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Chapter 249: The Clouds of War

Robb's words fell silent. Outside, the snow continued to fall heavily, blanketing the world in a layer of white. A flock of pitch-black crows descended from the sky.

Flap, flap—

They landed on the eaves of the room, their crimson eyes gleaming. They cocked their heads slightly, pecking at their feathers. It was unclear whether they were watching the three children below or the exhausted woman inside who had just given birth.

Eddard Stark's figure had already receded into the distance. He had known about the reappearance of the White Walkers earlier than Viserys. In fact, he had received the news when his brother Benjen led the rangers to retreat from the Haunted Forest.

This was the first confirmed record of the White Walkers in thousands of years since their last resurgence in human history. Although sightings of White Walkers were reported every few years, most of these were deemed rumors, attributed to rare animals that people had never seen before.

As a result, people gradually stopped believing in the stories of the White Walkers. However, this time, as soon as Benjen returned to the Wall, he reported to the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Jeor Mormont, who was skeptical.

Benjen then wrote a letter and entrusted someone to deliver it to Winterfell. The Old Bear didn't believe him, but Eddard Stark believed that his brother wouldn't make baseless claims.

Therefore, Winterfell began to prepare early, stockpiling food and intensifying the training of soldiers. Then came the expedition of the Night's Watch, which was attacked by the White Walkers and suffered a great defeat, confirming the existence of the White Walkers.

Eddard received this terrible news overnight. After a sleepless night of deep thought, he wrote another letter for help and sent it to King's Landing.

His good brother Robert, upon receiving the plea for help from the North, naturally believed Eddard's words and prepared to mobilize soldiers to support the North. However, his decision was unanimously rejected by the other nobles of the Seven Kingdoms. Of course, they didn't openly defy the king's call, but found various reasons to evade it.

Even House Tyrell, who had just arranged a marriage alliance with the royal family, tactfully expressed their refusal. Only the two brothers of the Baratheon family clearly expressed their willingness to support their elder brother.

The reasons given by the other families were varied, but the ultimate reason and idea were simple: self-preservation. For eight thousand years, news of the resurgence of the White Walkers kept emerging, but the White Walkers never truly returned.

Moreover, this winter was hard for all regions except Dorne. Everyone didn't have the energy to play the 'White Walkers are coming' game with the North. Even the Dornish, who were not affected by winter, couldn't go to support the North. They were accustomed to living in a hot environment and couldn't survive the cold journey to the North. Half of them would freeze to death on the way, and the other half would take the opportunity to escape.

However, just as King Robert was being embarrassed by the nobles who were openly and secretly sending people to probe his intentions and persuade him not to believe the lies of the Northerners, the plea for help from the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Mormont, was once again sent to all parts of the country. This time, Old Mormont confirmed in his letter that the White Walkers had indeed reappeared.

If the other families still didn't believe it, they were willing to catch a White Walker and bring it to King's Landing

, and his plea for help was also endorsed by the Citadel. The maesters of the Citadel were preparing to travel to the Wall to witness the existence of the White Walkers themselves.

With the affirmation of the Stark family, King Robert, the Night's Watch, and others, the major families of the Seven Kingdoms began to have some doubts. As a result, they each dispatched a portion of their armies to King's Landing, although the number of this coalition army was still not very large.

In the absence of a real life-and-death crisis, the major families still retained the idea of preserving their strength. After all, war costs money, the lives of soldiers, food, military equipment, and even a trip to the North would cost a lot of money.

However, although the number was not large, it was better than nothing. King Robert himself also had this idea and did not bring out too many royal soldiers.

The crisis of the White Walkers was a thing of eight thousand years ago, and people had long forgotten the threat of the White Walkers. Even if the White Walkers really returned, the Seven Kingdoms did not take them too seriously, believing that the Wall could hold them back.

Subsequently, Robert Baratheon personally led the coalition army, heading north to support the North, while his father-in-law, Jon Arryn, stayed behind in King's Landing to oversee the situation.

Now, the mighty army stretched out for several kilometers, seemingly just reaching the Neck along the Kingsroad, a very long distance from Winterfell, with the armies of the Westerlands still to join along the way.

The army held high the banners of various families in the coalition, with the crowned stag symbol of the Baratheon family in the center. The Baratheon family, as the royal family, contributed the most in terms of both manpower and resources, firmly supporting their good brother.

Meanwhile, Eddard Stark, the Lord of Winterfell, had also been intensively training his troops during this time. He didn't even have much time to accompany his wife during childbirth. Seeing that his wife was safe, he didn't waste a moment.

According to the report of the Night's Watch, the number of wildlings appearing outside the Wall had been increasing. Some wildlings even tried to climb over the Wall, but were repelled by the reinforced Night's Watch, resulting in several intense conflicts.

However, these were not the main forces of the wildlings, just some scattered tribes. The real wildling kingdom beyond the Wall had gathered hundreds of thousands of Free Folk. They were divided into hundreds of different cultures, clans, and villages, once fighting each other and falling into a war of mutual slaughter.

But now, these hundreds of thousands of Free Folk from hundreds of different tribes had all united under one King Beyond the Wall.

Mance Rayder.

He united all the wildling tribes and single-handedly created a magnificent kingdom of Free Folk. The wildlings had discovered the traces of the White Walkers earlier than the Night's Watch hiding behind the Wall, which was why they were being driven towards the Wall.

The main force of the kingdom of Free Folk, hundreds of thousands of wildlings, were on their way in a mighty manner. The front line of the Night's Watch was under great pressure, and the clouds of war were almost ready to burst.

Therefore, Eddard Stark had no choice but to issue a conscription order. Now, two armies from the North were stationed on the Wall, providing a great supplement to the Night's Watch, which was severely short of personnel.

In an instant, the 700-foot-high, 300-mile-long Wall was filled with the figures of soldiers. Although this was still insufficient to prevent small groups of wildlings from

sneaking over, with more dying from falls than being killed by the Night's Watch, it could potentially halt a large-scale wildling attack in the future.

"Keep all the wildlings beyond the Wall!"

The White Walkers hadn't shown up in large numbers yet, but the clouds of war between the kingdom of the Free Folk and the Seven Kingdoms had already enveloped this land.

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