Eagle of the Valley of Ice and Fire

Chapter 71 Twin River City (4)

"And," Old Walder showed two rows of slightly yellowed teeth and looked at Jon Grafson with a smile, "Master Robert had better be sent to the Twins to be the adopted son of my eldest son, so that the two families will be forever married. The good news is that if the valley is unfavorable for supplying in Riverrun City, Twin River City can protect the supply route."

"In exchange," Old Walder smiled, "I have many heirs. Duke Attis can bring any of them to the Eagle's Nest that he likes. It doesn't matter if there are more people. Hahahaha."

Steveron Frey raised his glass slightly to pay tribute to Jon Grafson, and Aenys glanced over slightly without saying anything.

Just when Jon Grafson was about to respond, Old Walder immediately added, "Of course, if Duke Attis has any concerns, we can talk about it again. What's more, the Iron Throne will not be lenient this time. The wars in the city and the riverlands all started because of the bitches and idiots of the Tully family. If they are weakened by punishment, then what he leaves behind..."

"Of course there will be no shortage of lords of the Riverlands who vindicate the laws of the Iron Throne." Jon Grafson responded.

Steveron stretched out his arms in front of him, "The Frey family is prosperous, and the young master of the Arryn family will spend a wonderful childhood here. When the time comes, he will choose a good match, and it will be entirely up to him."

Jon Grafson took a sip of wine, the red wine moistening his dry lips.Ding Nanyan, a member of the Ailin family, is a tacit knowledge among the valley princes, but most of the valley nobles will only regard it as a symbol of aloofness, and Ailin also takes this as a stance. After all, a flock of eagles is no different from a hungry vulture. Only then can the lonely eagle stand on the top of the mountains, overlook the mountains and ravines, and look down on the cowering cowards.

"This proposal..." Jon Grafson put down his glass, "I don't think I can make the decision myself. This has to be reported... to Duke Attis."

Old Walder nodded, knowing that the envoy might not have expected that the Frey family would propose this condition.

"Forgive me for resigning early. I want to explain the conditions of the Marquis to Duke Attis." Jon Grafson stood up and gave Old Walder a slight salute.

"Okay," Old Walder agreed directly without any nonsense to persuade him to stay, "Black Walder, send this Sir Jon off."

The short, strong man with black beard stood up and looked at Grafson with a smile, "Let's go, knight."

Jon Grafson walked out of the main hall, looked up at the cold sky surrounded by the fortress, and sighed slightly in his heart. Based on his understanding of the nobles of the valley, this matter would not be agreed to by Count Jon Royce in the first place. , the reason why a woman from a branch of the Royce family married Frey was entirely because of Old Walder's coaxing and deception. In the end, Mrs. Royce lost her virginity and had to marry.

Bronze Yohn is very worried about this, and I am afraid he will not give up easily. This proposal will not be passed by Earl Yohn at all.

Difficult!

Jon Grafson thought that the 500 soldiers sent by the Grafson family were to follow him as the vanguard of the expedition to the valley. If Duke Attis decided to attack the twin river city with its own dangerous structure, what would happen? It is still unclear how many of the [-] people will be able to return to Haiou Zhenhai with him.

The oak-iron city gate opened wide. Jon Grafson and the four accompanying knights mounted their horses and left the Twins City. The suspension bridge behind them was slowly lifted. The Twins City, surrounded by the Green Fork River, wanted to It is even more difficult to attack by force.

The cold wind blew against Grafson's cheek, the chill was biting and his face hurt, but his eyes were full of helplessness and confusion.

……

"Lord Jon has set up camp outside the Twins. Ser Jon Grafson represents the Valley Front Army and enters the city to negotiate with the Freys." Robert said to Attis.

Attis nodded slightly. He had arranged this with Count Yohn before, but he didn't know how effective it would be.

"Old Ward's weasel," Lynn Corbray smiled disdainfully, "is sure to make a lion's mouth open."

