WILOW-Ch.397: Visiting and Resupplying
Where the Lannister Cavalry Fell into a Trap
POV of Tywin Lannister
A day later.
Tywin looked at the burnt remains of what used to be the entire cavalry of his army and felt the hope sinking in his heart.
He tried to keep his face stoic as ever, but he had a feeling that his subordinates could see him gritting his teeth in anger.
Sending the cavalry after the Bolton boy had been a gamble. He knew that the boy would probably lead them to a trap.
But for it all to end like this…
He thought about retreating to the south and escaping the trap that's been closing around him by the armies chasing after him.
As someone who had been a battle commander since he was a mere teenager, he knew he should cut his losses, retreat south, and then return to Casterly Rock.
But the Bolton boy had both his family members as hostages and all the gold of Casterly Rock.
If he lost that and retreated, then what kind of legacy would he have left to give to the future generation of House Lannister?
No. He would rather meet death face to face than cower back to his home and live the rest of his life in regret.
Furthermore, his army had run out of food supplies. And even if he decided to go south, his army did not have enough food to withstand the journey.
He looked at his commanders and said, "Tell the men to keep moving. We'll reach the Tooth by tomorrow and take the castle before the Northern and the Vale army can catch up to us."
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Dreadfort Castle, Bolton Lands
POV of Domeric Bolton
"So that's how I destroyed the cavalry of the Lannister army without the loss of a single man." He said to his aunt and Lyra, while he sat in his room at the Dreadfort. "It was frankly much easier than I expected. I even had 4 more backup plans to destroy the enemy cavalry in case something went wrong. But I didn't need to use them. In the end, they could not even reach the giants."
"Only you would destroy the entire cavalry of the enemy army and call it easy," Lyra said.
"Why were you so bent on destroying their cavalry in the first place?" his aunt asked.
"So that when Tywin won't be able to escape, once I break his army under the Golden Tooth." He said.
"Won't be able to hunt him down with your own cavalry, wyverns, and direwolves?" his aunt asked.
"I could. But it would be too troublesome. Not to mention that the chances of my men dying also increase if I take my cavalry against their own in a field battle." He said, "Doing things this way is easier and cleaner. Of course, Tywin still might decide to cut his losses and run, but he won't get very far."
"You seem very confident that you'll break Tywin's army at the walls." His aunt said, "If I remember well, then his army still outnumbers yours by 2 to 1."
"It does." He replied with a smile, "But thanks to the new magical armors and weapons created by my little rune workers, I have increased my Personal Guards to 1000 men. With the support of the archers and the bolters, I'm certain that we'll break Tywin's army with ease."
Then he smiled mischievously and said, "Also, thanks to the magical amulets, it's as if every soldier in my army has ten extra lives. I have no fear of an army twice the size of mine while my army is inside a castle that is considered almost impossible to conquer."
"I notice how you've yet to touch the topic about Sansa Stark." Lyra said with a raised eyebrow and a smug look on her face, "Sansa didn't seem very eager to leave. How is she now?"
His aunt looked at him curiously, though he didn't fail to notice the slight furrow of her brow at the mention of Sansa.
Domeric would think his aunt's frown stemmed from her hatred of the Starks if they had had this conversation in the past.
Although her hatred was directed more towards Eddard Stark and Catelyn Stark than the Stark children.
His aunt didn't hate the Stark children.
But she did hate Lady Catelyn a great deal, and the fact that Sansa always tried to emulate Lady Catelyn in the past made a terrible first impression on his aunt.
But at this moment, Domeric knew his aunt's frown wasn't born of hatred.
Sansa Stark had become like a pupil first, then like a foster daughter, to his aunt, Lady Barbrey.
Even though she was warm towards Arya, Sansa held a special place in her heart.
And although she never spoke about it, she wasn't at all pleased that Sansa was leaving Dreadfort and returning to her family.
If Sansa had left her true identity behind and continued to live in Dreadfort under a new identity, Aunt Barbrey might have truly adopted and raised her as her own daughter.
"Nothing much to talk about." He said, "The mannequin had to watch all the Stark guards and staff killed in front of her and was beaten and humiliated time and time again by King Joffrey and his Kingsguard in front of the whole Court. Even though Sansa didn't experience these things firsthand, watching those memories had a profound impact on her."
The brutal description of what Sansa had watched these past months put a damper on Lyra and his aunt's mood.
Then he added, "Sansa is now hungry for power. To avoid feeling so weak again. That's why she wants to return to the Dreadfort. To become stronger and feel safe."
"Are you going to let her come back here again?" his aunt asked.
"I've already given her my permission. All she has to do is convince her family. And I don't think she'll have much trouble with that." He said.
Lyra was about to say something else when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." He said and removed the latch with a flick of his fingers.
The door opened, and Karsi walked inside. "My lord." She said with a bow, and he smiled. "Karsi. How are your daughters?" he asked.
"As naughty and stubborn as ever, my lord." She replied with a genuine smile. "The things you asked for are ready and have been kept in the dining room."
He nodded and got up from his chair before looking at his aunt and Lyra.
"See you after the battle with Tywin." He said and left the room.
He entered the dining room with Karsi and found the room filled with wooden crates. Half of them were colored red, and the other half green.
He opened one of the red crates and looked inside. It was filled with quivers full of arrows.
"One of these boxes holds 2,500 arrows," Karsi said and then pointed at the slightly smaller box with the green color, which was filled with bolts and magazines. "And one of the green ones holds a similar number of bolts."
He nodded and counted the total number of boxes.
60 of each type.
150,000 arrows and 150,000 bolts. Plus, magazines for the pump-action crossbows.
Precisely the amount he asked.
"How did you run out of supplies so fast?" Karsi asked, "I remember each man taking at least 3 quivers of their own."
He nodded. "We had plenty of arrows and bolts till yesterday, but we used all of them in a trap against the Lannister cavalry." He said, "What's worse is that thanks to the Wildfire, all the bodies, as well as the bolts and arrows, burned down, so we could neither recover any of our arrows nor did we gain any loot."
With that said, he took out another bottomless pouch and started to fill it with the wooden crates.
It was a good thing that he was able to travel across the continent in an instant and carry 120 large crates in a small pouch.
Otherwise, they would have to defend against Tywin without any projectiles, which would suck.
"You destroyed the Lannister cavalry?" Karsi asked.
"Sure did." He replied with a huge smile, "And I intend to destroy Tywin's army by tomorrow evening."
"You seem pretty confident in yourself." Karsi said, "Be careful… and please tell Varko that I miss him."
"Will do." He said as he put the last crate into the bottomless pouch, then turned to Karsi. "See you later."
And then, with a pop sound, he apparated.
The next moment, he was back in the Golden Tooth, where he promptly gave the arrows and bolts to his men for tomorrow's siege.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.398: On the Eve of the Siege
Ch.399: The End of the Siege
Ch.400: Defeating the Westerlands Army