Chapter 87: Reinforcements

This Westerlands Army commanded by The Mountain is the core elite among the family soldiers of House Lannister.

Clegane himself is usually just a guard for Tywin, and he often resides in his family keep near Silverhill.

In other words, the two parties are not familiar with each other.

Therefore, after the fighting started, the ordinary Western Lands Army soldiers coordinated well in groups of three or two, but The Mountain himself only had two subordinates, Dungeon and Polliver, guarding his flanks.

Originally, Arthur thought he would fight The Mountain and these two subordinates, while the others would fight the Western Lands Army soldiers.

But because the Dornishmen truly hated Clegane, it turned into Arthur and five Dornish Spear soldiers joining forces to fight the three men under The Mountain.

As for the marksman Anguy, he rode his horse on the perimeter to provide fire support while also acting as a provost squad.

After all, Arthur's main force is the Brave Companions, whose loyalty is only maxed out for Gold Dragons; they would not do anything that would definitely cost them their lives, so Anguy's supervision is very necessary.

The eight extra quivers in the squad were all given to Anguy; one hundred and sixty arrows should be enough to shoot and kill at least forty or fifty people.

Arthur held the Dawn Sword in his left hand and a Hammer in his right, beginning a head-on clash with The Mountain, who held a Greatsword.

Due to wearing an extra layer of Chainmail, The Mountain's movements became stiffer, but without the need to worry about defense, he could fully unleash the advantages of his physique and strength.

This maximized the attack damage of The Mountain.

In several rounds of attacks, only one man on The Mountain's side, Polliver, was stabbed by a Spear, with no other injury records.

As for Arthur's side, a Dornish Spear soldier who delusionally thought he could kill The Mountain in one strike rushed forward recklessly and was sliced in two by The Mountain from his left shoulder to his right thigh.

This Dornishman's body was cleaved, yet as he fell, he still glared with rage, staring fixedly at Clegane.

Anyone could see that he did not regret his recklessness, but rather hated himself for not killing The Mountain.

The hatred between the two sides is evident.

Arthur was also inspired by this warrior.

His own strength is much stronger than this man's, yet he lacked this Dornishman's courage.

So Arthur let out a loud shout and charged forward, brandishing his Hammer.

The Mountain also swung his sword to hack fiercely; after Arthur blocked it with his Hammer, he used the sword in his left hand to deliver a heavy blow to Dungeon, who had rushed over while twirling his sword.

Dungeon's strength is far inferior to Arthur's, and he was pushed back two steps by this blow before steadying his footing.

Then a Dornishman accurately stabbed Dungeon in the calf with a Spear, causing this most agile man under The Mountain's command to howl in pain.

On Arthur's side, his one-handed strength could not hold back the strength of The Mountain's two hands, so he could only move the Hammer downward to dissipate the force.

The Mountain, however, did not want to let this opportunity go; he exerted force with both hands and slashed along the handle of the hammer toward Arthur's right arm.

Sparks flew where the sword and hammer met.

But Arthur is much more agile; the Dawn Sword in his left hand suddenly hacked into the gap between The Mountain's right thigh and calf.

Although it could not break through the defense, the force could be transmitted along the Chainmail at the gap, which made The Mountain's right leg somewhat unstable.

A Dornish soldier spotted the timing, circled behind, and stabbed at the back of The Mountain's right knee, so the clumsy Mountain knelt on one knee to maintain his balance.

Arthur pulled back, turned half a circle, and used the Hammer to strike hard at the back of The Mountain's square great-helm.

It could not break the defense, but the force transmitted by the Hammer left The Mountain's brain in a daze.

"Excellent, keep it up like this," Arthur shouted to the remaining four Dornish soldiers.

His height is more than half a head shorter than The Mountain's, and he lacks a giant hammer to break armor, so he is at a disadvantage in a normal fight.

Now, like this, he will be able to hammer The Mountain into a concussion sooner or later.

"You wish," The Mountain stood up while supporting his knee with one hand, and the previous situation began again.

Arthur's side was fighting to a draw, but the others were in a miserable state.

The core members of the Brave Companions should be evenly matched one-on-one with the elites of the Westerlands, but they could not handle the fact that the enemy had more people.

If it weren't for the fact that Anguy's arrows were effective against everyone who tried to flee, some of the old veterans of the Brave Companions would have slipped away at the start of the battle.

Forty people against eighty is still at a disadvantage.

Even with the assistance of Anguy outside the field, it has now become seventeen against forty-two.

Fortunately, those who died were mainly core members of the Brave Companions, so Arthur did not feel much heartache.

The Mountain also noticed that his side had the upper hand, so he shouted: "A few of you, come over and drive these Dornishmen away. I want to have a good fight with this annoying little lord from the Riverlands."

Arthur heard this and knew it was bad, so he took a sword strike from The Mountain head-on, and at the cost of a clear dent in his left arm armor, he gave Dungeon, who was guarding The Mountain's side, a hammer blow.

"Stab him to death."

The Dornish soldiers had already coordinated well with Arthur, so one circled behind and stabbed Dungeon in the back with a Spear.

This man was stabbed to death, and Polliver's combat power was only equal to that of an elite Western Lands Army soldier, so he was also stabbed to death by a Spear in short order.

Before the eight Western Lands Army soldiers could rush over, this place had turned into The Mountain fighting five people.

