Chapter 129: Lord Tywin's Gold

Outside the North Gate, coalition soldiers holding torches were arriving in a continuous stream.

Over a dozen shield-bearers guarded Arthur and the others, blocking the crossbow fire from the Western Lands Army.

Under the intimidation of a great hammer dripping with a mixture of brains and red blood, these Western Lands soldiers of commoner origin dared not step forward to fight at all; even when urged by noble knights, they would only take two steps forward and one back, retreating another step whenever they noticed the lords weren't paying attention.

Therefore, the only effective means of attack left for the Westerners was the crossbow, but Arthur, who had once been shot into a porcupine, had anticipated this, so when selecting the vanguard to charge the gate, he had specifically brought over twenty shield-bearers from House Frey.

The division of labor among the Northern soldiers was not as distinct as that of the Southerners; most were attack units wielding swords or spears, with no specific defensive units.

Seeing the gate passage crowded with his own soldiers, Arthur ordered an advance.

To boost morale, he himself held a Great Shield in his left hand and a hammer in his right, striding forward to lead the charge.

"Follow me."

Although the Westerners had looked down on this brute when the gate was still intact a few days ago, they now had to admit that in head-on combat, this kind of fully armored brute was the most terrifying.

Especially in the cramped, shoulder-to-shoulder infantry fighting, this heavy-armored brute with a hammer was just like a crab, walking sideways across the battlefield.

The battlefield gradually moved away from the North Gate, and the front line suddenly stretched out, which slowed the coalition's offensive speed significantly, but under the leadership of fierce warriors like Arthur, Great Jon, and Hosteen who dared to fight and charge, the coalition still advanced slowly.

Outside the East Castle.

Gareth brought his family's soldiers to execute the Task given to him by Daven.

After thinking it over repeatedly, he ordered in a low voice: "First, take off your surcoats; don't let them recognize you."

Except for the Lion family, who used crimson cloaks as their mark, the remaining Western families, like the common practice on the Western Continent, used surcoats bearing their house sigils to distinguish friend from foe.

Therefore, as long as they weren't devious schemers disguised as other families, both sides in the conflict could recognize the family of a soldier by the decorations on their bodies.

As his soldiers were about to rush in, Ser Gareth added: "Wait, let me think, go kill the people inside you don't recognize, and let those whose faces look familiar go!"

Since Taiwen Laoye was also a man who cared about his reputation, all captured Riverlands nobles were treated according to standard protocol.

When the fighting was not intense, the noble captives in Golden Tooth could often move about in specific areas of the castle, such as the Sept and the kitchens.

And some higher-ranking nobles often interacted with Western nobles, wandering back and forth in the castle, and thus had become familiar faces among the garrison.

Gareth speculated that this order from Daven was to ensure the castles on the south bank of the Red Fork would have no masters.

The family castles of these captured Riverlands nobles had already been thoroughly looted by Amory Lorch and others, and the only remaining family members might be the captives in Golden Tooth.

So if these people also died, many castles on the south bank would be left vacant.

And a branch of the Lannister family like Daven could not obtain territory in the Westerlands.

Because every radish has its hole; the castles and lands in the Westerlands already had owners, and even if the master's family died out, there were still relatives who could inherit.

But the inheritance of castles from hostile forces was not so particular; one could pick a few ownerless ones and take them with the King's reward.

At most, by marrying a female member of the original family, one could secure the territory.

Commander Daven had a demand for territory, but Gareth himself did not; he dared not kill high nobles, at most clearing out some Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Xiaoyu.

The soldiers received the order and went in to execute the lord's command.

The sounds of slaughter, the metallic clashing of swords, painful groans, and the roars of horses after being stressed spread throughout the entire Golden Tooth.

After about ten minutes, Arthur led his men to the main keep, and after having Great Jon take charge of continuing the advance, he took a squad to the East Castle where the noble captives were held—information he had already learned from Rosso.

Sounds of slaughter were still coming from this inner castle, and Arthur swung his great hammer and charged in.

Behind him, dozens of Northern soldiers also followed the charge.

On the other side, seeing Arthur enter the East Castle, Rosso slipped onto the city wall and found his nephew, Bloodthirsty Aegon.

"Taking advantage of the chaos, go kill all the Lefords in the city; they are probably in the West Castle, or perhaps near the stables preparing to flee."

Bloodthirsty Aegon licked his blood-covered lips and said coldly: "Why should I listen to you? You cripple!"

