Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 200 I am the Pioneer
When the vanguard of the Reach was ambushed and defeated while crossing the river at Tengshi Town, with less than a thousand men left to retreat to the center, and the news that the commander Horace Redwyne's life or death was unknown came back, all the lords of the Reach were shocked.

Tengshi Town is the retreat route for this army.

Now that Tengshi Town had been cut off by the Lannister army that had made it clear that they were going to block this returning army, the army from the Reach had lost the initiative.

The Lannisters don't care about the idea of ​​"returning to the enemy without visiting them".

This is the opportunity that Lord Tywin has been waiting for, and he will not miss it.

What made Lord Tywin decide to keep the Tyrell army that wanted to return to the South?

The answer is Euron Greyjoy.

At the beginning, Lord Tywin only planned to retreat to Casterly Rock while the Tyrells in the south were withdrawing their troops. However, news from Euron Greyjoy came from Casterly Rock.

Tywin received accurate news that Captain Victarion of the Iron Fleet "Iron Victory" was leading an Iron Fleet of more than ninety longships and was about to invade the Shield Islands.

Back at Casterly Rock, Euron led the rest of the Iron Fleet and suddenly appeared in the waters outside Lannisport. He announced to the fleet of Casterly Rock that he was cooperating with Tywin, and asked for Cersei, claiming that he had the ability to fight against dragons. As a demonstration, Euron drove a sea monster to drag a Lannister warship into the sea.

According to the fleet commander, Euron Greyjoy can drive a huge and twisted sea monster that is larger than a ship and has ten long arms. It can drag a hundred-oared warship into the sea in just a moment. Because the location of the Iron Fleet is very strange, the fleet commander speculates that Euron did not follow the coastline as usual, but departed from the Iron Islands and circled the Sunset Sea to reach Lannisport.

If the Ironmen attacked Lannisport, the fleet in Lannisport would most likely be ambushed by the Iron Islands without knowing it, with disastrous consequences.

Moreover, Euron arrogantly sent a gift to Tywin from the fleet of Tokai Rock, the wreckage of a southern warship called "Rose in the Wind". It was said that there were many gold and silver treasures in the wreckage.

The gold and silver treasures were not important, Tywin only cared about the ship. It was said that before the Kingsmoot of the Iron Islands, the Shield Islands in the South were plundered by pirates, and many ships in the Shield Islands were sunk at that time. The Rose in the Wind was one of the warships that was rumored to have been sunk at that time.

Tywin certainly understood what this gift represented.

This means that Euron invited Tywin to make a big gamble. When the situation is uncertain and Euron's strength cannot be confirmed, whether he should choose to cooperate with Euron to deal with Tyrell and Targaryen.

It's called a choice, but Tywin actually had no choice.

Before Euron offered the choice, Tywin's only options were to die at Casterly Rock or die in King's Landing.

So after seeing the letter from Lannisport, Lord Tywin made a prompt decision and chose to give it a try.

This consideration is in the interests of the Lannisters. Even if Euron has no strength, considering that the Tyrell army will become the enemy of the Lannisters the next moment once it returns to the South, it is also necessary for Lord Tywin to consider how to deal with this group of Tyrell troops returning to the South.

Since Euron Greyjoy offered to cooperate and wanted to challenge the Targaryen dragon, why didn't Tywin take a chance? Even if the other party was a lunatic talking nonsense, at least he could get a little breathing space by doing this. Besides, the Tyrell army was inconsistent in its attitude and used its troops to gain power. In fact, they had already opposed the King's Landing court, so they were the ones who betrayed first.

Anyway, Tywin was determined to keep Tyrell's army and not let them retreat back to the south safely.

Tywin advanced decisively. One part of his troops crossed the Blackwater River to pursue the retreating Tyrell rear army, while Jaime led the Lannister army from King's Landing to gallop from King's Landing to occupy Tumblestone before the Tyrell vanguard arrived there, thus blocking the Tyrell army's retreat.

