The king on the Great Wall

Page 184

Robb rejoiced in his heart, but then he became even more disturbed: the stable is indeed made of wood, but it shouldn't be burning so fast. What's going on here?

He noticed the abnormality, turned around and added serious orders: "Go to the guest room to wake up Earl Seven, and order him to send 100 people to all intersections in the city to maintain order and stop the rioters, and then bring 200 people to maintain order and help put out the fire. And so on , Wake up all the remaining soldiers, and order them to be well-equipped, and go to the four gates in four ways to support each other, in case there is another accident!"

"Including the shift that was replaced from duty in the first half of the night?"

"Including the shift on duty in the first half of the night."

Another messenger went to the direction of the arsenal to deliver a message. Following his city lord's clear orders, the commotion of the night sentinels was suppressed, and the soldiers in the barracks in the center of the city also began to go to various places in the city according to the order: firefighting Those who arrived at the school grounds first, those who maintained order also began to intercept and collect the rioters running around, and the rest quickly armed themselves and rushed to the four major city gates

Now, whether it is the rioters inside the city or the rebels outside the city, there is no chance to take advantage of the fire to threaten Winterfell, right? Thinking of this, Robb heaved a sigh of relief.

But the explosion sounded at the very second when he felt at ease.

Chapter 517

Myrcella trotted back to the bedroom, tense and trembling, full of tension and fear.

She has never been in such close contact with wildfire, let alone using it with her own hands. Although she had already marked the liquid in the vial with the "dangerous goods" label in her mind after being reminded by Iger, she did not know about its flammability and power. She was mentally prepared, but when she unscrewed it and poured it on the structural column of the outer wall of the stable and lit it with a match, she was still taken aback.

The dark green liquid became viscous due to the cold, and it hung vertically in long strips due to gravity on the cold wooden pillars nailed deep into the frozen soil. When the match approached, it was blown from above by the rapidly spreading flames. Ignite all under - the improved wildfire can no longer be ignited by body temperature, and also loses its explosive properties, but its performance as a combustible is still excellent, with the sudden green flame and the ensuing scorching heat The girl who was caught off guard was forced to take half a step back and sat down on the ground, the hair on her forehead was brushed off halfway, and the back of the hand holding the match was scalded and painful.

The injury from landing on her buttocks was blocked by thick clothes, and the pain from the slight burns on her hands and face dissipated quickly, but compared with the physical shock, the inner throbbing was truly unsettling for a long time-it took her a long time After much deliberation, I finally chose the stables, a building far away from the city center and inhabited. But after I lit the fire and ran to the side to observe for a while, I found that no matter the speed of the flames or the direction of the development of the situation, there was no real difference. As expected, this small fire, which was not supposed to hurt anyone, unexpectedly turned into a big turmoil under the action of a series of unpredictable effects.

Our little princess, after being indiscriminately stuffed with a box of matches and a bottle of wildfire by Iger during the day, concealed these two things in her clothes and made up a credible lie to get away and return to Winterfell. However, after countless inner struggles, he finally decided to act according to what the night watchman said.

Iger couldn’t find any loopholes in Iger’s statement about “Roose Bolton’s rebellion”, but the lack of evidence was too big to ignore. However, due to unclear reasons, Myrcella was caught by the seriousness and sincerity of the other party. ...and infected by the powerful self-confidence that is half hidden under these appearances, I can't help but want to believe him.

Not only do you believe that he is not lying, but you also believe that he... is sure to win Winterfell.

Myrcella didn't know that it wasn't "sincerity" or "confidence" that affected her senses and judgment, but the invisible but real power of the real dragon. In short, intuition and reason finally came together after a struggle. Consensus: Put aside the question of which side Earl Bolton is on for now. Since this battle will happen sooner or later, and Winterfell is destined to fall, it is better to provide him with internal echoes as Iger said, rather than watching the situation change with a cold eye. , let him seize the city more smoothly!

According to her experience of reading a lot of historical books: the easier it is for the besiegers to win, the fewer casualties, the less anger and killing intent, and the more likely malicious revenge and massacres will be after the castle is captured Little... and with the past relationship between Iger and the Stark family, after he successfully achieved his goal, he would definitely restrain his subordinates so as not to do anything excessive to the latter.

