CHAPTER 98

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CHAPTER 98

288 AC

Each Household guard captain was here: Cassel, Mollen, Moss, Flant, and Hall. But there were two Cassels. Sir Rodrik was The Commander of Winterfell, and his son was the captain of Cassel's forces. Every minor house was commanding 200 Stark soldiers. A total of 1000 men defended Winterfell and all around it: the holdfast, Winter town, and the keep. Lord Stark explained to them what had happened and said.

"According to our latest information, they will be at Flint's Finger in 2 days. After the king left, I had sent word to them there might be an attack, so they should be ready enough."

He can defy the king when he wants to, or the most likely possibility is the king allowed him to do that after he left. If he had sent word to Flint's Finger, it was understandable that they would send so few forces to the north. They must know that we are informed and that we are preparing. If there's a spy among the Ryswells, it's very likely there is one among the Flints too.

Before the rebellion plans, there was an opinion that the size of the Ironborn fleet was around 150. I think they must have built at least 100 more longships to prepare for this rebellion. If there are about 100 men on each ship, they attack with about 4000 - 4500 soldiers. It's clear that their plan is not to invade, and they want to keep us busy. One of the captains asked.

"What should we do, my lord?"

"There's no way we can send men all the way to the Flints from here. We must shift our focus to other coastal villages and towns. We can't beat the Ironborns at sea. We have about 20 longships on the west coast and about 40 fishing boats. We anchored all of this in the seaside town near Deepwood Motte without attracting the attention of the Ironborns."

At least he is not totally incompetent.

"We have to leave about 400 soldiers at Winterfell, and word has been sent to the surrounding settlements. I expect about 500 soldiers to arrive from there as well, and I had permission to summon my Banners if the Ironborn attacked before the king left. All of my soldiers will make around 5000 soldiers, and I expect a total of 10000 soldiers from other lords to come, but it will take about two weeks to muster all of these soldiers. During this time, we must find a way to protect the coastal areas with 1500 soldiers."

He turned to me and asked.

"You were the one who predicted this attack. Do you have any ideas?"

Osric Moss immediately stepped in and started talking while having a smug look.

"My lord, we all know Sir Drasil's mastery of the sword, but please remember that he is only 13 name-days old. How accurate would it be to get an opinion on our general operation from someone so young and unknowing of war?"

"My good lord Moss, I had more battles in my last two years of life than you ever had in your entire life, and Lord Stark didn't ask for your opinion. He asked for mine."

"How dare you, you little runt!!"

He rose angrily from his seat. As he prepared to walk towards me, Lord Stark slammed his fist on the table, bringing everyone's attention to him.

"Are you going to keep squabbling like bitches, or can we continue the war council?

We both stepped back and apologized to Lord Stark. Lord Stark gestured for me to continue.

"We know that the Ironborns came with 4000 to 5000 soldiers. If I were in their place, I would have four main goals: Flint's Finger, Barrowton, Deepwood Motte, and Bear Island."

Lord Stark must have agreed with my words, for he nodded as I spoke.

"To achieve this, after crossing Cape Kraken, I would send 15 to 20 ships toward Blazewater Bay and Saltspear. I would continue the remaining ships in the north direction, plundering all the villages and towns I encountered. The main problem is in the four main targets."

Lord Stark asked confusedly.

"Why?"

"We don't know the purpose of the Ironborns. If our guess is correct, they want to keep us busy, so we won't be able to come to the aid of Westerlands. If we're right, they will scatter in all directions and start raids when they get into Blazewater Bay, but if we're wrong, they will act en masse after taking each castle. Flint's Finger, Deepwood Motte, and Bear Island won't be able to stop them. As we all know, the walls of these three castles are made of wood and not high enough."

"My suggestion is to divide our current 1500 soldiers into three groups. Let's send the first group to Barrowton, the second group to Deepwood Motte, and the third group to Bear Island as reinforcements."

Lord Moss intervened and said.

"Are you going to leave Smallfolk to their fate? That's just cowardice."

"If the lords who rule those areas have even the slightest bit of combat experience, he must have given the order to evacuate the coastlines as soon as he got the message. Can you tell us how we will defend the entire north lane with 1500 soldiers, great warrior Lord Moss? I pointed with my hand. We are waiting for you; please enlighten us with your invincible strategies."

Lord Moss couldn't say anything and turned red with embarrassment. After discussing strategy for another hour or so, Lord Stark decided to execute my plan until the other 15000 soldiers arrived.

..........

The other lords had gone to the head of their soldiers, and they gave about 50 soldiers to my command, but I waited for everyone to leave as I had something to discuss with Lord Stark in private.

"My lord, you must have sensed in the past few years, especially in our last conversation, that I am not normal."

"Go on."

"I want to be independent in this war. If I can go where I want, I can handle the small groups leaving to raid the area from Blazewater Bay to Deepwood Motte, and I'll be there when the Ironborns get to Deepwood."

"How is it possible for you to move that fast? How can you catch ships by land if you're not flying?"

"Even though I don't know how to fly, I'm sure I can catch up with them."

He said after a few minutes of thinking.

"Are you a warg?"

"Something similar."

His eyes widened in astonishment, and he said.

"That means there weren't any scouts."

"There are scouts, but they are not human."

"Can you really protect the coastline?"

"You know perfectly well that the evacuation I was talking about was a bluff to silence the lords. In this tumult, no high lord will try too hard to save the coastal villages and towns. If the Ironborns split into groups of less than 100 men to plunder them, I can protect the coast, but if they are in larger groups, I won't risk my life for nothing."