Chapter 230: Taking from the Enemy
Is putting on an act really that much fun? Is it? Really?
If Egger didn't know that Melisandre actually possessed some genuine power, he would have been tempted to grab a blunt instrument and drive this charlatan out... but in reality, facing a witch of unpredictable means, he didn't dare refuse to play along.
"I am all ears, my Lady."
"Food need not only come from friends; it can also come from enemies." Melisandre settled back into her chair. "Why not try looking north of the Wall?"
"North of the Wall?!"
Egger's eyes widened. You were the one who told me that "those who have killed White Walkers are specially marked by the Great Other," yet now you're the one telling me to go north of the Wall to find food? Are you joking? Don't even dream of tricking me out of the fortress... no, out of the Wall!
"I don't understand... My Lady, please be explicit."
Melisandre shook her head and prompted him: "The Wildlings have gathered to march south and attack the Wall. Did they come empty-handed?"
...
Of course not. The Wildlings came with their families in tow, driving cattle and sheep, carrying every scrap of their worldly possessions on their backs.
"Ah, you mean... the food in the hands of the Wildlings!" Egger quickly realized her point. "But the manpower at the Wall is barely enough for defense right now. There is simply no way to launch an active sortie—to go out and raid them."
The situation went far beyond that. The Wildlings were not a unified force; they wouldn't concentrate their food in one place under guard. Instead, each tribe and every individual family kept their own grain and livestock. Even if Egger had an elite, efficient cavalry unit to send out on raids, the efficiency of seizing such scattered supplies would be abysmal. It might not even provide enough to feed the men and horses sent out.
"You do not necessarily have to seize it. You can make them... offer it up willingly."
"Offer it up willingly?" Egger grew increasingly baffled. Has this witch lost her mind and started talking nonsense? Or does she have some sorcery that can hypnotize the Wildlings into surrendering their food?
Meeting the Night's Watchman's gaze, Melisandre gave him an enigmatic smile but did not answer.
Silence is often more enlightening than speech. Egger allowed his thoughts to wander and soon arrived at the answer: The only way to get the Wildlings to voluntarily bring their food to the door... was to open the gates and let them in.
It wasn't exactly a novel idea; letting the Wildlings through the Wall and pressing them into service had always been part of Egger's long-term plan, but certain steps could not be skipped. He had intended to drag out the defensive war a bit longer to break the Wildlings' spirit and their strange, misplaced pride in being Free Folk. He wanted the troublemakers—those hotheads brimming with testosterone and defiance—to be thinned out through combat. Once the hundred thousand Wildlings were exhausted and their casualties reached a point where they could no longer persist, then he would negotiate.
The treaty would be struck as originally envisioned, but the party begging for peace would shift from the Night's Watch to the Wildlings. Only by completing this reversal of status would subduing the Wildlings become possible.
The Wildlings had lived beyond the Wall for generations; they certainly understood the necessity of stockpiling for winter. However, the survival environment and resources north of the Wall were far inferior to the North. Every winter, the population suffered massive culling... and this time, fleeing south to escape the White Walkers, their window to prepare winter stores would be severely cut short. Their supplies might last three to five months, but after that, what would he use to continue feeding a six-figure population?
Melisandre saw through Egger's doubts: "Bringing the Wildlings inside the Wall will greatly reduce the number of enemies the camp of the living must face in the coming winter and weaken the power of my Lord's Great Foe. Not only that, we can free up manpower to resolve the troubles currently facing the North... many birds with one stone. Why not do it?"
Free up manpower to resolve the North's troubles? True. Once a settlement was reached with the Wildlings, he could organize the clansmen and the warriors among the Wildlings into an army and march south to drive out the Ironborn invaders. This would not only vastly increase his influence in one stroke but also restore the North's logistics supply to the Night's Watch.
However, Egger had experience managing the Night's Watch industries; his ability to estimate data was clearly superior to Melisandre's. With a bit of mental math, he reached a conclusion: this was all just a forced extension of a dying breath. The population of the North was barely a million; there was absolutely no capacity to support an additional hundred thousand Wildlings. If the winter lasted more than six months, it would be a catastrophe.
"If we let the Wildlings in, the food they bring might buy us an extra month or two. If we hurry to settle the Ironborn and restore Northern logistics to the Gift, that might buy another two or three months." Egger asked, "But what then? Lady Melisandre—you always say the Long Night is coming. So I ask you—can this winter you call the 'Long Night' end within a single year?"
There was another question Egger didn't voice: Even if winter ended, it would take time to grow crops again!
"R'hllor has not told me the duration of the winter," Melisandre admitted frankly. "But that means it is irrelevant—if the heart is true, all things will follow. Do not lose hope, Lord Chief Logistics Officer. Despair is the weapon of the Nameless Enemy. No one will starve to death under your rule... the Lord of Light will resolve your worries."
"Can the Lord of Light help me grow grain in the snow?"
"Do you think my Lord is a farmer?" Melisandre gave Egger a reproachful look, appearing displeased by his dry joke at the expense of her faith. "R'hllor will provide aid in other ways. In the sacred fires, I saw countless ocean-going transport ships. They carry hold after hold of grain from across the Narrow Sea, unloading at a port close to the Wall, feeding the countless people dwelling by it."
...
Across the Narrow Sea? Egger hadn't considered that food could come from there. He stared suspiciously at Melisandre, trying to find any hint of a lie in her expression. Unfortunately, his level wasn't high enough; after a brief stare-down, he could only give up in frustration.
Did this witch really see those scenes in the fire, or did she invent them to coax me? After some thought, Egger felt Melisandre had little reason to trap him... but to decisively resolve to let the Wildlings through the Wall just because of an assurance from a mystic whose reliability couldn't be guaranteed—that was strictly impossible.
Not to mention, matters concerning the Wall were not for him alone to decide.
He decided to think it over. Across the Narrow Sea... Essos was significantly less affected by winter than Westeros, and it was indeed possible they had surplus grain for sale. But the cost of transporting massive amounts of grain across the Narrow Sea to feed tens of thousands of mouths—how high would that be? Could the Night's Watch industries afford it?
Even if they could, would he have any spare cash left for his other plans after feeding all those people?
A possibility occurred to him: taking a loan from Braavos. Jaqen's visible tension after seeing the wight might mean the Iron Bank was concerned about the current state of Westeros. He only had to tell those moneylenders: If the Wall falls, Westeros will become a living hell, and the loans the Iron Bank gave to the Iron Throne will never be recovered. Under the pressure of grim reality, it was highly likely he could secure support from Braavos!
"My Lady, thank you for your wise advice. I will consider it carefully and discuss it with my colleagues."
Melisandre clearly didn't care for such perfunctory platitudes. She gave a soft laugh and shook her head. "Hurry then. There is not much time left for us. The Long Night is coming, and danger is everywhere. The side of the living... must finish its preparations as soon as possible."
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