Chapter 331 War is a continuation of politics

Galesos is fine, which is the greatest good thing.

After all, it was an adult dragon that was far larger than Drogon.

The thick dragon scales were able to withstand the crossbow arrow design, which was as thin as an arm.

This arrow hit the abdomen.

The arrow penetrated part of the dragon scale, but did not completely break the defense.

When Clay took out this heavy crossbow, Galesos didn't have much reaction.

It didn't even get into the flesh, and it broke off a little bit from the nail. I don't even know when it broke.

That's good.

Because the abdomen and neck are originally the weakest parts of the dragon's scales.

If everything was fine here, then the problem would be smaller on the chest and arms where the dragon scales were thicker.

At least it won't be the backdrop for some javelin throwers.

After making sure Galesos was fine, Clay resisted the urge to rush over and score twice again.

The people of the valley still have a certain ability to fight back, and they can no longer be as reckless as before.

In this case, you have to plan carefully.

After all, the thousands of people in his hands are not just decoration.

They were all in each other's faces, and there was no way they could make it without a fight.

So, by the morning of the third day, Clay completed the deployment.

Among the 7,000 men in hand, 1,000 of his own direct lineage replaced the original defenders of Longbow Hall, and then, the remaining 6,000 men set off as a whole army.

The Valley Army was only ten miles away, and Clay knew very well that they would not retreat.

The attack the night before yesterday would not damage a force of nearly 10,000 people.

After all, that is close to ten thousand people, not one hundred, nor one thousand.

Moreover, the Valley People had no retreat.

Apart from fighting with themselves and praying to defeat themselves, they have no other option but to surrender.

The existence of the dragon makes defending the city easily turn into an act of destroying one's own team.

The stakes are too high.

Moreover, due to ignoring the terrain, this city cannot be defended.

Spreading the defense gives Clay's ground troops a chance to defeat them one by one.

If they get together, the dragon can harvest other empty castles with abandon.

In short, there are two bottles of poisonous wine, choose one.

Obviously, the people of the valley chose the latter and fought head-on with themselves.

…

The army moved out, but this time Clay was not in command.

After becoming the king, the number of people he can use has been greatly improved. He is no longer in the hard-working state before where he had to do everything by himself.

For example, this time, the people in charge of the army are their own Sir Malone and Earl Blackwood who was transferred from the Riverland army.

With a large group of small noble officers, they formed the skeleton of this army.

Among the six thousand people, more than a thousand Longgong Hall troops were placed in the center.

Clay knew that they definitely didn't have much will to fight, so in order to prevent them from escaping, he specially arranged this position.

Never give them a chance to escape and cause the front to collapse.

Since the troops were transported by sea, the number of cavalry was very small, and heavy armor could not be brought.

Therefore, this time, Clay only had 800 cavalry in his hands, and the remaining more than 5,000 people were all pure infantry.

This makes it impossible to play the evil tricks of large-scale maneuvering.

There is a high probability that the decisive battle will be a head-on confrontation.

Moreover, the night before yesterday, with a burst of dragon flame, Clay also destroyed the opponent's cavalry force.

It is estimated that a lot of horse meat is already cooked in that place now.

Therefore, now everyone is half-measured and can only fight for the position honestly.

…

After marching forward for two hours, Clay's forward troops, the eight hundred light cavalry who had no ability to attack fortresses, could already see the existence of the Valley People's army.

The fire burned down their camp, so they reused the waste and built a simpler one nearby.

The arrival of Clay's army would naturally not be hidden from Sir Morton Waywood's eyes.

The sigh finally came.

Looking at the camp that finally stopped arguing, he ordered his troops to march out of the camp and form an array due east of the camp.

There are only more than 7,000 people left in hand.

Morton Waywood split the legion into three square formations, with four thousand in the center and more than one thousand on each side.

The dragon-shooting crossbows are mainly placed here in the Chinese army, and there are not many of them anyway.

Soon, the vanguard of the armies from both sides appeared in the sight of the soldiers in the front row.

Although Clay's side was slightly at a numerical disadvantage, due to the looming dragon shadow in the sky, Clay's side was the first to attack.

After all, the morale of both sides is not equal.

The eight hundred cavalry were divided into two groups and quickly ran towards the rear of the valley army.

