Chapter 229 - Display

The mighty Reach army started from the Highgarden and headed east. After arriving at Cider Hall, they were divided into two armies, the North and the South.

The Southern Route Army, commanded by Lord Mathis Rowan, would travel southeast along the Cockleswent River, enter the Dornish Marches, and then follow the Boneway into Cape Wrath.

The Northern Route Army, commanded by Lord Randyll Tarly, went northeast along the Mander River and advanced into the Kingswood. It passed through Felwood City and Bronzegate City, reaching the core of the Stormlands - Storm's End Castle.

It's clear that the North Route Army is the main force of this attack. In fact, the troop distribution is also the same. The North Route Army consists of 25,000 people, while the South Route Army has only 15,000 people.

Samwell naturally followed Earl Randyll and served in the Northern Route Army, learning how to command a large army in combat.

After more than half a month of trekking, the Reach North Route Army arrived at Grassy Vale. This is already the easternmost point of the Reach, and further ahead is the Kingswood

The Kingswood is the royal family's private hunting area. Of course, there will be no people living in the dense forest as well as no castle.

There are only hunters and the notorious band of thieves - the Kingswood Brotherhood.

After passing through the Kingswood, you officially enter the Stormlands.

In fact, in history, it was normal for reach armies to invade the Stormlands, and, of course, the reverse was also true.

The Storm King Argilac Durrandon even expanded his territory to Highgarden, the source of the Mander River.

During the reign of Gyles III Gardener, Highgarden also conquered all the Stormlands territory north of the Rainwood, except Storm's End.

The two realms fought for thousands of years, one advancing while the other retreated until Aegon the Conqueror Targaryen unified Westeros.

But this grudge did not dissipate because of this. During the Robert's rebellion, "Lord almighty " refused to go to King's Landing. Instead marching towards Stormlands, he fought with Storm's End for a whole year, probably because he wanted to achieve something no ruler of the Reach had ever accomplished in history, which is the capture of Storm's End.

Now that the Reach army has made a comeback, I don't know if they can complete this historic breakthrough.

Outside Grassy Vale City, on the banks of the Blueburn River, Earl Randyll followed Samwell to a remote hill.

"What exactly do you want to show me?" Earl Randyll couldn't help but ask as he looked at his mysterious son.

Samwell chuckled and said: "Magic that can capture Storm's End Castle."

Lord Randyll frowned subconsciously after hearing the word "magic." The Lord of Horn Hill instinctively distrusted things like magic and witchcraft, but thinking of the dragon hatched by his son, he closed his mouth again.

"Are you ready?" Samwell stepped forward and asked Maester Qyburn.

"Okay, Lord Caesar, you can start at any time."

"Okay, let's start."

"Yes." Maester Qyburn waved to the apprentice beside him, and the boy ran towards the mound in the distance with a torch.

When Lord Randyll saw that his son was looking for a Maester instead of the witch in a red robe next to him, a trace of doubt flashed in his eyes.

Of course, he had long heard that there was a witch who believed in R'hllor, the Lord of Light, in his son's territory, but out of respect for the lord's autonomy, he had not said much.

This time his son mentioned that he wanted to show magic, he subconsciously thought it was the work of this witch.

But he didn't expect it to be the work of a Maester.

Could it be something similar to [Wildfire]?

Lord Randyll watched with confusion as the maester's apprentice ran to the top of the mound, seemed to light something on fire, and then ran back again.

But after waiting for a while, nothing happened.

Just when Count Randyll was confused, the mound in front suddenly exploded. The thunderous sound was like a bolt from the blue, shaking the wilderness. Even the war horses in the camp in the distance were startled and neighed.

Earl Randyll was so shocked that his eyelids twitched and he became temporarily absent-minded.

Samwell looked a little dissatisfied.

When the army was preparing to set out in Highgarden, Marster Qyburn sent a raven to deliver a letter, saying that there was a great breakthrough in gunpowder research, so he ordered Qyburn to come to Grassy vale City to join him immediately, preparing for the upcoming attack.

This new weapon can be used in the Stormland War that started.

But after seeing the gunpowder display and experiment with his own eyes, Samwell couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Although the power had been greatly improved compared to the last "fireworks," it was still far from the battlefield weapon he expected.

Perhaps this is the limitation of black powder.

Samwell could only regret not memorizing the TNT formula before he travelled through time...

However, although such gunpowder could not change the shape of war, it could still be used to blast city walls.

"The power is good," Earl Randyll seemed very satisfied.

"Can it blow down the walls of Storm's End?" Samwell asked, feeling a little guilty.

"I'm afraid not. However, smaller castles can still be dealt with," Earl Randyll gave his judgment.

Samwell was disappointed but still refused to give up. "Let's try it at Storm's End, maybe we can succeed."

"It's impossible to succeed," Melisandre said firmly.

