Chapter 21

The next few weeks were a blur. It seemed like everyone and their mothers had called their banners. Not only had Stannis called his, which fortunately for me I had most of my army already in place and only needed to call up the remaining levies, but so too had Renly with the Reach's backing, Jofferey, Tywin, and Robb Stark. Stannis had summoned all his lords to Dragonstone, but I told him via correspondence that I could not, in good conscience, leave the army I had gathered leaderless while the Brunes were also amassing their forces near Dyre Den. He seemed to accept that, given that the Brunes had made their loyalties plain when they had sent envoys to King's Landing to bend the knee to Jofferey.

As it stood I had some 3,950 professional Swiss-style Pikemen, 1,900 professional Crossbowmen, 850 professional Hussar-style Light Cavalry, 2,000 Militia Spearmen, 1,000 Militia Archers, and 300 assorted Freeriders, Hedge Knights, and Household Knight Heavy Cavalry. It was an army some 10,000 strong and it represented around half the strength the entire Point could muster. It also constituted 2/3rds of Stannis' available land forces. That meant I had a rather large say in any strategic decisions being made. Naturally I corresponded directly with the War Council, which seemed to consist of Stannis, Lord Celtigar, Lord Velaryon, Lord Sunglass, Lord Bar Emmon, Davos Seaworth, and surprisingly, Lord Massey of Massey's Hook who had declared for Stannis rather than Renly.

In my correspondence I mentioned the visit from Asha and the proposal I had made to her. Stannis was hesitant about allying with Balon Greyjoy, as the man had proven treacherous in the past, but I assured him that my cousin Asha at least could be trusted to keep to her word and that she had a reputation as something of a reformer. I also mentioned that having something to tie up the Redwyne Fleet that had declared for Renly seemed like a good idea no matter who it was, as we could not currently project power into the Sunset Sea. That seemed to mollify Stannis somewhat, and he said he would be open to the possibility if Balon was.

I also further elaborated my plan for battle. Stannis wished to defeat Renly first and seize the levies of the Stormlands for himself, which would greatly enhance his land forces. I told Stannis that with the Reach, he would have no chance against Renly in open battle without some factor to multiply the potential of his force. I suggested using Renly's natural arrogance to lure him into prepared ground, with fieldworks and if possible a scorpion or several. Stannis had conceded that it was a better plan strategically than sailing to seize storm's end and forcing a battle on it's walls as he had originally planned. When he asked what I would be doing, I simply replied that I would be taking care of the Brune's and seizing their levies and lands for our cause, after which we could march on King's Landing from two directions to catch the enemy in a pincer.

Stannis agreed with the plan, with the further caveat that he emplace a blockade of Blackwater Bay in order to starve and weaken the defenders of King's Landing as much as possible. I responded that Cersei would merely hoard all the food for her court and troops and leave the townsfolk to die, and that if Stannis really wished to starve the city out, it would take much more than a blockade and that he would then be master of a city of the dead. He refused to listen to my protestations though and the blockade was given the green light.

As for me, I gathered my commanders and captains and laid out my strategy. "Alright, so here's the deal. The Brunes have concentrated what forces they have on hand near Dyre Den where they're building an Army, they don't have all their forces in place and what forces they do have are a mix of green levies and their own household troops. The vast majority of their troops are levies that have just been called up for this particular war. The Brunes have not put into place our Militia system, nor our standing army. We also have the advantage in that we are already fully mobilized. My plan thus is to attack the Brune army before it is fully gathered and trained up. We have the initiative, we shouldn't waste it." I said.

Then I turned to my captains and said. "Dyre Den isn't a port, but Brownhollow is. I want you all to blockade Brownhollow and seize any ship that attempts to run the blockade or make port. The Brune's of Brownhollow are a little too prosperous for a cadet branch sitting on rocky lands like they are. I also saw a knight in their livery chatting up the Master of Coin while in the capitol, not something that usually happens. That makes me think that Baelish is running some sort of economic operation out of Brownhollow, and anything that can hurt Jofferey's coffers is an action I'd like to take."

Taking a breath I said, "I'll not lie to you. This war won't be as short or as sweet as the last one. Our enemies are much larger in numbers and economic might than us. The Brunes are but the least of them. However we have the advantage in discipline, tactics, and equipment. We are a small but elite cadre, and if we execute my plan to seize Brownhollow and Dyre Den, our forces and war chest can only grow, but remember that this is but one theater of a major war. However, should you perform as you have been, and your men remember their training, we will prevail. For tonight, I order you to eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow, the drums will sound and the pipes will blow and 10,000 booted feet will march. . .to Victory, or Death!"

Gratifyingly all the captains and commanders raised their tankards and echoed, "Victory or Death!"

For having clever foresight where your enemies had none, you have gained +1 WIS

For having a clever plan tailored to your enemies' weaknesses you have gained +1 INT

For an inspiring speech that rallied your commanders behind you, you have gained +1 LUK

I grinned, my powers could only grow from this conflict, we hadn't even started marching yet and already I was gaining attributes. For now, I contented myself with good wine and roast capers. From tomorrow I would be eating salt pork and hardtack, for tomorrow we would march.

XXXX

The next morning was a flurry of activity as booted feet tramped about, packing supplies and breaking down camp. The women of the town came to see off the men to war, crying and giving tokens for their husbands or boyfriends to wear into battle. I had nobody to see me off like that. Amelia would stay on Claw Isle for the duration and I'm not entirely certain what I felt about her to be honest. In many ways she was much more mature than I had expected for someone who would have been a minor back on earth, yet in other ways she was still a young girl. While our courting had been going well, and while she was the clear choice for a new lordling, I'm still unsure how exactly she feels about me. She had a lot of pressure placed on her to marry me by Lord Celtigar who wanted closer ties with his most powerful vassal. Not only that, but Andal and Valyrian Houses tended to subordinate their women to their men. I wasn't sure that she was really enjoying my company even if she said she was.

My introspection faded as the columns began to form after the last of the supplies had been loaded. I eschewed use of a horse and would march with my main body of men. No sense forcing them to do anything I wouldn't do myself, besides I was more comfortable on the ground than atop a horse anyway. As the columns formed up and the pipers and drummers began to play, we moved off. The fleet had already sailed hours earlier, to better emplace the blockade of Brownhollow and catch any would be smugglers trying to slip into port in the early dawn.

10,000 booted feet, moving on to glory. . .I grinned as the pipers struck up a jaunty tune to ease our march northward. We would arrive at Dyre Den in two days, and then we would battle the first of our many foes. . .