The location where the Valley Army camped was originally on the top of a small hill. After it was burned by fire, it was moved to the hillside.

When the war started, they still occupied favorable terrain and suppressed Clay's troops.

Of course, Earl Blackwood couldn't make it easy for them.

So, the eight hundred cavalry were divided into two groups and quickly detoured to the rear, near the burned camp.

While providing pressure to the rear of the valley army, the arrows thrown from a high position will have greater power and range.

This was the strategy set from the beginning.

On the valley side... there was no response on the valley side.

They watched as the cavalry of Mandalay's army bypassed them from both sides, climbed up the hill, and came behind them.

did nothing.

In fact, I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to.

Because they simply don't have that ability.

Originally, Valley had the highest proportion of cavalry among the armies of the Seven Kingdoms.

During the first war, they dispatched a pure cavalry force of 10,000 people.

However, Clay Mandler, a "horse thief" with no martial ethics, took them in circles, and then found the right opportunity to attack the location of their military horses.

Coupled with a series of subsequent blows, the valley army's horses suffered serious losses.

The army that came this time was originally stationed at the Blood Gate.

As a defender, if there is no need to execute the order to go out of the city to harass the opponent, then the cavalry is of little use.

Therefore, most of these guys are infantry.

After hearing that Longbow Hall had fallen and Clay Manderly's army approaching the Eagle's Nest, they hurriedly left the Blood Gate where they were originally stationed and broke camp to join the battle.

It is simply unrealistic to expect them to become cavalry again.

The few remaining cavalry were also attacked by the dragon the night before yesterday, and all the horses were burned to pieces.

Run as fast as you can, get used to it as you go.

When the war started today, there was no cavalry available at all.

Therefore, they had no choice but to stare and watch the eight hundred people, like a military parade, pass by at high speed in front of their formation and arrive behind them.

In desperation, Earl Morton Waywood could only order the soldiers at the rear of the formation to turn around and confront the eight hundred cavalry to prevent them from rushing into the formation condescendingly.

Although he also knew that these were just some light cavalry, under normal circumstances, they would not take the risk of charging into the formation unless absolutely necessary.

Unless you don't want to live anymore.

…

A war to determine the fate of the valley is about to begin, and Lord Petyr Baelish, the nominal leader of the valley, has already reached the edge of the Blood Gate at this time.

He was sending someone out.

This man's name is Roose Bolton.

Obviously, besides what happened on the battlefield, he had other plans.

This matter cannot be done before the army in the valley leaves. There are many people and many eyes.

Now, everyone's attention was attracted by the upcoming decisive battle. Only then did he have the opportunity to quietly avoid the sight of others, disguised himself and came to the Blood Gate, and exposed Luce, who was in an embarrassing position and had been forced to stay in the Eagle's Nest City. · Send Burton out.

Accompanying them was a drastically changed Arya Stark, who was sitting silently on a horse, thin and indifferent.

She had wanted to go home countless times, but now that she was really allowed to go home, she felt extremely strange and afraid of that land.

After almost two years in the Eagle's Nest City, the lively little girl had long lost any enthusiasm and became calm and numb.

She had long understood the possibility of herself, Roose Bolton, and the combination returning to the North.

Help the Bolton family cause chaos in the North and take advantage of the chaos to capture Winterfell.

There will only be one result.

If this goal cannot be achieved, then she will also be the talisman of the Bolton family.

After all, if he fabricated a marriage and went back again, who could possibly attack Roose Bolton?

Even if he has betrayed the North.

Arya Stark doesn't know anything about Clay Manderly.

For two years, no one told her about the outside world.

Maybe, she couldn't even remember who Clay Mandler was.

However, this is not important.

Because Roose Bolton and Petyr Baelish agreed that Arya Stark could just be a "person" with the Stark name, and she didn't need to know the rest. .

"Lord Bolton, I wish you success in the north as soon as possible."

Petyr Baelish still said this with a smile, but anyone could see the reluctance behind the smile.

"Hopefully, I don't know the current situation in the North, but don't worry, the Bolton family is still loyal to me."

Littlefinger nodded:

"That's good. What I've found out is that Clay Manderly doesn't have many troops stationed in the north. Only when he surprises Winterfell, captures the Stark family, and supports Arya Stark to take power, we have A chance to live.”

Roose Bolton has always had doubts about this plan.

