Chapter 272 Preparation for Battle

Clay's army ultimately underestimated the eagerness of Yohn Royce and the defeated generals to return home.

They pursued them all the way to the west of God's Eye Lake, but they failed to intercept the last elite of the valley people.

In desperation, Clay could only send people to Earl Harroway's town to inform Earl Karstark of the possible attack by the valley people.

Clay already knew that 8,000 reinforcements from Winterfell were in place, so the total strength of that place had exceeded 15,000.

Moreover, seven thousand people had been working on the ground for several months, and the fortifications built should be enough for the people of the valley to drink a pot.

If they dare to come.

Now that the Valley People had run away, Clay took advantage of the situation and shifted his target to the old lion who had not yet moved to his den.

Now, not counting those valley people who were already frightened.

The shape of the entire battlefield is clearly visible on the map.

Clay himself led an army of 5,500 infantry and cavalry in the northwest direction of God's Eye Lake.

Edmure Tully, who set out from further south, held the remaining Riverland army, about 14,000 men. He was now some distance behind him, but he had already driven to the west of the Lake of the God's Eye.

In the north, once it is determined that the people of the valley are not a threat, the 15,000 Mandalay and Northern Families coalition forces in Earl Harroway's town will be able to detach at least 10,000 people to go south and approach Harrenhal.

On Clay's side, nearly 30,000 troops have been dispatched, and 20,000 have already arrived on the battlefield.

Their opponent is the main force of the Western Army led by Tywin Lannister.

Although the Lannister army had lost some people in the previous defense of King's Landing and the siege of Harrenhal during this period, at present, the two armies under Tywin Lannister's control There are still ten thousand.

Therefore, if you zoom in on the perspective, this is a battle involving 50,000 troops covering the vast battlefield in the eastern riverlands.

Although Renly Baratheon claimed to have a hundred thousand people when he besieged King's Landing, how many of them could actually fight on the front line?

Therefore, it can be said that the outcome of this battle will determine the fate of many people.

Therefore, Clay did not dare to neglect.

After his army reached the northwest position of God's Eye Lake, he ordered the army to stop.

His opponent this time is not the arrogant and pampered Jaime Lannister from last time.

There is only one chance to beat up Lannister. Now, facing Tywin Lannister, an old lion who has been active on the top stage of the Seven Kingdoms for more than thirty years, there is no chance and he can only fight head-on.

"Send an order to send someone to contact Edmure Tully to our south, and ask him to lead his army to move closer to me immediately. If he encounters any resistance, tell him that my order is only for this time. If he doesn't come, Tai When Win Lannister attacks him, I won't save him and let him think about it."

Clay didn't have to be at odds with Edmure Tully. It didn't matter if he was allowed to do whatever he wanted. It was impossible to create any big trouble, but this was a 50,000-person battle.

If you can't enforce orders and prohibitions on your side, and if you can command every army, then it will be useless no matter how many troops you have.

Therefore, Edmure Tully must not give blind orders in this war. He can listen, but he must not speak.

The army is a violent machine, and the most taboo thing is to make multiple orders.

Therefore, Clay will not make any move to move closer to Edmure Tully. As the commander of the army, all the troops on the battlefield must obey his command.

Secular aristocratic titles all stood aside at this moment.

The soldiers took the order and left, the horses galloping and mud splashing everywhere.

Earl Tytos Blackwood, who had already led his army to follow, looked worriedly at the back of the messenger as he left, and whispered to Clay:

"Lord Clay, isn't it a bit..."

He is not on the side of Edmure Tully, he is a Blackwood first and a riverlander second, and there is no one in the current Tully family worthy of him to follow.

He said this simply because he felt that Clay was forcing Edmure Tully too much.

Based on his understanding of Edmure Tully, although this boy is no longer a young man, in terms of his inner character, he is really not very impressive.

In particular, since the war began, he has not won even a single battle on the frontal battlefield with his own abilities.

Therefore, his heart is particularly sensitive to this kind of thing.

Tytos Blackwood is hanging out with Clay now anyway, and he feels that his master named Tully needs to be coaxed.

But he didn't understand Clay, and Clay wouldn't be used to Edmure Tully's problems.

"Don't worry, Lord Tytos Blackwood, even if Edmure Tully disobeys my orders, the riverland nobles under him will force him to bring his army to me. in front of me, and then obediently hand over the command."

"But my lord..."

Clay knew he was worried about something, but Clay wasn't worried at all.

Waving his hand to signal Tytos Blackwood to shut up, Clay gave his own explanation:

"Lord Tytos, we all know that the respected Duke Tully's talents cannot be reflected on the battlefield. Therefore, I must stop his idea from the beginning, even if the method is rough."

