Chapter 200 No need to be polite here

Clay wanted to go south as soon as possible, but he couldn't do it because his army had to take more than 30,000 wildling captives to Winterfell, the capital of the north, and he did not dare to leave them all on the Great Wall.

All the savages walked, and no matter how fast it was, it took Clay half a month to get from the Great Wall to Winterfell. There was no other way, given the traffic conditions, all kinds of troubles continued along the way.

There were several large-scale escapes of the savage captives at night. These guys who were still unwilling to give up untied the ropes, injured and killed the patrolling soldiers, and ran towards the wolf forest as fast as they could.

Clay's handling is also very simple. Anyway, he is all cavalry, mount up and chase!

After catching up, no matter whether they were men or women, they would cut off their heads and bring them back. Clay's order was that since they ran out of the camp, they were no longer his prisoners, and he did not want to see any new prisoners for the time being. .

So, after three more ruthless killings, the remaining timid prisoners of good fortune finally realized what a ruthless person the commander of the northern army who drove them all the way was.

In this way, Clay finally saw the shadowy outline of the walls of Winterfell on a blizzard night. Fortunately, the King's Road was not completely buried in the heavy snow, otherwise, he would have gotten lost without guidance.

There are no more troops from the North gathered in the city. They left half a month ago. Now, the capital of the North is in an extremely weak state.

The sharp-eyed scout on the tower had already discovered this slowly approaching army, but he did not sound an alarm. The Wolf Flag and Mermaid Flag still fluttering in the wind and snow showed the identity of this army.

Lord Clay, they're back!

The horn sounded, and the east gate of Winterfell rumbled open. Clay left the large army in the winter town outside the city, and entered the city with two hundred guards.

Robb Stark has left, so according to the order of succession, the one remaining in Winterfell at this time is his brother Bran Stark.

In the main hall of Winterfell, Clay saw the Winterfell guard. However, the first time he saw him, Clay was stunned.

The magical threads on this kid are much richer than the last time I saw him, almost tying him into a cocoon. Needless to say, this must be the work of the Three-Eyed Crow. If you insist on saying so, this is already a violation of the original agreement. .

"Lord Clay Manderly, welcome to Winterfell."

Bran Stark used a childish voice and spoke the most useless adult mandarin, which made Clay speechless in his heart.

"Bran, your brother left with his troops. How many people did you leave behind? Do you need me to leave some people for you? Winterfell is the core of the North, and security must be guaranteed."

Clay actually meant something when he said this, because the current situation of the seven countries is completely different from when he went south, and many arrangements have slipped to a completely different track.

For example, under his promotion, the North used Theon Greyjoy's life as a bargaining chip, and in the name of Rob Stark, offered gold from the West as a bounty, allowing the Ironmen to send troops to steal the old gold. Lion's butt.

But now, with the passage of time, and with their quick victory and alliance with Daenerys, the Ironborn's role on their side is really not that big, and their own is not very good either.

After Jaime Lannister was sent back to the Westerlands, he took a group of newly trained recruits and drove all the ironmen who were looting along the coast of the Westerlands into the sea in a few seconds.

With the Iron Islands and the Northern Alliance essentially broken, the west coast of the North is under direct threat from the Iron Islands. The current Stark family has not yet fallen.

"No, thank you for your kindness, Lord Clay. I believe Master Luwin and Ser Roderick will help me protect Winterfell."

Bran Stark continued to talk to Clay. Since he had no intention of talking to him, Clay had no interest in saying anything to him. In the past, he wanted to stop the three-eyed crow from swallowing up his sanity, but now , let him be.

Nodding, Clay directly ignored the topic. He turned his attention to two people sitting next to Bran Stark, one civil and one military, the coach of Winterfell and the commander-in-chief of the garrison. The other one was in charge of logistics and Bachelor of Medicine.

"You two, there is something you should know. When I came here this time, I brought back more than 30,000 savage slaves, most of whom were women. In addition to giving one to each of my subordinates who went on the expedition as agreed, the rest Yes, there are more than 20,000 people."

