Chapter 300
2021-01-06
Chapter 300Igor did not have the personal experience of sailing between Westeros and Essos, but the narrow sea The bad weather and sea conditions have long been heard, even more how - from Braavos to the land grant, fleet has to go more than a short ride on the narrow sea: even if it successfully crosses the storm-ravaged northern narrow sea, the ship has to Travel thousands of miles along the shores of the Eastern Sea in the North in the endless Shivering Sea to finally reach the easternmost point of the Wall.
In this day and age, a voyage of tens of days would drain the energy and patience of any captain and sailor, and no ship would be willing to travel thousands of miles only to arrive outside the port because the person who should receive the cargo cannot control the port and continue Stay at sea - especially if they've taken shipping from the Iron Vault.
Braavos' grain ships are bound to arrive at Eastwatch in the near future, and oneself will not only make every effort to ensure the smooth unloading of this batch of loan grains, but also ensure that they are not detained by conservatives, but shipped. To Queenscrown, replenish the granary into the working placement plan. "King-Beyond-the-Wall" may not be loved by all freedmen, but everyone absolutely needs to eat -- and if there is a problem with the food supply, the trouble is far greater than the assassination of Mance Rayder.
The thing is, oneself wasn't the boss of the Eastwatch commander until he officially won the Lord Commander election. At the moment, he can only request cooperation as the chief logistics officer... a level. This means: if Cotter Pyke wants to get in trouble, he can even just and honorable against oneself, without even bothering to make up a reason!
There are two paths before Igor: negotiate with your opponent and pay some price to get him out of trouble... or try to get him out of trouble.
Reason tells Igor to at least try the former option first, but intuition reminds him of something else that isn't very relevant.
......
When I was in King's Landing back then, I was also involuntarily offending people, and I was also caught in a passive position when the Night's Watch industry faced the commander of the King's Landing garrison. , when the communication fails to turn each other over and start a war, Tyrion Lannister adopts his "aristocratic" or "politician" tactical strategy to deal with the enemy. means of political warfare.
But what about the end result?
Just when it was about to get a complete victory, the opponent made a crazy counterattack and almost succeeded in a comeback, and Igor almost lost his life. In the end, it was only with the help of experts and friends that he turned peril into safety.
Things are unpredictable, and a conservative, prudent and rational approach may not be the best choice at a critical moment when nothing can go wrong.
If you choose to negotiate, half of the result depends on the idea of the negotiated object; and to settle the opponent, it is the will of oneself to control the overall situation. Which is better and which is worse, it's not easy to be arbitrary without preconditions, but this time, a certain voice in my heart helped Igor make a decision in an instant.
He chose to take the initiative.
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"Joey, go get a drink for the brother from Queenscrown." Igor put down his hands that supported his head, leaned back in the chair, and signaled for the report. The believer should not be impatient: "Let me think about it, and then give you an answer."
As an employee of the Night's Watch industry, how dare the messenger urge oneself Boss? squire poured hot drinks for both of them, and the messenger held the cups and sipped while waiting quietly.
First strike is stronger, and the emphasis is on the word "first". If you choose this path, then you have to hurry up... Igor emptied his head of irrelevant information and began to devote all his brain power to the plan.
Time passed minute by minute. In reality, about half an hour passed, but in the feeling of the waiter, it seemed as if a century had passed. Igor finally broke the sculpture state and raised his head to ask: "Iron vault. What did the messenger say, does Castle Black know the news that the grain ship is about to arrive?"
"This time, sir, it was what you said when you signed the contract with the Iron Vault. 'Observers'. Their mission is to supervise the operation of Night's Watch Legion, to ensure that the loan is used to defend the Wall and protect the Seven Kingdoms, rather than being embezzled by the Legion high-level officials. There are a total of eight envoys in this group - two by two, respectively stationed The three major fortresses and Queenscrown, and the mission of transporting grain... The iron vault is outsourced to a Braavos fleet, and they are not affiliated with the iron vault."
The answer was different, but Igor read the other side's words. Quickly extracted the answer: "so that's how it is - can I understand this, the news about the grain ship this time is just a friendly reminder from one of the two 'observers' dispatched to Queenscrown, not the iron vault Official notice to the Night's Watch Legion?"
"Yes, the messenger also said that the ship carrying them had little connection with the fleet. They did not set out on the same day, nor did they A port sets sail...he's just a personal reminder that you need to be prepared in advance."
very good, if so, then Igor can optimistically assume that Cotter Pyke, who is at Castle Black at the moment, and No message before oneself. With him dueling James at Hardin's Tower in the morning, it would take half a day to pack up and prepare, and the weather along the Wall is bad now, and it's unlikely he would choose to rush back to his lair in the evening against the wind and snow.
