Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.
Chapter 252 Current Situation
Chapter 252 Current Situation
After telling Daenerys about his plan, Viserys began to ask about the current situation in Westeros.
Viserys's trip to Valyria ended with a sense of time travel. In Viserys's mind, he had only experienced a few things and only a few days had passed, but in reality, several months had passed. When he set out, the fertile bean crops planted in the south after the autumn harvest were almost ready for harvest.
Daenerys feels very strange when she describes the experience of Viserys: "Although several months have passed in your absence, the situation has not changed much."
"Thanks to the enthusiastic response of Prime Minister Oberyn and local lords, the construction of our jurisdiction has achieved very good results. Many castles and walled towns have built grain storage areas and stored a certain amount of grain. The good harvest when you left, the arrangement of returning soldiers and the simultaneous promotion of policies have made many civilians very enthusiastic." Daenerys introduced the current situation to him, just like Viserys asked the clerks from Dragonstone to give work reports.
".As for other places, something happened in the Lannister territory in King's Landing. The lords of Raven's Rest, Duskendale, and Maidenpool were dissatisfied with the Lannisters' grain tax collection, so they wrote a joint letter to Dragonstone, hoping to return to Targaryen rule."
Viserys was puzzled. "The eastern part of King's Landing was the battle zone between the Northern Army and the Lannister Army. Their own army has been wiped out. Isn't the lord a puppet supported by the Lannisters? Moreover, bandits are rampant there now. If the Lannister Army doesn't help to garrison there, they can't even beat the roaming bandits. How dare they ask us to return?"
To be more realistic, Viserys has been reluctant to attack King's Landing and the crown lands because it is meaningless to conquer those places and it will waste the economy. During Robb's southward journey, the Northern Army and Lannister attacked each other in the crown lands, and then the roaming Mummers Troupe plowed through them. Later, the Tyrell Army stationed there, and later King's Landing switched to take over because it was afraid that the Tyrells would have secret contact with Dragonstone.
The armies came and went, and only the Tyrell army was there to symbolically restore the country after the war. Later, the Tyrells and Lannisters confronted each other, and the Eastern Crown once again entered a situation where there were lords, but the lords had no troops and manpower and could do nothing.
Although it was cruel, Viserys would rather wait for the cold winter to come and the civilians in the royal territory to flee south, rather than spend just two years - there was only about a year left - to govern those areas that would take several years to recover.
"Intelligence shows that Jaime Lannister has concentrated all his forces on the Kingsroad to defend the castles of the king's territory near King's Landing. For this purpose, he even gave up the port of Maidenpool. Speaking of this, there is an unconfirmed intelligence that Cersei has buried countless wildfires under King's Landing. Jaime seems to be secretly looking for insiders, but most of the participants in the Pyromancer Guild are dead. It is said that many bodies of pyromancers were found in a cave in the secret passage of King's Landing. They may have been killed. If this news is true, I am afraid that if we attack King's Landing, Cersei will give us a city of ashes."
"What do you think of quietly spreading this information in King's Landing?"
"Then I'm afraid Cersei will lose all support within a day, and Cersei may be directly stimulated."
"Does the Vatican's armed forces in King's Landing know about this?"
Daenerys happened to be talking about the Church's armed forces in King's Landing: "Come to think of it, it's just as you said. Cersei has completely lifted the Church's order that it cannot be armed. Now the Church of King's Landing has re-established the Warrior's Sons Armed Forces and sent letters to all places. According to the royal order you left when you left, in your name, together with the bishop of the Starry Sept in Oldtown, I refute and do not recognize Cersei's order, and warn the Church of King's Landing not to listen to the orders of the false king." At this point, Daenerys was a little worried, "Is this really okay for us?"
"It will be painful," Viserys replied, "but selfishly, I think it will be worth it. I am no saint, Dany, and I do not want to be."
"I understand." Daenerys nodded. "I just hope things turn out the way you and I want them to."
Viserys didn't hide it. He was happy to see Cersei's stupid actions and even wanted to cheer her on. Viserys also didn't hide that he wanted to take a seat in the already established Cult of the Seven and expand the number of believers as quickly as possible.
Whether it's God, a warrior, or a stranger, there must always be a seat.
But how could the believers of the Seven Gods Sect regard a king who ruled by "witchcraft" as a god without falling into despair?
