Chapter 98: Standoff

Ten days later, Harrenhal, at the base of the Widow's Tower, one of the five towers.

A few torches were the only light source in this massive dungeon; even in the daytime, it was as dim as the dead of night.

Due to the decline of House Whent, this place for holding prisoners had not had any new guests for several years.

But now, it held over forty Westerlands soldiers who refused to surrender and a dozen Lannister spies who had tried to sneak in disguised as civilians.

"Speak, what is Tywin's army doing in Harrentown?" Patrick barked viciously.

The voice was fierce enough, but the temperament was still lacking.

Before the young heir of Seagard stood four Lannister spies wearing nothing but loincloths.

Their hands and feet were bound, and they crouched on the ground.

This question had been asked countless times, and it seemed this time, too, there was no answer that satisfied Patrick.

It was just that there were no other recreational activities, so he could only amuse himself by intimidating the captured spies.

Arthur, dressed in a linen robe, sat before these men, letting them look at his physiognomy.

"Do you think my physiognomy looks more like a Duke or a wealthy tycoon?"

Although the light was dim, one could still clearly see Arthur's beautiful, handsome face and tall stature.

"Judging by your noble and distinguished physiognomy, I think you must be a Duke," the questioned captive replied with a fawning smile.

Although he himself knew that the person before him was the little Baron who had recently become famous throughout the Riverlands, Arthur Bracken.

Behind the two nobles were seven or eight soldiers from various Riverlands houses, whispering about the two men's actions.

"Why does Lord Arthur love to have the Lannister men who enter here look at his physiognomy?" a soldier from the main Bracken house asked.

"Who knows? I also cannot understand the Lord's action of naming this dungeon the West Ice Vault Hotel."

"But speaking of physiognomy, Lord Arthur does indeed look very noble, with a full forehead, handsome brows, and bright eyes; he is better-looking than Prince Joffrey and Duke Renly," a soldier from Darry said.

Although Joffrey and Renly had both donned crowns and declared themselves kings, because only a few weeks had passed, the common people's habitual way of addressing them had not changed.

The others were dismissive of this, "When have you ever seen those two great figures? They are people of the heavens."

"Exactly, I know you admire Lord Arthur, but before you brag, look at who you are—a mud-legged peasant who has never left the Riverlands in his life, could you ever see Prince Joffrey and Duke Renly?"

Several soldiers shook their heads, not agreeing with their companion's words.

Another Darry soldier present spoke up: "Hey, the two of us have actually seen both of them; we have even seen the legendary Kingslayer Jaime, the bold Barristan, and Lord Eddard of House Stark. Before, when the late King was heading south, he stayed in our Darry for quite a few days."

When the late King Robert I welcomed Duke Eddard south, he had stayed in Darry for four or five days because Eddard's daughter, Arya Stark, had run away, so what these two Darry soldiers said was true.

"Then tell us, what does the Kingslayer look like?" someone asked.

They had heard enough these past few days about Arthur taking down Duke Tywin's eldest son alone amidst an army, but they had never seen the true appearance of the Kingslayer, and they were full of curiosity.

"I forgot," said the Darry soldier who had previously discussed Arthur's physiognomy.

The other Darry soldier exposed his lie, "He was only busy looking at the sweet Queen Cersei and Princess Myrcella and the others at the time; he was drooling, so how could he have put his eyes on the Kingslayer's face?"

The group burst into laughter, which made Patrick turn his head and glare twice.

At this moment, a sound came from outside:

"Arthur, come quickly, we've caught four more Lannister spies."

It was Ma Ke; he stood before the dungeon corridor, beckoning Arthur to come over.

The Riverlands God of War, having let the captives finish looking at his physiognomy, instructed the soldiers behind him:

"Lock them up; when someone is willing to surrender, take them to the armory to work the bellows for the blacksmiths."

There were dozens of blacksmiths in the armory recasting weapons and armor, and they were currently in need of strong labor.

Then Arthur led Patrick and the others to follow Ma Ke out of the corridor to process the Lannister spies at the main gate according to procedure.

Ten days ago, Arthur had led the remaining Riverlands Army from Stone Hedge, first traveling by water to the Ruby Ford on the Trident, and then leading the army south to Harrenhal.

Lord Janos's nephew, Hendry, had actually followed as well; he said his uncle had entrusted the soldiers to him to guard Stone Hedge, and after they were taken away by Arthur, he was worried and had to keep an eye on them.

In any case, the Bracken Jiaodu had clearly given the command to Arthur, and Hendry could not stir up any trouble, so the Riverlands God of War allowed him to follow to Harrenhal.

Once Hendry and all the veterans left, Janos's five daughters also wanted to follow their cousin Hendry, so they packed several large carts of daily necessities and brought over a dozen maids and old women with them to Harrenhal.