Robert pondered for a moment and said to Attis: "Duke, the Tully family has obviously responded. There are nearly 500 people on Ruby Beach. Although the cavalry led by Anda is more flexible and has more people, this battle is also very difficult. , as long as the tactics on the other side are sound, Anda and Harold will have very few chances."

"Furthermore," Robert said, "if we can't cross the Green Fork River quickly, it will be difficult to expand our victory. Time does not allow us to delay for too long."

Attis thought of Lady He'an at this time. Although he had made an oath with Lady He'an in advance that when the war reached Harrenhal, she would take the initiative to open the city and donate it, but that plan was originally intended to cut off the western border. The route to King's Landing, not the one designed for Riverrun.

I'm afraid Lady He'an herself didn't expect that the two sides of the war would be the Vale and the River. Attis was not sure whether she would abide by her oath and let the Vale army enter Harrenhal by then.

In fact, it is not difficult to attack Harrenhal with the current situation of the He'an family. The three to four hundred Riverland soldiers gathered in Salt Field Town are nominally under the control of the He'an family and the Darry family, but I am afraid that most of them were recruited by the Darry family.Since the main operators of the entire Green Fork River are actually Twin River City and Saltworks Town, Harrenhal has long lost its dominance as the overlord of the three rivers.

With the He An family's deployment in Harrenhal, I'm afraid it's a problem how many people can stand on one wall.

Twin River City has always only charged bridge tolls. It has a strong military but is not good at managing its fiefdoms. The lords of Salt Farm Town are too conservative. It clearly has the opportunity to become one of the most important port cities in the Seven Kingdoms, but it has not succeeded in business and has no military strength.

In addition, since Lysa Tully married into the Arryn family, the Tully family has reduced its deployment on the east bank of the Green Fork River and focused its main attention on the west.The wealthy knights, large and small, are each their own. Twin River City only radiates around the Long Bridge, and Salt Farm Town is mainly dedicated to maintaining port business, ignoring the King's Road and even the Green Fork River.

Therefore, even though most lords of the Green Fork River are loyal to Frey, most of their families are actually much more glorious than Frey in history. Therefore, when Frey recruits vassals, few wealthy knights far from Frey's core area respond. Frey obviously knew this. Most of the four thousand defenders he gathered in a hurry were mercenaries active in the Riverlands.

As for the mercenaries of the Seven Kingdoms, most of them have accepted the golden dragon of Casterly Rock and the olive branch of Lannister. It is rare for a mercenary not to be tempted.I don’t know what choice the mercenaries will make between Lannister and Frey.Attis heaved a sigh of relief. It was an important decision to send the former army to the Blood Gate in advance. The distance from the Blood Gate to the Twin River City was not very close, but the information did not seem to be communicated with each other. The Twin River City did not deploy far in advance, and the castle Although there are many people inside, there are very few knights who swear allegiance to the Twins City, but many mercenaries who swear allegiance to the Golden Dragon.

The former army controlled a large number of lords along the way. They seemed unwilling to get involved in the war in the Riverlands. After all, Riverrun City was against the law, and banditry was causing an uproar on the Trident River. The knights along the way were less likely to respond. The lord's call was that whether it was Riverrun or the Twins, they preferred to stay in their own castles and were unwilling to venture out of the castles.

So the people of the valley ignored these ancient nobles of the riverlands and chose to go straight to the Twins.

"Old Walder's children and grandchildren could form an army," said Lynn Corbray.

Attis was not willing to attack the Twin River City by force. This kind of twin-fort structure across the Green Fork River was really difficult to conquer. The forts on both sides could support each other, and supplies were obviously easier to supply than the valley army.

"I hope the negotiations can produce results," Robert put his hope on passive negotiations, "We can't afford to delay it for a moment."

"A good commander is always prepared." Lynn Corbray frowned. He didn't like Robert's attitude of obeying the gods.

