Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 257: Viserys's First Task Force

Shitang Town was completely demolished, and a special mobilization was taking place on the market square, which was covered with a layer of dried gravel and asphalt.

During the War of the Six Kings, this was the battlefield between the Lannisters and the Tullys. Almost one-third of the houses were burned to ruins. The original owner here, Ser Wilbert, was killed by the Lannisters during the War of the Six Kings, and none of his sons who followed the Young Wolf survived. Before the Targaryens took over, there was no one in the town.

Now the town is full of soldiers gathered from all over the place, 1,000 from the Dragonstone Crown, 2,000 from the Stormlands, 4,000 from Dorne, 4,000 from the South, plus 2,000 from the Golden Group and over 1,000 free riders, a total of nearly 15,000 troops gathered here, in addition to nearly 20,000 civilians, boatmen, merchants, and craftsmen.
Around this small town, there are fortifications and camps scattered in an orderly manner within a one-mile radius.

The geographical location of Stonehall is truly in the center of the world, right in the middle of Westeros. To the east is the king's territory planned in the old days, and you can go straight down the river to the estuary of King's Landing. To the south is the fork of the Blackwater River, and after crossing the river is the Golden Road and the Southland. To the west is the Westerland, and although there are mountains blocking the way, it can lead to Horndale, Pinkfork, and Golden Tooth. To the north is the riverland, with Acorn Hall by land and the Red Fork River by water, both of which can lead directly to Riverrun.

Because of this geographical advantage, this place is truly a battleground for military strategists, and it is extremely turbulent during every period of unrest.

Now the "First Battle Group against the White Walkers" organized by Viserys is assembled here. It is more appropriate to call it a task force than a battle group.

Westeros is so huge that it would take at least half a year to walk from south to north. Fighting in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar enemy has always been a taboo in military strategy, so the purpose of this seemingly large task force is to split into two routes along the river. One route is scheduled to go to the North via Riverrun, Stonehenge, The Witchfen, the Twins, and the Neck, while the other route is expected to go to the North via Acorn Hall, the Kingsroad around the river, the Trident north of Harrenhal, and the normal Northern Kingsroad.

Along the way, we need to investigate suitable places, mobilize local lords and civilians, and build various military stations and supply stations for a fee. At present, there are two inherited supply lines that can supply troops and horses. One is Lannisport in the west - Golden Tooth - Riverrun - The Twins. The supply center castle is in Riverrun, and then Riverrun radiates to the river. The other is Crab Bay - Trident River. The supplies from the sea will be assembled at the ruins of Saltpan Town on the north bank of the Trident and the ruins of Earl Harroway's town, and then go to the north by land.

In addition, in the direction of the North, there are two supply lines to the North, one is White Harbor, and the other is Eastwatch by the Great Wall.

However, the king wanted to prepare enough stations in the country to achieve the strategic goal of being able to attack or defend. Even if they were not used in the end and the White Walkers were vulnerable, the king was very happy to build roads and military stations while he could mobilize the enthusiasm of the people.

The idea that if you want to get rich, you must first build roads is rooted in Viserys' mind. Moreover, the people of Hejian are now in need of industrial relief through work, so that the people of Hejian who have been plundered and fled to the mountains and forests, with only one in ten surviving, can receive subsidies. At the same time, some civilians in the West and South who have stopped farming because of the winter are also being mobilized and gradually trying to join the "National Construction Bureau's" "recruitment".

The common people of Westeros had never seen paid labor before, so after seeing it with their own eyes and finding that it was not very harsh, they all participated enthusiastically.

There is another thing. It was not until Viserys established the "National Construction Bureau" to carry out paid construction that he realized that even in the western border of Westeros and the mountains and forests between the rivers, there were still wild tribes living in groups. They did not pay taxes, serve in the army, or accept the management of the nobles, and lived on looting, fishing and hunting. Therefore, during the period, it was necessary to promote the militia organization to suppress bandits. It was almost impossible to reason with these people, and Viserys had no time to appease them, so he could only order the killing of wild bandits who hindered the construction.

