Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 259: Journey to the North (Transition Chapter)
After assigning the matters that needed to be handled to the ministers in charge of Oldtown, Viserys and Daenerys said goodbye and set off for the north.

"Our powers now have the same source, and there are related dreams. We can get in touch at any time if we want."

"It would be better if Denys was a little older, so that I could ride Nightfair and go with you. Even if I can't help you on the battlefield, I can serve as your strength store." Daenerys held the child and touched her belly, feeling a little disappointed. "Every time you go far away by yourself and I stay behind, I feel that I treat myself too much as a queen. I should treat myself more as an extraordinary creature. I really shouldn't have read those books. The historians in the Citadel said that 'a woman's battlefield is a delivery bed', and I took it into my head after reading those books. I've figured it out, Viserys. After this second child is born, I have to study how to fight on the battlefield. In the future, the bloodline of the Targaryen royal family will depend on Denys and his people to spread."

".Dani, I have to say that I don't want you to get involved in the fight. If I can solve all the problems myself, I hope to live a peaceful life with you."

Speaking of which, Viserys had never expected that after going to the Valyrian Blood Temple with Daenerys, he didn't learn anything else, but from the bloody research and experimental records in the Blood Temple, he could study from a pragmatic perspective how to extract witchcraft blood and combine it to produce normal offspring when Viserys had become a extraordinary body - Valyria's blood magic research was dark and bloody, and the so-called Dragon King family bloodline was a kind of continuously refined blood magic creation thousands of years ago. From a biological perspective, the Valyrians can be regarded as a special human race that has not yet produced reproductive isolation from humans. They have a high affinity for the origin of magic, especially flames, and their blood is even mixed with the blood of Valyrian dragons through blood witchcraft.

Daenerys was prepared for this, having seen many Targaryen queens give birth to dragon-shaped offspring in history, and having experienced a lot with Viserys, Daenerys had long accepted the idea that she was not a "human" in the normal sense, not to mention that now, they could even be called "gods".

Daenerys added: "If the situation is critical, do not fight."

Viserys smiled: "Don't worry."

After saying goodbye at the Citadel, Viserys quickly set off.

This trip to the North was the first time he accepted the invitation of the Three-Eyed Raven. Although he was not sure about the situation the other party was facing, Viserys, as the invited party, was not in a hurry to drive straight to the Wall. Thinking back to the time when he went to Valyria with Frémi, the priestess of the Red God, it took several days to fly. This trip to the North, Viserys could treat it as an informal northern tour, and take the opportunity to see the current situation and customs of various places.

There was no need to dress in white dragon clothes or go on a secret visit. Viserys only planned to take a quick look.

Nowadays, most places have built post stations, and the post stations in the Targaryen area have one thing in common, that is, a three-headed dragon statue is built on the top of the post station. Viserys can fly very high in the sky, radiate his power, and roughly feel the perception of nearby believers from the three-headed dragon statues.

Going out of Oldtown is the area originally ruled by the Hightower family. This land is in the southernmost part of Westeros. The monsoon of the Sunset Sea and several rivers have formed a fertile alluvial plain. Because there are basically no major natural geological changes in this world, this land has been one of the richest areas in Westeros for thousands of years.

Although winter has arrived and the first snow has even reached King's Landing, it is still an idyllic scene here. Commoners and noble tenants are still working in the fields. The corn and potatoes they have planted have reached the seedling stage, and according to the time calculated by the Citadel, if they are lucky, they can still have one last harvest. However, considering the climate changes, the harvest cannot be expected to be very good.

Near the major port cities, granaries in towns and cities are already fully stocked.

This was the area that Viserys was most pleased with.

All the way to Highgarden. Viserys was high in the sky and could see the fertile land of the Reach.

New soldiers were trained at post stations and castles, farmers were farming around the castles, and there was a constant stream of merchant ships and fishing boats on the Mande River.

But Viserys soon discovered that there was still a problem.

However, the Citadel sent a signal saying that it was not recommended to continue planting long-term crops such as corn, potatoes, and even winter wheat north of Highgarden after winter, because this winter was different from previous ones.

But Viserys still found that in many places, such as the fields near noble castles and the fields near self-cultivating farmers' villages, there were still many places where people did not listen to the advice of the maesters of the Citadel and continued to grow long-term crops.