In addition, messages sent through Raven have to be read by Maester, and using home field advantage against oneself is not a glorious thing after all. Even if Cotter learned the news of the arrival of the grain ship and decided to take the opportunity to attack, most of them would choose oneself to return to the boss, and it is unlikely to use Castle Black's flying crow to send a letter to inform the subordinates who stayed behind Eastwatch to prepare.
Oneself still has a chance to seize the opportunity!
Thinking of this, Igor suddenly felt a little strange: How do you feel... the people from the Iron Vault can always help oneself by accident? Is it because Jaqen H'ghar, who has changed his identities, met oneself and acted righteously, or was it for some other reason?
"How much is this batch of food?"
"I don't know, but the messenger from the Iron Vault said it's worth about ten thousand Golden Dragons... With careful planning, it's enough to eat the entire donated land for two or three months. "
The iron vault is really great generosity, and the first batch of grain was shipped so much... The land grant itself has reserves of meat, vegetables, etc., hunting, gathering, and then buying as much as possible from North and Riverlands One point is one point, this first batch of loan food can support the entire land grant for half a year!
With such a large quantity, there must be no problem, look no further.
Igor lifts the head looking at the employee of the Night's Watch industry who was brought by oneself from King's Landing in person, some familiar but unnamed, and realized that oneself seemed a little rude: "Very well, young man. , what's your name?"
"Kent, my lord."
"Kent, Raven doesn't fly at night." Igor said with a serious expression: "Yam will send you today. Hurry up and report to me, that he thinks you are a reliable person. Now, I am going to give you a difficult mission to give you a chance to prove your oneself ability, which requires you to drive without rest all night today, Are you ready?"
The first time he spoke to Big Boss face to face, he was about to be entrusted with a heavy responsibility, and youngster suddenly became excited, clenched his fists and stood up: "I am willing to serve the adults! "
"Sit down, I will issue a few orders and certificates now, you need to get back to Queenscrown as fast as possible overnight, hand it over to Yam and Humfrey, and tell them the specific content of my plan ." Igor took out the paper, pen and stamp pad, and started to do it, shua shua shua wrote the first one: "This one: Let Yam mobilize all the troops that Queenscrown can use now, veterans and recruits are all Yes, man the more the better - set off at night and head north along Kingsroad, arrive at Castle Black before dawn. Block the gate, watch the whole circle of walls, and before I return from my tour with the North nobles, a mouse also Don't let it out from Castle Black!"
"Huh?" Kent was taken aback, he originally thought the so-called arduous mission, just another urgent message, who thought it was a mutiny? Under tension, he stammered: "But... big...sir, what are we going to do, are we going to fight the Night's Watch stationed there? Castle Black has only 500 people, but they are all veterans, and Queenscrown is probably not an opponent. Ah."
"It doesn't need to be an opponent, this is not a combat mission, just a blockade! The core mission is to ensure that Cotter Pyke can't return to Eastwatch!" No matter how tough the soldier is, the leaderless group of dragons is also scattered in sand, even more how Eastwatch's soldiers are dragons? Igor shook his head: "There needs to be a reason for this, and we claim that it is North's order to guard Robb Stark. No one is allowed to leave until Lord Stark returns to Castle Black to deal with today's Night's Watch infighting!"
" Duke Stark really gave this order?"
What stupid question? Igor turned his face, but at this juncture, he couldn't call him stupid: "No, but I can say that I thought he hinted like this. Can't really do it, this is very important, if there are no casualties, then I can handle it! Tell Yam, the Kingslayer can participate in the support, but must let a calm and cautious person lead the team, no mistakes are allowed!"
Kent shivered and nodded: "Understood, but what about the top of Wall? Castle Black is blocked, Lord Cotter can go back to Eastwatch through the ice road on top of Wall."
Indeed , it seems that this kid is not as stupid as Igor just thought.
"This is not a problem, so the second mission is to send a letter to the two mountain clans who settled in Queensgate and Sable Hall, and also block the east-west passage on the top of Castle Black Wall." Igor nominee affirmed After the other party's reminder, shua shua shua wrote the second document: "Not only will Cotter Pyke be unable to leave Castle Black and return to Eastwatch, but I will also make it impossible for the people in Castle Black to tell what is happening over there. The situation is communicated."
"Understood." The panic gradually dissipated, and Igor's decisive expression infected Kent. The blood filled his body again, and he nodded heavily: "But Castle Black has a lot of Ravens, people can't get out, what should they do if they fly crows to send messages?"
