Chapter 306 Tug of War Competition in the Riverlands

Just as the Northern Alliance forces crossed the Green Fork River and launched a surprise attack on Riverrun, in the Western Army camp at the other end of the Bloodgate Gorge in the Southern Valley, Kevan Lannister looked at his nephew Tyrion Lannis who was devouring food in front of him. Special, he looked at the savage leaders holding roasted sheep and roasting pigs, and felt a little pain in his forehead.

"Half-man, although the food you brought out is delicious, you still have to keep your promises and you can't change them at all!" Xia Ga, the leader of the Alpine Department, bit off a piece of roast lamb and chewed it while saying .

Tyrion swallowed the food in his mouth through the wine in the glass, and then said very confidently: "Of course, Lannister, you must pay your debts. Since I promised you money and equipment, I will never break my promise. Wait. My son will make arrangements for you, but before that, let me discuss it with my uncle alone."

The savages looked at each other and nodded, and Xia Ga said, "I won't go far. I'm just outside the tent. Don't even think about escaping."

After saying that, he and the other savage leaders walked out of the tent, found a random place to sit down in the open space outside, and continued to eat what they were holding.

"Your father misses you so much..." Kevan said, picking up the flagon and filling Tyrion's glass.

"Ahem!" Tyrion coughed repeatedly as if he had been choked, interrupting Kevan's words. Then he picked up the wine glass that had just been filled and drank it all in one breath. He breathed a sigh of relief before facing Kevan. Feng said: "Uncle Keifeng, don't scare me. You told me that my father misses me. Do you believe it?"

Kevan showed a little embarrassment and said: "Anyway, it will be good if you can come back safely. I will help you complete the promise you made to those wildlings. You will go to Harrenhal and meet up with your father later. ”

"Wait, there is my golden dragon." At this time, Bronn emphasized.

Tyrion turned his head and rolled his eyes at Bronn, and said: "Your golden dragon is indispensable. You promised to deliver me to my father. You haven't seen my father yet!" Then he turned his head again. He looked at Kevan and said, "I don't want to go to Harrenhal yet. I want to stay here and help you capture the valley."

"Capture the Valley?" Kevan frowned and said, "When did I say I was going to capture the Valley? The task your father gave me was just to keep me on the main road to prevent the Valley from intervening in the war in the Riverlands."

"I know." Tyrion nodded, tapping his fingers on the table as a habit, and said: "But if you have the opportunity to take down the Blood Gate, disrupt the valley, and make the valley have no energy to send troops outside, will you seize this opportunity? ?”

Kevan was stunned for a moment and asked, "Do you have a way to take down the Blood Gate?"

"Uncle Kevan, have you forgotten how I came back?" Tyrion said, pointing to the savages outside the door, and said: "Those savages are very familiar with the Mingyue Mountains, and they know a secret road suitable for the army. Passage, and can bypass the blood gate and enter the valley directly. "

Kevan's expression became serious after hearing this.

Tyrion continued: "You just need to let these wild men lead the way, separate an army, bypass the Blood Gate, and then ambush behind the Blood Gate. When the appointed time comes, you will lead the army in front to feint to attack the Blood Gate and attract the blood With the attention of the garrison at the gate, that army will take the opportunity to sneak attack from behind, and they will definitely be able to capture the Blood Gate in one fell swoop.”

Kevan fell into deep thought.

Tyrion said extremely seriously: "As long as we take down the Blood Gate, the valley will be completely open before our eyes. Then we don't need to do it ourselves. We only need to equip the savages with weapons and let them loot the valley. Everywhere in the valley will be destroyed." The garrison in the territory will definitely be exhausted. Let alone sending troops to intervene in the war in the Riverlands, it is not certain whether their own territory can be saved. "

Kevan seriously considered Tyrion's suggestion and said, "Now the Valley has no intention of intervening in our war with the North."

"There is no intention now, but what about in the future?" Tyrion looked at Kevan and said: "Uncle Kevan, don't forget, the person in power in the valley now is Lysa Tully. She is the daughter of the Duke of Riverrun, and she He also said that it was Jon Arryn, Duke of the Eyrie, who was poisoned by Jaime and Cersei. Do you think the people in the Vale will really just be bystanders?"

Kevan was silent for a moment and said, "I agree with this plan, but this plan must be directed by someone I trust."