The harvest cost of the land north of High Court is later than that of the land further south. Crops like corn and soybeans, which take at least three or four months to mature, are not recommended, not to mention crops like winter wheat, which takes up to seven or eight months.
This is not a trivial matter, it is not a matter of wasting a harvest.

This meant that despite Viserys' extensive publicity, it had not really penetrated people's hearts in just over a year. In the northern part of Highgarden, which was only a little further away from his field of vision, he could already feel that many people did not realize the seriousness of the problem and were still doing things according to their old experience.

It is not certain whether there is still the problem of dereliction of duty by the local inspectors arranged by Viserys.

With this in mind, Viserys gave up his plan to fly directly from the Reach, and instead turned from Highgarden to observe along the Kingsroad and the Mander River.

There are policies from the top and countermeasures from the bottom, and there is a problem that is difficult to change throughout the ages: the top likes something and the bottom follows it.

Along the King's Road and the Mander River, Viserys found that many of the inn radiation areas, relatively not so remote places, were planting cabbage, eggplant, radish recommended by the Citadel in the fields, as well as onions that had been planted before the season change and were now in the stage of true leaf bolting. Although vegetable crops could not fill the stomach like corn and potatoes, they were indeed the most suitable things that could be thought of to make use of the last harvest before the long night.

After all, in places where the royal power can radiate, the royal orders and policies are still followed, which makes Viserys feel a little better.

After flying along the Kingsroad to the sky above Bitterbridge, Viserys stopped flying along the road and turned north, following the dirt road that the Tyrell army had made in the wilderness of the Riverlands when they were defeated and returned to the South. Later, Willas, who was appointed by Viserys, was responsible for simply paving mud and gravel to create a northward dirt road for grain transport teams to travel on the originally empty plain with only a few village roads. He set off directly north.

This dirt road runs directly across the wilderness from the Kingsroad of the Reach at Bitterbridge to the Kingsroad to the Westerly. It is now a military road and is not open to merchants. Here, you can see the grain transport teams circulating from the Bitterbridge hub traveling from one post station to another, using mule carts and donkey carts to transport food supplies from the south to Stonehall, the central hub planned by Viserys.

There were military stations stationed along the route from time to time. Their job was to dig soil and gravel near the new road, repair the road at any time, and ensure the smooth flow of food.

To be honest, Viserys himself could feel that in the past year or so, he had the momentum of exploiting the people like the emperors in history who were ambitious for success. In peacetime, it would take four or five long summers to build the road from Bitterbridge to Stonehall. However, Viserys mobilized the noble army and civilians to build it in sections, and it took only seven or eight months to complete it. Although it was not a very large dirt road, it was a major project that could be recorded in the history of Westeros.

With mixed feelings, Viserys arrived at Stonehall, which had now become a military zone. Although it attracted many vendors and women with special jobs to do business around the town, the planning of Stonehall was completely based on the construction of a military camp that could accommodate tens of thousands of troops.

Several large camps were built along the central town, and fortification work was carried out day and night. A permanent stone fortification had been built on the side facing the mountain, as well as a large number of warehouses, armories, and training facilities.

Less than a month after the First Regiment Task Force set out, a new batch of troops are gathering here day by day to train and prepare for war.

Many civilians from the eastern part of the Westland, the northern part of the River Bend, and the Riverlands who have lost their source of livelihood after the winter and are unable to cultivate the land gather here. They carry out paid construction work here with food and lodging provided, building camps, constructing pontoon bridges, and transporting logs and gravel from nearby mountains and forests.

Going further along the grain road, you will reach Riverrun.

It snowed after the beginning of winter. In the past few winters, Riverrun would hibernate at this time. But now it is different. Now, the castles in the river are following the king's orders and summoning civilians to build fortifications around the castles that are already strong enough, imitating the winter town of Winterfell, to build a centralized management area for civilians to spend the winter.

These buildings were built according to local conditions. Stone houses were built in places with more stones, and wooden houses were built in places with more wood. The only requirement was that they were strong and cold-resistant. Viserys did not hide the fact that he did not consider the comfort and acceptance of specific people when promoting these. These so-called fortresses were actually things similar to modern factory dormitories or shelters.

Viserys built these in the river to gather the civilians for easier management, so that when necessary they could be driven to assist in the defense of the castle, or when there was discord, they could be driven to the south like the migration of the wildlings outside the Great Wall.