Clay pointed to the southeast location with a cold smile on his face.

"If I don't take it back from Edmure Tully forcefully, I will lend him military power for a while and let him hang around with more than 10,000 riverland troops. If I neglect anything, I will let him The Lion sensed an opportunity and led his cavalry to crush Edmure Tully's army."

"What? Do you want what happened to the Northern army led by Robb Stark to happen to your Riverland army again? Or do you want Edmure Tully to be killed by the Lannister again? Caught once?”

Every word Clay Mandler said would be heartbreaking in normal times, but now, Tytos Blackwood had to admit that every word Clay Mandler said in front of him, He agreed with them all.

With a sigh, Tytos Blackwood could only choose to remain silent. If he wanted to blame it, he could only blame Edmure Tully for being such a waste. As long as he could prove himself a little bit on the battlefield, the Riverlands The nobles would not lead Clay, an outsider, so uniformly.

After solving this problem, Clay summoned all the generals in his army to come to him to discuss the next plan of action.

They were approaching Harrenhal with such a big fanfare, and it was impossible to expect the old lion to not know anything about it and to let them attack unprepared.

It’s not that they have to march in so arrogantly, making it look like a demonstration, but this is not 3,000 people, this is 30,000 people. If you include the logistics army, then you don’t know how many people there are.

With such a large army, people eat horses, patrol every day, soldiers delivering messages come and go, and the movement is not small at all.

Therefore, instead of being cautious and being discovered by Tywin Lannister in the end, it is better to just let it go, and the soldiers and yourself will suffer less. Anyway, it would be best if the old lion dares to leave the nest and fight with him in the wild.

Anyway, in this muddy pond in the Riverlands, everyone can't move fast enough. If they fight a bad war, there is no technical content.

Everyone has their own feet in the mud, and no one can even think of quietly outflanking the other's retreat.

Honestly, just move the army to the opposite side and then have a solid fight. Whoever wins will be considered the hero.

Clay understands this, and so does Tywin Lannister.

So when Clay's army approached him, he knew that the enemy was coming with superior force, but he stood still under the city of Harrenhal. This was the reason.

It wasn't that he was just waiting for death. After Tywin Lannister learned the news about Clay's arrival, he immediately used Raven to contact Jaime Lannister in the West and asked him to lead his army to the Golden Tooth City and make an attack on Riverrun. situation.

Tywin Lannister thought about asking his good son Jaime to directly send troops to attack the riverlanders' nest, but he didn't know what Clay Manderly thought.

He was now crucified under the walls of Harrenhal, losing control of the entire battlefield.

Therefore, he was unsure of Clay Mandler's true strategic intentions.

What if Clay Mandler's so-called shot at him was just to deceive him out of his last fortune in the West, and then eat him whole?

It's not impossible, right?

Therefore, Tywin Lannister just ordered his son to hang the lion flag on the gate of Golden Teeth City, not for Clay Manderly to see.

The old lion knew that this move could not scare away the last hope of the North, but it could frighten the people of the Riverlands who had profound historical memories.

If the riverlanders can put pressure on Clay Manderly to lead his army back to Riverrun, then there will naturally be no pressure on Tywin Lannister.

Even if there is a northern army to the north of themselves that they don't know the exact number of, they are not worried because no matter how many there are, they will not be able to eat their 20,000 people.

Tywin Lannister may know the depth of the war in the North better than Robb Stark, who was imprisoned by him.

I don’t know how many people there are in the north, but they are definitely the last troops in the north. Clay Mandler cannot use them to gamble.

"We have 5,500 people now, and there will be basically 20,000 people in the future. But now, we don't have the ability to attack. It doesn't matter. Now is not the time to attack."

Clay looked at the low-level generals who filled his tent and said in a deep voice.

"Krissen."

"grown ups!"

"I order you to go to the army, select the most elite five hundred cavalry, and lead them to Harrenhal to try to attack Tywin Lannister's camp."

"Remember, the purpose of your battle is not to kill the enemy, but to tell Tywin Lannister that I, Clay Manderly, have arrived!"

"Also, you must rush to the edge of Harrenhal as much as possible, and you must let the defenders see your presence."

"I'm worried that Harrenhal may not be able to hold on anymore. Don't let Tywin Lannister succeed at Harrenhal at this last moment. In that case, we will be a little passive."

Everyone thought that he was worried about the safety of the northern nobles in the city, but in fact he was not. He was considering that once Harrenhal was lost, Tywin Lannister would take the northern nobles as hostages and hide in the high palace of Harrenhal. behind the wall.

Clay didn't want to chew on the wall.