The king on the Great Wall

When the battle horn sounded, Stannis on the city wall also loudly finished the pre-war mobilization according to the same routine.But many of the garrison soldiers were absent-minded. They turned their heads and looked westward, watching the familiar crowned stag banner fluttering in the wind among the enemy soldiers outside the city wall, in stark contrast to the flaming heart banner beside them... symbolizing Stannis Baratheon's black stag was almost unrecognizable, imprisoned in flames.

Barristan Selmy was keenly aware of the uneasiness of the gold robes, and he also turned his head to glance at the new banner planted on the top of the city, and shook his head helplessly:

In terms of rules, the new king naturally has the right to change the flag, but in any case, Stannis should not rush to start reforming before the throne is firmly established... The garrison has long been used to fighting under the crowned stag flag. The king was suddenly changed, and the flag was changed immediately, but he was still fighting against an army with a familiar coat of arms. How could a nervous person turn his head and work for the new master immediately with peace of mind?

But fortunately, in addition to the original golden robes, there are also trusted troops brought by Stannis in the city. Regardless of whether it is true or not, at least these people seem to have high morale-they are already familiar with the flaming red heart flag, and they believe in their own king Commanding combat capabilities; Stannis is a man who can clearly judge rewards and punishments... such great achievements as supporting the iron throne master to resist the rebellion are not always given the opportunity.

While in a trance, the old man heard the new king shout: "Ser Barristan Selmy!"

"Your Majesty, I am here."

"You lead all the cavalry at the King's Gate, and stand by behind the city gate. Once the enemy's attack is frustrated and starts to retreat, open the city gate immediately, and the whole army will fight out. I will lead the infantry to follow!"

"Your Majesty, as the captain of the Kingsguard, my place is by your side!"

"It's useless for you to stay by my side. I assure you, no one can attack the city wall that I personally lead the troops to defend. This is an order, execute it immediately!"

The old knight had long been determined not to leave the side of the king he swore to protect, but his duty made him unable to disobey the order: "Obey."

"Remember, when you see my stupid brother, if he surrenders, don't hurt his life. Although he was deceived by the Tyrell family and raised the rebellious flag, he is my last sibling in the world after all. I will give him a fair fight Judgment!"

Barristan turned and walked down the wall with the cavalry. Behind him, Stannis shouted again: "Archers in place! Ready to fight!"

Amidst the sound of trumpets, the siege weapons took the lead.Robert's attack on the valley at the beginning of the rebellion ended in failure because the Blood Gate defenders blocked the door, but it affected many princes and generals who participated in the war for the first time like a textbook example. Whether they admit it or not, Renly is now Subconsciously imitating it - using long-range attacks as a cover to assist the infantry in attacking the city!

The idea is very good, and the flat fertile field outside the king's gate is also very suitable for placing and deploying siege equipment. Unfortunately, because the preparation time is too short, Renly's army has not rushed to manufacture large-scale siege equipment, and the attacking lineup cannot match the quantity or quality of Compared with the grand occasion when the armies of the six nations gathered in front of the Blood Gate, facing Junlin City, which is magnanimous and built for many years, with many fixed city defense weapons...

It was an equally ill-prepared attack compared to Stannis' hasty succession, coronation, and defense.Accompanied by countless stone bombs and spears shooting each other into the air, both sides suffered casualties, but with the high pressure of the city wall, the attacking side was still at a disadvantage.

Unable to suppress the defenders, the siege vehicles and rams with larger targets could not approach the city gate against the burning asphalt tanks. Fortunately, the number of soldiers under Renly's command far exceeded Stannis's, and they were spread out. Working in a group, the attackers carried simple siege ladders on a front stretching hundreds of meters, and the attackers rushed towards the city wall like a tide.

……

Arrows flew, piercing the air like a swarm of locusts and pounced on the soldiers on both sides of the city defending and attacking the city. The screams and screams sounded, and the offensive and defensive battle of King's Landing began.

***

Sansa was terrified.

Arya looked at her elder sister praying silently with her hands clasped together and her eyes closed, thinking disdainfully and gloatingly.Renly's army is still outside the walls, father and Lord Stannis... no, the king is there, they can't get in at all.Even if they were lucky enough to get through the gates of King's Landing, the Red Castle still has thick walls, huge bronze gates and iron portcullises, and seven huge iron-roofed drum towers...it's impossible to break through.

It is impossible to be breached at all.

Arya repeated it in her heart. Even so, she was also a little nervous. The difference from Sansa's fear was that her excitement slightly overwhelmed her fear when she was so close to the war for the first time.