Back to the present.

It was the king himself who was mobilizing, and Viserys had taken the trouble to come in person to show his appreciation for this task force.

Viserys leaned over a platform the town had erected and scooped up a handful of fresh snow. "There are earls, lords anointed, and commoners called up to the throne. It is a honor to be here."

".I have been promoting the idea that 'the White Walkers are coming' and preparing for a war with them. Many people cannot understand it and have never seen it. Perhaps even now, they still have doubts in their hearts. But winter is here." Viserys sprinkled the fresh snow in front of him, "The White Walkers are not far away. I don't want to continue telling you here about how cruel the crisis the White Walkers brought to mankind eight thousand years ago was. These days I have sent maesters and theater troupes, especially those officers who have gone through training courses, to talk about it every day and all the time. I think you have heard a lot and your ears are about to be callused. So I won't talk to you about that today.

Your destination is the Great Wall, which is currently surrounded by zombies and monsters ready to make a move.

The battle you are about to fight is a battle for the world and the fate of mankind. Most importantly, it is a battle for your personal honor and status. You are all excellent soldiers selected by me. I have prepared honor, titles, and rewards for you on that battlefield. Go fight, gain, and win. You just need to show your courage and fight. Your logistics are unprecedented in the world, including food, rain gear, transportation, woolen clothes, and military station assistance. The country is behind you and is your rear.

Here, I want to tell you that you are about to embark on a glorious march and head to a great battlefield. The path you have taken will become a signpost for those who come after you, and the problems you have encountered and the experiences you have summarized will become important chapters worthy of being written into history and textbooks.

Westeros has no contemporary concept of nationalism, only the old medieval concept of nation, let alone country, people, and humanity?

The most important thing for Viserys to mobilize these feudal warriors is to promise them the benefits and honors of feudalism, to mobilize their courage and enterprising spirit, to give honor to those who thirst for glory, to give money to those who love money, and to give the lords and knights who hope to become legends the opportunity to leave their names in history books.
Nothing more than that.

But at this time, Viserys couldn't help but secretly instill in them the idea that humans and White Walkers were not of the same kind, so as to plant the seeds of human glory in their hearts.

Viserys trained generals in the military academy, using the principle that honor comes from the monarch, and strength comes from the combined efforts of the monarch and all soldiers and civilians.

As the speech drew to a close.

The highlight is finally here.

"I won't say more. Next, we will have the armor-granting ceremony. I know many people are waiting for this moment, but you must remember that only those who have the courage and spirit to represent humanity, the king, and the country, and the wisdom and ability to connect individuals and command the military and civilians, can drive the true power of this armor and weapon!"

A hundred pieces of Valyrian armor and weapons were wheeled onto the stage in ornate pine chests.

This mobilization meeting was also the first time that Viserys officially handed over the Valyrian armor engraved with the power of the storm to the training generals.

These armors were not gifts, but like the tiger talismans of the army, they represented that the king and the power he represented were temporarily handed over to the general.

In the four major military academies established by the king in various places a few days ago, many trainees have seen the ten sets of armor provided by the king for school teaching. They are props with real witchcraft and magic power. Wearing the armor, gathering people to form a special military formation, they can summon thunder and lightning, and call the wind and rain. However, the requirements for generals are very high. One is that the mental test scores in the military academy must be high enough, and the other is that the power of the military academy's teaching mainly comes from the king's country, followed by the resonance between oneself and the country, and finally from the theoretical framework of mankind.

"Royal power is the same as divine power", "The power of the country is borrowed from the human body", "If you have the country and the king in your heart, and the people and the country in your heart, you can obtain the power of the country in your body", "The country and the people". These are the ideological courses taught in the military academy in the past few months.

Many people could not accept it at first, but when they saw that those who could accept these ideas could use the Valyrian armor taught in the school to mobilize the guards around the school to enter the next step of teaching, call the wind and rain, and even summon thunder, and their personal power gained "national strength blessing" and became extremely brave, these ideas were quickly promoted in the army, even if some people still had doubts in their hearts. And there are also some very practical personal cultivation methods to match.

