Chapter 153: Who Does a Serious Person Line Up to Fight?

The Vale's comprehensive strength has always been firmly ranked third among the Seven Kingdoms; a normal call to war by a liege lord can easily muster an army of thirty thousand, and with maximum mobilization, even more.

In the Hall of a Hundred Hearths, apart from those who had already left with their troops, all the noble commanders and landed knights gathered together to discuss how to face this formidable enemy.

On a large wooden table, a military map marking the distribution of enemy and friendly forces had been laid out, and some of the more thoughtful great lords were actively voicing their opinions.

"According to the intelligence gathered by Ser Hosteen, Bronze Yohn has declared that he will absolutely not fight for the Lannisters, and he refuses to lead troops in this battle. Therefore, the enemy commander is likely to be Ser Lyn Corbray. He is the younger brother of Lord Leonor Corbray and cannot inherit the family lands, so he hopes to earn lands and a castle through military merit," said Tristan Rivers.

Ser Lyn is the wielder of the Corbray family's ancestral sword, Lady Forlorn; he killed the royalist Prince Lewyn Martell during the Usurper's War, and was granted this Valyrian steel sword by his father for that feat.

The clean-shaven Mathis pointed to the area northeast of Saltpans and the Green Fork, "If they move quickly, we should encounter them in this region, and then we shall see how many soldiers the Vale has."

This remark drew nods of agreement from many nobles; in their view, a battlefield should be set on flat terrain, with infantry forming an immovable line of resistance, and knights and the cavalry of great houses forming the offensive phalanx for the charge.

Arthur stared at the Eyrie and the High Road, asking, "What kind of rewards did King's Landing offer to make Littlefinger and Lady Lysa agree to send troops?"

Lysa Arryn is the undisputed mistress of the Vale, and she holds the only male heir of the main Arryn line, little Robin, so most of the Vale's Jiaodu are willing to obey Lady Lysa.

Previously, because of Littlefinger's orders, she would not even send troops to help her own sister and nephew Robb, yet now she has acted contrary to her usual behavior.

A middle-aged knight of House Oakheart, Aiglon, speculated:

"It can only be about those land matters; many second and younger sons of families cannot obtain lands. If Cersei can bring herself to take three or four earldoms in the Riverlands to grant as rewards, it would be enough to drive the land-starved Vale nobles mad. Lord Yohn Royce no longer worries about lands for his second son, so he refuses to fight, but other families are very concerned about land. Take the Templeton family of Nine Star City; they have been the strongest landed knights in the Seven Kingdoms for over a hundred years, with over a thousand professional soldiers, stronger than most viscounts, yet their title is still just that of a knight, on the same level as the notorious The Mountain."

Bronze Yohn has three sons; the eldest, Andar, is certain to inherit the family, while the second, Robar, joined Renly's side to secure his own lands and became one of the Rainbow Guard, only to be cut down by the Knight of Flowers, Loras.

The youngest, Waymar, was one of the three Night's Watchmen at the beginning of the Game of Thrones story, and also the first noble to die in the main series.

"That may be so, but I always feel something is wrong," Arthur looked at the map, "Is there a possibility that some of the families participating in this battle are actually factions that strongly oppose Littlefinger, so Baelish let Lysa agree to send troops to deplete the strength of the hostile families?"

He vaguely remembered that Lyn Corbray was Littlefinger's man, hence this speculation.

Mathis pointed north of Saltpans, "But the battle must still be fought, Your Majesty. The Frey soldiers have already set out in advance; I propose that we also head north immediately, and upon reaching the battlefield, wait quietly for the enemy's arrival."

Karel, Tristan, Lyman Darry, and other Riverlands nobles mostly held this view as well.

Arthur shook his right index finger, "What kind of serious person lines up to fight? I have decided to set the battlefield in the mountains on the south side of the Mountains of the Moon."

Under the noble fief system of Westeros, the knightly style of warfare that prizes honor has become mainstream, and battles and combat must be conducted according to certain customs.

But this custom is not suitable for Arthur, who has a small family and limited industry.

Guerrilla tactics, raiding camps, and burning granaries—these methods of attacking where the enemy is unprepared are what he should adopt.

Karyl Vance advised, "Your Majesty, the Mountains of the Moon have high mountains and large trees, with much rock and deep forest, and the ground is slippery and steep, making it extremely unsuitable for soldiers wearing iron armor to fight..."