So, with no one to defend his flanks and rear, he was stabbed again and knelt on one knee.

Arthur also gave him a heavy blow to the back of his head, just like last time.

"No!" Raff the Sweetling in the distance let out a roar.

This is also a die-hard fan of The Mountain, who cannot bear to see his idol suffer even the slightest injury.

So he stopped attacking the village and had the remaining fifty people charge directly to protect The Mountain.

Now Arthur's side is even more precarious.

Knowing the death of his two little brothers behind him, The Mountain said in a low voice: "I swear, you won't have a good time when you die, especially you, Bracken; your asshole will be big enough to fit your hammer inside."

The Mountain is quite loyal to his little brothers; now he just wants to thrust the spears of these Dornishmen deep into the assholes of the enemies in front of him.

The remaining core members of the Brave Companions are all Cavalry, so Arthur's side temporarily maintained the advantage of agility.

It is just that after those fifty-two people joined the battlefield, they were truly at a disadvantage.

Before long, only five core members of the Brave Companions, four Dornish Spear soldiers, Anguy, and Arthur himself remained on Arthur's side.

And the enemy still had seventy-nine people.

"Lord Arthur, it's no good, let's, let's retreat," Vargo, the leader of the Brave Companions, was actually still alive and shouted at Arthur from afar.

He did not feel heartache when his men died; after all, the remaining commission had already fallen into his hands.

But it was clearly impossible to win, and for his employer to still insist on it was a bit stupid.

If not for Anguy outside the fray whose arrows never missed, Vargo felt he would have already slipped away without a shadow.

Arthur also felt this battle was a bit strenuous; if he did not have to hold back The Mountain, he would have long since gone to wreak havoc among the Western Lands Army.

How would it be a turn for a group of soldiers to loiter in front of him?

The Mountain also knew his opponent had reached his limit, so he swung his sword and shouted, "Attack together, there are only a few of them left."

Thus, seventy-eight men gathered around The Mountain and then charged over in a swarm.

It looked like Arthur and his men were doomed.

But just at this moment, a voice came from afar: "Friends, hold on, the men of House Darry have arrived."

"The men of House Piper have also arrived."

Afterwards, the sound of hooves rang out, and dozens of men charged on horseback, rushing toward the battlefield.

"Well done, brave warrior."

Marq Piper praised Arthur, who was fighting hard against The Mountain, while swinging his Changjian to cut down a Western Lands Army soldier.

At the same time, the gate of Xieercun was opened, and over a hundred peasants holding axes and pitchforks also rushed out.

"Hold on, my lords."

The newly arrived Riverlands reinforcements were all Cavalry, much more mobile than the Western Lands Army, and the sheer number of peasants from Xieercun crowded the battlefield, forcing the Western Lands Army soldiers to fight individually.

The situation on the battlefield reversed directly, and The Mountain, helpless, shouted, "Retreat, retreat."

Finally, after leaving behind twenty-one more corpses, the fifty-eight men remaining in The Mountain's party successfully slipped away.

Although the Riverlands reinforcements were all Cavalry, if they pursued, they would actually be at a disadvantage in numbers.

Thus, they also stopped the pursuit.

"Arthur Bracken, it's actually you!" Marq Piper, who was in the lead, recognized Arthur as he lifted his visor and said in surprise.

"I was wondering who could fight The Mountain for such a long time? It turns out to be you, then it's no surprise."

Then, this heir to Pinkmaiden pointed at Arthur and introduced him to his companions.

A middle-aged, burly man with gray hair and a beard dismounted and walked up to Arthur.

"I have heard of you, an upright lord."

Marq also dismounted, not even having time to wipe the sword in his hand before running to Arthur's side.

"This is the lord of Darry, Raymond Darry."

Afterwards, another important figure also appeared, Karyl Vance, the heir to House Vance of Wayfarer's Rest.

"I heard long ago that you won the Tourney of Duke Eddard, but I haven't seen you since we met at Stone Hedge last time. I didn't expect to meet you here; it is truly fate."

Seeing that Arthur could tangle with The Mountain for so long, the group heaped praise upon the lord of Red Mill.

Although Arthur enjoyed this flattery, he did not forget the main business: "What are you all doing here?"

Marq smiled awkwardly and explained it to Arthur.

It turned out that Riverrun had learned of The Mountain's evil deeds, and the ailing Duke Hoster had suddenly regained his spirit, so he dispatched these men to pursue the Western Lands Army while collecting evidence of The Mountain's crimes, then bring them to King's Landing for the Iron Throne to uphold justice.

It was just that they did not expect to lose track of The Mountain, so they headed east along the Red Fork, circled south along the north side of the Gods Eye, and finally bumped into the northward-moving Mountain and the pursuing Arthur here.

"Next, we are going to take the witnesses behind us to King's Landing; will you go, Arthur?"

Marq extended an enthusiastic invitation.

Arthur curled his lip, unimpressed.

If Robert were still in his prime, the alliance of the fish, wolf, stag, and falcon would be enough to crush House Lannister, and this move by Duke Hoster would have had a righteous cause.

It is a pity that the unbreakable alliance is about to fall apart, and this move is merely futile.

"I won't go; The Mountain is still at large, and I must pursue him to prevent him from continuing to harm the people of the Riverlands, so I need some men."

He put forward his own request.

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(End of chapter)