……

That's right, when Myrcella made up her mind to set this fire, her starting point was to reduce the casualties of the residents in the city and members of the Stark family.But now, he discovered that the attack by the army outside the city hadn't started yet, but the fire he set had already started causing innocent casualties!

How does this make her calm down?

In this panic, she still ran back to the main castle according to the original plan, but unexpectedly ran into the city lord and protector Robb Stark head-on. At that moment, Myrcella was so guilty that she could hardly stand still. Bai didn't take a second look and let her go back to the room, and she resisted the urge to tell everything.

Desperately pushing open the bedroom door and entering, Myrcella found Arya standing by the bed and getting dressed.

"what are you doing?"

"There's a fire outside, I'll go check it out."

"Ah?" Myrcella immediately returned to reality from the fugue state, "No way, your brother ordered someone to seal the door of the main castle, and no one is allowed to enter or leave!"

"Oh, he's so annoying." Arya didn't doubt, but her hands kept moving, she put on the outermost coat neatly, and stepped into her boots: "It's okay, I asked them to open the door for me .”

"No, it's messy outside now, you can't go out."

Myrcella stood by the door, her eyes widened: The big mistake I caused by getting angry has already been made, but Iger's attack on the castle is just about to start. The consequences that have been caused are irreversible, but at least I can save Put a Stark in danger.

"Why? Get out of the way." Arya looked at Myrcella in confusion, wondering how she dared to control herself uncharacteristically.

"You can't go out!" Myrcella repeated resolutely, straightened her waist and chest, and tried to make herself appear taller.

"Get out of the way!" Arya put her hands on her hips and stared angrily. Seeing that she had no intention of backing down, she started to push her away and force her way out.

Second Miss is already a year older than "Third Miss", and likes to wield knives and swords on weekdays, and her strength is much stronger than the latter, but the relationship between the two is good on weekdays, and what has arisen at this moment is not a principled conflict , during the contest, Arya naturally wouldn't use all her strength... On the contrary, Myrcella was really trying her best to prevent Arya from going out, and the two fell to the bedroom door and huddled together evenly , I couldn't tell whether it was a fight or a joke for a while, you pushed and shoved, the outcome was not decided, but the third lady who was still lying on the bed was also annoyed.

Sansa threw down the pillow that was covering her ears and sat up, furiously: "Arya! It's midnight, can you please stop making trouble!"

As if dubbing the anger of the eldest lady, two thunderous bangs came from outside the window, one after the other, and the whole main castle trembled slightly due to the power.

Now the three girls stopped, they looked at each other, they all tacitly stopped the noise and squeezed to the window, opened the wooden board and looked out.

The inner wall of Winterfell is higher than the outer wall, and the room where the three young ladies are crowded together is not on the top floor of the main castle, so the height is not enough. Naturally, neither the blasted outer door nor the two facing doors can be seen. Long queues of torches swam from the east and north gates of Winter City, but this did not affect them overlooking the brightly lit and busy garrison camp not far away and the sentries running around holding oil lamps on the inner wall.After being awakened and armed, a large number of defenders set off from the center of the city holding torches and rushed in all directions along the streets and lanes of the city. Even the alarm bell was sounded in the next minute. In the tense rhythm of Dangdang, the stables on the school field Under the light of the flames, the smoke and dust rising from the direction of the two city gates that were blasted first was very obvious on the background of the night, and the entire Winterfell city was soaked in a depressing atmosphere of the approaching doomsday. .

"By God, it's the rebels... who have launched an attack!" Sansa covered her mouth in fear, tears welling in her eyes.

"Don't be afraid, Robb will definitely beat them back. Look, didn't someone rush over there to support?" Myrcella comforted softly, but her mind was completely different: The timing of the ground army's attack was a perfect match with the fire they set off, but what kind of weapon did they make such a loud noise?The innocent casualties caused by my lack of thoughtfulness in choosing the location of the fire are irreparable, but if Iger didn't lie to others, and I really seized the only chance to protect the Stark family, that would be a great comfort... ...Otherwise, I'm afraid that even if I jump into the rolling Trident River, I won't be able to wash away my sins!

