Chapter 159: Besieging the Point and Striking the Reinforcements
The Vale, High Road
The morning on the High Road was like a mist-shrouded fairyland; due to the obstruction of the mountains, the sunlight had yet to shine onto the road.
The High Road is the official highway connecting the Vale and the Riverlands. In this era where the average level of education was rudimentary, aside from a few locals familiar with the paths, anyone leaving these officially built roads—even a knowledgeable maester—could potentially get lost on this vast continent.
It could be said that once the High Road is closed, the Vale's land transport is completely paralyzed. Although maritime trade is highly developed in this era, the cost of sea trade increases significantly without the connection of land routes, something the rulers are loath to see.
At this moment, near the Bloody Gate at the end of the High Road leading into the Vale, a fully armed force had finished assembling. They were preparing to head out onto the High Road to suppress a rebellion under the leadership of Ser Nestor Royce, the High Steward of the Eyrie.
Nestor Royce was from a branch of House Royce of Runestone and was one of the preeminent figures in the Eyrie. Back when the late Lord Jon Arryn served in King's Landing, this Nestor Royce was the High Steward and acting lord of the Eyrie.
Initially, the current ruler of the Vale, Lady Lysa Arryn, did not intend to send troops to quell the rebellion. Many believed her mental state had become somewhat unstable after her husband's death, but in reality, only a few knew that this woman was carrying out a mission for a certain master of coin.
Lysa Arryn had no intention of sending troops at first. In her view, her primary task was to help Littlefinger preserve the Vale's strength. However, after receiving instructions from Littlefinger, this love-struck woman scrambled to assemble an army, preparing to clear the path blocked by the Mountain Clans.
The Vale was now regarded by Littlefinger as his private property. Cunning as he was, he sensed something was wrong after receiving the news; one must know that these Mountain Clans rarely acted in unison.
The noble lords of the Vale were not all fools. Under normal circumstances, if any clan's power expanded, that clan would face overt or covert suppression from the official forces of the Vale.
It was precisely because of such policies that these clans had remained in a state of infighting over the years.
"Lord Nestor! I truly cannot fathom which clan is so powerful that it requires us to dispatch over 1,000 men to fight!"
The speaker was a young-looking Vale knight. The scarlet castle sigil on his armor indicated he was from House Redfort of Redfort. As the Vale nobles closest to the Mountain Clans, House Redfort had a profound understanding of these detestable Mountain Clans, which was why the knight had such a doubt after searching his memory.
"It's unclear for now. It seems to be the fellows from the Burned Men?"
Nestor Royce did not answer the knight directly; instead, a knight from Ironoaks on the other side spoke those words.
"Since when did those madmen of the Burned Men become so formidable?"
"Who knows? Regardless, as long as our army charges directly at them, they'll vanish without a trace. What is there to fear?"
...While these knights and their squires were loudly discussing how they would soon slaughter the clansmen, Nestor Royce was conversing with several men who looked like sellswords.
These sellswords were covered in wounds, appearing as if they had survived a terrifying battle. Nestor Royce's squires had them surrounded in the center.
"Those guys simply aren't human. I saw several people wearing wolf-head masks kill many of our brothers. Since when did they possess such powerful weapons and equipment?"
A sellsword with a chunk of his ear missing said with a hint of dread.
"Are you joking? Those guys aren't human at all; they're werewolves, just like those merling monsters on Crackclaw Point! We..."
A scruffy sellsword with a face full of terror shouted loudly, but he was pinned down by the squires before he could finish.
"So, exactly how many of them are there?"
Nestor Royce didn't believe a word of this superstitious nonsense, so he asked this question directly.
"I don't know! There are so many of them; they're all over the mountains."
"I estimate several thousand!"
"You're all talking nonsense. I saw only a few hundred."
...Listening to the clamor around him, Nestor Royce felt like his head was about to explode. These were all sellswords who had come to the Bloody Gate to seek help; most of them were guards of merchant caravans, but over these past few days, almost none of the caravans leaving the Vale had returned.