Arthur reached out to stop his speech, "This terrain is equally unsuitable for our enemies. It is now late autumn, and the vegetation is beginning to wither and yellow; we can defeat them with very few troops."

He had thought of a way to defeat this Vale army, but for the sake of caution, he did not tell this group of people.

The two battles near Stoney Sept and Harvard City had established a certain authority for the Riverlands King, so no one raised any objections.

"Active defense is not enough. Since I became king, I have been trying to find ways to resist attacks from all sides, which has caused the flames of war to always burn on lands loyal to me; now it is time to let them have a taste of this."

The Riverlands King placed his right hand on the map near Silverhill and Deep Den in the Westerlands.

"Gentlemen, look: the area south of Stoney Sept and north of Goldengrove currently has no heavy troops guarding it. Moreover, the nobles of these two places are either dead or captured, and there are no powerful figures left in the territories to preside over major affairs. If an army could take this region, then the Riverlands territories of Goldengrove, Strongsong, and Old Oak could be connected with the Riverlands, making future offensive and defensive operations much more convenient."

The master of Strongsong is House Osgrey, which owes allegiance to House Rowan and has now also defected to Arthur.

Hearing this, Mathis Rowan immediately became eager, "That is correct. Silverhill and Deep Den both responded to Tywin's call, so there are not many people left in their territories. It would only take four or five thousand troops to take these castles one by one, and after leaving a few hundred garrison troops, they could also rest in my territory for a while, then continue fighting north along the Ocean Road; Oxcross, Cornfield, and other places could all be taken, and perhaps even Lannisport is not impossible."

A protruding part of the Westerlands mountains is surrounded by the southern Riverlands and the northern Reach, and Deep Den and Silverhill are located there.

It is worth mentioning that after a certain King of the Rock died without an heir, his Lydden son-in-law changed his surname and inherited Casterly Rock and the Xi Jing Wang Guo, so Tywin Lannister can also be called Tywin Lydden.

Therefore, Deep Den has always been a die-hard loyalist to House Lannister; at the beginning of the War of the Five Kings, Lord Lymond Lydden sent all his soldiers to fight for his liege lord, resulting in the territory being completely empty now.

"This plan is very feasible, Your Majesty. Let me lead the troops south to capture these rebel castles for you."

Mathis's intentions coincided with the Riverlands King's ideas.

But Arthur did not intend to let the Reachmen return south.

If the war between the He Jian Wang Guo and the Vale did not go smoothly, he feared these newly surrendered Reach families would waver again.

"The knightly culture of the south is exceptionally prosperous, so your soldiers are all more elite than those of the Riverlands, which is just right for facing the Vale knights."

Arthur glanced at Mathis, who still had some thoughts, but did not say much, instead looking at Dickon.

"I have decided to appoint Ser Dickon Tarly as the commander of the southern expedition. He will lead five thousand Riverlands soldiers to capture Deep Den, Silverhill, and other Westerlands territories, and then garrison there, while simultaneously cutting off the Golden Road so that the connection between the Crownlands and the Westerlands is completely severed. Several families from the Reach must send a few knights to accompany this army. Once Ser Dickon opens up the path between the Riverlands and the northern Reach, your territories will provide food for this army."

There are fields in Cornfield, Oxcross, and other places in the Westerlands, but the castles in the mountains do not have much surplus grain. Transporting grain bought from Maidenpool to that vicinity would incur significant losses on the road, so Arthur issued this order.

Mathis Rowan had no choice but to agree.

Arthur issued several more orders, having Karyl Vance, Tristan Rivers, and others follow Dickon's contingent.

By the time all the details were settled, it was already approaching lunchtime.

In order to seize the initiative for the first strike, the Riverlands King ordered each army to mobilize and depart after eating.

After the noble commanders left, Arthur summoned Sansa, Hayley, the mercenary leader Bill, the Harrenhal Steward Richard, and others.

"Some say that chanting scriptures and prayers can eliminate the curse of Harrenhal and disperse the weeping souls of the wronged. You go and gather those Sparrow septons, have them chant prayers in various parts of the castle for a few days, and incidentally, secretly collect a large amount of sesame oil, dry cotton, and other flammable materials; the army will need them for the battle."

The second request was easily agreed to by the group, but the first order was not.

"Those septons left here when the chaos in the Riverlands gradually subsided; they should be in the Crownlands or other places now," replied the increasingly capable Hayley.

"They aren't here when I need them!" Arthur was a bit dissatisfied; the High Sparrow had not left at a good time.

