Robb pondered for a moment, then rejected the idea of seizing the city at night. He asked, "What about going around it? Is there any precedent for that?"
Lord Rickard continued, "That won't work either. As you can see, the walls extending from both sides of Golden Tooth block the entire valley.
To go around it, we would have to head south around the southern foothills of the Silver Mountains, bypass Golden Tooth, and then attack the Westerlands from the Golden Road. But that would take too long, and our army's tracks would be difficult to conceal.
As soon as we reveal our presence, the Westerlands scouts will follow us, constantly reporting our marching route to Lord Tywin.
Then they can assemble their army at the most opportune location and…"
"They'll attack us when the time is right.
These Westerners could even deliberately let us into the Westerlands, then inform the local lords of our arrival, using their home-field advantage to gather and annihilate us. Even if we escape, we'll face the danger of being blocked in front and pursued from behind."
Robb, hearing this, understood that his situation was not optimistic. "So, if we can't quickly capture this castle, we must find a way to pass through quietly."
He looked up at the rolling mountains behind him and shouted, "Go, Grey Wind!"
Then he spurred his horse, Grey Wind, and trotted along the northern foothills.
Robb's guards and generals, who had accompanied him for over a decade, also rode behind their lord. However, as the terrain became increasingly steep, the distance between them grew.
Ser Wendel Manderly was one of Robb's guards. As the son of the Lord of White Harbor, he was as large as his father.
To support his towering frame, Ser Wendel had chosen a very strong and tall mount. However, on this steep mountain path, that became an extremely dangerous disadvantage. Seeing that he could no longer keep up with his lord Robb, he could only anxiously remind him, "Young Wolf, don't go up! It's dangerous up there!"
Robb ignored the warning, firmly stating, "You stay here. Grey Wind has found something! Wait for me to return!"
Seeing this, Lord Rickard quickly pulled on the reins and rushed to Ethan's side, solemnly instructing, "Captain Ethan, stay close to the Young Wolf and don't let him out of your sight!"
Ethan nodded, displaying his master-level riding skills. He cast a King's Blessing on his mount Lightning and then overtook several guards, closely following Robb at the front.
When the group finally reached the summit, only Ethan and his direwolf Grey Wind remained beside Robb. Robb excitedly pointed to a cliff face not far away and said to Ethan, "Captain Ethan, look!"
Several goats were clumsily hopping and dodging the excited Grey Wind on the cliff face.
Robb exclaimed happily, "Grey Wind smelled these goats and found this path. We can bypass Golden Tooth City and go straight into the Westerlands."
He dismounted, climbed to the foot of the mountain, and surveyed Golden Tooth City's defenses from above. Raising his whip, he explained to his only listener:
"The castle's western defenses are significantly weaker than its eastern ones. This means that even if the Riverlands lords capture Golden Tooth, the Lannisters can easily take it from the west.
Therefore, Golden Tooth will only serve as a barrier for the Lannisters advancing eastward, not an obstacle to their westward expansion. If we can bypass this city, even with only cavalry, we can easily conquer it from the western border."
Ethan looked in the direction Robb's whip was pointing and indeed found that the eastern side of the castle lacked towers, parapets, and even had lower walls. He agreed, "Indeed. Once we bypass Golden Tooth, the western border will be like a crab with its shell removed for our army."
However, Ethan also expressed concern. "But Your Grace, once we enter the Westerlands we lose the Riverlands' reinforcements. Even an 'easy' siege will result in significant losses. If the siege fails, our weakened forces may be trapped in the Westerlands."
After a moment's thought, Robb proposed a plan. "We can first advance into the Westerlands, then have someone impersonate the garrison of Casterly Rock and request reinforcements from Golden Tooth, luring out their forces and then ambushing and eliminating them!"
After the discussion, Robb suddenly said to Ethan, "Captain Ethan, you and your men shouldn't participate in the next battle."
Ethan was puzzled. "Huh? Are you terminating my employment?"
Robb denied it. "No. I'm just telling you not to go to the front lines anymore. Your soldiers are mainly infantry. I heard from Derek that in the previous two battles your men rode to the edge of the battlefield and then dismounted to form ranks, which is too inefficient.
So you don't need to participate in the battle at all. After the battle begins, find a safe place to set up a treatment area.
I will order the entire army to send the wounded soldiers there to you. You just need to take care of them."