But you can't do or say this kind of thing yourself, you have to let the believers spread it spontaneously and believe it - during this period, Viserys may even have to "refute the rumors"
Viserys knew that he was taking a huge gamble with the lives of nearly half a million people in King's Landing. "I think it's time to tell Greg to try to contact the leader of the Warrior's Sons, the High Sparrow."
"." Daenerys was silent for a while, then continued, "There is also the war in the river. Unfortunately, the 'wolf girl' suffered a loss in the Twins and was unable to return to the North as you expected."
Viserys was surprised. "How come she hasn't taken the Twins in more than four months, nor has she gone north?"
Although the terrain of the Twins City was such that once the city gates were closed, it was indeed an insurmountable fortress in the era of cold weapons.
But... this shouldn't be the case, Viserys thought to himself. With the support of the Old Gods, how could Arya be blocked by the Twins for four months?
"There are troops heading north that have reached the Moat Cailin, but they are troops lent to Sansa Stark by the Lord of the Vale."
"What?" Viserys didn't expect that the Stark family would be so abstract. Although the motivations were different from those in the TV series, there was an inexplicable sense of déjà vu. "Tell me more about it."
"It's a long story," Daenerys added the details of the war that had been received in the past few days. "After Edmure returned to Riverrun, the Wolf Girl invited him to attack the Twins together, so they waited for friendly troops east of the Twins. Twenty days after you left, Edmure sent Blackfish with two thousand men to the west of the Twins."
"Wait, attack from the west, advance from the east and west at the same time? Two thousand people? Most of the families in the Witch Marsh are vassals of the Frey family, and I remember that Sealand City should be under the control of Black Walder. Aren't two thousand people going to die?"
Although drawing lines on the map made it seem like a good idea to attack the Twins from the east and west, Viserys knew too well that in this era, without sufficient tacit understanding and intelligence exchange, dividing the troops to attack the castle from the east and west would often mean being defeated one by one.
Moreover, because Patrick was captured at the Red Wedding and Jason Mallister surrendered, Seamarsh, west of the Twins, was now controlled by Black Walder, and it was sandwiched with the Twins. Viserys could not think of the advantage of attacking from the west with 2,000 troops. Could it be that Edmure wanted to drive away the Blackfish and secure his position as the Duke of Riverrun?
"I should have told you the result first. Edmure and Brynden the Blackfish deliberately spread the news of discord. The Blackfish rushed in and fought with Black Walder under the city of Seamarsh. He pretended to be defeated and retreated to the Witchfen Marsh to be trapped. Black Walder thought that Brynden was really defeated, so he chose to chase him out of the city and notified the vassals of the Witchfen Marsh to outflank him. But Edmure had actually been quietly following the Blackfish and had persuaded the Frey vassals of the Witchfen Marsh to surrender. Edmure cooperated with the Blackfish to set an ambush, captured Black Walder alive, and recaptured Seamarsh in one fell swoop two days later. Edmure and the Blackfish were very steady. They prepared in Seamarsh for several days before setting off to the west of the Twins to besiege the Twins."
Viserys nodded repeatedly after hearing this. Wasn't this a beautiful fight?
"But the Freys of the Twins chose to stay in the city and defend it to the death. They threatened with hostages. Although I have never been to the Twins, I know that the Twins are located in the turbulent part of the Green Fork River. Only two riverside towers can enter. If they defend the city, they will definitely suffer heavy casualties. Although Edmure and Arya surrounded the Twins in name, their siege force was obviously insufficient, and their troops were very valuable. They were not willing to pay a heavy price if one less soldier died, so they fell into a stalemate. They did organize several attacks, but..."
"It's conceivable." Viserys has understood that whether it is Edmure or Arya, their current army composition and strength can only allow them to fight in the field. Once they enter this kind of castle battle, they can only choose to encircle.
Reality is not like songs. It is not possible for a hero to capture a city that others would never leave just by getting angry.
In Westeros, the scene of Jon and Ramsay fighting the "Battle of the Bastards" outside Winterfell in the TV series will basically never appear. How stupid must Ramsay be to lose a field battle and even lose a strong city like Winterfell?
Isn't it something that every noble and military commander should know to retreat to the castle, guard it strictly and not go out, and waste supplies?
In other words, Tywin and Kevan met Viserys. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, Tywin and Kevan could rely on Casterly Rock to hold out until winter, until the last rat or even the corpse in the castle was eaten.
