Chapter 384
2021-01-06
Chapter 384One Sandor Clegane and one Brienne Tarth are missing, and everyone will be together - Igor is very happy The idea popped up reluctantly.
Named Qyburn (without an assistant), brought Beric and Thoros along with him, and joined Smith Tobho and his illegitimate child apprentice of the king, whom Igor almost forgot to exist, he went out as planned before King's Landing closed After arriving at King's Gate, we boarded the ship from the dock of the industrial park and started the northward voyage.
It was originally for the niter, but it turned out that the sailors were accompanied by the new entrants brought back, including people and equipment, tools and luggage, and the living people on board were heavier than the goods. The Blackbird was originally a small sailing ship. In order to make room for the eight new passengers on board, Igor had to spend a lot of time arranging the watch list and allocating accommodation, and throwing away most of the ballast before doing it. To the point where the boat is not overloaded, everyone has a bed, and barely sets sail before the sun goes down - in order not to neglect the Blackhaven count and the invited Forging Master, he even shares the Lord Commander's room with Beric and Tobho.
Fortunately, on the way back, he didn't have to bother to write down half of the Theory of the Demon-Reformed Monarch. Although the environment was crowded without any work being done, he could endure it for a while.
Splitting fleets of Stannis and Daenerys patrolling Blackwater Bay, the Blackbird readily released the Blackbird, who saw the sea before dark. The return journey to the north was not as easy as it came: due to the weather, the Blackbird stopped at anchor for two nights and did not sail at night... But compared with the average weather level of the narrow sea in winter, this is already as smooth as the blessing of The Seven, No one has anything to complain about. Finally, after another week of sailing, Igor, who had been away from Wall for half a month, finally completed this near-miss absence within the expected time limit and returned to Eastwatch's pier.
......
The port was empty and no other ships were seen. Fortunately, the workers and soldiers who went back and forth on the shore were still alive at first sight-this really made it difficult for more than ten days. Igor relaxed to get any news of the land grant. Immediately after disembarking, the eight guests brought back from King's Landing were still looking up at the ice wall, and Igor had already asked Cotter Pyke, the now obedient Eastwatch commander, who had appeared at the dock to greet his former campaign opponent, for Wall's latest update. condition.
"The Shadow Tower and the Gorge have been constantly appearing, and the Raven has been received daily for the past few days. It is roughly 'the dead man has appeared within the sight of the patrolmen on the south side of the canyon, and urgently needs support' But later, because the news was too frequent and Raven was not enough, I could not receive news from the west of Wall, and could only rely on the information exchanged between the patrolmen on the top of Wall. Any fortress is lost."
Igor's fortress is outdated, with limited communication methods and limited capacity, he can't expect to know the whole land grant situation at Eastwatch, as long as Wall has not been lost, he will not panic: "Okay. , to send someone to prepare the carriage and horses, and I will take the guests and some special goods back to Queenscrown immediately."
"As you bid." When Cotter Pyke was forced to swear allegiance after losing the Lord Commander Almost certain that the Night's Watch will be buried in Igor's hands, but now time has proved the conservatives' fears to be unfounded...Although still resentful, he has long since given up any senseless provocation of the authority of the Lord Commander. "Additionally, Lord Commander, Eastwatch also has a situation to report immediately - the weather in the Bay of Seals is so cold that it is freezing during the day, and you see: there is not a single ship in the harbor, because neither the Stormcrow nor the Talon, nor the The newly commissioned Old Bear and Maester Aemon donated by White Harbor are both performing ice-breaking missions around the clock. It is not difficult to destroy them when the ice is not thick, but it is difficult to stop the thin ice that breaks but does not melt It overlaps and forms thick ice. Even if this problem is solved, we will have to separate ships to intercept or try to get the ice cubes floating from other places... When the cargo of the Blackbird is finished unloading, I will soon It's also sent out. But it's already saturated, and if the temperature continues to drop, the freezing situation will soon be too bad for manpower to fight, and once the Bay of Seals freezes, the Others walking over the ice is easier than crossing the Gorge More!"
The subtext is just one sentence: Although the situation on Gorge's side is urgent, Eastwatch also needs support.
