For the northerners, tonight may be the most desperate moment since they went south.
The first surprise came from the failure of the night attack.
After being taught many times by the northerners and direwolves, and Tywin himself having suffered a painful lesson of being seriously injured by the night attack, the westerners were well prepared in this regard.
The night attack did not have the expected effect. In the extremely neat and beautiful camp of the Lion family, most of the infantry were ready for battle.
Since the enemy was prepared, the night attack was meaningless, so Robb ordered a retreat.
The second surprise came from the heavy cavalry corps behind.
A full 4,000 heavy cavalry of the Lion family in horse and armor attacked from behind the fish and wolf coalition, directly causing chaos in the coalition's formation.
Fortunately, there were many brave and courageous people among the northerners, and with the loyal followers attracted by the unique personality charm of the young wolf lord, the rear battle line did not become a one-sided massacre.
But the situation was not optimistic. The Lion's infantry had already begun to encircle from both sides with their superior strength. If they did not fight their way out, I'm afraid that more than 10,000 people would die here.
Roose Bolton, who served as the commander of the reserve army, sent someone to request to lead the troops to break out.
The young wolf made a prompt decision and ordered the Bolton troops, whose command system was stable and not entangled in the chaos, to break out to the east, while his own soldiers also evacuated to the east. .
The third accident happened.
The three people sent by Bolton turned out to be assassins. They chopped down several guards and nobles who were surrounding Robb.
These people were all noble children from the North and the Riverlands, including Daisy Mormont, Wendel Manderly, Lucas Blackwood and others.
Fortunately, the ice wolf Grey Wind bit an assassin to death, and the remaining two were also surrounded and killed by the crowd.
The situation on the battlefield became even worse. The Bolton army turned against them and began to attack the soldiers who were still loyal to the King of the North.
Thus, the encirclement began to form in the north, south and east directions, with Casterly Rock, a huge rock castle, to the west.
At the critical moment, Maggie Mormont, Owen Norrey, Robin Flint and other northern nobles urged His Majesty Robb to lead his men to rush out from the northeast first.
There was the boundary between the Lion's heavy cavalry and the Bolton army. Since the two armies were not very familiar with each other, some open space was left to prevent accidental injuries to friendly forces.
"I am a king, how can I abandon my soldiers?" The young wolf shouted at the vassals.
He ordered everyone to break out with the soldiers first, and he and 1,500 Stark cavalrymen stayed behind.
Even though he had been king for a short time, Robb still established his prestige, so everyone reluctantly led the soldiers to withdraw first.
The fighting in the dark night continued, and the Stark cavalry who were left behind suffered heavy casualties.
Fortunately, Robb had many loyal and capable men under his command, who kept the front line stable, including his uncle Brynden Tully, the legendary knight Blackfish.
Horst, the river guardian, and Blackfish had always been at odds. During a quarrel, Duke Tully accused his brother of being "the black sheep of the Tully family". Sir Brynden smiled and said it should be Blackfish, so he changed his coat of arms and flag to the Blackfish pattern.
After the War of the Usurper, Blackfish followed his niece to the Vale and was appointed as a Knight of the Bloody Gate by Jon Arryn. Fifteen years later, after Lysa refused to fight for her relatives, Blackfish accompanied Catelyn Stark north to White Harbor and joined Robb's army nearby, commanding scouts and reconnaissance riders for him.
After learning that he had not detected the true movements of the Lion's cavalry, Blackfish, who loved his relatives, felt even more guilty towards Robb, so he rushed in with more than a hundred of his men to rescue his nephew and grandson.
After some of the leading nobles withdrew their soldiers from the encirclement, they rushed in with their fast-moving riders to fight their king.
But the reputation of the Lion's heavy cavalry was not exaggerated.
They launched several charges and bit the coalition's front line tightly, causing heavy losses to the coalition's cavalry.
And Robb and other command centers were the focus of their attention. The way to identify the heavy cavalry was through the huge gray wolf.
Where the wolf was, there was the "false king".
Duke Tywin had ordered that anyone who cut off Robb's head would be rewarded with 10,000 gold dragons, and anyone who cut off the dire wolf's head would be rewarded with 5,000 gold dragons, and the Iron Throne would also grant the corresponding noble title.
This greatly boosted the morale of all the soldiers in the West. For a soldier of civilian origin, such a large sum of gold dragons meant that they had a family property that could be passed down from generation to generation, and the noble title could make people rise to the top in one step.
In the fierce battle, Grey Wind was pierced by the iron tips of several lances and fell to the ground with a whimper.
The injury of the dire wolf made Robb, who was closely connected with it, uneasy.
In order to take his companion away, the young wolf dismounted and tried to let the giant wolf stand up by itself.