Normally, from an economic point of view, the civilians in Hejian are all negative assets. They are not combatants, but mostly the elderly, weak, sick and disabled. But if the White Walkers invade such a deep place, these people will become the White Walkers' fresh troops. So even if we don't consider humanitarianism, but from a purely military perspective, we must gather and manage these civilians who may not survive the winter.

Over Riverrun, Viserys saw many camps densely set up around the castle. Some of them had just returned to Riverrun from the Twins and had only a short time to rest and prepare before being summoned to form the River Troops to support the Great Wall Expeditionary Army in the north; there were also the engineering troops of the "National Construction Bureau" who had to follow the marks left by the special task force after they had gone there, negotiate with local nobles and knights, recruit manpower, and build military stations; and there were also River Refugees who had been hiding in the mountains and wilderness for a long time after the battle in the Rivers came to an end and heard the wind and wanted to go home, but were gathered up.

Compared with the relatively well-organized southern region, the current situation in Hejian is extremely chaotic.

Viserys didn't know if Edmure was confused by the current situation in the Riverlands, so he was eager to form a Riverlands Army to support the Wall not long after recuperating in Riverrun, leaving the main logistics, construction, and civil issues to the consultants sent by the king to the Riverlands. After all, as long as the army marches to the North and gets the official number in the Bay of Cailin, the supplies can be obtained from the king's logistics department according to the share given by the king to the "Anti-White Walker Front" army. In other words, as long as the official number is certified, the pressure of supporting the army can be alleviated to the greatest extent.

Even Edmure, who had conquered the Twins, could be said to be "struggling to survive" in the Riverlands. The War of the Six Kings only lasted two years in official records, but the war in the Riverlands lasted three years. The siege of Riverrun alone lasted more than a year, and the Tully family's reserves were greatly depleted. The three-year war was a waste of money, with little profit. Although they had pledged their allegiance to the Targaryens, they were still required to pay a fine to the royal family according to the established reward and punishment system.

Now the Tully family has borrowed a large sum of debt from the Oldtown Bank and Lannisport Bank, which are managed by the Targaryen royal family.

Speaking of which, the Riverlands are really miserable. You know, in Westeros, war itself is a very profitable business. The winner can get a lot of land, population, and wealth in the castle, and the winner takes all. But as the center of the world, the Riverlands will be beaten into a muddy ground every time there is a war. If they can win and share the fruits of victory, it would be fine, but if they lose or tie, the Riverlands will be a pure sucker. In this War of the Six Kings, the Riverlands were in an awkward situation, especially the Tully family, which can be said to have lost again and again until they joined the Targaryens and stopped the decline that almost fell off the cliff and was shattered to pieces, but it can't be called a "win".

The Tully family is a great noble family with a long history and profound accumulation in the Riverlands, but they were still hurt in the three-year high-intensity war. If they had not boarded the Targaryen ship at the last moment, even if they had survived by chance, they would have shared the fate of the Valeryn family on Dragonstone and sunk.

To be honest, Viserys, in a sense, eased the collapse of the inherent aristocracy that had gradually formed in Westeros since the time of Aerys. If there was no Viserys, these Westeros nobles would have fought each other to death. In the end, a large number of noble knights died, and the victors stood on the ruins, eventually forming the medieval feudal system fission like the War of the Roses, and the feudal system transformed into the Tudor feudal system, which is called "abnormal feudalism" by Earth historians.

Unfortunately, the abnormal environment of the world of ice and fire makes it highly unlikely that Westeros will enter the Renaissance because of the White Walkers and the cold winter. Even if humans defeat the White Walkers, they will have to choose the old feudal system during the process of recuperation because the land is too vast, the transportation is too primitive, and the information transmission is too inefficient.

Far away.

Viserys quickly passed Riverrun and followed the route of the left army, flying from Stonehenge to the Witchfen to the Twins.

Although there is no established road on the left road, the army often marches there and merchants do business there, so a familiar road has been built based on the flow of people, which can be used as a basis for expansion. However, this road needs to pass through a swamp, which is fine when the weather is fine, but if it rains or snows, it will be a bumpy muddy road. Although it is not known how the leader of the task force will evaluate this route in the end, in Viserys's opinion, this road is only suitable for emergency and special situations, and it is difficult to build a road like the King's Road.