"Let the Blackbird join the de-icing first, and then support it for a while. If there are Essos or merchant ships from the south, the ships and personnel will be forcibly requisitioned in my name to assist in breaking the ice." Igor is nominee, no To reply directly, just give a little more time... When the batch of Dragonglass bombs is successfully put into production, he can't wait for Others to come and die, "As for the deployment of troops, I will reply to you as soon as possible after I understand the whole situation of Wall. ”
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Not enough boats, but plenty of people. The saltpeter unloading was completed very quickly, and the whole tank was loaded onto the carriage, which took up two cars. The rest of the horses would not be enough for the rangers to ride. Igor could only let the guests who came from afar. It took another "land-grant bus carriage" to achieve the goal of returning to Queenscrown in one trip.
The "land-grant capital" is still standing on the edge of Kingsroad, and it is even more lively than before... After the town area outside the core fortress was all completed last month, Igor let the permanent residents They moved out of the tent and into a hut that was simple but sheltered from the wind and rain. But now, as the fully loaded motorcade approaches Queenscrown along the almost snow-covered road, everyone can see: densely packed tents have been erected outside the high walls of Queenscrown, and there are many new grants wrapped in tattered furs Minmin haunted the tents, staring curiously at the convoy of three carriages approaching from afar.
"Queenscrown is bigger than I've heard." Beric Dondarrion was surprised, but then asked even more strangely, "But I thought there was no distinction between nobles and commoners for land grants, so why is it so big? The town will still not be able to accommodate all the residents, and they will be forced to set up tents under the city wall?"
"I didn't have these tents when I left, but the day I went to King's Landing, I decided to issue a medium-level warning in advance. Of course Igor understood where the crowd in front of him came from. "According to the plan: all the land-grant residents who were more than a day's journey away from the nearest fortress, all packed up and contracted to the pre-arranged fortress. Most of these people living outside the wall now are I came from around Queenscrown after the warning was issued, because the speed was slow and late, so it was too late to arrange accommodation, in order to avoid disturbing the order inside the wall... I can only temporarily live outside the city."
Blackhaven count nominee, rare He then asked with interest: "You said intermediate warning, so there must be high level and low level? If it's not classified, can you briefly tell me what conditions trigger these three levels of warning, and the corresponding plan? What?"
"Needless to say about the low-level, because there is already something strange in the beyond the wall Haunted Forest, the land grant has always been on low-level vigilance since I became the Lord Commander: adult males regularly undergo basic military training, important roads The snow is cleared at any time, the patrols on the ground and the top of the Wall are never interrupted, and every village where people are stationed must have soldiers on duty at night and so on... As the guard of the northernmost frontier, even in peaceful times, this is a minimum state of alert. As for the intermediate level—— When a large enemy force is detected in the area close to the Wall, the commander can announce the entry when he feels that the other party has an offensive intention, and all activities are contracted to the surrounding of the defendable fortress to maximize the patrol force." Igor looked carefully. The tent guests at the foot of the wall were casually introduced, "As for the high level, that's the last moment - when Others led the dead to officially launch an attack on the defense line, and beacon fires were lit everywhere. At that time, not only the temporary ones under the city wall. Residents, about 45,000 soldiers and civilians in the entire land grant and along the Wall, will withdraw all the remaining land into the Wall, Queenscrown and Bay of Ice..." Speaking of which, Igor also remembered that the existence of Ice Gorge Harbor is still unknown. It's a North military secret, stop now, "Nineteen plus one, twenty will be within the wall. Open the arsenal and distribute all kinds of Dragonglass and incendiary weapons to everyone who can fight, stop all production activities, or wait The good news that the army will keep the enemy out of the gate' disarms the guard, or usher in the final decisive battle. "
"This is the real preparation, admiration." "Blackhaven count sincerely admired, realizing that the rumors that Night's Watch battle strength has changed Heaven and Earth turning upside down under the leadership of the new commander are not exaggerated at all. He is also considered to have led soldiers, how does he feel about fighting a war?" There are some vague concepts in the matter: this high, medium and low level 3 state, coupled with the corresponding specific policies and measures, even if the equipment level is not considered, the light can implement this plan in place, even if all the sticks are held, it is a battle strength An amazing army.
Fortunately, there are few land givers, otherwise, under the leadership of such a Lord Commander, there will be no problem in rebelling and robbing Iron Throne.
……
p> With the creaking sound of the wheels turning, the convoy entered the outer city wall gate of Queenscrown and passed through the neatly planned streets. Igor soon discovered that there seemed to be more people in the town than expected. Many, much more than the number of people who should take refuge here under the medium-level warning state... The situation seems to be a little different from what I imagined?
With their own thoughts, the entire group finally arrived in the inner castle. Before they walked out of the door, Igor first I heard the sound from the school ground not far away... It was clearly the crisp squeak of Arya's tone.
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(end of this chapter)