Facts have proved that promoting some "advanced" pragmatic ideas and weapons in the military is always the fastest and most efficient way.

Especially those who often fight in wars, they naturally have pragmatic ideas. Viserys only needs to link his personal ideas to practicality and he can quickly gain a large number of believers.

Viserys began to call the roll. "Randal Tarly!"

Lord Lando, who was in the first row, immediately stood up and answered solemnly, "Yes!"

Viserys called him forward. "Come forward and claim plate 017, 'Stormthunder'."

Power sounds abstract, but in reality it is just two words: "reward" and "punishment". If you master these two words, you can hold power firmly in your hands.

It is said that when Viserys originally set up the school, he was worried that some old knights would not be able to accept the bunch of new things and ideas he came up with for his "Dragon and Tiger Qi System", but the reality is that when they saw the power and effect, some old knights became more radical and active than young people.

Randyll Tarly is one of them. The Tarly family is good at fighting, warlike, and happy to hear about war. They are the most powerful fighters of the Lord of the South. Now, after training in Viserys's military academy, this earl actually beat the young people that Viserys originally favored, such as Garlan, Loras, and even the Iron Guard Gerold and Quentyn who brought their own armor to the school for "further study", and Barristan who came back at the end of the first term, and got the first place in the comprehensive ranking of all schools.

As a result, Randall Tully was appointed commander-in-chief of this advance force.

"Yes!" Lord Randyll stepped forward with his Valyrian steel greatsword.

Viserys himself gave him the chest of armor and blessed his greatsword, Heartbroken.

Next came one after another the noble vassals or famous knights from Dorne, the Reach, and the Stormlands.

Viserys felt as if he was at a university graduation ceremony, presenting diplomas and degree certificates to students.

This so-called "First Regiment" task force was carefully selected by Viserys in an attempt to attach strength to armor. It can be said to be the most elite coalition force at present. Viserys has high hopes for them, hoping that they can arrive at the northern battlefield before the long night, achieve the desired results in fighting against the White Walkers, and summarize suitable tactics and experience in dealing with the White Walkers on the actual battlefield.

In the history books of Westeros, there is almost no book that describes how the White Walkers fight. Even the stories that have been collected about the White Walkers mostly only mention that they drive the dead and ride the corpses of animals, including bears, direwolves, mammoths, and horses. Some even say that the White Walkers are followed by "ice spiders" as big as hounds.

Even though the Wall has now come into contact with the wights, it can only provide experience references that the appearance of the White Walkers is often accompanied by wind, snow and cold, and that the wights are afraid of fire and the White Walkers are afraid of obsidian weapons. Combined with Viserys' experience in Braavos, it can also be inferred that the White Walkers can be injured by Valyrian steel and can use magic to create huge ice dragons.

But the reality is that these are just the tip of the iceberg of the White Walkers. After eight thousand years, no one knows the White Walkers' true combat methods, technological level, and magic level.
Therefore, it is very necessary to observe and practice
The stronger this advance army is, the more it can explore the White Walkers' bottom line. If it is too weak to withstand a single blow, Viserys might consider launching a "Long Night's Crusade" to attack the "homeland of the White Walkers" and scatter the ashes of the God of Cold.

But it is highly unlikely, because the Red God showed great pressure for the upcoming war with the Cold God, as evidenced by his peaceful relationship with Viserys. This shows that the power of the Cold God may be able to suppress Viserys in Westeros, the Red God's messenger in Essos, and even the Drowned God who disappeared in the ocean.
Although Viserys's words are beautiful now, he is actually planning in his heart to transform the built supply road into a retreat route to meet the defeated northern army at any time.

Viserys will not come to the North in person for the time being. Once he really gets involved, he will know how long it takes to accumulate strength and how much preparation is needed before a war breaks out.

Viserys has been busy smelting steel these days. Specifically, after he and Daenerys entered Valyria for the second time, he explored the smelter he had discovered previously in depth, and then found some remains of the process engraved on black stone slabs.

