KOA 107

Chapter 107: Imitation of the Young Wolf Route

Upon hearing Lynd’s words, everyone present was stunned, then exchanged glances and inexplicably began to laugh.

Seeing their reactions, Lynd felt somewhat confused, and Barristan, who was standing beside him, whispered a reminder, “The matter of Seagard has already been discussed.”

Hearing this, Lynd showed a hint of embarrassment and said, “I spoke out of turn just now…”

“Ser Lynd, I’d like to hear your thoughts on the current situation in Seagard,” Lord Arryn interrupted Lynd, his voice grave.

Everyone also sobered up and looked at Lynd seriously.

Although he had made a blunder earlier, Lynd did not lose his composure. After a brief silence, seemingly organizing his thoughts, he calmly stated, “Seagard is a crucial location for the Iron Islands. If they can take Seagard, they can thoroughly influence the entire Riverlands through rivers like the Blue Fork River and Green Fork River, making the lords of the Riverlands hesitant to easily send troops to King’s Landing. Additionally, they can block the King’s Road to prevent Northern armies from moving south. If they want to be even more thorough, they could send a force to attack Moat Cailin. By holding these two places with a small number of men, the forces of the North and the Riverlands would essentially be contained.”

Upon hearing Lynd’s words, everyone’s faces showed surprise. They then looked at each other, and Robert gestured to Varys. Varys then took a piece of intelligence from his pocket, stood up, and handed it to Lynd, saying, “This is intelligence that just arrived.”

Lynd took it and read it, discovering that it mentioned Balon’s brother, Victarion Greyjoy, had already captured Moat Cailin, and the garrison there had been completely wiped out.

Seeing the contents of the intelligence, Lynd’s expression became somewhat grim, as he realized that the Ironborn rebellion was now very different from the rebellion he knew.

Firstly, the fall of Fair isle, Banefort, and Crag in the Westerlands. In Lynd’s memory, although these three cities were plundered by the Ironborn, they did not fall and still had garrisons resisting until the Ironborn retreated.

Secondly, Seagard. According to the normal future development, Lord Jason of Seagard would kill Rodrik Greyjoy, who invaded, outside the city, and the remaining Ironborn would retreat to sea.

But now, Lord Jason had fallen ill due to the extreme cold disaster and had not yet recovered. Not to mention fighting on the front lines, he couldn’t even command the army, having to leave it to his son, Patrick Mellister, to command, which was why Seagard was still under siege.

Finally, Moat Cailin. Although Lynd saw the importance of Moat Cailin, this was only from his omniscient perspective, knowing that only a small number of men were needed to hold Moat Cailin to completely restrict the Northern army from moving south.

However, now Balon Greyjoy had actually sent someone to attack Moat Cailin, and the person sent was his top general, Victarion Greyjoy.

Furthermore, the intelligence mentioned that many of the Moat Cailin defenders had frozen to death due to the extreme cold disaster. Faced with the sudden attack, they had no ability to resist and were easily overwhelmed.

Now, just as he had suspected, the Northern army advancing south for support was blocked at the First Men Burial Mounds, unable to move.

Although they had tried to risk crossing Moat Cailin by going through the nearby swamps, the result was that many fell into the swamps, and the remaining men were later ambushed by the prepared Ironborn, ultimately losing over a thousand men and being forced to retreat.

After reading the intelligence, Lynd habitually handed it to Nymeria, then, under the surprised gazes of the others, asked, “What about The Twins? The only lord who can rescue Seagard and Moat Cailin now is Frey of The Twins. Haven’t they made any moves?”

After asking this, Lynd saw that everyone’s expressions had grown considerably darker.

“The Twins sent word, claiming that many people in their territory had frozen to death in the extreme cold disaster, and their current manpower is only enough for self-preservation, making it impossible to provide support,” Varys proactively explained the situation to Lynd, saying, “Not just The Twins, but even the Riverlands suffered severe damage in this extreme cold disaster. It will likely take some time for the various territories to gather enough men to assemble in King’s Landing, and the number of supporting troops will not be very large.”

Undoubtedly, that extreme cold disaster, which should not have occurred, changed many things, making this Iron Islands rebellion, which should have been easily suppressed, somewhat difficult.

