Chapter 258 Still ran away

Clay was heading south, and John Royce was heading east.

One wants to go back to his base camp to repair, and the other, to a certain extent, also wants to get back home.

The nobles in the valley quarreled for a long time, and after mocking each other for their hypocrisy and cowardice, they unanimously agreed to bypass Earl Harroway's town and go directly back to the valley.

As for what will happen to Tywin Lannister, I'm sorry, but after this battle is over and the people of the Vale have no strength to fight again for a short time, their alliance with Lannister is effectively over.

We have no soldiers left, what else can we do?

It's not accurate to say that. There is a large population in the valley. If we really want to mobilize, we will definitely be able to draw out a lot of people.

But the problem is that fighting is a business.

Now it is obvious that all of his elite cavalry have been eliminated by Clay Mandler. If he sends weaker infantry over, wouldn't that be a reward for Clay Mandler?

How could the valley nobles do what was clearly a loss-making business?

There was hatred fought on the battlefield between them and the Northerners and the Riverlanders, but there was no mutually antagonistic interest.

And hatred is sometimes the most unreliable thing among nobles.

If there is, then the golden dragon is not enough.

Need to pay more.

The attack on the northern border was, to put it bluntly, a successful speculation instigated by Littlefinger.

But later, they were held down and whipped by Clay Mandler, so the business failed and I just stopped doing it.

Anyway, this is how the valley nobles understand the current situation.

As for calming down the anger of the Northerners in the end, that's easy. Didn't Littlefinger Petyr come up with it?

Alas, we are all valley nobles who love each other, and we are borrowing your head.

What?

disagree?

Judging from what you said, you are stingy, aren't you?

I believe Lord Petyr will understand our difficulties and will be generous in lending us a favor.

Am I right? Lord Petyr?

Everyone thinks so, because they, like the Northerners and the Riverlanders, lack a claim to the Iron Throne.

It’s nothing more than a matter of taking sides.

…

Since John Royce had made up his mind to run away, he would naturally not delay any further.

The old boy moved very quickly, and there was nothing he could do if he didn't move quickly. He only had this little food left.

Clay sent people to capture Earl Harroway's town, and more than one place ran out of food.

There was something wrong with the original arrangement of the people of the valley. After defeating Robb Stark, their hearts went to the sky. Otherwise, how could these things have happened?

Three thousand cavalrymen opened the way, protecting the remaining three thousand or so infantrymen as they walked slowly.

John Royce had sold Leonor Corbray's two thousand men.

What if these more than 3,000 infantrymen were left behind and then eaten by Clay Mandler in one bite.

Then even if Yohn Royce returns to Runestone City, he will be beaten up by other angry valley nobles.

Not even the Arryn family can do this, let alone the Royce family, which is not the guardian family of the valley.

What Yohn Royce didn't know was that as he walked back slowly and cautiously, there was a person who wanted to beat him to death in his heart.

…

"You idiot who deserves to go to the seven hells, why did I believe what others said and hand over the army to such a loser!"

In the Lannister military camp outside Harrenhal, in the most luxurious tent in the entire camp.

Tywin Lannister poured himself a glass of black-red wine with an expressionless expression. With green eyes, he calmly looked across at the former finance minister, Earl Petyr, who rarely broke through.

Oh no, not an earl, he should be called Duke Petyr, because he asked for the title of duke from Joffrey Baratheon, who had completely become a puppet.

As for the fiefdom, it was naturally the ruins of Harrenhal that Lannister and he both wanted to break into.

The process of getting this title is also very interesting.

Petyr, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, threw himself at the feet of Joffrey Baratheon, a sullen man who only beat and abused his servants every day.

The crying was sad, with snot and tears, and the meaning was very clear.

Your Majesty the King, I, Petyr, did not betray you back then. I went out to pull reinforcements for you.

My loyalty to His Majesty the King has never changed.

Originally, with this set of rules, if Renly or Stannis were sitting on the throne, this person would have been taken out to feed the dogs.

But Joffrey, a child who had actually lost his throne and been deprived of his power, had been bored in this camp for so long, and his already gloomy and twisted mentality had completely turned to rain.

But at this time, Petyr gave him such a drama of the return of a loyal minister, which made him happy.

According to Joffrey Baratheon's temperament, it is estimated that Petyr will appoint himself the Warden of the East at this time, and he, a king without any power, will give it to him.

He never knew the weight of a crown with the blessing of power.

Treating the kingdom as his own private property, even if he could return to King's Landing and sit on the Iron Throne again, he would eventually die under another conspiracy.

But alas, he won't get that chance again.

He looked at his nominal ally coldly and scolded his general who led the army as a waste in front of him.

Tywin Lannister couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity in his mind.

Is this his ally?

But the question is, besides the Valemen, who else can he ally with?

It is impossible for the people of the Riverlands to join forces with the people of the North, and it is even more impossible for two Baratheons. It is impossible as long as Joffrey is still the king.

Who is left?

