WILOW-Ch.351: Building a War Bridge
Green Fork River, Near the Twins
POV of Domeric Bolton
The next day.
"This is the place, milord." The fisherman said, pointing at the riverbank in front of them, "The place where the river is at its slowest, and the water level is pretty low as well."
Domeric did a subtle magical scan of the area and found that the fisherman was not lying.
The Green Fork River had a fast current in most places and was 5-6 meters deep, if not deeper.
In this section of the river, however, the current had slowed a little, and the water level was at 2-2.5 meters. Although this section was wider than other parts of the river, this was inevitable.
Otherwise, the water flow would be impossible to slow down despite the river's height decreasing. Physics didn't work that way.
But this place was still not passable for his troops. On the other hand, for giants who were 4-5 meters tall, this water level barely deterred them.
"Good job. You showed us the correct place. Here. 20 gold dragons as promised." He said and handed the small pouch filled with gold dragons to the fisherman, whose eyes were filled with greed.
The man thanked him repeatedly before finally leaving.
"Letting him leave was foolish. What if he tells the Freys?" Bronn asked.
"Mind your tongue, Bronn," Varko said, and Bronn flinched a bit before he quickly controlled himself.
Varko had a great reputation, and no one wanted to cross him.
"It's alright, Varko." He said and turned to Bronn, "It might look stupid because the fisherman might tell the Freys. But the thing is, I've killed all the ravens in the Twins and took back a few owls they had. So even if the Freys found out about our plan and tried to inform the Lannisters, they wouldn't be able to do so."
"What if they had kept some ravens in hiding?" Bronn asked.
"There are no other ravens. I am sure of it. And the Northern army is still outside the Twins. They'll shoot down any raven they see… if they find any. As for the scouts that they tried to send after us from the other side of the river…" He shrugged, "…You saw what happened to them."
Bronn shivered as he remembered how the wyverns tore apart and ate the scouts that House Frey sent after them from the other side of the river.
A few examples were enough to deter them from following them anymore.
"What do you plan to do from here on out, my lord?" Varko asked, "The river current is slow, and the water does look shallow, but our troops still cannot cross it."
"Now we build a bridge over it and cross to the other side of the river." He said.
There was silence as the faces of his men fell. "The Twins. You've seen them, right?" Bronn asked at last.
"Yes."
"Well… it took the Freys three generations to build it. And now you want us to build a bridge to cross the river." Bronn shook his head. "If we do this, then we'll stay here for the rest of the war."
He rolled his eyes. "We're not going to build a stone bridge." He said, "We'll build a wooden bridge. And we'll complete it within a week."
Bronn gave him an unimpressed look. "Impossible. Even a proper wooden bridge would take months to complete."
"Well, we're not trying to make a proper bridge. Just a temporary one, strong enough for our units to cross. A wooden war bridge, to be precise." He said and pointed at the map.
"And here is how I intend to do it."
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That very day, some of his men set up a blockade in the surrounding area, while the others went into the forest and started cutting trees.
Once they'd cut a 5-meter-long tree trunk, they sharpened it from the bottom and gave it to the Giants, who carried it to the river and plunged the tree trunk into the riverbed before punching it until it was firmly buried and would not move, no matter what.
By the end of the day, the 30 giants and the thousands of men had created a series of wooden pillars across the whole river.
At night, he flew on his hoverboard and double-checked the wooden pillars. Some of the pairs were uneven, so he cut off the top and made them even.
Instead, he could have used transfiguration or even built the entire bridge himself in a single night.
But Domeric's goal wasn't just to build a bridge; it was to earn war merit and spread his fame and power throughout Westeros.
He had to do this not with his magical powers, but with the strength of his army, his strategy, and his unheard-of practical methods. And he had to prove this not only to others but also to his own men, including them in this success.
Therefore, he only used his magic to fix minor imperfections that would take time to correct by his men.
Once he was done, he went back to his tent and slept.
The next day, the process continued in a similar manner. Except that this time, the men didn't sharpen the tree trunks, and the giants cut them in half before putting them between the pillars.
By the end of the second day, the pillars were connected, and he had two parallel lines running across the river.
At night, he once again set out to double-check the construction.
The giants had done a good job, but they were not the finest craftsmen out there and had gotten sloppy in some places.
He corrected their mistakes before going back once again.
On the third day, the humans joined the giants and filled the space between the pillars with wood and set them in place with nails.
This process went on for another day, and by the end of the fourth day, the wooden bridge was complete.
On the morning of the fifth day, his army finally crossed the Green Fork River.
He sent the conjured hawk to Lord Stark to tell him about the success of his plan and that they should guard the Freys for two more days before moving on to the Trident, where they'll face Tywin Lannister and his army of 25,000 as well as the Mountain and his 3,000 men.
Since he had taken his own army with him, the Northern host was left with 27,000 men. So, both the armies were fairly even. The Lannisters had more horses, but thanks to him, the Northern men were better equipped.
But the Lannisters also had the advantage of being on the other side of the river, so he had cautioned Lord Stark to wait until the forces from the Vale arrived.
Until then, Domeric and his army had their own task to complete.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.352: Domeric's Target
Ch.353: Grief and Despair
Ch.354: Wyvern Rider - I