Derek was Robb's bodyguard and also the liaison officer for Ethan's battalion.
Ethan, not wanting to be a mere healer, tried to argue, "But Your Grace, while my men may not be skilled riders, they can still play a significant role in the chaos of battle. On the battlefield, the more we kill, the fewer we lose—"
"Enough, Captain Ethan. I'm not discussing this with you—this is an order!" Robb interrupted him. "I don't want my generals needing your healing while you're riding that old horse aimlessly across the battlefield."
Hearing Robb's words, Ethan felt somewhat uncomfortable but had no choice but to agree. "I understand. I will obey your orders, Your Grace."
Robb nodded, his gaze fixed firmly on Golden Tooth City in the valley, one hand on his sword, proudly declaring, "After this battle, I will win honor for the ancestors of House Stark."
After a night's rest, early the next morning under the dawn's light, the direwolf Grey Wind led the Northern forces westward along the pea-flying mountain trails.
The cavalry force of nearly seven thousand men was crammed onto a narrow mountain road. In the narrowest part, only one soldier could lead his horse slowly forward.
To traverse the narrow mountain path, the army abandoned its heavy wagons, tents, and all large supplies. Water and food were divided among the soldiers, each carrying their own.
However, this was Westeros, not the narrow paths of Shu County. While the terrain was steep, it wasn't treacherous.
Except for a few who broke their legs or fell into the valleys, everyone successfully crossed the undulating peaks and reached the western territories.
By this time the soldiers' supplies were almost exhausted. To reach their destination—Oxcross—as quickly as possible, the Northern army decided to return to the River Road and advance along it.
Another day passed, and the starving Northern army finally reached a ravine on the outskirts of Oxcross. After eating their last bit of food, scouts returned with news: Oxcross was garrisoned by a large force and had ample supplies, but fortunately the enemy had only set up a few outposts.
After hearing the scouts' report, Brynden Tully said to his grand-nephew Robb, "Your Grace, these should be the Westerlands recruits that Ser Stevron Lannister is training."
Robb nodded and decisively ordered, "Lord Brynden, this time you will lead the vanguard to take out the outposts first. After you launch your attack, we will follow."
"Yes, Your Grace," Brynden replied.
Then Robb turned to the assembled commanders of the various units and instructed, "Once Ser Brynden sets fire to the enemy camp, we will proceed toward it!"
Subsequently Ser Brynden, leading the Tully family and other Riverlands nobles' cavalry who had remained in Riverrun, set off for the nearby town. Half an hour later Oxcross was ablaze.
That night the Northern army once again replicated their victory at the Battle of Riverrun, successfully defeating the enemy.
The Northern army, riding high on a string of victories, swept through the still-training Westerlands recruits like a hot knife through butter.
After a night of chaos, all that remained of the Westerlands army's camp in Oxcross were countless corpses and unsold livestock rations. The Northern army was now only three days' march from Casterly Rock.
In this battle Ethan and his Silver Hand did not directly participate. Instead, following Robb's orders, they stopped less than three miles from the battlefield and erected a makeshift tent using tent cloths carried by packhorses to treat the wounded soldiers at the front.
For Jon and Kevin—the two students who had just been promoted to Sunwalkers—this was their first experience as healers in such a large-scale operation.
To lighten his own burden and provide valuable practice opportunities for his students, Ethan decided to let Jon and Kevin play the main role in the treatment.
He himself would only intervene when the two brothers were exhausted of their magic or when the wounded warriors seeking treatment were too badly injured to require high-level Holy Light spells.
In addition, Ethan had already replenished his potion bottles in the Heart Tree forest of Riverrun, intending to let these two young men experience the bitter taste of drinking the sap of the Heart Tree.
Perhaps because the Young Wolf Robb had informed the various lords in advance, the speed at which they sent the wounded was much faster.
The tents had just been set up and the hot water for disinfecting the gauze hadn't even boiled yet, but wounded soldiers were already being brought outside the tents to line up for treatment.
Ethan still insisted that the medical team treat the wounded in the order of serious injury first, then minor injury, and then the Northerners first, then the Westerlanders. Meanwhile, since the precedent of treating prisoners was set in the Whispering Wood, the number of warriors bringing prisoners for treatment had been increasing, and most warriors were willing to spend money on the treatment of prisoners.
Although their main purpose was to preserve the prisoners' lives so that they could ask for a better price when demanding ransom later, objectively this also allowed these prisoners to save their lives.