The enemy seized the fleeting opportunity, and a captain of the Lion's centurion team hit the head of the "false king" with an iron helmet with a nail hammer.
This made Robb unable to stand, and the knights such as Blackfish immediately dismounted and protected the young wolf.
The Lion's cavalry rushed forward again, stabbing the plate chain mail and small round shields of this group of people.
Many soldiers of the coalition were killed and wounded, and the speed of evacuation suddenly dropped.
In addition, the night was unclear, and the scene was extremely chaotic.
Arthur, Jon, Jon, Rona Stout and others arrived at the battlefield at this time.
Although the army was small in number, it penetrated into the Westerland infantry from behind, which caused some Westerland soldiers to riot.
Arthur and others were able to kill through the entire Lion Family camp, and then found the Lion Family, where the cavalry surrounded Robb and others.
This kind of crowded battlefield is where the giant hammer is most effective. With one swing of Arthur's hammer, he can make a heavy cavalryman's armor crack and his flesh and blood fly everywhere.
Not long after, he had led people in to kill him.
"Hurry up and run away. My red rabbit is big enough. I will be responsible for taking away the direwolf."
Blackfish picked up his nephew, Arthur carried the huge Gray Wind onto the red giant horse, and the group of people retreated.
Dozens of nobles who could fight opened the way, and the remaining Stark cavalry followed and fought their way out from the encircled northeast.
The Bolton tribe and the red robes on the south side, which were mostly infantry, were easy to get rid of, but the lion cavalry, which was sufficiently mobile, pursued them closely. The battle continued until dawn.
Most of the coalition infantry who escaped first were killed by the Lion cavalry. By the time they were completely out of the battlefield, there were only about 2,000 soldiers still surrounding Robb.
Blackfish and other generals advocated retreating along the river road, but were stopped by Robb, who was not in good condition.
The King of the North and the Three Rivers called most of the nobles to him and said slowly: "In the witness of the gods in heaven and all your lords, I appoint Jon Stark as my heir, and he will inherit the North and the Three Rivers in the future. The royal title of the King, as well as the direct territories of Winterfell and Stark...ahem..."
This legislation is easy to understand. These are troubled times. Sansa and Arya are not suitable to be lords. Bran is disabled and Rickon is still young. Only the "adult" Jon is suitable to take charge of the Stark family.
Although it was unlikely to do so under prevailing inheritance laws, the king had the prerogative to legitimize illegitimate children and to designate his own heirs.
After the Young Wolf Master coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, he began to tell his subordinates: "Joffrey's life is worth my father's life, and Tywin's serious injury is worth my uncle Edmure's serious injury. We and the Lion family are even." The losses in this battle are too heavy. Just retreat to the Riverlands and defend your territory. Don't fight the lions again. "
His helmet was deformed, showing that he was seriously injured.
"Who is Arthur Bracken?" Robb asked softly.
Arthur stepped forward after being called.
"Yes, he looks very noble. I heard that you killed Joffrey, and you avenged my father for me. Stonehedge is yours, Earl Bracken."
There is actually something wrong with this statement. How can we inflict the hatred of our relatives on others?
But considering that the enemy Joffrey is indeed dead, and the Wolf family is no longer able to attack the Lion family in a large scale, this revenge can only be regarded as revenge.
"I consider myself good to Roose Bolton. His betrayal makes me angry. My life is on his account. Whoever kills him for me will be considered as avenging me."
Bolton's betrayal made many people in the north angry, and the Young Wolf Lord's death only strengthened this hatred.
Many bellicose nobles in the north have spoken out, expressing their sworn opposition to the Skinners.
After roughly explaining the aftermath, Robb ordered a retreat.
The army of more than two thousand men returned to the Golden Teeth along the River Road. Halfway through the journey, the seriously injured Robb went to see his father in heaven, and the direwolf Gray Wind also left.
This greatly demoralized the entire army.
But the issue of morale is not the focus yet. The situation on the entire continent has begun to become confusing again.
News came from the east that Stannis had captured King's Landing.
Thanks to the fact that the fish and wolf coalition forces on the eastern front consumed part of the wildfire stock and reduced the number of King's Landing defenders to three to five thousand, Stannis, who learned his lesson, violently attacked the city during the day and captured what he wanted in one go. The Iron Throne.
Cersei and others knew they were outmatched, so they first sent a large number of civilians out of the city to disrupt the offensive rhythm of Erlu's army.
Although Erlu was ruthless and ungrateful, he would not attack civilians, so Cersei took her two children and courtiers, guarded by more than two thousand gold robes, and took advantage of the chaos to rush out of the besieged King's Landing and march towards the city. Heading towards the north.