Clay stared at their stiff expressions and smiled slightly:

"If you don't have any objections, I will ask my army to put these prisoners into Winterfell. You will arrange their accommodation and guide and manage their subsequent lives. How about that?"

Maester Luwin and Sir Roderick had ugly expressions on their faces, because they could tell that this Clay Manderly was actually posing a problem to them. Winterfell, which had a permanent population of only 10,000 people, suddenly came to Winterfell with two people. There are more than 30,000 savages. With the army outside, this is going to be huge and simply impossible.

Bran Stark, who didn't know what was going on, frowned and yelled:

"Lord Clay, Maester Luwin taught me that there are no slaves in Westeros anymore. It is wrong for you to call them slaves!"

"Yeah?"

Clay's smile was very strange. He made a look of realization and said in a sighing tone:

"Thank you Lord Bran Stark for teaching me. Then, how about I cut the ropes that bind their hands and feet and give them the identity of the people of the North?"

"good……"

As soon as Bran Stark opened his mouth, he was held down by Maester Luwin. The latter looked at Sir Roderick, then picked up Bran Stark, who had no idea what was going on, and pulled him away. He held his hand and left the hall.

They have discovered that today the military leader in the north has a rather unkind tone, and his every move smells of blood from the battlefield.

As the people who were arranged by Robb Stark to assist Bran Stark in Winterfell, they knew very well that the next words were no longer suitable for a child like Bran Stark to listen to.

After Clay and Sir Roderick were left in the hall, Clay directly pulled up a chair and sat opposite Sir Roderick. He didn't drink. The hall of Winterfell was too empty. Now As cold as an ice cellar.

"Sigh... Lord Clay, Bran is a child who doesn't know anything after all. You... better not get angry at him."

As the first person to know Clay in Winterfell, Sir Roderick knew exactly what Clay was like when he first came to Winterfell, so he lamented Clay's terrifying battlefield talent.

If this was a traditional military family like Randyll Tarly's, he would think that it was normal for Lord Randyll's descendants to fight.

"Can't he wait any longer? Just lead all the infantry south? After losing all the cavalry, he only has more than 16,000 people at most. With this little infantry, he just goes south like that?"

Clay slapped the table directly. He didn't feel sorry for the soldiers of other nobles, but there were thousands of his own among the more than 10,000 people. It was simply stupid for these more than 10,000 people to go south in such a brazen manner.

"What do you think the other side of the valley is saying? I guess that woman Lysa Tully did not agree to Robb's request for an alliance, not even when Lord Eddard was still there, and probably even less so now."

Sir Roderick did not speak. He could not deny Clay's words. Although there was no news from the valley, Lord Bolton and Lord Severn, who had been there for a long time, also had no news.

But there was some faint news coming from Winterfell. It seemed that after these two arrived in the valley, something happened in the Eyrie City. Then, the Blood Gate, the gate into and out of the valley, was completely locked.

"Lord Clay, there is no news from the other side of the valley yet. Our people cannot enter the valley."

Sir Roderick's tone was a bit difficult. Although he was much older than Clay, he was now completely suppressed by Clay in terms of momentum and could not communicate normally like before.

"Huh, no news? How long has it been since I received the message from Robb, to when I defeated Mance Rayder's army, to when I captured these prisoners, and then brought them all the way to Winterfell? Time?"

Clay's tone was not polite at all. He stared into Sir Roderick's eyes and said coldly:

"It's been more than a month. It's been such a long time. No matter what, the two of them should have crawled back to the North from the Eyrie. If they can, they can, and if they can't, they can't. Is it possible that they still have to stay and wait for Lysa? Does Tully feed them?"

On the way back, the more Clay thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. The valley had been neutral in this war. It was a bit like a neutral country in the second war in the previous life. No matter how you fight together, I will remain neutral to the end.

But the problem is that the Valley is not that small country famous for its banks and watches, and its own military strength is inferior. In theory, the Valley has the most powerful cavalry force in Westeros.

Gu Di will definitely come to an end in the end, but it is not certain who he will help.

Robb Stark led more than 10,000 infantry troops south along the King's Road, telling himself that he would be stationed at the Twins, but judging from the freewheeling state in his letter, it was not impossible to continue going south directly.