As he spoke, he looked at Tyrion.

Tyrion was completely stunned. He looked around, pointed at his nose, and said, "Uncle Kevan, the person you are talking about who you can trust is not me, right?"

Kevan nodded and said: "Since you proposed the plan, it is naturally most appropriate for you to execute it."

Tyrion jumped out of his chair excitedly, then turned around in front of Kevan and said, "Do you think I am a knight who can lead troops in war?"

"You don't necessarily need to kill the enemy in person to fight. Don't you always say that wisdom is better than the sword?" Kevan retorted to Tyrion, and then he did not allow Tyrion to continue to defend himself and made a decision: "That's it! I'll wait. I will allocate a thousand good soldiers to you, and you will lead them and the savages around the Blood Gate. I will start to attack the Blood Gate at night in two days. Then you can attack from behind. But if you don't find an opportunity, don't attack by force. Just go back.”

After saying that, he stood up, left the tent and went to arrange people. Tyrion stood there blankly, and did not recover for a long time.

Bronn took a sip of the wine in the glass, patted Tyrion's arm with the scabbard, and said: "You'd better give me the reward you deserve today, lest you be slaughtered on the battlefield two days later. No, I can’t get the money.”

"No! We agreed to send me to my father. How can we change the conditions in advance?" Tyrion quickly argued: "So you must save my life in two days, otherwise you will lose a bronze star." I can't get it." As he said that, he walked out with small steps and muttered: "No, I want to give those savages the best equipment to prevent anything from going wrong with the equipment."

Bronn directly picked up a few bottles of expensive Qingting Island wine on the table and followed them out of the tent.

As the Northern Alliance forces entered the Riverlands, the war in the Riverlands also became complicated.

After the Western Alliance forces captured the vast area south of the Trident River, they began to plunder the wealth and population of the Riverlands. Whether they were nobles in the castle or farmers on the farms outside the city, all were captured by the Western Alliance forces without exception. They served as servants in the army, and those who escaped capture fled south wildly, swam across the Blackwater River, and took refuge in the territory of Summer Hall.

In less than ten days, the entire Riverlands became a deserted land with ten rooms and nine empty houses. Only a band of bandits called the Brotherhood Without Banners roamed the Riverlands endlessly, attacking the Western Territories in the Riverlands. The garrisons or grain transport teams in various places caused a lot of trouble to the Western Alliance forces.

While everyone was shocked by what happened in the Riverlands, they also focused on the two small-scale battles.

A battle took place on the Green Fork between Daisy Mormont, Lord of Bear Island in the North, and Stafford Lannister, Tywin Lannister's cousin and brother-in-law.

Before the battle, no one would think that Stafford Lannister would be defeated, because at that time the vanguard army led by Stafford Lannister had a total of 30,000 people, and these 30,000 people were elites from various territories in the West. Their purpose is to completely drag Robb's northern coalition to death on the King's Road.

On the other hand, Daisy Mormont only has 6,000 people, which is a huge gap in numbers. Even though she was a famous general under Lynde Terra and had made many achievements, many people felt that it was because of Lynde Terra’s Because of virtue, and now that Daisy Mormont has left Summer Hall, her actual combat power may be greatly reduced.

However, the final result shocked everyone. Daisy Mormont actually annihilated the 30,000 troops in the West with only hundreds of casualties. In the end, less than four people escaped from the Green Fork. thousand.

If the escapees had not burned down the bridge over the Trident in time to prevent Daisy Mormont from pursuing her, these four thousand people might not have escaped death.

Moreover, if Daisy Mormont crosses the Trident River, she can take advantage of Duke Tywin of Harrenhal's unpreparedness and lead the remaining five thousand cavalry south along the King's Road with a great victory. Entering Harrenhal, Duke Tywin will also become in danger.

As for how Daisy won, none of the thousands of people who survived could tell clearly, because at that time they could only hear the screams of their colleagues, and the only thing they could do was to run away until their legs were gone. Don't stop until you have enough strength.

In this war, in addition to the losses of the army, the losses of the generals and knights in the West were also very heavy. First of all, the commander Stafford Lannister died in the battle immediately, and there were also more than a dozen members of the Lannister family, some Lords and knights from different territories also died in battle.

