"I want to know the situation at Kalin Bay," Linde said directly after some small talk, getting straight to the point. "Also, I hope that when we set off, Huo Lan can send a guide. After all, this swamp is too difficult to navigate, and ordinary people can easily get lost."
"Ser Linde, please rest assured, I will personally act as a guide and will also bring men to participate in this battle," Huo Lan promised, then introduced the situation at Kalin Bay.
Although Kalin Bay belongs to the Stark Family, the garrison stationed there has always been the Neck people of House Reed. Every Neck person is an excellent archer, and with the three arrow towers of Kalin Bay, they can block most invading enemies.
But the extreme cold disaster came too suddenly, so suddenly that Huo Lan didn't even have time to transport winter supplies to Kalin Bay before it covered the entire Neck, freezing the entire Neck and making it difficult to travel.
Because there were no winter supplies, the officers guarding Kalin Bay had to dismantle part of one of Kalin Bay's walls and burn the wood used to build the wall for warmth. Yet, even so, many people still froze to death in the extreme cold.
Not long after the weather warmed up, Greywater Watch also suffered heavy losses and didn't have time to attend to Kalin Bay, only sending some living supplies.
After Greywater Watch recovered, the Iron Islands rebelled.
Then, the news that Kalin Bay had been captured by Victarion Greyjoy was brought to Huo Lan by the retreating soldiers of Kalin Bay.
As for the capture process, it was simple: the Ironborn directly rushed into Kalin Bay through the still unrepaired northern wall breach. The Kalin Bay garrison, with only dozens of men left, was completely unable to resist, and only two managed to escape and return to Greywater Watch to report.
After learning that Kalin Bay had fallen, Huo Lan personally went to Kalin Bay to inspect the situation and found that the Ironborn had already repaired the wall and stationed about three thousand soldiers there.
In addition, he also bypassed Kalin Bay to the north to meet Eddard Stark, the commander of the Northern Allied Forces, to see if he could help the Northern Allied Forces retake Kalin Bay.
However, after several attacks, they didn't even touch Kalin Bay's walls and had already lost over a thousand men.
Although it is possible to bypass Kalin Bay through the swamp, as there are some hard lands in the swamp, that is only suitable for a small number of people to walk. Once too many people walk, the hard land will be trampled into muddy ground and quickly revert to a swampy state.
Moreover, due to the extreme cold disaster, many animals in the swamp froze to death, and a large number of hungry lizard-lions were entrenched in the swamp. Huo Lan could barely take one or two people through, but taking a large army would be tantamount to feeding the lizard-lions.
When Huo Lan left, he heard someone in the camp mention White Harbor, so Huo Lan felt that if Eddard Stark truly couldn't pass through Kalin Bay, he might decide to go to White Harbor, sending a portion of the army by ship from White Harbor to King's Landing first, and the remaining army would be transported when the ships returned.
After listening to Huo Lan's introduction, Linde couldn't help but frown.
His most important objective in coming here was to clear Kalin Bay, this vital point, so that the Northern Allied Forces could smoothly advance south. Then, he would borrow an army from the Northern Allied Forces to go to Sea Frontier City, relieve the siege of Sea Frontier City, and incidentally see if he could liberate other cities occupied by the Ironborn.
But now, from Huo Lan, it seemed the Northern Allied Forces had already decided to travel by ship from White Harbor. This was undoubtedly bad news for him, because this meant that both relieving Sea Frontier City and liberating other cities would have to be handled by his two thousand-plus men.
Although it was not impossible with his abilities, doing so would result in heavy losses for the cavalry he had trained, who were meant to be the core of his future territorial defense army. This was something he did not wish to see.
So, Linde tentatively asked, "So, the Northern Allied Forces have already gone to White Harbor?"
"Probably not," Huo Lan gave good news, saying, "It's only been a few days since I met Eddard. Given his personality, he should still be thinking about breaking through Kalin Bay. After all, going via White Harbor is too time-consuming; it might take one or two months to fully transport the Northern Allied Forces to King's Landing. Moreover, if these three thousand-plus Ironborn in Kalin Bay are not dealt with, the allied army will be uneasy about moving south. You know, the allied army has drawn elites from various territories, and the North is already somewhat empty. If these three thousand Ironborn take advantage of the allied army's southward movement to raid Northern cities, the consequences would be unimaginable."