Viserys thought he would see the tail of his vanguard near the Twins. After all, it snowed in the river after winter, and the snow in the river was not stable, so it became a slippery mud road. However, their marching speed was much faster than Viserys expected, and they had even passed the Twins not long ago. Viserys only saw the camps around the Twins that had not been dismantled. After the Freys surrendered, the Twins were now managed by Edmure's uncle, the Blackfish.

Edmure originally wanted Blackfish to marry a Frey distant relative of the Brackens, so that it would be easier to control the Twins with a title. But the stubborn old knight refused, saying that even Edmure's father couldn't let him marry, and that he would now guard the Twins for Edmure just like he guarded the Bloody Gate for Lysa, and when he gave birth to a Frey heir, he would find a way to take over the castle himself. In short, Edmure and Blackfish ended up parting ways unhappily because of the Twins, a castle that others wanted but couldn't get enough of. It was also strange.

Viserys knew that some of his own lords, especially those families who had been royalists during the Usurper's Rebellion, were dissatisfied with his lack of toughness in dealing with the Tullys and Starks.

Houses like the Mooton and Guberk in the Riverlands were fined land, titles, and money by the Tullys after the War of the Usurper because they had sided with the Targaryens. Some of them even secretly wrote letters to Viserys using the extinct House Darry to try to arouse Viserys's resentment towards the Tullys. As the most lamentable House Darry of the Royalist party, they hoped that the king would take the late king into consideration - to be honest, Viserys quite agreed with some of the requests.

But they should never mention the "former king", which made Viserys have to use both carrot and stick to deal with some former royalists in Hejian who tried to take advantage of the newly pacified east wind in Hejian to engage in political struggle. They should be given benefits, but they should also be punished. They really don't take the "anti-white walker front" that Viserys promotes every day as a program. It's fine if they don't want to cooperate, but they also want to take advantage of Viserys's sight on Hejian to engage in political struggles to dig up old accounts and gain political benefits.
Viserys really didn't understand. He had clearly shown "tolerance" towards those who responded to the call. Couldn't he take advantage of the situation to reap benefits by waving the banner of "fighting against the White Walkers"?

Soon Viserys arrived high above the famous Neck.

It was the first time that Viserys saw the swampland, which was always said to be dangerous. The king's road here was a stone dam built in the swamp area. Although it was quite weathered, one could still glimpse the hardships of those who built the road from the thick stone dam that had been in disrepair for many years and had potholes in some places.

The swamp is a vast wetland plain. Although it looks like it snowed a few days ago and some puddles are covered with ice, you can still see dense bushes that have been immersed in the swamp for many years, thick and dense aquatic plants, various strange fungi, and swamp traps that can swallow people.

To be honest, if the ice is not taken into consideration, the Neck would be a very good battlefield key location. As long as the King's Road, the Moat Cailin and the Twins are controlled, the throat of Westeros can be locked.

But once the Neck Marsh turns into an ice field, it will instantly become an advantageous battlefield for the ice field army, and become an undefended plain. Not to mention that the alien army can get lizard lions, pythons, and lizards buried in the muddy ground as reinforcements. Viserys deliberately poked his head out from under the clouds to carefully inspect it, and found that it was not yet the cold winter, but the swamps in the marshland had already frozen.

Imagine that when the world falls into a dark night and a bitter winter, this place will turn into a vast ice field.

If the White Walkers can't get past the Wall, then the Wall is the front line. If the White Walkers can get past the Wall, then Viserys will never set the front line in the plains. Riverrun and Stonehall are both located in the plains, but they have one thing in common, that is, they are close to the endless mountains in the West. If necessary, the mountains can be used as cover to retreat to the rear. Another important point is that they are closer to the grain storage area planned by Viserys.

The most important thing is that Viserys is afraid that it is not a good thing to extend the battle line too long, because in fact, until today, he is still unclear about the strength of the enemy's troops. He is afraid that he will be caught off guard and the White Walkers will suddenly take advantage of a cold wave to launch an unexpected blitzkrieg.

Viserys didn't know the specific structure of the White Walker army yet, but it was conceivable that the White Walker army must be more organized than the human army - after all, driving an army of the dead would require the highest level of organization, and their marching speed had to be as fast as possible in the cold ice field.

Viserys imagined it, and what he feared most now was that the White Walkers would suddenly launch a blitzkrieg and cross all the defense lines he had expected.