Rosso knew his nephew was not quite right in the head, so he didn't bicker about the name, urging him repeatedly: "This is the will of your father Innes and me. Hurry, if we delay any longer, we will have taken Golden Tooth, and it won't be easy to act then."

Only then did Bloodthirsty Aegon take his men to do the job.

And near the South Gate, over a dozen ox-carts loaded with large chests had already begun to leave the city.

Luo Qi's Personal Guard were also protecting a carriage, following behind the convoy.

Surrounded by five or six hundred Lion soldiers, Daven shouted: "Amory Lorch has defied military orders; shoot his men."

The crossbowmen fired a volley, and over a dozen people near the carriage fell to the ground.

Daven looked back at the front line that had already pushed near the main keep, thought of the ox-cart convoy and the two thousand-plus soldiers who had already left the city, and without a moment's hesitation, ordered the five or six two-hundred-man squads near the South Gate to begin retreating.

During this process, several of Luo Qi's Personal Guard who had fallen stood back up, and under the cover of night, slipped away with a portion of the "Luo Qi family assets."

There were nearly a thousand soldiers in the city guarding the road from the North Gate to the South Gate, but Daven could not be sure how many of them were still alive.

Once most of the people who could be taken away had left, he ordered:

"Cavalry, go scatter Luo Qi's assets in front of the South Gate passage, and scatter some inside the passage as well."

The dozens of Lion cavalrymen around him strictly executed this command.

Of course, it was inevitable that some Gold Dragons found their way into the soldiers' pockets during the process.

But this was of no great consequence; a lot of Gold Dragon coins were scattered on the ground, which would cause the enemy to crowd near the South Gate to scramble for the Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Jinzi, creating conditions for the Westerners' withdrawal.

Time passed quickly, and by the time the soldiers of the Fish-Wolf Coalition fought their way near the South Gate, the sky was already turning light.

Great Jon blinked his eyes and asked: "Am I stupid, or why do I see a pile of Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Jinzi on the ground, along with jewelry, ornaments, and such?"

He was a bit confused about the situation, but his soldiers were very sharp and immediately bent down to start grabbing.

The Westerners who could escape the city had already run, and there were not many enemies left near the South Gate, so the coalition soldiers felt safe and bold in looting the Gold Dragons and jewelry on the ground.

"Is this the Westerlands where gold is everywhere?"

"This is my area, you go take that side."

"Why keep fighting? Grab this haul and go home."

The men were as busy with their mouths as they were with their hands; they no longer had any complaints about fighting for the King in the North and the Trident.

One or two hundred soldiers at the very front had picked up the spoils, and by the time those slightly further back learned the news, the area near the South Gate was already in a state of utter chaos.

Great Jon also took the opportunity to pick up four or five Gold Dragons, but he still remembered to pursue the enemy, roaring: "Get out of my way!"

However, the soldiers, blinded by greed for the gold, did not carry out the order; instead, they clashed with their companions who had picked up the Gold Dragons.

A full four or five hundred people were crowded near the South Gate, scrambling for the loot, preventing Greatjon and the others from getting out, while even more soldiers were arriving upon hearing the news.

Lord Amber, feeling helpless, took his men to find Arthur, hoping he could resolve the situation.

The second floor of East Castle.

After Arthur struck down the last enemy, the blue Task panel appeared.

【Task: Rescue the three lords and numerous minor nobles completed; Experience +1000, favor of all families on the south bank of the Red Fork +5, favor of the three lords +20】

The experience went without saying, but these two favor bonuses were a pleasant surprise to Arthur.

After closing the light screen, he went downstairs to find the Riverlands nobles who had already been rescued and began to comfort Clement, Karel, and the others.

"Where is my son Marq?" Lord Clement asked first.

After being captured and brought here, his greatest worry was not his own lands or castle, as they had already been burned to the ground.

Lord Piper's concern was for his son, Marq Piper.

Arthur's expression darkened, and he replied with some sadness: "Marq, he... he fell in the ambush at the Red Fork."

He recounted to Lord Clement the circumstances of how Marq had responded to Edmure's call to participate in the Red Fork ambush.

Overcome with grief, the man's legs went weak on the spot; Arthur, Karel, and the others nearby reacted quickly, supporting him and placing him on a bench.

"Since Edmure knew my son was injured, why did he send him to the front line?"

Clement asked in grief and indignation.