Artis glanced at Linn. Although this Corbray family member had a hot temper and had already punished several soldiers for various reasons during the march, he seemed to be unscrupulous in his view of the matter. He was more insidious and sinister than Robert. cunning.

He was indeed prepared. After learning the composition of the Frey family's army, he sent a letter to Casterly Rock City.If we consider that the siege battle has begun and the logistics will be difficult to support, the many free riders that Attis left behind the army can take the opportunity to control the barns and fields of the Green Fork River, plunder the castles along the side, and rob the soldiers of the extremely small army. The weapons are in your own hands.

……

Kevan was sitting at the desk, with the letter Attis sent to Casterly Rock in his hand. Tywin was standing by the window. The window was wide open, letting the breeze flow into the room. Kevan only felt that the whole room was particularly cold.

"Attis Arryn needs the golden dragon of Casterly Rock?" Kevan said uncertainly.

Tywin made a sound that Kevan almost mistook for laughter.

"A flexible hawk," said Tywin.

Kevan said uncertainly: "Before, he and Stark controlled King's Landing, opposed Cersei, and expelled most of our deployments in the Red Keep. Now he comes to talk about cooperation?"

"Yes," Tywin said.

"Twins City hired Locke's mercenaries, mercenaries who served the Magic Mountain, and mercenary knights who came from nowhere to live in Twins City." Kevan said to himself.

He looked up at Tywin and asked tentatively: "Do you need my advice, brother?"

"That's why I came to you," Tywin said, expressionless.

"I heard from the letter that the Valley Army wants to negotiate with the Freys for the price of crossing the bridge. If the negotiation is successful, they can quickly cross the bridge and attack Riverrun, and fight the main force of the Tully family entrenched in Riverrun." Kevan paused slightly.

He continued: "This is in line with our original vision, but Edmure Tully's deployment at Ruby Ford was surprising, but it was surprisingly effective. All the troops north of the Green Fork River that the Tully family could call upon were gathered here. , the army in the valley is unable to move forward."

Tywin didn't seem to want to admit this, he nodded, "That's right..."

"Our original intention is to consume the military strength of the Tully family and the Arryn family. It is best to kill a few lords to make enemies. If things like King Cersei's...ahem!" Kevan coughed twice and continued: "The Frey family The Twins are far away from the site of the conflict. Wasting the Vale's troops there does not fit our vision."

Tywin nodded, his eyes signaling Kevan to continue.

"Promise him. If they come to the best deal and the Vale Cavalry goes straight to Riverrun, the Tully family will suffer heavy losses. Even if Aylin spares his remaining strength, we can take advantage of this opportunity to kill the disciples under the Golden Tooth. Tully Vanguard, then fight towards Riverrun to consume Tully's troops and prestige to the greatest extent. Then, together with Aelin," Kevan narrowed his eyes slightly and thought for a moment, "then work with Aelin to raise the Frey family's status, the grassroots aristocrats who have risen over the millennium must be grateful to us for this."

"If the negotiation fails..." Kevan rubbed his eyes, "Our mercenaries may not be able to help the valley, but even so, I guess it won't be enough to take down the Twins. Old Walder will definitely use the mercenaries They are all sent to the castles on the east coast. It is impossible to let mercenaries garrison the West Castle without handing over their wealth and lives to the mercenaries. It would not be a bad thing to let the valley bleed in the Twins City, although it may be used on Tully. Running out."

Tywin straightened his body and turned around. He looked at Kevan, his eyes firm and calm.From years of experience together, Kevan knew his brother had made his decision.

"Cersei must move quickly, and Arryn must cross the river quickly. Even if Robert intervenes in the war in the Riverlands in time, starts the war in the Vale first, and then participates in the West on a large scale, Robert can't say anything." Wen said.

Kevan said nothing, he knew what Tywin was referring to by Cersei's actions.

"Tell Locke to cooperate with the valley and act according to the opportunity." Tywin ordered.

(End of this chapter)