It is impossible to replicate the casting of Valyrian steel, because there are many things in the furnace for preparing Valyrian steel that need to be quenched with blood sacrifices. It is described that the blood of some special creatures that are sensitive to magic must be used, mixed with dragonworm blood and sea monster blood, and a corresponding blood sacrifice ceremony must be performed.
The smelting technology of Valyria was really advanced. Viserys discovered that they used earth fire and magic to build an assembly line and mold smelting technology for non-special steel. In addition to Valyrian steel, ordinary steel also accounted for a large proportion in Valyria's smelting.

Unfortunately, most of the crafts require the use of magma, underground fire, magic, and witchcraft, and most of the surviving crafts have no complete process records.

However, this gave Viserys room to play. There were ordinary steel tunnels in the mines of Valyria, which could be roughly regarded as the prototype of some kind of railway, and there was also a corresponding mold factory.

Viserys discovered that although Valyria's technology was difficult to restore, he could fill in the gaps in Valyria's technical documents.

To develop productivity, the steel industry is indispensable. Viserys was inspired to carve the somewhat vague blast furnace smelting process in his memory on the black stone slab, making it look old. From now on, this is the remnant of Valyria's steelmaking technology. He will take a few molds for making mine rails back and let the people in the Citadel do "technical restoration". Besides, the level of Westeros's metallurgy industry is not low. It can make steel armor, steel swords and chain mail, but it lacks a set of programmatic things and industry standards to coordinate people to make a large factory and assembly line-style operation.

Yes, Viserys had the idea of ​​building a steel mill and developing heavy metallurgical industry. The South, Westerly, Dorne, and Stormlands were not short of iron ore, and there were also coal resources. Viserys had been planning this these days.

We don't expect to be able to produce special steel like Valyria's, but as long as durable steel can be produced on a large scale, it will be very useful for war, post-war construction, and laying of railroad tracks - even if the railroad tracks are horse-drawn trains, they will be much more convenient than the primitive transportation in Westeros that still relies on carriages.

Of course, these are just ideas.

But no matter what, the education Viserys received on Earth taught him that steel production during wartime largely determines a country's war capabilities. Although this world has magic and witchcraft.

It is definitely impossible to achieve results in a short period of time, but we have to start. We should first write the plans for the ten-year and five-year plans, draw up the big picture, and then slowly push forward.

Speaking of which, Viserys couldn't help but sigh at the so-called population of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

The entire territory of Westeros is a continent as big as the American continent, but the actual population is only like a small country. The population of the North, which Aegon reported to Viserys after organizing the jurisdictions of several major lords, is less than 500,000 people in King's Landing. The Riverlands, which were damaged in the war, now have a population of only a few hundred thousand people at most. The South, Westerly, and Dorne, which were relatively less affected by the war, are roughly estimated to have a population of less than 10 million.

Even if we include the Valley and King's Landing, which are not yet under actual control, the total population of the continent is estimated to be only a little over 10 million at most.

To be honest, this number of people is not even as large as that of a big city on Earth, but they are now distributed across the vast continent of Westeros. Although many died in the war, this is still the estimated population after ten long summers.

Westeros has potatoes and corn, but its population is less than 10 million.

The main reason for this is of course the climate and environment in the world of ice and fire. After a few years of development in the summer, a large number of people will die when winter comes. The population cannot accumulate naturally and can only die out in nature.

The only tribe that could develop "technology" normally in this environment and sustain it for a thousand years was Valyria. This was because Valyria was located in a land of long summer and had magic and witchcraft to resist winter and plague.

Viserys thought about it and estimated that only a species like the Trisolarans could develop normal technology in such an environment.

Because the world is like this, apart from the Citadel, which once had a "Millennium Plan" to eliminate magic, few people can feel a strong sense of identification and enthusiasm when Viserys proposes the "Ten-Year Plan" or "Five-Year Plan".

Each and every one of these things can only be put on the right track if they are forced forward by the king's order.