". The Freys held their ground, and Edmure and Arya were unable to attack. After the two sides entered a stalemate, Aegon made a fuss in the North according to your instructions. The Frey family took the initiative to propose negotiations. Old Frey proposed inviting Targaryen as a third party to witness. I won't go into the specific conditions, but roughly Edmure's bride was pregnant, and Frey was willing to give up enough benefits. But you were not there, so I didn't express my opinion on the matter. I just sent the letter that Frey wrote to the royal court intact to Riverrun. Under the stalemate, the two sides went through several rounds of consultations, and finally chose to write to the royal court together to express that local affairs should be handled privately. At one point, they even entered the stage of holding a prisoner exchange ceremony to show their sincerity. To be honest, I thought they would resolve it peacefully at that time."
"An accident occurred?"
"Yes," Daenerys said, "During the prisoner exchange, a woman named Lady Stoneheart killed Black Walder and several Frey prisoners. To be honest, I don't know what the people in the Riverlands and the North are doing. Such important prisoners were killed by a nameless lady. So the negotiations broke down. And, according to the information I got, the only decent Freys of the Frey family - the intelligence said so, the only decent people of the Frey family died in the fight that occurred after the negotiations broke down. Frey, Tully and Stark all accused each other of breaking their oaths.
Now that I think about it, I'm glad I didn't express my opinion at the time. Your adopted nephew Aegon wanted to get involved, but I stopped him. Until now, I haven't expressed any opinion on this matter in the name of the royal family. I think we should remain silent."
".Hiss," Viserys was speechless about the "wisdom" and "decision" of "Lady Stoneheart". He looked at Daenerys, "You did the right thing."
He couldn't help but wonder, couldn't it be that "Madam Stoneheart" was deliberately used by the Red God to make trouble for the Three-Eyed Raven?
However, Catelyn, like Cersei, is a difficult character in Westeros to evaluate, and Viserys chooses to respect, understand, applaud and cheer for their actions.
".Then, of course, the siege continued, and the fight continued until death." Daenerys continued, "It was at this time that the Great Council held in the name of Robert Arryn, Duke of the Vale, ended, and suddenly a 'Sansa Stark' jumped out of the Vale. 'Robert Arryn' recruited 4,000 soldiers from the Vale lords and marched out under the banner of seeking justice for 'Sansa' and Stark. More than 20 days later, he passed through the Bleeding Gate and met with the wolf girl Arya in the east of the Twins. However, after the troops met, Edmure and Arya tried several more times, but still failed to capture the Twins.
And your nephew Aegon has opened up the situation in the North, and has united with Mormont, Glover and a series of other lords in the west of the North. By the way, the so-called Glover family of Deepwood Motte is only in name, in fact it is Asha Greyjoy."
Glover of Deepwood Motte had long been captured by Asha Greyjoy, and there were thousands of Ironborn who obeyed her. Asha Greyjoy was different from everyone in the Sea Monster family, not only in gender, but also in her ideas. She wanted to transform the Ironborn from plunderers into "civilized people" who could make a living normally. So even though she captured Deepwood Motte, Asha still treated Lady Glover and her children politely as captives, and hoped to use Glover as an intermediary to negotiate peace with the North.
But the situation in the North is extremely complicated and abstract due to the interference of big hands such as Targaryen, Lannister, Bolton, Stark, etc. It was not until the appearance of Aegon that Asha saw hope again.
Back to the present. Viserys has been shocked by the current chaos in the Riverlands and the North: "."
Without a strong hand to control the situation, these places have developed into such an abstract situation.
"Because they couldn't take the Twins after a long siege. Or, the Starks' soldiers wouldn't die for them. As long as a few river nobles were willing to fight, they wouldn't be able to take the Twins." Daenerys couldn't help but complain. "So in order to cooperate with Aegon's situation in the North, the Stark family chose to split up their forces. Arya and her borrowed troops continued to besiege, or to keep an eye on the Twins, while Sansa led her borrowed troops from the Vale to the north. There is no new news yet, but I think the next letter from the north will be the news that Sansa Stark and Aegon have taken over the Moat Cailin and officially entered the North.
I'm wondering if we should slow down our assistance to Edmure and Arya, using the excuse of helping Aegon and Sansa who need it more, so that they can feel the pressure. Otherwise, if they besiege the Twins without attacking them, wouldn't our promise to provide them with supplies give them more reason to waste time there?"