Stone Hedge was left to the Master-at-arms acting as Castellan, assisted by several Sworn Knights and Mercenary Knights like Hans Darry, with over five hundred new recruits guarding the castle.

Five days ago, Arthur returned to Harrenhal with a force of over a thousand men, and one day later, the mayor of Harrentown reported the appearance of the Westerlands army.

So Arthur had all the civilians near Harrentown bring their food and daily necessities into Harrenhal to take refuge.

Soon after, Tywin personally led the main Lannister force to station themselves in Harrentown.

After confirming that there were over a thousand defenders inside Harrenhal, the Lannister army organized two small-scale siege attempts; once they used a Siege Hammer to ram the main gate and the East Gate for two hours, but they didn't even dent the thick iron-reinforced doors, and another time they prepared to climb the battlements with Scaling Ladders, but the standard ladders could only reach halfway up the Harrenhal walls, so the siege soldiers had to give up.

After that, there was a three or four-day standoff; until longer Scaling Ladders were built, it was impossible for the Lannister soldiers to launch another attack.

But because Arthur had ordered a gap to be opened in the smaller East Gate to receive the fleeing Riverlands Peasants, some Lannister spies attempted to disguise themselves as civilians to slip through.

It was just that the Westerlands soldiers were tall and sturdy, and also muscular with tight skin, which was clearly different from the peasants who were dark and thin from working in the fields and were dragging their families along, so it was easy to distinguish between the two.

Ma Ke, having nothing to do, was sent to the East Gate to supervise the guards in screening the disguised spies.

After the Lannister spies were caught, they would first be tied to a cross and then erected on the wall above the main gate; firstly, to let the Lannister scouts who were constantly monitoring outside the castle know that this path was a dead end, and secondly, as the first punishment for these spies.

After being tied to the cross and baked in the sun for a full day, most Lannister spies would choose to surrender and then be sent to the armory to assist the blacksmiths, or sent to repair the upper structures of Harrenhal with the civilians.

The die-hard spies who refused to surrender were locked in the West Ice Vault Hotel at the base of the Widow's Tower, letting this group enjoy five-star prison service.

After crossing the stone bridge connected to the Widow's Tower, the group passed through the King's Pyre Tower and arrived at the wall above the main gate.

The sun was bright and the sky was cloudless; it was the perfect time to bake spies.

If it weren't for the fact that these people were excellent laborers, Arthur would have really liked to try and see what would happen if they were baked for one hundred and eighty days.

All four men were stripped down to their underwear and tied to the flat crosses in the posture of the crucifixion.

Arthur walked over, exerted force from the middle of the cross, and forcibly erected the cross with the person on it, then lifted it to the battlements.

Ma Ke and four or five Riverlands soldiers hurriedly grabbed ropes, and after much bustling about, the first spy was secured above the wall.

Originally, ordinary soldiers could do this work, but because Harrenhal was simply too large, the thousand-odd soldiers from the various Riverlands houses could only be scattered in different places to take turns standing guard, and the New Army was busy with intensive training, so it could only be done by the few idle nobles and their Personal Guard.

In the distance, a Western Lands Army scout on horseback saw this scene, turned, and left.

After this was repeated three more times, the work was finished.

During this time, the four Western Lands Army soldiers cursed incessantly, but after being secured to the city wall, they were much better behaved.

After all, under such a sun, even a bit of spit seemed precious.

The few of them finished their work and stood on the city wall chatting.

"The number of refugees has increased these past few days; it looks like Lord Tywin is once again requisitioning grain in the area."

An increase in civilians meant the difficulty of his screening work had increased.

"Isn't it always like this? Which army enters the Riverlands and brings its own grain?" Patrick asked in return.

Because Westeros is shaped like a long strip, the Riverlands, located in the middle, naturally became the main battlefield for the successive wars of the Seven Kingdoms; coupled with being a grain-producing region, living off the land became the most cost-effective way for armies entering the Riverlands.

Even the army of the Stark side, as allies, would forcibly requisition grain from the Riverlands Peasants.

With tens of thousands of troops and horses to feed, a normal earldom simply could not provide enough.

Therefore, it could only be that the peasants whose grain was seized starved to death, while the passing army continued to ravage the next region.

"The peasants of the Riverlands are truly the most miserable civilians." Arthur felt very sorry for them.

Feeling empathy for his own kind, a thought of saving them arose in his heart.

"So this is where you are; you made me search everywhere." The figure of Raymond Darry appeared from the stairs, "Lord Beric and the Red Priest Thoros have arrived, and they brought some very bad news."

Arthur was startled, "What news?"

Raymond shook his head and said, "They didn't say; Thoros first asked for food to fill his stomach, and Lord Beric said to wait until everyone is here to discuss it."

The few of them no longer had the mood for idle chatter and hurriedly followed Raymond to meet the members of the Brotherhood Without Banners.

Most of the Riverlands nobles inside Harrenhal were gathered together, listening to the latest news brought by Lord Beric.

