Chapter 142: The New Five Kings

Hills of Stoney Sept.

Four thousand infantry and one thousand Bracken cavalry, holding torches, stood in battle formation, guarding this nameless hill.

Another two thousand eight hundred soldiers, organized into squads of five or ten, were scattered about, capturing enemy troops climbing toward the heights.

For the Riverlanders, this might be the greatest victory achieved in the war against the Westerlands after repeated failures. The enemy's cries of alarm, pleas for help, and curses reached their ears one after another, which lifted the spirits of the noble Knights whose family castles and lands had been ravaged.

Before long, Hosteen Frey dragged a middle-aged captive before the Riverlands King, Marquess Innes, Count Lyman Darry, and others.

"Stafford Lannister is yours, Your Grace."

The tall Ser Hosteen spoke with unusual excitement; even in the dim light of the torches, it was not hard for others to see the look of triumph on his face.

This was the first major achievement since the founding of the He Jian Wang Guo.

The captured Stafford, wearing a linen nightgown, scanned the Riverlands nobles coldly, letting his gaze rest on the face of the most handsome man among them.

"My cousin, Duke Tywin, will pay my ransom; I guarantee you will be satisfied."

Arthur did not look at him, but instead asked Rosso: "Daven is still in Golden Tooth, right?"

Ever since Stafford's son had been captured, he had been kept in the abandoned mines of Golden Tooth.

"Yes, my King."

"Dickon, send men to escort Stafford to Golden Tooth so that father and son may be reunited," Arthur ordered.

The first high-profile captive had just been sent away when the second arrived immediately.

The second son of the Count of Yalan Cheng, Knight Hugo Vance, brought in Janos Bracken.

This uncle of the Riverlands King had a much better attitude.

"My nephew has grown thin lately; is it due to overwork?" Janos squeezed out a smile. "Although my abilities are limited, I can still share your burdens."

Arthur dared not deal with him casually; there were plenty of commoners loyal to Janos on the lands of Stone Hedge. Moreover, this man had treated Arthur well in the past, so there was no need to make things too tense.

"Gentlemen, how do you think he should be dealt with?" the Riverlands King asked.

When Janos took Jaime away, Robb had not yet declared himself king. At that time, Joffrey, who held the Iron Throne, had appointed his grandfather as Hand of the King. Under the rules of dual vassalage, this behavior could not be considered treason, merely disgusting.

Some hot-tempered individuals advocated for treason charges, leaving it to Janos to choose between the executioner's blade or joining the Night's Watch.

The sons of the Count of Yalan Cheng advocated for retaining Janos's noble status, leaving it to the Riverlands King to decide on demotions, reduction of fiefs, or changing family castles.

The bald Innes and the Freys also believed it was better to retain his noble title.

"It concerns your reputation for magnanimity," Folei Marquess said.

Arthur took a deep breath. "For the sake of so many people pleading for you, I will retain your noble status, provided you swear never to rebel again. Of course, the lands, family castles, and such will be settled slowly in the future."

A qualified monarch must show a touch of mercy while maintaining a firm hand.

"His Majesty's decision is truly wise!" Janos changed his tune quickly.

The entire remainder of the night was spent by the soldiers capturing prisoners.

By noon the next day, the commanding officers had tallied the number of captives and various military supplies.

Two thousand nine hundred soldiers from various parts of the Westerlands, three hundred and ten Bracken soldiers under Janos; enough weapons to arm seven thousand men, primarily hand-and-a-half swords, small round shields, tower shields, and spears; nearly seven thousand sets of water-soaked armor, mostly chainmail and breastplates; and enough food to feed the enemy for a month—about two to three hundred thousand jin of wheat, potatoes, and pumpkins, the vast majority of which had also been flooded.

In addition, two or three hundred warhorses were rounded up. Since the enemy consisted mostly of newly conscripted peasant levies, the proportion of cavalry was surprisingly low; these horses must have been used by the Westerlands nobles and knights.

The remaining tents, pots, and tableware were too numerous to count; after being salvaged, they were handed over to Rosso, who was in charge of logistics and baggage.

The water-soaked wheat needed to be dried immediately, or it would mold and become inedible.

And this Riverlands Army had to advance east immediately—first, to guard against an attack by the Lion-Rose coalition, and second, to find Tommen and break up the alliance between the Tyrells and the Lannisters, so they could not linger.

Therefore, Arthur ordered the water-soaked wheat to be distributed to dozens of nearby villages to slightly enrich the food reserves of the farmers.

As for the potatoes, pumpkins, and soybeans, they were taken by the army as rations.