Lie on the window in a daze for a long time, but didn't hear any comments from the third person. The pressure on her shoulders lightened, and Arya actually left the window.Myrcella turned her head to look, only to find that she got under the bed without saying a word, rummaged for something with her buttocks pouted, and backed out in half a minute, holding a long strip in her hand.

"This is?"

"Needle!" Arya pulled out her little sword with a bang, and said with red eyes choked with sobs, "He... he dares to really attack Winterfell, look at me... don't stab him to death! "

-

Chapter 518

"Arya!" Of course Myrcella would not be stupid enough to ask who this "he" was, but ran over without hesitation for half a second, "Don't do anything stupid!"

I'm not as strong as her, so I'm not ashamed to admit it, but the height and weight of the two are about the same, as long as I rush over and put my arms around Arya's waist and don't let go, I can definitely stop this murderous little assassin in front of me!

Myrcella was thinking like this, but she didn't expect it at all: this time the second young lady didn't want to entangle her any more, but held the little sword tightly, and pushed herself back with her free hand, letting her Taking a few steps back again and again, she leaned against the edge of the bed to stand firm.

The three girls in the room were all stunned: Arya felt sorry for pushing herself too hard, Sansa was frightened by the guy in her sister's hand and the furious look of choosing someone to devour... As for Mi Sira, for no apparent reason, thought of the day when her fate changed.In the confrontation between my mother and the two "fathers" in the Queen's room in the Red Castle that day, didn't I try my best to mediate and try to ease the situation and prevent the situation from deteriorating, but in the end I did not achieve any results ?

Could it be that the same history will repeat itself tonight, the Stark family and Iger, the two she loves and is close to, are destined to be separated?

"I'm sorry..." Good upbringing made Arya apologize subconsciously, but she just opened her mouth. The guilt was immediately overwhelmed by the fire above. She took a deep breath and rushed out of the room without looking back.

Myrcella struggled out of the bad memories, full of annoyance and confusion, but suddenly made up her mind: Today, at any cost, I must prevent the same mistakes from happening again!

"Sansa, stop standing there and chase her with me!"

Sansa, who was originally the oldest elder sister, became the least assertive person in this turmoil. She came back to her senses after hearing the words, and saw Myrcella's firm and decisive appearance. She nodded and hurriedly put on her clothes. Putting on a coat, he ran out of the house.

They thought they might not be able to catch up, but after they ran down the stairs quickly, they were relieved by the scene in front of them: Harris Moran, the captain of the guard who was ordered to stay in the main castle, led several guards faithfully Carrying out the master's order, the second young lady, who was furious like a fried wolf, stopped at the door.

"The rebels are attacking the city outside, you are a big man, just hiding behind the gate of the main castle like a turtle?!"

The captain of the guards was not at all offended by his own lady, he looked down at Arya expressionlessly, and did not take a step away from the gate: "If Lord Robb orders me to be a coward, then I will firmly Hide yourself in a shell until the end of the world."

"You, you, you..." Facing the shameless answer, Arya took a long time to come up with a response, "A girl has no courage like me! Just stay in this shell, and I will go out to deal with the enemy! "

Relying on her strength, Arya squeezed towards the gate without thinking, and actually made the captain of the guard take a step back.

However, the progress of the second lady's attempt to break out has come to an end: she is strong, only compared with girls of the same age, in front of a healthy and strong adult man...

Harris Moran did take a step back, but instead of losing his balance, he leaned his back against the latch, still firmly blocking the exit, and this time he really didn't move at all: "Miss, you have two choices now: Either, go back to the room by yourself...or be carried back by me."

Arya felt that she was going to explode, she stopped talking nonsense, but took a step back and raised the sewing needle, and made an elegant but fierce stabbing gesture: "Don't get out of the way, don't blame me polite!"

"Arya, what are you doing!" A mid-spirited female voice came from the direction of the second floor behind, and two Mrs. Stark, one old and one young, were walking down the stairs hand in hand, and it was the former who spoke—she mother, Catelyn Stark.