Oh, and there is Daenerys Targaryen who is recruiting troops in Dorne and is getting stronger day by day.

Tywin Lannister knew exactly what his army had done in King's Landing.

It was a blood feud, a real fight to the death.

Therefore, in such a big Westeros, Tywin Lannister had to pinch his nose and do everything possible to win over the people of the Vale.

The fact that he has been able to persist until now and still take the initiative locally is because he, Tywin Lannister, has used his lifelong wisdom to operate crazily.

If it were his careless eldest son Jaime who was in charge of this, at this moment, the entire Lannister family would either be in a prison without lights or have their heads chopped off.

"Okay, Lord Petyr, put away your complaints, it's useless."

Duke Tywin glanced coldly at the Duke of Harrenhal who was performing hard opposite, and said lightly.

When he heard that Tywin Lannister was finally willing to talk to him, the expression on Petyr's face changed as fast as a Category 12 typhoon.

The angry and unwilling expression just now faded away quickly and was replaced by his signature narrow smile.

He said:

"Lord Tywin, my troops have failed in their mission."

Tywin Lannister replied immediately.

"Yeah, because of their stupidity, we lost the most important place."

"Do you know that Earl Harroway's town is lost? If we transport food from other places, the loss will be twice as high as usual."

"Not to mention the damn rain recently. The entire Riverlands has now turned into a muddy pond, and all grain trucks will get stuck in the mud."

Petyr just smiled and caught Tywin Lannister's spit with his own face.

In this matter, it is the responsibility of the valley people, and it is useless to find anyone to deny it.

Some time ago, Tywin Lannister forcibly increased the intensity of his siege regardless of casualties and the condition of his soldiers.

He just wanted to take down Harrenhal before the camp was completely out of food, and then he could negotiate with the Northerners and the Riverlanders.

Yes, it’s negotiation.

He didn't want to fight because he couldn't fight anymore.

When he knew that Clay Manderly sent an army of thousands of people out of nowhere to capture Earl Harroway's town, he realized that the people of the valley might be doomed.

What happened next was indeed not beyond his guess.

Clay Manderly used his weak force to easily defeat Yoon Royce, the commander of the valley army, causing him heavy losses.

After hearing the news, Duke Tywin knew that even if he captured Robb Stark, the most he could do was to negotiate a decent armistice agreement with the Northerners and the Riverlanders.

Because if he keeps struggling, the army commanded by Clay Mandler will completely defeat him before he starves to death, and then let him experience the feeling of being a prisoner.

"Your Majesty Duke, no matter what, you have to find a way, right?"

Petyr seemed not to have heard what Tywin Lannister had just said.

The smile on his face should be as genuine and sincere as possible. Of course, this is for those who don’t know him well.

"If I had listened to you, Lord Petyr, and was prepared to think of a solution, the Lannister family would have ceased to exist long ago."

Lord Tywin waved his hand indifferently.

He personally has a very bad opinion of Littlefinger.

Because he smelled a familiar smell in this once-little finance minister.

That taste is called ambition.

It is different from ordinary people's ambitions for land, wealth, and women.

Tywin no longer cares about these pursuits.

What they see in their eyes is much broader than these things.

For example, a golden crown?

Tywin Lannister didn't understand why an inconspicuous little noble would focus on the chair in King's Landing.

But as Petyr stepped up to where he is today, he successfully took control of the valley with his own skills and led them to join the war.

The old lion felt that he was gradually understanding Petyr.

Petyr couldn't rely on his bloodline to ascend to power, so his idea was to smash all the noble and ancient bloodlines to pieces.

Since all the glory of the ancient bloodline is no longer there, then his humble bloodline is no longer a shackle.

Tywin understood, knew it all in his heart.

But now, he has to continue working with this guy.

Now Tywin Lannister is alone.

"I have ordered my son James to lead the army from the Crake Hall, and then come to pick me up all the way."

"Why don't you go to Golden Teeth City? Maybe Sir James can repeat the glorious victory a year ago."

Littlefinger was stunned for a moment, then asked with a smile.

"You don't have to worry about it now. If you leave Golden Tooth City, you may be able to win, but so what?"

"Besides, you know better than me who the commander of the Northern Territory and the Riverlands is now."

Lord Tywin's green eyes shone with indifference.

Petyr Baelish nodded and whispered:

"Indeed, Clay Mandler is too much trouble for us to deal with."

"Originally, I was thinking of ways to make the people in the river disobey his orders."

"But this kid did a great job. With his own prestige, he stripped away Edmure Tully's military power in just a few words."

"The most disgusting thing is that several people with real power in the valley are still his die-hard supporters."

Hearing this name, the two people dancing with masks seemed to have finally found a common topic.

"You people of the valley, after this battle is over, don't make yourself uncomfortable on the battlefield with Clay Mandler for the time being."

"Let's... wait for news from King's Landing."

"Also, you'd better take action and contact the Dornish nobles you know."

"Let them exaggerate the threat of the northerners in front of Daenerys, the evil dragon."

"It would be best if the dragon flames were poured on his head first."