Chapter 139: The Alliance of Stannis and Dorne
The Reach, Tumbleton
Tumbleton was located southwest of , about sixty leagues away. It was almost the northeasternmost point of , and the source of the Mander River was nearby.
After receiving the support of House Tyrell of , merged the armies of the Stormlands and The Reach into one.
Renly first chose to integrate all the troops at Bitterbridge, then moved northeast along the Rose Road in a stop-and-go fashion. His goal was simple: follow the Rose Road all the way up and directly attack .
At this time, Renly looked completely confident of victory. After all, he now commanded a force of nearly sixty thousand men and had a large group of talented and capable individuals under him. In his view, was already within his grasp.
Thus, sitting on such a massive army, the humble and polite also began to grow proud and complacent. To celebrate his coronation and wedding, he held a grand tourney at Bitterbridge.
After the tourney ended, to make the attack on easier, Renly went through the trouble of constructing many catapults and siege weapons before leaving Bitterbridge.
To ensure the siege engines moved with the main army, Renly kept the troops at a slow pace throughout the journey so the baggage train could keep up.
When and learned of his actions, their contempt for him grew even deeper. They did not consider him an enemy at all, only a joke.
It was precisely because of this stop-and-go marching, more like a picnic than a military campaign, that Renly had only reached the vicinity of Tumbleton.
Currently, inside Renly's somewhat gaudy golden royal pavilion, lords and nobles from various regions were gathered to discuss the next steps and plans.
Renly, who had grown a beard, looked a bit more heroic than usual. If one ignored the tender gaze of the "Knight of Flowers" that seemed almost liquid with affection, everything looked quite normal.
"Lord Renly! That rebel has allied himself with those Dornish scum, and the Stormlands have completely become his backyard."
The speaker was Lord Bryce Caron of Nightsong. The Stormlands consisted of two regions: the Dornish Marches and the Rainwood. Now that had seized the Stormlands, if he allied with Dorne, the Marches would be in grave danger.
"Indeed..."
"Your Grace Renly..."
"You must seek justice for us!..."
...The lords and nobles belonging to the Stormlands faction, upon hearing that their home base had been taken, had their hearts already flying back to the Stormlands. If not for Renly's remaining prestige, many would have likely left without a word.
"This..."
Hearing the concerns of the nobles, was momentarily unsure how to solve the problem. The Stormlands were also his own domain.
Without a base of operations, Renly would be like rootless duckweed. But now, was close at hand, and he was very torn on how to resolve this matter.
"Your Grace Renly! I believe our primary goal now should be to take . If we split our forces to go to the Stormlands now, we are very likely to be attacked by the House Lannister army, and our advantage will be lost."
The speaker was Lord of Horn Hill in . Due to his exceptional command ability, Renly had appointed him as the commander of the allied forces.
"I think so too..."
"Although we have The Reach as a supply line..."
"Our army's consumption is too high..."
"Finish the fight early and go back early; I haven't even harvested my grain yet!"
"As long as we take , we will have legitimacy..."
...Because there were more Reach nobles, their voices gradually filled the command tent with noise. The new Queen, , who had been sitting quietly beside Renly, frowned with some dissatisfaction.
After giving her brother, the "Knight of Flowers" , a look, Loras stepped forward to the front of Renly.
"Silence!"
The shout echoed through the royal pavilion like a thunderclap, causing the nobles from both regions, who were ready to argue or even fight, to instinctively shut their mouths.
"Your king has not yet issued an order; now is not the time for your bickering!"
Loras's voice carried a trace of indignation. Although he was not very tall, his voice and aura were full of pressure.
"My dear husband, I believe you will surely lead us to final victory, so please issue your orders to your subjects!"
's words drew everyone's gaze in the pavilion toward Renly. Seeing their earnest looks, Renly also found himself in a difficult position.
"Your Grace!..."
Just as Renly was at a loss, a voice came directly from outside the pavilion. Immediately after, a middle-aged maester wearing a grey robe with a maester's chain around his neck rushed in.
During a march, it was generally impossible to receive distant raven messages. Under normal circumstances, nearby occupied castles would send scouts to deliver information.
After taking the raven message scroll sealed with the wax of Nightsong, Renly looked toward Lord Bryce Caron with a solemn expression, and the latter seemed to see something in Renly's eyes.
"Your Grace!?"
After taking the letter, Renly immediately read it carefully. Although the words on the raven message were few, the information within was enough for Renly to visualize the entire scene.
"Nightsong has... has been breached..."
After putting the letter down, Renly sat back down somewhat dejectedly. Nightsong was one of the passages for Dorne to move north. As long as this castle was breached, the Dornish could penetrate deep into the heart of .
The Dornish were naturally skilled at raiding. If they cut off the supply lines on the Rose Road, Renly's massive army would fall into a state of having no food to eat.
Although Renly could also requisition grain from nearby territories, if they were to attack , it was destined to be a protracted war. Once time dragged on and both retreat routes were cut off, Renly would not be able to sustain even an army of one hundred thousand.
"This... what should we do?"
Hearing Lord Bryce Caron's mutterings, the nobles in the pavilion were momentarily at a loss for what to do.
"Re... Report!"
At that moment, a somewhat panicked voice suddenly appeared outside the pavilion. After receiving a signal from Queen , the door flap was opened once again.
Now, in the entire pavilion, only Margaery and a few others remained relatively stable. Others, especially the Stormlands lords and nobles, were now completely without a plan.
The person who came in to report was a knight in leather armor, with a mismatched rose embroidered on his chest. From his attire, one could see he was a hedge knight with Tyrell family blood.
The "Growing Strong" Tyrell bloodline might truly contain the blood of their ancestor Garth Greenhand, to the point that descendants of their family bloodline existed throughout the vast territory of .
"The rebel 's army has gathered outside the Kingswood. He has sent an envoy here, hoping to conduct pre-battle negotiations."
The hedge knight's words carried a trace of contempt, seemingly dismissive of Stannis's provocation. In his view, their current force was second to none on the entire continent of Westeros.
Except for the Westerlands, which could compete with their army, this force could completely crush everything else.
"What!?"
By now, was so shocked by this succession of news that his scalp felt numb. After standing up from his throne, Renly's face turned pale and then flushed, as if traffic lights were shining on his face.
"Your Grace Renly, since has come here, it means he is ready to fight a decisive battle with us. Although I am not sure what his reliance is, I believe the troops in his hands will definitely not exceed thirty thousand."
At this moment, , who had been silent, stepped out from among the nobles after thinking for a while.
As the commander of this army, this was his duty. Currently, the morale on their side was very low. If this situation was not reversed, it would only be Randyll Tarly who suffered.
Seeing everyone's gaze turn to him, Randyll Tarly also steadied his mind.
"Storm's End and Nightsong both require troops to garrison. These two places, one is the passage for the Dornish to move north, and the other is 's rear. Therefore, the troops both sides can truly bring out are not many."
After hearing 's words, everyone's hearts settled quite a bit. The continuous bad news had made many instinctively think of the worst.
And this also made many forget that they possessed an army of around eighty thousand. Once everyone understood the key point, confidence and pride once again surfaced on their faces.
Many minor nobles even looked like they were rubbing their hands together, seemingly ready to put on a good show. These people seemed to have forgotten that just now, some of them had even entertained thoughts of breaking up, but now, they had completely forgotten that cowardly performance..
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