He knew his son and Edmure were on good terms, but he never expected his foolish son to go to the battlefield while injured.

What chilled him even more was that Edmure had not stopped him.

"Can the Tully family not find a single warrior to replace my son?"

The Lord of Pinkmaiden sighed repeatedly; when his family castle was burned, the Tullys did not send troops to fight, yet his son had died for the Tully family in a suicidal rearguard action.

"Ease your heart, my old friend," Lord Tristan Rivers said, gently patting Clement on the back. "You are still young; old Frey is still taking wives at ninety, why can't you find a second spring? Marry again, and with a wife, can't you have as many sons as you want?"

Clement found these words deeply repulsive; his son was upright, sincere, lively, and brave—the proudest work of his life.

To have him gone just like that was a devastating blow.

But Lord Rivers was a noble of the same standing, so he could not directly retort.

After Arthur and the others offered a few more words of comfort to Lord Piper, they went out to handle the affairs of the city.

Twenty or thirty soldiers were left behind to protect the dozen or so Riverlands nobles.

Just as he stepped out of East Castle, Arthur was stopped by a big-bellied "corpse" clutching his ankle.

"By the Seven, can you not be so terrifying?" Arthur nearly swung his great hammer down.

This was a dying Knight of the Westerlands, and beside his massive frame lay an inconspicuous boy.

"My lord, may the gods in heaven bless you! This is a small child beside me; could you please not kill him? He is clever and well-behaved, and would be perfect as an Attendant or something similar."

The big-bellied "corpse" might have been experiencing a final burst of energy, as his speech was quite fluent.

"Who are you? And who is he?" Arthur asked, signaling the coalition soldiers who were preparing to finish him off to step back.

"I am Lommy, a guard knight for Lord Leford's supply train. This child is called Podrick Payne; his father died in the Greyjoy Rebellion, so he is a poor soul... cough, cough, please let him live..."

Before the big-bellied "corpse" could finish his sentence, his head tilted to the side, and he breathed his last.

The boy beside him began to sob in a low voice.

Arthur recalled for a long time before he remembered the boy's story.

He was a distant relative of the King's Justice, Ilyn Payne. In the original work, he was given to Tyrion Lannister as an Attendant before the Battle of the Green Fork, and later followed "The Maid of Tarth" Brienne of Tarth, hoping to find his nominal mistress, Sansa, and thereby learn the whereabouts of his master, Tyrion Lannister.

All in all, he was a very loyal and honest Attendant, and silent, never leaking secrets.

Even more surprisingly, his combat potential had plenty of room for growth.

In the original work, during the Battle of the Blackwater, Podrick knocked the Kingsguard Mandon Moore into the water, causing him to drown in the river.

Arthur's personal servant, Meidan, was true to his name—he had no guts and no combat ability, only capable of tidying Arthur's clothes and taking care of his daily life.

Podrick could perfectly fill the gap left by Meidan's shortcomings.

"Pod, are you willing to be my Attendant?"

The sobbing boy looked up and choked out: "As long as you give Ser Lommy a decent burial, I will follow you."

"A small matter," Arthur said with a wave of his hand. "Then it is settled. First, take off that red padded armor you're wearing, so you aren't mistaken for an enemy."

Upon hearing this, Podrick silently took off the attire.

Just then, Greatjon's voice rang out.

"Arthur, you're good at hiding; hurry to the South Gate, I can no longer suppress the situation there."

Greatjon walked over quickly with a dozen Personal Guards.

Arthur told Pod to hide inside East Castle, then went to the South Gate with Greatjon and the others.

On the way, Lord Amber explained the situation to Arthur.

"Luo Qi was not found, Daven has also fled, and they actually scattered gold at the South Gate, blocking the path of pursuit—cunning Westerlanders."

Arthur remarked with emotion.

Greatjon also agreed: "I never expected the enemy's delaying tactics to be so ruthless, scattering gold directly!"

As a poor Northerner, he truly could not have imagined such a move.

When they arrived at the South Gate, the situation was even more chaotic than they had imagined.

Hundreds of people were brawling, scrambling for the gold on each other's persons; if not for several relatively rational nobles responsible for mediating, these people might have started using weapons to rob one another.

"Stop—" Arthur shouted with all his might.

The sound echoed through the Gold Tooth mountains, causing the chaotic coalition soldiers to stop their actions.

