286 Chapter 286: The Human Alliance
The current situation in Westeros is indeed a chaotic mess.
The wildlings consist of hundreds of tribes, each with their own distinct cultures and even races, scattered and running amok.
They are well aware that their wooden clubs are no match for the regular armies of the alliance, whose swords are sharper and who are armored.
Armor is a game-changer, even more important than high-quality weapons. A soldier in armor can easily deal with five or six farmers armed with clubs.
Therefore, from the very beginning, Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall, did not expect to be able to defeat the armies of the Seven Kingdoms in a head-on battle.
Their only chance was to capture Robert alive during the collapse of the Wall, and they couldn't even kill him.
Because a dead king is just a dead fat man, the nobles of King's Landing can compromise at any time and put forward a new king to replace him.
But a living king is an important hostage that can be used to demand their retreat and extort land and food.
Unfortunately... that night, King Robert was very happy and went whoring before the battle.
Mance Rayder didn't expect this king to be so reckless.
A series of unfortunate events led to the failure of the plan.
However, since they couldn't capture a living king, Mance Rayder had already prepared an alternative plan and immediately changed direction.
The King Beyond the Wall ordered that once they crossed the Wall, the wildling kingdom would disperse into tribes, with hundreds of tribes each fighting their own battles.
They would not resist, they would not seek war, they would just keep heading south.
The further south they could run, the better.
Because the people south of the Wall do not know the horror of the White Walkers, but the wildlings have fought the White Walkers several times in the past few months.
Each encounter resulted in heavy losses, and they are very aware of the horror and terror of the White Walkers.
They may still have the faces of humans, but they are completely different entities.
They don't need to breathe, they don't need to eat. They do not fear the cold, and Mance Rayder once saw a group of the dead walk out from under the sea.
They literally walked out, stepping on the seabed without even needing to swim, because these people don't need to breathe.
But this was only in shallow water, whether the pressure of the deep sea could affect these dead, no one knew, but this still made Mance Rayder feel terrified.
And these dead will kill all the creatures they see, and few birds and beasts can escape.
Even as the White Walkers gradually moved south from the Land of Always Winter, the cold of death gradually invaded, and even the cold-resistant trees beyond the Wall would be frozen to death.
These White Walkers and their minions are like death, where they go, no life can exist.
Therefore, these wildlings, when facing the White Walkers, can't muster any resistance, they just want to escape south after crossing the Wall.
Of course, if they can attack a port along the way, seize the ships and escape to the other side of the Narrow Sea, that would be even better.
This is Mance Rayder's second plan.
Now, the situation in the North is that hundreds of thousands of wildlings crossed the Wall and began to wreak havoc like locusts, attacking villages and plundering food.
They even managed to get a lot of weapons and equipment, and the wildlings' armament became stronger and stronger.
The regular army, few in number, was frustrated, they had the strength but couldn't use it, because the other side simply didn't line up for a head-on battle.
Even occasionally, a careless regular army would be ambushed by the wildlings, and by the time other friendly forces arrived, these soldiers had already been brutally killed.
Their armor and clothes were stripped clean, leaving only naked bodies lying in the snow.
The wildlings got another wave of equipment, strengthened a bit, and then moved on.
...
This news had spread throughout the Seven Kingdoms before it reached Viserys.
The nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, who had not taken it seriously before, all understood that the situation was tricky.
However, unexpectedly, they did not immediately send more troops to support King Robert in suppressing the wildlings.
Instead, they hurriedly sent troops to block all the main entrances to their territories.
They wanted to prevent these fleeing wildlings from entering their territories and causing destruction and property loss.
But later, they felt that they couldn't save face and honor by doing this, with the king fighting on the front line while they were cowering in the rear.
And Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King who stayed in King's Landing, issued a series of conscription orders.
He called on the knights and soldiers of the Seven Kingdoms to heed the king's call, to expedition to the North, to clear the invading wildlings, and to confront the possible appearance of the White Walkers.
So, Renly Baratheon, the minor duke of the Stormlands, was the first to support his elder brother, but he did not personally go on the expedition, instead delegating another count to lead the Baratheon's home army to the North.
Then came the second response from the Westerlands.
Tywin Lannister, the cunning Duke of the Westerlands, is also a well-known commander among the Seven Kingdoms, but he also stayed in Casterly Rock to oversee the overall situation, sending other counts from the Westerlands to reinforce the king.
Next was the king's new in-laws.
Although the wildlings and White Walkers may not be able to threaten the Riverlands far in the south.
And the Tyrell family of Highgarden is not good at war, but at this juncture when other nobles are making their positions clear, he must also show his attitude.
He just seemed a bit reluctant.
Of course, the Vale doesn't need to say much, they don't need to make a statement.
Although Jon Arryn has been away from the Vale for many years and his control over it is declining, the prestige of the Arryn family is still there, and the knights of the Vale are already on their way to the North.
This time, the major families of the Seven Kingdoms really made a move, sending out a large number of troops, gathering together to form an army of sixty thousand men. Even Dorne, this time, did not continue to slack off, but sent a few thousand men.
Because although Dorne is allied with the Targaryens, and the threat of the White Walkers is far away, after all, they are on the same land, and they fear the what-ifs.
This force of over sixty thousand men, including five thousand five hundred knights, officially broke the record of the largest army in history formed in Westeros about three hundred years ago during Aegon's conquest of Westeros.
At that time, King Loren Lannister of Casterly Rock and King Mern IX Gardener of the Riverlands combined forces of nearly fifty-five thousand men at Goldengrove to resist Aegon Targaryen.
And now, the Seven Kingdoms, while still holding back, have combined forces to form an army of sixty thousand men to resist the invasion of the White Walkers, and they are marching towards Winterfell in a grand manner.
The formation of the Human Alliance took a long time.
Due to the distance across the sea, the transmission of information was severely delayed, and by the time this information fell into Viserys's hands, it was already late September.
Pentos's September does not have a golden autumn, but rather increasingly biting cold winds.
The cycle of seasons, which changes every few years, made Viserys feel a bit uncomfortable at first, but the residents living here didn't seem to have any discomfort, as if it was a matter of course.
Viserys didn't know whether this long cycle of seasons was due to special astronomical and geographical influences, or the result of the 'magic duel' between the gods in the legends.
At this moment, he was standing on the high tower of the palace, draped in a fluffy white cloak, looking out over the endless sea.
His coming-of-age ceremony was in full swing.
After today, he would be considered an adult in this world.
