Chapter 255

Night fire burned on the vast land before Howard City until noon the next day, until she could no longer bear the strange smell from the burning corpses, the endless smoke and vapor, and the appalling inefficiency, so she acquiesced, ordering soldiers to dig pits in the wasteland, fill them with corpses one after another, bury them, and then not care about whatever damned epidemic might appear in spring or summer.

When Dagas burst into her tent to report that there were too many corpses, asking whether they could simply toss the Bolton soldiers into the moat, she could no longer remain composed and began to curse loudly. Perhaps the whole camp could hear that voice, full of impatience and disgust, shouting, "Get the hell out!"

It was the first time Dagas had seen her so furious; he hurriedly scrambled out of the tent and fled, embarrassed.

She had good reason to be angry. The same issue had been raised by inquiries from the infantry leaders Huban and Hunt, as well as from Sir Arthur Chantonn, who had taken over the position of the Mormont forest; there was no reason a former platoon leader should dare to come seeking a different answer, even if he was a direct-line soldier of Winterfell.

What's worse, he actually dared to ask that in front of the senior officers—utterly stupid.

After that, everyone knew her mood was bad.

She really was in a foul mood; at this moment there were several things troubling her.

They did indeed win this battle, gaining a rich haul of armor, weapons, food, and warhorses, but their own casualties approached a thousand, taking with them many fine youths and officers who had followed her, not to mention the ordinary soldiers, a large portion of whom came from her Stark lands.

Among the highest-ranking officers, the Mormonts were killed in action, and Sir Mason Sevine was severely wounded, clinging to life and likely to die at any moment. Among senior officers, losses were equally heavy: the forest warriors Ethan and Edmund Glover of House Glover both fell in battle, and the count's younger brother, Charent Glover, was stabbed to death by random gunfire, so much so that not even a complete corpse could be assembled…

Also, the one nicknamed 'Grizzly', Gas Mormont, and the leader of the Bear Island troops, Walder Mormont, died in the final defensive battle at the hands of Bolton's cavalry; as for Haywood Torrhen of Torrhen's Square, people could only recognize him from the badge he left behind and a missing finger, for it was said that his head, cut off by Rickon Bolton, had been taken as a trophy.

Among her guard youths, ten or so—Staneor, Venton Kogi, Snow Chantonn, Creed Snow—were killed in action, while Sir Ricapoll was seriously wounded, and the number of lightly wounded was countless.

She felt that countless people needed her care, and several of the seriously wounded would die at any moment if she did not keep them alive.

But this is after all war; deaths and injuries are unavoidable, yet even after a great victory she still had to face Howard Castle, not knowing how many more would need to be sacrificed to take it. The tactics of Twin Rivers City simply do not apply to Howard Fortress. Bolton's garrison is simply too large.

Precisely for this reason, the officers could not agree on what to do next; of course, she would not be vexed merely because the officers lacked ideas.

She was annoyed because she had no plan, for she had just received word that the Frey soldiers, using fire, had seized a meadow belonging to Winterfell… Thinking of the meadow's location, she felt she could guess the Freys' next target: the Winterfell ranch managed by the Herman family, or the large mill and granary managed by the Kogi family—if the Freys abandoned these small objectives and marched straight on Winterfell, she would thank heaven and earth.

The message was signed by Earl Chayle and drafted in cursive by Maester Roald, sealed and sent via White Harbor to her hands. Such a message, she did not even want to take out and share with the officers, let alone make it public.

The west bank faced a dire situation, yet Qiongen's message had still not arrived.

Compared to these worries, even the loss of the family sword 'Ice' on the battlefield seemed hardly urgent.

Thinking of Ice, she hated even more the Boltons who created the shadow assassins.

The greatsword Ice had been lent to Creed for use, but when he was slain by the Bolton's shadow, all her energy went to the shadow… If she had not been wounded on the battlefield, how could she possibly have allowed anyone to take the family sword?

Hmph, perhaps when she storms Terror Fortress, Bolton will himself deliver Ice and stick out his head!

Things are not going well.

"Your Highness, after all that talk… I suggest, taking advantage of this great victory, abandon Howard City and march straight for Terror Fortress!" Konchukonton shouted at the map, "Now the snow has unexpectedly melted; with the prestige of your great victory, if you falsely claim Bolton has died in battle and pardon the small families along the way, you can swiftly sweep past Sunny City and Wind and Snow Hall, straight to Bolton's core, and moreover…" He swallowed his words, gave her a deep look, "The one defending Terror Fortress for Roose Bolton is none other than the fortress's commander, Walder Bolton Rivers—I know exactly who he is; if you agree, following the Conqueror's treatment of Highgarden, give Terror Fortress to him, and I believe he will gladly open the gates for you. Although he does not command the entire garrison inside, you can secretly send the documents to his hands, as long as you let him leave a gap for us at night…"

"Sunny City, Wind and Snow Hall! Do you know how long it would take to cross such a vast stretch? Especially leading this lot of soldiers through enemy territory, would Bolton, addled as he is, give you an opening? By then they'll seal the defile between Wind and Snow Hall and Terror Fortress, and we'll be trapped there to die!" Sir Glover firmly opposed that reckless plan.

Mei, from the heart, actually appreciated it; moreover, Terror Fortress held no value in her eyes, and if she could give it to the steward to win the war, she could hand over all the castles of the east bank to their stewards, just as she had given the dry-grass hall of the creeklands to Mesmarret.

But indeed, as Sir Glover said, they would easily be trapped in the mountain pass between Wind and Snow Hall and Terror Fortress. Yet, on the other hand, if they struck suddenly while the enemy was unprepared, how many lords could hastily muster an army to face her elite?

"You disagree, huh? I've never seen you agree to anything! This won't work, that won't work—you might as well go back to your forest home! Weren't you the one who originally opposed fighting Bolton?" He snorted and no longer looked at the count's grim face.

"Your Highness," the count ignored Konchukonton, saying, "The weather has been strange lately—clear skies the past two days, now overcast. As a northerner who has endured winter, if our luck runs out and we encounter a heavy snow in the defile, what then? Since the field battle is already won, I believe we can thrust eastward, sweep Bolton's outskirts, and trap them in Howard City; that too is a good option. At that point, it would be Bolton who would have to worry about the snow, not us."

"At that point!" Konchukonton shouted again, "By then the Freys will have burned the Stark lands to ash, and Bolton will have made Howard City his home fortress. How long can he hold out, and how long can we?"

Wherever Konchukonton is, there's bound to be an argument. Mei felt that today's share was enough; after glancing over the officers, she summed up and decided: "Please ask Lord Mandel to continue providing support, recruit infantry, and join the siege of Howard Fortress; Count, you command the right-wing cavalry and three infantry battalions to sweep the surroundings, immediately cut off Howard's link with Sunny City, and build bunkers and defenses. Konchuk, take your infantry squad, join the left-wing cavalry, and march with me to Wind and Snow Hall. The central infantry will thereafter be led by… Lawrence Snow."

No one spoke; they were still waiting, and Mei knew they were waiting to hear how she would deal with the east bank.

"If Roose Bolton wishes to stay in this Howard family stronghold, let him stay! I'll show him this is a death ground. As for Winterfell, I have already entrusted its defense to Earl Chayle, Maester Roalgekaiso, and Harwen Herman," and Qiongenxuenuo, "I believe they can handle the two thousand Frey rabble without problem." Even if it were one against two.

No one spoke in the tent.

"Everyone, we move at first light." She slipped her sword, which she had been leaning on, back into its scabbard, signaling that the meeting was over.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Konchukonton replied loudly.