So the situation developed like this. Now, although the Tyrells had lost thousands of cavalrymen in Tengshi Town, they still had more than 20,000 men, who were surrounded and blocked by the Lannister army on a plain with only a few low hills south of the Blackwater River and north of Tengshi Town.

Tywin's decisiveness brought about a favorable situation, and the Lannisters successfully formed a pincer attack from both sides. Lord Tywin personally led the Lannister army and the new army of about 20,000 people who joined in the middle to pursue the Tyrells from the Blackwater River, while Jaime led 4,000 Lannister troops from King's Landing and Cersei's gold cloak captain Osfried Kettleblack and 2,000 gold cloak infantrymen to encircle the front of the Tyrell army from Tumblestone.

In fact, before the Lannisters showed their fangs, someone in the Riverlands army had already given the most reasonable response.

When Lord Rowan brought the cavalry led by Adam of Lannister and the mixed infantry and cavalry led by Gregor to pursue on two wings, Lord Rowan and Lord Tully both suggested that the rear army ambush directly in the hills and forests on the retreat route.

For the same reason, when the Tyrell army was disconnected from the front and rear because of cavalry and infantry, in order to achieve the pursuit effect, the Lannister pursuers must also be disconnected from the infantry in the rear.

Moreover, Gregor Clegane's mixed cavalry and infantry on the left wing were obviously out of touch, but Lord Rowan and Randyll Tarly, both veterans in the army, immediately realized that the left wing was a trap, and therefore suggested to the Duke of Mace that they lead their troops to ambush Adam Marbrand's cavalry on the right wing.

Although the morale of the army was shaken at the beginning, the number of Tyrell's troops was still superior. Moreover, Earl Rowan's response strategy was very appropriate. After discovering the ill intentions of the Lannister army, he immediately left a rear guard and the rest immediately moved to the center of the army, avoiding the risk of being cut off.

To be honest, if the Duke of Mace had decided to let the Earls Rowan and Tully turn back to fight and ambush Adam's cavalry, Lord Tywin would definitely not have had time to rescue his right wing cavalry. In this way, maybe Tyrell could have taken some initiative.

However, the Duke of Mace was hesitant and missed the opportunity to fight. It was not until the vanguard brought the information that they had encountered an ambush by the Lannisters in Tengshi Town that he regretted it and cried bitterly on the shore. But it was too late to ambush the Lannister cavalry at this time.

After the Tyrell army was almost forced to camp and defend in the hilly area along the upper reaches of the Mander River, Adam and Gregor the Mountain, who had been chasing the Tyrell army, had achieved their strategic goal. The two chasing troops retreated ten miles away and camped, obviously waiting for the Lannister main force brought by Tywin. When the Duke of Mace finally gave up his fantasy and realized that the Duke of Tywin was going to attack them, he could not even find Earl Lefford, who was sent by Tywin to spread false news and show goodwill.

Now, the Tyrell army of more than 27,000 soldiers was forced by the Lannister army to stay on several low hills.

However, the initial stage of trial and response had been missed and the two sides were stuck in a standoff.

The Lannister army camped twenty miles away from the Tyrell army, and the Tyrell army's retreat route towards Tumblestone had been cut off by Jaime.

But obviously, the Lannister army's goal has been achieved, so they are not in a hurry to attack.

Things change unpredictably. A few days ago, the Tyrell army was sitting on the Diaoyutai, waiting for Lord Tywin's troops to take action first.

In just a few days, Lord Tywin had taken the initiative and set up camp aside, waiting for the Tyrell army to act first.

The Duke of Metz had countless opportunities, but he chose the worst approach every time. It can only be said that he brought it upon himself.

The only thing he could be thankful for was that he had people like Lord Rowan and Lord Tully in his army to back him up, so he was not killed by Tywin's heavy punch.

"We cannot sit still and wait for death." Lord Tully had a will of steel and was shrewd. "Lord Mace, although we were caught off guard, our army still has the advantage in numbers. Both sides have just set up camp tonight. Please allow me to lead a cavalry out of the camp to investigate the Lannister army and find out the Lannisters' strengths and weaknesses."