Although Viserys was not a weightlifting champion, he felt that all the people in Westeros seemed to be on his shoulders.

To be honest, Viserys didn't want to do any of this. He had never forgotten that he was a supernatural creature who was to be enlightened by magic, and he had never thought of changing the world before. But when he found that he needed faith, and that faith was related to these humans, he had to do it, and if he had to do it, he wanted to do it as well as possible.

But Viserys is a time traveler from Earth, and the standards of "good" he has seen are too high. So now when he really puts his mind on governing the country and wants to build a feudal, monarchical country with a system of magic and witchcraft, in which faith and power are concentrated in the monarch, after looking around, he finds that nothing in Westeros satisfies him.

At this time, Viserys would think of King Robert, who finally chose to play badly. It would be great if the king only needed to be the best fighter and only thought about how to win on the battlefield.

The mobilization meeting and armor-awarding ceremony lasted the entire morning, but the officers and soldiers were in high spirits and were still talking about it until the farewell banquet at noon.

The army would not set out until the next day, and since Viserys was already here, he might as well take advantage of today's free time to meet with the head of the Pyromancers' Guild brought by the spies from King's Landing.

The Pyromancer Guild, also known as the Alchemist Guild, was a guild that once flourished in the Ice and Fire World. They claimed to have possessed a number of magic and mystical arts, claiming to be able to refine metals and create flame creatures.
Of course, it was.

Viserys had no doubts about this. He had come into contact with wildfire and the Red God who possessed the Song of Fire, and knew that the fire element must have been extremely active for a period of time. For example, now, Viserys believed that if a warlock tried to study wind and thunder magic in the near future and developed a set of sorcery that could pry the scattered "Storm Song" in the world, he could also develop a "Thunder Warlock Guild" or "Storm Warlock Guild" before he took back the control of those "Songs" that were not under his control.

But now, even with the "magic revival", the fire magicians can only feel that the fire element seems to be flourishing again, but if they want to learn and use those "lost" secret techniques again, they can only pray to the God of Fire.

However, wildfire is indeed a great invention. Fire sorcerers use some unknown secret technique to extract "elemental power" instead of "the element itself" from some substances with fire elemental power, and seal it in a very inclusive special viscous substance through complex processes, making the violent fire element a liquid that can be stored in dark jars and even flow through special "water pumps".

This is a special combination of chemistry and witchcraft from the world of ice and fire, from which one can vaguely glimpse a chemical path that adapts to the world of ice and fire.

The official members of the pyromancers called each other wise men. The one who was summoned to see Viserys was one of the three wise men in charge of leading the guild. His name was Renwhite, a thin and skinny old man wearing a thick, undyed woolen sweater.

Viserys went straight to the point: "I want to know why you can't leave King's Landing. I need a reasonable explanation." The supply to King's Landing is now intermittent and is showing a trend of becoming increasingly slow. It is simply not enough to support the large-scale consumption of an army's armed forces. So Viserys thought about taking the pyromancers out of King's Landing and letting them find another place to build a production line, preferably one that can produce in large quantities to supply the army for consumption as conventional weapons.

"Your Majesty, please forgive us for being reserved and not making it clear before. In fact, the manufacturing process of equipment that can be used to make wildfire with the 'Wildfire Mixed Terminology' has been lost. Currently, only the process in King's Landing can be used." Ren White answered carefully, "If you want to rebuild it somewhere else, I'm afraid you need to find the successor of the fire wizard in Essos Asshai. Maybe they still have the construction manuscript of the wildfire production equipment process."

"Then can you work day and night to increase the supply?" Viserys saw that he seemed to be professional but was actually vague. He knew that even if what he said was true, this 'wise man' was trying to protect the secrets and didn't want to make the process public. "Don't worry about being discovered during the day."