After all, they are from Earth, and they all know the story of the Maginot Line in France. Viserys cannot guarantee that when the White Walkers attack, they will not appear from a place he can't expect, and use high-speed tactics that the Westeros people can't imagine, interspersing, encircling, and cutting. I just hope that the White Walkers don't have this kind of wisdom and ability.

Viserys imagined how he would attack if he were the commander of the White Walkers.

There are two situations. One is that the Great Wall must be destroyed before going south, and the other is that the Great Wall does not have to be destroyed before going south.

If it were the second case, Viserys would of course make a prompt decision to retreat to the riverside and the southern border, abandoning the north and the Great Wall.

But the greater probability is the first one. It is very likely that the two sides will fight a battle at the Great Wall, a battle that will determine the direction of the situation.

On the Kingsroad in the middle of the marshland, Viserys finally saw the tail of the vanguard he had sent out. The left and right armies seemed to have joined forces. The soldiers were in high spirits, and the marching team with various flags stretched for several miles at a fast pace. It seemed that they would all arrive at the Moat Cailin by this evening and assemble in the fields north of the Moat Cailin.

Viserys made no move to stop and greet them, but continued on, as he was much faster than these men could walk. In a few moments, he had flown several leagues, passed the front of the advance guard, and reached the Moat Cailin faster than the group that had set out from Stonehall for more than a month.

Viserys looked at the ant-sized figures in the marching team from the sky and couldn't help but wonder, if Targaryen had not been chosen by fate, which stubborn and ambitious king would have wanted to rule the entire Westeros, a bloated territory that took several months to march from south to north.

As a soul from a great Eastern country, Viserys was of course very enthusiastic about the vast territory, but as a person who had seen the speed of mechanized marching, Viserys would also feel a sense of difficulty at the speed of mortals in this world.

At the Bay of Cailin, Viserys saw the camp that he had specifically told Aegon to reserve, where a group of soldiers were arranged, envoys were prepared, and northern chefs were prepared to receive the reinforcements from the south. From here on, the supplies and expenses of any troops heading to the north would be managed by the logistics department under King Targaryen. Not far from the Bay of Cailin, White Harbor was a material hub that could provide large quantities of materials for the army.

The army will be reorganized here, inspected by royal representatives, and awarded temporary numbers directly from the Targaryen royal family. Logistics officers and observation recorders trained in the Citadel and Dragonstone will be arranged to accompany the army. The logistics officers will be responsible for logistics, and the recorders will be responsible for recording the combat of the troops so that they can be rewarded according to their merits in the future. The records may even be recorded in the history of the fight against the White Walkers.

Although Viserys did not force the troops to reorganize and reform according to his military system, he still firmly grasped the two key points of "who to eat food from" and "who to fight for".

The next stop is Winterfell.

The snow in the North was heavier and thicker than Viserys had imagined. Even the King's Road was buried in the snow. It seemed that the troops from the South would not be able to adapt when marching to the North.

The severe cold in the north can freeze off people's fingers and ears. For the troops coming from the south, the anti-cold measures they prepared may not really be able to withstand the cold, so Viserys also attached great importance to winter clothing and purchased a large amount of wool from the Free Cities and domestic merchants to deal with this matter.

Heading north from Moat Cailin, the snow-covered Kingsroad was almost deserted, with only a few tightly wrapped carriages occasionally seen. They seemed to be merchants who chose to travel by land from Barrowton and White Harbor to Winterfell.

It was not until they approached Winterfell that Viserys saw a few non-military civilians shoveling snow on the snowy Kingsroad.

There were also small groups of civilians with their families, including people from the Winterfell area and mountain tribes, who rushed to the wintering town of Winterfell from the cross plains of the White Knife River in the east of Winterfell.

The war also had a great impact on the farmers and tenants of the lords. In the winter of a good year, the population of Winterfell could reach more than 15,000 people. But this winter, Aegon said in a letter that the population of Winterfell was only about 6,000 people. After Robb's conscription, the invasion of the Ironborn, and the rule of Bolton, the number of people in Winterfell was almost two-thirds less.

But compared to Hejian, where only one in ten people survived, the North is still relatively better.

Moreover, northerners feel more stable when the population is sparse in winter. In their minds, a small population means a greater chance of survival.

