Do not be fooled by how fluent and confident Aegor was when introducing the Gift battle plan to Beric Dondarrion. Only when facing the test of real combat could Aegor be jolted out of the feeling that he was managing and ruling a group of ordinary residents.
The New Gift People came from beyond the Wall, growing up in an environment lacking legal and moral education. They were never kind or rational individuals. Previously, the Night's Watch had forcibly suppressed trouble by using a stick and carrot approach, making an example of others, and distributing them to various parts of the Gift according to tribes to avoid mutual contact. But as the battle situation changed and they had to be gathered again, a small portion of these former beyond-the-Wall people quickly seized the opportunity to prove to the outside world how foolish and wicked people can be.
Spreading unconfirmed rumors detrimental to morale within Crowntown, the capital of the Gift that accommodated and protected them. Committing evil deeds when the White Walkers' attack alarm sounded. Even fleeing south illegally into the North's territory to court death. Are these things that a person with a brain could do?
Aegor had considered the rumors and their impact that his absence during the battle might cause when he left half a month ago, but he had no choice. Announcing openly that he was going south to King's Landing to handle matters was better than sneaking away. He could certainly greet the core commanders present and say he would be away for a few days, asking them not to publicize it, but if he did that, the lower-level residents would not have a chance to know he had left. However, once one or some of these crucial managers in front of him started overthinking, the consequences would only be more severe.
If Aegor had been here when this false alarm occurred, the number of people daring to cause trouble would definitely have been few. In other words, the trouble caused by these recently hanged people was quite related to his departure. However, this matter did not make him feel any guilt that he had caused their deaths. Just as anyone who is harassed on the road should not first be blamed for wearing too little or going out too often, many things are related to each other, but that does not mean one should bear responsibility. Clear logic is paramount anytime, anywhere.
Not only did he not blame himself, he even felt a sense of relief. This false alarm was not entirely a bad outcome. At least it exposed a lot of hidden problems in advance. If these pests were not dealt with early and were allowed to hide until the real decisive battle to act up, the consequences would only be worse.
Leaving aside other things, just this small tribe that rebelled against the plan and defected, what if they ran away when the White Walkers really attacked? Crowntown would definitely not have time to send troops to pursue and retrieve them.
Now, he finally could not escape the fate that those in power must face sooner or later and had to make a difficult choice.
Hundreds of people, their mistake was just escaping, not rebelling. They were not soldiers, so military law was naturally out of the question. Facing the pursuing troops led by Jarman Buckwell, they did not resist but obediently followed back to Crowntown. This was completely different from the situation of the Tur tribe, who killed Commander Mormont and resisted arrest with arms. Aegor could not kill them all, he could only deal with the leaders.
And when dealing with the leaders, he had to consider how to handle the aftermath after the disposition.
This felt like a king facing rebellious nobles. Killing them was not good, not killing them was not good either. No wonder the Night's Watch, this strange exile organization, still had soil for existence after the White Walkers disappeared.
Aegor had no experience being a king, and at this moment, he was also a bit indecisive, but in front of his subordinates, he absolutely could not show weakness. After thinking for a moment, he could only play for time.
"This tribe, they have hostages given to Crowntown, right?"
"Yes, a twelve-year-old boy, he has been secured."
"Tell this child that his family chose to abandon him at the most dangerous time," Aegor said, putting on a confident look. "Give him one night to think. Bring him to see me tomorrow, and he will answer in person how he himself wishes me to deal with his father."
"Yes, my lord."
Saying it was giving the child a night to consider, was it not also giving himself a night to weigh the pros and cons? Aegor's heart settled, and he quickly felt a vague idea forming. He showed a mysterious smile and nodded approvingly. "That you few could still control the situation when such a big mess occurred proves you are indeed the capable officers I selected and trust. But now is not the time to discuss merits and rewards. Keep up the hard work, let us overcome this difficulty together, and we will surely write a chapter in history that belongs to us."
"Thank you for your praise, my lord. Your timely return is the best counterattack against the rumors. At least the resistance to our work will be much less from now on." The exhausted Humfrey forced out a hint of gratitude and shrugged helplessly. "But there are still some matters I need to ask for your instructions on. After the beacons were lit, the last batch of refugee tribes from the surrounding villages swarmed in, and many of them refused to leave once they entered Crowntown's walls. But a false alarm is a false alarm. To maintain order within the town and restore production, we had to forcibly expel them. This did not go smoothly at first. In the end, Ser Jarman Buckwell transferred several hundred people from Castle Black to help suppress them, and only then, in coordination with the Crownland Guard, did we successfully ask the residents who were not in an emergency state to leave Crowntown without bloodshed. But now they are camping outside the walls and have become a new destabilizing factor. How should we deal with this? Please give us your instructions, my lord."