"Can you guarantee that everyone in the North believes what we said that Clay Manderly is going to attack the Stark family?"

The Guardian of the Eastern Realm shook his head:

"I can't guarantee it, but this is at least a statement. As long as we create an established fact that Bran Stark and other members of the Stark family have died or disappeared one after another, then things will be fine."

"As for Sansa Stark, you can marry him off, or you can give him to me."

"She looks very much like her mother. She is a beauty."

Roose Bolton's gray eyes stared at this guy with a calm tone. After a long time, an extremely ugly smile suddenly appeared on his face:

"Lord Petyr, that's it. Then, I also wish you can take your little Robert Arryn with you when Clay Manderly is chasing him."

After that, without any nonsense, he put on a dark robe, put on his hood, and left the Blood Gate on horseback.

Petyr Baelish didn't say much.

Now, there is not much time left for them.

Clay Mandler arrived too quickly, catching them off guard.

These two people will not stay in the Eagle's Nest City and wait for death.

Up and down the North, no one would make sense for Cray to deal with a treacherous Roose Bolton.

Likewise, for a title with nothing but the empty title of Guardian of the East and the title of Duke without a fief.

Therefore, no one in the valley would object to Clay Mandler killing him.

In fact, they want to do just that.

If it weren't for the fact that Petyr Baelish now held the only direct heir of the Arryn family in his hands.

These valley nobles have rebelled long ago. When will Clay lead his troops to invade?

This time, he let go of Roose Bolton, a card he had long discarded, just to give himself one more way out.

Roose Bolton is a gambler through and through.

Because he betrayed the group he shouldn't betray, at least, he didn't choose the right time.

Therefore, he could only fight hard to survive.

But I don’t necessarily have to do this.

After being the finance minister for so long, he has been the "Old Madam" who has been in power for more than ten years.

Petyr Baelish has saved himself a pretty good fortune. If that doesn't work out, he can leave Westeros and go to Essos to become a rich man, which is also a good choice.

It's just that he is unwilling to withdraw from the big stage of the Seven Kingdoms.

In his opinion, the foundation of the king Clay Manderly was not stable.

If it weren't for his great martial arts, he wouldn't have been able to integrate the two areas so easily.

What Littlefinger has to do is to find a way to give his dynasty, which has not yet had a solid foundation, a few hard blows on the foundation.

Although he didn't know whether he could succeed.

Anyway, he thought he had a way out.

So don't be afraid of anything.

…

The war began. Clay's forwards, infantrymen wearing heavy armor and holding large shields, faced the rain of arrows like locusts from the valley army and pressed towards their line.

Valley people are not good at fighting on foot, but there is nothing they can do at the moment.

Spearmen in the front row, weapons in hand, also faced Mandalay's army.

The front line on the valley side moved faster because their soldiers and the front row were not equipped with heavy armor.

However, rushing forward and facing the shield wall with the spear, the effect was not exerted, but was greatly reduced.

After stabbing each other, most of them were knocked away by the heavy shield.

Even if a small part penetrates through the air of the shield, it will be difficult to cause fatal damage to the heavily armored soldiers at once.

But the pressure of the heavy shield hand still made these spearmen keep retreating.

After all, the effect of their attacks is not too great.

But after all, the military formation is people next to each other. After the spearmen in front retreat a certain distance, they can't go back any further.

Then, the heavy shield bearer of the Mandalay army pressed forward, and through the gap in the shield, he handed out a sharp one-handed sword.

Bloody flowers burst out, and brutal positional killings unfolded.

The valley army realized that they had no way to retreat, and they moved forward to kill with all their might.

Suddenly, the number of people who fell on the front lines of the battle between the two sides increased rapidly.

The Chinese army was locked in a bitter battle. The armies on both sides of the valley wanted to come up and surround them, but failed.

The number of Mandalay's troops was only a thousand less than them.

Moreover, since the quality of the individual soldiers is higher than that of the valley soldiers, the situation is that the Mandalay army is suppressing the valley people.

The two wings of both sides were also strangled together.

This is not a battle between heavy shields and spears.

Instead, the sword was stained with blood, and it was a bloody melee at close quarters.

Whoever can take the lead in defeating the opponent's flanks will be able to immediately influence the situation in the center.

Both sides understand this.

Therefore, no one can let the opponent succeed easily.