If nothing unexpected happens, Tommen, Cersei and others are avoiding the battle in Duskendale.
The news from the south also made the people in the river and the north unhappy.
As expected, the Reach bet on the Lannister and Crown Alliance, which had a high chance of winning.
Slightly different from the original plot, without Tywin's supervision of the war, the Duke of Mace, who regained military power, led 60,000 soldiers and 20,000 slaves, merchants, circus and other members eastward, and surrounded the winds loyal to Stannis. The Castle - After Stannis killed the acting castellan Penros with shadow magic, the city surrendered to Erlu.
What is interesting is that after learning that the Ironborn went north to capture the North, part of the Redwyne fleet that guarded the coast of the Reach, led by Lord Paxter Redwyne, crossed the Summer Sea and reunited with the remaining Long Island fleet. The ships reunited and began the siege of Storm's End.
As the cousin and brother-in-law of the Duke of Mace, Paxter had already besieged Storm's End with Mace sixteen years ago.
Lord Inflatable Fish and Lord Redwyne are very similar in some aspects. Both of them believed that they could force the defenders to surrender by means of long-term siege, digging tunnels, and drilling through city walls. This was what they did sixteen years ago, and the result was only public funds. Eat and drink for more than half a year - in exchange for a victory with less bloodshed.
"It is said that twenty carts of food are transported from the Reach to the outside of Storm's End every day. It is already larger than an ordinary town. It seems that the Duke of Mace is ready for a long-term war."
In the main hall of the Golden Teeth City, Karel Vance said to everyone.
After he was rescued, he stayed in Golden Teeth City, so he learned a lot of rumors.
"Is there any movement in Dorne?" Arthur asked the well-informed person.
Dorne and the Reach have been enemies for generations, and the Martell family has a feud with the Lion family. The Lion Alliance is full of hatred for the Dornish people.
"There is no news from Dorne, and there is no movement in the valley." Kalel said.
Now that Robb is dead, the biggest link to the existence of the Fish-Wolf Alliance has disappeared.
The unbreakable alliance has begun to crumble from head to toe.
The atmosphere in the main castle hall suddenly fell silent, and most of the people were thinking about the next path.
For a long time, the rude and rude Great Jon spoke on behalf of the people of the North: "Since Lord Rickard Stark listened to that damn maester and implemented the plan to go south, the entire North has not received much good. Stark We have lost two pairs of father and son, and we cannot afford to die. Therefore, I think the people in the north should go home and let the people in the river take care of themselves!"
Rickard Stark is Eddard's father. After his generation of Starks experienced the conflict between the wolves, Rickard was the only one left.
Without the help of his brothers, Rickard began to trust Willis Flowers, the maester of Winterfell. The latter proposed a southward strategy to actively expand the influence of the Wolf family south of the Neck, so Duke Rickard began to negotiate with the families to the south. In marriage, Lyanna was betrothed to Robert Baratheon, the heir to the Stormlands.
Driven by fate, Lyanna became the trigger of the Usurper's War, and Duke Rickard and his eldest son Brandon were killed in King's Landing.
As if it was reincarnation, sixteen years later, Eddard also died in front of the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing, and his eldest son also died in the south.
This statement was supported by the vast majority of the northern nobles. Rona Stau and others even expressed their desire to kill Olivier Frey.
Fortunately, Little Jon and Olifa were relatively familiar with each other, which prevented the impulse of his companions on the Eastern Front.
Moreover, he grabbed a lot of gold in Golden Tooth City that had not yet been made into the form of dragon coins. It is roughly estimated that it is worth nearly 100,000 gold dragon coins.
This was enough to satisfy the northern nobles.
By locking the Gulf of Karin and White Harbor, the North is really an independent kingdom, and because White Harbor is opposite Braavos, the people of the North don't need much land trade.
The people in Hejian were silent. The northern nobles and soldiers wanted to go home, so naturally they couldn't stop them.
But once the allies leave, the Hejian people alone may not be able to defeat the Lion Flower Alliance that has merged.
Even the generous Robert once reduced the old Earl Darry family in the East River to a viscount, but Tywin was much tougher than Robert.
Not to mention Stannis who now occupies King's Landing.
This ruthless and ungrateful man is famous in the Seven Kingdoms. He can even cut off the fingers of his best subordinate, the Onion Knight. For the "traitors" who supported Robb, he is afraid that he will either behead him or send him to serve as a vigil on the Great Wall. people.
These pampered nobles shuddered at the thought of being brothers with murderers, oathbreakers, strong criminals, etc., and maybe writing a book "My Years as a Ghoul on the Great Wall" after death.