She stood up and sat down in the house from time to time, unable to settle down at all, and then ran to the window to look out, the courtyard of the Red Castle was silent, Ed Stark took away most of the guards, only The soldiers are all on the city wall. There are very few soldiers in the Red Castle at this moment, and there are quite a few nobles who have taken refuge. Unfortunately, they are all hiding in the houses in the buildings. They must be as nervous as Sansa.

Humph, a bunch of cowards.Arya ran back from the window and sat down on the bed again. Annoyed by her running around, Sansa finally uttered impatiently: "Arya! Father is fighting the enemy on the wall, and you can't be quiet , pray for father for a while?"

"I don't believe in prayers, I only believe in swords!" Arya raised her head and pulled a line that she thought was cool, "I'm the White Walker's apprentice, a female swordsman that the Red Viper has praised, and A delicate noble lady like you is different!"

"Cut—" Sansa gave her younger sister a white look, then turned her head and continued to close her eyes and prayed: "Okay, female swordsman, where is your sword?"

"My sword is here—" Arya was at a loss for words, recalled it carefully, and suddenly remembered: I took the sword given by Jon to the Night Watchman's office, but Iger forbade her to use the real sword for training and confiscated it He claimed to keep the sword for her, and his own sword is still in the inner cabinet of the office!

"Oops!" Arya jumped out of bed again and ran to the door.

"where are you going?"

"I'm going to get the sword!" Arya opened the door and got out, only the echo echoing in the air in the blink of an eye.

"Where can I get the sword?" Sansa asked depressedly, but her sister had already run away.Thinking she was going back to her own or her father's room, Sansa shook her head resignedly, turned and continued to pray.

……

"Miss, where are you going?" Downstairs, the guards of the Stark family who stayed behind stopped Arya.

Of course, I can't tell him that I'm going to the Night Watchman's office to get the sword, Arya rolled her eyes: "I'm hungry, I'm going to the kitchen to get something to eat!"

"I'll just go, miss, go back to the house, what do you want to eat?"

Arya casually said the names of Sansa's favorite snacks, and then pretended to turn around and go back upstairs. When her father's guard turned to the kitchen with the hilt of his sword, he quickly and quietly turned around, bowed his body and lightly held his hand. He stepped through the gap between the Prime Minister's Tower and the side hall, and slipped into the intricate buildings of the Red Castle.

After passing through a hidden courtyard, around the corner, over the wall, and squeezed through a low and narrow window, Arya came to a dark cellar where she couldn't see her fingers.The Red Castle's structure is very complicated, but it's nothing compared to the stone labyrinth of Winterfell. She has lived here for nearly a year, and she has already had a thorough understanding of the terrain... Among them, the most fascinating thing is He was so proud, he naturally found a secret passage leading to the outside of the Red Castle, blocked by iron fences, and only children could pass through.

She skillfully touched the wall and waited for about a minute. Her eyes quickly got used to the darkness, and several huge dragon skulls around her gradually emerged from the shadows.The walls are black, the ground is black, and even the dragon bones are black. In the darkness, it seems that some monsters and ghosts are about to jump out at any time and pounce on her. Even though she has been here more than once, Arya still feels the hair on her back. put up.

"The apprentice of the night watchman... is not afraid of demons and ghosts." Arya puffed up her small chest, and read aloud the most handsome and powerful line she had ever heard: "You turned into a ghost and came to me, I I will kill you again!"

The voice fell, but nothing happened. Instead, the surrounding dragon skulls seemed to be awakened, and the dark eye sockets seemed to be aimed at her.Although she uttered a domineering line, Arya immediately remembered that she didn't have any weapons in her hand... If something really came out, what would she use to kill it again?

"Uh... I'm just kidding, you guys continue to sleep, hehe."

Apologizing to the non-existent things, she quickly walked past them as if she was afraid of being bitten by these dragon skulls, found the heavy iron ring on the wooden door in the dark, pulled it hard, and pulled it open amidst the creaking sound until just enough Let yourself get into the gap, and slipped sideways into the long hall behind the door.

It was darker behind the door, and Arya stopped talking to herself like a showman, but caught her breath and ran her fingers across the unfinished rough stone surface of the wall.According to memory, she slowly walked through the darkness and walked for about a mile before finally arriving at a fork in the road... She had already explored both sides, and there was a sewer leading to the Heishui River, which was flooded with dirty water. After wading out of the water, you will arrive at the Blackwater River. Although you have counted the Red Castle, you have also left King's Landing at the same time... You have to turn left and walk a while to find a sewer entrance sealed by iron fences. Count from left to right The three gaps are just enough for myself to pass through.