For the warriors of the North, aside from Joffrey Baratheon—who bore a blood feud with Robb Stark himself—most did not intend to kill every Westerlands noble they encountered.
After all, why kill someone for money? This idea, fueled by the golden dragons, gradually gained popularity and was even privately hailed as a noble act, a quality possessed only by true nobility.
As for Ethan himself, he had no grudge against the Westerlands army; his only wish was to help the North win the war as quickly as possible, preserving the North's strength to face the threat of the White Walkers from beyond the Wall.
Therefore, when the Northern warriors brought wounded Westerlands nobles to the medical tent, Ethan accepted them all as long as they were willing to pay.
With the help of his two students, his work was much easier than before; at least he had time to relax in the open space outside the tent instead of having to relieve himself in the clay pots inside.
When he finally managed to relieve himself outside and returned to the medical tent feeling refreshed, he saw Kevin arguing with Lord Rickard.
He hurriedly stepped forward, blocking the two, and asked, "Lord Rickard, what happened?"
Lord Rickard immediately complained to Ethan, "Captain Ethan, you've come at the right time. What's wrong with your student? I dragged the wounded over, but he refuses to treat him. Is it because I'm not paying?"
Kevin hurriedly defended himself. "That's not it, Teacher. This person is already dead. Lord Rickard insisted that I cast Holy Light twice for him, but my mana is already low, and I need to save it for the living wounded—"
At this moment Ethan noticed an old man lying on the ground, his face ashen, already dead.
He asked Rickard, "Who is this?"
Lord Rickard replied, "He is Ser Stevron Lannister, the former commander of the Lannister army stationed in this town, Lord Tywin's cousin, but also a fool. When I saw him, he was chasing his horse; I rushed up and pierced him with one spear—easier than killing a wild boar."
Ethan crouched down and pressed the old man's chest, then turned to Lord Rickard and said, "This Ser Stevron Lannister truly has no vital signs. Why did you bring him here?"
Lord Rickard frowned. "As a direct descendant of House Lannister, whether as a hostage or for ransom, Ser Stevron is a very valuable prisoner.
He's only been dead a short time, and I wanted to try and see if you could bring him back to life."
Ethan shook his head helplessly and retorted, "Since he's so valuable, you shouldn't have been so ruthless. Ah, I'm sorry, Lord Rickard. I can only heal the living; I can't help those who are truly dead."
Lord Rickard asked suspiciously, "But I've heard you can bring the dead back to life. Is that just a rumor?"
"Of course it's a rumor," Ethan explained. "I can only heal the dying—at most those who have stopped breathing for a moment, whose bodies haven't completely lost their vitality.
Look at this Ser Stevron—you've pierced his heart, and he's bled to death. If you want him to stand up, I think it would be better to send him north of the Wall and let the White Walkers do the job for you."
Lord Rickard couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. "Hahahaha, to the Seven Hells with the White Walkers! If I had known this would happen, I should have had Old Bear go and capture a few White Walkers for me before heading south. You know, I have a good relationship with him!"
After laughing for a while, Lord Rickard said regretfully, "Since that's the case, then forget it. Save your power for your surviving brothers."
After speaking, Lord Rickard ordered his men to take Ser Stevron's body away. In his view, even a corpse—if well-preserved and treated with respect—could be exchanged for some money from the deceased's family, even if not as much as when the body was alive; it was still some profit.
As the sounds of fighting in the distance gradually subsided, thanks to the combined efforts of the three Sunwalkers, all the wounded who had been brought in received proper care. Ethan, who had just replenished his Heart Tree sap in Riverrun, had only used about half of it.
Thinking that he could finally rest early tonight, Ethan couldn't help but smile expectantly.
However, just then a Northern warrior, supported by two companions, brazenly cut in line and squeezed into the tent.
Ethan frowned and asked, "What happened?"
One of the soldiers supporting his comrade pleaded, "Captain Ethan, quick—please help! Blake's penis has been bitten off. Please help him put it back on!"
Then another soldier pulled a woman's head from behind his waist, its teeth clenched and eyes wide with fury. Grabbing the loose golden curls of the head, he held it up in front of Ethan, nervously asking, "It's in this woman's mouth. I dare not pry it open, afraid of damaging the severed part and affecting your reattachment. Do you think what I'm doing is correct?"
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