Chapter 15

I marched with my Troops to meet the incoming Mountain Houses. I refused to ride at the head of my Light Cavalry, mostly because I was not yet confident enough of my Riding Skill, which was only at level 5, to fight from Horseback yet, but also because I wanted to foster a sense of unity amongst my Standing Army and Levies. I wanted to show them that I wasn't going to force them to do anything I wasn't willing to do myself, the General Washington at Valley Forge Principle, though with the 16th Century Pike Drills I had instilled into what had previously been a rather motley mess of guardsmen and peasant volunteers, I felt a little more like Baron Von Steuben than Washington. At Least I had leveled up my Teaching skill to level 15, which allowed me to teach complex maneuvers and even skills that I possessed.

So my 3,600 Troops were going to be facing the 5,000 Troops of the Combined Pine, Hardy, and Boggs Levies, though if I had to guess I would say that they still could muster further levies if they needed to. That would be important for later if I would have to draw troops from there for Campaigns against the Lannisters, Ice Zombies, and who knows what else. My Troops were armored in Good Quality Steel Partial Plate and Mail, I had checked the Standard Pikeman's Suit of Armor with my Observe and found it a little more defensive than the Guardian Set I had found in the King's Landing Catacombs, though it gave smaller stat boosts, only +2 STR, +2 VIT, and +2 Dex. Still it would serve my Troops well enough. My Troops were as well trained as they could be at the moment.

As we marched across Crackclaw Point, our outriders spotted the enemy after a day's march. They were resting in a small Village clustered around one of my watchtowers, having looted the village of food and coin and killed the defenders. We stopped at the end of the day some 5 miles away from the enemy, and I had my men dig a fortified, Roman Style Camp and posted sentries so that we would not be taken unawares by a night attack from the Mountain Houses. As it happened the Mountain House Army had decided against attacking a fortified camp and in favor of banqueting off my people's food. That village had probably had it's winter stores cracked open and whatever wasn't eaten would likely spoil if left out in the open. I couldn't help but wonder how many other villages this army had done this to.

The Next Morning I had my troops form up in Column, we would march to meet the despoilers of our lands and if battle was to break out, we would already be in formation to fight. I sent my light cavalry by a more circuitous route that would see them smash into the rear of the enemy midway through the battle. As we came upon the village we found a scene of devastation. Storehouses cracked open and provisions eaten, whatever couldn't be carried back on loot carts was burnt. The Sickly Sweet Smell of corpses hung around the village along with the smoke from 5,000 cookfires and the smell of roasted beef, all mixing into a noxious haze.

There the enemy stood before us, arrayed in mismatched armor, with only the more senior commanders having plate armor and only the veterans having mail, the rest were armored in Padded Jacks or Boiled Leather, that would not save them from the blades and quarrels of my men. Their weapons were as mismatched as their armors, with many wielding tools of their trades such as felling axes or crofting hammers rather than proper weapons, though I could see a solid core of raiders with swords, spears, and battle axes, mostly the veterans in mail or the high status warriors in plate. Only a few had shields. I looked for banners and I spotted the Brown Log of Boggs, the Green Fir of Pynes, and the Stone Gate of Hardy and the men under those banners all looked like burly raiders in the prime of their lives, wearing partial plate and bearing greatsword, greataxe, and for Lord Hardy, a Sword and Shield. They seemed to be attended by their Squires, who also were dressed in their own colors and standing under their banners, and I realized through deduction and use of Observe that these were their sons and heirs. Their only sons and heirs too if Observe was telling the truth.

I strode forth from my men and the three Lords did the Same.

"Lords Pyne, Hardy, and Boggs, I assume. Why have you done this? Marching in force to despoil my lands?" I asked.

"These aren't your lands, boy. They Belonged to House Crabb, but the last of them died with Rhaegar. Now they belong to no one." Snorted Lord Hardy.

"I beg to differ, I recieved Royal Warrant for these Lands, making them mine in the eyes of Gods and Men, and by the Laws of the Seven Kingdoms." I replied.