Arya turned left according to her memory, and walked on her knees for a while, a bright light appeared in front of her, and the familiar shadow of the iron fence came into view vaguely.

……

She must have grown taller again. She could just squeeze through the gap, but this time it took a lot of effort to get through, which made her chest hurt a little.Pushing aside the vines blocking the entrance, she got into the sunlight again.

My memory is not wrong at all, this is still an abandoned drain hidden among the bushes on the mountainside of Aegon High Hill... Looking into the city of King's Landing from here, the black signboard of the Night Watchman's office seems to be faintly visible.

Patting the mud and dust off her body, she pushed aside the waist-high bushes and weeds, and walked towards the streets of King's Landing under Aegon's High Hill.

-

Chapter 196

Black cloth has been hung on the front and back doors. Iger is sitting in the hall of the Night Watchman's house, and together with Nina, he is sorting out the accounts of the Night Watchman's property for these days and planning for the future.

Most of these matters could have been handed over to Nina directly. However, there is a great war outside the city, and all commercial production activities in the city have been suspended at this moment. Find something to do to pass the time, isn't it.

Iger doesn't know much about the development of the situation in Westeros now that it has deviated from the original track. Apart from rumors in the market, his sources of information are nothing more than brothels and shops that belong to his own city, and some of them rely on him. The soldiers of the garrison, as well as Arya in the Red Keep... With the last source of information temporarily cut off and the garrison all in combat mode, he is now almost "deaf and blind" - unable to inquire The recent situation of the war in the Western Territory, and the situation of the siege of King's Landing, did not know whether Melisandre, who was the key to the victory, was in the city at the moment, so she could only stay in the house and wait like most of the residents and nobles in King's Landing. The war is over.

……

"We have too few sources of information. If we can get through this crisis safely, we need to increase our investment in this area - to make friends who are permanent residents or who can enter and exit the Red Castle, from the nobles down to the servants, and cannot directly contact Yes, just investigate family and interpersonal relationships, start with people around you - such as recruiting wives, children, brothers and friends to work in the Night Watch industry and offices... When the time is right, use the excuse of 'businessmen need to be well-informed' , to pry open the mouths of these Red Castle insiders little by little."

The reason Littlefinger was able to rely on the information of several brothels to get ahead in King's Landing was because he himself lived in the Red Castle as the Chancellor of the Exchequer.And the night watchman industry... now has a lot of influence outside the Red Castle, but due to the rapid development and unstable foundation, the tentacles have not had time to reach into the royal castle, and the disadvantage of relying on Arya's help in the early stage has not been exposed. But over time, this defect gradually appeared.

Iger was aware of this and started to solve this problem.

"This, actually, my lord—even if you don't say it, the families in King's Landing are trying their best to fill the night watchman's property." Nina pursed her lips, "When Lord Tyrion was still around, some of our Investors and customers have already begun to ask for positions and jobs for their family's descendants and followers, but Lord Tyrion kept the bottom line and only provided limited and insignificant positions. Important jobs require ability assessment , Compete on the basis of ability."

"Very good, continue to do this, but you can relax the requirements a little bit. There is no perfect thing in this world... In order to take advantage of the power of these nobles, it's okay to raise some idlers, as long as they don't completely eat and don't give us money. It’s fine to cause trouble. But you must control the speed well—important and key positions must be occupied by people with clear background and sufficient ability.” Iger nodded: “In addition, keep those who he trained with Little Finger Let’s have an in-depth communication with the prostitutes to see if they have a way to connect with Littlefinger’s former informant in the Red Castle. This is a ready-made intelligence network, and it would be great if it can be inherited.”

"Well, I understand, I will start to make arrangements as soon as possible."

……

The two novices began to prepare for the establishment of the intelligence agency of the night watchman industry with a lot of discussion. They have no experience, but the nine-story tower started from a lot of soil... As long as they work steadily, they will achieve some results sooner or later.While discussing the details of the plan with great interest, a soldier from the guard class suddenly knocked on the door and reported: "Master Iger, there is a little girl outside the door, knocking on the door and shouting that she wants to come to the master, what should I do?"

"Arya? What is she doing here!" Iger raised his brows, and quickly stood up nervously: "Damn, how dare she leave the Red Castle and run around at such a juncture!"

Immediately putting down what was being discussed, Iger pushed the door and ran to the gate, opened the door, and saw his little apprentice who seemed to have gotten out of the mud.