It is worth mentioning that even with the guarantee of food and material loans provided by Viserys, the people of the North spontaneously reorganized their own army in Winterfell in the form of the "Winter Wolf Army" after receiving Stark's call. All the older people joined the army, and the young people among the farmers and noble tenants who survived the war drew lots to join the Northern Army assembled by Stark.

Actually, there was no time to disperse the troops to deal with it.

The remnants of House Bolton are still defending the Dreadfort. Aegon, Arya, Sansa and the various lords who have borrowed troops have just gathered in Winterfell to rest, and the disagreements among the parties make it impossible to split up troops to deal with the Dreadfort in the east for the time being.

What is even more regrettable is that after the defeat of the Bolton family, the remaining members of the Karstark family chose to lock the castle, pretending to be ready for battle.

Who would have thought that the Karstarks, who were once from the same family as the Stark family, would eventually become the Stark's mortal enemy. The Karstarks inherited the stubborn nature of their ancestors. They did not think they had done anything wrong. On the one hand, they still held a grudge against Robb for killing Lord Rickard, and on the other hand, because they stood on the Bolton side, they were unwilling to believe in Arya and Sansa's forgiveness.

They claim to fight the White Walkers in their own way.

As a result, the Dreadfort and the city of Kahor in the east of the North have not yet been recaptured.

The situation in the North is very complicated now. Previously, all the troops were borrowed from the South. After arriving at Winterfell, they were ready to fight. But after a sudden heavy snowfall, even the Kings Road became a difficult road to march on, not to mention the original road to the east of the North covered by heavy snow. In the unfamiliar environment, going to the Dreadfort and the city of Carhor far away in the Grey Cliff in such bad weather. Only the army in the North still has the enthusiasm and courage to try.

Even Aegon, considering the interests of the Targaryens, suggested that the army rest in Winterfell while preparing to march north to the Wall. As for the Dreadfort and Carhor, they should be ignored for the time being, just like his uncle Viserys put King's Landing aside and directly assembled an advance team to march north to the Wall.

Aegon thought: they were in Winterfell, and if they were slower than his uncle's troops from the south in gathering troops to support the Wall, then they should really find a crack in the ground to crawl into and throw away all their honor, face and pride. Moreover, it was already winter, and the heavy snow would only come one after another. The Dreadfort and Carhor were actually no threat at all, and taking them would be of no benefit in fighting against the White Walkers - they could neither provide troops nor be used as logistical bases. Instead of wasting time, it would be better to gather troops and march to the Wall before the heavy snow completely blocked the road to the north to support the Wall in welcoming the real great war.

But not everyone in Winterfell is willing to go to the Wall now. For example, the Vale coalition, Greyjoy, and Arya's borrowed troops are certainly not unwilling to respond to the call, but they would rather clarify the distribution of vested interests in the North with Arya, Sansa, and Aegon before accepting the call of the Targaryen royal family.

It's very realistic.

Even Viserys couldn't say that there was anything wrong with some people in Winterfell wanting to get a piece of the pie first before responding to the king's call to the next battlefield. After all, the North was now conquered by the Starks, but the composition of the participating armies and the forces were complicated. How to divide the benefits and give compensation was a very complicated issue. Arya and Sansa, the two Starks, had to come up with an explanation.

As the coalition forces found Theon Greyjoy among the captives and learned from Theon that Bran and Rickon were not dead, and soon the Manderly family responded that Bran's whereabouts were unknown and Rickon was missing, the situation in the North became more complicated.

Lord Wyman of House Manderly had a secret talk with Arya, and no one knew what was discussed. Later, Arya had a private chat with Aegon. But up to now, the complicated personnel issues in Winterfell have only reached a consensus on forming a Northern army to march to the Wall, so they held talks while forming the army.

When Viserys passed by Winterfell, he saw the colorful and independent military camps below. He could already imagine the complexity of the forces represented by all parties in the castle. As a bystander, Viserys did not want to get involved. He could only mourn for Aegon and Stark. He just wanted the North to send troops to the Wall on time.

From a military perspective, Winterfell is in an excellent location.

The best thing is that it is built on a hot spring, which can ensure warmth in winter.

Secondly, the endless snow-capped mountains in the north naturally provide one less thing to consider in defense during a siege, while the wolf forest in the west can provide a large amount of timber for use.

This is a strong castle protected by two huge granite walls and a moat between them. The outer wall is 80 feet high and the inner wall is 100 feet high. If the defense force is sufficient, it is difficult to capture such a castle unless the enemy attacks from the air.