"In fact, Your Majesty, our production line is already working overtime to produce wildfire for you, but unfortunately, we must be extra cautious in the process of producing wildfire. Even if all the assistants who have been strictly trained are put into production, there is no way to produce dozens or hundreds of cans every three days two months ago. To be honest, Your Majesty, those are actually the quantities we stored in the guild basement. Cersei Lannister and Tyrion Lannister took a lot of the stock at the time, but they still haven't used up all the stock left over from the time of King Aerys."

It is worth mentioning that many of the treasures stored by Aerys at that time are still missing, but people can occasionally find some in the Sept of Baelor and underground in the dragon pits.

In other words, since the time of Aerys, the jars of wildfire that blew up King's Landing have never been truly found and destroyed - this generation of pyromancers actually doesn't know how to destroy them, and now Cersei has buried a new batch.

King's Landing is a city full of dangers.

"How many cans of wildfire do you produce in a day?" Viserys asked.

Ren White blinked: "It depends on the situation. If there are more——"

Viserys snorted. "Hmm?"

Ren White didn't dare to play it safe anymore, and only said, "About thirty cans a day, on average. That's already a lot, Your Majesty. During the time of Your Majesty Iris, the recorded production of wildfire was only sixty to seventy cans a day."

Ren White wanted to say that after Aerys, the Pyromancer Guild in King's Landing declined, and there was no one to take over after more than a decade. If it weren't for the incredibly rapid effect of the wildfire mixture in the past year, it would be difficult to produce ten cans a day. Moreover, the quality of wildfire is very good now.

But seeing Viserys frown, the 'wise man' tactfully shut his mouth.

"No wonder even Aerys never thought of using wildfire in war." Viserys grumbled, and then asked, "Is there any way to reduce its power but speed up its production efficiency?"

"Your Majesty, this substance is a secret creation and cannot be done."

"You are not making it according to the secret technique exactly, but you actually don't know the logic of making wildfire at all, right? Has it been lost?" Viserys looked at Renwhite suspiciously.

"We are the heirs of the Pyromancers Guild, of course. Just maybe." Renwhite began to speak using some terms that Viserys could not understand.

Viserys didn't understand what the terms meant, but he probably sensed the attitude: "Okay, continue supplying like this. But I have a request, you have to make the jars smaller, preferably the size of wine bottles." The current cans can only be used to defend cities or set ambushes. It is not practical at all, and the transportation is not convenient. Not only does it require specially trained people to guard and transport it, but the buyers cannot repackage it independently as needed. The pyromancer apprentices have to carry a special pump with them to meet the combat needs of spraying wildfire anytime and anywhere.

"His Majesty."

Viserys raised an eyebrow. "Is that difficult?"

Ren White swallowed and said, "No, Your Majesty. The Guild will definitely package it in a smaller bottle as you requested."

Viserys originally thought that these guys could be used as chemists, allowing them to continue to study wildfire, streamline the wildfire manufacturing process, and at the same time provide funding to allow them to research and produce more mild and controllable wildfire compounds. After all, this is a real chemical witchcraft compound with high heat energy, sustainability and sufficient energy. Maybe it can be used as an energy source to guide Westeros into the industrial revolution.
But now it seems that even the military will have to treat this thing as a strategic special weapon and use it sparingly.

Viserys then thought of gunpowder.

It seems that no alchemist in Westeros has invented this kind of thing yet. Of course, Viserys thought about it. Although this idea is very reactionary, he thinks that the later this thing is invented, the better, especially the horrible formula of "gunpowder plus sugar".
Viserys felt that some things would be better off after he had completed his national belief system.

As a feudal monarch and a god, Viserys sometimes felt that he was a representative of evil forces that opposed human scientific progress.

But Viserys didn't think he had done anything wrong.

Viserys thought that as a representative of feudalism, he had to first ideologically transform these people who were more feudal than the country he envisioned before he could continue to promote the corresponding technological revolution in technology and science.

Perhaps this is a mindset trap that top-down reform and innovation can never change.

Hey, who cares.

Viserys did not dwell on this issue for long. He had a lot to do. Later he would have to inspect the camps in person and deliver the king's condolences to the feudal fighters he had recruited.

(End of this chapter)