Lord Rowan's quick response saved the Tyrell army's food and fodder, but the army's supplies were only enough for a month. If the Lannisters intended to outlast the Tyrell army, then a month's food would obviously not be enough without the certainty of reinforcements.

This time, the Duke of Metz finally stopped hesitating and agreed.

So the second battle between the two sides took place in the Lannister army.

Lord Tywin had been very well prepared, but he obviously did not expect that Randyll Tarly would choose to launch a night attack when the Tyrell army had just established itself and had not yet gained a firm foothold.

The Lannister pursuit troops were obviously very tired, and there were still tents knocking and banging in the firelight until late at night. And Earl Tully also found that the Lannister army was obviously out of touch, and was continuously arriving at the camp from the north with torches.

"Oh, what a pity, if only we had brought more people."

Because the incident happened suddenly, the Tyrell army was in chaos. Lord Tully only brought his most trusted thousand Tarly family foot hunters and horses for the night attack. But after quietly approaching the Lannister camp, the earl found that the Lannister army's pursuers were also in chaos. If there were more people, Lord Tully felt that he could directly counterattack and catch Tywin off guard and give him a heavy blow.

But time waits for no one, and Lord Tarly knew that it was too late to go back for more troops, so he quietly marched into a Lannister camp with straw in his mouth and a spear in his mouth.

With wild and urgent trumpets, Lord Tully personally led the thousand men to burn and kill in the panicked camp, instantly causing chaos in the Lannister army. Lord Tully saw that he was not met with strong enough resistance, so he burned from one camp to another. The shouts of the people, the collision of spears, and the neighing of horses resounded through the night sky.

But it can only do so to the extent of causing chaos.

By the time Lord Tully led his troops to burn the third camp, the Lannister cavalry had already reacted and began to try to encircle the camp together with the spearmen and archers who had come down from the central camp on the hill and formed a square formation.

But Earl Tully had no desire to fight. After setting the fire, he led his troops and horses and shouted three times: "I am the vanguard! I am the vanguard! I am the vanguard!" Then he led his troops and horses away from the battle without hesitation.

The Lannister army could only give a symbolic pursuit for a while, and then watched the cavalry go away in the night. Their army formation was not stable yet, and they were afraid that there might be ambushes on the road, so they did not dare to pursue in the dark.

The two sides went back and forth, each showing off their skills.

But in the end, Earl Tully only gained a slight advantage, and the Lannister army had achieved a phased victory strategically.

Tywin has successfully kept all the southern lords in this place, and this is his idea. These southern lords cannot return to the south, and Euron Greyjoy is making trouble in the south. Even if the remaining troops in the south surrender to King Targaryen, King Targaryen has to deal with the affairs of the south first.

But no matter how ingenious the plan is, it must ultimately be implemented on the battlefield.

Tywin knew very well that he didn't have much time. Although Euron brought a turnaround, he couldn't expect too much from him. Tywin never forgot that his goal was to save the Lannisters. He attacked the southern lords because no matter how he looked at it, they were a threat. Instead of waiting for the southern lords to gather their troops to fight against the westerlies in the future, it was better to try to eliminate the main force of the southern lords here now.

In fact, Tywin doesn't care what happens between Euron and Targaryen in the south. If Targaryen wins, Tywin still has only one way to go back to the west. If Euron wins by chance, Tywin will have to consider whether his strength is enough to continue to maintain his dominance in Westeros where dragons, sea monsters, white walkers and aliens appear one after another. Because of the many sources of information, Tywin has a lot of information about the white walkers and aliens on the Targaryen King's side, and he has to consider a possibility, that is, there is a greater threat in the Seven Kingdoms.

The reason for choosing to conflict with the South at this time may not be without such considerations. Tywin has already decided that no matter who wins or loses, he will return to the West to strengthen defenses, be ready to isolate himself from the outside world at any time, and defend himself with troops in the impending crisis.

(End of this chapter)