"That Usurper is no King! Rhaegar was the true King! Robert Baratheon slew him and stole his Throne!" Protested Lord Boggs.

"And what did Aegon the Conqueror do? Did he not do the Same to Harren Hoare or Argilac Durrendon? The difference between a King and a Usurper is largely that of the difference between winner and loser. The Targaryens Lost, my Lords. Plain and Simple. Robert's writ is all that currently matters, I have it, and you do not. Now remove your tattered remnant of an army from the field at once, or I swear to you, by the Drowned God, by the Old Gods, and by the Seven that I shall break your army here, I shall slay or capture you and your heirs, and I shall see your lands go to someone more deserving." I replied.

"We shall see, boy. I doubt it is we this day who will lay dead on the field, we have five thousand men." Replied Lord Pyne.

With that, the three Lords returned to their men, as I did to mine.

"Look at them! Ragged levies in mismatched armor! Their Lines showing gaps from ill discipline! I Tell you lads, they'll get one taste of our Steel and Our Discipline, and they'll Break! Prepare to Charge! Pikes Front, Crossbows in the middle, just like we practiced lads! At the Quick March! Forward!" I shouted. The Pipes and Drums, a feature I had been pleasantly surprised to discover existed in certain parts of Westeros, began to play Highland Laddie, the Pipe and Drum Quick March of the Black Watch back home on earth and we were off at a charge.

Initially our longer reach was all that we needed as we utterly decimated the first line of ragged Mountain Lord Soldiers, piercing through the line and rolling it up as the poorly equipped medieval peasant levies died or surrendered en masse to 16th century pike and shot tactics. I barely had time to wet my blade, taking down one of the Veteran Sergeants in Mail and wielding a greatsword with a pair of well placed Power Strikes and spitting another hapless spearman wearing a boiled leather jerkin with a Finishing Strike before events had overtaken me and we were already breaking the first line of troops.

The next line was made of sterner stuff, more of their troops had the boiled leather armor and shields with a few more of those mailed Sergeants thrown in. I lashed about me with multiple Power Strikes from my position on the front, taking limbs and hitting unprotected spots like throats or armpits, while my Pikemen formed Square to repel the numerically superior second line. I had judged the first line to be at just over 1,000 men strong, but the second line was easily twice that and had better equipped and trained troops in it, though still at least half of the minimally equipped peasants, we fought them for what seemed like an hour until I judged their formation weakened enough that a switch to Column Formation would Break them.

"Form Column Lads! Charge!" I shouted, whilst braining a mailed sergeant in the Pot Helm with a Mordschlag

And we did form column and charge and it was glorious, pikes skewering out and killing enemies, keeping the mass of swordsmen and axemen at bay with reach while crossbows poured fire into them. Me laying about with the occasional Power Strike and Mordschlag to lay low a particularly troublesome sergeant attempting to rally his troops here or a Knight who had rallied a knot of defenders there. Soon we had killed or captured the majority of the second line. All that remained was the third, 2,000 troops the majority in mail with some in partial plate, including the Lords themselves. I estimated that we had killed around 1,500 enemy troops and taken prisoner around 1,200 with the remainder wounded or fled. Thus far we had lost surprisingly few many, maybe even as little as 100 dead or wounded alltogether, I would have to do a proper head count later, but it was a wonder what proper equipment and training could do for a force.

The Third Line had just engaged us and were being unhelpfully stubborn in insisting that they should be the victors when my plan from earlier managed to effect itself. 400 Hussar Style Light Cavalry, Clad in Scale Armor and wielding lances smashed into the rear of the enemy formation, charging into their rear again and again. It was at this point that I spurred my men into Column and began to press them from both sides. I caught a flash of Green and struck out with a Meisterhau only to realize that the man who I had just decapitated was Lord Pyne, wroth over the death of his son and heir to a crossbow bolt t the eye. From across the field I could see Lord Hardy and his son try to rally a defense against the Hussars hitting their rear only for both of them to catch a lance, Lord Hardy Through the Gorget, killing him quickly, if messily, and his Son through the Cuisses, damn near severing his left leg, The young lad bled out in seconds. I later found out that Lord Boggs had tried to flee only to be killed by his own men when he attempted to leave them to their fate. His heir was found two days later 5 miles from the battlefield having drowned whilst crossing a stream. It had appeared that he had tried to flee back to his holdings to rally a second levy, presumably to take the Pynes' and Boggs' Lands, having found mine too hard a target.