At this time, the well-equipped Valley Cavalry came out of the Blood Gate...

Almost all the nobles in the North, including Robb Stark himself, believe that even if the North led by Lysa Tully continues to remain neutral and not on their own side, they will not help others fight. Own.

Because of blood, the sisterly relationship between Lysa Tully and Catelyn Tully gave the people of the North a natural sense of trust in the valley. In addition, they were all good brothers who worked together to rebel against the Targaryen dynasty, so the relationship became even more intense. further.

But Clay knew that Lysa Tully was not aligned with the North at all. All she could think about was her son, Robert Arryn Jr., the current ruler of the valley, and oh yes, there was also Lysa Tully. Someone you particularly like.

Therefore, from the beginning, Clay concluded that the alliance team sent by Rob would definitely return without success, but the current situation is that it is unknown whether it was a failure or not, but it did not return, which is a problem.

Again, the North cannot collapse now, the old lion's back has not been broken, the two stags are still competing with each other with their antlers, and the power of Daenerys in Dorne has not yet taken shape. Now is not the time to take action.

Clay doesn't have a habit of acting like a subordinate, but in the current situation, he and Daenerys still don't have the strength of Aegon Targaryen back then. They can't go all the way and crush all resistance.

The dragon is still too small. A bolt from the city guard crossbow, which is not a black technology developed by Maester Qyburn, can cause fatal damage to Daenerys's little dragon, if it hits the neck.

Clay's Galesos will also be injured by this kind of crossbow. There are only four dragons, but the city defense can have a hundred or a thousand crossbows, if these lords feel that their lives are threatened.

Therefore, Clay must now try his best to ensure the stability of the Northern Territory and use this shell to ensure the interests of the Mandalay family. Otherwise, once something happens to the main force of the Northern Army, the Mandalay family in Twin River City will inevitably be affected. .

"I'll tell you the truth, I won't leave any wildling prisoners for Winterfell. Now the defense is empty. If these people escape, there will be Wolfwood to the north, which will become endless trouble for us."

Sir Roderick sighed and nodded, apparently acquiescing to Clay's approach.

"I will bring this large group of people back to White Harbor first. I will take the main force of the Mandalay family's cavalry to escort the savages to White Harbor. There is a large population there, and there are enough manpower to keep an eye on them."

Clay had no intention of discussing it with Sir Roderick. He was informing him, not seeking his consent.

"But Lord Clay, Your Majesty Robert needs your cavalry support. If you take the cavalry to White Harbor and then rush to the Riverlands..."

Clay waved his hand impatiently, interrupting Sir Roderick's subsequent words.

"Listen up, I will let Earl Glover take the main force of the cavalry first, and go south as soon as possible to join Robert's main force of infantry. When we fought this battle, he should have thought that I would have so many prisoners, and I He was also informed in the subsequent letter.”

Clay laughed without joy and continued:

"He couldn't wait any longer and ran to the south first. Now that the main infantry force is gone, what can I do? Could it be that I killed all these prisoners? If so, why did I capture them in the first place?"

Sir Roderick could only nod to Clay's statement. Clay's control over the army disqualified him from even interjecting, let alone changing Clay's decision.

"Well, Lord Clay, Winterfell will provide enough food and fodder for your army. I hope you can set off as soon as possible. After all, His Majesty is still in the south, with only infantry by his side, and his mobility is too poor."

Nodding, Clay stood up directly. He had nothing to talk to Roderick. When he came here, firstly, Winterfell was on the King's Road, which was a must-see. Secondly, no matter what, he still had to go through it. Winterfell, after all, in principle, the handling of so many prisoners must be cleared with Winterfell.

But your Winterfell belly is too small now to feed so many people, so that's not my problem, Clay Manderly.

In fact, in his heart, Kerry had no intention of giving these savages to Rob Stark.

These are precious population resources, especially the large number of women among them, which will be an important bargaining chip for Clay to win over people in the future.

The snow was still falling. After Clay took enough supplies from Winterfell, he immediately led the people towards the south.