Arya's body was dirty, as if she had run a long distance, panting with her knees on her knees, she looked up when Iger opened the door, and smiled at him: "Master, I just went to the office to find you, why not today?" Open the door and do business."

Open for errands?In such a chaotic day, doing something ghostly, Iger pulled the girl in behind the door: "If you are going to die, did you come out of that 'secret passage' again?"

"Yes." The girl still looked proud.

"Why did you come to see me?"

"My sword is here with you, I want to take it back!"

"Sword? What sword?" Iger completely forgot about this matter, and it took a while to figure out what Arya was talking about: "My day...you can't come to get it anytime, it has to be today!"

"But it's a war today." Arya was a little overwhelmed by the man's anxious and angry look. "In case some bad guys want to hurt me and my sister, there are some things that can be used for self-defense."

"Nonsense...it's just nonsense..." Iger was trembling with anger. He hung a black cloth on the door and shrank in the house behind closed doors. Wasn't it just to avoid any involvement with this war?One side is Stannis and Eddie, and the other side is Renly, who has made a promise and wants to recruit himself. With the neutral status of the night watchman, he will be fine no matter who wins or loses.

He was far away from trouble, but his little apprentice brought the war to him!

How to deal with the hot potato?Of course, he quickly threw it back to the original owner. After thinking for a while, Iger turned around and shouted to his guard soldiers: "Go and bring the horses, two! Also, no one has come to my place today, understand?" !"

"Yes, sir!"

Arya looked at Iger as if he was facing an enemy, and stared at him innocently with wide eyes, which made the man angry and had nothing to say: "Nina, go and get a small black dress, Put it on her."

Ten minutes later, the saddled horse was led to the door, and Arya was also dressed in black. The smallest black dress looked like a blouse on her body. Nina had to tighten her belt for her, The chest is also tied with cloth strips so that the clothes will not slip off.

"Close the door and don't open it to anyone but me!"

***

Iger rode out of the gate of the house. There were no pedestrians on the street. Occasionally, there were a few guys who wanted to take advantage of the chaos to steal and rob. Seeing Iger dressed in black and riding a sword, he quickly retreated into the alley.Packed up his mood and took Arya with him, he started to go to the Red Castle.

Arya seemed to be quite new to wearing black clothes. Not only did she not have the consciousness of causing trouble to others, but she even asked the girl if she could join the Night Watch with great interest.Iger was so angry that he didn't have the mood to care about her, he just rode the horse on the road without saying a word.

The girl quickly realized something was wrong: "Master, this is not the way to the office."

"Don't go to the office, I'll take you back to the Red Fort now, and stay there honestly. Jian, I will send someone to send it to you when I find the right time."

"Don't be so troublesome, go to the office and get the sword, and I can go back by myself."

"Go back by yourself?" Iger glared at the girl angrily: "Did you see the hooligans who poked their heads out on the side of the road just now? You fell into their hands without an escort. Do you know what will happen?"

"There's nothing to be afraid of. One of them wanted to chase me just now, but he couldn't run as fast as me."

"You still feel very proud?" Iger was almost pissed off by this brat: if an underage noble lady falls into the wrong hands in this chaotic situation, I can imagine what will happen with my ass: "You still don't see it in your eyes?" If you have my master, just shut up and follow me obediently!"

"Oh——" Arya had never seen Iger so fierce. She knew she was wrong, shrank her neck, and rode behind the man obediently.

……

Miss Stark's riding skills are good, and the house is only a mile away from Aegon's High Hill. It takes a while to walk on legs, but if you just ride a horse, you will arrive in no time.Before arriving at the destination, Iger noticed something was wrong: the heavily guarded Red Castle, which should be closed on such a day, is now wide open, and the gate is strangely unguarded.

"Something is... not right, Arya, if you meet someone you don't know later, don't say anything, don't do anything, let me handle it."

"Good master."

The two slowed down their horses and carefully entered the Red Castle through the gate.

The huge castle seems to be empty, but this is absolutely impossible. Intuition tells Iger that he should turn around and retreat, but if he leaves now, will he let Arya, who is so troublesome, live with him?Resisting his nervousness, he continued to ride towards the Prime Minister's Tower for a while. At the same moment when the sounds of fighting, shouting, wailing, and clashing weapons reached his ears, the first corpse appeared in front of the two of them—the person was face down. He fell down on the stone road, the cloak wrapped under his body, soaked in blood—it was a cloak of gray wool trimmed with white satin, and the two guards Eddard Stark had sent to help him wore it Such a cloak!