"Mother! I..." Arya turned her head away, and was about to speak up, but suddenly her wrist hurt when she was distracted, and the small sword in her hand was snatched away by the captain of the guard.

"Miss, I would like to give you two more pieces of advice: [-]. Don't draw your sword at will if you don't have the determination and courage to strike; [-]. Don't be distracted when pointing your weapon at others."

"Give me back the sword!" Arya didn't want to listen to him, she was so angry that she ignored the roaring mother behind her, and rushed forward to snatch the needle back.

The captain of the guard held up the small sword he had seized in the air, and the two Madam Starks walked down the stairs angrily, and at the moment when there was a commotion in the hall of the main castle, the roar of the second explosion came .

This time, the inner gate directly leading to the castle was blasted. Due to the decrease in the synchronization rate between the two blasting teams and the addition of two suspension bridges to the target, this round of "Thunder" sounded irregularly and intermittently and irregularly. It took five or six times before it was finally over.However, despite the different paces, due to the absence of high walls and the closer distance, the volume and vibrations are much stronger than before. The tremors seem to come from the depths of the ground, thick and violent, stepping on the floor The soles of the feet on the floor seemed to be aware of it, the walls of the main castle were buzzing, and a few wisps of dust that might have been quietly on the roof for hundreds of years and witnessed the changes of the Stark family for several generations were shaken off.

There was a moment of silence in the room, but it was enough for Myrcella to run to Arya's side and wrap her arms around her waist.

"Admit your mistake!" she whispered in Arya's ear.

"what?"

"You stupid, go out now, it's pitch black outside, do you know where to kill Iger?"

In the process of following the latter and running down the stairs, Myrcella thought about it quickly, and then realized: If you want to persuade and protect Arya, it is absolutely impossible to forcefully stop her, and you have to follow her brain circuit Only by thinking and speaking can there be hope for success.

Seeing that Arya was stunned for half a second, the little princess hurriedly continued to explain: "There are two possibilities: one is that the bastard can't break into Winterfell at all, and your attempt to kill him is completely fantasy; the other is that he They did call in—but you have to understand that we are all in the main castle, and the strategic value of all other places in Winterfell is not half as large as here. That is to say, you may not be able to find people when you go out, but Watch here, but you will definitely be able to wait for him!"

After briefly turning Myrcella's words in her mind, Arya suddenly realized that what she said made sense.

"But he stole my sword!"

"So confess your mistake to your mother, and tell her that you only use 'needle' to defend yourself, and don't mess around again, so that you have a chance to get it back!"

While speaking, the mother and sister-in-law had already approached, and the second young lady had no time to think about it, so she could only quickly turn around and repeat what Myrcella taught her.

"Hmph, there are thousands of big men in this city, it's your turn to defend yourself?" Mrs. Caitlin obviously scoffed at this statement, but she was satisfied with her daughter's attitude anyway. She stared at Arya seriously for a while, and turned to Harris Moran nodded: "Give it back to her. Keep the gate. Unless Robb comes back, no one is allowed to enter and no one is allowed to go out."

The captain of the guard raised his chest and raised his head: "Madam, don't worry, anyone who wants to enter or exit through this door without permission will have to step over my dead body!"

……

It was another assassination plan that was extremely determined but ended without a problem. A few minutes after the assassination failed at the first step of going out, Arya followed the two little sisters back to the room in despair, full of annoyance.The only thing that made her happy was: according to Myrcella's persuasion, she managed to bring the sword back.

"What's the matter with that thunder-like sound just now?" The younger sister held a real sword in her hand, and Sansa immediately didn't have the confidence to complain that she was nervous. She opened the door and entered the room, and hurried to the window. Looking out from the window hole, he let out an exclamation.

The room shared by the three of them has a window facing the northeast, and the city gates in the two directions to the northeast that can be seen through it have been opened. The two glowing long snakes that they could not see through the city wall before, now Impressively, he has already drilled into the city through the gap.A part of their "body" is fighting fiercely with the sentinels on duty at night, but their "heads" seem to be familiar with the road, and they are heading towards the center of the castle with a clear goal, and they are about to meet the other two torch dragons from the defenders' camp head-on!

