Night Raid

Perhaps the first thing that seemed to break him from the haze of sleep was the sound of rushed armoured footsteps. Then it was the sound of men shouting indistinguishable orders that due to his sleep ridden mind, he couldn't quite understand what they were saying. But he could hear it, the sound he had grown so familiar with in recent days.

The sound of battle.

At first, he thought it was all in his mind, but that changed very soon. "My lord!" Jerking awake from his sleep upon the cot in his tent, Tywin watched as a messenger burst into his tent, bowing low in apology for the disturbance. "We're under attack!"

This caught Tywin off-guard, but then again, he should have expected this. "Robb Stark is commencing a night attack. Strange of him." Tywin muttered, rising out of bed. 'Then again, I should have expected him to grow desperate after denying him what he wants.'

"Where is he attacking?"

"Here, my lord! The camp!" This jerked Tywin into action, he not even fully armoured, bursting past the men and out into the open air to see men rushing towards the right flank of the camp. Right there, a mere dozen meters away from him sat Robb Stark upon his horse. His personal guard were there, protecting the Stark King who viewed the area around him with a calm, analytical gaze. Orders bursting from his mouth now and then, disrupting every attempt the defenders tried to force the Stark forces away.

And Tywin froze, temporarily flatfooted and unsure of what to do from here. His initial thought was to recall troops from the centre, but he hesitated. Part of him questioned whether that was Robb wanted, that this night ambush was all a means to cause disarray amongst his troops at the front so that the Stark army could descend upon them and crush them.

What Tywin did not know, was that this hesitation, this doubt would cost him an early victory.

-X- Line Break -X-

Swinging his sword down, Robb cut into a man's neck before turning to his left and thrusting his sword into another man. Grey Wind bounded across the ground, biting into another Lannister soldier that rushed towards Robb with a spear. All around him battle raged, his eyes panning across the battlefield and taking it all in with a calm gaze.

The sight of men dying was one he had become used to in recent years.

They had struck in the night, Robb coming with his full, five hundred reserve force and descending upon the Lannister command base. The night had covered their movements and they descended upon them fast and hard, the Lannister's hadn't known what was happening till they were already on them.

Now they were scrambling.

It was a risk; Robb knew that much.

While the Lannister flanks would remain where they were considering their proximity to his flanks, but the centre was still able to pull their forces back. There was a risk in this tactic and one that could very well result in his death if Tywin pulled the centre back to reinforce the camp. However, Robb had no choice but to make this decision.

He needed to force Tywin into making a serious move before the Vale reinforcements arrived otherwise, he'd lose everything he'd worked so hard for. Robb needed to take risks, and this was one of them.

"Robb, we're being pushed back!" Garlan grunted, swinging his blade around and cutting through one man.

"It's because they've realised, the King is here." Dacey smashed her hammer down upon a soldier's head, it denting the armour of the helmet and knocking him unconscious. "It wasn't wise to come here, Robb."

"I had no choice." Robb shot back, cutting down another opponent. "We need to make us a target that Tywin can't afford to ignore."

"Even so, putting yourself out there so openly is dangerous." Garlan continued.

"It's all for one purpose, Garlan." He eased his brother-in-law, looking to the distance where he noticed the largest tent and for the first time since this campaign began, saw the sold Lion with his own eyes. He was older than Robb had expected, he didn't fit the image that Robb had built up in his mind. The rumours of his tactical skills were inaccurate, Robb had realised that much early on, he was no better or worse than the likes of Gregor Forrest, Greatjon Umber, Jonos Bracken. He certainly wasn't a military commander like himself, Jason Mallister and Randall Tarly.

The man he was seeing though, despite not being the commander that he was rumoured to be, was still imposing. Even now, not even properly armoured, Tywin still cut an imposing figure. There was a reason he demanded respect.

But that changed when a fire broke out a little way away.

And as the Old Lion and the defenders looked in that direction, Robb saw a momentary flash of panic cross Tywin Lannister's face.

"Smalljon did it!" Olyvar exclaimed with a laugh.

Robb smirked; this is what this whole thing had been leading up to. One singular plan that could have cost them everything but could give them everything in turn. "Fall back!" Robb shouted, a horn sounding as Robb circled his horse around, urging it to gallop away. Behind him, his personal guard along with the survivors of his reserves followed after him.

The plan had been twofold, Robb would lead the charge with over three-quarters of his reserve forces, attacking the larger, Lannister reserve force number nearly five times their own. The initial charge caught them all off-guard, Robb having used Grey Wind to scout out for the weakest point in the enemy defences before launching a full assault upon that point.

They had ridden through swathes of enemy lines, destroying tents and killing those inside of them, nearly seven hundred men were killed in the initial charge before they recovered. Even when they did recover things remained relatively equal, Robb still holding the overall advantage.

The Lannisters were disorganised and leaderless, all caught by surprise from the sudden rain, just like those at Oxcross and as a result, Robb and his men managed to keep them at bay. And in response, more and more of the enemy forces came to face them, drawing troops from other areas of the camp till the other side was almost entirely exposed. Just as Robb had predicted and that's just what he had planned for.

Because mere moments ago, Smalljon had led a small group, attacking them from the other side in what could be seen as a pincer manoeuvre. But that was a simple cover for the real aim of Smalljon's task.

Their aim had been the one thing Tywin needed most to wait for the Vale reinforcements.

Food.