After Janos surrendered, the captured Bracken soldiers also surrendered, bringing Arthur's force to eight thousand one hundred men.

Many of the remaining Westerlanders were also willing to fight for the Riverlands King, but Arthur dared not take them to the Crownlands to fight, so he sent a detachment to escort the two thousand nine hundred Westerlands captives to the lands of Pinkmaiden, not far away.

Count Clement was in the process of rebuilding his family castle and was in need of manpower; this group would come in handy.

Without wasting time, after eating lunch, the army marched toward the east.

During the few days spent in Stoney Sept, Arthur had dispatched dozens of cavalry squads to order the lords of various regions to pacify their subjects, suppress bandits, restore order in the countryside as quickly as possible, and provide rations to farmers who were running out of food so they could reach the vicinity of Harrentown.

Previously, he had ordered the construction of temporary shelters north of Harrentown, but after seeing exactly how many refugees had lost their homes, this idea changed.

There were already about thirty thousand displaced farmers in Harrenhal itself; added to the forty or fifty thousand who had arrived, it was enough to build a large city.

Therefore, Arthur ordered a "work-for-relief" program to build a large town directly. Of course, labor-intensive structures like city walls were not built; it was mainly constructed according to the model of the winter town outside Winterfell.

The business of digging gold from Golden Tooth and taking it to Pentos and other places to buy grain had already begun, and the lords of the Riverlands would also provide some grain to Harrenhal; Sansa Stark was currently there coordinating and managing all parties.

The Starks were one of the most prestigious families on the continent; although they did not mingle much with southern nobles before Rickard, when mentioned, only the Lannisters of the Westerlands and the Arryns of the Vale could be compared to them.

Coupled with the fact that some Riverlands nobles had previously sworn allegiance to Sansa's brother, she held a high status in the hearts of some Jiaodu, making her perfectly suited to coordinate everyone's work.

Due to the decrease in the intensity of the war, farmers who had previously fled to the Reach and the Crownlands were returning in large numbers, allowing the He Jian Wang Guo to begin recovering some vitality.

During the days of marching east, small lords and landed knights would occasionally join the Riverlands Army with squads of a few or a dozen men; Tristan Lygge of Willow Wood and Karel Vance of Wayfarer's Rest each brought five hundred soldiers to join the battle. By the time Arthur led his army to Sow's Horn, he already had ten thousand soldiers.

The situation on the continent was different once again.

King Balon of the Iron Islands had died inexplicably at Paike Cheng; it was rumored he had fallen to his death. Afterward, the Ironborn held a Kingsmoot, and Euron Greyjoy, who claimed he could lead the Ironborn to ride dragons and loot the entire world, was successfully elected as the new King of the Iron Islands.

A new king had also appeared in the Stormlands; he claimed to be Aegon VI, the eldest son of Prince Rhaegar. He held the same royal title as the missing Tommen and Stannis, who occupied King's Landing, and was supported by a powerful mercenary company.

Added to Arthur, the Riverlands King, the new landscape of the Five Kings was born.

Just like the previous game of thrones, among the five kings, three still claimed to be the master of the Iron Throne, while the other two looked like they were just making up the numbers.

In the countless castles of the Seven Kingdoms, the noble Jiaodu had already expressed their attitudes toward the new five kings through their military alignments, while in the countryside and towns, groups such as farmers, carpenters, tailors, and bards held their own opinions.

In places untouched by the ravages of war, the commoners mostly supported the two Stag Kings; Tommen and his nominal uncle Stannis each had their supporters. Some believed that Stannis, who was cold and unyielding but adhered to the law, would make a better king, while others believed that Tommen, who worshipped the Seven, was more suitable.

In areas ravaged by war, the commoners had more favorable reviews of the two "Dragon Kings."

After all, the last Targaryen king was Aerys II, who had kept the Seven Kingdoms at peace for twenty-one years until the usurpers started the war.

……

The great hall of the Sow's Horn keep.

Over a dozen noble commanders were crowded into this rather small room, arguing about where to head next.

"Sir Kevan has dispatched twenty thousand Reachmen to attack us. According to scout reports, there should only be fifteen thousand soldiers wearing armor and carrying weapons; the rest are servants and laborers. They have currently entered the lands of House Hafo, a day's ride from us."

Earl Karyl Vance, who was in charge of the scouting Cavalry, introduced the enemy situation to everyone.

The lord of Sow's Horn was named Luojie Huoge, and he owed his allegiance to House Hafo of the Crownlands.

The territory of this house consisted mostly of low mountains and hills, which were not very suitable for Cavalry combat; this was very advantageous for the Riverlanders, who had many infantry and few Cavalry.