Linde listened to Huo Lan's analysis, nodding slightly, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart that Huo Lan, after all, had participated in the Usurper War, and his military strategic acumen was much higher than some nobles he knew.
Afterward, Linde asked Huo Lan to introduce the internal situation of Karling Bay Castle, especially the arrangement of the arrow towers, etc., and quickly formed a plan to capture Kalin Bay in his mind.
Just as Linde was about to end this conversation and return to the camp to rest, allowing Huo Lan to prepare for the upcoming battle, Nameria, who had been silent by the side, suddenly spoke, saying, "Huo Lan, I have a question, I wonder if I can ask it?"
Huo Lan was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Earl, please ask."
Nameria asked very directly, "What exactly happened at the Tower of Joy back then? How did Arthur Dayne of Dawn, Sword of the Morning die? Was it really by your and Eddard Stark's sneak attack?"
Nameria's question not only stunned Huo Lan, but Linde was also stunned. He hadn't expected Nameria to ask this question, and her tone even sounded somewhat accusatory.
Huo Lan was silent for a moment, then said, "Yes, Arthur Dayne died by my sneak attack." After speaking, he stood up, bowed to both of them, and said, "Excuse me, I need to go arrange manpower now."
With that, he stood up and left the tower room.
Linde and Nameria also did not stay in the warm tower room any longer and returned to their own camp outside.
"Why did you suddenly ask Huo Lan that question?" In the erected tent, Linde unfastened his armor, letting Jon place it on the rack, and then asked Nameria.
"I just wanted to know the truth," Nameria also took off her armor with the help of a servant, sighed, and said, "When I was little, Arthur Dayne taught me swordplay for a while. He was my first sword instructor, but unfortunately, I don't have much talent for swordplay."
Linde said nothing more, waved his hand to signal everyone to leave, and walked over to embrace Nameria, who looked slightly sad, or rather, was embraced by Nameria.
Linde rested for two days at Greywater Watch. After everyone had recovered, they continued their journey towards Kalin Bay.
Huo Lan also led three hundred Neck archers, gathered from various tribes in the Neck, to accompany Linde to Kalin Bay. Along the way, the Neck archers replaced Linde's scout team, scouting ahead for Linde and guiding the way.
Because the Neck people guided the way, the army always walked on hard ground, unlike before when they often walked on soft, muddy ground, where horses would frequently get stuck in the mud.
Although Huo Lan suggested it was best to walk in the swamp and not ride horses, if they walked, the speed would be much slower, perhaps taking four or five days to reach Kalin Bay, unlike now, where they arrived outside Karling Bay Castle in just two and a half days.
Because Linde did not conceal his movements, the Ironborn guarding Karling Bay Castle saw them from a great distance, blew the horn, and entered a state of readiness.
"My Lord, people are coming from the south," an Ironborn responsible for guarding the wall quickly ran into the castle room, saw Heron Botley, who was putting on his armor, and said urgently.
"They've come, so what's there to be nervous about? Haven't we already anticipated this?" Heron Botley frowned, looking at his subordinate, displeased.
The situation at Kalin Bay was now different from what Linde understood. A few days ago, Victarion Greyjoy had already left Kalin Bay and sailed back to Pyke to participate in the major battle against the Iron Throne. The defense here had been entrusted to Heron Botley, his second-in-command.
The Ironborn quickly said, "No, the flag you told us to watch out for has appeared—the red flag with the longsword."
Heron's face changed abruptly upon hearing this. He didn't even bother to put on his leather armor, grabbed his weapon, ran out of the room, and went to the wall, looking towards the causeway to the south. Although there was some mist shrouding the swamp, he could still clearly see the shape of the flag held by the riders in the distant team.
"Damn it! How could he be here?" Heron couldn't help but curse.
Over the past year, he had countless times heard Old Mallen of House Botley from his family speak of Euron Greyjoy's attack on Oldtown, knowing that a powerful knight single-handedly slew all of Euron's men and even blinded one of Euron's eyes.