In fact, Samwell did not summon the red-robed witch this time. After all, the soldiers in the army were all believers of the Seven Gods, so it would be inappropriate for her, a priest of the Lord of Light, to come over.

But Melisandre came with Maester Qyburn herself and said that Samwell would need her help.

Samwell had no choice but to agree to let her accompany the army but asked her not to mention the Lord of Light in the army to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.

"The amount of gunpowder can be increased," Maester Qyburn said, "and you can dig holes under the city wall and bury gunpowder, which can better shake its foundation."

"Impossible," Melisandre still shook her head, "Storm's End Castle was built by Durran, the first Storm King. He won the love of Elenie, the daughter of the sea god and the goddess of the wind. But her parents could not accept that their daughter would dedicate her virginity to a mortal, let alone that she would become a mortal from then on. Mortals are subject to life, old age, sickness, and death, so they brought strong winds and huge waves and destroyed the castle of Storm King Durran.

But Durran did not give up and built another castle on the ruins of that castle. However, when the howling winds and huge waves came from the bay, when the storm roared out, the castle was shattered again.

The subjects of the Stormlands urged him to return his wife to the gods or move the castle inland away from the sea, but the Storm King ignored them all and rebuilt the castle five more times. It became taller and stronger each time, but unfortunately, under the wrath of the gods, the mortal castle was always so vulnerable. Finally, the Storm King built it with the help of Brandon the Builder and the Children of the Forest. The seventh castle, this time, they weaved powerful magic into the huge stones of the city wall.

When the angry gods once again poured out the storm and fury on this castle, they could no longer shake it at all.

"Lord Caesar, this is a castle that even the gods can't do anything about, and the power of mortals is worthless in front of it."

Samwell fell into silence. He looked at Melisandre's sparkling eyes, always feeling that she had something in mind.

It is true that Storm's End has never been captured in history, but Samwell knows that in the original books, Stannis Baratheon did capture the castle.

But he didn't use a strong attack.

Instead, he climbed into Melisandre's bed and gave birth to a shadow with her, thus killing Ser Cortnay Penrose, the acting lord of Storm's End Castle, causing the soldiers defending the city to collapse without a fight.

Samwell thought to himself that if she took the initiative to come over this time, does she also want to use this method to conquer Storm's End Castle, right?

This woman is really persistent to climb his bed...

"Don't worry about Storm's End yet," Lord Randyll said, "Step by step, first Felwood City, then Bronzegate City, then Haystack Hall, Harvest Hall, Stonehelm... After we capture all the other castles in the Stormlands, it won't be too late to plot Storm's End."

"That's right," Samwell smiled and nodded, "No matter how unbreakable Storm's End is, it can't always be there. Guard until the end of time. Even if the bastard duke is determined to guard until the end of time, once we occupy the fertile land and dense jungle of the Stormlands, his lonely castle will no longer matter."

At this time, there was a sound coming from the Blueburn River behind him. There was a neighing sound, and Samwell looked back and saw Cleopatra grabbing a huge herring four feet long from the water and roaring with excitement.

Bang! The herring was thrown down next to Samwell. It seemed to be a gift from the white dragon to its owner.

Samwell smiled and waved his hand to the sky to express his gratitude.

Cleopatra circled a few times, then turned back to the river to continue hunting.

"My lord, your dragon has grown so big!" Maester Qyburn couldn't hide his surprise.

"Yes. The more she eats, the faster she grows," Samwell said with a smile.

Earl Randyll also stared at the white dragon for some time and asked, "Can you ride it?"

"I haven't tried it yet, but it should be almost there," Samwell looked at the white dragon, which was estimated to be six or seven feet long, wondering if he should try riding one.

When everyone returned to the camp with their trophies, Margaery greeted them with a sweet smile.

Samwell would not bring his "family" to the battlefield, and he did not want to become the second Renly Baratheon.

Margaery just came to see him off, and Grassy Vale City was the last stop. After entering the Kingswood, she would not follow him anymore but would travel around the various territories in the Reach.

Samwell knew that his fiancée's idol was Alysanne, the queen of Jaehaerys, " the Conciliator ." The most famous queen in the history of the Targaryen dynasty often travelled around the country and held "women's courts" at the same time.

Only women can participate in the "Women's Court," regardless of age or origin. Queen Alysanne encouraged them to speak out about their troubles and help them as much as possible.

For this reason, the queen has also won the universal support of women in the Seven Kingdoms.

Margaery plans to imitate this queen.

Samwell expressed strong support for this. After all, Queen Alysanne was not only wise but also extremely fertile. She gave birth to a total of thirteen children for King Jaehaerys throughout her life... That night, Samwell followed suit.

The land gave a boost to his fiancée's dream.

The army rested in Grassy Vae City for a day before setting off again.

Continuing east along the Blueburn River, one can see a lush forest.

That is Kingswood.

[END]