The land-grant army broke through the inner and outer gates of Winterfell and broke in in a short while?Myrcella, who also saw this scene, was shocked, but this idea immediately popped up in her mind: If Iger has such a means, then why do you want to set the fire yourself?

Before she had time to think about this question, she suddenly came back to her senses, and quickly hugged the other who seemed about to explode again: "Don't be impulsive! Iger probably didn't enter the city with the rebels at all, and he might be outside the city at this moment He is commanding the troops by remote control in his lair. You can wait here with peace of mind, and he will definitely come to your door when dawn comes!"

-

Chapter 519

night raid.

Ordinary people often hear this word and subconsciously feel that it is awesome and powerful...as if it is a trump card to defeat the enemy, a panacea to win the war, and once this trick comes out, I will have it.But in fact, this impression largely stems from a cognitive fallacy: survivor bias.

As the name suggests, this concept can be summed up in just one sentence: those who can be seen afterwards are all those who survived.

The results we see are filtered in themselves.

In literary works, the creators weave a "night attack" story, mostly to describe a general who is good at fighting and uses soldiers like a god... Under this premise, the direction of the plot is almost certain to be the success of the night attack .The reason is simple: writing about a failed night battle is hardly helpful to the excitement of the story.

Some people will definitely say: Even if it is not a fictional novel, in the exact historical records, night raids seem to be mostly successful.As everyone knows, this is precisely the embodiment of survivor bias at work.

The cover of night can indeed allow the attacker to seize the opportunity and occupy a weak first attack advantage, but it also means that the battle must be carried out on the site of the attacked party, and no matter whether it is a strong castle or a well-arranged camp The natural nemesis of raids.It is true that the dark night will greatly reduce the defender's ability to observe and judge the battlefield situation, making effective command and dispatch difficult... But the fact is: the active offensive side has a greater demand for command and dispatch accuracy, which is weakened by the night more serious.

To sum up, the success of a night attack depends on: whether the initiator has sufficient military literacy and organizational ability to cooperate in the dark, and whether it can quickly strip off the offset by taking advantage of the moment of opportunity obtained by stealth. The home field occupied by the defending side.

It doesn't look complicated, but it's a pity: In this era when real-time communication tools have not yet been born, and conscripts rather than professional soldiers occupy the main body of the army, there is no army with enough quality to implement this tactic.

As long as there is still fighting in frontal battles, no one will consider taking risks; generals who are not highly skilled and daring will not have the courage to launch night battles; only elites who do not suffer from night blindness are capable of executing orders; in the end— Only when you win a big victory, will this battle be eligible to be recorded in detail, and will be widely circulated by the world...

After this layer of nesting doll-like screening, the survivor bias that finally unfolded in people's eyes is that night attack seems to be an effective and easy tactic.

But the truth is quite the opposite!

Iger's attempt at night attack this time is also a strange move out of necessity. Whether it is the advantage of the traverser's familiarity with the plot, or the unique identity of the Red God's agent, it will not make the difficulties he faces any less.

The command problem in the dark night was barely overcome by him with detailed tactical planning, a complete and relatively large officer system, and well-trained and combat-tested soldiers of the Land Grant Army; The "turtle shell" was easily broken by gunpowder, a new weapon officially put into human warfare for the first time; as for the "stone labyrinth" that will be faced after finally breaking into the castle, this may be a thorny trouble for other attackers. But for Iger, it is useless: not only he himself has visited Lindong many times and is very familiar with it, but even many of his trusted officers have been lucky enough to enter the city overnight with the black clothes on their backs. These people led the team, and on this basis, they were assigned a detailed map of Winterfell... Throughout the ages, any army that launched a night attack must face the difficulty of hell. In this way, the Land-Gifted Army completed seven or seven exams Eighty-eight.

In line with the principle of sincerity, Iger did not personally lead the attack, but sat in the headquarters under the protection of hundreds of left-behind reserves, quietly waiting for the result of the siege.