Arya and Sansa's troops are composed of different forces, which means that even if they join forces, they will be divided if the attack is ineffective. This is not due to their personal will, but the situation. They don't really control the troops they borrowed. Relatively speaking, Sansa is more like a puppet, while Arya has at least earned her prestige by herself.
Of course, if Sansa herself had no other ideas, the troops would not be divided so quickly.
Viserys could guess that Littlefinger was definitely behind this, but if Sansa didn't want to, she would definitely not be persuaded.
Viserys thought of Aegon. Tyrion Lannister had been declared by King's Landing to be a member of the Night's Watch in black. Sansa and Tyrion's marriage was automatically annulled. It was obvious that Sansa wanted to establish a connection with Aegon.
Viserys narrowed his eyes and thought about many possibilities. In this situation, it was too easy to convince Sansa. There was no need to alienate Sansa and Arya. Even if they had a close relationship, this division of forces was still the best option for them, the Starks.
".What you said makes sense, but once we are cut off, the situation will probably develop in a worse direction, and we will have to change from aid to continued material support in the name of loans. In any case, we will remain silent about the situation in the Riverlands until they are over, and we can just not express our views. But we must show our support for Sansa and Aegon and put pressure on Bolton. I want to write another letter to Aegon, asking him not to be carried away by Winterfell after taking over Moat Cailin, but to continue to exert pressure in the west of the North and divide the relationship between the Bolton family and the Dustin and Lacewell families. If he can force Bolton to go out of the city for a field battle, that would be the best situation he can achieve. But Roose Bolton is a cunning old man, and the North is really a mess."
Viserys's expectation for the North has changed from a year of preparation to the hope that when the Long Night comes, the North will have a unified voice to unite the princes.
Viserys even wondered whether he should get involved personally and support a Northern Guardian?
But think about the time-consuming and lengthy aftermath work after conquering the West Territory. Taking action personally means taking responsibility for the North Territory and Riverside, and spending energy to fill the holes in those rotten places. He doesn't even want King's Landing, and doesn't want to be distracted at this time, let alone the pile of mess in the North Territory and Riverside?
"Alas," Daenerys sighed and continued, "Let's not talk about the North for now. Let's talk about the Wall. The situation there should be better than you expected."
"Did Barristan and his men catch the White Walkers?"
"It's not that good." Daenerys shook her head. "Barristan wrote to say that he did catch a lot of wights, but he didn't encounter a single White Walker during his long stay at the Wall. He thought that the wights repeatedly harassed the Wall in search of its weak points, but the harassment lasted for several months, and there was no army attack, so now the guards of the Wall are a little unsure of what the White Walkers are planning. But the good news is that they successfully settled the wildlings in the barbican under the Wall, and after seeing some success at Castle Black, Eastwatch and the Shadow Tower also followed Castle Black and accepted some wildlings who expressed their willingness to follow their orders."
This is not good news. The wildlings actively sought help from the Night's Watch, which means that the living environment outside the Wall is becoming increasingly difficult, and the White Walkers have not made any movement, which means that when there is movement, it must be extremely terrifying.
But the good news Daenerys mentioned was something else: "There is something you will definitely not believe. The people of Braavos took the initiative to recruit the islanders of Lorath to form a mercenary group and offered to support the defense of the Wall. Moreover, Braavos is willing to take the initiative to help capture the deserters of the Night's Watch on the Wall. The deeds of a deserter may interest you, Tyrion Lannister."
"Ah? How is he related to the deserter?"
"It is said that Tyrion Lannister put on black in King's Landing and took the sea route to the Wall, but in Braavos, he bribed the recruiting night watch and lingered for months in a Braavos brothel for a woman."
Viserys snorted rather gossipyly, "Hmm?"
"Rumor has it that Tyrion the Imp believed that a prostitute in a brothel in Braavos had had an affair with him, and that the prostitute's daughter was called 'Lanna', whom he believed to be his daughter. Note that it was 'daughter', not 'illegitimate daughter'. He had been entangled with the mother and daughter in the brothel for a long time, until he was found by a supply ship from Braavos in the East Sea. The Night's Watch wanted to take him back to be convicted and to chop off his head as a deserter."
"he died?"