About ten days ago, Kevan Lannister took over the detachment on the western front and then led his army north to attack Riverrun.

It was just that Edmure and over seventeen thousand Riverlands Army troops held the fortified city, making it impossible for the Western Lands Army detachment to take it by force in a short time.

After several days of siege, Kevan used a large group of civilians as bait, and Edmure, who had always treated civilians well, could not stand it and led a portion of his troops out of the city to protect the Riverlands civilians.

It was just that the Western Lands Army was well-prepared, and the Riverlands Army suffered a great defeat, losing four or five thousand men.

What was even more lamentable was that Kevan ordered the shooting of the Riverlands civilians, so Edmure led his Personal Guard to shield the civilians.

This only heir to the Duke was shot and seriously wounded by the crossbowmen of the Western Lands.

Fortunately, the remaining Riverlands Army troops in the city were led by Tytos Blackwood, Jason Mallister, and other Riverlands nobles to sally out and rescue him, which was how they saved the seriously wounded Edmure.

This news made Arthur both angry and sorrowful.

He was angry that Kevan of House Lannister was so despicable as to use innocent civilians as bait; he was sorrowful that the kind-hearted Edmure did not have a good outcome.

The two men of House Tully were one seriously wounded and the other gravely ill, unable to preside over the overall situation.

And since the Hedong Diqu was being harassed by the flames of war, the five earls on the south bank of the Red Fork simultaneously led their troops away to defend their own territories.

What was even more unexpected was that, taking advantage of the chaos, Lord Jenos Bracken led men to snatch the Kingslayer Jaime and then presented him to Kevan of the Western Lands.

"It is said that now whenever the Kingslayer takes a dump, there are three hundred fully armed Western Lands soldiers watching, among whom are quite a few nobles wearing Plate Armor." Thoros bit into a fatty chicken leg while telling the gossip he had heard.

Lord Beric, the Lightning Lord, shook his head, "Don't talk about these rumors. After the Riverlands nobles on the south bank left with their troops, the strength of Riverrun dropped to about five thousand, no longer a major threat to Kevan. Therefore, he led his army across the shallows of the Tungstone River and marched toward the north."

The Tungstone River is a tributary of the Red Fork, and the two rivers converge at Riverrun.

Crossing the Tungstone River to march north meant that Arthur's territory, Seagard, Raventree Hall, Meiren Jishi, and other parts of the Riverlands were no longer safe.

Patrick shouted, "They must be heading for my family's Seagard; I don't know if my father can hold it."

Seagard is at the source of the Blue Fork and is also close to the west coast; it is the first fortress in the Riverlands against the invasion of the Ironborn from the Iron Islands, possessing high strategic value for coastal defense, but in land warfare, it is just an insignificant, ordinary earldom-level castle.

"Fool, the North has already assembled troops to march south to Moat Cailin; the target of Kevan's army is The Twins." The Red Priest Thoros was amused by Patrick's naive statement and spoke up to remind him.

Arthur also thought of this point; in this way, the entire situation on the western front had completely collapsed.

Although Robb, the eldest son of Duke Eddard of the North, had already led his army into Moat Cailin at this time, he had not yet won the support of House Folei, which had over four thousand troops.

If Kevan led his army to arrive at The Twins, given the marriage ties between the local lord, House Folei, and House Lannister, Marquess Folei would immediately stop sitting on the fence and lean toward the Lion House.

By then, the North Army would not need to march south.

Because there would only be two choices: either have a big fight at The Twins against the Kevan-Folei coalition of equal strength, with no guarantee of winning.

Or march south along the Kingsroad and then be blocked by the Kevan-Folei coalition in the narrow area between the Green Fork and the Mountains of the Moon.

If Tywin's Lion House army on the eastern front could also cross the Ruby Ford and march north, then the nearly twenty thousand North Army troops would be directly blocked from both ends, and the Young Wolf Robb would be defeated before even fighting.

"That is why we rushed over to deliver this series of news to you," said Lord Beric.

After the steady Raymond pondered for a moment with his chin in his hand, he said, "In this case, the only chance for a turnaround on the western front is for the North Army to march south quickly, and then for the Starks to use great profit to lure House Folei, pulling them into the Fish-Wolf Alliance, and then combine forces to pincer Kevan's Western Lands Army detachment from the front and rear with Seagard and Riverrun."

Lord Beric nodded in agreement, "Yes, and even then, it's not certain we can win; Robb is only in his teens, truly too young."

Arthur was not worried about Robb's ability to fight; with Robb, who had astonishing talent for warfare, and a famous general like Lord Roose Bolton, the actions of the North side would likely be the same as what Raymond said.

It was just that there was another problem; if that were the case, all the troops of House Stark would go to fight on the western front of the Riverlands.

And Arthur and the others holding Harrenhal would not receive even a bit of support.

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(End of this chapter)