart, and Willis Manderly are all loyal to your family. Although Harion, the heir of the Karstark family, was captured, his family was also loyal to your family before, so the soldiers will support you. In this way, half of the coalition forces are on our side."
Arthur thought for a moment and said, "Aenys, the commander of the Frey family, is very good at commanding the army, but not very sensitive to political positions. Before his father Walder Frey gave clear instructions, he should also support the orders of the Stark family members."
Before Robb broke off the engagement, the Frey family performed very well and made many military achievements for the Wolf and Fish Alliance. Even Styvren, the first heir of the Twins, died while fighting with Robb. Styvren's grandson Black Walder also led the way and was the first in every battle.
As long as Robb does not break off the engagement and the Lion and Flower merger does not happen, the loyalty of the Frey family is still very reliable.
"Okay, let's go now. What should I say then?" Sansa was not very clear about the military situation. She only knew that her own soldiers were decreasing rapidly.
Arthur, who had sneaked into the Red Keep and rescued her, made this Stark, who had been in a state of panic since her father's death, feel very safe, so she followed his advice.
Arthur had already prepared a speech for her:
"First, you said that he was preserving his own strength and sending soldiers from other families to die, and then accused him of doing something wrong last night. He had an advantage in military strength and could have rushed into King's Landing in one go, but he sent thousands of loyal soldiers in vain, and even sent two earls, Haris Hornwood and Mage Severn, to die in vain. The people of the North should be able to feel these two points. Finally, you withdrew his command in the name of the Stark family, and let Robert Glover, Herman Tallhart and others jointly command, and bring the coalition forces to Harrenhal to wait for Robb's order."
The prevailing inheritance law in Westeros is quite open, allowing women to inherit titles and territories, but most lords choose to let men inherit, so there are not many female countesses and duchesses.
So before Robb clearly made Jon Snow or his two younger brothers his heirs, Sansa did have the right of inheritance.
The northern nobles also had to consider her opinion.
Sansa blinked, highly focused, and wrote down everything.
"One more thing. Old Bolton may refuse and do something excessive later, so you have to stand by my side all the time so that I can protect you."
Arthur concluded that Lord Leech would not dare to attack Sansa in a place where many northern nobles were present, but he might do something shady to keep his position as commander, such as claiming that Sansa was deceived by the river people and refused to hand over the command.
At that time, some violent means will be used.
If Roose Bolton really dares to refuse openly, Arthur will decide to settle the old and new accounts together.
Arthur still remembers that Leech sent his own people to be killed last night.
He must be skinned alive even if he doesn't die.
If Robb blames him in the future, he will have a reasonable reason.
After all, he pulled Sansa's banner.
Miss Stark nodded, adjusted her skirt, and followed Arthur out.
Twenty Wolf soldiers followed when they saw the opportunity.
The central army tent.
The nobles in the North were still discussing the next move. A group of radical young people insisted on taking down King's Landing before leaving. Of course, they were also discussing how to kill Joffrey.
The more mature ones, such as Robert Glover, advocated going to Harrenhal, on the one hand to prevent Tywin from leading his troops eastward, and on the other hand to prepare to go to the West River and fight the main force of the Lion family.
Lord Leech had a gloomy face, and it was unknown what he was thinking.
The arrival of Sansa and Arthur made most people divert their attention.
"In view of Lord Bolton's immature performance last night, I have a suggestion."
Miss Stark walked to the center of the tent and said to everyone.
Now, basically everyone's eyes turned to her.
Lord Leech noticed something was wrong, "If I have any mistakes, please let Miss Sansa point them out. I will faithfully fulfill the task assigned to me by King Robb."
He emphasized the words King Robb because the people in the North still care about this.
Arthur followed Sansa quietly without saying a word.
In this situation, Stark must argue with the northerners, and other people's words are not effective.
Sansa took a deep breath, "I think everyone knows that Lord Bolton always sends our soldiers and soldiers from other northern families to charge in every battle, and keeps his soldiers in the rear as a reserve. This is wrong. And we could have rushed into King's Landing last night..."
She combined Arthur's words and began to encourage the northern nobles.
The weak voice of a woman is always easy to accept.
Miss Stark spoke slowly, and this group of arrogant people began to nod in approval.