Among the more than 3,000 people who survived, the one with the highest status was Stafford's son Davon Lannister. That is to say, he burned the bridge in time and quickly reorganized the remaining defeated army. By the Trident River Confront Daisy on the other side of the river and prevent Daisy from swimming across the river.

This defeat undoubtedly lost most of the advantages Duke Tywin had gained in sweeping the Riverlands, but no one dared to underestimate Duke Tywin, because most of the 30,000 people lost were troops from various territories in the West. , and the direct army of the Lannister family did not suffer much losses. There were 100,000 troops stationed at Harrenhal alone, more than 50,000 troops besieging Riverrun, and nearly 5,000 troops from Eritrea. The mercenary group from the South continent has set off from Lannisport and entered the Riverlands to assist Duke Tywin in garrisoning the Riverlands.

Just when many people were happy about the disastrous defeat of the Western Alliance Army, the news coming from the valley made people shocked, and once again they were in awe of Duke Tywin.

Because overnight, the blood gate of the valley changed owners, and the new leader of the blood gate who succeeded Brandon River and his knights and troops were completely wiped out.

No one yet knows how the Blood Gate was breached, and no one knows why none of the thousands of people guarding the Blood Gate escaped after the Blood Gate was breached. The only thing everyone can know is that the consequences of the Blood Gate changing hands are that the entire The valley is exposed to the army of the Western Territory. Except for those castles built in dangerous places such as the Eagle's Nest City, the other territories are undefendable.

However, Kevan Lannister, who captured the Blood Gate, did not continue to attack the valley, probably because of Daisy Mormont. He only left a part of his army to guard the Blood Gate, and he led the rest of the army, Arriving near the mouth of the Trident River, they built fortifications and set up camp step by step, not giving Daisy Mormont's cavalry any chance of a sneak attack. At the same time, they united with Davon Lannister on the other side to flank Daisy Mormont's army. Daisy's army was forced to retreat to a relatively safe area.

After learning that Kevan led most of the army to leave the Blood Gate, the Valley also tried to recapture the Blood Gate, but they were powerless because the savage tribes from the Bright Moon Mountains suddenly invaded the Valley on a large scale, burning, killing, and looting, and the Valley Lords were The army was completely trapped in its own camp.

Careful people soon discovered that the weapons in the hands of these wildling tribes and the armors they wore were very sophisticated and had a strong Western style. It was obvious that the Lannister family was behind these wildlings.

The losses in the Battle of the Green Fork River were followed by the capture of the Blood Gate and the inability of the valley to send troops due to the savages trapped in it. The Western Alliance forces, which had been in decline, recovered again.

From Daisy Mormont, Duke Tywin sensed that the Northern Alliance might become a variable.

So he immediately took his reorganized army and rushed towards Riverrun City along the River Road, preparing to join Jaime Lannister there to take Riverrun City, completely defeat the defending army of the Riverlands, and not give up to the North. Allied forces have no chance.

However, what no one expected was that when the army led by Duke Tywin arrived at the Kneeling Stack, news came from the west. The Northern Alliance Army led by Robb Stark had unexpectedly attacked the Western Army in Riverrun. , the army in the Western Region was defeated and nearly half of them were lost.

Jaime Lannister, who commanded the army of the Westerlands, disappeared on the battlefield and was in danger.

The remaining army, under the command of Sir Fleur Priest, completely gave up all the land they had captured before and retreated to the defense of Golden Teeth City.

And when the remnant army retreated, all the free horsemen hired by Tywin from Tyrosh betrayed the Western Alliance and surrendered to Robb Stark, who was pursuing them.

Moreover, Robb also followed Davon Lannister's example and burned the bridge over the Red Fork River to block the Western Army on the other side of the river.

The lords of the Riverlands who were besieged in Riverrun also began to take back the territory east of the Red Fork River, and continued to move south along the river. In just a few days, they conquered all the territory between the Red Fork River and the Tengshi River. territory.

This war in the Riverlands is temporarily over. Neither side has the ability to fight across the river and needs to rebuild bridges. The war can only be maintained in its current state.

However, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Duke Tywin's situation is not good, because he is now trapped in the Riverlands, unable to move, neither going north nor south, and he was originally captured by him. Edmure Tully, the heir to Riverrun, was also lost in Robb Stark's surprise attack, losing an important bargaining chip.