"There are nineteen fortresses along the Wall. The sixteen crow cages are under my control, the only thing to worry about is Ser Mallister's Shadow Tower...but old fox, he can see the situation better than anyone else in Night's Watch Legion." Igor squinted his eyes. : "I hope he can be a handsome man who knows current affairs, but if not, I will have a story to explain to Robb Stark, you don't have to worry about it."
Igor has decided that he will be in the Flint clan later. At the welcome dinner, let Robb be vaccinated first - revealing a little news that the iron vault grain ship is about to arrive, and at the same time expressing vaguely that "that small group of irritable people" may be tampering with food - — and told him: oneself intends to take measures to prevent. In this way, if he still can't hide the news and let him know in advance, oneself also has an excuse to explain.
But this is something to be considered in the future. Right now, he keeps his hands and signs the third transfer order quickly.
"This is a plan for Eastwatch. After you return to Queenscrown, ask Yam to summon the Warrior who blocked Castle Black, and then ask Humfrey to arrange a transport team overnight, and organize another meat transport to reward the defenders. Set off overnight for Eastwatch in the name of Sable Hall and Torches, gather as many clan Warriors as you can from these two strongholds, Eastwatch has 200 Night's Watch, and we need a similar number of people to ensure control of the port Igor said: "If so many people pass by directly, it may cause alarm. You can consider letting the convoy enter Eastwatch first, and then cooperate with the inside and outside to open the door... No matter what method we take, in short, let our people enter Eastwatch. Build a wall and control the port to ensure that grain ships are in control when they enter the port.”
The wall was built at every fort along the Wall, allowing Igor to easily stop Cotter Pyke from leaving by simply blocking Castle Black’s gates, but I also have to face the dilemma that I may not be able to enter Eastwatch... Now, I can only pin my hopes on: the advantage of seizing the opportunity is large enough.
"Okay, repeat what I want you to do."
"One, return to Queenscrown overnight, and inform the two clan people next to Castle Black to garrison the fortress along the way. They cut off the passage on the top of Wall; second, after arriving, inform Lord Yam to mobilize troops to surround and block Castle Black overnight, and must prevent Lord Cotter Pyke from returning to Eastwatch; three, let Lord Humfrey organize a transport team to Eastwatch, deceive the gate of the fortress, and control The port, to ensure smooth unloading of the grain ship when it arrives."
"It is very complete, remember that the deployment of troops is a means of deterrence, I do not want any head-on conflict and casualties. If it is unavoidable, I must Minimize the impact... For this, tell Yam and Humfrey: Try not to use new land grantors in this operation. The people involved in the operation are called from the logistics department and Night's Watch industry employees, mountain clans. "
"But... to ensure sufficient deterrence, we have to mobilize at least a thousand warriors, the mountain clans of Queenscrown and Castle Black to the east, and we can't provide so many people."
"But... p>
"Then find a clever and reliable new land grantor, and appropriately pretend to be a mountain clan clan. They look similar anyway... But we still have to announce that everyone is a mountain clan warrior, lest anyone say... ...I not only let the wildling in, but also helped them deal with their oneself brother!"
"Understood." Kent facial expression gravely nodded, but still seemed a little hesitant: "But my lord... it's just a batch of food. , do we need to take such a big risk? You already have the lead in the election, and you are about to win, will you do this at a time when many Night's Watches think it is reckless...and lose a lot of votes?"
Kent's concerns were reasonable...but Igor knew that the caller couldn't show hesitation in front of his subordinates.
"If I'm going to feed four hundred people, the Night's Watch Industry can occasionally buy grain from King's Landing; Good relationship, they can also support such food consumption - but I have to feed 40,000 people now, do you understand what this means? North and Riverlands need to save food for the winter, there is a surplus of Reach and it is impossible to help .Once there is a problem with the loan and food, even if I have the great ability, I can't change the food. I can only watch the Wall-land-grant society that I worked so hard to build collapse, fall into chaos and turn into Hell! That's right! , it's quite risky, and it's very bad for my Lord Commander campaign, but compared to the risk of starving tens of thousands of people, killing each other, and giving land to lose of life, I'm willing to take the consequences. Now, I want you Execute the order, understand?"
Although there are still doubts, the training in King's Landing and the instinct to obey orders developed in more than a year of work have come into play at this time, Kent station He got up and straightened his chest: "Yes, sir! I'll leave right now!"
"Don't worry, although the time is urgent, it's not bad for a little while. Since I've decided to stay up all night , you can't go hungry." Igor also stood up: "I'll take you to meet Flint patriarch now, and let him arrange a team of escorts for you, in case an accident breaks the major event... Then, let Joey take you all Go to the kitchen, eat what you want, fill your stomach and go. As long as you don't breathe, send me the order!"
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(end of this chapter)