"... So I decided to abolish Roose Bolton's position as the commander of the coalition forces in the name of Robb Stark, and hand over his command to Robbert Glover, Willis Manderly, Herman Tallhart, Arthur Bracken and other adults. In the future, the actions of the coalition forces will be discussed by these adults."
Listening to Sansa's words, Arthur suddenly felt that there was a little problem.
Earlier in her tent, Arthur did not ask to be added to the joint command.
First, he was going to go south to find Jules and the dragon eggs to hatch dragons; second, in the eyes of the northerners, he was just a brave general who charged forward, but he was not good at commanding the army.
The first three were all high-ranking northern earl-level nobles. Although Arthur was famous and respected by them, his influence might not be enough.
But Sansa took the initiative to add him. Although there was no big problem, some people might seize this point to object.
Lord Leech first listened to Sansa's words silently, and waited until she finished speaking before explaining:
"It can be seen that Miss Sansa should not know much about marching and fighting. The lords present should understand my behavior of sending people to keep the food first."
Originally, he was going to refuse to hand over his command, but when he saw Bracken, who had not wiped the bruises on his plate armor, standing behind Sansa with his head held high, he suddenly changed his mind.
Although he was appointed by Robb himself, if Miss Stark ordered him to be arrested for refusing orders, no one present could stop the River Hammer God, and at that time, a little accident could make him meet the gods in heaven.
It is still important to save his life.
After Lord Leech secretly belittled Sansa, he expressed his loyalty: "Of course, I will absolutely obey any order from the Stark family. Since you are better at selecting commanders than His Majesty Robb, I also agree to hand over my command."
He was still secretly belittling Sansa for being ignorant and destroying Robb's plan.
Although this was very sarcastic, it made Arthur feel relieved.
"It's just that the Rivermen should also participate in the command. I think Ser Aenys Frey should want to say something." Lord Leech changed the subject and asked the leader of the Frey family to express his opinion.
Aenys was standing well, but was suddenly called by Roose Bolton. He was slightly stunned and didn't know what to say.
But when he saw Lord Leech's narrowed eyes, he understood what he meant.
Lord Bolton should be afraid that he would be sold out after losing the command, so he wanted Aenys to come out and fight for it and participate in the command.
When the Northerners were fighting internally, the Frey family, as the river lords, could not participate, but Aenys happened to see his youngest brother, Alma Frey, who was serving as Roose Bolton's attendant.
According to the agreement between Robb and the Frey family, Alma will marry Arya Stark at some time after the war.
Originally Arya was just a duke's daughter, but after Robb became king, Arya became a real princess.
So Alma, who is about to marry the princess, is very excited recently, and always brags about how noble the Starks are in front of the Freys.
After weighing the pros and cons, Aenys feels that even if the Boltons marry into his family, it is better to curry favor with the Stark family, which has a higher status and nobler bloodline.
After all, after two marriages and one marriage, the Freys are really deeply bound to the two families of the Fish and Wolf.
So he ignored the hint of Lord Bolton and said loudly: "His Majesty Robb is the king of our Frey family, and his sister is also a princess. We must obey the orders issued by the princess in the name of His Majesty the King."
Roose Bolton glanced at Aenys gloomily, and he didn't expect that this man was so cowardly.
The other northern nobles present naturally had no objection, and the matter was settled.
Robert originally advocated that after exchanging the remains of Duke Eddard, he would lead the troops north to Harrenhal, so as soon as he was nominated by Miss Stark, he actively expressed his views.
This was also what Arthur told Sansa, so Stark also expressed his support for this.
So everyone reached a consensus to go north to Harrenhal and make plans later.
Near noon, Lord Herman Tallhart, who went to exchange the Little Devil for the remains, also came back.
Because the torso and head of Lord Eddard were separated, and the torso was not processed by the maesters, the head was hung outside the Red Castle and had become smelly, so the people of the North were immediately excited when they saw the remains.
Some people wanted to kill Joffrey on the spot, while others were ready to rush into King's Landing to kill Cersei and other royal family members.
Although Sansa had seen her father's head from a distance, it was the first time she saw the remains up close, and she burst into tears on the spot.
After the more rational people comforted them for a long time, everyone calmed down and listened to the conditions of King's Landing brought by Lord Tallhart.
"Queen Mother Cersei knew that it was Arthur who took Joffrey away, so she said that Bracken would come to the city to negotiate with her, and she would agree to any conditions."