“Since His Majesty and the lords have already discussed this matter, could you tell me what the discussion’s outcome was?” Lynd thought for a moment and asked.

Stannis, who had maintained a cold expression, said grimly, “This is a high-level secret, not something a knight like you should inquire about…”

Robert interrupted his younger brother and said gravely, “No, tell him. I want to see what opinions he has.”

Stannis frowned. Although he felt Robert’s decision was inappropriate, he did not object.

This time, Lord Arryn provided the information, saying, “Our decision is to have the Riverlands directly gather troops to rescue Seagard. Moat Cailin will be ignored for now. Once we take the Iron Islands, Moat Cailin will naturally no longer be an issue.”

Lynd thought for a moment after hearing this and asked, “What if the Ironborn besieging Seagard defeat the Riverlands’ allied forces?”

“How is that possible?” Everyone shook their heads, believing Lynd was being fanciful. Although the Riverlands itself was not particularly strong and had also been hit by the extreme cold disaster, no matter how weak the Riverlands was, it was still much stronger than the Iron Islands. After the various lords gathered their forces, they could completely stand against the Iron Islands alone, let alone just a single Ironborn force.

And while everyone thought Lynd’s idea was completely nonsensical, only Robert had a solemn expression and looked thoughtful.

Then, Robert raised his hand to stop everyone from mocking Lynd, and then said to Lynd, “Continue.”

Lynd calmly said, “If the Ironborn besieging Seagard defeat the Riverlands’ allied forces, then they can change their target and directly attack King’s Landing from the south. At that time, the Ironborn garrisoned in Moat Cailin can abandon Moat Cailin and merge with the Ironborn from Seagard, forming a single army. They can then march south through the completely undefended Riverlands, heading straight for King’s Landing. By then, everyone in King’s Landing would have gone to rescue the Westerlands. Facing a sudden attack from the Ironborn, it would be difficult to defend. Even if they did defend, the Ironborn could plunder the areas around King’s Landing, then retreat back through the Riverlands, avoiding subsequent pursuits.”

Hearing Lynd’s predictions for the battle, everyone immediately fell silent, each lost in thought.

“With Moat Cailin no longer blocked, the Northern army would be able to move south. If those Ironborn turned back north, they should encounter the Northern army,” said Howard Tully, a collateral member of House Tully of Riverrun, believing he had found a loophole.

Lynd explained, “That’s simple. The Ironborn retreating from Moat Cailin only need to create various traps to hinder the small army during their retreat, or leave a small team to hide in the swamps and constantly harass the Northern army. This would maximize the delay of their march, giving the Ironborn enough time to travel back and forth in the Riverlands several times.”

Saying this, he walked directly to the table where everyone was gathered, pointed at the map on the table, and said, “Moreover, retreating to the Riverlands is not the only route for the Ironborn. They could completely enter the Crownlands, seize ships there, and leave by sea. They could also head south through the Kingswood, enter the Stormlands, plunder there, and then seize ships to leave. They could even be bolder and, before the supporting armies know King’s Landing is under attack, follow the supporting armies’ route along the Golden Road into the Westerlands, cooperating with Ironborn landing on the west coast to sandwich the supporting armies. Once the Ironborn enter the King’s Landing area, they have far too many choices.”

After Lynd finished speaking, everyone fell silent. Although most of them believed such a thing might not happen, they could not be 100% certain. If things truly developed as Lynd predicted, then even if they ultimately took the Iron Islands, the prestige of House Baratheon would be greatly diminished, which would undoubtedly be a disaster for the newly established House Baratheon.

“Ser Lynd, since you have thought of this, do you have any good solutions?” Grand Maester Pycelle asked Lynd at this point.

“I can handle it,” Lynd offered.

“You can handle it?” Everyone was taken aback.

Lynd walked back to Nymeria’s side and said, “Nymeria and I brought over two thousand of our most elite warriors this time. Your Majesty can entrust me with recapturing Moat Cailin and relieving Seagard.”

“Two thousand men are enough? I remember there are over ten thousand Ironborn besieging Seagard, and several thousand garrisoning Moat Cailin. You only have two thousand…” Stannis questioned unceremoniously.