Arya also recognized the identity of the deceased at a glance, and was instantly terrified to the point where she couldn't bear it any longer—this was the person she tricked into going to the kitchen to get some snacks an hour ago!

Iger felt a chill on his back: The worst situation still happened. I, who was originally staying out of the matter, was dragged into trouble by my evil apprentice. He lowered his voice and ordered to Arya: "Go, go back the same way, Something happened here."

"But Sansa..."

"No but, let's go!"

It was easy to come in and difficult to get out, but within a few minutes, when they arrived at the bronze gate of the Red Castle again, there were people at the originally empty gate—a dozen or so fully armed men in gold robes and chain mail and full-body armor stood at the gate At the side, I immediately saw two men in black riding horses, aiming their spears at Iger and Arya.

"Who, don't move!"

-

Chapter 197 Mutiny

Below the king's gate, the smoke from burning pitch on siege engines billowed and covered a large section of the city wall.The flaming red heart flag waving in the wind on the top of the city was broken because it was pierced many times by arrows, but it was always firmly hung on the top of the flagpole... just like the city defense army standing firm on the city wall.

Under the city wall, dead bodies fell to the ground, blood flowed everywhere, and the thick bloody and burnt smell overlapped, mixing into a strange and stimulating atmosphere.

Stannis sits on the tallest tower, fully armed, but does not go out to fight in person. He only overlooks the overall situation under the protection of his trusted soldiers, and timely directs the reserve team to rush to the most critical places.

The Stormland army holding the Crowned Buck Banner charged the city wall several times, but was smashed and repulsed like a wave hitting a rock. The only siege warrior who climbed up the city wall had no time to predict what he would become The earl of the land was swarmed by the replacement troops appointed by Stannis, slashing and killing with swords.

The battle lasted from noon until the sun was setting. Hundreds of thousands of Storm River Bend soldiers were killed in King's Landing. After the last batch of siege ladders were thrown into the battlefield but failed to achieve results, the rear command finally ordered the withdrawal of troops. .

The soldiers had already given up hope of taking down the city wall today. When they heard the sound of the retreat cornet that they had been waiting for for a long time, they turned their heads and ran to the camp behind them like travelers in the desert seeing a source of water.

The defenders of the city were also exhausted, but their casualties were much smaller than the corpses lying all over the ground below the city.And careful people will find that the casualty ratio of the offensive and defensive sides is far more than 3:1. If this trend continues, even if Renly wiped out all the troops outside the city, he will not be able to lose more than half of the defenders, let alone the defenders. Citizens can continue to be recruited to assist in going to the city.

But before the heroes guarding the city wall breathed a sigh of relief, a new order was conveyed to all sections of the city wall: All those who can still walk must gather at the gate of the city and prepare to leave the city to pursue!

……

Everything is planned.

Stannis stood high on the top of the city, squinting contemptuously at the receding Renly soldiers, calculating the distance in his mind: he would run the retreating enemy infantry just as far as the city wall and Renly. In the middle of the camp, the order is to open the door and attack. Barristan will lead the cavalry to charge... As long as the opportunity is successfully seized, the cavalry will drive the enemy's returning infantry to their own camp like ducks.Just use the defeated army to scramble the stormland cavalry guarding Renly's side, and then lead the remaining infantry out of the city to attack the entangled Renly army...

If this trick works, even if Renly can't be taken down, he can still lose half of his army outside the king's gate and destroy the enemy's vigor to attack the city.And then... I just need to sit firmly in King's Landing City and wait calmly for the arrival of King Qin's troops from the three northern regions and the king's territory. The Iron Throne will sit firmly and no one can take it away.

Stannis counted the time on his fingers, but a panicked voice interrupted his train of thought.A soldier from Dragonstone Island with crooked clothes and cap scrambled up the city wall: "Your Majesty, something is wrong, the old city gate garrison...and the defense forces assembled by the royal family have rebelled. The north gate of King's Landing has been opened, letting the enemy into the city!"

"What?!" Stannis turned his head, because he was so surprised that even the bones on his neck clicked: "Where is the reserve team in the city? Let them rush to the north of the city and take back the city gate!"

"It has been notified... But Your Majesty, since the old city gate guards will rebel, there is no guarantee that the golden robes in the Dragon Gate, the Gods Gate... and even the Red Castle will not be the same. I implore Your Majesty to return to the Red Castle as soon as possible. , defend according to the danger, Xu Tu plans later!"