One of the tasks was to return the Gold Dragons stolen from the Riverlands nobles, so Arthur still cared very much about the gold in the soldiers' hands.

Hundreds of eyes stared at their Commander; if Arthur could not provide a good solution, a mutiny would likely break out on the spot.

Pointing to the surrounding mountains, Arthur said loudly:

"Inside these are the gold mines of Taiwen Laoye. The Western Lands Army soldiers who just escaped likely have more than a hundred times the gold in their hands than what is here. You don't go to seize that gold which is measured by the pound, but instead, you struggle against your own people here—is that appropriate?"

The soldiers looked at one another, and no one spoke.

Those who had already seized Gold Dragon coins did not want to fight, while those who had not seized any only wanted to snatch them from the companions before them.

After all, this was something they could see; who knew if the gold in the Commander's mouth even existed.

"I dare to guarantee that the Westerners have hundreds of pounds of gold in their hands. After we intercept them, everyone will receive a share of gold. I swear this by the Seven and the Old Gods."

Arthur made a vow, which finally made the soldiers begin to believe him.

The soldiers left the crowd one after another, found their own lords, and lined up in order.

Seeing that the situation was under control, Arthur then summoned the noble commanders to discuss how to pursue them.

The bald Innes said: "Direct pursuit is definitely not feasible. The River Road beyond Golden Tooth is all within the mountains; if they set an ambush on the cliffs on both sides, I fear that no matter how many men go, they will all die."

A direct pursuit was indeed not feasible; Daven would certainly send men to cover the retreat.

Arthur suddenly thought of the small path that could bypass Golden Tooth.

"Great Jon, can we make it in time if we pursue them along the small path discovered by the Direwolf?"

Earl Jon Amber rolled his eyes and gave a very certain answer: "The enemy has over a thousand men running out, so their movement certainly won't be fast. If we run a bit faster, we might really be able to intercept them. By then, with you there, I think you alone could block this road."

Arthur nodded, "Then it is settled. You go to the North Gate to pick six hundred soldiers who did not participate in the battle, and bring along a group of capable fighters; we will pursue them via the small path."

He looked around again and had Rona Stout and Hoster manage affairs inside the city, ordering them to keep the city gates tightly shut and not allow anyone to enter through the South Gate.

Robbery was also prohibited within the city, and the coalition soldiers who had seized Gold Dragon coins were ordered by Arthur to strictly follow the officers' commands, with everything to be handled only after he returned.

The Frey family's infantry commander, Innes, was a bit cunning, and Arthur feared he might pull some tricks if left here, so he took the bald man with him.

Taking advantage of this gap, the nobles preparing for the pursuit ate some bread and dried meat to fill their stomachs.

Prolonged fighting was very energy-consuming.

After simple preparations, thirty-six capable nobles, three times that number of Personal Guards and Attendants, and six hundred soldiers set foot on the small path to intercept the enemy army.

Having walked it twice, Great Jon knew the way well and led these seven hundred-plus men to enter the great mountains not far from the North Gate of Golden Tooth.

Although the small path wound and spiraled between cliffs and dense forests, and some sections only allowed one person to pass at a time, it was not particularly difficult to walk, and the speed of advance was quite satisfactory.

……

In the mountains of the Western Lands.

Riding on horseback, Daven was discussing with the Western Lands nobles how to intercept the pursuers behind them.

"I think we should just send a squad to block a narrow area somewhere; as long as we can delay them, that will suffice."

"That Arthur is too fierce; the soldiers have no heart to fight at all, I fear they won't be able to block him."

"I think there is no need to intercept at all. They are traveling on two legs, and we are also traveling on two legs. We set off so much earlier, how could those wolf pups catch up?"

The crowd discussed it, but there was no plan that satisfied Daven.

He looked at the surrounding environment and suddenly had an idea.

"Fighting the enemy is very unwise." The Golden Lion pointed to the surrounding cliffs, "We will just send a hundred-man squad to guard up there; when the enemy passes, we will throw rocks. I don't believe he can be harder than rocks."

The nobles suddenly realized, feeling that this idea was truly extremely clever, and they scrambled to flatter the Golden Lion.

The Golden Lion himself was also smug and immediately assigned a squad to execute this plan.

The Westerners felt settled in their hearts and began to curse the Freys who opened the city gates and the enemies who had broken into the city.

What they did not expect was that the pursuers had already run ahead and were waiting for them to walk right into their trap.

PS: Seeking recommendation tickets and monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)