***

In a low exclamation, the rebels who raided the city, the defenders who attacked head-on... Several columns of torches collided mercilessly under the watchful eyes of the spectators in the main castle.The veil of night concealed all the details of the battle, but with the violent dancing of the torches and the faint screams, one could fully imagine the brutality of the fighting.The rebel army has a slight advantage in terms of numbers and organization, but all those who are qualified to guard Winterfell are heroes from the north. In the street battles in the narrow environment between castle buildings, the role of individual soldier quality and personal bravery cannot be ignored. , and at this point the defenders actually have an advantage.Arya thought that the first round of encounters would last at least for a moment, but the reality was: amidst the flickering fires, the familiar but much weaker explosion sounded than when the city gate was broken, representing the two sides of the attackers. A long torch snake seemed to open its mouth to swallow food... The speed decreased slightly, but it ran over the defenders without stopping!

The "tenacious defender" is the last difficulty of this raid, and the solution given by Iger is: whenever resistance with more than two digits is encountered, it will be solved with explosive bombs.

This is a critical battle that cannot be missed. Any savings that may increase losses and risks are unnecessary. The slightly improved anti-infantry bombs can easily disintegrate people's will to resist and fight, but rarely cause fatal injuries. This is exactly in line with the command's tactical goal of "minimizing casualties between the enemy and ourselves".

A few seconds of continuous bangs came from the east and north directions of the castle. The two land-grant troops who invaded the castle seemed to be moving slowly and unwaveringly according to the established tactics. Under such circumstances, the defenders fought resolutely and resolutely, and they were defeated as quickly as possible. The news that the castle was rapidly falling into enemy hands was quickly brought to Robb Stark who was still on the school field by the wounded and retreating soldiers. , let him, the city lord, have cold hands and feet, as if in a dream.

The two granite city walls built by the ancestors for many years, the greatest reliance on the safety and survival of the Stark family, did not even stop the rebels for a moment, and were smashed like two pieces of straw paper!

The innate military intuition made Robb realize that the city's fall was a fact and it was difficult to reverse it. However, the pride of being the guardian of the north and the young wolf master made him have to fight the trapped beast again.

"Come on, go to the west and south quickly, let the defenders abandon the city wall and retreat into the main castle!" The countermeasure was formed in his mind in an instant, and he turned to another guard: "Go to Maester Luwin and let him Let the letter crows fly, inform the northern princes that Lindong is under attack, and order them to lead their troops to come immediately!"

The walls had been crossed, but there was more to Winterfell than just those two walls, Robb would never forget: long before the first inner walls were built around the complex, his ancestors had built ——The predecessor of the main castle is the foundation, and it has ruled the surrounding large territories for thousands of years.

Even if all the surrounding buildings are stripped off, the main castle itself is a military building with defensive functions!

As long as the troops are quickly gathered and retreated into the main fort, and try to delay for a day, they will be able to wait for the first batch of reinforcements that have gathered in Seven City, and then attack from inside and outside, and maybe they can turn defeat into victory and make a big comeback!

The plan was very good, but when it was implemented, Robb found out embarrassingly that a series of cautious instructions he issued a moment ago because of the fire in the stables turned out to be the biggest obstacle to the new plan by accident: he took advantage of the fire to prevent the rebels. The attack sent a large number of defenders to the periphery to guard. Of course, there was nothing wrong with this order, but at this moment, it made it impossible to "gather the troops"!

Clay Seven saw Fengjun's hesitation, and immediately said: "My lord, I have already brought quite a few people to fight the fire, as long as we return there before the rebels capture the arsenal, get back the equipment and retreat into the main The fort is more than enough to defend the fort!"

Robb came back to his senses, looked around and nodded: "Very good, gather your people, come with me!"

The soldiers from Seven City threw down their firefighting tools, trotted along with the Lord of Winterfell, and rushed back to the defenders' camp. With a distance of more than ten meters, the swaying flames and the screams of killing made them My heart skipped a beat.The enemy's speed is so fast, within ten minutes, they have already attacked from the city gate to the weapon arsenal!

Clay Seven took a look from a distance and breathed a sigh of relief: "The rebels haven't taken down the arsenal yet, we'll kill them from behind, and we'll definitely catch them off guard!"