Everyone began to think about their retreat.
It just took time to make a decision, so the meeting ended hastily for the day.
At night, Count Tristan Legg of Willow City quietly sneaked into Count Claremont Piper's room.
The latter was lying on the wooden bed, looking at the roof in a daze. After glancing at who the person was, he continued his previous actions.
"Why don't you want to join the new forces?" Tristan sneaked to the bed and asked in a low voice.
"Tommen and Stannis, take your pick. Anyway, you won't go with the Tully family." Clemont was still grieving the death of his son and had no time to think about these things.
"One is Tywin's ruling. I'm afraid we will only be left with the territories of viscounts and barons. The other is directly threatening our lives, so can't you get some snacks?" Tristan hates the fact that iron cannot make steel.
"Then do you think there is any better choice?" Clemont still looked indifferent.
"What about Dragon King Arthur?" Legge suggested.
After hearing this unfamiliar vocabulary, Clemont slowly sat up and asked, "Is it Arthur Bracken? I heard that he has a dragon. Why is he called the Dragon King?"
"Let's not pretend to be confused." Tristan brought a wooden stool over, sat down and said: "Who can make the dragon reappear in the world except Targaryen?"
Clemont pondered for a moment, "Then he is... Rhaegar's illegitimate son?"
After the destruction of the Valyrian civilization, only Targaryens and their bastards could control dragons, and only those with the blood of the dragon family could get close to dragons.
Now that a dragon appears openly in Harrenhal, it is already certain that its owner is a Targaryen.
And the Mad King Aerys II was hiding in the Red Keep and would not leave. Only Prince Rhaegar could leave an illegitimate child in another place.
"You finally grasped the key point." Tristan moved the wooden stool close to the bed and whispered: "Arthur is now about twenty-two, that is, he was born around 277, that is, his mother was pregnant around 276, and Prince Rhaegar was born in 259, and was about sixteen or seventeen years old at that time. "
Clemont shook his head, "Age doesn't mean anything. Does the whereabouts match up?"
Legge said confidently: "Of course, in the year 276 of the Conquest Calendar, in order to celebrate the birth of Prince Viserys, Lannister Port held a grand tournament. Rhaegar should have passed through the Riverlands at that time. Isn't this right? "
Although Clemont thought this was far-fetched, the appearance of the dragon convinced him.
"Okay, let's assume that he is a dragon family member with a dragon, but will there be enough people to support him? Will he be besieged by several major forces just because he has a dragon?"
Lord Legg counted on his fingers: "Counting from the east, the Mouton family in Maidenpool is the Dragon Party; the Darry family is the Dragon Party; the River River family in Harrenhal is the Dragon Party. He himself is also the manager of Harrenhal; we Liumu The city, the Dragon Party; Stonewall City, is in his hands; there are only three earls left on the south bank of the Riverlands."
Due to the three hundred years of operation of the Targaryen family, the big nobles in the entire East River are basically loyal to the Long family, and the small nobles follow the big nobles without many problems.
Clemont took over the conversation, "Kalel Vance from Traveling City was saved by him and will probably support him. Vance from Alan City is a relative of Kalel and will probably follow him. Plus I The territory of Hongpin City will unite the entire Nanhejian."
Tristan said: "Raven Tree City and the Tully family have been very close recently, so they probably won't follow him. With Patrick as a factor in Seaside City, it's pretty certain. As for the Frey family, they will definitely go to the Lion family. But they are in the north, separated by a big river, so don't worry about them."
The two looked at each other and both felt that this road could work.
"Not to mention that the Dragon King's character is very good. It is said that he treats his subjects like friends. He is called the Just Arthur and the Brave Arthur. I think he and we can get along very happily." Earl Legg said.
After getting to know Arthur in depth, he discovered that this man was simply a replica of the true dragon Rhaegar.
Clemont nodded, "Even if the troops are insufficient now, each family can still pull out one or two thousand peasant soldiers, which adds up to ten or twenty thousand. This is more than ten times more than when Aegon conquered. When his dragons grow, Big, wouldn't that be..."
"The Dragon family has returned to the Iron Throne. When the time comes, we can also follow them into the palace and become guests of the Red Castle." Tristan has already begun to look forward to the future.
Although the Tully family made the right bet during the Usurper's War, apart from marrying off two daughters and being injured by the family governor Horst, the Trout family reaped no tangible benefits.
The treatment of nobles in the entire Riverlands is worse than before the war.
At least the several earls in the East River were regarded as confidants of the Long family, but during the Baratheon dynasty, there was not a single big noble in the Riverlands who was regarded as a confidant by the Lu family.
The two became interested and began to plan how to persuade the Dragon King to stand on his own feet.