lerbook #274 - Chapter 8: The Queen's Road
#274 - Chapter 8: The Queen's Road
However, there was an even greater challenge looming ahead, namely the most troublesome and deeply rooted problem in the North. To this end, after careful consideration, Robb decided to join forces with the eastern lords to impose a comprehensive blockade on the Bolton family, strictly prohibiting any external supplies from flowing into the Dreadfort.
Just last summer, after careful planning, Robb swiftly assembled five thousand elite troops and launched a premeditated probing attack on the Dreadfort. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and the attack failed to achieve the desired results. Firstly, the Dreadfort was situated in a strategically important and impregnable location; secondly, the enemy commander, Roose Bolton, was a seasoned veteran, whose defenses were watertight, leaving no opportunity for his opponents.
After this battle, Robb realized that he did not have the strength to conquer the Dreadfort with his current strength. Helpless, he had to besiege the city for more than two months, and wantonly destroy the farmland outside the city, before withdrawing his troops in disappointment.
Roose Bolton was an excellent military man, but unfortunately, he lacked the strength and could only watch helplessly. Now there are thousands more people from the Frey family, and just feeding them is enough to give Roose Bolton a headache.
After Robb withdrew his troops, Roose Bolton had Ramsay build a fortress called 'Moat Cailin' at the mouth of the Fever River, and settled the Frey family there. Coincidentally, these Frey family members had been living by the river and were all skilled fishermen. With this skill, they temporarily alleviated the food shortage. However, they still need to work hard to feed everyone.
After all, the North is so large and sparsely populated, the Bolton and Stark families are seizing the time to restore their strength. Without external intervention, the two sides would probably have to fight for a long time to determine the winner.
Liu Yuan sat at his desk, gently supporting his chin with his left hand, while his right hand quickly flipped through the thick stack of documents on the desk. When his eyes fell on the report on Robb's actions in the North, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise slightly.
"Hmm... it seems that this kid has gradually adapted to the role of lord," Liu Yuan thought to himself, a hint of relief in his eyes. He had always placed high hopes on Robb, and now he was naturally very happy to see him grow.
Then, Liu Yuan lowered his head and continued to read the documents in his hand carefully. The documents mentioned some of the latest developments beyond the Wall: Mance Rayder's main force of wildlings was currently lingering in the Haunted Forest, seemingly waiting for other tribal members to arrive from the west. At the same time, they also settled the old, weak, women and children in Hardhome, and according to the scouts' reconnaissance results, the population there had exceeded one hundred thousand!
Even more surprising, the army of White Walkers did not invade south on a large scale as expected. On the contrary, countless wights were gathering in Thenn, tirelessly digging for something. Liu Yuan frowned slightly, his heart full of doubts - what exactly were these White Walkers looking for? Did they have some ulterior motive?
According to the report, Daenerys' actions in Slaver's Bay stemmed from her deep compassion for the fate of slaves. Sure enough, Daenerys launched a massive slave liberation campaign. The difference is that Daenerys is now much stronger than in the original book, and the impact will inevitably be more far-reaching.
After successfully capturing Astapor, Daenerys did not stop there, but instead launched an in-depth looting of the city. Immediately afterwards, she carefully prepared and assembled an unprecedentedly large army - including more than five hundred warships and thirty thousand elite soldiers. This majestic army, like a steel torrent, steadily advanced towards Yunkai, the second largest city in Slaver's Bay.
Faced with the overwhelming and unstoppable Daenerys army, the large mercenary group 'Second Sons', which was originally responsible for guarding Yunkai, was terrified and unhesitatingly violated the previously signed alliance, and fled in embarrassment under the cover of night. In an instant, the huge city of Yunkai fell into chaos, and the number of defenders in the city was drastically reduced to only about ten thousand. Under the coordinated attack of Daenerys' land and sea forces, Yunkai quickly fell, and as many as hundreds of thousands of slaves in the city regained their freedom.
Subsequently, Daenerys' army took advantage of the victory and continued to sweep through the city's wealth on a large scale. For the massive amount of materials that could not be taken away, Daenerys generously distributed them to the newly liberated slaves. These people who had suffered so much, finally ushered in a glimmer of hope.
When she left Yunkai, she was followed by a mighty fleet, which added a full one hundred warships, and the number of troops she led had soared to fifty thousand. Such a large military scale, even in the entire Essos continent, can be regarded as a powerful force that cannot be ignored.
The composition of Daenerys' army is complex and diverse, but the core is still the Unsullied, as well as a considerable number of war slaves strictly trained in Astapor. The rest is almost entirely composed of free people who were once slaves and have now been liberated. These people have a fanatical belief in Daenerys and regard her as the savior who saved their fate. Currently, Ser Barristan Selmy is tasked with an important mission - to transform this group of people into truly qualified warriors. Fortunately, there are many experienced Unsullied and battle-hardened war slave warriors in the army who can serve as instructors and teach these recruits how to skillfully use various weapons and combat skills.
However, due to limited resources, the equipment conditions of this new army appear to be relatively simple. The most significant feature is that each soldier wears a hideous beast mask, so this special force is named 'Beast Face Army'.
With the help of the slaves, Daenerys easily captured the city - Meereen, the largest city in the Ghiscari region! She used this place as a base to solemnly announce the establishment of her own kingdom and proclaimed herself 'Dragon Queen'.
At the same time, the merchants under the legion had also completed their tasks as scheduled: the military supplies they delivered were enough to equip fifteen thousand soldiers! Not only that, these merchants also brought back a letter from Daenerys, which was already the third letter sent to Liu Yuan. According to the information returned by his subordinates, the situation in Meereen is still unstable. Many of the original wealthy classes believe that the Dragon Queen has violated their vital interests. After all, slaves are also regarded as a valuable property!
These people seem to have forgotten the deep hatred between them and the slave owners, and instead blamed all the crimes on Daenerys, and firmly believed that she was the source of all disasters. So, they secretly gathered and formed an organization called 'Sons of the Harpy', and began to plan a series of assassinations and sabotage in the city, trying to overthrow the rule of the Dragon Queen.
However, to their surprise, the number of troops Daenerys brought this time was unusually large. Coupled with the sailors in the fleet, the total force was close to seventy thousand. Faced with such a powerful military force, it was easy to control a city with a population of less than four hundred thousand. Therefore, those rebels had to temporarily cease their activities and move them underground.
Seeing everything that was happening in front of him, Liu Yuan couldn't help but show a gratified smile. He knew that Daenerys had now become more mature and stable, no longer as naive, kind, and soft-hearted as in the original book. Now, she knows how to weigh the pros and cons and knows when to act decisively.