Crowntown is not just a simple town. In its initial design and construction, it considered a series of future tasks such as housing, industrial production, and wartime defense and refuge. Among these, for housing, Crowntown can ensure normal operation while accommodating five thousand people.
The subtext of the above sentence is this. If normal operation is not considered, it can actually accommodate more people, and this is also the main reason why Aegor divided the alert level into three tiers and the refugee residents into two batches.
The first batch of refugee residents were mostly allocated to places relatively far from the fortresses when they passed through the Wall initially. In case of an emergency, there would be no time to transfer, so they had to move into various fortresses, including Crowntown, in advance. Among them, about three to four thousand were allocated to Crowntown according to the plan. Adding the fixed residents of the town, although the residential area would seem a bit crowded due to being at full capacity, the industrial area could still operate as usual.
But besides the residential area, Crowntown's outer city also has functional areas. The latter includes schools, hospitals, commercial districts, and squares. In addition, there are large areas of land for the Logistics Department to conduct experiments and manufacture various weapons beyond the era, such as Dragonglass weapon production, metal smelting, and casting, which constitute the industrial area. Once the White Walkers' attack alarm is sounded, and the latter batch of refugee residents who are closer to Crowntown and can arrive within a day also arrive, the total number of people within the city walls will instantly approach ten thousand. At this time, all functional departments except the hospital and production experiments in the industrial area will be completely stopped. The large amount of vacated space and buildings will be used to accommodate the second batch of several thousand refugees who are beyond the design capacity.
Because of the false alarm, the latter batch of refugee tribes arrived at Crowntown early. But the industrial area could not be shut down early if the White Walkers had not attacked. After all, the mass production of Dragonglass Bombs, the recasting of Dark Sister, and its magnificent transformation into Lightbringer still depended on the metal smelting and casting area. Therefore, the only remaining option was to first keep the last batch of refugees outside the gates and prioritize ensuring the normal operation within Crowntown.
"Sending them home is easy, but I am afraid they will waste this trip in vain and then dawdle during the next alarm, wasting time to take refuge, get caught by the White Walkers, and become part of the army of the dead." Aegor stroked his stubbled chin, then shook his head after a moment's thought. "Never mind. Draft a notice tomorrow. Tribes whose residences are within ten miles will be forcibly repatriated, but they will be compensated for the hardship of traveling back and forth. As for the rest whose settlements are a bit further away, if they really do not want to go back, let them stay outside the city walls. Arrange armed personnel for management and patrol, and they are not allowed to pitch tents within a hundred meters of the gate. At the same time, provide one free meal daily during the refuge period, which can be considered as appeasing their dissatisfaction for making the trip in vain."
"Okay." Since the leader has spoken, let us deal with it this way. Crowntown has over a thousand Night's Watch soldiers, more than enough to maintain order. Yam nodded and spoke up, "There is one last thing, my lord. I know it is inappropriate to trouble you with these trivial matters at this crucial juncture of the great battle, but I still have to report the situation to you. There are not enough rooms in Crowntown's Inner Keep. Just now at the city gate, you asked me to arrange single rooms for both the Lord of Black Harbour and the blacksmith from King's Landing. In fact, I did not have that many empty rooms on hand at the time, but to avoid making the situation too awkward, I had my room vacated first to accommodate the guests. Tonight, I will make do with staying in the Crownland Guard soldiers' barracks. We can barely manage for now, but when the industrial area is shut down under the high alert state and the technical backbone is withdrawn into the Inner Keep, it will be another round of new trouble. So I would like to ask for instructions on integrating and resetting the arrangement of existing rooms to free up the necessary amount of spare rooms as much as possible."
"Do not go to the soldiers' barracks, you can come and sleep with me tonight, Yam," Humfrey offered. "But remember to bring your bedding and pillow."
"I can also give up my room," Arya, who was sitting in the corner as she was not qualified to attend the meeting, also interjected abruptly, her tone quite righteous. "I can share a room with Master. If that is still not enough, it is okay to squeeze and sleep together, it is not like... cough, cough."
"Do not come up with crazy ideas, were you asked!" Aegor was startled, but fortunately, everyone else present just took the girl's words as a joke and did not take them seriously.
Why are you everywhere? He turned back and glared fiercely at Arya, and only after seeing her stick out her tongue and admit fault did he turn back to continue discussing the current problem. "Alright, Yam, stay in a room with Humfrey for now. For the detailed accommodation arrangements, I will make a decision after researching the specific situation and will notify you separately then."
(To be continued.)