At first, everyone thought this was a rumor deliberately fabricated by Euron, an excuse for him to change the raiding location without authorization, and that Old Mallen, being a loyal follower of Euron Greyjoy, had cooperated with Euron in concocting this absurd lie.
But as the Seven Gods Church recognized Linde as blessed by the Warrior, and further proclaimed him the Chosen of God Linde, people gradually began to believe Euron's words, thinking that even if that knight wasn't as powerful as Euron claimed, he should still possess some ability.
However, what truly made these lord-nobles of the Iron Islands remember Linde and be wary of him was one of Euron's fits of madness. A drunken Iron Islands noble, who had a very bad relationship with Euron, openly mocked Euron about Linde's matter, and was instantly hacked to pieces by Euron.
Although Euron's displayed madness was frightening, everyone who knew Euron could see a hint of fear in his mad actions. They all realized that Euron was afraid of the Chosen One Linde Terra, the knight who had taken his eye in Oldtown.
And because of this incident, the lord-nobles of the Iron Islands all began to pay attention to this Chosen One, treating him as a highly threatening presence, and memorized his characteristics, such as the distinctive red flag with a longsword and the giant beast.
When he was assigned by Victarion to guard Kalin Bay, Heron did not believe he would encounter Linde. After all, Linde was in The Reach, too far from the North, and now the Westerlands and the Iron Islands were the main focus of the war. A powerful knight like Linde should be on the main battlefield, not appearing in Kalin Bay.
But now he found all his predictions were wrong. Linde not only appeared in Kalin Bay, but also brought a considerable army. Although it still looked like he had fewer men, judging by the armor and weapons worn by those soldiers, his own men, clad in leather armor, would likely find it very difficult to resist them in a direct fight.
"Increase the number of guards on the arrow towers, move the men from the north wall over, only one hundred men are needed there, transfer all the others to the south…"
As Heron's orders were issued one after another, the Ironborn inside Kalin Bay shifted their defensive positions. The archers stationed in the three arrow towers were also increased to over two hundred each, and bundles of arrows were piled up at each defensive point, allowing the archers there to access them at any time.
Outside Kalin Bay, Linde did not immediately attack the city. Instead, he had Huo Lan find an open space for the army to set up camp, appearing as if they intended a prolonged engagement. Then, in a visible area from Kalin Bay, he had men clear lizard-lions from the swamp while driving prepared wooden stakes into the swamp, seemingly intending to build a swamp boardwalk that bypassed Kalin Bay.
Seeing that Linde did not immediately attack the city, Heron relaxed a little. For him, Linde not attacking the city was the best possible outcome. As for building the boardwalk, he had no intention of sending men to stop it. In his opinion, if Linde could successfully build a boardwalk around Kalin Bay, it would be even more suitable.
As long as the Northern Allied Forces from the First Men Burial Mounds to the north marched south, he would no longer have to guard Kalin Bay. At that time, he could directly lead the Ironborn of Kalin Bay to raid the North while its forces were depleted, preferably raiding White Harbor. Then, his trip to the North would not have been in vain.
Heron watched from the wall for a long time, seeing that the army below had already laid down a boardwalk of over ten meters in the swamp. He then decided not to continue watching, instead instructing the Ironborn captain guarding the wall to be careful and notify him immediately if any problems arose, before returning to the castle room where the furnace fire was lit.
After Heron left, the remaining guards, feeling no intention of attack from the army below the city, also relaxed. They left a dozen men to guard the wall, while the others huddled around the bonfire below the wall for warmth.
In the three arrow towers of the castle, the archers, who had been too tense to even breathe, now only kept one or two archers at the observation holes for vigilance. The others had retreated into the tower's rooms to keep warm.
Time passed bit by bit, and night quickly fell. The Ironborn used fire arrows to ignite several piles of fire outside the city wall, illuminating the surrounding land. If anyone tried to approach, they would be detected immediately.
The army outside the city also seemed to have returned to their camp to rest. From the city wall, one could see the bonfires in their camp, and by the light of the fires, one could also see people moving back and forth within the camp, seemingly having every move of the enemy under control. This made the guards on Kalin Bay's wall relax their vigilance a little further.
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