With the Cavalry Charge in their rear, the renewed Infantry Assault in their front, and their Lords dead, missing, or dying, the remainder of the force surrendered en masse. We had achieved Victory over the Mountain Houses of Southern Crackclaw Point. I had my most able troops round up the prisoners. I would give them the Join Up for a btter life speech tonight, but first I had the baggage train brought forward and shared a cask of ale with the Commander of the Hussars, Ser Roderick Waters, and my Commander of the Crossbowmen, Marq Strongbow. I of course had reserved command of the Pikemen for myself alongside overall command, but I did have a deputy, Alan Waters, who also got in on the celebration.

"Cheers gentlemen! To Victory!" I shouted as we drank to our Victory.

I then had the sergeants gather all the prisoners on what had once been a Village Green, but was the center of our camp.

"Attention Prisoners. By now you all know that your Lords are dead, and that they were traitors, old die hard Targaryen Loyalists who led you into battle today for a cause that was lost 15 years ago. Most Lords would see this treason and those who helped to perpetrate it as punishable by death. I am not most Lords. The Lordships of Pyne, Hardy, and Boggs are now vacant. I intend to petition Lord Stannis Baratheon, Brother to the King, to grant me those Lordships or grant them to deputies I appoint who would then swear oaths of fealty to me. I could start this reign cruelly, with your executions, or I could give you a Choice, a chance for redemption. As you may have heard, I have reformed my lands to be productive, both materially and agriculturally. Enough so that I can field a Standing Army in addition to a Reserve Levy. Those among you who volunteer for a position in the Standing Army will be trained and equipped to the standards of the rest of my forces, fed and quartered, but also paid for your services. Normally the term of enlistment is 3 years with a chance to renew, but as you have decided to follow traitors into Battle, the terms for you will be harsher. You will volunteer for five years Service in either the Standing Army or we will send you to the Night's Watch. If you choose the Standing Army, you will only receive 2/3rds pay for the first 3 years as punishment, but not only will your families be provided for, but you will be a part of the finest fighting force since the Legions of Old Ghis! If you choose not to volunteer for the Army, then I'm afraid you will have to take the Black. That road will be cold and miserable out on the arse end of the world, with wildlings and worse out to kill you, and without even someone nice and warm to come home too, but it is still a vital Job. Those who refuse to choose on of those two choices by sundown tomorrow will be hung by the neck until dead for treason. Life or Death, lads, what's it going to be?"

The next night I grinned in satisfaction as I heard that out of the remaining 2,000 Prisoners, 1,800 Former Enemy Troops had decided to Join my Standing Army with a Further 140 Choosing the Night's Watch. I only had to execute 60 traitors, mostly former Sergeants or Landless Knights.

I had only Lost 200 Troops total in the Fighting, the enemy had lost 2,160 Killed if the Corpse Removal Details could be believed, which meant 40 enemy troops had fled, gone missing, or otherwise escaped the slaughter. That was something like a 10 to 1 Kill/Loss ratio. Granted many of the dead were Green, Ill Trained, and Ill Equipped Levies, but hey a win is a win.

Unfortunately many of the dead bodies had coins from Pentos on their Persons, and the Pay Chest that the enemy Lords had been keeping had a mix of Pentoshi and Westerosi Currency. I Only knew of one man who had contacts in Pentos, had Targaryen or possibly Blackfyre Sympathies, and played the game of thrones. Unfortunately he was also someone I couldn't touch at the moment.

Varys. . .