Aegon relied on a surprise attack to trick the city gates open. Otherwise, with only a thousand soldiers, Ramsay could have easily resisted the siege of Aegon, Manderly, Roose's surrendered soldiers, and Arya's 10,000 men in the north.

If we can hold out until this heavy snow, and then the next heavy snow, then I'm afraid we will have no choice but to negotiate with the Boltons or withdraw our troops.

To be honest, Theon's ability to capture Winterfell is really worth bragging about for the rest of his life, although that was due to the North's excellent matching mechanism. When he raided and climbed into the castle, there were only a dozen defenders in Winterfell. Rodrik Cassel, who was guarding the city at the time, was lured out by the troops sent by Theon to attack Torrhen's Square, leaving only a dozen defenders to guard Winterfell. The honesty of the people of the North is really admirable.

Viserys continued north, across the Long Lake and along the Kingsroad, glancing at Last Hearth, the northernmost noble castle of the Seven Kingdoms, bordering the New Lands on the Last River.

The Umber family is one of the most capable warrior families in the North. Greatjon Umber was once the most valiant general under Robb, but unfortunately most of the Umber family were killed or injured as Robb went south. Although the Greatjon was detained in the Twins and survived, he starved to death during his one-year imprisonment because the Freys were afraid that he would cause trouble. As for the two co-acting lords, Morse Umber and Hother Umber, they have responded to Arya's call and formed an army from the farmers and tenants gathered in the castle.

When Viserys passed by, he could see the new recruits in the castle and the hundreds of veterans who had chosen not to obey Roose Bolton's call for training.

In fact, in the North today, there are very few families like the Umber family who are loyal to the Starks and followed Robb south. They can now gather two or three hundred people. Apart from the lazy Dustin and Lacewell, the wealthy Manderly, only the Umber and Mormont families can still pull out a decent team.

I have to mention the Mormont family here. Although their Bear Island is cold and poor, they really don't have only 60 or 70 people like in the TV series. You know, Stannis relied on the Mormont family to attack Deepwood Motte in the original world line and to raid and burn Asha Greyjoy's ship at sea. The Mormonts still have some power.

As the sky was getting dark, a long snake-like wall suddenly appeared at the end of his vision. Viserys had seen the Great Wall.

Although Viserys deliberately slowed down his pace and took two days to reach the destination by road, he could still feel the urgency of the approaching night as he got closer to the north. The further north he went, the farther away the sun was, the shorter the days became, and the longer the nights became.

Now close to the Wall, Viserys arrived in the afternoon, in Oldtown, the sun was still hanging in the sky, warm and cozy, but here. The sun has already drawn a long circle of dim yellow halo on the distant southwest horizon, and is about to set.

Night fires have also been lit on various city walls of the Great Wall, like clusters of candlelight stretching across the snake-like Great Wall that is a hundred miles long.

When they flew over the Great Wall, it was already completely dark, and Viserys could only judge which places were guarded by the faint spots of light below.

Nightfall brought danger. Viserys had seen from high above that in some places faint flames could be seen exploding from time to time, and little sparks like embers were sprinkling on the snowy land north of the Great Wall.

This meant that fighting was going on in those places, and the Night Watch soldiers guarding the city were using fire to attack the wights lurking outside the city walls.

Viserys really wanted to take a closer look at the current state of the Wall and explore its secrets.

Being near the Great Wall, he could vaguely feel the complex and vigorous flow and surge of magic within the Wall. He really wanted to stay here for a night to see what the magic of the Great Wall was all about and why the Valyrian dragons dared not cross it.
But above the Wall, Viserys could see a huge black cloud looming somewhere in the sky further north of the Wall.

It goes without saying that this is Viserys' destination, the Weirwood Forest where the Three-Eyed Raven lives.

Just one look at it made Viserys feel the murderous intent.

Now that Viserys had arrived and seen what was happening, there was no reason for him to linger at the Wall.

And so, Viserys continued to move forward, from thousands of feet in the clouds, crossing the continental line drawn by the Wall of Despair.

And the moment he crossed the Great Wall, Viserys immediately felt the difference between inside and outside the Wall.

Crossing the line of the Great Wall is like crossing a mysterious protective shield.

The sky outside the Great Wall is freezing cold.

(End of this chapter)