"No. It is said that this time the people of Braavos are willing to form a mercenary group to support the Wall, and Tyrion will play a role in it. I don't know how he did it. You know, Braavos is too far away, and the news is always vague. But the news that he is not dead should be true. I heard that he is now the head of the Eastwatch logistics fleet, responsible for dealing with the people of Braavos. I want to tell you that Braavos and Eastwatch have sent letters asking whether Tyrion's head should be chopped off. The answer I gave in the name of the royal family was 'This is the business of the Night's Watch.'"
"That's a good answer. I would answer the same way if I were given the same answer."
Daenerys smiled slightly, then asked, "You said you were going to form a Kingsguard. Do you want to recall Barristan? He is undoubtedly the most charismatic and most suitable candidate for the captain of the Kingsguard."
Although Barristan has changed his allegiance, reputation is a representative of contemporary knightly honor. No matter who it is, when mentioning the Kingsguard, they will think of Barristan first.
This is the power of fame.
Take Jaime for example. Many people who know him would think that he is undoubtedly a representative of chivalry. But in Westeros, no matter how honorable Jaime is, he is still a "king slayer". Even if Aerys's actions are made public, his bad reputation as a "king slayer" will not be washed away.
For James, "knight" is like morality, destined to be something he uses to discipline himself, and it is difficult for him to be recognized as a "knight" by the world.
Without a second thought, Viserys agreed, "Of course, catching White Walkers is not necessary. He has already completed his mission well."
"However, Ser Jorah Viserys, he wrote a long letter asking for your forgiveness. He thought he could not return to Bear Island to be the earl or work under Aegon as you requested. His reputation in the North is very bad. He wanted to stay at the Wall and serve as your envoy to support the guard of the Wall. After reading the letter, I chose to agree. But before the reply arrived, he followed your plan and introduced Aegon to Lord Alysanne Mormont of Bear Island, and then served as Aegon's guide in the North for a while until I agreed to his request in your name."
Daenerys looked to Viserys, waiting for his reaction.
"It doesn't matter. I said before that when I'm not around, your decision is my decision. It's OK if he's at the Great Wall. Before I left, I heard that Old Xiong was fine. They are father and son."
"Viserys, I have read his long letter. You will never believe that a man like Jorah could write such a sincere letter. To be honest, I always thought he was an opportunist. I didn't expect that he was actually a knight with spirit. I am not experienced enough in judging people. I have to admit to you that before this, I privately thought that your decision to use Jorah was wrong."
Daenerys was a little embarrassed.
Viserys smiled and replied, "I will use him because there is really no one else available except him." And if Viserys did not have foresight to know that Jorah was not a knight with a black heart, he would not dare to use him.
In this way, with our discussions, the current situation in Westeros was gradually straightened out.
Viserys couldn't help but ask, "What intelligence has been received from Essos in recent months?" Viserys had not forgotten the coming of the Red God's messenger. He had taken action several months earlier than Viserys. He just didn't know what had been done and whether any news had been leaked out.
"There's no big news, but I heard that a few months ago, Essos was hit by a terrible storm that only happens once in a thousand years, causing huge losses to Volantis's sea and river transportation. And in the disputed lands, Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh are said to be planning to sit down and negotiate again. Is there some kind of connection between them?"
"We can't infer anything from this information right now, but there will be big changes in Essos in the near future." Westeros doesn't attach much importance to intelligence about Essos. Even Varys often realizes things after a while. And with the presence of the gods' messengers, I'm afraid the Red God will be particularly secretive about what he wants to do. Viserys thought that he might have to wait until things happen in detail or become a foregone conclusion before he could know what the other party has done specifically. "But it doesn't matter. We just need to do our own thing and prepare for the war."
"Oh, there's one more thing." Daenerys suddenly mentioned, "The Citadel has calculated that Westeros will officially enter winter next month, and they have prepared white ravens. They will send them to all of Westeros at the beginning of the month."
"So winter came two months earlier than I estimated before I left? Is it because of me?"
"But the onset of winter is not a big deal. As long as the Citadel's estimate of the time of the Long Night remains unchanged, it will not affect our ability to proceed as planned."
Viserys was not optimistic. There was some other force affecting the way this planet rotated, and he was afraid that the long night would come early.
Viserys couldn't help but think of the Stark family motto: Winter is coming.
(End of this chapter)
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