Those left were just a few sellswords who had escaped back. Most were incoherent, some saying they were attacked by werewolves, others by people in wolf-head masks, and still others saying the Mountain Clans had acquired a large cache of weapons and were preparing to counterattack the Vale.
Adhering to the principle of caution, Nestor Royce wanted to gather more intelligence before setting out, but now, the information he gathered was this kind of superstitious nonsense, leaving him momentarily unsure of how to proceed.
"My lord, what should we do next?"
"Forget it. Take them along and have them lead the way. Kill on the spot anyone who refuses to go."
After answering a squire's question, Nestor Royce gave the order to advance.
This unit of theirs consisted of 10 anointed knights, 30 squires, and the rest were shield-spearmen and archers. Such a configuration was enough to attack a clan settlement, let alone simply clear the High Road.
In truth, it wasn't that the Vale hadn't thought about widening the High Road, but the clansmen simply wouldn't allow it. Over time, everyone just let things take their course.
As the troops advanced, the wide road around the Bloody Gate soon vanished from sight, replaced by a path as narrow as a stream.
None of the knights were mounted; they wore only breastplates and mail. In this kind of mountain warfare, dressing like a tin can would only make one a target for the Mountain Clans to toy with.
Historically, many Vale knights had died in the forests to the stones and clubs of the clansmen. Most of these knights were skilled in mountain warfare, so they knew which weapons and equipment to use.
To leave a deep impression on these clansmen during this expedition, Nestor Royce had specifically requisitioned a batch of hand crossbows from the Eyrie. These clansmen had no proper cavalry units, so switching to hand crossbows would inflict the maximum range of casualties.
As Nestor Royce led his troops forward with some trepidation, on a cliff ahead of them, a small group of people was curiously watching the situation below.
From their attire, it was clear that most were chiefs of the major clans. Under the leadership of the one-eyed brute Timett, many tribes of the Mountain Clans had been conquered by him.
After receiving the "Heart of the Moon Goddess" bestowed by Jon, this fellow seemed to have cleared his meridians; his courage soared to the skies. Although he wasn't very bright, he was well-versed in the habits and customs of every tribe.
Thus, after leading his Wolf Guards to strike into the tribes, almost none of the tribal chiefs were a match for him.
After defeating these tribal chiefs, he used weapons and treasures to buy over the tribesmen. Over time, he actually managed to pull together a force of about 3,000 men.
This force was unlike the rabble in the original story; they were all warriors equipped with weapons and armor. These clan warriors were already very brave in battle, and with the acquisition of equipment, their lethality had increased manifold.
Especially those fellows from the Burned Men, each of whom was particularly ruthless toward themselves. Take Timett, for example; the reason he was able to become the clan chief was that he had gouged out his own eyeball while still alive.
The Mountains of the Moon held nearly half of the Vale's land and minerals. It was precisely because of these fearless Mountain Clans that the strength of the Vale's nobles had always remained at a middle-tier level.
"Do you see? These fellows in the Vale simply look down on us. Once we defeat them, they will start to take us seriously and send more people later, and then we can wipe them out bit by bit."
"What if they get scared and don't dare to come?"
A woman who looked like a thin monkey asked directly.
This person was Chella, daughter of Cheyk, chief of the Black Ears. She and her sons were part of the armed forces Timett had brought out. With weapons in hand, her mind had become active, and she was full of confidence regarding the conquest of the Vale's castles.
"Then I and my Wolf Guards will break through the Bloody Gate, and this castle that has never fallen will become our private property."
At this moment, Timett looked terrifying. If anyone could see his covered left eye, they would likely be scared half to death, for a tumor-like eye was throbbing inside.
"Alright, once that bunch of idiots enters the ambush circle Lord Aegon prepared for us, we'll start our move!"
"Hu-ha..."
Upon hearing Timett's words, the former chiefs of these clan tribes all grew excited. Timett had now been titled Lord of the Mountains of the Moon by Jon, and these fellows had been granted the rank of landed knights under him.
Jon had promised them that as long as they captured a castle, he would bestow that castle upon them. Thus, the warriors of these clan tribes were now all revved up, just waiting to go out and slaughter in all directions.
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