“Lord, war isn’t about numbers. If it were, then before a battle, everyone would just count their men, and the one with more would be declared victorious. Why fight with real swords and spears?” Lynd directly interrupted Stannis, then said with great confidence, “If my two thousand men are used properly, they can achieve the effect of ten thousand or even tens of thousands.”

“How do you plan to fight?” Robert seemed to believe Lynd’s confidence and asked.

“I will first go to rescue Moat Cailin, then rendezvous with a portion of the Northern army, pass directly through The Twins, and then take some men from The Twins. This way, the numbers will reach nearly ten thousand, enough to deal with the Ironborn outside Seagard. At that time, with Seagard’s cooperation, those Ironborn can be completely annihilated outside Seagard,” Lynd clearly outlined his chosen attack route, saying, “After resolving the siege of Seagard, the Northern army can continue south, either to rendezvous with the Riverlands army and assemble in King’s Landing, or proceed directly to assemble in the Westerlands. As for me, I can travel along the coastline from Seagard to Banefort, Crag, and Fair isle, to see if there’s an opportunity to liberate them from the Ironborn ahead of schedule.”

In fact, the attack route Lynd proposed was not his own idea; he had borrowed it from Robb Stark, the Young Wolf, from ten years in the future, as Robb’s route for attacking the Westerlands was somewhat similar to the one he was now describing.

After listening to Lynd, Robert did not mock his overestimation of himself. Instead, after a moment of contemplation, he asked, “How confident are you?”

Lynd did not answer directly, saying, “Before a battle begins, no one knows the outcome. Talking about confidence beforehand is meaningless. I can only say that I will not betray Your Majesty’s trust.”

Robert was silent for a moment, then said, “I remember Lord Mace granted you the title of Commander of Bandit Suppression for the entire Reach. The Reach is a bit too small. I will expand the scope of this title’s authority. I will appoint you as the Commander of Bandit Suppression for all Seven Kingdoms…”

“Your Majesty…” Jon Arryn immediately wanted to stop Robert’s appointment upon hearing this.

“No need to say more, Lord. Let this matter be arranged as such. It is merely a title and will not grant him any real power. It will only allow him to receive some nominal assistance when acting,” Robert raised his hand to stop the King’s Hand from speaking further.

He then swiftly picked up a blank document nearby, quickly wrote down Lynd’s appointment, stamped it with his royal seal, and handed it to Jon Arryn, indicating for him to stamp it with the Hand’s seal.

Seeing this, Jon Arryn could not say anything more. He took the Hand’s seal, stamped it, and then handed it to Lynd.

After receiving the document, Lynd still felt somewhat incredulous. He hadn’t expected to receive such a grand title just by speaking a few words. Although, as Robert said, this title wouldn’t bring him any substantial power, if used well, it could help him gain some extra assistance.

“When do you plan to depart? What do you need us to prepare for you?” Robert asked again.

Lynd thought for a moment and said, “I will rest one night and depart north tomorrow. Because I need to reach Moat Cailin as quickly as possible, I cannot bring any heavy supplies. I only need some dry rations; I will resupply the rest on the way.”

“In that case, you may withdraw and rest! I will send someone to prepare the dry rations you need,” Robert indicated that Lynd could leave, and as Lynd and Nymeria were about to depart, he suddenly added, “If you can truly accomplish everything you’ve said, after the war ends, I will personally grant you a peerage.”

Hearing Robert’s words, Lynd turned and bowed to him. Without saying anything, he and Nymeria left the courtyard.

“Your Majesty, your actions are disrespectful. Lynd Terra is, after all, a knight of House Tyrell; he should be…” Lord Arryn reminded him with a serious expression.

“I know, I know! When it’s time for the official enfeoffment, I’ll let Lord Mace do it for me,” Robert dismissively interrupted Lord Arryn, then urged, “Let’s move on to the next topic quickly. We shouldn’t waste time here discussing unnecessary things. Oh, and the Royal Fleet from Dragonstone doesn’t need to participate in this suppression. They can just display their forces in Blackwater Bay after the various lord’s armies assemble in King’s Landing.”

Stannis’s face was somewhat grim, seemingly displeased with this decision, but he did not object, merely nodding in response.