"Does anyone know any pious old septons who have been chanting prayers for decades? Please invite them to Harrenhal to dispel the curse."

Lady Whent could no longer get out of bed, so this matter had to be handled urgently.

Sansa, Hayley, and the others looked at each other; they indeed did not know any old septons who met these criteria.

The Steward Richard, who had always been very inconspicuous, stood out, "I recommend an old septon who has been chanting scriptures for forty years, Meribald. He is a truly pious believer who has spent his life presiding over weddings and funerals for poor commoners. He has come to our Harrenhal many times to beg for some grain and money to distribute to those who truly need them. Our House Whent has a fairly good relationship with him; he should be willing to come and do this, and call upon other equally pious septons."

This person sounded like he met Arthur's requirements.

He asked, "Where is Septon Meribald now, and is it convenient to call him?"

Richard replied, "Roughly in the eastern Riverlands, perhaps in the south, or perhaps near Maidenpool. He is even more sincere than the High Sparrow, and his footprints are left all over the Riverlands."

The Riverlands King nodded, "Then have Richard take people to find this septon, and at the same time call for more pious septons to put the dead souls to rest. The small sept and the weaving workshop in Harrentown must also be built quickly; the weather is turning cold, and the commoners must have thick clothes to wear. I am going to lead the army to fight, and you, Sansa, must worry about these livelihood matters."

Miss Stark, who had coiled her waist-length hair behind her head again, agreed.

When the Riverlands King waved his hand to let everyone go out for lunch, Sansa leaned in close to Arthur and asked in a low voice:

"When will our wedding be held? Can it be in Riverrun?"

Ever since Arthur promised to make her Queen, she had been very attentive to the marriage, taking the initiative to plan the wedding twice, but it never succeeded because Arthur had to go out to fight.

The Riverlands King thought for a moment, "After I beat the people of The Vale into submission this time and let them quiet down for a while, I will come back and marry you. The location will be at Harrenhal—no, let's hold it in Harrentown, so that all the people can witness our union. Other parts of the banquet can be reduced, but there must be enough food so that all the commoners who can attend can have a good meal."

For the vast majority of weddings, what the guests remember is not how beautiful the bride and groom's wedding attire was or how lavish the wedding was, but how delicious the food at the feast was.

Once the wedding date was set, Sansa suddenly became happy.

She shrieked at Arthur, "You already gave me the troublesome task of feeding tens of thousands of people, and now you actually want all these tens of thousands of people to have a meal with meat; you are really making things difficult for me."

"You won't know what 'difficult' really means until our wedding night."

Taking advantage of the fact that there were few people around, Arthur gave her a peck.

This made the Stark lady's pretty face as red as her hair.

Podrick watched all of this silently; he very tactfully lowered his head and lightened his footsteps, so as not to let the two of them notice him behind them.

"Hateful." She covered the place where she had been kissed with the back of her hand. "Oh, right, my sister Arya came by a while ago, saying she was going to Braavos to learn some 'Valar Morghulis' to avenge our brothers, father, mother, and younger brothers. I told her to stay here; she agreed on the surface, but slipped away through the sewers at night. Now I don't know where she has run off to. Can you send some people to look for her?"

Although Sansa used to dislike this lively and active sister, she missed her more and more now, worrying about whether she had enough to eat and whether she had thick clothes to wear after the weather turned cold.

"Didn't you already have Knight Brienne of Tarth go look for her? Just have Knight Brienne go look again. Once I have resolved the matters in The Vale and the south, I will send a large number of men to find Arya."

Since she had gone to Braavos, Arthur's worries were much lessened.

Sansa was clearly a bit unhappy, but she still nodded in agreement.

At this moment, Gendry, who was responsible for feeding the Dragon, suddenly ran to Arthur's side in a hurry.

"Your Majesty, Prince Alduin ate the corpse of that witch and then began to shed his skin."

It was his first time seeing such a situation, so he reported it to the true master of the magic dragon.

Arthur was also taken aback, and not caring about lunch anymore, he followed Gendry to see Alduin outside the city.

Sansa and several guards followed as well.

Still by that Weirwood, Alduin's expression was quite ferocious, and around him, a circle of black skin was scattered on the ground.

What was surprising was that the Dragon had grown much larger; when standing on the ground, the dragon's head was already level with Arthur's chin, and it was estimated to have grown to about two meters in length.

"Are the bodies of the Children of the Forest that nourishing?"

PS: Seeking recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)