"Who is leading the army?" Arthur was very concerned about this question.

An army of fifteen thousand led by a famous general and an army of fifteen thousand commanded by a mediocrity were two different concepts.

"May the gods protect us, the one commanding the troops is none other than the liege lord of The Reach, the lifelong enemy of Storm's End famous throughout the Seven Kingdoms, Duke Mace Tyrell," Karyl joked.

Because the liege lord of The Reach had led troops to attack Storm's End twice, only to surround it without attacking, this made some people quite disdainful of Duke Mace's military command ability.

After all, in both sieges, the strength of the Reach Army was over sixty thousand, while the defenders were fewer than one thousand.

"What about the composition of the soldiers? Which houses are they from?" Arthur asked.

Some houses in The Reach had somewhat strained relations with their liege, House Tyrell; perhaps they could make a move from there.

As long as the hoe is swung well, there is no corner that cannot be dug.

Karyl recalled and said: "The scouts said there were banners of the Golden Rose, the Burning Tower, the three golden oak leaves on a gold field, the golden tree, and three wasp nests. It looks like the enemy comes from houses such as Tyrell, Hightower, Oakheart, Rowan, and Beesbury."

Among the Reach Army marching north, Tyrell contributed ten thousand men, Hightower and Redwyne each contributed five thousand; Redwyne had another five thousand fighting at sea, while Hightower left their own five thousand stationed in their territory of Oldtown, letting the houses under them, such as Beesbury, Bulwer, and Quy, fully commit their troops to the war.

Since the fifteen thousand enemy soldiers came from so many houses, it was inevitable that each house had sent some.

"Rowan and Oakheart? There might be a shortcut to victory with these two houses."

These two pieces of good news made Arthur very pleasantly surprised.

Previously, the two Knights Aiglon Oakheart and Saeas Rowan had come together in secret to observe Arthur's dragon, Alduin.

Although the two middle-aged Knights were intimidated by the dragon, they were hesitant when they left and did not discuss the possibility of further cooperation.

Arthur guessed that it might be because Alduin's size had not yet reached their expectations, so the two Knights, who were clearly entrusted by their Jiaodu, just took a look around and slipped away.

But this could be used to make an issue:

A sowing of discord!

There was a ready-made excuse: giving a return gift to the houses the two Knights belonged to.

After all, a Dragonbone Valyrian Steel dagger could count as a heavy gift; there was no reason for Arthur to accept this generous gift for nothing.

The Riverlands King took out the dagger tied to the inside of his calf armor and explained its origin to everyone.

The bald Innes asked curiously: "Do you intend to send it back? What does this have to do with the war situation?"

"Of course not." Arthur explained to the noble commanders, "If I send someone to deliver letters and gifts to two great nobles of The Reach, what will Duke Mace think?"

Duke Mace had a little bit of cleverness, but not much.

According to his way of thinking, he might really think that his vassals were colluding with the "House Targaryen" people.

After all, during the Usurper's War, the Reachmen had truly besieged Storm's End for half a year for House Targaryen, making them truly loyal subjects of House Targaryen.

Marquess Innes touched his bald head, "Then even if Earl Rowan has no such intentions, in Duke Mace's eyes, he will be a bit abnormal."

The noble commanders discussed with each other and thought this method was truly brilliant.

"Even if the letters between you and Earl Rowan say nothing of importance, it is enough to make Duke Mace suspicious." A look of surprise appeared on Dickon's serious face, "This is the first time I have seen such a thing done."

The most important thing about sowing discord is to stir up people's hearts.

As long as the Lord Pufferfish became suspicious, even if Earl Rowan could prove his innocence, he would not be able to dispel the rift between the two houses.

And the two houses of Goldengrove and Old Oak had a total of seven or eight thousand troops; if this could be properly exploited, this great army of Duke Mace would be finished here.

No sooner said than done.

On one hand, Arthur ordered seven or eight Knights with stronger combat power, such as Hosteen Frey, Symond Frey, Ronald Vance, and Hugo Vance, to each lead a team of Cavalry to the north of the Crownlands to hunt for the missing Tommen.

On the other hand, the Riverlands King sent Earl Tristan Lygge to the camp near Harvard City to deliver a return gift to the two great nobles, Mathis Rowan and Countess Aiwen Aokehete, along with two letters with ambiguous wording.

In order to maximize the suspicion of the Pufferfish, Arthur specifically had Tristan go in the middle of the night, but also made sure the Tyrell soldiers noticed that Riverlanders had run into the tents of Earl Rowan and Countess Aiwen.

That night, the two great nobles received the return gifts and letters from the Riverlands King.

PS: Seeking recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)